Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Review: A great phone that comes at a price

Samsung always swings for the fences with their Note line up and it should because it is quite literally its biggest phone of the year. Not every year can be a home run though. Most people have all but written off the Galaxy Note 9 as nothing more than an incremental upgrade. They would not be wrong, but even minor upgrades can have a big impact.

A little about this review

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 used in this review was provided courtesy of AT&T and used on their network for the past three weeks.

Read More: First 10 things to do with your Note 9

Design

Not much has changed here, if you liked the design of the previous Note 8 then you’ll enjoy the Note 9. Samsung is back with the same glass sandwich with metal chamfered frame they’ve been using for the past couple of years now. Just about every phone maker has jumped on this trend, and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

By utilizing this same design Samsung has also retained some of the best features of the Note 8 such as the IP68 waterproofing, wireless charging, and near flush camera design. However, it also retains some of the flaws of this particular design.

For example, the glass back is a fingerprint magnet and no matter how tough Gorilla Glass 5 is, glass is still glass and is less durable than a plastic or metal back. The Galaxy Note 9 does have some improvements though.

The fingerprint scanner is now in a much better location in the center of the phone. While it is much easier to reach now, it could be a little lower and larger. It is still a little too high and you run the risk of overreaching and smudging the camera lens with them so close in proximity to each other.

Screen

The screen is also slightly larger than the Note 8 and as always it is gorgeous. Others can get close but no one can compete with the beauty of a Samsung AMOLED panel. It is sharp, the colors are vivid, and the blacks are inky.

Samsung regularly wins awards from DisplayMate for having the best displays of the year and it is a title well deserved. Plus, you’re getting a slightly larger screen in essentially the same sized body. It’s really hard to complain about that, especially when they do it without an obnoxious notch.

S-Pen

The Note series simply wouldn’t be the same without the S-Pen. It is a unique feature that Samsung offers that no other phone on the market comes close to replicating. Regardless, Samsung continues to search for ways to enhance and improve the experience. This year we saw the Galaxy Note 9 S-Pen get its biggest upgrade ever in the form of Bluetooth LE.

With Bluetooth LE built in the S-Pen can now act as a remote providing features. By pressing once, long pressing, or double pressing the button you can unlock your phone, launch the camera, take photos, control media playback, control Powerpoint presentations, and more. Samsung even allows you to customize these actions in the settings menu.

The one downside of this upgrade is that Bluetooth devices run on battery power. Similar to Bluetooth speakers and headphones the S-Pen now has a battery inside that must be charged. The good news is 40 seconds of charging is enough to give the S-Pen 30 minutes worth of usage.

Fortunately, if the battery dies in the S-Pen all of the old features still work. You will only lose the ability to use the button to launch apps or control them.

Read More: Tips and Tricks for the S-Pen

Even with all the tricks, the S-Pen is capable of old and new. I still can’t find much of an excuse to use it. Whenever I have a Note phone I always have to force myself to use the S-Pen. Once I send it back I never once miss having the S-Pen. For all intents and purposes, the S-Pen is nothing but a gimmick to me. However, that is only my personal opinion as I’m sure many others out there use it and love it.

Bixby Button

The Bixby button is back and is just as useless as ever. Samsung is determined to force this on their users whether they want it or not. At best this is a worthless button and at worst the button is a major annoyance when you trigger it accidentally.

If only Samsung were to allow a little customization of the button similar to the button on the S-Pen. You don’t have to allow us to assign it to Google Assistant but at least give us the option to assign other actions to it.

Unfortunately, the apps that once made this little button more useful by reassigning it do not currently work with the Galaxy Note 9. Nor do you have the option to disable the button in the Bixby settings like in previous phones. Hopefully, by the time this review is released or sometime in the near future this will change. Until then, we must live with Bixby getting in our way.

Headphone Jack

Yes, the headphone jack is still there. Once again Samsung bucks the trend of nixing the headphone jack and forcing wireless audio on their customers. As an avid music fan who owns several wired and wireless headphones that I use regularly, I dread the day that Samsung and LG give in to this trend. Thankfully, that day has not come yet and I don’t have to live the dongle life.

Speakers

Continuing with their improvements over the Note 8, Samsung has made the stereo speakers even better this year on the Note 9. Between the bottom firing speaker, earpiece speaker, and Atmos processing the Note 9 sounds fantastic. I wouldn’t say it can compete against a phone with true stereo front facing speakers, but the Note 9 gets closer than ever to being one of the best sounding Android phones.

Storage

Bravo to Samsung for making the 128GB model the base model for the Galaxy Note 9. This doubles the amount from the previous Note 8 and Samsung also sells a 512GB version. If you really want to go overboard then you can take advantage of the microSD card slot and carry a whopping 1TB in your pocket by adding a 512GB microSD card.

Software

Samsung is notorious for their software skin most commonly known as TouchWiz or Samsung Experience. The name Samsung Experience does it the most justice because that is what Samsung is trying to provide its users. When you use a Samsung phone it is distinctively different from stock Android. Samsung is also the only handset maker to include a skin on an Android Go phone.

This is one way Samsung brands themselves and sets their phones apart from others in the marketplace. However, there are things to love and things to hate about the Samsung Experience.

Some of the things I love are all the extra features that are added to Android. These include extras such as themes, a customizable always on display, calibration options for your display, a sound equalizer, dual messenger, video enhancer, one-handed mode, multi window, and much much more.

Read More: 9 Tips and Tricks for your Note 9

Samsung also includes a couple of extra software goodies which work in conjunction with their hardware. S-Health, for example, uses the sensors on the back near the camera as well as other sensors in your phone to help you keep track of your health.

Samsung Pay also deserves a special mention thanks to the use of Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology in its phones. Thanks to this wonderful technology you can make mobile payments at almost any terminal that accepts a debit or credit card. This by far is one of my favorite exclusive features and I love being able to pay with my phone almost anywhere.

Some of the reasons to hate the Samsung Experience come in the form of delayed OS upgrades and in general some performance lag. In my opinion, all of the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and I prefer a phone packed with more software and hardware features.

Performance

As I mentioned, one of the drawbacks of Samsung’s heavy software skin is performance lag. Fortunately, the Snapdragon 845 SoC and 6GB of RAM offer quite a powerful duo to combat any sluggishness. In my usage, the Galaxy Note 9 was the quickest and snappiest Samsung phone I have ever used. It might still struggle to keep up with some phones running lighter skins, but overall I didn’t notice any lag or performance quirks and it kept up with everything I threw at it.

For those interested in the stats when I personally ran AnTuTu it returned a score of 283533 and Geekbench reported a single core score of 2435 and 8760 for multi-core performance. This ranks the Note 9 as one of the top five fastest phones out right now.

