Mophie’s Juice Pack, once practically synonymous with smartphone battery cases, is making a comeback at CES 2024. With Apple having discontinued its MagSafe Battery Pack as part of its purge of Lightning accessories, the Zagg-owned Mophie has seized the moment to reintroduce the Juice Pack for the first time in five years. The new version of the battery case is designed for the iPhone 15 series (with the notable exception of the 15 Plus).

The battery capacity in the new Juice Pack varies depending on which iPhone model you have. The iPhone 15 version has a 2,400mAh battery, the iPhone 15 Pro model moves to 2,600mAh and the iPhone 15 Pro Max variant is 2,800mAh. The case supports passthrough charging and will prioritize the iPhone when both need power.

Mophie’s iPhone 15 and 15 Pro cases have identical external dimensions (despite the phones’ measurements being different) at 161 x 75 x 17.54mm (6.3 x 3 x 0.7 inch). Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 Pro Max version measures 174 x 81.1 x 17.12 mm (6.85 x 3.2 x 0.67 inch). The case is made from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and has slightly raised corners to help with drop protection.

The Mophie Juice Pack for iPhone 15 series costs $99.95. The battery case will be available for pre-order in late February from Mophie’s website.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

There are earbuds aplenty at CES 2024 and today Sennheiser revealed its two latest models in Las Vegas. The company has updated its flagship Momentum line with a new premium model, the Momentum True Wireless 4, while also debuting its first tech-filled set of fitness earbuds in the Momentum Sport. Both sit at the top end of the company's lineup and will cost you $300 or more when they arrive later this year. 

Sennheiser says it took over three years of work to build the Momentum Sport, combining fitness tech with its trademark sound quality. Inside, a photoplethysmography (PPG) heart rate sensor and a body temperature sensor can send workout biometrics to apps like Apple Health, Garmin Connect, Strava, Peloton and Polar Flow. The earbuds only send body temp info to that last app though. Sennheiser says the Momentum Sport marks the first time ever that a non-Polar product will be able to leverage the data analytics of Flow for real-time analytics. What's more, the Momentum Sport's stats work with the Polar Vantage V3 watch and you can have training audio (Smart Coaching) sent from the company's app to the earbuds. 

The company did a live demo of the Momentum Sport earbuds with the Vantage V3 watch and the Polar app. Someone rode a Peloton and sent live biometrics to the app in real time. The integration is seamless, as you would expect across a smartwatch and app from a company worked closely with to develop these wireless earbuds. The team-up means Sennheiser didn't have to develop its own fitness app to make the most of the Momentum Sport's sensors. 

Sennheiser explains that it created an all-new 10mm transducer for the Momentum Sport, aiming for the type of "vivid sound and impressive bass" most people desire for workouts. The company also included an acoustic relief channel that relieves the occlusion effect or feeling that your ears are plugged and stressed with pressure. Sennheiser says that design element also reduces breathing noise, footstep thunder and other body noises that could be distracting during a session. 

The Momentum Sport has a semi-open design that lets a bit of your surroundings in naturally, but you can also opt for transparency mode to stay fully in tune. There's also active noise cancellation (ANC) when you need to focus and an anti-wind mode to combat the breeze when you're outdoors. Sennheiser manages an IP55 rating for the earbuds to withstand moisture and dust, while also using a shock-proof construction and clog resistant eartips so any wax buildup won't be a problem. The charging case is IP54 rated itself and offers wireless charging. 

Sennheiser promises up to six hours of battery life on the Momentum Sport, but doesn't specify if that's with ANC on or off. There are three additional charges in the case and 10 minutes of charging can give you 45 minutes of use. Of course, these earbuds also work with the company's Smart Control app for tweaking the sound profile and a variety of settings and there's a collection of ear tips and fins to find the ideal fit.

The Momentum Sport will be available on April 9 for $330 (€330) in black, green and graphite color options. 

