A number of companies, from Amazon to Google, offer smart glasses or have them in the works. But the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are still one of the top options in this competitive market. 

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is less than a month away from being unveiled at Samsung’s next Unpacked event. At this stage, we know almost every major detail about the phone and even final details like pricing are finally starting to trickle in. Earlier this month, a report from prolific tipster OnLeaks suggested that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 will be more expensive than its predecessor, increasing its pricing by $100 for all configurations in the United States. Now we have learned Samsung may be raising prices in more regions than just the states, as corroborated by a new discovery from SamInsider.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 has been discovered in a European database with pricing listed for both models. Samsung has been slowly raising prices for years, so we aren’t too surprised to see that the Flip 6 will cost more in multiple markets. The 256GB version will reportedly cost €1,339.99, while the 512GB model is listed at €1,466.99. That’s an increase of €140 and €148 respectively (roughly $150). On paper, this seems like a bigger increase than you’d pay in the US, but it’s important to remember that Europe includes taxes in the pricing, whereas the United States does not. After adjusting for taxes and currency conversions, the gap might still remain, but it’s relatively small.

Galaxy devices offer plenty of privacy and security features, such as Auto Blocker, Samsung Pass, Private Share, and more. That list could soon get a little longer with the addition of a new way to lock your apps.

First spotted by Tarun Vats on X (formerly Twitter), it appears the upcoming One UI 7 update could introduce a built-in app locking feature. According to the screenshot, the feature would matter of factly be called App Lock.

With iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, Apple is integrating ChatGPT into its latest devices. While the company has developed its own Apple Intelligence features, users will get to rely on OpenAI’s smarts when the first-party ones are insufficient. However, Apple won’t stop there; it’s reportedly considering more AI partnerships with companies like Meta, Perplexity, and Anthropic.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple has been discussing potential AI partnerships with Meta, Perplexity, and Anthropic. Additionally, the firm is trying to find an OpenAI alternative for its China-based users, as ChatGPT is banned there. If any of these potential partnerships materialize, iOS 18 users could have more AI provider options — beyond ChatGPT and Apple’s own model.

Samsung is gearing up for the second big Galaxy Unpacked event of the year, where it will likely unveil its next-gen foldables, tablets, and wearables. Although the company has yet to announce the event, a retailer has accidentally confirmed that it will take place on July 10, 2024.

According to a recent report from Tweakers (via Sammobile), Dutch retailer mobiel.nl updated its website with a new banner earlier today, confirming that Samsung will host its next Galaxy Unpacked event on July 10. The banner includes a graphic that alludes to the upcoming foldables and features the stars from the Galaxy AI logo, suggesting that the company could announce new AI features at the event.

OnePlus has just launched the Nord CE 4 Lite in global markets, but one major difference between the European model and other variants is the battery capacity. Other models, such as the Indian device, have a 5,500mAh battery, but the European variant brings a 5,110mAh battery instead.

Now, OnePlus has explained this disparity in an emailed statement, and it turns out that European regulations are to blame:

OnePlus is known for its impressive flagships and foldables, but it also makes some pretty good budget Android phones. The company is refreshing its budget phone lineup with the launch of the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite 5G, packing in an even bigger battery and faster charging than before. Previous devices, like the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite, have entered the US market as the OnePlus Nord N30. While we don’t know of such rebranding plans for the Nord CE 4 Lite, it’s still a device worth looking at.

The processor on the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695, which was also used on the CE 3 Lite and even the CE 2 Lite. Qualcomm itself has rebranded the Snapdragon 695 into the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3, so there is nothing fundamentally flawed here by OnePlus. A newer SoC (one that is not merely a rebrand) would have been better, but that would have messed around with the pricing and value proposition. Customers looking for more performance can climb higher up OnePlus’s product lineup to devices like the Nord CE 4 and even the main Nord series.

Earlier this year, Apple rolled out an iOS update with EU-exclusive features to comply with the DMA. These include support for third-party app stores and allowing developers to reference in-app digital services that users can buy from external websites. Now that the EU Commission has investigated some of Apple’s changes, its preliminary findings indicate that the iPhone maker has breached the DMA.

The EU Commission announced today that Apple’s new iPhone rules continue to prevent developers from steering users to external websites, which violates its DMA. For reference, Apple now allows app developers to link to digital purchases beyond its own IAP system. However, the company still restricts how developers implement the links in their apps, such as prohibiting them from listing their pricing.

Should you buy the Otterbox Commuter for the Pixel 8a?

Google already offers Gemini to teenagers using their personal accounts, but teens weren’t able to use the chatbot with their educational accounts.

Now, Google has announced that Gemini is coming to teenagers via their school-issued accounts in the “coming months.” The company added that this option will be available in English in over 100 countries.

After debuting the Blackmagic Camera app on iOS last year, Blackmagic Design has finally brought its highly acclaimed professional video camera app to Android. The free app features complete manual controls to help you capture cinematic videos and packs a ton of useful features.

In a press release highlighting the launch, Blackmagic Design says the app is based on the same “operating system” as the company’s digital film cameras and gives Android users access to a wide range of professional tools. The app has a feature-rich HUD with quick access to important controls, along with status and record parameters, a histogram, focus peaking, levels, and frame guides.

There’s no shortage of concerns about Google’s ethics, ranging from its privacy issues to YouTube’s promotion of toxic videos. However, it looks like Google might be barring Gemini on mobile from answering questions about its parent company’s ethics.

Athenil noticed that Gemini on mobile abruptly changed its answer when asked whether Google had done anything unethical. We were able to reproduce this on our own phone — check out our video below.

Apple has been gradually boosting its latest iPhones and iPads by introducing fresh power-user features with every annual OS update, and this year is no different. The first betas of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 pack a new functionality that allows testers to reformat external drives when erasing them.

The ability to erase connected external drives using the Files app on iPhones and iPads has existed for a while. As Kaleb Cadle discovered, though, iOS and iPadOS 18 upgrade this feature by allowing users to pick between three formats instead of being limited to a default one.

Sleep timers are a common feature on podcast and music streaming apps, letting you specify when playback stops. This is handy for bedtime, as the name implies, automatically stopping playback after you’ve fallen asleep. YouTube lacks this feature, but our teardown reveals that the option is in the works.

Android app expert AssembleDebug, in conjunction with Android Authority, dug into a beta version of the YouTube app for Android (version 19.25.33). We discovered references to sleep timer functionality — check them out below.

The Pixel 8a is one of the best cheap Android phones available, borrowing plenty of the best features from its flagship counterparts. An updated processor, the continuous addition of AI smarts, an impressive camera, and a seven-year software commitment make this sub-$500 phone a solid buy. Of course, there have been some compromises along the way, and like any new release, Google’s mid-range offering is not without its issues. We take a look at some common Pixel 8a problems and potential solutions on how to fix them!

Mint Mobile prides itself on offering cheap phone plans for as little as $15 a month, making it a great deal for someone looking to save money on their phone bill.  In 2023 the carrier widened its target to families as well. Is the Mint Mobile family plan worth it? Let’s dive right in and discuss.

What is included in the Mint Mobile family plan?

Like all of Mint’s plans, the Mint Mobile family plan runs on the T-Mobile network and is paid at least three months in advance.

Several companies have offered augmented reality (AR) glasses in recent years, featuring a display, smart features, or other tricks. It now sounds like Apple is stepping up its efforts to enter this segment, but we could be in for an extremely long wait.

Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reported in his Power On newsletter that Apple has “renewed” efforts to develop its own AR glasses. The journalist added that these would be “lightweight” glasses that could be worn all day.

Apple launched the Vision Pro XR headset earlier this year, and it’s not exactly set cash registers on fire. The company is apparently pushing ahead with a cheaper headset, but it sounds like Apple could take a cue from the Samsung Gear VR by requiring a tethered companion device.

Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman reported in his Power On newsletter that Apple’s cheaper Vision headset is codenamed N107. The device will apparently cost $1,500 to $2,000 and was originally slated to launch as soon as late 2025.

Apple announced a variety of new AI tricks for its iPhones earlier this month, dubbed Apple Intelligence. Unfortunately, most iPhone owners are left in the lurch as only the iPhone 15 Pro series will get these features.

I was very excited when my Surface Laptop pre-order arrived two days ago, as I’ve been itching to try out these Arm-based, Snapdragon X-powered, Copilot Plus PCs (or whatever you want to call them) since the chipset was first announced in late 2023. Taking the battery-friendly, AI-ready, and ultra-connected benefits of the best smartphones and pairing it with performance that rivals best-in-class laptops sounds too good to be true. Unfortunately, after just 48 hours with the new Surface Laptop, I’m starting to feel that might be accurate.

I should caveat this by stating that the office use element of the Copilot Plus PC experience is perfectly fine, great even. It’s flawlessly powering through writing this article with me, and the battery stats state that I’ve enjoyed two hours and 36 minutes of screen-on time since its last charge, and I still have 76% to go. The battery life on this thing seems pretty rock solid, so at least that’s one promise ticked off the list.

That said, several hiccups in the past 48 hours are undoubtedly pivoting my eventual review in a more negative direction. Namely, app emulation is hit-and-miss, and I don’t really see what all the AI fuss is about, given that Recall is on hiatus until later in the year.

Battery life is great for office workloads, but everything else is less convincing.

But before we get to that, let’s wrestle with this whole running Windows on Arm malarky. Yes, the battery-life benefits seem to be there (though more testing will tell), and the performance of native Arm applications is sublime if you can find them. And that’s the problem: I’m relying a whole lot on Microsoft’s Prism emulator layer to run x64 applications that aren’t yet natively built for Arm processors. Honestly, I’m surprised by how few of the apps I use on a daily basis don’t have native versions. Libre Office, Lightroom Classic, Discord, Asana, and any Steam game (of course) all rely on emulation. I knew my more niche apps from smaller developers, including Feishin and Jellyfin for media, would rely on emulation, but it’s surprising that so few big projects aren’t onboard by this stage. It’s not like Windows on Arm is new.

As for native support, I’ve used Photoshop, Slack, Spotify, Zoom, and the big three web browsers. The latter is where Microsoft gets its “90% of user minutes are running on Arm native” nonsense, but they all run great. Still, I’ve suffered a number of black screen glitches when running GPU-heavy pages in Edge with an external monitor that doesn’t appear with Firefox. Even native apps aren’t immune from issues, it seems.

Let’s be generous and say I have a 50/50 split of Arm and x64 apps installed. The problem remains that emulation performance feels so hit-and-miss. For instance, Lightroom Classic (just update it already, Adobe!) runs flawlessly when editing photos, but exporting JPEGs can bring it and other applications to their knees. On the other hand, Asana and Discord run like an egg and spoon race — stopping, starting, pausing, and loading. This is where Prism’s performance is a letdown; UI elements can temporarily freeze, sometimes system-wide, and I’ve even had music playback cut out for a split second. These issues don’t crop up very often, but when they do, you’re instantly reminded you’re not receiving the best Windows experience out there.

But that’s not the cardinal sin. No, the fact that most VPN apps don’t work because they don’t yet have native Arm versions might be an absolute deal breaker for some. I often need a VPN to check out regional website versions, and thankfully, I can still do that in my browser. However, many others have steeper requirements, including those in the enterprise space. Thankfully, VPNs are the only apps I’ve encountered that outright refuse to work.

Now, I’d cut Microsoft and developers some slack if Windows on Arm was a brand-new initiative, but Windows on Arm and Microsoft’s emulator have been around for seven freakin’ years, and we’ve had commercial products for six of them. How are we still discussing app development and emulation problems that Apple has eliminated in about half that time? It’s borderline ridiculous.

Windows has been emulating Arm for seven years, and it's still far from perfect.

OK, enough of the emulator bashing — the Snapdragon X Elite is powerful enough to brute-force its way through (most) of the minor issues. Let’s talk AI — it’s the key marketing material with these Copilot Plus PCs, after all. So what’s the Plus fuss all about? It’s a bit hard to tell. Windows Recall felt like the flagship feature, but that’s put on ice while Microsoft irons out some very warranted privacy concerns.

