There are two points I want you to take away from this article. The first: An overwhelming majority of people do not need to pay $300 for a keyboard. Easy enough. But I’m about to wax poetic about one particular $300 keyboard that has made my life better, and I don’t want it to be mistaken for a universal endorsement. There are several perfectly competent keyboards available for a tenth of this price, and many excellent models – some would even say “premium” – are available for as little as $100. You have to be a particularly warped kind of consumer, one who has invested too much time in forums populated by eternally unsatisfied keyboard enthusiasts, to take this sort of plunge.
And yet!
I am incredibly privileged to be able to test and write about tech products for a living, but it’s exactly those two things – using a bunch of products, and doing a bunch of writing – that led me to buy Topre’s Realforce R2 PFU keyboard a few years back. I’ve tested several keyboards for work over the years, from compact and mobile-focused options to all sorts of mechanical models. Many of these were great for the right person, but none of them totally fit my needs as someone who has to spend most of the week typing and editing. Some had keys that didn’t travel enough, some were too fast, some were too loud – either in noise and RGB-addled design – some felt too slick to the touch.
Taste in keyboard feel is fully subjective, but, as with food or art, the more you obsess over it, the more in tune with your preferences you become. Topre keyboards have had something of a cult following for a long time now, so after not totally meshing with the various mechanical (Cherry, Kailh, Razer, Logitech, et al.) and non-mechanical keyboards I had used over the years, I dipped into my savings and talked myself into believing I’d be converted as well. There are various Realforce models – plus a handful of keyboards that use Topre switches but aren’t sold by the Japanese firm itself – but, as someone who uses the number pad, I decided to go all the way with the full-size R2 PFU.
You don’t have to know how a Topre keyboard works to enjoy one, but I’ll try to explain. For most, mechanical keyboards sit at the top of the keyboard pleasure food chain, with membrane or rubber dome keyboards all the way at the bottom. Topre’s electrostatic capacitive switches exist kind of between the two, but really in their own realm off to the side. They do use a rubber dome, but not in the same, simple way as many cheaper/laptop keyboards. They also don’t work like mechanical switches, which slide particularly-shaped pieces of plastic and metal against each other to create a distinct feel with each keypress.
Topre
Instead, a Topre switch has a conical spring inside its rubber dome and a special capacitive sensor underneath the spring. At a certain point as the spring is compressed, the sensor recognizes that the switch has been actuated electrically and registers the keypress. The rubber dome component provides most of the key’s tactile feel and resistance, but there’s more going on under the hood in a Topre switch than there is in a simpler rubber dome switch, which must be physically “bottomed out” for a keypress to register.
What does all of that actually mean? That’d be my second point: Topre switches are a joy.
Touch typing on the Realforce R2 PFU is consistently smooth and satisfying. It’s fast enough but not too fast. Each press requires just enough force and returns just enough even resistance to give my fingers a distinct, bouncy response but not fatigue them over hours of work. Fully pressing a key here has a noticeably softer “landing” than you’d get on a typical mechanical keyboard. (My particular model has 45g switches, but there are also options with heavier 55g switches or switches with varying weights for different keys.)
This Realforce uses Topre’s “silenced” switches, which aren’t dead silent, but have a pleasingly muffled sound that doesn’t call attention to itself and is still far quieter than most mechanical keyboards. With my wife and I working out of the same one-bedroom apartment for the past three years, being able to keep the noise down has been a necessity. With this, I don’t need to sacrifice a richer typing feel in the process. That said, many Topre owners enjoy the more pronounced but still mellow thock sound of the non-silenced versions of these switches.
The Realforce is also just a well-made piece of hardware. The keycaps have a matte PBT finish that feels durable and avoids virtually all finger grease. The lettering is cleanly legible, and after years of use the dye has shown zero sign of smudging. The keys at the bottom of the board are gently sloped upward in a way that makes them easier to locate without looking. None of the keys feel loose, and there’s no “pinging” sound that you might get if you slam down on a cheaper mechanical board.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
The outer casing is made of plastic, but it’s thick and smooth, and it doesn’t creak as you press down. (It can flex a little if you go out of your way to squeeze the sides of the board, but there’s no real reason to do that in the first place.) The kickstands on the back are tightly wound in place, and the whole board has a robust sense of heft that keeps it firmly in place. Topre says each switch can survive 50 million keystrokes, which is lower than the ratings for some mechanical switches but still enough to last decades. And while the ivory-and-gray finish of my model won’t fly with everyone, I dig the more professional, ‘80s IBM-style aesthetic. I don’t need showy RGB lighting to signify to myself that I enjoy video games.
On the feature side, this model can also swap between three different actuation points – the idea being that a shorter actuation distance will result in faster key presses for tasks like gaming. I’ve barely messed with that, though, as the default setting has given the right balance between speed and accuracy. All of this is still perfectly serviceable for casual gaming, and it comes with n-key rollover, meaning it’ll recognize any new keypress regardless of how many keys you may already be holding down at once.
There are still many reasons to not get a Topre keyboard. This particular model has nothing in the form of backlighting, for one. Its USB-A cable isn’t detachable, and it only has one kickstand setting. Realforce keyboards generally aren’t compatible with most third-party keycaps, either, so your customizations are far more limited than most mechanical keyboards. And, hello, they usually cost between $220 and $300. The fact that these switches are relatively complex, not in super-high demand and manufactured (and tested) by one company in Japan almost guarantees a high premium.
I also have to note that the Realforce R2 family of keyboards I’m talking about here is technically outdated, as Topre introduced a newer R3 series several months ago. As of this writing, however, those are still not easily available in the US. For now, the R2 models carry all the same general benefits and downsides but are more readily in stock. Broadly recommended third-party models like the Happy Hacking Keyboard are still around as well.
Regardless, any Topre keyboard is a niche device, best suited for enthusiasts who regularly spend long stretches typing and are willing to pay a premium for it to feel consistently pleasant. For better or worse (for my bank account), that’s me. I can’t say it was the most responsible purchase, but the Realforce has made years of work a little more soothing and subtly luxurious, one keypress at a time. If you find yourself in a similarly wanting state, it’s worth finding a way to try one out.
It's Friday, which means it's time for another roundup of the week's best tech deals. Today we're seeing good prices on Google's Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones, a couple of all-time lows on the 10.2-inch iPad and iPad mini and a sweeping sale on Nintendo Switch games, among other discounts on gadgets and gear we like. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
We gave Google's Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro review scores of 90 and 92, respectively, last year, calling them "the best bargain in flagship phones" along the way. Both handsets are back on sale this week, with the 6.3-inch Pixel 7 down to $499 and the 6.7-inch Pixel 7 Pro available for $749. We've seen the phones hit these prices multiple times over the past year, and neither represents an absolute low, but they're still roughly $60 and $90 lower than the average street price we've seen in recent months.
Either way, you're getting top-notch cameras, pleasing build quality and a clean version of Android with regular updates, though there are faster flagships out there for more money. If you're on a tighter budget, the 6.1-inch Pixel 6a is smaller, lacks the Pixel 7's faster refresh rate and has a lesser camera, but it's otherwise similar enough to remain a strong value at its current sale price of $349.
For those who aren't totally overwhelmed by their gaming backlog, Nintendo is running a "New Year Sale" at its online store that includes a number of discounts on digital Switch games we like. Several of these deals are available at third-party retailers like Walmart and Amazon as well, if you're buying digitally and want to snag a few extra Gold Points toward future Nintendo store purchases. Walmart in particular looks to have a handful of games available for lower than Nintendo itself.
Many Nintendo-published games either aren't included in the sale or not available for an all-time low — don't expect any major Mario or Pokémon deals — but the discounts do include a few picks from our guides to the best Nintendo Switch games and best couch co-op games, among others. The 2D platformer Celeste, for one, is down to a new low of $4, while the popular Metroidvania Hollow Knightis available for $7. Elsewhere, the relaxing farming sim Stardew Valley is down to $9, the gentle adventure Chicory: A Colorful Tale is discounted to $13, and the charming puzzler Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is on sale for $25. There are many more deals beyond those, though, so it's worth perusing through the selection if you're looking to add to your Switch library.
Apple's iPad mini is back down to $400 at Best Buy and Amazon, which matches the lowest price we've tracked. This is about $30 off the diminutive tablet's typical price in recent months and $100 off Apple's MSRP. We gave the mini a review score of 89 back when it launched in late 2021, and it remains the only real option if you specifically want a compact iPad, whether you have smaller hands or just want something easier to throw in a bag. It still looks and feels like a smaller iPad Air, and its A15 Bionic chip remains more than fast enough for streaming, e-book reading and web browsing. Just be aware that this SKU only comes with 64GB of storage, and that stock at Amazon has been dipping in and out for much of the week.
If you don't want to spend as much cash on a new iPad, though, the entry-level 9th-gen model is also on sale for a new all-time low of $250 at Amazon and Best Buy. That's $79 off Apple's MSRP and roughly $40 below the 10.2-inch tablet's average price on Amazon as of late. This is the budget pick in our guide to the best iPads, and our review gave it a score of 86 at launch. It has a more dated design and older A13 chip than the rest of Apple's iPad lineup, but it's still a massive step up over, say, Amazon's Fire HD tablets. At this price, it's easy to recommend if you use your tablet casually but don't want something that feels cheap.
The entry-level version of Apple's latest and greatest MacBook Air is once again available for $999, which is the lowest price we've seen. We gave the M2-powered Air a review score of 96 last year, and it's currently the top overall pick in our guide to the best laptops. For everyday use, it still ticks nearly all the boxes in terms of design, display, battery life and performance. This specific configuration does have slower storage performance than the higher-capacity models, but that shouldn't be a serious hindrance unless you plan on doing more involved tasks like media editing (at which point you should probably pony up for a pricier SKU anyway).
