The 20 best mods for ‘Grand Theft Auto V’

The PC version of Grand Theft Auto V offers many advantages over the console release. Better graphics, improved multiplayer, and support for higher resolutions are among them. Yet all of these pale in comparison to the most important advantage of all: Modifications.

An open-world game like GTA V begs to be modded, and on PC, that’s possible. Naturally, it has led to plenty of insanity that can multiply the game’s fun factor or increase its longevity. Here are the 20 must-have mods every player needs to install.

Script Hook V and Native Trainer

If you’re going to download any mods, download this first. Script Hook V makes the game’s scripts available to others, and so is a requirement for some GTA V mods (often, they’ll bundle the scripthook .dll just to be sure). This mod also gives you access to a feature-rich trainer that can turn you into a virtual god.

Complex Control

Grand Theft Auto V might be the most successful video game of all time, but Epic Games’ Fortnite is the biggest game in the world at the moment, so it only makes sense to combine the two! The “Complex Control” mod is a single-player “royale-lite” that spawns your character in a random location on the game’s enormous map, and you win if you’re able to stay in the last designated zone for four seconds. Though you won’t be able to play an actual battle royale match against other people, the proof-of-concept offered in Complex Control has us hoping for a full-on battle royale mode in the next Grand Theft Auto game.

HD Universe Carl Johnson

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is one of the best games available on the PlayStation 2, and protagonist Carl Johnson, or “C.J.,” is a large part of its appeal. Since Grand Theft Auto V takes place in the same general area, the “HD Universe Carl Johnson” mod essentially allows you to take the open-world experience from San Andreas and bring it into the current generation. You’re free to customize his hairdo just like you could in the original game, and meticulous work has been done to the tattoos on his arms and chest.

Super Mario Plumbers

“It’s a-me, get out of the car before I shoot you!” No one should be surprised that Mario and his pals made their way into Grand Theft Auto V, but we’re still impressed by what “Super Mario Plumbers” offers. Complete with classic Super Mario Bros. sound effects, you’re free to explore Los Santos as the classic mustachioed plumber, beat up random pedestrians, speed along the streets, and get into far more trouble than the Mushroom Kingdom would ever allow. If you get sick of Mario, the mod also includes other favorites like Luigi, Wario, and — of course — Waluigi.

Iron Man Mark 50

If the rocket launchers, planes, and explosives already available in Grand Theft Auto V aren’t enough for you, consider installing “Iron Man Mark 50.” Based on the suit Tony Stark wears in Avengers: Infinity War, it includes enormous wings on the back and transforms you into a walking weapon, capable of hovering in the air while you blast away at oncoming traffic with missiles. We’re not sure if you’ll survive the wrath of Thanos if you happen to run into him on the streets of Los Santos, but you’ll be able to cause quite a bit of chaos beforehand.

Psychokinetic

Ever since the film Chronicle released, we’ve wanted to control objects with our minds, and the “Psychokinectic” mod turns you into a terrifying being with telekinetic abilities. With the mod installed, you’re free to float throughout the city, pick up dozens of cars or people, and send them flying without worrying about whether or not anyone survives or explodes. Dropping trucks into crowded parking lots can result in some huge explosions, and if you run out of vehicles to throw, you can just send fireballs hurling down at your “enemies” instead.

Marlowe Valley Safehouse

This mod turns Marlowe Valley into a luxurious safehouse that also happens to have an airport and adjacent runway. With garages — including a tuning garage — and parking spaces to store more than 50 cars, Marlowe Valley becomes a hideout fit for a high roller. There’s even a military bunker, apartment, and a garden area designed for festivities. You’ll need the Menyoo mod to make it work.

Liberty City

The Liberty City mod turns the world of GTA V into GTA IV, resetting the game map as Grand Theft Auto IV’s Liberty City. The mod is currently in Alpha, and thus has some kinks that need to be worked out. It’s an interesting experiment that is certainly worth checking out for those interested in returning to the iconic Liberty City. There’s also a different Liberty City mod on the horizon to look out for.

