The best non-Apple smartwatch has long been Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series, thanks to its comprehensive health and fitness tracking, intuitive interface and comfortable, pleasant design. For a product that’s so mature, it’s hard to imagine what else Samsung can improve upon, which might explain why the Galaxy Watch 5 is very similar to its predecessor. It even costs the same $280 to start.

Most of the changes here aren’t immediately visible, like a more durable build, an inactive temperature sensor and better battery life. Samsung also introduced a new Pro model for $450 that comes in a 45mm titanium case, uses a stronger screen and has a large 590mAh battery, promising a runtime of up to 80 hours. Still, the fact that the tweaks are small doesn’t mean the Galaxy Watch 5 can’t still be the best smartwatch around for Android users.

Design

Like I said, the Galaxy Watch 5 looks just like its predecessor, and comes in the same 40mm and 44mm sizes as before. Both are a few grams (or less than a quarter ounce) heavier than the previous generation, but it’s barely noticeable. The lack of change isn’t a bad thing — the Galaxy Watch’s round face and minimalist design make it look more like a conventional timepiece than the Apple Watch.

My 40mm review unit has a silver case, though black and pink gold are also available, while the 44mm model is available in silver, black or sapphire. I also received a comfortable silicon purple strap, which is more inoffensive than lust-inducingly pretty. If you want something nicer, you can easily swap out the bands.

It’s not immediately obvious, but Samsung used a more durable Sapphire Crystal glass for the Watch 5’s screen. I have yet to destroy a smartwatch even during my wilder gym sessions, but I was grateful for the reinforced materials during a workout recently. I had forgotten about the Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro on my wrists, and flipped a pair of 26-pound kettlebell onto the back of my arms. Thankfully, neither device was scratched, and I continued to rack the weights as I powered through two more sets. To be fair, I’ve also done this same exercise with the Apple Watch and haven’t damaged it either.

Like its predecessors, the Watch 5 is also rated IP68, 5 ATM and MIL-STD-810H for durability (water, dust and pressure resistance). I wore it swimming recently, and though it wasn’t as accurate as the Apple Watch at tracking laps, it at least survived. Those who liked Samsung’s bezel-based navigation will appreciate the touch-sensitive ring framing the screen that you can use to scroll through the Wear OS interface, as well as the mild haptic feedback as you whizz past apps. I still prefer a physical rotating bezel, but I get that not everyone wants the added bulk.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

One of the main differences Samsung brought to the Watch 5 is the refined curvature of its underside. This is meant to keep the watch in contact with more of your wrist so its sensors can deliver more reliable readings. Unfortunately, I found this kind of uncomfortable. Both the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro would leave round indentation marks on my wrist after I removed them, no matter how much I adjusted the fit.

This was only mildly annoying, and I put up with it because I thought I was getting more reliable scans in return. But I realized that the Galaxy Watch 5 was consistently giving me almost exactly the same readings as the Apple Watch Series 7 that I wore on my other wrist, and the latter never felt as tight. Another reviewer I spoke to said they found the Watch 5 very comfortable, though, so this might be a matter of personal preference.

Sleep-tracking and coaching

This also applies to wearing a watch to bed — some people don’t mind it, others hate it. I belong in the latter camp, but still wore the Galaxy Watch and Apple Watch to bed to compare their sleep-tracking tools. As I’ve said before, Apple’s system is atrocious. You have to either set a bedtime or enable your Sleep focus before the device can tell you’re asleep. Even then, it doesn’t really actually know if you’re awake or passed out. Samsung can figure it out all on its own.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

One night, I wore both watches to bed, making sure to note the time right before I flipped over and closed my eyes. The Galaxy Watch 5 accurately noted that I fell asleep around 1:30am and woke up at 4am, while Apple simply told me I got a full night’s rest from 11pm to 9am.

