I’ve never had particularly sensitive nipples—except for the first time I went to a clothing-optional beach and failed to use enough sunblock—so I was excited to give the Lovense Gemini a try.
No, it has nothing to do with Google’s AI chatbot. These are vibrating nipple clamps from Lovense, and I’ve had great experience with many of the company’s sex toys. Many of my partners have had sensitive nipples, so I was curious if I could join the ranks with the Gemini. Usually sold for less than $80, they’re an inexpensive way to spice up the bedroom.
Great for Enthusiasts and Beginners
Courtesy of Amazon
After I fully charged the Gemini, which takes about an hour or so, I used it on myself. What I love is that I can clip the base of the clamps to my bra (there’s also a cord you can put around your neck if you don’t wear a bra), making them 100 percent hands-free.
The Gemini is app-controlled (Android, iOS), so I can lie back and play with the slew of intensities and patterns—surprisingly fun even though I was solo. When I added a bullet vibrator to the mix, the vibrations all over made everything even more exciting in a low-key, kinky sort of way. I also appreciate that the clamps are adjustable, so if you love a tight squeeze, a barely there hold, or somewhere in between, you have options.
Unlike some of the more intimate toys I’ve reviewed, like the Luxus Couples Vibrator or the Lelo Ora 3, I was able to get input from a handful of people with the Gemini. Especially people I know who really (like, really) love nipple play. As much as I enjoyed the vibrations and found the sensation interesting, the Gemini made me realize that, ultimately, I prefer that my nipples get attention from a partner’s tongue or with a slight graze of their teeth.
Of the three nipple-play aficionados I used the Gemini with—one straight and two gay men—all of them became immediate fans of the toy. They liked the hands-free design and the simplicity of the Lovense Remote app. To paint a picture of this experiment, I had the app in hand, and three men sat on the couch across from me, waiting for their turn to try the Gemini. (It’s the closest I’ll probably ever get to an orgy.) Each man had a different preference in intensity and patterns, as well as the tightness of the clamps, so I was able to see just how much the Gemini can be the perfect fit for anyone who’s into nipple play.
Easy to Use
The Gemini is well-built, too. Not only is it waterproof—for all those times you’re craving a proper buzz on your nips while in the shower—but you also get a whopping two hours of run time when it’s fully charged. The device is discreet, in case you’re into public play where one partner enjoys the vibrations, while the other controls what they want you to feel.
Insta360’s X-series 360-degree cameras have long dominated the market. They have great video quality, an easy-to-use interface, and simple editing software, which makes these the most beginner-friendly 360 cameras around. The latest version, the Insta360 X5, continues that tradition while bringing larger sensors with even better-looking video.
The X5 is a worthy upgrade; video quality is better, battery life is improved, and new features like the PureVideo lowlight mode and replaceable lenses make the X5 the most compelling 360 camera on the market.
What’s New
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
The big news in the X5, and the reason to consider upgrading even if you already have the X4, are the new twin 1/1.28-inch sensors. They’re a considerable step up from the 1/2-inch sensors in the X4. At the same time, the video specs have not changed much at all, with 8K 30 fps and 5.7K 60 fps at the high end. A larger sensor with the same resolution means more detail in that footage, which is exactly what you get here. This is without a doubt the best-looking footage I’ve seen from a 360 camera.
Keep in mind that the 8K refers to the overall 360-degree shot. When you actually frame that footage in the app, the highest resolution you’ll be able to export is 4K. But the 4K footage you’ll get is markedly better than what the X4 delivers.
The footage coming out of the X5 is great for a 360 camera. Bear in mind, though, that almost any other newer action camera is going to have somewhat better video quality. The appeal of the 360 camera is that it can capture what’s behind you, whereas Insta360’s traditional action cam, the Ace Pro 2 (8/10, WIRED Recommends), cannot. This makes 360 cameras perfect for filming when you don’t know exactly how you want to frame your shot, for example while riding a bike, skiing, skateboarding, and so on. In the past, to get this kind of shoot-everything, frame-later flexibility, you had to give up some video quality. While that’s still true to an extent, with the X5 you’re giving up very little in terms of video quality.
What kind of person would you be in the face of a disaster that’s beyond explanation? Would you help distressed neighbors and open your home even to sketchy-looking strangers in the hope that there’s strength in numbers, or go it alone regardless of how heavily the odds are stacked against you? Would you still brush your teeth every day?
The horror in Francis Coulombe’s RPG Look Outside is all encompassing. There is the cosmic element: something incomprehensible is happening beyond the walls of your apartment building and it’s in your best interest to not even look outside, let alone go there. And as you quickly learn, anyone who has looked or been outside is transformed in unimaginable ways, making for some extreme (and extraordinarily creative) body horror. But in much of the game leading up to its multiple climactic endings, the unease also stems from how it makes you look inside — at the choices you’ve made and the person you’ve become in order to survive.
Despite trying to take an empathetic approach, I still found myself in situations that left my character (and me) wracked with guilt. There is a gnawing sense of doubt that grows over the course of the game, repeatedly making me question whether I’d, say, made a bad call and been too quick to kill that neighbor whose entire head is teeth, or if my hand was really forced into making a very upsetting sacrifice.
