You can pick up the Amazon Fire TV Stick HD for only $20 right now thanks to Amazon's Spring Sale. Not only is that a $15 discount, but its only a couple of dollars more than the record-low price we've tracked.
Amazon released the Fire TV Stick HD last October and, soon after, it became the top budget pick in our guide to the best streaming devices. It's a basic streamer that received a couple of much-needed updates when Amazon revamped its Fire TV devices last year.
The Fire TV Stick HD has HDR support and streams with full HD resolution. It also comes with an Alexa-powered remote control, which lets you search for titles with just a click of the Alexa button. That remote also has Netflix and Prime Video buttons, but the device can run most streaming apps, like Disney+ and Peacock.
Elsewhere in the Fire TV lineup, you can grab the Fire TV Stick 4K Max for only $40 thanks to Amazon Spring Sale deals. This is the most powerful streaming dongle Amazon makes, with support for 4K HDR content, Dolby Vision and Atmos, Wi-Fi 6E and Amazon Luna and Xbox Game Pass gaming.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-spring-sale-deal-the-fire-tv-stick-hd-drops-to-only-20-144514303.html?src=rss
Gone are the days of kids asking their parent to borrow cash or their card when going out with friends. Instead, parents can now give their kids access to Google Wallet for making in-store payments with their Android device. Google first announced that this feature was coming back in October.
Kids can also use Google Wallet to store passes to things, including a library card, ticket for an event or a gift card. But, parents have a lot of oversight, such as receiving an email every time their child makes a purchase. They can also monitor everything within Family Link, along with remove a payment card or shut off access to all passes.
Google
Right now, Google is just rolling out the new feature for families in the US, UK, Australia, Spain and Poland. Parents in any of these locations should see the option pop up within the next few weeks.
Apple users can already access a similar feature with Apple Cash Family. Parents can set up anyone in their Family Sharing group and let them make purchases, or send and receive money through their wallet or messages. Just like on Android, parents can see their kids' purchases and get notifications each time they buy something. Plus, parents can view the remaining balance or send an allowance through Apple Cash by creating a recurring payment.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/google-wallet-is-now-available-for-kids-140039676.html?src=rss
You can get a lot done in the kitchen with the most basic tools, but adding a few gadgets to your countertops can make things a little easier and probably more enjoyable. This is the tech-infused cooking gear we like to use in our own kitchens, with insight from Engadget reviews, buyer’s guides and personal experiences. The perennially popular Instant Pot is here, as is the brand’s air fryer, which is the best we’ve tested. Our favorite thermometer takes zero seconds to give a reading and our top pick for a blender makes everything you put into it smooth as silk. If you like to cook, these are the best kitchen gadgets to help you do it.
Valentina Palladino and Amy Skorheim contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/best-kitchen-tech-gadgets-small-appliances-124515179.html?src=rss
Few things have a bigger impact on how well we handle daily life than the amount and quality of sleep we get. Tech has a bad reputation as a sleep destroyer, and deservedly so. Blue light, doomscrolling, incessant notifications are not conducive to a restful night. But there are some gadgets and apps out there that might actually help you get better shut-eye — and we’ve tried a bunch of them. From a tiny sleep tracking ring to a high-tech mattress, here’s the best sleep tech we’ve tried that actually worked for us — and will hopefully work for you too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-sleep-apps-gadgets-140013059.html?src=rss
I went to CES with Engadget for the first time this year and, among the robots, laptops, TVs and more robots, the most exciting products I saw were ones trying to make our homes more eco-friendly in the most low-effort ways possible. I saw an induction stove, a window-mounted heat pump, a battery back-up system and a few other promising appliances — these are user installable, work with standard 120V outlets and do their part in lowering a home’s carbon footprint. A couple are coming to market this year, while others are still on the road towards wide availability.
When I first thought of decarbonizing my home, solar panels on the roof immediately came to mind. So I took out a loan and did exactly that. Well, I didn’t do it — it took many months of the solar company filing permits on my behalf and two days of skilled technicians crawling all over my roof and installing complicated-looking boxes and tubes on the side of my house to get it done. Last month, my electric bill was $6, but it wasn’t a low-effort process.
In contrast, these new appliances I checked out don’t require calling a contractor for installation and you'll be able to get your hands on some of them later this year. Since there’s no installation, people who live in apartments and condos or otherwise can't permanently install appliances where they live can use them. But these products aren’t cheap. The hope is, as the popularity of accessible, user-installable green tech grows, the prices go down. In the meantime, I will keep daydreaming.
Amy Skorheim for Engadget
The first thing to really catch my eye at CES was a plug-in backup battery from BioLite, a brand I knew from making camp stoves that can recharge your phone. The Backup by BioLite is the company’s first non-outdoor item and comes in either a 1.5kWh size or a dual-unit 3kWh system. The single unit houses an inverter and a battery, while the “Complete” configuration adds an additional battery bank to the inverter/battery set. It mounts on a wall either vertically or horizontally and sticks out less than three inches so it can live behind a fridge — which a BioLite rep told me is a primary place the company sees it being used.
To use it, you plug the Backup into your wall and plug the fridge (or any other appliance) into the Backup. The battery steadily fills itself while also passing power to the appliance. If the power goes out, the battery automatically kicks on to power your icebox, sending an alert to the app to tell you about the outage. So far, this probably sounds more like power security as opposed to an eco solution, but because the app allows you to schedule the Backup to come on at a regular time, you can actually take one of your biggest energy hogs off the grid during peak usage times.
The Backup should start shipping this summer and it’s something I’m seriously considering. While I have solar panels, I didn’t pay the (considerable) upcharge to get batteries. With the Backup, I could schedule the fridge to run on battery power at night, then swap to direct power during the day while the sun feeds the roof panels and refills the battery. The dual-unit, Complete Backup configuration costs $3,000, but currently qualifies for a 30 percent tax credit due to its watt-hour size and the fact that you mount it on the wall (but I don’t think anyone is counting on that perk to still be a thing for long). Plus, if you reserve now, you'll get a 10 percent discount.
Amy Skorheim for Engadget
When I checked out the Backup at CES, I was introduced to two other companies BioLite had invited to share its booth, Copper and Gradient. Copper was showing off the Charlie plug-in induction stove. While researching indoor air quality for our air purifier guide, I learned that natural gas stoves aren’t just less-than-stellar in terms of ecological impact — they can also be pretty bad for our lungs. That prompted me to look into induction cooking, but I was worried my cotton-wrapped, nearly one-hundred-year-old copper wiring would not be up to the task of an upgrade.
Yes, all induction stoves are plug-ins — but nearly all of them require a 240V outlet, like a dryer uses. If you’re replacing a gas stove, chances are there’s a 120V outlet behind it. If you want to switch off of gas, you need to call an electrician to run the new wiring. That could be a simple operation — I’ve seen estimates online for as little as a couple hundred bucks. But if you have older wiring (that’s me) or if you’re renting or otherwise can’t upgrade your electrical, you might just be stuck with gas.
But the Copper Charlie can run on a standard outlet thanks to the (big!) 5kWh battery inside. In short, the battery fills itself when you’re not cooking. When you fire up a burner or the oven, the battery kicks in to make up the difference between what a standard outlet can supply and what the induction appliance needs. In a power outage, it can cook three to five meals.
It also looks swanky, with deep blue enamel inside the oven and reclaimed wood on the knobs and handle. The price tag is swanky too; Like the Backup, the Charlie currently qualifies for a tax credit to bring the cost as low as $4,200, but if you don’t count on that, you’ll pay around $6,000. That’s not unheard of for an induction cooker, but it's not cheap. Still, if it’s between that and never getting off gas, I’d consider it.
Amy Skorheim for Engadget
Biolite’s other booth-mate at CES, Gradient, showed off their own plug-in appliance, the Gradient All-Weather window heat pump. I’ve been curious about heat pumps after learning that heating represents the biggest energy demand for most homes. Surprisingly, cooling requires significantly less energy (though it’s often the largest electricity draw as many homes use a gas or fuel oil for heat).
