Act fast and grab a 500 million limited edition PS4 Pro

Snag this coveted collectible (relatively) hassle-free.

It’s no secret that Sony is a juggernaut in the video game console market. Since the original PlayStation first went on sale nearly 25 years ago, the company has sold over 500 million systems across the world, taking into account each console iteration. To celebrate the momentous occasion, Sony revealed a Limited Edition PS4 Pro in an old school translucent blue casing. Now when they say limited, they mean it. Only 50,000 of these bad boys are being manufactured, and here’s how you can grab one for yourself.

When can I get mine?

The Limited Edition 500 million PS4 Pro will be available at participating retailers starting on August 24 in the United States and Canada, when sales are set to go live. It will be priced at $499.99 USD / $639.99 CAD. This seems a bit costly compared to regular PS4 Pros, but the console packs a 2TB hard drive and includes a PlayStation camera.

We’ve compiled a list of known retailers expected to carry the console. We’ll update this page if/when more pop up. Some listings are already live without the ability to purchase while other store pages appear to have been removed. These should go live once sales do.

Amazon

See at Amazon

GameStop

We’ll update this once GameStop’s listing is live.

Best Buy US

See at Best Buy

Best Buy Canada

We’ll update this once Best Buy Canada’s listing is live.

Walmart

See at Walmart

Orders have already started on Amazon UK and have sold out, but more stock may be made available.

See at Amazon UK

If you’re unable to purchase one through official retailers, you may need to contend with scalpers on the market. Since that’s certainly not appealing to anyone, we’ll have you covered with some other suggestions on what to pick up if you don’t get a hold of a coveted 500 million PS4 Pro in the following days.

PlayStation 4

• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• PlayStation VR Review
• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

Amazon

The best shower speakers to groove while you clean

Sing along with your favorite tunes in the shower with these great speakers.

If you’re sick of belting out your favorite tunes in the shower a cappella you may want to consider getting a speaker to use in the shower.

We’ve compiled a list of the best shower speakers you can find to help you sing like nobody’s listening.

• UE Wonderboom
• Polk Audio BOOM Swimmer
• Photive Hydra
• SoundBot SB510
• UE Roll 2
• Fugoo Sport
• UE Boom 2
• Sbode Bluetooth Speaker

UE Wonderboom

UE’s latest water-resistant Bluetooth speaker is cute as a button and only costs about $70! The Wonderboom is a compact Bluetooth speaker with big sound, a lovely design, and an IPX7 rating, meaning it can be submerged in up to 1 meter of water for 30 minutes — it’s perfect for the shower. I’ve been testing this speaker and have been very impressed with its low end. The bass is surprisingly warm for such a small unit, and its size, again, is perfect for the shower.

See at Amazon

Given its size, the Wonderboom does have a bit of trouble at higher volumes, with clarity capping out around the halfway mark on my phone’s volume. That being said, half my phone’s volume is plenty loud outside the shower and almost too much in it, so you don’t need to crank it at all.

Polk Audio BOOM Swimmer

This tadpole-looking device was conceived by the folks at Polk Audio to be as versatile as possible. The tail-end of the speaker is bendable, making it easy to wrap around shower curtain rods or even your shower head pipe, meaning there is always a convenient place to put it. Plus, it’s $20 price tag is super affordable.

See at Amazon

The Swimmer’s waterproof rating is even greater than it needs to be for use in the shower. It can be submerged in up to 3 feet of water for half an hour without suffering any damage, meaning it can even fall into the tub when you’re taking a bath. The sound quality is not bad; although, there is very little bass, which isn’t a surprise when you’re talking about something this small.

Photive Hydra

At roughly $35, the Photive Hydra is perfect for people that want a shower speaker and are more concerned about sound quality than convenience. Sporting a passive subwoofer and two 40mm drivers, the Hydra delivers a fuller sounding low-end, while still providing pleasing, clear treble.

See at Amazon

Its IP66 rating won’t allow the speaker to be submerged, but it can handle water jets and splashing just fine, making it more than durable enough to withstand your daily shower. The Hydra is a little bulkier and bigger than most of the other speakers on the list, but it’s still compact enough to fit on the edge of your tub or on your shower caddy.

SoundBot SB510

The SoundBot SB510 is perfect for people who want an easier way to control their music while they are listening in the shower.

The simple interface on the front of SoundBot will let you control playback or adjust volume with just a tap of its buttons, meaning you don’t need to get out of the shower and touch your phone to change songs. Plus, there is even a speaker and microphone for taking calls, so you won’t miss anything important just because you’re bathing. Plus, for $15, it’s the cheapest speaker on our list.

See at Amazon

Its water-resistant rating only protects the SoundBot from splashing; however, It installs super easily with a suction cup that is attached to the back of the speaker, so you should have no problem finding a place for it that’s out of harm’s way.

UE Roll 2

The Ultimate Ears Roll 2 has an IPX7 rating, meaning submerging it in up to 3 feet of water for about half an hour won’t cause any damage, so your daily showers won’t affect it at all. Plus, on the back, it comes with a bungee cord loop, making it easy to wrap or tie the speaker around your curtain rod or shower head, so it stays out of your way while you’re headbanging in the shower.