Without Recall, Copilot takes center stage as the most obvious user-facing AI feature, but the experience feels much the same as on regular PCs. Yes, the dedicated Copilot button to bring up a web app window is a nice touch (if you use AI a lot), but I still don’t trust Copilot (or any other text generator) for anything above mundane questions or reformatting the odd paragraph. With Copilot icons plastered across the toolbar and Edge browser, I’ve probably pressed the physical key three or four times in a couple of days. It hardly seems worth sacrificing good old right ctrl for.

Other AI features are onboard, but they’re more niche. I haven’t yet found a use for the admittedly impressive Live Captions feature (yet), and asking Cocreator to draw anything with people in it is often horrifying. Still, I found Studio Effects more useful for a couple of Discord calls. Eye Contact looks a bit creepy, but auto-framing and the bokeh portrait feature work very well. That said, pretty much all conferencing apps have background options baked in without needing an NPU, so it hardly feels new and exciting.

The other AI feature I encountered was purely by accident. While benchmarking some AAA games, I noticed a popup in a couple of titles informing me that AI Super Resolution was activated. If you can live with a measly 1,152 x 768 resolution, AI upscaling pushes several games from sub-30fps to a much more comfortable 50-60fps. Snapdragon X’s ability to play AAA PC games is, surprisingly, not terrible and is probably the best showcase of the built-in NPU elevating the user experience meaningfully. Again, though, the list of supported titles is far from comprehensive, and the settings menu to manually configure .exes is tucked away well out of reach.

Hopefully, Copilot Plus PCs kickstart more meaningful app development for Arm.

And I think that sums up my whole experience with this Copilit Plus PC so far — it doesn’t feel finished. Are incomplete AI features and unpolished emulation acceptable trade-offs for better-than-average battery life? I’m not so sure at prices well over $1,000. I have a feeling that’s my eventual review summed up right there.

Still, perhaps we’re at the tipping point in this chicken-and-egg scenario: more powerful and interesting laptops mean that developers pay attention, kickstarting more native Arm builds, and the whole ecosystem quickly improves. Here’s hoping, but that’s no consolation for the bitter taste of disappointment I’m currently experiencing. The last two days don’t feel all that different from the last seven years of trying to justify the compromises.

Google launched its Find My Device network earlier this year, and several brands have already chipped in with tracking tags. It looks like Motorola’s offering is a step closer to release with a new regulatory filing.

The Motorola Moto Tag was listed by the FCC today (h/t: IT Home), and it supports Bluetooth LE and UWB connectivity. The latter feature means that you can expect more fine-tuned, granular tracking support compared to a Bluetooth-only tracker.

This filing also reveals that the tracker, which has the model number XT2445-1, runs on a standard watch battery (CR2032). That means sourcing replacement batteries shouldn’t be a problem.

The listing doesn’t confirm whether this device will support Google’s Find My Device network. However, the search colossus previously noted that Motorola would offer a compatible tracker later this year. So it stands to reason that the Moto Tag is the product in question.

There’s no official word on a launch date just yet, but the company is holding a launch event on June 25. Motorola is expected to unveil its Razr 2024 foldable phones, but we’re guessing it could also reveal the Moto Tag on the day.

We’ve already seen the first Galaxy Tab S10 series leaks and rumors appearing online, and a trusted source has now posted renders for the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra.

Steve ‘OnLeaks’ Hemmerstoffer and Android Headlines posted apparent Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra renders online. Check the image above and the gallery below to get a look.

The renders show a tablet with a similar design as the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, featuring the same display notch that hosts two selfie cameras. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra also retains the previous tablet’s magnetic S Pen holder on the back and the same dual rear camera design.

Other design-related details include what appears to be a metal design, quad speakers (two on each side), and power and volume keys at the top.

The outlet also posted dimensions, claiming that the new tablet measures 326.4 x 208.6 x 5.45mm. That makes it virtually identical to the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra (326.4 x 208.6 x 5.5mm).

There’s no word on other specs, but we’re expecting a flagship processor, an OLED screen, and Galaxy AI features. The launch date is another mystery as it doesn’t seem like Samsung is gearing up for a tablet launch next month at its Unpacked event.

From persistent rumors to leaked images, an XL variant of the Google Pixel Watch 3 is all but confirmed to be heading to shelves this fall. Though I’m not usually one to put the cart before the horse, I’m already emotionally committed to the larger build. However, I don’t just want a bigger screen; I want a bigger battery.

Third time’s the charm

Compared to the Apple Watch line on its tenth entry and the Galaxy Watch line about to introduce its seventh, Google’s smartwatch lineup is fairly fresh. In fact, it existed as rumors for more years than it has existed on wrists. It finally debuted in 2022, and though the OG model had a lot of first-generation quirks, we were all largely gracious and willing to patiently see how Google would improve over time. When the Pixel Watch 2 landed a year later, I was happy to see a few key improvements and dubbed the device a “solid second draft.”

Google's smartwatch is moving in the right direction, but battery life is the single biggest factor holding the lineup back.

However, I’ve yet to adopt the line as my daily driver, and to be honest I wouldn’t even rank it as my top Wear OS pick. Like all smartwatches, there are a range of minor tweaks I’d love to see on the line, but the single factor holding the Pixel Watch back the most is battery life. The Pixel Watch 2 claims 24 hours of battery life and, in practice, just barely makes that mark.

That means a disciplined charging schedule if you don’t want to find yourself with a dead device (and missed sleep tracking stats if you slack off too close to bedtime). The second generation introduced fast charging, alleviating some of the first generation’s battery woes, but a single day of use between charges still feels like a major hindrance compared to other Wear OS options. If Google wants to earn a permanent place on my wrist, it will need to keep up with the competition this year.

Power-packed Wear OS competition

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 series devices, arguably the most popular Wear OS watches, offer up to 30 hours between charges, allowing for a lot more wiggle room. The suped-up Galaxy Watch 5 Pro stretches even further with a 490mAH cell to power up to 80 hours between charges. Each of these devices is set to be replaced by newer models in the coming weeks, which may offer even better power efficiency and charge times. If the Galaxy Watch 7 and 7 Pro raise the bar, I hope the Pixel Watch 3 XL can rise to the occasion.

Meanwhile, Wear OS players like the TicWatch Pro 5 and the OnePlus Watch 2 are already pushing battery limits even further than Samsung. Utilizing a unique dual-chip architecture to house two distinct operating systems, the OnePlus Watch 2 boasts highly effective power efficiency, resulting in up to 100 hours of use between charges. The watch can last even longer in its pared down low power mode. Likewise, the TicWatch Pro 5 leverages the power of two with a dual-display design that I can’t say enough about. This secondary low-power display offers access to key stats, useful heart rate zones during workouts, and the ability to stretch usage to up to 80 hours in smartwatch mode. In short, both these watches blew me away when it came to convenient wear.

Competitors within the Wear OS family offer much better battery life, as does Garmin and, to an extent, Apple.

Of course, I’d be remiss not to mention devices outside of the Wear OS bubble. Apple has been consistently offering an 18-hour claim for years, though the watches easily stretch to more than 24 hours in real-world experience. The Apple Watch Ultra line elevated the company’s efforts some with a 36-hour claim, but that comes at a much higher price tag. Garmin’s top smartwatch, the Venu 3, offers multi-day battery life but lacks the robust app support found on most of the devices mentioned thus far. Fitbit’s ghost of a smartwatch stable traditionally delivered multi-day battery life as well, which is what originally made the Pixel Watch line’s specs so disappointing. However, those options are no longer real contenders in the arena; the Pixel Watch line is the company’s golden child.

Big is better and also… bigger

The 41mm Pixel Watch 2 is on the smaller side and, for some users, is genuinely too small. Blessed with scrawny wrists, the device works fine as is, but my preference is always maximum display space. Not only do I want my wearable to make a statement, I want it to be as useful as possible, and that means more room for text, menus, maps, and apps. To this end, I am excited for the Pixel Watch 3 to be less dainty, but most importantly, I hope the extra cargo space is packing a bigger battery.

Rumors suggest the device will have a larger thumbprint, leaping to 45mm, or the same size as Apple’s large model. It will also reportedly be thicker, landing on wrists at 13.89mm. In my humble opinion, this should leave plenty of room for beefed-up battery life.

Should you buy the Ringke Onyx for the Pixel 8a?

There are a lot of cheap TPU case for the Google Pixel 8a, but the Ringke Onyx stands out from the crowd. It doesn’t have a flashy design or any gimmicks — it’s just a really solid case that ticks all the right boxes.

The case arrives in a simple, eco-friendly package, although I couldn’t find any indication that the case itself uses any recycled materials. Regardless, the flexible TPU material slips very easily onto the Pixel 8a, so it’s ideal if you remove your case often.

I really liked the rough texture on the back of the case, which looks great and adds just a hint of extra grip. The camera bar is completely covered, but it’s still slightly raised so you can still appreciate the key design element of the Pixel 8a.

The sides of the case have a nice microdot pattern that adds even more grip, making the Ringke Onyx very comfortable to hold. The buttons are raised and have a nice click to them, and there are even holes on both bottom corners for a lanyard. I really appreciate this small detail, since most cases have only one set for a strap or none at all.

The lip just barely peeks over the edge of the screen, but there was extra care taken here too. The area in the middle, which is where you will swipe with your thumb for navigation, is lower than the corners, top, and bottom. That made it very easy to use swipe gestures while still keeping the vulnerable Gorilla Glass 3 screen safe.

However, due to its thin design, the Ringke Onyx offers only basic protection. There are air pockets in the corners, but that’s about it. Ringke says it meets military-grade drop protection standards, but if you’re rough on your phones I’d recommend a thicker case.

Small details like the lanyard holes, curved lip, and grippy texture put this case over the top.

The Ringke Onyx is available in three colors for the Pixel 8a: Black, Navy, and Dark Green. The original color of your Pixel 8a barely peeks through the camera bar and charging port, so there’s no need to worry about color matching.

Priced at just $15, the Ringke Onyx for the Pixel 8a is right in the middle of the pack when it comes to thin TPU cases. Still, I think it’s a much better pick than most, even from other reputable brands like Spigen. It’s not the most innovative design, but it really does nail the basics in a way that’s surprisingly difficult to find.

What are the best Ringke Onyx for Pixel 8a alternatives?

The Ringke Onyx is a solid budget case for the Google Pixel 8a, but if you’re looking for something with a more interesting design, check out these alternatives.

• Spigen Rugged Armor ( ): The Rugged Armor is another fairly simple TPU case for the Pixel 8a, with a touch of carbon fiber on the back to add some much-needed character.
• Caseology Parallax ( ): For a more interesting design and drop protection check out the Caseology Parallax. It’s quite a bit thicker, but the hexa-cube pattern on the back looks and feels great.
• Spigen Liquid Air ( ): The Liquid Air is another thin, affordable option from Spigen, this time with a textured back. Like the Ringke Onyx, it’s a simple design that (mostly) nails the basics.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series of processors are designed for PCs — well, Windows on Arm, Copilot Plus laptops, to be precise.  They take some of the Snapdragon sauce we are familiar with from high-end smartphones and blends it with the high-performance requirements of the PC space. The aim is to provide a chip with performance that rivals Intel and Apple, with the energy efficiency we’ve become accustomed to in smartphones.

The core ingredients common to all Snapdragon X series chips are Qualcomm’s custom Arm- rather than x86-based Oryon CPU (no Intel or AMD here), a bigger version of its Adreno GPU taken from mobile, Hexagon NPU smarts for AI, and top-tier networking that enables the latest Wi-Fi and 5G standards. Microsoft chips in, providing the emulation layer in Windows on Arm to run x64 applications that haven’t yet been ported to run natively on Arm processors.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Snapdragon X series inside the latest Windows laptops.

Snapdragon X Elite vs X Plus explained

Snapdragon X comes in two major flavors — X Elite, which powers the first wave of top-tier CoPilot Plus PCs, and X Plus, destined for more affordable laptops later in 2024. In total, Qualcomm has four Snapdragon X SKUs (and one unofficial model we leaked) — three under the X Elite branding and one more affordable X Plus unit. There is reportedly an additional low-end X Plus model (X1P-42-100), but we haven’t heard anything official about it yet.

