Samsung brings 400 new jobs to South Carolina with a new customer care center

Samsung customer service is getting a major upgrade. On Thursday, July 12, the South Korean technology company announced the opening of a new so-called “consumer care center” located in Greenville, South Carolina. The enormous facility spans nearly 35,000 square feet and seeks to bring best-in-class care resources to customers in the United States.

As Samsung grows more popular in the U.S., the company is looking to bring improved connectivity between its products and services, an ensure that support systems are available for its hardware. Today, nearly three out of four American households own at least one Samsung device, and nearly a third of households across the country own three or more Samsung products. As these numbers continue to grow, Samsung is looking for ways to create what it calls “continuous user experiences.”

“The way consumers are using technology devices is changing. We are entering a world in which the way consumers use and switch technology products is constant and seamless,” Michael Lawder, senior vice president of Customer Care at Samsung Electronics America, said in a statement. “Today’s announcement goes beyond our commitment to providing superior care for Samsung products, and ensures that Samsung customers are able to receive world-class education, training, and support to connect their products and maximize their use however and whenever they would like.”

Thanks to the new customer care center, Samsung will be creating 400 additional jobs in South Carolina by 2020, 200 of which will be realized within this year alone. The center will boast two advanced training centers for onsite agents, as well as a display center for all of the company’s most recent products across a wide range of categories. There will also be a private and secure video chat support area, and a connected living lab with products from both Samsung and competitors, so that customers can perform on-site comparison testing.

“When Samsung announced its intentions to build a manufacturing facility in Newberry, they told the people of South Carolina that they were dedicated to our community,” South Carolina governor Henry McMaster said. “At every opportunity, this fantastic company has demonstrated that commitment, and today’s announcement that will create 400 new jobs in Greenville is just further proof that Samsung will be here for a very long time, investing in South Carolina and creating jobs for the people of our state.”

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iPhone users can now access Morse code on Gboard for iOS

Google has announced the arrival of a Morse code option on Gboard for iPhone, making it easier for people with limited mobility to communicate using their smartphones.

The option to use Morse code has been available on Android for the last few months, having been announced in May, and represents a huge leap forward for accessibility. As Morse code consists of a series of dots and dashes, and therefore only uses two keys, it can be hugely useful for users who find it difficult to use a regular keyboard.

to bring the mode to life, Google worked closely with Morse code expert Tania Finlayson, who helped Google to design the layout and add customizable options to fit as many disabilities as possible. Speaking of her own life experiences and how much learning Morse code has meant to her and changed her life in Google’s blog, Tania hopes that the development means that more disabled people will be able to feel included in modern technology, and is excited for the future that her work on Gboard may bring.

“I’m excited to see what people will build that integrates with Morse code—whether it’s a keyboard like Gboard, a game, or educational app, the possibilities are endless. Most technology today is designed for the mass market,” said Tania. “Unfortunately, this can mean that people with disabilities can be left behind. Developing communication tools like this is important, because for many people, it simply makes life livable.”

Morse code was developed in the 1800s, and despite never really falling out of use in various industries (the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard still use Morse code via signal lamps to communicate), the use of Morse code has mostly become a hobby amongst the general population. However, with Google’s recent addition to Gboard, there’s never been a better time to try out Morse code for yourself.

If you’re taking your first steps into Morse code, Google has created a game designed to teach the basics of Morse code in an hour. To access the mode, Google has put together an exhaustive guide to get you going. This isn’t Google’s first addition for accessibility either, as Android P’s Lookout app will help the visual impaired, while Google Maps is adding wheelchair accessible routes.

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Intel upgrades the entry-level workstation market with six-core Xeon E CPUs

Intel is now offering 10 new processors under the Xeon E-2100 Series brand targeting entry-level workstations. The new CPUs are an ideal upgrade for companies that haven’t refreshed their workstation hardware in three to five years, providing the latest processor technologies through Intel’s latest eighth-generation “Coffee Lake” design.

