Samsung’s mobile division has a new design chief. On Friday, the company announced the appointment of Hubert H. Lee to head up its Mobile eXperience (MX) Design Team, the unit responsible for designing some of Samsung’s most visible products, including its flagship Galaxy S series phones. Lee joins the electronics giant after a stint as the chief design officer of Mercedes-Benz China, a position that saw him lead the automaker’s design teams in China and the US. “His unique and visionary perspective will help shape the look and feel of Galaxy, building on the distinct design ethos that users know and love,” Samsung said.
It will probably be at least a year before we see Lee start to leave his mark on Samsung’s products. Prelease leaks of the company’s next Galaxy S series phones suggest they’ll look a lot like their Galaxy S22 predecessors. What’s more, with the way smartphone development timelines work, Samsung has likely already settled on a design for its 2024 flagship. Even then, don’t expect dramatic changes; from a design standpoint, phone companies have played it safe for more than a decade. Still, Lee could push for small but meaningful tweaks to Samsung's design formula — much like Evans Hankey did at Apple after Jony Ive's departure.
New York governor Kathy Hochul has finally signed a right-to-repair bill into law, over half a year since the state legislature was passed. Representatives for Microsoft and Apple pressed Hochul's office for changes, as well as industry association TechNet, which represents many notable tech companies, including Amazon, Google, Dell and HP. Critics say the amendments will weaken the law's effectiveness. The bill's revised language excludes enterprise electronics, like devices used in schools and hospitals. Home appliances, motor vehicles, medical devices and off-road equipment were also previously exempted.
Whatever aims the right-to-repair bill had when first proposed have been weakened. Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG), a collective of consumer rights organizations, said in a statement to Engadget: "Such changes could limit the benefits for school computers and most products currently in use." It continued: "The bill now excludes certain smartphone circuit boards from parts the manufacturers are required to sell and requires repair shops to post unwieldy warranty language."
– Mat Smith
The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.
Included in a mammoth $1.7 trillion bill that President Biden just signed.
TikTok will be outlawed on almost all devices issued by the federal government after lawmakers passed a $1.7 trillion spending bill. Officials recently added the No TikTok on Government Devices Act (what a name) to the bill, which the Senate unanimously approved last week. The mammoth 4,155-page legislation was fast-tracked to avoid a partial government shutdown. It will fund the government through September. The legislation requires the Biden administration to establish rules to remove TikTok from government devices by mid-February. The bill carved out exceptions for elected officials, congressional staff, law enforcement agents and other officials. However, the House of Representatives separately banned TikTok on devices it owns and manages.
CES is nearly here, which means we're once again writing about refrigerators. With its Family Hub Plus, Samsung has boosted the touch display size to 32 inches from 21 inches, although it’s still a vertical screen. Samsung has added support for Google Photos, along with the OneDrive integration seen on past models. There’s also a new SmartThings hub so you can control multiple smart home devices from your… kitchen, including robot vacuums, air conditioning, lighting and more. It also supports Amazon's Your Essentials service, letting you order groceries and other products directly from the touchscreen. Those groceries go inside.
It’s been a decade since the first Tesla EV made its commercial debut and the electrification of American automotive society began in earnest. Over the past ten years as battery capacities have grown and range anxieties have shrunk, electric vehicles have become a daily sight in most parts of the country. Now, virtually every notable automaker on the planet has jumped on the electric bandwagon with sizable investments in battery and production technologies and pledges to electrify their lineups within a decade or so.
Not even recent years’ production slowdowns and supply chain disruptions brought on by the COVID pandemic managed to stall the industry’s momentum. The International Energy Agency in January reported that EVs had managed to triple their market share between 2019 and 2021 with 6.6 million units being sold globally last year. And as eventful as 2022 turned out to be, 2023 and beyond could be even bigger for the EV industry. We’re expecting EV debuts including the VW ID.3; the Lucid Gravity, Polestar 3, Jeep (one of four!) and Honda’s Prologue SUVs.
It’s been a decade since the first Tesla EV made its commercial debut and the electrification of American automotive society began in earnest. Acceptance at the newfangled technology was slow at first but, over the past ten years as battery capacities have grown and range anxieties have shrunk, electric vehicles have become a daily sight in most parts of the country. Doesn’t hurt that virtually every notable automaker on the planet has jumped on the electric bandwagon with sizable investments in battery and production technologies as well as pledges to electrify their lineups within a decade or so.
Not even recent years’ production slowdowns and supply chain disruptions brought on by the COVID pandemic managed to stall the industry’s momentum. The International Energy Agency in January reported that EVs had managed to triple their market share between 2019 and 2021 with 6.6 million units being sold globally last year. That’s not to discount the crippling impacts of the chip shortage, which saw fleets of nearly-finished electrified vehicles parked and idled as they awaited necessary components. Or in Tesla’s case, simply sold without the needed part — oh calm down, it’s just the steering column, there’s nothing critical in there, anyway that’s what autopilot is for, right?
VW’s 2022 was fruitful as well and it appears that the automaker has fully embraced its electrified future (following the dieselgate scandal, how could it not?). VW opened a new ID.4 production plant in Tennessee, announced plans to invest an additional $7.1 billion into its North American production capacity over the next five years and dipped its toes into the EV battery business as well. Pfft, all Volvo did this year was debut the “safest car ever.”
CES 2023 is nearly here, which means we're once again writing about Samsung smart refrigerators. With the Family Hub Plus, Samsung has boosted the touch display size to 32-inches from 21-inches in the previous models, giving you a much bigger canvas to display photos, shopping lists and videos, or control SmartThings devices.
On top of the bigger display, Samsung has added support for Google Photos along with the OneDrive integration seen on past models. That allows you to display family or other photos on the refrigerator, or upload photos to a mobile device from the Family Hub Plus. As before, you can also display artwork from Samsung's Bespoke Atelier app.