I could go on about how infuriating it is that Apple can’t figure out something that Fitbit and Samsung managed to years ago, but this isn’t a watchOS review. The Galaxy Watch 5, like Fitbit’s watches, will also use your heart rate information to gauge what sleep zones you hit and tell you how much time you’ve spent in REM, Deep or Light sleep. Meanwhile, that feature is slated to arrive with the upcoming watchOS 9.

Sleep-tracking isn’t new to the Galaxy Watch 5, but Samsung did add a sleep coaching tool that’s meant to guide you towards better rest. However, it requires 5 weeknights and 2 weekend nights of data before any tips are generated, and I haven’t logged that many hours yet. Plus, my data would be skewed anyway — any time I wear any accessory to bed, I sleep horribly. This might be an insightful feature, I just can’t tell you right now.

Another thing I can’t evaluate at the moment is whether the skin temperature sensor that Samsung introduced on the Galaxy Watch 5 will be useful, since it’s not currently doing anything. There are plenty of potentially useful applications for that data, though, so it’ll be interesting to see what the company is able to do with this.

Health and activity tracking

Samsung has also long been better than most Wear OS watches at monitoring your activity, and the Watch 5 is no different. When I was stuck at my desk for hours on end pounding out this review, it reminded me to get up and move. I have always appreciated that in addition to walking, Galaxy Watches would also suggest movements you could perform at your desk, like torso twists or stretches. Even better, the device would be able to detect exactly how many twists you’ve done — something the Apple Watch and other Wear OS devices don’t do.

In general, Samsung’s system is as proactive as ever. When I got up to walk around after the Watch 5 prompted me to, the device buzzed after I took about a dozen steps to congratulate me for moving. That’s a lot less than Apple’s demands, which can make me feel like I need to pace my room like I’m going mad.

Galaxy Watches are also quicker to recognize when you’ve been moving and will ask if you want to record your walk. The flip side of that is they’re also hyperactive at noticing when you’ve paused and will not only suspend tracking, but will buzz you to let you know it’s not counting the time while you’ve stopped. Chill, Samsung!

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Performance and in use

Besides the sleep coaching feature, not much is different between the Watch 4 and Watch 5 when it comes to software. You’ll still be able to get a body composition reading using the built-in body-impedance analysis (BIA) tool, take ECG scans, reply to messages, control music playback and more. The Watch 5 also uses the same 5nm Exynos processor as the older model, and for the most part was just as responsive. I only really had to wait when creating new watch faces or taking a body fat scan — otherwise, everything happened the instant I tapped the screen.

Speaking of, if you were wondering about the accuracy of the Watch 5's body composition measurements — it's surprisingly close to results from more sophisticated systems. I recently tried an InBody scan, which is a more advanced version of BIA like that on the Watch 5. Samsung's readings were just about two percent off on body fat percent and less than a pound under my skeletal muscle as calculated by the InBody version. 

I actually forgot that the Watch 5 is a Wear OS device, because the its software still feels so much like Tizen. Besides swiping up and down from the home screen to pull up all apps and settings, the majority of the side-swiping interface feels no different from Samsung’s original OS.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

One thing I wish Wear OS / Tizen did better was displaying workout information. Apple uses a large, bold font to show how long you’ve been working out, as well as your heart rate and calories burned. Samsung displays similar information, but using a font that’s a lot thinner and smaller. When my Watch 5’s screen was locked during my swim and I couldn’t tap it, I couldn’t see any info at all and had to unlock water mode mid-lap to bump up brightness to the max. Even then, it was only slightly better.

It’s also worth noting that because they’re typically secondary devices, a significant part of the smartwatch experience is interacting with its companion apps on your phone. In this case, you’ll need to install the Galaxy Wearable app to set up your Watch 5, and Samsung Health to see details about your workouts and sleep sessions. In general, these apps were easy to use and navigate and I found settings or health summaries quickly. Samsung also shows what cardio zones you were in during a workout or sleep session, and this information is only coming to watchOS 9 when it’s publicly available later this year.

