Gadgets

You can grab the noise-canceling AirPods 4 for $144.99 ($35 off) at Amazon and Walmart, which is the best price we’ve seen since earlier this year. While they don’t tune out noise quite as well as the AirPods Pro, we were impressed by how well they reduced sounds on planes and offices. They also sound great and offer Pro-like perks including wireless charging and Find My support. Read our review.

If you’re planning another Jurassic Park rewatch this week you’ll want to keep this detailed breakdown of all the computers featured in the film on hand. Developer Fabien Sanglard identifies and shares interesting details on all the fictional park’s hardware from SGI workstations to a full-on Thinking Machines CM-5 supercomputer.

MacBooks have hard, pointy edges. But would you take a hand file or sanding block to your laptop? Software engineer Max Bretschneider did just that, and the results look pretty good. The more heavily filed MacBook Pro he cites for inspiration from designer Kent Walters? Less so. (Yikes!)

The EU is excluding wearable devices, including smartwatches, fitness trackers, and smart glasses, from an incoming rule that will require a wide range of electronics to have user-replaceable batteries. The Nintendo Switch 2 isn’t exempt, though, and will come with a replaceable battery in the EU by the time the law goes into effect in February 2027.

Valve’s Steam Machine might be exactly the living room console you’ve been waiting for. Or it might be too expensive, totally pointless, a waste of everyone’s money and shelf space. The Verge’s Sean Hollister joins the show to talk through all the feedback we’ve been getting about our coverage and our review. Is Valve’s history a pro or a con? Is the price reasonable or ridiculous? Who is this device actually for? We have much to discuss.

Back-to-school shopping season is upon us, and you can check one item off your list by picking up the Texas Instruments TI-84 Evo at Amazon for $96.99 (usually $160). With a multi-color display, redesigned home screen and keypad, and USB-C charging, the TI-84 Evo is a huge leap from the TI-83 Plus I had to deal with in geometry class.

Everyone asks Verge reviewers if we get to keep the gadgets, and the answer is no — but I can give them to you! Our third Today I’m Toying With giveaway is live, and I’m making it a regular Wednesday thing. You have to enter to win each time; I do a weekly drawing. US residents only (sorry!)

The original 1080P Elfin Flip Plus mustered just 500 ISO lumens of brightness, but the two new models bump that to a more useable 1,600 ISO lumens thanks to an upgrade to a triple laser light source. The $799 Elfin Flip Laser is still limited to 1080P, but the $999 Elfin Flip 4K also gets a welcome boost in resolution.

Alongside an upgraded version of its towering Skelly, Home Depot is introducing several new animatronics this year, including a $179 six-foot-tall hipster bartender — err, mixologist — with tattoos and a well coiffed beard and mustache. John the Last Call Mixologist also stirs a drink in a hand while speaking one of five different prerecorded phrases.

If you are, Withings’ BodyScan 2 is available to buy starting today. Why is the scale $600? Well, it measures 60 biomarkers, and it’s positioned as a “longevity station.”

Fanatical is hosting a build-your-own bundle of Resident Evil games for Steam that costs $6.50 per game, and gets slightly cheaper the more you add. For instance, Resident Evil Village and the Resident Evil 2 remake are $12.99 together. The site has every major game in the franchise, save for Requiem and a few remakes.

Pebble says it’s sent free replacements to everyone who reported Time 2 hardware issues like cracked screens and broken touch panels “regardless” of whether the defective watches (out of 19,000 in service) were still covered under its 30-day warranty.

If you wouldn’t dream of wearing socks with sandals or using accessories that clash with your laptop, Satechi announced two new USB hubs and new versions of its Slim EX Wireless Mouse that match the silver, blush, citrus, and indigo color options of the MacBook Neo. They’re available now for $29.99 to $44.99.

So far, there have been exactly zero great AI-first gadgets. But that hasn’t stopped the tech industry from trying to figure out what shape and size these new gadgets might take, and whether any of them can best the device in your pocket. The Verge’s Allison Johnson and Victoria Song join David to rank all those shapes, from pendant to smartwatch to rectangle, to see whether there is actually a next big thing out there.

Hisense has started teasing an e-paper smartphone with a detachable LCD, instead of the other way around. I guess that’s one way to drop your Instagram Reels consumption.

Cricut’s Joy 2 bundle is down to $135 ($24 off) at Amazon and includes enough vinyl, cardstock, iron-on material, and other supplies to make up to 55 projects. After testing it earlier this year, I’ve become a big fan. It’s been great for making stickers, bookmarks, and bullet journal templates, but it can also personalize everything from tote bags to water bottles.