Heat pumps work similarly to AC units, running a refrigerant (Gradient uses a more eco-friendly one) that travels through compression coils, absorbing and releasing heat as it moves from indoors to outdoors. To heat a home, the coils draw heat from the outdoor air (yes, even when it’s cold outside) and release the heat inside. To cool the air, the heat pump performs that process in reverse. Gradient claims a 30 percent higher efficiency over window air units. When it comes to heating, that ratio could go significantly higher, especially if it’s replacing fossil fuel combustion.
Again, no professional installation is required, any standard 120V outlet will work and it also looks far more attractive than window AC units. Instead of replacing your view with a grille and some vents, the saddle bag design hangs down on either side of a window and creates a nice shelf for plants or other bric-a-brac.
But here’s the bad news: Despite being at the Consumer Electronics Show, these window units aren’t yet available to consumers. Gradient told me they’re currently focusing on business-to-business sales to help grow the company and have a bigger impact on greenhouse emissions. But there’s still hope that a direct-to-consumer, plug-and-play heat pump will one day come to be.
Zoltux
Of course, all of this electrification is less beneficial if your area relies on non-renewable resources for grid power, so I was curious to see if any solar generation products at CES had the same user-instalable ease. One company, Zoltux, is working on a plug-in solar kit for US homes based on the “balcony solar” technology that’s popular in parts of the EU, particularly Germany.
Basically, you clamp a solar panel on a balcony, or any other sun-facing spot outside your home, and plug it into a microinverter which syncs the PV energy to the grid, allowing a standard outlet to feed power to your home. Zoltux is only in the launch phase and the company will have plenty of regulatory and technical issues to overcome in bringing plug-and-play solar kits to homes in the US, but I’m wishing them all the luck.
Jackery
As for what currently exists, companies like Jackery, Anker and EcoFlow — all of which were also at CES — have made user-friendly solar panel/portable power station combos for years. The power stations combine the battery, inverter and charge controller in one and have a simple plug for the panels which can be daisy chained to expand how much power you can generate. You can use the slew of outlets on the power stations to recharge electronics, power lights and even run small appliances. It’s not as elegant as something that feeds into your existing electrical system, but it’s one low-effort way to stir in a little solar to your power mix.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/sister-can-you-spare-12000-to-help-me-decarbonize-my-home-120041774.html?src=rss
Replacing a smartphone every two years is partially why billions of phones go into landfills each year. If stacked flat atop one another, that many handsets would reach farther than the ISS. But we’ve become accustomed to that 24-month time frame because wireless carriers often push an upgrade on biennial contracts, and many smaller phone makers only offer software support for two years. But now, with longer software commitments from major manufacturers, along with growing right-to-repair legislation, many newer phones can stay in our pockets for closer to seven trips around the sun. Here’s how you can extend the lifespan of your smartphone and avoid shelling out hundreds before it’s absolutely necessary.
How to make your smartphone last longer
Amy Skorheim for Engadget
Use a case
It’s a flashy move to carry a naked phone around, but the chances of a handset making it through a tumble go up dramatically when you employ extra protection. We recommend a few in our guide to iPhone cases. In my family, we’ve been happy with Mous cases. Though we’ve never subjected our phones to the brutality seen in the company’s ads, I can say that these cases have seen my partner’s aging Samsung Galaxy through some pretty gnarly spills and I credit the cases for getting my iPhone 11 to 2025 in working condition.
Take care of the built-in battery (or use a power bank)
Since a phone’s battery is often the first thing to show signs of age, it’s worth it to follow recommendations for extending its lifespan. Lithium-ion batteries don’t perform well in heat and you should avoid charging them if it’s hotter than 95 degrees — doing so can degrade the battery quickly and even cause them to malfunction. They’ll tolerate cold weather better, but can get sluggish when things get too chilly.
If you’re storing a phone for a while, it’s best to do so with the battery at half charge, rather than full or empty. In fact, Li-ion cells last longer when they spend less time being either completely discharged or full — that’s why battery optimization features in iPhones and Pixel phones delay overnight charging to 100 percent until about an hour before you typically grab your mobile. And while it’s sometimes necessary to charge a battery quickly, a slower charging method when speed isn’t critical will put less stress on the ionic components and help extend the cell’s life.
But over time, any battery will eventually wear down. The cell powering my iPhone 11 can make it through a typical day, but if I’m traveling, relying heavily on navigation or using the phone as a hotspot, it’ll need a top-off before bedtime. I have a slew of them on hand after testing for our best power banks guide and the two I grab most often are the Nimble Champ Pro, because it’s crazy fast and the Anker Prime because it’s massive and I know it’ll always have a charge to lend.
If you really want to give your phone a new lease on life, a new internal battery could be the ticket. For Pixel phones, you can go through Google’s official channel for either a walk-in or mail-in repair, you can look for an authorized repair partner or you can pick the DIY route with iFixit’s Pixel repair kits and instructions.
For iPhones, you can start with Apple’s official page, go through Best Buy or other authorized third-parties, or try iFixit’s methods. Samsung also has an in-house option but both iFixit and Best Buy ended their repair relationships with Samsung in 2024. Depending where you go and the model of your phone, the price for a new battery and installation will likely run you between $60 and $150 — still far less than ditching your handset for something brand new.
Clean up your phone’s storage
Most advice on how to declutter your phone and make it run faster centers on one thing: freeing up space. Your phone’s OS will likely have suggestions for clearing up storage space, like automatically offloading unused apps or deleting year-old messages. You can also do things manually by deleting any apps you don’t use. Next, consider the photos and videos you’re storing locally and either opt to pay for cloud storage or transfer the files to a computer or an external backup device. You can also consider getting rid of any music and movies you may have downloaded for offline use, and deleting old messages and large attachments. A good rule is to keep your storage at around 80 percent capacity. Once you’ve deleted and transferred what you can, restart your phone to give it a chance to clear up its temporary memory.
Why you can (and should) extend the life of your smartphone
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
The e-waste stream grows each year and doesn't do great things for human or planetary health. Smartphone companies are offering better and more consistent trade-in deals, but even some electronic recycling has its faults. Simply hanging onto a device instead of opting for a new one is the most efficient way of cutting back on a phone's environmental impact — plus it'll save you money.
While every giant phone maker would like you to believe that upgrading annually is critical, it’s worth noting that new generations of phones often bear strong resemblance to the prior year’s model. Engadget editors see this time and again with the countless smartphones they review — there’s a new button, a few new AI tricks, but the technology generally doesn’t leap forward each year to create something wildly different than what came before.
With only minor hardware upgrades, the more exciting new features come via over-the-air software updates. Starting with the release of the Pixel 8 in 2023, Google promised security and software updates for a full seven years. So those who buy a Pixel 9 in 2025 could still be using the same phone in 2032. Samsung’s Galaxy S25 from this January has the same length of promised support. Apple hasn’t made the same pledge, but when the launch of iOS 18 last year cut support for the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, both models had enjoyed around seven years of updates from launch.
When Apple launched the iPhone 15, the company doubled its estimation for the handset’s battery life saying a handset should retain 80 percent of the original full charge after 1,000 cycles. And Apple said the placement of the larger battery in the iPhone 16 makes replacing it easier. Overall, battery technology has improved in capacity over the years, but longevity hasn’t gone up across the board, as a study by PhoneArena makes clear.
More advancements in battery life spans may be on the horizon particularly as the EV industry grows, which also relies on lithium-ion cells. For now, declining battery health is usually the most noticeable issue affecting older phones. In 2023, the European Council of the European Union adopted new guidelines for battery-powered devices, which includes a mandate to allow consumers to “easily remove and replace” batteries. That won’t go into effect until 2027, and there will be plenty of interpretation as to what “easily” means. But EU mandates are what made Apple finally ditch Lightning ports on iPhones in favor of USB-C, so this could eventually be a step towards (once again) having smartphones with swappable batteries.
