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There is already a bunch of early Black Friday deals to check out, but if you're on the lookout for a great set of wireless headphones for yourself or a loved one, here's one that's absolutely worth your attention. Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones have dropped to $298. That's a $102 discount.

This isn't quite the lowest price we've seen for the over-ear XM5s. They dropped to $280 at one point earlier this year. However, the headphones haven't gone back down to that point since, and this is still a great deal.

The XM5s are our pick for the best wireless headphones overall. We've long been recommending Sony's 1000X line and this is the best iteration to date. They earned a score of 95 in our review.

The redesigned headphones are much more comfortable to wear for extended periods than previous models. Sony has improved the active noise cancellation (ANC) feature as well, thanks to the addition of a new chip and four more microphones. We feel that the company's current flagship headphones do a better job of blocking out high frequencies and background noise (and even human voices) than the XM4s.

The XM5s can switch between noise modes depending on your location or activity, and they can pause audio automatically when you start speaking. They deliver better call quality than rival models and, in general, you'll get clear, crisp sound, including punchy bass. You won't need to charge the XM5s too often either, as they have a 30-hour battery life.

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

Laptops are evolving fast, with some new models harnessing AI-powered features that adapt to your usage and improve performance in real time. These AI PCs can optimize battery life, manage power across tasks and even enhance webcam quality during video calls. While AI integration is still relatively new in laptops, it’s a feature to watch if you’re considering future-proofing your setup. Plus, it’s exciting to see how these AI-powered PCs might handle everything from productivity to entertainment, offering smart adjustments and enhancements that could make our digital lives a bit easier.

Out of the 11 notebooks we've tested and reviewed in the first half of 2024, we consider Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air M3 to be the best laptop for most people, and this is still the case in our November top picks. It's powerful enough to handle most tasks (even light video editing); it has a great screen and built-in speakers; and its battery could last around 20 hours (depending on what you're doing, of course). The MacBook Air M3 is also one of the lightest and thinnest systems we've reviewed, and it's dead silent, thanks to a fanless design. While Apple has debuted its new M4 chip in the recent iPad Pro, we may not see it in the MacBook Air until next year. For now, the MacBook Air M3 is still an excellent laptop to buy, particularly if you need a machine with good battery life.

Of course, not everyone wants a MacBook, and there are excellent Windows laptops and Chromebooks out there, too. Windows systems offer a range of configurations, from budget to high-end UHD screens with stunning IPS panels that boast high nits for vivid brightness. Chromebooks, on the other hand, tend to be more affordable and are great for users who mostly work online. Whether you need a powerhouse for creative work, a compact system for note-taking, or a laptop that can handle family movie night, there’s something for everyone in today’s laptop market.

Table of contents

• Best laptops of 2024

• How we test and pick laptops

• Factors to consider when choosing a laptop

• Best laptops specs comparison chart

• Other laptops we’ve tested

• Laptop FAQs

• Recent updates

Best laptops of 2024

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How we test laptops

Engadget has been reviewing laptops for two decades, and while the definition of what a portable PC is has changed considerably since, our obsession with testing their limits and serving up informative buying advice remains the same. Be it a hybrid tablet like Microsoft's Surface machines, a rotating 2-in-1 convertible like HP's Spectre x360s or a plain old clamshell notebook, our review process follows similar beats. How does it look and feel? How fast is it? Whether it’s a Windows device powered by an Intel Core i5 or higher, a MacBook or a Chromebook, we aim to answer the most important question: Is it actually worth your hard-earned cash? We also pay close attention to webcam quality and display features, including IPS panels and nits of brightness, as they can make a big difference in daily use.

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Factors to consider when choosing a laptop

Price

You can expect to spend between $1,000 and $1,800 for a new laptop these days, depending on the configuration. If you're looking for more of a workhorse, that could cost you well over $2,000 for additional RAM, storage, as well as a beefier graphics card and CPU. But you can also find some affordable laptops under $1,000 if you're willing to overlook build quality (or buy a refurbished or previous generation machine, which we highly recommend). Systems with AMD chips tend to come in cheaper than their Intel counterparts, but the bulk of their cost will come down to other components like RAM and storage.

I’ve included our favorite affordable model in this best laptop buying guide, but we have a list of the best budget laptops that you can check out as well.

Operating system: Apple, Windows or Chrome OS

There's a good chance you've already committed to an operating system, but my advice is to be as flexible as possible. These days, most major software is compatible with both Macs and PCs. (Of course, it's another story if you've become dependent on an Apple-only app like Final Cut Pro.) Web-based apps, naturally, will work on any platform with an internet browser.

If you're an Apple-loyalist, there aren't many reasons to consider Windows laptops (unless you want a secondary gaming machine). But for Windows users, macOS is becoming more tempting every year. Apple's MacBooks, powered by its M-series Silicon chips, are among the fastest and most efficient laptops we've ever seen. They're incredibly well-built and have tremendous battery life to boot. MacOS itself is also an easy platform to learn, especially if you're used to iOS and iPadOS.

That brings up another point: iPhone users may want to consider Macs because of the seamless integration with Apple's other platforms. You can't respond to iMessage conversations easily or hop into FaceTime chats on Windows PCs, but doing so is simple on Macs. (Microsoft's Phone Link app lets you send iOS users individual texts, but not media or group chats.) Android users, meanwhile, may be better off with Windows, as Phone Link can make calls, synchronize all your texts and also access your phone's photos.

As for whether you’ll want a PC with a dedicated Copilot AI button on the keyboard, that depends on how often you see yourself using Microsoft’s generative tools. Given we’re only just seeing the first slate of AI PCs, it would be wiser to wait out the hype and see what improvements might come over time.

And what about ChromeOS? Chromebooks are a smart and (typically) inexpensive way to browse the web and hop on a few video chats, but they're not the best choice as your primary computer. There aren't many apps or games that work offline, and they also don't work with powerful software suites like Adobe's (you can use the stripped-down Adobe Express and Photoshop online tools, though).

Chromebooks are great secondary machines to use alongside a more powerful Mac or PC, and they're popular in schools because they're cheap and easy for IT workers to manage. And if all you need is web access, or a notebook for a kid, a Chromebook might be enough.

If, for some reason, you’re looking for a powerful ChromeOS system, there are also Chromebook Plus models to consider. These machines sport faster processors and more RAM than typical Google notebooks, and they can also tap into a few of the company’s online AI features, like AI image generation and photo processing.

Ports and connectivity

These days, most laptops ship with a few USB-C ports, which can handle both charging and speedy data transfers. Apple's MacBooks also include a separate connection for MagSafe power, and you'll find custom power connections on some PCs like Microsoft's Surface. Older USB Type-A connections are less common now, but they still pop up in systems like HP's Spectre x360 14, as well as many models from ASUS.

If you're a fan of wired headphones, it's worth keeping a close eye on headphone jack availability. Many lightweight laptops, like Dell's XPS 13, don’t have the 3.5mm socket entirely. They usually include a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, but that's a clunky solution, and it also takes up a USB port. Sure, most people use wireless earbuds and cans today, but it's still helpful to have a wired one around for when those devices run out of juice.

Most laptops in 2024 offer Wi-Fi 6 or 6E and Bluetooth 5.0 or later, which should mean faster and more stable connections if you have compatible routers and devices. While Wi-Fi 7 routers have started appearing, that spec hasn't made its way into laptops yet. As for cellular coverage, there are notebooks like the Surface Pro 9 and Samsung Galaxy Book models that offer integrated 5G. But from our testing, that feature may not be worth the cost of a separate data plan. Instead, you could tether to your smartphone or invest in a wireless hotspot that can keep multiple devices online.

Laptop size and weight

So how portable do you want your laptop to be? That's the ultimate question you need to ask when choosing between various screen sizes. 13-inch machines have become a solid starting point for most shoppers — it's enough real estate for the majority of tasks like emailing and writing, and it also helps keep machines relatively light (typically between two to three pounds). Thanks to manufacturing advancements, these dainty machines sometimes even come with larger screens (the smaller MacBook Air actually has a 13.6-inch display).

If you have trouble seeing fine text, we’d recommend going for a display larger than 13 inches. ASUS’s Zephyrus G14 is a solid 14-inch option for gamers, and we’re also seeing more productivity-focused machines aim for that size, like the XPS 14 and MacBook Pro. While 14-inch notebooks are a bit heavier than 13-inch models, coming in between three to four pounds, their screens are noticeably roomier.

For artists, or anyone else who needs a large canvas, a 15-inch laptop may make the most sense. They typically weigh between 3.5 and 4.5 pounds, but that extra heft may be worth it to fit wider video editing timelines or Photoshop windows. And, as you'd expect, you'll also pay a bit more for a 15-inch notebook compared to smaller ones (the 15-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,299, while the smaller model goes for $999). PC makers are also replacing 15-inch systems with 16-inch versions, which will give you even more space to work.

