Amazon Prime Day is upon us and a number of our favorite gadgets are on sale. Since its inception, Prime Day has been one of the best times of the year to pick up headphones, tablets, smartwatches and other tech gear at record-low prices — if you're a Prime member, of course. Prime Day deals on tech are typically only matched by Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, so now's a good time to pick up any devices you've had your eye on while they're deeply discounted. Make no mistake, Prime Day brings a plethora of deals that are not worth your time (much less your money), but we've culled Amazon's site to find the best tech deals you can get this time around. Here are the best Amazon Prime Day deals on gadgets and gear that you can get for 2023.
Apple AirPods Pro
Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro are on sale for $199 for Prime Day. These buds are a huge improvement over their predecessors, offering improved sound quality, ANC and transparency mode. We still consider these to be the best earbuds for iPhone users thanks to their Apple-specific features like quick pairing and switching and hands-free Siri.
Apple 10.2-inch iPad
Apple's 9th-generation iPad is down to $249, which a record low. It’s the budget pick in our guide to the best iPads. Though it doesn’t have the thin bezels and as much accessory support as our favorite, the iPad Air, it's the most affordable way to snag an iPad. It’s a great couch companion that performs well for casual browsing, binge streaming and light gaming. The latest (10th) generation of Apple’s standard iPad in the 64GB size is down to $379 after a $70 discount, which is another record low. It’s got a slightly larger screen and a newer chip (though not Apple’s own M-series silicon). The latest gen also ditches the home button, which is nice, but does away with the headphone jack, which isn’t as great.
Sony WH-1000XM5
Our current favorite pair of wireless headphones, Sony's WH-1000XM5 are down to $328 for Prime Day. It's the total package that combines great audio quality with excellent ANC and a comfy fit to make a pair of headphones you'll be able to wear all day long if you wish. It also supports multipoint connectivity and a 30-hour battery life.
Google Pixel Buds Pro
Google's flagship wireless earbuds, the Pixel Buds Pro, are down to $150 for Prime Day. Google took all of the lessons it learned when making previous earbuds and got a lot of things right with the Pixel Buds Pro. These will be great for Android users who want buds with punchy bass, good ANC, reliable touch controls and wireless charging.
Amazon Kindle
The standard Kindle is already Amazon’s most affordable ereader and Prime Day drops it down to $65 from its usual $100 price tag, which is a new all-time. This latest model saw a lot of improvements when it was updated in 2022. Capacity was doubled to 16GB and the screen resolution jumped up to 300 ppi for much clearer text. We named it the best budget option in our ereader guide because its perfect entry point to reading and borrowing ebooks and audiobooks.
Samsung Pro Plus microSD
The top pick in our best microSD cards guide, Samsung's Pro Plus in 256GB is on sale for $20 right now. It had some of the best overall speeds of any of the microSD cards we tested, and it has all of the important ratings that a good card should have: U3, V30 and A2. It'll be a great pick for your tablet, smartphone or Nintendo Switch, and it comes with a full-sized adapter in case you need to use it with a camera or connect it to your computer.
Samsung T7 Shield
The Samsung T7 Shield SSD has been discounted to $75 for Prime Day. The T7 series as a whole includes some of our favorite SSDs, and the Shield is the most durable of the bunch. The portable drive has an IP65 rating for water and dust resistance, and it can withstand drops from up to 10 feet high. On top of that, its 1,050/1,000 MB/s read/write speeds should be enough for most people's needs.
Crucial MX500
Crucial's MX500 internal drive has been discounted to $48 for Prime Day. It has sequential read speeds of 560MB/s and a standard 2.5-inch design that should make it easy to swap in for your desktop's or laptop's used-up drive.
Amazon Echo Dot
Amazon has knocked the price of the latest Echo Dot down to $23, which is more than half off its normal price. It’s one of the best smart speakers you can get right now thanks to its orb-like design, surprisingly good sound quality for its size and handy Alexa integration. The newest Echo Dots can also act as Eero WiFi boosters, adding up to 1,000 square feet of coverage to your existing Eero system. If you’re looking for something even more affordable, the new Echo Pop is down to $18 right now as well.
Amazon Echo Show 5
The latest Echo Show 5 is half off and down to a record low of $45. The Show 5 has been one of the best smart displays available for quite some time, and it’ll be particularly good for anyone who wants an Alexa-capable smart display that won’t take up a lot of space. It also makes for a good alarm clock thanks to its sunrise alarm and tap-to-snooze features. The newest model has a faster processor, improved sound quality and an additional microphone for better Alexa performance.
Amazon Fire Max 11
Amazon's recently released Fire Max 11 tablet is on sale for $150 for Prime Day. It's the best discount we've seen since the Amazon's most powerful tablet launched in May. The slab has an 11-inch 2000 x 1200 touchscreen, an octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM, up to 128GB of built-in storage and up to 14 hours of battery life. It can also work with a detachable keyboard and stylus, so you could use it like a 2-in-1 laptop.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K
Roku's Streaming Stick 4K is down to $35 for Prime Day, or $15 off its usual price. It's our favorite streaming device at the moment because it packs a ton of features into an affordable package. It streams 4K, HDR content with Dolby Vision, and it supports AirPlay 2 and private listening with headphones.
Google Pixel 7a
The Google Pixel 7a is on sale for $449 right now, or $50 off its usual rate and an all-time low. This is the best midrange phone you can get right now thanks to its speedy Tensor G2 chip, smooth 90Hz display and support for wireless charging. The 7a also has solid cameras and an IP67 water-resistant design.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra has dropped to a record-low price of $950 for Prime Day, and the rest of the lineup is on sale, too. The Ultra in particular is the best Android smartphone you can get right now thanks to its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, big, bold 120Hz display, built-in S Pen and excellent main camera.
Instant Vortex Plus
The top pick in our air fryer guide, the Instant Vortex Plus is on sale for $100 right now. Not only does this machine do a good job turning all types of food into crispy goodness, but it also has a "ClearCook" window so you can see your food while it's being prepared. It also has OdorEase technology, which does a decent job temping down cooking smells and reducing smokiness.
Blink Mini 2-pack
A two-pack of Blink Mini security cameras is on sale for $34 for Prime Day. That's only $4 more than we saw it during the holiday shopping season last year. While these cameras are wired, they have most of the same features as the standard wireless Blink cameras including 1080p video recordings and support for two-way talk and motion alerts.
Teachers can be some of the most important individuals in our lives. Whether you had one this past year that truly inspired you, or one that just made getting through the daily grind of classes easier, now’s a great time to show them your appreciation. If you want to skip the standard gift basket or bouquet of flowers in favor of something a bit more personal (or perhaps practical), these are some of the best gifts for teachers that you can surprise them with this year.
Hario cold brew bottles
We recommend the Hario cold brew tea maker in our gift guide for tea lovers because it makes a beautiful, functional gift for anyone who likes loose-leaf iced tea. The heat-proof glass exterior has a wine bottle shape and the green silicone top houses a mesh strainer that keeps tea leaves where they belong. If the teacher you know is more into coffee, you get them the equally attractive cold brew coffee maker from the same Japanese manufacturer. It brews up a batch in the fridge overnight and has graduated milliliter markings that make it look a little like a chemistry class beaker. – Amy Skorheim, Commerce Writer
Ember Mug 2
Many of us rely on caffeine to get through the day and teachers are no different. But dealing with students, lectures and other classroom activities may mean their beverage of choice grows cold before they can drink it all. The second generation of Ember’s smart mug, the Mug 2, doesn’t just keep tea or coffee hot — it keeps it at a steady temperature for a long time. The app integration lets you set the temp of the mug, while interior sensors shut the heat off when the mug’s empty or hasn’t been touched in two hours. The 10-ounce size has a battery life of up to an hour and a half and the 14-ounce capacity adds another 20 minutes. They can also stick the mug on the included charging coaster to keep their java warm all school day long. – A.S.
Aura Mason
If your teacher is a sentimental type, a digital photo frame like the Aura Mason can let them easily add and look back on their favorite snapshots. The Mason itself has a crisp, nine-inch, 1,600 x 1,200 resolution display and a minimalist design that should look normal on a work desk or a side table back home. It can display photos in portrait or landscape mode, and uploading photos (or videos) through the Aura app is uncomplicated. Just note that it can sometimes add black boxes around photos that don’t match its 4:3 aspect ratio.
If you want to save $50, the Aura Carver is a larger 10.1-inch frame with similar benefits, though it has a lower resolution (1,280 x 800) and only works in landscape. You could also gift a multi-function smart display like the Google Nest Hub, but those usually have lower-quality screens and aren’t as simple to mount on a wall. — Jeff Dunn, Senior Commerce Writer
Book of the Month
If you know a teacher who’s still a champion of the printed word, they might appreciate a Book of the Month subscription. I like how BOTM does the hard work of figuring out what’s new and good in fiction so all I have to do is read. The club selects seven or so books each month for members to pick from, and the selection is diverse enough that most readers will find something to meet their tastes. And if nothing looks good, they can always pick something from the back catalog or skip the month altogether. At first I thought it would be too much pressure to contend with a new book every month, but the option to skip effectively just extends their subscription, so there’s no pressure. You can gift a three, six or twelve month membership for $60, $100 or $200, respectively. – A.S.
Belkin BoostCharge Pro with MagSafe
A pick from our guide to the best wireless chargers, Belkin’s BoostCharge Pro is a compact charging pad that should be a useful addition for any iPhone-owning teacher’s desk. It’s MagSafe-compatible, so it can snap magnetically onto the back of any recent iPhone, and it delivers up to 15W of power, which is the fastest rate available for this class of device. It won’t be as quick as using a cable, but there’s a certain pleasure to simply plopping your phone down on it to recharge, and it can still deliver about a 70 percent charge to an iPhone 14 in an hour. The BoostCharge Pro also has a built-in kickstand for propping up a phone to watch videos and the like. This is far from the cheapest charging puck around, but as a gift, it’s a convenient way to top up. Just try to get it with a power supply, if possible. — J.D.
Blue light blocking glasses
Your favorite teacher or professor probably looks at a screen for just as long as you do every day. Blue light blocking glasses can be a great gift since they’ll make it easier for them to get work done while (hopefully) reducing eye strain, headaches and other ailments. These are probably best bought for educators who don’t wear prescription glasses already, since you don’t want to impede their actual eyesight with non-prescription lenses. Plenty of eyewear companies make stylish blue light glasses, but you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg on a pair. Privé Revaux has a ton of options priced as low as $30 each, or if you have a feeling your teacher would like to swap styles more often, Amazon has a number of multi-packs to choose from. — Valentina Palladino, Senior Commerce Editor
Headspace
The most tenured college professor and the newest preschool teacher could likely use a little more calm in their day, and Headspace is one way to get it. The brightly colored app has a slew of meditations, guided breathing sessions and inspirational talks to choose from and each one lists its duration. I often just have a minute or two before I have to get back to what I was doing, and following even a one-minute-long breathing exercise can noticeably change my mood (and posture and general awareness). Headspace includes sleep programs too, like wind-down sessions, stories, white noise sounds and soundscapes. You can gift one year of the service for $70, or three months for $39. – A.S.