Sennheiser

The Momentum True Wireless 4 is the follow up to the company's Momentum 3 earbuds that debuted in 2022. Sennheiser says it added over a dozen upgrades to this model, including Qualcomm's S5 Sound Gen 2 platform with ​Snapdragon Sound in addition to support for Bluetooth 5.4, aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive Audio, LE Audio, LC3, Auracast and more. A six-microphone setup improves call quality and ANC performance, according to the company, while an adaptive EQ monitors sound input consistent audio across both musical styles and content types. Sound Personalization, Sound Zone and Sound Check features are available here once again through the Smart Control app. 

Sennheiser says it updated the design of the ear tip and nozzle to better protect against ear wax. It also includes a "comprehensive" fit kit that offers a smattering of ear tips and fins, along with a fit test in its app, to ensure that you're not sacrificing performance with the wrong components. In terms of the sound quality, the company promises "evolved tuning," with "smoother treble response, extensive bass and effortless midrange." Sennheiser has consistently built some of the best wireless earbuds in terms of overall sound for years, so we have every reason to believe these claims. 

The Momentum True Wireless 4 offers up to seven and a half hours of battery life on the buds (ANC not specified) with another three full charges in the wireless charging case. What's more, the company explains that it upgraded battery performance over time with a battery protection mode that optimizes charging cycles. 

The Momentum True Wireless 4 will be available to preorder in black copper, metallic silver and graphite on February 15 for $300 (€300), $50 more then the previous model cost at launch. The earbuds will begin shipping on March 1. 

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

Sennheiser just introduced its more affordable Accentum noise-canceling headphones in September, aiming to offer some of the best parts of its pricier Momentum cans at a lower price. At CES 2024, the company is already adding a second Accentum model, the Accentum Plus, that carries much of what made last year's installment an attractive alternative to flagship headphones. Sennheiser has spilled all of the details in Las Vegas, and thankfully, the 50-hour battery life remains from the previous version. 

While the design is still inspired by the Momentum line, the key difference on the Accentum Plus is the addition of touch controls. Gone are some of the physical buttons that adorned the 2023 model, for better or worse depending on your preference for sorting playback and calls. Taps and swipes now handle media, volume and transparency mode. The company has also added automatic pausing for added convenience. 

Most of the DNA of the Accentum remains, including the 50-hour battery life, 37mm drivers, audio customization and multipoint connectivity. Where the first version had hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC), this model has hybrid adaptive ANC than automatically adjusts to changes in your surroundings. The fast-charge feature on this model gives you five hours of use in just 10 minutes. 

The Accentum Plus will be available on February 20 for $230 (€230). That's $50 more than the regular version, which makes them a bit less attractive compared to the 2023 model. They'll be available in black and white color options at launch. 

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

CES is the type of show where one is likely to come across all sorts of dorky, Geordi La Forge-esque smart glasses, but some do manage to include some practical features — like ViXion's auto-focus eyewear. The company, which is a spin-off of Japanese optics specialist Hoya, showed off its the ViXion01, at CES Unveiled 2024, and it's aimed at people who struggle to focus their eyes due to strain, old age or the time of day. After a quick demo, I could also see myself benefitting from it on a daily basis. I even dig the futuristic look on these glasses, which are the work of Japanese design firm, Nendo.

At the heart of the ViXion01 is its front-facing ToF (time of flight) sensor, which lets it measure the distance of your target object and quickly adjust its lenses on the go. The basic concept is similar to a University of Utah prototype that popped up at CES 2017, but ViXion managed to miniaturize and even begin to commercialize it. According to project director Toshiharu Uchiumi, his device will do wonders to enhance fine details in applications like model kit assembly or reading small print.

Photo by Richard Lai / Engadget

Initial setup was straightforward. I had to first manually slide both lenses to get a single centered image, then I moved on to the diopter adjustment dial on the right to bring each of my eyeballs into focus, which worked fine despite my myopia of around -4.5 D (you can also set this up in the app via Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity). While the ViXion01 weighs 50 grams, the main circuitry and battery housed on the right made an apparent imbalance, but I didn't have enough time to tweak my fit on the bendable left arm and nose pads.