Camera

The same 12MP dual camera setup with dual focal lengths from the Note 8 returns on the new Note 9. This time gaining a new trick with the variable aperture. We first saw this in the Samsung S9 models where the aperture on the main camera can switch dynamically from f/2.4 to f/1.5.

The reason for the dynamic aperture is because when you shoot with a lower aperture such as f/1.5 it keeps less of what’s in the frame in focus. Using a variable aperture allows you to shoot f/2.4 in abundant light keeping more in focus while only switching to f/1.5 in low light allowing the camera to absorb more light.

On top of having a variable aperture, Samsung also makes use of two different cameras giving you options for a 2X optical zoom and portrait modes. In my experience, this dual camera setup works better than the single-camera portrait modes. Due to providing a greater range to capture the subject in portrait mode and offering a warning when it won’t work.

Regular Camera

2X Optical Zoom

One thing to note is the 2X optical zoom camera has significantly worse camera quality in low light conditions. If you are trying to take photos in a low light situation you’ll get much sharper and detailed photos if you use the regular camera. Check the full view of the samples below for an example of this.

Regular Camera

2X Optical Zoom

Samsung also includes a new software enhancement to the camera in the form of scene optimizer. After taking many samples and comparing them, it seemed to me scene optimizer no matter what scene means make it darker and add a yellow tint. That doesn’t always result in the best photo, and generally, I preferred to leave it turned off.

Scene Optimizer Off

Scene Optimizer On

Where it was most helpful was for detecting flawed photos. For example, if something moved and was blurred or someone blinked it would pop up a message immediately after saving the photo giving you plenty of time to snap another.

As far as overall photo quality is concerned Samsung always has one of the top cameras on Android. General second only to the Pixel phones and in my opinion that is the case here as well. The Note 9 continues on with this tradition and if you’re looking for the second best camera with the most features available then you’re looking for the Note 9.

View More Photos on our Google Photos Album

The front-facing camera much like the rear-facing camera is feature packed. This 8MP f/1.7 shooter includes autofocus, beauty modes, built-in stickers, AR emoji, and a portrait mode.

It includes just about everything you could need or want for a selfie camera except for a portrait lighting mode similar to the iPhone X. Personally, I’d prefer a portrait lighting mode over all of these useless stickers and AR emoji.

Unlike the rear camera that provides a decent second place to the Pixel phones, I find the front-facing camera is significantly worse than the Pixel phones. It is entirely due to Samsung’s over processing of the photos, where even with all the beauty filters set to 0 the images still come out soft.

If you were to try the Google Camera app for selfies then the results are much sharper with far better contrast. Which leaves me very disappointed in the front facing camera on the Note 9 unless using third party software.

Battery

With the jump to a 4000mAh battery, I was ready to be impressed by the Note 9. To my disappointment, I wasn’t quite blown away by the battery life. That doesn’t mean battery life isn’t good, on the contrary, it is quite good. I was easily able to end my days with 5 hours of screen on time with at least 30-40% of battery life remaining. If I was a little more conservative I could even see almost up to two full days of usage.

You might wonder, what is there to be disappointed about then? The answer to that question would be that all of this is done on the FHD 1080p resolution. While other phones such as the Pixel 2 XL and LG V35 are able to accomplish similar or dare I say better battery life using QHD resolutions with smaller batteries.

If you increase the resolution to QHD on the Note 9 then you’ll see closer to 6 hours total screen on time. Without a doubt, that’s still great battery life and most general users will be pleased. Personally, though, I expected more from the upgraded battery.

Final Thoughts

Despite a couple of qualms here and there the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will have no trouble ranking as one of the best phones of 2018. It is fast, it’s premium, it has a great camera, it has great battery life, and it has a new improved S-Pen. There were only a few reasons I could come up with to not buy this phone.

First off, it is $1000 dollars which is no easy sell but unfortunately, this is becoming more common in the smartphone market. Another reason would be that you have a Note 8 and have no complaints about the battery life and no use for a Bluetooth S-Pen. Then there’s the final reason, which is you love the Pixel phones for stock Android, fast updates, and the best camera on Android.

Beyond any of these reasons, the Galaxy Note 9 is going to be one of the top two phones of the year and if you can afford it, then get it. Outside of the price I could not find any one flaw that would prevent me from buying and loving this phone.

Buy from AT&T Buy from Samsung

Devices used in this article were provided by AT&T

Read next:

• When and Where to Buy: Samsung Galaxy Note 9
• You can grab all 12 of the Note 9 wallpapers right now
• Here’s the list of official accessories for the Galaxy Note 9
• Nine things we love about the Note 9

Google’s Pixelbook 2 tablet could debut with fingerprint security

Dan Baker/Digital Trends

Google’s next-generation Chrome OS-powered Pixelbook 2 may be borrowing some biometric security features from Windows Hello. The refreshed Pixelbook could appear as early as October 9 at Google’s hardware event in New York City, and will reportedly boast support for a facial-recognition scanner and fingerprint reader, according to code discovered in a developer build of Chrome OS. Biometric security could make it easier for Chrome OS users to log into their devices without having to fumble with typing in a password using the on-screen keyboard, especially when it’s used with a tablet.

Leaked code found within the Chrome OX 70 Developer Channel suggests that Google is working on adding biometric security support to its operating system, a feature that’s both supported by Windows Hello on Windows 10 and with the Touch ID sensor on MacOS. What’s interesting is that the code comes with an animated tutorial showing users how to register their fingerprint, and the animation features a rendered image of what appears to be a very specific tablet design, which is believed to be for a Google-made Chrome tablet called Nocturne.

“We assume that they will change this particular part of the setup based on the device, but the first device we know of getting a fingerprint scanner is ‘Nocturne’, the assumed detachable set to launch a month or so from now,” Chrome Unboxed said. The render shows the fingerprint sensor on a side edge of the tablet. The position of the fingerprint sensor may be justified given that the render depicts the tablet with extremely narrow bezels surrounding the display.

The referenced Nocturne device may be one of several Google-made Chromebook devices that may be unveiled in October under the Pixelbook branding. Nocturne is widely believed to sport a detachable form factor, similar to HP’s Chromebook x2, where the keyboard could be removed to allow users to use the Chromebook in a tablet form factor.

Developers stumbled upon the code for face unlock a few days ago, and the code mentions Intel’s Face Engine, which would give Chrome OS a similar facial-recognition camera that many Windows devices have adopted with Intel’s RealSense cameras.

Previous Chrome OS code revealed hints that Google may be giving the detachable and convertible form factors a push, including supporting a desktop mode whenever a Chrome OS tablet detects a keyboard and mouse.

Editors’ Recommendations

• 5 features we want in Google’s Pixelbook 2
• Chromebook users may soon get the Pixel phone’s best feature: Its camera app
• New Chrome OS features make your Chromebook a better Windows replacement
• The Pixelbook could soon run Windows 10
• Google Pixelbook review

The HP Chromebook X2 is the best Chromebook you can buy

We’re a virtual company made up of tech experts from across the globe. We don’t just write about Chromebooks, we use them every day.