Even in the US, legislation could compel companies to make repair a better option. Right-to-repair bills were passed in 2022 in New York, Minnesota and other states. California has the strongest rule, and it even garnered Apple’s support. And Google has voiced its support for Oregon’s law. Some of these laws have already gone into effect, and will require manufacturers to do things like providing repair tools and documentation, and selling components for a number of years after the last new model for higher priced devices.
Currently, a number of phones have decent repairability scores, according to the online repair community iFixit (The FairPhone 5 gets the highest marks.) It even appears California’s law is having an impact, considering that iFixit gave the iPhone 14 a repair score of 4, but the iPhone 15 and 16 gets a 7. Unfortunately, the scores for Google’s Pixel 9 phones went down compared to previous models. Until more companies start making it easier to fix things ourselves, authorized repair is an option, while self-repair remains an option for the more industrious.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/how-to-make-your-smartphone-last-longer-120014817.html?src=rss
The Galaxy S25 Ultra supports up to 45-watt wired charging. Unfortunately, because it doesn't have magnets inside, it doesn't work with Qi2 accessories natively without help from a case.
There’s a lot to take in in the announcement trailer for Shotgun Cop Man: the wide-bodied, thumb-headed protagonist; Satan in the style of Handsome Squidward; a demon boss with a lethal fart(?) stream; intense, action-heavy platforming with shotgun-based movement. The upcoming new game from DeadToast Entertainment, the solo developer behind My Friend Pedro, looks absolutely unhinged. Its hero’s core mission? “Go to Hell, arrest Satan.”
Publisher Devolver Digital dropped the trailer on Friday, and while there’s no firm release date just yet, it’s slated to come out sometime this year. The game is described as a “punchy, crunchy, son-of-a-gun precision platformer.” But rather than jumping between platforms, players will rely on shotgun blasts to propel themselves and mow down enemies. The main campaign has about 150 levels, and there will be a built-in level editor so players can create and share custom levels.
Shotgun Cop Man will be available for PC and Nintendo Switch once it’s released. You can download the demo from Steam now to get a taste of the action.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/my-friend-pedro-creator-new-game-deadtoast-devolver-digital-shotgun-cop-man-181525492.html?src=rss
A still from the announcement trailer for Shotgun Cop Man showing Satan, who has a chiseled jaw, wearing in a rave-style net shirt and holding up a blurred middle finger. Below him are the words" [blurred] you, Shotgun Cop Man!"
Google will start testing a feature this year that uses machine learning to weed out children trying to access adult content on YouTube. The “machine learning-based age estimation model” will try to predict whether a user is under 18 and, if so, apply appropriate age filter settings to their account. The announcement came amid a flurry of Google child safety announcements as the US Senate considers a bill that would ban pre-teens from social media.
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan first mentioned the ML age restriction feature on Tuesday in his letter about the platform’s “bets” for the coming year. “We’ll use machine learning in 2025 to help us estimate a user’s age — distinguishing between younger viewers and adults — to help provide the best and most age-appropriate experiences and protections,” he wrote.
A YouTube spokesperson clarified to Engadget that the model will make its predictions using data like the types of info the person searches for, the categories of videos they watch and the age of their accounts. For example, if someone frequently searches for info about mortgage lending or taxes, that probably points to the person being over 18. Ditto for an account that’s over 20 years old.
If the ML model predicts that someone is underage, YouTube will apply its standard protections to deliver a more age-appropriate experience. Of course, the platform blocks explicit (and otherwise age-restricted) videos from under-18 users. Google’s underage restrictions also include its SafeSearch Filter, which (as its name suggests) blocks explicit content from search results.
YouTube told Engadget it will begin testing the filtration tool by the end of this year. The platform plans to roll it out globally in 2026. Although YouTube’s CEO first announced the feature, Google will test the feature in other areas, too. However, we don’t yet know where else the new ML feature will pop up. Google isn’t alone in trialing such a feature.
Google isn’t alone in trialing such a moderation feature. Last year, Meta said it would use an “adult classifier” tool to identify underage Instagram users posing as adults.
Google
Google also said on Wednesday that School Time, a feature previously only available as a smartwatch app on the Fitbit Ace LTE and Galaxy Watch for Kids, will roll out to Android phones and tablets. Part of Google’s Family Link parental controls app, School Time will let parents determine what phone features and apps their children can use during school hours. Parents can choose which apps remain active (like, say, learning-friendly apps) while allowing messages and calls from certain contacts. The idea is to minimize screen time and help kids focus on their work while still green-lighting emergency contacts.
Along similar lines, the Android Family Link app will let parents approve or deny contacts to add to their children’s devices. (This is another feature making its way over from the Galaxy Watch for Kids.) Parents can then limit calls and texts to only approved contacts. However, that feature isn’t quite here yet: Google says it will roll out “in the coming months.”
Finally, this spring, parents using Google parental control features can add tap-to-pay to their children’s Android phones. (Google said this was coming last year.) Parents will be able to approve a payment card, add or remove further cards and view the child’s transactions. Google says the feature will also work for things like gift cards and concert tickets.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-will-use-machine-learning-to-try-and-tell-if-a-user-is-under-18-204713279.html?src=rss
Proving that truly no IP is safe from modern reboot culture, Atari’s Breakout is back. The upcoming version of the simple 1976 brick-smashing hit rotates the playing field by 90 degrees and adds auto-scrolling, neon effects, power-ups and local co-op. In other words, Breakout Beyond is the Tetris Effect formula applied to the Led Zeppelin-era arcade classic.
The original Breakout was a product of dramatically more limited 1970s hardware, but its simplicity was part of its magic. Rows of bricks sat up top, a player-controlled paddle lived down below and a “ball” (actually a square, thanks to ‘70s graphics) bounced in between. Move paddle, hit ball, smash bricks, wow bellbottom-wearing arcadegoers.
The core formula — moving a paddle to bounce projectiles against bricks — remains intact in Breakout Beyond. But the game’s landscape perspective, while better suited for today’s televisions and monitors, may be hard for old-school gamers to get used to. Ditto for auto-scrolling, as this version pans left-to-right toward a goal rather than simply requiring you to break all the bricks on a fixed screen.
Atari
Visually, the new version’s ball is more like a comet, with a long neon tail trailing off behind its round head. Seizure-inducing effects abound. And there are multiple balls to contend with, not just one. (However, Super Breakout, the original game’s direct sequel, had two modes with extra balls.)
Like Tetris Effect, Breakout Beyond introduces combos, rewarding you with intensified visual and sound effects for stringing together streams of broken bricks. You can also break special blocks that unlock power-ups: bombs that clear out everything from a set radius, a force field to shield the ball and a freakin’ laser cannon that lets you blast bricks out of your way, a la Space Invaders.
The game supports two-player local co-op so you can smash bricks with a couch buddy. It has 72 levels and an optional focus mode that slows down time (at the expense of higher scores).
Breakout Beyond will arrive on PC, Switch, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, PlayStation 5/4 and Atari’s rebooted VCS console on March 25. It costs $15, but there's a 10 percent discount if you pre-order.
Update February 25, 2025, 10:41AM ET: Updated the headline and last paragraph to reflect the release date and pricing.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ataris-side-scrolling-breakout-reboot-arrives-on-march-25-154136006.html?src=rss
Screenshot of Breakout Beyond, an upcoming reboot of the 1976 Atari classic. Neon-infused balls stream across the landscape screen as bricks lay to the right.
With the help of modern machine learning technology, The Beatles were able to release their song “Now and Then” in late 2023. The song contains vocals recorded from around 50 years ago and a guitar track from 1995, but technological limitations at the time prevented it from seeing the light of day without serious audio issues. Today, after being nominated in November 2024 for two Grammys, “Now and Then” won one for Best Rock Performance.