World Improvement

GTA V already looks phenomenal, and even functions as somewhat of a moving portrait when you aren’t around, but this mod boosts the realism. It focuses on small details, like additional trees in places like Rockford Hills. It also adds new characters, and AI routines, such as police searches through Paleto Forest and car crashes around Los Santos. The best part about this mod? It receives new updates to introduce tiny — but profound — details regularly, so Los Santos will evolve, just like a real city would.

Superhot

The Superhot mod transplants Superhot’s innovative time-stopping mechanics into GTA V. When you stop moving, time stands still. While it seems like an odd choice for an open-world game like GTA V, the Superhot mod feels right at home when in close quarters combat. When back in the long game, you can toggle the mod off with the press of a button and resume normal play.

GTA RPG

GTA V has a rich, open-world narrative, but it remains relatively linear throughout. The GTA V RPG mod adds a non-linear story and skill progression system that makes it feel closer to Fallout than Grand Theft Auto. For starters, you can choose between three character classes. As you progress through missions using the mod’s quest system, you use skill trees to upgrade your character and weapons. There’s even dialogue trees with NPCs, and randomly-generated loot and items.

The Red House

If you find that replaying single player missions is growing stale, The Red House mod features an abundance of new content to stave off boredom. The mod adds more than 20 missions to the game, including a new heist. Some missions even include NPC bodyguards that assist you in your endeavors. An update, called the “Blue House,” added a set of stealth-oriented missions to the mod. All in all, the mission variety is solid, and well worth your time.

Open All Interiors

Are you tired of not being able to enter the Sandy Shores sheriff department, or any other locked building? The Open All Interiors mod gives you full range of access to those previously off-limits places. What’s most remarkable part is that the mod repopulates all these spaces, even the ones which were removed before launch and never meant to be seen.

Map Editor

Your wish is your command with this GTA V map editor. With the use of a free-roaming cam, you can easily place cars, ramps, and even animals throughout Los Santos, then hop in and play with your experiments. It’s a robust tool with a myriad of options, but best of all, it’s intuitive and simple to use.

Endeavor Menu

The Endeavor mod gives you a well-designed debug menu, with the power to summon any asset from the game whenever you want, turning Los Santos into your personal playground. Toggle it on and you can easily make any vehicle, gun, or item materialize in front of your eyes. You can also elevate your character to max stats, and remove police officers from the game. There are some zany aspects of it, too, like granting you the ability to drive across water, or the power to shoot bags of cash from your gun.

Pedestrian Riot

GTA: San Andreas had a cheat that made pedestrians go bonkers. It was hilarious to watch. Predictably, an intrepid modder has gone out of his way to re-create that experience. With the flip of a switch you can send everyone into insanity, creating chaos wherever you go. The mod gives them weapons, too, so be careful!

Field-of-view mod

For the first time ever in the series, GTA V offers a first-person mode. Far from a tack-on, Rockstar put a lot of effort into making it work just like a real first-person shooter. One thing they missed, though, is dynamic field-of-view adjustment. The default FOV is a bit narrow, which makes some players feel claustrophobic, and others motion sick. With this mod you can change the FOV to whatever setting is comfortable for you.

Bodyguard Menu

Why go it alone, when you can have a team backing you up? This mod can spawn a variety of NPCs who will follow you around and assist you in whatever you’re doing. You can command them to do your bidding, or just stand around in formation looking tough. Up to seven bodyguards will follow you, but you can still spawn more after that. Creating an army just after you rouse up a 4-star police rating can be a literal riot.

Police Mod

Why does Grand Theft Auto assume you want to be a criminal? With this mod you can act as the long arm of the law. It lets you skin yourself as a cop, spawn a partner, choose a police vehicle, and listen to a police scanner. You can’t pull over vehicles or go on missions just yet. Hopefully that will be possible in future versions.

Heist Vehicles Spawn Naturally

Heists are a popular feature in GTA V’s online mode. Many of them include unique vehicles. But what if you’re not interested in online play, and still want to use the vehicles? This mod lets you do just that. It doesn’t just give them to you off the bat, though; they spawn in certain areas for you to discover. Or if you just want to jump in, you can view the modder’s list of locations.