Here they are:

As the chart shows, the new entry-level Xeon E-2100 Series packs up to six cores and 12 threads while only consuming up to 95 watts of power. All chips labeled with the “G” suffix include an Intel UHD Graphics 630 integrated GPU component while the non-G chips ship without graphics. All 10 support 40 PCI Express 3.0 lanes through the CPU (16) and motherboard chipset (24) combined.

The big news here is that Intel’s is updating the entry-level workstation market with six-core solutions. These chips also bring to the table support for Intel’s Optane memory, Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, USB 3.1 Gen2 connectivity (10Gbps), gigabit Intel Ethernet, Intel Wireless AC, and up to 64GB of DDR4 ECC system memory clocked at 2,666MHz.

“The combination of two additional cores and higher single-core turbo frequency delivers increases in performance across workstation benchmarks as compared with previous four-core entry workstation processors,” Intel says. “The processor offers Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory, a key feature to maximize data integrity, to help improve system stability and to reduce the possibility of silent data corruption.”

According to the company, the performance of the new Xeon E-2100 Series chips is up to 1.36 times faster than 2017’s Xeon E3-1200 v6 processor family. Compared to the 2017 chips, you’ll supposedly see up to 1.45 times faster financial services applications, up to 1.36 times faster compute-intensive applications, and up to 1.45 times faster 3D modeling and animation applications.

For example, the Xeon E3-1275 v6 processor released in 2017 can decode, stitch, render, and encode 4K video in six minutes and eight seconds. Meanwhile, the new six-core E-2176G can perform the same task in four minutes and 39 seconds, shaving off one minute and 29 seconds. The chips also provide more than enough horsepower to create and experience virtual reality applications using the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

The new entry-level processors follow the company’s Xeon W processor family for mainstream workstations. Intel provides eight CPUs in this group such as the 18-core W-2195 processor with a base speed of 2.3GHz, a maximum speed of 4.3GHz, 24.75MB of cache, and a 140-watt power requirement. The other chips in this family range from 14 cores to a mere four cores.

But if your wallet can support extreme performance, Intel’s Xeon Scalable Processor family is your ticket to the ultimate workstation. The top-of-the-line chip is Intel’s Platinum 8180 sporting 28 cores and 56 threads with a base speed of 2.5GHz, a maximum speed of 3.8GHz, and a 205-watt power requirement. The remaining nine Platinum and Gold processors range from 24 cores to a mere four cores.

Intel didn’t say when you can purchase the new entry-level Xeon E-2100 Series chips to build your own workstation. Instead, expect to see the CPUs in pre-built workstations from Dell, HP, Lenovo and other manufacturers.

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New MacBook Pros are the most powerful laptops Apple has ever made

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Apple’s new-generation of MacBook Pros pack heaps of contemporary, high-end hardware and are for that reason the most powerful laptops the company has ever produced. Available now in both 15- and 13-inch form factors, the new MacBook Pros come equipped with Intel’s eighth-generation processors, up to 32GB of memory, as much as 4TB of solid state storage, and what is said to be an “improved” keyboard.

Available in the same “Space Gray” and “Silver” color configurations of their immediate predecessors, the new 2018 MacBook Pros start at $1,800 for the 13-inch version with a quad-core Core i5 CPU, 8GB of LPDDR3 memory, an onboard Intel Iris Plus graphics 655 core, and 256GB of storage. You can configure that design with a faster CPU, double the memory, and up to eight times the storage space. The 15-inch version can be even more powerful though. It starts at $2,400 and can be equipped with six-core Core i7 or i9 CPUs, 16 or 32GB of memory, Radeon Pro graphics, and up to 4TB of storage.

All configurations of the new laptops come with what we’re told is a new “third-generation” keyboard design. While 9to5Mac notes that Apple has only cited the new keyboard for being quieter than its predecessors, potential buyers will be more interested in learning whether it is more reliable than the designs that have been so problematic in MacBook and MacBook Pros over the past few years. According to the Verge, the upgrades may not fix the problems at all.

Both the 13- and 15-inch models are still equipped with the gimmicky touch bar interface, with no sign of non-touch-bar versions of the laptops just yet. However, the 2016 13-inch MacBook Pros are still available for those who are less interested in new hardware or want to buy one without a touch bar.