For a laptop better suited to gaming, meanwhile, Razer has discounted a number of its Blade 14 and Blade 15 notebooks. These devices come as a significant premium, and if you can wait a few months, it's worth remembering that Razer introduced new Blade laptops at CES last week. For those with money to burn, though, the current models still pack enough power to play modern games in a (relatively) slim and stylish design.
We gave the Blade 15 a review score of 86 last year, and we currently recommend it as the "best premium" option in our guide to the best gaming laptops. A configuration with an RTX 3070 Ti GPU, a Core i7-12800H CPU, a 240Hz 1440p display, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD is down to a new "low" of $2,600, for instance, which is about $350 less than usual.
Amazon introduced a refreshed version of its Fire TV Cube back in September, but this week the media streamer received its first discount, dropping by $15 to a sale price of $125. Though it isn't a recommendation in our guide to best streaming devices — Roku's Streaming Stick 4K or Google's Chromecast offer much better value for most — the Fire TV Cube is worth considering if the idea of having hands-free Alexa functionality baked into your 4K streamer sounds appealing. It's technically the fastest of Amazon's Fire TV streamers, too, though you still have to deal with the usual glut of ads baked into Amazon's streaming UI, even with the higher upfront cost.
If you're partial to Amazon services and want something more affordable, note that the Fire TV Stick 4K Max streamer is also on sale for $40, while the 1080p Fire TV Stick Lite is down to $25. We've seen better deals for both of those in the past, but they're still decent values if you need a streamer today.
A couple of wallet-friendly Bluetooth speakers we like from audio brand Tribit are even further discounted this week. The ultra-portable StormBox Micro 2, for one, is down to $51 with a 15 percent on-page coupon, while the XSound Go is available for $30 with a 20 percent coupon. Neither of these deals are all-time lows, and you shouldn't expect any miracles in terms of audio performance either way. Still, these are good buys if you just need a travel (or shower) speaker for less than $50. The StormBox Micro 2 is a pick in our best Bluetooth speakers guide due to its fuller-than-expected sound and built-in strap that helps it connect to backpacks or bike handlebars. The XSound Go offers generally similar performance and IPX7 waterproofing, just in a more traditional pill-shaped design.
The Beats Fit Pro is still on sale for an all-time low of $160, which is a discount we saw for much of the holiday season but still comes in about $20 below the wireless earbuds' average street price of late.
We gave the Fit Pro a review score of 87 last year, and it's currently the "best for workouts" pick in our guide to the best wireless earbuds. It has an enjoyably bass-forward sound, and it brings many of the benefits you'd get from a set of AirPods — "Find My" tracking, hands-free Siri, simple pairing with other Apple devices, etc. — just in a smaller and sportier design. It doesn't totally sacrifice its features when paired with an Android phone, either. That said, its ANC is merely average compared to the AirPods Pro, there's no wireless charging and the included case is a bit chunky. Still, for those interested in new wireless workout earbuds, the Fit Pro is a fine option at this deal price.
Fitbit's Charge 5 is back down to $100, which is within a dollar of the wearable's all-time low. Again, this is the sale price we saw during the holidays, but it remains about $20 below the wearable's usual street price over the last few months. The Charge 5 is the top recommendation in our guide to the best fitness trackers, and it earned a review score of 82 at launch for its reliable activity tracking, built-in GPS and full-color OLED display. Just don't expect it to match an Apple Watch in terms of features and app support.
Sony is running a sale on the higher tiers of its PlayStation Plus service, discounting 3- and 12-month subscriptions to its "Extra" and "Premium" memberships between 30 and 40 percent, depending on which subscription you choose. The catch, unfortunately, is that the deal is only available to new PS Plus subscribers. Still, if you haven't signed up, you can get a year of PlayStation Plus Extra — which adds an on-demand library of a few hundred games to the standard Essential tier — for $60, which is a $40 discount. Given that a 12-month Essential plan normally goes for the same price, you're effectively getting access to the game library for no extra cost.
The 12-month Premium plan, meanwhile, is on sale for $80; that tier probably isn't worth it to most, but if you want cloud streaming and a further selection of older games, it's an option. Either way, Sony says this sale is set to end on Friday.
While it's not a formal pick in any of our buying guides, Logitech's G305 Lightspeed is a worthy choice for those in need of a quality wireless gaming mouse for less than $50. It's on the smaller side, lacks Bluetooth and requires a AA battery for power, but its performance is smooth and consistent, and Logitech says it can get up to 250 hours of battery life per charge. It's on sale this week for $30, which is only about $7 below its typical street price but still within $2 of its all-time low.
If you can afford to take a step up or just want something more accommodating to larger hands, Razer's Basilisk Ultimate is also worth a shout at its current deal price of $70, which is about $30 below its usual going rate. It's technically been replaced, and its design is for righties only, but it has a wider range of customizable buttons and RGB lighting zones, as well as a comfy thumb rest. Its performance should still yield few complaints, and it can work over an included cable in a pinch. It also comes with a charging dock.
Garmin's Index S2 is the "best for athletes" pick in our guide to the best smart scales, and right now it's on sale for $130 at Amazon and Garmin's own online store. That's a $20 discount and tied for the lowest price we've tracked. To be clear, most people interested in a more advanced scale do not need to spend quite this much. We wish the display on this model was a bit faster, too. But for those who train consistently, we found the Index S2 to provide a wealth of useful data without being overly complicated to use. We also enjoy its sturdy and stylish design. If you want a more affordable scale, meanwhile, Fitbit's Aria Air is the budget pick in our guide and currently on sale for $40.
LG's C2 OLED TV is steeply discounted as part of a wider sale at eBay, with the 48-, 55-, and 65-inch models available for $838, $1,118 and $1,438, respectively, when you use the code NEWYEARTWENTY at checkout. Depending on which size you want, this is about $180 to $200 below the sets' typical selling price in recent months. Each listing here comes via Electronic Express, which LG lists as an authorized dealer.
LG unveiled its 2023 OLED TV lineup at CES, promising improvements to OLED's longstanding issues with maximum brightness along the way. If you don't place your TV in a particular bright room, though, the C2 still provides the kind of high contrast, vivid colors and wide viewing angles you'd expect from a high-end OLED panel. Do note, though, that we're likely to see steeper discounts on other still-decent sets from last year in the coming weeks as manufacturers look to clear out inventory before launching their newest models. Sony's well-reviewedX95K LED TV, for instance, is on sale for $200 less than usual.
Here's a quick PSA for anyone who has been looking to pick up Apple's iPad mini: The 64GB version of the diminutive tablet is back on sale for $400 at Amazon and Best Buy, matching the lowest price we've tracked. Though we've seen the 8.3-inch slate hit this price severaltimes in the past year — including for most of the recent holiday season — this discount is still about $30 off the device's average street price in recent months and $100 less than what you'd pay from Apple directly. Just note that, as of this writing, only the Starlight and Purple models are available for this price at Amazon.
We gave the iPad mini a review score of 89 when the device launched in late 2021, and we currently recommend it in our iPad buying guide. It's still the only truly compact iPad Apple sells, and for those who have smaller hands or just want a slate they can comfortably use with one hand, it's arguably the best tablet in its size range, period. It follows the same design language as most other iPads, with squared edges, a USB-C port, no Home button, a Touch ID sensor and a bright display. (Plus, no headphone jack, sadly.) Its A15 Bionic chip isn't as powerful as the laptop-grade M1 and M2 chips found in the iPad Air and iPad Pro, and it doesn't have a Smart Connector port for Apple-made keyboards, but it's more than fast enough for reading and streaming, and it does support the latest Apple Pencil.
Broadly speaking, most people are still better served by the Air or more affordable 10.2-inch iPad. We wish there was more storage for the price, too, and it's worth noting that some users have found issues with the display while scrolling. But if you aren't looking to use your iPad for work and you specifically want a small tablet, the mini remains a good buy. And while the device has been on sale for nearly a year and a half, recent reportssuggest that any refreshed model won't arrive until late 2023 at the earliest and isn't likely to bring major hardware changes.
If you only need an iPad for the basics and don't want to spend quite as money, though, note that the 10.2-inch iPad is also on sale for $250 at Best Buy. That also represents an all-time low. This model is a bit longer in the tooth in terms of design, with thicker bezels, a Lightning port and a lesser display than pricier iPads like the mini. For those who only use their tablet casually, though, it is by far the most wallet-friendly way into iPadOS.
If you've been looking to grab Amazon's Kindle Scribe but didn't want to jump in at full price, the company has rolled out the first set of discounts on its new top-end e-reader with note-taking support. Depending on which configuration you want, the deals take $45 to $60 off the device's typical going rate. This brings the base model with 16GB of storage and Amazon's "Basic Pen" stylus down to $295 from its usual $340. Adding the company's "Premium Pen" — which includes a dedicated shortcut button and eraser function — brings that up to $320, while higher-capacity models with 32GB and 64GB of storage (which come with the Premium Pen as standard) are on sale for $335 and $360, respectively. The offers include four months of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited e-book service, too, but note that the subscription will be set to auto-renew by default. These prices are also available at Best Buy.
Amazon unveiled the Kindle Scribe late last year, and we gave it a review score of 85 this past November. It's still far from cheap even with these discounts, but its big hook is that it's the only Kindle with note-taking support through the included stylus. You can add notes to e-books or PDFs, create to-do lists or doodle sketches, and we generally found the experience to feel smooth and natural. There's no handwriting-to-text functionality, annoyingly, and the process of editing and syncing your notes on other devices is limited. Digital artists are better off with an iPad and Apple Pencil, too. But for simple note-taking while reading, it's good.