The UE Roll 2 will cost you about $99 at full price; however, it’s a very popular product and often goes on sale, so make sure you look out for those deals!

See at Amazon

The UE Roll 2 does come with a couple of improvements over its predecessor model. It has better sound, regarding both volume and quality, than its predecessor, and it also has an increased Bluetooth range of 100 feet, meaning your phone or tablet doesn’t even have to be in the hot, steamy bathroom while you’re getting clean.

Fugoo Sport

The Fugoo Sport is an awesome device that carries a starting price of about $89; the thing that stands out the most is its 40-hour battery life. If you are truly using this in just the shower, you could probably go for weeks without needing a charge. With a waterproof rating of IP67, not only can you submerge the speaker in 3 feet of water for 30 minutes, but it’s also dust-proof, meaning dirt and other particulates won’t cause you any problems.

See at Amazon

On top of it all, the sound quality is very good. The Fugoo Sport has six drivers that are spread out across all four sides, giving you clear, well-balanced 360-degree sound.

UE Boom 2

Taking the $130 UE Boom 2 into your shower is absolutely no problem as it has a very high water-resistant rating, allowing it to be submerged in 3 feet of water for 30 minutes. It’s also protected against dirt and mud, but you can hand-wash the speaker with warm, soapy water just in case it gets messy.

See at Amazon

UE Boom 2’s battery will last you approximately 15 hours of playing time, which should amount to a lot of time in the tub, and has a Bluetooth range of 100 feet, making sure your phone, tablet, or PC doesn’t have to be anywhere near the water. Plus, if you truly want the Boom 2 to live up to its onomatopoeic name, you have the option to set up another one to make a stereo pair and really raise the roof.

Sbode Bluetooth Speaker

With eight hours of battery life, you should get quite a few showers between charges, and its IPX6 is plenty of protection from water for your average shower, but you won’t be able to submerge it, so keep it away from bath time! Plus, it has an FM radio built-in, meaning you can go old school and listen to your favorite local morning show while you’re getting ready for the day in the morning. The $50 price tag won’t hurt your wallet too much either.

See at Amazon

The Sbode Bluetooth Speaker also allows you to stereo pair two speakers to give you a big boost in sound. As an added bonus, the speaker will shut itself off after 10 minutes of stanby, so you never have to worry about forgetting to turn it off.

What’s your favorite?

Are you a shower singer? Let us know your favorite speaker to take into the shower with you by leaving us a comment below!

Updated August 2018: These are still our favorite Bluetooth speakers to take with you in the shower.

Android Pie’s App Actions now appearing on the Play Store

From new gestures to extending battery life, here’s everything you need to know about Android Pie!

Following last year’s Oreo release, 2018 is the year of Android 9 Pie.

Google’s latest flavor of Android is jam-packed with all sorts of new features, including a brand-new gesture navigation system, new UI elements, and a heap of under-the-hood tweaks that aim to make this the best version of Android to date.

Without further ado, here’s everything you need to know about Pie!

The latest Android Pie news

August 23, 2018 — App Actions pops up in the Play Store

App Actions — the Android Pie feature that uses machine learning to predict what you want to do with various apps — now has its own listing on the Google Play Store.

Listed as “Action Services”, the new item is listed under the Tools category and is described as “Predicting next actions using on-device machine learning.”

Even if you see this in the Play Store, there’s no actual app shortcut or anything for it. Instead, it’s simply there for easier updates going forward as Google evolves the service.

Are you seeing Action Services in the Play Store on your Pie device?

August 15, 2018 — Android 9 Pie (Go Editon) is coming this fall

With Android Oreo, Google launched a special “Go Edition” of it that was designed specifically with lower-end hardware in mind. With Pie, that same idea is continuing (and getting better) with Android 9 Pie (Go Edition).

Android 9 Pie (Go Edition) is keeping everything that made its Oreo sibling great while also adding faster device boot times, a dashboard for tracking your data usage, verified boot + other security features, and comes with an extra 500MB of internal storage compared to Oreo’s version of Go (5.5GB vs. 5.0GB).

In other Go news, Google says that more than 100 OEMs will have Go phones on the market before the end of the year and that there are already 200+ devices available in over 120 countries.

August 15, 2018 — A fix is coming for slow-charging speeds on Pixel and Pixel XL running Pie

Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL are among the first smartphones to be treated by the Android 9 Pie update, but after getting the new software, users have been complaining about slow charging speeds with both the official charger that’s included with the phones and third-party ones. This bug’s been reported by both Pixel and Pixel XL owners, so we’re glad to hear that a fix is on the way.

According to The Verge, Google’s currently testing a software update that resolves the issue. In a statement that was sent to the publication, Google said:

We’re aware of an issue where non-Power Delivery (PD) USB-C chargers no longer rapidly charge the 2016 Pixel and Pixel XL after the upgrade to Android 9 Pie. The 18W rapid charger included in-box is a PD charger and does not exhibit this behavior. We are verifying a fix for non-PD USB-C chargers and will roll it out in the coming weeks.

