World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth allied races guide

The latest expansion to World of Warcraft, Battle for Azeroth, is less than a month away. As is usually the case, a new expansion means a wealth of new content for players to explore, including new races. Here’s what you need to know about allied races, and how to obtain them.

Rather than add a single new race to each faction or a single neutral race, Blizzard has opted to create multiple allied races to join the Horde and Alliance. Appearance-wise, the majority of these races are re-skins of existing races, but Blizzard has added new textures, voice lines, and other customization options to help them stand out.

Each allied race can also earn a set of unique heritage armor. The armor is a transmog set which works for every class. To earn it, players will have to level an eligible character from 20 to 110 without using a character boost.

Allied races you can earn right now

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Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

As of right now, there are eight confirmed Allied Races, though Blizzard has said that they are open to the idea of adding new allied races in future content patches or expansions. The Horde will have access to the Nightborne, Highmountain Tauren, Mag’har orcs, and Zandalari trolls. The Alliance will be able to recruit Lightforged Draenei, Void Elves, Dark Iron dwarves, and humans of Kul’Tiras.

Currently, four of these races are available for players to unlock once they’ve purchased Battle for Azeroth. The Dark Iron dwarves and Mag’har orcs are expected to be unlocked upon the launch of Battle for Azeroth with Kul’Tiran humans and Zandalari trolls coming at a later date.

Nightborne

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Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

Formally known as the Shal’dorei, the Nightborne have spent the past 10,000 years of Azeroth’s history hiding under the domed city of Suramar. With the return of the Burning Legion, these formerly reclusive elves found themselves forced to take a more active role in the world, eventually allying themselves with the Horde.

Unlocking the Nightborne is a fairly straight-forward process and, if you’ve been playing Legion, you’ve probably done most of the work. For starters, you’ll need to complete the main Nightborne storyline in Legion in order to unlock the “Insurrection” achievement. Completing these quests will go a long way towards earning you the Exalted reputation you’ll need. If you’re not quite there, then you’ll need to grind out Surmar world quests, though it shouldn’t take too long.

From there, you’ll simply need to recruit them using a short quest chain which will explain why the Nightborn have chosen to join the Horde. This quest chain can be started in the Horde capital of Orgrimmar.

Playable classes:

• Hunter
• Mage
• Monk
• Priest
• Rogue
• Warlock
• Warrior

Highmountain Tauren

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Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

Unsurprisingly, the Tauren of Highmountain have chosen to join their cousins in the Horde. In order to unlock the Highmountain Tauren, you’ll need to have completed the main Highmountain storyline which, if you’ve leveled through Legion, is probably already finished. You’ll also need to earn exalted with the Highmountain Tauren. The majority of this reputation will come from completing the main storyline and the rest can be earned from doing world quests in Highmountain.

Once you’ve finished those two steps, it’s a simple matter of picking up the quest chain in Orgrimmar, which will see you recruiting the Highmountain into the Horde.

Playable classes:

• Druid
• Hunter
• Monk
• Shaman
• Warrior

Void Elves

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Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

Probably the closest we’ll ever come to seeing playable High Elves, the Void Elves are former Blood Elves who were exiled from Silvermoon for studying the magic of the Void. Upon being discovered by Alleria Windrunner, they pledged their allegiance to the Alliance.

Unfortunately, unlocking the Void Elves can be bit more time consuming than their Horde counterparts. For starters, you’ll need to complete the Argus storylines which will grant you the achievement “You Are Now Prepared.” By itself, that quest chain may only take an afternoon. Unfortunately, you’ll also need to earn exalted status with the Argussian Reach, which can take quite some time. The problem with this grind is that it is time-gated. You can only earn a certain amount per-day meaning it may take a couple of weeks to earn exalted.

Once you have finished those two requirements, you can pick up a quest in the Alliance capital of Stormwind, which will allow you to recruit the Void Elves.

Playable classes:

• Hunter
• Mage
• Monk
• Priest
• Rogue
• Warlock
• Warrior

Lightforged Dranei

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Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

WoW players are likely very familiar with the Dranei that crashed to Azeroth during the Burning Crusade expansion and, for years, we assumed that was the only sect of Eradar that had not joined the Burning Legion. However, Legion showed us a new group of Dranei known as the Lightforged. These holy warriors have spent the past 10,000 years batting the Buring Legion. Now, they’re taking the fight to the Horde.