Samsung
The built-in hub can control multiple SmartThings devices, giving you a smart home control center on a very large touchscreen. It also supports six SmartThings Home Life services: air care, home care, pet care, clothing care, energy, and cooking. Samsung has also included Samsung TV Plus, giving US users 190 TV channels for free. You can use it in the vertical orientation for TikTok, Facebook Shorts and other social media content, or employ picture-in-picture mode to view videos and do other tasks at the same time.
Finally, it supports Amazon's Your Essentials service, letting you order groceries and other products directly from the touchscreen. Samsung didn't detail any other specs or pricing, but we'll see it at CES 2023 early next month and should learn more then.
Every December at Engadget, between sips of spiked holiday beverages, we look back on the year and recall the best and worst developments in tech. Call us cynical, but in recent years, the list of losers gets longer, while we struggle to find true winners to write about. But in 2022, there were bright spots that brought light to a gloomy, chaotic 12 months. From beautifully simple word games to enchanting pictures from space, there were just enough distractions this year to balance out the neverending drama from Twitter, Meta, Amazon and the like. These are the Engadget team’s favorite things in 2022.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and DART projects
In 2022, things on Earth were so bad that we all welcomed the opportunity to look at what’s beyond our galaxy. After its launch on Christmas last year, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) deployed its sunshield in January, finished calibration a few months later and started sending back images. On July 11th, President Biden revealed the space agency’s first picture to the public, saying it was the sharpest and deepest image of the distant universe to date.
More photos were released on July 12th, and throughout the rest of the year, we saw more and more of deep space through the JWST. The colorized pictures made for stunning wallpapers, but also brought us tantalizing information about distant planets. In August, it detected carbon dioxide in a faraway planet’s atmosphere. To date, we’ve also seen images of the Cartwheel Galaxy, Phantom Galaxy and the Pillars of Creation in unprecedented detail. The visual spectacle is a welcome distraction, but the data gained also helps scientists learn a ton more about what exists beyond the Milky Way.
NASA also scored a reassuring win with its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) project this year, when it managed to crash its spacecraft into an asteroid, changing its course. This success has been billed as a “watershed moment for planetary defense” by NASA administrator Bill Nelson, adding that the agency “has proven we are serious as a defender of the planet.” The fact that DART was able to knock an asteroid off its course showed that it could work to save the Earth if a space rock were headed for our world and was small enough and detected in time. It’s nice to have some hope for humanity in that specific situation, as we continue to be dazzled by everything we learn about the vast expanse of space that we float in. — Cherlynn Low, Deputy editor.
Wordle, Josh Wardle and all the -dles
Do you remember a time when you weren’t obsessively playing guessing games on your phone right after waking up? That was probably in 2021, before Wordle, the little browser game that could, swallowed most of the internet for the first half of 2022. Josh Wardle, a British software engineer, created a word game for his partner, letting them guess a five letter word through a process of trial and error. He didn’t publicize the title, but it didn’t take long after its October 2021 launch before everyone was playing the game.
Part of Wordle’s success was due to the simplicity of its mechanic, pulled from the ‘70s board game MasterMind or the ‘80s game show Lingo. Your guesses provoke a color-coded response: A blank box if you struck out, a yellow one if you had the right letter in the wrong place and green in a space that you got right. The other reason for its success was how simply it visualized your guesses, making it easy to share on social media without spoilers. Suddenly, everyone on Twitter was humblebragging about their lexicographical skill posting a short-ish grid of gray, yellow and green squares.
The fact that only one word came out each day also meant that you had to keep coming back to get your daily fix. It easily slid into your morning routine, as a way of waking your brain up before, during or after, your wake-up beverage of choice.
Dado Ruvic / reuters
It helped, too, that people rapidly took their playing style as an article of faith, developing their own “Starter Words.” And it prompted endless discussion about the best strategy, and how ashamed you should be if you ever failed a day’s game. Wordle also enabled a cottage industry of websites that can help you solve tricky words, and most SEO-chasing newspapers offer a written clue about what today’s Wordle actually is.
Wordle’s success was so grand that it wasn’t long before a deep-pocketed news organization looking to grow its traffic offered to buy the game wholesale. By January 31st 2022, The New York Times spent “low seven figures” to buy the title and integrate it into its games platform. The concept may have been knocking around for a while, but Wardle was able to see the fruits of his work pretty quickly. Since then, the NYT has launched Wordlebot, a microsite which’ll analyze your game and tell you the most efficient starter words (CRANE/SLOTH), and it even has its own named editor, so you know who to blame if you have a bad day.
But it wasn’t just Wardle who benefited. Wordle inspired a fleet of copycats, all of which took the original idea and tweaked it slightly. My daily play routine includes Heardle, which asks you to guess a song after hearing just its opening bars. That was acquired by Spotify in similarly rapid fashion, which makes perfect sense given the marketing opportunities therein. Then there’s Framed and Episode, which provide screenshots of movies and TV shows, for you to guess it. Waffle, meanwhile, asks you to sort a grid of jumbled letters into interlocking words using the same Yellow / Green color coding. And then there’s my personal favorite, Redactle, a game which takes a key Wikipedia page and blanks out most of the words for you to guess.
You want more? Because there is more – Worldle is a geography guessing game letting you work out a country. Heardle decades, with one for each decade between the ‘60sandthe‘00s. Lyricle, lets you guess songs from lines of lyrics. Quordle, which asks you to solve four Wordle-style questions simultaneously. Mathler, which tasks you with finding an equation. And, of course, Jeffle, where you have to guess a movie starring one of your favorite Hollywood actors called Jeff – sorry, I made that up, but the fact that’s plausible speaks volumes about the way the world is right now. — Daniel Cooper, Senior editor.
Sam Rutherford / Engadget
Google Pixel 6a
When friends and family ask which phone they should buy, I tell them to get the latest Pixel a. Last year it was the Pixel 5a (well, the Pixel 4a, because Google didn’t launch the 5a here in the UK), and now it’s supplanted by the even-more premium-looking Pixel 6a.
