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Category Archives: Technology
Amazon Gains Creative Control Over James Bond In Shocking New Deal
Long-time producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have formed a new joint venture with Amazon MGM that will see them step back from creative control of the venerable spy-fi series.
Netflix in Trouble After Using AI to Clone Murder Victim Gabby Petito’s Voice
Another AI voice scandal is upon us.
Ring beefs up the image quality on its new Outdoor Cam Plus
If there’s one downside to the sheer number of security cameras Ring makes, it’s the sheer darn volume of them. Joining the mob today is the Outdoor Cam Plus, packing a new high-quality lens and 2K imaging sensor promising “a clear, colorful view even in near dark conditions.” It’s clad in a weather-resistant body and can run from mains power, via a rechargeable battery or with one of Ring’s custom solar panels. The company adds the Plus is just as comfortable working indoors as out in the open, and ships with a new mount that will even hold the camera in place on ceilings.
Unfortunately you might have to spend some time poring through the specs to work out where this one will sit in Ring’s camera firmament. After all, there’s already the Stick Up Cam, Stick Up Cam Pro and Stick Up Cam Elite available to buy in the US, and that’s before you get to the models with built-in floodlights. Not to mention the Stick Up Cam Pro, with 3D motion detection and Bird’s Eye Zones, is arguably a better product than the Elite which costs almost a hundred dollars more. Perhaps it’s time for Ring to trim down the excesses in its line up to make everything a lot cleaner for consumers.
Ring’s new Outdoor Cam Plus is available for pre-order today from Ring and Amazon for $100 and is shipping on March 26.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/ring-beefs-up-the-image-quality-on-its-new-outdoor-cam-plus-140049128.html?src=rss
Daniel Craig Is No Longer Part of DC’s Sgt. Rock Plans
Plus, the next film in Legendary’s Godzilla/Kong ‘Monsterverse’ has found another human star.
Lenovo Legion Go S review (Windows version): Not so fast
Lenovo has already teased the second-gen version of its flagship gaming handheld. But that won’t be out until much later this year, so in the meantime, it’s come out with the Legion Go S, a slightly sturdier and more portable way to frag while you’re out and about. Now the tricky thing about this device is that it will be available in a bunch of different configurations including one that comes pre-installed with SteamOS — a first for any portable PC not made by Valve. Frankly, that’s the version we’re most interested in. However, the one running Windows 11 is out now, so it’s a good time to get familiar with it and see if it’s worth the money or if you should just wait for the variant that comes with Valve’s OS instead.
Design and display: A mid-cycle streamlining
Regardless of what platform they’re based on, both models feature the same design with the only difference being that the Windows 11 version comes in white while the SteamOS variant features a dark purple shell. However, unlike the original Legion Go, the Go S doesn’t have detachable controllers. But aside from that, many of the highlight features from its predecessor are still there. It sports a 1,920 x 1,200 display with a 120Hz refresh rate. At 8 inches, that’s larger than most handhelds, though it is a slight downgrade from the 8.8-inch panel on its predecessor. You also get joysticks with precise Hall effect sensors, an assortment of face and shoulder buttons, dual USB 4 ports (which both support power and data), 3.5mm audio and a microSD card reader.
Another small tweak is that instead of four paddles in back, you only get two, with Lenovo trading out the second pair for a set of toggle switches that let you adjust how deep you want the handheld’s triggers to go. It’s a nice touch for people who enjoy things like racing games where a bit of extra analog sensitivity can go a long way, but still want the freedom to have a shorter pull when playing stuff like fighting games, where longer triggers hurt more than they help. And while the touchpad on the Legion Go S is much smaller than the one on the original, I’m really glad Lenovo didn’t axe it altogether as it makes navigating through settings and menus in Windows so much easier than relying strictly on the joysticks or touch support.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
The one feature I wish Lenovo had included is an onboard fingerprint sensor. Without it, you need to use a PIN or password to get into Windows 11. On a system without a keyboard, that means every time you pick up the system, you have to shift your hands away from the joysticks and tap the middle of the touchscreen, because the tiny touchpad doesn’t even work for this. Frankly, it’s just kind of awkward and could have been avoided entirely if Lenovo had opted for a power button with a built-in finger scanner like many of the Legion Go’s rivals including the ROG Ally X and the MSI Claw 8 AI+. Finally, while the Go S does have a built-in rumble motor, the vibrations it puts out are hilariously one-note, especially when it’s set to buzz anytime you use the touchpad. So I ended up turning it off entirely.
Performance: Not as fast as you might expect
The Legion Go S will eventually support a handful of processors and configurations, but right now it comes with an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip along with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. And if you’re comparing it to its predecessor, you might think this thing would offer better performance. After all, the original Legion Go has less RAM and an older Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, and two is higher than one, right? Well not so fast, because the Z1 Extreme features a base clock of 3.3GHz with eight cores and 16 threads compared to the Z2 Go’s base clock of 3GHz with just four cores and eight threads. Furthermore, the older Z1 Extreme also has a GPU based on AMD’s newer RDNA 3 architecture compared to RDNA 2 for the Z2 Go. So in actuality, the Legion Go S with this chip is about 10 to 15 percent less powerful than the model that came before it.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
This becomes a lot more obvious when looking at benchmarks where the Legion Go S delivered 45 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at 800p and medium settings with FSR upscaling set to performance, while the original Legion Go hit 51 fps with both systems set to the same 15-watt performance mode. Meanwhile in Returnal, we saw a similar pattern with the Go S reaching 23 fps on medium graphics at 800p compared to 34 fps for the older Legion Go, once again with both devices set to 15 watts.