Updated on 7-10-2018 by Gabe Gurwin: Added five new mods

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Money-laundering ‘Bitcoin Maven’ receives one-year prison sentence

A federal judge sentenced Theresa Tetley, also known as the “Bitcoin Maven,” to one year in federal prison for operating an illegal money business. Federal prosecutors charged the former stockbroker with operating an unregistered money transmission business and laundering Bitcoin in at least one case that comes from proceeds from narcotics activity.

As part of her sentence, U.S. District Judge Manual Real also ordered Tetley to forfeit 40 Bitcoins — worth approximately $270,000 — along with nearly $300,000 in cash and 25 gold bars. Federal authorities were already in possession of those assets after they had seized them last year as part of the investigation.

The former stockbroker made more than $300,000 each year as a result of trading Bitcoin, court documents revealed, by running a Bitcoin-for-cash exchange service. However, Tetley did not register her business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and she also did not implement any mechanism to prevent money laundering. Tetley promoted her business on localbitcoins.com, and the government alleged that she had exchanged between $6 million to $9.5 million for customers, charging higher rates than competitors who were registered with FinCEN.

“As a result of operating this unregistered business, Tetley facilitated laundering for one individual who is suspected of receiving Bitcoin from unlawful activity, such as sales of drugs on the dark web,” the government said in a case that was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Puneet Kakkar of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Section. “In the course of her business, Tetley also conducted an exchange of Bitcoin-for-cash for an undercover agent who represented that his Bitcoin were the proceeds of narcotics trafficking.”

Tetley was arrested following a March 2017 sting operation where a Drug Enforcement Agency officer had approached Tetley posing as a drug dealer. In that instance, Tetley had agreed to exchange the agent’s Bitcoin, which was represented to come from trafficking drugs, for $300,000 in cash that delivered in two Trader Joe’s paper shopping bags. The government also alleged that Tetley exchanged more than $6 million for William Farber, a man that was charged last year for running a drug ring, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Justice Department argued that Tetley should be sentenced to a longer term because she had knowledge that the funds came from illegal means. During her sentencing, Tetley asked for leniency, NBC Los Angeles reported. “But I screwed up epically,” she told the court. “It quickly became a business — and I broke all sorts of laws. I have learned my lessons.”

Even though the case against Tetley is said to be the first of its kind in the Central District of California, there have been similar cases in other parts of the country.

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Want to file a formal complaint with the FCC? That’ll be $225, please

On Thursday, July 12, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote on a new rule that may make it more difficult for consumers to file complaints and get their grievances resolved against an offending telephone, internet service, or cable provider. Critics argued that the new rule, if approved by the commissioners, goes contrary to the purpose of the FCC to regulate communications and hear complaints when they arise.

The commissioners will vote on new changes to how informal and formal complaints are handled. Under the new rule, informal complaints filed with the agency will be sent back to the original company to handle. Many argue that consumers often file a complaint with the FCC as a last resort because they couldn’t get a satisfactory resolution with the offending company, and sending the complaint back to the original company without any intervention essentially removes the FCC from the equation.

If a consumer could not get the issue resolved by filing an informal complaint, they could also escalate the issue by filing a formal complaint. Under the new rule, there will be a $225 filing fee for the commissioners to consider the formal complaint. The agency argues that the fee will help it streamline complaints, but the new rule may make it cost prohibitive for some to file a formal complaint in order to get their issue quickly resolved.

The new rule would also free the agency from having to read public comments. While the agency was required to read the more than 20 million comments last December when it rolled back net neutrality rules, under the new rules, the commissioners would not have to read through public comments at all, TechSpot reported.

Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Congressmen Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Frank Pallone, D-N.J., from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce wrote a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to reconsider the vote. The congressmen noted that the FCC’s role is to ensure that consumers receive fair and honest treatment from their service providers.

“Creating a rule that directs FCC staff to simply pass consumers’ informal complaints on to the company and then to advise consumers that they file a $225 formal complaint if not satisfied ignores the core mission of the FCC — working in the public interest,” the letter stated. “We worry that the proposed change signals that the FCC no longer intends to play this role, and will instead simply tell consumers with limited means and time that they need to start an expensive and complicated legal process. Such an outcome is neither compelled by statue nor a wise public policy decision.”

