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Google’s pitch for its own mesh networking products has been to focus on clever trade-offs to keep the cost down, making it accessible to the masses. The Nest WiFi Pro, the company’s latest flagship, builds upon that existing (and winning) formula with the addition of WiFi 6E. Part of its appeal is the Google brand, plus the promise of regular free software updates and tight integrations with most of the world’s smart home players. In a head-to-head race, the Nest WiFi Pro will be bested by plenty of its competitors, but Google’s user-friendliness means it’s the default option for pretty much everyone.

Hardware

As I said in our main mesh WiFi buyer’s guide, I’ve been using Google’s first-generation version for years, and also reviewed the second-generation Nest WiFi, so I feel like this is my turf. The Nest WiFi Pro is Google’s first to harness WiFi 6/6E, which was irritatingly omitted from the last model on cost grounds. Because of this, they can’t integrate with your existing Google / Nest WiFi hardware, meaning that any upgrade will require you to start fresh.

In terms of looks, the Pros are ovoid bumps that stand taller than their predecessors and demand more space. ‘Round back, you’ll find the jack for the barrel power cable and two ethernet ports which Google says “support 1 Gbps wired speeds per router.” Inside, it packs a Cortex A35 dual-core 64-bit ARM CPU paired with 1GB of RAM and 4GB of storage like its predecessor. It is available in four colors: Snow, Linen, Fog and Lemongrass.

The Nest WiFi Pro doesn’t reserve a chunk of its spectrum for dedicated backhaul. Instead, it dynamically shunts traffic around the available space for optimal performance, which will primarily take place on the 6GHz band, since plenty of devices in our homes don’t have the components necessary to access it. Google adds that using 6GHz as backhaul frees up lots of space in the 2.4 and 5GHz bands, improving performance for all the other devices on the network.

One interesting tweak from the last model is that you can’t get the Pro with a built-in smart speaker. This is good, since I never liked the idea of having a speaker inside my WiFi apparatus. But I will concede that I did like being able to use Spotify Connect on the original Nest WiFi in my kitchen without buying another speaker.

Installation

Since it's a Google product, expect the Nest WiFi Pro to be relatively easy to install through your phone — for most of the process. If you, like me in this instance, already had a Google mesh in place, you'll need to factory reset, wipe and deactivate everything. Once done, you can just connect the first node to your modem with an ethernet cable (supplied) and let the app do the rest for you.

The Google Home app will almost instantly find the new product waiting to be installed and get you started. It took me ten minutes to get the first one running, and that included an unrelated issue with my cable modem that forced me to restart. It took another ten minutes to install the other nodes, but all I had to do was scan the QR code and follow the on-screen instructions.

The app doesn’t offer any advice about optimum node placement or identifying potential weak spots. Google’s website offers the stock line that you should put a node halfway between the primary and wherever in your home you need WiFi. That’s fine, but I suspect novice users might appreciate more guidance, especially if they’re struggling with structural issues that mean adjoining rooms aren’t getting a good signal.

Performance

Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget

I don’t have many WiFi 6E-compatible devices at home, and there was a fair distance between the nearest node and my office, so I didn't have high hopes that switching to the new system would deliver great gains. Yet, compared to the WiFi module in my office, which is connected via Ethernet to my modem, I saw my speed jump from around 120 Mbps to an average of 240 Mbps.

The only place where the Nest WiFi Pro’s connection was anything other than eye-wateringly fast was in my notorious back bedroom. The room, surrounded by Victorian (and modern) plumbing, was previously barren territory for my older system, but it was now joined up here. And while speeds fell to 63 Mbps, I never saw a dropout or stutter in performance. In fact, WiFi performance in that room is more than sufficient to work and take video calls.

Despite the fewer modules, connectivity was stable and I never noticed a drop when I ran between rooms. Armed with all the devices I could muster, me and my kids scuttled around the house walking to the furthest points of the house watching plenty of streamed video, and none reported an issue. My average speed tests shook down to close to 250 Mbps, and the connection was smooth enough for my purposes.