The new design is glossy, with the distinctive camera bar that arrived on the flagship Pixel 6 phones last year, ensuring it looks different to all other smartphones. This year, the Pixel 6a also has Google’s homemade Tensor chip, which was built to help with AI and image processing. I might not even need to say this, but the Pixel 6a, like its predecessors, has an incredibly capable camera for the price. It includes Google tricks like Face Unblur to salvage dodgy shots and Magic Eraser for scrubbing out any unwanted elements. The Pixel 6a also has a 6.1-inch display, down from the 6.34-inch screen of last year’s Pixel 5a. So if you’re looking for a more pocketable Android, this might be the best option.
The Pixel 6a launched at $449, sneaking in under $500. On some occasions (like Black Friday), it’s already been on sale at $300, which is an incredible bargain – especially if you’re still using a smartphone that lacks 5G. The only reason for not buying it in early 2023 is that we’re already hearing rumors of the Pixel 7a, which should be an even better phone. — Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief.
Engadget
Valve Steam Deck
The Steam Deck isn’t the first handheld computer and it certainly won’t be the last. However, by combining the convenience of the Nintendo Switch with the flexibility of a PC and a huge library of supported games (there are now almost 7,000 titles listed as verified or playable), Valve has almost single-handedly reinvigorated the market for portable PC gaming. And with a starting price of just $400, the Steam Deck also costs hundreds less compared to rivals from Ayaneo, GPD and more.
Granted, the Steam Deck isn’t perfect. It’s rather bulky as far as handhelds go and Valve’s Linux-based SteamOS often requires a bit of tinkering with to optimize a game’s performance. I wish its high-pitched fan was a bit less distracting, too. But thanks to its clever touchpads and general customizability, the Steam Deck makes it easier to play traditional keyboard and mouse games while on the go than pretty much anything else out there. For people who love Nintendo’s games, the Switch is great. But for everyone else, the Steam Deck might be the best multipurpose gaming handheld you can buy right now. — Sam Rutherford, Senior writer.
Apple Watch Ultra
I’ll admit it — this one’s personal. As a reporter covering smartwatches, I’ve been holding my breath for this year’s trio of highly anticipated wearables from Apple, Samsung and Google. The first two were expected to unveil souped up “Pro” models of their flagship models, while Google was set to launch its first “homemade” smartwatch, featuring Fitbit integrations. Between the blandness of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and the overall letdown of the Pixel Watch, there wasn’t a lot of competition for Apple’s Watch Ultra.
But the company didn’t just coast on the mediocrity of the Android smartwatch market. The Watch Ultra features a 49mm screen in a highly durable case that doesn’t feel excessively huge (unless you’re a fellow petite-wristed person). Apple made a selection of carefully crafted straps that are eye-catching, comfortable and easy to maneuver with gloves. The Watch Ultra also boasts a depth gauge for divers, dual-frequency GPS for more-accurate distance tracking, an emergency siren and impressive four-day battery life. All that is on top of other Apple Watch features like comprehensive health and fitness tracking, seamless messaging and excellent iPhone integration.
And for the cherry on top of it all — and this is my selfish reason for loving the Apple Watch Ultra — reviewing this device allowed me to go on a hike on the job, all in the name of real-world testing. Sure, I have since swapped out the Watch Ultra for a Series 8 as my daily driver, but Apple managed to pack enough features into its prosumer smartwatch to set it apart from its mainstream flagship. — C.L.
Dado Ruvic / reuters
Mastodon
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has breathed new life into a number of upstart social platforms. But no other service has benefitted more than Mastodon, the once relatively-obscure site that’s long billed itself as a Twitter alternative.
Ironically, Mastodon first became prominent back in 2017 after a backlash against Twitter’s decision to remove user handles from character limits (it’s difficult to remember now, but there was a time when these kinds of changes would temporarily spark mass outrage among the Twitter faithful).
Since then, the decentralized platform has had a small contingent of dedicated users, but was nowhere close to the social media mainstream. That all changed as soon as Musk’s takeover began. Almost overnight, more than 30,000 new users flooded the platform, and the growth has only intensified since Musk formally took control of Twitter in October. As of November, Mastodon had more than 2 million users seeking a new home outside of Twitter.
While that may still be tiny by social media standards, it’s notable that the nonprofit, open-source site is already the preferred alternative for a number of journalists, celebrities and other one-time Twitter power users. Yes, the platform is more complicated than Twitter, and not everyone is eager to start over on a new site. But it’s impossible to ignore just how good Mastodon’s timing has been. In the span of a few months, it’s gone from niche to mainstream, and for now seems best-poised to absorb the masses fleeing Twitter. — Karissa Bell, Senior editor.
German researchers who purchased biometric capture devices on eBay found sensitive US military data stored on the machine’s memory cards. According to The New York Times, that included fingerprints, iris scans, even photographs, names and descriptions of the individuals, mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan. Many individuals worked with the US army and could be targeted if the devices fell into the wrong hands, according to the report. One device was purchased at a military auction, and the seller said they were unaware that it contained sensitive data. There was an easy solution too: The US military could have eliminated the risk by simply removing or destroying the memory cards before selling them.
Workers at Proletariat, a Boston-based studio Blizzard bought earlier this year, announced they recently filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Proletariat is the third Activision Blizzard studio to announce a union drive in 2022. However, past campaigns at Raven Software and Blizzard Albany involved the quality assurance workers at those studios – the effort at Proletariat includes all non-management workers. The employees at Proletariat say they aim to preserve the studio’s “progressive, human-first” benefits, including its flexible paid time off policy and robust healthcare options. Additionally, they want to protect the studio from crunch – compulsory overtime during game development.
LG is taking a more minimalist approach to its kitchen appliances in 2023, with less showy profiles, colors and, seemingly, controls. While we’re not getting a close-up look at all the dials and buttons yet, the appliances look restrained compared to previous years’ models. In the past, we’ve seen a washing machine whose flagship feature was an entire extra washing machine. There was also a dryer that had two doors. Just because. LG says it’s used recycled materials across multiple machine parts, adding that its latest appliances also require fewer total parts and less energy than typical kitchen appliances. This would dovetail with the company’s announcements at the start of the year, where LG said it would offer upgradability for its home appliances. So far, that’s included new filters for certain use cases and software upgrades with new washing programs for laundry machines.