Seeing poorer performance on the new model might set off alarms for some people, but before anyone panics, consider this: The Legion Go S is supposed to be a more streamlined and affordable take on the original, so in some respects not being able to achieve the same or higher framerates is to be expected. To me, the real issue is that 32GB of RAM is sort of overkill for this chip, which means you’re paying more for memory that can’t be fully utilized. And remember, while the Go S’ launch config comes with a Z2 Go, there are other versions that are expected to get a Z1 Extreme and possibly a vanilla Z2 at some point in the future.
Of course, if you want higher framerates, you can always adjust how much power you’re sending to its processor. Lenovo’s default balanced setting uses 15 watts, while performance mode pumps things up to 30. But if you want more precise control, the custom mode can go from as little as 5 watts all the way up to 40, though you’ll want or need to be plugged into the wall to utilize its full TDP (thermal design power).
Battery life: Good enough
Naturally, whatever performance mode you choose will ultimately impact your battery life. I found that when playing Metal Slug Tactics using the 15-watt balanced setting, the Legion Go S lasted for around two and a half hours, which is pretty solid. When playing more demanding titles, longevity wasn’t quite as good, with runtimes closer to an hour and a half. Though, with the Go S featuring a 55.5WHr battery compared to something like the 80WHr pack in the ROG Ally X, that kind of discrepancy isn’t entirely unexpected.
Software: Better, but still clunky
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Lenovo has done a lot to improve the Legion Space app since it came out a couple years ago. Not only is it much better as a general place to launch games from, it’s a lot easier to adjust settings or download new drivers or software updates. Even the UI is more spacious and intuitive. However, at the end of the day, the handoff between Legion Space and the rest of Windows 11 still feels awkward. Depending on what you’re trying to tweak, you have to jump between menus from Lenovo and Microsoft while switching between joystick and touchpad to navigate. I also noticed some bugs like when trying to install Steam from the Legion Space app. It failed every time, which meant I had to download the app directly from Valve and do things manually. In a lot of respects, this is where Windows-based handhelds lag behind the most, so it’s a shame it’ll be another few months before the SteamOS model goes on sale sometime in May.
Wrap-up
The Legion Go S has all the makings of a solid portable gaming PC. It’s got a straightforward design with good ergonomics, Hall effect joysticks and a sensible button layout. Lenovo also includes some nice perks like dual USB-C ports, a decent-sized battery and a handy little touchpad for navigating Windows. I just wish there was a built-in fingerprint scanner too. And while its 8-inch OLED display is a touch smaller than the one on its predecessor, there’s not much to dislike about it. You even get more storage (1TB) than a base Legion Go (512GB).
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
The hard thing to come to terms with is that right now a Legion Go S costs $730 for worse performance, no detachable controllers and the lack of bonuses like an included carrying case or vertical mouse functionality like on the original Legion Go, which can be had for $30 less ($700). Normally, that would be a death sentence for a new system because that value proposition simply doesn’t make sense.
But in this case, the issue is that Lenovo hasn’t fully rolled out all of its variations. I still think 32GB of RAM on this device is excessive; not even the ROG Ally X has that much. But more importantly, the Legion Go S’ other configs aren’t available yet. So even if you aren’t holding out for the SteamOS variant, you’d be silly not to wait for less expensive versions to come out with starting prices closer to $600 (or even $500 for the one with Valve’s platform), which will instantly make this handheld a lot more attractive.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/lenovo-legion-go-s-review-windows-version-not-so-fast-140002828.html?src=rss
China’s Electric-Vehicle-To-Humanoid-Robot Pivot
“[O]ur intrepid China reporter, Caiwei Chen, has identified a new trend unfolding within China’s tech scene: Companies that were dominant in electric vehicles are betting big on translating that success into developing humanoid robots,” writes MIT Technology Review’s James O’Donnell. “I spoke with her about what she found out and what it might mean for Trump’s policies and the rest of the globe…” An anonymous reader quotes an excerpt from the report: Your story looks at electric-vehicle makers in China that are starting to work on humanoid robots, but I want to ask about a crazy stat. In China, 53% of vehicles sold are either electric or hybrid, compared with 8% in the US. What explains that?
Price is a huge factor — there are countless EV brands competing at different price points, making them both affordable and high-quality. Government incentives also play a big role. In Beijing, for example, trading in an old car for an EV gets you 10,000 RMB (about $1,500), and that subsidy was recently doubled. Plus, finding public charging and battery-swapping infrastructure is much less of a hassle than in the US.
You open your story noting that China’s recent New Year Gala, watched by billions of people, featured a cast of humanoid robots, dancing and twirling handkerchiefs. We’ve covered how sometimes humanoid videos can be misleading. What did you think?
I would say I was relatively impressed — the robots showed good agility and synchronization with the music, though their movements were simpler than human dancers’. The one trick that is supposed to impress the most is the part where they twirl the handkerchief with one finger, toss it into the air, and then catch it perfectly. This is the signature of the Yangko dance, and having performed it once as a child, I can attest to how difficult the trick is even for a human! There was some skepticism on the Chinese internet about how this was achieved and whether they used additional reinforcement like a magnet or a string to secure the handkerchief, and after watching the clip too many times, I tend to agree.
President Trump has already imposed tariffs on China and is planning even more. What could the implications be for China’s humanoid sector?
Unitree’s H1 and G1 models are already available for purchase and were showcased at CES this year. Large-scale US deployment isn’t happening yet, but China’s lower production costs make these robots highly competitive. Given that 65% of the humanoid supply chain is in China, I wouldn’t be surprised if robotics becomes the next target in the US-China tech war.