You can still find laptops with 17-inch or 18-inch screens, but those are typically gaming systems or souped-up workstations. They're not meant for mere computing mortals.

Battery life

A laptop's battery life depends on several factors: The power draw from the screen and other hardware, the optimizations used to avoid unnecessary power drain, and, of course, the size of the actual battery. One of our favorite systems, the Dell XPS 13, lasted 13 hours and 15 minutes in the PCMark 10 battery benchmark. In real-world testing, I was able to use it for a day and a half without needing a recharge. The MacBook Air 13-inch, meanwhile, lasted 20 hours in our benchmark and kept running for more than two work days of my typical workflow. In general, you should expect a modern laptop to last at least eight hours.

If battery life is your absolute priority, I'd strongly suggest looking at Macs over Windows PCs. Apple's M-series chips are essentially mobile hardware, with all of the power efficiency you'd expect from something originally designed for phones. Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon chips could help Windows PCs compete with Apple’s astonishing battery life, but we’ve yet to see those in action. Chromebooks also typically get decent battery life (as long as you don’t overstuff them with power-draining tabs).

Refresh rate

A laptop's refresh rate refers to the amount of times its screen is cycled every second. Modern displays like IPS LCDs and OLEDs support 60Hz refresh rates at a minimum, but we're seeing more devices offering 120Hz, 240Hz and beyond. The higher the number, the faster the screen is refreshed, which ultimately leads to a smoother experience while mousing around or scrolling through web pages. (If you want to get a sense of what a slow refresh rate looks like, just grab an e-reader like the Kindle and try to flip between book pages.)

While high refresh rates used to be reserved for gaming laptops, nowadays we're seeing more mainstream machines like the XPS 13 offer 120Hz (or variable rates that move between 60Hz and 120Hz). If there's one knock against the MacBook Air, it's that it's still stuck at 60Hz.

CPU

If you’re buying a new laptop, you’ll want to make sure it’s powered by the latest CPUs. For Windows PCs, that includes Intel’s Core Ultra chips for thin-and-light machines or the 14th-gen HX chips for beefier systems. The Core Ultra series have NPUs for handling AI tasks, while the HX hardware does not – they’re based on Intel’s previous chip architecture, and they’re more focused on delivering raw horsepower. Intel's older 13th-gen and 12th-gen laptop chips also don't have NPUs, so keep that in mind if you're looking at used systems.

You'll also see AMD's Ryzen 8000 and 9000 chips in plenty of new systems like the ASUS Zephyrus G14 and Razer Blade 14. Those CPUs mainly target gaming laptops and high performance systems, while you'll still find AMD’s older Ryzen 7000 chips in ultraportables. AMD's main advantage is that its chips also include Radeon graphics, which are far more capable than Intel's Arc hardware (though those are getting better).

Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus are also an option in Copilot+ PCs (more on those below). Since they’re based on mobile chip designs, they’re likely also more power efficient than AMD and Intel’s hardware. In the past, we’ve avoided recommending Snapdragon chips because they led to a slow and frustrating Windows experience. But Microsoft claims it’s rebuilt Windows 11 around Snapdragon’s Arm-based architecture, which should lead to far faster performance and better app compatibility.

As for Apple's laptops, you'll be choosing between the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Ultra, each of which is progressively more powerful. Apple is also keeping its older M2 chip around for the $999 MacBook Air, which is still a solid performer for the price. Apple’s M4 chip made its debut in the recent iPad Pro, but it’s not in any laptops yet (and it likely won’t be until the end of 2024).

GPU

A GPU, or graphics processing unit, is the component that communicates directly with a laptop's display. Laptop CPUs all have some form of integrated GPU: Intel has either its standard graphics or beefier Arc hardware, while AMD's chips include fast Radeon mobile graphics. If you want to play demanding games at high speeds (measured in frames per second, or fps), or if you need some extra power for rendering video or 3D models, you can configure a laptop with a dedicated GPU like NVIDIA's RTX 40-series hardware or AMD's Radeon RX 7000. Just be sure to leave room in your budget if you want a powerful GPU, as they typically add $300 or more to the cost of a laptop.

Apple's M-series chips, meanwhile, have GPU cores that can perform as well as NVIDIA’s and AMD's lower-end dedicated GPUs. That's quite the accomplishment for systems like this (especially the MacBook Air and 14-inch MacBook Pro), and it's another reason we highly recommend Apple's notebooks.

AI PCs, NPUs and Copilot+

Simply put, an AI PC is a computer equipped with a neural processing unit (NPU), which is designed to handle AI-related tasks. Much like how GPUs tackle heavy-duty gaming and rendering workloads, NPUs are designed to handle the complex math necessary for AI workloads. They’re also far more power efficient than CPUs or GPUs, which could lead to better battery performance in laptops. While many factors go into NPU performance, for the most part we measure their potential speed by TOPS (tera operations per second).

We were primed for AI PCs in 2024 based on the chips Intel and AMD announced late last year. Intel unveiled its "Core Ultra" CPUs in December, its first to include an NPU for AI work. AMD also announced its Ryzen 8040 AI mobile chips that month (and it couldn't help but say they were faster than Intel's new hardware). But in May, Microsoft announced its Copilot+ initiative, which is pushing major PC makers to deliver premium AI PCs with specifications including 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSDs and NPUs with at least 40 TOPS of AI performance.

Copilot+ is more than just a marketing term: Microsoft is also launching AI-powered features in Windows 11 that take advantage of powerful NPUs. That includes Recall, which can help you locate anything you’ve done on your PC (whenever it finally launches), as well as Cocreator in Paint, which can generate AI images based on text prompts and doodles.

If you buy an AI PC that isn’t Copilot+ certified, you’ll still be able to use some features like Windows Studio Effects, which can blur your background in video calls or keep you in frame. Developers like Adobe and Audacity are also building features into their apps that can take advantage of NPUs.

At the time of this post, Chromebook Plus notebooks can also access a few of Google’s online AI features, like image generation and photo processing.

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Other laptops we tested that didn't make the cut

Apple 15-inch MacBook Air M3

This Apple laptop is just a larger version of the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air. It's still quite portable at 3.3 pounds, and some will appreciating having just a tad more screen real estate all the time. Configuration options are the same as well; you can spec out the 15-inch Air with up to 24GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. But considering it starts off $200 more than the smaller model, it's primarily best for those who absolutely need a larger screen and are willing to pay for it.

ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED

Aside from its lovely OLED screen, the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED doesn't stand out from the crowded laptop field in any way. It just looks dull and boring, especially compared to the strikingly beautiful ASUS Zephyrus G14, which also came out this year. While you can probably find the Zenbook 14 for a decent price, I'd recommend holding out for something with a bit more personality (and with a less wobbly screen hinge).

Razer Blade 14

The Razer Blade has almost everything you'd want in a 14-inch gaming notebook, but it's far pricier than the Zephyrus G14 on this list, and it doesn’t even have an SD card reader. It would be a solid competitor once its price falls a bit, and it's certainly a great option if you just have to have a jet-black laptop.

Framework Laptop 16

Framework gave its modularity magic to the Laptop 16, delivering a gaming notebook where almost every single component is user replaceable. But you'll have to pay a pretty penny to snag it with upgraded hardware, and its optional Radeon 7700S GPU was surprisingly slow.

Alienware m16 R2

The Alienware m16 r2 has been revamped with a slimmer case, but it’s otherwise a fairly typical gaming laptop. It’s a solid option for Alienware fans, but you’ll find better hardware and deals elsewhere.

ASUS Zenbook Duo (2024)

The Zenbook Duo is a fascinating dual-screened notebook, and according to my colleague Sam Rutherford it’s the first of its kind that’s worth buying. But its unique hardware isn’t really meant for mainstream consumers, and Windows 11 still doesn’t support multi-screen setups well enough to make full use of the Zenbook Duo’s ample canvas.

Dell XPS 16

Dell’s XPS 16 is big and beautiful, but it’s far too expensive compared to the competition. Plus, it uses a capacitive row of function keys that you basically can’t see under bright light and has too few ports for a machine of this size.

See Also:

• Best Gaming Laptops for 2024

• Best Cheap Windows Laptops

• Best 2-in-1 Laptops for 2024

• Best Chromebooks

• Best Laptops for College Students

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Laptop FAQs

What is the average battery life of a laptop per charge?

It’s hard to come up with an average battery life for laptops, since that will ultimately depend on what you’re doing with them. An ultraportable like the MacBook Air that sips power can last around 20 hours in our battery benchmark, and around two full work days of real-world usage. But a gaming laptop may last only a few hours if you’re actively playing something while on battery. At this point, Macs are delivering far better battery life than PCs, thanks to Apple’s Silicon chips, but Microsoft claims Copilot+ systems with Qualcomm chips will also get over 20 hours of batter life.

