It's a slower-than-usual October in the tech industry, thanks mainly to Google and Microsoft making their typical fall hardware announcements earlier this year. Still, we've seen quite a few companies reveal new devices over the past two weeks, as amazon's October Prime Day continued. Whether you were busy shopping or watching Elon Musk talk about robotaxis and cybervans, the Engadget team continued to review recently (and not-so-recently) released products. As usual, this bi-weekly recap is here to help you catch up, although since I missed last week's edition (because I was away on free time), the cadence is a little off.
From Meta's Quest 3S VR headset and DJI Air 3S drone, to Sony's suite of mid-range audio gear, these weeks have coincidentally focused on the less premium and more affordable “non-flagship vessels,” so to speak. . And it turns out that you don't have to spend much of your retirement savings on companies to get solid devices that are well worth the money.
Sony LinkBuds Fit and LinkBuds Open and Bose QuietComfort earbuds reviews
by Billy Steele
Sony shows off its mobile audio power in the LinkBuds Fit, combining great sound with tons of features.
The main thing I learned from Billy's recent reviews of Sony and Bose headphones is that premium-level flagship noise cancellation is coming to mid-range products. And I, for one, am happy about it. It seems like most of the things you'll be missing out on if you opt to save some money are features like spatial audio, head tracking, and things that are supposed to create a more immersive and intuitive listening experience. Personally, I don't mind missing out on those things for now; I really just want decent sound, good voice quality and competent background noise reduction.
Definitely check out Billy's review of Sony's trio of LinkBuds devices, even if you're not looking for headphones, because he put himself through literal pain in the ears to try out the oddly designed headphones for us. In fact, one rejected headline from the review was “Why am I in pain?” We salute you, Billy.
by Devindra Hardawar
Goal
The Meta Quest 3S offers immersive virtual reality for just $300. It's fast, convenient to use, and has a ton of games and VR experiences to choose from.
- Fast performance
- Comfortable to wear
- Excellent drivers
- Large app library
- Older Fresnel lenses cause artifacts
- No headphone jack
- Average mixed reality cameras
amazon;itemcost:$299;sellerN:amazon;pos:3;sec:large-product;elm:affiliate_link;itc:0;pkgt:horizontal-cta-1;slk:$299 at amazon;” class=”rapid-with-clickid peer clear-right box-border block w-full min-w-60 rounded-(40px) px-7 text-center hover:no-underline hover:opacity-100 active:opacity-60 @xl/p:w-9/12 commerce-cta-btn-primary bg-inkwell py-3 font-semibold leading-5 text-white hover:bg-charcoal hover:text-grey-hair active:bg-charcoal active:text-grey-hair peer-(&):mt-3 dark:bg-white dark:text-batcave dark:hover:bg-bob dark:focus:bg-bob dark:active:bg-bob” href=”https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=66ea567a-c987-4c2e-a2ff-02904efde6ea&itemId=amazon_B0DDK1WM9K&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=pnr-product-module&providerId=amazon&featureId=dynamic-offer&itemName=Meta+Quest+3S&merchantName=amazon&itemSourceId=B0DDK1WM9K&brand=Meta&categoryId=1279&price=299.0&salePrice=299.0&custData=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&signature=AQAAAfzcS4hS0KRrxUtq851XXWpkFZ5G0MxSyIEHrNDuuRoT&contentUuid=2d51d3ad-aa1f-47a2-977e-4b907060cb90″ rel=”noopener noreferrer nofollow” target=”_blank”>$299 at amazon
The Quest is arguably the industry-leading consumer VR headset, especially considering it costs a fraction of alternative options while still offering a relatively high-quality immersive experience. Unlike the Apple Vision Pro, which costs $3,500, the new Quest 3S is much more desirable for $300. And, as Devindra notes in his review, it's convenient, fast, and allows users to access Meta's large library of VR apps and content. To quote Devindra: “It's not Meta's first $300 VR headset, but it's still a tremendous achievement.”
DJI Neo and DJI Air 3S Reviews
by Steve Dent
dji
DJI's Air 3S is the company's first consumer drone with LiDAR designed to make flying at night safer.