Unlocking the Lightforged will require you to complete the aforementioned Argus storylines and earn the “You Are Now Prepared” achievement. In addition, you’ll have to earn exalted status with the Army of Light. As with the Argussian Reach, this one could take a couple of weeks, as it is time-gated. However, the main story quests should help you reach at least Friendly status with the Army of Light.

Once those requirements are met, the quest to recruit the Lightforged will be available in the Alliance capital of Stormwind.

Playable classes:

• Hunter
• Mage
• Paladin
• Priest
• Warrior

You can now search the Apple Store app using your voice

Need to find something on the Apple Store app? Apple is making that a bit easier for you. The app has been updated to version 5.1, and finally, is beginning to look more like the App Store and iTunes Store. The new search interface displays trending searches if you’re not entirely sure of what you’re looking for, and also has a new microphone icon that, as you might suspect, lets you search via voice rather than text.

If you check out the Apple Store app — which you might use if you’re interested in seeing MacBooks, iPhones, or compatible accessories available for purchase — you can now tap on the microphone button and simply say your keyword. From there, voice search will take you to the correct results page, making for a much more streamlined search process.

Moreover, the actual app interface has been revamped. In addition to the popular searches display, Apple is also now presenting its results in card format, making them much easier to read and understand.

As Apple describes, “Search has been updated with an enhanced design. And it’s now powered with speech recognition technology for better search results.” The tech giant continues, “With a fresh look and the addition of speech recognition technology, it’s never been easier to find products, stores, sessions, and more.”

Moreover, Apple has also made updates to its Worldwide Developers Conference app for iOS, promising bug fixes and performance improvements. There are also new sorting options available on the Apple TV. Apple wrote in its update notes, “Thank you for your feedback. This update includes bug fixes and improvements in several areas, including accessibility, stability, and video downloads. In addition, videos can be viewed by collection and platform on tvOS.”

Of course, neither of these two apps are quite as popular as Apple’s App Store. Earlier this month, the App Store celebrated its 10th anniversary, and the Wall Street Journal published an interview with late Apple CEO Steve Jobs that was held following the App Store’s launch ain 2008. At the time, the executive noted that he was surprised by its success, saying that he had not expected the App Store to “be this big.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• Microsoft Office 365 apps will hit the revamped Mac App Store later this year
• Apple is removing apps that overshare your location data with third parties
• Patent hints that the iPhone could one day have built-in handwriting recognition
• To save the Mac, the App Store needs more than just a redesign
• Apple rejection means you can’t play Steam games on your iPhone after all

Motorola One Power: News, rumors, specs, and more

Android Headlines

Sure, we’ve all come to know and love Motorola’s extensive lineup of budget phones. But Motorola makes some pretty awesome midrange smartphones as well. And it looks like we’re about to see its next phone, the Motorola One Power, very soon.

Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Motorola One Power.

Design and display

Techinfobit

For the most part, Motorola’s lineup of 2018 phones have all had a similar design language. Will the Motorola One Power continue the trend?

If leaked photos of the One Power are to be believed, it appears it will follow the design language of its 2018 siblings. The phone appears to have a glass-over-aluminum frame. On the back, you’ll find a dual camera module that is vertically stacked on the left side of the phone. A Motorola logo, that we believe will be the fingerprint sensor, sits in the middle.

The Motorola One Power will feature a 6.2 inch screen with a resolution of 2,246 x 1,080. Bezels are minimized on the phone, but we certainly wouldn’t call it bezel-less.  And yes, you’ll find a top notch housing the speaker and front-facing camera on the One Power.

Specs and battery

According to a recent TENAA certification, it looks like the upcoming Motorola One Power will be a very capable midrange phone. It appears to have a Snapdragon 636 processor, though we can’t be certain since the certification only states the phone has a 1.8HGz clock speed.

As for RAM and storage, it looks like buyers will have several options. There will apparently be 3GB, 4BG, and 6GB RAM options alongside 32GB and 64GB storage options. It also looks like the phone will have a microSD slot allowing you to add up to 128GB of external storage.

So why is this phone called the Motorola One Power? Well, it looks like One Power refers to the massive 4,850mAh battery. Such a huge battery means the One Power will most certainly make it through a full day of use for even the most demanding smartphone users.

Software and special features

The next Motorola flagship will feature Android 8.1 Oreo. We believe it will also be part of the Android One program. Android One handsets receive frequent security and OS updates and feature a minimum of bloatware.  While there’s no word if the phone will receive the Android P update, we are confident it will since Motorola has a good track record of updating its phones.