A clearer timeframe than “the coming weeks” would be nice, but nonetheless, it’s great to hear that these troubles with be over with soon.

August 6, 2018 — Google releases Pie’s OTA images for Pixel and Nexus devices

If you’re eager to start using Pie ASAP, Google’s got you covered.

The full OTA images have already been released, meaning you can grab them and flash Pie onto your Pixel or Nexus phone this very second.

Go, go, go!

Grab the OTA files here

August 6, 2018 — Google unveils Android Pie statue at the Googleplex

Every new version of Android is represented by a statue at Google’s Mountain View campus, and with Pie going live, Google has unveiled the Android Pie statue.

The unveiling didn’t have the same fanfare as last year, where Google held events in New York and Mountain View to launch Oreo. With Pie out of the way, it’s time to start guessing what Android Q will be called next year.

August 6, 2018 — The Essential Phone is already being updated to Pie

Oh man — that was fast!

Just a few minutes after Google announced that Android Pie will begin rolling out to its Pixel phones, Essential announced on Twitter that the Essential Phone is also getting its Pie update today.

We’re proud to bring Android 9 Pie to Essential Phone the same day it’s released! Check your phone now for the update. 🥧 pic.twitter.com/pniUDl9yr8

— Essential (@essential) August 6, 2018

This is the first non-Pixel phone to get the Pie update so far, and as more are announced, we’ll update this article accordingly.

August 6, 2018 — Android Pie is here!

After months and months of waiting, Google’s officially announced that Android P is Android 9 Pie.

As expected, the update will roll out to Pixel and Nexus devices first with OEMs involved in the Android Beta Program to follow. Pixel phones will begin receiving the Pie update today, and while we don’t have any exact dates yet as to when Pie will be available for the other beta program phones, it should be at some point this fall.

Android 9 Pie is official and the update is starting today

August 2, 2018 — Android P tipped for August 20 launch

We’re expecting the final version of Android P to land any time now, and according to Evan Blass on Twitter, the new software is slated for a release on August 20.

pic.twitter.com/ovby4pC3ph

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 2, 2018

That date lines up with the release schedule Google previously published, not to mention the fact that Oreo was released on August 21 last year.

Now, what in the world will it be called? 🤔

July 25, 2018 — Google pushes Android P Beta 4

“Android P is almost here!” That’s how Google starts its blog post introducing Android P Beta 4, also known as Developer Preview 5, which is available on all supported devices starting today.

According to Google, “Today’s Beta 4 update includes a release candidate build with final system behaviors and the official Android P APIs (API level 28), available since Beta 2. It includes everything you need to wrap up your testing in time for the upcoming official Android P release.” In other words, this is basically the same version that will ship to Pixels later in August, when the public version is released.

How to install Android P on your Pixel right now (or roll back to Oreo)

July 20, 2018 — Android P engineers discuss dark mode, gestures, and more in Reddit AMA

Leading up to the official launch of Android P in about a month or so, the development team behind the new update recently got together for an AMA on Reddit to answer technical questions about P.

The dev team covered a ton of stuff, but there are a few highlights worth pointing out here. First off, when it comes to Android P’s gesture navigation, they had this to say:

We evaluated many, (MANY!) options for navigation as part of this overall change to the system spaces (worth noting that our main impetus was about making All Apps/Overview more accessible from wherever you are in the system, similar to the notification shade). HOME and BACK are so central to Android navigation (both the system and the apps) – that ensuring the dependability of them via buttons with enough space led us to the current design. All that said – we really value both the aesthetic and functional appeal of a smaller nav bar / more gross-gesture navigation and are continuing to explore opportunities to bring that in.

A system-wide dark mode has also been on the minds of many, and to not much surprise, it was said that Google doesn’t “have anything to announce about a unified dark mode.”

The team also explained how maintaining Project Treble is actually more difficult than past efforts, said a fix is coming for Android’s awful sharing menu, and more.

Read through the full AMA here

All the big details

Android P is officially Android 9 Pie

No Popsicles or Pineapples here. On August 6, 2018, Google revealed that its next version of Android is Android 9 Pie.

Along with the name change, the number this year is also slightly different. Rather than following the trend of 7.0, 8.0, etc., Pie is referred to as 9. This probably doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it’s still an interesting move on Google’s part.

Check out our full review!

Every new Android version builds upon the previous one, meaning that each new update is better than the last.

However, in day-to-day use, how does really Pie hold up? What’s it like using the new gestures instead of the traditional navigation buttons? How do the subtle UI tweaks compare to Oreo? What’s performance like?

All those questions and much, much more are answered in our full review, so be sure to give it a read and watch!

Android 9 Pie review: Greater than the sum of its slices

How to upgrade to Pie

We could talk about Android Pie all day long, but if you don’t know how to actually use the new software for yourself, what’s the fun in that?

Most users will likely upgrade to Pie via a simple OTA update, but if you don’t feel like waiting on Google to serve that to you, you can manually flash it on your phone, too.

