Nothing Phone 1 hands-on: Not just a pretty face

Nothing, the company from the former co-founder of OnePlus, is finally ready to reveal its first smart device, and it’s an ambitious one. It’s trying to break into the increasingly samey world of phones. And nothing looks quite like the Nothing Phone 1…

Anker charging accessories are up to 50 percent off for Prime Day

If you’re looking for a charging accessory, whether it’s just a charging cable or a portable power generator, you’ll probably find what you need among all the items Anker has on sale for Prime Day. The collection is pretty extensive and includes a bunch of wired and wireless chargers, power banks, charging stations, small generators, USB-C hubs and power strips. One of the most notable items in the list is the Anker MagGo 637 Magnetic Desktop Charging Station, which currently costs $70, or $30 less than its retail price. That’s an all-time low for the device on the e-commerce website.

Buy Anker charging accessories at Amazon

It’s a power strip with an unusual form factor that has seven ports and one magnetic charging pad for the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 13. Three of the seven are AC outlets, two are USB-A ports and two are USB-C ports capable of high-speed charging. Anker also designed the device to offer over-current, over-voltage and surge protection, as well as to be fire resistant. We liked the orb-shaped charging station so much, we included it in our list of best accessories for the iPhone.

The Anker MagGo 622 Magnetic Battery is also on sale for $45, $25 less than its retail price. It’s a wireless portable charger for the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 13, which can be folded to lay flat on its back or be turned into a kickstand if you want to prop up your phone. Plus, it comes with a USB-C port for other devices. If you’re looking for a more traditional charger, though, the Anker 511 Charger is also on sale for $24, or $6 off retail. It has a 20-watt output and can charge phones much faster than their original chargers can. And since it’s specifically meant for use with iPhones and iPads, it comes with a USB-C to Lightning cable. 

Like all other Prime Day deals, you can take advantage of these discounts if you have a Prime subscription. If you haven’t been a Prime member in the past 12 months, though, you can sign up for a free trial that will last for 30 days.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S22 lineup is cheaper than ever for Prime Day

Samsung’s latest smartphones are some of the best Android devices you can get, and they’ve been made even better thanks to Prime Day deals. The entire Galaxy S22 lineup has never been cheaper — right now, you can get the Galaxy S22 Ultra for $840, or 30 percent off its normal price. Also, the Galaxy S22+ and the standard S22 are down to $700 and $600, respectively. Those are all the starting prices for the models with the base amount of storage, but you’ll find discounts on all versions, including those with higher amounts of storage.

Buy Galaxy S22 Ultra at Amazon – $840Buy Galaxy S22+ at Amazon – $700Buy Galaxy S22 at Amazon – $600

The Galaxy S22 Ultra has dropped below $1,000 before, but this is the best price we’ve seen on the flagship. If you want all of the latest features a Samsung phone has to offer, this is the handset to get. The S22 Ultra runs on Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 12GB of RAM and at least 128GB of storage. Its rear camera setup includes a 108-megapixel main sensor, a 12MP ultrawide shooter and two 10MP telephoto lenses, which work together to take excellent shots. The phone’s overall performance is top-notch, and we appreciated Samsung’s new photography features like Adaptive Pixel, better auto-framing and improved video stabilization.

Samsung married its S- and Note-families to create the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It has a 6.8-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1,750 nits, plus a built-in S Pen. The display is big and bold and we like the fact that Note lovers have not been forgotten. You can use the S Pen to take notes and doodle on the screen with more precision and less latency than ever before.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is arguably the best phone Samsung makes at the moment, and there isn’t much we found to complain about. It has a slightly lackluster battery life, but it’s not so short as to take away from all of the other great things about the handset. But if you’re looking to spend a bit less without sacrificing too much when it comes to quality, the S22+ or the S22 are both great choices. Each of them earned a score of 87 from us for their slick designs, lovely displays and solid performance. With the S22+, you’ll get a few extra perks not found on the standard S22, namely a longer battery life, UWB and WiFi 6E support, plus fast WiFi speeds overall.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

The latest Apple TV 4K is at another all-time low of $109 for Prime Day

The Apple TV 4K has seen its second price drop in as many days and the 32GB model is now available on Amazon Prime Day for $109, the lowest price we’ve seen yet. That’s a steal for Apple’s premium streaming device that offers features like 4K Dolby Vision movies, 120Hz gaming, the Siri Remote and more. And if you need more storage, the 64GB model is also on sale $129, a generous discount of $70. 