In addition to being part of Android One, we also anticipate the phone will feature the usual Motorola applications such as Moto Voice, a voice activated digital assistant for Moto phones. It’s likely we’ll also see Moto Actions, which allow you to use different gestures to initiate certain actions on your phone.

Camera

Portrait mode, anyone? It looks like the upcoming Motorola One Power will feature a rear camera module with dual lenses.  According to the TENAA spec sheet, the phone will feature a 16-megapixel primary lens alongside a 5-megapixel secondary lens. On the front, you’ll find an 8-megapixel selfie shooter.

Release date and price

techinfobit

Since the Motorola One Power has not been announced, we don’t have pricing and availability information just yet.  We believe it may be announced on Thursday, August 2, since Motorola has an event scheduled for that day.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Your ultimate guide to Motorola’s 2018 smartphone lineup
• Moto E5 Plus review
• Moto G6 Play review
• Moto Z3 Play vs. Moto Z2 Play vs. Moto Z Play: Should you upgrade?
• Here’s every device available through Amazon Prime Exclusive phones

This myth-inspired, karate-chopping centaur robot could save your life one day

In Greek mythology, a centaur is a creature with the upper body of a human, and lower body and legs of a horse. In Italy’s IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Centauro is a 5-foot-tall robot that boasts an anthropomorphic upper body and four-legged base. Capable of operating for 2.5 hours at a clip, the 200-pound robot is designed for maneuvering over rugged terrain and carrying out manipulations requiring high strength. Its goal? To serve as the ultimate disaster response robot.

“Despite being a research project, Centauro was developed looking closely to applications,” Nikos Tsagarakis, one of the researchers who worked on the project, told Digital Trends. “The target application is to use it to assist emergency responders. But the versatility of the robot mobility and manipulation make it suitable for a variety of application domains. [These include] as a co-worker collaborative robot in mixed human-robot industrial production lines, logistics operations, and maintenance of remote or hostile facilities and infrastructures. It can be also exploited by other security forces, such as for inspection tasks or bomb disposal.”

While the mythological form factor might look somewhat fanciful, Tsagarakis noted that the robot was made to do more than simply grab people’s attention. “Centauro was designed with the inspiration and objective to match human strength, power, and physical sturdiness to execute heavy, high-impact physical interactions,” he said. “At the same time, [we wanted] to demonstrate motion agility close to that of human.”

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The humanoid-style upper body gives Centauro the ability to carry out human-like dexterity or strength tasks using its manipulation arms. (Including, as seen in the top video, a mean karate chop!) Meanwhile, its four-legged base gives it more stability for locomotion. These legs incorporate six degrees of freedom and allow the robot to rotate and extend its hip, knees, and ankles. At the bottom of each leg is a wheel module, which serves as a rolling “hoof” to keep with the centaur theme.

This isn’t the first innovative robot project Tsagarakis has been involved with. Previously, we wrote about the Walk-Man project, a European Commission-funded humanoid robot that’s designed to serve as a robot emergency responder which could be used to assist firefighters.

“The next generation of the [Centaur] robot will contain holistic upgrades both in the hardware and software of the system,” Tsagarakis said. “Having seen the potential of the robot capabilities and versatility, our effort will be placed on the industrialization of the robot hardware and the further development of our software. This will incorporate effective human-robot interfaces, application specific software tools, and utilities to facilitate the robot control taking into account the end-user perspectives.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• SmokeBot robot can see things human firefighters can’t in smoke-filled rooms
• You won’t even need to dress yourself in the future — thanks to robots like this
• Watch this Japanese ‘dragon’ drone slither through the air like a flying snake
• MIT’s Cheetah 3 robot doesn’t need sight to navigate stairs
• Asimo, Honda’s amazing biped, heads to robot retirement home

23andMe wants to do more than showcase your family tree

23andMe will soon be doing a lot more with your DNA than providing a family tree. The home genetics company has teamed up with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) with hopes of designing new drugs that could treat diseases like Parkinson’s, among others. Given 23andMe’s substantial genetic database provided by its 5 million customers, the company hopes that a partnership with GSK could provide the necessary data to develop effective therapies.

“Since the inception of 23andMe, our mission has been to help people access, understand and benefit from the human genome,” Anne Wojcicki, the company’s CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. “Today, I am thrilled to announce that we are launching a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline to accelerate our ability to make those novel treatments and cures a reality.”