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AT&T makes deal to sell the Magic Leap One Creator Edition AR headset in U.S.

AT&T signed a deal to be the exclusive wireless distributor of Magic Leap’s products in the United States. First up to bat will be the Magic Leap One Creator Edition headset that will be sold in select stores in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. AT&T will add additional markets at a later date.

“We’re designing and offering the future of entertainment and connectivity, and this exclusive arrangement — in combination with our 5G leadership position — will open up new opportunities and experiences,” AT&T CEO John Donovan said in a statement.

Magic Leap One is a lightweight augmented reality headset that throws digital objects into your view of the real world. The device includes cameras for full-room tracking and spatial awareness, meaning it can detect objects such as chairs, boxes, bushes, and so on. The camera can also record video, which lights a red LED while recording.

Unfortunately, we don’t know the hardware powering the upcoming AR headset, but a livestream demonstration on Twitch in June gives us a better look at what’s to come. For starters, the headset won’t support prescription glasses. Instead, you’ll need to purchase subscription lenses that you manually insert into the device … or wear contact lenses.

Even more, Magic Leap One is designed for indoor use only. Attached to the headset will be a hockey puck-style miniature PC, aka the Light Pack, that clips onto your pocket: It doesn’t support clipping onto a belt. Moreover, despite its size, you can’t slip it into your pocket because it’s a miniature computer that requires ventilation. Shoving it into your pocket will overheat the device.

On a connectivity front, the Light Pack will include a Wi-Fi connection for networking, Bluetooth for peripherals, a USB-C port, and a headphone jack. The headset will provide audio “holes” rather than built-in headphones to generate “sound fields” (3D spatial audio?). The headset itself will ship in two sizes.

Bundled with the headset and Light Pack will be several swappable brow and nose pieces to better fit your face. Also included are a controller supporting six-degree-of-freedom while providing trigger and bumper buttons on the bottom, a single button on the top that may serve as a “home” button, and a touchpad sporting glowing LED markers.

To make the augmented reality aspect come alive, the headset relies on the company’s proprietary digital light-field photonics.

“Our light-field photonics generate digital light at different depths and blend seamlessly with natural light to produce lifelike digital objects that coexist in the real world,” the company says. “This advanced technology allows our brain to naturally process digital objects the same way we do real-world objects, making it comfortable to use for long periods of time.”

Right now, Magic Leap is only serving up a Creator Edition model for developers. Both the price and release date are unknown, but at least now we know who will distribute the headset in North America. AT&T’s involvement indicates  Magic Leap One Creator Edition will have cellular connectivity and access to AT&T’s “content platform.”

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Best Google Wifi Mounts in 2018

Whether you live in a house or an apartment, there are plenty of options for mounting your Google Wifi!

The Google Wifi isn’t a bad looking router (or three) on its own, and it’s pretty easy to stick it anywhere in your house without offending anyone. However, every home is different and you might want something a little more elegant and organized than just plonking a node down on a window sill.

Thanks to its popularity and the fact it’s a pretty simple shape, there are plenty of options out there for mounting the Google Wifi to a wall or even a ceiling. None are very expensive and there’s something out there to suit all tastes.

Here, we’ve rounded up the best of the bunch.

• Wall Mount Holder for Google Wifi System by Koroao
• Mount Genie The Spot
• Echogear Outlet Shelf
• Deeroll Wall Mount
• OkeMeeo Google WiFi Wall Mount
• LykusSource Wall Mount
• Anco Precision Wall Mount for Google WiFi
• HumanCentric Google WiFi Mount

Wall Mount Holder for Google Wifi System by Koroao

This mount from Koroao is good for both walls and ceilings, and completely hides the base and cables of the Google Wifi. It attaches using two screws and has silicon pads on the rear to help keep a slip-free fit.

There’s a little notch on the mount just large enough to feed the power cable and Ethernet cable through. It’s all plastic, all white like the Google Wifi and only costs $13. Or you can get a two pack for $19 and a three pack for $26, which is excellent considering you likely don’t just have a single Google Wifi.