After a while, the most unnerving thing is looking in the mirror. And you have to do that a lot in this game, because hygiene affects your stats.
Francis Coulombe/Devolver Digital
It all begins with your character, Sam (you can change the name, if you want), waking up after a strange dream with a strong urge to look outside. You are immediately given the choice between satisfying your curiosity and listening to your gut, and you’ll find yourself grappling with that dilemma time and time again.
At this point, you also meet Sybil, the mysterious next-door neighbor who only speaks to you through the wall, with one glaring eyeball peering out of a large crack. Sybil, whom it’s unclear if you should trust, tells you that everything will blow over in 15 days if you just wait it out. You need to scavenge for resources if you’re going to make it that long, though, and once you leave your apartment and get a chance to talk to some other neighbors, you may decide you want to take a more active role in getting to the bottom of the catastrophe.
Some neighbors, particularly a few robed amateur astronomers who appear to be in a cult, seem to know quite a bit about what’s going on, and it’s insinuated that doing tasks for them will help you figure out the how and why of the phenomena around you. Others are more focused on addressing their immediate needs and will try to rope you into their causes: locating missing people, picking up laundry, cleaning the messes left behind by eldritch horrors, etc. There’s a full on war happening somewhere in the building, which you can choose to play a part in if you’re so inclined. Your landlord will unsurprisingly still demand you pay him rent despite the circumstances.
If you choose to play in Normal mode, like I did, Sybil is your only save point, so you’ll have to return home regularly. Easy mode autosaves.
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All interactions are turn-based, and as you explore the apartment building, you’ll run into tons of enemies and potential allies — but the line between the two isn’t always easy to distinguish. Sometimes you can only attack or try to escape, which answers the question for you, but other times, you have the opportunity to talk and ask questions. The turn-based nature allows you to take a moment and evaluate each new encounter, but there’s always an air of ambiguity about everyone’s trustworthiness. Even when you’re back at your apartment, where you can shower, rest, do some cooking and crafting, and play video games, people will come along and knock on your door, and you’ll have to make up your mind about whether you should let them in.
The thing is, surviving can be pretty difficult once you really get going if you’re on your own. Enemies will outnumber and overpower you. That’s where it becomes helpful to have a few allies. With as many as three other people in your party, the scale tips heavily in your favor. I took the trusting approach, for better or worse. This resulted in me having a pretty solid group of fighters on my side, but a pair of those same allies kicked me out of my own bedroom and complained about my cooking.
The creature designs come disgustingly, beautifully alive in the pixel art style. Body horror can be really hard to stomach, and something is often lost for me in the process of consuming it when it’s intended to seem realistic — either because I’m hiding behind my hands and only taking tiny peeks through my fingers, or because it ends up achieving the opposite effect and just looks ridiculous without meaning to. But Coulombe’s art equally embraces the horrifying and the absurd, and the effect of that balance is powerful.
Nothing was ever so disturbing that I couldn’t look straight at it, but there were certainly moments that gave me a genuine scare or made my skin crawl. Even the characters that aren’t being transformed, like the protagonist, look a little grotesque, which adds to how unsettling everything feels. But just when the dread would reach a fever pitch, something overtly silly would be thrown in almost as if to splash some cold water on the whole thing and say, yes this is the apocalypse but we’re still human, we still have a sense of humor.
Francis Coulombe/Devolver Digital
So much of the joy of playing this game is discovering all the tricks it has up its sleeve, so I won’t get into any descriptions of bosses, puzzles or the building itself, other than to say that the latter has a whole House of Leaves thing going on that is unbelievably frustrating at times, but in a way that only adds to the brilliance of it all. There is no map to guide you, either. The soundtrack, composed by Eric Shumaker, keeps in perfect step with every emotion the environment evokes, and I could probably write an entire separate review about how good it is.
All of this builds up to an absolute cosmic gut-punch of an ending (or endings, there are several) that completely changed the way I felt about the game up until that point. In the end, it becomes something much, much bigger than it once seemed, and the feelings were almost overwhelming. I can’t stop thinking about it.
By now I’ve played Look Outside many hours beyond what a typical run would be, just picking apart every detail and turning over every stone to try and figure out all the secrets, reach all the conclusions. I have died in all sorts of strange ways, and lived to see wildly different fates pan out.
I went into this only with the expectation of cool art and a relatively unique approach to survival horror, and came away shook from what turned out to be one of the best cosmic horror games I’ve played in a while, maybe ever. Look Outside, published by Devolver Digital, is only available on Steam for now, but I sure hope it makes its way to other platforms soon so more people can experience it.
The M4 also gives the MacBook Air its AI boost with Apple Intelligence. The 38 TOPS of local AI processing through the faster 16-core Neural Engine makes the M4 MacBook Air closer to the 48 TOPS on Intel’s Lunar Lake chips and 45 TOPS of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips.