This collaboration marks the largest such effort to date in the home genetics testing space and hopes to leverage the bevy of data that companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com have collected thanks to mail-in saliva tests. 23andMe is by far the most popular of these kits, which means it likely has the most to offer a pharmaceutical partner.

23andMe has said that they will ask customers whether or not they would like to participate in research before using their data, ensuring that adequate consent is attained in the process. “As always, if our customers do not want to participate in research, they can choose to opt out at any time,” Wojcicki wrote.

This isn’t the first time that 23andMe has attempted to utilize its genetic data for scientific purposes. As Wojcicki noted, the research team at the company has published more than 100 scientific papers, and in 2015, the team launched 23andMe Therapeutics “to develop novel treatments and cures based on genetic insights from the consented 23andMe community.” Of course, with the help of GSK, these treatments and cures are likely to go much further.

GSK has made a $300 million investment in 23andMe and as part of the partnership, the pharmaceutical giant will maintain exclusive rights to collaborate with 23andMe in order to develop drugs. “By working with GSK, we believe we will accelerate the development of breakthroughs,” Wojcicki said. “Our genetic research — powered by millions of customers who have agreed to contribute — combined with GSK’s expertise in drug discovery and development, gives us the best chance for success.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• To unlock secrets of evolution, scientists want to sequence all life on Earth
• Yale scientists edit genetic diseases out of mice before birth; humans are next
• Scientists have mapped the genome of the most common cancer among younger men
• 8 Amazing CRISPR projects that could change life as we know it
• Did Tidal really fake Kanye and Beyoncé’s streaming numbers?

New Spectre attack lets hackers steal data without having to run local code on PCs

A recent white paper released by researchers at the Graz University of Technology in Austria reveals a new attack called NetSpectre. Unlike the internet-based Spectre attack that requires a hacker to run code locally on the target PC, this version can steal data from the target PC’s memory without running any local code.

The base method of attack is nothing new. It’s based on how a CPU speculates where its current processing path will go. A chunk of its speed stems from how it can think ahead and test different routes (branches) to determine the quickest avenue to completion. While it’s testing these routes, the chip stores data in its local cache in an unprotected way.

Unfortunately, this is a problem that resides in all modern processors. In most cases, data can only be stolen if a hacker has physical access to the target PC to run malicious code. Hackers can also attack PCs remotely by running malicious JavaScript on their websites that you download as browser cache.

But with NetSpectre, there’s nothing to download. Instead, the attacker bombards the network ports of a target PC with malicious code. The good news is that this method takes an extremely long time to extract data from memory due to the noisy environment of the internet. For instance, one method directly targets the CPU’s cache at 15 bits per hour while another method targets a specific module (AVX2) at 60 bits per hour.

Of course, hackers don’t want everything stored in memory: They want the juicy bits. In addition to the slow data leak, they must sift through the garbage to pull out valuable, privileged items. Finding an encryption key in the slow data flow could take days versus accessing the same key by running malicious code locally on the target PC.

According to the paper, the NetSpectre attack consists of two components. The first is a leak gadget that pulls one or multiple bytes of data from memory, although single-bit gadgets are “most versatile.” The second component is the transmit gadget that makes the CPU’s state visible over the network, so the hacker can retrieve the data.

Hackers carry out the attack in four stages. First, they send the leak gadget to “mis-train” the processor’s predictive capability and then reset the environment to enable the encoding of leaked bits. After that, hackers exploit the Spectre Variant 1 vulnerability to leak data and use the transmit gadget to deliver the goods.

“As the network latency varies, the four steps have to be repeated multiple times to eliminate the noise caused by these fluctuations,” the report states. “Typically, the variance in latency follows a certain distribution depending on multiple factors, such as distance, number of hops, network congestion.”

But don’t worry: This isn’t a vulnerability that requires a new patch. Everything released for Meltdown and Spectre should protect your data from this new method. It’s also not in active use, but you should still make sure your PCs are armed with the latest Meltdown and Spectre updates.

Editors’ Recommendations

• How Chrome and other browsers came together to protect you from Spectre
• Google Chrome now consumes more memory due to a new Spectre fix
• You’ll want to perk up when it comes to the new ‘Lazy State’ Intel CPU bug
• Intel reportedly gears up to patch 8 Spectre Next Generation CPU flaws
• The sound of destruction: Malicious video, audio files could attack laptops

New Spectre attack lets hackers steal data without having to run local code on PCs

A recent white paper released by researchers at the Graz University of Technology in Austria reveals a new attack called NetSpectre. Unlike the internet-based Spectre attack that requires a hacker to run code locally on the target PC, this version can steal data from the target PC’s memory without running any local code.