In the US, humanoid robots are getting lots of investment, but there are plenty of skeptics who say they’re too clunky, finicky, and expensive to serve much use in factory settings. Are attitudes different in China?
Skepticism exists in China too, but I think there’s more confidence in deployment, especially in factories. With an aging population and a labor shortage on the horizon, there’s also growing interest in medical and caregiving applications for humanoid robots.
DeepSeek revived the conversation about chips and the way the US seeks to control where the best chips end up. How do the chip wars affect humanoid-robot development in China?
Training humanoid robots currently doesn’t demand as much computing power as training large language models, since there isn’t enough physical movement data to feed into models at scale. But as robots improve, they’ll need high-performance chips, and US sanctions will be a limiting factor. Chinese chipmakers are trying to catch up, but it’s a challenge.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Historic Ocean Liner Departs Philadelphia On Voyage To Become the World’s Largest Artificial Reef
The SS United States, a historic ocean liner that once held the transatlantic speed record of 36 knots (41 mph / 66 kph), has departed Philadelphia to be transformed into the world’s largest artificial reef off Florida’s Gulf Coast. The move is part of a $10 million project to boost tourism by creating a unique diving attraction while preserving the ship’s legacy as a symbol of American innovation and engineering. The Associated Press reports: The SS United States, a 1,000-foot vessel that shattered the transatlantic speed record on its maiden voyage in 1952, is being towed to Mobile, Alabama, for planned prep work before officials eventually sink it off Florida’s Gulf Coast. The move comes about four months after the conservancy that oversees the ship and its landlord resolved a years-old rent dispute. Officials initially planned to move the vessel last November, but that was delayed due to concerns from the U.S. Coast Guard that the ship wasn’t stable enough to make the trip.
Officials in Okaloosa County on Florida’s coastal Panhandle hope it will become a barnacle-encrusted standout among the county’s more than 500 artificial reefs and a signature diving attraction that could generate millions of dollars annually in local tourism spending for scuba shops, charter fishing boats and hotels. Officials have said the deal to buy the ship could eventually cost more than $10 million. The lengthy process of cleaning, transporting and sinking the vessel is expected to take at least one-and-a-half years.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Murena Released a De-Googled Version of the Pixel Tablet
Murena has launched the Murena Pixel Tablet, a de-Googled version of the Pixel Tablet that removes Google’s apps and services to enhance user privacy. Priced at $549, it offers /e/OS, an alternative app store, and privacy-focused productivity tools, but lacks Google’s speaker dock and direct access to the Play Store. The Verge reports: First announced last December, the Murena Pixel Tablet is available now through the company’s online store for $549. That’s a steep premium given Google currently sells the same 128GB version of the Pixel Tablet for $399, or $479 as part of a bundle with the charging speaker dock that Murena isn’t including. Part of Murena’s de-Googling of the Pixel Tablet includes the removal of the Google Play Store. You can still download apps through /e/OS’ App Lounge which acts as a front-end for the Play Store allowing you to browse and get free apps anonymously without Google knowing who you are. However, downloading paid apps requires a login to a Google account. Google’s various productivity apps aren’t included, but the Murena Pixel Tablet comes with privacy-minded alternatives for messaging, email, maps, browsing the web, calendar, contacts, notes, and even voice recordings. In 2022, Murena launched its first smartphone with no Google apps, Google Play Services, or even the Google Assistant.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Valve Releases Team Fortress 2 Full Client and Source Code
Valve has made Team Fortress 2’s full client and server code public, allowing fans to modify, extend, or rewrite the game as long as their projects remain non-commercial. Game Rant reports: Valve has made Team Fortress 2’s server and client code fully public, with the studio encouraging fans to explore the game’s files and make it what they want. The game’s code is now available thanks to a new update to the Source SDK, which dropped earlier this week. Fans have already been creating TF2 mods for years, but what this essentially means is that fans can make brand-new games. However, there’s one catch: any and all TF2 mods must be released for free. “The majority of items in the game now are thanks to the hard work of the TF2 community.” Valve wrote. “To respect that, we’re asking TF2 mod makers to continue to respect that connection and not to make mods that have the purpose of trying to profit off Workshop contributors’ efforts.”
“TF2 mods may be published on the Steam Store, and after publication will appear as new games in the Steam game list,” Valve continued. The new SDK update also includes new 64-bit binary support and fixes for multiplayer Source games like Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, Counter-Strike: Source, and Day of Defeat: Source. Time will only tell what fans come up with as they dig deep into the inner workings of the game, but given how passionate and talented the Team Fortress 2 community has proven to be, players can expect to see some incredible creations.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Alexa Built-in LG C3 OLED 65-Inch Smart TV Is $500 Off Now on Amazon, Lowest Price Ever
A brighter, crisper screen that can handle anything you throw at it, for a great price.
A four-pack of Chipolo One Bluetooth trackers is on sale for 32 percent off
If you’re constantly losing your keys, wallet and other important stuff, Bluetooth trackers could be a big help. Attach them onto your things and you can monitor their location directly from your phone. Our current favorites are the Chipolo One trackers, and right now you can snag a pack of four for just under $68. Chipolo’s having a sale that brings the pack down to $75, but you can use the code ENGADGET10 at checkout to get an extra 10 percent off and bring the price down to $67.50. That code works across Chipolo’s site as well, giving you an additional 10 percent off anything else you want to purchase.
This gadget not only made our list of the best Bluetooth trackers, but it’s our favorite release in the product category. The One is a near-perfect tracker. The battery lasts two full years, it works great with both Android and iOS devices and the ringer is incredibly loud. This is great news for those who tend to misplace items under mountains of linens or between couch cushions.
