When the World Feels Messy, I Turn to Power Wash Simulator

When the World Feels Messy, I Turn to Power Wash Simulator A low-stress video game that’s cleansing in more than one sense.

This tiny smart lock promises to unlock your door in under two seconds

This tiny smart lock promises to unlock your door in under two seconds

Nuki says its new Smart Lock Ultra is a third the size and three times as fast as previous models. | Image: Nuki

Popular European smart lock maker Nuki has announced the fifth generation of its smart lock. The Smart Lock Ultra is a third the size of the original Nuki, features a new brushless motor for faster operation, and promises at least six months of battery life. Plus, for the first time, the new lock has been designed to work with US deadbolts.

The Nuki Smart Lock Ultra (€349) will be available in Europe in December and is the company’s first full-replacement door lock. Previous Nuki models could be retrofitted over an existing lock, so you could keep using your existing keys. This one requires swapping out the entire cylinder and comes with three new keys. However, the US model, coming next year, will work as a retrofit lock and only require replacing the thumb turn on your door — similar to how the August smart lock works.

Martina Stix, Nuki’s communications manager, tells The Verge that the US version looks identical but comes with a different mounting plate and no replacement cylinder — so you can use your existing keys. She says it should be available in Q2 of 2025, with pricing still to be determined.

Image: Nuki

The Nuki Ultra, pictured on the right, is a third the size of the previous model, shown here on the left.

The big change here is that the Nuki Ultra packs all of the functions of the previous model into a much smaller design thanks to a new built-in battery that does away with the bulky battery compartment. The company says it’s also over three times faster — capable of locking or unlocking in under 1.5 seconds.

That’s very fast; the fastest locks I’ve tested take two to three seconds to fully unlock, and most are closer to five, especially retrofit locks. Stix says the speed comes from an all-new motor: “The new smart lock is powered by brushless engine technology, commonly used in electric cars, used for the first time in a Nuki smart lock.”

The lock can be controlled in several ways: with a key, with geo-fenced-based auto-unlock, with the Nuki app on a phone or smartwatch, or with any compatible smart home platform. It also works with all existing Nuki accessories, including a key fob and a separate Bluetooth keypad mounted outside the door, with the option of a fingerprint reader.

Image: Nuki

The Nuki Ultra Smart Lock uses a new brushless motor.

As with the Nuki Smart Lock (4th-gen) launched last year, the Ultra offers a choice of connectivity options: Wi-Fi, Matter-over-Thread, or Bluetooth. It supports Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and other Matter-compatible platforms.

The company’s existing keypad accessory does not support Apple’s Home Key function, which allows you to tap your iPhone or Apple Watch to an NFC-enabled lock or keypad to unlock it. Stix says Nuki plans to support Aliro when it launches next year, a new standard for smart locks that is reported to include a similar tap-to-unlock capability to Home Key, although the specification has not yet been released.

Image: Nuki

The lock has a built-in rechargeable battery and comes with a two-meter power cable for charging.

Unlike some previous generations of the lock, Wi-Fi connectivity is built into the Nuki Ultra, so there is no need for a separate bridge. The new battery technology promises up to six months of battery life (possibly more, depending on your connectivity choice; Thread or Bluetooth will last longer than Wi-Fi). But it does have to be charged on the door, which seems a bit awkward. The company supplies a two-meter magnetic power cable to reach a nearby outlet and says it can fully charge in under two hours.

The Smart Lock Ultra is available for preorder now at Nuki.io in Europe for €349 and will ship in December. The US version is expected to launch next year.

Valve finally made a white Steam Deck that you can actually buy

Valve finally made a white Steam Deck that you can actually buy

Image: Valve

Nearly three years to the day after teasing the world with a white version of the Steam Deck, Valve has finally decided to release the normally black handheld gaming PC in that color too. The limited-edition white model is going on sale for $679 on November 18th at 3PM PT / 6PM ET, everywhere the handheld is sold, including Australia and the various regions of Asia served by Komodo.

It’s no different on the inside than a normal model, says Valve:

Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White has all the same specs as the Steam Deck OLED 1TB model, but in white and grey. It also comes with an exclusive white carrying case and white microfiber cleaning cloth.

Since the 1TB OLED normally costs $649, you’re effectively paying $30 for the color. Valve says it’s allocated stock proportionally across each region, but once it’s sold out, it won’t be making any more.

Below, find a few more images of it direct from Valve.

I still highly recommend the Steam Deck OLED, though I could see some buyers picking an Asus ROG Ally X instead for its notable performance and decent battery life advantages, particularly if they decide to dual-boot the Bazzite operating system (which makes it feel a lot like a Steam Deck) alongside Windows.

(Yes, the ROG Ally X is a black variant of an originally white handheld, and this Steam Deck is the opposite.)

Here’s what the old Valve prototype looked like, straight out of Portal with an Aperture Science logo on the back:

GIF by Sean Hollister / The Verge

It’s not for sale.

Here’s hoping someone will print up some high quality Portal stickers, and perhaps we can add our own orange and blue Portal thumbstick covers or something.