The base method of attack is nothing new. It’s based on how a CPU speculates where its current processing path will go. A chunk of its speed stems from how it can think ahead and test different routes (branches) to determine the quickest avenue to completion. While it’s testing these routes, the chip stores data in its local cache in an unprotected way.

Unfortunately, this is a problem that resides in all modern processors. In most cases, data can only be stolen if a hacker has physical access to the target PC to run malicious code. Hackers can also attack PCs remotely by running malicious JavaScript on their websites that you download as browser cache.

But with NetSpectre, there’s nothing to download. Instead, the attacker bombards the network ports of a target PC with malicious code. The good news is that this method takes an extremely long time to extract data from memory due to the noisy environment of the internet. For instance, one method directly targets the CPU’s cache at 15 bits per hour while another method targets a specific module (AVX2) at 60 bits per hour.

Of course, hackers don’t want everything stored in memory: They want the juicy bits. In addition to the slow data leak, they must sift through the garbage to pull out valuable, privileged items. Finding an encryption key in the slow data flow could take days versus accessing the same key by running malicious code locally on the target PC.

According to the paper, the NetSpectre attack consists of two components. The first is a leak gadget that pulls one or multiple bytes of data from memory, although single-bit gadgets are “most versatile.” The second component is the transmit gadget that makes the CPU’s state visible over the network, so the hacker can retrieve the data.

Hackers carry out the attack in four stages. First, they send the leak gadget to “mis-train” the processor’s predictive capability and then reset the environment to enable the encoding of leaked bits. After that, hackers exploit the Spectre Variant 1 vulnerability to leak data and use the transmit gadget to deliver the goods.

“As the network latency varies, the four steps have to be repeated multiple times to eliminate the noise caused by these fluctuations,” the report states. “Typically, the variance in latency follows a certain distribution depending on multiple factors, such as distance, number of hops, network congestion.”

But don’t worry: This isn’t a vulnerability that requires a new patch. Everything released for Meltdown and Spectre should protect your data from this new method. It’s also not in active use, but you should still make sure your PCs are armed with the latest Meltdown and Spectre updates.

Editors’ Recommendations

• How Chrome and other browsers came together to protect you from Spectre
• Google Chrome now consumes more memory due to a new Spectre fix
• You’ll want to perk up when it comes to the new ‘Lazy State’ Intel CPU bug
• Intel reportedly gears up to patch 8 Spectre Next Generation CPU flaws
• The sound of destruction: Malicious video, audio files could attack laptops

Connect the Dyson Pure Cool Link air purifier to your Wi-Fi for $299 today

Cool off with Dyson.

The Dyson Pure Cool Link Air Purifier is down to $299 on Amazon. This deal is price-matching Best Buy’s Black Friday in July sale. The $299 price is actually even better than Prime Day when the purifier dropped to $349. It’s also $80 better than the last regular deal.

This device is both a fan and an air purifier. It automatically detects your home’s air quality, and adjusts itself as needed to remove allergens and pollutants. You can also control it with your smartphone using the Dyson Link app. There’s even a special mode for nighttime, where this will continue to monitor the air and react when necessary, but at the quietest setting so as not to disturb your sleep. Your purchase is backed by a two-year warranty as well.

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Expand the reach of your network with a $100 Google Wifi router

Sometimes, one is all you need.

Google sells its mesh Wi-Fi system in one and three packs by default, though you can customize the systems to meet the needs of your home pretty easily. The single router normally sells for $129, and the 3-pack has settled down at around $280 recently. We tend to see various discounts on the 3-pack that bring it down to around the $260 mark, but the single unit tends to just sit around full retail price, or just drop by a few bucks. If you don’t have a large home or want to expand your current setup of Google Wifi routers, today’s the day to do it.

Amazon has the single Google Wifi router on sale for $99.99, which is $30 off the regular price. When comparing it to other wireless routers out there feature wise, this price is extremely competitive, except it offers a few things that some other systems won’t. Setting up a Google Wifi system is insanely easy, and everything can be done and managed right from your phone.