Jerry’s got all the details of how to start using Pie right now, so be sure to give his guide a look.

How to install Android Pie on your Pixel right now (or downgrade to Oreo)

See what Google has to say about Pie in our interview with Android’s UX Manager

Android Pie is a big deal for Google. Between the gestures, digital wellbeing initiative, and more, there’s a lot going on all at once.

Andrew recently had the chance to talk with Android’s UX Manager, EK Chung, about all things Pie to get a better understanding of why this is such a big release for the company.

This is a longer read, but it’s absolutely worth a look if you want a deeper understanding of what all went into crafting Pie into the final build that we have today.

Interview: Google’s EK Chung on Android 9 Pie design, simplicity and digital wellbeing

It completely changes Android’s navigation system

Back in 2011 with Android 3.0 Honeycomb, Google introduced Android’s iconic three-button navigation system we’ve come to know and love – Back, Home, and Recents. Seven years later with Android Pie, these are being eliminated in favor of a gesture-based system.

Android Pie is the first time Google’s heavily relying on gestures for navigating the UI, and in their current form, they work as follows:

• Tap the Home button/pill to go home
• Swipe up to access the recent apps page
• Swipe up twice or do a long swipe for the app drawer
• The Back button only appears in certain apps/menus when it’s needed

This combination of taps and swipes can be confusing at first, but with enough practice and patience, are fairly easy to master in a short amount of time. Phones that are updated to Pie will still use the three-button nav by default, but if you want to turn them on, doing so is fairly simple.

Going forward, phones like the Pixel 3 will have gestures turned on by default with no way to revert back to them. So, while you can keep using your Back, Home, and Recents for now, you’ll need to get aclimated with the gestures sooner or later.

How to master the new Android Pie gestures

The user interface is more rounded and colorful

Android Pie isn’t as drastic of a visual change like we saw with the jump from KitKat to Lolipop, but compared to Oreo, there are some elements that are noticeably different.

At first glance, things like the colorful icons in Settings, circular Quick Settings icons, and rounded corners for just about every menu jump out like a sore thumb. These elements do take some getting used to, but I ultimately came around to liking them quite a bit.

Something else you’ll notice with Pie is just how alive it feels. Between the new gestures and updated animations, Android moves in a way that I’ve never seen before. Oreo was smooth and buttery, but Pie flies underneath your fingertips in a way that can only be experienced in-person.

There are tools for helping you use your phone less

Google talked a lot about helping people with their “digital wellbeing” at this year’s I/O conference, and a lot of those efforts are baked right into Android Pie.

Although not live quite yet, later versions of Pie will introduce a new system called Android Dashboard. Android Dashboard will offer a quick glimpse into how you’re using your phone, including stats on which apps you’re using the most, how many times you’ve turned on the screen, how many notifications you’ve received, and how much time you’ve spent on each app.

You’ll also find a feature called App Timers that’ll restrict you from using a certain app after you’ve spent x amount of time on it, as well as tools for easily turning on Do Not Disturb and switching your screen to a monochrome color palette to help you wind down for bed.

Google’s Digital Wellbeing initiative: Everything you need to know

Google’s trying to squeeze as much juice as possible out of your battery

It seems like Google’s always trying to find ways to maximize your phone’s battery life as much as possible, and with Android Pie, those efforts are present in a new Adaptive Battery mode.

Similar to how Adaptive Brightness automatically adjusts your display’s brightness level based on your environment and usage, Adaptive Battery will examine how you use your phone and limit CPU usage to apps you infrequently use.

Google notes that Adaptive Battery can lower CPU usage by as much as 30%, and thanks to the use of Machine Learning, it’ll only get better the more you use your phone.

How to save battery life on Android Pie

App shortcuts are everywhere

With Android Nougat, Google introduced us to App Shortcuts for the first time. Holding down on an app icon to quickly access certain elements of it can be genuinely useful at times, and with Android Pie, Google’s taking these to the next level with App Actions and Slices.

App Actions will try to determine what you’ll do next with your phone and give you recommend shortcuts for doing so within the app drawer, Assistant, and more. For example, if you watch Good Mythical Morning each day with breakfast, you might see an App Shortcut in your app drawer for searching Rhett and Link on YouTube during the morning.

On the other hand, Slices will allow you to perform more complex actions from the Assistant or Google Search. In the example Google gave at I/O, searching “I want to book a ride” will give you a special link to call a ride home via Lyft (assuming you’ve got the app installed).

Android Pie features you’ll love: App Actions

157 new emoji

In Android 9, Google’s added a ton of new emojis to keep your conversations bright and colorful — 157 of them, to be exact.

Although we won’t run through the entire list, some of the highlights include red hair, superhero, face with three hearts, bagel with cream cheese, mooncake, lobster, and llama.

There are also improvements to existing emoji, including two new gender-neutral family and couple designs and updated looks for the bacon, salad, turtle, and cricket emojis.

Check out all of the new emoji here!