This is difficult to judge, because Apple Intelligence is very much still unfinished, but there are some new third-party apps that Apple is showcasing that use Apple Intelligence right out of the box in third-party applications, such as the note-taking app, Bear. You can now do things like automatically format text into tables or summarize a report. It also comes with Image Playground, the updated version of Siri with ChatGPT integration, and lots more. On the other hand, you’ve never needed fast local AI processing to get Apple Intelligence, as AI tasks on older devices just get run on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute system.
The raw performance bump you’ll see on the M4 MacBook Air over last year’s M3 is 22 percent faster GPU, 31 percent multi-core, and 18 percent single-core, as measured in Cinebench R24. That’s a really solid step up for one generation, particularly in single-core performance, where Apple silicon continues to dominate the competition. In terms of the graphics, that’s also over double the performance from the M2. Whether you’re photo-editing or doing 3D modeling, that’s enough to feel the difference if you’re coming from an M1 or M2 MacBook Air.
As with all MacBook Airs, it’s a completely fanless machine. That feels incredible at certain points, especially when you’re in heaving applications like a game. I whipped out Baldur’s Gate 3, and while it’s far from ideal performance, the utterly silent system means you won’t even need headphones to play. But at 1200p, medium settings, and upscaling, it wasn’t too hard to find a balance of performance and image quality that felt enjoyable. Achieving that performance without fans is something that can’t be done on any other laptop right now.
The downside of being fanless, of course, is you’re not getting quite as much out of the M4 as you would on a system with active cooling, namely the 14-inch MacBook Pro. The Air’s system has to throttle frequencies down to prevent a meltdown, and even still, I recorded CPU temperatures as high as 102 degrees Celsius. Fortunately, the surface temperatures never got unbearable in my time with it, even while running under full load.
We may bit a post-CES news lull some days, but the reviews are coming in hot and heavy as February begins. Samsung has already debuted its latest premium phones and we’ve published a few long-term reviews of devices we’ve been testing for months. In this installment of the reviews roundup, we’ve got phones, a wearable, a robot vacuum and a smart grill. There’s something for everyone this week.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Engadget
For 2025, Samsung’s AI features are a bit more powerful and easier to use. However, aside from a faster chip, a new ultra-wide sensor and a few cosmetic tweaks, it looks and feels very similar to last year’s model, which makes the S25 Ultra a less impressive update than it should be considering it starts at $1,300.
Pros
Excellent screen
Great performance and battery life
Anti-reflective Gorilla Armor 2 panels
Slimmer bezels
New 50MP ultra-wide sensor
Cons
S Pen no longer supports Air actions
Same main and telephoto cameras as last year
Not fully compatible with magnetic Qi2 accessories
Samsung has given us the first flagship phones of 2025 and they rely heavily on AI features to lure users. Sam notes that the company has improved those tools, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra feels like an iterative update due to the limited hardware upgrades. “This means a lot of what Samsung focused on in this generation feels more like a bonus rather than a must-have feature,” he writes. “And when you can get around 90 percent of the phone’s capabilities from previous models, the most dangerous thing Samsung is asking buyers to consider is why they need to upgrade at all.”
Samsung Galaxy S25
Samsung/Engadget
The Samsung Galaxy S25 has useful AI features and impressive battery life, but the familiar hardware and unchanged price tag make for an unconvincing upgrade.
Like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung leaned heavily into the AI features on the regular S25. However, the company didn’t spend a lot of time updating the design and major components of this model either. As Mat explains, this makes for a boring release for the long-running flagship line. “Unless you’re desperate for a bump in processing power and battery life, it would be wise to see how heavily last year’s models get discounted in the coming months,” he says.
Anker Eufy E20
Anker Eufy
The Eufy E20 is the first robot vacuum to turn into a cordless stick vac and a hand vacuum thanks to included accessories. It works best as a robot, but the convenience it provides with its transformers-style design will make this a tempting buy for those who don’t want to rely solely on a robovac to clean their house.
Pros
Quickly turns into a cordless stick vacuum and a handheld vacuum
Strong performance as a robot vacuum
Self-emptying base holds a lot for its compact size
The Eufy E20 is a first-of-its-kind transforming robot vacuum. While it works best in its core function as a robo vac, you do have the option of cordless stick and handheld vac configurations in the same device. “While Eufy isn’t a stranger to making solid robot vacuums, this device is still a first-gen product in my mind — and a solid one at that,” Valentina notes. “But you have to know what you’re buying upfront: an above-average robot vacuum that can turn into a just-average stick and hand vacuum.”
Oura Ring 4
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
Oura’s latest Ring is the best smart ring on the market. But its range of functions remains limited by its size and the fact that it’s a ring.
Pros
More comfortable
Better data collection
Gorgeous, clean app
Cons
Requires paid subscription to use basic hardware features
Smart rings may still be niche, but there’s one company that stands above the rest. With the Ring 4, Oura fixed flaws of the previous model to ensure its crown is safe for the time being. “If there’s a downside, it’s that Oura remains forever constrained by the limitations a smart ring imposes,” Dan explains. “If you want something more comprehensive, then it’s likely a smartwatch is a better option, but for everything else, there’s this.”
OnePlus 13
Engadget
Instead of focusing on AI, the OnePlus 13 packs a bunch of top-of-the-line components into an attractive chassis for a very reasonable starting price of $900.