There’s also no perceptible lag between pressing the Ring to Find button and hearing the trill. This isn’t true of many rival trackers. It even has a handy hole for attaching to keychains and the like. This may seem like an obvious design element, but Apple AirTags lack this hole.
The only downside involves the finding network. Chipolo isn’t a big name like Apple or Samsung, so there are fewer people on the network. This could be an issue if you don’t live in a major metropolitan area. Basically, the One is perfect for looking for lost items in or near the home, but not as useful when searching for misplaced stuff (like luggage at an airport) out in the wild.
And don’t forget: remember that coupon code from before? It works across the entire site, so feel free to grab a ten percent discount on everything else Chipolo makes using the code ENGADGET10. This includes wallet trackers that are shaped like credit cards and smaller tracking rings.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/a-four-pack-of-chipolo-one-bluetooth-trackers-is-on-sale-for-32-percent-off-130015389.html?src=rss
DJI’s RS4 Mini stabilizer can now track subjects automatically
Shortly after introducing subject tracking with its latest smartphone gimbal, DJI has done the same with its new lightweight camera gimbal. The RS4 Mini is now available with DJI’s RS Intelligent Tracking Module to keep a human subject in frame and also offers the latest features from its flagship RS4 gimbals like auto-axis locks and 4th-gen stabilization.
The RS4 Mini is a major redesign from the previous RS3 Mini and is slightly heavier (2 pounds compared to 1.8 pounds) to accommodate some of the new features. It boasts the same 4.4 pound payload as before, meaning it can carry nearly every mirrorless camera on the market and many lightweight cinema cameras to boot.
DJI
An important new feature for ease of use is the addition of automatic axis locks absent on the previous model. And in fact, the RS4 Mini is the first of DJI’s gimbals to use 2nd-Gen axis lock tech that can unlock the gimbal in just one second. It also has DJI’s 3rd-Gen Native Vertical Switch that that offers the fastest switch experience to date in the RS series. Another new addition is Teflon interlayers and a fine tuning knob that allows “more precise millimeter balancing” when installing a camera. DJI also introduced a new Responsive mode (alongside the regular Smooth mode) that allows the gimbal to react better to fast hand movements.
DJI
For solo vloggers, the coolest new feature is the DJI RS Intelligent Tracking Module (included in the RS 4 Mini Combo), that’s much like the “Multifunctional Module” on the Osmo Mobile 7P gimbal, minus the fill light. When attached to the gimbal, the tiny device enables ActiveTrack on any phone or camera, keeping a human subject in frame within 33 feet. Tracking can be enabled with a pull of the trigger or an open palm visual command.
The RS 4 Mini also has DJI’s latest 4th-Gen Stabilization that strikes a better balance between stabilization strength and tactile feel, promising an “enhanced user experience” and improved stability for vertical shooting. Other improvements include 30 percent better battery life (now up to 13 hours) and charging speeds, a next-gen RS Briefcase Handle and a quick-release magnetic mount. The RS4 Mini is now available for $369 by itself or $459 in the Combo package, which includes the RS Intelligent Tracking Module and RS Briefcase Handle.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/djis-rs4-mini-stabilizer-can-now-track-subjects-automatically-134045771.html?src=rss
It’s Raining SpaceX Debris in Poland
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket crashed down near Komorniki, Poland.
xAI’s Grok 3 is available for free to everyone ‘for a short time’
You can now access xAI’s most advanced large language model, Grok 3, even if you don’t pay for a subscription on X. Grok 3 is available for free “for a short time,” according to xAI founder Elon Musk, though the company didn’t say until what “short time” means exactly. When you go to Grok on X or the web, and when you launch the standalone app, you’ll now see new “Think” and “DeepSearch” options that are only available with xAI’s latest LLM family. Just make sure you’re using Grok 3 instead of Grok 2 in the chatbot interface’s drop-drown menu. If you’re paying for X Premium+, which now costs $40 a month, or the chatbot’s standalone $30-per-month SuperGrok plan, you’ll get “increased access” to Grok 3’s features, as well as early access to advanced features like Voice Mode.
For a short time, Grok 3 is available for free to all! https://t.co/r5iLXi2pBm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 20, 2025
The company launched its Grok 3 model family a couple of days ago during a livestream, wherein Musk described it as “an order of magnitude more capable than Grok 2.” Some of the models in the family are capable of “human-like reasoning,” which you can trigger when you choose the “Think” option. They’re best used for more complex queries, like those with mathematics, science and programming questions. Meanwhile, xAI described DeepSearch as the “next generation search engine” that can generate summaries for research inquiries.
I asked the free version of Grok 3 how it differs from the paid option. The chatbot replied that “free interactions might hit server limits if too many people pile in at once” and that paid users get priority. Paid users get access to “Big Brain” mode, which can answer tough math, science or coding problems that need extra processing power, and there’s no limit to the number of images SuperGrok subscribers can generate.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/xais-grok-3-is-available-for-free-to-everyone-for-a-short-time-130031943.html?src=rss
Don’t Miss the Boat on This $40 Anker Magnetic Charger and Stand Combo for Your iPhone
Power up your iPhone fast and securely with this rechargeable 20W powerhouse that doubles as a stand and save 27% before the deal ends.
The best gaming keyboards of 2025
The best gaming keyboards can make you feel in total control while sweating through an online shooter and more comfortable while taking in a 100-hour RPG. They may not always feel as luxurious for typing as a custom mechanical keyboard, but they’ve become increasingly sophisticated with new features to improve your play, and the best of them are still huge upgrades over your everyday membrane board. If you’re looking to buy one, I’ve spent way too much time researching gaming keyboards over the past couple of years, testing dozens of well-reviewed and boutique models along the way. Whether you want something small, wireless or just plain cheap, here are the ones that have stood out the most.