Otherwise, it was a surprisingly pleasant experience, visual-wise. My eyesight was sharper than usual for both far and close distances (down to two inches), and I didn't feel as much eyestrain as I would usually get when looking at things up close — seemingly ideal for when I work on my Gundam models. The automatic switch between different focal distances felt swift and seamless as well.

There are some caveats, though. First off, ViXion stresses that this is not a medical device, and that you should avoid wearing it while driving or exercising — makes sense given the limited field of view due to the black rings housing the lenses. With that in mind, the 10-hour battery life should be sufficient, and then it's a three-hour charge via USB-C. It's also not waterproof, though it is rated with IPX3 water resistance, which can probably tolerate light rain or sweat.

The ViXion01 is now available for pre-order in Japan for 99,000 yen (about $690), with shipments expected to begin in February. There's no plan on an overseas launch just yet, but if that ever happens, chances are ViXion will need to come up with a wider version, anyway.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

LG has been trickling in news about its latest product drops at CES this year, with some first-of-its-kind headliners including its wireless transparent OLED TV, an ultra portable 4K projector and a friendly looking two-legged robot that can roam your house and watch your pets.

The 77-inch signature OLED T has turned heads with its unique "transparent" look and wireless audio and video capabilities. It's also powered by a processor that improves overall display performance and visuals by 70 percent compared to the precious gen chip, according to LG. Its OLED TV lineup is also getting bigger with the expected launch of the LG Signature OLED M4 and OLED G4 TVs. Both have Alpha 11 AI processor chips embedded in their design which are meant to up their display properties. The AI chips promise to reduce visual blurring and improve color contrasts.

There are some other big developments worth getting excited about in its display offerings — but in the gaming sphere. LG announced a 27-inch QHD OLED gaming display with an extremely fast 480Hz refresh rate.

NVIDIA was one of the first big names to hold a keynote at CES 2024. If you don't have time to watch the full video but still want to find out how NVIDIA revealed its news, you can watch our supercut, which boils the event down to just under 10 minutes.

As expected, the company refreshed its lineup of graphics cards with RTX 40 Super GPUs that are slated to deliver performance boosts at lower prices. The RTX 4080 Super ($999) and RTX 4070 Ti Super ($799) are set to go on sale later this month and are said to be faster than their predecessors.

NVIDIA hasn't divulged the full specs of the latest GPUs yet, but the RTX 4070 Ti Super will have 16GB of memory, compared with the previous model's 12GB. With DLSS enabled, the 4080 Super is said to deliver twice the performance of the 3080 Ti. NVIDIA will also offer a mid-range RTX 4070 Super GPU, which will cost $599 and have 20 percent more cores than the previous version.

Given the current landscape, NVIDIA had a number of AI products to discuss too. For one thing, it's partnering with Getty Images to offer a text-to-image generative AI service that appears to include intuitive editing tools. The keynote took a look at some of NVIDIA's robotics work as well.

NVIDIA also announced several GeForce Now updates. The service will soon support G-Sync as well as day passes, which provide 24 hours of access to the paid tiers. More notable games such as Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV are on the way to the platform, which will soon open for business in Japan.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

The Peregrine spacecraft has experienced an ‘anomaly’ that could endanger its planned moon landing, as reported by the BBC. Astrobotic, the private company behind the project, says this anomaly prevents the spacecraft from pointing its solar panels at the sun. In other words, the vehicle can’t charge its battery. Without power, the planned lunar landing for February might have to be canceled.

Astrobotic engineers are working the problem and will provide updates as they become available. The launch itself went off without a hitch early this morning, as the issue popped up during post-launch checks after communications had been established. The team behind the launch suggest the most likely cause of the anomaly is a problem with propulsion. Unfortunately, the engineers have a limited window of time to troubleshoot and fix the issue, as the spacecraft’s battery is currently “reaching operationally low levels.” There was a short comms breakdown, but it looks like that issue has been resolved.

