Surface Laptop review: Microsoft’s best MacBook Air competitor yet.

The new Surface Laptop isn’t just a refresh. It’s Microsoft’s first clamshell laptop with Qualcomm chips inside, and it represents Microsoft’s most serious attempt yet at a transition to Windows on Arm. The company’s previous efforts at Arm-based Windows machines were flawed, with poor app compatibility and sluggish performance. Now, Microsoft is trying again to finely balance processing power and battery life in a way that only Apple has achieved in laptops so far.

This time around, Microsoft has nailed it. Everything about the new Surface Laptop feels way better. Microsoft has not only closed the MacBook Air gap but also raised the bar for what you should expect from a Windows laptop that starts at $999.99.

Echo Spot review: this smart alarm clock hits a sweet spot.

Amazon’s new Echo Spot strikes a good balance between smart speaker and smart display.

I’ve been looking for a good alarm clock with voice control for years now — and with Amazon’s newest smart speaker, I think I’ve found it. The Nest Hub is too big for my nightstand and the Echo Show 5 is too bright, but the new Echo Spot ($79.99) is just right.  

Ultimate Ears Everboom review: the right size.

The smaller sibling to UE’s Epicboom offers plenty of punch for its size. But it’s a little thin on features to justify $250.

The Ultimate Ears speaker lineup is getting quite crowded, having now reached six products with the recent introduction of the $249.99 Everboom. This speaker is a smaller, more portable take on the Epicboom that I reviewed late last year. And its core appeal is the same as any other UE speaker: you’re getting a rugged, waterproof speaker that’s cut out for both indoor and poolside parties. You can link the Everboom with other UE speakers in party mode to play music in sync across all of them. The controls are easy to use — especially the company’s signature oversized volume buttons. 

This $56 Casio watch is a retro step tracking dream.

It doesn’t do anything other than track steps, but that’s all I want it to do. And at this price? I ain’t complaining.

When I was in high school, all I wanted was a Baby-G Casio watch — partly because it came in fun colors, partly because all the cool kids had one. When I finally convinced my mom to get me one, I loved it to pieces until its battery died ages later. It’s been over 20 years since then, but as Y2K fashion invades my TikTok algorithm, I think a lot about how my watches used to just be watches that looked nice. Sometimes I feel like I want to go back to those days... then I remember that the main reason I got into smarter watches was for step tracking.

And then I found out about the Casio WS-B1000, which costs a mere $55.95, syncs with your phone for the time, and tracks steps. 

DJI Power 1000 review: with great power comes many dongles.

A new approach to power stations that does more than fast-charge (select) DJI drones.

DJI isn’t the first name you think of when it comes to big-ass batteries — quite the opposite since the batteries that fit inside the company’s drones have to be as small and light as possible. But all that time spent finding the right balance between weight, size, flight time, and charging speeds has prepared the company to enter the power station market with the $599 Power 1000 and smaller $379 Power 500.  

The Polar Grit X2 Pro is a smartwatch that feels adrift.

This is meant to be the best Polar’s got, but it has no business being this expensive.

Polar makes good multisport watches. They’re just not particularly smart. That wasn’t always a problem because there used to be a clear line. Athletes went for Garmins and Polars. Casual users went for an Apple Watch, Fitbit, or Samsung smartwatch. Things are less clear now. There are more casual, stylish Garmins, while Apple and Samsung have their own smart multisport watches — and that leaves the $749.95 Polar Grit X2 Pro stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

The Beats Solo Buds have a great look and an even better price.

There are clear tradeoffs — like a charging case with no extra battery juice — but the price and Beats’ cultural cachet are likely enough to guarantee success for the Solo Buds.

The first under-$100 true wireless earbuds from Beats (and, by extension, Apple) are here. Starting today, you can order the $79.99 Solo Buds online in four different colors — black, purple, red, and gray — and they’ll be in stores on June 20th. The red earbuds come with one advantage over the others: they include a translucent case that’s reminiscent of the one that comes with the Studio Buds Plus. The earbuds themselves are opaque, but it’s still a great look. I’ve been testing the Solo Buds for a few days, and that candy red case really pops. And whatever color you choose, it’s the smallest carrying case for any Beats earbuds yet. 

There’s no easy 3D printer, but Bambu has won me over.

If you asked me to recommend an “easy” consumer 3D printer, I’d warn you first: despite countless innovations, you still can’t quite hit a button to reliably photocopy a 3D model. Buying a 3D printer is buying an entire hobby, one where — if you’re a lazy bum like me — many attempts will turn into worthless gobs of plastic.

But if you persisted, I’d tell you my one clear choice for lazy bums: the Bambu P1P.

What, a printer from the company that recalled its newest model and whose earlier ones once went rogue? Yep — because not only did Bambu handle those incidents with rapid apologies, investigations, transparency, and even refunds, the $599 Bambu P1P is also absolutely the easiest, most reliable 3D printer I’ve used.