The push for Elon Musk to lead American AI policy is already starting

The push for Elon Musk to lead American AI policy is already starting

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

Efforts to influence President-elect Donald Trump’s policies via Elon Musk are already beginning. On Friday, nonprofit AI advocacy group Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI) launched a public petition asking Trump to make Musk his special adviser on AI, saying he is well positioned to protect the US lead on the technology while ensuring it’s rolled out safely.

“No one is better equipped to help the Trump Administration make America lead on AI than Elon Musk,” reads the petition circulated by ARI, which is led by former Democratic representative Brad Carson and says it doesn’t take corporate funding.

Musk has been a leading critic of OpenAI, a company he cofounded but more recently has distanced himself from and made into an opponent. Shortly after the release of ChatGPT, he signed onto a letter calling for a moratorium on the development of more advanced generative AI models in order to implement safeguards. Critics say his stances are largely self-interested, however, since he also runs his own AI company, xAI.

The ARI petition says it’s possible to deal with Musk’s conflicts of interest, arguing that with “proper mechanisms” to do so, “Musk would be an invaluable asset for helping the Trump administration navigate the development of this transformational technology.” ARI is aiming to get 10,000 signatures on the petition.

“Musk could emerge as a champion for AI safety in the administration,” ARI policy analyst David Robusto wrote in a recent blog post. Robusto pointed to Musk’s cofounding of OpenAI, his call for a moratorium on AI development, and support of California’s vetoed AI safety bill SB 1047 as reasons to believe his commitment to safety is deep-rooted. Robusto concedes that Musk hasn’t said much about what kinds of government policies should actually be implemented — besides the creation of a dedicated AI safety agency — but says his “lack of specificity suggests his thinking on the topic is evolving and can still be shaped by public debate over the issue.”

Musk has previously claimed he’ll join the Trump administration in a role he created from whole cloth: the head of a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose role would be to gut the entire US regulatory system. But Robusto hopes he could promote AI safety even in that capacity — if only by hitting the departments that manage it less hard. Robusto says Musk may spare agencies key to AI safety policy like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from cuts to federal spending. And if Musk imposes mass layoffs across the government to save costs, the government may lean more on AI tools to make up the workload.

“With proper guardrails in place, his unique combination of technical expertise and safety advocacy could be a valuable asset in developing responsible AI governance,” Robusto writes.

Boost Mobile says it’s a real wireless carrier now

Boost Mobile says it’s a real wireless carrier now

Remember the race to 5G? | Image: The Verge

Boost Mobile has announced it is on its way to meeting FCC coverage deadlines by the end of the year and says it has earned the title of MNO — Mobile Network Operator — rather than MVNO, which is a virtual network operator mainly reselling service from other carriers. Mission... accomplished? Sort of. It’s progress, at least.

Boost, you will remember, is supposed to be our nation’s fourth wireless carrier thanks to a wonky deal that allowed T-Mobile to buy Sprint. Dish Network — now owned by EchoStar — bought the brand as part of the deal and is required by the FCC to hit certain milestones in its 5G network buildout to hold up its part of the bargain. Last June, it was required to cover 70 percent of the US population; by the end of the year, it needs to reach 80 percent. Boost’s chief technology officer, Eben Albertyn, told The Verge, “We are well on our way to meeting this goal.” He says the company has lit up more than 20,000 of the 24,000 cell sites it has promised to deploy by June 2025.

“Covering” 80 percent of the population is one thing; actually providing service to customers on that network is another. While Boost’s network has been under construction over the past few years it has mainly offered service through AT&T and T-Mobile as an MVNO.

Boost spokespeople weren’t able to tell me what percentage of customer traffic rides on Boost’s own network versus its roaming partners. However, the company’s director of communications, Meredith Diers, says it has migrated “over half a million customers onto our network and our core since the beginning of this year.” New customers in covered areas are also loaded directly on the network, provided they have a phone compatible with its network. Considering that just a couple of years ago, there was just one phone compatible with the network, that’s good progress.

The effort has certainly come a long way since the days of Project Gene5is, its early pilot program that weirdly had something to do with NFTs. But Boost’s subscriber numbers are still small; in its August earnings release the company said it had 7.28 million subscribers. T-Mobile counted 127 million customers in its most recent earnings release. Even if it meets those FCC milestones on time, there’s much more work to be done.

Mattel accidentally linked a porn site on Wicked doll packaging

Mattel accidentally linked a porn site on Wicked doll packaging

The first part of Wicked, starring Ariana Grande (left) and Cynthia Erivo (right) will arrive in theaters on November 22nd. | Image: Universal Pictures

Barbie producer Mattel has issued an apology after customers spotted its Wicked edition dolls listed an adult website on the packaging. The toy merchandise mistakenly directed customers to the homepage of the Wicked Pictures pornographic movie studio, instead of the correct WickedMovie.com URL.

“We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this,” Mattel said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not appropriate for children.”

Mattel said that the dolls, which have been released to coincide with Universal’s film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical, are “primarily sold in the US” and that the error was a “misprint.” It’s unclear how many of the mislabeled toys, which are advertised for children aged four and up, have already been distributed to stores. According to The Hollywood Reporter, impacted products from the toy line are currently being pulled from shelves at various retailers including Walmart. Best Buy, and Amazon.

