March's Best Stuff: Flagship Phones, Dope Wireless Speakers
SamsungSamsung Galaxy S8
Samsung has a lot to prove with the Galaxy S8, since its last flagship phone literally went up in flames. Fortunately, the S8 doesn't disappoint: This generation features a huge AMOLED screen, a top-notch camera, and cool new biometric login features that lets you unlock the phone with your face. They're also the first devices to go through the company’s eight-step battery safety inspection, which means these ones won't blow up. Probably. Read the full story.
Photograph: NintendoNintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch has the potential to be all things to all people: TV console, next-gen Game Boy, wacky motion controls, traditional hardcore game machine, even multiplayer-in-a-box. The new all-in-one gaming machine works as both a handheld device and a TV game console. Nintendo also added a pair of controllers, called Joy-Cons, which are quite simply the most versatile and clever controllers it has ever shipped with a machine. That's all great, but only if it can get over the connectivity issues and hardware stumbles that make the Switch feel like an expensive beta test for a product that’ll fully roll out in the fall. Read the full review.
AppleRed iPhone
There's a new iPhone, and it's red. Yes, red. A bright, brilliant, gleaming red. A shade so bright it makes rose gold blush. Inside, of course, the red iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have all the same internals as their space grey counterparts. But that’s OK! New gadgets don’t have to be functionally different to make a difference. Read the full story.
SonosSonos Playbase
No one at Sonos ever tires of saying Sonos is, first and foremost, a music company. It makes speakers, and it makes them damn well. But the Playbase, the newest speaker, is perhaps the company’s most radical move yet. At just over two inches tall, and capable of supporting up to 75 pounds, the Playbase fits under nearly any television set. Sonos designed it to look like a single slab, something Moses might have carried down from the mountaintop. More than just a speaker, though, the Playbase is a bold gambit to win coveted space in people’s living rooms and set itself up as the interface of interfaces, the tool through which all other gadgets and protocols communicate. In the future, this could be the speaker for your entire smart home. Read the full story.
Charlie SchuckNormann Copenhagen Flow
Any lamp can shine a light on your marketing plan. But if your desk goals stop at functionality, you’re doing it wrong. In the Normann Copenhagen Flow Table Lamp, a flat LED chip eliminates the need for bulky bulbs and keeps the profile sleek. You can adjust the lamp’s positioning like a crane, optimizing for lighting or aesthetics. Best of all? With a base that’s just 7.5 inches across, the Flow leaves plenty of room for laptops and tillandsias. Read the full story.
Tivoli AudioTivoli Audio Model One Digital
Back in 2000, Tivoli Audio launched the Model One, a shockingly good tabletop radio that became a near-instant classic. Now, the Model One's design has been updated with wireless technology, loaded with streaming options, and pared down into a sleek design. At $300, it's triple the price of the original—but the digital refresh sounds incredible, with a richer and even more pleasing tone. Read the full review.
Maria Lokke/WiredCloudventure On Running Shoes
Swiss shoemaker On says running through the Alps informed the make of its newest shoe, the Cloudventure. That design doesn't disappoint: The spring-like rubber sole provides noticeable oomph when you run, the bottom of the sole boasts four different types of grip, and the shoe’s waterproof membrane keeps your feet plenty dry. The construction makes a huge difference on hills (the Alps, remember?) but not so much on flat trails where more ankle support is needed. Read the full review.
CuisinartCuisinart Vertical Waffle Maker
A perfect waffle is a thing of beauty, but standard waffle irons are clumsy, demand too much counter space, and take forever to clean. Cuisinart's $60 machine aims to relieve some of those pain points. It stands up, cooking the waffle in a vertical position, to free up space for plates, your coffee, and the big bowl of batter. A temperature gauge allows you to select your desired crispiness. The batter sometimes seeps out, and it's still a pain in the ass to clean. But when done right, this makes a good Belgian-style waffle: big and round, with deep dimples and a uniform consistency. Yum. Read the full review.
Ultimate EarsUE Wonderboom
The Wonderboom packs all the best elements of a portable speaker into a small, affordable package. The $100 speaker is waterproof, features a 100-foot Bluetooth range, and moves quite a bit of air given its diminutive size. Like its larger Boom brethren, the cylindrical Wonderboom shoots rich, full sound in a wide arc. The chunky rubber buttons are dead-easy to manipulate. The battery provides 10 hours of tunes compared to the 15 of the Boom 2, but then, it isn’t much bigger than a navel orange. The app controls lack the sophistication of the Boom 2’s, and sound snobs will find the Boom 2 more agreeable. But just look at how cute it is! Read the full story.
WuuWuu
Wuu is hard to explain without making it sound like a slightly more grokkable version of Snapchat. Designed by Paul Budnitz, the guy behind Ello (remember Ello?), it's a stream of filtered photos, colored text messages, and simple audio recordings. Posts fade over time and disappear completely after one day. It's silly, strange, and decidedly not the same kind of social network you're used to. But in a world where everything tries to be everything and there are too few ways of chatting with friends beyond the reach of influencers, commenters, and #sponcon, Wuu makes sharing dumb stuff on the internet joyful and worry-free. Finally. Read the full story.
Tag HeuerTag Heuer Connected 45
No one knows exactly what consumers want out of a smartwatch, which seems all too apparent in the new Tag Heuer Connected 45. It’ll set you back $1,600-ish, and it runs the same Android Wear software as every other Android Wear smartwatch. In terms of the stuff it can do, the only unique thing about the Connected 45 is the comma in its price. Look a little closer, though, and you’ll notice something important: a luxury brand trying to figure out how, exactly, to justify luxury prices in an ever-changing tech space. Read the full story.
CanonCanon EOS M5
Photo enthusiasts have long yearned for the perfect mirrorless camera coupled with Canon's hardware. Well, here it is. Imagine the Canon EOS 80, one of the company’s popular consumer-level DSLRs, shrunk into a smaller body and stripped of the mirror. That more or less gives you the new EOS M5, which starts at $979. It has a 24.2-megapixel sensor, fast autofocus, and a bright, clear electronic viewfinder. All this in a teeny, tiny package. Read the full review.
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