The HP Chromebook X2 is the best Chromebook you can buy today. We base this on the overall value; you get what you pay for plus a lot more. Plus, you get a fine tablet that runs Android apps.

Our Pick

HP Chromebook X2

• $599 from Best Buy
• $599 from HP

The Chromebook X2 is a winner no matter how you use it.

HP’s Chromebook X2 is the first detachable Chromebook, and the category is starting off with quite the bang. This powerful Chromebook does double-duty as a tablet, so that plus its use of Android apps make the X2 something you might also consider if you’re looking for a new Android tablet.

Who should buy this Chromebook

Chromebooks are designed to be simple and secure ways to do everything most of us want to do on a computer. The HP Chromebook X2 fits the bill here, but is also a powerful laptop for folks who fancy themselves as power users and want to do a little more.

Digital artists will appreciate the excellent active Pen, which offers precision drawing and pressure sensitivity. Developers will love the power to open multiple windows and applications while they run and test their code. Business professionals will have the power to work at home or on the go with an ultra thin and light business-class machine. And during any downtime, everyone can appreciate the amazing 12.3-inch display and one million+ Android apps that let you do anything from watching your favorite movie or playing a 3D game.

The HP Chromebook X2 may not be the perfect Chromebook for everyone, but it offers the best feature to value ratio of any you’ll find today.

Is it a good time to buy this Chromebook?

Yes. The HP Chromebook X2 was introduced in 2018 and will be officially supported by HP and Google until at 2024. It’s crafted from the latest components and should have plenty of power throughout its lifespan.

Reasons to buy

• Powerful processor
• Ultra thin and light
• Beautiful vibrant display
• Great battery life

Reasons not to buy

• No keyboard backlighting
• Only 32 GB of onboard sotrage
• No upgrade options

Dollar for dollar, you can’t beat what HP is offering

HP has built a powerful Chromebook that can moonlight as an awesome tablet with the Chromebook X2. We love the Intel Core M3 processor, the 0.3-inch thickness and the functional features like Assistant and Google Lens. But as we’ve seen before in the Chromebook world, the display steals the show.

The display on the HP Chromebook X2 is the very same 12.3-inch 2400×1600 IPS touch panel that you’ll find on the Pixelbook or Samsung Chromebook Pro. It’s beautiful to look at and supports a stylus, which is included and stows in a handy loop on the keyboard.

It’s the best Chromebook you can buy, and a contender for the best tablet, too.

You’ll have plenty of power for the browser or to pull up spreadsheets and presentations in Google Docs and Android apps while you’re working. Or play something from Netflix on the gorgeous screen when you’re not.

With a more power-hungry screen than many other Chromebooks, the Chromebook X2 still has great battery life. It will last most people a full workday (8-10 hours) on a single charge. When it’s time to charge the battery, you’ll appreciate the standard USB-C charging instead of a proprietary input. With the right cable, your Chromebook X2 will charge anywhere your phone does.

The HP Chromebook X2 is a great all-around package, and right now it’s the best Chromebook available.

Alternatives to the HP Chromebook X2

We think the HP Chromebook X2 is the best overall Chromebook you can buy, but we know it’s not going to fit everyone. That’s great because there are plenty of other options available and finding one that suits you perfectly should be easy. We’ve outlined a few in case you’re looking for something different.

Runner Up

Google Pixelbook

If you want or need the very best and are willing to overpay for it, the Pixelbook was made for you.

$999 at Best Buy

As Google’s Halo device, the Pixelbook has the design and specs that make it amazing to use. but it has a price that’s hard to swallow.

It’s thin and sleek, and oozes “premium” when using it, has the best keyboard and trackpad of any Chromebook, and a gorgeous touchscreen. It was also designed from the ground up for Google Play and use as an Android tablet, and it excels at it. While you’ll pay double the price of our top pick; for some it will be worth it.

Value Pick

Acer Chromebook R13

The Acer Chromebook R13 looks and feels like a product that should cost a lot more.

$329 at Amazon

The Chromebook R13 is an excellent choice for anyone who wants a premium product without a premium price.

The Acer Chromebook R13 is the most machine you’ll find under $400. It has a 1080p IPS touchscreen for interaction with Android apps and can fold back into various modes for an all-touch experience. It’s solid, well machined, and is nothing like a typical “cheap” laptop. It’s a great choice for savvy shoppers.

On the Go

ASUS Chromebook Flip 101

The 10-inch Chromebook Flip is the ultimate uber-protable.

$329 at Amazon

Take your digital life everywhere with the light and portable Chromebook Flip.

The original Chromebook Flip took us by surprise when we first saw it, but many have come to love this light, portable, and unassuming little Chromebook. The C101 version takes the portability and Android support we all loved and adds newer components, more storage, and better battery life. It’s perfect for anyone who is constantly on the move.

Bottom line

The HP Chromebook X2 is the overall best Chromebook you can buy and one of the best we’ve ever seen. You’ll love its features and we think it’s the perfect blend of performance versus price. But all of us have different needs and luckily there are plenty of other models out there to fit yours perfectly.

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Jerry Hildenbrand is Mobile Nation’s Senior Editor and works from a Chromebook full time. Currently, he is using Google’s Pixelbook but is always looking at new products and may have any Chromebook in his hands at any time. You’ll find him across the Mobile Nations network and you can hit him up on Twitter if you want to say hey.

Daniel Bader is the Managing Editor of Android Central. As he’s writing this, a mountain of old Android phones is about to fall on his head, but his Great Dane will protect him. He drinks way too much coffee and sleeps too little. He wonders if there’s a correlation.

Tom Westrick is an information technology specialist and full-time Chromebook user. His job at Mobile Nations keeps him busy and his HP Chromebook X2 keeps him productive.

Update, September 2018: The HP Chromebook X2 is the first convertable Chromebook and the best you can buy.

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
• Chromebooks in education: Everything you need to know
• Should you buy a Chromebook?
• Chromebook Buyers Guide
• Google Pixelbook review
• Join our Chromebook forums

Rockstar has finally delivered Red Dead Redemption 2 plot details

The wild west has never looked this good.

Yes, it’s finally happening my fellow outlaws. Red Dead Redemption II is real and it’s coming to PlayStation 4 this year. After Rockstar Games’ massively successful open-world cowboy game set during the death of the Wild West, fans began clamoring for a follow-up that continued the story of the Marston family or embraced a new gunslinger.

After years of rumors and silence on Rockstar’s end, they finally surprised the world on one random morning in 2016 by announcing a sequel to their critically acclaimed western. It took over a year to get any actual concrete details regarding the game and frankly, it’s still a bit of a mystery but it sounds like it could be a mix of a story of a new outlaw and also fill in a massive gap in John Marston’s story.

