I miss having clean floors. I've been using a variety of Roombas over the years to help out with vacuuming, but ever since my wife and I had our second child in 2022, mopping has become an afterthought. And really, vacuuming can only clean your floor so much. I missed the shimmer of a mopped hardwood floor and the smell of Murphy Oil cleaner lingering in the air. Instead, I've been living with even more toys, crumbs and an assortment of bodily waste (which three cats contribute to) on my flooring and carpets. Don't judge me (or any parent!), I'm tired.

When Engadget's own Daniel Cooper extolled the virtues of iRobot's first combination robot vacuum and mop, I was intrigued. I'd already grown to love my Roombas, especially after they gained the ability to dump their own waste into their charging docks. But for them to mop as well? That just sounded like an impossible dream. So when iRobot announced its second combination flagship, the Roomba Combo j9+, I leapt at the chance to test it. (Sorry, Dan.)

I've tested iRobot's Braava Jet m6 mopping robot, which was announced in 2019 and was notable for being able to work alongside the Roomba s9+. But it would have cost me $499 and required clunky setup and maintenance. Plus, it was yet another device that needed to live somewhere in my home. It was ultimately easier for me to just run the Roomba and mop by hand whenever I needed to.

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The Roomba Combo j9+ (and the j7+ before it) promises a far smoother experience: It can simultaneously vacuum and mop without much additional effort on your part. All you need to do is add some water and cleaning solution to its large reservoir (stored neatly in the redesigned Clean Base) and attach a mop pad. The company developed a unique mop arm that can automatically move up and down when needed, which helps to avoid leaving your carpets wet with residue.

Maintenance is fairly simple too: Wash the mop pads after a few runs, add more water when necessary, and make sure the Roomba's bristles aren't getting tangled with hair. Once the Clean Base is full, swapping its custom waste bags takes only a few seconds.

While we liked the Roomba Combo j7+ well enough, the new model solves some of the issues we encountered. It can automatically refill its water tank from the Clean Base, whereas the j7+ required you to manually add liquid to the robot. The Combo j9+ also offers stronger vacuum suctioning, which allows it to pick up smaller debris and complete jobs with fewer cleaning passes. Its new Clean Base also looks like a piece of furniture, with a wood top that you can use like a regular table. Its door swings open from the front and offers space for additional waste bags, accessories and a large reservoir for cleaning liquid.

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

iRobot claims the j9+ Clean Base allows for 30 days of hands-free mopping and 60-days of hands-free vacuuming, figures that seem exceedingly ambitious for most users. In my testing, I needed to look at the Roomba's bristles at least once a week to deal with extraneous hair and random toys. And I definitely had to change the mop pad after two or three runs — after all, there's no such thing as clean floors with a dirty mop.

Like the Roomba j7+ and s9 before it, as well as just about every Roomba ever made, you'll want to clear your floors of small debris and potential hazards before starting a run. As a Roomba user since 2005, I've grown to accept that they're not magical cleaning devices. You will need to put in a bit of work to help them run best. But the key is it's still easier than manually vacuuming and sweeping your floors and it's significantly cheaper than a cleaning service.

Thanks to iRobot’s OS 7, along with its camera and wide array of sensors, the Roomba Combo j9+ is far better at automatically mapping your home than previous models. After two runs, it tagged my kitchen, dining area and living room correctly, though I had to hop into the iRobot app to differentiate between my living room and family room. The mapping might seem unnecessary if you're using a Roomba for the first time (you can also disable it entirely), but it is the heart of the vacuum's routines. Instead of cleaning your entire home, you can program it to just clean the kitchen and dining room. If you connect your app to Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant, you can also use voice commands to direct your robot to specific locations.

After getting in hot water over its earlier plans to sell home mapping data, iRobot made an about face, gave up on that idea and started emphasizing privacy. The company says your mapping data is stored in the iRobot Cloud for processing (something you can also disable), which is a "secure" environment with "strict access controls, data encryption at rest and in transit, and periodic audits to ensure access is only given to those who require it."