The official Mattel Wicked dolls link to a porn site on the box pic.twitter.com/iW4mNVAlPE

— just2good (Sarah Genao) (@just2goodYT) November 9, 2024

Mattel has advised customers who have already purchased the dolls, which retail between $24.99 to $39.99, to “discard the product packaging or obscure the link.” Some are taking financial advantage of the blunder, however — products advertised to specifically include the printing error are being listed on eBay for hundreds of dollars.

Wicked serves as a prequel to The Wizard of Oz that’s told from the perspective of the witches Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Galinda (Ariana Grande). Part one of Wicked will debut in theaters on November 22nd, with a second film expected to release in November 2025.

The next Nintendo Direct is all about Super Nintendo World’s Donkey Kong Country

The next Nintendo Direct is all about Super Nintendo World’s Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country gets a Nintendo Direct showcase on Monday. | Image: Nintendo

Nintendo says it’s finally going to show off the long-awaited Donkey Kong Country area of Super Nintendo World in a Nintendo Direct stream on Monday at 5PM ET. It’s an encouraging sign for the theme park expansion devoted to Mario’s first nemesis, the opening of which was delayed earlier this year.

Nintendo first confirmed that it was building the area, which will feature a mine cart rollercoaster ride, back in 2021. Nintendo and Universal Studios showed the region off — or a digital render of it, anyway — earlier this year, and confirmed that when the Orlando, Florida version of Super Nintendo World opens on May 22nd, 2025, it will have all of the same attractions as its Osaka counterpart.

As for Nintendo Switch 2 news, well, don’t get your hopes up. Nintendo says “no game information will be featured.”

Tune in on 11/11 at 2 p.m. PT for a SUPER NINTENDO WORLD Direct livestream! The stream will be roughly 10 minutes and showcase Donkey Kong Country of #SuperNintendoWorld at Universal Studios Japan. No game information will be featured. #NintendoDirect

: https://t.co/0QwNF7DIkG pic.twitter.com/P0HPDK9x0y

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) November 10, 2024

Nintendo said in May that Donkey Kong Country’s Mine-Cart Madness rollercoaster will have “jaw-dropping maneuvers” that include being “blasted out of a barrel, seemingly jumping over gaps as they speed along the rickety track.” And like other parts of the park, visitors can expect Donkey Kong-themed merchandise and interactive experiences.

Spotify’s AI is no match for a real DJ

Spotify’s AI is no match for a real DJ

Was anyone asking for this? | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

At the risk of stating the obvious, AI is absolutely everywhere lately. There’s AI in your car, AI in your messaging app, AI in your glasses. I’ve gotten pretty desensitized to it all as a hazard of the job, but it was Spotify’s AI DJ that actually got my attention.

I’ve listened to a top 40 radio station in the past two decades, so I’m familiar with the concept of a robot picking music for me. In that context, an AI DJ doesn’t seem like much of a stretch. But after using it on and off for a week, I’m convinced it’s the perfect analogy for our AI-everything moment. It’s eerily human, and it plays a lot of music I like. But take it from someone with access to a high-quality local indie radio station — one that employs human DJs! — there just ain’t nothing like the real thing.

Spotify’s AI DJ has been around since early 2023, but it piqued my interest recently when I was scrounging around the app looking for some work-friendly tunes. The AI voice greeted me by name, then after a little preamble, told me it had some “dream pop and neo-psychedelic waves” picked out. As the music started, I was annoyed at how extremely my shit it was. I shouldn’t have been surprised, considering that Spotify has nearly a decade’s worth of data on my musical listening habits. It drew on my previous listening for the next track, too: a song by Classixx, whose Hanging Gardens album I listened to on repeat last year. But while I listened to Hanging Gardens on Spotify, I didn’t discover it there. I heard it first on KEXP — a local station where real humans pick the music.

“DJ X” is represented by an animated green circle that moves as it talks.

Do I want to listen to Santigold? Yeah, but it’s more meaningful coming from a human curator.

See, here in Seattle, we’re extremely spoiled. In between the robot-programmed, conglomerate-owned stations, we have a real honest-to-god independent station on our radio dials: 90.3, to be precise. I started listening to KEXP through their online stream years before I moved to Seattle. Being a local has only made me more of a fan; I celebrated the opening of the “new” KEXP location in 2016 and saw one of my favorite bands play a free in-studio show there not long before they broke up. I’ve logged countless hours working on my laptop in the community gathering space. Being able to walk into my favorite radio station and just like, hang out, remains cool as hell all these years later. I wish every city in the country had a KEXP.

It’s not that I like everything that I hear on KEXP. “The Friday song” is banned in my house because my husband and I are both so sick of it. And as much as I’ve tried, I can’t get into Wet Leg. It’s a me problem. But that’s kind of the point of a radio station, isn’t it? You hear some stuff you like and some stuff you’re not as into. Maybe you hear a song you forgot about but love or a band you dig that you’ve never heard before. It’s a well-rounded meal, while an AI-curated set feels like a dessert buffet. It’s all the stuff you love, and it’s great at first, but then it gives you a stomach ache after a while.