Additional features

The Nest WiFi Pro supports Matter and Thread, so you can control your smart home from the Google Home app. When I opened the app after installing the new hardware, it asked if I wanted to connect to my Philips Hue and iRobot products. You’ll still need to have your Hue Bridge connected, however, so you’re not saving a plug on your Ethernet switch. That’s unfortunate compared to, say, some Eero models which have built-in Zigbee units that allow you to ditch the bridge entirely. But if you’re all-in on Google’s Assistant then you’ll benefit from having everything hooked up inside one app.

A key selling point of Google’s network products is the promise to keep them up to date with software and security updates. The company has rolled out fairly regular updates over the last seven years and there’s no indication yet that it’s going to stop. I’ve been fairly happy with the work done for my first-generation Google WiFi pucks. If I do have a concern, it’s that Google sometimes axes products not long after launch, so you do run the risk of investing in the company only for its impatience to get the better of it.

App and controls

I preferred when you could control your Google WiFi through the standalone app, but these days it’s all rolled into the company’s Home app. That’s great as a one-stop shop for any compatible smart home gadgets you might have, but it’s less comprehensive. When managing your network, you can look at per-device traffic, set priority access (or pause connection to) any device on the network. You’ll also be able to run speed and mesh connection tests to ensure that your network performance is optimal.

Some of these features aren’t standard on other routers, and some you need to pay extra to access. Others may offer you a good deal more, too. If you’re looking for more fine-grain control, you probably won’t find it on the Nest. As much as Google calls this a “Pro” router, it’s more to gesture toward being more premium, rather than for actual professionals. There’s no access to some of the harder-core settings or browser-based controls page for power users. Instead, this is a locked-down, curated experience for people who want their WiFi to work without much .

For parental controls, you can set up groups within the Family WiFi menu to pause multiple devices at once. You can also schedule access times, a feature that several other mesh products expect you to pay to use. And while there’s no specific way to filter individual websites, you can designate some hardware to be routed via Google’s SafeSearch to block a broad swathe of content online. What this system lacks is any fine-grain control for concerned parents or the ability to monitor a specific device’s browsing history. But I’ve always been of the opinion that overzealous parenting just creates kids who learn at a young age to hide what they’ve been up to.

Wrap-up

What Google’s WiFi products have always offered is a fairly acceptable blend of power, price and performance. You won’t be getting into the nitty-gritty parts of running a network, but you’re also not paying a huge amount of cash. It should appeal to people who really don’t want to worry about doing much more than running the odd speed test and quickly setting up a guest network without any stress. Something like the TP-Link XE75 might run faster and offer more features, but for this price, Google’s remained true to its ethos of making the right compromises.

Apple has updated its Podcasts app on iOS, iPadOS and macOS with features that make it easier to find content in your favorite genres. It now includes nine new subcategories: Mental Health, Relationships, Self-Improvement, Personal Journals, Entrepreneurship, Documentary, Parenting, Books and Language learning. Those come on top of existing subcategories like True Crime, Sports and others. 

Apple has been focused on mental health over the past few years, and recently introduced the Journal app that lets you document how you're feeling. In addition, the company recently introduced a mood tracking feature as part of Health in iOS 17. The addition of the Mental Health subcategory in Podcasts, along with others like Relationships, Self-Improvement and Personal Journals, appears to be part of that. 

Apple

Each subcategory has its own charts showing top shows and episodes in your particular market. "For example, a listener in the U.S. can browse the charts for Mental Health, which display the top 200 shows and top 200 episodes available in the U.S. based on a mix of listening, follows, and completion rate," Apple wrote in its Podcasts for Creators blog. 

As a point of comparison, Spotify has eight main podcast categories and no less than 54 subcategories. YouTube offers 14 main podcast categories and PocketCast 19, but neither offer subcategories. With the new additions, Apple appears to offer a good selection without overwhelming users.

The nine new subcategories, along with the 19 primary categories, have been updated with new artwork and recommendations as well. The latter includes New & Noteworthy shows, Shows of the Month, Feature Channels and Creators and global Highlights. 