How much RAM do I really need?

The more RAM you have, the more things your computer can do simultaneously. For that reason, we recommend buying PCs and Macs with at least 16GB of RAM. That gives you enough memory to have several applications open at once, as well as web browsers filled with RAM-hogging tabs. Many PC games also require at least 16GB of RAM. While you could use a system with 8GB of RAM for basic tasks, you’ll quickly run into slowdowns and error messages as your apps stack up. Many laptops, especially ultraportables, don’t let you upgrade RAM, too – so you’ll have to buy an entirely new computer if you didn’t equip enough memory at the start.

If you’re a hardcore gamer, programmer or planning to render videos or 3D models, then you may want to go for 32GB of RAM or more. And if you just need a secondary laptop for lighter work – perhaps a no-frills system for writing – then you can probably get by with 8GB. Just be sure to keep those browser tabs in check.

What is the best storage capacity for a laptop?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to laptop storage. You’ll typically find configurations between 256GB and 1TB SSDs (solid state drives) on most laptops, and I’d recommend most people get at least 512GB. That’ll be enough space for large apps, music and video files without stressing your system too much. If you’re a media hoarder, or want to play a ton of games, then it’s definitely worth getting a 1TB SSD.

If you’ll mainly be streaming your shows and music, and would rather invest in RAM or other hardware, then 256GB of storage would be serviceable. I’d recommend staying away from any machine with 128GB of storage though. Most of that will be taken up by the operating system, and you’ll likely run into issues cramming in large apps after a few months.

We recommend springing for extra built-in storage or investing in a portable SSD for backing up your most important files. It's also worth noting that Chromebooks tend to come with less built-in storage — 32GB, 64GB or 128GB — since ChromeOS encourages users to save their files in the cloud rather than on the device. In that case, 128GB is plenty.

What's a good price range for a decent laptop in 2024?

You can expect to spend between $1,000 and $1,800 for a typical 13-inch laptop today. As I explained above, you'll pay more if you want to stuff in more RAM or better GPU hardware. But you can also find deals below $1,000 if you look for refurbished or older-generation models.

What’s the difference between macOS and Windows? Which is better?

Simply put, macOS is the operating system in all of Apple's notebooks and desktops, while Windows powers the vast majority of PCs. You'll also find Chromebooks running Google's ChromeOS, but those are basically just web browsers running on top of Linux.

Debating the differences between Windows and Macs is something PC nerds have been doing since the '80s, so we won't be declaring a winner here. There are some small, negligible distinctions, like using a Command versus a Control key, how file explorers work and concerns about viruses and security. For the most part, those are minor issues or have become moot thanks to better built-in security.

But if you care more about playing the newest games, you'll want to have a Windows system. If you're more focused on creative apps, like Photoshop, Premiere and Final Cut Pro, then macOS may be a better fit (especially if you're running an iPhone).

What are the best laptop brands?

There is no single "best" laptop brand, but judging from this guide alone, we're generally impressed by notebooks from Apple, Dell and ASUS. They all offer fast, reliable and sturdy machines. HP also makes some eye-catching devices if you want an option that’s the most aesthetic. Those four brands, along with Lenovo and Acer, dominate laptop sales worldwide. We'd avoid systems from any retail store brands, or companies that don't have a major presence in the US.

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Best laptops specs comparison chart

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Recent updates

November 2024: Updated to include the M4-powered MacBook Pros.

August 2024: Updated to include the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12.

June 2024: Updated with more information about current AI PCs, Microsoft’s Copilot+ initiative and the latest CPUs from Intel, AMD and Qualcomm. We’ve also added a FAQ query around RAM and updated the “Other laptops we’ve tested” section to include the Alienware m16 r2, Dell XPS 16 and ASUS Zenbook Duo.

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2024 has been a rough year for Sonos. The company’s would-be triumphant entry into the crowded headphones market was overshadowed by a disastrous app redesign. In the fallout of the botched software update, the company decided to delay products that were ready to be shipped to give itself more time to right the course. Consumer trust eroded, and people who already owned Sonos gear were living in a cycle of constant frustration.

Thanks to a number of rumors, we already knew that one of the pending product releases was the Arc Ultra ($999). A few weeks ago the company decided not to wait any longer to reveal it. While the design is mostly unchanged from the Arc that debuted in 2020, there are several key changes on the inside that make this a better all-in-one solution for people who don’t want to add more speakers to their living room setup. Sonos is promising better bass performance thanks to new speaker tech that’s debuting in the Arc Ultra, but just how good can it be?

Design

The refined design of the original Arc was a massive upgrade from that of the Playbar, and showed a progression from Sonos’ compact Beam soundbar. Honestly, the aesthetic is pretty timeless, in my opinion, and it’s a look that should age well for years to come. That said, it makes sense that Sonos would keep the design for the Arc Ultra, only making some minor changes to the exterior.

The Arc Ultra still comes in both black and white options, allowing you to choose what looks best in your living room or home theater. Sonos updated the controls to mirror what’s available on the newer Era 100 and Era 300 speakers, moving them to a top-facing bar at the back. There’s a volume slider on the right with play/pause and skip controls in the center. On the left side, Sonos gives you a microphone control so you can mute the built-in mics as needed.

And that’s really it in terms of design changes that you can see. The Arc Ultra is slightly shorter height-wise than the Arc, and it’s a little wider than its predecessor. Neither of which make a huge difference, and they won’t drastically change how you position the speaker beneath your TV.

Inside, Sonos has re-engineered the Arc Ultra to improve audio performance. The biggest piece of this overhaul is the new Sound Motion woofer that enables better bass performance before you add a standalone wireless sub. The achievement here, thanks to the acquisition of audio company Mayht, is that the new component lays flat, taking up less room than a traditional cone-shaped woofer. The Sound Motion driver also helps deliver increased clarity and depth, on top of doubling the bass output of the original Arc.

Sonos redesigned the entire acoustic architecture of the Arc Ultra during the process of adding the Sound Motion woofer. The soundbar now houses three more drivers than the arc, a list that includes seven tweeters (two of which are upfiring), six mid-range drivers (midwoofers, as Sonos calls them) and the aforementioned woofer for a total of 14. The company also employs 15 Class-D digital amplifiers along with far-field mics for tuning and voice control.

There’s still only a single HDMI (eARC) port, which allows most modern TVs the ability to control the soundbar’s volume and mute options from your TV remote. Moreover, the Arc Ultra is compatible with Wi-Fi 6 and newly-added Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity allows you to stream from any device. And of course, AirPlay 2 is still on the spec sheet. One last thing I’ll mention here is that the Arc Ultra doesn’t ship with an optical adapter if you prefer that connection. The company will sell you one for $25.

Software and features

Since the Arc Ultra is a Sonos product, there are a lot of core features that are the same as they are on the company’s other devices. You can use the soundbar as part of a multiroom setup and Trueplay tuning is here to adjust the audio to the acoustics of the room. There’s still an adjustable EQ with options for bass, treble and loudness and a Night Sound mode makes things less boomy when someone in your house may be trying to work or sleep.

While Trueplay will give you the best sound customization for the sonic characteristics of your living room, Sonos is enabling a Quick Tune feature for the first time on the Arc Ultra. Here, the soundbar will use its internal mics, as opposed to your phone, to offer a certain degree of improvement. The company says it wanted to give people the option of something quicker than Trueplay, although the full-fledged tuning process doesn’t take very long at all.

Speech Enhancement has been a handy feature on Sonos soundbars for a while, giving you the ability to improve dialog clarity as needed. Before now, it was an all-or-nothing feature, but on the Arc Ultra, the company introduced three levels of speech boost to give you more options to better suit your needs. This means the soundbar can help you hear clearly over background noise or simply follow along better by elevating dialog above the rest of the soundtrack mix.

The trademark feature of Sonos’ Ace headphones is the ability to beam the audio from a compatible soundbar to the cans for a private home theater. That TV Audio Swap tool is available on the Arc Ultra, so you can instantly send the sound to the headphones with the press of a button. In fact, Sonos bundles the Arc Ultra and Ace headphones in a $1,373 set. What’s more, the Ace supports spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, so you can count on immersive sound even when you’re employing it on an individual basis.

Despite all of the problems that Sonos has had with its app, some of which it's still working to resolve, I didn't encounter any issues during my testing. The software crashed on me once when the Trueplay tuning process completed, but everything had already run its course and I didn’t have to repeat it. Other than that, the app has worked reliably over the last week while I’ve been putting the Arc Ultra through its paces. Most importantly, the software is stable and the full suite of controls for the new soundbar is available at launch.