It hits different than when it comes from an algorithm

In the era of Spotify algorithms and top 40 stations, a DJ might seem like an abstract concept. But KEXP’s DJs are very much real people that I see out in the community, emceeing local music festivals and shopping at the co-op grocery store. It’s an obvious but crucial difference. When a real human plays a song you really like because they really like it, too, it hits different than when it comes from an algorithm.

Being on air and sharing music is “a way of connection with thousands of people across the world,” says Evie Stokes, DJ and host of KEXP’s Drive Time. “It’s a great way for me to be honest and have accountability and community that I think we so desperately need.”

Her connection to the audience is built through and alongside the music; Stokes has shared her journey into sobriety with her listeners. “Every time I talk about it on air… I get an influx of messages from folks who are going through similar paths in their life.” That connection simply can’t exist when the only thing running the station is a robot.

One of the downsides of being employed as a writer is that it’s basically impossible for me to listen to the radio while I work. I can’t write to songs with lyrics, and I definitely can’t write while a DJ is talking. So I turn to Spotify a lot during the workday, and I’ve listened to plenty of “lofi” and “smooth jazz beats” playlists while blogging. I’ve used another of Spotify’s AI features, too: AI-created playlists. For the purpose, they’re fine. Best of all, there’s no pretense that a human is picking the music for me. I tell the computer what mood I’m in, and it assembles a playlist of tunes that fit the assignment.

If nothing else, the AI DJ is a kind of totem of the particular AI moment we’re in. Generative AI is buzzy, and tech companies are busy shoving it into every corner of every product they make, whether it has any business being there or not. There’s plenty of stuff AI can do and probably will do for us in the near future. But standing in for a real human, especially in creative applications, isn’t one of them. Take it from the Polish radio station that tried — and failed spectacularly — to replace its human presenters with AI characters.

A podcast is just humans talking to each other

Does anyone actually want an AI DJ calling them by name? Does anybody want an AI-generated DM from their favorite creator? Does anyone want to have a Zoom meeting with your AI avatar? Maybe, but I think the tech executives pushing for more of this stuff are vastly overestimating this demand and underestimating the value that a real human brings to an exchange. People want to listen to podcasts, for Christ’s sake. A podcast is just humans talking to each other. Conceptually, listening to a podcast is about as advanced as gathering round the radio for your favorite program like people did a hundred years ago. Some things are constants.

On the day I started listening to the Spotify AI DJ, I got in the car that afternoon to pick my kid up from daycare. DJ Riz was hosting Drive Time on KEXP, and the first thing I heard him play was “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows” by Lesley Gore, released in 1963. It’s a bop that’s as syrupy-sweet as the candy in its title. Riz followed that up with Love from Mos Def’s 1999 album Black on Both Sides. I’m sure I wouldn’t have listened to either of those songs on my own that afternoon, let alone back to back. But it worked, and the juxtaposition made me smile. You just don’t get that kind of thing from AI.

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There’s a lot more Red Hulk in the new Captain America: Brave New World trailer

There’s a lot more Red Hulk in the new Captain America: Brave New World trailer

Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World. | Screenshot: YouTube

General — er, President — Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) gets a lot bigger and redder in the new Captain America: Brave New World trailer that Marvel debuted at Disney’s D23 Brazil event. The company also released a second trailer for Thunderbolts, the new superhero team movie that will end the MCU’s phase 5.

The Brave New World preview opens on Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) visiting one of the first supersoldiers, Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), in prison after his attack on the president. Isaiah, who doesn’t seem to remember the attack, warns Sam to “be careful.”

The trailer then sets up some heavy tension and intrigue, using a fun splitscreen theme to build to a much more thorough reveal of Ross’ Red Hulk than Marvel did in July. Although it leaves the feeling that he’s the movie’s main villain, it also suggests there’s much more to the story than just “Sam fights a Hulk.” Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters on February 14th.

Then there’s the nearly four-minute-long “special look” at Thunderbolts, which offers more of the Thunderbolts working as an actual team, assembled by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) as a super-powered task force of flawed anti-heroes.

The movie’s other main characters include Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ava Starr / Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian (David Harbour), Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and John Walker / US Agent (Wyatt Russell). Oh, and Bob (Lewis Pullman), who seems like just a guy until you see him, injury-free despite a shirt that looks like it’s full of bullet holes that might have come from the dozen or so people pointing guns at him.

Thunderbolts comes out on May 2nd.

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The Beatles’ final song, restored using AI, is up for a Grammy

The Beatles’ final song, restored using AI, is up for a Grammy

Paul McCartney in 2022. | Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The Beatles have been nominated for two Grammys — nearly 50 years after the band officially split up. Their final song, called “Now and Then,” was restored last year with the help of AI, and is now up for record of the year alongside the likes of Beyoncé, Charlie XCX, Billie Eilish, and Taylor Swift. It’s also been nominated for best rock performance, where it goes up against Green Day, Pearl Jam, and The Black Keys.

Released in November 2023, “Now and Then” started as a demo recorded by John Lennon in the late 1970s. This recording, as well as “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love,” was given to Lennon’s three surviving bandmates in the ‘90s, with the hopes of including it in The Beatles Anthology project.