Buy Apple TV 4K 32GB at Amazon – $109Buy Apple TV 4K 64GB at Amazon – $129

As I just said (checks calendar) yesterday, the latest Apple TV 4K model garnered a 90 score in our Engadget review. That’s thanks to the extra refinement, updated Siri Remote and a more powerful A12 Bionic chip that delivers HDR video at up to 60 fps, while also offering improved gaming performance.

It’s certainly true that you could do much the same with, say, a $40 Roku stick with the Apple TV app. However, Apple’s own device has a nicer interface, better remote and superior experience for folks in the Apple ecosystem. Siri in particular handles voice commands very well, and the remote feels nice in hand.

You can use AirPlay to share video, photos and more from your other Apple devices to your TV. There’s the option to see a live feed of HomeKit-enabled cameras and to control smart home devices through Apple TV 4K, and, if you have the relevant subscription, an ever-growing library of games available through Apple Arcade.

Naturally, it also supports all manner of streaming content including Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon prime Video, Disney+, Hulu and of course, Apple TV+. The biggest drawback is the price, but a $70 discount on both the 32GB and 64GB models is a perfect balm for that pain point. As usual with Amazon Prime deals, it’s best to act soon as deals like this get snapped up right quick. 

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

Amazon Prime Day deals knock the Kindle Paperwhite down to a new low of $95

If you’ve been holding out for a new e-reader at a great price, Amazon Prime Day has delivered. The latest Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for $95 right now, which is the cheapest we’ve seen it since it launched last year. It’s arguably the best e-reader for most people, but you have options as all of Amazon’s other Kindles have been discounted, too. You can pick up the standard Kindle for only $45, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition for $130 or the Kindle Oasis for $175.

Buy Kindle Paperwhite at Amazon – $95Shop Kindle deals at AmazonShop Kindle accessories at Amazon

Amazon updated the Kindle Paperwhite and introduced the Signature model last fall, and even though the e-reader doesn’t look too different from previous models, it has some important upgrades. The screen is slightly larger at 6.8-inches, and it has 17 front LEDs for better illumination. You can even adjust the warmth of the lights now, too, if you prefer to have cooler or warmer light at different times of the day. The design still has an IPX8 waterproof rating but it also now has a USB-C port for charging, which is a much-needed update. As for battery life, you can expect weeks of use before you’ll need to power up the e-reader again.

The new Signature Edition is a slightly more advanced Paperwhite. It has the same sized screen and 17 front lights, but you’ll get 32GB of storage instead of 8GB, along with wireless charging and auto-adjusting light capabilities. Out of those features, the extra storage and auto-adjusting lights are likely the most practical: those who have huge digital libraries could use the additional storage, and lights that automatically change depending on your environment almost make the e-reader more tablet-like. We gave the Signature Edition a score of 97, calling it the best e-reader, period.

The remaining two Kindles are on opposite ends of the price spectrum. The standard Kindle is the most basic and budget-friendly, and it features a 6-inch display, four front lights and a weeks-long battery life. The Kindle Oasis, on the other hand, has an ergonomic design, a 7-inch screen, 25 front LEDs, page-turn buttons, automatically rotating pages and more.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

Amazon Prime Day deals include half off the Fire HD 10 tablet

Amazon’s Fire tablets make great couch devices or gadgets to give to your kids when you don’t want them messing with your more expensive tech. They’re usually pretty affordable, but Amazon Prime Day brings the opportunity to grab any of Amazon’s tablets at all-time-low prices. Both the Fire HD 10 and Fire HD 8 tablets are half off and down to $75 and $45, respectively, while the 2019 Fire 7 tablet is only $30 for Prime Day. On top of that, all of the Kids Pro versions of the slabs are also on sale, so you can pick one up for as low as $50.

