Another year has passed, and another CES has passed with it. Six days in Las Vegas — cut short thanks to a last-minute trip to China — is enough for most people, but add in several incredible pieces of technology, and it’s clear why it’s one of the best shows of the year.

That’s during the day, and in true Vegas style, the industry comes alive at night. From more evening cocktail and networking events than ever before, to even more concerts — including Gwen Stefani, Alesso, and Black Eyed Peas — this is the place to be if you’re in tech!

Powering it all is the tech industry, and yes, a wide range of announcements, including a ton of AI. Without further ado, here’s our Best of CES 2026, and trust me, it could have been a much longer list!

Satellai Collar Go

We have wearables to track human health and location, and now we have a wearable that can do the same for our pups. Satellai Collar Go uses a new platform called Petsense AI to monitor your dog’s location, temperature, sleep, and other metrics, helping you understand when something might be a little off. This is ideal for dog parents everywhere!

Roborock Saros Rover: Robotic Vacuum with legs

I love a robot vacuum, but to quote my mum, it can’t do stairs or clear a true multi-level house. Until now, the Roborock Saros Rover features actual legs that can climb stairs, hop over obstacles, and even dance. This is the robot vacuum I’ve been waiting for, mostly so I never need to vacuum my own house again.

A UV Printer like no other

I love printing things, and like my Best of IFA awards back in September, there’s another printer on this list. It turns out, it’s from the same company as well: launching later this year, the Xtool F2 Ultra UV printer can print on a range of materials. It’s absolutely wonderful, and I can’t wait to get one – perhaps to build future Best of Show trophies – when it launches later this year.

Dell’s new monitor will blow you away

For those that don’t know, I use two Dell UltraSharp monitors every day. While I absolutely love them, there’s no denying that one large monitor can be better — especially if you have OCD about their arrangement. The Dell UltraSharp 52 Thunderbolt Monitor delivers exactly this – 52 inches, 6K resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a Thunderbolt 5 hub. What more could you ask for?

Boston Dynamics Atlas Humanoid Robot

CES 2026 featured many robots, but the best was, by far, the Boston Dynamics Atlas, a freestanding humanoid robot with incredible mobility, durability, and ease of repair. This will soon be found in Hyundai factories, and I can’t wait for the day that I can send it to all my meetings as well.

Razer’s Project Motoko

There are many smart glasses, but Razer decided to up the ante a bit with Project Motoko, a pair of headphones with built-in cameras. The premise is simple: not everyone loves glasses, but more people are comfortable with over-ear headphones. This has a built-in smart assistant that can help you with everything from gaming to cooking, and best of all, it’s a concept expected to launch this year!

The Galaxy Z TriFold

Ok, so this isn’t technically a CES 2026 announcement as it was announced last month, but this was Samsung’s first global showcase for the Galaxy Z TriFold, and it is glorious. I have a full hands-on coming, but this is the TriFold I’ve been waiting for, and Samsung has built several nifty software features that take advantage of the large screen!

LG’s Transparent OLED TV is phenomenal

LG launched its Transparent OLED TV technology last year, but this year, we saw the company demo it across many areas of its booth. From gates to displays and everything in between – and yes, as a TV, LG showcased just how useful transparent OLED TV technology can be. I can’t wait to get one in my home!

Lenovo’s incredible rollable gaming concept

Lenovo cleaned up at CES 2026, in every sense of the phrase! From the most stunning keynote I’ve sat in in years at the Sphere to over 20 new announcements, this was Lenovo’s show, and the Legion Pro Rollable Concept is a standout! Lenovo is known for innovative rollable products, and this is one of the niftiest, with the company using this tech to create an ultrawide rollable gaming laptop for the first time.

Lenovo’s excellent rollable PC concept

Of course, rollable technology is for more than just gaming, and the Lenovo XD Rollable Concept is designed for professionals everywhere. It uses the same tech as last year’s ThinkBook Plus Gen 6, and with a single tap, the 13.3-inch flexible OLED display expands to 16 inches, giving you around 50% more usable screen real estate. A big difference this year is that when unused, the rollable section of the display is visible on the rear, which could make it ideal for sales professionals and more.

Lenovo’s new cross-device AI Assistant

AI is everywhere in tech, and all we’ve been waiting for is a true cross-platform AI assistant that can see, understand, and do anything you want it to. Achieving this requires access and deep integration, and Lenovo and Motorola could have the answer. Expect Qira to be a big part of Lenovo and Motorola phones this year and beyond, and if it can deliver on its promise, this could be the AI to beat!

Motorola’s first Razr FOLD

Did you know that Motorola is the leading flip phone maker in the Americas, and for good reason? I love the Razr series, and at CES 2026, the company took it to the next level with the Razr Fold. From an incredible reveal using lasers in the Sphere, to a stunning feel in the hand (more to come soon), this is already one of the phones I’m most excited about this year!

A smartphone camera that thinks outside the box

One of the most innovative smartphone products at CES 2026 was actually from Honor, which previewed its new Robot Phone ahead of its upcoming launch. The premise is simple: build a gimbal-like smartphone camera on an arm that can also follow you around. We saw it – although we couldn’t test it – at CES, and I hope this is finally revealed during MWC next month!

Sony AFEELA Prototype 2026

One of my highlights of CES is Sony and Honda Mobility, who steal the show with their first upcoming car. This year, the company took it a step further by showcasing the AFEELA Prototype 2026, an all-electric crossover SUV that I hope will come to market. The company’s first car – the AFEELA 1 Sedan – is expected to launch this year, but this prototype is scheduled for production in 2028. I suspect this could be my next car!

A new take on BlackBerry that I absolutely love

Do you remember BlackBerry? Of course you do, at least unless you’re part of Gen-Z. Ironically, the non-BlackBerry generation seems to be the biggest fans of keyboard phones. I digress; meet the Clicks Communicator, a BlackBerry for the modern generation! It’s the best take on a BlackBerry for the modern world yet, and I’m particularly enamored by the company’s custom launcher that’s being built with Niagara. If you’re tired of the noise and just want access to the messages that matter, this is the ideal second phone!

A keyboard accessory for almost any phone

Of course, you may not want to change your phone or carry a second phone. The Clicks Power Keyboard essentially delivers the Clicks keyboard experience for any phone, thanks to strong magnets and a slide-out keyboard. The best part? It’s ergonomically-friendly, fits in most pockets, and even has a built-in battery to keep you topped up in a pinch!

Samsung’s giant 130-inch Micro RGB Backlit R95H TV

For my bedroom, I want LG’s aforementioned Transparent OLED TV, but for my living room, there’s no escaping Samsung’s giant 130-inch Micro RGB LED TV. Samsung says the Micro RGB LEDs potentially offer more colors and can achieve 100% of the HDR-read BT.2020 wide color gamut. It’s also exceptionally thin! Pricing and availability haven’t been announced yet, but I absolutely want one of these.

A skylight that’s actually a ceiling light

My mother recently bought a new home that includes a skylight, which is a first for her. It’s also a giant pain, and having replaced all the lighting with smart lighting, I’ve wondered what to do about the actual skylight. Skylights are a great way to bring natural light into a home, but they are ineffective at keeping out the weather, require excessive maintenance, and aren’t feasible if you’re in a rental. The Govee Ceiling Light Ultra acts as a skylight without the fuss an duses a 616-pixel LED matrix with around 5,000 lumens of brightness. This is the skylight for everyone.

The AI Pin that’s going to change my life, literally

I’ve been a big proponent of AI notetakers since Plaud changed the game with the Plaud Note in 2023, and three years on, this might be the best one yet. The Plaud NotePin S brings all the same great smarts as the Plaud NotePin from last year, adds several features — including a hardware button for easy highlights — and is compatible with the desktop companion app for a complete AI notetaking experience. Stay tuned for a full review on this!

A smart home ecosystem that delivers when you need it most

This could be one of the most impactful announcements at CES 2026; the leading smart energy company will finally integrate all of your smart home products into a single app. When the proverbial hits the fan, EcoFlow is the company you want with you and this announcement has the potential to impact millions of lives! More in the video above!

Lego Smart Bricks

Everyone has a Lego memory and in true Lego fashion, the company is proving that these bricks are for all generations. Lego is about to get a lot more interesting however, as the company showcased Lego Smart Bricks at CES 2026. These are regular-sized bricks, complete with circuits, sensors, speakers and lights that can react intelligently when next to others. We’ve already seen Lego capable of building things that move and do a lot, but these smart bricks could change the game forever!

One of the most interesting products this year has been the Fotile X20 Max, a 3-in-1 sink and dishwasher that completely took me by surprise. I flew to Ningbo, China, earlier this month to tour FOTILE’s HQ and saw why the company is a global leader in smart kitchen solutions.

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Alongside this, I checked out the company’s new X20 Max sink and dishwasher, and it surprised me far more than I expected. There are a few key reasons this is a product everyone should consider, but crucially, it also comes at a time when many customers are opting for smaller houses and apartments to save on ongoing costs.

I’ve lived in many apartments, and when I consider some of the smallest places I’ve toured, the FOTILE X20 Max is an absolutely fantastic product that solves key problems for many people. Here’s why.

This newsletter was produced in partnership with FOTILE as part of a campaign to highlight key features of the X20 Max.

Space-saving yet multi-faceted

Builders and landlords are constantly looking for ways to maximize space in space-constrained cities worldwide, whether in New York, London, or many cities across China.

Alongside these space constraints, builders and landlords are financially motivated to improve yield by installing features such as dishwashers, which can often increase monthly rent, property value, or desirability, depending on market conditions.

Yet a traditional dishwasher requires much space, forcing you to either increase the overall size of the kitchen — at the expense of other usable space — or decrease storage space. Further to this, it’s not just the space required for the item itself, but also the space needed for the traditional front door that opens to load it.

Against all of this, the FOTILE X20 Max is uniquely positioned as a clever 3-in-1 solution that addresses these changing dynamics.

First, it’s a 3-in-1 sink-and-dishwasher combination that takes up just 1 square meter of space. There’s a regular sink for washing dishes and a top-loading dishwasher, ideal for those with back issues like me. There’s also a separate sink designed specifically for washing fruits, meats, vegetables, fish, and more, which aligns with a growing trend of washing these items before storage to remove any pesticides.

One particularly impressive feature is that the cover for the vegetable-washer can also serve as a chopping board, making it a truly integrated wash-and-prep station. Yes, you can manually wash these items in a regular sink, but the patented four-layer micro-aerated bubble technology offers a deep yet gentle clean. Having tried some grapes washed in this bath, I can confirm they tasted better than they would have with just a quick rinse.

Finally, a dishwasher that’s designed for Asian families

Second, it’s built to meet specific needs that are prevalent in Asian households. In China, heavy grease during cooking can make it challenging for traditional dishwashers to clean dishes or cookware effectively. Similarly, in Indian households, turmeric is prevalent in many dishes and can be difficult to remove, especially when mixed with oil during cooking.

Traditional dishwashers fail to account for the cooking habits of both of these cultures — which together account for almost 35% of the world’s population — but the FOTILE X20 Max is uniquely designed to address this. However, while it seems like a genius solution now, it took considerable testing to perfect.

To find a solution that actually worked for customers, FOTILE’s R&D team visited over 1,000 households in China to identify the key challenges they face. Over five years, the R&D team traveled to 25 cities, conducted 274 research sessions, and produced 150+ design drafts alongside more than 25 user families that helped co-design and develop the first generation of the X20 Max.

Built for the whole family, whatever your style

When I first saw the FOTILE X20 Max, I questioned why it existed. Within minutes, however, I realized that it was exactly the type of product many households need. I have family and friends who struggle to load a dishwasher, especially as constantly bending down to load and unload isn’t practical for many people, especially those of an older age.

That’s the substance, but the FOTILE X20 Max also has exceptional style and is designed to fit into a variety of different kitchen designs. FOTILE showed us how it can integrate into simple household kitchens and how multiple units can be used in a professional kitchen environment.

I love the idea of a 3-in-1 sink-and-dishwasher, and the FOTILE X20 Max is the best I’ve seen yet. I know I want them — and yes, I considered transporting one back on a flight — but the real question is how many I should get, and where to put them. As the adapted adage goes, I’m going to need a bigger house!

The iPad Mini is my favorite iPad, at least for use on the go. It’s small enough that it is easy to carry, can be used for Notes, Browsing, or Emails on the go, and has a split on-screen keyboard (unlike the Pros). At the same time, it’s big enough to be useful as a primary tablet for children (and adults alike) or as an eReader to read your favorite books.

Despite its popularity, Apple has always left the iPad Mini out. A Pro version of the iPad Mini would likely be popular, so the iPad Mini is closer to the iPad Air and not the iPad Pro M4. Instead of frequent updates, it gets a new version every three years or so.

The 6th generation iPad Mini was launched in 2021, and today, Apple launched the 7th generation. It has been updated by the bare minimum for it to run Apple Intelligence; it now runs the A17 Pro chip (from the iPhone 15 Pro) with 8GB of RAM, which is up to 30% faster in CPU, and 24% faster in GPU, tasks compared to the previous edition.

The new chip also allows the iPad Mini to run AAA games; how great would it be if someone made a gaming controller for it? There are also slight upgrades to connectivity with Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and USB-C 3.1 and it now supports the Apple Pencil Pro.

The rest of the iPad Mini looks and feels like the 6th generation. There are two new colors — purple and blue — that look very similar to the previous colors. It’s priced at $499 but now starts at double the storage: 128GB. That’s the same price as before with double the storage. If you want the Wi-Fi + Cellular option, it’ll cost you $150 more.

This is an update just for Apple Intelligence but that isn’t a bad thing per se: it’s clear that Apple Intelligence is the future for Apple, and it would be bizarre to have a tablet that was still sold but didn’t support it.

Should you upgrade? It’s probably worth it, even if you have the 5th generation. Apple Intelligence is a big enough feature that not being able to run it on your iPad will be a problem. The upgrade to the A17 Pro and increase from 3GB of RAM to 8GB also future-proof it until the next update, which will hopefully be much more substantial.

You can pre-order the new iPad Mini today via the button below, ahead of the release date next Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024.

Happy Sunday from New York City! I’ve spent a few days in the Big Apple, where I’ve been checking out new Samsung tablets (and a phone). It’s been a busy week around the world, though, with Xiaomi launching new phones in Berlin, Meta unveiling its next-generation AR, and some particularly sad news from the world’s biggest tech publisher based in the UK.

I’m also working hard on building the new Impact website and newsletter, so let’s skip the pre-amble this week and get stuck into this week’s 7 things at 7!

🔥 Hot Tech

The top tech and news that we’re talking about. You'll find it in this corner if it matters, and you should know about it! 

1️⃣ Samsung has two new tablets…

Samsung took the stage at its flagship experience store in New York on Thursday to unveil the Galaxy Tab S10 series. Featuring two tablets — and surprisingly, no smaller regular Tab like previous generations — the Galaxy Tab S10 series offers a nearly identical experience to the Galaxy Tab S9 series with the addition of Galaxy AI features.