When the demo was first recorded, John Lennon’s singing and piano were on the same audio track, and separating them was impossible. Fortunately, AI can now do that without much bleed or loss. The surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, were able to complete the song by recording new bass and drum parts and releasing it almost 30 years later.
Sean Ono Lennon, the son of the late Beatle, accepted the trophy in his father’s stead. “Now and Then” was also nominated for Record of the Year but lost to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/ai-won-the-beatles-a-grammy-55-years-after-they-broke-up-141743908.html?src=rss
Swedish indie development studio Hazelight just dropped a new trailer for its forthcoming co-op adventure Split Fiction. This new footage takes a more indepth look at the actual nuts and bolts of the cooperative gameplay. Remember, Hazelight is the same company that made the genre-defining It Takes Two and A Way Out.
Unlike the bickering parents of It Takes Two, this game stars a sci-fi writer and a fantasy author as they travel into various fantastical worlds. It’s a story of friendship, and not marital collapse. This should make for fewer awkward conversations between couples as they play through the campaign.
The company calls Split Fiction a “boundary-pushing co-op adventure.” There are all kinds of unique mechanics shown off in the trailer, which is quite a feat since previous footage already showed off dozens of fun-looking ideas. There are dragons, cyberpunk motorcycles and even Dune-like sandworms.
Hazelight also announced a new mechanic called Side Stories, which are one-off adventures hidden in main story levels. This allows the main characters to do even more stuff, like surf on a sandfish or snowboard down a mountain during a heated battle. The co-op madness will never end.
Split Fiction comes out on March 6 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The game supports crossplay and purchasers will be able to invite friends to play with them for free on any platform.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-new-split-fiction-trailer-shows-off-some-intense-co-op-gameplay-190028752.html?src=rss
I didn’t set out to play jump rope STAR!when I picked up my Playdate this weekend. I was actually looking for something else, but lazily searched only half of the correct title and found myself staring at jump rope STAR! at the top of the results instead. Curious — in part because “Hot Rope Jump” was one of my favorite minigames in Mario Party 2 back in the day — I clicked on it, and was greeted by pictures that look like something I’d tape to my refrigerator if given by a 5-year-old. It was kind of a “say no more” moment; I purchased it immediately.
As you’d expect from the title, jump rope STAR! is a jump rope game for Playdate. It offers a few different modes for solo and co-op play, the latter involving two players sharing one device. I haven’t run into many multiplayer games for Playdate, so that alone is pretty cool. The game was made by Chris Corciega (Soinksters Games), but the art was “designed by a talented 5-year old,” Maya. And it is adorable. As you try to set new high scores, you use the crank to control the swing of a jump rope held by a bipedal bunny and a… striped pig (?). Okay I’m not entirely sure what the second character is, but those two are swinging the rope, and the goal is to do so in time with the little stick-figure girl’s jumps so you don’t trip her up.
Her timing isn’t always consistent and she speeds up as you progress, so it starts to get pretty tricky after a minute or so. But, achieving perfect swings will earn you points in the Star Meter that’s on the side of the screen, and once it’s filled, you can use that power to temporarily slow down time and get more swings in while the girl is in the air. In the other modes, things get a little more complicated. Playing with a friend in the two-player catch mode, for example, one of you will have to press buttons to move the girl around so she can catch falling stars while the other person swings the rope. (Very hard to do on your own, I discovered).
It’s a simple but fun little game, made even better by the fact that you can involve someone else in the silliness. Both adults and children would be able to enjoy it, and there is a kid mode for a more forgiving style of play if you don’t want family game night to get too competitive. This strikes me as another one of those perfectly Playdate games — the kind that just seems like a natural fit for the device, and that you’d show your friends to try to get them to understand its charm.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/i-think-i-found-the-most-wholesome-game-in-the-playdate-catalog-222138394.html?src=rss
A still from the Playdate jump rope STAR! showing graphics in the style of a 5-year-old's drawing depicting a bunny and another character spinning a jump rope while a stick figure girl jumps in the middle
We all want to protect our phones from the inevitable drops, scratches and tumbles of daily life, but what if your phone case could protect more than just your device? The best eco-friendly phone cases offer a great blend of durability and sustainability, helping to reduce plastic waste and better the planet.
Made from natural materials like biodegradable plastics, recycled ocean waste or even sustainable bamboo, eco-friendly and compostable phone cases prove that you don’t have to sacrifice style or protection to go green. They’re designed to safeguard your device while actively combating plastic pollution, making them a win-win for both you and Mother Earth.
Whether you’re looking for something sleek and minimal or bold and artistic, there’s an eco-friendly option out there that will fit your style. Instead of a standard plastic case, you can choose one that’s both practical and planet-friendly.
Eco-friendly phone case FAQs
What makes a phone case eco-friendly?
A phone case can be considered eco-friendly when it’s designed to protect not just your phone but also the planet. What sets these cases apart is the use of sustainable materials like biodegradable plastics, recycled plastic waste or even natural materials like bamboo or flax straw. Instead of contributing to plastic pollution, these materials break down naturally over time, or are made from recycled content that reduces waste.
Eco-friendly cases can also go a step further by being compostable, meaning you can toss them in a compost bin at the end of their life and they’ll decompose into the earth without leaving harmful residues. Plus, many brands behind these cases focus on sustainable practices, like reducing carbon emissions during production or offering recycling programs for old cases.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/best-eco-friendly-phone-cases-150016494.html?src=rss
Samsung and Google are introducing a new Wear OS software experience called "Galaxy Watch for Kids" that's designed to make the Galaxy Watch 7 LTE (and presumably future wearables) safe and fun for children to use. The new software features and setup process is similar to Apple's "Apple Watch For Your Kids" just with Android devices rather than iOS ones.
According to Samsung, parents will be able to set up their child's Galaxy Watch 7 directly from their phone and activate its eSIM. After that, kids don't need a phone to use the Galaxy Watch. The core features of Wear OS are available, just with added guardrails for kid's safety and parent's peace of mind. Those include the ability to enable location sharing, manage who kids can contact through the Galaxy Watch, and set up a Do Not Disturb mode that's enabled during school hours. Settings can be tweaked at any time from Google's Family Link app.
To make being tracked more enticing, Galaxy Watch for Kids will come with new kid-friendly customization options, like a Rubik's Cube or Tech Deck watch face (admittedly right up my alley when I was 10), Wear OS apps featuring characters from Barbie, Marvel, or PBS Kids and new colorful watch band options. Activity tracking and health data are accessible in the Galaxy Watch for Kids experience, too.
Samsung isn't reinventing the wheel with this feature — Google's Fitbit Ace LTE kid smartwatch just launched in 2024 — but parents love being able to keep track of their kids, and a smartwatch might ultimately be a healthier to make your children always-connected than a phone.
Galaxy Watch for Kids is available to use now on Galaxy Watch 7 LTE models from Samsung, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/samsungs-galaxy-watch-for-kids-software-makes-wear-os-a-family-affair-190332986.html?src=rss
Nearly every TV on the market today is a smart TV, but not every operating system is a winner. A media streaming device lets you pair whichever user interface you prefer with just about any screen that has an HDMI port. In some cases, such as with older or less expensive smart TVs, a streaming stick or dongle could even be speedier and less glitchy than your TV’s built-in system.
At home, these handy gadgets make it easier for cord cutters to watch the millions of hours of content streaming services provide without cable. And while traveling, a streaming player lets you watch your preferred content on hotel sets (without painstakingly typing in a bunch of passwords or activation codes). We tested out streaming players from Roku, Google, Apple, Amazon and more, gauging the usability and the performance of each to come up with our list of the best streaming devices you can buy.
What to look for in a TV streaming device
Operating system and interface
Google’s TV Streamer, the Apple TV 4K, Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks and Roku devices are the most popular players in the space. Three of those brands also come built into TVs, such as Fire, Google and Roku TVs, but the Apple TV 4K doesn't come pre-loaded on any set. Each one has a unique operating system and interface. This may be the biggest deciding factor for many people, as it determines how the content you want to watch is arranged and presented. We go into detail for each platform below, but all of them come with home screens that, to varying degrees, gather your apps in one place, present the movies and TV shows you’re currently watching and give you suggestions of other media streaming options.