While there are other e-ink devices that can work better as a writing tool — and others on the way — the Scribe has the benefit of also being a high-end Kindle. It is by far the largest of Amazon's e-readers, but its 10.2-inch display is roomy and bright, with more LEDs used in its front light than other Kindle models and the ability to tweak the display's color temperature. There's a large border on one side to make one-handed use easier, and Amazon rates the battery life at up to 12 weeks (though that'll vary depending on how much writing you do). The big disappointment is that the Scribe isn't waterproof like the cheaper Kindle Paperwhite or Oasis. It also lacks the latter's dedicated page turn buttons.
Most people in need of an e-reader should still opt for the Paperwhite or the recently refreshed entry-level model, both of which are smaller and offer far more value for money. But for those willing to pay for a larger screen and note-taking support, we found the Scribe to be satisfying, and these discounts lower the premium at least a little bit.
If you just picked up a new Switch over the holidays, a new deal on Nintendo's Switch Online service may be of interest: As of this writing, both Amazon and Best Buy are bundling a 12-month Switch Online family plan with a 256GB model of SanDisk's officially licensed Switch microSD card for $50. A 12-month family membership normally costs $35, so the actual discount here is on the microSD card, which has generally retailed around $35 for this amount of storage in recent months. We've previously seen bundles that pair a 128GB SanDisk card with the same membership for $35, but this is still a good value for those who'd like more storage to load up with Switch games. Just note that the subscription will be set to auto-renew by default.
As a refresher, Switch Online is Nintendo's equivalent to PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold. It's not essential for everyone, but the subscription is required to play the online modes of Switch games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 3, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and the like. A membership lets you backup your game save data in the cloud as well, plus it gets you access to a library of emulated NES and Super NES games, many of which are classics.
If you only need a Switch Online membership for yourself, you're better off buying a 12-month individual plan, which retails for $20. The family plan included in this deal, however, allows you to spread the benefits of the subscription across eight different accounts in a designated "family group." So long as you have at least one other Switch owner who is willing to jump on the plan, it's a better value than the individual subscription, though one person will still need to be the group's admin and manage your collective membership.
Note that this deal only applies to Switch Online's standard family membership, not the upgraded "Expansion Pack" tier that Nintendo introduced in late 2021. That plan adds a (somewhat limited) library of emulated Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games, plus built-in access to DLC for games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but it costs $50 a year for an individual plan or $80 a year for a family plan.
As for the microSD card, it's the model we recently recommended in our guide to the best Switch accessories. It's not the absolute fastest card you can buy, but it's reliable, and since the Switch only supports UHS-I bus interfaces, any technically-faster card carries no benefits on the console anyway. The Switch OLED has 64GB of internal storage, which can fill up after a handful of game downloads, while the standard Switch and Switch Lite only include 32GB. The most important thing to look for in a microSD card here is getting as much space as you can for the money; if you're looking to buy a Switch Online family plan already, this bundle can help with that.
It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves at some point in time: How do I take a screenshot on this thing? There’s a good reason for that, as knowing exactly how to capture that funny text, strange email or high score is eternally useful. And on some devices, it turns out there’s a bit more to taking a screenshot than simply hitting the right button combo.
Below we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to taking a screenshot on the most popular phone, tablet, PC and gaming platforms, from iOS and macOS to Windows and Android. If you or your less tech-literate loved ones find yourselves forgetting how to get the right shot, consider this an all-in-one resource.
How to take a screenshot on an iPhone
Apple
If you own a recent iPhone without a physical Home button, you can capture a screenshot by pressing volume up and the right side button at the same time. You’ll hear a shutter noise if your sound is on, and you’ll see a small preview of the screenshot in the lower-left corner of the screen. You can then tap on that preview and edit the screenshot as needed.
With iPhones that do include a Home button, such as the iPhone SE, press theHome button and right side button at the same time. And for older iPhones whose sleep/wake button is located at the top of the device, press the top button and the Home button at the same time instead.
For an alternative method, you can also use iOS’ Back Tap feature, which allows you to take a screenshot just by double- or triple-tapping the back of your iPhone. To enable that, go to Settings >Accessibility >Touch, select Back Tap, and set the Double Tap or Triple Tap settings to Screenshot. You can use this feature to perform other functions as well, such as activating Siri or turning on your flashlight.
If pressing multiple buttons at once is physically difficult, another option is to use the AssistiveTouch feature. This puts a small virtual button on-screen at all times, which you can tap to quickly access various device menus and settings. To activate this, go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch, then set AssistiveTouch to on. From there, you take a screenshot by tapping the AssistiveTouch button, then tapping Device > More > Screenshot.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
There are a couple ways to make this process quicker, though. First, you can go back to your Touch settings, look under Custom Actions, then set the Double-Tap or Long Pressoptions to Screenshot. As you can guess, this will let you double-tap or long press the AssistiveTouch button to capture a screenshot. Alternatively, you can go to Customize Top Level Menu and either add or swap in Screenshot. This will make the screenshot function appear in the default menu that pops up whenever you press the AssistiveTouch button.
Beyond that, you can always ask Siri to capture a screenshot for you. Pulling up the voice assistant – either by saying “Hey Siri” or holding the side or Home button – and saying “take a screenshot” will do the job.
By default, your screenshot will only capture the visible portion of your display. If you’re reading a larger web page or document and want to capture the whole thing without taking multiple screenshots, though, you can. Just tap the screenshot preview when it pops up, then select Full Page at the top before saving your capture.
To find your screenshots on an iPhone (or iPad), open Apple's Photos app, go to the Albums tab, scroll down to Media Types, then select Screenshots.
How to take a screenshot on an iPad
Apple
Taking a screenshot on an iPad is largely similar to what you’d do with an iPhone. If your iPad does not have a Home button, press the top button and either volume buttonat the same time. If there is a Home button, simultaneously press the top button and Home button instead.
If you have an Apple Pencil, you can also take a screenshot by swiping the stylus up from either corner at the bottom of your display. It’s possible to use this shortcut without a Pencil, too: If you go to General > Gestures, ensure Allow Finger to Swipe From Corner is on, then set either Left Corner Swipe or Right Corner Swipe to Screenshot, you can quickly capture the screen by swiping out from either corner with just your finger.
Siri and AssistiveTouch are still options, too, though Back Tap is not available on iPadOS.
How to take a screenshot on a Mac
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget
There are multiple ways to take a screenshot on a Mac, most of which depend on how much of the screen you actually want to capture.
The simplest method is to press and hold Shift + Command + 3 on your keyboard. This will take a snapshot of your entire screen. Again, you’ll see a preview thumbnail in the bottom corner of your display, which you can click on to quickly edit.
If you only want to screenshot a specific portion of your display, hit Shift + Command + 4. Your mouse cursor will turn into a little crosshair, which you can drag to select the segment of the screen you want to capture. From here, you can do a few things:
If you hold the Space bar while dragging the crosshair, you can reposition the selected capture area while keeping it locked in its current size and shape.
If you tap the Space bar, the crosshair will turn into a camera icon. If you move this over an open window or menu, then click, you’ll capture a screenshot of that window or menu alone. By default, these captures will have a border around the edges – if you don’t want that, you can exclude it by holding the Option (⌥) key while clicking.
If you hold the Shift key while dragging the crosshair, you’ll lock in the sides of the selected capture area except for one edge. This allows you to more finely adjust the size of your capture before taking the screenshot.
You can cancel the screenshot, meanwhile, by hitting the Esc key.
Once you release your trackpad or mouse button, the screenshot will be captured.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
MacOS also includes a dedicated Screenshot app, which you can quickly pull up by pressing Shift + Command + 5. You’ll see a small toolbar with all of the screenshot functions noted above, including icons for capturing the whole screen, one portion or a specific window. There are icons for taking a video that records all or part of the screen, too, plus options for choosing where your screenshots save, turning off the preview thumbnail and so on.
By default, your captures will save directly to your desktop. If you want to paste a screenshot into another app – say, an iMessage thread – you can copy it to your Clipboard by holding the Control key while capturing. Hitting Shift + Command + Control + 3, for instance, will capture and immediately copy a screenshot of your entire screen, which you can quickly paste elsewhere. Just note that this won’t save the screenshot to your location of choice.
Finally, if your MacBook has a Touch Bar, you can capture that as well by pressing Shift + Command + 6.
How to take a screenshot on an Apple Watch
Apple
To take a screenshot on an Apple Watch, you first need to enable the feature, either through the Settings app on the wearable itself or the Watch app on your iPhone. On an Apple Watch, go to Settings > General > Screenshots, then turn on Enable Screenshots. On a paired iPhone, open the Watch app, go to My Watch > General, then scroll down and activate Enable Screenshots.
Once that’s all set, you can press your watch’s Digital Crown and side button simultaneously to take a screenshot. Your captures will be stored in the Photos app on your iPhone, in the Screenshots folder within the Albums tab.
How to take a screenshot on Android
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Not all Android phones and tablets behave the same way, so the exact command for taking a screenshot may differ depending on which device you own. Most of the time, though, you can do the job by briefly pressing the power and volume down buttons at the same time.
Similarly to iOS, you’ll usually hear a shutter sound from your Android device that confirms the capture, then you’ll see a preview thumbnail that you can edit, share or delete. If you save the screenshot, it will typically reside in your device’s photos app.
You can also go hands-free by asking the Google Assistant – or an alternative like Bixby on Samsung phones – to “take a screenshot.”
Many recent Android phones can take scrolling screenshots, letting you capture a full message thread or web page in a manner somewhat similar to the Full Page option on iOS. The feature goes by different names on different devices and can be somewhat finicky, but it often involves taking a screenshot, then tapping an icon with two arrows when the screenshot preview pops up. This icon is labeled “Capture more” on many Android devices, while certain Samsung phones, for instance, call it “Scroll Capture.”