Pros
Class-leading battery life
Super-bright display
Great performance
Attractive design
Cons
Photo quality could be a touch better
Only six years of software support instead of seven
Needs a case to fully support magnetic Qi2 accessories
While most phone companies are focused on AI features, OnePlus decided to build a compelling, flagship-level handset that isn’t overloaded with bloat. “Throughout the years, OnePlus has used taglines like ‘flagship killer’ and ‘ultra in every way’ as a means of taking shots at its biggest rivals from Samsung, Google and more,” Sam writes. “But for the OnePlus 13, it feels like the company just went and made a really solid premium handset without a bunch of AI fluff.”
Weber Searwood
Weber/Engadget
Weber learned from its mistakes with its first smart grill to make the Searwood a complete package.
Weber’s first pellet grill, the SmokeFire, was a learning experience for the company. Thankfully, the longstanding brand learned from those missteps when it built the Searwood. The company’s second smart pellet grill offers more reliable performance, excelling at low-and-slow smoking. Weber opted for an all-new design for this model, from the cooking area to the new display. There’s also a manual mode that allows for open-lid griddling and searing. And while there are some caveats, the Searwood is a much-improved grill compared to its predecessor.
Upcoming reviews: Apple, Beats, Technics and more
According to Bloomberg, Apple will debut a new iPhone SE next week. This will be the first update to that model since 2022, and will reportedly nix the home button. The report also details specifics like a camera notch, USB-C and the use of Apple’s first in-house cellular modem. If the timing holds true, we’ll expect to begin our testing shortly after the news drops.
In that same report, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman explains that Beats’ PowerBeats Pro 2 earbuds are expected to debut next week as well. The Apple-owned brand first teased an update to its fitness-focused model with a over-the-ear hook design last September. Gurman reports that the new model will have heart rate monitoring, which will be a first for a set of Apple earbuds. If the PowerBeats Pro 2 are indeed announced soon, we’ll expect to have a review ready shortly after.
I’ve got the Technics EAH-AZ100 earbuds in for testing too. These buds won one of Engadget’s Best of CES awards last month and I’ve been eager to get my hands… er, ears… on them ever since. During a brief hands-on in Las Vegas, the company’s newly designed Magnetic Fluid drivers offered impressive sound, but I’m looking forward to seeing how this set holds up during a full gamut of tests.
Finding the right temperature in bed can be tricky. Feeling too hot or cold makes it tough to drop off and can wake you prematurely. Since our mental and physical health depends on sleep, that’s a problem. Eight Sleep has the answer. The Eight Sleep Pod 4 is a temperature-regulating mattress cover that tracks your body as you snooze, with a hub that pumps cooled or warmed water into the cover to help you stay in the land of nod for longer.
When I tested its predecessor, the Eight Sleep Pod 3 (7/10, WIRED Recommends), I was wary of the billionaire biohacking buzz, but it won me over. Aside from the increased comfort, the best sleep trackers all told the same story: My wife and I slept longer and got more deep sleep and REM with the Eight Sleep Pod than without. The Eight Sleep Pod 4 brings some welcome improvements, including greater comfort, quieter operation, and handy tap controls, so you don’t have to reach for your phone at night.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Sadly, better sleep does not come cheap. A Pod 4 Cover and Hub for a queen-size bed costs $2,599, but you must also take a year’s subscription to Autopilot for an extra $199. If you already have a subscription, you can transfer it to a new Pod, but you can no longer buy an Eight Sleep Pod without taking the Autopilot subscription. The UK Super King I tested costs £2,699, with a year of Autopilot at £199. It’s a real investment, but sleeping soundly can be transformative.
Hitting the Hay
The Eight Sleep Pod 4 Cover and Hub come in two large boxes. The mattress cover has rubber tubing inside and a soft, plush, dark material on top. It is elasticized for a snug fit on your mattress, and tubing must be routed from the top to plug into the hub. The hub is about the size of a desktop PC, with a fabric front and a big 8 logo. The hub is the brain of the operation, and it cools or heats water and pumps it around the cover.
Setup with the Pod 4 was similar but much quicker than the Pod 3. You pull the cylinder out the top of the hub and pour water up to the fill line. The priming process has dropped to around 10 minutes from a couple of hours for the previous version. You connect the hub to your Wi-Fi using the mobile app. The Pod 4 cover is much comfier than the Pod 3, and the hub is far quieter. It never broke 30 decibels when measured. It makes a subtle hum, like a white noise sleep sound.
Introduced in 2002, the MicroKorg became one of the best-selling synthesizers of all time. But a lot has changed since then. In the last 22 years Korg has actually tried to update this early 21st century classic a few times, but they haven’t caught on the way the original did. The oxymoronically named MicroKorg XL, the MicroKorg S (which added speakers and not much else), and the MicroKorg XL+ (just a MicroKorg XL with a facelift) all failed to usurp the OG. But Korg is hoping the MicroKorg 2 will be the true successor to the crown.