What to look for in a gaming keyboard
To be clear, any keyboard can be a “gaming keyboard.” If you play lots of video games today and have never sighed to yourself, “man, this keyboard is holding me back,” congratulations, you probably don’t need to pay extra for a new one. Self-proclaimed gaming keyboards often come at a premium, and while the best offer high-quality designs, snazzy RGB lighting and a few genuinely worthwhile features, none of them will give you god-like skill, nor will they suddenly turn bad games into good ones.
Mechanical vs non-mechanical
Now that we’ve touched grass, I did prioritize some features while researching this guide. First, I mostly stuck to mechanical keyboards, not laptop-style membrane models. They can be loud, but they’re more durable, customizable and broadly satisfying to press — all positive traits for a product you may use for hours-long gaming sessions.
Size
Next, I preferred tenkeyless (TKL) or smaller layouts. It’s totally fine to use a full-size board if you really want a number pad, but a compact model gives you more space to flick your mouse around. It also lets you keep your mouse closer to your body, which can reduce the tension placed on your arms and shoulders.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Switches, keycaps and build quality
Linear switches, which are often branded as “red,” are generally favored by gamers. These give keystrokes a smooth feel from top to bottom, with no tactile “bump” that could make fast, repeated presses less consistent. They usually require little force to actuate, and they tend to be quiet. However, if you prefer the feel and/or sound of a more tactile or clicky switch, get one of those instead. You might lose some speed in esports-style games, but nothing is more important than your comfort.
Some gaming keyboards are based on different mechanisms entirely. Optical switches, for instance, use a beam of light to register keystrokes, while Hall effect switches use magnets. These often feel linear, but they allow for a more versatile set of gaming-friendly features, such as the ability to set custom actuation points, assign multiple commands to one key and repeat key presses faster. In general, they’re faster and more durable too.
Jeff Dunn for Engadget
This analog-style functionality has become the big trend in the gaming keyboard market over the last few years. Most of the major keyboard brands now sell at least one model with Hall effect switches and, based on my testing, it’s easy to see why: Many of their customizations really can give you a more granular (yet still fair) sense of control, especially in more competitive games. Consequently, many of our picks below are built around the tech.
Keyboards with these kind of features usually aren’t cheap, however, and they’re far from essential for those who mainly play single-player games. Some of their tricks have also stirred up controversy: One known as SOCD (Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Directions) cleaning allows you to activate two different directional keys at the same time, making it possible to, among other things, achieve impossibly perfect strafing in shooting games. A few games such as Counter-Strike 2 have banned the feature as a result, though it can still be a fun thing to play around with in games that don’t involve other people. SOCD isn’t limited to magnetic switches either; some mechanical keyboards support it too.
A few recent keyboards have introduced inductive switches, which promise the adjustable actuation features of Hall effect keyboards but with better battery efficiency. I haven’t been able to test one of these just yet, but we’ll look to do so in a future update.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Keycaps and build quality
Regardless of switch type, you want a frame that doesn’t flex under pressure, keys that don’t wobble and stabilizers that don’t rattle when you hit larger keys like the spacebar. I prefer double-shot PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) keycaps over those that use cheaper ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plastic, as they won’t develop a greasy shine over time and their icons won’t fade. A hot-swappable PCB (printed circuit board) that makes it easy to change switches if the mood arises is ideal, as are dedicated media keys.
For the sake of simplicity, I only considered prebuilt gaming keyboards for this guide, though many of the picks below allow for customization down the line. If you (and your bank account) really want to go wild, check out our guide to building a custom keyboard.
Software, connectivity and RGB
If a keyboard has companion software, it should let you program macros and custom key bindings for games without frustration. For convenience, a wired keyboard should connect through a detachable USB-C cable. A good wireless keyboard won’t add serious lag, but only if it uses a USB receiver, not Bluetooth. (It’ll probably cost more as well.) Some gaming keyboards advertise super-high polling rates — i.e., the speed at which a keyboard reports to a computer — to reduce latency, but unless your monitor has an especially fast refresh rate, the usual standard of 1,000Hz should be fine. And while nobody needs RGB lighting, it’s fun. Consumer tech could use more of that, so the cleaner and more customizable the RGB is, the better.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
How we tested
The best way to evaluate a keyboard is to just… use it, so that’s what I did. To cover a variety of use cases and design styles, I’ve researched dozens of keyboards over the past several months that’ve broadly received high marks from professional reviewers and users alike. I’ve then used each model I’ve brought in as my daily driver for numerous days. Since I write for a living, this gave me enough time to get a strong sense of each keyboard’s typing experience.
For gaming, I give special focus to each keyboard’s responsiveness in fast, reaction-based online shooters such as Halo Infinite, Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, Valorant, Overwatch 2 and XDefiant, as many would-be gaming keyboard buyers get one in the hopes that it’ll help with that genre in particular. I made sure each keyboard felt comfortable with other types of games, though, such as Baldur’s Gate 3 (a turn-based RPG), Hi-Fi Rush (an action game with an emphasis on timing and rhythm) and Forza Horizon 5 (an arcade racing game). I used the latter to better evaluate the pressure-sensitive features of the analog keyboards I tested.