So what’s the difference between Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus, besides their intended price points? Well, Elite boasts 12 Oryon CPU cores versus 10 cores for the Plus. There’s also a smaller eight-core Plus model, which Qualcomm didn’t officially announce. Furthermore, Elite models have higher all-core and two-core turbo clock speeds, up to 4.2GHz, compared to the Plus’ 3.4GHz. This varies by specific model, but the top-tier Elite models pack the Apple M-series rivaling performance with higher power consumption to boot.

The top-tier X1E-84-100 SKU also has a more powerful GPU than all the other models, hitting 4.6 TFLOPS vs 3.8 TFLOPS for the standard Ardreno GPU setup. This is thanks to a higher GPU frequency of 1.5GHz, up from 1.2GHz.

Fortunately, all of the Snapdragon X models sport the same 45TOPS Neural Processing Unit (NPU), ensuring they’re all capable of running the same AI features. If you’re unfamiliar, an NPU augments traditional CPU capabilities with machine learning (AI) specific number crunching capabilities. Not only is an NPU faster, but it’s more power efficient too.

NPUs are purpose-built to handle machine learning workloads for CoPilot Plus. Every Snapdragon X chip has the same one.

The series all support LDRR5X memory at 8448MT/s too, 4K120 video decoding, and 8+4 lanes of PCIe 4.0 for storage and the like. All except the unofficial X1P-42-100, which supposedly drops to 4K60 decode and 4+4 PCIe 4.0 lanes. The range is manufactured using TSMC’s N4 process and supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and 5G networking, with a discrete modem attached.

The bottom line is that CPU performance is the big differentiator between the Snapdragon X line. There’s a showcase X Elite chip that pushes performance on the CPU and GPU front (no doubt the model the benchmarkers will want), but without knowing the TDP, this might not be the most interesting chip in the range. The other Elite chips are more conservative on clocks and power, whilst the Plus steps performance down just a little with a smaller CPU configuration.

Snapdragon X – Oryon CPU deep dive

Speaking of CPUs, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Snapdragon X series is Qualcomm’s in-house Oryon CPU. I say Qualcomm’s CPU, but the company bought Nuvia for $1.4 billion in 2021, which had started work on a custom Arm CPU for data centers called Phoenix. That work would quickly become Oryon for Windows on Arm devices.

The most interesting thing about Oryon is that it’s not based on the x86/x64 architecture that PC stalwarts AMD and Intel use. Instead, Oryon is built on the Arm architecture (Armv8.7-A, to be precise) found in smartphone processors and Apple’s M-series of laptop chips. However, the latter are now on Armv9, which introduces additional important features.

Oryon is an Arm-based CPU, rather than x86/x64 like rivals Intel and AMD.

Anyway, let’s start with the high-end topology. Snapdragon X uses three clusters of up to four cores (though it can technically support eight cores in a cluster). Unlike smartphones, there aren’t separate performance-optimized and efficiency-optimized CPU cores. There’s no Arm-style big.LITTLE or Intel-type low-power E-cores; every Oryon core is the same micro-architecture-wise. However, it’s likely that different clusters have different peak frequencies to balance power consumption. For instance, we know that two CPU cores in different clusters can push the peak boost clocks.

Each cluster shares its L2 cache, which is 12MB in size. This means that four cores share access to a large pool of local memory for multi-threaded performance. Cluster-to-cluster snooping is implemented when a CPU group needs to grab data from another. There’s also a smaller 6MB L3 cache as part of the shared memory subsystem across clusters, GPU, and NPU, with a minimal 6-29 nanoseconds of latency for fast access. Altogether, that’s a hefty memory footprint in the vein of the Apple M series (Apple is estimated to use even bigger caches) and is likely key to Qualcomm reaching a similar level of performance.

Peeking inside each core, Oryon provides six integer number crunching units, four floating point units (two with multiply-accumulate for machine learning workloads), and four load/store units. Importantly, each FP unit supports 128-bit NEON for number crunching on smaller data sizes right down to INT8, but not as small as INT4 used by some highly compressed smartphone machine-learning models. This helps mitigate the lack of SVE (introduced in Armv9) and the wider pipelines that we see in modern AMD and Intel chips. Still, that’s a pretty big CPU that’s a smidgen larger (execution-wise) than the latest Arm Cortex-A925 destined for 2025 smartphones.

No efficiency-cores here, Snapdragon X goes all in with up to 12 big CPU cores.

Keeping that CPU core fed is a major task. Qualcomm accomplishes this with a large 192Kb L1 instruction and 96KB data cache, paired with 8 instructions per cycle decoding. The re-order buffer hits a huge 650 micro-ops (or larger), allowing for a frankly huge out-of-order execution window (think of this as a queue of little instructions the processor could run).

Jargon aside, keeping a big core running with things to do and powering off when it’s not in use is the key to robust power consumption. You want to avoid situations where the core is on but suffers a “bubble” without instruction to process. The aim of having so many instructions sitting around within easy reach is that there’s always something it could be doing. However, historically, there’s been a diminishing return for storing so many instructions that are simply waiting, but this doesn’t seem to apply for modern Arm chips. For comparison, the Cortex-X925 has a 750 micro-op re-order buffer for a 1,500 out-of-order window, but Intel’s Lunar Lake stores just 416 entries.

Anyway, the TLDR is that the Snapdragon X’s Oryon CPU has a pretty big core paired up with tons of memory to keep it running at full tilt when needed. That’s likely to produce solid performance, but all that memory costs a small fortune in silicon area, hence why this is a premium-tier product.

Adreno graphics explained (finally)

Those familiar with Snapdragon will recognize the X-series’ GPU — the Adreno X1 is a bigger version of Qualcomm’s mobile GPU. Usually, Qualcomm doesn’t spill the beans on its graphics architecture but has opened up a lot more about the Adreno X1 as it dukes it out with bigger GPU names in the PC space.

At a high level, the Adreno X1 supports many key desktop-class GPU features, including DirectX 12.1 (not 12.2), DirectX 11, OpenCL 3.0, and Vulkan 1.3 feature sets. This includes ray tracing (via Vulkan) and variable rate shading, which are essential in modern PC titles and are slowly gaining traction in mobile.

Qualcomm levels up its Adreno GPU from mobile, making it a solid competitor for Intel's integrated graphics.

The Adreno X1 is built for both tile-based rendering (binned mode), typically seen in smartphones, and direct rendering that is more associated with the PC space. The difference is that a tile-based approach splits up the scene into smaller sections, keeping local data in the local cache to reduce power consumption. A binned-direct mode also attempts to leverage the best of both, leveraging a local high-bandwidth 3MB SRAM. The mode of operation is determined by the graphics driver and Qualcomm calls this rather unique setup FlexRender. The idea here is that the X1 can benefit from mobile-style power consumption or PC-class performance, depending on what best suites.

Regardless of the mode of operation, the Adreno X1 features six shader processors with 256 32-bit floating point units each, for a total of 1536 FP32 units. Peering deeper into each shader processor, one can see two micro-shader/texture pipelines with their own scheduler and power domain. Each comprises a 192KB L1 cache, a texture unit running at eight texels per clock, 16 elementary functional units (EFUs) for advanced math functions, 128 32-bit ALUs, and 256 16-bit ALUs.

That latter part is important; the core can run FP32 and FP16 operations concurrently, and the FP32 ALUs can pitch in for even more 16-bit data crunching if required. Speaking of number formats, the 32-bit ALU supports INT32/16, BF16, and INT8 dot products, making it adept at matching learning workloads. The 16-bit ALUs also support BF16, which is handy for ML.

Another interesting point is that Qualcomm uses a large wavefront (parallel operations) size compared to rivals AMD and NVIDIA. 32-bit operations arrive in groups of 64, while 16-bit operations stream in 128 at a time. Very wide designs typically suffer from bubbles where the core runs out of things to compute (rivals AMD and NVIDIA use 32 wide wavefronts for 32-bit operations), which is bad for power efficiency. Perhaps Qualcomm mitigates this intelligently, powering down its micro-shader cores.

In terms of performance, we ran Crysis on the Snapdragon X Elite but had to comprise with a 720p  resolution and medium graphics to achieve semi-decent frame rates. Other titles can leverage Microsoft’s new Automatic Super Resolution technology to improve frame rates in supported titles, including  The Witcher 3 and Hitman 3. The trade-off is you’re limited to a very low 1,152 x 768 pixels. This certainly isn’t a gamer’s chipset, but you can achieve decent frame rates with some heavy compromises.

For a quick comparison, an entry-level laptop gaming GPU like the NVIDIA GTX4050 packs 13.5TLOPS of FP32 computing, which is almost three times the performance of the Adreno X1. Instead, the X1 looks more competitive with Intel’s latest integrated graphics parts, which range between 2 and 8 TFLOPS. However, Snapdragon X1 has the added complication of emulating games compiled for x64. Speaking of…

What you need to know about Windows on Arm emulation

While Arm CPUs can deliver high performance and remarkable energy efficiency, this transition brings new problems in the form of supporting legacy applications.

Windows has historically run on x86 and x64 platforms of AMD and Intel, meaning the low-level CPU instructions that OS applications run on a CPU aren’t supported by Arm. Microsoft rebuilt Windows on Arm to support the core OS on Arm CPUs and has released developer tools to help developers compile native Arm applications more easily.

Running older apps that aren't Arm-native? You'll take a (small) emulation performance penalty.

This has paid off somewhat over the past seven years of the project; Microsoft says that about 90% of “app minutes” a user spends time with daily has a native Arm application (likely because of web browsers). However, there are still swathes of modern and legacy Windows applications that aren’t yet Arm-native.

Windows on Arm has long run an emulator that converts code in real-time to support these apps. That ensures that software works but comes with a hit to performance, particularly for demanding real-time applications, like video conversion and gaming, and those requiring specific instructions like AVX2. Microsoft calls this hit “minor,” but previous Snapdragon chips have suffered. We’ll have to see if it’s much improved with the more powerful X-series of chips.

Fortunately, just before CoPilot PCs arrived, Microsoft’s updated emulation layer (now called Prism) claimed 10% to 20% additional performance for existing Arm chips (like the older Snapdragon 8cx). We tested the emulator’s performance on the 8cx before and after the update; here are the results:

• Firefox (Speedometer 3): +10%
• Cinebench r23 (Single-core): +8%
• Cinebench r23 (Multi-core): +4.5%
• HandBrake (h.264 software encoding time in seconds): +8%

Lofty claims of 20% improved performance are clearly the outliers, but these are still pretty decent gains for applications that still rely on emulation.

While the software emulation problem is more in Microsoft’s hands than Qualcomm’s, the latter has built features into its Oryon CPU to assist with memory store and floating-point architectures for x86 that should further boost emulation performance. If Qualcomm moves to Armv9 with its next-gen laptop CPU, SVE support will also help improve performance for instructions that require wider vector widths. We expect emulation performance to be pretty OK and will likely improve in the coming years.

Should you buy a Snapdragon X / CoPilot Plus PC?

In addition to pure specifications, there are many features to consider when looking up the first wave of CoPilot Plus PCs. First and foremost, the addition of an NPU means these laptops benefit from exclusive Windows features but will have to wait a while before Recall re-debuts.

As we’ve seen, Snapdragon X promises competitive performance with Intel’s latest chips and the powerhouse Apple M3 (though perhaps not quite the newer M4). On top of that, battery life should last well in excess of a busy workday, setting these laptops up as true MacBook competitors. Perhaps the biggest unknown, though, is just how well x64 applications will hold up under emulation.

The first reviews are rolling in as we speak, so it won’t hurt to wait a few more weeks to see if the Snapdragon X Elite and CoPilot Plus PC are worth your hard-earned cash.

Update: June 22, 2024 (4:00 AM ET): We’ve updated our Galaxy Watch 7 rumor hub with apparently leaked pricing, confirmation of the Galaxy Watch Ultra name, and more.