In 2020, MIT Technology Review reported that development versions of the Roomba J7 captured images of a woman sitting on a toilet and a child playing on the floor, which made their way to a library used by the labeling service Scale AI. iRobot said that the people using those devices had agreed to have their data captured — they weren't regular consumers. One downside of using any cloud-connected device, especially one that aims to learn about your home, is that it'll require sharing some data. It's up to you to determine if that's a worthwhile tradeoff for more convenience.

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

When it comes to cleaning, the Roomba Combo j9+ practically mesmerized me as it balanced vacuuming and mopping duties. At the start of every mopping job, the robot emerged from the Clean Base, turned around and studiously refilled its liquid tank. It's like watching R2D2 go to the bathroom in reverse. Since it was starting every job on my wood floor, the Roomba then lowered its mopping pad from its top (it has a 'lil mop hat!) and spun up its vacuum. Then, it proceeded to move forward, sucking up dirt while the scrubbing pad cleaned right behind, a virtuoso show of autonomous cleaning acrobatics.

If you don't need a full cleaning, you could also use the iRobot app to have the j9+ just vacuum or mop (useful if you've just gone to town on your floors with a manual vac). The iRobot app lets you control the number of cleaning passes per job (one, two or "room-size", which tackles large rooms once and smaller spaces two to three times), as well as the amount of water for every mopping job (eco, standard or ultra). You can also choose between low, medium and high suction options (which get progressively louder, as you'd expect).

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The iRobot app also lets you turn the Roomba's obstacle detection on and off, though you'll likely never want to disable it. In my testing, the Roomba Combo j9+ managed to avoid shoes, toys and other objects in its path. It also quietly came to a halt whenever my kids or cats stepped in front of it. iRobot's promise to avoid pet poop (the aptly named Pet Owner Official Promise) also applies to the j9+. If the company's poop-optimized computer vision algorithms somehow miss a dog or cat mess in your home, iRobot says it will send you a new Roomba at no charge within the first year of purchase. The company will only send out one replacement, though, and the guarantee doesn't apply to non-solid waste (including diarrhea) or poop from another animal.

Before you ask, yes, I tested this. I placed a bit of cat poop in front of the j9+ and watched with worry as it approached the stinker. Thankfully, it stopped about six inches away and immediately backed off, as if it was terrified of the horrors it was about to inflict on itself. My floors were grateful, as was I.

The Roomba Combo j9+ performed admirably as a mop. It wasn't always perfect, and I could occasionally make out streaks, but it still looked a lot better than when relying on mere vacuuming. After my first cleaning session, my floors beamed in the sunlight with a glow I hadn't seen in months. And best of all, it required very little effort on my part, aside from a bit of tidying up. Even my notoriously picky mom noticed my floors sparkled more when they visited right after the Roomba worked its magic.

According to iRobot, the j9+ features twice the scrubbing performance of the j7+. While I couldn't test the difference directly, I can confirm it's a stubborn little bot when it comes to tough situations like dried litter paw prints and caked-in dirt. It managed to fully clean up those messes, but I'd be wary of letting it tackle anything worse, at least not without changing the mopping pad right afterwards. The j9+ may be able to avoid streaking poop around your house, but having your floors painted with a muddy mop can also be awful.

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

A rogue j9+ could do plenty of damage around your home, since its battery life has also been improved. It typically cleared my first floor in around two hours without needing a charging break. At one point, it ran for two and a half hours without a sweat. That should make this Roomba pretty capable even if you have a large home. A full floor cleaning took between 30 minutes and an hour longer than the j7+, but that makes sense since it’s also mopping and being more diligent about vacuuming.

At $1,400, the Roomba Combo J9+ is too expensive for most people looking to buy their first robovac. Even when iRobot is running a sale (we've seen it drop the price down to $999), the Combo j9+ is pretty pricey, but that cut does make the j9+ more palatable for longtime Roomba owners who've learned how to fit the bot into their cleaning routines. iRobot isn't completely out of line with its pricing: The competing Roborock S7 Max Ultra offers similar vacuum and mopping features and typically sells for $1,299 (it's also on sale for $999 at the moment).