A new standard for biometric authentication

Fingerprint sensors and face unlock systems make it easier than ever to access private information on our phones, and in Android P Developer Preview 3, Google added a brand-new standard for this called “BiometricPrompt API.”

Thanks to the new API, developers no longer have to create their own dialog for using biometric systems with their apps. This isn’t something you’ll notice in day-to-day use, but it’s an important background change we’re more than happy to see.

Android Pie features you’ll love: Better, faster biometrics

All the little things

In addition to the big changes found in Android Pie, there are a ton of smaller elements also scattered throughout the update. Some of my favorites include:

• Built-in screenshot editor
• Zoom pop-up when highlighting text
• Changing the volume now defaults to your media volume
• Volume controls appear on the right of your screen instead of the top
• Do Not Disturb is more customizable and easier to understand

Updated August 6, 2018: This article was revamped/refreshed with up-to-date content now that Android Pie is official!

Android 9 Pie

• Android 9 Pie review: Greater than the sum of its slices
• Everything you need to know about Android 9 Pie!
• Will my phone get Android Pie?
• How to get Android 9 Pie on your Pixel right now
• Join the Discussion

The Nokia 6.1, 5, 3, 1, and 3310 are all now available in Canada

The phones are being sold at Best Buy, Staples, and more.

Thanks to the hard work of HMD Global, the Nokia brand has been synonymous with some of the best budget smartphones for more than a year. Now, the company’s bringing a few of its most popular Nokia handsets to Canada.

The Nokia 6.1

On Thursday, August 23, HMD Global announced that the Nokia 6.1, Nokia 5, Nokia 3, Nokia 1, and Nokia 3310 (3G) are all now available for purchase in the Great White North.

The Nokia 6.1 is the most powerful of the bunch, and when Harish reviewed it this past June, he called it, “one of the best phones you can buy today for under $300.” The phone is a bit more expensive in Canada at $399 CAD, but with a Snapdragon 630 processor, 5.5-inch LCD display, and dual rear cameras, still offers a lot of bang for your buck.

If you’re interested, the phone’s being now at Staples and is coming to other “select stores” soon.

The Nokia 5 (left) and Nokia 3 (right)

The Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 are even cheaper budget Android phones, coming in with $279 and $209 price tags, respectively. These two phones aren’t quite as nice or powerful as what you’ll get with the Nokia 6.1, but if you’re trying to save a bit more cash, are still worth considering. Both are available now from Best Buy, Staples, and Canada Computers.

The Nokia 1 (left) and Nokia 3310 (right)

The Nokia 1 is Nokia’s first Android Go device, and it’s currently the cheapest smartphone in Nokia’s lineup with a CAD price of just $129. The phone proved to be surprisingly great in our full review, and if you want to pick one up for yourself, it’s available at Best Buy and Staples.

Last but not least, the Nokia 3310 is the reimagining of Nokia’s ultra-popular phone by the same name from 2000. While you won’t find Android here, it does have 27 days of standby time with its battery, 3G connectivity, and (of course) Snake. The phone’s on sale now for just $89 at Best Buy, Staples, and Walmart.

Nokia 6.1 Plus preview: The start of something great

Here’s how good the Galaxy Note 9’s battery life is in the real world

This large battery is the real deal.

Best answer: Samsung finally has a Note with battery life to match its size and capabilities. The Note 9 can go all day with a good amount of battery to spare, even if you make no attempt to change its behavior in the name of battery life. The Note 9 also charges 0-100% as quickly as the Galaxy S9+ despite its larger battery capacity.

Samsung: Galaxy Note 9 ($999)

All-day battery life

If you followed any of my coverage of the Galaxy S8+, Note 8 or even S9+, you’ll know I wasn’t always happy with the battery life. With the Note 8 in particular it just came up short too often for how large it is and how much it was focused on power users. Now with over 20% more capacity and a new slate of more efficient components, the Note 9 is a full-day phone for me without any question.

It was easy to expect ending each day with 20-30% battery left, even with no attempt to conserve.

I have ended most days with about 20-30% battery remaining, which is a healthy buffer zone that can absorb any abnormally heavy usage that may come from time to time. I reach that mark after 15-16 hours off the charger, typically with about 3 hours of “screen on” time. I make no overt attempts to conserve battery life on my Note 9 — I use automatic brightness, leave all of my accounts syncing, have many notifications turn on, leave Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on all day, and use Bluetooth audio multiple hours a day. Samsung’s battery information screen gives you an accurate representation of how long your phone will last based on your past week of use, and my Note 9 consistently offers me 22-24 hours of estimated time 100-0% — which is a little on the high side compared to what I actually end up getting, but it’s not far off.

Samsung’s screen is very efficient, but how long it’s turned on is still a big determination of battery drain, as it’s still the top battery consumer on any given day. The Always On Display, too, is a consistent drainer, making up about 5% of my battery usage daily. Streaming media or even playing casual games really doesn’t hit battery life that hard — the only thing that’s a truly heavy drain on the Note 9 in my experience is running Google Maps navigation in the Android Auto app, which has the screen on at high brightness while using GPS and LTE constantly.