Original article: The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is easily one of the best smartwatches you can buy, though it’s not a dramatic improvement from its predecessor. We’re eagerly awaiting the release of the next iteration of Samsung’s smartwatches in the form of the Galaxy Watch 7 series, and we hope to see a lot more dramatic changes that catch it up to the competition, like the OnePlus Watch 2 and even the Apple Watch Series 9. But how is the Galaxy Watch 7 shaping up so far? Here’s what we know about the Galaxy Watch 7, what we can expect, and what we want it to be!

Will there be a Samsung Galaxy Watch 7?

The Samsung Galaxy Watch series is one of the premier smartwatch lineups for Android devices. While competitors like the OnePlus Watch 2 and the Pixel Watch 2 exist in the Android space, the Galaxy Watch series (like the Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic) dominates the charts thanks to Samsung’s popularity and marketing and distribution channels.

Samsung has also been very invested in smartwatches, with a lot of notable smartwatches over the years, like those on Tizen OS. Samsung has immense goodwill in this space, and it is unlikely that the company will give up this advantage any time soon, at least not without a good fight.

So even though Samsung has not officially announced anything yet, we’re very confident that the company will release a Galaxy Watch 7. Based on past trends and current leaks, this could take the form of the Galaxy Watch 7 series with multiple products.

A leak from Kro on X suggests that Samsung is planning three smartwatches: a Classic, a Pro, and a “new one.” SamMobile followed up on this by revealing that the Galaxy Watch 7 series will have the following model numbers:

• SM-L300 and SM-L305
• SM-L310 and SM-L315
• SM-L700 and SM-L705

Here, the xx0 models could represent the Wi-Fi-only variants, while the xx5 models could represent the Wi-Fi plus eSIM variants. These variants were also spotted in an official FCC listing, further confirming the existence of the Galaxy Watch 7 lineup.

To sum it all up, Samsung seems to be well underway in the Galaxy Watch 7 development cycle.

We also know that an Ultra watch is in the works. Samsung itself accidentally confirmed the “Galaxy Watch Ultra” name on its own regional websites in June 2024. This comes after regulatory filings mentioned the “Galaxy Watch Ultra” too.

What is the most likely Galaxy Watch 7 release date?

• Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 series — Announced August 11, 2021; released August 27, 2021
• Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series — Announced August 10, 2022; released August 26, 2022
• Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series — Announced July 26, 2023; released August 11, 2023

Samsung has maintained a fairly predictable release cycle for its smartwatches in recent years, choosing to launch them alongside its foldables around August. So you can expect the Galaxy Watch 7 series to be released at the same Galaxy Unpacked event where Samsung will launch the Galaxy Z series fold and flip phones.

According to SamMobile, Samsung could launch the Galaxy foldables in early July 2024, possibly in the second week. Since Samsung usually launches its devices on a Wednesday, that would give us a date of July 10, 2024, as the possible launch date for the Galaxy Z foldables. This is supported by a leak from tipster Evan Blass who shared a GIF of an official countdown clock with the event scheduled for July 10 at 10 PM Korean Standard Time (KST). By extension, this could also be the day and event where Samsung launches the Galaxy Watch 7 series.

Chosun corroborates an early release rumor, suggesting that Samsung wants to take advantage of marketing around the 2024 Summer Olympics, which are scheduled to be held in Paris, France, on July 26, 2024. Consequently, the launch could be held in Paris, France.

What will the Galaxy Watch 7 look like?

So far we had very little to go on about what the Galaxy Watch 7 would look like, but we do have a new leak courtesy of Onleaks that gives us our first look at what’s supposedly Samsung’s first “Ultra” smartwatch.

Based on the leaked render, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is set to feature a distinctive squircle design, combining a circular display with a square frame. This peculiar choice creates a visually jarring appearance, as the circular display seems awkwardly placed atop the square base. Despite the unconventional shape, the round 1.5-inch display means the watch would retain the familiar user interface seen in previous models.

A standout feature visible here is the third button (or Quick Button, per Android Headlines), which may function similarly to the Apple Watch Ultra’s Action Button. With dimensions slightly larger than the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, the Galaxy Watch Ultra also seems to sport a redesigned watch band mechanism and larger speaker grilles. Its rumored colorways include Titanium Gray, Titanium Silver, and Titanium Beige.

While Samsung is clearly venturing into new and somewhat questionable design territory with its first “Ultra” smartwatch, we can expect the rest of the lineup to not stray too far away from last year’s Galaxy Watch 6 in terms of design. We don’t have officially confirmed information from Samsung yet, nor do we have any leaked renders that give us any idea of what the standard Galaxy Watch 7 would look like.

Speculatively from our end, some of the variants in the Galaxy Watch 7 (most likely the base variant) could continue on with the looks of the Galaxy Watch 6, which has also largely carried forward the look of its predecessor. Further, the middle Galaxy Watch 7 variant could look like a Galaxy Watch 6 Classic successor with a rotating bezel, as this feature has been loved by fans, and we don’t imagine Samsung would like to remove it again.

What rumored specs and features could the Galaxy Watch 7 series have?

A new Samsung wearable with the model number SM-L305U was recently spotted on the Bluetooth SIG database. When analyzed alongside earlier leaks, it appears that this device could be the LTE-enabled 40mm version of the upcoming Galaxy Watch 7, geared towards the US market. The Bluetooth certification confirms the Galaxy Watch 7 will retain the same Bluetooth 5.3 with LE technology as the Galaxy Watch 6, but the exciting upgrades likely lie beyond connectivity.

According to TheGalox on X, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch series could feature a new Exynos SoC that promises 50% better efficiency and 30% faster performance. While initial reports hinted at this chip being called the Exynos W940, a recent report from SamInsider points towards the W1000 designation instead. This aligns with Samsung’s recent trend of simplifying the naming schemes for its flagship mobile CPUs as well.

A report from the Korean website New Daily suggests that Samsung could be using Samsung Foundry’s 3nm process for its SoC on the Galaxy Watch 7 series. Connecting the dots, it could mean that the Exynos W940/W1000 could be a 3nm SoC powering the Galaxy Watch 7 series. If correct, this would be a decent upgrade over the 5nm Exynos W930 that is present on the Galaxy Watch 6 series. The switchover to a 3nm process would also explain the claimed efficiency improvements.

A report from SamMobile suggests that Samsung could also increase the internal storage of the watch. The Galaxy Watch 6 series has 16GB internal storage, while the Galaxy Watch 7 series could double it to 32GB.

Galaxy Club reported in early April that one of the watches (model number SM-L70x) has a battery with a rated capacity of 578mAh. The outlet suggested that this would translate into a typical capacity of 590mAh, which would be in line with the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

The FCC listing of the Galaxy Watch 7 series suggests Samsung might increase wireless charging speeds by 50% this year. The listing mentions 15W wireless charging on the smartwatch, up from 10W on the Galaxy Watch 6. As far as the new Galaxy Watch Ultra model is concerned, we don’t have any specific information about its features.

Leaked specs from Android Headlines corroborated the info above but offered additional details surrounding the watches’ displays and materials. The Galaxy Watch Ultra may offer a panel capable of 3,000 nits, with the Galaxy Watch 7 peaking at 2,000 nits. Both may come slathered in sapphire crystal. Other details included the use of titanium for the Ultra’s shell and aluminum for the Galaxy Watch 7. Both watches reportedly pack IP68 water and dust resistance with a MIL-STD-810H durability rating, while the Ultra offers a 10ATM rating, too.

Galaxy AI on Galaxy Watches

In terms of software features, Samsung has now confirmed that Galaxy AI (as part of One UI 6 Watch) is coming to “the next Galaxy Watch line-up,” which obviously means the Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra should be launching with Galaxy AI. The AI features confirmed as of now include an “Energy Score” providing daily insights into your overall condition, personalized “Workout Routines” for seamless exercise transitions, and a “Race” feature allowing runners and cyclists to compare performance on the same routes.

Additionally, users can anticipate tailored “Wellness tips,” more comprehensive sleep analytics with detailed “Sleep Score” metrics, and advanced running metrics like “Aerobic Threshold (AT) / Anaerobic Threshold (AnT) Heart Rate Zone.” While these are the currently confirmed features, Samsung may introduce additional AI capabilities when One UI 6 Watch is officially released.

What might the Galaxy Watch 7 price be?

• Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, 40mm: Wi-Fi-only: $299.99 / 4G: $349.99
• Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, 44mm: Wi-Fi-only: $329.99 / 4G: $379.99
• Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, 43mm: Wi-Fi-only: $399.99 / 4G: $449.99
• Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, 47mm: Wi-Fi-only: $429.99 / 4G: $479.99

We can draw some reasonable conclusions about the Galaxy Watch 7 series pricing by looking at the predecessor, the Galaxy Watch 6 series.

The Galaxy Watch 6 series started at $300 in the US for its smallest 40mm and Wi-Fi-only variant (though it is often discounted below this these days). One can presume that Samsung would like to stick close to this price tag for the entry-level Galaxy Watch 7. Upgrading to the 4G LTE eSIM variant adds a $50 bump to the price, and we presume this will continue with the Galaxy Watch 7 series.

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic starts at $400 in the US for its smallest 43mm Wi-Fi-only variant. You can expect one of the other two Galaxy Watch 7 variants to target this price band.

It looks like the Galaxy Watch 7 could share the same price as the Galaxy Watch 6. But what about the Watch Ultra model?

91mobiles reported in June 2024 that the Galaxy Watch 7 will apparently cost $299 to $310. That would put it on par with the Watch 6 in the US.

A European retailer leak from June 2024 also gives us purported price details. It mentions a €314.49 (~$336) price for the 40mm Galaxy Watch 7 Bluetooth model. Meanwhile, the 44mm model is said to cost €344.99 (~$369). This is apparently a slightly discounted price by the retailer compared to the recommended price. European prices tend to be more expensive than US prices though, so it’s worth keeping this fact in mind.

Now that it’s likely that Samsung is also releasing a brand-new Galaxy Watch Ultra, it’s highly likely that the company will also follow Apple’s strategy and price the Galaxy Watch Ultra much higher than the rest of its smartwatch series. We are expecting a starting price well above $500, to say the very least.

The aforementioned 91mobiles leak revealed that the Galaxy Watch Ultra could actually retail for $699 to $710. Meanwhile, that European retailer leak pegs the price at €688.99 (~$737). That’s way above our $500+ expectation but cheaper than the Apple Watch Ultra.

Should you wait for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7?

If you’re looking for a great smartwatch right now, the Galaxy Watch 6 still remains a solid choice. However, if you can hold out for a couple of months, the Galaxy Watch 7 might offer significant upgrades that make the wait worthwhile. Plus, even if you decide the Watch 6 is perfect for you, the Watch 7’s release will likely bring tempting price drops on the older model.

Alternatively, if you’re open to exploring beyond the Galaxy ecosystem, there are several impressive smartwatches to consider, such as the Google Pixel Watch 2 ( ), the OnePlus Watch 2 ( ), or the Garmin Venu 3 ( ). While the latest Apple Watch ( ) is a top recommendation, it’s worth noting that it’s only a feasible option if you’re contemplating a switch to an iPhone, as Apple’s smartwatch does not support Android.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 wishlist

While there’s still more than a month before we get newer watch hardware, we’d love to see Samsung make a few bolder moves in 2024 with the next Galaxy Watch. There are certainly more than a few things on our Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 wishlist, so let’s jump right in.

The sensor data needs big improvement

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is a good smartwatch, but its health and fitness features could use some work. Specifically, we’re focused on the accuracy of its sensors. As noted in our Galaxy Watch 6 review, the heart rate data on the Watch 6 is extremely inconsistent. The same applies to GPS accuracy in runs and other activities. While it can be reasonably accurate in many neighborhoods, it sometimes produces wonky and unexpected results.

Samsung needs to focus on improving its sensor accuracy. A bigger Health feature push could attract fans who are interested in Samsung’s watch but find its health features lacking compared to Garmin watches, Fitbit, or the Apple Watch. Hopefully, the newly confirmed Galaxy AI features will help bridge the gap for health enthusiasts.