There's still no robot vacuum equivalent to the Jetson's Rosie the Robot, but the Roomba Combo j9+ is the closest we've got so far. iRobot has built upon its excellent robot vacuum platform to deliver something that can finally mop your floors without a sweat. And while it may seem a tad exorbitant, the cost may be worth it for parents who, like me, forgot what truly clean floors looked like.

Samsung has launched its 2024 midrange phone lineup, which combines weaker specs and feature sets with more alluring prices than its flagship handsets. The Galaxy A55 and A35 have 6.6-inch Super AMOLED displays. For the first time in its budget handsets, the company included Knox Vault, a walled-off security section that debuted in the Galaxy S21.

Both Android 14-running phones have FHD+ (2220x1080) displays (374 pixels per inch) and variable refresh rates up to 120Hz. Like last year’s Galaxy A54, both include Samsung’s Vision Booster feature, which adjusts the screen’s tone mapping based on ambient lighting conditions. Their 6.6-inch diagonal measurements (not accounting for rounded corners) are a slight bump up from the A54’s 6.4 inches.

Samsung’s official materials didn’t list the phones’ processors, but Android Police reports the A55 uses an Exynos 1480, while the A35 settles for a slower Exynos 1380. RAM comes in different configurations: 8GB or 12GB in the A55 and 6GB or 8GB in the cheaper A35. Your storage options are 128GB or 256GB in each handset, but only the A55 has a microSD card slot.

Samsung

In addition to performance, cameras will be one of the primary differences between the two phones. The pair has three rear cameras, each with a 50MP main camera and a 5MP macro lens. But the more expensive A55 uses a 12MP ultra-wide sensor, while the A35 has a more pedestrian 8MP ultra-wide lens. In addition, the A55 has a 32MP front-facing camera, compared to the A35’s 13MP front shooter. Both use optical image stabilization (OIS) and video digital image stabilization (VDIS) to offset camera shake.

Unsurprisingly, neither phone appears to include the generative AI features Samsung uses to differentiate the Galaxy S24 series (and older flagships, via software updates). The closest you may get in this price range is the company’s “advanced AI Image Signal Processing (ISP)” for better photography in low-light conditions, included only on the A55.

Samsung didn’t list the phones’ build material in its press release and official specs, but Android Police says the A55 is the company’s first midrange phone with a metal frame. (Last year’s Galaxy A54 used plastic.) Engadget reached out to Samsung to clarify, and we’ll update this article if we hear back.

The handsets each have a 5,000mAh battery. Samsung estimates two days of battery life, but this could vary greatly depending on usage.

US pricing and launch dates aren’t yet available. However, Samsung says the A55 will start at £439 (US$562) in the UK, while the A35 will begin at £339 ($434). Samsung lists a March 20 release date for both handsets in the UK.

It's been a busy several few months for fighting game fans between the likes of Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8 and Mortal Kombat 1 arriving. Another game is entering (or more accurately re-entering) the fray as Warner Bros' platform fighter MultiVersus will return on May 28. It will be available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Steam and the Epic Games Store.

MutliVersus is Warner Bros' take on the Super Smash Bros. series. The aim is to weaken enemies enough to knock them off of a platform. Instead of controlling the likes of Mario, Link, Pikachu and Sephiroth, the roster is made up of characters from across WB properties, including DC Comics, its movies (hence the inclusion of LeBron James from Space Jam: A New Legacy) and even HBO. It's an enjoyable two vs. two take on the format.

The free-to-play game debuted in open beta in July 2022 and it was an instant hit. It brought in 20 million players in its first month. However, the player count dwindled quickly (at least on PC) amid complaints of a lack of updates and new characters. Developer Player First Games said last March that it would take the servers offline in June so it could work on the game ahead of its full release this year. One aspect of this that angered some fans was the fact many spent money on the game to unlock characters and cosmetics, only for it to go offline for what turned out to be another 10 months.