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
There are likely additional ways to take a screenshot on your Android device of choice, but exactly how those work differ by manufacturer. To give some examples:
On recent Google Pixel phones, you can swipe up from the bottom of the screen and hold for a moment to open up the app drawer (or tap the square Overview button, if you’re using Google’s 3-button navigation mode), pick the open app you want to capture, then tap the Screenshot button that appears underneath.
On some Samsung Galaxy devices, you can take a screenshot just by swiping the edge of your hand across the display. Just go to Settings > Advanced features> Motions and gestures, and ensure Palm swipe to capture is turned on first.
On select Motorola, OnePlus and Xiaomi phones, there are options for taking a screenshot by swiping down on the screen with three fingers.
If you find your phone is making things difficult, remember that there are many third-party apps that can replicate screenshot features that are native on other devices.
How to take a screenshot on Windows
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
The most straightforward way to take a screenshot on a Windows PC is to press the Print Screen (PrtScn) button. This will copy a full-screen capture to your clipboard, which you can then paste in any program that accepts images (Microsoft Paint, a Twitter DM, et al.). To do the same thing, but only for one active window, press Alt + Print Screeninstead.
Pressing the Windows key and Print Screen, meanwhile, will take a full-screen screenshot that saves directly to your PC, instead of only being available via the clipboard. You’ll know this worked if your screen goes dim for a moment. You can then find the image by going to File Explorer (Windows key + E) > Pictures (under “This PC”) > Screenshots.
Note that you can also make screenshots automatically save to Microsoft OneDrive. To do this, click the OneDrive cloud icon in your taskbar, go to Settings (the gear icon) > Backup, then check Automatically save screenshots I capture to OneDrive. If you don’t like having to manually paste PrtScn screenshots from your clipboard, this is an alternative way to avoid it, provided you don’t mind using cloud storage.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
For partial screenshots, press the Windows key + Shift + S to bring up the Snipping Tool (or, in Windows 10, the Snip & Sketch app). This dims the screen and presents a small menu with options for a rectangular, freely drawn, single window or full-screen snip. The first two of those let you click and drag a cursor around the specific portion of the screen you want to capture. (The rectangular option is generally tidier than the freeform one.) Once you release your mouse button or trackpad, you’ll take the screenshot.
When you take a screenshot with the Snipping Tool, you’ll see a preview thumbnail in the bottom corner of the display. Clicking that will let you edit the image in myriad ways, save it to a specific folder and so on. By default, though, any screenshots taken through the Snipping Tool will automatically save to both the clipboard and your Screenshots folder.
If you find yourself using the Snipping Tool often, note that you can set the Print Screen button to open the app. Just go to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard, then turn on Use the Print screen button to open screen snipping.
If your keyboard doesn’t have a Print Screen button, you can press Fn + the Windows key + Spaceto take a screenshot. On recent Microsoft Surface devices, meanwhile, you can also hit volume up + the power button at the same time. Both of these methods will save your captures to the Screenshots folder noted above.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Finally, you can take a screenshot via the Xbox Game Bar, an overlay with quick links to various functions and settings, many of which are aimed at gaming. You can pull this up by pressing the Windows key + G. From there, select Capture (the icon in the middle that looks like a webcam) and hit the Take screenshot button (the camera icon) to take a full-screen capture. You can also hit Windows key + Alt + Print Screento capture a screenshot through the Game Bar without having to open up the overlay.
Any Game Bar screenshots are saved to File Explorer> Videos > Captures on your PC, though you can also find them by going back and clicking Capture in the Game Bar itself, then clicking See my captures in the resulting menu. Note that you can create screen recordings through this Capture menu as well.
As of this writing, using the Capture menu in the Game Bar is also the simplest native method of taking a screen recording in Windows. However, Microsoft recently confirmed plans to add a video recording option to the Snipping Tool in the near future. The company says you’ll be able to record your entire screen or just a cropped section when the feature fully rolls out.
How to take a screenshot on a Chromebook
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
In most cases, the fastest way to take a screenshot on a Chromebook is to press the Control (Ctrl) and Show Windows keys at the same time. This grabs a shot of your entire screen. As a reminder, the Show Windows key looks like a rectangle with two lines next to it. It’s often located where the F5 key would be on a Windows PC.
Hitting Shift + Control + Show Windows, meanwhile, opens up ChromeOS’ Screen Capture toolbar. This presents a menu with options to capture all of your screen, a specific portion or a single open window. It also gives you the ability to take a recording of part or all of your screen. You can get to these tools through your Chromebook’s Quick Settings menu as well. To access that, click the time in the lower right corner of the screen, then click the Screen Capture icon that appears in the resulting menu.
Google
Note that some Chromebooks have a dedicated Screenshot key, which looks like a rectangle with a circle in the middle. If your device has it, you can just press that button instead of the three-button shortcut above. If you have a ChromeOS tablet, you can take a screenshot by hitting the power and volume down buttons simultaneously. And if you’re using an external keyboard, you can press Ctrl + F5 to take a full-screen capture, or Ctrl + Shift + F5to pull up the Screen Capture menu and/or grab a partial screenshot.
Once you take a screenshot, ChromeOS will automatically copy it to your clipboard, and you’ll see it appear in a small window in the bottom corner of the display, from which you can edit or delete the capture. Recent screenshots will appear in a holding area on your taskbar – or “shelf,” in Chromebook parlance – called the Tote, while all of your captures will go to your Downloads folder by default.
How to take a screenshot on a Nintendo Switch
Kris Naudus / Engadget
Taking a screenshot on a Nintendo Switch is easy: Just press the square Capture button. This is located underneath the directional buttons/D-pad on the left-side controller of a Switch, Switch OLED or Switch Lite. You can also take a video of your last 30 seconds of gameplay by holding the Capture button down for a moment. As with most game consoles, note that you won’t be able to take a screenshot in certain apps and, occasionally, at specific moments in some games.
You can find your captures by going to the Switch’s home menu and selecting the Album icon at the bottom of the display. It’s the one that looks like a blue photo.
You can transfer a screenshot from your Switch to a computer with a USB cable. Go to the home menu, select the System Settings icon, then go to Data Management > Manage Screenshots and Videos > Copy to a Computer via USB Connection. Then, connect the Switch to your computer through an appropriate cable and copy it from there for sharing and the like.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
You can also transfer screenshots with a microSD card. If you have one installed in your Switch, go back to Manage Screenshots and Videos. From here, select Save Location to ensure your captures are saved to the microSD card, which you can remove and insert in other devices to access your captures. (Per usual, you may need an adapter to use the card on devices without a proper microSD slot.) Use the path “\Nintendo\Album” to find the captures on the card. To copy screenshots from the Switch’s internal storage to a microSD card, go back to Manage Screenshots and Videos, then select System Memory > Copy All Screenshots and Videos to microSD card. This might take a few moments to complete.
To transfer a specific screenshot, go to Album from the home screen, go to the capture you want to share, then hit A to bring up the Sharing and Editing menu. From here, you can select Copy to copy the screenshot to a microSD card (if it’s not there already), Send to Smartphone to wireless send one or a small batch of captures to your phone via QR codes, or Post to directly (and slowly) post a capture to a connected Facebook or Twitter account.
How to take a screenshot on a PlayStation 5
Aaron Souppouris / Engadget
By default, you can take a screenshot on a PS5 by pressing and holding the Create button on your DualSense controller. This is the thin button located just above the D-pad. (On the PS4, it was labeled Share.) When you release the Create button, you’ll see a confirmation icon if the screenshot was taken successfully.
As an alternative, you can briefly press the Create button once, then select Take Screenshot in the small menu that pops up at the bottom of the screen.
Among other things, this menu also lets you take a video recording of your recent gameplay. If you want to capture something that just happened, select Save Recent Gameplay and choose the appropriate video length. You can also do this by double-tapping the Create button. If you want to start recording future gameplay, select Start New Recording, then go back to the menu and select Stop Recording to do just that.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
If you find these default methods to be too slow to reliably capture fast-paced gameplay, you can reconfigure how the Capture button works. To do this, go to the PS5’s Settings menu – which is easily accessible by selecting the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the home screen – then go to Captures and Broadcasts > Captures > Shortcuts For Create Button > Button mapping and select the option you want. My preference is the “Easy Screenshots” configuration, which makes it so tapping the Create button once takes a screenshot, holding it brings up the create menu, and tapping it twice saves a video of recent gameplay. (The default length of video clips is configurable in the Shortcuts for Create Button menu as well.)
All of your PS5 screenshots and videos automatically save to a somewhat tricky-to-find app called Media Gallery. One way to get there is by scrolling to the far end of the PS5’s home screen and selecting Game Library, then opening it up within that. Another is to go back to Settings, then select Storage > Console Storage > Media Gallery. If you click the PS logo button on your controller shortly after taking a screenshot, you can reach the Media Gallery through the New screenshot card that’ll pop up in the control center menu, too.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
However you get to it, you can share your screenshots from the Media Gallery by hovering over a specific capture, hitting the Options button (the thin button opposite the Create button), and selecting Share. You can then send a screenshot to Twitter, a video to Twitter or YouTube, or either to folks on your PlayStation friends list as a PS5 message. This Share option is available through the New screenshot control center card as well. (It’s the arrow icon.) You can copy captures to a connected USB drive from the Media Gallery as well, which may be the most convenient option if you’re looking to send a batch of screenshots and videos to a computer.
It’s also possible to make the PS5 automatically send screenshots to your phone. First, you have to download the PlayStation app on iOS or Android and link it to your PS5 console. In the app, go to the Game Library tab, hit the Captures toggle at the top, then tap Enable. Then, on the PS5, go to Settings > Captures and Broadcasts > Captures and ensure Auto-Upload is activated. Any captures you manually take on your PS5 will now go straight to the app – but photos will only stay there for 14 days, and video clips must be less than three minutes long.