The company has also stated that the propulsion issue led to a "critical loss of propellant." Astrobotic has planned for a wide variety of fault scenarios and could get everything squared away before too long, but it's looking less likely by the minute. The company says it's still trying to stabilize the propellant loss, but is investigating "alternative mission profiles" and trying to save as much science and data as it can. 

Peregrine is supposed to be the first American lunar lander to visit the moon in over 50 years. The United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket carried the craft out of the atmosphere. If it manages to touch down on the moon, Peregrine will become the first commercial craft to land on any planetary body outside of Earth.

Though not directly affiliated with NASA, the Peregrine launch is part of the space agency’s new Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. To that end, it’s supposed to deliver five payloads to the moon for NASA to help prepare for the upcoming Artemis missions. It’s also carrying a number of payloads for commercial clients at a cost of $1.2 million per kilogram. This cargo includes everything from mini rovers and science instruments to art collections and physical representations of cryptocurrency.

There’s also human remains on board, including the DNA of science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke. Peregrine is scheduled to land on the moon’s nearside, which faces Earth, on February 23, though that timeframe could change or disappear altogether. Ahead of the launch, CLPS Program Manager Chris Culbert acknowledged that a lunar landing was not guaranteed, stating that “landing on the moon is extremely difficult.”

TCL is going for different with its new pro tablet, revealed at CES 2024. There aren’t that many premium tablets beyond the annual updates from Apple and Samsung, and TCL plans to make its new 14- and 10-inch slates stand out with their display tech, featuring its next-gen NXTPAPER 3.0. It's aimed at striking a middle-ground between e-readers and tablets. It’s not about them being sharper or faster, but gentler on our very human eyes.

The TCL NXTPAPER 14 Pro’s display features heavily focus on eye comfort, with a new VersaView interface that can switch between a black-and-white reader mode and the standard tablet views. The 14-inch 2.8K display (2,880 x 1,800) features the company’s new NXTPAPER 3.0, aimed at better reflecting, literally, how the human eye reads natural paper, but on a digital display. NXTPAPER is TCL’s display tech that tries to offer a tablet experience with a paper-like reading surface. We’ve written about earlier iterations found in devices like the NXTPAPER 11 tablet and even some of its recent budget smartphones.

The company says its next family of phones – no fewer than seven, including the TCL 50 XL NTXPAPER 5G and 50 XE NTXPAPER 5G – will also feature NXTPAPER 3.0 technology. The NXTPAPER 14 Pro is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 8020 chip, with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is fine if unremarkable. It’s truly all about the screen.

Photo by Mat Smith/Engadget

TCL says its NXTPAPER series continues to filter out up to 61 percent of blue light to ease the effects on users’ eyes. Version 3.0 is brighter, hitting 700 nits on the 14-inch matte display. A new Circularly Polarized Light (CPL) screen should also light up text more naturally, while being easier to read in sunlight. TCL claims this creates a reading experience closer to reading books in natural light. There’s also DC dimming, which should also lower flickering effects experienced on some lower-refresh rate screens. In tablet mode, the NXTPAPER 14 Pro can reach up to 120Hz refresh rates, and the new CPL tech also means it maintains legibility even if you’re wearing polarizing lenses.

Meanwhile, the Tab 10 NXTPAPER 5G packs some of the same display technology (NXTPAPER 3.0) but on a 10.4-inch, 2K (2,560 x 1,440) screen. And no dedicated viewing mode button. It does, however, feature 5G support.

To really make sure you get it, TCL also created an Eye Health Assistant to nag remind you to reduce screen brightness or perhaps not stare at your new tablet at midnight. The NXTPAPER 14 Pro also has a dedicated physical button for switching between three different viewing modes. The tablet’s VersaView UI means users can switch between a standard tablet mode and NXTPAPER mode.