If a keyboard could be configured with multiple switch types, I got the linear model. Upon receiving each keyboard, I removed several keycaps to ensure none were chipped or broken. I noted whether any keys felt wobbly, whether the case flexes under pressure, whether the texture and finish of the keycaps changes after use and whether larger keys like the spacebar felt particularly rattly or hollow. I typed on each keyboard in quick succession in a quiet room to get a sense of where they ranked in terms of noise. For wireless models, I checked whether the battery drain at 50 percent RGB brightness aligned with a manufacturer’s estimate. I looked to results from sites like Rtings to ensure nothing was out of order with latency. I did my own testing on a 144Hz monitor with my personal rig, which includes a 10th-gen Core i9 CPU and an RTX 3080 GPU.
This helped me ensure each keyboard met a baseline of overall quality, but to reiterate, so much of this process is subjective. I can tell you if a keyboard is loud based on how I slam my keys, for instance, but you may have a lighter touch. What my tastes find “comfortable,” “pleasing,” or even “useful,” you may dislike. As I’ve written before, keyboards are like food or art in that way. So, keep an open mind.
Other gaming keyboards we tested
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Note: The following is a selection of noteworthy gaming keyboards we’ve put through their paces, not a comprehensive list of everything we’ve ever tried.
Wooting 60HE+
You can consider the Wooting 60HE+ our “1A” pick, as it’s essentially a more compact version of the 80HE with a 60 percent layout. It supports the same analog gaming features, has the same four-year warranty and still uses the great Wootility software. It’s also $25 cheaper. If you prefer a smaller design and don’t need arrow keys, you can buy it with confidence. However, more people will find the 80HE’s larger layout easier to use on a day-to-day basis. Its gasket mount, updated switches and extra sound-dampening material make it more pleasant-sounding and comfier for typing out of the box. Plus, while the 60HE+ can only rest at one fixed angle, the 80HE comes with a few sets of removable feet.
Logitech G Pro X TKL Rapid
The Logitech G Pro X TKL Rapid is a good magnetic-switch alternative to the Wooting 80HE if you must buy from one of the major keyboard brands. It’s wired-only, but it looks good, with clear RGB lighting, a built-in volume roller, dedicated media keys and a sturdy metal top plate. The expected rapid trigger and adjustable actuation tricks all work fine, and Logitech’s G Hub software is easier to get around than most apps from the big-name manufacturers. It can recognize when you’ve launched certain games, for instance, then apply any custom profiles you’ve made for them automatically. All of it costs $30 less than the 80HE as well. Where it falls short is the typing experience: The default switches are pretty noisy, and bottoming out the keys feels stiffer here compared to our top picks. If you want those Wooting-style features and prefer a clackier sound, however, it’s a decent buy.
Logitech G Pro X TKL and G Pro X 60
The wireless Logitech G Pro X TKL and G Pro X 60, which use more traditional mechanical switches, aren’t as hot. They’re built well, but they’re too pricey to not be hot-swappable or lack the analog features of the 80HE. There isn’t much sound-dampening foam in either models, too, so neither sounds great. We like that both come with a carrying case, though.
Jeff Dunn for Engadget
Keychron C3 Pro
The tenkeyless Keychron C3 Pro is the top budget pick in our mechanical keyboard guide, and it remains a great stand-in for the G.Skill KM250 RGB if you want to stay under $50. With its gasket mount design, internal foam and pre-lubed switches, it feels and sounds fuller to press. The base version we tested lacks hot-swappable switches and only has a red backlight, but Keychron recently released revised models that address that and add full RGB. That said, their ABS keycaps feel cheaper and can develop a shine over time, plus there’s no volume knob. Some may find KM250’s smaller size more convenient for gaming, too.
Keychron Q1 HE
The Keychron Q1 HE is sort of an older version of the Lemokey P1 HE with the same magnetic switches and a similarly excellent aluminum chassis. Its double-gasket design, pre-lubed switches and layers of foam make it a joy for typing. Its gaming features rely on the same iffy software, though, while the stock keycaps are sculpted in a way that makes them trickier to access quickly. Those keycaps aren’t shine-through either, and the whole thing costs $50 more, so there isn’t much reason to buy it over the P1 HE.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Razer Huntsman V2 TKL
We previously recommended the Razer Huntsman V2 TKL as a mid-priced pick thanks to its light optical switches, crisp PBT keycaps and impressively muffled tone (with the linear-switch model, at least). Its lack of analog features make it a harder sell these days, though, and its keys wobble more than those on the Keychron V3 Max. It’s not hot-swappable, either. Beyond that, Razer is only selling the version with clicky switches as of our most recent update, but we found those to sound uncomfortably sharp.
Razer Huntsman V3 Pro
The Razer Huntsman V3 Pro is a line of wired analog keyboards that comes in 60 percent, TKL and full-size options. They have just about all the features we like on the Wooting 80HE, but their optical switches are noisier and more hollow-feeling.
Jeff Dunn for Engadget
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%
The BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is Razer’s top-end wireless keyboard. It’s fully hot-swappable, with heavily textured PBT keycaps, a robust aluminum top case and a nifty OLED display. The tactile Razer Orange switches in our test unit consistently feel tight, the larger keys don’t really rattle and the RGB backlight shines through beautifully. It’s a good keyboard — it’s just not luxurious enough to warrant its $300 price tag, especially since it lacks any sort of analog-style functionality. The stock switches are a little too sharp-sounding for our liking as well.
Razer Huntsman Mini
The Razer Huntsman Mini is a fine choice if you want a 60 percent keyboard and don’t need Wooting-style software tricks, with textured PBT keycaps, a sturdy aluminum top plate and the same fast optical switches we praised with the Huntsman V2 TKL. The 60HE+ is much more versatile, though, while the KM250 RGB is a more appealing value.