However, “Now and Then” was never released, as technology at the time couldn’t separate John’s vocals and piano to get a clear sound. But in 2021, filmmaker Peter Jackson and his sound team were able to separate the instrumentals and vocals with machine learning technology, allowing Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to finally complete the song.

Though “Now and Then” was finished using machine learning, it still falls within the bounds of The Grammy’s rules surrounding AI. The guidelines currently state that “only human creators are eligible to be submitted for consideration for, nominated for, or win a GRAMMY Award,” but work that contains “elements” of AI material is “eligible in applicable categories.”

It’s a bit strange to see “Now and Then” competing with modern-day music like Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” but it’s been a long time coming. We’ll get to see how the Beatles fare during the 2025 Grammy Awards, which takes place on Sunday, February 2nd.

YouTube Premium’s legacy price breaks are going away for more users

YouTube Premium’s legacy price breaks are going away for more users

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

YouTube’s premium subscriptions are about to get more expensive for long-time subscribers with legacy plans in more places. In December, YouTube told US subscribers with legacy YouTube Premium plans (stemming from discontinued services Google Play Music or YouTube Red) they’d need to start paying the current $13.99 per month price in the new year.

YouTube Music users in Europe have posted emails they received announcing a price increase for them, too, and just like the US, some report getting three more months at the current price before the hike.

In an email to The Verge, YouTube communications manager Paul Pennington confirmed prices are increasing for both YouTube Premium, which removes ads on the streaming videos and includes access to the music service, as well as the YouTube Music standalone plans:

We’re updating the price for YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium for new and current subscribers in Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Spain, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Kuwait, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Uruguay, and Turkey.

Members who signed up originally via Google Play and received early adopter pricing will get three additional months at their current price.

The initial Reddit poster said they were on the legacy plan from a Google Play Music subscription that started before YouTube Music launched (as YouTube Music Key in 2014 with a $7.99 monthly rate in the US), leading to their eventual merger and the shutdown of Google Play Music. Now, their monthly rate as a subscriber in Spain is going up from 7.99 euros to 10.99, which is still less than the rate for new subscribers to the individual music subscription, which is 12.99 euros.

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The best Garmin watches for training and everyday life

The best Garmin watches for training and everyday life

Garmins aren’t just multisport behemoths anymore. | Illustration by Will Joel / The Verge

Garmin may be best known for its hardcore fitness watches, but it’s got an extensive line of lifestyle offerings, too.

Few brands are as synonymous with outdoor sports as Garmin. You’ll find these fitness trackers and smartwatches on dozens of wrists at any 5K, marathon, or Ironman. You’ll also find Garmin devotees among divers, thru-hikers, golfers, kiteboarders — you name it. But these devices aren’t just for athletes. The company’s made significant strides in its lifestyle offerings, so regardless of your fitness level, there’s a Garmin for everyone.

If you’re coming from a more traditional smartwatch, Garmin’s core strengths lie in fitness, GPS, adventuring, and durability. These are hardy devices that are meant to withstand the elements and last weeks on a single charge. Several models come with offline maps, advanced navigational features, and more training metrics than any other platform. And although many wearable companies have begun rolling out subscriptions, Garmin has publicly stated it has no intention of charging its users extra. That’s a good thing since Garmin devices tend to be on the pricier side.

Garmins aren’t too shabby on smarts, either. While more fitness-focused than anything from Apple, Google, or Samsung, there’s enough to get you the basics like notifications and then some. For example, most Garmins have fall detection and safety features, and several of the latest Garmins recently got an FDA-cleared EKG feature. (You’ll need a phone on hand, however, as only one Garmin model has cellular connectivity.) Many Garmin devices also support offline music playback and come with a small third-party app ecosystem.

There are a lot of Garmin watches to choose from. No, seriously, there are six major lineups, and each has a multitude of models. But no worries — I test several Garmins every year and can help point you in the right direction.

The best Garmin for runners

Sizes: 42mm w/ 18mm straps; 46mm w/ 22mm straps / Weight: 39g (42mm); 47g (46mm) / Battery life: Up to 15 days (42mm); 13 days (46mm) in smartwatch mode / Display type: OLED touchscreen / GPS: All-systems GNSS and dual-frequency GPS / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Ant Plus, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: 8GB

Garmin has many running watches, and a lot of them are great. But the Forerunner 265 or 265S (if you have petite wrists) strikes an excellent balance between price, feature set, battery life, and a vibrant OLED display.

That said, the Forerunner 265 / 265S is a bit of an odd duck. It comes a mere nine months after its predecessor, the Forerunner 255, and is, in many ways, pretty much the same watch. The main difference is the 265 has an OLED display compared to the 255’s memory-in-pixel screen. Usually, that means worse battery life, but in this case, we got about a week on a single charge with the always-on display enabled. Without it, you can get up to 15 days. Given that OLED is easier to read and just, well, looks nicer, that gives the 265 lineup an edge over the 255.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The 42mm Forerunner 265S fits on my petite wrists well. Plus, it’s lightweight, so it won’t distract you while running.

The 265 also has dual-frequency GPS (also known as multi-band). The gist is you get much more accurate maps in challenging environments like cities and dense forests because you can access both the L1 and L5 satellite frequencies. And even with dual-frequency GPS enabled, you still don’t lose a whole lot of battery life. I wore it during a half marathon with that and the AOD enabled, and I still had over 80 percent battery by the time I got home. This is also an excellent price, as the majority of multi-band GPS watches cost well over $600.