Lawmakers and staff members who have TikTok on their phones would have to delete it.
TikTok is now banned on any device owned and managed by the US House of Representatives, according to Reuters. The House's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) reportedly told all lawmakers and their staff in an email that they must delete the app from their devices, because it's considered "high risk due to a number of security issues." Further still, everyone detected to have the social networking application on their phones would be contacted to make sure it's deleted.
LG may not make smartphones anymore, but it's still building components for them. The company's LG Innotek arm just unveiled a periscope-style true optical zoom camera module with a 4-9 times telephoto range. Most smartphone cameras use hybrid zoom setups that combine certain zoom ranges (typically 2x, 3x, 10x, etc.) with a digital zoom to fill in between those (2.5x, 4.5x, etc.), leading to reduced detail. LG's "Optical Zoom Camera," however, contains a zoom actuator with movable components, like a mirrorless or DSLR camera. That would help retain full image quality through the entire zoom range, while potentially reducing the size and number of modules required. Could this mean the death of the camera bump?
LG may not make smartphones anymore, but it's still building components for them. The company's LG Innotek arm just unveiled a periscope-style true optical zoom camera module with a 4-9 times telephoto range. That would allow smartphone cameras to retain full image quality through the entire zoom range, while potentially reducing the size and number of modules required.
Samsung developed a similar camera module, also known as a "folded" lens, with a four times zoom first used in the Galaxy S20 Ultra smartphone. LG Innotek provided a previous version of its zoom module to Sony for the Xperia 1 IV smartphone.
Most smartphone cameras use hybrid zoom setups that combine digital zoom and multiple camera modules. Certain zoom ranges (typically 2x, 3x, 10x, etc.) use individual cameras, with a digital zoom to fill in between those (2.5x, 4.5x, etc.). As a result, sensor resolution and thus detail can be considerably reduced.
LG's "Optical Zoom Camera," however, contains a zoom actuator with movable components, similar to what you'd seen on a zoom lens in a mirrorless or DSLR camera. It operates quickly and precisely down to the micrometer, according to LG, while saving battery life. It also has a built-in optical image stabilizer to reduce blur, something that can be a problem for telephoto lenses that magnify hand movements. (iFixit shows exactly how such modules work here.)
With the module installed, a sensor would retain full resolution through the entire 4-9x zoom range, providing more detail on telephoto shots. LG also pared down the module's thickness to reduce the size of the camera bump.
The company partnered with Qualcomm to integrate the tech in the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform. "It will enhance the image tuning custom for the optics, which includes Auto-Focus, Auto-Exposure, Auto-White Balance, lens shading correction and much more. Users will be able to focus quickly. And the photos and videos will have stunning image quality," LG wrote.
The new module will appear in smartphones announced at CES 2023 starting January 3rd. LG didn't reveal any brands or models, but there are a number of smartphones coming soon with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset that could potentially use it. Those include the OnePlus 11 series, Xiaomi 13, Motorola X40 and Oppo Find X. Apple is also a large customer of LG Innotek and could use the zoom module in next year's iPhone 15 series, according to previous reports.
LG’s latest upgraded appliances, including washing machines, refrigerators, ovens and a dishwasher, feature, well, less. It’s taking a more minimalist approach in 2023 with less showy profiles, colors and, seemingly, controls. While we’re not getting a close-up look at all the dials and buttons, the appliances look restrained compared to previous years’ appliances. In recent years, we’ve seen a washing machine whose feature was an entire extra washing machine. There was also a dryer that had two doors. Just because. LG also once even experimented with creating washing machines that could clean your clothes without any water.
This year's appliances will have a simpler design language, with what LG says is an "elegantly clear control experience." The company says it’s made its latest range to ensure it can “match with any kind of décor, color scheme, or interior trend.” It used recycled materials across multiple machine parts, adding that its latest appliances also require fewer total parts and less energy than typical kitchen appliances.
This would dovetail with the company’s announcements at the start of the year, where LG said it would offer upgradability for its home appliances. So far, that’s included new filters for certain use cases and software upgrades to offer new washing programs for laundry machines. The company said it planned to introduce 20 models with upgradeable features but hasn’t confirmed how many actually arrived. Simpler, more streamlined hardware could make for easier for LG to replace more substantial parts, like motors and heating elements, to be even more efficient or effective.
However, will fewer buttons mean fewer features or less flexibility? We don’t know yet, but I like the subtler aesthetic. LG will reveal its new appliance family at CES 2023 — a show that always sneaks in countless kitchen appliances alongside the latest TVs, EVs and more. The show kicks off in Las Vegas in a week’s time.
What a year for gaming. While 2022 may not have enjoyed as many AAA releases as in past years, the ones that weren’t delayed into 2023 were stellar and the indie development scene more than made up for the lack of big-budget titles. Some of our favorite releases this year came from small, ambitious teams that delivered fresh ideas. As is tradition, the Engadget team came together to extol the virtues of our favorite releases from the past 12 months.
Bayonetta 3 is a delicious amplification of the series’ most ridiculous themes. It indulges in absurdity without disrupting the rapid-fire combat or Bayonetta’s unrivaled sense of fashion and wit. Bayonetta 3 is joyful, mechanically rich and full of action, plus it allows players to transform into a literal hell train in order to take down massive beasts bent on destroying the multiverse. Bayonetta elegantly dances her way through battles, dropping one-liners and shooting enemies with her gun shoes in one moment, and turning into a giant spider creature the next.
The Bayonetta series just keeps getting weirder, but that doesn’t mean it’s losing its sense of satisfying gameplay along the way. In the franchise’s third installment, Bayonetta is powerful, confident and funny; she’s a drag queen in a universe loosely held together by witchcraft, and the chaos of this combination is truly magical. – Jessica Conditt, Senior Reporter
Sure, you’ve played Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Hades and The Binding of Isaac – but what if you could play all of them at once, in a single adorable demonic package? That’s Cult of the Lamb, baby.