Kobo Clara 2e
We don’t want to make generalizations, but if there’s a segment of the population who likes to read, it’s probably teachers. The Kobo Clara 2E is our current favorite e-reader because it’s easy on the eyes, comfortable to hold and offers the right amount of customization. The waterproof design makes it a good candidate for vacations and pool-side reading, and the warm lights make it easy to read late into the night. Considering Kobo now has an unlimited read and listen subscription in Kobo Plus, the company's well-built devices are even better equipped to compete in a space where Kindles have dominated for years. – A.S.
Bellroy Desk Caddy
They say an organized desk is an organized mind. Whether that’s true or not, it can certainly be difficult to keep track of all the tech you need on a regular basis. Bellroy’s Desk Caddy has pockets, pouches and loops to keep cords, plugs, earbuds, and dongles in their place. The structured shape stands up when you load it, but is flexible enough to fit into a crowded backpack if you need to take it with you. We also like that it’s water resistant and made from recycled materials. – A.S.
Trade Coffee subscription
A Trade Coffee subscription can help the teacher in your life shake up their morning cup of joe. It offers a curated selection of more than 450 coffees from across the US and smartly personalizes which ones it recommends to each subscriber. Upon redeeming their gift, your teacher will be prompted to take a brief quiz that asks about their flavor and brew preferences, information Trade will use to suggest a specific bag catered to their taste. They can then give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to any coffee they receive, which the company considers to hone future recommendations. Managing all of this online is straightforward. You can gift anywhere from two to 24 bags, and Trade says any gift subscriptions will not automatically renew, so nobody will have any surprise charges to deal with down the line. — J.D.
Purist Mover
The Purist Mover is the closest thing to a “premium” water bottle that I’ve tried, with a clean, minimalist aesthetic and a satisfying textured finish. Its biggest hook, though, is the ultra-thin layer of glass that lines its interior. Apart from insulating your drink, this is designed to keep fluids from gaining a metallic taste or unwanted odors as quickly as they might with other bottles. The whole thing will still need washing every so often, but in my experience, this has actually worked.
The Mover is an 18oz bottle, but there are different size and lid options to choose from (the “Union” spout top is my preference, though it can be somewhat noisy, if that matters). No Purist bottle is especially cheap, but it should make hydrating a little more convenient for your teacher’s day-to-day, on top of providing a nicer piece of design for their desk. — J.D.
Tribit StormBox Micro 2
For audio-related lessons in class or just enjoying music while out and about, the Tribit StormBox Micro 2 is a highly portable Bluetooth speaker that pumps out good volume for its compact size. Its playback controls are simple to operate, and its built-in strap lets it connect to things like a bag or bike handlebars on the go. It can also double as a power bank and charge a smartphone in a pinch. A speaker this small will never be the fullest sounding, but for what it is, the Stormbox Micro 2’s audio quality is fine as well. If you like the idea of gifting a portable speaker but want something that sounds richer, though, you can check out our Bluetooth speaker buying guide for more recommendations. — J.D.
Criterion Channel subscription
If your teacher considers themselves a film buff, a Criterion Channel subscription might suit their tastes. This is the streaming service of The Criterion Collection, a video distribution company that restores and preserves a carefully curated selection of acclaimed films that span genres and languages. It doesn’t have the same deluge of content as a Netflix or Prime Video, but it also has a lot less trash.
The service bundles many films into helpful collections, from Afrofuturism to Foreign-Language Oscar Winners to Short Films by David Lynch. Various titles come with bonus features like cast interviews as well. Unfortunately, not every film in the Collection is available on the Channel at any given time. (There are gift cards that can go toward films that are only available in physical form.) Nevertheless, for movie-loving teachers who feel like they’ve watched everything on the usual suspects, the service should still provide hours of stimulating works. Gift subscriptions are available in one- to 12-month increments. — J.D.
The Sill plant gifts
You can’t go wrong with a gift of greenery to show your appreciation for a beloved teacher. You could pick up a flower arrangement locally or send them a fancy one from Bouqs or another online service, but something more unique like a plant from The Sill could be a gift they’ve never gotten before. The site has a bunch of options that will appeal to all kinds of people, from those who have never taken care of a plant before to green-thumbed veterans. There are even pet-friendly plant gifts you can buy for those teachers you know have little creatures in their households. The Sill also has regular deals on plants that you can snag (be it for someone else or yourself), so you don’t have to sacrifice even if you’re working with a tight budget. — V.P.
Amazon gift card
If you’re at a loss over what to get your favorite teacher to show your appreciation, an Amazon gift card is a good catch-all solution. Whether it’s supplies for their classroom, household essentials for their family or just something they’ve had on their wish list for themselves, most teachers will find a way to spend a few extra dollars at Amazon (or Walmart, Target or another retailer they prefer). — V.P.
A relaxing video game or two
For teachers who like to wind down with a video game after an aggravating day of work, a recommendation from our list of good relaxing games could make for a gift that’s both thoughtful and fun. A couple of standouts: PowerWash Simulator is a game about cleaning grimy environments that has a similar soothing effect as those deep-cleaning videos on YouTube, while Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a delightful puzzle game from Nintendo about exploring and reexamining diorama-like levels from new angles. — J.D.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-gifts-for-teachers-130002962.html?src=rss
There’s a lot to keep track of as a new mom. All of a sudden, you’re scrambling to learn how to care for a tiny person, without sleep and with a lot of new responsibilities. It’s a rough adjustment that takes time, patience and probably at least a few crying jags to get the hang of. If you’re looking for the perfect gift for a new mother, give her time to sleep. If you’re looking for the next best thing, try these helpful gadgets that are designed to make the job at least a little easier.
Hatch Rest+
Having a soft light on during nighttime feeds and diaper changes can be really helpful, especially when you’re sleep deprived. And a lot of experts will recommend using a white noise machine to help babies sleep soundly. Hatch’s Rest line combines both functions into a single device that can be controlled entirely from a smartphone. The Rest, and Rest+, offer 11 colors and sounds that can be combined, favorited, programed and timed to help your baby doze. The Rest+ is more expensive at $90, but adds a clock, battery power and a two-way audio monitor feature. It can also be voice controlled using Alexa. I’ve used it successfully to help sleep train the twins and, when they’re bigger, it can be programmed to help them learn when to wake up. — Amber Bouman, Commerce Writer
Owlet baby monitor and smart sensor
If there is only one piece of tech that makes it into the nursery, it should be a baby monitor. Being able to check on your sleeping infant without waking them is an invaluable gift, and you’ll want one that’s reliable, clear and adds thoughtful features (not just tech for tech’s sake).
Owlet makes a Cam that streams 1080p HD video to an app on your phone. The camera itself can sit on a base or get mounted to a wall. It has a 130-degree wide-angle lens to cover the room, but has to be manually tilted or adjusted so you can’t pan remotely. The video feed has night vision and displays in color during the day. The camera has two-way audio, so you can both hear your little one and speak to them through the device. There’s also background audio so sound from the camera will play over other apps if you have it up and running as well. In addition, it can send you notifications if it senses movement or sound coming from your baby’s crib. The Cam uses AES 128-bit encryption and a TSL connection to WiFi for security, though the feed can be shared with up to five people at a time (assuming you’ve shared your log-in credentials with them).
Lastly, it can be paired with Owlet's wearable sensor, the Smart Sock, which measures an infant’s heart rate and pulse ox. If the baby’s stats take a dive or shoot into irregular levels, you’ll get a very unsubtle alert on your phone — and on the sock’s base station. Because it’s intended to be worn at night and during naps, the Owlet Sock also tracks babies’ sleep habits. All this data is viewable in the app, making it a fairly complete monitoring system. — A.B.
LIFX smart lights
New moms don’t have enough hands to do everything they need to, when it needs to be done. Automating even the smallest task, like turning on and off a light, can be a big help. LIFX’s smart lights make great gifts because they come in all-white or color options, they’re dimmable and they require no connecting bridge or hub. That means your giftee can just screw them into their existing lamps, connect them to WiFi via the mobile app and start using them. They may want to automatically dim the lights in their baby’s room at a certain time, or shift to warmer or cooler light depending on the time of day. They can customize it as much or as little as they want — and if they just can’t be bothered, they can always use Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant voice commands to control these smart lights, too. — Valentina Palladino, Senior Commerce Editor
Kobo Clara 2E
Whether she’s bottle or breast feeding, a new mom has a lot of sitting-around time when the baby’s first born. She could spend time scrolling social media, but “flipping” through a book on an e-reader might be more rewarding. Kobo’s Clara 2E earned the top spot in our guide to e-readers thanks to its eye-friendly warm light, sharp display, intuitive interface and speedy but accurate touch responses. It’s compact and lightweight enough to hold in one hand, which is particularly important for busy new moms, and it can handle getting accidentally drenched. She can buy books through the Kobo store, borrow them from the library or subscribe to Kobo Plus for $10 per month to get unlimited access to a big selection of audio- and e-books. – Amy Skorheim, Commerce Writer
Theragun Mini 2.0
If the new baby has mom feeling knots, a personal massage “gun” like the Theragun Mini 2.0 can provide some temporary relief by gently pummeling away her muscle aches. While not the most forceful device of its kind, this triangular massager is effective enough to ease soreness yet small enough to carry around and outside of the house. We’ve recommended the original Mini in past gift guides; that one has slightly longer battery life and remains a good buy if you’re on a tighter budget, but this model is 20 percent smaller and supports a couple more attachments for targeting different parts of the body. Just be warned neither is exactly quiet. No massage gun is a substitute for proper sleep and nutrition habits, but since those will be in shorter supply for any new mom, it can be a useful tool to have on hand. — Jeff Dunn, Senior Commerce Writer
Twelve South HoverBar Duo
A tablet might be a new mom’s saving grace when she’s constantly shuffling around the house tending to the needs of a baby. A good stand like the HoverBar Duo can make it easier for her to safely and securely prop up her device without fear of it accidentally being knocked over by a rogue, tiny fist. One of our favorite iPad accessories, the HoverBar Duo has a weighted base, and while it could be knocked over, it would require more force than most infants could muster. It also comes with a clamp attachment so they could hook it to a table or desk if that’s more convenient. Whether they need to use their tablet to read work documents, show off the little bundle of joy to friends and family in a video call, or just binge-watch a show while the kid naps, the HoverBar Duo can give them a stable way to keep their table in view. — V.P.
Baby Brezza Safe + Smart bottle warmer
I’m not sure exactly how many steps I’m earning walking up and downstairs to check on the bottle warmer, but it’s probably a fair percentage of my daily exercise. Baby Brezza makes a Safe + Smart Baby Bottle Warmer that uses Bluetooth to connect the device to your phone. Using the Baby Brezza app you can operate the warmer remotely and get alerts when the bottle is ready. Though the app is pretty minimal, that’s not always a bad thing when you’re bleary-eyed and trying to feed an infant in the early morning hours. Plus, having controls on your phone allows you to turn off the warmer and avoid overheating a bottle. The downside is that the Safe + Smart warmer only holds a single bottle at a time. — A.B.