Sound performance

The original Arc already sounded great, so Sonos really had its work cut out for it to further improve the audio quality for the Arc Ultra. Thanks to the improved bass of the Sound Motion tech, a change that also takes up less space, the company says it had the ability to then overhaul the mid-range and high-frequency components as well. By using multiple sizes of mid-range drivers and tweeters, Sonos was able to tweak the speaker positioning inside of the soundbar for improved projection and more immersive sound.

In addition to the enhanced bass performance, the second thing that was immediately apparent on the Arc Ultra was those improvements to the dimensional sound. Whether it was a quidditch match in a Harry Potter movie or zooming F1 cars in Drive to Survive, the soundbar now has better directional, immersive sound than its predecessor. Sonos says the Arc Ultra now renders Dolby Atmos content in a 9.1.4-channel setup, versus 5.0.2 with the Arc, which further contributes to the enveloping audio. Interestingly, I haven’t seen any of the competition claim four up-firing channels from the soundbar like Sonos does here (those that do are usually accounting for up-firing drivers in the rear speakers). You can really hear the difference from the second you fire up the Arc Ultra, and the effect is consistent across content sources.

The increased bass performance makes the Arc Ultra a much better speaker for music without a separate subwoofer. You won’t get the bombastic low-end tone the newly updated Sonos Sub 4 can produce, but there’s enough from the soundbar to give Kaytranada’s Timeless, Phantogram’s Memory of a Day and Bilmuri’s American Motor Sports plenty of booming backbone when a track demands it. There’s also still the trademark Sonos clarity I’ve come to expect over the years, which means finer details like the texture of synths, layered guitars and the nuance of acoustic instruments cut through the mix cleanly.

And speaking of clarity, the company’s new Speech Enhancement settings are also a big improvement. Being able to select how much of a boost this feature offered depending on either my needs right then or based on the overall tuning of the content is really nice. It allowed me to max out the dialog when watching movies after my toddler was asleep so that speech didn’t suffer when sound effects were louder during intense scenes of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The competition

There’s no doubt the Arc Ultra packs in deeper, more immersive sound than its predecessor, but some people will still want a more robust setup to wring every ounce of audio out of a Sonos living room setup. The high-end choice for this is what Sonos calls the Ultimate Immersive Set, which includes the Arc Ultra, two Era 300s and the Sub 4. Right now, that will cost you $2,561. For something less expensive, you can get the Arc Ultra and the new Sub 4 (normally $799) for $1,708 (Premium Entertainment Set). And therein lies the biggest problem with Sonos soundbars: expanding your living room setup to get the most immersive experience gets very pricey very quickly when the centerpiece is already $999.

If you can live without all the conveniences of Sonos products, you can get an all-in-one package from Samsung for $1,500. With the Q990D, you’ll get the soundbar, two rear speakers and a wireless subwoofer in the same box. The setup offers 11.1.4 audio for excellent Atmos sound, thanks in part to up-firing drivers in the rear speakers. Samsung offers a host of handy features, from Q-Symphony audio with TV speakers, SpaceFit Sound Pro room calibration, Adaptive Sound audio enhancement, a dedicated gaming mode and more. The Q990D remains my top pick for the best soundbars for a lot of reasons, a key one being everything you could need comes in one all-inclusive package.

Wrap-up

The Arc Ultra is an obvious improvement over the Arc in the sonic department. New technology delivers on its promise to boost bass, clarity and immersive before you start adding extra components. Expanded features like Speech Enhancements and a quick-tune option offer new tools for dialing in the sound, while the stock Sonos experience remains intact. And thankfully, that includes an app that’s more stable than it was a few months ago. The Arc Ultra is still pricey at $999, but it exhibits a lot more sonic prowess than its predecessor for only $100 more.

Since the dawn of humanity, we have traveled. We’ve come a long way from on-foot journeys laden with animal hide satchels. But the goal of good travel gear is the same: Get you and your necessities to a destination in the highest level of comfort available. If you know someone who is always catching a flight, rides the train to work or is bravely embarking on a cruise, some new tech may just help them out. We’ve put together our collective experiences in roving about the planet to come up with the items we wish someone had given us before we booked. Here are the best travel gifts for the jetsetter or accidental tourist on your list.

Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.

As the world turns, so do the console generations. The Nintendo Switch is over seven years old, so it’s due for a refresh. Nintendo Switch 2 rumors have been swirling for years, but now they are really heating up. A sequel to Nintendo's most successful home console ever is coming and it’s likely coming sooner rather than later.

Will it be a straight up sequel to the Switch with updated specs while retaining the same hybrid functionality or will Nintendo get weird with it? Will it even be called the Switch 2, or will the company go with something like the Super Switch or even the New Nintendo Switch? You can never tell with Nintendo. Heck, maybe it’ll call the thing the Switch U.

In any event, recent weeks have brought feverish speculation regarding all aspects of the forthcoming gaming console. It’s important to note, however, that very little information has been confirmed by Nintendo. The company operates on its own timetable. With that said, here are all of the rumors that are most likely to come true, given industry analysis.

When will the Nintendo Switch 2 be announced?

As previously mentioned, Nintendo marches to the beat of its own drum. We don’t exactly know when it’ll hold an event to reveal the console. It likely won't be in 2024, as the tech year is winding down and it's rare to get announcements of new harder in late November and December. 

Even Nintendo has trouble keeping the lid on a major console release, so we could learn something before the official reveal. There are parts that have to be sourced and shipments that have to be made. A senior analyst at MST Financial noted a spike in production equipment spending by Nintendo assembler Hosiden.

When will the Nintendo Switch 2 come out?

Once again, this is more or less a mystery. We aren’t totally in the dark, but it’s mostly rumor and speculation. One thing we know for sure is that Nintendo will announce the Nintendo Switch 2 (or whatever it chooses to call it) by March 2025, as the company confirmed back in May. Some are saying there will be a March release date, which makes sense given the OG Switch came out on March 17, 2017. However, other reports put the console’s release window later in 2025.

We can infer a lot from the announcement date. If the console is announced this year, March would be a safe bet, given that the original Switch was officially confirmed in October of 2016. However, the console likely won't be announced until next year, at this point, so expect a late 2025 release. 

Will it even be a proper Switch sequel?

Nintendo has a weird track record here. The baffling Wii U followed the massive success of the Wii. The Wii itself followed the more traditional GameCube. In other words, it’s possible it’ll be something out of left field and not exactly a true sequel to the Switch. However, this is unlikely this time around. As much as I would love to see wacky VR glasses or a completely bonkers console concept, all points indicate a more traditional approach.

Developers have already seen the hardware, though in a much earlier form, and it seems to be a regular old console. While Nintendo hasn't confirmed hybrid functionality, it’d be a weird omission given the absolute financial firestorm of the Switch. We’ve also heard rumors of a Mini-LED display, which would track for a hybrid console. It’s highly likely this will be a straight-up Switch 2, or something like it, calling to mind the Super Nintendo.

To that end, recent rumors suggest a design that recalls the original Switch. According to reporting by VGC, photos of the console have appeared online and they show an 8-inch screen and magnetic Joy-Con controllers. There looks to be SL/SR buttons and front-facing player LEDs on these controllers. 

Is the Nintendo Switch 2 backwards compatible?

If it’s a sequel to the Switch, the next question has to be about backwards compatibility. The Switch’s library is absolutely massive, and continues to grow, so gamers would be rightfully peeved if they couldn’t play Tears of the Kingdom on their new next-gen console. There’s good news on this front.

The company has officially announced in a recent earnings report that the console will be fully backwards compatible. It will also feature access to Nintendo Online, so users will be able to play all of those old retro titles. 

What about specs?

The rumors regarding specs are all over the place, so it’s tough to pin down. We know one thing for sure: It’ll be more powerful than the ancient Switch hardware, which was already antiquated back in 2017. One analyst allegedly got a hold of a spec sheet from the Korean United Daily News that said the Switch 2 would boast an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 8GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal eMMC storage. This tracks for me, as these specs are about as underpowered in 2024 as the original Switch was in 2017. However, some reports do indicate that the console would include 12GB of RAM. 

Another source suggests that the eight-core CPU will be packaged inside an NVIDIA-produced Tegra239 SoC (system on a chip). Given the current Switch runs on an NVIDIA chip, that makes a lot of sense. The CPU will be more powerful, but it's the Switch 2's new GPU that will be a major differentiator. It's all-but-confirmed that the Switch 2 will support DLSS, NVIDIA's "deep learning supersampling" upscaling tech, which would allow the console to render games at a low resolution internally while outputting a high-resolution image. (Fun fact: We actually wrote about how perfect DLSS was for the Nintendo Switch 2 when the technology was announced alongside the RTX 20 series back in 2018.)

There are still questions about the Switch 2 and DLSS: Will the system support newer DLSS features like frame generation? Will existing games be automatically tidied up by NVIDIA's algorithm? Regardless of the exact implementation, DLSS upscaling will be a huge leap over the rudimentary techniques available to Nintendo Switch developers.