Photo by Mat Smith/Engadget

The latter is an e-ink style (but not e-ink!) monochrome mode, which rarely features on devices headed to the US. However, this isn’t just the tablet processing the Android interface into grayscale. The interface includes stripped-down icons, like line drawings, that can still be differentiated from each other and a lot more blank space and white backdrops for reading ease. It feels like a concentration mode, which I appreciated. You’ve probably heard of the ‘hack’ of turning your smartphone system into black-and-white to make everything less compelling. This simplifies everything 2even more aggressively while ensuring that some content, like video, can still be played in full color. Swiping around the tablet, or using TCL’s stylus on the screen in both modes was fluid, and refresh rates seem much improved from the earliest NXTPAPER hardware

There are no prices for either of TCL’s new tablets yet, but the company has confirmed that the NXTPAPER 14 Pro will be coming to the US in early 2024. In the meantime, these are our reigning picks for the best tablets you can currently buy.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

Until now, TCL has perhaps been best known not for the quality of its TVs, but its reasonable prices. This week at CES 2024, however, the company seems like it’s trying to reintroduce itself as the sort of premium player that can could compete with the likes of Samsung, LG and Sony. The brand just debuted a new 115-inch set, the 115QM89, that it claims is the largest MiniLED TV with Quantum Dot technology.

The TV is an offshoot from TCL’s broader QM8 line, which includes premium TVs in the 65- to 98-inch range. The new set brings over some features from TCL’s previous QM8 TVs, but it adds a 6.2.2 channel speaker system that delivers a more surround sound-like home theater experience. The mega-sized screen also has a TCL AIPQ ULTRA processor that allows it to deliver higher-quality and crisper images than any of TCL’s previous TVs were capable of. Notably, too, the 115QM89 has 20,000 dimming zones, which is important for a bigger display so that shadows and highlights appear more defined, making moody movies and TV shows appear more vividly on screen.

Aside from that showstopper 115-inch TV, TCL the company debuted the premium Q6-Pro in 50- to 85-inch screen sizes, with improved local dimming for a 33 percent boost in display brightness at 600 peak nits. It also added the QM7, another Mini LED device to its lineup — which offers better processing speeds and display brightness as well as overall image quality.

In TCL’s lower-end to midrange S line, the company announced the new S5, which offers 4K UHD resolution in 43- to 85-inch screen sizes. The company also says these TVs will be 25 percent brighter than the previous generation and will offer improved color depiction thanks to that new TCL AIPQ processor. Additionally, the S5 will include HDR PRO+ along with Dolby Vision for overall improved image quality.

Lastly, TCL introduced some new S and Q class soundbars. At the top of the line, these include the S55H, a new 2.1 Channel Dolby Atmos soundbar, and the Q85H, which offers 7.1.4 Channel Dolby Atmos sound and can wirelessly connect to rear speakers for what TCL describes as a more immersive sound experience.

AMD gave the first big keynote of many to come for CES 2024 and revealed a couple of interesting products arriving this year. Chief among those is the $329 Radeon RX 7600 XT GPU designed for entry-level gaming, going on sale on January 24th. The main takeaway is that it's designed for 1440p gaming and should be a solidly more capable GPU than the RX 7600, though we didn't see any benchmarks against its main rival, NVIDIA's RTX 4060 8GB. 

The other big news is AI acceleration for the company's Ryzen 8000G desktop processors. Those chips are aimed at folks trying to build capable systems on a budget, with the fastest Ryzen 7 $329 8700G model running eight cores between 4.2GHz and 5.1Ghz, while carrying Radeon 780M graphics. 

The new NPU (neural processing unit) will speed up AI tasks without hitting your CPU or GPU, enabling features like Windows Studio Effects which can blur your background during video chats, or media editing in Adobe and Blackmagic's DaVinci software. 

There's a fair bit of information, but we've made it easier by trimming the announcement down to just 7 minutes, while leaving out filler and extra details — so you should be able to catch up over a cup of coffee. 

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.