Smart breast pump
If your giftee is breastfeeding or pumping, a smart breast pump from Elvie or Willow is going to be a huge time saver. These wearable pumps let Mom keep on schedule while keeping her hands free to do any of the 40 other things she’s got on her plate. The pump, power supply and container are all contained in the egg-shaped device, which pairs to an app using Bluetooth. They’re a bit cumbersome to wear, but comfortable to use, and it beats being tethered to a wall unit, though the results are not always as consistent.
Though both products are similar in design and functionality, there are some differences between them. The Willow pump can be used with reusable containers or disposable bags, while the Elvie only has the container option. The Elvie pump is quieter and more discreet, while the Willow pump offers a spill-proof system that can be used even while upside down. (I tested this myself and it works.) They can be purchased in a set or two, or as an individual pump. — A.B.
Wabi Baby 3-in-1 sanitizer
While my children are very cute, they also like to chew on my house slippers, eat post-its and lick the touch-and-feel books. So I spend a lot of time cleaning the things that do belong in their mouths like pacifiers and teethers and plastic toys, which invariably end up on the car floor. While most of these things are easy to throw into boiling water, it can be worth the time saved to let a sanitizer do the job. The Wabi Baby sanitizer is something that I received as a gift, and it’s served me well. It takes up a fair amount of counter space but it’s relatively quiet; it fits a wide variety of bottles, dinnerware and accessories; and it can run a drying cycle after the steam sanitation session.
The display shows how much longer the process will run, it’s fairly simple to operate and it automatically remembers your last session so you can select it again easily. However, you can only use distilled water which can admittedly be a pain. Also, you have to be careful about where you put the Wabi; it requires a drainage mat for excess water. — A.B.
Bose QuietComfort 2 earbuds
Bose’s QuietComfort 2 earbuds have excellent active noise cancellation (ANC), but new moms might not feel comfortable flipping it on when they’re always on alert. Fortunately, Bose’s latest buds also have a good transparency mode, which lets you hear the world around you and your music or podcast. They’ll pair up with Apple or Android devices and their smaller size make them more comfortable than previous generations. We awarded them an 87 in our review and gave them a spot in our wireless earbuds guide, mostly thanks to their ANC. Moms might not get the chance to tune out the world all that often, but when someone else is on baby duty, a little bit of silence may feel like a blessing. – A.S.
Hulu subscription
The new mom in your life will probably appreciate some TV time on your dime when she finally gets the little one to go to sleep – and when the baby inevitably wakes up and needs to be held soon after. Hulu’s app isn’t the cleanest, but the service remains one of the better streaming services for keeping up with recent episodes from primetime TV shows. It has its share of kid-friendly content as well, though you can expand that catalog by pairing the service with Disney+ (and ESPN+) through a Disney Bundle subscription. — J.D.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-tech-gifts-for-new-moms-123052827.html?src=rss
If you love technology as much as we do and have writing chops to boot, we want to hear from you. Engadget is looking for freelance news writers in the US! Interested applicants should send a cover letter, resume and links to three writing samples to jobs at engadget dot com. Here’s the deal:
Contributing writer
Engadget is looking for ambitious and enthusiastic freelance writers capable of telling compelling stories about technology, science and the future of everything. The ideal candidate will put important news in proper context with minimal fluff, find an interesting and original angle from which to tackle a story, explain complicated subjects simply and clearly, and do this all reasonably quickly.
As a writer at Engadget you'll be an essential part of our dedicated and passionate news team. Our ideal candidates will have some solid professional media experience under their belt, but we're also open to early-career writers who are ready to hustle. You'll gain valuable experience and exposure in a fast-paced, online newsroom. Plus, you'll have access to some of the finest writers and reporters in the business who can offer invaluable lessons on how to thrive in the modern media landscape.
Freelance contributing writers will take on between three and five assignments per day (we're looking for coverage on East Coast hours, with shifts such as 8AM-1PM ET and 1PM-5PM ET available). We are currently looking for writers located in the US, or anyone willing to work during US business hours. Shifts will be a minimum of four hours, paid hourly at $28.
We're looking for:
Preferably someone who already has some professional tech/science/auto bylines under their belt.
A familiarity with and sincere interest in consumer technology.
A writer with a strong, lively voice who can turn in clean copy quickly.
Works well with others, and is receptive to feedback.
Experience with Photoshop or other photo editing software is a plus.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engaget-contributing-writers-jobs-160008551.html?src=rss
There is no such thing as the "best game console," but figuring out which one is right for you is more in reach. There are seven systems that you could reasonably call “current gen,” and others, such as Valve’s Steam Deck, further muddying the waters. Engadget staffers play games on pretty much every console you can think of, and a few that you might not have thought about for a very long time.
For some, nothing but the highest-specced system will do; others just need the cheapest way to play the latest games; maybe you value portability over everything; or maybe you haven’t played in years and are looking for a system for your family to enjoy together. There are endless use-cases for a games console, and that’s why we’ve put together this article.
We’ve reviewed and evaluated every console in here, some more than once, and tried to categorize the “best gaming console” for specific needs. You’ll find 10 picks in here, with all of the big players represented, and two best "high-end consoles," each for different reasons. We hope by the end of this guide, you’ll be much closer to deciding on the perfect console for you.
Best high-end console: PS5
The PlayStation 5 delivers the most stunning graphics and seamless performance of any current-gen gaming console. Sony stuck with the traditional hardware-upgrade cycle for the PS5, significantly improving processing power and visual fidelity over the previous generation, and introducing a new gamepad packed with immersion mechanics. The DualSense, Sony’s latest controller, is a standout feature: It offers intense and precise haptic feedback along the grips, and has adaptive triggers, meaning tension in the R2 and L2 buttons changes as players equip various weapons and tools. This is something that the Xbox Series consoles simply don’t have.
Meanwhile, the PS5 offers a library of console exclusives including God of War: Ragnarök, Returnal, the Demon’s Souls remake, Insomniac’s Spider-Man series, every The Last of Us game and re-release, and a litany of Final Fantasy titles. PlayStation Plus Premium, the highest tier of Sony’s monthly subscription service, adds cloud streaming, freebies and a catalog of games to download at any time. Premium costs $18 a month or $120 annually, and there are cheaper tiers with fewer perks in the Plus ecosystem.
The PS5 may look a little funny sitting next to your TV, but truly, it’s what’s inside that counts. And hey, that’s why companies like dbrand exist. – Jessica Conditt, Senior Reporter
Best high-end console: Xbox Series X
The Xbox Series X is the most powerful gaming console on the market, and together with a Game Pass subscription it gives you an almost endless library of titles to dive into (including launch-day Microsoft releases). While we'd still like to see more exclusives on Xbox, there are major titles on the horizon like Starfield, Redfall and the revamped Forza Motor Sport. PC gamers may also appreciate cross-purchases between Windows and Xbox titles, as well as the ability to stream games from the cloud using Game Pass. Sure, Sony still has a stranglehold on big-budget narrative games, but the sheer wealth of offerings on Microsoft's platforms — including small indies, classic franchises and a ton of great games via EA Play (included with Game Pass for PCs and Ultimate) — is staggering.
It used to be that you'd have to stick with the same console all of your friends are using, but these days the availability of cross-play multiplayer on most titles makes that consideration moot. If you want to play Call of Duty with your friends, it doesn't really matter if you get an Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5. So the best advice now? Base your choice on the exclusives you'd like to play, as well as the potential subscription benefits. If you want to see where Master Chief goes next, or are just tired of paying full price for first-party games and some indies, you'll probably be happiest with a Series X and Game Pass. – Devindra Hardawar, Senior Reporter
Best budget console: Xbox Series S + Game Pass
The Xbox Series S packs enough power to play the latest and greatest games, but it truly shines as a semi-portable Game Pass machine. The Series S is a disc-less, compact console that typically costs $300, though it’s frequently on sale for $250 to $270. This little rectangular baby can play games at resolutions higher than 1080p, though it won’t hit 4K, and it’s less powerful overall than the Series X. The Series S also has less storage space than its big sibling, and this is its main drawback.
That’s where Game Pass comes in. A Game Pass Ultimate subscription unlocks cloud streaming on the Series S (as well as PC and mobile devices), allowing players to dive into a large library without downloading anything. Game Pass Ultimate is $15 a month, with the first month for $1. Microsoft has the most reliable cloud network in the business and it’s committed to releasing all of its big new Xbox Game Studios titles on Game Pass day-one. Sony has yet to make such a promise with in-house launches on PlayStation Plus.
Even without Game Pass, the Series S is the cheapest way to participate in the Xbox console ecosystem and it’ll play every game the Series X can. You might just have to delete downloads as you go. – J.C.
Best for local multiplayer: Nintendo Switch
It's a pity that the rise of online multiplayer meant the death of local options for most gaming consoles — that is, except for the Nintendo Switch. Chalk it up to Nintendo's legacy: It's a company that's always prioritized the simple beauty of playing with your friends and family on the couch. Be it four players racing against each other locally in Mario Kart, or diving into an assortment of mini-games in Mario Party, you can have a blast using a single Switch hooked up to a TV. It's a cinch to connect other controllers to let your friends join — something they'll likely have on-hand if they have their own Switch. And since it's a portable console, you can always play against others over local networks, giving you the beauty of being together with friends while also having your own private screen. Just try doing that with a PS5. – D.H.
Best couch portable: Valve Steam Deck
The idea of a portable console that’s primarily used at home might feel counterintuitive, but this is actually how a lot of people prefer to play games, and the Steam Deck helped prove it. The Steam Deck came out in February 2022 and quickly emerged as a popular PC portable for people who wanted to spend time away from their desks, but not their Steam libraries. It’s a chunky handheld gaming console with dual analog sticks and trackpads; standard face buttons, bumpers and triggers; four rear clickers, and a 7-inch LCD touchscreen. It’s big and strangely beautiful, and plays most PC games just fine.
The Steam Deck starts at $400 and tops out at $650, making it relatively affordable in the world of PC portables. The Steam Deck is a little too big and battery-sucking to be a must-have carry-on while traveling, but it’s perfect for cuddling on the couch – with a supportive pillow and power outlet nearby. – J.C.
Best for first time gamers: Nintendo Switch Lite
Nintendo has a history of making tank-like portable consoles, and the Switch Lite is no exception. It's just as fast as its larger sibling, but since it has integrated controls, you won't have to worry about any Joy-cons flying away if it's dropped. The Switch Lite's 5.5-inch screen and smaller frame always makes it easier for tiny hands to hold, something I've found particularly useful as my four-year-old daughter is finally getting into games. There's a wide variety of child-friendly content available on the Switch, but we'd recommend diving into the classic of library Nintendo titles via the console's online service. Kids will ultimately figure out Minecraft on their own, but it's up to the older generation to instill the value of proper platforming with Super Mario Bros. 3. – D.H.