With the upcoming release of iOS 17, Apple is adding some new Podcasts features like a refreshed Now Play experience and Queue, episode art, search filters and more. Podcasts updates have been relatively sparse, though, with the last major one coming a year ago with new Podcasts Charts. Apple's major rival Spotify, which spent big on podcasts back in 2019, recently laid off 200 employees from that division. 

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Apple is once again in trouble for its union-busting practices. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge ruled Apple interfered with employees' organizing efforts at its World Trade Center store in New York City after workers, Bloomberg reported. Managers were found to have taken away pro-union flyers in the break room and attempted to dissuade employees from joining unions, which prosecutors argued had led employees to end the organizing campaign. A judge ordered Apple "cease and desist from coercively interrogating employees regarding their protected concerning activities and Union sympathies." 

The news broke in early 2022 that Apple store workers nationwide were quietly organizing in response to concerns that their wages didn't reflect the rising cost of living. However, Apple soon hired the anti-union law firm Littler Mendelson, which also represents Starbucks and McDonalds, among others. The company also instructed store managers to share anti-union sentiments, such as warning employees that joining a union could bring reduced pay, career opportunities and time off. That May, the Communications Workers of America filed Unfair Labor Practice charges for the Apple stores in the World Trade Center and Atlanta's Cumberland Mall. 

Union efforts are slowly gaining ground at Apple stores across the country. The NLRB previously found Apple had violated federal law in Atlanta, including daily mandatory anti-union meetings for employees and interrogating workers. Last year, employees at an Apple store in Maryland and another in Oklahoma voted to unionize. Yet, other locations like the St. Louis branch abandoned plans to unionize, blaming similar tactics by Apple. 

Amazon has announced the dates for its next annual shopping event. Prime Day 2023 will be on July 11th and 12th this year, beginning at 12AM PT/ 3AM ET on Tuesday, July 11th, and concluding at the end of Wednesday, July 12th.

Prime Day isn’t necessarily a perk of Amazon’s subscription service, like access to Prime Video content, but most deals on Amazon during the two-day event are exclusively available to Prime members. The cost of Prime has increased quite a bit since its launch in 2005, and even in the past few years. An annual membership will set you back $139 right now, $20 more than its previous price. (Then again, maybe free phone service could soon sweeten the deal?).

Prime Day is typically the best time of the year to get Amazon devices – I’m keeping an eye out for the Kindle Scribe – but we also expect to see worthwhile sales on headphones, robot vacuums, laptops, SSDs and much more. I suggest following Engadget Deals on Twitter for the latest news during Prime Day and sign up for the new Engadget Deals newsletter to get the best deals delivered right to your inbox.

– Mat Smith

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Panasonic S5 IIX camera review

Power and value in one vlogging package

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Panasonic launched the S5 II and S5 IIX full-frame cameras, finally embracing phase-detect autofocus to put it on par with rivals. We’ve already tested the S5 II but now we’re looking at what I think is the more interesting model, the S5 IIX. It has an identical design and many of the same features as its sibling, like the new autofocus system and highly effective in-body stabilization. However, it adds a key function: the ability to record high-quality, easy-to-edit ProRes video internally. The new autofocus is good but not quite up to the Sony A7 IV, and it lacks the full-frame 4K 60p video of the Canon R6 II, but it’s far better for video than both models, thanks to the ProRes option and other features not in either rival model. Engadget’s Steve Dent tests it out.

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AI-generated music won’t win a Grammy anytime soon

But human-written songs with some AI-generated elements might.

The Recording Academy CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., said this week that although the organization will consider music with limited AI-generated voices or instrumentation for award recognition, it will only honor songs written and performed “mostly by a human.”

“At this point, we are going to allow AI music and content to be submitted, but the Grammys will only be allowed to go to human creators who have contributed creatively in the appropriate categories,” Mason said in an interview with Grammy.com. On the other hand, it raises questions about artists like Holly Herndon, who used an AI version of her voice to cover Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” Or, for that matter, there’s the upcoming “final” Beatles track that Paul McCartney says will use AI to isolate a garbled recording of John Lennon’s voice.