The screen is still a sizable part of battery drain, as is Always On Display.

Samsung phones always take a few days to “settle in” to optimal battery performance in my experience, as it takes a little bit of usage for the battery optimization features to take hold. The system goes through and automatically optimizes lesser-used apps from waking up and syncing unnecessarily in the background, which in my experience works seamlessly with no consequences. You can of course go in and whitelist apps to do whatever they wish, but I haven’t needed to do this in Samsung’s latest software. I’ve had a “just use it and see what happens” philosophy with the Note 9, as shown with my usage patterns above, and it’s worked out just fine — that’s the kind of confidence that’s important to have in a big phone like this.

This isn’t a multi-day phone, at least without seriously changing how you use it.

What the Note 9 won’t be able to offer is full multi-day usage — that is, unless you severely limit what the phone is doing and what you use it for. Even with extremely basic usage, I easily dip under the 50% mark in any given day, meaning there’s no way I could let it sit overnight and then get a whole day out of it again. Overnight standby battery life alone is going to take a little chunk out of that, using up 0.5-1% per hour while on Wi-Fi, even with Always On Display turned off. The battery is good enough to get you through a full day, night and the next morning — but you’ll have to hit a charger at some point before noon to keep going for the rest of the day.

But with this capacity, more is always possible if you’re willing to dramatically change the way you use your phone. Turn off Always On Display for starters, limit the number of apps providing push notifications, turn off unused radios, limit screen brightness and use Power Saving Mode regularly, and sure you could get through two full days if you really need to. But Samsung wasn’t designing for this use case — it wanted to give enough capacity to get even hardcore users through a full day, not try and be a true two-day phone without limiting its usefulness.

Good enough charging speeds

I’ve been one of many people consistently chastising Samsung for its decision to stick with the same charger its been using since the Galaxy S6, a basic USB-A plug that operates on Quick Charge 2.0 technology. The argument for faster charging came back to the surface with the Note 9’s larger battery, which would presumably take longer to charge than the Galaxy S9+’s. Thankfully, that isn’t actually the case.

Despite using the same charger, the Note 9 charges to full in the same amount of time as a GS9+.

For whatever reason — likely a handful of purposeful tweaks in the system — the Galaxy Note 9 charges at a higher wattage from this standard Samsung charger than both the Galaxy S9+ and Note 8 do. Plugging in to this 15W charger the Note 9 draws roughly 14.5W, whereas the Note 8 draws between 13.5-14.5W and the Galaxy S9+ draws between 13-14W. The Note 9 also doesn’t seem to drop charging speed when the screen is on, which is something I’ve observed in both previous phones.

That increase in (and sustained) wattage makes sure the Note 9 charges 0-100% in the same amount of time as the Galaxy S9+, despite its 14% larger battery. Charging time is roughly 1 hour and 40 minutes, depending on how much the phone is doing during that period, which is pretty good. Better yet the Note 9 also supports the same charging speed from a 15W+ USB-C PD charger, like the Google Pixel 2’s, so you don’t have to stick with a Quick Charge plug to get the fastest speeds.

Knowing you can have this larger capacity and strong battery life without giving up on overall charging speed compared to the rest of the recent big Galaxy phones is reassuring. But I still wish Samsung would’ve found a way to get Quick Charge 3.0 or even 4.0 in here. Not necessarily for fast 0-100% charging, which we almost never need in the real world, but for quicker 0-30% or 15-45% charges, which is the most critical time where every minute matters.

Great battery life

Samsung Galaxy Note 9

$999 at Samsung

This phone is a real battery champion.

When battery life is critical, you want a phone to have a battery as big as the Galaxy Note 9’s. With a 4000mAh capacity and lots of efficient internal components, the Galaxy Note 9 can make it through a full day with capacity to spare. That’s the case whether you hit it hard or take it easy — and if you go light on the phone, it can make it through the night and into the next day if you need it to. Not only does it have better battery life than Samsung’s previous flagships, but it also beats most of the flagship competition as well.

Control your PlayStation 4 and TV with PDP’s newly announced Cloud Remote

This is a must-have accessory for PS4 streamers.

Customers have been ditching their cable companies and moving towards online streaming services more and more over the past few years. Some people buy a device like a Roku Streaming Stick or the Amazon Fire TV to begin accessing sites like Netflix and Hulu, however, gamers already know that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are also capable of that. It’s actually preferred in some homes to use your console to begin streaming shows and movies because you won’t have to constantly switch inputs or waste another port on the back of your TV.

These consoles aren’t shipped with a standard TV remote, of course, but with the rise of cord-cutting, it’s about time for console remotes to get serious. Luckily, PDP agrees, and today it has unveiled its latest device — the Cloud Remote for PlayStation 4. Using Bluetooth, it connects first to your PlayStation 4 and then programs itself to also work with devices plugged into your console, such as your TV, once you download the PDP Cloud Remote App.

You might recall a PlayStation 4 remote by PDP which looked similar to this one. That remote has since been refined and tinkered with to bring it to this point. The Cloud Remote features dedicated buttons for your console, including Action buttons, Share, Options, and PS buttons. Also built-in are controls for volume, input, and power which is really nice when it comes to turning everything off at the end of the night. You’ll just need one button instead of multiple devices.