Best for commuting: Nintendo Switch Lite
The Switch Lite is by far the cutest handheld gaming console on the market today and this is just one reason it’s ideal for use in public. The Switch Lite is a tiny, lightweight handheld with a 5.5 inch LCD touchscreen and basic gamepad buttons, and it’s sold in a variety of colorways and special editions. It feels natural to pull out while on the bus, riding the subway, in a waiting room, or just hanging out at a cafe, bar or park. It’s a low-profile portable that offers a library of engaging games from Nintendo and beyond, including exclusive franchises like The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Mario Kart, Smash Bros., Bayonetta, Animal Crossing and Kirby.
In comparison to the standard Switch, the Lite model is sturdier for everyday commutes because it doesn’t have detachable controllers and it takes up less space in your bag. It’s also about $150 cheaper than the larger Switch, at $200. – J.C.
Best for air travel: Nintendo Switch
The Switch's hardware may be showing its age, but it's still the best way to get some gaming in during long flights. Having a 6.2-inch screen (or 7-inches with the pricier Switch OLED) in your hands makes it easy to ignore annoying seat neighbors, countless delays and all of the other indignities of air travel. The Switch should also survive for several hours of gameplay, and it's easy to charge for longer journeys. While the Steam Deck may be tempting, it's also so large it'll likely fill up much of your backpack. The Switch can still fit alongside your computer and other gear, and its game library is so vast, you'll never be left wanting for things to play. – D.H.
Best handheld gaming console for nostalgia: Retroid Pocket 3
The Retroid Pocket 3 is an accessible, streamlined emulation machine that’s capable of handling games from the sixth generation down – that’s anything up to the GameCube and PlayStation 2. It can even run some PSP games, apparently, but at this point, you’re just getting greedy. The Retroid Pocket 3 brings classics like Super Mario RPG, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy IX and so many others to modern audiences, and they all look better than ever.
What’s more, the Retroid Pocket 3 is an Android-based handheld gaming console, which means it also works as a hub for cloud streaming through services like Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. This little device is tinier than a Switch Lite and it has a 4.7 inch LCD touchscreen – that’s smaller than Nintendo’s latest handheld but bigger than the screen of a classic Game Boy, for what it’s worth. What’s most astonishing about the Retroid Pocket 3 is its price: just $150. – J.C.
Best console with a large game streaming library: Xbox Series X (or S)
For console gamers, Microsoft's Game Pass subscription has been a revelation. For $10 a month, you can play hundreds of games, including all of Microsoft's first-party software, as well as major titles like Monster Hunter Rise and A Plague Tale Requiem. Even better, Microsoft-owned titles are available the day they're released! Bump up to the $15 Game Pass Ultimate tier and you'll also get access to cloud gaming, which lets you stream select titles to your phone, computer and even some TVs. The sheer variety of content on Game Pass makes it hard to stomach paying full price for a game ever again.
Sony's response to Game Pass amounts to an evolution of its PlayStation Plus service. Its highest-tier "Premium" offering costs $18 a month, and it also gives you access to a large library of titles and cloud streaming. But, Sony isn't adding first-party titles to any PS Plus tier the day they launch — you'll either have to pay full price, or wait until they get added to the rotation. Until Sony caves, having release day access to titles makes Game Pass the obviously better subscription service. – D.H.
Readers already know and love Engadget's daily newsletter, The Morning After. Now, we're bringing the news to your ears. Join UK Bureau Chief Mat Smith for a rundown of the day's top headlines — because who doesn't love hearing a silky English accent first thing in the morning? Since we're producing this audio in the future, in a distant place called London, we promise we'll always have our recordings ready by the time our American listeners start their days.
The Engadget Podcast is back and ready to explore how tech is helping (and hurting) our lives. Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar and Reviews Editor Cherlynn Low dive into a big question every week: Is Microsoft making better PCs than Apple? What's the state of Android versus iOS? Expect to hear the rest of the Engadget crew, along with the occasional expert guest, as we analyze the tech landscape and chat about timely topics.
Here at Engadget, we cover consumer tech from every angle. Sometimes that means we publish more than 40 posts in a single day. It's a lot, and sometimes you're just too busy showering, commuting and filling out TPS reports to read a news story. To keep up with your hectic schedule, we're posting audio versions of select news stories, so that you can still get the gist even when you're too busy to look up from what you're doing.
And we're back. After canceling our CES plans in 2022 (and not even having the option of attending in person in 2021), the Engadget team sent a dozen staffers to CES 2023 this week, including reporters, editors and videographers. It's too soon to say how many stories and videos we've published — in fact, we have more good stuff coming — but suffice to say, it was a lot. Though our team swears the show still wasn't as busy as pre-pandemic years, they were kept busy enough that it felt like a true return to form, not just for us, but for the tech industry at large.
One thing that never stopped was Engadget's annual Best of CES Awards program, although this year marks the first time in three years we've been able to base our judgments off of a full slate of in-person hands-on experiences. All told, we're handing out a dozen awards this year, including the most prestigious: Best of the Best. As always, our awards attempt to capture what we think people will still be talking about weeks, or even months, after the show concludes, from wireless TVs to an electric Ram concept truck to a $1,000 stand mixer that should make dough blending almost foolproof.
As ever, too, we endeavored to weed out the vaporware, not to mention the things that got attention solely for being dumb. (Hello, multiplesmart pee gadgets and a $3,800 "self-driving" stroller that only works when the baby isn't on board!) If you're curious about all the frivolity anyway — and who can blame you? — you'll find all of our coverage, serious and irreverent, right here. But for just the good stuff, you're in the right place. – Dana Wollman, Editor-in-Chief
Best Accessibility Tech: L’Oréal Hapta
L'oreal
Rather than showing up to CES with a viral beauty gadget, L’Oréal debuted an assistive lipstick applicator that will be useful to millions. The cosmetics company worked with utensil maker Verily, which produces stabilizing and leveling cutlery for people with limited hand and arm mobility, to create Hapta. The result is a sturdy grip-and-gimbal system that lets those with limited finger dexterity or strength more independently apply lipstick. Though there are some quirks the company needs to iron out before releasing the Hapta in December, it’s impressive that this is both a finished product and has a relatively affordable suggested retail price of $150 to $200. It’s also a device that caters to an often overlooked segment of consumers, and can be expanded to work with more makeup applications. Of all the accessibility-related products we saw this CES, the Hapta is the most unique, while being actually helpful. — Cherlynn Low, Deputy Editor, Reviews
Best Gaming Product: Sony Project Leonardo
Sony
Project Leonardo is Sony’s first piece of gaming hardware designed specifically for people with limited motor control, and it happens to look pretty neat at the same time. Project Leonardo is a controller kit that’ll work out of the box with the PlayStation 5, offering two circular gamepads lined with swappable buttons, third-party accessory ports and other customizable inputs. The controllers lie flat on a table or they can be mounted on a standard tripod, and they can be paired with a DualSense to turn all three devices into a single gamepad, offering plenty of flexibility for players.
To build its new PS5 accessory, Sony partnered with advocacy organizations including AbleGamers and SpecialEffect, just like Microsoft did with the (wildly successful) Xbox Adaptive Controller. Project Leonardo represents another positive step for accessibility tech in video games, a market that’s filled with surprises and primed for growth in 2023. — Jessica Conditt, Senior Reporter
Best Heath & Fitness Product: Valencell blood pressure monitoring prototype
Valencell
Valencell has been making optical heart-rate sensors for years, but at CES 2023 it unveiled a new fingertip monitor that offers “cuffless” blood pressure monitoring. Instead of an unwieldy inflating sleeve, this fingertip clip uses photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors to measure blood flow patterns. This information is combined with algorithms and the user’s age, weight, gender and height to create a blood pressure measurement, without the need for calibration. We might have seen similar technology in earlier stages of development, but Valencell’s technique of combining data makes for the most compelling device yet. Valencell plans to eventually offer the blood pressure monitor to clinics and hospitals, alongside an over-the-counter version for personal use, pending FDA approval. — Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief
Best Home Theater Tech: LG Signature OLED M3
Engadget
LG unveiled several new OLED TVs at CES this year, but the standout was the Signature OLED M3, a 97-inch 4K giant. What’s most interesting about the M3, however, isn’t its screen – it’s the tech inside of it. More specifically, the M3 is designed to receive video and audio wirelessly, through a separate box that LG says you can place up to 30 feet away from the TV. Outside of a power cord, the M3 itself is cable-free; instead you plug your media streamers, cable box or game consoles into the breakout box, and all of it is beamed over a wireless link.
The company dubs this wireless transmission tech “Zero Connect” and claims this proprietary standard can provide three times the speed of WiFi 6. Among other connections, the Zero Connect box includes three HDMI ports that can play in 4K at 120Hz, including one eARC port. While it does require line-of-sight to work – there’s a rotatable antenna built into the box – in our brief experience with the set, we found the signal quality remained steady even in a crowded room. If Zero Connect can eventually make its way down to LG’s more reasonably priced TVs, it could provide an exciting new level of versatility. — Jeff Dunn, Senior Commerce Writer
Best Laptop: Lenovo Yoga Book 9i
Lenovo
By axing the traditional, physical keyboard and putting two 13.3-inch OLED screens on the Yoga Book 9i, Lenovo could potentially shake up modern laptop design in a way we haven’t seen since the original Surface Pro a decade ago. And while there are some issues that will need to be ironed out, the potential this new design offers is undeniable. When you prop up the Yoga Book on its kickstand, it becomes much more than a standard clamshell. You can have two screens stacked on top of each other or side-by-side depending on your needs. Meanwhile in standard laptop mode, you have the freedom to choose between a virtual or detachable Bluetooth keyboard – both with customizable widgets, not to mention built-in stylus support. It’s a level of flexibility and adaptability that traditional laptops simply can’t match. And unlike overly ambitious concepts in the past, this dual-screen notebook is actually coming out (sometime this spring for around $2,000) so we can see how it will truly fare in the real world. — Sam Rutherford, Senior Writer
Best Mobile or Tablet Tech: WPC Qi2 charging standard
Engadget
When Apple added MagSafe charging to the iPhone back in 2020, it created an incredibly simple and convenient way of juicing up its phones. And now, at CES 2023, the WPC (Wireless Power Consortium) has released details on the Qi2 charging standard that will finally bring similar functionality to the rest of the handset market. Not only does the new spec include support for Magnetic Power Profiles which will pave the way for handy charging disks that can snap onto the back of your phone, it will also allow for important features such as foreign object detection and up to 15-watt charging with the potential to raise power output even further in the future. And perhaps most importantly, because Apple is a member of the WPC, Qi2 shouldn’t be a weak MagSafe knock-off when it arrives on retail devices later this year in Q4 2023. — Sam Rutherford, Senior Writer
Best Robot or Drone: KEYi Loona
Loona
Historically, robot pets tend to be lacking in the cutesy department. Loona, the futuristic companion from KEYi, with its big puppy dog eyes and wiggling ears has the adorable thing locked down. Loona is smart enough to scurry around your living space without running into walls or off of countertops, but the real magic is in its expressiveness. It’s impressive what you can do with a small display, four wheels and two “ears.”
Beyond her charms, Loona also comes loaded with sensors for responding to your voice, gestures and touch and a collection of games that turn the virtual pet into quite the clever companion. These same sensors also make her a capable home security bot and something of a STEM tool for kids via a graphical programming option to teach Loona new “interactions.”