See at Amazon

What’s new with Red Dead Redemption 2?

Rockstar Games has been quiet lately regarding the highly-anticipated sequel, but with Red Dead Redemption 2’s imminent launch approaching in just a few short months, the studio is starting to discuss the game some more. We’ll keep you up to date with everything you need to know as it’s released.

September 7, 2018

Rockstar has revealed new plot details surrounding Red Dead Redemption 2 in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter

“Dutch’s presence loomed over the original Red Dead Redemption, and his influence on events was a big inspiration for the setting and direction of Red Dead Redemption 2,” said art director Josh Bass. “We all wanted to know more about him and the gang —what was it like riding in that gang? What led them to the events of the original game? What happened to them along the way?

“In Red Dead Redemption 2 you get to see that gang, including Marston, at the peak of their notoriety and at the very moment things begin to fall apart,” he continued. “This story focuses on Arthur Morgan, Dutch’s most trusted enforcer. Adopted into the gang by the Dutch when he was a young boy, Arthur considers the gang to be his family — Dutch has given his life some much‐needed purpose, and the gang has served as the one positive and constant in Arthur’s life.”

Since this is the tail end of the Wild West, Dutch’s gang is struggling with their old ways of life coming to an end as they flee through the country.

“We’ve aimed to capture a wide slice of American life in 1899, a rapidly industrializing nation that would soon have its sights on the world’s stage — and would do whatever possible to ‘modernize,’ ” said director of art Aaron Garbut. “It’s a brutal landscape with a sordid history, but also one that’s full of opportunity. One of the most satisfying aspects of creating a world of such scope and scale is the ability to experience a whole range of stories and characters in your journey across that world. The gang’s journey and the game’s epic scope makes room to touch on all aspects of turn of the century America in a meaningful, substantial way.”

Though Rockstar’s previous title, Grand Theft Auto V, switched between the perspectives of a few different characters, Red Dead Redemption 2 is centering all on Arthur Morgan.

“Sticking with a single character felt more appropriate for the structure and narrative of a western,” said Bass. “Arthur lives with and fights alongside the other members of the Van der Linde gang, and they are a group of fully realized characters with relationships to each other and to Arthur, but this is Arthur’s story and we are placing players firmly in Arthur’s boots as he and the gang deal with a rapidly changing world. We think people will really love the feeling of being in the gang. It isn’t like anything we’ve done before.”

Rockstar also revealed the entire Van der Linde gang, all 23 members, along with short character bios for each.

August 15, 2018

Digital Foundry has given us our best look yet at Red Dead Redemption 2 running on a PlayStation 4 Pro. According to the outlet, which analyzed a 68mbps version of the trailer provided by Rockstar, RDR2 appears to run at native 1920×2160 on the PS4 Pro, “halving the pixel count on the horizontal axis from a proper 4K.” This is still a 12.5% increase in pixels over a 1440p image.

They were unable to get a reading on gameplay performance as the game is set to run at 30FPS and the video itself only supported 30FPS.

August 10, 2018 — New Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay has arrived!

Rockstar today released new gameplay footage for Red Dead Redemption 2, giving us our deepest look at the wild west open world game yet. The 6-minute trailer showed us a great deal of the gameplay mechanics, a bit of the world, and more.

For starters, we got to see the sheer scope of the open world. Red Dead Redemption 2 will be massive in size, and there will be a variety of environments to explore both on foot and on horseback. From mountainous terrain and forested countrysides to those growing towns chock full of saloon-goers and merchants, it appears players will be able to take in the full breadth of the cowboy experience.

Rockstar says it was important for the game to be massive not just in size, but also in depth. That means the player — taking the reigns as Van Der Linde gang member Arthur Morgan — will have a living, breathing society around him to interact with.

Red Dead 2 may set a new standard for open-world gameplay.

You can go into shops and sell the pelts you’ve skinned off the back of your latest game hunting prey. And if you get caught trying to steal or shortchange the shop vendor, well, don’t be surprised if you have to knock him out in the street. That the townspeople gathered around to watch the confrontation as it went down is a testament to the emphasis Rockstar is placing on immersion.

That sort of interaction can be coerced out of the game by your own will, too. You can interact with almost everyone and everything. Meet some passersby on the road with a quick greeting and be on your way, or question someone you think might be doing dirt in the city. These interactions seemingly have the potential to escalate into something more, whether that be a new opportunity for Arthur Morgan and Co. or more fisticuffs to keep people in their place. And yes, that also means you can defuse certain situations.

Should the fighting become so fierce that you resort to weapons, you’ll find a new combat system that makes the deed more fluid and fun. Hand-to-hand combat, especially, seems far more involved than the original game. As far as shooting is concerned, Dead Eye is back, and it’ll be cooler than ever to put bullets into the heads of six of your enemies simultaneously.

At the end of your daily musings, you’ll head back to camp to meet up with your gang. This is likely where you’ll be getting the bulk of your missions, but it’s also a chance for the player to get to know the other characters in the group. They’ll share stories and sing and dance with you as you eat, and you can also play various games to keep morale high. There’s a gameplay benefit to all this, as Rockstar says spending time with these people could unlock new secrets.

As a pillar of the gang, you’ll be tasked with helping keep them afloat by regularly replenishing food, water, and other supplies. We’re not sure what would happen should their morale get too low, but apparently that will play a part in how others in the gang approach you.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is slated for an October 26th release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Head to Amazon and pre-order yours today.

See at Amazon

August 8, 2018

Rockstar has announced that we will see new gameplay for Red Dead Redemption 2 on August 9. This should be our first significant look at gameplay since the game’s announcement. The trailer will air 11AM Eastern, and can be viewed on Rockstar’s website or YouTube channel. We’ll be updating this post with details about the gameplay announcement once it arrives.

August 6, 2018

The big question on everyone’s mind: When are we finally getting gameplay? All signs point to soon. Rockstar has recently sent out Red Dead 2 care packages to members of the press, and with Gamescom taking place in just a few weeks, the developer could be gearing up for a big reveal. Red Dead II was notably absent at E3 2018, so the next biggest gaming convention seems like a good bet for it to make an appearance.

During a recent financial call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick took the chance to hype up Red Dead 2 even more, saying, “My belief is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will shatter expectations and that the online experience also will be extraordinary, but unexpected.”

Its online aspect was a bit contentious when rumors of its existence began floating around since Red Dead’s identity was tied to its single-player, but it looks like Rockstar may have something special they’ve got cooking up if they’re hyping it up so much.

He continued by saying that Red Dead II will “redefine the industry” and “captivate audiences around the world.”

PC release?