As for the display, there are many conflicting rumors. Early reports from solid sources suggested the Switch 2 would have an 8-inch display LCD display, but there have also been rumors about an 7-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Some analysts have suggested this would be an OLED screen, while others have said it would be a Mini-LED display. A Mini-LED display is basically an LCD display that has a backlight made of (surprise!) mini-LEDs rather than edge lighting. This allows for local dimming, making the blacks more black. I’m hedging my bets here. I think it’ll be a standard LCD, to cut costs, with an OLED or Mini-LED model coming later down the line. However, Mini-LED screens are slightly cheaper than OLED displays, so that’s certainly a possibility at launch.

As for resolution, recent reporting suggests that the console will output 1080p in handheld and 4K when docked. That's much better than the OG Switch. 

How much will the Nintendo Switch 2 cost?

We don't have too much information regarding price but we do have plenty of history to work with. The original Nintendo Switch launched at $300, which is pretty much the "magic number" when it comes to Nintendo console releases in recent years. The Wii U also came in at $300. 

However, there are plenty of rumors circulating that Nintendo could be upping the asking price for the Switch 2. Numerous outlets have reported it'll be $400, or potentially even more expensive. However, the same analysts who say the console will be $400 were also fairly certain it would be out by the end of 2024 and, well, it looks like that ain't happening. 

Dipping back into history, there is some precedence for a price uptick. The GameCube was $200 and the Wii was $250. The Wii U and Switch increased to $300 and, well, numbers like to go up. A $400 price tag would make it nearly as expensive as a PS5 and Xbox Series X. That would also put it at the same price as the 256GB LCD Steam Deck. 

Do we know about any launch games?

Nope! But it’s certainly been a long time since we’ve gotten a proper 3D Mario adventure, right? That would be one heck of a system seller. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine. Past as prologue, we can expect something from Ubisoft and an off-the-wall title like 1-2-Switch. 

If there’s a gimmick or hook involved with the console, we’ll also get a game that takes advantage of that. A dual release of Metroid Prime 4, just like Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess before that, is also a possibility.

That's everything we know about the Nintendo Switch 2 today. We'll update this article with rumors we trust and with information we gather directly from sources. Any changes made to the article after its initial publishing will be listed below.

Update, November 11, 2024, 9:00 AM ET: This story has been updated with details about the Switch 2's backwards compatibility as well as more details about the current expected announcement and release timeline.

Elon Musk's xAI launched its AI chatbot, Grok, at the end of 2023 and it has remained exclusively available to X (formerly Twitter) premium users since. Now, one year later, Grok is seemingly coming to free X users in select areas, TechCrunch reports. 

The news comes from multiple reports on X by researchers and users who spotted updates to Grok. According to X user Swak, there are stipulations to who can access Grok for free and how much they can use it. For starters, accounts need to be at least seven days old and have a phone number attached to them. Free users are also reportedly limited by how many things they can do in two hours. They can ask the Grok-2 model 10 questions and the Grok-2 mini model 20 questions within that time frame. Furthermore, free users only get three image analyses each day. 

The Grok-2 and the Grok-2 mini models are relatively new, releasing late summer of this year. Grok-2 is xAI's most advanced AI chatbot to date and pulls real-time information right from X, while the company claims the mini version "offers a balance between speed and answer quality." 

While reading through the list of Grammy nominees earlier I came across quite a surprise. There, competing for record of the year alongside the likes of Beyoncé's Texas Hold 'Em and Chappell Roan's Good Luck Babe, was Now and Then by The Beatles. No, to my dismay, this isn't a time travel situation, but the result of AI. 

So, here's the story of how The Beatles got nominated for two Grammys — they also snagged a best rock performance nod — 50 years after formally breaking up. It starts with a demo John Lennon recorded in the 1970s that was given to Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison for inclusion on the The Beatles Anthology, released in 1995. While other tracks like Free as a Bird and Real Love made it on, technology wasn't advanced enough to separate Lennon's vocals and piano without reducing the recording's quality. 

But, last year McCartney and Starr used modern machine learning technology to pull Lennon's vocals for a new track. Now and Then, released in November 2023, includes McCartney on bass, Starr on the drums, Lennon's vocals and a guitar in Harrison's style (a 1995 recording of him makes up some of the background rhythm guitar. You can watch a documentary about making the track here. 

Unsurprisingly, the song is said to be the last from the Beatles. We'll have to wait until the awards show in February to see whether or not AI will help them win another Grammy. 

The popular Shin Megami Tensei video game series is getting a physical board game. A Japanese company called Icrea is behind the effort and is launching a Kickstarter on November 12 to raise funds for the project.

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI THE BOARD GAME (the company asked us to use all caps) is a “full-scale board game project” complete with 72 “high quality and detailed demon figures.” Collecting demons and adding them to your party is a major part of the game, so these figurines should help with immersion. It’ll also help with getting random demon figurines lost in the couch.

There’s a board with various locations from the franchise and plenty of series-specific cards to rifle through. The company says a game should take anywhere from three to four hours. The title has already generated a fair amount of excitement at both Gen Con and the most recent Tokyo Game Show.

We don’t know exactly when this will be available for purchase. You know how Kickstarter timelines work. There are going to be a bunch of stretch goals, however, should the company reach the initial financial threshold. It’s a Shin Megami Tensei board game with dozens of cool-looking demon figurines. It shouldn’t have any trouble finding financial backers.

For the uninitiated, Shin Megami Tensei first came out in 1992 for the Super Famicom in Japan. There have been plenty of sequels throughout the years. Shin Megami Tensei V came out back in 2021, but has since received a full-featured refresh called Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance.

The Persona series is also a spinoff of the franchise. This leads to a very serious question. Persona board game when? I want to wander around a fake high school and eat ramen with a motley crew of characters.

For the first time in over two years, Overwatch 2 players will be able to group up in teams of six. A three-week event featuring that format starts tomorrow, November 12. But there’s a twist: you won’t be able to select Kiriko or Sombra, or battle it out with an additional player on each side on Push maps just yet. That’s because in Overwatch 2’s first real taste of 6v6, Blizzard is taking us all the way back to the beginning with a limited-time mode called Overwatch: Classic.

You will be able to experience Overwatch almost exactly as it was upon its May 2016 debut. That means you can choose from the first 21 heroes, who all have their original kits and abilities. That means Hanzo loses his Lunge jump but regains his dreaded Scatter Arrow, Bastion and Torbjorn are vastly different than they are now and Cassidy's Flashbang once again stun locks enemies for a moment. 

Symmetra reverts to being a support who can teleport allies almost anywhere on the map from the spawn room, while Mercy can will once again bring five dead teammates back to life. Ultimate abilities will charge up faster too.

In addition, just like in Overwatch for a brief period at the very beginning, there are initially no limits on hero selection. So if you and your teammates want to run with a composition of four Winstons and two Lucios, have at it. However, this will only apply for the first few days, after which Blizzard will apply the single hero limit rule for the rest of the event. Games will take place under the Quick Play ruleset, rather than the Competitive format.

The original 12 maps will be available too — including the assault maps that Blizzard retired from the main modes during the transition to Overwatch 2. While assault maps are still available in the Arcade and custom games, you'll once again be dealing with the notorious choke points of the otherwise gorgeous Hanamura, Temple of Anubis and Volskaya Industries.

Things won't be exactly as they were in May 2016, however. Original maps that have seen major reworks over the years — Dorado, Numbani, Route 66 and Watchpoint: Gibraltar — will appear as they are in the current game. You'll only be able to use the original default Overwatch skins and no, there are no loot boxes. The user interface remains the same too, which hopefully means the ping system will still be in place.

Blizzard doesn't plan for this to be a one-and-done deal. There will be other Overwatch: Classic events in the future, focusing on various moments in the game's history, like the infamous triple-tank, triple-support GOATS meta. This limited-time mode is also separate from the other 6v6 tests Blizzard plans to run in the coming months as it looks to measure players' interest in that format and garner feedback.

There's a good chance that this limited-time mode will bring some lapsed players back into the mix, even just for a sip of nostalgia. I first played Overwatch several months after its debut, so it'll be fun to see roughly how the game felt at the very beginning. I will be instalocking Mei every match so I can remember what it's like to freeze an opponent before giving them a cheeky wave and firing an icicle into their skull. Ah, memories...

Amazon is reportedly developing smart glasses for its delivery drivers, according to sources who spoke to Reuters. These glasses are intended to cut “seconds” from each delivery because, well, productivity or whatever. Sources say that they are an extension of the pre-existing Echo Frames smart glasses and are known by the internal code Amelia.