Put all this together and you have a capable home robot that just happens to love having its ears tickled. What’s not to love about that? — James Trew, Editor-at-Large
Best Smart Home Product: GE Profile Smart Mixer
GE
Baking requires precision and, depending on the recipe, can often feel like a juggling act. So it impressed us to see GE Profile's Smart Mixer, which has a built-in scale to accurately weigh ingredients, plus voice control so you don’t have to push buttons when your hands are otherwise occupied. The Smart Mixer is a high-end stand mixer in its own right, with a motor that’s speedy enough to whip up emulsions. But it gets its smart home edge from that integrated scale, app connectivity and voice control.
Indeed, the app component will probably be particularly useful for novice bakers, offering over a dozen step-by-step recipes. App guidance for cooking is nothing new, but here, the mixer knows what you’re making and will adjust mixing speeds as needed to ensure nothing is over- or under-worked.
For experienced bakers, the scale, timer and voice control are likely to have greater appeal. Scale and timer readouts appear on the front-facing digital display, which also shows you the mixer’s current speed setting. Changing that setting is as easy as asking Alexa or the Google Assistant to do it for you, provided you have a smart speaker linked. With a starting price of $999, it’s by no means a cheap appliance, but the suite of innovative smart features made this one of the more memorable smart home gadgets we saw at the show this year. — Amy Skorheim, Commerce Writer
Best Transportation Tech: Ram 1500 BEV Concept
Stellantis
The Ram 1500, one of America’s most iconic trucks, is charging into the 21st century with a “revolutionary” battery electric pickup concept. The eponymously named Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Concept shown off at Stellantis’ CES 2023 keynote packs high tech everything into a sleek and aggressive body design. The BEV concept features dual-motor AWD, four-wheel steering, animated grille emblems, taillights and badging. Additionally, it has an integrated movie projector, AI assistants that respond to voice commands from both inside and outside the vehicle, as well as a Shadow Mode that trains the truck to follow along behind its dismounted driver from a safe distance.
Ram envisions this feature being used on job sites where workers would otherwise have to repeatedly get in and out of the truck between short drives. The BEV Concept itself won’t be entering production — ditto for most concept vehicles — but it will directly inform the design decisions going into the 2024 Ram 1500 EV, which will launch next year alongside Stellantis’ fully electric Jeep. — Andrew Tarantola, Senior Reporter
Best TV Tech: Samsung Micro LED
Samsung
CES has long been a show where tier-one manufacturers show off the latest and greatest in TV technology, giving us a preview of how normal people will be able to deck out their home theater setups once the tech goes mainstream. This year was no exception, even though Sony surprisingly didn't show off any new televisions. What felt most significant in 2023 was Samsung's continued advancements in its MicroLED TVs. The technology first debuted in 2018 with the company's gigantic 146-inch TV dubbed "The Wall" that cost as much as a house, but now we're seeing Samsung bring it to 50- and 63-inch TVs that will actually fit in people's living rooms. Sure, the cost will likely still be prohibitive for all but the wealthy, but hopefully in a few years we'll see these stunning screens available at a price more households can afford. — Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor, News
Best Wearable: German Bionic Apogee
German Bionic
Our favorite wearable this year takes technology beyond the wrist-bound devices we’re used to seeing and puts it on your hips and over your shoulders. German Bionic’s new Apogee exosuit builds upon the company’s Cray X exoskeleton that it showed off at CES last year, resulting in a lighter, smarter wearable. Designed for commercial use, the Apogee exosuit helps workers complete physical tasks without inflicting as much strain on their bodies. The suit can offset up to 66 pounds of load to the lower back per lifting motion, plus it helps reduce fatigue overall with walking assistance.
The Apogee is German Bionic’s lightest exosuit to date and it’s designed to be worn for long periods of time, assisting workers without getting in the way. Plus, the company’s IO architecture constantly collects and analyzes data about workers’ activity while they’re wearing the suit, so it can then provide feedback via the onboard display or audio alerts when unsafe movements are detected. We’re almost disappointed that the Apogee will only be available in warehouses and other commercial settings – various Engadget staffers suffering from chronic back pain are eager to give it a go. — Valentina Palladino, Senior Commerce Editor
Best in Show: Sony Project Leonardo
Sony
Project Leonardo is Sony’s first piece of gaming hardware designed specifically for people with disabilities, and it represents another positive step in the world of accessibility tech. Project Leonardo is a controller kit that will be plug-and-play with the PlayStation 5, working in conjunction with existing Sony hardware and popular third-party accessibility accessories. The controller kit includes two circular gamepads lined with swappable buttons, four 3.5mm AUX accessory ports and other customizable inputs.
The controllers were designed so that they don't need to be held – instead, they lie flat on a table, or they can be mounted on a tripod or stand. Both controllers can be paired with a DualSense to turn all three devices into a single gamepad, offering plenty of flexibility for players.
To build its new PS5 accessory, Sony partnered with advocacy organizations including AbleGamers, SpecialEffect and Stack Up, much like Microsoft did with the revolutionary Xbox Adaptive Controller. Though there's no release date or price for Project Leonardo quite yet, Sony is seizing on an opportunity to expand the PS5 playerbase while making its hardware more inclusive, and we're likely to hear much more about the controller kit in the coming months.
The market for accessibility tech in video games is filled with surprises and primed for growth in 2023, and Project Leonardo is at the forefront this year. — Jessica Conditt, Senior Reporter
What a year for gaming. While 2022 may not have enjoyed as many AAA releases as in past years, the ones that weren’t delayed into 2023 were stellar and the indie development scene more than made up for the lack of big-budget titles. Some of our favorite releases this year came from small, ambitious teams that delivered fresh ideas. As is tradition, the Engadget team came together to extol the virtues of our favorite releases from the past 12 months.
Bayonetta 3 is a delicious amplification of the series’ most ridiculous themes. It indulges in absurdity without disrupting the rapid-fire combat or Bayonetta’s unrivaled sense of fashion and wit. Bayonetta 3 is joyful, mechanically rich and full of action, plus it allows players to transform into a literal hell train in order to take down massive beasts bent on destroying the multiverse. Bayonetta elegantly dances her way through battles, dropping one-liners and shooting enemies with her gun shoes in one moment, and turning into a giant spider creature the next.
The Bayonetta series just keeps getting weirder, but that doesn’t mean it’s losing its sense of satisfying gameplay along the way. In the franchise’s third installment, Bayonetta is powerful, confident and funny; she’s a drag queen in a universe loosely held together by witchcraft, and the chaos of this combination is truly magical. – Jessica Conditt, Senior Reporter
Sure, you’ve played Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Hades and The Binding of Isaac – but what if you could play all of them at once, in a single adorable demonic package? That’s Cult of the Lamb, baby.
Cult of the Lamb is part social and farming simulator, part dungeon-crawling roguelike and all-around fantastic. After being sacrificed and resurrected, you’re instructed by a grand, dark deity to start your own cult, managing worship services, agriculture, cooking, marriages, deaths and much more. You must also venture into the wilderness to battle demons and recruit more followers. Keep in mind that you’re a lamb, which makes all of this exceptionally cute.
Cult of the Lamb is a brilliant balance of satanic dungeon crawling and cult simulation, offering more action than Animal Crossing and more casual farming mechanics than Hades. Cult of the Lamb is incredibly satisfying, and it’s rich in gameplay, story and environments. Most of all, it’s cute as hell. – J.C.
There was never going to be a version of this post that did not include Elden Ring, FromSoftware's big push into open-world Berserk-inspired sword and sorcery.
Yes, there's something to be said about the earlier, more linear Souls games forcing players down a path of increasing gloom and difficulty (cue the hallmark rasping laugh of an NPC who seems to know precisely how screwed you are), how the inevitability of that experience allowed the devs to craft a bespoke gameplay loop of apprehension, frustration, discovery and the eventual reward of mastery. I love that stuff! But Elden Ring tried something new, effectively playing a shell game with those four player states, and making discovery the new initial draw.
My big "aha!" moments in Dark Souls 3 or Bloodborne arrived when I'd finally spotted a shortcut or sussed out a boss's hidden weakness. Elden Ring retained that. But what really made the good brain chemicals flow was just… roaming around. Reaching the top of some lava-ridden mesa. Or finding a way onto some seemingly inaccessible islet. The grandeur of the settings and knowledge FromSoft wouldn't make me work for a slice of geography devoid of treasures to loot and dudes to hack apart made the effort worthwhile.
Some fans adore the limited palate of Sekiro which essentially tells players, "git gud or quit." Call me a bad gamer (accurate) but I prefer the maximalism and flexibility that Elden Ring brought to the table. Want to grind until every boss is trivial? How about a hitless all-remembrances run? Either, and anything in between, is valid. Allowing for challenge and accessibility makes Elden Ring a beautifully executed twist on the formula FromSoft has been honing for nearly 30 years. – Avery Menegus, Senior News Editor
Sometimes, games you were once really looking forward to playing just sneak past you at launch. That’s totally true of Ghostwire: Tokyo, a game from Tango Gameworks, which also created the underrated horror game The Evil Within and its sequel.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is different to those, though. It’s often… funny. Sure, there are grotesque Japanese folklore monsters and creepy faceless men-in-suits to hurl magic at, but there are also ghosts trapped in toilet cubicles that need a few extra rolls of toilet paper, or park trees that need to be magically cleansed for nearby spirits to feel at ease. You play through a first-person perspective, using elemental attacks, charms and a spiritual bow and arrow set to take down an array of spirits that have invaded a substantial patch of central Tokyo. If you’ve heard the game described as Yakuza, but with ghosts, well, it’s a completely different kind of game. But the beautifully rendered buildings, interiors and streets definitely hit similar notes. Due to a supernatural attack on the city, you won’t bump into any other humans, pretty much through the entire campaign, which adds an eerie air to the entire game. It’s either ghouls trying to kill you, or spirits that need your help to move on.
The main game is short but punchy enough. It feels like a game that was banking on DLC to round out a lot of the more ambiguous plot questions players might have, but it’s uncertain whether that will ever happen. It’s still a fun supernatural game that takes a different approach to horror, with some mind-bending set pieces that bring some of the more imaginative parts of games like Control into the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. And who doesn’t want to be stalked by hundreds of paper eyeballs? – Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief
When I was first introduced to Kratos, the God of War, he was on my PS2, taking a stroll along a Cretan wharf, casually tearing a few Minotaurs in half. Things only went downhill from there. For a full three mythos-crushing game installments, things only went downhill from there. I mean, by the end of GoW III you had to dig pretty far down the Pantheon talent list to find a surviving deity.
But when we were reintroduced to Kratos on the PS4, we were not given back the pale ball of vengeful fury and barely-contained ultraviolence that we had grown to know and love. This new one was, well, not softer but at least not quite so hard-edged as before. This was a Kratos with bad knees who old-man grunted when he stood; a Kratos with a son he struggled to connect with but still reared in a dangerous and unforgiving world, demi-god or not. This was a more relatable Kratos, one that had aged alongside the gamers that inhabit his form in the intervening console years, with concerns and motivation beyond most efficiently chain slashing his way through enemy hordes.