What is not available anymore are the 2015 MacBook Pros. While few would find the hardware they offered too enticing, one aspect that may be missed is their support for legacy ports like USB-A. Both the 2016 and 2018 MacBook Pros offer Thunderbolt 3 ports only, meaning any other device will require an adaptor for use. However, the 13-inch version of the new-generation MacBook Pros features four Thunderbolt 3 ports, where its predecessors had only two.

Alongside the new MacBook Pros, Apple also debuted some leather cases (similar to the ones for the 12-inch MacBook) to help protect the new and existing MacBook Pros. The sleeves are available now in 13- and 15-inch form factors, as per 9to5Mac, and there are color options of Saddle Brown, Midnight Blue, and Black. Prices start at $180 for the 13-inch sleeve, while the 15-inch versions cost $200.

While we’re sure those are fine, these are our favorite MacBook cases.

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Bring magic to your desktop with a $699 external GPU for MacBook Pros, iMacs

Blackmagic Design teamed up with Apple to create an external graphics card enclosure with a built-in AMD Radeon Pro 580. Simply called the Blackmagic eGPU, it connects to Apple Mac devices via a Thunderbolt 3 port (40GBps) that support external graphics. It’s available now for $699 exclusively through Apple’s online shop and its brick-and-mortar stores scattered across the globe.

“Featuring an elegant, textured finish design, Blackmagic eGPU is extruded from a single piece of aluminum and features a unique thermal cooling system that’s been designed to perfectly balance the airflow and dissipate heat more efficiently,” Blackmagic says. “The cooling system also enables extremely quiet operation as low as 18dB, vital for those working in video production and audio engineering environments.”

AMD initially introduced the Radeon Pro 500 series with the latest 21.5- and 27-inch iMacs in June 2017. The Radeon Pro 580 is at the top of the five-card family packing 2,304 cores across 36 compute units with a base speed of 1,100MHz and a maximum speed of 1,200MHz. It includes 8GB of on-board GDDR5 video memory clocked at 1,695MHz, 144 texture mapping units, 32 render output units, and more.

As for the actual enclosure, it’s a beautiful device sporting a wrapped one-piece aluminum design with a machine anodized finish and a thermal grille mounted at the top. The enclosure stands on your desktop at 11.59 inches tall, 6.96 inches wide, and 6.96 inches deep. On the back you’ll find four USB-A ports (5Gbps), two Thunderbolt 3 ports (40Gbps), and an HDMI port supporting an external monitor up to a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution.

Also crammed into the enclosure is a 315-watt power supply that not only feeds the Radeon Pro 580 card but provides 85 watts of power through the Thunderbolt 3 ports to charge your connected, compatible Mac device. Right now, the only devices that support external graphics are the following (MacOS 10.13.5 High Sierra required):

• MacBook Pro notebooks released in 2016 or later
• iMac computers released in 2017 or later
• iMac Pro released ion 2017 or later

Note that the external graphics unit does not work on older Mac devices using a Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter. There’s just not enough data bandwidth in Thunderbolt 2 (20Gbps) to handle an external graphics card, which typically either sits in a speedy PCI Express slot within a computer or is integrated directly onto the PC’s motherboard.

According to Blackmagic Design, you absolutely cannot upgrade the Radeon Pro 580 mounted inside, meaning you’ll be stuck with the now-older chip after the hefty $699 purchase. Blame the overall design that’s “optimized for quiet operation.” It’s not a simple stand-alone chassis with the card plugged into a slot, but instead features an integrated chip and cooling system that can’t be upgraded or swapped out.

Still, if you run into any problems, Blackmagic Design will provide technical support for an unspecified time. The device ships with a 12-month limited manufacturer’s warranty that you can read more about right here.

To purchase the $699 Blackmagic eGPU from Apple, head here. The company provides free two-day delivery if you can’t pick up the device from a brick-and-mortar location.

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Bring magic to your desktop with a $699 external GPU for MacBook Pros, iMacs

Blackmagic Design teamed up with Apple to create an external graphics card enclosure with a built-in AMD Radeon Pro 580. Simply called the Blackmagic eGPU, it connects to Apple Mac devices via a Thunderbolt 3 port (40GBps) that support external graphics. It’s available now for $699 exclusively through Apple’s online shop and its brick-and-mortar stores scattered across the globe.