Along with the full release date, game director Tony Hyunh announced some of the updates to MultiVersus. There will, of course, be new characters. Hyunh didn't reveal any of the fresh faces, but I have my fingers crossed for a couple of names from Succession and The Last of Us showing up, just because. You can also expect more stages and fresh attacks for each character. We'll learn more details in the lead up to the release date.

Player First Games rebuilt the game from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5 to improve character lighting and the visuals. Hyunh says the team incorporated new rollback netcode to minimize lag for online play and to ensure consistent performance. There will also be a player versus environment mode that will allow you to play the game without having to square off against other players.

MultiVersus is returning just after Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to focus more on live-service, mobile and free-to-play games with a long-tail rather than single-player experiences. That's despite the disappointing performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (a live-service title) and colossal commercial success of Hogwarts Legacy, which sold 22 million copies last year.

Update 3/11/24: The PS5 bundle deal that we originally found at GameStop is now available at Amazon, Target and Walmart as well.

If you've been on the fence about snagging a PS5 and have been intrigued by Marvel's Spider-Man 2, now's a good time to considering picking up the console. You can get a bundle with either the digital or standard edition of the PS5 with the game for $50 off. That brings the bundle with the digital version of the console down to $400, while the standard-edition pairing will run you $450.

Spider-Man 2 is an excellent way to get your PS5 games collection started, particularly for new PS5 owners. It's one of our favorite games of last year and we felt it was both bigger and better than the first game in the series. If you'd prefer to play Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales before diving into the latest entry (both are great games too), you can check them out through the PlayStation Plus subscription service on the Extra and Premium tiers. However, some folks may now be joining the PlayStation club after already playing those two games on PC — I wouldn't want to wait too long for Spider-Man 2 to arrive on PC after first playing the previous entries there either.

When it comes to a modern gaming system, you can't go far wrong with the PS5. It's our pick for the best high-end gaming console, alongside the Xbox Series X/S. It has a terrific library of exclusive games at this point and it can run pretty much any PS4 game too. Along with strong performance and excellent visuals, the PS5 has one killer feature that helps it stand out from the Xbox Series X/S: the DualSense controller. The haptic feedback and adaptive triggers (i.e. varying tension levels in the L2 and R2 buttons as you pull the string on a virtual bow or drag an object) help create a feeling of immersion Xbox consoles can't quite match yet.

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Rivian’s R2 reservations are off to a hot start. On Friday, CEO RJ Scaringe posted on X that the automaker had taken more than 68,000 reservations for the SUV in less than 24 hours. Amid alarmingly weakened demand for electric vehicles, perhaps there’s a latent interest in innovative EV companies when they aren’t helmed by a conflict magnet with a fixation on baseless conspiracy theories and the supposed online “rights” of Neo-Nazis.

Rivian’s 68,000 reservations hold up well against its most high-profile competitors. It took Ford about three weeks to get 100,000 pre-orders for the F-150 Lightning. Tesla’s Cybertruck got 250,000 reservations in less than a week. To be fair, reserving a Rivian R2 only requires a $100 deposit the same as the Cybertruck and F-150 Lightning.Customers plunking down a Benjamin to hold one have no obligation to pay the remaining $44,900 (and up) when the vehicle finally arrives in 2026, and even if they intend to buy one now, that’s plenty of time to change their minds.

You could argue that — like with Tesla and Ford — Rivian chose the low deposit to build hype, knowing full well that many pre-order customers won’t follow through. But it also helps that Rivian’s event on Thursday did everything the company needed. The R2 looks “quite fetching,” as Engadget’s Lawrence Bonk pointed out. On the inside, it has sleek and subtle details like two glove boxes, fold-down rear and front seats, a slide-out cargo floor and dual scroll wheels with dynamic haptic feedback on the steering wheel. It also has a 300-mile minimum range and a $45,000 starting price, which doesn't hurt.