Improve support for Android phones that aren’t made by Samsung

Samsung prioritizes its Galaxy phones over other Android devices, which isn’t too surprising, but it’s something we’d like to see change. The Galaxy Watch is easily one of the best, if not the very best, Android watches for generalist users, so Samsung shouldn’t limit its appeal.

What kind of features are currently unavailable to non-Samsung phone owners? There are three main features that are only for Samsung phone owners: on-demand ECG readings, blood pressure detection, and irregular heart rate notifications. To use these advanced features, you need the Samsung Health Monitor app, which isn’t available outside of the Galaxy Store on Samsung phones and tablets.

Samsung should embrace more styling options

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and Pixel Watch 2 are basically the gold standard products for Wear OS, largely thanks to their decent features and mainstream appeal. While the Galaxy Watch 6 comes in a few fun colorways, there’s always scope to add more colors or band options. We’d like to see that change with the Galaxy Watch 7 series. This is especially needed for the new Pro model, which is the Galaxy Watch 7 Ultra. Instead of just offering black or silver, give us a splash of color in the watch body itself. Or at least throw in a few new funky watch band options for the entire series.

Samsung’s Unpacked event is a few weeks away, but the leak train continues to steam ahead. Now, European pricing for the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Galaxy Watch 7, and Galaxy Watch Ultra may have been revealed.

YTechB reported that a European retailer has listed the aforementioned gadgets on its website, along with pricing. The news outlet shared screenshots too (seen below), but didn’t specify the retailer. The outlet also claimed that these prices were slightly discounted compared to the full recommended prices. Either way, you’ll want to take this report with some caution.

The retailer apparently lists the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro at €313.49 (~$335), which would be a steep increase over the Buds 2 Pro‘s €240 (~$257) launch price. Expect to find it in Silver and White colors.

Meanwhile, the 40mm Galaxy Watch 7 BT is reportedly listed at €314.49 (~$336) while the 44mm model costs €344.99 (~$369). The watches are apparently available in Cream, Green, and Silver color schemes. There’s no word on pricing for the cellular models.

Fancy buying the Galaxy Watch Ultra? The unnamed retailer is listing it for €688.99 (~$737), with the outlet claiming that it’s available in Titanium Gray, Titanium Silver, and Titanium White.

Device pricing can undoubtedly change between now and the Unpacked launch event. It’s also worth noting that European prices tend to be more expensive than US prices, so a direct conversion isn’t necessarily indicative of US price tags.

Samsung is expected to hold its Unpacked event next month, and we’ve heard rumors about a variety of devices. One persistent wearable-related claim is that the company will launch a so-called Galaxy Watch Ultra on the day, and it looks like Samsung itself has accidentally confirmed this name.

91mobiles spotted an official “Galaxy Watch Ultra” support page on Samsung’s regional websites. The now-pulled pages listed the name, 47mm size, and LTE support. Check out a screenshot below.

Samsung may have pulled these pages, but you can still use a Google search (seen below) to view the company’s mention of the “Galaxy Watch Ultra” name and other details.

The news comes a few weeks after regulatory bodies listed a Galaxy Watch Ultra too. But now Samsung itself has indeed outed the name, albeit accidentally.

Leaked Galaxy Watch Ultra renders show a watch with a curious dial shape, along with a mysterious third button. It’s believed the new watch could retail for $699 to $710, undercutting Ultra watches from the likes of Apple and HUAWEI.

Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro users in many parts of the world are facing connectivity issues. The problem doesn’t appear to be widespread and predominantly affects those who use the device’s built-in VPN.

According to 9to5Google, multiple user reports on the r/GooglePixel subreddit highlight issues ranging from the inability to access specific apps or websites to complete loss of connectivity. In most cases, disabling the new VPN by Google seems to get users back online. However, the issue also appears to affect users in regions where Google does not offer its VPN service, leaving no option for a temporary fix.

Some state that the latest update for the Google One app, which has started reaching users today, seems to resolve the issue. However, it might be a while before it reaches all affected users. In the meantime, you can try disabling the VPN for a quick fix. A Google support page related to the VPN by Google One shutdown also recommends users deactivate the VPN from system settings if they face internet connection issues. You can also try deleting your Google One VPN profile and disabling the VPN within the Google One app if that doesn’t help.

Google has replaced VPN by Google One with VPN by Google, which started rolling out to Pixel 7, 7 Pro, 7a, and Pixel Fold users earlier this month. The service debuted with the Pixel 8 last year and offers better system integration for a more seamless experience. However, connectivity issues like these may push users towards other alternatives.

Are you facing connectivity issues on your Pixel 8 or 8 Pro? Let us know in the comments below.

If you’ve got the budget for it, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is one of the best smartwatches you can buy. While we’ve seen comparable price drops on other variants before, the model of the Watch Ultra 2 with Ocean Band is $80 for the first time in today’s Amazon deal.

Apple Watch Ultra 2 for $719 ($80 off)

The ASUS ROG Phone 8 has only been around about five months, and even a bit less than that in the United States. So far, it’s gotten great reviews and is easily looking to be one of the best phones for gaming to date. Not only does it build on everything that comes before it, but it adds new features like dust resistance that help make it a bit more mainstream-friendly. Even if it’s one of the best Android phones around, no phone is perfect. There are certainly a few things that could be improved upon next year with a new model. With that in mind, here is my ROG Phone 9 wishlist.

Continue to blend mainstream with gaming

It’s no secret ASUS has struggled with its smartphone division recently, with many questioning even if we’d see the ASUS Zenfone 11. ASUS has since clarified it’s not done with phones yet, but it is pretty clear which of the two product lines has the most potential to bring in new customers if ASUS plays its cards right at least.

The ROG has always been the more exciting of the two, but this year the phone received a substantial design update that added water and dust resistance for the first time. The design also has a much more mainstream look than previous iterations. There’s still plenty of gaming flare, but it’s a much more reserved experience that reminds me of the now-defunct Razer Phone series.

I think ASUS should continue to lean on this. A quick look around Reddit and other communities makes it clear that a portion of older ROG Phone owners are quite disappointed by the change, but those who prefer more reserved designs have much more positive things to say. Even better, first-time buyers are finally sitting up and taking notice. Interestingly, it’s not all just from gamers either. After all, the ROG Phone 8 stands out for those looking for something powerful and different from the pack.

There's still plenty of gaming flare, but the new-look ROG Phone reminds me of the now-defunct Razer Phone series.

I’m not saying that the ROG Phone 9 could ever compete at the same level as other mainstream phones, the point is that balancing mainstream appeal with hardcore gaming appeal might provide ASUS with a larger target audience than they have now. A less flashy design could also appeal to gamer types (like myself, actually) who love powerful hardware but don’t want it to be overly flashy. For example, my ROG Phone Zephyrus G14 straddles the line between the gaming machine and productivity beast, and that’s what I love about it.

The ASUS ROG Phone 9 doesn’t need to shake up this new design much at all. Instead, it should work on diversifying its lineup to satisfy all budgets, from the most modest mobile gamer to the hardcore gamer who’ll use emulators, streaming services, and more. That leads to the next point.

A lower-tier option might appeal to more users than you’d think

The ASUS ROG Phone series finally has the chance to appeal to more than just hardcore mobile gamers. Yes, that might feel a bit ironic but the talk around the web makes it clear that this is a phone that is eye-catching and interesting enough to appeal to a slightly wider audience. Granted this pales massively in comparison to the audience for Apple, Samsung, or really even Google’s Pixel series. Still, it’s an opening ASUS could work with by introducing a more wallet-friendly base version of the ASUS ROG Phone 9 that’s more aimed at casual gamers.

Right now, the ROG Phone 8 family starts at $1,099 for a phone with 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. Imagine if there was a base model that had only 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, akin to devices like the base Galaxy S24. This change would allow the ROG Phone 8 to compete a little better for those who are just fans of the ROG laptop series (like myself) but aren’t necessarily looking for a mobile gaming powerhouse. It could also be great for those looking for more options in the US outside of the usual suspects.

Bigger battery

The ASUS ROG Phone 8 dropped the battery down a bit with this generation, opting for a 5,500mAh battery instead. While the 500mAh drop sounds like a lot, the good news is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and other optimizations mean you’ll get roughly the same battery life as the older model. But, this is a gaming phone! More battery life is never a bad thing, as games can drain battery life pretty fast compared to other activities.

I’d like to see the ASUS ROG Phone 9 continue improving battery life through optimization while also returning to form with a 6,000mAh battery.

Continue to refine the camera

The ASUS ROG Phone 8 is actually a pretty decent camera phone, especially compared to its predecessors. It has decent color saturation, white balance, and exposure. Of course, it also has some lens flare issues and a pretty inconsistent zoom experience.

It’s true that gamers don’t typically care about the camera as much but that’s slowly changing. Mobile gaming is improving on the whole, largely thanks to Apple and its push, and as these games improve they will no doubt attract new audiences that might not consider themselves your typical hardcore gamer. I believe ASUS may have a limited recipe for success if the ROG Phone 9 can balance these high-end gaming features with a camera that’s close to as good as Samsung, Google, and Apple.

Better update policy

This last point is extremely important. Two years of OS updates in 2024 is absolutely crazy. This is a high-end gaming machine that would absolutely benefit from having the latest and great improvements from Google.

ASUS might not want to commit to the same crazy seven-year promise that Samsung and Google are starting to offer, but I’d settle for any improvement. Heck, even a promise of just three to four OS upgrades and five years of security would really go a long way. This is especially true for those who have never bought an ASUS phone and are a bit nervous about its long-term life support.

Will there be a ROG Phone 9?

ASUS has had its share of struggles in the smartphone space and it’s clear that nothing about its future here is certain. There are still whispers that the Zenfone series might be heading toward the grave, and it’s equally possible the ROG series could also be in trouble. As it stands, I can’t say with 100% certainty there will be a ROG Phone 9. That said, I’d say it’s still very likely.

The ROG Phone 8 has been extremely well reviewed so far and has seen equally positive attention from the online community. All that bodes well for the future of the ROG Phone 9. If it does arrive, when might we see it? That’s a bit complicated as the phone doesn’t have the most consistent launch history, as you can see:

• ROG Phone 8 — February 29, 2024
• ROG Phone 7 — April 13, 2023
• ROG Phone 6 — July 5, 2022

For now, all I can really say with any certainty is the ROG Phone 9 won’t surface until 2025 barring some major change in their strategy, which seems pretty unlikely.

Should you wait for the ROG Phone 9?

Absolutely not! Odds are the ROG Phone 9 will continue the legacy built by the ROG Phone 8’s major design change, just with further refinement. If you want a gaming phone now, we highly recommend the ASUS ROG Phone 8.

Just want a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 phone and don’t care if it’s gaming-centric? The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra ( ) would be a wonderful alternative and is one of the best Android phones on the market.

Microsoft Phone Link is the simplest way to connect an Android phone or iPhone to Windows 10 and 11. Not only is the app pre-installed for most Windows 11 users, but it’s also one of the easiest-to-use solutions, albeit with a feature set that’s a bit more basic compared to some third-party alternatives. Now, it’s about to become even more accessible, as today Microsoft announced it will soon integrate Phone Link features directly into the Start Menu.

The general functionality remains the same as ever, but it’s now more seamlessly integrated into the Windows experience. It’s also definitely more prominently placed than ever before. You’ll be able to see your phone’s battery status and connectivity, as well as access messages, calls, and photos right from the Start Menu. You’ll even be able to pick up exactly where you left off in activities from your phone and run select apps right on the big screen.

The only catch is that this new feature isn’t quite ready for prime time and there’s really no word on if or when it’ll hit the stable build of Windows 11. It’s only available to those enrolled in the Windows 11 Insider Program with Phone Link version 1.24052.124.0 or higher and will only work with Android phones to start. You’ll also need to be on Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3790 or higher in the Beta Channel. Microsoft says the feature will roll out gradually. As an Insider, I can tell you the update has yet to reach my test laptop, so you might need to be patient a bit longer if this is something you’re keen to check out for yourself.

If your summer fitness regime needs a bit of a boost, the Beats Fit Pro might be just the wireless earbuds for the job. We’re spotlighting them today because they just hit their lowest price since March 2023, with a 20% markdown dropping them to only $159.