The MicroKorg 2 is an improvement on the original in almost every way, that much is clear. What’s less clear is whether or not Korg has a winner on its hands, or if the MicroKorg 2 is an uninspired attempt to cash in on a classic. There are so many great smaller synths these days, I’m not sure that this will be the answer for everyone.
Modern Sound
One of the biggest changes from the original MicroKorg is the sound engine. At its core, the MicroKorg 2 is a virtual analog synth (it’s digital but aims to sound analog), just like its predecessor. But the scope of its sound-shaping power is much broader. In addition to standard waveshapes like sine and saw, the MicroKorg 2 has a configurable noise source and access to a library of PCM samples that can be used to add a transient to the start of a patch, similar to what you might find on classic ’80s Roland synths like the D-50. The MicroKorg 2 also has three oscillators (instead of two on the original) and a continuously morphing multimode filter.
The MicroKorg 2 is also a multitimbral synth with double the number of voices (eight versus four), compared to its predecessor. This gives it the ability to create complex layered patches (say, an arpeggio and a pad simultaneously) or lush expansive chords. Add to this an expanded six-slot mod matrix with many more sources and destinations, plus a broader selection of effects, and you’ve got an instrument that clearly outclasses its namesake.
Photograph: Terrence O’Brien
What’s truly impressive is that it manages to be far more powerful, but also much easier to program than the original. While the big-knob and genre-based patch browsing remain, gone is the obtuse system where you’re forced to look up parameters on a giant table when trying to tweak presets or craft a sound from scratch. The MicroKorg 2 is nowhere near knob-per-function, but the 2.8-inch screen and contextual buttons make it much easier to find your way around.
In fact, I’d go as far as to say building patches on the MicroKorg 2 is actually fun. This is definitely not something anyone would have ever said about the original.
Not Great Navigation
The genre-based patch navigation does feel outdated, though. It was questionable in 2002 and now seems downright bizarre. The way it’s broken up—four categories with eight banks and eight programs in each bank—feels unnecessarily convoluted. Plus, of the 256 slots, only 64 are reserved for user patches, which is annoying for folks who like to customize for live shows. That being said, if there isn’t a giant knob with the words “hiphop” and “trance” around it, is it really a MicroKorg?
Aside from dramatically better chips, all of the new MacBook Pros feature MiniLED Liquid Retina XDR screens that can reach up to 1,000 nits for SDR (standard dynamic range) content. That’s a 400-nit increase from before, and it should help make content far more visible in daylight or in very bright rooms. (HDR content, as usual, can push the display even further to a peak of 1,600 nits.) There’s also a nano-texture glass option (for a $150 surcharge) that can make the screens more glare resistant, which is useful for working in bright environments. Note, however, that it can also make the screen appear less sharp.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
Apple also upgraded the MacBook Pros’ webcams to 12-megapixels, a major leap over the previous 1080p camera. (Apple hasn’t confirmed the megapixel figure for that camera, but it’s likely around 2MP, the bare minimum to reach 1080p). Having a higher resolution camera also opens the door for Center Stage, which can keep you in focus as you move around your room.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
I didn’t hate Apple’s previous webcams, but mostly that’s because I remember how mediocre its older 720p webcams used to be. The new models look far sharper with more accurate colors, and the overall image doesn’t look as heavily filtered as the previous cameras. They also support Desk View (above), Apple’s helpful feature for showing off objects below your screen.
If you’re often dealing with large file transfers, you might also appreciate support for Thunderbolt 5 on the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips. It can support up to 120 Gb/s speeds, up from 40 Gb/s in Thunderbolt 4, which the standard M4 chip includes. That could make a huge difference if you’re moving terabytes worth of 4K and 8K videos onto external drives – just note you’ll need to invest in similarly equipped Thunderbolt 5 storage. Thunderbolt 5 could potentially allow for external AI accelerators (unfortunately, Apple Silicon doesn’t support external GPUs).
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
In use: The best MacBook Pros yet
I didn’t really expect much from the new MacBook Pros, especially since the previous M3 models were already very impressive. But, once again, Apple managed to surprise me with its mobile hardware. The M4 chip, which was in our 14-inch review unit, was a solid performer. But the M4 Pro in our 16-inch MacBook Pro was an astonishing leap ahead of its predecessor, and it’s also faster than every other computer we’ve tested this year (aside from the new Mac mini, which also had a M4 Pro chip).
Unfortunately, we didn’t have an M4 Max-equipped MacBook Pro to test, but given that it’s filled with more M4 CPU and GPU cores, I’d expect another major performance jump.
Computer
Geekbench 6
Geekbench 6 GPU
Cinebench 2024
Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024)
3,797/14,571
37,869
172/979 GPU: 3770
Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Pro, 2024)
3,925/22,456
70,197
178/1,689 GPU 9,295
Surface Laptop 7 (Snapdragon X Elite)
2,797/14,400
19,963
123/969 GPU N/A
Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max, 2024)
3,202/21,312
92,344
143/1,686 GPU 13,182
In Geekbench 6’s CPU benchmark, the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro scored 1,000 to 1,500 points higher than other recent laptops when it came to single-threaded work. Its multi-threaded performance lead was more slim, but it still beat out Intel’s new Lunar Lake chips and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite. The M4 Pro 16-inch MacBook Pro scored similarly for single-threaded work, but it blew the competition by 9,000 to 12,500 points. That performance gap alone is equivalent to the multi-threaded Geekbench 6 scores from other laptops this year! (It’s also slightly faster than last year’s M3 Max chip in the 16-inch MacBook Pro, another major achievement.)
