For more of the latest and greatest product releases, check out our full collection of the best new gear.
This week, Snapchat introduced a new feature that allows you to simultaneously record video with your smartphone’s rear and selfie cameras. There were fresh rumors that Apple’s next iPhone SE (i.e. the “cheap” iPhone) will not have a Home button. And Twitter began testing editable tweets. There were a lot of new gadgets announced as well.
Here’s what you need to know.
Audio-Technica AT-LP3XBT
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The Audio-Technica AT-LP3XBT is company’s newest turntable and the direct successor to its AT-LP3. Like its predecessor, the AT-LP3XBT is a fully automatic turntable — so the tonearm with lower itself when it starts playing and rise up when the record has been played through — that comes with a AT-VM95C cartridge and a built-in phono preamp. The big difference is that the new model has built-in Bluetooth, allowing you to listen to vinyl on your Bluetooth-enabled speakers.
Price: $329
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Jabra Elite 5
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The Jabra Elite 5 are the company’s new mid-range wireless earbuds that fall between its more expensive Elite 7 Pro ($200) and Elite 7 Active ($180) and its more entry-level Elite 4 Active ($120) and Elite 3 ($80). The Elite 5 might not deliver quite the sound quality or call clarity as Jabra’s higher-end offerings, but they still have plenty of premium features. They have hybrid noise-canceling and an IP55 rating (which is fine for workouts), for example. And they have a case that supports wireless charging.
Price: $150
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Razer Kishi V2
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Razer announced the “V2” version of its Kishi mobile controller earlier this summer, but it was only available for Androids — now the company has released a version of the same mobile controller that works with Lighting. If you have the original Kishi mobile controller, this second-generation version is mostly identical. The main difference is that it has two new multi-function buttons, which you can program via a companion app.
Price: $100
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Bluesound Powernode Edge
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Bluesound has announced a smaller, less powerful and more affordable version of its Powernode wireless streaming amplifier. The Powernode “Edge” works much the same way as its larger sibling; it connects to a pair of passive loudspeakers and allows you stream to them via a range of wireless options: Bluetooth aptX, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Roon Ready. It also supports a number of wired connections, including HDMI eArc for a TV. The difference is that the Edge can deliver 40-watts per channel (compared to the Powernode’s 80-watts), and thus is better equipped for smaller loudspeakers. It ships in October.
Price: $649
Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Plus
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Sennheiser’s original Ambeo soundbar is one of the best and most expensive Dolby Atmos soundbar you can buy; released in 2019, it’s a standalone 5.1.4 soundbar with 13 dedicated drivers. This week, the company announced a smaller version of that exact soundbar. The new Ambeo Plus soundbar packs nine total drivers (two are up-firing to create a truly immersive experience) and comes in at $1,000 cheaper.
Price: $1,500
Sony HT-A3000
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Samsung announced a new mid-range soundbar that supports Dolby Atmos. The HT-A3000 is essentially a smaller and more affordable version of the company’s HT-A5000 ($1,000) and the flagship A7000 ($1,400) soundbars. It’s a 3.1-channel soundbar that’s designed to work best when paired with Sony’s newest Bravia TVs; its Acoustic Center Sync feature allows the TV to work as a center channel (and make dialogue sounds even clearer) so that the soundbar can better focus on everything else.
Price: $700
JBL Bar 1000
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The JBL Bar 1000 is a unique Dolby Atmos soundbar mainly because it has battery-powered side speakers that are designed to be detached — yes, detached —from the soundbar and used as rear-channel speakers. These are upward-firing rear-channel speakers, too, meaning they can create an even more immersive Dolby Atmos experience. In total, the JBL Bar 1000 is a 7.1.4-channel home theater system that’s packaged as a single soundbar. Pretty cool.
Price: $1,149
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Samsung Odyssey OLED G8
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The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 is the company’s first gaming monitor with an OLED display. It’s a 34-inch curved monitor (with a 1800R curve) that has a 3,440 x 1,440 resolution and a max refresh rate of 175Hz. Maybe the neatest thing about it, however, is that the Odyssey OLED G8 has built-in Wi-Fi and supports Samsung’s Gaming Hub, meaning you play games (via Xbox Game Pass) or stream shows (via Netflix or Amazon Prime) without having a console or computer connected to it. No pricing info has been released yet.
Price: TBD
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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold (2nd Gen)
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This second-generation foldable tablet is a pretty big upgrade to the original ThinkPad X1 Fold that was released in 2020. It has a significantly bigger OLED display (now 16.3″ instead of 13.3″) that’s also higher-resolution; the bigger real estate allows for a larger display and a larger keyboard when using it in laptop mode. It has a thinner design (by roughly 25 percent). It comes with a bigger and better (it’s backlit) wireless keyboard, which you can use in tablet mode to have a truly big display. And it’s powered by the newest 12th-gen Intel processors.
Price: $2,800+
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