These seconds will be shaved off in a couple of ways. First of all, the glasses reportedly include an embedded display to guide delivery drivers around and within buildings. They will allegedly also provide drivers with “turn-by-turn navigation” instructions while driving. Finally, wearing AR glasses means that drivers won’t have to carry a handheld GPS device. You know what that means. They’ll be able to carry more packages at once. It’s a real mitzvah.

I’m being snarky, and for good reason, but there could be some actual benefit here. I’ve been a delivery driver before and often the biggest time-sink is wandering around labyrinthine building complexes like a lost puppy. I wouldn’t have minded a device that told me where the elevator was. However, I would not have liked being forced to wear cumbersome AR glasses to make that happen.

To that end, the sources tell Reuters that this project is not an absolute certainty. The glasses could be shelved if they don’t live up to the initial promise or if they’re too expensive to manufacture. Even if things go smoothly, it’ll likely be years before Amazon drivers are mandated to wear the glasses. The company is reportedly having trouble integrating a battery that can last a full eight-hour shift and settling on a design that doesn’t cause fatigue during use. There’s also the matter of collecting all of that building and neighborhood data, which is no small feat.

Amazon told Reuters that it is “continuously innovating to create an even safer and better delivery experience for drivers” but refused to comment on the existence of these AR glasses. "We otherwise don’t comment on our product roadmap,” a spokesperson said.

The Echo Frames have turned out to be a pretty big misfire for Amazon. The same report indicates that the company has sold only 10,000 units since the third-gen glasses came out last year.

If you're looking for an excellent midrange smartphone for yourself or a loved one among all the early Black Friday deals, your search may be over. Google's Pixel 8a is on sale. It has dropped by $100 to $399.

That's not quite the lowest price we've seen for the handset. It fell to $380 at one point. But this is still a good deal if you're looking for a great phone that won't break the bank. This price is for a configuration with 128GB of storage, but 256GB models are also $100 off at $459.

The Pixel 8a is our pick for the best midrange smartphone overall. We gave it a score of 90 in our review.

Thanks to Google's inclusion of the Tensor G3 chip, the Pixel 8a supports many of the same AI features that you'll find on flagship Pixel devices. We feel that the cameras are excellent, while that 6.1-inch 120Hz OLED display sure looks pretty.

The Pixel 8a has great battery life too. It lasted for 20 hours and 29 minutes in our video rundown test, actually beating out the Pixel 8 by 13 minutes. On the downside, wireless charging is pretty slow as it maxes out at 7.5W.

The bezels are a little thicker than you might like too, but otherwise the design is fairly slick. Another plus point is that the Pixel 8a is IP67-rated for dust and water resistance, so it should be somewhat durable.

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

Black Friday is right around the corner and the deals are already coming in hot. You can pick up a four-pack of Apple AirTags for just $70, as an early Black Friday promotion. This is a discount of 30 percent and represents a record low price.

Apple AirTags easily made our list of the best Bluetooth trackers, particularly for regular iPhone users. We love the vast finding network, which really helps when you misplace a tag. Just think of all of those AirTags, iPhones and other Apple devices out there helping to create this network.

Apple AirTags also offer the ability to tap into the ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless protocol. This creates a sort of game out of finding lost items, as long as the object is within 25 feet of the phone. The screen will display directional arrows and a distance meter so you can zero in on the lost item without having to ring the AirTag.

There are some caveats. These trackers only really work with iPhones, so Android users should buy something else. Also, the ringer only goes for seven seconds at a time, which isn’t always enough time to track something down. Finally, there’s no attachment point for connecting to a keychain or a related item. However, there are plenty of good AirTag accessories to solve that problem.

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

Madden NFL has been around for almost 40 years (really) so it’s high time the gaming franchise got the documentary treatment. Prime Video has got you covered. The platform just announced that It’s in the Game: Madden NFL will stream on November 26, which is just ahead of Thanksgiving.

The four-part docuseries will explore “one of the biggest video games of all time” that “became a worldwide phenomenon, spanning generations.” The show will explore Madden’s “archaic 8-bit origins to its success as an annual must have.” Prime Video says EA Sports has given it access to the vaults, so there should be plenty of new footage for diehard fans.

As the story goes, EA founder Trip Hawkins approached commentator John Madden back in 1984 for his endorsement and expertise, but the game took four long years of development before coming out in 1988. This extended development time was allegedly due to Madden himself, who demanded a realistic football experience. I’m sure the documentary will get into all of that.

Formerly known as John Madden Football, the franchise became an annual event in 1990 and changed its name to Madden NFL in 1993. These games have sold over 130 million copies worldwide since 1988. The latest iteration, Madden NFL 25, released back in August to fairly middling reviews.

After briefly offering a transparent Steam Deck OLED last year, Valve has announced its next limited edition variant featuring a bold new color: "white." It'll cost you $679 when it's available on November 18, and it features the exact same hardware as the 1TB Steam Deck OLED. (Most importantly, it sports that gorgeous 7.4-inch display with HDR and a 90Hz refresh rate). There's also a white carrying case, naturally. While the perils of white console hardware are hard to ignore (especially for a hefty portable that'll surely trap plenty of hand grease), this new variant may convince early Steam Deck owners to make the jump. 

As we covered in our review, the Steam Deck OLED's display looks significantly bolder than the original LCD models, especially with the addition of HDR support. This time around, Valve says it's also shipping the limited edition white model worldwide where Steam Decks are already available (including Australia).

"We're curious to see what the response is, and will use what we learn to inform future decisions about any potential new color variants down the line," Valve said in an e-mail. "We've always said our intent is to continually work on improving Steam Deck, and that's true from both a software perspective (continuing to ship improvements) and a hardware one (Steam Deck OLED, as well as ongoing work toward the future of Steam Deck and other hardware plans)."

Apple sells just three models of smartwatches — the Series 10, the Ultra 2 and the SE — and they fall pretty neatly into the categories of flagship, premium and budget, respectively. But if you’re wondering whether the adventure-ready features of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 are worth the price bump, or if the just-the-basics tools of the Apple Watch SE will be enough, Engadget is here to help. We’ve been testing and reviewing Apple wearables since the beginning and we have lots to say about them. Ultimately we think the Apple Watch Series 10 is the best Apple Watch for most people — in fact, it’s our pick for the best smartwatch you can buy from any brand — but read on to dive deeper into the chips, sensors, displays and fitness tracking features each Apple Watch model offers.

What to look for in an Apple Watch

Chips and sensors

The new Apple Watch Series 10 has an S10 SiP (system in a package) chip with a four-core Neural Engine. The Ultra 2 was updated last September with Apple’s S9 SiP. Both chips allow for on-device processing of Siri requests as well as dictation, translation, automatic workout detection and the Double Tap gesture that lets you answer calls or stop an alarm by tapping your thumb and forefinger together twice. It also enables faster machine learning performance for interpreting sensor data, speech recognition and performing other “thinking” tasks. The Apple Watch SE still relies on the S8 SiP, which was also used in the Series 8 and the original Ultra.

Both the Series 10 and Ultra 2 can take an ECG and have temperature sensors to help track ovulation and both support fall-detection and crash-detection as a safety feature. All three models have a compass and altimeter. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has an onboard SOS siren, as well as dive features like a depth gauge. Water features were added to the Apple Watch Series 10, but with a shallower depth rating (just six meters, as compared to 40 meters on the Ultra). The Ultra includes sensors to measure blood oxygen, but a recent patent dispute has forced Apple to disable that health feature on new models sold in the US and the hardware isn’t present in the new flagship model.

All three models support near field communication (NFC), the chip that enables Apple Pay. Once you set it up using the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, you can pay for stuff at any store that accepts Apple Pay, even if you don't have your phone with you. 

Displays and case sizes

The wide-angle OLED display on the Apple Watch 10 lets you see the always-on display from more angles. The Ultra 2 also has an always-on display, but you’ll have to lift your wrist to tell time or read notifications on the SE. The SE can reach a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits, the Series 10 can get as bright as 2,000 and the Ultra 2 hits 3,000 nits. Both higher-end screens can dim to a single nit, making them less distracting in the dark.

The Apple Watch Series 10 came with a new finish and case material — a glossy anodized jet black finish on the aluminum model and the option for a titanium case. The Ultra 2 also got a new finish, satin black, that utilizes a PVD (physical vapor deposition) process to apply the color.

As for case sizes, the SE is available in 40 or 44mm. The Series 10 increased in size from the prior generation and now has a choice of a 42 or 46mm case. The Ultra 2 comes in just one size measuring 49mm. You also get the opportunity to pick the length and style for watch bands. The SE and Series 10 come in small/medium or medium/large and the Ultra 2 gives you the choice of small, medium or large.   

Battery life

Since it’s the largest wearable, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 sports the biggest battery and can last for a claimed 36 hours on a charge. That number jumps up to 72 hours if you turn on low power mode. Both the Apple Watch 10 and the SE are rated by Apple to go for 18 hours before they need a visit to the charger, and longer when using battery saver mode.