Nearly all streaming devices come with a remote that lets you search and do other operations using your voice, eliminating the need to hunt and peck at on-screen keyboards. They all offer “universal search,” in which searching for a title takes you to whichever app has it available. If you want to watch Barbie but don’t know where it’s playing, just push the voice button on the remote and say "Barbie.” (We found simply saying the title or the genre you want sometimes works better than saying “Show me…” or “Search for…”) From the search results, hit the play button and the correct app will open and start playing — assuming you’ve previously logged into that app and, in most cases, have an active subscription.
Connectivity
Most streaming sticks connect to the internet via Wi-Fi, with the majority of them supporting Wi-Fi 5 or 6 protocols. Set-top boxes can also have Ethernet ports, so you can hardwire your internet connection to the device, which is always faster than wireless. Streaming media players connect to your TV through an HDMI port, and most sticks hide behind the screen, while set-top boxes sit on a surface nearby. Nearly all units also plug into an AC outlet for power. Some sticks used to work by pulling power from a USB port on the TV, but increasingly, these devices are designed to plug into the wall.
Video and audio features
If you have a screen that can display 4K content with Dolby Vision and HDR10, you’ll want a streaming device that supports those high-end formats. Of course, even the most top-shelf streamer can’t make a 1080p TV display content in 4K. The series or movie also has to be transmitted in 4K and, increasingly, companies restrict higher-quality streaming to more expensive subscription plans. In short, every element needs to support the video or audio feature, otherwise the highest quality you’ll get will be the lowest of any component in the chain.
Voice control
In addition to helping you find stuff to watch, streaming devices from Apple, Google and Amazon can answer questions about the weather, sports scores and general facts using built-in voice assistants. They can also act as smart home controllers to turn off connected smart bulbs or plugs and show feeds from smart cameras. Just remember, as with all smart home devices, compatibility is key. Fire TV devices work with Alexa-enabled smart home equipment; the Google TV Streamer lets you control Google Home devices; Apple TV 4Ks play nice with HomeKit; and Rokus grant power over Roku’s smart home products.
Below are some recommendations for the best streaming sticks and other budget-friendly options. We also included suggestions for set-top boxes and devices geared toward gamers.
Best streaming devices
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/best-streaming-devices-media-players-123021395.html?src=rss
If it feels like every piece of home tech is now “smart,” you’re not far off. The smart home space has grown exponentially in the past few years to include speakers, cameras, locks, lights and even kitchen appliances. There are also different voice assistants and IoT standards to consider, all of which can make it confusing (to say the least) to build your smart home ecosystem from the ground up.
Allow us at Engadget to help with that. We’ve tested dozens of smart home gadgets over the years and continue to test the latest offerings to see which work well and are worth your money. We recommend, before you even dive in, to resist the urge to outfit your whole home in one go. Not only can this be quite expensive, but also we think it’s generally best to buy just one or two items first to see if you like them. You should also pick a preferred voice assistant and stick with it. If you’re at the point where you’re ready to invest in a few new IoT gadgets, below are the best smart home gadgets you can get right now, plus some advice on how to choose the right voice assistant for your needs.
Best smart home gadgets: Smart speakers
Best smart home gadgets: Smart displays
Best smart home gadgets: Smart lights
Best smart home gadgets: Security cameras
Best smart home gadgets: IoT gear
How to pick the right voice assistant before you buy
While plenty of the best smart home devices are platform agnostic, there are some — smart speakers and smart displays in particular — that require you to choose your voice assistant. Currently, that means deciding if you’ll use the Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa on a regular basis (I’ll address Siri in a moment.)
They’re both compatible with various smart home products from light bulbs to robot vacuums, but there are certain devices that work best with either Google or Amazon. Nest products, for example, are more compatible and have more functionality with Google-powered speakers and displays. They can still work with Amazon devices, but certain features might be disabled. The same holds true with Amazon products: They work better if they’re in the same ecosystem.
Amazon Alexa
So how do you choose between Alexa and Google Assistant? It really depends on your personal preferences. Do you listen to Audible, watch Prime Video and tend to do a lot of shopping on Amazon? Then you might lean toward an Alexa-powered smart home device.
Google Assistant
If you want a voice assistant that’s great at answering questions, Google Assistant tends to be better than Alexa. Amazon’s helper, on the other hand, currently supports more smart home products. The company’s smart speakers and displays also support the Zigbee smart home protocol, and some devices even have built-in smart home hubs. Both Google and Amazon devices can sync with your calendar, though Google’s tend to work better with Google services. Plus, if you already have an Android phone, you might be more comfortable with Google Assistant anyway.
Siri
But what about Siri? Apple’s assistant supports voice commands as well, but it doesn't have as many compatible devices as Google or Amazon. The HomePod mini and the full-sized HomePod are the only Siri-compatible speakers on the market at the moment, too. That said, it’s not too hard to find Apple HomeKit-compatible gear as more third-party companies add support for it, but you currently have a smaller pool of devices to choose from.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/best-smart-home-devices-154557162.html?src=rss
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a suit against John Deere, accusing it of “unfair” practices that force farmers to pay higher-than-average repair costs. The federal organization, along with attorneys general for Illinois and Minnesota, are alleging that the company engages in practices that keep farmers from being able to make repairs on equipment they own.
In other words, this is another salvo in the ongoing right-to-repair battle. The complaint states that John Deere engages in dubious practices, like incorporating software into farm equipment, to dissuade people from trying to fix stuff on their own. Additionally, the suit points to “decades” of unlawful behavior that pushes farmers to the company’s authorized network of dealers for repairs.
FTC, states sue Deere & Company to protect farmers from unfair corporate tactics, high repair costs: https://t.co/sdho0iXf1u /1
“Illegal repair restrictions can be devastating for farmers, who rely on affordable and timely repairs to harvest their crops and earn their income,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a press release. “The FTC’s action today seeks to ensure that farmers across America are free to repair their own equipment or use repair shops of their choice.”
The suit goes on to allege that Deere makes “the only fully functional software repair tool capable of performing all repairs” on its equipment, which was only made available to official dealers. These dealers allegedly charge higher prices than independent shops, giving the company unlawful monopoly power. Farmers have long maintained that they can conduct basic repairs on equipment, but the computers lock the systems from working again until an officially licensed technician does their thing. This thing, allegedly, is simply flipping a software switch.
The company says it supports customers’ right to repair equipment. It even signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) in 2023 that was supposed to make its software, tools and documentation available to farmers and independent repair shops. It doesn’t look like that actually happened, as the suit alleges it “continues to unlawfully withhold a fully functional repair tool from equipment owners.”
The lawsuit seeks to “stop Deere’s anticompetitive conduct” by mandating access to its software repair tool, in addition to “other repair resources available to authorized dealers.” Nathan Proctor, PIRG’s Right to Repair Campaign Director, said in a statement to Gizmodo that “We shouldn’t tolerate companies blocking repair. When you buy something, you should be able to do whatever you want with it.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ftc-sues-john-deere-over-unfair-corporate-tactics-and-high-repair-costs-192052941.html?src=rss
CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) is the biggest tech convention of the year. It helps set the stage for all the wonderful gadgets we're going to see over the next 12 months. However, among all the quadcopters, questionably benevolent robots and devices with fancy flexible screens, there's a lot of small things that go into making CES a one-of-a-kind event. To highlight some of the silly, stupid and occasionally wholesome things we encountered at the show this year, we humbly present the very unofficial Dumb Fun awards for CES 2025.
Cutest digger - Komatsu PC01E-2
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Komatsu’s PC01E-2 looks like a children’s playground toy, except that it actually works and is really goddam cute. You almost want to walk over and pinch that little bucket until it turns pink. But it’s not all fun and games because this little digger is meant to help excavate things — even in tight spaces. In fact, it’s small enough to fit in most elevators, so if you run into a situation where you need to get some digging done, say, on the roof, Komatsu's got you.