Though Rockstar only announced PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game, there’s still hope it could come to PC. It appears that a programmer at Rockstar, who previously worked on GTA V and L.A. Noire, listed Red Dead II on his LinkedIn profile with its platforms being labelled as “PS4/Xbox1/PC.” This was eventually amended once word got out, but it’s unknown if this was a simple mistake or a PC version is indeed in the works.

The story so far…

Rockstar Games appears to be returning to the traditional one playable character route after successfully experimenting with three playable protagonists in Grand Theft Auto V but he’s not John or Jack Marston. Players will travel back to 1899 (12 years before the first game) to fill the boots and don the hat of a much less noble man that goes by the name of Arthur Morgan, a brute that’s running with Dutch van der Linde’s gang during their prime. While little is known about Arthur, we know he’s a much more sinister cowboy who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. In the second trailer, we see him interrogating and roughing up several people who appear to owe money to Dutch’s Gang, perhaps for protection. He’s a brutal force that is loyal to Dutch and likely only Dutch.

It’s likely we’re going to see the rise and fall of the gang, with Arthur Morgan playing a pivotal role.

The story will see Morgan and Van der Linde’s gang stealing, running, and fighting to survive the rugged and cruel world that is the Wild West. Order has not yet been established, technology is slowly beginning to evolve into something far more advanced, and people like Dutch believe it’s important that things stay the way they are. The Van der Linde gang was always viewed as a Robin Hood-type of bandits, stealing from the rich to give to the poor and resisting the government in favor of a structure where it was an “every man for himself” situation.

The gang eventually evolved into something far more dangerous and unhinged according to an anecdote provided by John Marston, leading him to realize their Robin Hood act was all a front for their evil actions and crimes. The event that likely leads to the start of the downfall of the gang seems to be a heist in Blackwater which later became known as the Blackwater Massacre. In the plot synopsis for the game provided by Rockstar, it’s revealed that the gang is being hunted after they botch a robbery in the wealthy town that is seen toward the end of the first RDR.

Within the lore of the series, the Blackwater Massacre was a massive shootout that took the lives of over 30 people. Civilians, cops, and criminals were among the casualties of the bloody shootout, actual details of why the battle took place remain a mystery to the residents of Blackwater because the officials went to great lengths to cover it up. Why? Well, we’ll likely find out in Red Dead II.

Most people involved died or were criminals who escaped but one of the few survivors was the legendary lawman, Landon Ricketts. Ricketts is in the first game and Marston teams up with him in Mexico, Marston knows him for his status but the two don’t seem to know each other. It’s entirely possible that Marston was uninvolved in the heist or was playing coy and using him to further his quest for redemption.

How does it connect to the original Red Dead Redemption?

So, what’s the connection to the first Red Dead Redemption? Well, Rockstar is being very, very careful not to say much about this game and how it connects to the first game but it will shed light on the stories John told in the first game as well as provide more depth to the men we hunt down in that same game.

John Marston is indeed in the game but Rockstar has noted that this is Arthur Morgan’s story, not John’s.

Given this game takes place long before the events of the original game and has a direct link to it via Dutch van der Linde and his gang, it’s hard to imagine Rockstar isn’t trying to expand John Marston’s story in some way. With games like Grand Theft Auto, there have been very subtle connections tying the games together but none of them are direct sequels or relate to each other in any way. With Red Dead Redemption II, Rockstar had the chance to name the game something like Red Dead Revolution, Red Dead Retribution, or something along those lines given that the series so far has gone Red Dead Revolver and then Red Dead Redemption. They purposely named it in a way that links the two games.

Marston was also a substantial part of Dutch’s Gang, he was taken in by Dutch when he ran away from the orphanage he lived in. He was raised by this gang and lived with them for a large majority of his life and in the fallout of him abandoning the gang, it all went to hell and it was more or less disbanded. John Marston is indeed the game, he’s heavily featured in new screenshots and is seen in the newest trailer once or twice but Rockstar says this is Arthur’s story, not John’s. That doesn’t mean that we can’t expand on the character, it just means he will not be the focal point of the narrative.

Major gameplay innovations are coming in the western sequel

Since Rockstar has been pretty prude about Red Dead Redemption II, we only have the word of the press who have seen the game in action to understand how the game plays. There will be more details in the future regarding what the gameplay will look like but for right now we’ll just give you the basic rundown of what we know. For starters, Rockstar seems to be creating their most realisitic world yet and abandoning some of the most video game-y aspects in their formula for something with more depth.

According to Rockstar, they’ve been developing Red Dead Redemption II for eight years, starting as they were wrapping up the first game. In that time, they’ve been handcrafting a world with lots of detail and creating systems that may be fairly unexpected from them. A large portion of the game is centered around managing the gang, Arthur is Dutch’s right-hand man and he helps keep everything running smoothly. This means you’ll help perform odd jobs for gang members, go hunting to get food for the camp or get money to line their pockets with, and so on.

Rockstar has been very clear that you don’t have to do this and you won’t be severely punished if you don’t but the gang will make comments if you leave them hanging for days on end. If you do choose to take care of your gang, you’ll be rewarded in ways that have not yet been revealed and your gang will grow stronger.

Also on tap is a new dialog system that allows you to approach situations with more options than just shoot and kill. Each NPC has their own set of branching dialog, with the player able to talk niceties or show a degree of impatience in any given encounter. And this isn’t just a black and white morality system either. Some choices will be gray areas, some will be lore-advancing, some will lead to friendships, and others will most certainly erupt into bloodbaths. It’s unclear if there will be any more to this system – such as a relationship mechanic that gauges each NPC’s level of warmth toward you – but it’s something.

If you do choose to go off and do things like hunting, you’ll be able to see the amount of depth that Rockstar has added to its hunting system since the original game and Grand Theft Auto V. You’ll find yourself stalking animals, choosing your weapon carefully so you don’t damage pelts/meat, and tracking an animal by following blood trails after you’ve hit it. Once you’ve tracked the animal down, you may find it still alive, bleeding out and yelping. Arthur will then take out his knife and stab the animal in the heart to end its suffering and take what you want from it.

You can then string up your kill on the back of your horse and take it back to camp to feed your people or sell it in town and take the money for yourself. Regardless of what you choose, your hunt will rot and decay over time so the longer you have it on the back of your horse (yes, it’s literally on your horse, not in an invisible pouch), the less valuable it’ll be. If you were to kill an animal (or even a person) behind and let it sit in the wild, vultures, coyotes, and other creatures would come and munch on the remains.

It looks as if Rockstar will be carrying over the heists from GTA V as we see Arthur Morgan robbing a bank and holding up a train in the second trailer. It’s unclear how much of a focal point these will be in the game since it was the core of GTA V’s campaign but one has to imagine it plays a similar role given you’re a gang of notorious western criminals.