Jeff Dunn for Engadget
ASUS ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless
The ASUS ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless (phew) is a strong alternative to the Apex Pro TKL if you want to go wireless. It’s a joy to type on, with superb sound dampening, pre-lubed ROG NX switches, an impressively sturdy case and stable, PBT-coated keys. It’s hot-swappable, its battery life rating is much higher than the Apex Pro TKL Wireless (90 hours with RGB on) and it has a multi-function key that puts volume, media and RGB controls in one place. At $180, it’s also $90 cheaper than our SteelSeries pick.
However, it doesn’t have the rapid trigger or custom actuation tricks of Hall effect keyboards like the Apex Pro TKL Wireless or Lemokey P1 HE, and ASUS’s Armoury Crate software is a bit of a mess. The Lemokey P1 HE’s all-metal design feels higher-end, too. But if you care about typing experience more than extra gaming-friendly features, this one is still worth looking into.
ASUS ROG Azoth
The ASUS ROG Azoth is like a smaller version of the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless with a few more enthusiast touches, such as a gasket-mounted design — which gives keystrokes a softer feel — a programmable OLED display and a toolkit for lubing switches in the box. It’s exceptionally well-made by any standard, not just “for a gaming keyboard.” But its feature set still isn’t as flexible as the Wooting 80HE or SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless, which makes its $250 list price a tough ask.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard
The 75 percent Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard is much better than its bland name suggests, with high-quality PBT keycaps, smooth linear switches (which are hot-swappable), wonderfully clean RGB lighting, a steady wireless connection and a rigid yet lightweight design. But it’s fairly loud, and at $200 there isn’t much reason to take it over the Lemokey P1 HE, which has a higher-quality design and more capable magnetic switches, or the ASUS Strix Scope II 96 Wireless, which offers a similarly pleasing typing experience at a slightly lower price. It’s worth considering if you see it on sale, though.
NZXT Function 2 and Function 2 MiniTKL
The full-size NZXT Function 2 and tenkeyless Function 2 MiniTKL are totally solid midrange options with fast optical switches and the ability to swap between two universal actuation points, but they’re let down by mediocre stabilizers on the larger keys.
NuPhy Air75 V2
The NuPhy Air75 V2 is a stylish wireless keyboard with a low-profile design. We recommend in our mechanical keyboard buying guide, and it remains an excellent choice if if you want something that blends the flatter, compact shape of a laptop keyboard with the more tactile feel of mechanical switches. The design isn’t entirely ideal for gaming, though, as the wide keys can make it a little too easy to fat-finger inputs by accident and the stock keycaps aren’t shine-through. NuPhy recently released a new model with Hall effect switches, which we’ll aim to test for a future update.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Corsair K70 Max
The Corsair K70 Max is another one with magnetic switches, but trying to program its more advanced features through Corsair’s iCue software was a pain.
Corsair K70 RGB TKL
The Corsair K70 RGB TKL is a decent if basic midrange model, but it’s also on the noisy side compared to our top picks and it’s saddled with middling software.
Logitech G515 Lightspeed TKL
The Logitech G515 Lightspeed TKL is another low-profile model that generally feels comfortable and well-built, even if it’s entirely made of plastic. It’s a decent alternative to the NuPhy Air75 V2, as it’s much quieter with its GL Tactile switches and comes with shine-through keycaps by default. However, those switches aren’t hot-swappable, and the board can’t connect to multiple devices simultaneously over Bluetooth. The low-profile shape still isn’t the best for gaming either, plus the stock keycaps aren’t quite as grippy as other PBT options we’ve used.
Logitech G915 TKL
The Logitech G915 TKL is an older wireless low-profile keyboard with a metal frame, but its thin ABS keycaps feel too cheap for something that’s usually priced around $180. The NuPhy Air75 V2 is a superior value. Logitech released an upgraded model with PBT keycaps and a USB-C port last year; we plan to test that one for our next update, but it’s still pretty expensive at $200.
Jeff Dunn for Engadget
Recent updates
February 2025: We’ve overhauled this guide with new picks: The Wooting 80HE is now our top recommendation overall, the SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless (Gen 3) is our new “best wireless” option and the Lemokey P1 HE slots in as an honorable mention. We’ve also added notes on several more gaming keyboards we’ve tested since our last update, including Logitech’s G Pro X TKL Rapid and G515 Lightspeed TKL, Razer’s BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% and Alienware’s Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard. Finally, we’ve made a few minor updates to our “What to look for in a gaming keyboard” section.
June 2024: We updated this guide with a new “traditional mechanical keyboard” pick, the Keychron V3 Max, plus a couple new honorable mentions and more notes on other gaming keyboards we’ve tried. Note that we’ve tested — and will continue to test — several other keyboards that aren’t explicitly marketed toward gaming, but we’ll direct you to our general mechanical keyboard buying guide for more info on those.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/best-gaming-keyboard-140019954.html?src=rss
Great cameras, not Apple Intelligence, is what people want from an iPhone 16e
After much anticipation, Apple finally announced the iPhone 16e yesterday. Looking at its position in the company’s lineup, the 16e is a headscratcher. My colleague Ian Carlos Campbell already wrote about how strange it is that the phone is missing MagSafe, a feature universally loved by Apple users. However, the omission that stands out the most to me is that the iPhone 16e doesn’t come with more than a single rear camera, and no, 2x telephoto cropping doesn’t count.