None of these AI features are particularly new, as we’ve seen them on the Galaxy S24 lineup and the Galaxy Z Fold 6 range. The bigger Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra features the same 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED display as the Tab S9 Ultra, while the Tab S10 Plus has the same 12.4-inch display as the S9 Plus.

For more, read my Tab S10 series first impressions at Digital Trends, and stay tuned for a full review that will also be posted there in about a week. I’ll also have a detailed impressions piece on Impact, either standalone or in next week’s newsletter. 

2️⃣ …which are the first MediaTek flagships in the US

There is one particular reason I’m very excited about these tablets… they are the first MediaTek-powered flagship devices in the US. I’ve been waiting for these to launch since MediaTek first teased this in April, as I revealed on Twitter. 

The Galaxy Tab S10 series is powered by the DImensity 9300+ processor, which Samsung says delivers a range of improvements over the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that powered the Tab S9 series. These include an 18% increase in CPU, a 25% increase in GPU, and a 16% improvement in NPU efficiency. 

If it delivers the battery life and performance we’ve seen from other Dimensity 9300+ devices, the Galaxy Tab S10 series will greatly benefit Samsung’s tablet range. Stay tuned for the full review, but 24 hours in, I’m seeing impressive performance. I’m hopeful we’ll soon see Dimensity-powered flagship smartphones land stateside.

3️⃣ There’s also a new Fan Edition phone

Sadly, the new Galaxy S24 Fan Edition (aka FE) isn’t powered by a MediaTek chipset, with Samsung opting for its Exynos 2400e processor instead. There’s fundamentally no difference between the Exynos 2400 and 2400e other than a maximum frequency 100Hz lower at 3.1GHz. 

According to tests by NotebookCheck, the Exynos 2400e slightly outperforms the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy in certain benchmarks but falls somewhat short in others. Benchmarks don’t reveal the full picture, and there shouldn’t be a huge delta in real-world performance between the Galaxy S24 FE and the vanilla and Plus S24 models powered by the latest Snapdragon processor.

4️⃣ Xiaomi’s new phones are particularly appealing

On the same day as Samsung, Xiaomi took to the stage in Berlin to launch several new phones, release its flip phone globally, and bring its outstanding SUV to more markets. It was Xiaomi’s big fall event, and several new devices are headed to global markets.

First, the new Xiaomi 14T series brings a partnership with Google Gemini for its AI features, MediaTek for the Dimensity chipset, and Leica for the camera. The Dimensity 9300+ powers the Xiaomi 14T Pro, while the 8300 powers the non-Pro 14T. Both phones also have the full range of Google Gemini features announced at I/O earlier this year. 

The 14T is the latest in Xiaomi’s partnership with Leica for the camera. A strong emphasis on photography manifests itself with next-generation Leica optics, including the Leica Summilux optical lens. The Xiaomi 14T comes equipped with the Sony IMX906 sensor, while the Xiaomi 14T Pro uses the Light Fusion 900 and has three separate lenses that offer five focal lengths. 

Beyond the Xiaomi 14T series, this event also saw the launch of the Xiaomi Mix Flip into global markets. This is an interesting flip phone thanks to its unique approach to the front display, which has a vertical array — like a regular phone — plus a few widgets you can cycle through just above the camera. Stay tuned for a full review of this, but check out my quick hands-on below.

5️⃣ Orion is Meta’s big bet on Augmented Reality

If you’ve been waiting for true Augmented Reality, it’s finally here, but there’s one catch: you can’t buy it… yet. Meta has been working on AR and VR products for years, and Orion is the closest we’ve come to true AR glasses. The implementation is neat, but they would cost $10,000 per unit to make, and Meta wouldn’t turn a profit.

Essentially, Orion is a fancy computer you wear on your face. Unlike devices like the Apple Vision Pro, it keeps the weight down by offloading most of the computing tasks to a wireless puck. It also solves the other biggest problems with most face computers, namely low resolution and a small field of view.

Orion has been custom-designed by Meta and features Micro LED projects that beam graphics in front of your eyes via waveguides in the Silicon Carbide lenses. These lenses are more durable and lighter, and the 70-degree field of view is better than plastic or glass lenses. They represent a true future where you can have high-quality AR on your face, and hand tracking works through the neural wristband.

Read more on Orion in The Verge’s hands-on!

6️⃣ And there’s an update for the Ray-Ban Meta as well

Meta Connect wasn’t just about the Orion, although those stole the show. Meta also announced the new Meta Quest 3S — which you can read about at The Shortcut — and updates to the fantastic Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which I absolutely love!

There are new transition lenses that will transition much faster, and I’m a little frustrated, having spent nearly $1,000 on a pair of the older transition lenses earlier this year! The new translucent frame is so nice I may have to buy a new pair!

Alongside all the new hardware, Meta also announced an update for the Ray-Ban Meta. “Reminders” lets the glasses take a photo of what you’re looking at and remind you about it later via a notification on your phone. You will also be able to scan QR codes or call phone numbers that you’re looking at directly from the glasses.

Translations have been a big part of AI features released on all devices this year, and the Ray-Ban Meta is no different. The glasses could already translate languages from still images, and now the company is working on real-time language translation between English, French, Italian, and Spanish. This will make them transformative for travel, allowing you to have real-time conversations with people who speak other languages. I can’t wait to try it out when the feature launches in the coming months!

7️⃣ The end of an era in iPhone coverage

This week marked the end of one of my old favorite iPhone coverage websites: iMore. I wrote a few articles on iMore during my time at Mobile Nations, and some incredible people have graced its masthead, including the phenomenal Rene Ritchie and the outstanding Lory Gil. Read this goodbye article from the iMore Staff and this evoking post from Rene to understand why iMore was so great. 

📆 Upcoming

A lot is happening, at least at Impact. There’s a ton of reviews and coverage coming your way; here’s just a sample of what you can expect in the coming weeks:

• This coming week: Honor Magic V3, iPhone 16 Pro, AirPods 4

• Next week: Apple Watch Series 10, 

• Later: Asus ZenBook S14, Plaud Note AI Pin & more!

There’s still much more to cover, but I’m also working on something special around iPhone accessories. Stay tuned for a detailed look at the best iPhone 16 cases and covers in video form next week and a roundup on Forbes in the coming days!

👀 Two carve-outs this week!

What about beyond tech? Here are a few bonus things that may interest you!

• I stopped by the Mobile Tech Podcast on Thursday to discuss all the topics in this week’s newsletter! You can listen to the episode on your favorite podcast player or via this link!

• Check out this awesome new series rounding up the top tech stories in 60 seconds from NBTJacklyn. She was one of the inaugural winners of the HoT 24 this year, and she’s gone from strength to strength this year! Hit subscribe if you haven’t already!

That’s all for this week. See you next week, and stay tuned for lots of content this coming week as well!

Apple launched the iPhone 16 series last week, which means this week was the official launch day. Apple sold out of the Pro Max model within hours — which happens every year — but the real story is the non-Pro phones. These are the ones to watch out for this year.

Early reports suggested that iPhone 16 pre-orders were below last year's, but T-Mobile’s CEO refuted this, saying that demand had exceeded expectations. Apple doesn’t break out sales numbers by device, but I would love to see which of the four models is the most popular.

Beyond the world of Apple, there was big news in the semiconductor industry, with reports suggesting that Qualcomm was exploring an acquisition of Intel. We’re hard at work on reviews of all the iPhone 16 series, so this week’s 7 Things at 7 is a little shorter than normal! Let’s get stuck in!

🔥 Hot Tech

The top tech that we’re talking about. You'll find it in this corner if it matters, and you should know about it! 

1️⃣ Apple reviews are underway: first impressions of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16

I’ve got the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, and iPhone 16 Pro here, and reviews of all three devices are underway! You can expect the full review of the iPhone 16 Pro here on Impact, while I’ll publish the iPhone 16 review on Android Police. 

This year, I returned to the regular iPhone 16 Pro instead of the Pro Max I had used last year. Why? The camera finally gains the 5x telephoto zoom that was exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and so far, I am enjoying the smaller size. It’s the perfect size, but the biggest problem is likely the battery life. The jury is still out, but I’m not impressed by the battery.

I’ve unboxed all three phones, and the Ultramarine iPhone 16 once again reaffirms that I wish Apple would make more colorful Pro phones. Ultramarine is a beautiful color, as is the Teal iPhone 16 Plus, and the Titanium Pros feel boring. 

Stay tuned for much more, but here’s a quick hands-on:

2️⃣ The Apple Watch Series 10 is gorgeous…

I love the Jet Black Apple Watch Series 10 that Apple announced last week. It’s thin, light, and sleek. It’s a great device for the tenth anniversary of Apple’s most impactful product, but it also raises the question of where Apple goes next.

I suspect the focus will be less on hardware and more on additional health features like non-invasive blood sugar monitoring. That feature is still years away, but it’s the one that I’m most excited about.

Watch OS 11 isn’t a huge step forward for the Apple Watch, and there are few AI features on display, so the focus this year is on the hardware. The new Series 10 is lovely, but the battery life is the key problem. I’m still testing it, but it’s about 36 hours on a full charge. Coming from the Apple Watch Ultra 2, it’s a noticeable downgrade, and sadly, this won’t last two full days. 

I’m testing it alongside the Pixel Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch 7, which brings me to my next point.

3️⃣ … but the Pixel Watch 3 might be my favorite wearable

I haven’t finished my review of the Pixel Watch 3 yet, but I am enjoying it a lot. It’s a fantastic device, and the battery life is exceptional. 34 hours into this test, the Apple Watch Series 10 has 10% battery remaining, the Galaxy Watch 7 has 20%, and the Pixel Watch 3 has 35%. It’s shaping up to be the best of these three!

I also like the Pixel Watch 3's Cardio Load and Target Load features. They help guide my daily activity levels and ensure my heart remains healthy. We’ll see how long-term use improves my health, but a few weeks in, the Pixel Watch 3 has earned a spot on my wrist. 

It will likely be used alongside the Apple Watch Series 10; if I can have two phones, surely two watches is also acceptable?

4️⃣ The AirPods 4 have also arrived

I love September and the new tech season, but this is proving insanely hectic. It shows no signs of abating, and there is still much tech to cover, not least the new AirPods 4.

I’ve got the version with ANC, designed to offer most of the AirPods Pro experience at a lower price. So far, the ANC seems to deliver a solid experience, which is a surprise given the lack of silicon ear tips.

It’ll be interesting to see whether I return to the AirPods Pro 2 or keep these, especially as the former will offer hearing tests later this year. This seems to be a great fourth generation of Apple’s wireless buds. However, I’m only a few days into the review, so I will reserve my final judgment.

5️⃣ I have a LOT of iPhone cases here and coming soon

This whole section could be called iPhone Corner, but this week's last installment of Apple involves cases. The iPhone cases and accessories industry is a highly lucrative business, but it is also fiercely competitive.

I’ve worked with many case companies over the years, and at IFA, I saw many iPhone 16 series cases before the phone was even announced. I’ve now received some of these and have a lot more coming, so stay tuned for a lot of coverage.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for a full video on the best iPhone 16 cases in the coming weeks; over 50 cases are winging their way to me, so it promises to be a detailed comparison and the only one you’ll need to watch to find the best case!

6️⃣ Qualcomm buying Intel? Surely not!

This week, one of the most surprising — and equally least surprising — news pieces was a report that Qualcomm has been looking at acquiring Intel. On the one hand, it makes sense: Intel has struggled in recent years but still owns a valuable IP portfolio, and Qualcomm loves making acquisitions. 

On the other hand, it doesn’t: Intel’s market cap is half that of Qualcomm’s, making any acquisition's financial terms incredibly challenging. Coupled with inevitable regulatory concerns, there’s a strong chance that any acquisition wouldn’t be approved, but would it even make sense for either company? There are a lot of questions, but there are ways that it could make sense, especially for Qualcomm, given its recent resurgence in the PC market. 

You can read more about Qualcomm’s purported interest in Intel at The Verge. You can also read the original story at the WSJ and the further corroboration by the New York Times. It also turns out that Qualcomm isn’t the only company interested in acquiring Intel.

7️⃣ Snapchat has new spectacles… that require a subscription

If the world of subscriptions wasn’t ridiculous enough, Snapchat took it a step further with its new Spectacles ‘24. The new device has notable improvements in field-of-view, resolution, and hand-tracking. It is designed to offer the best hardware for developers to build the next generation of AR experiences.

Being targeted at developers means that Snapchat can charge ridiculous amounts of money for the Spectacles ‘24. How much, I hear you ask? $99 per month + tax, with a minimum 12-month commitment. That’s a monthly subscription for a pair of AR glasses. It’s a minimum cost of $1,200, which is, quite frankly, absolutely ridiculous. Oh well, at least there’s a new, simpler Snapchat, for what that’s worth.

📆 Upcoming Calendar

What’s upcoming in the tech world that you need to know about? We know this year will be different regarding tech launches, but things are always happening, so here’s what to watch out for!

• September 26: The Xiaomi 14T series will be launched in Berlin, and they should be fantastic, affordable devices.

• September 26: A new Samsung device will probably be launched on Thursday! Samsung has launched pre-reservations for the Galaxy S24 FE, which end on Wednesday, suggesting a launch on Thursday!

👀 Two carve-outs this week!

What about beyond tech? Here are a few bonus things that may interest you!

• As mentioned last week, we’re moving away from Substack. This is expected to happen in the next few weeks, and you may likely get registration emails from our new CMS (powered by Ghost) before it happens! 

  • I have more to say on this, but I’m very happy with the new site and newsletter design and options so far!

• Thanks to IFA, I missed something I was looking forward to: an in-person Acquired FM show at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The recording is now up, featuring a live interview with Mark Zuckerberg. 

  • This is my favorite podcast, and I highly recommend listening to this episode!

  • Once you’ve done that, check out the LVMH, Hermes, and Nintendo episodes!

That’s all for this week. See you next week, and stay tuned for lots of content this coming week as well!

Things are heating up in the health space; as always, it involves patents and licensing disputes.

The new Apple Watch Series 10 and other newer Apple Watches no longer have access to blood oxygen monitoring, as Apple has been prevented from using the tech. Why? Masimo sued Apple, claiming that it infringed on its patents around the technology used in SpO2 blood oxygen monitoring and asking it to pay for a license to use the technology.

Apple didn’t want to pay for the license, so it nixed the feature. Masimo even got an injunction granted that briefly banned sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2, but in the end, Apple just disabled this feature on its most recent Apple Watch models.

A new partnership

The lawsuit continues and may become

far more complicated to resolve, or at least any settlement could be. Today, Masimo announced a partnership with Google and Qualcomm to build a new reference platform for future Wear OS devices.

Interestingly, this came on the same day Apple released WatchOS 11 for the Apple Watch. One of the key features is Sleep Apnea detection. Also interesting is that this feature traditionally requires a blood oxygen SpO2 sensor, which Apple can’t use because of the lawsuit mentioned above.