We do know there will be some depth to those heists, though. Players can go loud or quiet, create distractions, choose who you bring with you (some can be done solo but isn’t recommended), and use a bunch of other different variables to create different outcomes throughout the heists. All of this will result on if and when law enforcement shows up amongst other things. It’s unclear if you can have gang members die or get critically wounded in these heists like in Grand Theft Auto V or just how dynamic these systems are. Grand Theft Auto V’s heists were heavily scripted, if you chose a certain crew member to come with, they’d always die on the same mission in the same spot because it was coordinated by Rockstar’s writing. It was more of the illusion of choices having consequences rather than them actually having any meaning at all.

Some major changes are also coming in combat with the ability to dual wield weapons like Max Payne, bows and arrows used for hunting and maybe even some stealth combat as we see Arthur Morgan taking a knife to someone’s back in the dead of night. We also see Arthur brutally beating people up in the third trailer, suggesting Rockstar has refined their melee combat to create more intense and fun brawls.

A cowboy’s best friend

A cowboy’s best friend isn’t his fellow outlaws/lawmen, it’s his horse. In the original Red Dead Redemption, your horse was almost supernatural in the sense it teleported to you and was basically immortal. You didn’t have much of a connection to it because outside of its speed and stamina, there was nothing too special about the horses. In Red Dead Redemption II, Rockstar plans on changing that.

Your horse in the sequel will be very special. Perhaps the most significant change from the first game or any Rockstar game for that matter is that you won’t be able to carry every single weapon with you. The joke of pulling an RPG out of your rear end in GTA wouldn’t apply in this game as you’ll only be carrying small weapons such as handguns on your person, rifles and other gear will travel via your horse. We’re not sure if you can sling at least one rifle over your shoulder while walking around but you can expect most of your guns to be unavailable if your horse isn’t nearby.

Your horse won’t be disposable in this game, it’ll mean a lot more to you because it has lots of value. You’ll grow a bond that effects how scared it gets when put in danger, how far it gets from you, and more. Rockstar hopes that this bond won’t just serve a gameplay effect but a personal and emotional one to. If your horse gets critically wounded, you can attempt to heal it with medical supplies, if you don’t have any you can try and run into town quickly and gather some and run back. You may come back to your horse dead, making you realize that you left that poor animal that loved you to die thinking you abandoned it in its final moments. Brutal stuff, I know. Should it die, you’ll have to start that bond all over with a new horse and presumably any gear you can’t carry off of that horse’s corpse is lost.

It adds a whole new layer to an aspect that’s iconic to westerns but doesn’t have a lot of attention paid to it.

When you can play it and when we’ll know more

The only questions remaining are when we can play the game and when we can expect more firm details from Rockstar. The game is currently scheduled to release on October 26th, 2018 for PlayStation 4 as well as Xbox One, and we can likely expect some news regarding the game in June or July via a Game Informer cover story or a new breakdown directly from Rockstar. As of right now, we’ll just have to hold our breaths and keep waiting to saddle up again.

Where to buy Red Dead Redemption 2

You can now pre-order Red Dead Redemption 2 ahead of its October 27th release date. You’re in for some nice goodies if you decide to give Rockstar your cash early. All pre-orders for Red Dead Redemption 2 come with the War Horse mount and the Outlaw Survival Kit. The former is a grey-colored steed that has better courage and stamina than others, while the Outlaw Survival Kit gives you extra health kits, Dead Eye replenishment, and more.

If you pre-order the digital copy on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, you’ll also get some extra in-game cash to start your game, as well as a treasure map, though you’ll need to pre-order the game by July 31st to get those.

There’s also a special edition of the game available. It comes with 2 extra side missions, a black thoroughbred horse, gameplay bonuses through medllian and talisman charms, in-game cash bonuses, gameplay boosts, and discounts, a gunslinger outfit, and three additional weapons. You’ll also get a real map of the game world.

If that’s not enough, the Ultimate Edition comes with everything that the Deluxe Edition does, but you can add two more in-game outfits, another black thoroughbred with an exclusive saddle, a Survivor camp theme for the game’s online mode, three additional free weapons, and XP bonuses for online play up to rank 25.

As an added bonus for Grand Theft Auto 5 players, all digital pre-orders also come with in-game currency for GTA Online. Standard Edition gets $500,000, Special Edition gets $1,000,000, and Ultimate Edition gets $2,000,000.

Then there’s the big kahuna reserved for the most die-hard Red Dead fans. It’s a full-blown Collector’s Box, a red-tinted metal tithing box with a lock and key that comes with an assortment of real world goodies. There’s a collectible coin, a double-sized puzzle, a red bandana, a treasure map, a pin set, commemorative playing cards, a real 150-page Wheeler, Rawson and Co. catalogue, and 12 collectible cigarette cards.

You can pre-order your preferred digital edition of Red Dead Redemption 2 at the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, or direct from the Rockstar Warehouse. Those opting for the Collector’s Box, however, can only get it through the Rockstar Warehouse.

Wanting to catch up and play through the original Red Dead Redemption before the sequel drops? You can find the Game of the Year Edition for $20 at Amazon

See at Amazon

Updated September 2018: Rockstar revealed new plot details surrounding Red Dead Redemption 2.

PlayStation 4

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Get your drone flying practice in with Aukey’s $34 Mohawk

New pilots of all ages can learn to fly easily.

Aukey’s Mohawk Drone is now down to $33.99 at Amazon. Just 40 cents above its lowest price ever, this is a pretty stellar deal saving you $25 off the average cost.

With its one-key returning abilities, odds are you won’t end up losing this drone because you are just learning. You can also do tricks with the touch of a button, like flip it over, and its 6-axis gyros provide stability during flights. Each charge will score you 10 minutes of flight time to play around with and it can fly up to 390 feet away while using the included remote.

This drone does have limitations and won’t perform like DJI’s latest Mavic 2 Pro, but it’s also a fraction of the price. It was even the first product we mentioned in our list of Best Drones Under $50.

See at Amazon

Ball out on the court with this NBA 2K19 beginners guide

Tie those laces up and become a pro.

Fired up NBA 2K19 and found yourself lost in the sheer depth of basketball goodness available to you here? Don’t fret. Many have been where you are, and while NBA 2K19 is a challenging game to master, it’s easier to get into than the game lets on.

Stick with us and we’ll give you all the information you need to understand what’s going on when you emerge from the locker room, walk through the tunnels, and step onto the court.

• Hit the training mode
• What is Virtual Currency?
• Get social
• Do your daily objectives
• Use the mobile app
• Sign a sponsorship deal
• Check out The Neighborhood
• Play the game
• Improve your MyPlayer superstar
• Play basketball how it was meant to be played
• Dominate the courts

$60 at Amazon

Hit the training mode to get acclimated with the controls

2K Sports is notoriously sketchy when it comes to providing a new player experience. While the basic controls are well-documented, there are lots of little moves and techniques you can execute, but the game just doesn’t even attempt to help you out.