“Featuring an elegant, textured finish design, Blackmagic eGPU is extruded from a single piece of aluminum and features a unique thermal cooling system that’s been designed to perfectly balance the airflow and dissipate heat more efficiently,” Blackmagic says. “The cooling system also enables extremely quiet operation as low as 18dB, vital for those working in video production and audio engineering environments.”

AMD initially introduced the Radeon Pro 500 series with the latest 21.5- and 27-inch iMacs in June 2017. The Radeon Pro 580 is at the top of the five-card family packing 2,304 cores across 36 compute units with a base speed of 1,100MHz and a maximum speed of 1,200MHz. It includes 8GB of on-board GDDR5 video memory clocked at 1,695MHz, 144 texture mapping units, 32 render output units, and more.

As for the actual enclosure, it’s a beautiful device sporting a wrapped one-piece aluminum design with a machine anodized finish and a thermal grille mounted at the top. The enclosure stands on your desktop at 11.59 inches tall, 6.96 inches wide, and 6.96 inches deep. On the back you’ll find four USB-A ports (5Gbps), two Thunderbolt 3 ports (40Gbps), and an HDMI port supporting an external monitor up to a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution.

Also crammed into the enclosure is a 315-watt power supply that not only feeds the Radeon Pro 580 card but provides 85 watts of power through the Thunderbolt 3 ports to charge your connected, compatible Mac device. Right now, the only devices that support external graphics are the following (MacOS 10.13.5 High Sierra required):

• MacBook Pro notebooks released in 2016 or later
• iMac computers released in 2017 or later
• iMac Pro released ion 2017 or later

Note that the external graphics unit does not work on older Mac devices using a Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter. There’s just not enough data bandwidth in Thunderbolt 2 (20Gbps) to handle an external graphics card, which typically either sits in a speedy PCI Express slot within a computer or is integrated directly onto the PC’s motherboard.

According to Blackmagic Design, you absolutely cannot upgrade the Radeon Pro 580 mounted inside, meaning you’ll be stuck with the now-older chip after the hefty $699 purchase. Blame the overall design that’s “optimized for quiet operation.” It’s not a simple stand-alone chassis with the card plugged into a slot, but instead features an integrated chip and cooling system that can’t be upgraded or swapped out.

Still, if you run into any problems, Blackmagic Design will provide technical support for an unspecified time. The device ships with a 12-month limited manufacturer’s warranty that you can read more about right here.

To purchase the $699 Blackmagic eGPU from Apple, head here. The company provides free two-day delivery if you can’t pick up the device from a brick-and-mortar location.

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Netgear router bug let hackers steal classified documents on drones, tanks

A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone. EthanMiller/GettyImages

Hackers have managed to gain entry to classified documents on an Air Force captain’s computer after they exploited a known flaw in a Netgear router. Although the full extent of the data theft is still being quantified, the maintenance documents for the MQ-9 Reaper drone were stolen, as well as training manuals for the M1 Abrams tank, and defense tactics for tackling improvised explosive devices, were all found for sale on the dark web, Ars Technica reported.

Making sure to update your passwords (save them in a password manager) and firmware for any device connected to the internet is a must for many reasons, but security is the biggest one. As with many military organizations though, it appears that the U.S. Air Force fell behind on its updates, and a hacker was able to gain entry to a closed network in May through a Netgear router that had not been updated to fix a long-known exploit. Simply changing the admin password on the router would have fixed that flaw, too, but since it had not been altered, a hacker was able to gain entry and made off with a number of classified materials.

The hack was only discovered when threat intelligence company Recorded Future found the stolen documents for sale on the dark web. Training manuals, maintenance documents, course books, and even footage from border patrol drones and surveillance cameras were all in possession by the party claiming to be responsible for the hack. While not all of it was highly classified or sensitive information, some of it most certainly was and that raises serious questions about the Air Force’s digital security.