Battery life and recharging

I wore the Apple Watch Series 7 and Galaxy Watch 5 on each wrist for a week and every day they delivered almost exactly the same runtime, though with one caveat. Both devices clocked slightly over a day before conking out, although enabling the Always On Display (AOD) caused the Watch 5 to drain noticeably faster. One night, the Samsung watch dropped to 4 percent by 7:21pm, while the Apple Watch was still holding strong at 38 percent despite also having AOD on.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Both watches recharged quickly, so I never had to wait longer than 30 minutes to get enough juice for half a day’s wear. When I wore the watches overnight to test sleep tracking, the Apple Watch used less power than the Galaxy Watch, but the latter actually delivers better results, which seems like a worthwhile tradeoff.

The Pro difference

The Pro model of the Watch 5 typically lasted a few hours longer than the 40mm model with its Always On Display enabled, and I got close to a day more juice with the setting turned off. Though Samsung markets the Watch 5 Pro as having been designed “for the great outdoors,” there’s really little about it that makes it feel that way.

The Pro is noticeably bulkier, too. I have fairly petite wrists, so the 45mm titanium case felt overwhelming. It also has a chunky frame around the screen where a rotating bezel might sit, although there is no mechanical spinner here. While the D-buckle closure makes the Pro fit more securely, it adds to the general heft.

That might not be a bad thing if you don’t mind oversized watches, and the bonus is that the Watch 5 Pro feels strong enough to withstand being smashed against boulders. I had it higher up my forearm when racking kettlebells like I mentioned earlier, so the weights actually landed on its screen. Despite being smacked by 26 pounds of metal, the Watch 5 Pro survived without a scratch, and I continued to run through my reps without much concern. The stronger Sapphire Crystal glass that Samsung uses here definitely held up, at least during my testing.

The other feature differentiating the Pro from the regular Watch 5 is its support for the GPX route format for workouts like hiking and cycling. You’ll have to go into the Samsung Health app on your phone to pick a previous route and export it as a GPX file, go into Hiking or Cycling and import that information. Then, from the Watch 5 Pro, you can select one of the routes you loaded under one of those exercises to start the same journey, and the device will show you turn by turn directions.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

It’s a little tricky to set up, but potentially helpful for those who are in a new place and want to try out a local route by downloading GPX files from databases. Samsung also added a Track Back feature that will take you home the way you came and it’s only available for hiking or cycling for now.

Wrap-up

Even though most of the changes Samsung brought to the Watch 5 line are minimal, the fact remains that for Android users, this is the best smartwatch around. I might not like the refined curvature of the underside, but it does make for more reliable sensor readings. The Watch 5 Pro is also a little bulky for my taste and the only real improvement it offers over the regular model (aside from size and durability) is a bit more battery life.

Still, thanks to its well-rounded and capable health and fitness tracking tools, the Watch 5 is one of the best smartwatches around.

This year’s RoboCup symposium held in Bangkok, Thailand marks the 25th anniversary of the event, an international competition dedicated to the advancement of robotic and artificial intelligence technologies. The original goal of the event was to get the state of robotics in robust enough shape that one might field a team of robotic soccer players capable of beating a World Cup champion (human) team by 2050 – but a lot has changed since 1997.

RoboCup

Both the event and its mechanical entrants have evolved by leaps and bounds in the intervening years. The number of teams participating has ballooned tenfold since the inaugural event, from 38 to more than 300, with competitors now coming from more than 40 nations worldwide. And rather than fall down stairs, today’s cutting-edge humanoid constructs are backflipping off them.

“We think of [the competition] as a grand challenge akin to the Apollo missions that sought to land a person on the moon,” Dr. Peter Stone, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin and Executive Director of Sony AI America, told Engadget via email. “In both cases, one might reasonably ask, why is it worthwhile to try to achieve such a goal? What do we gain by landing a person on the moon? What do we gain by creating superhuman soccer playing robots?”