My main complaint is that $450, while not bad for Garmin, is still a lot when you consider that’s the same price as smarter smartwatches with great running features. Some runners won’t care. But if you’re on a budget — or you’re new to running and feel iffy about spending that much — then consider the Forerunner 165 series. It starts at $250 (add another $50 for onboard music) and does almost everything the 265 series does. The main things you’re missing are dual-frequency GPS and a few more niche sport profiles. But if you’re mostly sticking to running, gym equipment, cycling, swimming, and hiking, you’re covered.

Neither has all of Garmin’s training features, but it’s got what you’ll need to run anything from a 5K to a full marathon. That includes a Race Predictor, which gives you an estimate of what your best time would be based on your actual training. You can also use PacePro to figure out your pacing strategy for a race. You also get Garmin’s Training Readiness feature to help gauge load and recovery, Garmin Coach plans, and a host of running form metrics. It also supports offline music and safety features like fall detection. The only thing they lack is advanced mapping. (They still have trackback, point-to-point navigation, and real-time breadcrumb trail support, however.)

Read my full Garmin Forerunner 265S review.

The best Garmin for endurance sports

Sizes: 42mm w/ 20mm straps; 47mm w/ 22mm straps; 51mm w/ 26mm straps / Weight: 42mm: 63g stainless steel, 58g titanium; 47mm: 78g stainless steel, 70g titanium; 51mm: 98g stainless steel, 88g titanium / Battery life: 42mm: up to 10 days (4 with AOD); 47mm: up to 16 days (6 with AOD); 51mm: up to 31 days (11 with AOD) / Display type: OLED / GPS: All-systems GNSS and dual-frequency GPS / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Ant Plus, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: 10ATM / Music storage: Up to 32GB

The Epix Pro will get you every fitness feature that Garmin has to offer. And I mean everything. It would frankly be easier to tell you what the Epix Pro does not have: things that are limited to LTE smartwatches and some of the new smart features on the Fenix 8, like an on-board voice assistant. Otherwise, you’ve got topographical maps, turn-by-turn navigation, and more training metrics than even a seasoned triathlete would know what to do with.

The Pro is more size-inclusive than the standard second-gen Epix, which only comes in 47mm. You can get the Pro in that size, too, but it also comes in 42mm and 51mm. This was a major complaint I had with the second-gen Epix last year, and you love to see companies actually take this sort of thing seriously. The best part is the Pro models start at the same price as the regular Epix did. You’ll have to pay $100 extra for materials like titanium and sapphire crystal, but that’s also true of the standard Epix.

That said, it muddies the waters if you’re trying to pick between the Epix Pro, Fenix 7, Fenix 7 Pro, and now, the Fenix 8. The main difference is the Epix watches all have OLED displays. One reason I prefer OLED is that they’re much easier to read indoors — where most of us spend the majority of our time. The Fenix 7 series’ memory-in-pixel displays (plus solar charging if you opt for it) allow for weeks and weeks of charge, but the smallest Epix Pro can get around 10 days with normal usage. The 47mm and 51mm Pro models can go longer between charges due to bigger batteries, but I felt that the 42mm has enough juice to satisfy most use cases. Garmin also has so many battery-saving modes and options that I highly doubt this will ever be an issue.

Not helping matters is the fact that the Fenix 8 lets you choose between an OLED or a MIP display. You also get smart features like an onboard voice assistant, the ability to take calls from the wrist, and the Garmin Messenger app. The main problem is the starting price is now $350 more than the standard Fenix 7 and right about on par with the Epix Pro. My personal feeling is the Fenix 8’s smart features are just okay and that you’re really not missing much by not having them. This is also the season where we see discounts on older models, so I would put on my bargain hunting hat for a discounted Epix Pro or Fenix 7 Pro while inventory still lasts.

But really the winning feature of the Epix Pro is the hands-free flashlight. It’s so useful in my day-to-day life, and all you have to do is double-press a button. It’s as bright as your smartphone, comes with a red light option if you want something easier on the eyes, and can act as a strobe in an emergency situation. The Fenix 7 Pro and 8 watches also have a flashlight, so a lot of this is going to come down to personal preference for the display, price, and whether you care about smart features.

If you’re set on the most battery life possible, I recommend the Fenix 7 Pro over the standard 7 for a few reasons. Its MIP display is slightly brighter, all sizes have the flashlight, and, like the Epix Pro, it has an updated sensor array. I also recommend it over the MIP versions of the Fenix 8 because it comes in more sizes, and costs around $300 less. Especially since the Fenix 8’s smart features are a bit half-baked.

Read my full Epix Pro review.

The best Garmin on a budget

Sizes: 40mm w/ 20mm straps / Weight: 19g / Battery life: Up to 5 days / Display type: “Hidden” OLED touchscreen / GPS: Tethered GPS / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Ant Plus / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: N/A

What I love most about the Vivomove Sport is it doesn’t look like what most people expect from a Garmin. It’s a hybrid smartwatch, which means it looks like a regular watch but can track fitness and deliver notifications. Garmin’s hybrids are also unique in that they all use an OLED display that stays hidden until you need it.