I think a big part of what made God of War the Game of the Year in 2018 was that progression away from thinly-veiled plot points serving as excuses for more blood, boobs and button smashing; and towards a more mature, measured examination, not just of Kratos’ relationship with Atreus, but the larger theme of how to process familial loss, its accompanying grief, and to move forward from the pain.
Ragnarok is both an affirmation of Kratos’ reformation and a lodestar for the future of the God of War franchise. I’m not going to spoil the rich and nuanced multi-arc-with-just-a-hint-of-time-travel storyline for those who have not yet played but it, in my opinion at least, is the best written of the series. This is a game with cutscenes you’ll want to sit through. Combine that with well-paced skill-adjustable action, huge maps packed with treasures and secrets, an expansive supporting cast and star-studded voice acting – not to mention a menagerie-worth of mystical wildlife just begging to be torn limb from limb – and you’ve got yourself one of the best games of 2022. — Andrew Tarantola, Senior Reporter
Sony’s first-party studios have generally done sequelsright, and Horizon Forbidden Westis no exception. The first game had one of my favorite narratives, as protagonist Aloy learned what happened a thousand years prior to bring about the mysterious world she (and the player) inhabit – one where mankind lives in relatively primitive tribes trying to stay safe from giant animal-like machines run amok.
Forbidden West delivers even more of what worked in Horizon Zero Dawn. Aloy remains a steadfast, righteous and occasionally stubborn protagonist who continues to grow as she uncovers more secrets about the world around her while fighting a totally unexpected force bent on destroying Earth as she knows it. The twists of Forbidden West don’t quite match the first game’s reveal of how the world we know evolved into the world Aloy inhabits. But the narrative is still rich and complex, and the new parts of what was once the American southwest that you get to explore are rendered in stunning detail. It’s one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played.
As with any good sequel, combat and traversal around the world have been refined – there are more weapons than ever, and you can customize them to match your play style or the particular enemies you’re facing. Melee combat against humans and machines alike has also been significantly upgraded, and new items like a grappling hook and hang glider make getting around quicker and more fun. And nearly all the machines from the first game return, along with some colossal new enemies that present a massive challenge, but also a massive bit of satisfaction as you figure out their weak spots and systematically take them down.
I think my favorite new thing of Forbidden West, though, is the relationships you build with your friends. In the first game, Aloy is mostly a lone wolf, occasionally partnering with people here and there but mostly doing things on her own. In Forbidden West, though, you establish a posse of capable and likable companions, some old and some new, all of whom bring something different to the table in your massive quest. Trying to fend off the end of the world feels just a little bit easier when you have friends by your side. – Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor
With Immortality, indie game director Sam Barlow has delivered a tribute to the surreal films of David Lynch, with a dose of Hitchcock for good measure. Similar to Her Story, it's also entirely about scrubbing through video clips, except this time it involves footage from three unreleased genre films spanning several decades. Your job? To figure out what happened to the actress Marissa Marcel.
Geared more towards cinephiles than mainstream gamers, Immortality can be frustrating if you're not operating on Barlow's wavelength. But if you're a fan of surreal cinema, and you enjoy diving into behind-the-scenes footage, it's a game with endless rewards. The mystery will get you started, but the spooky atmosphere and excellent performances will keep you hooked. – Devindra Hardawar, Senior Editor
After getting burnt out on Hearthstone a few years ago, and superhero movies more recently, the last thing I expected to hook me in 2022 was a comic book-themed collectible card game. But then the fine folks at Second Dinner released Marvel Snap and it quickly became my favorite time waster. Because a match lasts less than five minutes, you can easily play a round during commercials, while waiting for the train, or in the bathroom (I’m not judging). And while decks cap out at just 12 cards, there’s a surprising amount of depth with a huge variety of effects and counters. Meanwhile, thanks to appearances from lesser-known characters like Hell Cow, Devil Dinosaur and the Infinaut, the game has prompted me to learn more about Marvel lore than any of the movies ever did. So even though the game is a little barebones at the moment (the only mode is a basic ranked ladder but more features are on the way), Marvel Snap is sure to be a game I continue playing long after I’ve forgotten about whatever happened in the latest Spider-man movie. – Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter
What do you do when you love speed running and score chasing, but you're generally not very good at it? You play Neon White.
Like all good games, Neon White is simple to learn, and difficult to master. The basic ask is that you vanquish every demon from a level and head to a finish marker. It plays like a fast-paced first-person shooter, with the complexity coming from your weapons, which are cards that can either fire or be spent for a special movement or attack ability. The real challenge comes from the scoring system, which grades you based on the time you took to complete a level.
There are just shy of 100 levels, all begging to be learned, repeated and perfected. Despite its first-person shooter visuals, it plays out more like a cross between Trackmania and a platformer. You'll quickly turn that bronze medal into a gold, and then an "ace" that is supposedly your ultimate target. Then you'll see the online leaderboards and realize you've left some seconds on the table. Then you'll randomly achieve the secret red medal on a level, say "oh jesus" and realize that there's a whole hidden tier of perfection for you to attain.
The trick is that everything feels smooth, and fast. From my first gold medal time up to the top-ten-in-the-world run I showed my pretending-to-be-interested friends, every time I turned on the game I felt like a master, inches away from perfection. There are multiple paths through each level, ridiculous shortcuts to discover, and near-infinite degrees of satisfaction waiting after every good run.
The main negative point, for me, is the story, which plays out like a visual novel. I love the genre, and had heard good things about the game's characters, but found the narrative overly slow and just generally dull. There is mercifully a "fast forward" button, and once you've played through everything, a level select screen that lets you jump right into the action.
Despite its storytelling, and a couple of overly long levels that had me gnashing my teeth, Neon White was easily the most fun I had with a game this year. I played on Switch and PC, but a couple of weeks ago it landed on PlayStation as well, and I imagine I'll be starting up a new campaign and playing it all over again soon.– Aaron Souppouris, Executive Editor
Most of the time, single-player narrative-driven games are where I spend most of my gaming time. But once a year, I come across a game like OlliOlli World that I can play for minutes or hours at a time because the gameplay is just so satisfying. The goal in OlliOlli World is simple: become a skateboarding god. You do that by progressing through five worlds, each of which has a dozen or more individual stages, each with a wildly unique course to traverse.
Unlike the earlier games in the OlliOlli series, World is a bit more forgiving at first. It’s much easier to pick up and start pulling off wild moves and combos than ever before. But it’s still fiendishly challenging – if you want to beat every challenge, you’ll need lightning-fast reflexes and the mental stamina to change up your tricks and moves constantly. But once you get fluent in the game’s mechanics, you can enter a flow state where you’re just making moves purely on instinct.
The level and character design in OlliOlli World only enhances this effect. Like the earlier games, each of the five biomes has its own unique characteristics, but in all cases the levels are extremely colorful and interactive, with tons of eye candy and bizarre creatures hanging out in the background. And you can customize your character with clothing and items you pick up for completing challenges, letting you express your personal style in a huge variety of ways. There are also competitive aspects, like the daily challenge where you compete against nine other skaters to post the top score in your group. And every time you visit a level, you’ll see a “rival” score to try and beat. There’s always something pushing you to skate even better in OlliOlli World. – N.I.
Overwatch is my second favorite game of all time. Despite sharper, faster-paced gameplay, some much-needed quality-of-life improvements and the free-to-play shift I've wanted for years, Overwatch 2 isn't quite at that level yet. It's too rough around the edges.
The monetization changes felt like a gut punch. In fairness, many of the high-end skins cost around the same as what you'd pay for outfits in other major free-to-play titles. But newcomers now need to pay up if they want cosmetics that have been in the game for six years – items that veteran players were able to earn for free only a few months ago. Players also need to pay for the premium battle pass, grind through the free tier or wait until it's easier to unlock new heroes in later seasons before getting access to the latest characters.
And yet, Overwatch 2 has a hold over me like no other game. It's still the best multiplayer title around, with a rich lore, a wonderful cast of characters and a colorful aesthetic that helps it stand out from many other games on the market. The ping system is an excellent addition for accessibility, and the four new heroes that have joined the lineup since launch are all a blast. Some of the major hero reworks, especially the Orisa one, have been a resounding success.
As much as I enjoy the game as it is now, Blizzard has laid the foundations for an even more exciting future. Next year will bring long-awaited, story-driven co-op missions to the franchise – until now, we've only had a taste of those during seasonal events. After getting a sneak peek at some of the stuff that's on the way to the PvP side in the next few seasons, including a new core game mode and the season four hero, I can't see myself putting this game down anytime soon. – Kris Holt, Contributing Reporter
Rollerdrome is lush. It’s incredibly stylish, taking cues from 1970s Hollywood sci-fi but with an attractive cel-shaded filter over every scene. Even better than its stunning visuals, Rollerdrome has smooth, precise mechanics that allow players to fall into a flow in every level. The game is all about gliding through the environments on rollerblades, picking up speed and doing tricks while dodging and shooting enemies, managing weapons and controlling time – and it all comes together in a thrilling dystopian bloodsport.
It’s a joy to dodge, dodge, dodge and then leap into the air, slow down time and take out the people shooting at you, refilling ammo and collecting health in the process. Meanwhile, an unsettling story of corporate greed unfolds naturally beneath the rollerblading bloodshed, keeping the stakes high. Rollerdrome was a sleeper hit of 2022, so if you’ve been napping on this one, now’s the time to wake up and play. – J.C.
When I fall in love with a game, it’s the setting that gets me, which maybe explains why I wandered around Fallout 76’s Appalachian wasteland long after most people had left – I wanted to live there. I want to live in the futuristic city where Stray takes place too, but since I’m neither cat nor robot, I wouldn’t be allowed. In the game, you play a standard orange tabby with no special abilities, apart from those given to most felines like agility and jumping prowess. Through a mishap, you find yourself trapped in a domed city populated exclusively by amiable humanoid robots, and you eventually team up with a small drone that lets you “talk” with those androids.
To find your way back to your cat family outside the city, you solve puzzles, fight mutant bacterial blobs and generally follow your curiosity. The cityscape is a gorgeous, multi-level cyberpunk playground that feels a little less hardcore than Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City, with plenty of woven rugs to scratch and pillows to nap on. In fact, scratching, napping and otherwise doing cat stuff not only unlocks achievements (I was particularly proud to earn the one for getting a paper bag stuck on my head) they’re also integral to the game.
As my colleague Jessica Conditt said in her review, Stray is “downright joyful.” By leaning into the cat premise, it creates a whole new gaming perspective – you can’t do stuff humans can do, but you can do stuff cats do, like shimmying through small holes and jumping on pipes and bookcases. Living 12 inches off the ground for the cumulative eight hours or so it took me to play the game, I finally understood why cats want to jump on top of everything. The view is just better up there. – Amy Skorheim, Commerce Writer
A ton has been said about how The Last of Us Part I is a remake of a game that was originally released for the PS3 and then remastered a year later for the PS4. (Oh, and it’s coming to PC in early 2023, too.) So, it’s not exactly an essential release if you’ve played it before. But for people who may have heard about the upcoming HBO show and want to know what all the fuss is about – or anyone who loved Joel and Ellie’s journey the first time – this PS5 version is the definitive way to experience this story.