Beats Fit Pro for $159 ($41 off)

Google has been running pilot programs to support real-money gaming (RMG) apps on the Play Store in several regions for a while now. Earlier this year, the company announced it would expand support for more game types and operators in India, Brazil, and Mexico starting in July. But it has now paused the expansion citing challenges in markets that lack proper licensing frameworks.

TechCrunch reports that Google is keen on supporting more types of RMG apps on the Play Store, but it has faced issues identifying the type of games allowed in markets that don’t have a central body to approve such apps. The company seems to have taken this step to avoid unwanted regulatory hurdles.

In a statement outlining the development, a Google spokesperson had this to say:

Expanding our support of real-money gaming apps in markets without a central licensing framework has proven more difficult than expected and we need additional time to get it right for our developer partners and the safety of our users. Google Play remains deeply committed to helping all developers responsibly build new businesses and reach wider audiences across a variety of content types and genres.

The company has clarified that while it won’t expand support for new types of RMG apps, those released as part of the pilot program in India will continue to operate. It isn’t immediately clear if this also applies to apps released during the pilot program in Mexico.

Although Google may have paused the expansion, it’s still trying to develop a suitable framework to offer a wider range of RMG apps on the Play Store. It is also working on introducing a new service fee structure for such apps, but it has yet to work out all the details.

OnePlus’ first attempt at an Android tablet, the OnePlus Pad, was a hit thanks to its excellent balance of price and performance. But over a year has passed since its release, and everyone’s been itching to know what’s next. Well, it looks like OnePlus might have just given us a clue.

In a Weibo post, OnePlus announced the launch of the OnePlus Pad Pro in China, marking the brand’s first tablet release in the Chinese market. We can safely assume that this new tablet, or a variant of it, will also make its way to the US, possibly under the name OnePlus Pad 2.

As translated from Chinese, OnePlus is calling the Pad Pro ‘the most powerful Android tablet,’ strongly suggesting that it will come with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. This would be a significant upgrade from the Dimensity 9000 chip found in the original OnePlus Pad and would make it the first Android tablet to feature the 8 Gen 3 chip.

The official teaser image also reveals a glimpse of a new keyboard cover accessory, complete with a laptop-style touchpad. We can also see a new black-colored stylus pen along with the tablet.

While we don’t have confirmation of any other specs so far, leaker Digital Chat Station has shared real-life images of the alleged OnePlus Pad Pro, which indicate that the tablet might not differ much physically from the original OnePlus Pad.

Unfortunately, it appears that the screen will still be an LCD panel. While the original OnePlus Pad’s LCD was impressive for its price, boasting Dolby Vision support and a 144Hz refresh rate, an OLED display is generally preferred for the ultimate multimedia experience.

Nevertheless, we can expect OnePlus to continue its tradition of competitive pricing for the OnePlus Pad Pro (or Pad 2) if and when it launches in the US. The price is expected to be higher than the original OnePlus Pad ( ), but if OnePlus can undercut the upcoming Galaxy Tab S10 series, it could have another winning tablet on its hands.

A new OnePlus Watch 2?

Alongside the OnePlus Pad Pro, OnePlus also confirmed the launch of the OnePlus Watch 2 in China. From the image, it seems like this watch would be slightly different in terms of physical design compared to the OnePlus Watch 2 that’s available in the US.

This could be the alleged OnePlus Watch 3 that has been surfacing online in recent weeks. However, since the OnePlus Watch 2 launched just a few months ago, it’s uncertain whether OnePlus will release a new version in the US so soon.

These product launches, including the OnePlus Ace 3 Pro, are scheduled for June 27. The Ace 3 Pro is set to debut with the innovative Glacier Battery technology, promising significant improvements in battery performance and efficiency.

Earlier this month, Apple held its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). There, it launched Apple Intelligence, the umbrella term that will be the home of generative AI tools for iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers. The company spent approximately 50% of its keynote event solely focused on these new technologies and how they will make using its products better.

Unfortunately, it looks like nearly half a billion people won’t be able to experience Apple Intelligence features, at least not anytime soon. Today, via Bloomberg, we learned that Apple will not launch Apple Intelligence in the European Union for the time being. The reason behind this is the Digital Markets Act (DMA).  This is the main reason Apple has been pushed to change many of its policies, such as moving the iPhone to USB-C, allowing third-party app stores, and allowing developers to use third-party payment systems to bypass Apple’s previously mandatory 30% cut of all profits.

Apparently, Apple anticipates the DMA will mess with its Apple Intelligence plans, so it’s just not going to launch it there right now. “We are concerned that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security,” the company said in a statement.

In a seemingly separate statement to Financial Times, Apple said this would not be a permanent policy:

Due to the regulatory uncertainties brought about by the Digital Markets Act, we do not believe that we will be able to roll out three of these [new] features […] to our EU users this year.

Apple Intelligence is almost certainly going to be another way for it to push users to stay locked within its ecosystem. It’s possible Apple has concerns that, in order to abide by the DMA, it would need to open Apple Intelligence to other ecosystems, such as Android. Given how much Apple Intelligence is likely to cost the company (at least some of the features announced so far will require using a remote Apple data center to function), the return on investment in offering those features to EU citizens might not be worth it if the company can’t also lock those users into the broader Apple ecosystem.

Unfortunately, this limit in the EU won’t just apply to generative AI features under the Apple Intelligence umbrella. Two other features launched at WWDC — iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay Screen Sharing — will also apparently not land in the EU. It is unclear what about these features could be negatively impacted by the DMA.

What does this mean for Apple users in the EU?

This news will almost certainly be a significant problem for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users in the EU. Remember: the second half of Apple’s entire WWDC keynote was devoted to Apple Intelligence. It’s clear the company has a lot riding on this, and it will be a significant focus of the company’s current and future strategies.

For EU citizens to be left out of that will almost certainly push some to adopt other platforms, including Android and Windows, both of which are not yet limiting AI features by region. This won’t happen overnight, but if Apple launches a new version of iOS in the EU that only has a handful of new non-AI features, the eventual glut of development will certainly cause a user exodus.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming months and years. Will EU-based Apple users abandon the brand, or will they begrudgingly hang on while they watch Apple users in the United States and other countries enjoy shiny new AI features? Also, the DMA has been hugely influential on US policies. Will the US adopt more of the DMA’s principles and force Apple to simply alter Apple Intelligence everywhere? Time will tell.

Just six months after launch, we’re excited to see a massive $700 discount on the powerful Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra. It isn’t the first time we’ve tracked savings on the laptop, but it’s the biggest markdown to date by some distance. If you catch it in time, you can pick up the device for $1,699.99.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra for $1,699.99 ($700 off)

We’re back with this week’s list of shows brand-new streaming shows. We’ve got a lot of horror and action for you and a much-waited reality show that’s finally out in the US.

The best new streaming shows this week

Feel free to click on anything that piques your interest. This week, our list includes shows on Netflix, Max, Hulu, and MGM Plus.

• House of the Dragon, Season 2
• Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini
• Hotel Cocaine
• I Kissed a Boy
• The Victims’ Game, Season 2
• Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams

House of the Dragon (Season 2) – June 16, Max

• Release date: June 16, 2024
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
• Rating: TV-MA
• Director: George R. R. Martin, Ryan Condal
• Cast: Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, Graham McTavish, Jefferson Hall

Set 200 years before Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon’s second season continues the Targaryen saga with a slow-burning start that gradually builds to intense political drama. The series focuses on the brewing conflict between Rhaenyra and Alicent, former friends now leading opposing factions. While the opening episode is heavy on recaps and diplomacy, the show soon hits its stride, delivering the epic dragon battles that you would expect.

House of the Dragons, in the first season, is slightly less dramatic than Game of Thrones. The second season continues this trend, holding on to the subtlety — but it is still a riveting, action-packed watch full of rivalry and, well…dragons.

Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini – June 20, Hulu

• Release date: June 20, 2024
• Genre: Documentary, Crime
• Rating: TV-MA
• Director: Michael Beach Nichols
• Cast: Allison Berkley, Joseph Freed, Rob Ford, Erin Lee Carr

This is a three-part docuseries examining the controversial 2016 kidnapping case that turned out to be a hoax. Doesn’t that remind you of Gone Girl? The show opens with the initial investigation and Papini’s reappearance, before revealing the truth behind her fabricated story. Each hour-long episode meticulously reconstructs the events, from Papini’s initial vanishing to her reappearance 22 days later, and the eventual unraveling of her fabricated story.

An absolute treat for true-crime fans, the series features interviews with law enforcement officials, journalists, and Papini’s friends and family who offer multiple perspectives on the case. It explores the investigation process, the impact on the community, and the psychological factors that may have led to Papini’s actions. The show also leans into why this kind of “victim” is so problematic, and how their false reports hurt those who actually suffer.

Hotel Cocaine – June 16, MGM Plus

• Release date: June 16, 2o24
• Genre: Crime, Thriller
• Rating: N.A.
• Director: Chris Brancato
• Cast: Danny Pino, Yul Vazquez, Mark Feuerstein, Laura Gordon, Corina Bradley, Tania Watson, Michael Chiklis

Hotel Cocaine transports viewers to 1970s Miami, in the infamous Mutiny Hotel. More specifically, on the general manager. Roman Compte. The series blends historical events with fictional drama, exploring the intersections of drug trafficking, politics, and family loyalties.

We watch Roman attempt to balance his legitimate business with the demands of drug traffickers, politicians, and law enforcement. The series features a large ensemble cast, including Michael Chiklis as a determined DEA agent. Hotel Cocaine also explores immigration, the American Dream, and the transformation of Miami during the cocaine boom, offering a gritty, detailed look at a pivotal era in the city’s history. It’s full of action and drama — so there’s that too.

I Kissed a Boy – June 15, Hulu

• Release date: May 14, 2023
• Genre: Reality
• Rating: N.A.
• Director: Johnathan Booth
• Cast: Dannii Minogue, Layton Williams

I Kissed a Boy breaks new ground as the UK’s first all-gay dating show. Hosted by Dannii Minogue, the program brings together ten single men in a picturesque Italian setting. The unique twist is that contestants must kiss before speaking, challenging conventional dating norms.

Over eight episodes, the show follows the men as they navigate potential relationships, participate in challenges and face eliminations. While adhering to familiar reality dating show formats, I Kissed a Boy also addresses issues specific to gay dating and relationships. The series is a great start to showcasing LGBTQ+ relationships and identities, potentially paving the way for more diverse dating shows in the future.

The Victims’ Game (Season 2) – June 21, Netflix

• Release date: June 21, 2024
• Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
• Rating: TV-MA
• Director: David Chuang, Chen Kuan-chung
• Cast: Joseph Chang, Tiffany Hsu, Wang Shih-Sian, Moon Lee, Ruby Lin, Ding Ning, River Huang

The Victims’ Game: Season 2 is a Chinese-language crime thriller series returning to Netflix on June 21, 2024, following a four-year wait since its first season. This new installment centers around a series of interconnected murder cases tied to an incident from 15 years ago, delving into themes of belonging and the value of life.

Chang Hsiao-chuan reprises his role as Fang Yi-jen, a forensic detective with Asperger’s syndrome who finds himself as the prime suspect in these new cases. The series explores Fang’s character development as he navigates complex situations, including mending his relationship with his estranged daughter and learning to socialize more.

Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams – June 14, Netflix

• Release date: June 14, 2024
• Genre: Horror, Mystery
• Rating: TV-MA
• Director: Joko Anwar
• Cast: Muzakki Ramdhan, Kevin Ardilova, Happy Salma, Sha Ine Febriyanti, Sal Priadi, Ayu Laksmi, Muhammad Faqih Alaydrus

Aptly named, this is the stuff of nightmares. This is a 7-part horror anthology. In the first episode, we follow taxi driver Banji as he leaves his senile mother in a luxurious elderly home, only to uncover sinister secrets about the place.

As Banji investigates increasingly disturbing occurrences, the episode transitions from a family drama into a supernatural horror, with lots of shocking revelations about the facility’s true purpose sprinkled in between. The story draws on Indonesian folklore and mythology elements, creating a culturally specific horror experience. Things are looking pretty good for the next episodes.