Even more so is the fact that the Air Force captain whose system was compromised as part of the attack, had only recently completed a “Cyber Awareness Challenge” in February — three months before the hack took place. Clearly, there are lessons still to be learned.

The most positive takeaway from this event is that Recorded Future’s Insikt Group claims to have discovered the name and country of residence of the person(s) responsible for the hack, so it may be that some justice is meted out in the future. It claims to be working with law enforcement as part of the ongoing investigation.

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The new Xperia XA2 Plus packs a huge display and high-resolution sound quality

Hot on the heels of the Xperia XZ2 Premium, Sony has released another phone — the Xperia XA2 Plus. Sony is marketing the Xperia XA2 Plus as belonging to the “super midrange,” so it’s clear the company has a pretty high opinion of the phone. Here’s everything you need to know about the Sony Xperia XA2 Plus.

Design and display

If you’re looking for a phone that diverges from the fashion trends typified by Apple and Samsung, then Sony is a good choice. The Xperia XA2 Plus follows the same design philosophy as the other 2018 Xperia phones, with slim bezels around the sides of the display, accompanied by a sizeable forehead and chin at the top and bottom of the device.

The XA2 Plus’ body is made from diamond-cut anodized aluminum, and the screen is covered with Gorilla Glass 5. There’s a fingerprint sensor around the back, below the single camera lens, and you’ll find a USB-C port at the bottom of the device. The display itself is a 6-inch IPS LCD with an 18:9 aspect ratio and a 2,160 x 1,080 Full HD resolution.

Specs and battery

You’ll find a Snapdragon 630 processor driving the main functions of the phone, and that power-sipping processor should strike a good balance between raw power and efficiency. In terms of RAM, users will get a choice between 6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage or 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Either way, there’s a MicroSD slot to expand those storage options, giving users up to an additional 400GB of storage.

There’s a hefty 3,580mAh battery powering those decent specs, and a battery that size should mean the phone is more than capable of making it through the day when paired with the Snapdragon 630. Quick Charge 3.0 is also present, which Sony claims can provide hours of power with just minutes of charging. Unfortunately, due to the metal bod, you won’t find any wireless charging here.

Software and special features

The Xperia XA2 Plus will launch with Android 8.0 Oreo, likely with Sony’s theme laid over the top. It’s safe to expect the usual lineup of pre-installed apps from Sony too, so you won’t be getting pure stock Android here. Sony’s update record is solid, so users should expect to eventually receive Android P, and possibly even Android Q (whenever that arrives).

Sony is hoping that the audio will be the really impressive aspect of the Xperia XA2 Plus, and has bundled in a ton of extras that should boost the quality of sound from the phone, whether music is played with Bluetooth speakers, headphones, or just through the phone. The XA2 Plus will be the first Sony phone to take advantage of Sony’s High-Resolution Audio, and it uses Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE HX) to digitally upscale MP3 files to near high-resolution quality. Sony’s LDAC technology will also boost Bluetooth too, making it possible to play high-resolution files on Bluetooth without losing quality.

Camera

There’s only one lens on the back of Sony’s Xperia XA2 Plus, but as per Sony tradition, it’s a monster. The single 23-megapixel lens packs an Exmor RS sensor with an f/2.0 aperture and a maximum ISO of 12,800 — hopefully boosting low-light performance. It’s able to capture video in 4K, as well as slow motion at 120fps, and comes with “bokeh” mode for professional-looking DSLR-like background blur.

The front-facing camera is no slouch either. It’s a single 8-megapixel lens that’s been tuned for selfies, and has a 120-degree super wide-angle mode to capture as much detail as possible. There’s alos the option for background blur on the front camera to add portrait mode coolness to your snaps, as well as the usual Beauty features.

Release date and price

The Sony Xperia XA2 Plus will launch in late August, and will be available in four colors: silver, black, gold and green. Sony has released no details about pricing yet.

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Amazon reveals its back to school Prime Day deals with 35% off select laptops, 40-inch TVs for $195 and more

Here’s the best look we’ve seen at Amazon’s Prime Day deals yet.