Cinebench 2024 scores tell a similar story. Both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro scored well above the competition in the single-threaded test. The M4 system was on-par with the best multi-threaded scores we saw from the Surface Laptop 7 (powered by a Snapdragon X Elite chip) and HP Omnibook Ultra 14 (AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375). But the M4 Pro 16-inch MacBook Pro, once again, handily outclassed other systems with its multithreaded score, which was nearly double what we’ve been seeing throughout the year.
Cinebench’s GPU benchmark puts the M4 Pro’s graphics performance in line with NVIDIA’s RTX 4070 in Dell’s XPS 16, while the M4 chip is in line with the Framework Laptop 16’s Radeon 7700S. That’s all about what I expected after testing the Mac mini with an M4 Pro chip, and it’s simply astonishing to see that level of performance from a mobile-focused GPU.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
When it comes to games, the M4 Pro 16-inch MacBook Pro was able to maintain 60fps in Lies of P, Resident Evil 4 and Myst while playing in 1,440p with the graphics settings cranked to the max. 4K was possible, but typically slowed things down to around 30fps, which isn’t very playable on a computer. The M4 14-inch MacBook Pro, meanwhile, handled those same games in 1080p at 60fps. We typically wouldn’t recommend gaming much on Macs, but Apple’s graphics hardware is hard to ignore at this point, and the company is also working to get more high profile titles in the App Store, like Remedy’s Control.
To put Apple’s Neural Engine to the test, I also used the Whisper Transcription app (AKA MacWhisper) to turn an hour and nine-minute long podcast episode into a transcript. The M4 14-inch MacBook Pro took three minutes and two seconds, while the M4 Pro 16-inch model took two minutes and 11 seconds (similar to what I saw on the M4 Mac mini). In comparison, an M3 14-inch MacBook Pro took three minutes and thirty-seven seconds.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
While the speed upgrades are more than welcome, in my testing I noticed that both of the MacBook Pros’ screens were easier to see in bright sunlight. That alone isn’t enough to upgrade for if you’ve already got an M2 or M3 MacBook Pro, but it’s definitely something to look forward to. And even though Apple’s keyboard and enormous trackpad haven’t changed, they’re still among the best in the industry. I also still appreciate having a wide variety of ports on these systems: three USB-C connections (Thunderbolt 4 with the M4, Thunderbolt 5 with the M4 Pro), an HDMI port, a headphone jack, a MagSafe power connector and an SD card reader.
Both MacBook Pros also continue to deliver excellent battery life. The 14-inch lasted for 34 hours and 15 minutes while looping an HD video, whereas the 16-inch went for 30 hours and 16 minutes. That’s the first time we’ve seen our video rundown test go beyond 30 hours. In real-world usage, I could typically use both machines for general productivity work for two days without needing a recharge. That’s the benefit of relying on power-sipping mobile hardware.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
Should you buy the new M4 MacBook Pros?
There’s no doubt these new MacBook Pros are compelling, especially if you need the raw power of the M4 Pro (or conceivably, the M4 Max). If you’re running an M1 MacBook Pro, or still trucking along with an Intel model, you’ll definitely see some notable performance gains from these machines. But if you’ve got an M2 or M3 MacBook Pro, the M4 hardware is less of a qualitative leap. You’re probably better off waiting for the eventual OLED refresh, which is rumored to happen in 2026.
It’s a slower October than usual in the tech industry, thanks mostly to Google and Microsoft having held their typical fall hardware announcements earlier this year. Still, we’ve seen a fair number of companies reveal new devices in the last two weeks, while Amazon’s October Prime Day raged on. Whether you were busy shopping or watching Elon Musk talk up robotaxis and cybervans, the Engadget team continued to review recently (and not-so-recently) launched products. As usual, this bi-weekly roundup is here to help you catch up, though because I missed last week’s edition (as I was out on time off), the cadence is just a bit off.
From Meta’s Quest 3S VR headset and the DJI Air 3S drone, to Sony’s midrange suite of audio gear, these weeks have coincidentally been about the less premium, more affordable “un-flagships,” if you will. And it turns out you don’t have to throw chunks of your retirement savings at companies to get solid devices that are well worth the money.
Sony LinkBuds Fit and LinkBuds Open and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds reviews
by Billy Steele
Sony
Sony flexes its mobile audio muscle on the LinkBuds Fit, combining great sound with tons of features.
The main thing I learned from Billy’s recent reviews of Sony and Bose headphones is that flagship, premium-level noise cancelation is making its way down to the midrange products. And I, for one, am happy about it. Looks like most of the things you’ll miss if you opt to save some money are features like spatial audio, head-tracking and stuff that’s supposed to be make for a more immersive, intuitive listening experience. Personally, I’m okay missing out on those things for now — I really just want decent sound, good voice quality and competent reduction of background noise.