Fitness features

Believe it or not, all three Apple Watches have similar fitness tracker chops. The Activity app uses three “rings” to keep tabs on how much you’re moving in a day: The Move ring tracks your active calories; the Exercise ring monitors the minutes you’ve spent walking, running, doing yoga and so on; and the Stand ring tells you how many hours in a day you’ve stood up and moved around for at least one minute.

Different internal sensors detect those activities, for example the accelerometer senses when you’re moving versus sitting still, and the optical heart rate sensor judges how hard you're working out and how many calories you’ve burned. You can set your goals for each ring and you’ll earn badges and animations when you hit them.

The Workout app lets you start and track an exercise session. The sensors can even auto-detect when you’re working out, tapping your wrist to suggest you track the activity. Apple Watches will integrate with Apple’s Fitness+ subscription, displaying real time heart rate and calorie burn data on your iPhone, iPad or even Apple TV 4K as you take a class. Fitness+ also includes audio-guided walks and runs with just your watch and Bluetooth earbuds. All three models support the Activity and Workout apps for free. The Fitness+ app also works with all Apple Watches, but costs $10 per month.

New features enabled with watchOS 11 include Training Load that gauges your body’s response to workouts over time, which could help athletes better prepare for events like marathons. Users can also now skip a day (or more) from fitness tracking metrics when they need to rest or aren’t feeling up to the challenge of closing their rings.

Siri

You can get the weather, start a workout, identify a song and dictate a text just by asking Siri. All Apple Watch models support the Raise to Speak feature that bypasses the need to say “Hey Siri” and will instead listen for your request when you lift your wrist near your mouth.

Both the Series 10 and the Ultra 2 utilize onboard processing of Siri requests. That means executing simple requests like starting workouts and timers are quicker, as they won’t need to access external networks. However, requests like sending texts or getting weather forecasts still need to communicate with Wi-Fi or cellular, so you’ll need to have your phone nearby if you have a GPS-only model.

Price

There’s a $550 difference between the cheapest and most expensive Apple Watches. For $250, you can get the 40mm Apple Watch SE with GPS-only connectivity; adding cellular connectivity ups the price by $50. The Apple Watch Series 10 starts at $399 for the 42mm, non-cellular model in aluminum and goes as high as $749 for the 46mm titanium case (which is only available with GPS and cellular). The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has just one price: $799 for a titanium 49mm case with both GPS and cellular power.

Best Apple Watch in 2024

How we tested Apple Watches

Engadget has been reviewing Apple Watches since the first one came out in 2015. Since then, we’ve tested every subsequent model Apple has released, including the Ultra and SE models, spending at least a few days or even a couple weeks with one strapped to our wrists. During that time, we run, hit the gym, go on hikes and wear it while sleeping, all the while gauging how it tracks various metrics, integrates with the iPhone and performs every other trick Apple claims its smartwatches can do.

Since we also review smartwatches from other companies, such as Samsung and Google, our editors can compare Apple Watches not just to previous generations, but also to other wearables on the market.

We wouldn’t blame you if you try to do all of your tech shopping around the holidays. That’s when you can typically get the best sales, both on relatively affordable gear and (more importantly) on big-ticket items. But it would be wrong to think that only the most expensive tech is worth gifting. Since we at Engadget test a plethora of gadgets every year, we know that there are some hidden (and not so hidden) tech gems at lower price ranges — you just have to know where to find them. That’s where we come in — these are the best tech gifts under $50 that you can get this year.

Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.

The winter holidays are upon us and despite the festive feelings we might be hoping for, this time of year is often paired with increased stress, worry and anxiety. Fortunately, there are some great tools for helping to manage those negative emotions while promoting positive ones. One of those tools is the Headspace mental health app, which is running a three-week Black Friday deal. From November 12 through December 4, you can snag a Headspace annual plan for half off. This subscription normally costs $70 a year, but during this promotion, you can access the service for $35 billed annually. And what better time than the holiday chaos to gift someone (or heck, to gift yourself) a little bit of mindfulness?

Headspace's service has features to help users with meditation, sleep tools, mindfulness and general mental health. Its holistic approach made Headspace stand out as one of our top picks for meditation apps. Reviewer Lawrence Bonk appreciated how well Headspace created progression across its courses, as well as the chance to pick from different instructors so that any user can find the meditation guidance that will work best for their individual brains. This app is also getting the AI treatment. Headspace has introduced an AI companion named Ebb that can help users by recommending meditations and activities to best match their current challenges. 

Since this is a year-long subscription, it's a gift that keeps on giving for whoever you choose to buy this plan for. Having a happier brain is a present anyone can appreciate.

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NVIDIA has been testing a single app that merges the GeForce Experience and Control Panel over the past year. After rolling out several betas to make sure it works as intended, the company has officially launched the NVIDIA application, which is now available to download for users with its GPUs in their PCs and laptops. 

The company says the app is meant to make it easy to keep their NVIDIA Studio and GeForce Game Ready drivers updated and to give users quick access to its latest programs. In its home screen, users will find a prominently displayed section that will lead them to the latest driver downloads, as well as sections that will take them to other NVIDIA applications. At the bottom, they'll find a Library section showing their most recently opened games and programs that they can launch from there. 

Since it's supposed to provide a unified experience, users will be able to fine-tune the settings for their games and programs from within the app. Users will be able to access Optimal Playable Settings with relevant Control Panel options, and they'll be able to configure their displays, enable G-SYNC, enhance videos with AI and fine-tune their GPU's performance from within its interface. 

NVIDIA explains that it designed the unified application to be 50 percent more responsive than the GeForce Experience. It also installs in half the time. It's also worth noting that app will introduce a redesigned in-game overlay that simplifies access to gameplay recording tools capable of capturing video in 4K at 120 FPS, as well as AI-powered filters for those with RTX GPUs. They'll then be able to view their screenshots and new videos in the app's Gallery. 

Team17, the developer of the Worms and publisher of Dredge, Blasphemous and more, is working on Rogue Point, a new rogue-lite tactical FPS game. The studio has enlisted the help of Crowbar Collective, the team behind Black Mesa, the fan-made and Valve-approved Half-Life remake that needs no further introduction. Rogue Point is currently in development and slated to enter early access soon.

Rogue Point is set in a dystopian future where a single CEO had controlled everything. After his death, competing companies work to carve up his empire. To achieve this, they hire mercenaries using the MERX app, and it’s as simple as getting food using Uber Eats. Currently, only Rogue Point, a team of vigilantes, is fighting back against this dystopian state of affairs.

The game pits teams of four against computer-controlled enemies of different classes, each offering unique challenges. Players must strategize and play with the right loadouts or risk losing. There’s plenty of gear to acquire, too, with some weapons only available in the mission field.

Maps are procedurally generated to ensure no two playthroughs are the same. Unlocked equipment may also be used in future runs. Besides the standard campaign missions where “high-octane tactical combat meets strategic planning,” there’s an endgame mission with maxed-out difficulty, promising a challenge for those craving it.

The developers have a rather extensive wishlist of features they hope to add to the game down the road. Those include new weapons (who doesn’t like new gear?), improved AI and new maps. There are currently four maps announced, but the procedural generation should make things less repetitive.

Rogue Point isn’t in early access yet, but you can wishlist it on Steam. The game is set to come out in 2025, but the developers have yet to announce a final release date.

Baidu, which is often called China's answer to Google, has launched its own pair of AI-powered smart glasses at its annual World Conference event in Shanghai. The device will run on the company's ERNIE generative AI technology and was designed to "become a private assistant," according to the Financial Times. Users will reportedly be able to interact with the device using their voice and ask it questions about what it sees in their current environment. They can also tell it to play music and even track their calories consumption. And since the glasses are equipped with cameras, they can ask it to snap photos or take videos. 

When the glasses start shipping sometime next year, they could become the Chinese consumers' alternative to Meta's and Snap's devices. Meta teamed up with Ray Ban a few years ago to release a pair of smart sunglasses that can livestream and send photos hands-free. Its latest model comes built-in with Meta's generative AI assistant that users can talk to. However, the company's device isn't officially sold in China, because its servers are blocked in the country. Baidu has yet to announce how much its glasses would cost, but Meta is selling its device for $299. 

The Baidu World Conference had a huge focus on the company's AI efforts, as it takes steps to make sure ERNIE can keep up with its competitors' technologies. It also launched a new AI image generator called iRAG that apparently experiences fewer hallucinations than its predecessor, along with a tool that enables people to create software programs even if they don't have coding expertise. According to The Times, ByteDance's Doubao is now the leading AI chatbot in China based on monthly active users as observed by Sensor Tower. ByteDance is also growing its hardware offerings and recently launched a pair of earbuds with access to its AI assistant Doubao. 

