The first thing you notice about the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is the AniMe lights. The pixelated LEDs (also found on devices like the ROG Phone 9), flowing in a rhythm from a back strip like a scar streaked dashingly across a warrior’s eye, let you know what you’re in for before you even […]
How to Build a Functional Smart Home When You’ll Never Own a House Yourself
Ah, yes, the American dream. A house with a white picket fence, a dog, and as many products as you can pile into a pickup truck that you paid for in cash, which I’m told is a type of green paper you can exchange for goods and services. Sounds nice; sounds normal; sounds totally and […]
Soundcore Sleep A30: ANC Earbuds for Sleep That Can Save Your Marriage
I absolutely, positively, cannot sleep without ambient noise. I’m not sure when that neurotic prerequisite for sleep took root, but it’s here now, and I regard it as a fact of life. As you might imagine, that quirk is fine when I’m at home since I have plenty of noise machines at my disposal—an air […]
Larq Bottle PureVis 2 Review: Drinking Water as a Video Game Isn’t as Dumb as It Sounds
There’s something I learned about hydration that I can never forget: if you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. It’s a rule of thumb that can come in handy if you are out on a long hike or on the beach in the middle of summer when the risk of becoming dehydrated is pretty high. […]
This Dock Is the Only Way to Play the Switch 2 in AR. It Was a Very Awkward Experience.
I should be used to sticking odd contraptions on my head during plane flights. I’ve planted a Meta Quest 3S and Apple Vision Pro over my eyes as my in-flight entertainment and tried not to get motion sick while imagining what other passengers think of my sci-fi asshattery. On my latest six-hour, cross-country flight, I […]
Soundcore Boom 3i Review: A Seaworthy Bluetooth Speaker That Dunks on the Competition
I love when gadgets have a schtick. Like Lenovo’s Tab Plus with an ungodly amount of JBL speakers, or Nothing’s Android phones with lights on the back. Schticks are great, and schticks that are practical and actually work are even better. For Soundcore’s $130 Boom 3i Bluetooth speaker, the schtick is all about throwing a […]
Asus RT-BE86U Review: This Dual-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router Punches Way Up
Asus has always been one of my favorite router makers. The first time I bought my own router to get out of paying to rent one from my ISP, I got an Asus Wi-Fi 4 model. Being the person I am, I was delighted by the number of options it presented, even if I didn’t […]
The Whoop 5.0 Is a Massive Upgrade to Health Tracking. I Wasn’t Ready.
At some point in the late 2010s, I became obsessed with my heart rate. I was at a point in my fitness life that I was training for marathons and I cared a whole lot about every process involved. I spent a certain percentage of my workday staring at my heart rate on my fitness […]
All Gaming Laptops Should Copy the HP Omen Max 16’s All-Too Obvious Feature
We’re scraping the bottom of the barrel for innovations in gaming laptop design. Every big black rectangle can start to look the same, where shopping online for your next mobile gaming rig is like trying to meander through a hall of mirrors. The HP Omen Max 16 would be like every other laptop—even miss out […]
Lenovo Tab Plus Review: An Unmatched Audio Experience Among Tablets
I’ve never really been one to blare music out loud on a tablet, but the older I get, the more I realize my values do not reflect those of the broader populace. There are plenty of people who like to do just that, and I guess if they’re home alone or they simply do not […]