Apple says it is using complex algorithms and a large dataset to help predict when you may have sleep apnea. Still, ultimately, this is not a diagnosis but rather a helpful prompt to see a doctor and get tested for sleep apnea.

Who is Masimo?

Expect to hear a lot more about Masimo in the coming months and years. The company is currently fighting a hostile takeover by a private equity holding company, and this news is undoubtedly designed to give it a boost before its own shareholders vote in just three days.

Masimo is a health technology company that develops and manufactures noninvasive patient technologies. Founded 35 years ago in California, it employs more than 8,000 people worldwide. Its products are used in hospitals and at-home products in the medical space. As we’ve covered, it owns many patents on medical devices.

Presumably, this partnership also gives Google and other Wear OS OEMs a few benefits. Masimo explains further:

By incorporating Masimo’s breakthrough biosensing technologies – based on its decades of expertise developing industry-leading hospital monitoring solutions – and standardizing smartwatch devices using the Masimo reference platform, OEMs will be able to more efficiently build and bring high-performing Wear OS smartwatches to market. The robust reference platform is designed to support the fast-growing Wear OS ecosystem – including with a suite of health and wellness tracking tools that consumers can trust to provide accurate, reliable data, seamless integration with Android smartphones, and a high-quality, high-performance experience.

This effectively means that all Wear OS watches will eventually use the same set of sensors underneath the hood and some of the software in the app. However, there is one big question.

What about companies like Samsung?

Samsung Health is a fantastic health platform with over 65 million users. The news from the Masimo announcement doesn’t make it clear whether companies can build their own health apps if they use the underlying hardware reference platform or whether it’ll be a requirement of using the Wear OS reference platform.

This raises the big question: what does this mean for Samsung Health, the Galaxy Watch, and the Galaxy Ring? Only time will tell, but could we see Samsung abandon Wear OS and return to building its own platform? Would it even be wise for Google to try and force Samsung to use this reference platform, especially as Samsung presumably already has a patent licensing deal with Masimo?

Time will tell, but as mentioned above, things are heating up in the health space. I predict that we’ll see a lot of licensing agreements in the next year or two, especially as Health is the next big frontier that everyone is fighting over.

Check out this Bloomberg interview with Masimo CEO Joe Kiani for more!

Welcome to 7 Things at 7, a weekly newsletter with seven stories about technology. Be the techie in your group without needing to follow the industry closely. This week is about Apple, folding phones, the PC revolution, and more.

Every year, there are a few months of the year that are particularly manic in the tech industry. This past week is probably the craziest I’ve experienced recently: a later-than-normal start to IFA in Berlin brought it into Apple Event territory, and the result was absolute mania.

Some journalists skipped Berlin, others left early, and I decided to do it all. A day at the show floor in Berlin with an early finish to dash back to the hotel to cover the iPhone 16 launch remotely. It was stressful, busy, and fabulous, but I’m not sure I want to do that again.

It was worth it, though, as I’ll cover below!

As you’ll notice, I’ve simplified the format below so it’s easier to read!

🔥 Hot Tech

The top tech that we’re talking about. You'll find it here if it matters, and you should know about it!

1️⃣ Apple’s big (delayed) bet on AI

Apple’s Glowtime event dominated the headlines this past week and will continue for several weeks. Considering the launch calendar changes this year, it makes sense that all companies decided to change the timing of their product launches; it’s hard to compete with the news cycles around an iPhone launch, and it helps ensure they can say they did it “first.”

Talking of doing it first, Apple’s bet on AI could parlay into billions. The word ‘could’ is doing the heavy lifting here, because Apple Intelligence isn’t coming until later this year. It didn’t make it into the iOS 18 beta — although it’s available in the 18.1 beta — and every iPhone 16 series sales page comes with the disclaimer that Apple Intelligence won’t launch until December.

As Mark Gurman points out, the full suite of Apple Intelligence features revealed at WWDC will only be fully available early next year. I won’t reiterate everything about Apple Intelligence; just read this excellent explainer on Digital Trends.

2️⃣ The iPhone 16 series is here

Back to the phones: Apple is all-in on getting people to switch from Android to iOS. There’s a dedicated Switch page, iOS 18 offers much more customization, and adopting RCS means better cross-platform messaging. It’s the most Android-like iPhone ever, and time will tell whether this strategy pays off in persuading people to make the jump.

The big change this year is the gap between the Pro and non-Pro phones has been dramatically reduced. The base iPhone 16 could be ideal for most people, but each phone has distinct benefits:

• iPhone 16: the best bang for your buck iPhone. It offers a new 48MP main camera, gains the Action Button and Dynamic Island from last year’s Pros, and comes in gorgeous new colors. It also adds the Camera Control button, which is prevalent across all four new iPhone 16s and is used to add new camera controls. Read more in this detailed iPhone 16 guide I wrote.

• iPhone 16 Plus: the same as the iPhone 16, but with a bigger display (6.7-inch versus 6.1-inch) and bigger battery. Both base models are powered by the current-gen A18 processor, a two-generation jump over last year.

• iPhone 16 Pro: a little bigger (0.2 inches increase to 6.3-inch). It adds a 5x telephoto lens (exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max last year), upgrades the wide-angle to 48MP, and is powered by the A18 Pro chipset.

• iPhone 16 Pro Max: 0.2 inches bigger than last year, now measures 6.9 inches. Otherwise, it has the same feature set as the iPhone 16 Pro.

I’ve written a detailed comparison of the iPhone 16 series vs the iPhone 16 Pro series over at Digital Trends, and that’s the best way to learn the subtle differences. This year, you can get some outstanding deals on the new iPhone, including getting it for free with some carriers. This excellent video from Stetson explains it all.

3️⃣ Forget the iPhone, it’s all about Apple Health

Ask anyone about Apple's most impactful product, and you'll probably be told about the iPhone. I'm here to tell you that's wrong: I firmly believe that Apple Health will be the Apple product that changes the world, and even Tim Cook agrees.

The Apple Event this past week saw the launch of the tenth-generation Apple Watch. Dubbed the Series 10, it's bigger, thinner, and lighter and charges much faster. It follows the Galaxy Watch Ultra and features Sleep Apnea detection, although Apple still hasn't settled the lawsuit with Masimo, so there's no blood oxygen detection. For many, the Series 10 will offer everything you'd want the Apple Watch Ultra for, but at half the cost. I've got one coming, and it's in gorgeous Jet Black, so stay tuned for much more in a few days! 

Beyond the Apple Watch is another Apple Health feature that could be revolutionary: the AirPods Pro 2 is now FDA-approved to conduct hearing tests and to act as an over-the-counter hearing aid. Consider that they cost $249, while OTC Hearing Aids cost $300-$2,000 and aren't covered by insurance, and you'll see why this could be revolutionary. All those people who don't want to take a hearing test? Now they need to pop a pair of AirPods Pro 2 in their ears, and they'll find out if they have hearing problems. 

Expect to hear much more about Apple Health in the coming months, as I think Apple will focus more on telling this story. That much was evident from the start of the Glowtime event: a series of customers talking about how Apple Health features have saved their lives. Considering it's also saved my life, this ran deep with me.

4️⃣ IFA delivered a true celebration

Eight busy days spent roaming around 27 halls packed with the latest and greatest that almost 1,800 companies had to show ended. I was meant to leave on Sunday (technically day three, but day five for media) but then decided to stay the entire show. It was worth it!

This year’s IFA was a true celebration that honored the 100th anniversary of this storied show. For years, it’s been unclear whether this show would continue to be a staple of the industry, but this year, it put those fears to rest.

Ultimately, 21 products stood out, between the PCs you can buy now and the concepts that could change your life in the future. Check out our Best of IFA 2024 to find out more!

5️⃣ PCs got MUCH better in Berlin

Enough about Apple. This week was the second half of IFA, and it was fabulous. If there's one thing this year's show will be known for, it is the revolution of PCs. I've been a Mac user for years, and while the Snapdragon X Elite changed that this year, the announcements at IFA completely shook up the PC market.

The Snapdragon X Elite is great for high-end devices, but what about the affordable PC market? That's where the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus comes in. Simply put, it brings all the benefits of ARM computing—excellent performance without efficiency trade-offs—to the sub $1,000 PC market. We've already seen some of these at IFA and will see many more of these in the coming months.

While Qualcomm was ripping up the rulebook for the affordable PC segment, many choice companies did the same for the high-end. Both Intel and AMD unveiled new chipsets at IFA that promise the same benefits and provide credible competition for the Snapdragon X Elite in the race to be the CoPilot PC AI chip of choice. In particular, Intel's Lunar Lake is designed to bring the benefits of the ARM architecture to devices running the x86 architecture. This means all the benefits with no compatibility issues as long as Intel delivers.

This is one of the biggest PC revolutions I can remember, and it's exciting. I can't wait to see what companies do. I already know that the Asus ZenBook S16 and ProArt PZ13 are two laptops I plan to spend much more time with! I also really hope the Lenovo AI concept PC becomes a reality, as it has the potential to make a huge impact!

6️⃣ Samsung and Google have strong foldable competition

While I was in Berlin, my Pixel 9 Pro Fold was waiting for me. I fired it up a couple of days ago, and as I said on Twitter last night, something has changed since last month. That something was a few weeks spent with the Honor Magic V3. 

I saw Honor's latest foldable just a week after I held the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and I'd forgotten just how different these devices were. Google's latest foldable is a major improvement over last year's Pixel Fold, but the Honor Magic V3 is a major improvement over ALL foldables that are widely available.

Simply put, I love this thing. Many others who review tech also feel the same way, as you’ll see by the replies to this tweet.

Stay tuned for a full review (hopefully this coming week), but it's safe to say that this is my foldable of choice.

Also coming soon is the $1,100 Tecno Phantom V Fold 2, which was just announced, and I'm excited to try it. Why? It's $1,100, which makes it much cheaper than anything else on the market. Do you need to spend almost double to get a great foldable experience? We'll find out soon enough!

7️⃣ The world’s first tri-fold is here, and it is GORGEOUS

Ultimately, none of these foldable phones may matter: Huawei stole the headlines with the Mate XT, the world's first tri-folding foldable phone. It looks phenomenal but costs well over $2,000, 

That said, it does offer two hinges and three screens that form a 10-inch display when unfolded. Before IFA, Tecno showed off a concept, but we did not expect to see the first commercially available product so quickly. It shows what could have happened had things gone differently for Huawei.

I'm very excited to try this out at some point, even though Android still only displays things in a two-column array, even with the bigger display. At this point, it's a real concern over whether Android will be able to keep up with foldable innovations or whether companies will have to start tinkering heavily to take advantage of these new form factors.

Regardless, continuing the previous point, these new foldables spell trouble for Samsung and, to an extent, Google. The latter doesn't need to worry as much, but Samsung is being backed into a corner. The company has staked a lot in the success of the foldable industry, and having been a key reason why the form factor is so renowned, it is facing serious competition. Can the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition deliver? Will the Galaxy Z Fold 7 be able to next year? Only time will tell.

Words and pictures don’t do it justice: just watch this hands-on from Ben Sin:

📆 Upcoming Calendar

What’s upcoming in the tech world that you need to know about? We usually look ahead to launches from Google, OnePlus, and others now. However, this year has uprooted all the normal expectations.

Google launched its entire Pixel 9 lineup last month, so there will be no traditional Google launch next month. OnePlus and OPPO are not expected to return with new foldable or flagship phones until early next year.

That said, there are a few particularly noteworthy things to watch out for:

• If the rumors that the Vivo X200 will launch next month are correct, MediaTek's new chipset will launch soon. Vivo’s new lineup will be powered by the Dimensity 9400, and we can’t wait to learn more!

• Qualcomm will unveil the Oryon-based Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 next month at the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii. This will be a big deal for smartphones, as this chipset will power many of the best flagships over the next year.

• Xiaomi is presumably launching the Xiaomi 14 T at an event at the end of this month. The 14 Ultra has arguably the best camera on any smartphone—stay tuned for a detailed look at this—so it’ll be fascinating to see how the 14T series stacks up!

👀 One MAJOR carve out!

What about beyond tech? Here are a few bonus things that may interest you!

• There are some fairly large changes afoot on Impact! As I’ve explored Substack and its competitors further, it’s become clear that Substack isn’t well suited to a few of our future plans.

• In the coming weeks, we’ll be shifting off Substack and almost certainly onto Ghost, which can best be described as the ideal mix of WordPress and Substack.

  • I’m excited to build this as Ghost supports many custom integrations and design features that I’ve missed from my years as a WordPress developer.

  • It also supports multiple newsletters, so expect this newsletter to bifurcate properly between the latest tech, niche newsletters focused on health, and ongoing newsletter communications related to the broader House of Tech events portfolio!

  • Oh, and Ghost supports some beautiful themes, and automatic dark mode will make this newsletter more Impactful!

• I expect this change to happen very rapidly. I’ve already migrated all of the content here. Some design tweaks still need to be made, but these should be done in the next couple of weeks. Once it’s done, I’ll add all of you to Ghost and flip the switch on the new site!

That’s all for this week, see you next week!

Phew, I’ve just landed after a very long trip to IFA 2024, and this was a true celebration of technology. The world’s largest consumer electronics show — and the only one anyone can pay to attend — has recently faced some questions about its place in the annual calendar. Still, there was no better way to respond than IFA 2024.

It was not just a celebration of the best new products but also of IFA’s impact. This year was special: the first year under new management also coincided with the 100th anniversary of IFA. Yes, this show has been around for 100 YEARS. Let that sink in for a moment. It was also a personal milestone; my memory is somewhat hazy, but I believe this was my 15th year attending IFA.

I digress: this year’s show will be remembered for years. You’ll notice that Windows and PCs form a big part of this list, and for good reason: Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm unveiled the next-generation chipsets that will almost certainly power your future laptops.

With that covered, let’s explore the products that stood out at IFA 2024! I’ll cover these products in more detail soon, so stay tuned!

Best of IFA 2024: Computing

There’s no better way to kick off this year’s recap than with our huge list of award winners running Windows. These make up a third of all of our awards, which is something we never expected to write a year ago!

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus

Best PC chipset (tie)

To say that Qualcomm revolutionized computing earlier this year would be an understatement. After a decade on a Mac, the Snapdragron X Elite rekindled my interest in Windows for the first time, and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x has replaced the MacBook Air as my couch-surfing laptop of choice.

The Snapdragon X Elite brought ARM-based power and efficiency to Windows PCs, resulting in the same impact the Apple M-series had on the Mac a few years ago. There was only one slight problem: these were all priced at over $1,000.

The Snapdragon X Plus 8-core changes this. It brings the same benefits in power and efficiency to the sub-$1,000 laptop price point. It’s a game changer that will ensure you don’t need to spend four figures to get the incredible battery life it offers. While the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core isn't as powerful as the X Plus 10-core or X Elite, it’s a phenomenal chip that will help companies rethink what an affordable PC offers.