See at Amazon

Mount Genie The Spot

If you just want to mount your Google Wifi close to a wall outlet or you want to hide the cables easily, The Spot is the mount for you. It’s a mount with an additional bracket which will rest around the plug of your Google Wifi, supporting the unit below the socket powering it.

The Google Wifi just drops in, but the neat thing about this mount is that the rear of it has enough space to coil up the excess power cable completely out of sight. So you end up with a really neat and tidy setup.

But, if you need the network cable, there’s still a cutout on the bottom to feed that through. And it costs less than $10, which makes it a great value as well.

See at Amazon

Echogear Outlet Shelf

This isn’t just a mount for your Google Wifi, but it’ll do a great job of it anyway. The Echogear Outlet Shelf is designed to hold anything up to 10lbs in weight, which can include a Google Home or Amazon Echo, even a Sonos One, or, keeping with the theme, your Google Wifi nodes.

It’s a simple plastic shelf that fits around a wall outlet and has cable routing built in to keep everything tidy.

It’s a novel way to keep cable mess under control, and the most technical thing you’ll need to do is remove the existing wall plate around your outlet. A great little mount for $15.

See at Amazon

Deeroll Wall Mount

The most simple and minimalist mount in the list, this wall mount from Deeroll is a semi-circle that screws to the wall and you just sort of drop the Google Wifi in on its side.

The plastic used to make it is a similar material and a perfect color match to the Google Wifi, and from the front, it almost disappears entirely. Despite this, there’s enough space at the back to wind the excess power cable around and keep it all looking neat.

A single mount costs just $9, but if you need more, you can get a three pack for $24 and save a little bit over buying them individually.

See at Amazon

OkeMeeo Google Wifi Wall Mount

If you want a super clean wall setup, OkeMeeo has you covered. Its mount works on walls or ceilings and allows you to route the power and Ethernet cables. It mounts with one screw, and you can remove the Google WiFi without taking the mount down if you need to do so. There are also four silicon pads on the back side so your wall and ceiling don’t get scratched up. This isn’t a complete in-wall solution, but it’s a nice middle ground for both homeowners and apartment dwellers.

OkeMeeo’s Google Wifi Wall Mount is available in a single pack for $12, and a three-pack for $23.

See at Amazon

LykusSource Wall Mount

Another in-between mount is from LykusSource. Its wall mount attaches to the wall with four small screws, and it has built-in cable management for the power supply. This is strictly a wall mount since it’s basically a small shelf, so look elsewhere if you want something for the ceiling. You still get easy access to the Ethernet ports if you need them, and you can clearly see the status light to figure out why your Wi-Fi isn’t working.

LykusSource’s Wall Mount is available in a single pack for $8.50, a two-pack for $15, and a three-pack for $21.

See at Amazon

Anco Precision Wall Mount

One more mount that’s strictly for walls is from Anco. Rather than a shelf, this is more of a cradle for the router. You can leave the cables loose, run them behind the walls or invest in a cable channel. You have easy access to all the ports at the bottom, so you can still plug your laptop into Ethernet if need be. Once the router is mounted, it’s just a white dot on your wall. Since the router is in plain view, you won’t have any reception problems with any of your devices.

Arco’s Precision Wall Mount is available in a single pack for $9, a two-pack for $15 and a three-pack for $20.

See at Amazon

HumanCentric Google WiFi Wall Mount

If you want something really custom, HumanCentric has the mount for you. You’ll need to route your power and Ethernet cables behind the wall for this mount, so it’s not for apartment dwellers. This will work on either walls or ceilings, so feel free to mount it wherever you get the best reception. It includes washers, screws, drywall mounts, and everything else you’ll need to mount it — minus a drill — so no need to make a trip to the hardware store. Once it’s mounted, it’s mounted — no taking the Google WiFi out without the mount.

HumanCentric’s Google WiFi Wall Mount is available in a single pack for $10.

See at Amazon

Updated July 2018: This article was updated to include awesome new mounts like the Anco Precision, HumanCentric, OkeMeeo and LykusSource mounts. We also updated the prices of existing mounts.