And, of course, the surprise “One more thing”-style reveal of the cheaper, sportier and more compact R3 and R3X could help provide a halo effect for the company when it desperately needs to build excitement around its brand. In February, Rivian announced that it would lay off 10 percent of its salaried workers, and this week, it cut 100 employees at its Illinois factory. Still, the EV market could use a new “hero.” I have no idea if Rivian or its CEO, RJ Scaringe, has potential to be the face of the industry. But Elon Musk, its current poster boy, is a lightning rod for unnecessary turmoil.

In a survey of Americans conducted by The Harris Poll late last year, 45 percent of respondents said they had a lower opinion of EVs “because of the actions of people associated with them.” (I’m pretty sure they didn’t mean Ford’s Doug Field or GM’s Mary Barra.)

Perhaps Rivian’s impressive showing reveals at least some Americans have an appetite for an EV maker that’s neither a traditional auto company nor one helmed by someone who, at times, seems more interested in behaving like a teenage contrarian than a responsible adult serving as the public face of an industry the world desperately needs to grow up — and get people excited about driving electric vehicles — as climate change begins to ravage the planet.

Chevrolet is resuming sales of the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV after pulling the car last year following reports of major software issues, as indicated by Car and Driver. The company says the malfunctions have been patched, thanks to “significant software updates.” To entice wary consumers back into the fold, Chevy has slashed prices on the vehicle. The sticker price has been reduced by $5,600 to $6,500, depending on the trim.

Here’s how that breaks down. The Blazer EV LT AWD now starts at $50,195, instead of $56,715. The RS AWD now sells for $54,595, down from the original MSRP of $60,215. Finally, the RS RWD goes for $56,170, down from $61,790. These prices all include destination charges.

Also, the 2024 Blazer EV line is eligible for that $7,500 federal tax credit. This lowers the price of the LT AWD to just $42,695 and can now be applied directly at the dealership, so buyers don’t have to wait for a rebate check. If that’s still too rich for your blood, the Blazer LT FWD EV is still slated for release later this year. Chevrolet says it’ll start “under $50,000”, though exact pricing has yet to be revealed. If Chevy follows through with that pricing promise and it qualifies for the full tax credit, we could be looking at a real budget-friendly contender in the EV space.

However, the EV Blazer line has experienced months of bad press following last year’s software malfunctions, which involved everything from drive motor control failures to glitchy and blank infotainment screens. Who knows if the price cuts will be enough for people to forget that embarrassment. GM has said that it’ll be instituting these software fixes to other EVs under its umbrella, according to The Verge. Chevrolet’s parent company also owns Cadillac, GMC and Buick.

One thing is for sure. Despite proclamations that the EV industry is going the way of the dodo, there’s still a whole lot of curious consumers out there. Manufacturer Rivian made a huge splash by announcing a trio of new vehicles this week, racking up over 68,000 preorders in under a day.

Game design is a daring and dangerous endeavor for Niklas Åkerblad, who creates under the name El Huervo. When he describes the artistic process behind ULTROS, a neon-speckled platformer set in a demonic cosmic uterus, he talks about pushing against the sharp edges of introspection and sanity, drawing from wells of creativity buried deep in his psyche. It sounds like he could’ve slipped and fallen down any of those wells at any second, never to be seen again.

“I had a pretty rigorous discipline when it came to creating the world of ULTROS,” Åkerblad told Engadget. “It involves deep meditation while working and maintaining 100 percent focus to be able to know when harmony is achieved when working with such a dense flow of shapes and colors. It is almost impossible to cerebrally analyze this process, but it is rather something you have to feel, thus any external disturbance can greatly impact the process. It is perhaps not something I recommend others do without proper experience in creating visual art.”