Mason acknowledged AI would upend the music industry. “AI is going to absolutely, unequivocally have a hand in shaping the future of our industry,” Mason said. “So, we have to start planning around that and thinking about what that means for us.”

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Apple's expanded self-repair program covers the iPhone 14 and newer MacBooks

And you won't have to call Apple to finish repairs.

Apple is widening its Self Service Repair program to cover its more recent devices. From June 21st, you can get the parts, tools and manuals to fix the iPhone 14 range and the M2 versions of the 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Apple has even expanded component repairs on older models: You can fix the TrueDepth camera and top speaker on iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models in the US, UK and seven European countries. Crucially, you won't have to call Apple to finish your repairs. The System Configuration tool, which verifies and authenticates fixes with official parts, now works simply by putting a device into Diagnostics mode and following instructions.

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The best midrange smartphones for 2023

Who says greatness has to be expensive?

A great smartphone doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Features once exclusive to high-end devices – including big batteries, multi-camera arrays and high refresh rate displays – are moving down to their more affordable siblings. While there are still some things you'll only find on flagship smartphones, you don't have to compromise as much anymore. If you have less than $600 to spend, you still have some decent options.

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You can get your kid a new e-reader or tablet at a discount from Amazon right now if you're looking to stoke their love of reading or just simply want to get them a new toy. The 8GB Kindle Paperwhite Kids is currently on sale for $90, which is 44 percent off its list price of $160. That's a new all-time low for the e-reader that only sold for as low as $100 in the past. Paperwhite for Kids is simply just the ordinary version of the e-reader that comes bundled with a cover, a screen protector and a year-long subscription to Amazon Kids+. The company's subscription service for children gives them access to thousands of child-friendly books, including the complete Harry Potter series.

If you want a multi-purpose device instead, Amazon's Fire tablets for kids are also on sale for up to 50 percent off. You can get the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Pro tablet for only $75 instead of $150 and the Amazon Fire 7 Kids Tablet for $55 instead of $110. The 8-inch Pro tablet comes with 32 GB of internal storage, while the latter comes with 16GB. All the Fire tablets ship with sturdy covers, and all of them come bundled with a year-long subscription to the Amazon Kids+ service, where children could find age-appropriate apps, videos, books and games. They also have parental controls you can use to filter content based on your kid's age.

Finally, you can also pick up an Echo Dot with a cool dragon or owl design for $28. That's also the lowest we've seen the smart speaker go for on the website, where it usually sells for $60. Alexa will automatically switch to kid-friendly responses on this speaker, though your children could choose to customize the assistant so that it speaks in pretend dragon or owl voices. The device also comes with a year-long subscription to Amazon Kids+, giving your children access to age-appropriate Audible books, interactive games and educational Alexa skills. All the devices on sale ship with a two-year worry-free guarantee — simply put, if it breaks within two years, Amazon will replace it. 

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Twitch has overhauled its mature content policies, switching from a general toggle to specific categories describing what viewers can expect. The new Content Classification Labels are mature-rated games, sexual themes, significant profanity or vulgarity, gambling, violent and graphic depictions and, lastly, drugs, intoxication or excessive tobacco use.

The ratings apply to both the game and you. For example, if you're playing a mature-rated game, Twitch will automatically label it as such. But, if you're playing an E-rated game and excessively swearing, you will need to mark your stream as having significant profanity or vulgarity. In general, it's pretty obvious when to use a label based on their names, but Twitch's Content Classification Guidelines break down when to use each one in incredible detail (from pose examples to categorizing swear words). The rules around what's not allowed on streams have stayed the same. 

You can access Content Classification Labels in the Stream Manager's "Edit Stream Info" section below the language control. A pull-down menu will show the six options with a short description following each. All you need to do is click whichever applies to your current stream and, if it changes, add or remove them as you go. 