How to take a screenshot on an Xbox Series X/S
Aaron Souppouris / Engadget
To take a screenshot on an Xbox Series X/S, simply tap the Share button on your controller while playing a game. To take a video recording, press and hold the Share button. (It will capture the last 30 seconds of gameplay by default.) If you double-tap the Share button, meanwhile, you’ll bring up a list of your recent screenshots and video clips.
If you’re using an older Xbox One gamepad without a dedicated Share button, press the Xbox logo button on your controller while playing a game to bring up the Xbox guide menu, then press Y to capture a screenshot or X to record your last 30 seconds of gameplay. If you want to record a longer stretch of gameplay, hit the View button (the one with two rectangles) and select the duration you want. You can still use the guide to capture screenshots and videos with a Series X/S controller, though naturally it’ll be slower than just hitting a button.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
This guide menu allows you to record upcoming gameplay as well. For that, press the Xbox logo button on your controller, go to the Capture & share tab on the right side of the guide, then select Start recording. (If you want, you can also take a screenshot or record recent gameplay from here, too.) To end the recording, open the guide back up with the Xbox logo button, then press the X button. Note that your recordings and screenshots will start and stop from the moment you press the Xbox logo button, not when you press Y or X afterwards.
In any event, you’ll see a notification appear once you’ve taken your screenshot or video clip. If you hold the Xbox logo button on your controller while this banner is on-screen, you’ll open up the Share menu. This lets you quickly share the capture to your Xbox activity feed or an Xbox club, attach it to a message, post it directly to Twitter, or send it to your OneDrive account. You can trim video clips, set a capture as a background or delete it from here as well.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
If you download the Xbox mobile app and link it to your account, you can also use the Share menu to send screenshots and video clips straight to your phone. Just select Mobile. Once the capture hits your phone, you’ll see quick links for easily sharing or downloading it right from the Xbox app. To see all of your Xbox screenshots and video recordings in the app, go to the My Library tab – the one with the icon that looks like three books – then select Captures.
If you just want to keep playing, know that you can access these screenshot management options at any time. Just hit the Xbox logo button, move to the Capture & share tab, then select Share last capture or Recent captures, selecting a screenshot or video to share and/or edit from there. As noted above, you can also double-tap the Share button on an Series X/S controller to open the Recent captures menu.
Microsoft
It’s possible to change the default length of video recordings in your Xbox’s settings. You can get there by selecting the gear icon at the top right of the home screen. Alternatively, you can hit the Xbox logo button, move to the Profile & system tab – it’s on the right in the guide menu – then select Settings in the middle of the menu. Then, go to Preferences > Capture & share > Record what happened, then select whatever duration you prefer.
The Capture & share menu is also where you can, among other options, turn off automatic uploading of screenshots to the Xbox network. Be aware that Xbox screenshots must be uploaded to the network in order to be shared in the first place, so if you deactivate this setting, you’ll have to manually upload any individual screenshot or video you want to share going forward. Still, this can save you from seeing a bunch of pop-up notifications while playing.
Microsoft
To see all of the screenshots and video clips on your Xbox console, go to the Captures app. To get there, double-tap the Share button to get to the Recent captures menu, then select Show all at the bottom. Or, press the Xbox logo button, then select My games & apps > See all > Apps > Captures. (It’ll look like a gamepad in front of a film strip.) Either way, once you’re there, hover over a capture and hit the Menu button on your controller (the one with three horizontal lines) to access options for sharing, deleting, copying to external storage, uploading to OneDrive, etc. You can also select Manage at the top to more easily delete or upload captures in bulk.
To customize how the Share button behaves, use the Xbox Accessories app. You can get to this by selecting Button mapping in the Capture & share menu, or by going back to the Apps menu and selecting the app icon with a joystick on it. If you do the latter, select your controller, then select the pen icon to edit your profile. Now you can make it so double-tapping the Share button starts and stops a recording, to give one example.
Using third-party tools to capture and share screenshots
ShareX
For the most part, it’s straightforward enough to share your screenshots directly from the built-in tools on most platforms. That said, it’s worth remembering that there are third-party alternatives on some OSes that can make the process a bit easier.
ShareX, for example, is worth a shout. It’s a free and open-source program with all the screen capture options as Windows’ Snipping Tool, plus a range of after-capture editing tools. Notably, it also allows you to directly upload (and delete) captures to image hosting services like Imgur (with easily shareable URLs), apps like Twitter and Google Photos, cloud storage lockers like Dropbox and more. You can make it so captures automatically go to these destinations, too.
Dropbox Capture, meanwhile, puts quick options for taking screenshots, video recordings and audio recordings in your taskbar, then lets you copy (either as an image or URL) and/or download your captures for easy sharing right from there. There are plenty more options beyond that, so if you find yourself needing a little extra power, you aren’t necessarily limited – though, as always, you should exercise caution with lesser-known services that may carry privacy risks.
While it's a bit late for most tech gifts to ship in time for Christmas, there are still many deals going on for those looking to buy something nice for themselves. Apple's AirPods Pro, for one, are down to an all-time low of $200, while Sony's WF-1000XM4 earbuds are still at a low of $178. Several recommended gamepads from 8BitDo are on sale, as are various well-regarded OLED TVs from LG. And if you're a PC gamer, both Steam and the Epic Games Store have kicked off sweeping holiday sales on their respective storefronts. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Apple AirPods Pro
Billy Steele/Engadget
Apple's AirPods Pro have dropped back to $200 at multiple retailers, which matches the lowest price we've tracked and comes in about $30 below the pair's usual going rate over the last few months. We gave the AirPods Pro a review score of 88 earlier this year and currently recommend them as the "best for iOS" pick in our guide to the best wireless earbuds. The sound quality and active noise cancellation (ANC) here are among the better options on the market, as is the included transparency mode. Plus, like all AirPods, they offer a host of features that make them particularly convenient to use with other Apple devices. Their call quality and six-ish hours of battery life are just average, however.
If you don't own an iPhone, the top overall pick in our best wireless earbuds guide is Sony's WF-1000XM4, which is also on sale for $178, matching the lowest price we've seen. We gave this pair a review score of 86 last year, praising its upper-tier ANC, solid yet customizable sound quality, 8- to 10-hour battery life and array of useful bonus features. The earpieces here are on the bulkier side, so they might not fit all ear shapes comfortably, but they do isolate an impressive amount of noise even without the ANC turned on. If you're on a tighter budget, meanwhile, Anker's Soundcore Space A40 is another noise-canceling set we like that's on sale for a new low of $60 at Target.
8BitDo's Pro 2 gamepad is down to $40, which is a $10 discount and tied for the best price we've tracked. This is a comfortable and extensively customizable wireless controller we've recommended in past gift guides. It doesn't work with PlayStation and Xbox consoles, but if you need a spare gamepad for Switch, PC or mobile devices, it's arguably a better value than Nintendo's Switch Pro Controller. Just note that it can't wake the Switch up from sleep mode, if you plan on using it with that console.
If you're willing to pay more for a controller with Hall effect joysticks, which are traditionally more resistant to drift over time, or if you prefer an Xbox-style layout, 8BitDo's Ultimate Controller is also on sale for $63. While that's only $7 off its typical price, this is the first discount we've seen for the recently-launched device. For those who play lots of retro-style games, meanwhile, the company's Sn30 Pro is like a more modern version of an old Super Nintendo pad, and it's currently $10 off at $35.
If you need a spare gamepad for your PlayStation 5, Sony's DualSense controller is still available for an all-time low of $49 at various retailers, including Amazon, GameStop, Walmart, Adorama, Target and Best Buy. The sale applies to several color finishes and comes out to a $20 or $25 discount depending on which model you choose. The DualSense itself isn't as convenient on PCs as the 8BitDo pads above or Microsoft's Xbox Series X/S controller (which is down to $40), but it still provides a comfortable shape and impressive haptic feedback for newer PlayStation games.
Apple's latest MacBook Air is still on sale for $999 at B&H, matching the lowest price we've seen. Normally, Apple sells this version, which includes 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, for $1,199, though we've seen it fall to $1,049 a number of times in recent months. Either way, the M2-powered Air is the top pick in our guide to the best laptops, and we gave it a glowing review score of 96 earlier this year. As an everyday notebook, it gives little to complain about, but note that this entry-level configuration has slower storage performance than Apple's higher-priced SKUs. Still, if you aren't planning to do more involved work like editing high-resolution videos, this shouldn't be a major hindrance on a day-to-day basis. Just be aware that B&H says this deal is set to end later Friday afternoon.
A configuration of Microsoft's Surface Laptop Go 2 with a Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD is on sale for a new low of $600. That's about $100 off this model's typical street price as of late. We gave the 12.4-inch notebook a review score of 86 back in June and currently recommend it in our guide to the best affordable Windows laptops. The main appeal here is in the design, as the Surface Laptop Go 2's slim and lightweight chassis, comfortable keyboard and bright display lend it a classier feel than most options in this price range. Its performance is quick enough for casual work, too, but don't expect a powerhouse, and the keyboard is unfortunately devoid of backlighting.
It's a good time to be a PC gamer (or Steam Deck owner), as Steam and the Epic Games Store have kicked off their annual holiday sales. Both promotions are scheduled to run until January 5. There are simply too many deals for us to run down everything, but some highlights on Steam include the acclaimed action-RPG Elden Ringdown to $42, the cutesy cat adventure Strayfor $24, the sharply written Disco Elysium for $10, the VR shooter Half-Life: Alyxfor $24 and a bundle that includes a bunch of Valve-made games for $7. Several other picks from our best PC games guide are also on sale.