Intel Lunar Lake

Best PC chipset (tie)

Qualcomm revolutionized Windows PCs earlier this year, but it was always known that Intel would respond. At IFA 2024, we finally saw the big reveal of Lunar Lake, Intel’s answer to the Snapdragon X Elite.

Crucially, it retains the x86 architecture, which means compatibility with the millions of programs and software features that have been a mainstay of Windows for years. Unlike the Snapdragon X Elite — which may have some compatibility problems with x86 apps that haven’t been updated — Lunar Lake should work out of the box and offer the same benefits.

We’ll finally have Intel laptops with excellent performance and battery life. The latter has been a huge problem with all Intel-based laptops for years, and instead of single-digit battery life, Lunar Lake means we can hypothetically reach 20+ hours of battery life.

Lunar Lake laptops will likely be fairly pricey, but make no mistake: This is the second stage of the AI PC revolution, and Intel is here to play.

Lenovo AI Twist PC

Best Concept

Lenovo always has something interesting to show regarding innovation and concepts. We’ve previously seen a rollable PC, a concept phone that wraps around your wrist, and several foldable laptops.

At IFA, Lenovo showed off a concept that excited us for an accessible computing future. The AI Twist PC can open and close its lid with a simple voice command, follow you around as you take video calls, and even perform a beautiful synchronized demo with a ballerina.

Check out the video below for more!

Asus Zenbook S16

Best designed PC

Most computers are metal slabs, focused on small bezels and delivering maximum power and efficiency in an ever-thinning body. They all look and feel similar, but Asus showed us an exciting computing future.

The new ZenBook S16 is available in 14- and 16-inch models and includes all of the above features. It goes one step further by ensuring you can feel the tech that forms the most stunning design we’ve seen in a long time.

Dubbed Ceraluminum, it’s technology you can feel. Rather than dye-casting metal, it puts the aluminum in a bath of minerals and water and blasts it with high-pressure jets. As more pressure is applied, the color naturally changes, each unique. As far as design goes, this laptop is stunning!

Asus ProArt PZ13

Best for portable creativity

Suppose you’re interested in Microsoft's AI PC future, which it has been touting for months. In that case, you will have come across products like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x and other laptops offering many benefits but are crucially traditional laptop form factors.

There’s also the Surface lineup, which offers a detachable 2-in-1 form factor, but now there’s a new option: the Asus ProArt PZ13. It's here, and it might be my new favorite tablet. It’s powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus and designed for creatives on the go.

It has a gorgeous OLED display and the processing power required for most editing tasks on a tablet. The best feature, however, is undoubtedly the full-sized SD card slot, which will transform how you edit and create on the go.

Tecno Geekom Mega Mini Gaming G1

Best PC Innovation

Think water cooling in PCs, and you imagine big machines that require a lot of power, take up a lot of space, and are out of reach for those with limited space. At IFA 2024, Tecno partnered with Geekom to completely shatter this perception. I don’t have a gaming desktop, but the Mega Mini Gaming G1 is so cool that I want one now.

The G1 features RGP lighting and transparent panels on three sides, making it a gaming PC that looks the part. The internals will ensure it also performs the part, as it has 13th-gen Intel Core Raptor Lake processors paired with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU.

I can’t get over just how cool the water cooling is, and this will undoubtedly be a very popular addition to the gaming PC space.

Acer Predator Project DualPlay

Best Gaming Concept

Acer is well-known for making excellent gaming laptops at various prices, but its latest concept device could be its most spectacular gaming laptop… if it ever gets made.

The Acer Predator Project DualPlay is designed to solve one of the biggest challenges with a gaming laptop: the need to pair a controller. With this concept, instead of firing up a gaming laptop and connecting a wireless controller, you can use the one built into the device.

Yes, that’s right: a wireless controller that acts like a trackpad until you design to start gaming. It’s unique and different, and the concept feels so right that it’s a surprise no one has done it sooner. We say done, but remember: this is just a concept. We hope Acer makes this a reality, as it would be ridiculously cool.

Best of IFA 2024: Mobile, Tablets, Health & AI

From laptops to mobile technology, a category that features a variety of form factors and technologies that many of the biggest mobile companies prioritize.

Almost every stand had an AI story — it’s the new 5G if you haven’t heard — but a few stood out in impressive ways! Similarly, there were phones galore and an entire hall dedicated to fitness, but only a few products were truly set apart! Let’s dive in!

Honor Magic V3

Best smartphone

A few phones were announced at IFA 2024, but none like the Honor Magic V3. It’s the thinnest foldable available right now, has an outstanding camera, excellent performance, a bigger battery, and much more.

The Honor Magic V3 is impressively thin — just 4.4mm when unfolded and 9.3mm when folded — about the same thickness as a regular phone. The 7.92-inch main OLED display is fantastic, while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 paired with 16GB of RAM ensures excellent performance.

In our testing, the 5,150 mAh battery performed well, and 66W charging means it’s fast to charge. There’s also 50W wireless charging, which is faster than the wired charging on many phones. The 50MP main camera, 50MP telephoto, and 40MP ultra-wide camera are also very good.

Compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, the OnePlus Open, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the Honor Magic V3 proves that foldables can have everything. A full review will be published in the newsletter in the coming days, but after two weeks, we like it. It's safe to say that the Magic V3 is a worthy award winner.

Plaud AI NotePin

Best personal AI product

We love a good AI product that’s truly helpful. Notice the word good, meaning companies like Humane need not apply. Thankfully, the Plaud NotePin shows how AI can be useful, and it might be the best standalone AI product we’ve seen this year.

The Plaud NotePin is a handy standalone AI notetaker from which any professional can benefit. The bundle has a few accessories, so you can wear it on your wrist, around your neck, or even attach it to your top like a lapel mic. This means it’s easy to always have it on you and effortless to record quickly.

It records with just a tap and uses AI to transcribe every word said. If you’re a real estate agent, it’ll allow you to recall everything a person is looking for. For doctors, note-taking just became so much easier, and for teachers, you can now record every lesson you give and provide a transcription afterward.

I love my original Plaud Note, but this NotePin is a game-changer. I’ve been using it for a few days, and I love it. Check out my interview with the CEO below!

Honor AI Deepfake Detection Feature

Best AI innovation

Many people fear AI, and rightfully so: AI has already proven capable of generating life-like images, spoofing people, and sowing mistrust in whether what you see is real.

Honor may have a solution for this. It is the first company to launch an AI-powered Deepfake detection feature that works in video calls to ensure the person on the other end isn’t spoofing you or the video hasn’t been spliced together.

There’s a particular irony to this, as AI would have been used to create those deep fakes, but it’s a great idea that I’m surprised wasn’t done sooner. Honor was first, but it won’t be the last, and based on the demos at IFA, this feature will be a blessing for many people. You can get it with the Honor Magic V3 now.

RingConn Gen 2

Best Smart Ring

If you’re following our Impact of Technology newsletter, you’ll know that we love smart rings. The RingConn Gen 1 was already one of the best smart rings, thanks to its great value-for-money proposition.

Technically announced just before IFA, RingConn picked this show as the global debut of the RingConn Gen 2. It’s slimmer, lighter, and thinner and packed with tons of technology. It also monitors Sleep Apnea, has a huge suite of health metrics, and comes in four colors.

We tried it at IFA, and it is fantastic in many ways; the competition — including Oura — should be very worried.

HMD Fusion

Best Smartphone Innovation

Remember the LG G5 or the Moto Z4 and Moto Mods? At IFA 2024, modular smartphones returned as HMD — the company that formerly made Nokia-branded smartphones — returned with the Fusion device. It’s wacky and wonderful!

I love the name, and I dig the product. The HMD Fusion features a range of interchangeable covers that can add useful features, from rugged protection or wireless charging to a ring light to improve streaming and selfies.

All of the covers are attached using the Smart Pins on the rear. In every sense of the word, the HMD Fusion is infinitely customizable. You can 3D print your exchangeable covers using the Open-Sourced kit. Support for easy repairs is similar to the HMD Skyline, meaning users can easily access the battery, screen, and other parts. You can also buy spare parts via iFixit for the next seven years.

If you’ve wanted to build or customize a phone at a hardware level, the HMD Fusion could be your phone. It’s a different take on customization and modular interpretation, but it could be the best.

Best of IFA 2024: Accessories, Home & More!

IFA 2024 features everything from mobile, computing, and personal health to audio, fitness, smart home, and home appliances. No, we didn’t check out 50 different washing machines, but for everything else encompassing all 27 halls, here’s the best of the rest at IFA 2024!

DJI Neo

Best Drone

DJI is the best name for creators, and the company’s Pocket 3 is essentially our go-to camera for all things video. At first, it was during trade shows, but it’s fast becoming the go-to in the studio. Now, DJI has made a drone that will be the perfect accompaniment.

The DJI Neo is the smallest and lightest drone we’ve ever tried, and at 135 grams, it’s the ideal companion to throw in your bag. It’s also not expensive, costing just $199 for the basic kit and $289 for the Combo kit. You might be thinking, well, what’s the catch? Despite the price and lightweight, it’s also incredibly capable.

The DJI Neo is palm-sized and can take off and land on your palm. The guards' design means there’s little risk of the propellor blades hurting you (but still… don’t stick your finger in them)! The 4 K camera is mounted on a single-axis gimbal, and it comes with six modes prevalent across the range of DJI drones. The battery offers up to 17 minutes of flight time in optimal conditions.

Whether you’re a hobbyist, a creator, or someone with a passing interest in a drone, this is the perfect drone to get you started. For context… it’s so portable that it weighs 90 grams less than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

HaloAsis A1 Holographic Lyric Speaker

Best Home Entertainment Innovation

Karaoke and house parties will never be the same again, thanks to the HaloAsis A1 Holographic Lyric Speaker. The name won’t stick, but the product certainly will. Without delving into the technical details — which you can find in the video below — the A1 Holographic Lyric Speaker is loud and proud of being the ultimate house party speaker.

A clever array of three LED strips allows for holographic projections that let you do everything from display the time to sync with the lyrics of your favorite song in Spotify (or other apps) and display it on the screen. I love this speaker and can’t wait to try it further! It launches early next year and isn’t to be missed!

Govee COB Strip Light Pro

Best Smart Lighting

Govee wasn’t the first on the scene in smart lighting, but this company now has a cult-like following, and I’m a big fan. I’ve owned over 50 Govee lights throughout my various apartments, and at IFA 2024, the company unveiled a new set of lighting technologies that will revolutionize the smart lighting category.

The Govee COG Strip Light Pro features 1,260 LEDs per meter, which means you can unleash a range of lighting effects that haven’t been possible until now. It also means you have precise control, and the days of white LEDs between color and blocky color strips are long behind us. This is going to make those stunning Govee effects even better.

Many of Govee’s lights also use LuminBlend, a 16-bit custom chipset designed to match precision color. In actual practice, each light can process RGB single colors to 16-bit precision. There are 65,536 colors in 16-bit, and LuminBlend allows Govee to be precise with each. The next generation of lighting has never looked so good!

Belkin Everyday Keyboard Case

Best iPad Accessory

Like many people, we buy a Magic Keyboard case for every new iPad. This quickly becomes very expensive, but at IFA 2024, Belkin showed us a new iPad keyboard case that could be better than Apple’s. The Belkin Everyday Keyboard Case with Cradle for the iPad Air and iPad Pro doesn’t have the catchiest name, but it is a catchy product.

One of the best parts of this case is the anti-slip, anti-scratch material around the keyboard and trackpad. This makes it far more comfortable to type for long periods, which is a particular problem when using the Magic Keyboard. In addition, unlike the Magic Keyboard case, you can detach your iPad from the keyboard and keep it protected.

It won’t launch in the US this year, but for users in the EU, it’ll cost half (or less) the price of Apple’s keyboard case. Comfy, stylish, protective, and affordable? Sign us up!

AmazFit T-Rex 3

Best Smartwatch

The Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, and Pixel Watch 3 feature up to three days of battery life. This means you need to charge at least twice a week, if not more, and in a month, you’ll charge between ten and twelve times. What if you could get a rugged outdoor smartwatch with almost a month of battery life?

At IFA 2024, AmazFit delivered exactly this. The T-Rex 3 features a rugged design and a display with 2,000 nits brightness. It’s rated at 27 days of battery life during the typical use, and dual-band GPS offers detailed maps. Over 170 sport modes and 400+ alternative faces make for a stunning overall watch that feels fantastic in the hand.

It isn’t an Apple Watch or Galaxy Watch Ultra, but the T-Rex 3 might be the next best thing for most people.

TwelveSouth Plug Bug

Best Charger

Hands up if you’ve lost a charger before. 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️ I had to check how many of these emojis I could add, but it's safe to say I’ve lost at least 10+ chargers in the past couple of years. This is especially annoying when you travel like I do and lose your favorite charger. I’ve already lost one on this trip alone!

Twelve South has an absolutely genius solution: a fast charger with Apple Find My built-in.

The Plugbug is an incredibly popular charger, and the latest version is bound to be the most popular yet. It’s available in two styles: a 50W with two USB-C ports and a four-port one that can pump out 140W of power. The latter is ideal for Mac users.

The PlugBug integrates into the Find My network, so you’ll never lose a charger again. Twelve South founder Andrew told me years ago that they build products that solve a need they have as Apple users, and this is the case with the new PlugBug!

Roborock Qrevo Curv

Best Robot Vacuum

Do you use a robot vacuum and mop at home? If not, why not? And if you do, you’ll know that one of the biggest problems is when there’s a small obstacle, especially if you have a slightly taller threshold at the bottom of your door.

At IFA 2024, Roborock showcased the solution and ushered in an era of robot vacuums that not only mop and vacuum but can also climb stairs. It will be fascinating to see how long it will be before robot vacuums can climb the stairs for us!

Check out the video above for more on the Qrevo Curv, and stay tuned for a full review!

Anker SOLIX X1 Hybrid Energy System

Best Energy Power Solution

Rolling blackouts and power outages caused by bad weather have begun to occur more frequently in recent years, and if you live in an area where this is prevalent, keeping an emergency power supply has become a necessity.

Anker’s SOLIX lineup has long been part of many people’s home readiness plans, and the new SOLIX X1 Hybrid Energy System is likely to feature even more heavily going forward. Its modular design makes it particularly useful, allowing you to scale the system as your needs change.

No two homes are the same, and if you’re like me, you’ll need a lot more power than a less tech-centric user. You may also have a big family or dwelling requiring much power. The Anker SOLIX X1 can be scaled to a battery capacity between 5 and 180 kWh and output power from 3 kW to 36 kW. It’s a great solution that can adapt to individual needs and is a worthy winner.

Ugreen Uno

Best portable charger

Ugreen is one of the best companies for powering your devices, and at IFA 2024, the company unveiled a product that could be its best yet. There were many new announcements at IFA, but the one that caught our eye the most was the Uno Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 10,000 mAh 15W.