Amazon has been teasing its millions of deals for a little bit already, but we’ve yet to see any specifics about what products would be on sale or what prices they would be at. While revealing its back to school and college deals, Amazon has also given us a nice peek at some of the deals we can expect to see on Prime Day.

From everyday items like pencils and calculators to shoes, shower caddies, TVs, and laptops, Amazon will have a little bit of everything that people will need.

Back to School

For those going back to school, Amazon will be offering $30 off the Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition tablet, $40 off the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablet, and $20 off the Echo Dot Kids Edition. There will also be discounts of 30% on select STEM toys, 30% off on office products from Amazon’s own brands like AmazonBasics, 50% off kids apparel from popular brands, and 40% off denim styles from Levi’s and The Children’s Place.

Off to College

And those who will be heading off to college can take advantage of 32-inch smart TVs for $130, 40-inch TVs starting at $195, up to 35% off on select monitors, routers, and laptops, along with 40% off on SanDisk’s most popular memory products. To get your dorm room set up nicely, Amazon will have 30% off computer accessories, bath towels, bedding, office chairs, lamps, and more.

The Tuft & Needle mattresses are going to be up to 25% off, and Cozy’s sack bean bags will be up to 30% off. To help get you through the long nights there will be discounted Keurig K-Cups, Contigo West Loop travel mugs, and you’ll be able to add extra control to your room with some Etekcity Wi-Fi smart plugs.

Amazon is also offering teens ages 13 through 17 years old to acquire their own Amazon login under their parents account to shop independently. Parents will be able to approve purchases, set spending limits, and share all their Prime benefits with the kids at no additional cost. Those heading off to college can sign up for a free 6-month trial of Amazon’s Prime Student.

The Thrifter team is going to be covering ALL things Prime Day, and you won’t want to miss out. Sign up now to have tips, tricks, deals, and more delivered right to your inbox.

Best Smart Scale under $50

Get a better sense of your body’s overall health with an affordable smart scale!

Of all the connected tech we spend our money on that claims to improve our well being, a smart scale offers the best value and information.

Far beyond the musty old bathroom scale at your parent’s place, a smart scale measures much more than just your weight and conveniently delivers the data to your phone so you can track your progress and analyze your body fat percentage, muscle mass, and many more biometrics over time.

Best of all, you don’t need to spend a fortune to buy a quality smart scale. These are the best smart scales for under $50!

• Eufy BodySense Smart Scale
• Etekcity Smart Scale
• Weight Gurus Bluetooth Smart Scale

Eufy BodySense Smart Scale

We’ll start with one of the best smart scales out there, the Eufy BodySense Smart Scale. Made by Anker’s fitness and health brand, this is a reliable smart scale that you will love.

This scale pairs to your phone via Bluetooth and lets you view all your data in the Eufy Life App. Up to 20 people can set up accounts and use the same scale, but it also works without being connected to the phone and will display your current weight with bright LED numbers. It also syncs nicely with both Apple and Google’s fitness tracking

If you want more in-depth analysis, check out my full review from last year. It was the best scale for your money back then and still your best value at just $40.

See at Amazon

Etekcity Smart Scale

Another similar option that’s available in white is the Etekcity Smart Scale, which offers 13 essential measurements and is highly rated on Amazon.

This scale has a modern design with white LED illuminating against the white background for a nice effect. Use the EtekFit app to track your progress, or sync your data to Google Fit, Fitbit, or Apple Health. The scale also supports unlimited member profiles so everyone in your family can track their own stats.

You can get this smart scale for just $40 on Amazon.

See at Amazon

Weight Gurus Bluetooth Smart Scale

This is another highly rated smart scale that’s a bit more expensive than the others on our list but is a worthy addition because of its design and 5-year warranty.

This scale will also display all your results on the display rather than having you check your phone, and will store the data until it syncs with your phone to transfer it over. It allows you to sync data with Fitbit, Google Fit, and Apple Health and can auto-detect up to eight unique users.

Weight Gurus is also a company that cares about people, whether it’s by providing outstanding customer support or by partnering with nonprofits to help people around the world. Get yours for just $50!

See at Amazon

What’s your favorite smart scale?

If you own a smart scale, let us know which one you’ve got and how you like it in the comments below!