Epic's sale doesn't cover as many games, but it does include a recurring coupon that takes 25 percent off any purchase you make over $15. This can save you a few bucks if you aren't beholden to Steam: The PC port of 2018's God of War, for instance, is down to $23 at Epic with the coupon, but only down to $30 at Steam. For console owners, note that PlayStation and Xbox are running holiday sales as well, though the deals there are generally ones we've seen several times throughout the year.
If you're looking to upgrade your TV, a handful of LG's well-regarded OLED sets are down to all-time lows. The 42-inch model of LG's C2 TV, for instance, is down to $797 at Amazon, which is about $200 off its usual going rate. (If you'd rather not shop through Amazon, BuyDig is throwing in a $40 gift card on top of the discount.) This model can't get as bright as the QD-OLED panel on Samsung's S95B OLED TV, so it's best suited in dark or moderately-lit rooms, but it still provides the deep black levels, high contrast and wide viewing angles you'd expect from a high-end OLED display.
If you need something larger, the 65-inch LG B2 is down to $1,099 at Walmart (via authorized dealer Beach Camera), which is again roughly $200 off the price we've seen for most of the last couple of months. The B2 is a step down from the C2 with lesser HDR performance and a slower processor, but at this price it still offers excellent picture quality. Beyond that, the 48-inch LG A2 is back down to a low of $570 at Best Buy. This is the cheapest route into an LG OLED panel, but note that it's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and lacks HDMI 2.1 ports, reducing its appeal for gaming.
Apple's Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air and 11-inch iPad Pro is still on sale for $210, which isn't an all-time low but still $65 off the peripheral's average street price in recent months. We gave the Magic Keyboard a review score of 84 back in 2020, and it still offers a comfortable typing experience, smooth trackpad and extra USB-C port to those who'd like to use their iPad more like a laptop. The main hangup is that it's wildly expensive, but this deal lessens the burden at least somewhat.
Amazon is running a promotion that lets new subscribers get four months of Amazon's Audible Premium Plus audiobook service for $5.95 per month. Normally, you'd have to pay $14.95 a month after a 30-day free trial. This offer has been available for the past several weeks, but we're noting it here because it's set to end on December 31.
As a reminder, Premium Plus is Audible's upper tier: In addition to granting you access to the full Audible library, it lets you keep one title from a curated selection of audiobooks each month. It's not an essential upgrade for most, but if you've been thinking of giving Audible a try, this is a decent way to see if the plan works for you. Just note that your membership will be set to auto-renew by default.
Samsung's Smart Monitor M8 is still available for $400, which is an all-time low and roughly $180 below the 32-inch monitor's average street price in recent months. This is a decent VA panel with a 4K resolution, but its big selling point is that it can double as a sort of tuner-less smart TV. Since it runs Samsung's Tizen interface, it's able to stream apps like Netflix, HBO Max and the like even when it's not hooked up to a PC. It comes with a remote, webcam, mic and built-in speakers, and it can serve as a SmartThings hub. If you know you'll actually use that smart TV functionality, the M8 is among the most versatile monitors you can buy, even if it's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and lacks local dimming.
Earlier this year, we gave Google's Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro review scores of 90 and 92, respectively, calling them the "best bargain in flagship phones" in the process. Both handsets are back on sale this week, with the 128GB Pixel 7 available from $499 and the Pixel 7 Pro down to $749 for the same amount of storage. We've seen these deals before, and neither marks an all-time low, but they're still about $65 and $95 off the devices' respective street prices over the last few months.
Between the two, the 6.3-inch Pixel 7 gets a bit more battery life, while the 6.7-inch Pixel 7 Pro has a faster 120Hz refresh rate. Both phones, though, get you top-notch cameras, vibrant OLED displays, and a clean take on Android that'll receive version updates through late 2025. They aren't quite as powerful as something like Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra, but at these prices they carry strong value.
Online multiplayer has become part and parcel with many video games these days, but finding something you can play on the couch with a loved one has gotten tougher. If you’re looking for some cooperative fun, though, we can help. Below are 25 of the best couch co-op games we’ve played across the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and PC. Note that we’re focusing on genuine co-op experiences, not games that have local multiplayer but aren’t truly cooperative in practice. (So, no Mario Kart or Jackbox.) Even still, our list encompasses everything from platformers and puzzlers to RPGs and arcade shooters.
Super Mario 3D World
Nintendo
You know the broad strokes of any Super Mariogame by now. Within the series, though, 3D World stands out for using a largely fixed camera and levels that are more semi-3D than the totally open spaces of games like Super Mario Odyssey or Super Mario Galaxy. There are still many items to grab and secrets to uncover across the characteristically charming, brisk and inventive stages, but everything you can find at a given moment is right in front of you, which encourages you to look closer and move from foreground to background.
Co-op play can be chaotic, but 3D Worldowns that. You and up to three buddies share lives but are scored on your individual performance, with the leader at the end of each level getting a literal crown placed atop their head. This makes for a sort of competitive co-op mode, one in which a particularly devious “teammate” could straight-up grab you and chuck you off a cliff in an attempt to secure their high score. The adventure only has to be as spicy as you and your partners want it to be, though; if you aren’t playing with a group of sickos, 3D World should be an exciting update to a familiar Marioformula.
Like most Donkey Kong Country games, Tropical Freezeis a 2D platformer that’s both structurally straightforward and aesthetically gorgeous. Donkey Kong is not Mario: He has a more immediate sense of gravity to him, so when he leaps, he comes down hard. But the platforming is uniquely deliberate as a result, and the way the game leads you from one stunning scene to the next, even within the same stage, is a delight.
Tropical Freezecan get difficult, particularly during some later boss fights, but a “Funky Mode” in the Switch version eases things slightly. If you have a Wii or Wii U, meanwhile, this game’s predecessor, Donkey Kong Country Returns, is just as great, if not better.
If Donkey Kong is Mario’s brutish animal pal, Rayman is the eccentric French buddy he visits when he’s overseas. Rayman Legends is a more out there 2D platformer than the Nintendo properties above: Instead of the pristine environments and perfect geometry of a Mario or Donkey Konggame, here everything is a bit more abstract, cartoony and crass. (There are more fart sounds, for one.)
The moment-to-moment movement is a little less precise, too, but Legends still plays fast and light, with stages that are loaded with optional rooms and collectibles that invite your curiosity. This is an unpretentious game, a fun side-scrolling platformer that merely wants to be a fun side-scrolling platformer, and it becomes more enjoyable (and frantic) with friends.
Luigi’s Mansion 3is another ghost-hunting adventure starring Mario’s scaredy-cat brother, who this time must stomach his fears and use his “Poltergust” vacuum to rescue his friends from a haunted hotel. Its co-op mode isn’t available until an hour-ish into the story, but at that point, a second player can become “Gooigi,” a Luigi clone made of green goo with infinite lives (it makes sense when you get there). Though the game isn’t particularly tough, this setup gives you more freedom to mess around with puzzle and boss fight solutions without having to start over repeatedly.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 has some frustrating elements more generally – controlling that ghost-gobbling vacuum can be annoyingly imprecise, and backtracking through previously-conquered areas can get tedious – but the creative level designs and Pixar-esque animation give it a distinct personality compared to other Nintendo games. It’s a silly and usually satisfying time, one that’s especially well-suited for kids.
Clubhouse Gamesis a compilation of 51 classic tabletop games, from Yahtzee and Connect Four to shogi and nine men’s morris. Not every entry in the collection supports couch co-op, but most do, and almost all are made easy to grasp.
Apart from being accessible, though, Clubhouse Gamesstands out for the quality of its curation. The included games span cultures, time periods and even modes of play; some are built on skill or patience, others on abstraction or chance. When you first boot up the game, you’re asked to identify your “heart’s desire,” and there’s a fair bit of detail on each game’s origins and history as you go along. Taken as a whole, this is a game that recognizes play itself as a kind of universal connection. But even ignoring all of that, Clubhouse Gamesis a fun, chill time, much like busting out a favorite board game.
BoxBoy! + BoxGirl!may not look like much, but this minimalist puzzler from Kirby makers HAL Laboratory has the kind of simple pleasure and regularly inventive design you’d expect from a Nintendo-published game. In its two-player campaign, you play as Qbby and Qucy, two walking boxes with the ability to grow additional boxes out of their heads. Your goal is to get from point A to point B, using those boxes to cross gaps and navigate various obstacles along the way.
The catch is that you can only create a certain amount of boxes at a time, so you and your partner often have to think outside the box (sorry) to find a safe way past. You’ll start off making basic bridges, but the bite-sized levels quickly build on themselves with a stream of new ideas. Eventually, you’ll find yourself using boxes as makeshift grappling hooks, shovels, laser-blocking shields and more, all in ways that quickly make sense. Simply beating the game isn’t that difficult, but collecting the tricky-to-reach crowns tucked away in each stage brings a greater challenge for those who want it.
The 3D platformer It Takes Two is one of the few full-scale, narrative-driven games that’s exclusively designed to be played in co-op. As such, it takes care to avoid the trappings of many co-op experiences: It rarely asks both players to do the same thing at the same time, and thus it rarely makes one person carry all the weight. It constantly throws new concepts at you, and while some levels can drag a bit, its bouncy movement feels good throughout.
Its saccharine yet oddly dark story isn’t as satisfying: Few games make divorce seem like a happy ending as much as this one, and you’ll probably never want to hear the words “Dr. Hakim” again by the time you’re done. But if you can ignore the dialogue, It Takes Two delights more than it doesn’t.
The first-person puzzler Portal 2 launched more than 11 years ago, but it recently received new life with a Switch rerelease. Either way, its sharp writing and cleverly layered puzzles more than hold up today. Co-op play takes the form of an entire separate campaign – it’s not as big on story as the solo mode, but it still does a fantastic job of gradually teaching you how to think spatially. It also ensures you and your partner actually communicate. There’s no way to play on PS4 or PS5 nowadays, but on PC, you can download a range of community maps for a greater challenge, too.