Once set up, Google will keep it up to date with OTA firmware updates that sometimes bring new features and enhanced controls to it. Basically, if you’re in the market for a new wireless router, this may be one of the best ways to go. Need a little more information on Google Wifi before you buy one? Check out our full review here and then head over to Amazon to grab one for yourself.

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Spigen Slim Armor CS case for Galaxy S9+ review: A slippery case for your secret stash

This wallet case doesn’t scream “I’ve got money in me”, but it likes to shine and slide around.

Good wallet cases are multitaskers, protecting your phone while keeping your cash and cards nearby. With a phone as big as the Samsung Galaxy S9+, a wallet case isn’t just a single card slot or squeezing some cash between the case and the back of our phone; you can legitimately use is as an ultra-minimalist wallet. Now, every wallet case has a decision to make: does it want to keep its slim figure, or does it want to keep its cards securely stashed away from hungry eyes? Spigen thinks that you should be able to have both, and while it come seriously close with the Slim Armor CS, it can’t quite have its cake and eat it, too.

Spigen Slim Armor CS case for Galaxy S9+

Price: $15.99-$17.99

Bottom line: This dual-layer case is a a twofer that keeps both your phone and your payment methods safe from prying eyes, but it’ll slip through your fingers and off your desk if you’re not careful with it.

The Good

• Wallet has room for two cards plus cash
• Durable hard plastic cover keeps what you’re carrying a secret

The Bad

• Feels bulky like a tank
• Flat, slick back slides across tables and slips out of pockets

See at Amazon

Spigen Slim Armor CS case for Galaxy S9+ What I like

Spigen makes excellent cases, and to its credit, the Slim Armor CS is solid, sturdy, and firm in the hand. It feels a bit like a tank, like it can protect your phone and your cards from anything. The buttons and ports on the Slim Armor CS are as expertly shaped and sculpted, though due to the added bulk of the hard-shell card slot on the back, the fingerprint sensor’s slope changes grades between the hard-plastic and the TPU inner sleeve. The edges of this case are all smooth, and the lip around the front still allows you to use the screen from edge to edge while using the lip on the top and bottom of the screen to keep the glass up off the table when you lay it face down.

The card slot that the CS is named for slides open and shut easily, with room for two cards and a some neatly-folded cash or three cards if you’re not the cash-carrying sort. The TPU sleeve that functions as back wall of the card slot is grippy enough that your cards and cash shouldn’t slide around and click against each other and the plastic in the card slot. And since this case completely covers the card slot, it better hides what valuables you’re carrying and doesn’t offer up the uneven edges and springy bulk wallet pouches perpetually suffer from.

Spigen Slim Armor CS case for Galaxy S9+ What I don’t like

Unfortunately, since the Slim Armor CS completely covers its bounty within its hard plastic shell, the Slim Armor CS really doesn’t do its first name justice. Yes, it feels slimmer than a wallet pouch or a fold-over wallet case, but it still feels like a tank: big and unwieldy, especially in smaller hands like mine. Another downside of the hard-shell card slot is that there’s no wiggle room on what will or won’t fit, so I hope you have digital insurance cards, because you don’t have room for them here. The smooth plastic back can and will slide off tabletops and out of your hands if you aren’t careful, and the card slot dominating the back of the phone discourages the use of Spigen’s new Style Ring Pop or any other phone grip.

My final complaint with the Slim Armor CS’s wallet function is that, while it does slide open and shut easily, there’s no CLICK when you open or shut it, and there’s no bump or readily noticeable tactile feedback when you slide it all the way shut. The two plastic teeth that the card slot cover grips on are shallow, and while I haven’t slid it open by accident that often, I still wonder how quickly that grip will start to weaken when using CS as an everyday wallet.

Spigen Slim Armor CS case for Galaxy S9+

If you’re looking for a case to keep your cards safely hidden during a night on the town, the Spigen Slim Armor CS case for Galaxy S9+ is a durable case that can double as a very minimal wallet and look good doing it. I’d just make sure to keep a tight grip on it, because its smooth back and wallet-hiding bulk make it easier to slip or drop.

3.5
out of 5

At $16 dollars, you can do a whole lot worse for a wallet case that is as well assembled as the nearly seamless Slim Armor CS, and while I wish its card slot was a little more clicky, I trust it with my most important cards, and with my Galaxy S9+. The Slim Armor CS comes in 5 shiny shades to match the various colors of the Galaxy S9+, though the Rose Gold is more suited to the Burgundy Red model than the Sunrise Gold.

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