This is best suited for a casually active person who wants style and value in a lightweight package. Think wellness, more so than fitness. It gets you continuous heart rate monitoring and blood oxygen level monitoring and can even provide abnormal heart rate alerts. You also get access to more in-depth metrics like respiration rate, fitness age, stress, and Body Battery, which is Garmin’s tool for visualizing how well-rested you are. For smart features, you get all the basics, like notifications, alarms, and timers.

Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

You can’t easily read a whole text on this hidden OLED display, but you will know who sent it and make an educated choice about whether you want to reach for your phone.

The Sport isn’t quite as full-featured as some other Garmins you’ll find on this list. For instance, you’re giving up built-in GPS in favor of tethered GPS through your phone. There are no contactless payments, nor is there a microphone or speaker for taking calls on the wrist. But this is a budget pick, and you get a lot, considering this is an entry-level gadget that could pass for a Swatch at a glance.

I don’t love that the battery life is short for a hybrid, at around three to four days. Even so, that’s still much better than what you’ll get on an Apple Watch or Wear OS 3 watch. If you’re willing to spend about $100 more, the $269.99 Vivomove Trend has more chic materials, gets you more screen real estate, and wireless Qi charging. Otherwise, this is a great lifestyle wearable that can serve as a classier alternative to your typical fitness band.

If you prefer something newer to the Sport that’s also stylish, the Garmin Lily 2 is another good option, especially if you’ve got particularly small wrists or prefer something extremely lightweight. The swipe and tap gestures are still a little fiddly to use — which was also the case with the first-gen model — but the fresh design is a fun way to lightly monitor your fitness without bogging yourself down with notifications. Garmin also recently announced a new version called the Lily 2 Active, which adds a physical button, GPS, and support for more sports tracking for a starting price of $299.99.

Read my full Garmin Vivomove Sport review.

The best Garmin to replace a Fitbit

Sizes: 40mm w/ 20mm straps / Weight: 38g / Battery life: Up to 11 days / Display type: OLED touchscreen / GPS: All-systems GNSS / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Ant Plus / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: 4GB (for Music Edition)

If you were disappointed by the Fitbit Sense 2 and Versa 4, the Venu Sq 2 is the next best thing (and, in some ways, better).

At a glance, the Venu Sq 2 could easily be mistaken for an Apple Watch. On the wrist, you’ll notice it’s made of plastic, but it still looks quite chic and extremely lightweight. The screen is bright, easy to read, and looks better than any Versa or Sense ever did.

The feature set is also great for the price, with built-in GPS, a ton of watch faces, emergency safety features, and contactless payments. If you pay $50 more for the Music Edition, you’ll also get about 500 songs worth of storage, but we wouldn’t recommend it. This doesn’t have cellular connectivity and, therefore, isn’t truly standalone. You’ll most likely be carrying your phone with you anyway.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The display is nicer than anything Fitbit ever made — and with smaller bezels, too.

As for health features, the Venu Sq 2 basically has everything you’d get on a Versa or Sense smartwatch but with Garmin’s treasure trove of metrics as well. That includes heart rate tracking, blood oxygen tracking, intensity minutes (how much moderate exercise you get in a week), stress tracking, hydration tracking, respiratory rate, period tracking, and Garmin’s recovery feature, Body Battery. As far as fitness goes, you also get access to Garmin Coach, which provides free 5K, 10K, and half marathon training plans. You love to see it.

Another big leg-up Garmin has over Fitbit? None of these features or metrics are locked behind a paywall.

Read my full Garmin Venu Sq 2 review.

The best Garmin smartwatch

Sizes: 41mm w/ 18mm straps; 45mm w/ 22mm straps / Weight: 40g for the 3S; 47g for the 3 / Battery life: Up to 10 days for 3S; 14 days for 3 / Display type: OLED touchscreen / GPS: GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Ant Plus, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: 8GB

Garmin has shored up the smarts in its watches over the past few years, and the Venu 3 series is the smartest (and most affordable) of the bunch.

The Venu 3 series comes in two sizes: 41mm and 45mm. Like the Venu 2 Plus, it has a microphone and speaker. You can take calls directly from the wrist as well as issue commands to your phone’s digital assistant via Bluetooth. It’s not the same as having Siri, Bixby, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant built directly into the watch, but it’s a clever workaround that works well for hands-free control. It also supports safety features like fall detection and live tracking as well as contactless payments.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The Venu 3S has Garmin’s latest heart rate sensor and adds a wheelchair mode and nap detection.

Like other OLED Garmins, the display is both vibrant and easy to read. As for health and fitness, you get a nice mix of basic and more advanced features and metrics. It has Garmin’s latest heart rate sensor, which enables FDA-cleared EKG and AFib detection features. Overall, it leans a bit more on the wellness and health side of things, with intensity minutes, blood oxygen monitoring, sleep tracking, period tracking, abnormal heart rate alerts, and stress tracking. As for training, you still get built-in GPS, VO2 Max, heart rate zones, respiration rate, and downloadable training plans via Garmin Coach.