We generally try to be optimistic about new tech. But ever since Faraday Future announced its first concept car back in 2016, the company has made less than 20 cars in total. And for the massive accomplishment of producing less than two dozen vehicles, Faraday Future’s founder and CEO went and gave themselves raises. Now at CES 2025, the company is trying to make a comeback with its new line of FX EVs, except that it couldn't even be bothered to paint them. That special camouflage automakers use is usually meant to help hide a vehicle’s design before it gets announced, not make it look like a half-finished product at its own press event. That said, calling it 50 percent done is probably way too generous. So while there's always a chance a company turns it around, don’t be surprised if you never see a FX Super One on the road.
If you ever need someone to sacrifice their sartorial elegance for a story, he’s your man. And yet, even with a floppy photovoltaic-equipped, mess of a head ornament, there’s still no doubt he’s the most dapper Dan.
Everyone is always worried about when our robot overlords are going to come and conquer us. Except it’s the humans we should probably be worried about the most. That’s because during a demo for Unitree’s robot, its homo sapien operator fumbled the controller, resulting in the robot basically tackling our very own Karissa Bell. Human or robot, that’s just not OK.
Originally this list was meant to highlight interesting things we saw at CES that didn't get a lot of praise (or hate) elsewhere, but then the Mirumi went and won an award. I don’t care, though. This robot is designed to do one thing — hold onto your arm and stare cutely at things as you walk around. It's basically a puffball with eyes and a clingyness that can't be denied. And I will protect and cherish it with my life.
Look, taking care of your skin is important. It’s the largest organ in your body after all! But if traditional moisturizers, creams and exfoliants aren’t enough for you, I’m not convinced Shark’s red light mask is the answer. If I’m at home and my significant other comes out of the bathroom looking like goddam Doctor Doom, I’m not getting in bed. I’m running out the door and calling Reed Richards for help.
Chillest booth: AARP
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
The AARP describes itself as "the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age." So instead of encouraging people to hustle around from booth to booth while checking out all the new-fangled gadgets during CES, the AARP went and decided to install a whole-ass pickleball court right on the show floor. Naturally, attendees both young and old stepped up to the net and causally batted balls back and forth with everyone seemingly having a relaxing time in the midst of the biggest tech convention of the year. Good on y’all.
Las Vegas is an affront to Mother Nature. It’s an unwalkable city in the middle of the desert filled with all manner of temptations and enough neon lighting to melt your brain. So when a company doesn’t feel like flying in to attend CES, we get it. But that doesn’t mean you can try to weasel your way into the spotlight by sending email pitches about being “perfect for CES, but smart enough to skip it.” Either stop fence sitting and suffer with the rest of us or shut up. So hey Jackrabbit, you say you’re fine not being at CES. That’s cool, we feel the same way.
You know what sounds safe? An electric moped that turns into a quadcopter, but only if you position the propellers and arms yourself. The base model also only has about 25 minutes of flight time. While the company claims there are a number of safety features, there’s also a built-in parachute. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we can’t have air taxis and other hybrid aerial vehicles. But this thing does not inspire confidence. However, if you have more guts and than sense, please give it a try and let us know how it goes.
Not every computer part needs to be about pumping out higher framerates and MSI proved that this year by making a CPU cooler with a built-in turntable. What’s the point, you ask? Well check out that happy little dragon sitting atop its throne. Just look at him. But really, you could put anything up there that makes you happy. The only sad part is that this water block is merely a concept and MSI has no actual plans to put it on sale. What a bummer.
We couldn’t decide which one was more outrageous, so we ended up with a tie in this category. For Dell, its new unified branding is largely fine. After all, no one really cares about lines like Latitude, Inspiron and Optiplex. But killing off the XPS name, which is the only Dell sub-brand that has really ever meant something, is a step too far.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to woo younger buyers who might not have an affinity for its classic black laptops, Lenovo made a ThinkPad with no carbon fiber or a Trackpoint nub. That’s downright sacrilegious. Admittedly, if you’re younger than 50 you might not care, but any nerd who grew up using rotary phones is probably pissed.
Horniest booth: Handy
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
CES is home to all sorts of sex tech, but even among all the vibrators and various toys, the Handy booth somehow managed to be hornier than any other. That’s because in addition to having a selection of kinky gadgets on display, the company had guests lining up to spin a wheel for the chance to take home a prize of their own. And if people eagerly awaiting a chance to take away a pleasure device so they can get their rocks off isn’t horny, I don’t know what is. Just maybe keep it in your pants until you get home.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/our-unofficial-silly-and-meaningless-ces-2025-awards-just-for-fun-210041744.html?src=rss
It was an interesting year for robots at CES 2025. While we had hoped the AI boom would bring a new wave of useful robots to the show, it seems that many robotics companies are still figuring out exactly how to best use AI.
What we found instead was a mix of adorable robot companions, strange concepts and one, slightly terrifying humanoid. We visited a lot of robots at CES and, for better or worse, some really left an impression on us. These are the ones that stood out the most.
TCL Ai Me
Karissa Bell for Engadget
Of all the surprisingly adorable robots we saw at CES, TCL’s Ai Me (pronounced “Amy”) was one of the cutest. The concept was on display at TCL’s booth delighting and bewildering everyone who walked by. With a voice and eyes that are meant to sound like an actual human child, TCL seems to be pitching this as an emotional support/companion robot for kids. At the booth, Ai Me wasn’t doing much besides moving around in its wheeled, egg-shaped base, but the company says that the AI-powered robot could be used to control smart home devices or record vlogs, thanks to built-cameras and AI capabilities.
For now, it’s unclear if TCL actually plans to sell this thing, but the company seemed to have put quite a bit of effort into its CES demo. In addition to the one slowly wheeling around a mock-up living room, TCL showed off a lineup of different outfits, including fuzzy bunny suits and a denim vest, for Ai Me. -Karissa Bell
Ropet
Karissa Bell for Engadget
As we walked over to the Ropet booth, a person was waving a plastic hotdog in front of the little robot and small cartoon hotdogs flashed across its eyes in response. I was pretty much sold at that moment, but it turned out to have some other pretty interesting things going on too. Ropet responds to voice, touch and gestures, and has its own cute little emotional reactions. It’s conversational if you want it to be, with ChatGPT integration. Mostly it’s just adorable. -Cheyenne MacDonald
Mirumi
Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget
Mirumi is one of those CES oddities that makes you simultaneously go, “What the hell is this?” and, “Omg I love this.” It’s small, fluffy and has no other purpose than to make you smile by looking around and staring at you like an innocent baby. I immediately felt the need to protect it with my life. — CM
Romi
Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget
Romi is a conversational robot that fits in the palm of your hand and is here for you if you want to chat, vent or just hang out. The newest model of the robot turned up at Unveiled, and we couldn’t help but be charmed by its cute facial expressions. It fits nicely in your hands, so you can carry it around the house with you while you walk around complaining about your workday. -CM
Miroki
Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget
Miroki was at CES last year, but the Enchanted Tools team was back showing off the latest version and some new skills, including LLM integration. If you were able to fight through the crowd surrounding it to get up close, you may have seen it rolling around waving at people, blinking its big cartoon eyes and flicking its ears like a deer. Undecided on whether it’s cute or a little unnerving. -CM
Scorpion is an AI bartender from Richtech Robotics that unfortunately wasn’t slinging drinks when we saw it (or scuttling around, apparently it doesn’t do that), but did perform a synchronized dance to “Apt.” with the company’s Adam bot. Come for the arthropodal robot, stay for the K-pop. -CM
Unitree G1 and "Robot Dog"
This robot attacked me.
