It’s the second month in a row that Samsung tops our best gadgets of the month list. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 were impressive enough to share the spotlight. Looking for a comically large TV? The 86-inch Vizio TV is big enough, but not too expensive. The Beats Pill is back, reclaiming its place as one of the best portable speakers you can buy right now. Finally, have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a modern-day bard? The EP-1320 Medieval Sampler from Teenage Engineering should help you make that special fantasy come true.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a better phone than the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 in a lot of little ways and some big ways. It feels better and looks better. The new clamshell’s internal screen crease is much better than the one on the Z Flip 5. It feels more like a short groove than a canyon. It catches less light and feels much smoother when you run your finger over it. It’s the first foldable phone with a vapor chamber to cool the device under pressure.
The Z Flip 6 is also more powerful than the previous generation, but not by enough to feel it in use. Still, it does last a bit longer than the previous-generation Flip, which is nice. The new clamshell has a 4,000mAh battery compared to last year’s 3,7000mAh. It’s beautiful tech, and hopefully one that fits into a wider range of niches in terms of features.
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The Galaxy Z Fold 6 follows on from all the steps the company has taken thus far to achieve some success in this niche gadget segment: it’s powerful, well-built, and able to handle all the software tricks Samsung is pushing through Galaxy AI. If you’re three years late on the impending launch of a new foldable smartphone, the Z Fold 6 is a worthy update. If you can bear it, waiting a year to see how Samsung refines its camera hardware won’t hurt.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is like a portable TV screen that you can prop up against a mirror as you get ready for the day.Connect it to a display and enjoy a laptop-like desktop mode, stream cloud games, or turn it into a handheld console with accessories like the Razer Kishi Ultra..
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Apart from the lack of dust resistance, I couldn’t find a single flaw in this phone, the fold and hinge are perfect, the battery lasts all day, it takes beautiful night scenes and impressive action shots, and most importantly, it has the biggest and most capable external screen, is incredibly easy to use, and has enough features that you’ll never want to flip the phone over to get something done.
Motorola made two big claims about this phone: an external display that lets you do everything without opening the phone, and great low-light performance. It delivers on both. Last year’s Razr had neither, so if you were thinking about upgrading from last year’s Razr, there’s no reason not to.
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The Pill is a great, affordable speaker that offers more than you’d expect, and it’s surprising that there doesn’t seem to be any Apple premium (commonly referred to as the Apple tax). For just $150, it offers great high and mid-range sound quality, a ton of portability-focused features, and a few other great features like amp and stereo modes and lossless audio over USB-C.
We wouldn’t recommend the Pill solely for bass, as there are more punchy low-end alternatives for the same price. The 24-hour battery life is more than double that of similar speakers in this price range (10-15 hours), and new Android compatibility features broaden the target audience to include people who want a small speaker that can still get a big sound.
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Vizio’s 86-inch 4K TV is an interesting choice, with a $1,000 MSRP for its massive size. In my office, we watched the 2024 Paris Olympics games on this 86-inch TV for a week and a half. The screen was too big to fit on the table we brought to our new office space, so we had it on the floor, but it entertained the whole Gizmo crew. It’s a DLED TV, so don’t expect 4K QLED-like picture quality like you’d get from Sony’s Bravia 7, but even 65-inch+ TVs don’t have MSRPs over $2,000.
You’ll probably need a little help getting the legs onto this big TV. But once you do, the 86-inch screen is very stable. You won’t hear any plastic distortion noises, even when you lift it with all your might. Vizio’s redesigned UI is easier to navigate than ever before. When the main page loads, you can easily find the apps and services you use most, with folders next to your apps and inputs. Vizio’s updated UI makes it easy to access apps without cluttering menus or unnecessary clicking, which is what matters most. The TV and Settings menus are also easy to understand, avoiding all the unnecessary clicking you’d need to do with an LG TV. You’re better off just using this TV without dreaming of big-screen bliss, especially if your main goal is to save a few hundred dollars on a display.
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If you want to hear some modern medieval tunes, the EP-1320 is one of the most fun devices out there. The EP-1320 has 128MB of storage, it’s a reskin of the EP-133 but with 64MB more memory than the EP-133. In effect, Medieval is the EP-133 with the addition of 220 default medieval instruments and sound effects. You can also load your own sounds and samples into the EP-1320.
It’s extremely portable and relatively easy to control, so even though I know nothing about Teenage Engineering samplers, I was able to create a simple track from scratch in under an hour. The demo songs that come with Medieval are great for getting some quick inspiration. I enjoyed the variety of samples included with the device, and if you’re particularly interested in a theme, this could be your favorite little device to experiment with songs on.
The Asus TUF Gaming A14 is a modest yet surprisingly powerful gaming laptop, and its $1,500 price tag is easy on the wallet. It has a slim profile and no-frills design, but it’s a powerful device under the hood. The new AMD Ryzen 9 AI HX 370 chip easily outperforms Intel’s Meteor Lake lineup from earlier this year. What it loses is a lack of upgradability and limited spec options, but it makes up for it with smooth operation. It feels more like an ultrabook than a gaming laptop. It weighs just over 3 pounds, and the keyboard backlight is bright but not obtrusive. It runs quietly under load, and you can play graphics-intensive games at decent frame rates.
There’s no better business laptop in HP’s lineup than the HP Elite x360 1040 G11 2-in-1, provided you don’t mind a little extra bulk. Selling for $2,300, the Elite x360 is equipped with a Core 7 Ultra processor and integrated Intel graphics for high performance. The Elite also comes with a bright and responsive touch display, four powerful speakers, about 12 hours of battery life, and a comfortable keyboard. A 360-degree hinge and included pen add even more versatility. And for security-conscious IT departments and consumers, the Elite x360 comes loaded with features to keep your data safe. It’s slim, powerful, and business-ready.
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