“In the case of the Apollo mission, there were several spin-off technologies in areas such as remote telemetry, body monitoring, breathing apparatuses, fabric structures, communications, and food packaging,” he continued. ”In the case of RoboCup, there have been several start-up companies founded by RoboCup participants using RoboCup technologies, most prominently Kiva Systems which became Amazon Robotics.”

“This vision inspired my early research on AI planning and machine learning in multiagent systems,” Stone wrote in a 2021 Sony AI blog, “and has continued to inspire my research and that of my students on these areas and robot learning throughout the years.”

The ideas that led to the RoboCup — can you use a soccer competition to promote robotics and AI research — had been percolating in the academic space since the early 1990s, according to RoboCup, though it wasn't until 1995’s International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence that the official groundwork for a RoboCup competition was laid. Following a requisite two-year gap for teams to sort funding and training, Nagoya, Japan hosted the first event with more than 5,000 spectators in attendance.

Today, teams can compete in both simulated and physical soccer matches using an array of humanoid robots — sorted into divisions by size, capability, and pedalness — as well as pit their robotic first responders against the Cup’s hazard-strewn disaster courses, best one another at robo-buttling in the @Home competition, and devise the most efficient warehouse floor operation in Industry. There’s even a dedicated league for junior roboticists that spans the fields of soccer, search and rescue, and on-stage performance.

“One of the most important scientific contributions of RoboCup has been to demonstrate how competitions can drive research and also provide a way of objectively benchmarking different technologies,” Dr. Claude Sammut, Head of the Artificial Intelligence Research Group at the University of New South Wales and Deputy Director of the iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research, told Engadget.

Sammut notes RoboCup Rescue as one valuable benchmarking example. The competition is supported, in part, by the US National Institute for Standard and Technology (NIST). “The arena uses the test methods developed by NIST to measure the performance of robots for disaster recovery and ordnance disposal. Each year, the test methods are updated to reflect real-world experience, so teams are encouraged to extend the capabilities of their robots to handle increasingly complex tasks.”

Training robots to play soccer “is a great problem to work on because it needs progress across most areas of AI and robotics (and it’s fun and motivating for students),” Sammut said, but learning that game won’t teach robots all they need to know about navigating in the wider world. The Cup’s Rescue course requires the robot to overcome unknown terrain to extract victims while @Home demands robust human-robot interaction and planning skills. “Humans working with robots is an important goal, so introducing domestic service robots pushes us in that direction,” he said.

That skill development has kept apace with the field’s steady stream of hardware advancements. Sammut points to “the massive increases in performance of low cost, low power CPUs and GPUs” to handle a greater degree of processing onboard, as well as the precipitous price drop of sensory equipment. “The first depth camera we bought for our rescue robots in 2006 cost €10,000. Now you can buy much better ones for a few hundred dollars and your iPhone and iPad have them built in.”

That said, even with a quarter century of technological advancements, today’s RoboCup competitors more closely resemble old Asimo than they do Sonny. Matches aren’t so much fast moving spectacles of mechanical might and sport prowess as they are watching a pair of toddering automatons shuffle after a ball while their developers trail behind them, ready to intervene in the event of a misstep or stumble.

“Motors and batteries have improved somewhat but they need further development to be able to get better speed, agility and lifetime,” Sammut conceded. “Soft, light but strong materials would also make the robots safer to be around. I wouldn't want to be on the field with the current large humanoid robots because a tackle would really hurt!”

Anker's Soundcore brand has built a reputation for delivering audio devices with a solid blend of sound quality and features for a reasonable price. Its latest active noise canceling (ANC) headphones and earbuds may fit that ethos, though we haven't yet tried them to determine how good they sound.

The Space Q45 headphones cost $150 and include a four-microphone hybrid ANC system. Soundcore claims this can reduce noise by up to 98 percent. It says the headphones have an adaptive noise canceling feature that adjusts the ANC level based on ambient sound. There's a passthrough mode too.