Cult of the Lamb is part social and farming simulator, part dungeon-crawling roguelike and all-around fantastic. After being sacrificed and resurrected, you’re instructed by a grand, dark deity to start your own cult, managing worship services, agriculture, cooking, marriages, deaths and much more. You must also venture into the wilderness to battle demons and recruit more followers. Keep in mind that you’re a lamb, which makes all of this exceptionally cute.
Cult of the Lamb is a brilliant balance of satanic dungeon crawling and cult simulation, offering more action than Animal Crossing and more casual farming mechanics than Hades. Cult of the Lamb is incredibly satisfying, and it’s rich in gameplay, story and environments. Most of all, it’s cute as hell. – J.C.
There was never going to be a version of this post that did not include Elden Ring, FromSoftware's big push into open-world Berserk-inspired sword and sorcery.
Yes, there's something to be said about the earlier, more linear Souls games forcing players down a path of increasing gloom and difficulty (cue the hallmark rasping laugh of an NPC who seems to know precisely how screwed you are), how the inevitability of that experience allowed the devs to craft a bespoke gameplay loop of apprehension, frustration, discovery and the eventual reward of mastery. I love that stuff! But Elden Ring tried something new, effectively playing a shell game with those four player states, and making discovery the new initial draw.
My big "aha!" moments in Dark Souls 3 or Bloodborne arrived when I'd finally spotted a shortcut or sussed out a boss's hidden weakness. Elden Ring retained that. But what really made the good brain chemicals flow was just… roaming around. Reaching the top of some lava-ridden mesa. Or finding a way onto some seemingly inaccessible islet. The grandeur of the settings and knowledge FromSoft wouldn't make me work for a slice of geography devoid of treasures to loot and dudes to hack apart made the effort worthwhile.
Some fans adore the limited palate of Sekiro which essentially tells players, "git gud or quit." Call me a bad gamer (accurate) but I prefer the maximalism and flexibility that Elden Ring brought to the table. Want to grind until every boss is trivial? How about a hitless all-remembrances run? Either, and anything in between, is valid. Allowing for challenge and accessibility makes Elden Ring a beautifully executed twist on the formula FromSoft has been honing for nearly 30 years. – Avery Menegus, Senior News Editor
Sometimes, games you were once really looking forward to playing just sneak past you at launch. That’s totally true of Ghostwire: Tokyo, a game from Tango Gameworks, which also created the underrated horror game The Evil Within and its sequel.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is different to those, though. It’s often… funny. Sure, there are grotesque Japanese folklore monsters and creepy faceless men-in-suits to hurl magic at, but there are also ghosts trapped in toilet cubicles that need a few extra rolls of toilet paper, or park trees that need to be magically cleansed for nearby spirits to feel at ease. You play through a first-person perspective, using elemental attacks, charms and a spiritual bow and arrow set to take down an array of spirits that have invaded a substantial patch of central Tokyo. If you’ve heard the game described as Yakuza, but with ghosts, well, it’s a completely different kind of game. But the beautifully rendered buildings, interiors and streets definitely hit similar notes. Due to a supernatural attack on the city, you won’t bump into any other humans, pretty much through the entire campaign, which adds an eerie air to the entire game. It’s either ghouls trying to kill you, or spirits that need your help to move on.
The main game is short but punchy enough. It feels like a game that was banking on DLC to round out a lot of the more ambiguous plot questions players might have, but it’s uncertain whether that will ever happen. It’s still a fun supernatural game that takes a different approach to horror, with some mind-bending set pieces that bring some of the more imaginative parts of games like Control into the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. And who doesn’t want to be stalked by hundreds of paper eyeballs? – Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief
When I was first introduced to Kratos, the God of War, he was on my PS2, taking a stroll along a Cretan wharf, casually tearing a few Minotaurs in half. Things only went downhill from there. For a full three mythos-crushing game installments, things only went downhill from there. I mean, by the end of GoW III you had to dig pretty far down the Pantheon talent list to find a surviving deity.
But when we were reintroduced to Kratos on the PS4, we were not given back the pale ball of vengeful fury and barely-contained ultraviolence that we had grown to know and love. This new one was, well, not softer but at least not quite so hard-edged as before. This was a Kratos with bad knees who old-man grunted when he stood; a Kratos with a son he struggled to connect with but still reared in a dangerous and unforgiving world, demi-god or not. This was a more relatable Kratos, one that had aged alongside the gamers that inhabit his form in the intervening console years, with concerns and motivation beyond most efficiently chain slashing his way through enemy hordes.
I think a big part of what made God of War the Game of the Year in 2018 was that progression away from thinly-veiled plot points serving as excuses for more blood, boobs and button smashing; and towards a more mature, measured examination, not just of Kratos’ relationship with Atreus, but the larger theme of how to process familial loss, its accompanying grief, and to move forward from the pain.
Ragnarok is both an affirmation of Kratos’ reformation and a lodestar for the future of the God of War franchise. I’m not going to spoil the rich and nuanced multi-arc-with-just-a-hint-of-time-travel storyline for those who have not yet played but it, in my opinion at least, is the best written of the series. This is a game with cutscenes you’ll want to sit through. Combine that with well-paced skill-adjustable action, huge maps packed with treasures and secrets, an expansive supporting cast and star-studded voice acting – not to mention a menagerie-worth of mystical wildlife just begging to be torn limb from limb – and you’ve got yourself one of the best games of 2022. — Andrew Tarantola, Senior Reporter
Sony’s first-party studios have generally done sequelsright, and Horizon Forbidden Westis no exception. The first game had one of my favorite narratives, as protagonist Aloy learned what happened a thousand years prior to bring about the mysterious world she (and the player) inhabit – one where mankind lives in relatively primitive tribes trying to stay safe from giant animal-like machines run amok.