Excluding the name, this is a great product with a few key things that stand out. It’s equipped with 15W magnetic fast charging and is Qi2 certified, so when we eventually see Qi2 devices roll out—other than the iPhone 16 series—we’ll also have a way to fast charge them on the go.

This power bank also features two-way USB-C fast charging, so you can quickly recharge devices that aren’t Qi or Qi2 certified. The best part, however, is the built-in foldable metal stand to prop your phone up simultaneously. I can’t wait to get my hands on this!

And there you have it: 21 products and technologies that stood out at IFA 2024. It’s been the craziest IFA I’ve had in a very long time, and the iPhone 16 launch two days ago, right in the middle, didn't help (more on that tomorrow)!

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube for much more! We're still editing and publishing; over 30 videos and posts are in the queue!

Congratulations to all the companies that won! We can’t wait to see what you have to show us at CES 2025!

Welcome to Sunday 7, a weekly newsletter with seven hot stories about technology. Be the techie in your group without needing to follow the industry closely. This week is all about Google, AI, Apple and more.

Techtober has become TechTember, and this year, there is a constant deluge of new devices. We're in a cycle of intense competition in all mobile devices, and for those who live for new gadgets, there's always something to talk about. With that in mind, let’s kick off the first edition of this newsletter!

🔥 Hot Corner

The top tech that we’re talking about. If it matters to us and you should know about it, you’ll find it here!

1️⃣ Let's talk about the Google Pixel 9

For years, I've hated the Google Pixel series. Then Google made the Pixel 9. There's no understating how good this phone is. My full review is due soon, but I need to test the camera again after a major camera update landed just before the embargo.

Frankly, the delay is also because I don't want to switch to something else, at least not until my Pixel 9 Pro arrives. The Pixel 9 is a phenomenal phone, and I don't miss the telephoto lens too much, except for the higher zoom lengths. It's limited to 8x, and the Pixel 9 Pro isn't as limited. 

That's not to diminish what Google can do with somewhat more limited hardware. Google has followed the Gunpei Yukoi philosophy that made Nintendo a force in video games: lateral thinking with withered technology. Google proves time and time again that the hardware doesn't matter as much as the algorithms and software, and the Pixel 9 is no different. 

Many people find the Tensor G4 a weakness, but there's been nothing to complain about. The new vapor chamber ensures everything runs smoothly, and the increase to 12GB in the regular 9 (vs. 16GB in the others) ensures no performance qualms. 

Battery life is also phenomenal, and I charge the Pixel 9 every day and a half. That's with fairly heavy usage, and a full charge takes about 85 minutes. It's not the fastest – especially as it's limited to 27W even when using Google's 45W charger – but it's perfectly good enough. This is a classic example of a product being more than the sum of its parts, and the Pixel 9 does this in buckets. 

There's a reason I'm incredibly excited about the Pixel 9 Pro: it offers the best of the big screen Pixel 9 Pro XL with the size and form factor of the smaller Pixel 9. It is the best of both worlds, with little to no trade-offs. The compact 6.3-inch Super Actua display (albeit with a slightly higher resolution) and 4,700mAh battery of the Pixel 9, combined with the larger RAM, better selfie camera, faster charging, and the 9 Pro XL telephoto lens. I can't think of any other regular-sized phone with the same level of balance.

If you want a new phone, the Pixel 9 series has to be on your list. One company rarely receives near-universal praise, and even the critics resort to clickbait in search of balanced coverage. I won't link to the egregious example, but sometimes, you must accept that a great phone is great. 

That wasn't all that Google announced last week, though. 

2️⃣ I'm excited for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Watch 3

It's been a week since I saw the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and I can't wait for mine to arrive. The official release is September 4th, but I won't get it in my hands until a few days later, thanks to IFA 2024 (more on that later). 

The Pixel 9 has been such a pleasure to use that I think Google's second-generation foldable could replace the Galaxy Z Fold 6 as my go-to foldable. It's smooth, useful, and a pleasure to use, and that's exactly what it needs. I'd miss the S-Pen, so the Z Fold 6 won't be completely relegated to a drawer, but the Pixel 9 Pro Fold camera is better, and it's a smoother overall experience.

Check out MrMobile’s amazing Pixel 9 Pro Fold / Watch 3 preview above, which includes interviews with the people who made it.

Google has finally nailed the Pixel experience. I love products made for usability, which was the theme of all of Google's announcements.

Features like Cardio Load, Target Load, and Loss of Pulse Detection are the most usable features Google has ever released. Once the embargo lifts in a couple of weeks, I will have much testing and thoughts to come, but these features are designed to improve lives in unique ways. They could be Google's most impactful health features yet.

🗞️ News Corner

The top stories from the news that will make you the smartest person at the water cooler.

3️⃣ The iPhone in Europe is so much more fun

I remember when the original iPhone launched. Apple’s vision for the iPhone fundamentally differed from everything else on the market, and the resulting wave of change revolutionized smartphones as we know them. If the EU gets its way, the iPhone in Europe could fundamentally change how we perceive the iPhone experience.

If you’re an iPhone user in the EU, there are many things you can do that fellow iPhone owners worldwide can’t. This includes installing a third-party app store, browsers running their own rendering engines, and the ability to replace third-party apps. The first third-party app store by Epic Games bought Fortnite back to the iPhone, but only in Europe (and globally on Android). 

The EU’s mission is to break down the barriers to the iPhone and make it an Apple phone with the flexibility of Android. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s an endpoint and, crucially, whether Apple will remove the arbitrary software barriers preventing iPhone users in the US from accessing the same level of flexibility. 

Continue reading at the CNET.

4️⃣ Is the Telegram bubble about to burst?

I'm a huge Telegram user, and over the past two years, I've noticed that it's become far more popular with regular people — not people in the tech space, but people outside; exactly the type of person who uses WhatsApp outside the US. Anecdotally, many of them stop using it fairly quickly, even though Telegram does a great job of telling you when your contacts join. 

Telegram is by far the best overall messaging app. But it's yet to prove it can withstand the intense scrutiny that comes from being dominant like WhatsApp. The founder was just arrested in France on various charges, and Telegram will now undergo immense interest and scrutiny. With over half a billion users, it's unsurprising this hasn't happened sooner. 

Telegram has come closer than anyone before to providing a credible threat to WhatsApp. The only concern some of my non-techie friends have is privacy, and the app’s viability depends on how Telegram appears in both the court of law and the court of public opinion. 

Continue reading at the NPR.

5️⃣ Curiosity around the death of both HP Autonomy founders 

You may not know the name Mike Lynch, but you may have heard it this past week. The death of one of the co-founders of Autonomy in suspicious circumstances on a luxury yacht in Italy has raised some questions. These are further complicated by the death of the other cofounder in a car accident just five days earlier. 

These deaths come just as they were both acquitted after a 13-year legal battle. Autonomy was the first British software unicorn when it was acquired by HP for $11 billion in 2003, but it immediately fell into trouble. HP reported an $8.8 billion write-down, claiming fraud and the two co-founders countersued, claiming complete negligence on the part of HP in running the business. Expect more to come on this in the coming weeks and months. 

Continue reading at The Washington Post.

📆 Upcoming Calendar

What’s upcoming in the tech world that you need to know about? We’re in many launches, including the Google Pixel 9, which just launched, and new rival foldables — at least for Europe — that are expected for IFA. The iPhone is just weeks away, and we’re about to enter an AI race like no other.

6️⃣ Coming up: The 100th IFA is a week away

There are three major consumer tech trade shows each year that appeal to most generalist tech publications: CES, MWC, and IFA. A Berlin staple, this year's IFA is a week away, and it will be a big one — or at least, the organizers hope it will be in honor of its 100th anniversary.

IFA is unique as it's the only big show that admits the general public. The media days are actual media preview days, and the place resembles a building site, but that's because it's geared toward selling to customers. 

This year's show is particularly interesting. In recent years, IFA has become a place for launching new foldable phones. Companies like Tecno and Honor are expected to launch new ones this year, and I can't wait to see what's announced. Expect lots from Berlin in just a week!

7️⃣ Looking ahead: Apple iPhone launch expected September 10, Apple Watch turns 10

The Apple Watch turns ten on September 10 — at least, that’s the expectation. The latest reports suggest that Apple will unveil four new iPhones alongside the tenth-generation Apple Watch on September 10. 

This promises to be a big launch for Apple and the industry, especially as the iPhone 16 series will be the first Apple hardware designed for Apple Intelligence. Expect AI and the new Siri to be a big theme for this launch and for other companies to respond with AI messaging.

👀 Carve-outs and other things

Just one carve-out this week with a distinctly non-techie feel!

I just learned about the Netflix documentary Dirty Pop. If you want to know about the drama, intrigue, and giant Ponzi scheme that led to the founding of iconic boybands such as Backstreet Boys and N-Sync, check it out on Netflix.

That’s all for this week, see you next week!

I confess: I've never been a huge Google Pixel fan. I've found that Google phones miss the mark in ways my Samsung phone didn't. That changed last week: Google unveiled seven New products, proving that specs don't make a great product; the user experience does.

Usability was key to all the features announced at the Google event, and I'm a convert. The features unveiled on stage — and how they've been integrated into the Pixel experience — are all designed to make the products more usable and the user experience more friendly.

These are the first products of Google’s Gemini Era. Here’s why that’s super exciting!

New phones that fix almost all the problems

Little fixes and tweaks have a big impact

Most tech creators — regardless of platform and medium — complain about Google's Tensor processor, and for good reason: the G2 and G3 are not the best processors, and with no radical overhaul of the underlying architecture, the Tensor G4 is probably going to be more of the same. Except for little tweaks like increasing the RAM — to 12GB in the regular Pixel 9 and 16GB in the 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and 9 Pro Fold — tweaking the hardware design, and building a snappy interface that's intuitive means it all feels far faster and smoother. The G4 won't win awards for its overall performance, but the phones it powers will do.

This trend continues throughout the phone portfolio. Want a 6.3-inch regular-sized phone? You can go for the Pixel 9 or the Pixel 9 Pro. There are differences in the experience and the price, but you can get two different experiences with two different screen sizes. Fundamentally, however, both phones share the same core Pixel DNA.

Then there's the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Things get a little confusing here, but the platform is the same. Technically, the XL is the follow-up to the previous Pro devices thanks to its large 6.8-inch display. The non-XL Pro is the smaller of the two and new for this year, but both make sense: the only differences are the screen size and the battery; everything else is identical.

Not sure which to buy? It's fairly easy:

• Pixel 9: the non-Pro experience at a non-Pro price

• Pixel 9 Pro: the Pro experience with the same sized screen as the regular Pixel 9

• Pixel 9 Pro XL: the big screen Pro experience at a nearly identical size to previous Pro devices.

That's not confusing at all, right? If you're unsure which to buy, comment or DM me, and I'll do my best to help!

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold proves that you should listen to customer feedback

From a paperweight in Gen 1 to one of the nicest experiences I've ever used

The original Pixel Fold was the ultimate conundrum: useful software features wrapped in poor hardware. To simplify it further, it quickly became a paperweight. 14 months later, it's a very, very different story.

The Pixel Fold 2 is a fantastic phone that addresses all my key complaints. The front display is now effectively identical in size to a Pixel 9 Pro. I’m working on a much deeper dive into the huge difference between these two devices, but one thing is already clear: Google listened to feedback, and the result is a phenomenal phone.

The Pixel Watch 3 has a few key changes

The Pixel Watch 2 is one of my favorite wearables as it has the most accurate heart rate tracker I’ve used on a smartwatch. That said, Fitbit Premium is not worth the money and I found the Pixel Watch 2 too small for my liking.

This changes with the Pixel Watch 3. It now comes in two sizes, has several new health features, and has big changes to Fitbit Premium. All of these solve the key issues that prevent me from using the Pixel Watch 2 as my predominant wearable.

First, Fitbit Premium. Many features, like Sleep reports previously hidden by a paywall, are now free. As I covered in my Fitbit Premium review for Android Police, these features are the bare minimum I’d expect, especially given that Samsung Health offers these features for free.

Next, the two sizes are 41mm and 45mm. Two sizes make the watches far more accessible for more people, and the bigger size is much more comfortable on the wrist.

Neither of these would be enough to make the Pixel Watch 3 a standout, but two new health features are extremely exciting for my personal health.

New Health features that could impact millions of lives

Google is offering three key health features with the Pixel Watch 3 this year: Daily Readiness, Cardio Load, and Target Load. The latter two are unique amongst wearables, and I want them to be available on all wearable devices.

Daily Readiness considers your activity, sleep, and heart rate markers to provide a score that helps quantify your readiness for the day ahead. This isn’t new for the industry and is on a range of devices — including those like the Galaxy Ring — but it’s new to the Pixel Watch.

That’s not all: the Pixel Watch 3 is the first device with two new industry-first health features: Cardio and Target Load and Loss of Pulse Detection.

Cardio Load considers your biomarkers, personal health indicators, and the readings from the day before — including Sleep, Heart Rate, and activity — to help you understand how your heart is performing. It enables you to quantify the impact of your daily life on your heart, and Target Load gives you a specific goal to aim for. Google’s goal is to ensure you don’t push too little or too much and instead lead a balanced and healthy life.

This year’s most impactful health software feature?

Loss of Pulse Detection could be this year's most impactful health software feature. When the Pixel Watch 3 stops detecting a pulse, it goes through a one-minute process to ensure that it’s not a false negative — including turning the biosensor readings up to the maximum and audibly prompting you to move — before alerting the emergency services.

This means if you or a loved one has health conditions that could result in your heart stopping overnight — as happened to me when I had my heart attack — you can be slightly more assured that the Pixel Watch 3 will get help as fast as possible. In a life-and-death situation, every second counts, and the Pixel Watch 3’s Loss of Pulse Detection feature could make all the difference.

I live thousands of miles from my mother, who lives alone, and this one feature is why I plan to switch her from the Galaxy Watch 5 to the Pixel Watch 3.

I have much more to write about Google’s new devices, so stay tuned. For now, I’m very excited by this year's massive improvements, and I can’t wait to share more with you!

The Galaxy Ring is the health device I'm most excited about this year. Samsung's foray into the smart ring ecosystem was first revealed in January, and I saw it in person in February. Two weeks ago, Samsung made it official and revealed the key things that set it apart. 

I wore a Galaxy Ring, here’s why it’s got me excited

My Galaxy Ring has finally arrived, so let's kick off a review with a difference. Most products are reviewed within a week or two of use, and often, how you feel about them changes further in the first month or two. Health products, especially, require longer testing to understand their impact on your health. 

That's why I'm doing things differently with the Galaxy Ring. Welcome to Day 1 of “30 Days with the Galaxy Ring”, a multi-platform ongoing real-time review of the Galaxy Ring and whether it lives up to the hype. 

Why you should care about the Galaxy Ring 

The Galaxy Ring is Samsung's answer to the Oura Ring. It's designed to work as a standalone health device but is enhanced when used alongside Samsung's Galaxy Watch range. 