Twitch

Keep in mind that whatever labels remain checked when you end a stream will be automatically applied to your next one unless you unclick them. You can report users to Twitch (and vice versa) for not including required labels, and if Twitch agrees, they will issue a warning.

While these new Content Classification Labels are already available to use, Twitch is giving everyone an adjustment period of sorts. You can still get warnings, but Twitch will only start tallying them after July 20. At that point, "repeated warnings" will likely still not get you suspended with Twitch, instead opting to lock certain classifications onto your account for a set amount of days or weeks.

TikTok has enjoyed a significant advantage over Instagram Reels in that anyone can download a TikTok video and post it to another social media network — something that helps draw new users to the platform. Now, Instagram has finally gained that ability, according to a post by CEO Adam Mosseri (using the new broadcast channels feature) spotted by TechCrunch. 

The feature is only available to US users on mobile for now, and only for public and not private accounts. At the same time, users with public accounts can choose a setting that blocks users from downloading their Reels. To use the feature, you tap on the "Share" icon for a given Reel and select "Download."

Engadget

An image posted by Mosseri (top) appears to show that downloaded Reels will be watermarked with the Instagram logo and name of the account, much as TikTok does. YouTube also started adding watermarks to Shorts videos created on desktop, likely also as a way to bring attention to its short video feature. 

Instagram now appears to be taking the same tack, likely also seeing it as a way to ensure people see Reels on other social media networks. It's not going out of its way to accommodate videos from rival platforms, though. The Meta-owned company allows TikTok and other videos to be uploaded, but its algorithms stopped promoting any watermarked videos from rivals back in 2021. 

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While most subreddits that went dark to oppose the website's API changes are now live and active again, some moderators aren't done protesting the changes on the platform. As The Verge reports, several popular subreddits that historically prohibited porn have started allowing users to post NSFW or Not Safe For Work content. These communities include r/interestingasfuck, r/TIHI (Thanks, I Hate It), r/mildlyinteresting and r/videos. 

In r/TIHI's case, for instance, a stickied post says the subreddit is removing a rule that forbids extreme NSFW content and will now welcome them, as long as they're legal under US law. A similar post on r/interestingasfuck lists a smaller and less restrictive set of new rules, including labeling whether a post is NSFW or not and prohibiting sexual content with minors. By allowing their subreddits to be filled with posts deemed not safe for work, the moderators have made sure that Reddit can't monetize them. NSFW subreddits haven't been eligible for ad targeting in years, and the website doesn't allow ads for adult-oriented products, as well. 

Reddit's response to the situation has been swift — administrators have reportedly removed whole moderating teams for communities that have labeled themselves NSFW. If you take a look at the r/interestingasfuck and r/TIHI subreddits, you'll see that their moderator boxes are empty, save for a note that says "This subreddit is unmoderated. Visit r/redditrequest to request it." Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt told The Verge: "Moderators incorrectly marking a community as NSFW is a violation of both our Content Policy and Moderator Code of Conduct."

The other subreddits mentioned now have a full moderating team and no longer have explicit posts. It's unclear whether the mods themselves decided to go back to regular programming or whether they were forced to do so. Several r/mildlyinteresting moderators told the publication that while it's true they were locked out of their subreddits by a Reddit admin, they were reinstated by a different administrator. Said admin reversed the seven-day suspension they got, as well.

All these events stemmed from Reddit's decision to start charging access to its API. Reddit was originally targeting companies scraping the website for content used to train Large Language Models for generative AI, but its decision also affects thousands of third-party clients and apps that tie into the platform, including ones with moderation tools. Thousands of communities protested the move by setting their subreddits private and making them inaccessible. 

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, however, was unmoved by the protest and told the NPR: "It's a small group that's very upset, and there's no way around that. We made a business decision that upset them." He also told NBC News that he plans to allow ordinary users to vote moderators out more easily based on their decisions. A company representative echoed that sentiment in a post on the website and added: "If a moderator team unanimously decides to stop moderating, we will invite new, active moderators to keep these spaces open and accessible to users"