Buy Fire HD 10 at Amazon – $75Buy Fire HD 8 at Amazon – $45Shop Fire tablet deals at Amazon

You’ll get the best bang for your buck if you spring for the Fire HD 10. It’s the most powerful of Amazon’s tablets, running on a 2.0 GHz oct-core processor, 3GB of RAM and at least 32GB of storage. It has a 10.1-inch 1080p display, Dolby Atmos support and a USB-C port for charging. Amazon estimates you’ll get up to 12 hours of battery life on a single charge, and it takes roughly four hours to charge the device up from nothing. The Fire HD 10 also supports Show Mode, which essentially lets you turn the thing into a makeshift Echo Show smart display. If you have a stand or case that props the tablet up, you could use it in Show Mode to display information like the weather, calendar events, news stories and more.

But the best option under $50 this Prime Day is the Fire HD 8. We gave the tablet a score of 81 for its refined design, decent performance, hands-free Alexa capabilities and good battery life. While the display isn’t as high quality as the HD 10’s, and it won’t feel as zippy as the larger slab, the Fire HD 8 is a solid option if you just want a basic tablet at a great price.

If you’re thinking about buying a Fire tablet for your kids, maybe as a first device of theirs, consider getting one of the Fire Kids Pro devices. They’re basically the same as the standard Fire tablets, but they come with additional parental controls, a customizable home screen theme, a two-year warranty, a protective case and a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+. The latter is the company’s service that provides child-friendly, ad-free games, books, videos and other content that kids can access from their tablets.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

Apple’s iOS 16, macOS Ventura and watchOS 9 public betas are ready to download

We’re a couple of months out from Apple officially rolling out the next major versions of its various operating systems. However, you can try out iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, macOS Ventura and tvOS 16 right now. Apple has released a public beta, a few…

Apple’s 11-inch iPad Pro drops to a record low of $699 at Amazon

If you’ve been waiting for a good deal on Apple’s latest iPad Pro, you’re in luck. Amazon dropped the price of the 11-inch space gray model to $699, which is $100 off its usual rate and the best price we’ve seen. That’s how much you’ll spend for the base, 128GB model, but you’ll find decent sales on those with higher storage capacities, too. The 512GB version is also $100 off and down to $999, while the 1TB model is $250 off and down to $1,250.

Buy 11-inch iPad Pro at Amazon – $699

Apple didn’t change too much about the iPad Pros’ designs when it upgraded the tablets last year. That’s because most of the improvements are internal — both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models run on Apple’s M1 chipset, making them the most powerful iPads the company has made to date. Apple also added things like 5G support and a USB-C port that doubles as a Thunderbolt connector with USB 4.0 compatibility to make the slabs more capable as laptop alternatives. With the right accessories, these iPad Pros could replace your aging laptop if you want something a bit more lightweight that still powerful enough to be your daily driver.

Both sizes of iPad Pro also have the new Center Stage camera system, which will keep you in frame during FaceTime calls. Ultimately, the biggest difference between the 11-inch and the 12.9-inch, other than overall size, is that the 12.9-inch iPad Pros have Apple’s Liquid Retina XDR display. It’s certainly a nice perk if you will use the tablet to watch a lot of videos, or even edit some of your own, but that doesn’t mean you’re getting a lackluster screen on the 11-inch version. On the contrary, the 2,388 x 1668 resolution Liquid Retina panel with True Tone and ProMotion is one of the best screens you’ll find on a high-end tablet today.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.