Karissa Bell for Engadget
Of all the robots we saw at CES 2025, Unitree’s take the prize for most terrifying. The company was showing off its new quadruped “robot dog” and humanoid G1 robots. The quadruped, which is essentially their take on Boston Dynamic’s Spot robot, showed off to onlookers by running around the booth, climbing stairs and sitting on its “hind legs.”
But it was the G1 that proved to be the robot we needed to worry about. I was taking photos of the roughly 4-foot tall humanoid when it suddenly ran at me full-speed. I was only a foot or so in front of it at the time due to the crowd in the booth, so the roughly 60-pound G1 slammed directly into my body at an all out run. The surrounding crowd meant I was essentially pinned in place for a few seconds while the robot continued to attempt to run through me until its operator was able to regain control. Fortunately, this was a case of user error and not the beginning of a robot uprising. The person holding the gamepad-like controller for the robot had mistakenly mashed the joystick, sending it directly into my body. At least I can now say I know what it feels like to be body slammed by a robot. -KB
Mi-Mo
Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget
One of the more unusual robots we saw at CES, Mi-Mo is a six-legged table with a lamp on top. We didn’t see Mi-Mo do much besides shimmy around the show floor and “wave,” but there are some really interesting ideas behind the AI-powered robot. It runs on multiple large language models and "thinks and acts" based on its environment. Its creators say it could help with childcare and eldercare tasks. Mi-Mo will be available to developers and researchers as a dev kit later this year. -KB
Reachy 2
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
Pollen Robotics was here at CES showing off Reachy 2, it’s latest machine that’ll cost you $75,000 if you have that sort of cash laying around. It’s an adorable open-source machine with a human pilot that, its makers say, is ideal for tele-operation and data acquisition. I just think it’s cute, especially when it waves at you. -Daniel Cooper
Additional reporting by Daniel Cooper.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/the-robots-we-saw-at-ces-2025-the-good-the-bad-and-the-completely-unhinged-174529774.html?src=rss
CES 2025 has come to a close — Friday was the final day of the show — and team Engadget has departed Las Vegas. Our reporters and editors spent the week scouring endless carpeted convention halls of the CES show floor, braving lines of chain smokers, overcoming nasty colds and sore ankles and fielding thousands of emails a day to find the best and most credible products at the show.
It was quite the challenge, as the landscape was dotted with countless contenders. As expected, the vast majority of things we saw this CES had an AI component, with a noticeable uptick in AR glasses, hearing aid earbuds, solar-powered tech, robot vacuums and even emotional support robots. (Apparently people really like robovacs that can pick up socks.) Our team was encouraged to see more growth in tech built to improve the lives of those with disabilities and mobility issues, too.
But there was a small group of new products that rose above the rest. Our list of CES 2025 winners covers a variety of categories, ranging from typical areas like home entertainment, transportation and smart home to theme-based topics like sustainability and accessibility. After our team shortlisted nominees and voted on the best for various categories, we then conducted another round of voting to decide on the best product of the show.
That said, here’s the full list of our picks for the Best of CES 2025.
ASUS Zenbook A14
ASUS
The ASUS Zenbook A14 feels impossibly light, weighing between 2.2 and 2.4 pounds, and it has a gorgeous 14-inch OLED screen and a decent array of ports (USB-C, USB-A and HDMI)! What else ccould you want in a MacBook Air competitor? After years of basically copying Apple’s MacBooks, ASUS proves it can out-innovate Apple without resorting to gimmicks like dual screens or flashy lights. The Zenbook A14 is simply a tiny laptop that feels great in your hands, thanks in large part to ASUS’s unique Ceraluminum case material. ASUS claims it can last up to 32 hours while playing video, well above the 18 hours Apple estimates for the MacBook Air. It may seem odd that the least flashy laptop of CES 2025 is one of our favorites, but sometimes pure practicality is undeniable. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior reporter, reviews
BioLite Backup
Biolite
We’re always looking for brand new, never-seen-before stuff at CES, but sometimes it’s the clever reinterpretation of existing tech that catches our attention. That’s the case with Backup by Biolite. It’s essentially a cross between a universal power supply (UPS) and a whole-home backup battery, but improves on both.
The thin, 40-pound 1.5 kWh battery lives between a wall outlet and your fridge (or any other plug-in device) and keeps those things running in the event of a power outage. It doesn’t require professional installation, just a user-installed wall mount, and it’s thin enough to hide behind your fridge or tuck under a counter. Though if it were on display, the matte-silver finish wouldn’t spoil any aesthetic.
The Backup Complete includes two units that supply up to 3 kWh, which is enough to power a fridge, microwave, lights, as well as refill phones and a laptop. The 3 kWh capacity and the fact that it’s an installed battery currently qualifies it for a 30 percent federal tax credit, which would bring the cost down to $2,100 for the Complete. The single-unit Backup Core packs 1.5 kWh and goes for $2,000. Both are available for pre-order now and should ship this summer. — Amy Skorheim, Reporter, buying advice
Jackery Solar Roof
Jackery
Jackery is already an established name in domestic solar generator systems, and its latest product fills a wavy gap in its product lineup. Jackery’s XBC curved solar roof shingles mimic some of the most common house styles in the country, and they come in terracotta or obsidian colorways for optimum HOA appeasement. These are the first curved solar tiles to hit the United States market and they deliver a cell conversion efficiency of more than 25 percent. They can withstand extreme weather conditions, including temperatures between -40 degrees F and 185 degrees F, and they’re designed in line with traditional roofing installation practices, featuring a modular setup that allows for flexible maintenance. Jackery’s new wavy solar tiles connect with the company’s existing solar generation and storage products, making them an accessible and attractive option for whole-home sustainability. — Jessica Conditt, Senior reporter
Lenovo Legion Go S
Lenovo
The plight of the modern handheld-PC gamer is trying to decide which OS to use. There are a tonofWindows 11-based devices that offer unparalleled compatibility and strong graphics support. But all that comes on a platform that isn’t optimized for smaller gadgets with attached controllers. Alternatively, SteamOS offers a much more cohesive experience with a better UI and less performance overhead. The problem is that Valve’s operating system was basically only available on a single device — the Steam Deck. That changes now with the Lenovo Legion Go S, which will be available in two flavors: a Windows version and for the first time on any handheld not made by Valve, a model powered by SteamOS.
Aside from the choice of platforms and different colored shells, we appreciate that the two variants feature almost identical specs including an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor, up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage and a decently large 55.5Whr battery. Its 8-inch touchscreen looks great too, as it offers a 120Hz refresh rate with support for VRR, 500 nits of brightness and a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution. And with prices starting at $600 (or $500 for the SteamOS model), it’s rather affordable too. Perhaps the biggest downside is that while the Windows model will be out later this month, we’re going to have to wait until May for the one powered by SteamOS. But with the latter sort of finally making good on the nearly decade-old promise of Valve’s Steam Machines, holding out for a few extra months doesn’t seem so long. — Sam Rutherford, Senior reporter, reviews
LG OLED evo M5
LG
LG’s Best of CES crown is safe for another year. The company is consistently at the top of the best TVs we see each year in Las Vegas, and it frequently comes out the winner. For this year’s OLED evo M5, the company managed to further improve its most premium displays, adding the latest α (Alpha) 11 AI processor Gen2 to improve the look of lower-resolution content and power advanced features.
For gamers, there’s a 165Hz refresh rate, alongside both NVIDIA G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium certifications. This should smooth things out and keep lag to a minimum. The company’s new Brightness Booster Ultimate can achieve levels that are three times brighter than “conventional OLED” models, according to the company. Plus, the feature contributes to a UL Solutions' "Perfect Black" and "Perfect Color" verification on the M5. It’s truly stunning picture quality.