Streets of Rage 4faithfully revives the classic series of early ‘90s, side-scrolling beat ‘em ups from the Sega Genesis (which remain fine co-op playthroughs themselves). You move to the right, position yourself efficiently and pulverize waves of bozos with a flurry of punches, kicks, throws and special moves. The hand-drawn animation style and bouncy soundtrack are both great, and most set pieces convey the “rage” part of the title effectively. This isn’t the most ambitious game, as it largely aims to hit high notes from 30 years ago, but it provides the kind of thrill, style and refinement any good beat ‘em up should.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a Lego-ified romp through the nine mainline Star Warsfilms. Like most Lego games, it’s dead simple to play – collect the things, bop the bad guys – but that makes it something just about anyone can pick up and enjoy. The best thing it has going for it is its sense of humor, as its abbreviated remakes of each film are loaded with cutesy gags and in-jokes. (One favorite: wandering around Cloud City and finding the room where Lando Calrissian keeps his hoard of capes – and a heroic portrait of himself.)
There’s an absurd amount of side quests and collectibles beyond the narrative bits, but most of those are repetitive, and Skywalker Saga’s systems, while fun, aren’t meaty enough to make optional content all that interesting. Still, if you stick to the main stuff, you should find Skywalker Saga to be a good-natured love letter to some inherently goofy films.
Stardew Valley has exploded in popularity since launching back in 2016, and it’s easy to see why: More than just a laid-back farming sim a la Harvest Moon, it’s an escape, an engrossing alternate life where you’re allowed to putter around your farm, mosey through town, and take life slow, free from the burdens of aggression and competition. You and a friend can share a farm and divide up tasks in co-op, but the game isn’t fussy; if one of you would rather fish, explore the beach or simply sit around your house, it’s okay to do your thing. And if you’d rather ruthlessly optimize your land for profits, that’s an option, too. Just note that you’ll need to build a cabin for your partner if they’re joining an existing farm.
Halo: The Master Chief Collectionbundles remastered versions of the first six mainline Halo games, which continue to provide tighter control and pacing than most first-person shooters that've launched in the decades since. The original Halo’s campaign in particular remains essential. While some of the later narratives here go completely off the rails – looking at you, Halo 4 – the general tone still strikes the right balance between goofiness and badassery. The newer Halo Infinitesadly dropped couch co-op altogether, but there’s still good fun to be had driving Warthogs and dual-wielding space guns in the classics. Just be aware that local multiplayer is only available on Xbox, not PC.
Divinity: Original Sin 2is a massive isometric CRPG for those who look back fondly on fantasy series like Ultima or Baldur’s Gate. It has loads of dialogue, deep character customization, and challenging turn-based combat (by default, at least). It’s not a game you’d play casually – a playthrough can last well over 100 hours, and it’s more than willing to throw a mountain of mechanics at you, regardless of whether you’re able to keep up.
If you want to dig into something dense, though, Divinity’s complexities are ultimately rewarding, and its world is wonderfully reactive. Its approach to co-op is also unusually thoughtful: You and a partner can go through the entire campaign locally, but you’re distinct characters, and neither of you have to follow the other’s lead. Indeed, part of the fun is in the ways your “buddy” could undermine your adventure, taking up a quest with contradictory aims or killing an important NPC. It asks: What’d happen if your RPG party members behaved like actual people? The answer: a mess, potentially, but a thrilling one. Just note that local multiplayer is unavailable on the Switch version of the game.
Untitled Goose Gameis a simple puzzle/stealth game that gets a lot of mileage out of its premise: You are a goose, and your only goal in life is to aggravate the residents of a little English village. If the idea of dragging a groundskeeper’s rake into a lake, pulling a seat out from under an old man right as he goes to sit down or generally honking at everyone in sight sounds funny to you, it’ll probably give you a good laugh.
The actual game part of the game doesn’t have much variance to it – you’re largely trial-and-error-ing your way through a checklist of troll-y activities – but it’s all appropriately silly, and it ends quickly enough to not run its joke into the ground.
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is an open-hearted adventure game set in a world of talking animals, where the wielder of a magic paintbrush is tasked with literally filling the land with color. You play as a sprightly dog who becomes that wielder. What follows is a cozy adventure in the vein of Zelda, but with a twist: You can use the brush to paint over the environment, at any point, anywhere you want, in various colors and patterns. This turns a somewhat familiar game into something of a digital coloring book, one that remembers your markings in time as you go along. Chicory is exceedingly gentle and never suggests you’re doing it wrong, so if you want to spend 45 minutes ignoring the story and painting trees purple, you can. There are tons of accessibility options on top of that.
In co-op, player one still controls the pace of progression, but player two gets another brush with all the same abilities. On top of giving a second set of hands to deal with the game’s various puzzles and boss encounters, this lets you both create a shared impression on the world, like two kids sharing crayons on a children’s menu. The narrative gets heavier than the cutesy art style suggests, exploring themes of self-doubt, impostor syndrome and other struggles that can come with creative work. But it’s refreshingly earnest throughout. If you’re looking for a warm, caring, but still goofy co-op experience, Chicory is worth a shot.
Spiritfarer is a management sim not unlike Animal Crossing, but with some light platforming elements. Like Chicory, it’s generally relaxed, sincere and low-stakes, but occasionally devastating in the way it puts a friendly face on adult themes. Here, you play as Stella, a young woman who becomes tasked with ferrying freshly deceased souls into the afterlife. This mostly involves exploring the seas on a big boat, doing quests and gathering and crafting resources to make passing on more comfortable for the many characters you get to know. Player two joins in as Stella’s pet cat, Daffodil, who can’t trigger quests but can otherwise help with platforming and management tasks.
Spiritfarer’s sim elements can sometimes feel monotonous, and the way the game addresses death head-on can be sad, but it stands out for being as much about love and care as sorrow. If you and your partner are into management sims and aren’t afraid of shedding a tear or two, there’s beauty to be found here.
The Overcooked! games set you and up to three friends as chefs tasked with preparing various meals on a timer. In theory, this is as simple as grabbing the right ingredients, preparing them properly, then sending the finished plate off on time. But as the orders keep piling up and parts of the levels start to conspire against you, your ability to scramble and communicate under pressure becomes increasingly put to the test. There’s a non-zero chance your partner will call you an “idiot sandwich” by the time you’re done.
With its adorable looks, Overcooked! knows what it’s doing, but fighting through the anxiety of its most chaotic levels brings a particularly comical sense of accomplishment. The All You Can Eat edition here includes the original Overcooked!, the (superior) sequel Overcooked 2!, and all their DLC. It also adds an “assist mode” that lets you ease up the timers on each order, which, yes, kind of defeats the point of the game, but also might be necessary if you and your friends start screaming at each other over cartoon fish chopping.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetimeis a vibrant space shooter in which you and up to three partners must collectively navigate a chunky battleship through levels packed with baddies and other obstacles. There are eight panels for controlling the ship’s engine, shields and various weapons, but each player can only man one station at a time, so you have no choice but to scramble and communicate to keep your shared body alive for as long as possible. The net effect isn’t unlike Overcooked!, then, but if you don’t mind a little stress, Lovers is effective in the way it makes you and your buddies work toward a common goal.
The run-and-gun shooter Cuphead is a stunner, with a lovely soundtrack and luscious animation that combine to make the whole thing feel like a playable cartoon from the ‘30s. (It’s no wonder there’s now a TV show based on the game.) Somehow, the story, about a pair of talking cups who make a deal with the Devil, fits the art style like a glove.
Actually playing Cuphead, meanwhile, is an exercise in punishment. It is brutally difficult, with several intense boss fights that demand serious concentration. Playing it in co-op makes it even tougher, as those bosses gain more health, and having two characters jump around can make the action more chaotic. That said, the challenge is not cheap, and overcoming each fight brings the expected wave of catharsis. If you have a bit of a masochistic streak, it’s worth a go. A recent DLC expansion only adds to the beautiful mayhem.
Spelunky helped popularize the trend of modern 2D platformers with roguelike elements – i.e., games where you mostly start from scratch upon death. Spelunky 2, released about a decade later in 2020, essentially polishes the original game’s formula.
Like Cuphead, neither of these games is for the faint of heart. Traversing their caves while avoiding the many death traps within is like descending into cartoon Hell. But again, it’s a (mostly) fair and legible challenge, if you can stay patient. The procedurally generated levels keep exploration from feeling totally rigid, and the frankness and pure speed with which death can hit you gives everything a morbid sense of humor. Couch co-op can feel somewhat unnatural at times – everyone has to stick near player one to stay on camera – but having a partner or three to revive you is a relief, provided you don’t accidentally blow each other up first.
Ikaruga is more than two decades old at this point, but it remains a crown jewel among shoot ‘em ups. It takes a simple idea – every enemy and projectile in the game is either white or black, and you have to change your ship’s color accordingly to survive – and makes the most of it across five meticulously crafted stages. It’s another notoriously difficult one, but there’s not an ounce of fat on it, and its central mechanic forces you and your partner into a near-perfect state of concentration. If you’re craving an arcade-style shooter, it’s still a rush. And if you get sick of dying, know that recent releases have added more accessibility settings, including the option for infinite continues.
Wizard of Legendis a top-down, 2D dungeon crawler with an emphasis on speed. It’s another skill-based roguelike, but letting your arsenal of spells fly and figuring out how to best chain attacks with your partner is a joy. Simply moving around is pleasingly kinetic, and the pixelated art style is kind on the eyes. It’s probably not enough to convince the roguelike-averse to hop aboard, but Wizard of Legendis a good one of those all the same.