Forbidden West delivers even more of what worked in Horizon Zero Dawn. Aloy remains a steadfast, righteous and occasionally stubborn protagonist who continues to grow as she uncovers more secrets about the world around her while fighting a totally unexpected force bent on destroying Earth as she knows it. The twists of Forbidden West don’t quite match the first game’s reveal of how the world we know evolved into the world Aloy inhabits. But the narrative is still rich and complex, and the new parts of what was once the American southwest that you get to explore are rendered in stunning detail. It’s one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played.
As with any good sequel, combat and traversal around the world have been refined – there are more weapons than ever, and you can customize them to match your play style or the particular enemies you’re facing. Melee combat against humans and machines alike has also been significantly upgraded, and new items like a grappling hook and hang glider make getting around quicker and more fun. And nearly all the machines from the first game return, along with some colossal new enemies that present a massive challenge, but also a massive bit of satisfaction as you figure out their weak spots and systematically take them down.
I think my favorite new thing of Forbidden West, though, is the relationships you build with your friends. In the first game, Aloy is mostly a lone wolf, occasionally partnering with people here and there but mostly doing things on her own. In Forbidden West, though, you establish a posse of capable and likable companions, some old and some new, all of whom bring something different to the table in your massive quest. Trying to fend off the end of the world feels just a little bit easier when you have friends by your side. – Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor
With Immortality, indie game director Sam Barlow has delivered a tribute to the surreal films of David Lynch, with a dose of Hitchcock for good measure. Similar to Her Story, it's also entirely about scrubbing through video clips, except this time it involves footage from three unreleased genre films spanning several decades. Your job? To figure out what happened to the actress Marissa Marcel.
Geared more towards cinephiles than mainstream gamers, Immortality can be frustrating if you're not operating on Barlow's wavelength. But if you're a fan of surreal cinema, and you enjoy diving into behind-the-scenes footage, it's a game with endless rewards. The mystery will get you started, but the spooky atmosphere and excellent performances will keep you hooked. – Devindra Hardawar, Senior Editor
After getting burnt out on Hearthstone a few years ago, and superhero movies more recently, the last thing I expected to hook me in 2022 was a comic book-themed collectible card game. But then the fine folks at Second Dinner released Marvel Snap and it quickly became my favorite time waster. Because a match lasts less than five minutes, you can easily play a round during commercials, while waiting for the train, or in the bathroom (I’m not judging). And while decks cap out at just 12 cards, there’s a surprising amount of depth with a huge variety of effects and counters. Meanwhile, thanks to appearances from lesser-known characters like Hell Cow, Devil Dinosaur and the Infinaut, the game has prompted me to learn more about Marvel lore than any of the movies ever did. So even though the game is a little barebones at the moment (the only mode is a basic ranked ladder but more features are on the way), Marvel Snap is sure to be a game I continue playing long after I’ve forgotten about whatever happened in the latest Spider-man movie. – Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter
What do you do when you love speed running and score chasing, but you're generally not very good at it? You play Neon White.
Like all good games, Neon White is simple to learn, and difficult to master. The basic ask is that you vanquish every demon from a level and head to a finish marker. It plays like a fast-paced first-person shooter, with the complexity coming from your weapons, which are cards that can either fire or be spent for a special movement or attack ability. The real challenge comes from the scoring system, which grades you based on the time you took to complete a level.
There are just shy of 100 levels, all begging to be learned, repeated and perfected. Despite its first-person shooter visuals, it plays out more like a cross between Trackmania and a platformer. You'll quickly turn that bronze medal into a gold, and then an "ace" that is supposedly your ultimate target. Then you'll see the online leaderboards and realize you've left some seconds on the table. Then you'll randomly achieve the secret red medal on a level, say "oh jesus" and realize that there's a whole hidden tier of perfection for you to attain.
The trick is that everything feels smooth, and fast. From my first gold medal time up to the top-ten-in-the-world run I showed my pretending-to-be-interested friends, every time I turned on the game I felt like a master, inches away from perfection. There are multiple paths through each level, ridiculous shortcuts to discover, and near-infinite degrees of satisfaction waiting after every good run.
The main negative point, for me, is the story, which plays out like a visual novel. I love the genre, and had heard good things about the game's characters, but found the narrative overly slow and just generally dull. There is mercifully a "fast forward" button, and once you've played through everything, a level select screen that lets you jump right into the action.
Despite its storytelling, and a couple of overly long levels that had me gnashing my teeth, Neon White was easily the most fun I had with a game this year. I played on Switch and PC, but a couple of weeks ago it landed on PlayStation as well, and I imagine I'll be starting up a new campaign and playing it all over again soon.– Aaron Souppouris, Executive Editor
Most of the time, single-player narrative-driven games are where I spend most of my gaming time. But once a year, I come across a game like OlliOlli World that I can play for minutes or hours at a time because the gameplay is just so satisfying. The goal in OlliOlli World is simple: become a skateboarding god. You do that by progressing through five worlds, each of which has a dozen or more individual stages, each with a wildly unique course to traverse.
Unlike the earlier games in the OlliOlli series, World is a bit more forgiving at first. It’s much easier to pick up and start pulling off wild moves and combos than ever before. But it’s still fiendishly challenging – if you want to beat every challenge, you’ll need lightning-fast reflexes and the mental stamina to change up your tricks and moves constantly. But once you get fluent in the game’s mechanics, you can enter a flow state where you’re just making moves purely on instinct.
The level and character design in OlliOlli World only enhances this effect. Like the earlier games, each of the five biomes has its own unique characteristics, but in all cases the levels are extremely colorful and interactive, with tons of eye candy and bizarre creatures hanging out in the background. And you can customize your character with clothing and items you pick up for completing challenges, letting you express your personal style in a huge variety of ways. There are also competitive aspects, like the daily challenge where you compete against nine other skaters to post the top score in your group. And every time you visit a level, you’ll see a “rival” score to try and beat. There’s always something pushing you to skate even better in OlliOlli World. – N.I.