The game has been entirely rebuilt from scratch, and it shows in everything from the ruined post-pandemic cities and surprisingly tranquil forests and mountains to the detail found in collectibles around the world. Most crucially, though, the facial animations are simply stunning. Everyone you encounter, whether a lead character or an NPC you only see once, looks amazingly detailed and realistic. Of course, that means the hordes of infected humans hunting you are even more disturbingly detailed than ever, as well.
The updates aren’t just skin deep, either. Enemies are smarter and more cunning than ever, thanks to developer Naughty Dog using the upgraded AI system they implemented in 2020’s The Last of Us Part II. Humans are more aggressive about flanking you and a lot easier to lose once they find you, while the Infected are even better at hearing you trying to sneak by. There are a host of other updates, big and small, perhaps the most important of which is a massive suite of accessibility features so that almost anyone can give this game a shot.
What hasn’t changed is the story and script – but that isn’t a problem, given that The Last of Us was already well-known for its outstanding performances and plotting. The debate on whether or not The Last of Us Part I was really “necessary” will likely continue, but don’t spend too much time thinking about it. If you’ve never played the game before, this is the way to do it. And if you’re like me and play it every year or two, this is the best way to do so. – N.I.
How do you write about a game that’s best experienced without expectations? That’s the challenge of saying something meaningful about Tunic. You can speak to its influences – primarily The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, with a dash of Soulslike combat – but that doesn’t do the game justice. Worse yet, it fails to capture its appeal. I could also mention its haunting soundtrack by Lifeformed and Janice Kwan or the austere beauty of its art style. But again that’s not quite what makes Tunic so special.
I’m being purposefully vague because to say more would be to rob the game of its magic. So I’ll leave you with this: It’s fitting Tunic casts you as a cutesy fox because the game has a knack of making you feel so clever anytime you work through one of its many mysteries. Do yourself a favor and try to play this one without turning to the internet if you run into a roadblock. On the other end is one of the most rewarding gaming experiences in recent memory. – Igor Bonifacic, Weekend Editor
As a longtime fan of the SRPG genre, no game in the last decade has managed to evoke classics like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre more than Triangle Strategy. I admit it’s a bit of a slow burn and it gets a bit text-heavy, but with multiple endings (including a New Game+ mode), a deep roster of characters and rewarding turn-based combat, this game has it all. And thanks to its art style, which masterfully blends old-school sprites with a modern 2.5D approach, this game looks and feels like a love letter to those all-time greats of the late 90s. If you’re a fan of tactics games, Triangle Strategy is a must-play. – S.R.
I had such good intentions for my Steam Deck. I swore I'd use it to get through my Steam backlog and stream a bunch of games from Xbox Cloud Gaming and Stadia (RIP). Sure, I do those things, but only on the rare occasion I can rip my attention away from Vampire Survivors.
It is a rudimentary-looking game with very basic controls. You'll face hordes of monsters, but because your weapons autofire, the only real control you have is using the thumbstick or touch controls to move your character. You'll need to carefully juke away from some enemies while getting close enough to kill others and pick up the experience gems they drop. After you collect enough gems and level up, you’re able to select another weapon or powerup.
This is where many of the game's intricacies come in. You'll get a random selection of weapons and power-ups to choose from at every level, as well as the ability to make your items more powerful. If you find the right pairings, you can evolve weapons into ultra-powerful forms. Vampire Survivors is the perfect distillation of the power fantasy. Flesh out the right build and you'll carve through bosses that once seemed unbeatable like a lightsaber through ice cream.
This game begs you to keep coming back. Since it debuted in early access last December, developer Poncle has frequently updated the game with more characters, weapons, items and levels. Part of the joy is in building different loadouts that can demolish enemies with ease. Vampire Survivors also shares some DNA with casinos. There's an explosion of color and some upbeat, tension-filled music whenever you open a treasure chest, along with a delightful chime whenever you grab a gem – you will hear that a lot. These aspects don't exactly make it easy to put the game down.
I love my Steam Deck. I love Vampire Survivors. Together, they have a toxic hold over my desire to play other games. I could simply uninstall Vampire Survivors from my Deck, but, really, what's the point when I can just play it on my phone now?– K.H.
For a while in 2022, a word game brought the world together. Because it’s the same puzzle for every single player each day, Wordle was a giant inside joke amongst solvers across international boundaries. At Engadget, for example, London-based Mat Smith could give me hints or laugh at my inability to guess a word he got.
I also loved sharing and seeing the little blocks that showed how many tries it took us to solve the word. It was a chance to both bond and brag – the perfect gaming experience. Plus, whenever a word was controversial, whether it was spelled in US or UK English, for example, I loved the inevitable debate that would result. In 2022, Wordle gave us an elevated form of watercooler conversation fodder, but for the entire world.
Although technically launched in 2021, Wordle found widespread popularity in 2022. It was born from software engineer Josh Wardle’s desire to make a word game for him and his partner Palak Shah to play together. But it was when the user base expanded beyond his family to encompass the entire globe that Wordle took on a life of its own.
Countless iterations were spawned, building on the format and name… which itself was based on Wardle’s last name. You may have seen examples like Heardle, Worldle, Squirdle, Absurdle and more, using the puzzle’s format for us to guess songs, countries and other subjects. As always happens with anything popular, hundreds of websites published guides to beating the game, while scores of clones popped up in the Android and iOS app stores, hoping to cash in on the fever. Wardle later sold the game to the New York Times for an undisclosed sum that was reported to be in the low seven digits, and soon, just as quickly as the fever started, the game’s popularity subsided. Thanks to Wordle, we all may be leaving 2022 just a little bit savvier about the most common letters and words in the English language. – Cherlynn Low, Deputy Editor
Getting into a new role-playing game series can be hard sometimes. This is especially true when you’ve allied yourself with a certain studio or series – and we are into double digits in the Trails series, not to mention the juggernaut that is Final Fantasy. It’s trickier to reorient yourself to completely new gameplay dynamics, series in-jokes that fly over your head and just, well, things being different.
That means I’m late to playing critically acclaimed RPGs – I have to be in the right mindset. So how did Xenoblade Chronicles 3weasel its way into my heart? I think it’s because I was told by several people, both gaming critics and friends, that it was a perfect entry into the series, regardless of whether you’d played its predecessors. They weren’t wrong.
It’s a nice game to approach with a blank slate because it goes through around three different tonal gear shifts before you entirely know exactly what the heck is going on. While I don’t want to ruin the anime-nodding plot twists, several of which you will see coming from a mile away, the game starts with a sci-fi, steam-punk high-concept scenario. Teen warriors on two factions are pitted against each other, waging wars with mechs, but also close-range weapons. It turns out direct kills are the only way to leech their enemy’s life force, building up a store in their base’s “flame clock” and ensuring a squad’s survival. They have to fight, to live.
Noah and two of his allies clash against Mio and her retinue, and after the battle ends in a draw – and I get to enjoy a slick, anime-styled battle movie between all six – the fates conspire to ensure this is your group of warriors, and only they can save the world.
With a wide range of classes to wield and master, as well as the ability to add a guest warrior to your squad pretty much any time throughout the game, battles initially seem chaotic, but I soon got attuned to the rhythm. Defenders will coax enemies into targeting them, allowing your heavy-hitting attackers to wail on them from the side or back – positioning is crucial. Meanwhile, your healers will ensure your defender doesn’t fall and amp up damage either with area-specific skills or targeted attacks on enemies. Also, your epic, charge-them-up-in-battle Interlink attacks are accompanied by such a high-energy soundtrack, it’s hard not to feel like a hero.
There are some big pacing problems in places, and when you get the ability to combine with your allies and form powerful Evangelion-esque avatars, you wonder exactly what can stop them at times. But it’s a vast adventure with several compelling side quests to fill out your time in Aionios. Annoyingly, it’s won me over – and I have since downloaded the original Xenoblade Chronicles (and its sequel) to play in 2023. – M.S.
Gone are the days when free games equated to ropey puzzle games and knock-off clones of games that had a price tag. These days, courtesy of in-app payments and the ease of offering both a sample of a title alongside its full-fat version, there are actually plenty of great games to play without spending a dime. Following the continued success of titles like Fortnite, the level of quality across mobile, PC and consoles has never been higher. Put your card away, and consider this your starting point.
Genshin Impact
Hoyoverse
At launch, many of us assumed Genshin Impactwas a tenuous Zelda: Breath of the Wild copy with impressive anime graphics and not much else. But this turned out to be a very different game Nintendo’s action RPG, with over 50 characters, at this point, to play as. The world is rich and varied. It’s also a huge accomplishment for a free game that’s found a huge chunk of its audience on smartphones.
While battles with foes form a major part of the game, a lot of the joy and satisfaction comes from customizing that army of characters, building up a collection of loot and strengthening them further. While there is an entire microtransaction system baked into the game, much of the game is playable (and enjoyable) without having to spend a dime. Did we mention it’s totally gorgeous?
Even though Blizzard has improved the onramp for new players this time around, Overwatch 2still has a steep learning curve. Stick with it, though, and you’ll get to indulge in perhaps the best team shooter around. Overwatch 2 has a deceptively simple goal — stand on or near an objective and keep the other team away long enough to win. It’s much more complex in practice. To the untrained eye, matches may seem like colorful chaos, but Overwatch 2 has a deceptively simple goal — stand on or near an objective and keep the other team away long enough to win.
It’s much more complex in practice. Blizzard reduced the number of players on each team from six to five. That, along with across-the-board character tweaks, has made gameplay faster-paced and more enjoyable than the original Overwatch. There's a greater emphasis on individual impact, but you'll still need to work well with your teammates to secure a victory.
Now featuring a cast of more than 30 heroes, each with distinct abilities and playstyles, you’ll surely find a few Overwatch 2 characters that you can connect with. The first batch of new heroes are all a blast to play. There are many great (though often fairly expensive) new skins to kit them out with too. The game looks and sounds terrific too, thanks to Blizzard’s trademark level of polish. At least until you figure out how to play Overwatch 2, you can marvel at how good it looks.
Fortnite is a social space as much as it is a game. Where else can you see Spider-Man doing John Cena's "You Can't See Me" taunt next to Indiana Jones dancing to a Dua Lipa song, or Ariana Grande hanging out with Goku while you catch up with friends in voice chat? It also happens to be a great video game with a clear path to victory. Drop onto the island, grab some weapons and gear and try to be the last player or team standing as a storm pushes survivors closer to each other.
Epic made Fortnite far more approachable earlier this year when it introduced a Zero Build mode, which prevents players from building structures for cover. If you have the skills to box an opponent into a skyscraper in mere seconds, by all means, go for it in the other modes, but Zero Build levels the playing field for new players.
Fall Guys is a different flavor of battle royale. Sure, there can still only be one player or squad standing tall at the end, but there are no guns in sight here. It's essentially a platformer in the vein of MXC or Takeshi’s Castle, in which only a certain number of players will qualify from each obstacle-laden round.