Available in 9 different full sizes from 5 to 13, the Galaxy Ring bucks the trend and uses a concave design that curves inwards from the outer shell versus being rounded outwards or relatively flat. As I discovered back in February, this makes it far better for those with swollen fingers, which is a byproduct of my health conditions. 

My index fingers swell the most, and while the Galaxy Ring can track health metrics from any finger, you have to wear it on the index finger to use gestures. Simply pinch your finger, and you can quickly take a selfie or snooze an alarm. 

The Galaxy Ring is rated to deliver up to seven days of battery life (for the largest two sizes) and comes with a portable charging case that should more than double it. It solves one of the biggest problems with smart rings: the charging pucks are usually unremarkable and easy to lose. 

Health tracking without the smartwatch 

Smartwatches aren't ideal for many people. While they are very popular — thanks to the Apple Watch Series at first — many people want the health benefits without having to have the whole watch experience. 

Whether it's the watch's style or you don't want a big display on your wrist, the alternatives usually have some sizeable tradeoffs. The Galaxy Ring gives you the essentials of the Samsung Health ecosystem while also providing a way to get more accurate readings for those core metrics. 

The finger is a much better place for reading health metrics than the wrist, and the data coming from the Galaxy Ring will almost certainly be better than the data captured by a watch on your wrist. If you are tired of Smartwatches that give you inaccurate heart and sleep recommendations like I am, smart rings are designed for you.

On the heart front, the Galaxy Ring captures heart rate data continuously and can alert you of unusually low or high rate rates. There's no screen, but it pushes the alert to your Samsung Health on your Android phone. Samsung is hoping you'll want to buy a Galaxy Phone like the new Galaxy Z Fold 6, but most features should work with any Android phone with the Samsung Health and Galaxy Wearable apps installed. 

The Galaxy Ring also monitors your sleep and updates Samsung Health in the morning. Then you’ll be given an Energy Score, which assigns a number between 1 and 100 to determine your readiness for the day. Think of it as your very own Energy Bar; when you’re feeling 100% percent, you’re pretty unstoppable. Energy Score gives you a number to aim for, a personal goal to hit, and lots of little tooltips and information to get you there.

Beyond Energy Score, the Galaxy Ring also feeds a lot of sleep data into Samsung Health, providing the best Sleep reports of any major smartphone manufacturer. Samsung and Sleep go hand-in-hand — largely thanks to the close partnership with the National Sleep Foundation — and this is a marriage made in Sleep. 

The Galaxy Ring is already far more popular than Samsung expected

The biggest issue for Samsung so far has been availability. Since pre-orders opened, the Galaxy Ring has been virtually out of stock everywhere. Recent reports suggest that Samsung only made 400,000 rings, and the demand surprised them. 

Based on what I've seen for my own orders, this feels accurate. Most sizes and color options have been back ordered for several weeks. Production is ramping up, so there'll definitely be more availability, and I'm seeing that relief already as I track the stock levels. 

Why Samsung, not Apple, has the best health ecosystem

Samsung’s foray into the smart rings category feels different from other launches. It’s not asking you to replace your phone; it’s simply saying to use this alongside your Android phone. Sadly, it isn’t compatible with the iPhone, so you’ll have to use the Oura Ring instead, but I do hope that Samsung opens this up to everyone. It could be the best way to get people to join the Galaxy Universe.

30 Days with the Galaxy Ring starts now!

I’ve got a lot planned for the Galaxy Ring. I’ve started the review with a size 10 that only fits on my wedding finger, while I’m waiting for the size 12 that will fit on my index finger. I’ve got content planned for this newsletter, all of my social channels, and several of the sites I publish freelance content on.

For the next 30 days, I’ll mix written, video, and photo posts related to the Galaxy Ring across all platforms. Each day, I’ll post a brief update on the Galaxy Ring on Twitter or Threads, and it’ll either include or link to screenshots, photos, and videos that I’ve written or published. 

Throughout this, I hope to be able to test every feature of the Galaxy Ring and answer any questions that people have. Reach out on social, or let me know if you have any specific questions, and I’ll cover these throughout the review process!

Follow 30 Days with the Galaxy Ring

Follow the following platforms to keep up-to-date in real-time!

• Twitter

• Instagram

• Threads

• LinkedIn

• YouTube

Bookmark this page, as we’ll be adding links to the bottom as they go live across various platforms!

• 30 Days with the Galaxy Ring starts NOW!

Let’s get healthy together!

I love the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. It’s one of my favorite wearables ever, and Samsung Health is a feature-rich health tracking suite that lays out a lot of information in a very user-friendly way. Although Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch 7 today, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is shaping up to be my new favorite wearable for Android phones.

Featuring a familiar design — yes, it shares many of the hallmarks of the Apple Watch Ultra design, including the orange loop band design — it brings the best of Samsung Health to a more premium device designed for longer battery life, enhanced durability, and some health-saving features.

This is the Galaxy Watch Ultra, and I quite like it.

Energy & Wellness

The Galaxy Watch Ultra has all the same health features as the Galaxy Watch 6 and the other Samsung devices that came before it, but it also ushers in a few new eras for Samsung.

Galaxy AI isn’t limited to Samsung’s new phones; it also comes with new wearables, including the new Galaxy Ring. I’ve been waiting for Samsung to bring AI to its health devices, and its first implementation leaves me cautiously optimistic. You can’t actively interact with the AI like you can on the Whoop band, but the Galaxy Watch Ultra does use AI to generate an Energy Score.

Much like Oura’s Readiness score, Samsung’s Energy Score helps quantify how you’re feeling. It provides a number — between 1 and 100 — generated by measuring your daily condition across seven metrics. A lower score means you need to rest and recover, while a higher score means you can push yourself.

Samsung is also using AI to generate Wellness Tips, which are designed to provide meaningful and actionable insights to improve your overall health. Samsung wearables collect a lot of data across many metrics, so I hope that it can use AI to generate insights and tips that can truly help improve someone’s health.

The first FDA-approved wearable for Sleep Apnea

This is a standout feature of the Galaxy Watch Ultra; it’s the first wearable to be FDA-approved for detecting Sleep Apnea. We’ve seen numerous reports of the Apple Watch saving lives, and this feature means the Galaxy Watch Ultra will also save numerous lives.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra doesn’t track Sleep Apnea in real-time, nor does it confirm that you have Sleep Apnea. Instead, it focuses on tracking your sleep, understanding your body’s patterns, and using this data to determine whether you should seek medical advice. This is a better way to offer this feature, as it ensures Samsung won’t face legal pressure for misdiagnosing sleep apnea (or not at all) but still allows the Galaxy Watch Ultra to save lives.

Given that blood pressure monitoring is available outside the US but still doesn’t have FDA approval stateside, it’s a pleasant surprise that Samsung was able to get this feature approved by the FDA. I do hope we’ll see the blood pressure monitoring approved for the US market sooner rather than later; I’ve been testing it on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (after taking a few steps to get it working), and it’s a great feature that’s accurate enough to be my portable blood pressure monitor of choice.

Built for extreme conditions

Much like the Apple Watch Ultra, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is designed for extreme conditions and professional workouts, such as extreme hikes or deep sea diving. Yet, it also offers tangible benefits even if you’re not into extreme workouts.

It’s water-resistant to a depth of 100 meters and can handle harsh outdoor conditions. It is made from aerospace-grade titanium and features MIL-STD 810H drop protection. Samsung says the 591 mAh battery can track up to 48 hours of continuous workouts, although it’s unclear how long the battery lasts under normal conditions. 

The rear features an all-new bioactivity sensor with three times as many LED sensors, designed to measure your heart rate more accurately during workouts and while you’re asleep. I can’t wait to put this to the test, especially against the Pixel Watch 2, which has excellent heart rate tracking. There’s also Dual GPS with support for the L1 and L5 frequency bands, and the Galaxy Watch Ultra will latch onto whichever band is more suited for your current environment.

An Ultra era of wearables

The new era of Samsung wearables has arrived. It’s all about AI, more expensive devices, and better health tracking. The Galaxy Watch 7 was announced alongside the Watch Ultra but received little more than a footnote. Samsung’s foray into premium wearables is interesting because the company has adopted a square body with a round display. It’s unique but won’t be to everyone’s taste. 

Samsung called it an Ultra and has adopted a very familiar design for Apple Watch Ultra users. That’s the crux of some criticism the company is likely to receive: it looks like an Apple Watch Ultra, right down to the squared design. 

Yet, judging it by its looks means misunderstanding the broader picture. Samsung Health is superior to Apple Health, at least when it comes to tracking health metrics. Samsung wearables are better than the Apple Watch for capturing valuable data. Sleep is far superior on a Galaxy Watch than on an Apple Watch, even with Apple finally fixing its Sleep tracking in WatchOS 11. 

The Galaxy Watch Ultra may look like an Apple Watch Ultra, but it retains some of the DNA that makes Samsung wearables so compelling. It can also measure far more metrics than even the Apple Watch Ultra, so if you can get past the looks – and you don’t use an iPhone as this only works with Android devices – the Galaxy Watch Ultra will likely be the best wearable for health tracking this year.

The smartphone industry is rife with examples of incumbent companies being forced into action by competitors innovating and raising the standard. Last year, Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 — itself an iterative upgrade on the previous generation — only for OnePlus to make a foldable with better hardware. This was weeks after Motorola relaunched the RAZR, which provided real competition for the Galaxy Z Flip series in some of Samsung's key markets. 

The sixth generation of Galaxy foldables sees Samsung launch an iterative upgrade with minor refinements. It couples this with the latest processor, a tweak to the camera, and a concerted effort to push Galaxy AI to the forefront of its devices. It's evident that AI will be key to Samsung's future endeavors. 

The company is striving to integrate Galaxy AI into all its products, and with a projected 200 million devices running Galaxy AI by the end of the year, it has the scale to achieve these ambitions in the eyes of its customers. The critical issue is whether its AI efforts warrant the $100 price increase.

I've spent a few hours with the new devices and am typing this on the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Here are my key takeaways on Samsung's latest phones. 

Minor tweaks to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 equals a more polished experience

Let’s make one thing clear: the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 are both excellent phones. Each features refinements – the Fold less than the Flip – over the previous generation, and they continue Samsung’s trajectory of its foldable devices. The issue – at least, from my perspective – is not the devices themselves but that they now face much stronger competition (more on that later). 

The Fold 6 has the smallest refinements of the two new foldables. At 239 grams, it is only 14 grams lighter than last year, but this results in a noticeably more ergonomic feel. It is 0.5mm thinner when unfolded, has a more squared-off design, and the front display has fewer rounded edges, resulting in a more uniform and familiar smartphone-like experience.

The main display hasn’t changed, but the front display is 1mm shorter and 3mm wider, resulting in a 0.1-inch increase in size to 6.3 inches. These are small numbers, but it definitely feels more friendly in the hand. There’s a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy processor, 12GB of RAM, and between 256GB and 1TB of storage. 

The main camera is the same 50MP as last year, as is the 12MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. New for this year is the 12MP ultra-wide camera, which uses a newer sensor (with the same specs on paper) that should herald better low-light noise reduction. It’s powered by a 4,400mAh battery with 25W charging and comes in Navy, Silver Shadow, Pink, White and Black colors. The latter two are exclusive to Samsung.com, and the Black has a unique carbon fiber-like finish.

More refinements in the Galaxy Z Flip 6

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 has more improvements than its larger sibling. It has the same processor and RAM, 256GB or 512GB storage options, and a 4,000 mAh battery, the largest ever in a Galaxy Z Flip. 

The Cover Display measures 3.4 inches and comes with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection. Its peak brightness of 2,600 nits makes it perfect for outdoor usage. The main display is the same 6.7-inch as last year's, with no notable changes. However, there are a few notable tweaks and improvements that should enhance the overall Flip experience.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is the first Samsung flip phone to feature a vapor chamber, which should aid significantly in cooling and performance, and is 50% larger than the one found in the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It also has the best cameras ever on a Galaxy Z Flip. 

The main camera has a new 50MP sensor — a big upgrade over last year’s 12MP sensor — with an f/1.8 aperture, OIS, and support for 4K recording at 60fps. By default, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 uses Pixel Binning to combine four pixels into one, resulting in 12MP photos with much better light. The Flip 6 also offers a 2x telephoto by cropping in on the main sensor. The ultra-wide camera has the same upgraded sensor found in the Galaxy Z Flip 6. I do love that the cameras now feature a ring that matches the color of the device itself, which helps them stand out from the previous Galaxy Z Flip devices.

On the software front, there’s a new AI-powered auto zoom feature that can detect subjects and automatically zoom to capture the best angle. There’s also a new AI portrait feature that offers clearer outlines, more authentic facial expressions, and natural bokeh. There’s a new night mode for Instagram stories – available directly within the Instagram camera – and much like the new Motorola Razr Plus 2024, the ability to hold the Galaxy Z Flip 6 like a camcorder.

The big bet on Galaxy AI

Expect every Samsung commercial to focus on AI and use the ✨ emoji. Beyond just its phones, Samsung’s new wearables also focus on building new AI-powered experiences and features.

The main software enhancements on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Fold 6 are all AI-powered. You can use text to generate unique images to use as wallpapers. There are a diverse set of wallpaper styles, and on the Flip 6, you can interact more with these wallpapers just by touching the screen.

Both devices utilize AI to offer smart suggested replies. AI will read what’s on the display and provide contextually aware responses rather than the boilerplate responses we’ve seen before. You can generate text and images, but many of these features require using the Samsung Keyboard, which is not as good as alternative keyboard options.

Both devices can also utilize the interpreter feature, which allows you to converse with someone who speaks a different language. The phone displays translations on the front display in real time. This actually works pretty well, although in a reasonably noisy demo environment, the microphones did struggle a little to isolate my voice from the ambient noise. 

On the Galaxy Z Fold 6, you can set the interpreter to listening mode, which provides a real-time translation and transcription of everything being said. This is ideal when your native language is different from the language being spoken, especially if you attend conferences in other countries. Lastly, the Chat Assist function helps you craft messages in various tones for different mediums — such as a professional email or casual social media post — although I was not overly impressed. 

Are they enough for the intense competition?

This is where I’m stuck. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 are great phones in their own right, but do they represent enough in a world where the competition is more fierce than ever before? I would argue that they do not, especially considering each is $100 more expensive than last year.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 starts at $1,899.99, while the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is $1,099.99. The Flip’s biggest competitor in the US – the new Motorola Razr Plus 2024, which I called the King of the Flip in my review – is $999.99 and has a much larger and better Cover Display. Granted, the cameras likely aren’t as good, and it uses the 8s Gen 3 chipset versus the 8 Gen 3, but for most people, the Razr Plus is a better overall phone. 

Then there’s the Fold 6. It offers much the same experience – with a few small refinements – as last year’s Fold 5 but costs $100 more. The Fold 5 was already the second-best book-style folding phone in the US and likely fourth or lower outside the US, and the Fold 6 won’t improve that position. Samsung’s saving grace last year was that OPPO – the parent/sibling of OnePlus – doesn’t aggressively market its products like Samsung does, so the company didn’t need to compete as much.