The first thing you want to do when booting the game up is hit the training mode. You’ll be given a crash course on the basics, and that should be enough to get through a full game of basketball with your head on straight.

When you get more advanced, know that there’s a lot more you can do to take your game to the next level, whether it be when you’re driving the ball to score or trying to stop your opponents from doing so. Be sure to refer to the in-game manual and practice all the moves that you want to pull off after you’ve brushed up on the basics.

What is Virtual Currency and how do you earn it?

Virtual Currency is 2K Sports’, well, virtual currency of choice. Introduced back in 2013, Virtual Currency — commonly shortened to “VC” — is used in almost every single mode of NBA 2K19.

It’s used to level up your player in MyCareer, as well as to purchase player packs in MyTeam, and to buy new clothes, shoes, accessories, tattoos, and even hairstyles for your player in The Neighborhood, which is NBA 2K19’s blacktop mode.

Unfortunately, VC has become the defacto way to make any sort of meaningful progression in most game modes, and obtaining it isn’t always easy. You can earn it by playing the game, but the payout amounts are so small that you’ll almost have to play the game as your full-time job if you want to stand a chance at keeping up. As you may guess, this system is designed to frustrate you so much that you’ll eventually want to buy your way to the top.

That’s an option, but we’re here to tell you there are other ways to earn VC at a reasonable rate. Here are four things you need to be doing to earn VC in NBA 2K19 if you want to stand a chance.

Get social

For starters, you should follow 2K Games, NBA 2K, and Ronnie 2K on Twitter. They’ll frequently drop limited time codes that you can use to boost your virtual bank account.

The amount might be as little as 5,000 VC, but I’ve seen them give out as much as 100,000 VC as a surprise pick-me-up for the game’s loyal fans. You absolutely want to take advantage of these VC drops whenever the opportunity arises, as it’s pretty much akin to getting free money.

Do your daily objectives

There are daily objectives you can complete in NBA 2K19 that’ll earn you extras. You can earn either fans or VC by doing something like scoring more than 20 points in a game. There’s also a daily spin that’ll get you clothes, fans, or VC. Do these as often as possible.

Use the mobile app

Next up, download and use the MyNBA2K19 app. You can play daily pick ’em games and excel in NBA trivia to earn extra VC each day. It won’t get you rich overnight, but it certainly adds up.

There are other great reasons to download the NBA 2K19 app. One of those is the ability to easily scan your face into the game, so your player can look just like you do. (Or somewhat like you, depending on your lighting and whether the game’s algorithm likes your face.)

Other goodies include weekly events, 2-on-2 matches, and the ability to collect and battle with your favorite NBA superstars from the past and present.

Free w/ In-App Purchases at Google Play

Sign a sponsorship deal

In career mode, be sure you’re not only accepting each sponsorship that comes your way but fulfilling your obligations to them. Your NBA salary is great and all, but sponsorships offer you even greater potential earnings. You’ll start out with smaller deals from places like local car dealerships, but the more fans you earn and the bigger your status becomes, the more lucrative deals will begin popping up.

This option was available in years past, but they’ll be more plentiful and bountiful in NBA 2K19. And new this year, you’ll be able to negotiate the terms of your contracts, so you can lobby for easier milestones or more money.

By the way, if you sign a deal with Nike or any of the other shoe sponsors in the game, your shoe from those deals are now completely free for your character to wear. Talk about incentive!

Check out The Neighborhood

2K Sports is adding a lot more to The Neighborhood, which is a shared online hub for you to play around in as you prepare to compete online. When you’re not running up and down the courts you’ll be able to take part in other fun activities like dodgeball, trivia, and even a trampoline.

The Neighborhood is pretty cool in that regard. Instead of sitting in menus and waiting on loading screens, you instead walk around a collection of basketball courts which are themselves surrounded by the game’s various stores, training facilities, and other activities. This is a welcome addition if for no other reason than you get to keep yourself entertained while you’re waiting for a pickup game.

Play the game

And don’t forget that each game you play in one of these modes will earn you VC. Games in MyLeague and MyCareer will earn you a bit, but the real money is in online play, where you’re guaranteed 500 VC per game just for participating (and more if you happen to school some kids at the park).

Granted, it’s still going to be a grind, especially when you start getting to that 80 to 85 OVR range. But do these things on a daily or regular basis and you’ll at least be able to go online and pass a basketball around without endangering the lives of everyone around you.

Improve your MyPlayer superstar

Physical attributes represent the primary means to player progression in NBA 2K19. You’ll level each group of statistics up by spending VC or other currency on them. This is where it’s important to think about what sort of character you want, as your maximum OVR in any given statistic is governed mostly by which position you play, your physical stats (such as height, weight, and wingspan) and the positional archetype you chose.

That is to say, your 7-foot monster of a center won’t be racing down the court and shooting very many three-point shots. Figure out which route you want to go based on your own personal playstyle. Those who want pure shooters can look to become point guards and shooting guards, dunkers should play around with being a center, while a power forward is a great candidate for being an all-around offensive and defensive monster.

But attribute points aren’t the only way you go about upgrading your player. You can drastically change the way your character performs by way of badges. Badges are earned and upgraded purely through gameplay. Yes, that means this is the one thing you can earn in the game that isn’t directly tied to VC, and they’re a pretty big deal.

To earn a badge, you must perform a move or reach a milestone associated with it. For instance, the Limitless Range badge makes it more likely that your shots from well beyond the three-point line will go in, and you earn it by making 50 shots while beyond the line. Each badge is ranked from Bronze to Hall of Fame level, with some able to be upgraded past their initial rank. And as with attributes, there are certain badges you won’t be able to get with certain positions and archetypes.

And new to NBA 2K19 this year, you can now level your badges up by participating in specific drills, and any progress you make toward the badge in other game modes will also apply. This is a far cry from the system of old where you had to look up badge conditions and then still not know whether you were actually on the road to unlocking or upgrading them.

Play basketball how it was meant to be played

When it comes down to it, you won’t get far in NBA 2K19 if you can’t perform on the court. Here are some general tips to keep in mind while you’re trying to score baskets.

Pass the rock

Like most team-based sports games, passing the ball to your teammates is a critical component of success. No one man or woman has ever won a game on their own.

If you can’t get open, don’t force yourself to take the shot (unless, of course, the shot clock is about to expire). Pass the ball to your open man. That could be one quick pass or as many as 20 of them in a single possession. No matter how many times you have to dish it around, do it and take the smarter shot.

Play on the ball

On defense, we recommend playing on the ball at all times. Playing “on ball” means you want to control whichever defender is guarding the current ball carrier.

