Hardware season is in full swing. Apple launched the iPhone 16, AirPods 4, and Apple Watch Series 10 on Monday of this week. On the same day, at the same time, the Pixel Watch 3 review embargo was lifted, and we managed to get most of our article up at the time. Not only that, we also saw Sony announce the PlayStation 5 Pro this week, plus there’s been a lot of news coming out of the IFA conference in Berlin over the past two weeks. There’s been stuff like Huawei’s tri-fold phone, reMarkable’s Paper Pro tablet, DJI’s $200 Neo drone, a new GoPro, and more Lenovo concept laptops.
As you can imagine, it’s been a hectic couple of weeks for those of us who cover consumer tech, and the events are far from over. Reviews of all the big recently announced products will also be up soon, if they haven’t already, and I’m back once again to help you catch up on all the reviews we’ve published over the past two weeks. I’ll also explain why there are some products we haven’t written about, such as the OnePlus Pad 2.
Pixel 9 Pro Fold: Two reviewers, one full review
By Cherlynn Low and Sam Rutherford
Google's second foldable phone is already a more mature model, with refined hardware, superior cameras and a long-lasting battery. It just needs to polish some software quirks to finish maturing.
- Elegant design
- Better cameras than the competition
- Thinner and lighter than the previous model.
- It runs cooler than before
- It's still expensive
- Some peculiarities of the software
Since our foldables expert Sam Rutherford is on maternity leave, the task of reviewing the Pixel 9 Pro Fold fell to me. But Sam, being the responsible and helpful reviewer that he is, took the time to share his thoughts and impressions with me. He even took the review photos for our article, and I especially appreciate that he used mahjong tiles as an interesting background for his photos. While I focused my testing on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold as a viable alternative to smartphones and its use as a media consumption device, Sam provided his take comparing Google’s foldable to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6.
Our review brings those two perspectives together, resulting in a pretty comprehensive analysis, if I do say so myself. We have camera comparisons between the Google and Samsung offerings, with an assessment of both their software, battery performance, build, form, and more.
I was also able to record a video that includes all of our reviews of the Pixel 9 family of phones, which includes the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pro XL, as well as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The video goes into more detail on things like the Add Me and Made You Look camera upgrades, as well as what Emergency SOS via Satellite looks like on a Pixel phone. Check it out at the top of this article!
Pixel Watch 3 review: the fight against Apple
By Cherlynn Low
Google / Engadget
With long-lasting battery life and a comprehensive, intuitive set of health-tracking features, the Pixel Watch 3 is a serious smartwatch that's ready for the competition.
- Automatic and fast training detection
- The battery lasts a day and a half.
- Attractive design
- Wide range of screen brightness.
- A little bulky
- Some peculiarities of the software
Google didn’t make life too easy for us with its embargo on Monday, September 9, especially since Apple’s iPhone 16 launch event was taking place on the same day. But the good news is that our review units had arrived roughly two weeks earlier, so we had enough time with the Pixel Watch 3 to get a better idea of how it performs in the real world. I spent my time with the smaller 41mm model while Sam was able to share some testing thoughts from the new, larger 45mm variant.
Within a couple of days, Sam and I were exchanging notes about how impressed we were with the Pixel Watch 3’s battery life. Since I hate wearing watches to sleep, Sam kindly told me about the watch’s sleep tracking and automatic bedtime features. Once again, teamwork made the dream come true (literally for me, as I wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep otherwise).
For my part, I focused on workouts and activity tracking, wearing the Pixel Watch 3 alongside my Apple Watch Series 9 everywhere for two weeks. I loved that Google’s smartwatch was better at automatically detecting every walk, run, and bike ride, but I found it a bit too heavy-handed compared to the competition. I also enjoyed the new customizable running workouts that let me set sprint and rest segments during my treadmill sessions.