Lastly, LG’s Zero Connect Box that’s been available on the M-series for a while now is finally available on screens below 77 inches. This device allows you to connect all of your consoles and streaming gear without running multiple HDMI cables to the TV. LG now says it doesn’t need line-of-sight clearance either, and that it can be hidden in a wooden cabinet near the M5. — Billy Steele, Senior reporter, reviews
Moonbird Moonbuddy
Moonbird
Gadgets made for relaxation shouldn’t be complicated. Moonbuddy has one purpose — to make guided breathwork accessible and appealing to children — and it nails the execution with no unnecessary frills. The company behind it first made a similar stress relief device for adults, and Moonbuddy simplifies that experience and puts it into a cuter package. Moonbuddy is an egg-shaped device with a soft area that expands and contracts in set rhythms, so kids can follow along and sync up their own breathing. It fits into an animal themed sleeve, so it looks like a toy. There are four different breathing modes, each lasting a few minutes and designed to promote a state of calmness.
The whole thing is tactile and screen-free, which is especially good considering many parents may want to incorporate it into the nighttime routine. And as much as I love the little animal outfits as a person who gravitates toward cute things, I also like that if your kid gets to that stage where they reject everything babyish, they can take the sleeve off and keep using it in its more nondescript form. — Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend editor
OhSnap MCON
OhSnap
The MCON by OhSnap basically transforms any smartphone into a modern Xperia Play, complete with modern conveniences like Hall effect analog sticks, silent buttons, flip-out grips, and a full bumper and trigger layout. It’s a mobile gamepad that can slide into your pocket without the sticks or handles getting caught on anything, and it works with pretty much every smartphone on the market today. The MCON uses MagSafe to snap onto the back of any recent iPhone and it comes with an adapter for Android devices to join in on the fun. It even works with the Galaxy Z Fold, and its creator, Josh King, is working on a solution for the Z Flip, too.
The mockup that King brought to CES 2025 felt lightweight yet solid and comfortable to hold, and the phone-snapping action was supremely satisfying. After gaining a bit of viral fame with his idea, King partnered with established MagSafe accessory manufacturer OhSnap to push the MCON into full production, and it’s due to hit the market in August for $150. — Jessica Conditt, Senior reporter
Roborock Saros Z70
Roborock
Robot vacuums got a bunch of new — and sometimes strange — powers at CES 2025. But none made a bigger impression than Roborock’s Saros Z70, which comes with a mechanical arm that can pick up socks, lift cords and grab other objects.
The OmniGrip arm can pick up objects up to 300 grams (a little more than half a pound) in order to clean under them or deposit them in the location of your choice. Functionality of the arm is controlled via Roborock’s app and is extremely customizable so you can program it to pick up loose trash and cat toys, but lift up cords to clean underneath.
When we saw it in action at CES, it deftly picked up socks and placed them in a basket. But Roborock promises it can do much more. The vacuum will automatically recognize 108 different objects — yes, like seemingly every other gadget we saw at CES, it uses AI — but you can also teach it to detect up to 50 additional items so it will know how to handle obstacles it’s most likely to encounter in your home.
Surprisingly, the Saros Z70 wasn’t the only robot vacuum with an arm we saw at CES, but it will be the first that you can actually buy. — Karissa Bell, Senior reporter
Technics EAH-AZ100 earbuds
Technics
Technics’ new Magnetic Fluid drivers have garnered a lot of headlines this week, but all you really need to know about the EAH-AZ100 earbuds is that the sound quality is massively improved. Powered by those new components, there’s more clarity, detail and bass, all of which are upgrades from the already impressive AZ80. Technics revised its earbud shape for the AZ100 in the name of comfort and fit, while also making the buds smaller and lighter. Features like touch controls, multipoint connectivity for three devices, spatial Dolby Atmos audio and LDAC support are here as well. And unlike most of what we see at CES, these new earbuds are already available to purchase. — Billy Steele, Senior reporter, reviews
Urtopia Titanium Zero
Urtopia
Since the pandemic, e-bikes, not electric cars, have been at the forefront of the EV revolution, and it’s easy to see why: Electric bikes are a lot more affordable than their four-wheeled counterparts. Plus, here at Engadget, we’re all for devices that promote healthier living, and for many, getting an e-bike can be transformational.
So when Urtopia showed up at CES 2025 with a concept e-bike that features a novel motor design, I was excited. As my colleague Daniel Cooper notes in his writeup, e-bike motors have traditionally come in two form factors, each with their own set of considerations. The custom-designed Quark DMI.2 mid-drive motor Urtopia showed off alongside its Titanium Zero e-bike offers a third path. It’s not as powerful as traditional mid-drive motors, but it still features more power output than even the best hub motors. Best of all, the motor is small enough to fit inside a bottom bracket and weighs just 2.6 pounds.
Urtopia hasn’t said when it will start manufacturing the Titanium Zero, but it’s easy to see a scenario where the design of the Quark DMI.2 inspires other bike makers and pushes the industry forward. — Igor Bonifacic, Senior reporter
WeWalk Smart Cane 2
WeWalk
Of all the products at CES 2025 that had AI stuffed into them, WeWalk’s Smart Cane 2 stood out. The smart cane for people with visual impairments got an update this year that not only adds AI, but also addresses the original’s shortcomings. It brings more advanced sensors, and best of all, still works as a conventional folding cane when these technological features aren’t engaged. The Smart Cane 2 can detect obstacles and offer turn-by-turn navigation, and it has a ChatGPT-powered assistant that can provide answers to questions while someone is walking, without the need to reach for a smartphone. WeWalk also refined the actual cane by making its handle slimmer, replacing the original’s touchpad with tactile buttons and shaving a bit of weight off.
Sure, you might not be able to trust ChatGPT to give you correct answers to every question imaginable yet, but at least in this implementation, the product isn’t likely to harm users even if the AI fails. Plus, it has useful hardware, including time-of-flight and motion sensors to improve navigation, speakers to provide answers and feedback, as well as a flashlight to make the visually impaired more noticeable at night. And again, if the battery dies, you can still use this as a traditional, albeit pricier, cane. — Cherlynn Low, Deputy editor, reviews
Yukai Engineering Mirumi
Yukai Engineering
One of the most memorable robots at CES this year was the one that arguably does the least. We found ourselves powerless against the heart-melting charm of Mirumi, a tiny, fluffy robot made by Yukai Engineering that literally just stares at people and looks around like a baby discovering the outside world. It’s small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but even better than that, it has long posable arms that allow it to hang onto objects. So if you put it on your bag strap, it will stare down everyone you encounter, and maybe become a little shy when they return the attention.
Mirumi has no purpose other than to spread joy, and I love it for that. Yukai previously brought us the weird Qoobo pillow (the one with the tail) and the cat that nibbles your finger, and this is another case in which it did not miss with one of its odd creations. — Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend editor
Best in show: WeWalk Smart Cane 2
WeWalk
At CES this year, AI was unsurprisingly everywhere, often in places it didn’t really seem like it needed to be. But the WeWalk Smart Cane 2, a high-tech version of the mobility cane for people who are blind, struck me as an application where it could actually be really helpful. With a new voice assistant that’s powered by GPT, users can speak directly to the cane to get detailed navigation guidance and on-demand information, like public transportation options and menu items. The smart cane is also packed with sensors that allow it to alert the users of upcoming obstacles. It does this with haptic feedback in the handle and by calling out a verbal warning.
WeWalk co-founder Kursat Ceylan, who is blind, gave a demonstration of the cane in the chaotic environment of the Las Vegas Convention Center, and it was impressive. The voice assistant responded quickly and accurately to his prompts, and the obstacle detection alert was loud enough to be heard over the buzz of the CES crowd. It can also pair with headphones or earbuds via Bluetooth. Since the cane can handle things like turn-by-turn navigation, users don’t have to worry about also holding a smartphone while they’re trying to get around.
The smart cane takes an existing tool that people are already familiar with and enhances it. Importantly, it also seems like the company heard the feedback of users who had the first version of the cane and improved the design to better meet their needs. It has a slimmer handle than the first model and tactile buttons, and weighs about the same as a traditional white cane. — Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend editor
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ces-2025-the-best-tech-and-gadgets-we-saw-in-las-vegas-211535722.html?src=rss