Assault Android Cactus is an especially intense twin-stick shooter. You and up to three friends play as little androids charged with surviving hordes of robot baddies on a space freighter. (The tone is much more campy than gritty, thankfully.) Its tension derives from the fact that each android runs on a continuously depleting battery; if emptied, it’s game over. Since you can only replenish that battery by defeating waves of enemies, it behooves you to play aggressively and keep moving. The nonstop rush of baddies, gunfire and power-ups Cactus throws at you is exhilarating, and it’s heightened by quick-burst levels that rarely sit still. Plus, while this isn’t an easy game, it’s far from unfair, with most of the challenge coming from chasing high scores.
Wilmot’s Warehouseis a clever little game about organizing an ever-growing warehouse. At the start of each level, you get a batch of colorful boxes, which you must gather and tuck away on a timer. Exactly how you organize them is up to you. When the timer ends, customers will start requesting certain products within the warehouse, and the challenge becomes retrieving the corresponding boxes as quickly as possible.
The game, then, is coming up with a system that will let your specific brain remember where everything is and adapt to new box types as they roll in. There’s a frenzy to completing orders, and a dark undercurrent to the idea of two warehouse workers being scored as they fulfill this many orders and strive this hard for efficiency. (The latter is made particularly clear in the game’s sudden ending.) In the abstract, though, Wilmot’s Warehouse makes a soothing game out of our unending desire to create order from chaos.
Escape Academy is, in essence, a series of digital escape rooms. You work with a partner, combing for clues, deciphering codes and solving puzzles to get out of a locked room within a time limit. Like the real thing, it can result in some shouting, but it encourages constant communication and ultimately provides a sense of empowerment. The puzzles themselves are varied, but maybe a touch too easy, and the overarching narrative is (mostly) just kind of there. But if you and a partner have been itching to try a real-world escape room, Escape Academyshould serve as a charming substitute for a couple of afternoons.
If you've been meaning to grab a spare gamepad for your PlayStation 5, today is a good day to do so, as Sony's DualSense Wireless Controller is back on sale for $49. This the same deal we saw around Black Friday and ties the lowest price we've tracked. Normally, the controller retails around $70. The discount is available at several retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, GameStop, Target, Best Buy and Sony's own PlayStation Direct store. It also applies to multiple color options, though stock of those appears to differ by retailer, and some models may not arrive before Christmas. According to the controller's PlayStation Direct listing, this offer is scheduled to run through December 23.
The market for third-party PS5 controllers is mostly limited to more expensive "pro" models, so the DualSense remains the only real option for people who want something more reasonably priced. That said, it's still a good controller, with the familiar PlayStation layout, well-sized grips, responsive triggers and impressively detailed haptics (which can also be turned off in most games). Its battery doesn't last nearly as long as something like a Switch Pro Controller, but it's an improvement over the PS4's pad, and it's rechargeable through a USB-C port. And while there's always a risk of durability issues with gamepads you use all the time — yours truly has had two models break in two years — Sony appears to have improved the DualSense's internal hardware since the device launched in late 2020.
The DualSense is still on the heavier side, and though it does have Steam support, using it with a gaming PC is generally a bit more complicated than the process would be with Microsoft's Xbox Series X/S controller (which itself is still on sale for $40). If you want more "pro" features like customizable back buttons, trigger stops and multiple settings profiles, meanwhile, note that Sony's higher-end DualSense Edge controller will release next month, albeit at a pricey $200. All that said, if you just need a PS5 pad for the basics, this is a good deal.
I’ve become increasingly infatuated with old video games. Lord knows I still play lots of new stuff, but more and more, the loudest parts of modern gaming – the live services explicitly designed to monopolize your attention, the market-tested blockbusters devoid of any edge, the constant stream of power fantasies – bore me. Being old doesn’t make a game good, but when I go back to my favorite retro games, I find a focus and honesty in their design that I don’t see in many of the more acclaimed games of today.
I took to collecting old games and consoles a couple of years ago – in just one of the many ways the pandemic broke my brain – but actually enjoying those on a modern TV is notoriously annoying. And while I could always emulate the classics on my phone or PC, I liked the idea of keeping my retro library on a distinct machine, something I could fire up when I’m in the mood but just as easily walk away from when I’m not.
So, recently I took my first dip into the world of retro handhelds – portable, often Chinese-made devices designed to house and run emulated games wherever you’d like. I settled on the Retroid Pocket 3, an Android-based model that starts at a relatively affordable $119 and comes from a series that had received mostly positive word of mouth in the past. (It has also been available on Amazon for $160, typically with faster shipping.)
Three months later, I’m still happy with it. The Retroid Pocket 3 is one of those “for the price” situations, but, for the price, it’s a fine piece of hardware. If you’ve ever held a Nintendo Switch Lite, the Retroid Pocket 3 will feel like a slightly smaller version of that. It doesn’t have the ergonomic grips of a Steam Deck, but it’s a smooth slim slab, light and small enough to not feel seriously fatiguing over time, and easily portable.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Its 4.7-inch display is big and sharp (750x1334) enough for something I hold a foot from my face, and it has a 16:9 aspect ratio that plays nice with remote streaming and more recent platforms like PSP. (It does result in some hefty black bars with older games originally designed for 3:2 or 4:3 displays, but I got used to those quickly enough.) The LED panel isn’t as vibrant as the OLED screens on newer smartphones, but it’s never come off as noticeably compromised either. Its color saturation and brightness is excellent for a cheap handheld, and it’s not impossible to see outside. Plus, it’s a touchscreen, which makes getting around Android easier.
All the requisite buttons for modern gaming are here as well. There are trade-offs: The four face buttons are beady and on the clicky side, the start/select buttons are placed weirdly on the side, and the triggers aren’t analog, so they can’t respond to different levels of pressure. But everything is fast to actuate and spaced well enough to avoid accidental inputs. The joysticks work as clickable L3 and R3 buttons, too, which isn’t a given with devices like these. I did have an issue with the R1 button sticking down, but that seemed to resolve itself after a couple of days. I’ll chalk that up to the pains of buying from a little-known company.
If you want the D-pad and face buttons to have a softer feel, Retroid actually includes alternative switches in the box. It sells other replacement parts on its website, too. That’s commendable for a worst-case scenario, but the default should be good enough for most to avoid taking on any DIY risks. One thing that isn’t included, though, is a case; I dug around and bought this old one for the PS Vita instead, and it’s done the job.
Retroid sells the Pocket 3 with either 2GB or 3GB of RAM. The latter only costs $10 more, so there’s little reason not to take the memory boost. The processor in this thing is far from a powerhouse; it’s built to emulate old games that don’t need a ton of processing power and last for 5-6 hours while doing that. Pretty much everything from the 8- and 16-bit eras runs perfectly smooth here, as do lower-power handhelds like the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and even the Nintendo DS. I’ve had few issues with early 3D games from the PlayStation 1 or Sega Dreamcast, too. Getting Nintendo 64 games to work requires a bit of control mapping in your emulator – I mean, look at this thing – but once that’s settled, that one is basically perfect as well.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Things start to get spottier once you get to the most demanding PSP games – think God of War: Chains of Olympus– but even then I was able to play stuff like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories(which isn’t purchasable on any modern platform) at double its native resolution with only the occasional slowdown. The cut-off here is PlayStation 2 and GameCube – those generally require just a bit more resources than the Retroid Pocket 3 can supply. But that still leaves decades of gems. Having Super Mario RPG or the original Metal Gear Solid playable in my hand, with higher-resolution textures and instant save states, is still kind of surreal.
The catch, as with many Android handhelds, is actually getting everything to work. When you first load up the Pocket 3, Retroid helpfully suggests a few recommended emulators you can install right away. If you’re new to this, though, you’ll then have to go through a labyrinthine maze of reading massive tutorials, watching 30-minute YouTube videos, tweaking dozens of settings across multiple apps, customizing hotkeys, cross-checking box art, and actually downloading the proper ROM and BIOS files for your games. And that’s not to mention how owning ROM files exists in a legal gray area. (Engadget does not condone piracy.) I spent more time optimizing RetroArch and organizing Retroid’s (attractive) launcher in my first two days with the Pocket 3 than actually playing games. There’s a reason people like this are mocked.
With the busywork done, though, I’ve found digging into my curated selection of the past refreshing. When I go back to NHL ‘94, I see a sports game that respects my time (and wallet). When I revisit Ridge Racer Type 4, I see a driving game intently focused on one pleasure (cruising around). When I play Link’s Awakening, I see a sequel in a wildly popular series that isn’t afraid to be weird and take risks. When I return to Shenmue, I see a game that revels in patience and refuses to constantly coddle me. It’s not that no modern games do these things, but it’s fascinating to see what some developers valued with far fewer resources. Here, I can get these history lessons on one handheld, in the span of one night.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
My only major complaints have less to do with the Pocket 3 than Retroid itself. Between the time I started writing this article and the time you’re reading it, Retroid launched a new Pocket 3+ handheld just three months after releasing the Pocket 3. There were suggestions that Retroid was using the Pocket 3 to clear out inventory at launch, so to see a follow-up so soon feels scuzzy. The new model has a similar design but 4GB of RAM and a faster processor; it's still not great for GameCube and PS2 emulation by most accounts, but it can run more of those games, and it's better with borderline systems like the PSP. At $149, it's now the superior value, though the Pocket 3 remains a fine option for slightly less cash.
That said, new hardware launches at a breakneck pace in this market, and there’s long been a million different ways to play old games. Among handhelds alone, options like the Steam Deck, Analogue Pocket, Miyoo Mini, Anbernic RG353M and RG505, Ayn Odin Pro and Aya Neo 2 all promise retro gaming goodness at varying price points. But the Retroid Pocket 3 works for me. It required a good chunk of homework at first, but it’s since become a capable emulator and my own personal museum to classic game design.