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Get your next three months of Audible for just $5 each with this early Prime Day deal

You’ll want to hear this.

Amazon is offering Prime members an exclusive discount on their next three months of Audible. New subscribers (as well as those who re-activate) can save 66%, dropping the cost to just $4.95 per month. Normally, this subscription costs $14.95 a month, and that’s what Amazon will bill after the first three months are over, so if you don’t want to continue your subscription you’ll want to be sure to cancel it before that time comes.

In order to take advantage of this promotion, you do need to be a Prime member. If you aren’t currently a member, you can get a free 30-day trial to be able to take advantage of this and other early Prime Day deals right now, and have all the other benefits like free 2-day shipping and more on the big day.

You’ll be billed monthly for the service, so if you decide during the first month that it isn’t for you, you can cancel your subscription immediately after only having paid $5. You’ll get one credit each month, which is each good for any audiobook on Audible regardless of its price. You’ll also get access to podcasts and other audio programs ad-free.

Additional audiobooks beyond the credits you receive are discounted by as much as 30%. If you want, you can swap books out for no extra charge, and if you cancel your subscription, you get to keep any books you’ve already collected forever.

Audible makes listening easy, as you can download the app on a range of devices, from Amazon Kindles to smartphones and more, and even your Sonos speakers.

Other early Prime Day deals are available right now too, like the Echo Show on sale for $130. For more info on the special event, check out our Prime Day hub and sign up for our Prime Day newsletter to stay on top of all the latest news, leaks, and deals.

See at Amazon

Where to buy the BlackBerry KEY2

Your guide for picking up the KEY2 in the U.S. and Canada.

The BlackBerry KEY2 isn’t a smartphone for everyone, but for fans of the BlackBerry brand or those that just want to have their physical keyboard back, it’s the go-to choice if you’re buying a new phone in 2018.

If you live in the U.S. or Canada and are interested in getting a KEY2 for yourself, we’ve put together a guide of where exactly you can pick up the phone. We’ll continuously update this as more info becomes available, but for now, let’s jump right into it.

United States

The KEY2 hasn’t been announced for any carriers, but BlackBerry is making it available unlocked through multiple channels. It’s up for pre-order now and will be followed by full sales on July 13. The U.S. unlocked KEY2 is designed for use on T-Mobile and AT&T, as well as their prepaid subsidiaries — so no, there isn’t support for Verizon or Sprint here.

Amazon

Amazon is charging $649 for the unlocked KEY2, in either silver or black. If you want to finance your purchase, Amazon offers 12-month no-interest payments for purchases over $599.

See at Amazon

Best Buy

If you prefer to buy from Best Buy, you can get either color of the KEY2 from BestBuy.com for the same $649 price. Best Buy hasn’t committed to having the KEY2 in stores, at least at the start, but there is 12-month no-interest financing for purchases of $399 or more.

See at Best Buy

Canada

Bell

The first Canadian carrier on our list, Bell, is selling the KEY2 for as little as $99.99 CAD if you purchase it on a 2-year term with at least 1GB of data on your account and a minimum of $80/month per user.

Alternatively, you can pay $299.99 with a 2-year term and 1GB of data with a minimum of $70/month per user or shell out $874.99 with no term requirement.

See at Bell

Rogers

Rogers is also carrying the BlackBerry KEY2, and if you purchase the phone with a 2-year Premium+ Tab, you’ll only pay $95 upfront.

The upfront costs increases as you choose less expensive monthly rates, and should you decide to buy the KEY2 outright from Rogers, you’ll be spending $799.

See at Rogers

SaskTel

Moving over to SaskTel, you can pick up the KEY2 for as little as $99.99 + $10/month with Plus Pricing when you purchase the phone on a 2-year Plus Pricing Voice and Data plan.

The price goes up to $299.99 when you get the KEY2 with a regular 2-year Voice and Data plan, if you decide to go monthly, prepaid, or buy the phone without any sort of plan, you’ll have to hand over $799.99.