Soundcore

The brand says the headphones have a battery life of a whopping 50 hours with ANC on and 65 hours with the feature turned off. Thanks to fast charging, you'll get up to four hours of playtime after just five minutes of charging. You'll also be able to connect the Q45 to two devices simultaneously. In addition, Soundcore says the headphones support high-resolution audio even in wireless mode. The Q45 is available in black today, while white and navy blue variants will arrive later this year.

Meanwhile, the Space A40 earbuds are also said to reduce noise by up to 98 percent. They have a one-touch transparency mode, adaptive noise cancellation and wireless high-res audio, according to Soundcore. A feature called Hear ID Sound is designed to analyze how you hear music to create a sound profile tuned for your ears.

The A40 is 25 percent smaller than Soundcore's previous-gen earbuds, though the brand still packed in 10mm drivers that deliver "pumping bass" along with "rich middle and crisp trebles." You'll get up to 10 hours of playtime on a single charge, Soundcore claims, with the charging case providing another 40 hours of playback. Charging for 10 minutes could get you up to four hours of playtime. Other features include the option to connect to two devices at once, IPX4 waterproofing and wireless charging. The Space A40 costs $100 and is available in black, white and navy blue starting today.

Soundcore

DJI has launched a new cinematic drone called Avata, which was made to work with the new DJI Goggles 2 video headset. While it's in the same category as the brand's previous first-person view (FPV) cinematic model, it takes on a more usual "cinewhoop" form factor with prop guards protecting its quad propellers. Since it's a cinewhoop, the Avata was designed to have the speed and agility of racers but with the stabilization technology needed to be able to capture smooth and vivid footage. 

It can hover, accelerate like a racer and zoom in and out of tight spaces while shooting videos, and its battery can last for up to 18 minutes before needing a recharge. The Avata is equipped with a stabilized camera that has a 1/1.7-inch CMOS sensor with 48 million effective pixels, an f/2.8 aperture and an ultra wide-angle lens. That camera is capable of shooting 4K videos in 60fps and 2.7K videos in 50, 60, 100 or 120 fps. And users can shoot quite a bit of footage before worrying about space, since it has 20GB of internal storage.

While it can be controlled using the existing DJI FPV Remote Controller 2 and the DJI FPV Goggles V2, it was designed to be used with the company's newer models. DJI Goggles 2 is the brand's next-gen video headset with a clearer micro-OLED screen than its predecessor and an adjustable diopter, so that people who wear glasses wouldn't need them while using the device. It can wirelessly stream the drone's live footage from the user's phone or computer for an immersive first-person viewing experience. Meanwhile, the DJI Motion Controller gives pilots the power to perform complex flight maneuvers with one hand. 

The DJI Avata is available starting today from the company's website and various retailers. On its own, the drone costs €579, £499 or $629, while a set with the DJI Goggles 2 and a DJI Motion Controller costs €1,429, £1,229 or $1,388.

DJI

HP's work PCs typically focus more on performance than clever features, but you can't accuse it of playing it safe this time around. The company has unveiled a pair of computers that each have their share of tricks for remote workers. To start, HP has introduced the first Folio hybrid in its Dragonfly line, the Dragonfly Folio G3. As with earlier Folios, you can pull the 13.5-inch screen forward to convert the machine from a laptop to a presentation device or tablet. Don't expect the Snapdragon chip from the Elite Folio, though — this is a conventionally-powered PC with a 12th-gen Intel Core i5 or i7, up to 32GB of RAM and a new cooling system that promises to maximize performance without extra bulk.

The 3.1lb design is also thoroughly up to date. You can choose between either a 1,920 x 1,280 LCD or a 3,000 x 2,000 OLED panel. There's no slot for the stylus, alas, but you can magnetically attach and charge the pen on the side like you can with some recent iPads. You'll find a pair of Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports plus the usual audio jack, and optional 5G can keep you online away from WiFi. Storage starts with a 256GB SSD and scales up to 2TB.