Niklas Åkerblad

At the same time, Åkerblad is extremely practical about the business of making games. He’s been in the independent scene for years, and he’s enjoyed incredible success as the collaborator who provided the cover art and other assets for Hotline Miami and its sequel. You know the vibe — grizzled but radiant, with the threat of violence in every other pixel. He also composed a handful of songs for those games, including “Daisuke” and “Rust,” and he went on to develop else Heart.Break(), a 3D adventure set in a digital city of hackers, artists and activists that implemented programming as a core mechanic. Else Heart.Break() came out in 2015 and was a finalist at the Independent Games Festival that year.

His latest project, ULTROS, is a 2D exploration of The Sarcophagus, a looping world in a black hole that cycles players through environments overrun by alien plant life and vicious demons. Every scene in ULTROS is packed with detail and brilliant color; the backgrounds are alive with monsters and organic machines. Streaks of black delineate the boundaries of walking paths, ceilings and platforms, contrasted against shifting rainbows of luminosity.

Hadoque

There’s a lot going on in ULTROS at any given moment, but the protagonist stands out with a glowing green helmet, vermilion cloak and an evolving arsenal of platforming gadgets. One lesson from else heartbreak() that Åkerblad fed into ULTROS was the idea that games can have way more fun with color palettes. ULTROS is purposefully packed with visual interest.

“I felt video games tend to not push the boundaries of colors so much beyond ‘green is good’ and ‘red is bad,’ and whatever metrics are used for loot tiers,” he said. “I feel that there is this misunderstanding in design that less is more, and my gut tells me it's the opposite and I worked very hard on ULTROS to prove my theory. Undoubtedly there will be those who do not agree with me, but I feel it has more to do with taste and personal or physical preferences than academic truth — if there is such a thing.”

As a cyclical Metroidvania title, ULTROS is completely different from Åkerblad’s previous projects, but it’s also undeniably El Huervo. Actually, in this case, it’s Hadoque — around 2017, Åkerblad and game director Mårten Bruggemann started building the prototype that would become ULTROS, eventually bringing in composer Oscar “Ratvader” Rydelius and Fe designer Hugo Bille. Other artists joined over the years, and they ended up calling themselves Hadoque, a loose organization of creators who could float in and out as a project called to them.

Hadoque

“We wanted our group to be associated with its own thing, so we decided on Hadoque,” Åkerblad said. “It's a cool name that looks a bit weird and it suits our vibe. Also, it allowed everyone to still have their own thing on the side and not be legally tied to anything if they wished to pursue other venues.”

El Huervo AB remains Åkerblad’s own corporate entity, useful for dealing with the bureaucratic aspects of making video games. Through El Huervo AB, Hadoque received backing in 2019 from the gaming fund Kowloon Nights, which has also supported titles like Sifu, Rollerdrome, We Are OFK, Sea of Stars, Spiritfarer and Tchia.

“El Huervo AB merely functions as a sort of bureaucratic condom, and Hadoque as a name to be used when a group of developers come together to make art as games,” Åkerblad said. “Sort of like a band name. People come and go, but the vision remains.”

ULTROS is a game about life, rebirth, aliens, monsters and peace, and it all plays out in a technicolor dreamscape of vicious creatures and gorgeous foliage. This is the palette of surreal sci-fi, to Åkerblad.

Hadoque

“The themes explored in ULTROS are of an existential and spiritual nature, and I find that surreal sci-fi is a good genre to explore these themes in, as it has a long tradition of doing so,” he said. “In this regard, Ursula K. Le Guin has been a huge inspiration. Hopefully, what we manage to evoke in players is a sense of introspection and comfort.”

Despite the amount of deep thought that he’s done about the nature of art, sci-fi and play, there’s no singular message that Åkerblad is trying to convey with ULTROS. Instead, he and the rest of the developers at Hadoque encourage players to identify their own journey as they cycle through The Sarcophagus. As Åkerblad put it:

“Please enjoy ULTROS any way you want and don't try to look for a ‘true’ interpretation, but rather find your own meaning. This goes for any art, I think, in general. Interpretation is purely subjective and I want to keep telling stories that invoke and allow this subjectivity to exist.”