To help offset that cost, SaskTel is offering a $150 credit + the trade-in value of your phone when you trade in your old handset and buy the KEY2. This promotion is valid through July 31, so be sure to take advantage of it sooner rather than later!

See at SaskTel

TELUS

In regards to TELUS, pricing for the KEY2 starts at $100 upfront and then $105/month when purchased with a 2-year plan. If you want a cheaper monthly rate, you can also spend $300 and then $95/month.

However, if paying month-to-month for a phone isn’t for you, TELUS will sell you the KEY2 on its own if you hand over $870.

See at TELUS

Unlocked

If you’re not about that carrier life and prefer buying your phones unlocked, you have several good options in Canada

Pre-orders are live now for a carrier unlocked version of the KEY2 from Walmart and it’ll later be available at Amazon, Best Buy, Staples, Blueshop, and Visions.

No matter which retailer you decide to buy from, the unlocked KEY2 is going to cost you $829 CAD.

See at Amazon

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Updated July 11, 2018: Updated availability info for Canada now that the KEY2’s been released.

Best Amazon Prime Day Phone Deals

Stop buying from your carrier.

Unlocked smartphones have become far more popular in the past few years, and if you are looking to treat yourself to a new one, Prime Day may be just the time to do it. We have already begun seeing a bunch of deals hit, and there will be some good phone deals to come as well.

BlackBerry

The BlackBerry KEYone has dropped $100 ahead of Prime Day, bringing it down to $399.99. There is both a GSM and CDMA variant of this phone, so you’ll want to make sure you buy the correct one for the carrier you’re on. The KEYone features a full QWERTY keyboard, 4.5-inch display, Snapdragon 625 processor, 32GB of internal storage and 3GB of RAM. It has a 12MP camera on the rear and a microSD card slot to expand the storage if needed.

See at Amazon

Huawei

Huawei will have a pair of devices available during Prime Day at up to $300 off their regular retail prices. The biggest price drop will be on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, which will be available for $499.99. It originally lists for $800 and has only dropped as low as $550 in the past. It features a 6-inch 18:9 display, massive 4000mAh battery, 128GB of internal storage, 6GB of RAM, and a wonderful dual-camera setup on the back.

See at Amazon

If you’re looking to spend a little less, the Huawei Mate SE may be the choice for you. It normally sells for $250, but for a limited time, it will drop to $219.99. This is the lowest we’ve seen this device drop in price since its debut in March. The Mate SE has a 5.93-inch 18:9 display, a 3340mAh battery, 64GB of internal storage, 4GB of RAM and a 16MP main rear camera. There’s also a 2MP rear camera to complete the dual-camera setup, and you can add a microSD card if you need more storage.

See at Amazon

Prime-exclusive phones

Amazon hasn’t yet revealed the exact savings, but based on previous Prime Day events, it’s safe to assume Amazon will be offering some type of discount on various devices in the lineup. This year alone the assortment has expanded big time and Amazon removed the lock screen ads in favor of some pre-installed apps. Be sure to check out the full lineup of Prime-exclusive devices if you want a great device and don’t mind a few extra apps being installed on it to save some money.

See at Amazon

Other deals

As we get closer to Prime Day there will be more deals available. we will be updating this page with more deals as they become available, so be sure to bookmark this page to keep an eye on.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!

Here’s everything we know about the Galaxy Note 9!

Now more than ever, Samsung’s Galaxy S+ phones are becoming eerily similar to the Note series. The Note used to be Samsung’s way of touting all of the latest and greatest tech it had to offer, and while this is still the case, the same can be said for this year’s Galaxy S9+.

Samsung needs more than just the S Pen to make the Note 9 stand out from its own phones and the rest of the competition, and luckily, all signs are pointing to something exciting for this year’s release. Here’s what we know so far!

July 11, 2018 — Official render confirms the front of the Note 9’s design

There’s been no shortage of Note 9 renders over the last few weeks, and the latest comes by way of AndroidHeadlines.

The image shown above was obtained by the site and is said to be “an official render of the Galaxy Note 9.”