Overwatch is my second favorite game of all time. Despite sharper, faster-paced gameplay, some much-needed quality-of-life improvements and the free-to-play shift I've wanted for years, Overwatch 2 isn't quite at that level yet. It's too rough around the edges.
The monetization changes felt like a gut punch. In fairness, many of the high-end skins cost around the same as what you'd pay for outfits in other major free-to-play titles. But newcomers now need to pay up if they want cosmetics that have been in the game for six years – items that veteran players were able to earn for free only a few months ago. Players also need to pay for the premium battle pass, grind through the free tier or wait until it's easier to unlock new heroes in later seasons before getting access to the latest characters.
And yet, Overwatch 2 has a hold over me like no other game. It's still the best multiplayer title around, with a rich lore, a wonderful cast of characters and a colorful aesthetic that helps it stand out from many other games on the market. The ping system is an excellent addition for accessibility, and the four new heroes that have joined the lineup since launch are all a blast. Some of the major hero reworks, especially the Orisa one, have been a resounding success.
As much as I enjoy the game as it is now, Blizzard has laid the foundations for an even more exciting future. Next year will bring long-awaited, story-driven co-op missions to the franchise – until now, we've only had a taste of those during seasonal events. After getting a sneak peek at some of the stuff that's on the way to the PvP side in the next few seasons, including a new core game mode and the season four hero, I can't see myself putting this game down anytime soon. – Kris Holt, Contributing Reporter
Rollerdrome is lush. It’s incredibly stylish, taking cues from 1970s Hollywood sci-fi but with an attractive cel-shaded filter over every scene. Even better than its stunning visuals, Rollerdrome has smooth, precise mechanics that allow players to fall into a flow in every level. The game is all about gliding through the environments on rollerblades, picking up speed and doing tricks while dodging and shooting enemies, managing weapons and controlling time – and it all comes together in a thrilling dystopian bloodsport.
It’s a joy to dodge, dodge, dodge and then leap into the air, slow down time and take out the people shooting at you, refilling ammo and collecting health in the process. Meanwhile, an unsettling story of corporate greed unfolds naturally beneath the rollerblading bloodshed, keeping the stakes high. Rollerdrome was a sleeper hit of 2022, so if you’ve been napping on this one, now’s the time to wake up and play. – J.C.
When I fall in love with a game, it’s the setting that gets me, which maybe explains why I wandered around Fallout 76’s Appalachian wasteland long after most people had left – I wanted to live there. I want to live in the futuristic city where Stray takes place too, but since I’m neither cat nor robot, I wouldn’t be allowed. In the game, you play a standard orange tabby with no special abilities, apart from those given to most felines like agility and jumping prowess. Through a mishap, you find yourself trapped in a domed city populated exclusively by amiable humanoid robots, and you eventually team up with a small drone that lets you “talk” with those androids.
To find your way back to your cat family outside the city, you solve puzzles, fight mutant bacterial blobs and generally follow your curiosity. The cityscape is a gorgeous, multi-level cyberpunk playground that feels a little less hardcore than Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City, with plenty of woven rugs to scratch and pillows to nap on. In fact, scratching, napping and otherwise doing cat stuff not only unlocks achievements (I was particularly proud to earn the one for getting a paper bag stuck on my head) they’re also integral to the game.
As my colleague Jessica Conditt said in her review, Stray is “downright joyful.” By leaning into the cat premise, it creates a whole new gaming perspective – you can’t do stuff humans can do, but you can do stuff cats do, like shimmying through small holes and jumping on pipes and bookcases. Living 12 inches off the ground for the cumulative eight hours or so it took me to play the game, I finally understood why cats want to jump on top of everything. The view is just better up there. – Amy Skorheim, Commerce Writer
A ton has been said about how The Last of Us Part I is a remake of a game that was originally released for the PS3 and then remastered a year later for the PS4. (Oh, and it’s coming to PC in early 2023, too.) So, it’s not exactly an essential release if you’ve played it before. But for people who may have heard about the upcoming HBO show and want to know what all the fuss is about – or anyone who loved Joel and Ellie’s journey the first time – this PS5 version is the definitive way to experience this story.
The game has been entirely rebuilt from scratch, and it shows in everything from the ruined post-pandemic cities and surprisingly tranquil forests and mountains to the detail found in collectibles around the world. Most crucially, though, the facial animations are simply stunning. Everyone you encounter, whether a lead character or an NPC you only see once, looks amazingly detailed and realistic. Of course, that means the hordes of infected humans hunting you are even more disturbingly detailed than ever, as well.
The updates aren’t just skin deep, either. Enemies are smarter and more cunning than ever, thanks to developer Naughty Dog using the upgraded AI system they implemented in 2020’s The Last of Us Part II. Humans are more aggressive about flanking you and a lot easier to lose once they find you, while the Infected are even better at hearing you trying to sneak by. There are a host of other updates, big and small, perhaps the most important of which is a massive suite of accessibility features so that almost anyone can give this game a shot.
What hasn’t changed is the story and script – but that isn’t a problem, given that The Last of Us was already well-known for its outstanding performances and plotting. The debate on whether or not The Last of Us Part I was really “necessary” will likely continue, but don’t spend too much time thinking about it. If you’ve never played the game before, this is the way to do it. And if you’re like me and play it every year or two, this is the best way to do so. – N.I.
How do you write about a game that’s best experienced without expectations? That’s the challenge of saying something meaningful about Tunic. You can speak to its influences – primarily The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, with a dash of Soulslike combat – but that doesn’t do the game justice. Worse yet, it fails to capture its appeal. I could also mention its haunting soundtrack by Lifeformed and Janice Kwan or the austere beauty of its art style. But again that’s not quite what makes Tunic so special.