- Excellent image quality
- LiDAR improves obstacle detection at night
- ActiveTrack 360 produces cinematic tracking shots
- Long lasting battery
- It now has 42 GB of internal storage
- Sometimes it fails to detect small obstacles.
Continuing with the trend of excellent products that cost less than usual, the DJI Neo is an excellent drone for only $200. Calling it the best $200 drone ever made may seem hyperbolic, but we really can't think of any other drone that costs the same and comes close to delivering similar performance to the Neo. And while one of its main drawbacks, according to our reviewer Steve, is that it sounds like a banshee, I honestly think it would be a pro for me just for the sheer comedy of it all. I never thought I'd be in the market for a banshee-sounding drone, but here I am thinking that $200 would be a fair price to pay for the aerial videos I was able to get, and I could easily sing happily and operatically over the footage anyway . .
At the other end of the spectrum, Steve also tested the high-end DJI Air 3S drone and the Canon EOS R5 II, both of which will cost you a lot more money. The good news is that Canon's EOS R5 II has improved so much that it's a better match for Sony's rival offerings, while also offering cool features like eye-control autofocus. Of course, it's still too early to be reliable. But if you have the money for these premium products, you will be able to experience cutting-edge technology; perhaps part of the appeal is that they don't always work well.
by Dan Cooper
reMarkable / Engadget
reMarkable adds a color screen to your e-paper tablet, creating a best-in-class distraction-free writing experience.
- Color is a welcome and useful addition
- Backlight allows you to work in dark environments
- Much improved performance
I know Dan was a little worried about giving a device as specific as the reMarkable Paper Pro such a high score, but after some discussion, we both agreed that it was a fit. As it stands, the reMarkable Paper Pro is arguably the best e-paper writing tablet with a color screen, even after this week's announcement of amazon's first color Kindle. According to Dan's review, Paper Pro not only goes up a notch with the addition of color, but it also becomes much faster and more reliable in the process.
I particularly enjoy the care that has been put into better combining handwriting and typed text for a more natural note-taking and annotating experience. And while it falls outside of this issue's overall theme of being a less expensive product with premium specs, I'm still incredibly tempted to find ways to shell out the $600 or so needed to buy myself a Paper Pro with the accessories Dan recommends.
Reviews of Phoenix Springs and Neva
by Jessica Conditt
I'm not the most committed gamer, but I love learning about games from Jess. She recently reviewed the sci-fi mystery Phoenix Springs and the dream platformer Neva, with pieces written so beautifully that I can't help but want to see each title so I can feel the way she clearly feels them. Phoenix Springs even follows a tech reporter and covers my favorite genres (sci-fi and mystery), while Neva's art looks simply beautiful. I still don't know if I'll ever find the time to play new games, but these two have certainly been added to my list.
Upcoming reviews: On the horizon
The Engadget team is interested in a multitude of things, and as we start writing our holiday gift guide, we're thinking about the products we love for ourselves and our loved ones. Many of us love e-readers and writing tablets. I certainly have my eye on one of the new Kindles that were announced this week, particularly the new Kindle Scribe and possibly the Colorsoft. These won't be available until later this year, so for now I'll continue to look hungrily at the reMarkable Paper Pro. I'll also wonder what amazon hardware boss Panos Panay has up his sleeve, besides cans of Diet Coke, something I learned he (like many people) enjoys when I had the opportunity to speak with him in an interview this week.
Many of us are millennials and have a huge weakness for retro games. Our executive editor Aaron Souppouris spoke to the folks at Analogue and you can read his beautifully constructed article to learn more about the upcoming Analogue 3D.
This week, Apple surprised us by announcing the new iPad mini, which has been modified to offer more storage and power with an A17 Pro processor. It will also support Apple Intelligence, of course, and although it seems like a minor update, to some of my Coworkers and I still love the idea of a small tablet. If only it had a better screen.
All of those recently announced things are on our review list, along with things like Google TV Streamer and Samsung Galaxy S24 FE that launched in recent weeks. As we head into November and all the holiday shopping that comes with it, hardware releases should hopefully slow down appropriately. We're still anticipating an Apple event for Mac and we still remember being surprised by Humane's ai Pin announcement late last year. But for now, we move forward while occasionally bathing in nostalgia and longing for a simpler time.