The Dragonfly Folio G3 is already available with a $2,379 starting price. That's far from modest, but it's better than the $2,642 Elite Folio HP was selling as of this writing while offering better performance.

HP

Desktop-bound remote workers are well accounted for. HP has unveiled a 34-inch All in One (that's the actual name) whose centerpiece, beyond the 5K ultra-wide display, is its webcam system. You can move the magnetically attached 16MP camera to multiple places on the top bezel, and point it toward the desk for sharing documents. You can even add a second camera to share your notes while you stay on-screen. 

You have the choice of 12th-gen Core i5, i7 or i9 processors, and you'll have GeForce RTX 3050 or 3060 dedicated graphics. Expansion shouldn't be much of an issue with up to 128GB of RAM, 4TB of SSD storage, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, four USB-A ports, Ethernet, HDMI 2.1 output, an audio jack and an SD card reader. The 34-inch All-in-One arrives in September with a base price of $2,119.

HP

There are a pair accessories that might prove appealing whether or not you care for HP's computers. The 32-inch Z32k G3 is billed as the first monitor to combine LG's IPS Black tech (higher contrast ratios) with Thunderbolt 4. You can plug in and charge many recent laptops (up to 100W), daisy-chain another 4K screen and otherwise minimize the need for cables and docks. It's not the brightest display at 400 nites, but the 98 percent DCI-P3 color coverage, pivoting and tilting will make it useful for creatives. It doesn't ship until November and has yet to receive a price.

There's also an add-on webcam. The HP 965 touts a 4K resolution, AI-guided framing and autofocusing and a low-light-friendly 18mm f/2.0 lens. You can buy it today for $199.

Apple has just sent invites for its next hardware event. As expected, the company will share what it's been working on for the past year on September 7th, with a live broadcast from Apple Park starting at 1 PM ET. The invite features the words "Far out", so hit up Reddit for what that could possibly mean. We’re expecting new phones and wearables from Apple.

Rumor-wise, the iPhone 14 may include more RAM, longer-lasting batteries and a better selfie camera. Meanwhile, the Pro models are expected to feature a new design that swaps a display notch for a Samsung-style hole-punch front camera cutout. The Pro phones might also pack a new 48-megapixel main camera and thinner display bezels.

– Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Peloton is now selling its fitness gear on Amazon

• The best dorm room essentials for college students

• Apple Watch SE models are up to 30 percent off at Amazon

• Snap reaches $35 million settlement in Illinois privacy lawsuit over lenses

• Meta says it mistakenly restricted a Planned Parenthood post about abortion pills

• Samsung's new Odyssey monitors have its Gaming Hub and Smart Platform built in

HyperX Armada 25 is a monitor with an arm, but no stand

That’s not normal, but it’s welcome.

Engadget

HyperX is putting its own spin on the burgeoning gaming monitor product category. Instead of bundling the display with a traditional stand, the company has created an all-in-one package featuring an adjustable monitor arm. For HyperX, the goal is, apparently, to offer a simple solution that frees up desk space for things like extra-large mousepads, wireless charging pads or any other peripheral you could imagine.

Continue reading.

Plex tells users to reset their passwords after potential data breach

A third-party entity accessed users' emails, usernames and encrypted passwords.

Plex says someone has infiltrated its system. The company says a third-party entity got access to a subset of its data, which includes people's emails, usernames and encrypted passwords. Plex says it has already addressed the method the bad actor used to infiltrate its system, but it didn't elaborate on what method that was. For now, Plex is requiring all users to change their passwords "out of an abundance of caution."

Continue reading.

Fitbit unveils Sense 2, Versa 4 and Inspire 3 in smartwatch and fitness tracker refresh

The smartwatches both gain turn-by-turn directions and Google Wallet.