Sure, if you put the 16e against its predecessor, the 2022 iPhone SE, it’s not a surprising omission — but when you consider today’s broader smartphone market, it’s a glaring weakness. At $599, the 16e is $100 more than the Pixel 8a, a device with two amazing rear cameras and an AI-capable processor (more on that in a moment). The 8a is also frequently on sale for as little as $399. Some people hate the Pixel comparison, so I’ll give you another one. Last spring, Nothing released the $349 Phone 2a. Like the 8a, it has two rear cameras. Oh, and a fresh design that’s not borrowed from 2020. At almost $200 more than the phone it replaces, the 16e is very much not a midrange device.
I know what you’re thinking: what’s wrong with one camera, as long as that camera is great? In the case of the 16e, I think the problem is that Apple is misreading the market and what people want from their next phone. All consumer devices are a compromise in some way. Those become more pronounced as you move down the market.
For most people, their phone is their primary camera and how they document their lives and memories. Think about what was the first thing you tested when you upgraded to your current phone. I bet it was the cameras. In that context, more are better, because they make it easier to capture moments that are important to you.
For a device some outlets are describing as “low-end,” the iPhone 16e features a state-of-the-art chip. It might be cut down with one less GPU core, but the 16e’s A18 is still a 3nm chip with 8GB of RAM to support the processor. Apple clearly felt the A18 was necessary to get its AI suite running on the 16e. But that means the rest of the phone had to suffer as a result, starting with the camera package.
I don’t know about you, but if I were in the market for a new phone, I would want the most bang for my buck. The SE line had its share of drawbacks, including a dated design and a lackluster screen, but at $429, they made sense. For all its faults, the SE still felt like a bargain in 2022 because you were getting a modern chip, access to iOS and all the great apps that come with it and Apple’s excellent track record of software support. With the iPhone 16e, you’re not saving nearly as much off the price of a regular iPhone. Yes, everything I said about the SE’s strengths is still true of the 16e and it even builds on that phone with additions like a better battery and an OLED screen, but the smartphone market has evolved so much in the last three years.
Again, I know people hate the Pixel comparison, but the 8a makes far fewer compromises. Not only does it feature a more versatile camera system, but it also comes with a high refresh rate OLED. The 8a’s Tensor G3 chip is also fully capable of running Google’s latest AI features.
I know offering the best hardware features for the price has never been Apple’s approach, but that approach only made sense when the company had the best software experience. We can all agree Apple Intelligence has not met its usual quality standards. Just look at notification summaries, one of the main selling points of Apple Intelligence. Apple recently paused all news and entertainment alerts generated by the system to address their poor quality.
Right now, Apple Intelligence is not a compelling reason to buy a new iPhone, and its inclusion on the 16e at the expense of other features feels, at best, a cynical attempt to boost adoption numbers. If the 16e was $100 cheaper, maybe I would be less critical, but right now it feels like Apple missed the mark.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/great-cameras-not-apple-intelligence-is-what-people-want-from-an-iphone-16e-130041307.html?src=rss
Scented Products Cause Indoor Air Pollution On Par With Car Exhaust
An anonymous reader quotes a report from New Atlas: New research by Purdue University, the latest in a series of Purdue-led studies, examined how scented products — in this case, flame-free candles — are a significant source of nanosized particles small enough to get deep into your lungs, posing a potential risk to respiratory health […] Scented wax melts are marketed as a flameless, smoke-free, non-toxic alternative to traditional candles, a safer way of making your home or office smell nice. To assess the truth of these claims, the researchers comprehensively measured the nanoparticles formed when they warmed wax melts in their mechanically ventilated test house. The tiny house is actually an architectural engineering laboratory called the Purdue Zero Energy Design Guidance for Engineers (zEDGE) lab. Designed and engineered to test the energy efficiency of a larger building, it’s full of sensors that monitor the impact of everyday activities on indoor air quality.
The researchers knew from their previous research that new nanoparticle formation was initiated by terpenes — aromatic compounds that determine the smell of things like plants and herbs — released from the melts and reacting with indoor atmospheric ozone (O3). They’d found that activities such as mopping the floor with a terpene-rich cleaning agent, using a citrus-scented air freshener, or applying scented personal care products like deodorant inside the zEDGE house resulted in pulsed terpene emissions to the indoor air within five minutes. Conversely, using essential oil diffusers or peeling citrus fruits caused a more gradual increase in terpenes.
In the present study, heating the scented wax contributed significantly to the number of new particles formed in the indoor air, particularly those smaller than 100 nanometers (nm). The resulting atmospheric concentrations were over one million nanoparticles per cubic centimeter (106 cm-3), which is comparable to concentrations emitted by traditional lighted candles (106 cm-3), gas stoves (105 – 107 cm-3), diesel engines (103 – 106 cm-3), and natural gas engines (106 – 107 cm-3). By comparison, there were no significant terpene emissions when unscented wax melts were heated. The researchers also examined respiratory tract deposited dose rates (RD), a useful way of studying air pollution that measures the number of particles deposited in the respiratory tract over time. They found that the new particle formation triggered by using scented wax melts indoors produced a median RD for 1.18 to 100 nm particles of 29 billion per minute (2.9 x 1010 min-1). That’s about 483 million particles per second. The majority of scented-wax-melt-formed particles were deposited in the upper airways. Their small size means they can migrate between cells and enter the bloodstream, potentially reaching organs such as the brain. The study was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Amazon To Shut Down Android Appstore
Amazon will discontinue its Android Appstore servicefrom August 20, 2025, ending its decade-long attempt to compete with Google’s Play Store in the Android mobile ecosystem. The Amazon Appstore, launched in 2011, served as an alternative marketplace for Android users to download apps. The platform gained prominence in 2012 when Amazon began using it as the primary app store for its Kindle Fire tablets.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.