Last year’s third-placed – and last remaining – book-style foldable in the US was the Pixel Fold. Google made some missteps with its first foldable and launched it before Samsung launched the Fold 5, but this year, Google has waited. We’re expecting the Pixel Fold 2 to launch next month, and it is rumored to bring many improvements. It will likely have the best camera on a book-style foldable, and it will be a significant overall improvement. Unlike OPPO, Google does have the financial capability – and has shown a willingness – to aggressively market its products, and the Galaxy Z Fold 6 may not be able to stand out against this intense competition. 

Lenovo-owned Motorola and Google are well-capitalized and have strong enterprise relationships and distribution partnerships, although Samsung still has better phone distribution. In six months' time, it’s unclear whether the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 will be able to truly stand out in a very crowded market, especially with a lot more foldables set to launch in Samsung’s key markets outside the US.

At first glance, both phones offer small refinements to an already polished experience. Yet, I can’t help but feel they’re not as impactful as their predecessors, mainly because better choices are now available. I’ve loved the Galaxy Z Fold and Flip since they were launched, but it feels like Samsung has stuck to its status quo while everyone else has caught up and exceeded it. Let’s hope that Samsung reimagines its foldable lineup next year.

Stay tuned for full reviews on both these phones in the coming weeks! 

How do you improve your most popular Flip phone, which was widely rated as the best flip phone of last year? Motorola faced this exact problem, and its approach was to take all the feedback it received and address it. 

The result is the Motorola RAZR Plus 2024, also known as the Motorola RAZR 50 Ultra outside the US. It addresses almost everything that we faulted with last year's model, and in doing so, Motorola has raised the benchmark for Flip phones in 2024 and beyond. 

This is why the Motorola RAZR Plus 2024 is such a great phone and will almost certainly be the best Flip phone of 2024.

The Impact Report: Motorola sets the benchmark

At our briefing for the new Razr series, Motorola shared some numbers that indicated its impact. Last year’s RAZR series saw a 28% growth globally and made Motorola the fastest-growing brand. The RAZR series also reached 75% market share in the Flip phone segment, which is outstanding considering that last year’s RAZR was the first reboot of the original reboot a few years ago. Of the new RAZR buyers, 78% were apparently switching from an Apple device, and this showcases the value of the RAZR promise: it’s a fun experience that gets people excited.

The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 shows that listening to your customers can herald great results. It also shows that the competition for the Flip segment is ramping up, and Samsung’s dominant market position in foldable phones is not unbeatable. Crucially, I think the Razr Plus — and the regular Razr, which I’ll be covering later this week — represent the biggest challenge to Samsung’s flip dominance in the US. 

The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 also sets the standard for all flip phones going forward. It’s not enough to treat the front screen like a large smartwatch. Now, the expectation has to be that companies build entirely new experiences for the front screen. Apps and games need to be front and center. Embracing the front screen as a small phone also means battery life improvements: It takes less battery to power a small screen, and this can yield better overall satisfaction with battery life.

Motorola chose to bring in Paris Hilton for its launch in New York City, which made a lot of sense given the history. Paris Hilton was the original influencer for the RAZR V3 twenty years ago, and bringing her back to help launch the Hot Pink Motorola Razr Plus 2024 yielded tons of coverage in non-tech press. This is who Motorola is targeting with its Razr, and it may be working: I recently went to a gas station outside the US where the attendant asked, “Is that the new Motorola?” That’s the first time I’ve ever been asked that, as it’s normally, “Is that the new Samsung?”. Perhaps Motorola’s marketing efforts and influencer-first approach are starting to work. 

We won’t have to wait long to see just how sustainable that is. Samsung is expected to respond with the Galaxy Z Flip 6, which is rumored to launch tomorrow (July 10). Samsung will also likely be heavily marketing the Flip 6 around the Olympics in just a few weeks, and it remains to be seen whether the Razr Plus 2024 can stand out even against Samsung’s marketing prowess. Regardless, stay tuned for coverage of Samsung’s new foldables and how they compare.

Now, here’s our Motorola Razr Plus 2024 review!

Design & Display

On the face of it, the Motorola RAZR Plus 2024 looks just like last year’s Razr+, with a few tweaks in just the right places. It features the same iconic design used last year, with a larger display dominating the front and an improved hinge that is 30% smaller, making for a thinner and lighter phone. This hinge is also meant to make it easier to flip open and close with one hand, although my large finger still finds it challenging to do so quickly.

Motorola’s research found that the average user spends 75 minutes per day using the external display. After two weeks, I use the front display about 45% of the time. This is the magic of the front display, which is crucial to the overall Motorola RAZR Plus 2024 experience.

At 4 inches, it is 17% larger than last year’s model, making it easier to see more on the screen. The front display is also the real reason to buy the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 over anything else: it’s an even better little phone than last year, which I absolutely adored. More on that in a moment.

This year, Motorola went all-in on its unique finishes for the rear of the Motorola Razr Plus 2024. There are two choices – Vegan Leather and Vegan Leather Suede – and which one you get depends on which color you pick. The colors are fantastic: there is a beautiful midnight blue (which is the only one with a racing stripe), a pastel-like pink, a spring green, and my favorite: Hot Pink. Naturally, I’m rocking the Hot Pink, and it is glorious.

The main display is a new 6.9-inch pOLED display. It features HDR10+ certification and 3000 nits peak HDR brightness. It covers 120% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, and the 165Hz dynamic refresh rate makes for an excellent scrolling experience. This display is great, and the crease doesn’t affect usage, although the pre-installed screen protector does reflect fingerprints. You won’t really have a reason to complain about the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 display.

The Cover Screen

The Cover Screen unlocks the magic of the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 (as well as the Razr 2024 and last year’s Razr+). Unlike Samsung and OPPO, which treat the front screen as an extension of the phone itself, aka like a larger smartwatch, the Razr Plus 2024 Cover Screen is a small phone. It’s perfect for those who want a small phone that becomes much bigger when needed. Many people struggle with the size of big phones, but the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 is thin and light and folds up to fit into any pocket.

Motorola introduced its take on the Cover Screen last year, and this year, it has improved the experience in many ways. Panels have been redesigned — including the ability to see all your panels (aka home screens) in one view — and a new widget panel lets you add multiple widgets to one screen. Like your regular home screen, you can resize them and add as many as you want, reaffirming the feeling that this is just a tiny and optimized Android phone.

The new Spotify panel provides quick access to new recommendations, and when you’re listening to something, the entire lock screen becomes an animated Spotify screen with quick controls. There are also many new options to customize your screen with photos, fonts, and clock faces. New for this year is the Always On display, which mimics your regular lock screen, and the new home screen can add quick shortcuts to four apps.

Apps are crucial to the Cover Screen and make the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 magical. OPPO’s approach to the Cover Screen is a selection of curated mini-apps, while Samsung offers a limited selection, although you can enable more apps by installing Good Lock and tweaking some options. 

Motorola doesn’t make it convoluted: there’s an Apps panel, and you can easily add any app on your phone to it. I’ve yet to find an app that didn’t work well on the front screen, and while the full 4-inch display does cover the cameras making some options hard to select, it’s easy to open the shortened folder-like view by just tapping and holding the bar at the bottom. This is how the Cover Screen on any flip phone should be, and Motorola absolutely nails the experience here.

Then there’s the part that makes it truly fun: the games panel. Last year saw Motorola pre-install a few games that take advantage of the Cover Screen. The result was a big competition between the 40 or so media/creators in my group chat over who could score the highest in Stack Bounce. The winner was Tim Schofield, but this year the competition wasn’t Stack Bounce. It was Freekick football, and like FIFA – aka EA Sports FC 24 – it is hopelessly addictive. Tim set the early benchmark, and Rich Woods came in and beat him. Then, late last week, I beat Rich, but sadly, it didn’t last. Rich then decided to go over 1000 points higher than me, which reminds me: I’ll be back; it’s time for another game. I will beat him… eventually. 

I also use the Cover Screen for most daily things that don’t need a large screen. I paid for travel – like the New York subway – for my coffee and food, and I even paid for a hotel. I’ve used it for mapping and even drafted very long emails. There are glitches and quirks where it isn’t the most conducive for typing walls of text, but I use it so often that I can’t go back to my iPhone. The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 has ruined a regular smartphone for me.

Hardware & Performance 

The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, coupled with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The processor is the little brother to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 used in most flagship phones, and I’ve had no complaints about performance. Yes, some folks may lament the lack of the absolute best chipset that Qualcomm has to offer, but it doesn’t matter in actual usage.

The battery has been bumped to 4,000mAh and is paired with 40W charging, 15W wireless charging, and the ability to reverse wireless charging of other phones and devices. Battery life has been mostly excellent, with the phone capable of lasting a full day of usage in most conditions, but under heavy usage, I found it needed charging towards the end of the night. 

There is a direct correlation between the amount of Freekick football I play and how early I need to charge during the day, so if you don’t game, you’ll likely end up with about 20% charge remaining at the end of the day. If you exclusively use the main display, you’ll likely find it doesn’t last as long, but if you use the front display as much as I do, it feels like it could last for days on end. 

Charging is rapid, and it mostly hits 30W when I’m charging using my existing cable and charging brick. At this speed, a full charge takes around 1 hour and 10 minutes, which is around 57 mAh/min. It’s not the fastest, but it’s not the slowest. Regardless, it is more than fast enough for everyday usage, and you won’t have any complaints, especially as it rapidly charges over 50%.

Software & AI

The Razr Plus 2024 follows Motorola’s established approach to software: rely on the core Android experience with tasteful little tweaks and improvements. The result is one of the nicest software experiences on a phone and also my favorite font of any phone.

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Like every phone this year, the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 is also all about AI. Motorola has paired Google's Gemini features with a range of Moto AI experiences, most of which are launching later this year. One of these is the new Style Sync, which can generate wallpapers for you based on an image. There are also new AI-powered optimizations in the camera, which can be enabled with a tap of the option in the viewfinder, which you absolutely should do.

The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 will come with three months of the Google One AI plan, which pairs 2TB of Google One Storage with Gemini Advanced. After the 3-month free trial, it'll cost you $20/month, and it's questionable just how much value Gemini Advanced provides. It's the default voice assistant, although I've found it's less useful than Google Assistant for non-generative tasks like controlling your smart home. My verdict is firmly noncommittal on Gemini, at least in its current state, but that doesn't reflect on the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 in any way; rather, it's a reflection on Google as a whole.

Beyond AI, the Razr Plus 2024 also incorporates the Moto Actions that complete the Razr experience. A simple double chop of your hand turns on the flashlight, which is super useful in dark conditions. Similarly, a double twist of the phone launches the camera, which makes it quick and easy to take pictures in a snap. Both actions work most of the time, although there are noticeable moments when they don't activate, especially when the phone is folded. 

Cameras

If there's one area where the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 may not appeal to you, it is the cameras. Specifically, the choice of a 2x telephoto camera instead of an ultra-wide camera. It’s a personal preference whether you’re on team ultra-wide or team telephoto, but personally, I think a good telephoto is more than acceptable. I know I’m in the minority, but based on the non-techie people in my life, I suspect they’d rather have a telephoto lens.

The new Razr Plus features two new 50MP cameras. The main sensor features OIS, whereas the 50MP telephoto offers 2x optical zoom but lacks OIS. Frankly, it needed OIS, but overall, it’s more than acceptable for social media posts. I suspect this is the goal: everything about the new Razr Plus is designed around sharing life on social media, and the telephoto lens is more than acceptable for that, at least in great lighting conditions.

Last year’s RAZR Plus ultrawide camera left much to be desired, even in great lighting conditions. This year’s telephoto is a significant improvement, though it still requires optimal lighting conditions. That said, some photos indoors can come out fairly well.

Many of these are not acceptable for printing or even showing off to people on a big screen. However, they are more than good enough for social media, as are selfies. The Razr Plus form factor and Moto actions to quickly launch the camera make it perfect for selfies, and I absolutely love taking selfies with this camera.

For many people, the video quality will be hit and miss, but at the launch, I captured some footage of Paris Hilton that I think showcases the capability of video recording. Is it the best for video? Absolutely not. Will it take videos that capture the moment and that you don’t mind reliving? Yes, it will.

When you hold it at 90 degrees, it becomes a camcorder and automatically starts recording. The UI pivots to give you controls exactly where your thumb is, so you can quickly start and stop recording (with a tap) or zoom in or out (with a swipe). The video above was captured in camcorder mode, complete with the zoom.

When you’re taking a picture of someone, the cover screen shows them what’s on the screen, so it’s easy for them to give their approval. It also stands out when you’re taking photos in selfie mode, although if you’re right hand, the camera position means you’ll sometimes inadvertently end up capturing part of your palm.

Regardless, this camera is fun. Smartphone cameras are meant to capture moments, and the Razr Plus form factor and quick actions make taking photos fun. Even though the pictures aren’t technically the best, the Moto Razr Plus makes it fun to take pictures, and that will be more than acceptable for most people.

Price, Availability & Verdict 

At a price of $999.99, the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 is priced exactly the same as last year, even though it is vastly improved in so many ways. I really like this phone, and it offers excellent value for money, but if you don’t mind waiting, there’s a strong chance it will see a few discounts fairly quickly. At launch, it’s available via T-Mobile and AT&T, as well as Motorola.com, Amazon and Best Buy. It goes on sale tomorrow (July 10) and is expected to launch on 

Then there’s the Motorola Razr 2024, the non-Plus variant. In many ways, it is essentially last year’s RAZR Plus at a lower price point: $699.99. I have a lot of thoughts on that phone but stay tuned for more in the coming days. If you want to know more about it, check out my thread on Twitter.

The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 is one of my favorite phones to use. I wrote a third of this review on the front screen while walking around New York. I use the front screen all the time, and I opt to use the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 over phones that cost $200 to $300 more. It’s the most fun I’ve had with a phone this year, and it’s shaping up to be the best Flip phone of the year, as well as one of the best phones of the year. The real question is what will Samsung offer, and we’ll have that answer in one day.

The summary: OPPO wants to democratize AI by bringing it to 50 million users through a future update. The company invited media to a briefing in London to showcase its plans for what it is dubbing “the AI phone.” Exactly what that entails is somewhat unclear, but phones across its Find, Reno, F, and A series will gain access to a series of Generative AI phones.

The impact: OPPO makes impressive hardware. Thanks to its close partnership with sister brands OnePlus and Vivo, we’ll likely see similar features launched on OnePlus and Vivo devices (this is not confirmed, however). In particular, this represents the first time we’ll see generative AI features on some of the best budget phones globally.

The deep-dive: This is exciting for its potential to impact millions of lives overnight. OPPO’s research found that users use generative AI features such as the AI Eraser up to 15 times per day. Compound this over that many millions of potential new users through software updates and the capacity for LLMs to learn user behavior, and this could put OPPO in a strong position when it comes to understanding which AI features could have an impact.