As we’ve seen from past images, the Note 9 is going to look a lot like the Note 8. There’s a large Infinity Display taking up the majority of the front, with the top area being home to the front-facing camera, iris scanning system, ambient light sensor, etc. Also similar is the power/lock button on the right with the left side being home to a volume rocker and dedicated Bixby button.

June 29, 2018 — Note 9 hands-on hints at 2-day battery life, up to 8GB RAM, and more

Eldar Murtazin has built a name for himself as one of the top dogs in the mobile industry, and after going hands-on with a Note 9 prototype recently, he shared some highlights about what we can expect from the phone.

Murtazin notes that the Note 9 is quite a bit heavier than the Note 8, and while the exact battery capacity isn’t mentioned, he says that he was able to get around 23 to 25 hours of video playback at max brightness before needing to charge up and aroudn 1-2 days of regular use.

RAM and storage will start out at 6GB and 128GB, respectively, but Samsung will also offer 8GB + 256GB and 8GB + 512GB variants. The display is also said to be more visible in direct sunlight and comes with an upgraded Always On Display (though this could be pushed back to the Galaxy S10 if it’s not ready in time).

As for the S Pen, Murtazin reports that it’ll support Bluetooth connectivity, new work modes, and will be able to remotely unlock the Note 9.

What will the Galaxy Note 9 look like?

Quick answer — a lot like the Note 8.

We’ve seen one collection of renders for the Note 9 so far (pictured above), and save for the fingerprint sensor being moved below the rear camera sensor, the phone’s shaping up to be nearly identical to last year’s model.

As such, we can expect a large Infinity Display with slim bezels, an all-glass back, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Samsung’s event teaser suggests that we’ll get at least one bright yellow color option, but I’m still crossing my fingers the Galaxy S9’s Burgundy Red gets a wide release on the Note 9 🤞.

What specs can we look forward to?

Samsung’s Galaxy Note phones are always home to some of the best specs around, and the Note 9 shouldn’t be any different.

Based on the current rumor mill and what we’ve seen from other 2018 flagships, here’s what we think we’ll see this year.

When will the Galaxy Note 9 be released?

The Galaxy Note 9 will be announced on August 9, 2018, at an Unpacked event in New York City.

We can expect retail availability to come in a 1-2 week time frame after the announcement, if any previous launches are any indication.

How much will the Galaxy Note 9 cost?

Pricing for the Note series has steadily been going up each year, as has the majority of the smartphone industry.

The Galaxy Note 8 costs $950 unlocked, and I’d expect the Note 9 to cost either the same or slightly more. Apple proved with the iPhone X that people aren’t afraid to shell out $1000+ for a new smartphone, and I don’t consider it to be out of the question for Samsung to follow suit with the Note 9 – especially if it adopts newer technologies like an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+: Everything you need to know!

Samsung Galaxy Note 9

• Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!
• Is it best to buy the Galaxy S9 or wait for the Note 9?
• Do you plan on upgrading to the Note 9?
• Galaxy Note 8 review
• Join our Galaxy Note 9 forums

Updated: June 29, 2018: Updated the spec sheet to coincide with latest rumors.

CordCutters.com is giving away an Amazon Fire TV Cube!

Heads up, folks! Our pals at CordCutters.com are giving away an Amazon Fire TV Cube. Because it’s Wednesday, and because they can.

What’s a Fire TV Cube, you ask? It’s part Fire TV, part Echo Dot, and a whole lot of awesomeness. (Read their full Fire TV Cube review here.)

Still need more? You hit up their contest page at this link, or just enter below. Good luck!

Enter to win!

THE PRIZE: One reader will receive an Amazon Fire TV Cube!

THE GIVEAWAY: Use the widget at the bottom of this page. There are multiple ways to enter, each with varying point values. Complete all of the tasks for maximum entries and your best shot at winning! Keep in mind that all winning entries are verified and if the task was not completed or cannot be verified, a new winner will be chosen. Service is not included with the prize and we don’t guarantee this will work outside of the US due to Amazon restrictions. International winners are responsible for any customs fees incurred during shipping.

The giveaway is open through July 23, 2018, and the winner will be announced right here shortly after the closing date. Good luck!

Win an Amazon Fire TV Cube from CordCutters!

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