Definitely check out Billy’s review of Sony’s LinkBuds trio of devices even if you’re not in the market for headphones, because he put his ears through literal pain to test the strangely designed earbuds for us. In fact, a rejected headline for the review was “Why am I in pain?” We salute you, Billy.
by Devindra Hardawar
Meta
The Meta Quest 3S delivers immersive virtual reality for just $300. It’s fast, comfortable to wear and it has a wealth of games and VR experiences to choose from.
The Quest is arguably the industry’s leading VR headset for consumers, especially considering it costs a fraction of alternative options while offering a relatively high-quality immersive experience. Unlike the Apple Vision Pro, which costs $3,500, the new Quest 3S is much more palatable at $300. And, as Devindra observes in his review, it’s comfortable, fast and allows wearers to access Meta’s large library of VR apps and content. To quote Devindra, “It’s not Meta’s first $300 VR headset, but it’s still a tremendous accomplishment.”
DJI Neo and DJI Air 3S reviews
by Steve Dent
DJI
DJI’s Air 3S is the company’s first consumer drone with LiDAR designed to make it safer to fly at night.
Continuing in the trend of excellent products that cost less than usual, the DJI Neo is an excellent drone for just $200. Calling it the best $200 drone ever made may sound hyperbolic, but we truly can’t think of any other drone that cost the same that came close to delivering similar performance as the Neo. And though one of its main drawbacks, according to our reviewer Steve, is that it sounds like a banshee, I honestly think that would be a pro for me just for the pure comedy of it all. I never thought I’d be in the market for a banshee-sounding drone but here I am thinking $200 would be a fair price to pay for the aerial videos I could get, and I could easily lay upbeat, operatic singing over the footage anyway.
On the other end of the spectrum, Steve’s also tested the higher-end DJI Air 3S drone and Canon’s EOS R5 II, both of which will cost you a lot more money. The good news is that Canon’s EOS R5 II is now so much improved that it better takes on Sony’s rival offerings, while bringing intriguing features like eye-control autofocus. Sure, it’s still too early to be reliable. But if you have the money for these premium products, you’ll get to experience bleeding-edge tech, maybe part of the appeal is that they may not always work well.
by Dan Cooper
reMarkable / Engadget
reMarkable adds a color screen to its e-paper tablet, creating a best-in-class distraction-free writing experience.
I know Dan was a bit worried about giving a device as niche as the reMarkable Paper Pro such a high score, but after some discussion, we both agreed it fit. As it stands, the reMarkable Paper Pro is arguably the best e-paper writing tablet with a color screen, even after this week’s announcement of Amazon’s first color Kindle. Per Dan’s review, the Paper Pro not only levels up with the addition of color, but also got much faster and reliable in the process.
I particularly enjoy how much care has been taken to more seamlessly blend handwriting and typed text for a more natural note-taking and annotating experience. And though it falls outside this edition’s general theme of being a less-expensive product with premium specs, I’m still incredibly tempted to find ways to cough up the $600 or so needed to bag myself a Paper Pro with the accessories Dan recommends.
Phoenix Springs and Neva reviews
by Jessica Conditt
I’m not the most engaged gamer, but I love learning about games from Jess. She recently reviewed sci-fi mystery Phoenix Springs and dreamy platformer Neva, with pieces written so beautifully that I can’t help but itch to check out each title so I can feel the way she clearly does about them. Phoenix Springs even follows a technology reporter and covers my favorite genres (science fiction and mystery), while Neva’s art looks simply gorgeous. I don’t yet know if I’ll ever find the time to play new games, but these two have certainly been added to my list.
Upcoming reviews: On the horizon
The Engadget team geeks out about a multitude of things, and as we get started on our holiday gift guide writing, we’re thinking about products we like for ourselves and our loved ones. Many of us love e-readers and writing tablets. I certainly have my eye on one of the new Kindles that were announced this week, particularly the new Kindle Scribe and possibly the Colorsoft. Those won’t be available until later this year, so for now I’ll keep hungrily eyeing the reMarkable Paper Pro. I’ll also be wondering what Amazon hardware chief Panos Panay has up his sleeves, other than cans of Diet Coke — something I learned he (like many people) enjoys when I got the chance to speak with him in an interview this week.
Many of us are millennials and have gigantic soft spots for retro gaming. Our executive editor Aaron Souppouris talked to the folks at Analogue, and you can read his beautifully constructed piece to learn more about the upcoming Analogue 3D.
This week, Apple sort of surprised us by announcing the new iPad mini, which has been tweaked to offer more storage and power with an A17 Pro processor. It’ll also support Apple Intelligence, of course, and though it seems like a minor update, some of my coworkers and I still love the idea of a small tablet. If only it had a better screen.
All of those recently announced things are on our review roster, alongside things like the Google TV Streamer and Samsung Galaxy S24 FE that launched in the last few weeks. As we approach November and all the holiday shopping that brings, hopefully the hardware launches properly slow down. We’re still anticipating an Apple event for Macs, and can still remember being surprised by the announcement of Humane’s AI Pin late last year. But for now, we’re chugging along while occasionally bathing in nostalgia and longing for a simpler time.