Black Friday may technically just be one day, but it’s evolved to consume the entire month of November in the US at this point. For the past few years, retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target have ushered in the holiday shopping season earlier and earlier, and this year is no different.

Early Black Friday deals are already here, bringing discounts to some of our favorite tech we’ve tested this year. While it’s still advisable to wait until the week before Thanksgiving to ensure you’re getting the best of the best deals, you have plenty of opportunities to save right now if you’re eager to get a jump on your gift list this year. These are the best early Black Friday deals we could find; we’ll be updating this post regularly throughout November, so check back for the latest discounts.

Engadget's top picks

• Apple AirTags (four-pack) for $70 ($30 off)

• Apple MagSafe charger pad for $25 ($14 off)

• Apple iPad (9th gen) for $200 ($129 off)

• Dyson V11 cordless vacuum cleaner for $400 ($170 off)

• Anker MagGo 3-in-1 foldable charging station for $82.50 (25 percent off with coupon)

• Fitbit Charge 6 fitness tracker for $100 ($60 off)

• Xbox Series X (1TB) with extra controller for $490 ($110 off)

• Headspace annual plan for $35 ($35 off)

The best early Black Friday deals

Apple Black Friday deals

• Apple AirTags (four-pack) for $70 ($30 off): These are the Bluetooth trackers to get if you have an iPhone, and they allow you to keep track of your keys, wallet and other belongings from within the Find My app. Just make sure to pick up an AirTag holder or case if you plan on using them with your keys.

• Apple MagSafe charger pad for $25 ($14 off): Apple's newest MagSafe charger provides up to 25W of fast-charging power to iPhone 16 handsets when paired with a 30W or 35W adapter. It works with older iPhones too, of course, and will provide that satisfying magnetic snap with the latest Apple smartphones (and AirPods, too).

• Apple iPad (9th gen) for $200 ($129 off): Apple discontinued this model with the release of the new iPad Pro and Air models earlier this year. In what's likely an effort to get rid of current stock, the price is down to a new record low of $200. The 9th generation iPad is the former budget pick in our guide to the best Apple tablets and will serve well as a casual browsing, streaming and game playing machine. 

• Apple MacBook Air (M3, 13-inch) fore $899 ($200 off): The latest MacBook Air is our top pick for the best laptop for most people, and this model has 16GB of RAM built in — double the previous base amount.

• Apple 2024 M4 iMac desktop computer for $1,204 ($95 off): Apple just released the refreshed iMac last month, and now the silver model is $85 off and down to $1,214 at Amazon. It has the latest Apple silicon, the M4 system on a chip that gives it a speed boost and enables the new Apple Intelligence features in macOS Sequoia. 

Anker Black Friday deals

• Anker MagGo 3-in-1 foldable charging station for $82.50 (25 percent off with coupon): This Qi2 charging station supports up to 15W of power output and can charge an iPhone, Apple Watch and a pair of AirPods all at once. It also comes with a 40W USB-C charger and connecting cable, so you get everything you need to use it in the box.

• Anker 10K MagGo power bank for $70 ($20 off, Prime exclusive): This is one of our top picks for the best power banks you can buy today thanks to its versatile capacity, speedy Qi2 charging capabilities, clear screen that shows remaining battery power and its built-in kickstand.

• Anker 3-in-1 10K portable charger for $36 ($9 off, Prime exclusive): A top pick in our best power banks guide, this 10K brick has a built-in USB-C cable so you don't need to remember to bring one with you, plus it has an extra USB-C port for charging other devices.

• Anker Prime Power Bank 200W with charging base for $110 ($75 off): This high-capacity power bank is one of our favorites thanks to its speedy charging performance, onboard display which shows how much juice is flowing to each connected device and the included charging station that provides a neat space for the brick to live when you're not using it.

• Anker Soundcore Space A40 for $44.25 ($35.75 off): The Space A40 is the longtime top pick in our guide to the best budget earbuds, as it delivers the kind of robust feature set we expect from pairs that cost three times as much. Call quality isn't the best, and it won't auto-pause when you take out an earbud, but its warm sound, powerful ANC, eight-ish hours of battery life and comfy design all impress for the money. This deal ties the lowest price we've seen — it's only available to Prime subscribers at Amazon, but you can also grab it at Anker's online store with an on-page coupon.

• Anker Soundcore Motion+ for $75 at Amazon ($25 off with coupon): We recommend the Soundcore Motion+ in our guide to the best portable Bluetooth speakers. While it isn't especially light or compact, it pumps out a more spacious sound than most speakers in its price range, it's waterproof and it lasts a decent 12 to 15 hours per charge. We've seen this discount a few times before, but it comes within a few bucks of the lowest price we've tracked. Also at Anker's online store with an on-page coupon.

Google Black Friday deals

• Fitbit Charge 6 fitness tracker for $100 ($60 off): Our top pick for the best fitness tracker, the Charge 6 has a comfortable design, built-in GPS and heart rate monitors and 20 exercise modes ready to be tracked.

• Google Pixel Watch 3 for $280 ($70 off): Google's latest smartwatch is down to an all time low price. This is the model we recommend for anyone with an Android phone in our guide to the best smartwatches and it earned an 84 in our review. It detects workouts quickly, has an extra long battery life and is one of the more attractive smartwatches on the market. The deal applies to the 41mm size with GPS only but the larger and cellular-enabled models are on sale too. Also at Best Buy and Target.

• Google Pixel 8a for $399 ($100 off): This is the best midrange smartphone on the market right now thanks to its solid performance, 120Hz OLED touchscreen and excellent camera array. The standard Pixel 8 is also on sale for $449.

• Google Nest Indoor security camera (wired) for $70 ($30 off): Google's security camera can tell the difference between people, animals and vehicles while it's monitoring your home, and it supports 1080p video, night vision and two-way audio.

• Google Nest Wi-Fi Pro 6E (three-pack) for $279 ($120 off): We consider the Nest Wi-Fi Pro mesh system to be one of the easiest for folks who have never installed their own router, and the three-pack provides coverage for up to 6,600 square feet. Also available at Google.

Black Friday subscription deals

• Audible Premium Plus (3-month) for $1 ($29 off): Those who don't currently subscribe to Audible can get three months of the audiobook service's Premium Plus plan for $1. Normally, the service costs $15 per month after a 30-day free trial. As a refresher, Premium Plus is Audible's upper tier: In addition to giving access the full Audible Plus library, it lets you keep one title from a curated selection of audiobooks each month. We wouldn't call it essential, but if you've been on the fence, this is a good way to see if it'd work for you. Just note that the plan will auto-renew until you cancel.

• Headspace annual plan for $35 ($35 off): Our top pick for the best meditation app has tons of courses that address specific anxieties and worries, a good in-app search engine that makes it easy to find the right meditation you need and additional yoga routines, podcasts and music sessions to try out.

• ExpressVPN two-year plan plus six extra months for $150 (82 percent off): Our top pick for best VPN for travelers provides access to tons of servers and had some of the fastest connections of any VPN service we tested. In addition to a VPN, this subscription tier gives you access to an ad blocker and password manager.

Black Friday tech deals

• LG 65-inch B3 OLED smart TV for $998 ($301 off): This OLED TV has a 120Hz refresh rate, LG's a7 AI processor Gen 6, and support for NVIDIA G-Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium and VRR for an even better gaming experience.

• Xbox Series X (1TB) with extra controller for $490 ($110 off): This bundle includes a total of two Xbox wireless controllers with the Series X console, and the built-in 1TB SSD is a good starting point for most gamers.

• Blink Outdoor 4 (6-pack) for $180 ($300 off): The Outdoor 4 is a wireless, IP65-rated outdoor security camera we highlight in our guide to the best smart home gadgets. It captures decent (if not class-leading) 1080p video, it's relatively painless to install and it supports features like night vision, motion alerts, local storage and two-way talking. The catch is that it locks things like person detection and cloud storage behind a subscription plan. Still, it's a solid value on balance, and this deal furthers that. We've seen this price on a six-camera bundle for a few weeks, but it's still an all-time low. An eight-camera pack is also on sale for $250, another low.

• Amazon Fire HD 10 for $75 ($65 off): No Fire HD tablet comes close to matching the performance, build quality and app support of an iPad, but they're significantly more affordable, and they still work well enough if all you need is something for casual streaming, e-reading and web browsing. At this price, the 10.1-inch Fire HD 10 is likely a better value than the smaller Fire HD 8, as it has a sharper display, it's a tick faster and it can last slightly longer on a charge. Just be ready to deal with a bunch of ads for Amazon's own apps and services. This discount ties an all-time low, and it's also available at Best Buy and Target.

• Samsung Music Frame for $248 ($150 off): This unique smart speaker can show art or your own photos while it plays music, and it can sync with your Samsung TV speakers. Also available at Full Article