This year, we’ve seen digital assistants get serious AI facelifts. Google is by far the most prominent, with its Gemini platform already poised to take over for Google Assistant. Meanwhile, at WWDC24, Apple showed off what a generative AI-powered version of Siri will be able to do later this year.

So far, the major digital assistant platform left out of this conversation is Amazon’s Alexa. Alexa hasn’t had a good couple of years. Amazon considers the platform unprofitable because not enough people use it for what Amazon wants them to use it for, which is buying products on Amazon, naturally. Alexa also doesn’t have the advantage of being baked into your smartphone since the one time Amazon tried to launch a phone was a crash-and-burn failure. This has all culminated with Amazon shrinking the Alexa team and focusing less on it.

But Alexa’s not about to be left behind in the generative AI race. According to a new report from Reuters, Amazon is working hard to bring generative AI-powered Alexa to the masses. Codenamed “Banyan” — a reference to a species of sprawling ficus trees — the “new” Alexa would offer two tiers of service, with the lower tier remaining free and the top tier costing users a monthly fee.

Internally, Amazon is referring to this upgrade as “Remarkable Alexa,” although that is unlikely to be its commercial name. Allegedly, access to “Remarkable Alexa” might cost between $5 and $10 each month. There is not going to be a tie-in with Prime membership, so you won’t get access to the premium tier just by paying for Prime.

According to three current and former Amazon employees speaking anonymously with Reuters, the company has given the Alexa team a hard deadline of August 2024 for the rollout of the “Banyan” project. This would put it nearly a year behind Google’s Gemini announcement and months behind Apple’s Siri announcement. However, if Amazon can actually roll out the new Alexa in August, it might beat Siri’s actual rollout, which likely won’t be completed until early 2025.

Regardless, Amazon’s top brass are calling this a “must-win” situation for the unprofitable Alexa. The team hopes that conversational AI will finally bring Alexa to a profit by allowing users to converse with it about products before making a purchase. However, the people speaking with Reuters admitted that people are too used to using Alexa for free, so paying a monthly fee for it — no matter how useful it might be — isn’t likely to work.

At the beginning of this month, Spotify increased the price of its Premium plan by $1.00, going from $10.99 monthly to $11.99 monthly. The main reason for this price jump was the recent introduction of audiobook support on the platform. With the “new” Premium plan, you get 15 hours of audiobook listening time per month.

The problem is that users who don’t care about audiobooks suddenly are paying more for a service they don’t use. Well, Spotify is now offering a solution in the United States with its new Spotify Basic plan. The Basic plan costs $10.99 each month and only includes music and podcasts.

Wait a minute — that’s just the old Premium plan with the same old price!

We’re not really sure why Spotify chose to do things this way. Why didn’t it launch a new plan that included audiobooks with a slight upcharge and then give people the option of switching? Instead, it forced everyone on Premium to pay more, and now they need to manually switch down to Basic if they don’t want audiobooks. Oh, wait — I just answered my own question.

Regardless of Spotify’s sneaky moves here, it is nice to see that people who were upset about the price increase have an option to get things back to normal with this new Basic plan.

This probably isn’t the only new Spotify plan we’ll see this year. A years-in-the-making tier is probably coming in 2024 that will provide users access to lossless audio, which will be of higher quality than the compressed tracks Spotify Basic and Premium subscribers get. However, Spotify might be too late to the game by the time this so-called “Hi-Fi” tier launches, considering Apple Music’s entire catalog is lossless and doesn’t require more money to access it.

With mobile smarts ramped up to suit a powerhouse PC form factor, Snapdragon X processors are an interesting prospect for mobile and laptop aficionados alike. I’m lucky enough to have my hands on the new Microsoft Surface Laptop, complete with the Snapdragon X Elite (1xE80100) onboard, and I couldn’t resist seeing if this chip could handle a little bit of AAA gaming (off the clock, of course, boss).

As a parent of two, my Steam library needed a little dusting off, but it’s not like Qualcomm is positioning the Snapdragon X platform at hardcore gamers anyway. Its Adreno X1 GPU is still an integrated component, after all, with a lowly 3.8TFLOPS of compute on this model that puts it well behind discrete mobile cards, let alone beefy desktop GPUs. Instead, Copilot Plus PCs are marketed for their AI smarts and battery life. Still, between modern classics including GTA V, Hitman 3, Crysis Remastered, and The Witcher 3, I feel like I have a reasonable sample of games you might be tempted to boot up on the go. Let’s find out if they can actually run.

Before we jump into the benchmark results, there are some important things to note. First, all of these games (and, in fact, anything you run through Steam or other launchers) are currently compiled for x64 processors (see AMD and Intel), not Arm (see Snapdragon X). That means Windows secretly spins up its Prism emulation layer to get these games running, which incurs a performance penalty. How much? We’ll just have to see.

Secondly, I spotted that some of these games ran with Windows’ “Automatic Super Resolution” (Auto SR) enabled by default. This new feature is exclusive to Copilot Plus PCs, leveraging their NPU capabilities to upscale low-resolution rendering for better performance. We’ll discuss this a bit more later on, but the key thing to note is that it lowers the output resolution on the Surface Laptop I’m using to just 1,152 x 768.

Snapdragon X Elite gaming benchmarks

My expectations for the Adreno X1 GPU are firmly in check, so I started by setting all these games to medium graphics settings. GTA V and Witcher 3 have SSAO enabled, but I declined anti-aliasing and ray tracing in every game where possible in favor of extra frames. The results below track the minimum and average frame rates across these game’s benchmark apps (and a fairly brisk run around some enemies in The Witcher 3). First, let’s run the tests at the Surface Laptop’s native 2,496 x 1,664 resolution (or as close as possible in the case of the Crysis benchmark).

As you might have expected, the results are not great even with medium settings. Crysis hobbles the Adreno X1 at this resolution, with an average FPS of just 19. Grim. Hitman is barely any better, with low average and minimum frame rates that make it a choppy mess to play. The Witcher 3 is slightly more playable but dips below 30fps far too regularly to be enjoyable. Likewise, GTA V has a much higher average frame rate, but the game grinds to a slideshow when heavy physics is employed. Clear, AMD and NVIDIA aren’t going to lose any sleep over the Snapdragon X Elite.

Auto SR is a Copilot Plus PC's secret weapon to run AAA games on low-power graphics.

At native resolutions, frame rates are a pretty dismal sub-30fps affair that’s headache-inducing to play for more than a few minutes. However, Copilot Plus PCs have a trick up their sleeve — Auto SR. This runs at a very low resolution, making it a bit backward compared to rival technologies that are regularly employed to output 4K. Obviously, a low resolution will run much better than the native display pixel count, so I ran all the games again at 1,152 x 768 (or 720p if that wasn’t a supported option) and then re-ran them with this AI-powered super-resolution scaling technology enabled.

So can the Snapdragon X Elite run Crysis? Unfortunately, Windows’ super-resolution feature doesn’t support Crysis, so there’s no benefit to be had here, much to my immeasurable disappointment. Still, it technically runs, and at an OK 41fps average at 720p, which is no doubt faster than when I played the original on my beloved ATi X1950 Pro. You’ll have to settle for low settings if you want something approaching a silky smooth frame rate, but the game runs passably on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite even without Auto SR support. Not terrible.

Of course, the other games in our list benefited from dropping the resolution back too, hitting frame rates above 30fps and in some instances closer to 60fps. Still, flicking the AI Auto SR switch yields even more frames. Well, at least most of the time.

Auto SR can provide a substantial boost to both minimum and average FPS.

GTA V sees the smallest change to its average frame rate, which sits well above 60fps anyway. However, minimum fps leap up by 46%, making for a smoother ride, but it’s still hampered by CPU-dependent scenes. Conversely, the more GPU-intensive Witcher 3 sees little change to its minimum fps but a 30% boost to its average frame rate, taking it up to the comfortable 60fps mark. Hitman 3 is more of a mixed bag. The Dubai benchmark sees a whopping 60%-odd gain to its minimum and average fps by turning to this AI upscaling technology, which again makes the game far more playable than by just dropping the resolution alone.

Now, I ran both Hitman tests because Dartmoor is incredibly physics-heavy, stressing any decent CPU and applying even more pressure when running under emulation here. This explains the super low minimum fps results we see regardless of whether super-resolution is enabled or not. So, Auto SR clearly helps out in GPU-bound instances, but it can’t improve frame rates for CPU-bound scenes. Still, Hitman runs pretty well in real gameplay when using AI upscaling.

AI Super Resolution to the rescue?

Windows’ not much talked-about Automatic Super-Resolution feature is a bit of a silver bullet for Copilot Plus PCs — and their Snapdragon X chips inside. Flip the switch, and these laptops feel like much more capable gamers than they first appear. While obviously still not able to deliver truly high-end graphics options, frame rates, or native resolutions, it’s a brilliant addition for sneaking in a game on the go. Leaping from sub-30 to 45-60fps makes a world of difference to playability and turns your sensible work laptop into something a little more fun.

So how does it work? According to Microsoft, “Auto SR functions by automatically lowering the game’s rendering resolution to increase framerate, then employs sophisticated AI technology to provide enhanced high-definition visuals.” With that in mind, it helps to think of this as NVIDIA’s DLSS or AMD’s FSR in reverse. It’s more like a cross between variable rate shading and AI-enhanced super resolutions details.

See, Windows Auto SR doesn’t upscale a game to match a high-resolution display. In fact, you have to settle for a resolution that’s far below typical modern gaming targets of 1440p and 4K. There’s no getting around the fact that 1,152 x 768 doesn’t look particularly sharp, even on the Surface Pro’s modest 15-inch screen. Aliasing artifacts are abundant and you’ll have to give up some of those valuable frames you just clawed back if you want rid of them.

Auto SR is the inverse of NVIDIA's DLSS. It runs at a low resolution and bumps down even lower to improve fps.

Instead, what I believe is happening is that the rendering resolution is sometimes even lower than 1,152 x 768. AI is used to scale up these frames so you can’t see the difference, which explains why this technique is quite good at improving minimum fps values in GPU-bound games. I suspect the overall low resolution is ultimately a limitation of the 45TOPS of NPU power found in Copilot Plus PCs. NVIDIA’s DLSS, for instance, runs on much more powerful hardware to reach 4K. To Microsoft’s credit, I really couldn’t tell if or when this was happening. Every still I captured looked the same with AI on or off and it’s even harder to make out any changes that happen during motion.

That said, Auto SR exacerbates jankiness when frame rates fall very low. This was readily apparent in the Dartmoor benchmark; several runs temporarily slipped into a Matrix-style Deja Vu. Despite the higher frame rates, I’m not convinced any of these titles felt buttery smooth with Auto SR enabled. It also makes text distort into drunken fonts, which can give the appearance of a goofy SNES emulator upscaler.

The Witcher 3 - Auto SR On The Witcher 3 - Auto SR Off

Still, running graphics upscaling on a chip’s dedicated NPU (necessary to be classed as a Copilot Plus PC) is an inspired idea, as it doesn’t steal many, if any resources from the GPU. In this instance, Auto SR leverages Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU that sits alongside the Adreno X1 GPU inside the Snapdragon X chipset, but this technique should work on future AMD and Intel PCs with integrated NPUs too. To be honest, I’m surprised we haven’t seen something similar in the Android gaming space, given the hardware is already there and pixel requirements are much lower.

You can find a list of Auto SR compatible titles at this link, which includes newer titles like Cyberpunk and The Last of Us. I can’t be sure these demanding titles will run quite as well without testing them, but they should still see some benefit. Unfortunately, not every game supports or even works well with Automatic Super-Resolution enabled. GTA V, for example, ships with super-resolution off by default, and while enabling it drastically improves the frame rate, menus and UI elements flicker and sometimes black box completely. On the other hand, Crysis Remastered and many other games don’t support the feature at all, so this certainly isn’t the cure-all for gaming on Arm-based PCs. The experience is not completely ready for prime time, much like Windows Recall.