PDP is also including a 30-day trial of PlayStation Vue with this remote when you buy it from Amazon or GameStop, which lets you try out the console’s live TV streaming service at no extra cost. It offers channels like ESPN, FX, AMC, Cartoon Network, and the NFL Network.

This remote will be released on September 18 with an MSRP of $29.99. It’s already available for pre-order at sites like Amazon.

See at Amazon

RHA introduces the CL2 Planar headphones with improved drivers and more

Two options to decide between!

RHA has just announced the CL2 Planar, the newest magnetic in-ear headphones from the company. These make use of planar magnetic drivers, which are able to offer a more complex, detailed sound quality that moves across the dynamic range. This is the first time RHA has been able to shrink it small enough to fit in an in-ear bud, and the company is going to be offering two different versions of the headphones: wired and wireless.

The CL2’s will come with a Bluetooth neckband that offers 12 hours of battery per charge, as well as a braided copper 3.5mm aux cable for those times where you’d rather have a wired connection. Pre-orders for these pricey headphones kick off now, and shipments will begin mid-September. When we say pricey, we mean it, though. RHA has priced these at $899.95, which is quite a bit more than most others are available for. The housings are molded from a ceramic compound called zirconium dioxide, which makes them blemish-resistant and allow for optimal sound quality without distortion.

At this price, you could buy five sets of Apple’s AirPods, 22 pairs of Anker’s SoundBuds Lite or five pairs of RHA’s MA750 Bluetooth headphones, any of which are likely a better use of your money if you’re not an audio engineer or hardcore audiophile.

See at RHA

Audio-Technica SonicSport Wireless Ear Bud Review: Get your sweat on

Finally, a comfortable pair of wireless workout headphones.

In my adult life, I’ve gone through a staggering number of headphones and earbuds — both the wired and wireless varieties. For a variety of reasons I just have not found a pair of headphones that’s lasted longer than a year or so without something going wrong with them. Sometimes it’s the drivers getting damaged from an extra sweaty run, and other times I’ve had cheaper headphones literally fall apart in my hands.

It’s easy to fall into a cheap accessory cycle where you replace a cheap and crappy product with another lesser product in an effort to “save money”. This doesn’t actually work, as you end up spending more in the long run. Fortunately, I think I’ve found a long-term replacement for my workouts in the Audio-Technica SonicSport Wireless In-Ear Headphones.

Audio-Technica SonicSport Wireless in-Ear Headphones

Price: $129

Bottom line: These wireless sport headphones are lightweight and designed to withstand your sweatiest workouts.

See at Amazon

The Good

• Lightweight design
• Adjustable ear hooks
• Tap for pass-through ambient sound
• Foam ear tips are secure and comfortable
• IPX5 waterproofing means you can clean them
• Carrying case included

The Bad

• Controls can be somewhat confusing at first
• In-ear style not for everyone
• Foam tips get nasty if you don’t clean your ears

Audio-Technica SonicSport What I like

My top three priorities in a pair of sports headphones are that they be lightweight and comfortable to wear over extended periods of time, designed to withstand sweat and abuse, and aren’t insanely expensive. These in-ear headphones from Audio-Technica check the first two priorities while coming in at about my upper limit for this style of headphone. In terms of audio quality, these deliver clear sound with a powerful low-end that’s great for bass-heavy tracks

I’ve tried in-ear headphones with the little hooks that slip behind your ear before, but I’ve never tested ones that felt as comfortable as the ones here. The rubberized plastic is lightweight and comfortable with an adjustable bit of wire built in so you can bend each side to perfectly fit your ear, and this makes all the difference. Whereas other headphones I’ve tried felt like they were almost hanging off my ear, these feel nice and snug and are lightweight enough that I can forget I’m wearing them over time.

Each pair of headphones comes with the standard assortment of silicone ear tips with three sizes available to accommodate different ear sizes, but I immediately gravitated to the included Comply foam ear tips. On top of providing protection from sweat, the premium foam tips felt amazingly comfortable compared to the silicone options and also help to cut out ambient sound.

The Comply foam ear tips greatly enhance the comfort wearing these headphones during a run or workout.

One of my favorite features is the ability to switch on an ambient noise hear-through function with a single tap of the left housing, which is a great feature if you’re out for a run with your tunes blasting but still want to be safe and aware of what’s going on in your immediate surroundings. The feature also works well if you’re walking through a public space and might want to hear whats going on around you without taking off your earbuds.

In terms of other specs, you get an in-line microphone and controls for answering calls and controlling your music, and you should expect to get about six hours of playback off a full charge. The headphones and included charging cable can all be stored in a compact shell that’s perfect for tossing into your gym bag or backpack. Oh, and they’ve got IPX5 water resistance which means you’re able to rinse them under running water to clean them without worry.