It’s also maybe the goofiest and purely enjoyable multiplayer game around. You don’t necessarily need to win to have a good time. It’s hard to feel aggrieved, even when another player shoves you off a ledge to knock you out. It rarely feels mean-spirited even when another player messes with you.
With developer Mediatonic adding more levels and cute cosmetics fairly frequently, the game rarely feels stale. Whenever you return to Fall Guys after a break, you’ll probably run into a new type of bedlam.
From the studio that brought you Titanfall, Apex is a 60-player deathmatch with teams consisting of three people each. The goal is for your team to be the last one standing in Kings Canyon, where you’ll have to loot and fight your way to survival using characters like Octane, an adrenaline junkie whose ultimate move is deploying a jump pad that catapults you into the air for sneak attacks.
You can download it and use the majority of Apex’s characters without having to spend any money. That said, you will have to shell out some cash to access to certain content, including weapon skins and new characters such as Wattson. If you don’t like the cartoonish aspect of Fortnite, and if you’re a fan of the action-packed Titanfall gameplay, it doesn’t get much better than Apex.
Dota 2 has one of the steepest learning curves of any game. Only after sinking hundreds upon hundreds of hours into the five-on-five MOBA can you even begin to understand the deep game mechanics, 100+ unique characters and team strategies. But the fact Dota 2 is so challenging makes those big plays and hard-fought victories all the more satisfying. The sky-high skill ceiling means there's always something to learn, and if you eventually make it into the pro ranks, one tournament win can turn you into an overnight millionaire.
When Pokémon Go launched in 2016, there were some obvious omissions, such as trading and player-versus-player trainer battles. Now, almost every problem and missing feature has been addressed. The game isn't perfect, but the fundamentals — walking around outside, spinning Pokéstop signs and catching critters — make this a truly unique and health-beneficial experience for Pokemon fans. The daily "research" quests and timed events, which boost the appearance of certain monsters, are a great excuse to log in every day. Niantic continues to expand the Pokédex, too, so that your collection is never quite finished.
For years, Fortnite was the battle royale of choice for younger players, until Call of Duty: Warzone came along. Boosting by interest during the pandemic, the free-to-play battle royale has persisted through numerous iterations of the Call of Duty franchise, with new maps, game modes and weapons helping to push the player base above the 100 million mark. The core game requires you to either drop in solo or as part of a team and duke it out with up to 149 other players, running between different points of interest to forage for weapons, tactical items and vehicles. If that wasn’t enough, a wall of gas will force you into increasingly tight areas.
Warzone offers some fresh takes on the traditional battle royale formula. For example, if you die, you will be sent to the ‘Gulag’ to fight with other downed players for a one-time chance to redeploy back into the game. Should you lose, teammates can still ‘buy’ your return, but requires them to first earn enough in-game money to afford it. Following the release of Modern Warfare 2, Warzone was overhauled. It got a new map, Al Mazrah, which is the largest playzone in the game’s history. Loadouts – a system that allowed players to customize a Primary and Secondary Weapon, Tacticals, Lethals and three Perks before the game – have been changed too.
We may not have had quite as much unfettered reading time as we did in the lockdown days of the COVID pandemic, but Engadget’s editors have still managed to pick out, peruse and ponder a broad variety of this year’s most intriguing books. Whether we learned how to wield a wok, listened to life lessons from Hideo Kojima, or dove into the seedy underbelly of an alt-universe 1940’s San Francisco, here are a few of our favorites from 2022.
Razzmatazz by Christopher Moore
Harper Collins
Classic noir cinema was a staple in my house growing up — I mean, my first celebrity crush was on The Thin Man series co-star, Myrna Loy — so any story from the days when mugs were mooks and gals were dames holds sway over my heart. But The Thin Man, like the rest of the media made at that time, only showed a very narrow, very male, very white view of life. Christopher Moore’s latest novel, Razzmatazz, adds some much needed color to the otherwise black-and-white world of noir.
Razzmatazz is the second title for Moore’s satirical murder mystery series, following 2019’s Noir. In this latest installment, we’re returned to Post-WWII San Francisco as bartender Sammy “Two Toes” Tiffin and his cadre of misfit friends hustle to survive in Fog City. Now, helping disappear your best friend’s girlfriend’s abusive husband is one thing but, as the team soon learns, stealing back a possibly magical, definitely priceless, heirloom from the local Tong is another entirely — and that’s before some madman starts murdering the city’s drag kings.
Razzmatazz is a smart and just a bit snarky adventure mystery featuring a diverse and developed cast of characters, fast-paced action that seamlessly transitions between the varying viewpoints of said ensemble and doesn’t get bogged down in world building. At around 350 pages apiece, Noir and Razzmatazz will each provide a solid weekend’s entertainment and, if you’re still looking for more Moore after that, check out 2020’s Shakespeare for Squirrels. – Andrew Tarantola, Senior Editor
Upgrade by Blake Crouch
Penguin Randomhouse
I always look forward to new Blake Crouch releases because his writing is vivid and fast-paced, so much so that I can see the movie version playing out in my head as I devour his latest title in just a couple of days. This year’s Upgrade was no exception – we’re in a world in which gene editing is real yet highly regulated, and we follow Logan Ramsay, a member of the Gene Protection Agency as he tries to apprehend those who may be involved in nefarious gene-editing activities.
But after a violent encounter on a mission, Logan starts to feel less and less like himself and more like a better version of himself. He can read faster, he’s physically stronger and he needs less sleep. He soon finds out his genome has been hacked, and he also discovers he’s part of a much larger plan that could change humanity as he knows it. As he works to stop this plan from being executed, he’s forced to confront some of the darkest parts of his past and the tarnished family legacy he’s been working so hard to escape.
Crouch excels at putting readers into his protagonist’s shoes, forcing them to feel the same anxiety, dread and confusion inflicting his main characters. But to think that produces an overall unpleasant reading experience would be incorrect: Upgrade is an intriguing thrill ride that moves at break-neck speed, while posing a lot of questions about humanity as a whole. – Valentina Palladino, Senior Commerce Editor
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
Harper Collins
On its face, Notes on an Execution may seem like a typical examination of a serial killer. The novel begins with Ansel Packer counting down his last 12 hours before he’s to be executed for killing many women. But Danya Kukafka is much less interested in this murderer as she is in telling the stories of three women who were all affected by Ansel in some way. We follow Lavender, Ansel’s mother, as a lost teenager pushed to the brink as she struggles to protect her children and herself; Hazel, Ansel’s sister-in-law who watches her twin lose herself in this toxic relationship; and Saffy, the lead investigator on Ansel’s case with more hidden trauma than you might expect buried just under the surface. But these women aren’t victims with a capital V. Instead, they work to flip the serial-killer narrative on its head by focusing our attention on the fact that, despite everything, they survived. Notes on an Execution is a dark, engaging story with lovely prose and a surprisingly, underlying element of hope at the end of it all. – V.P.
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
Our Missing Hearts, in the grand tradition of near-future dystopian fiction like The Handmaid’s Tale or 1984, presents a vision of our country that feels far too close for comfort. In Ng’s third novel, she writes of a 12-year-old boy named Bird and his father, who live in a United States where laws enshrining America-first culture have been put in place following years of economic and social turmoil.
In this world, Asians have been made the scapegoat for all of America’s ills; while Asian Americans are still technically free and full citizens, many of them are under the thumb of police and subject to various degrees of violence from so-called “real” Americans. And any parents deemed to be un-America could have their children immediately confiscated – no questions asked. As in any good dystopia, books deemed unpatriotic have also been seized and destroyed, including a book of poetry by Bird’s mother, a woman who disappeared years earlier.
This story is simultaneously small and universal. The meat of the narrative focuses on Bird pushing to learn more about his mother and the circumstances of the world he’s living in, and there are only a handful of major characters. At the same time, Ng skillfully paints a plausible picture of an America that’s given in to its worst instincts. Ng has pointed out multiple times that all the atrocities being committed in Our Missing Hearts are things that have taken place in the US or other parts of the world already – not a comforting thought.
But as bleak as this world is, the book is filled with moments of unexpected beauty and small triumphs. Perhaps most crucially, there’s a sense that while an extremist minority currently may rule over a more sensible populace, there’s a way out of the darkness. Our Missing Hearts isn’t a light story, but it’s an important one, artfully told by a writer who can deftly weave together a compelling narrative with poignant social commentary. Ng may have made a big impact in popular culture with Little Fires Everywhere (and its accompanying Hulu miniseries), but Our Missing Hearts feels like her definitive work thus far. – Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor
The Creative Gene by Hideo Kojima
Simon and Schuster
Hideo Kojima is a video game designer best known for the Metal Gear series, which popularized the stealth genre and had a plot that could charitably be described as ridiculous. Perhaps shamefully, I am a Kojima fan. His studios’ games are often in dire need of an editor and almost constantly tow the line between insight and navel-gazing. Sometimes, they’ve also seemed incapable of treating their female characters with respect. But they are always bursting with ideas, trying things with an unmistakable voice and a ceaseless, pulverizing earnestness. His post-apocalyptic delivery sim Death Strandingis at once laughably on-the-nose (one hard-to-kill character is called “Die-Hardman” AKA: John McClane, of course), and one the most enchanting games I’ve played in the past decade.
I give you this background to help explain how I ended up reading Kojima’s book, The Creative Gene, earlier this year. (It was technically published in late 2021.) Instead of telling some weirdo techno-thriller or a behind-the-scenes look at game development, though, this is a collection of previously published essays about the books, movies and other cultural objects that Kojima finds essential to his being. Like his games, it can border on hokey and self-mythologizing, but it is disarmingly honest, personal and anti-cynical.
In many ways, the Metal Gear games are about identity – who we are and how we got there. That’s more or less what Kojima gets at here; for about 250 pages, he raves about things he likes with a tangible verve, not to recommend them to consumers, but to explore how they’ve shaped his experience. More than a memoir, though, The Creative Gene is an appreciation of how art of all stripes can spark inspiration in a recyclable process.
The prose is nothing extraordinary, and there are certainly more essential subjects out there. While you don’t need to be a gamer to get something out of this, having a familiarity with Kojima’s work doesn’t hurt. Still, The Creative Gene’s sincerity and enthusiasm are easy to appreciate in a time of widespread detachment. – Jeff Dunn, Senior Commerce Writer
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Penguin Randomhouse
Emily St. John Mandel delivered one of the essential reads of the pandemic when she published The Glass Hotel in March 2020. It was no small feat given she previously wrote the award-winning Station Eleven, a novel that’s set partly after a world-ending flu. Given that there was a five-year gap between Station Eleven and Glass Hotel, I didn’t dare hope one of my favorite authors would release a new novel so soon, and that it would be as good as her previous works. Thankfully, Sea of Tranquilitydoes not disappoint.
It shares many of the same strengths as Mandel’s past novels, including a brilliant sense of atmosphere and prose that rewards close reading. Sea of Tranquility is also in conversation with Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel in a way that will delight fans. That’s not to say you need to have read those books to enjoy her latest, but it may make you look at them (and Mandel’s career) in a new light. Add to that themes that will resonate with anyone who has lived through the past two years and you have one of the best books of 2022. – Igor Bonifacic, Weekend Editor