Fitbit

Fitbit has several updated wearables to announce, all at once. Both the Sense 2 and Versa 4, which already have continuous heart rate monitoring, will connect to Google Maps for turn-by-turn directions on your wrist. The pair also get access to Google Wallet – reminding all of us that the company is now owned by, well, Google. Its entry-level Inspire fitness tracker has also got a battery upgrade and more.

Continue reading.

Get ready for a movie based on the rise and fall of BlackBerry

It will reportedly star Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton.

It’s the spicy tech tale we all needed to see at the movie theater. Relive the rise and fall of the company from the time it was still known as Research in Motion (RIM) until it lost the smartphone fight against Google and Apple. Miss the phone keyboard? Then you won’t want to miss this epic.

Continue reading.

Bill in New York State Senate would require new cars to have speed-limiting tech

The legislation also targets blind spots in larger vehicles.

New York State Senator Brad Hoylman has proposed legislation that would require automakers to fit speed limiting tech to new cars. If the bill passes, any passenger vehicle built after January 1st, 2024, registered in the state will need to have "advanced safety technology." The bill notes there were 270 traffic-related deaths in New York City's streets in 2021, up from 243 the previous year.

Continue reading.

Gamers who've yet to get the PS5 may have to pay more for the console when they do buy it. Sony Interactive Entertainment has raised the console's prices in select markets due to "challenging economic conditions," president and CEO Jim Ryan has announced on the PlayStation blog. The company had to make the difficult decision, he said, due to high global inflation rates, as well as currency fluctuations. PlayStation fans in the US can breathe easy — there will be no price hikes in the US for now. 

Ryan said Sony is increasing the recommended retail price for the console in Canada, Mexico, Europe, the UK, Middle East, Africa (EMEA), Latin America, China and Australia. In Japan, the new prices will take effect on September 15th. Both the disc and the digital versions will cost €50 more than their launch prices (€500 and €300, respectively) in Europe and £30 more than their original prices (£450 and £360) in the UK. The consoles will cost around ¥10,500 more in Japan, as well, where they originally sold for ¥49,980 and ¥39,980.

As a closer, Ryan said the price increase is a necessity "given the current global economic environment." He promised, however, that Sony's top priority remains improving the PS5's supply so that more people can get it. The company said in May that it will finally be able to ramp up the console's production, though it also said that its efforts may not be enough to fully meet the strong demand for the console until next year.

The PS5's new prices in select markets are listed below. Take note that parts of EMEA, Latin America and Asia-Pacific will also be affected, and Sony recommends checking with local retailers for specifics.

• Europe
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – €549.99
  PS5 Digital Edition – €449.99

• UK
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – £479.99
  PS5 Digital Edition – £389.99

• Japan (effective Sept. 15, 2022)
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥60,478 yen (including tax)
  PS5 Digital Edition – ¥49,478 yen (including tax)

• China
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥4,299 yuan
  PS5 Digital Edition – ¥3,499 yuan

• Australia
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – AUD $799.95
  PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $649.95

• Mexico
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – MXN $14,999
  PS5 Digital Edition – MXN $12,499

• Canada
  PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – CAD $649.99
  PS5 Digital Edition – CAD $519.99

Sonos is working on a new flagship speaker that could be quite a departure from its existing models, according to The Verge. The publication reports that it has seen early images of a new high-end speaker with the codename Optimo 2. If its current design sticks, the device will be encased in a dual-angled shell and will be able to fire sound in nearly all directions, including upwards. Its work-in-progress images apparently make it look like as big as the Sonos Five, an old flagship released in 2015 that went through an upgrade last year. And when it comes out, it will be available in black and white. 