I know a day and a half sounds like an average in terms of battery life for modern smartwatches, but considering older models could barely last 24 hours, the improvements in runtime seem huge. Coupled with some Google and Pixel integrations, the Pixel Watch 3 finally looks ready to compete with flagship wearables from Samsung and Apple.
Ultimate Ears Everboom: A floating speaker that sounds louder than good
By Billy Steele
Permanent ears
Small enough to be easily transported, yet loud enough to liven up a party, the Everboom ticks many of the boxes for a UE speaker.
- Durable and waterproof
- 20 hour battery life
- Excellent features
- Authentic 360-degree sound
- The audio profile lacks midrange
- Expensive for a speaker of this size.
- Not to port
- Playlist feature limited to two services
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In this review, Billy shows us once again what to look for when purchasing equipment for an outdoor party. Judging by the beautiful images accompanying his review, it's clear that when he's not testing headphones or grilling meat in his backyard, Mr. Grilly Steele spends a lot of time at the beach testing speakers (with work permits). I support him.
With the UE Everboom, Billy makes it clear that the sound quality isn’t stellar, and that music lacks the necessary punch in the midrange. But if it’s volume you’re after, the Everboom delivers, pumping out sound in 360 degrees. Plus, it does so in a rugged, water-resistant body that can also survive a toss in the pool – since, like the company’s other speakers, it floats!
However, with a score of just 75, Everboom failed to make it into our Recommended list. You're likely to find a better device for your needs from competing brands like Marshall and Beats.
We have not reviewed: OnePlus Pad 2
With everything that’s been going on in the industry and in our own lives lately, we still haven’t reviewed the OnePlus Pad 2. Nor have we reviewed the Moto Razr 2024 or the Galaxy Watch Ultra. We’re still testing our review units so that experience can inform our evaluation of other products we write about. But time is a resource we never have enough of, and with companies constantly releasing new products, it’s hard to keep up.
Our lead tablet reviewer (and deputy editor) Nathan Ingraham has been spending time with the OnePlus Pad 2 and has some thoughts to share. He's a fan of its design and display, finding it lightweight and well-balanced despite being fairly large at 12.1-inch. Speaking of which, he likes the display too, appreciating its 301 ppi pixel density. In fact, he called it “one of the nicest looking tablet displays I've seen outside of the iPad.”
I’ll need to get Nate to see a Samsung Galaxy Tab with a nice AMOLED panel before we make this official, but there are other things that set the OnePlus Pad 2 apart. If you have a OnePlus phone, Nate noted that “there are some clever software features” that could make this tablet a better choice than an iPad or Galaxy Tab. But as Nate notes, “the Android software situation, as always, is a fairly unimpressive set of aspects.” He pointed to multitasking and the lack of apps that make good use of the larger screens as two areas that need improvement.
Still, for $550 (and it currently costs… $499 directly from OnePlus), Nate thinks the Pad 2 is a good value for money. “I still can't recommend it over an iPad, but at least it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.”
Coming soon/on the horizon
As I said at the beginning of this roundup, there are plenty of gadgets hiding in our homes, ready to be tested. There are plenty more to come, including new Copilot+ PCs powered by AMD and Intel chips, as well as cameras, headsets, and more. If anyone watching this week's news was interested, they could probably make a very educated guess about what we're about to publish reviews for, especially given the timelines of previous years. That's all I'll say for now.
I wanted to express how grateful we are for your patience as we navigate this very busy and hectic time of year. You may see reviews published this month that are updated after publication with additional details. This may be done in an effort to get articles published in a timely manner while still being able to provide a comprehensive look at our experiences over time. For example, my Pixel Watch 3 review was published on Monday, but I was able to update it on Wednesday morning with a full section on the Wear OS experience and the Fitbit app.
This is nothing new or that affected my score, but simply an additional detail that I didn't have time to write while preparing for the iPhone event. With the upcoming tech release calendar, you may see us take a similar approach to reviews that may have tight deadlines.
As always, we appreciate all the time you take to read and view our work. Have a wonderful weekend!
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