Audio-Technica SonicSport What I don’t like

As with any of these in-ear headphones, they’re going to get mighty gross if you don’t properly clean your ears before use — but things can get especially nasty if you’re using the foam ear tips. I’m also not entirely sure how you’re supposed to wear the wire that connects the two earbuds. The promotional images from Autio-Technica show the wire going behind the neck, but I’ve often found it more comfortable to have the wire under my chin — however, that look is significantly less stylish.

Also, there could be better documentation included into how to use the ambient noise pass-through — it’s a really cool feature but I honestly thought the tap controlled the volume at first before I recognized that those controls were with the in-line mic.

Audio-Technica SonicSport Wireless in-Ear Headphones Should you buy them?

Probably. If you’re anything like me and have been burning through headphones trying to find a reliable option that feels comfortable and won’t degrade over time, these are a great choice.

The price point is in line with other comparable options such as the Jaybird X3 or Beats by Dre Powerbeats 2 but the water resistance and design here make these the better pick.

4
out of 5

These are reliably awesome workout headphones that will let you enjoy your favorite tunes while remaining comfortable in your ear, and easy to clean after sweaty workouts.

See at Amazon

The DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom are out and they are amazing

Time to perfect your drone photography skills.

DJI makes some of the best consumer drones on the planet, and today the next two, the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom, have finally been released. The original Mavic Pro was an excellent drone with crazy good features, but it’s a couple years old at this point. Outside of some soft updates like the Mavic Air, which is still a pretty great drone, DJI has not refreshed the lineup in a while. So the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom are poised to be some of the best quadcopters released in a while.

Both of these new drones use the same basic body. Where they differ is in the camera, the gimbal, and some of the features. They both fold up, making them easy to travel with and fit inside backpacks like this lineup from Lowepro designed to carry them. Drones that fold up like that are not as common as you think but greatly enhance how easy they are to travel with and use, especially for photography and video hobbyists.

Both drones also have omnidirectional sensors, which is the first time we’ve seen that from DJI. The ten total sensors will help the drones avoid obstacles on all sides, including above and below. And DJI promises an upgrade to the Advanced Pilot Assistance System, too, which will help it avoid obstacles on its own. You’ll also get more flight time out of these drones, which is up to 31 minutes and a nice improvement over previous generations. The body also comes with 8GB onboard storage, a light that faces down for landing at night, and top speeds up to 44 mph. You can watch live feeds in 1080p up to five miles away with OcuSync 2. Hyperlapse Mode will also be a feature on both drones, which is a cool feature that can help you create a moving timelapse.

Like I said before, the differences come in with what’s outside the body. The Mavic 2 Pro comes with an onboard camera from Hasselblad that has a one-inch sensor and 20 megapixels for still imagery. That sensor is twice the size of the original Mavic Pro’s camera, and DJI said it has “four times as many levels of color per channel.” It also has an adjustable aperture and support for 4K and HDR. Considering the Pro is about $200 more expensive than the Zoom, this is where it looks like the money is going.

The Mavic 2 Zoom will be DJI’s first consumer-level drone to have a 2X optical zoom, believe it or not. Before this, you’d need to buy something like the $3,000 Inspire 2 to get the same opportunity. The camera will capture 12MP stills. It will also have a couple of neat features like Super Resolution mode that will allow you to create a 48MP composite using multiple images and a DollyZoom that will create a Hitchcock-level video effect that’s only possible because of the zoom.

The Mavic 2 Pro is going to retail at $1,449, and the Mavic 2 Zoom will only be slightly cheaper at $1,249. For right now, both drones are available through the DJI website, but you can also pre-order through Amazon for when they are released on September 3.

The features are well worth the price, but if you aren’t ready for that sort of investment you should look into some budget drones to get you started. The DJI Spark is a great place to start in the DJI ecosystem since it’s usually less than $350 these days. You could get the Ryze Tello for under $100 or go even cheaper with something like the Aukey Mohawk, which is a great budget drone we see on sale quite frequently.

See at DJI

You can now pre-order the Blue Camo PlayStation 4 Dualshock controller

It will be hard to pick just one of these!

Update: The Blue Camouflage option is now available at Amazon, and both the Sunset Orange and Berry Blue listings are showing, though you can’t order them just yet.

There’s no current shortage of color options on the Dualshock PlayStation 4 controllers, but if you weren’t really into one that you’ve already seen, maybe one of these new ones will do it for you. Sony has announced four new color schemes, Berry Blue, Blue Camouflage, Copper, and Sunset Orange, and they all look awesome. The Sunset Orange option has been available in the U.S. for a little, and will now be making its way to more regions, and the Copper color will be exclusive to GameStop in the U.S. Pre-orders will kick off soon, and they should be officially available to customers in the U.S, Canada, and more in September.

These colors are said to launch at $65. If you’re looking to add a new controller to your collection today, you could grab one from Amazon for $46.96 right now in black, silver, gold, green camo, or wave blue. Be sure to keep it locked here for more information as it becomes available, including a link to grab one of these for yourself.

Which one of the new colors interests you? I’ll be ordering one of the Berry Blue as soon as it’s available, personally.

See at Amazon