While your AI teammates can sometimes make a nice play on the ball themselves, you’ll give yourself the best chance at forcing a turnover, blocking a shot, or simply contesting a shot if you’re the one controlling the closest defender.

Run a play

Finding it hard to get open? Try to run a play. Basketball may seem like a schoolyard sport with no substance on the surface, but in actuality, there are a lot of schemes and plays you can run to get your guys in open space.

And these plays don’t always have to be complex. On offense, calling for a simple pick and roll will cause your teammate to come over and block the defending player so you can try and make a move around them. It could be a play as simple as a swing pass to your perimeter shooters, or one designed to get your center to the paint for easy buckets.

On defense, your options are a bit more limited but you have access to a decent number of concepts. For instance, run man coverage if you’re confident in your players’ ability to guard their guys one-on-one. If someone is just a bit too fast or they happen to be feeding one player to exploit a bad matchup, calling some sort of zone defense may be able to help.

No matter what you call, the player you control will have their own responsibilities in the play and there are nice visual aides on the court to help you get where you’re supposed to be and do what you’re supposed to be doing.

Attack from all directions

When you’re playing on offense, it can seem fun to take control of Stephen Curry and try to drain every three-pointer you can. And on some of the lesser difficulties you’ll start out playing on, you might even be successful with this tactic.

But that’s a habit you’ll want to drop quickly if you’re serious about getting better. It’s important that you attack a defense from all angles and all lengths available to you so your opponent won’t be able to key in on what you’re doing.

For instance, if you’re shooting nothing but three-pointers then your opponent will likely make an adjustment to play man-to-man defense and tightly guard the perimeter. It’s at this point that you would want to think about calling some sort of iso defense to get someone open down in the paint. Whether you’re going for dunks and layups or three-point shots — and everything in between — keep your opponent honest by switching things up every now and then.

Dominate the courts

We won’t lie to you: NBA 2K19 is a pretty deep game and it can be intimidating for a newcomer to come to grips with its various systems and nuances. These beginner tips should get you started in the right direction. It’ll take a lot of practice to get online and rule The Neighborhood, but you’ll find it quite rewarding when you’re on the blacktop ripping off multiple wins in a row against your peers.

NBA 2K19 is out now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch if you bought the 20th Anniversary Edition. All others will be able to join in starting Sept. 11.

$60 at Amazon

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

Epson’s new Pro Cinema 4050 projector has 4K and HDR support

Time to build your new home theater.

Epson’s newest projector is the Pro Cinema 4050 4K PRO-UHD1, and it comes with support for HDR10, 1080p resolutions even in 3D mode, and an improvement to the “advanced pixel-shifting, resolution-enhancement technology.” This projector replaces the Epson Pro Cinema 4040 while improving on it in a number of ways. The big way it improves is in the price. The 4040 is currently selling for around $2,200 but was going for as much as $2,700 at release. The Epson 4050 starts at $2,400.

The projector produces 2,400 lumens of brightness and has a 200,000:1 contrast ratio. The lens is 15-element glass projection with a 2.1x zoom and a wide lens shift range for plenty of flexibility when it comes to placement. It won’t produce any rainbow effect because it doesn’t use a color wheel, and images with be free of bright white segments. Epson backs it up with a three-year warranty.

Epson is a huge name in the projector market, and there are a lot of possibilities to choose from. You don’t need to go for the highest tier possible like the Pro Cinema 4050 if you don’t want to. For example, the Epson Home Cinema 1060 is a 1080p projector that goes for less than $550. We’ve also seen a lot more portable projectors going on sale recently, like the Anker Nebula Mars, which is down to just $270.

See at Epson

These are the best rugged cases for the Samsung Galaxy Note 9

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is the latest phone to push the boundaries for smartphone dimensions — with a price tag to match. The last thing you want is to damage your new phone, so protect your investment with a rugged case designed to absorb drop damage and keep your phone unscathed.

Classic style that’s rugged as hell

Supcase Unicorn Beetle Pro Rugged Holster Case

This rugged case is designed to keep your phone well protected with a built-in screen protector for the display. An optional belt clip holster is also included if you’re interested in that look.

$20 at Amazon

A clear case that protects

VRS Design Heavy Duty Clear Case

This clear case from VRS Design is a great option if you want a rugged case that lets your Note 9’s design shine through. It’s a two-piece case that combines a sturdy acrylic backing with a shock absorbing TPU bumper. It should also avoid the ugly yellowing that occurs with other clear options over time.

$9 at Amazon

A top performer from Spigen

Spigen Tough Armor Case

Spigen’s Tough Armor cases are great options that offer rugged protection while maintaining a sleek look and a pocket-friendly design. This dual-layer case also includes a built-in kickstand for watching your favorite videos.

$16 at Amazon

The slimmest, rugged protection

Spigen Rugged Armor Case

For those who don’t want to sacrifice pocket space for protection, Spigen’s Rugged Armor case is a great option. This sleek, one-piece case is rugged and sleek with carbon fiber accents that look great on all phones, but especially big phones like the Note 9.

$13 at Amazon

For those stylish few

Caseology Parallax Series Case

This dual-layer case from Caseology offers rugged protection for your phone while keeping the phone’s profile sleek and stylish. The geometric design on the back is both beautiful and functional by enhancing your grip.

$14 at Amazon

These are the best rugged cases we’ve found for the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. While choosing a case often comes down to personal tastes, our recommendation would be for the Spigen Rugged Armor Case which offers sleek protection at a good price. The Note 9 is a massive phone made of glass that should be protected, and the Rugged Armor case will do just that without adding unnecessary bulk.

The new Audible Originals mean members get 3 free books per month

More freebies = more fun.

Both first-time and existing Audible Members have a new benefit to look forward to. Thanks to the new Audible Originals, members will now get their monthly audiobook and two featured Audible Originals for free every month.

These new titles include books produced specifically for audio, specially for Audible. The program is similar to the Amazon Prime First Reads program. There’ll be six featured titles to choose from spanning different genres and subject matter. This benefit essentially triples what you were getting from Audible before now, which makes the new feature one to celebrate.

If you’re not an Audible member you can head here for a free trial. You’ll get a credit every month for an audiobook, and if you hate it, you can exchange it hassle-free. You can listen offline, score member-exclusive savings, and more. The trial is free and after that it costs $15 per month, which you can cancel at any time.

See at Audible

UK Daily Deals: Fire HD 8 tablet, PS4 Pro bundles, and more

Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

We found plenty of great deals today that include big discounts on Amazon’s new Fire 8 HD tablet, SanDisk microSD cards, PS4 Pro bundles, and more!

View the rest of the deals

Each day, the Thrifter UK team scouts out and shares amazing deals on products you know and love, helping you find the best prices on the ‘net.

For more UK deals coverage, be sure to keep an eye on Thrifter UK and follow the team on Twitter for the most up-to-the-minute coverage.