Companies are racing to bring generative AI features to their phones. Apple is expected to launch an overhaul of the iPhone through iOS 18, with AI set to be the theme of WWDC. Google dedicated its entire Google I/O keynote to AI, with Gemini AI set to touch every aspect of your work and personal life, including Android 15.

Android 15 is already in Beta with Gemini available, while Apple will unveil iOS 18 next week and the Developer Preview should be available soon after. Both platforms will launch around August or September. OPPO didn’t confirm when these updates will drop for its devices, but it said they would first launch in China by the end of this year. Based on the performance and user feedback, OPPO will expand these to its users in other countries.

Further background:

• OPPO uses AI as a bucket for all features that use an LLM or machine learning.

• The core LLMs used are OPPO’s own and those developed by Google (Gemini), MediaTek, Microsoft, and others to develop these features.

• The collaboration is not limited to LLMs (although OPPO wouldn’t confirm what else the collaboration entailed).

• Crucially, OPPO was tightlipped on whether it would charge for these AI features in the future. Since Google Gemini and ChatGPT cost $20 per month for the full plans, and all companies are looking to introduce recurring subscriptions in their products, this could be an interesting move that builds an additional revenue stream.

• OPPO has also settled its patent dispute with Nokia and licensed the necessary patents to ensure its products can return to European markets. The Find X7 Ultra is one of my favorite camera phones, while the OnePlus Open is the best foldable phone. More devices like these in the key European market could help OPPO increase its market share.

• Many questions remain about the features and where user data will be stored. When pressed, OPPO could not share any more details on its efforts to ensure user data is private other than saying it abides by all legal requirements in each jurisdiction in which it sells its products.

Smartphones, computers, and the internet are amazing modern conveniences, yet they undeniably impact our mental health. Rather than getting our dopamine hits from interactions with other humans, most of us now get them from social media and various forms of internet communication. 

Instead of the simple joy of someone's laughter, we've all been programmed to scroll in search of a fleeting “high.” Did you know it takes 47 muscles to frown or pout but just 13 muscles to crack a smile? 

I think we all need to smile more!

More people need to smile.

Yes, we can achieve that through watching endless cute kitten and puppy videos — and we could all use more of those cute, fluffy pets in our lives — but that still requires searching them out. 

It's a slippery slope from there to the less helpful parts of the internet and the inevitable rage that comes from many social media users who possess more capacity for nonsense than human empathy. 

What if there was another way? 

At the launch of the Galaxy S24 in January, Samsung unveiled its new phones and a range of Flipsuit cases that combine a cute case with even cuter on-screen effects. 

Many are great, including this awesome Northern Lights edition and the best Disney characters. My favorite, however? Well, that's easy: it's the one that makes me smile. 

The giant smiley emoji on the back of the case makes me smile. We all know that not many people look at the back of their phone, so Samsung used its software magic to match your lock screen to the case design. There's a cute little animation where all the emoji bounce up and down once, and it's surprisingly cathartic! 

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A small price to pay! 

Instead of endlessly scrolling through social media to find that fleeting hit, I lock my phone to see my lock screen again. It makes me smile, sometimes even chuckle, and brightens my day, regardless of how it is going. I wish the option were there to make this the home screen, but maybe that can be added in a future update.

We could all use more joy in our lives, and the $59 Flipsuit case for the Galaxy S24 series is a small price to pay for a never-ending source of joy. 

Relax… smile. It'll be okay! 

Of course, if the case won't do it for you… here's a joyous video of a kitten. However it happened, I hope this post made you smile! 😀😀

Flipsuit Case for Galaxy S24 series

It’s been a big week for Google and OpenAI (the maker of ChatGPT), but also for the world as a whole. We saw the evolution of AI and now have a clearer understanding of how it could be used in the real world.

The answer has left me quite excited but equally nervous about its impact: AI works so well in some use cases shown during the various presentations that it is clear and obvious that it will replace some jobs. How many depend on various things, but it will have a marked impact, so make no mistake about that.

On Tuesday, Google dedicated its two-hour Google I/O keynote to its generative AI platform, Gemini AI. This announcement came 24 hours after ChatGPT announced its new GPT-4o platform. Between the two, we’ve seen what the future of AI is, and this is before expected announcements and implementations from Microsoft on Monday and Apple in a few weeks.

Here are the AI use cases shown off this week and where I think they’ll have the biggest impact. You can recap Google I/O as a whole by following my Twitter thread, where I was live tweeting all of Google’s announcements in real time!

Project Astra is a game changer

I am most excited about Project Astra's platform and implementation. I’ve written about the Gemini AI features that will transform your life over at Android Police (as long as Google delivers), but Project Astra has the potential to completely revolutionize life for many people who may be otherwise less able.

Building Gemini into a pair of glasses is a smart way to implement the new multi-modal features; I.e., it’s no longer about just using a voice or typing; now, AI can see what you see and answer questions in reaction to what it sees. It’s smart, and it’ll only get smarter from there. As covered in various hands-on posts, the demo is limited. Project Astra can only remember the contents of a 4-minute session, and there are privacy concerns as the data is uploaded to the cloud, but this is a fascinating start.

Google was ten years early with its Google Glass product., On display at Google I/O was a new pair of glasses that Google used to showcase Project Astra, but I’d like to see them announced as a consumer-grade hardware product. Either that or Google needs to ensure partners such as Ray-Ban and Meta can use Project Astra as a software platform for the next generation of the Ray-Ban Meta.

Check out this post from Taylor for more on Project Astra.

Gemini is your new favorite study buddy

Many of the demos during the keynote featured Notebook LM, Google’s AI tool for asking questions about a set of documents. New for I/O is the ability to generate audio overviews, which create a podcast-like discussion between two speakers. Google has recognized that people learn differently, and the audio overviews feature is ideal for those who learn by listening rather than reading. 

It can also give tailored examples, with Google’s Josh Woodward verbally asking Notebook LM, “Hey, can you give my son Jimmy a basketball example?” In just a few seconds, the two AI-generated presenters related the concept of force to basketball principles. Imagine your favorite lecturer always relating something to your interests. Now imagine being able to do that with absolutely any question. 

Gemini will transform workspaces, for good or bad

Adding Gemini into Google Workspace will also have a major impact on millions of customers worldwide. We’ve already seen Microsoft integrate CoPilot into Windows in many ways, but if you’re a Google Workspace user, Gemini will completely revamp many of your simple workflows. Available via an extra charge - currently $20/m per user on an annual commitment or $24/m per user monthly - it adds the ability to do many things, including summarizing worksheets, creating complex workflows, and automatically moving items like receipts to your Google Drive.

The biggest impact will likely come from Google’s new AI teammate feature. Every business has wasted productivity from users asking questions like “How do I do ABC?”, “Was DEF approved?”, “Can we do XYZ?”. In-person, this causes minor disturbances as you can solve it in seconds, but in a remote team, this can end up meaning you disturb many people. 

Gemini’s new AI teammate feature allows you to set up a new teammate that is all Gemini. Including Gemini in all the conversations and letting everyone in your team interact with it means it has access to your entire company’s knowledge base. This leads to being able to ask questions that would normally require a human response; the demo shown at I/O involved asking whether something was approved. Gemini was part of the conversation with two other team members who said it was approved, but the message hadn’t filtered back yet. The AI teammate could recall that information from the separate chat and highlight in the prompt’s answer that it was approved and by whom.

This is all good, but there is a fundamental other problem here: it’s clear that AI can replace many lower-level jobs and, presumably, as it gets smarter, higher-level jobs as well. The improvement in both Gemini and ChatGPT in the past six months is incredible and also showcases a frightening future for many people. Most employees have little job security — especially in the US, where everything is at will — and Gemini AI will only serve to reduce this further.

Read this from The Verge for more on Gemini for Google Workspace!

The other notable Gemini features

 Spam detection will also make a big difference in daily life. I love that Google used many real-world examples to showcase the power of certain AI features, and Spam Detection will help everyday users. I can imagine that many people I know will benefit from this feature; although they’ll most likely be confused at first by the prompt, I can see this saving millions of people a lot of money.

Gemini can also recognize video and answer questions in real time based on what it sees through the camera. Hold your phone up, and it can understand what it sees and answer any questions you have. The demos looked fantastic and could be exponentially useful for many people. Google even referred to its Circle-to-Search feature — which launched with the Galaxy S24 series but has rolled out to other devices — as the Circle-to-Search Study Buddy, as it can now recognize video. 

This ability for Gemini AI to see is going to transform the lives of Android users who are visually impaired. The updated TalkBack feature — an accessibility feature that allows your phone to give you visual prompts to guide you around actions or highlight what you’re doing on your phone — can now provide more detail about images on a screen, say of something you’re attempting to buy. No more relying on someone’s implementation of ALT texts (the textual description for an image manually created by the author), instead let AI do all the work and do it better. It looks fantastic and will be a major boon for any visually impaired users.

Check out the video below from The Verge that summarizes all of Google I/O in 17 minutes! It’s worth watching if you want to know more about AI!

Gemini is Google’s answer to ChatGPT-4o

Gemini may be the major subject of this piece, but it came in response to another breakthrough AI announcement 24 hours earlier. OpenAI revealed the new ChatGPT-4o, its most advanced AI model yet that is available to everyone.

Like Gemini, it is multi-modal and can recognize text, photos, and videos. The demo was super slick and showed two AI bots talking to each other in real time, with GPT-4o able to interact with the other bot and answer questions based on the content in the other bot’s viewfinder. There were also demos of GPT-4o being used to help folks with homework and tutor children on Maths.

AI will help to empower many people, especially those who want to help their children but may not have the prerequisite knowledge to do so, and it’s great to see that both Google and OpenAI have heavily focused on these use cases in their demos.

Check out this guide from Ryan at Tom’s Guide on ChatGPT-4o (for Mac).

Elsewhere in tech this week

I planned to do a separate summary about tech this week, but it’s all AI. Yes, we saw the iPad Pro go on sale finally, and while I’m working on the review, I’ll say this: the iPad Pro 2024 is an absolute game changer for the tablet space and portable productivity. It comes at an incredible price, though — starting at $999 but rising to over $2,100, including the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro — but it may be worth it to some people. Stay tuned to my Twitter for more!

I wanted to write about many other things this week, but AI took over everything. I’m currently sitting in a hotel in Delaware, writing this on my iPad Pro before I fly to a couple of weddings. I’m on day 2 of a crazy few days of travel and tracking sleep and stress using three of my favorite wearables: Apple Watch Ultra 2, Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, and the Oura Ring. Stay tuned for lots more on all of these in the coming weeks!

Until next time, Happy Friday Saturday (I wrote this yesterday but only just got around to publishing!), and stay healthy, my friends!

Have you ever faced death? Before November 23, 2020, I had never been forced to face my mortality. Then, at 3 am, my life changed forever while fast asleep. I woke up to a blockage in my Left Anterior Descending artery, the same artery that’s called the widowmaker, as most people do not survive a blockage in this artery while asleep.

I was fortunate – and am forever grateful – that I survived this (and ACDF spinal fusion surgery just 9 months later), and now I want to help others change their lives using technology.

Death's door the day after Thanksgiving

From the earliest age, I'd been a chubby child. An Indian vegetarian diet until the age of 16, coupled with inherent laziness and feelings of inadequacy, meant I searched for solace in food. These actions led to the inevitable, especially with my familial history of every major killer.

The result was a trip to San Francisco General Hospital at 3 am (in an Uber, no less) and my day off recognition: I had had a heart attack while I was asleep. Thankfully, my body woke me up, and what followed was the most personal, intense journey I've ever been on.

I'm Nirave, a tech journalist of 18 years who's now focused on technology and its impact on our mental, physical, and emotional health. I hope you'll join me on a journey to discover how technology has saved and will continue to save our lives.

1. (Thirty) Three years in the making

I've always known I was high risk when it comes to health. Between my parents, I've got a familial history of every major killer, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and more. Yet, I ignored my mortality, believing that it wouldn't happen to me, even after my brother had a heart attack years earlier at the age of 26.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing (as they say), and looking back, I had known the heart attack was coming for the few months that preceded it. After losing my dad in June 2020 (and moving back to the UK from the US for a few months to look after my mum), I started having some chest pains but dismissed them as stress.

12 hours before the heart attack, I was buying my health insurance for 2021 when I said the words, “I think I’ll have a heart attack next year.” Little did I know it would be just hours, not weeks and months like I had thought.

There’s plenty more to the story, which I’ll write in a follow-up, but now, over three years later, it’s been a wild ride, but I’m alive. I’ve lost a ton of weight, discovered that I’m far more resilient than I had ever imagined, and have found new ways to deal with stress and health anxiety.

The heart attack was the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’m here to share my story to help others going through similar journeys. It’s never too late to start caring, so why not hit that subscribe button and join me to help build a community that saves lives?

Let’s change lives… together

Lying in the hospital after the heart attack, I realized that life needed to change. Not just in terms of my activity levels and looking after my health but also in my purpose. It’s taken many years of thinking – and letting life get in the way – but now I want to build a community of people who use technology to save lives.

You are a key part of that: We all know someone with health issues. Regardless of age, gender, and location, we can save lives together. Please join the journey and share these posts — or better yet, become a paid subscriber and gift someone a subscription (you get discounts if you buy two or more subscriptions in a group plan)!

Let’s help save lives one at a time using technology.

What to expect from Impact by House of Tech

I’m not sure exactly how often we’ll post, but I expect at least one to two weekly articles for everyone, plus other content for paid subscribers.

Here’s what you can expect from the new House of Tech Insider newsletter.

• Our posts focus on mental, physical, or emotional health and how technology can help improve one or more of these areas.

• Free subscribers will get access to many of our articles: we believe that lifesaving advice should not be hidden by a paywall, but we do hope you’ll show your support with a paid subscription. Some of our content will be moved to the archive after 4-6 weeks, but we’ll always ensure the most important content is freely available.

• Paid subscribers will help support our content, will be able to access the archive, and will get access to deeper dives into specific technology features. Some planned examples include:

  • How to get the most out of a Continuous Glucose Monitor for Diabetes

  • How to manage your heart health using technology

  • How to rebuild your health using technology

• Founding members will always be listed in a new Founding members section on our About page, and I express thanks and appreciation. We’ll call you out on future videos, give you a platform to share your journey, and allow you to ask me questions directly.

Want to access a paid article but can’t afford it? Please shoot me a message on Twitter, Instagram, or via email with your story, which article you’d like to access, and how you think it’ll help you, and I’ll see what I can do 🙂

Subscribe now

Follow the journey across social media

We get it – not everyone wants to read a publication or get email notifications. Follow us on social media at the links below for a more granular, real-time look at the latest technology and how it impacts daily life.

🐦 Twitter: @nirave | @HoTdotTech
📸 Instagram: @niraveg | @HoTdotTech
🎥 YouTube: @HoTdotTech
🎶 TikTok: @NiraveG