ULTROS is available now on PlayStation 4, PS5, Steam and the Epic Games Store, published by Kepler Interactive.

Now might be a good time to snap up a PlayStation 5 if you've been on the fence and are particularly interested in playing Marvel's Spider-Man 2. A bundle of the console and the game is currently $50 off. The savings apply to both versions of the console, so you can snag an all-digital version of the PS5 with Spider-Man 2 for $400. If you'd prefer to have a standard edition of the console with a disc drive to perhaps watch Blu-ray movies on, the bundle will run you $450.

If you're a newcomer to the PlayStation ecosystem, Spider-Man 2 is an excellent way to get your collection of PS5 games started. It's one of our favorite games of last year and we felt it was both bigger and better than the first game in the series. If you'd prefer to play Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales before diving into the latest entry (both are great games too), you can check them out through the PlayStation Plus subscription service on the Extra and Premium tiers. However, some folks may now be joining the PlayStation club after already playing those two games on PC — I wouldn't want to wait too long for Spider-Man 2 to arrive on PC after first playing the previous entries there either.

When it comes to a modern gaming system, you can't go far wrong with the PS5. It's our pick for the best high-end gaming console, alongside the Xbox Series X/S.

It has a terrific library of exclusive games at this point and it can run pretty much any PS4 game too. Along with strong performance and excellent visuals, the PS5 has one killer feature that helps it stand out from the Xbox Series X/S: the DualSense controller. The haptic feedback and adaptive triggers (i.e. varying tension levels in the L2 and R2 buttons as you pull the string on a virtual bow or drag an object) help create a feeling of immersion Xbox consoles can't quite match yet.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

The iRobot Roomba 694 is back on sale for $180 via Amazon, which is a savings of 35 percent or $95. This isn’t the lowest price ever for the well-regarded robovac, but it’s darned close. There likely won’t be a price drop this stark until Prime Day or the holidays.

The Roomba 694 isn’t one of the company’s flagship models, but it’s still a highly efficient design that excels with standard cleaning tasks. As a matter of fact, this robovac topped our list of the best budget robot vacuums. We loved the handy mobile app that helps people plan routes, schedule cleanings and perform basic maintenance tasks. We also enjoyed the powerful suction, which makes short work of pet hair, dust and debris.

The 694 will return to the charging base on its own, which is always nice, and it runs anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes on a single charge, depending on the flooring. This is a no-frills vacuum, however, so there isn’t a mopping feature or a large debris tank. It’s also somewhat larger than many of its siblings, so it could struggle to get underneath certain items of furniture.

This is part of a larger Amazon sale on iRobot devices, with discounts on just about every model the company makes. For instance, the high-end iRobot Roomba Combo j5+ is on sale for $500, a discount of $300. This machine can both vacuum and mop, and it’ll even self-empty debris into the included container.

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Amazon has released a full trailer for the live-action Fallout series that's coming to Prime Video soon. It's our most in-depth look yet at the show and early indications suggest that the creative team has captured the distinct blend of irreverence and violence that helped Bethesda's game series become so successful.

The clip focuses on Lucy (Ella Purnell), a young woman who emerges from a fallout bunker into what used to be Los Angeles, 200 years after a nuclear apocalypse. Lucy quickly discovers that life on the surface isn't quite as cushy as staying in a luxury vault. "Practically every person I've met up here has tried to kill me," she says, seconds before we see a robot attempt to harvest her organs.

The trailer (and the show) gets a helping hand from the otherworldly charm of Walton Goggins as a pitchman for living in a fallout shelter. His character somehow survives the apocalypse and is still around two centuries later, carving out a life as a mutated bounty hunter called The Ghoul. The trailer has a ton of other references to the games for fans to drink in.

Amazon also took the opportunity to reveal that Fallout will arrive on Prime Video on April 11, one day earlier than previously announced. You won't have to wait a week between episodes either, as the entire season will drop at once.