I’m being purposefully vague because to say more would be to rob the game of its magic. So I’ll leave you with this: It’s fitting Tunic casts you as a cutesy fox because the game has a knack of making you feel so clever anytime you work through one of its many mysteries. Do yourself a favor and try to play this one without turning to the internet if you run into a roadblock. On the other end is one of the most rewarding gaming experiences in recent memory. – Igor Bonifacic, Weekend Editor
As a longtime fan of the SRPG genre, no game in the last decade has managed to evoke classics like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre more than Triangle Strategy. I admit it’s a bit of a slow burn and it gets a bit text-heavy, but with multiple endings (including a New Game+ mode), a deep roster of characters and rewarding turn-based combat, this game has it all. And thanks to its art style, which masterfully blends old-school sprites with a modern 2.5D approach, this game looks and feels like a love letter to those all-time greats of the late 90s. If you’re a fan of tactics games, Triangle Strategy is a must-play. – S.R.
I had such good intentions for my Steam Deck. I swore I'd use it to get through my Steam backlog and stream a bunch of games from Xbox Cloud Gaming and Stadia (RIP). Sure, I do those things, but only on the rare occasion I can rip my attention away from Vampire Survivors.
It is a rudimentary-looking game with very basic controls. You'll face hordes of monsters, but because your weapons autofire, the only real control you have is using the thumbstick or touch controls to move your character. You'll need to carefully juke away from some enemies while getting close enough to kill others and pick up the experience gems they drop. After you collect enough gems and level up, you’re able to select another weapon or powerup.
This is where many of the game's intricacies come in. You'll get a random selection of weapons and power-ups to choose from at every level, as well as the ability to make your items more powerful. If you find the right pairings, you can evolve weapons into ultra-powerful forms. Vampire Survivors is the perfect distillation of the power fantasy. Flesh out the right build and you'll carve through bosses that once seemed unbeatable like a lightsaber through ice cream.
This game begs you to keep coming back. Since it debuted in early access last December, developer Poncle has frequently updated the game with more characters, weapons, items and levels. Part of the joy is in building different loadouts that can demolish enemies with ease. Vampire Survivors also shares some DNA with casinos. There's an explosion of color and some upbeat, tension-filled music whenever you open a treasure chest, along with a delightful chime whenever you grab a gem – you will hear that a lot. These aspects don't exactly make it easy to put the game down.
I love my Steam Deck. I love Vampire Survivors. Together, they have a toxic hold over my desire to play other games. I could simply uninstall Vampire Survivors from my Deck, but, really, what's the point when I can just play it on my phone now?– K.H.
For a while in 2022, a word game brought the world together. Because it’s the same puzzle for every single player each day, Wordle was a giant inside joke amongst solvers across international boundaries. At Engadget, for example, London-based Mat Smith could give me hints or laugh at my inability to guess a word he got.
I also loved sharing and seeing the little blocks that showed how many tries it took us to solve the word. It was a chance to both bond and brag – the perfect gaming experience. Plus, whenever a word was controversial, whether it was spelled in US or UK English, for example, I loved the inevitable debate that would result. In 2022, Wordle gave us an elevated form of watercooler conversation fodder, but for the entire world.
Although technically launched in 2021, Wordle found widespread popularity in 2022. It was born from software engineer Josh Wardle’s desire to make a word game for him and his partner Palak Shah to play together. But it was when the user base expanded beyond his family to encompass the entire globe that Wordle took on a life of its own.
Countless iterations were spawned, building on the format and name… which itself was based on Wardle’s last name. You may have seen examples like Heardle, Worldle, Squirdle, Absurdle and more, using the puzzle’s format for us to guess songs, countries and other subjects. As always happens with anything popular, hundreds of websites published guides to beating the game, while scores of clones popped up in the Android and iOS app stores, hoping to cash in on the fever. Wardle later sold the game to the New York Times for an undisclosed sum that was reported to be in the low seven digits, and soon, just as quickly as the fever started, the game’s popularity subsided. Thanks to Wordle, we all may be leaving 2022 just a little bit savvier about the most common letters and words in the English language. – Cherlynn Low, Deputy Editor
Getting into a new role-playing game series can be hard sometimes. This is especially true when you’ve allied yourself with a certain studio or series – and we are into double digits in the Trails series, not to mention the juggernaut that is Final Fantasy. It’s trickier to reorient yourself to completely new gameplay dynamics, series in-jokes that fly over your head and just, well, things being different.
That means I’m late to playing critically acclaimed RPGs – I have to be in the right mindset. So how did Xenoblade Chronicles 3weasel its way into my heart? I think it’s because I was told by several people, both gaming critics and friends, that it was a perfect entry into the series, regardless of whether you’d played its predecessors. They weren’t wrong.
It’s a nice game to approach with a blank slate because it goes through around three different tonal gear shifts before you entirely know exactly what the heck is going on. While I don’t want to ruin the anime-nodding plot twists, several of which you will see coming from a mile away, the game starts with a sci-fi, steam-punk high-concept scenario. Teen warriors on two factions are pitted against each other, waging wars with mechs, but also close-range weapons. It turns out direct kills are the only way to leech their enemy’s life force, building up a store in their base’s “flame clock” and ensuring a squad’s survival. They have to fight, to live.
Noah and two of his allies clash against Mio and her retinue, and after the battle ends in a draw – and I get to enjoy a slick, anime-styled battle movie between all six – the fates conspire to ensure this is your group of warriors, and only they can save the world.
With a wide range of classes to wield and master, as well as the ability to add a guest warrior to your squad pretty much any time throughout the game, battles initially seem chaotic, but I soon got attuned to the rhythm. Defenders will coax enemies into targeting them, allowing your heavy-hitting attackers to wail on them from the side or back – positioning is crucial. Meanwhile, your healers will ensure your defender doesn’t fall and amp up damage either with area-specific skills or targeted attacks on enemies. Also, your epic, charge-them-up-in-battle Interlink attacks are accompanied by such a high-energy soundtrack, it’s hard not to feel like a hero.
There are some big pacing problems in places, and when you get the ability to combine with your allies and form powerful Evangelion-esque avatars, you wonder exactly what can stop them at times. But it’s a vast adventure with several compelling side quests to fill out your time in Aionios. Annoyingly, it’s won me over – and I have since downloaded the original Xenoblade Chronicles (and its sequel) to play in 2023. – M.S.
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.