One of my greatest disappointments of adulthood is learning just how much hassle is attached to recreation. Everyone loves lounging on the deck of their buddy’s boat on a sunny summer day, but the poor schmuck who owns that boat is currently lubricating his battery terminals and waxing the gel coat. Everybody loves the family cabin until the gutters need to be cleaned. And everyone loves relaxing in an inflatable backyard hot tub until the power bill arrives or a wind storm knocks a big branch off the tree above it.
I’ve enjoyed some wonderful hours in the bubbles of Intex’s PureSpa inflatable hot tub during my testing period, which started last December and ran five months until Missouri’s summer heat arrived. If you’re someone who’s considering a backyard inflatable hot tub, I can promise some great hours looking up at the night sky as the steam lifts your spirits on a chilly Tuesday night. But I also need to warn you that it’s a commitment—hot tubs, even inflatable ones, require some care and feeding—and that you’re going to pay for the privilege on your power bills and some occasional scrubbing.
Slow Burn
The PureSpa is made by Intex, which is best known for its blow-up pool floats and camping mattresses, as well as aboveground pools, inflatable kayaks, and a host of similar products.
An inflatable hot tub is what it sounds like: It’s a tub that blows up using an air pump that’s part of the same unit that heats and filters. The shell of the tub is a three-ply laminated material that’s reassuringly sturdy—you won’t fret collapse while sitting on the edge. Roll out the bubble-wrap ground cover, put the tub on top, and inflate it—I have an automatic air pump that did the job in about 20 minutes. You then (carefully!) thread the inflow and outflow tubes from the heating unit to their counterparts on the tub. From there it took another 20 minutes to fill the tub with a garden hose. (Note that Intex recommends plugging the hot tub directly into an outlet and does not recommend use of an extension cord; something to consider when deciding on placement.)
Photograph: Martin Cizmar
The maker says that to reach the max temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, the ambient outdoor temperature must be a minimum of 50 degrees. I didn’t find that to be true—I was able to get the water in the tub up to the max even when it was in the upper 20s. However, the water temp dropped once the insulated cover was off, and my power bill did reflect the challenge.
If you’re using hose water, expect to fill the tub and turn on the heat at least a day before you see yourself relaxing in it. Even when it was in the 60s outdoors I saw the temps rise by only a degree or two per hour. When I refilled in colder weather (colder than the temperature at which the company advertises it should be operated), it took two full days to break 100 degrees. The tub holds 200-plus gallons of water, which weighs 1,668 pounds on its own before adding people, so make sure the hot tub is placed on a surface that can support that weight.
That was before the insulated cover broke, though. This was not the result of any defect in manufacturing. Rather, it was my bad decision to leave the tub set up but not turned on during an especially cold stretch in the winter. A storm blew through and knocked a sharp branch off the tree above my deck, which punctured the insulated cover that had grown brittle from the cold. Water leaked through the hole and was sopped up by the insulation, becoming a soggy, heavy lump that I struggled to pull on and off. As I said, a hot tub is a commitment—if you’re going to use the Intex in winter be prepared to either take it apart or leave the heater running continuously so the cover doesn’t get brittle in the cold. (A replacement insulated cover can now be had for $80, but I instead bought a cheap, off-brand replacement and paid the difference to the power company over several months.)
Video: Martin Cizmar
The other big issue I dealt with was a slow, steady leak from the seals on the heat pump. This started before I pushed the tub into freezing temperatures and continues to this day. A small drip of water every second adds up over the course of several days, so I found myself having to top off the tub with colder hose water, which meant waiting hours for it to heat up again. I worry I may have been too hasty in threading the tubes from the heater to the tub when I first got the tub—take your time and attach them as carefully as you can.
I didn’t have any difficulty with chemicals, because I used a single 1-inch chlorine tablet every week—the hot tub comes with a ball-shaped dispenser—and emptied the tub to clean using dish soap and a sponge at most monthly. (That’s another little chore, of course.) Refilling the tub only costs a couple of bucks where I live, but if you live somewhere where water is precious and expensive, you may want to spend time learning more about treatment regimens.
Tub Time
Once you do settle into the PureSpa, though, you will be delighted. With the cover off for soaking, it will slowly cool but always stayed above 95 degrees for the duration of my 30-minute bubble timer. The bubbles come from 120 little holes running in a circle around the bottom of the tub. They’re far less powerful than Jacuzzi jets but do feel good against aching muscles, and they provide a nice ambiance.
There is plenty of room for four people, and two people can spread out across the tub and stretch their legs and arms. You won’t fret the tub collapsing if you lean over the edge to grab a drink or switch the music. After a couple of months, it became a reliable way to relax on a chilly evening. And once summer heat started, it was easy enough to deflate, clean, and stow away in the garage for the summer. (I was able to get the pool body down to about the size of a very large duffle bag.)
It won’t take many crisp nights before I’m dragging the Intex tub back out. Then, a few days later I’ll be spying on the water level and topping it off. A few weeks after that, I’ll be draining, scrubbing, and refilling. On and on, little chores rising up from the tub like so many bubbles.
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