Sources told The Verge that Optimo 2 will have twice the RAM and as much as eight times more flash memory than previous speakers, which could indicate that Sonos plans to support it with updates for a lengthy period of time. It will have both WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, the latter only being present in the company's portable speakers at the moment. Sonos is reportedly also considering adding support for USB-C line-in playback. While Five also has line-in playback capability, it supports sound input via a 3.5mm jack, not a USB-C port. 

Based on the features it will supposedly have, the Optimo 2 could be Five's successor. The publication says it's just one of a trio of new speakers Sonos is currently developing, though, the others being the Optimo 1 and 1 SL. These two other models will likely be smaller speakers, and the "SL" in the latter's name stands for "speechless," which means it wouldn't come with microphones and wouldn't support voice control. Sonos has yet to confirm that any of these models are in development, but we've reached out to the company and will update this post when we hear back. 

It’s official: Apple has just sent out invites for its next hardware event. As expected, the company will share what it's been working on for the past year on September 7th, with a live broadcast from Apple Park starting at 1PM ET. The invite features the words "Far out." Usually, Apple hides a subtle hint about what it plans to announce in its copy. 

The company is widely expected to announce four new iPhone models at the event. Leading up to today’s announcement, most reports have suggested the 2022 iPhone lineup will consist of a 6.1-inch iPhone 14, a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, a 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro and a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max. Apple reportedly won’t offer a new “mini” model this year due to lackluster sales of the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini.

Enhancements on the standard iPhone 14 models reportedly include the addition of more RAM, longer-lasting batteries and a better selfie camera with autofocus. Meanwhile, the Pro models are expected to feature a new design that trades away Apple’s signature display notch for a Samsung-style hole-punch front camera cutout. Additionally, the Pro variants will reportedly feature a new 48-megapixel main camera and thinner display bezels. They’re also expected to be the only models to ship with Apple’s next-generation A16 chip.

Alongside new iPhone models, Apple is also likely to refresh its entire wearable lineup. According to reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the Apple Watch Series 8 will include a new “Pro” model that will feature a larger screen than its siblings and a more durable titanium case. It’s also expected to feature a bigger battery that could allow the wearable to go multiple days on a single charger. The entire Series 8 lineup is also expected to include a new body temperature sensor that could notify you when you’re running a fever.

Apple is not expected to announce Mac computers on September 7th. As it’s done recently, the company is likely to hold a second event later this year. Whatever Apple plans to share on September 7th, you can expect comprehensive coverage from Engadget before, during and after the event.

Samsung has unveiled its latest lineup of NVMe solid state drives, the 990 Pro series. The company claims the SSD will reach almost the highest speeds that are theoretically possible from the PCIe 4.0 interface (PCI 5.0 SSDs will be much faster). Samsung hopes to deliver better performance for PC and console games, 4K and 8K content and other heavy data use cases.

The 990 Pro boasts sequential read and write speeds of up to 7,450 MB/s and 6,900 MB/s. The 980 Pro offers up to 7,000 MB/s and 5,100 MB/s read and write speeds. The 990 Pro's random read and write speeds are up to 1,400K and 1,550K input/output operations per second, according to Samsung. The company says that marks up to a 55 percent improvement over the 980 Pro's performance.

Moreover, the company says the 990 Pro will be more power efficient than the previous lineup by up to 50 percent. The latest SSDs have a newly designed controller with a nickel coating, as well as a heat spreader label for reliable thermal management. The 990 Pro also employs Samsung’s Dynamic Thermal Guard tech to help keep the drive’s temperature in the optimal range. There's a version with a heatsink that offers extra thermal control, as well as RGB lights for some reason, which will be super necessary if you plan to plug the 990 Pro into a PlayStation 5.

The 980 Pro is one of our favorite SSDs (I've had zero complaints with the one in my PS5). So, here's hoping the 990 Pro is even better thanks to the zippier speeds and greater power efficiency. Samsung will start selling the 990 Pro series in October. The SSDs start at $179 for a 1TB model and $309 for a 2TB version. The company plans to offer a 4TB variant next year too.