Equally, I’m not entirely convinced by the decision to have this enabled by default for some games. It deprives gamers of balancing resolution and graphics settings themselves. The fact that the setting is hidden away in the new “Display > Graphics” menu also means yet another panel for gamers to faff with before they can just get playing. Though Windows does display a nice prompt to let you know Auto SR is working when you boot up the game.

Still, who can turn their nose up at free extra frames? Auto SR can’t disguise Snapdragon X as a serious rival to a proper gaming laptop, but it does mean that Copilot Plus PCs can dabble in a little light gaming without framerates that’ll tank your W/L ratio.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 series is available with in-house Exynos or Qualcomm Snapdragon chips. However, there seems to be uncertainty over whether the Galaxy S25 series will use Exynos silicon. Now, a new report suggests that Samsung is making a concerted effort to make an Exynos-powered Galaxy S25 a reality.

ZDNet Korea reports that Samsung is making “all-out efforts” to improve the yield of the upcoming Samsung Exynos 2500 processor. The outlet reports that Samsung’s LSI division is focused on improving the yield of the new chip by the second half of the year.

The Exynos 2500 is built on Samsung’s 3nm manufacturing process, but the yield rate reportedly remained in single-digit percentages until the first quarter of the year. A project to supply engineering samples of the new chips was also apparently postponed at the time.

Will an Exynos Galaxy S25 actually happen?

ZDNet Korea further claimed that Samsung has since improved the yield rate to just under 20% by Q2 2024. The website adds that this yield rate isn’t enough and that yield rates typically need to reach 60% or higher for mass production. For what it’s worth, leaker Revegnus claimed back in February that the 4nm Exynos 2400 had a ~60% yield rate.

Samsung apparently still has time to improve yield rates as mass production of the Exynos 2500 is said to be scheduled for the end of the year. So it seems like Exynos-powered Galaxy S25 units aren’t out of the question just yet, but it’s looking like a tall order.

The news comes after analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently claimed that the Galaxy S25 would likely be exclusively powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset, citing the Exynos 2500’s poor yield rates.

Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 are arguably the best wireless earbuds for iPhone users, offering a seamless integration with iOS and many neat features. These include an Adaptive Audio option that blends the Transparency and Noise Cancellation modes. So, those using it can hear human voices but not unwanted, loud noises. With iOS 18, Apple is giving the Adaptive Audio mode a welcome upgrade, allowing users to control how much noise it cancels.

As highlighted by MacRumors, the AirPods Pro 2’s Adaptive Audio mode has become more customizable on iOS 18. Those running the latest beta firmware versions on their iPhones and AirPods will find a new option in the Settings app. Through a dedicated slider, users can allow more or less noise to pass through when using the Adaptive Audio mode.

While the upgraded Adaptive Audio mode is certainly handy, we advise you not to install the beta firmware on your AirPods Pro 2. After all, AirPods, unlike iPhones, can’t easily be downgraded to the stable version. So, if you encounter serious bugs or battery drain while running the beta, you may have to deal with it until the final release launches this fall.

It’s worth noting that the new Adaptive Audio mode is also supported on iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. So, if you’re using your AirPods Pro 2 with a different Apple device, you’ll still be able to customize the aforementioned feature.

Over the past year, we’ve seen how tools like Midjourney can create misleading imagery and potentially sway public opinion. To address these concerns, YouTube is taking a stand with new measures to safeguard user privacy. The platform will now allow users to flag and request the removal of AI-generated content that mimics their face or voice. This policy covers fully synthetic recreations or partially altered content that could be mistaken for the real deal.

If you come across content that convincingly fakes your voice or face, YouTube has added a third option to its privacy complaint form that covers this scenario. Before this, you could only report videos that included your full name or sensitive information, like a residential address, without your consent.

It’s worth noting that YouTube will review each request carefully before taking action. A key factor will be the level of realism and the potential for misuse or manipulation.

The announcement also specifies that YouTube will consider whether the reported content contains “parody or satire when it involves well-known figures.” The platform could make an exception for high-profile individuals who are already in public discourse. This seems like a reasonable trade-off as long as the AI-generated content falls under the purview of social commentary and free speech. However, it’ll be interesting to see YouTube balance that aspect against a person’s reputational risk.

In March, YouTube began enforcing the use of disclosure labels for AI-generated content. When the label is applied, viewers see a small message that reads “Altered or synthetic content” along the bottom of the video, similar to a sponsorship disclosure. This only applies when videos contain a significant amount of artificially generated content, like if an AI voice generator is used for narration.

The latest announcement is yet another step to weed out potential misuse of AI on YouTube, which may become more rampant as video generators become more capable. OpenAI’s video demos of Sora earlier this year were exceptionally lifelike and its upcoming GPT-5 model will likely support video as an additional modality on top of text, images, and audio. Google also announced its competing Veo video generator last month and plans to integrate it into YouTube Shorts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX9uBNc7CXE

Should you buy the official Google Pixel 8a case?

When it comes to protecting your Pixel 8a in style, the official Google Pixel 8a Case is a standout option, mostly because it’s the only case that’s Made by Google. Branding aside, there are a few good reasons why you might want to consider it.

First off, the case is available in several vibrant colors that match the Pixel 8a itself — Aloe, Bay, Porcelain, Obsidian, and Coral. The color you pick is also extra important because the camera bar is entirely uncovered. The phone’s natural color will peek through, so make sure you pick two colors that look good together. It’s a small detail, but it adds a nice touch of personality to the otherwise plain case.

The case itself feels great in hand. It’s thin and light, yet it feels sturdy thanks to the rigid polycarbonate shell that covers the back and runs halfway up the edges. This design choice makes it more durable than fully silicone cases, which can sometimes feel flimsy. The minimalistic design, featuring a soft-touch finish and an embossed G logo, gives it a sleek and premium feel.

The silicone exterior is beautifully smooth, with no mold lines or imperfections. It fits the phone like a glove, adding just the right amount of grip to prevent slips while still being easy to slide into a pocket. The precise cutouts for the speakers and mics are exactly what you’d expect from a case designed by Google. Interestingly, there’s a gap above the charging port, a unique feature that sets it apart from other cases.

Google's official Pixel 8a case looks and feels great, but doesn't add much protection.

However, not everything is perfect. The raised ridges around the screen are just barely taller than the display and don’t wrap around the front. I found that they can slip down, potentially exposing the screen. The Pixel 8a has thick bezels, so it would have been trivial to add a little extra material to keep it in place. Considering it has an aging Gorilla Glass 3 screen, I’d strongly recommend using a screen protector with this case.

Despite this minor flaw, the case is still a decent pick. At $30, it’s a bit pricier than other thin silicone cases, but the color options and premium feel make it worth considering. Just be aware that it won’t protect your Pixel 8a from serious drops or damage, especially when it comes to the screen.

What are the best official Google Pixel 8a case alternatives?

If the official Google Pixel 8a case isn’t right for you, here are a few other thin Pixel 8a cases that are worth considering:

• Spigen Thin Fit ( ): The Spigen Thin Fit is just as thin and light, but costs significantly less. However, it only comes in black.
• Mous Super Thin ( ): The Mous Super Thin is a beautiful case that’s even thinner than the official case, but also includes MagSafe magnets in the back. However, it’s quite a bit more expensive.
• Ringke Onyx ( ): While not as thin as the official Google 8a case, the Ringke Onyx is very affordable and nails the basics. Again though, color options are pretty limited.

YouTube Music is one of the most popular platforms for streaming your favorite tunes. Bundled with YouTube Premium, the service offers an extensive catalog, including unofficial covers and unreleased tracks you may not find elsewhere. However, its desktop UI was too basic for the longest time, mimicking a mobile design on large screens. Fortunately, the company has finally addressed this by optimizing YouTube Music’s web layout — particularly when viewing albums and playlists.

As per a 9to5Google report, YouTube Music is rolling out a redesigned, two-column UI for albums and playlists on the web. The first column highlights the album art, year, and description, in addition to handy buttons like play, download, share, and more. The second column, on the other hand, lists the included tracks, along with their play count, duration, and artist.

Before this update, YouTube Music on the web would cram the first column’s content at the top of the screen, followed by the second column’s song list. That wasted desktops’ screen real estate, as the margins were too broad and unutilized. The new UI takes better advantage of wider displays by condensing more information in the same view.

YouTube Music first adopted this optimized album and playlist UI on Android tablets (but not iPadOS). While the company has already started rolling it out to desktop users, it’s not yet available to everyone. If it hasn’t appeared on your end, you could try clearing the website’s cache.

The Wireless Power Consortium announced the faster Qi2 standard for wireless charging at CES last year with several manufacturers showcasing chargers featuring the new tech. These products are now slowly making their way to the market, even though most Android flagship phones have yet to adopt the standard.

Satechi’s new Qi2 Wireless Car Charger is the latest addition to the lineup, featuring a sleek design with a Space Gray finish that won’t look out of place in most cars. The charger offers 15W wireless charging support — twice as fast as the 7.5W charging output offered by standard Qi chargers. Sadly, only MagSafe-compatible iPhones, i.e. iPhone 12 to iPhone 15 series, can make use of the faster wireless charging speeds at the moment.

Although the Satechi Qi2 Wireless Car Charger will work with standard Qi devices, charging speeds will be limited and you may need additional hardware, like a magnetic sticker or magnetic phone case, to keep your device securely in place. The wireless charger includes integrated magnets that comply with the updated standard, which ensures proper alignment with the phone’s wireless charging coils to improve power transfer and efficiency.

The Satechi Qi2 Wireless Car Charger is available for $59.99 through the company’s website, and it’s a great buy for those who have one of the recent iPhone models. Android OEMs will hopefully adopt the standard soon, so the charger is worth considering if you want to future-proof your purchase. It ships with a one-meter USB-C cable and a 25W cigarette lighter adapter that you can use for wired fast charging in a pinch.

Many Android phones sold in the US come with a one-year warranty, while the European Union and several other markets mandate a two-year warranty for devices. What if two years isn’t enough for you? Well, Motorola has a phone for you — if you live in the right country.

Motorola has revealed that the upcoming Moto S50 Neo budget smartphone will have a four-year warranty, beating warranty offerings from other manufacturers.

The four-year warranty consists of a one-year warranty plus a free, three-year extended warranty service, according to the fine print in an official image (below).

The Moto S50 Neo is also confirmed to come with a 5,000mAh battery while weighing just 171 grams. The phone has apparently surfaced on China’s TENAA regulatory website too, featuring an FHD+ OLED screen, a 2.3GHz octa-core chip, a 50MP+8MP rear camera pairing, and a 32MP selfie snapper.

Unfortunately, the Moto S50 Neo and the accompanying warranty offer seem to be China-only affairs for now. We’ve asked Motorola whether it plans to offer four-year warranties for any phones in the US, and will update the article accordingly. But we’d love to see it or other brands up the ante with four-year warranties in global markets.

Counterpoint Research previously predicted that people would hold onto their phones for roughly 40 months in 2023. We’ve also seen several manufacturers offer five or even seven years of software updates. So it seems sensible for warranties and spare parts availability to match these software promises.

Google confirmed a while back that it would be shutting down its VPN By Google One service on June 20 (yesterday). Pixel owners received a replacement service, dubbed VPN by Google, from June 3. Unfortunately, it looks like there are issues with this replacement service for some users.

Several Pixel owners have chimed in on Reddit to note that the new VPN By Google service either isn’t working or isn’t showing up for them. That means these users don’t have access to the original VPN by Google One service or the replacement option, forcing them to use an alternative VPN service for their needs.

The issue seems to affect the Pixel 7 series (including the Pixel 7a) and the Pixel 8 range, but it will likely affect some Pixel Fold owners too.

In any event, some Redditors in the thread observed that their phones haven’t received the June update from their carriers yet. However, a few others chimed in to say they received the update but still don’t have access to the VPN By Google service.

We’ve asked Google for comment regarding this issue and will update the article if/when the company gets back to us.

T-Mobile previously announced that it would address a loophole that allowed customers to access its 5G Home Internet service while traveling. It looks like the company has finally closed this gap.