New to the 3 and 3S is a sleep coach that factors in metrics like heart rate variability and recent activity to determine your sleep needs. It also finally adds nap detection, a feature that’s been long overdue for the Garmin platform. The Venu 3 series also adds audio-guided meditation sessions, and you can view how these sessions directly impact your metrics. From an accessibility standpoint, this also adds a new wheelchair mode.

Technically, the new Fenix 8 is slightly smarter in that it adds an on-board voice assistant. However, it is also more than double the price and not what I’d consider a good value for the average athlete. It’s more for people who spend hours upon hours training every week.

This is the Garmin for you if you want the platform’s in-depth training without sacrificing the productivity of a smartwatch. The main things it’s lacking are cellular options and a robust third-party app ecosystem. That said, it’s got Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer for offline listening. It’s also a good option if you’re fed up with MIP displays and want a smarter Garmin rather than a full-on smartwatch.

Read my full review of the Garmin Venu 3S.

Update, November 7th: Adjusted pricing and availability.

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Take-Two is selling its indie games label Private Division

Take-Two is selling its indie games label Private Division

Pokemon developer Game Freak’s unreleased Project Bloom game is included in the sale. | Image: Private Division

Take-Two Interactive is selling off its indie games label Private Division, which published titles such as The Outer Worlds and OlliOlli World, following rumors over the summer that Take-Two laid off most of Private Division’s staff.

Take-Two did not disclose the buyer of Private Division or how much they paid. In an emailed statement to The Verge, Take-Two spokesperson Alan Lewis wrote:

We recently made the strategic decision to sell our Private Division label to focus our resources on growing our core and mobile businesses for the long-term. As part of this transaction, the buyer purchased our rights to substantially all of Private Division’s live and unreleased titles.

Take-Two will continue to support No Rest for the Wicked, which launched in Early Access on PC in April. We are grateful for the contributions that the Private Division team has made to our company and are confident that they will continue to achieve success in their new home.

According to Bloomberg, the label has been plagued by “a string of flops, including Kerbal Space Program 2, which was full of bugs and panned by fans.” Private Division games, including the upcoming The Lord of the Rings farm simulator Tales of the Shire, as well as Pokémon developer Game Freak’s untitled game known as Project Bloom, will move over to the new buyer. However, Private Divison’s buyer won’t get the rights to No Rest for the Wicked.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told GamesIndustry.biz that the buyer would be named soon and said, “The team of Private Division did a great job supporting independent developers and, almost to a one, every project they supported did well. However, the scale of those projects was, candidly, on the smaller side, and we’re in the business of making great big hits,” like the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI.

NYT tech workers are making their own games while on strike

NYT tech workers are making their own games while on strike

Striking New York Times tech workers have created a “Guild Builds” page dedicated to strike-themed games you can play, including a spin on Wordle, a word search, and the custom Connections I reported on earlier today.

As part of its strike announcement on Monday, the New York Times Tech Guild requested that people don’t cross the digital picket line to play the NYT’s daily puzzle games. This collection of five other games offers an alternative if you want to support the striking workers but also do some brain teasers.

There are currently five games on the page:

• Strikle, the twist on Wordle
• Connections: Strike Edition, which is a puzzle made in a Connections creator
• Word Search
• Match Strike, a memory game
• Frogger 8th Avenue

They aren’t super fancy, but I’ve had fun messing around with them. The games will be updated “when they can be,” Jen Sheehan, spokesperson for the NewsGuild of New York, tells The Verge, so you might want to check back every once in awhile to see if there’s a new version of a puzzle to play. Sheehan also says that guild members created all of the games but Strikle, which was made by an external supporter.

The New York Times didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

The striking workers have also asked people not to use NYT Cooking, so the Guild Builds page also includes some strike-themed recipes you can make instead. I’m personally intrigued by “‘We’ve got beef with management’ Stuffed Mushrooms,” though Solidarity Soup sounds pretty good, too.

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Amazon’s CEO defends return-to-office policy

Amazon’s CEO defends return-to-office policy

Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is pushing back on claims that his return-to-office mandate was a “backdoor layoff.” In a transcript of an all-hands staff meeting seen by Reuters and CNBC, Jassy said the move “is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture.”

In September, Amazon announced that it would start making employees return to the office five days per week starting January 2nd, 2025. The e-commerce giant previously required employees to work in the office three days per week. Some speculated that the five-day-per-week mandate is a “layoff in disguise,” intended to push out employees who couldn’t or wouldn’t make the full return.

“A number of people I’ve seen theorized that the reason we were doing this is, it’s a backdoor layoff, or we made some sort of deal with city or cities,” Jassy said during the meeting, according to Reuters. “I can tell you both of those are not true. You know, this was not a cost play for us.” Amazon has laid off more than 27,000 workers since 2022.

Recent reports suggest many Amazon employees aren’t happy with the return to office mandate, with some even threatening to quit, according to a report from Fortune. Last month, hundreds of employees signed a letter in protest of comments from Amazon Web Services head Matt Garman, who said “there are other companies around” for workers who don’t want to come in five days per week.

Here’s when the Black Friday sales start at Amazon, Walmart, and other retailers

Here’s when the Black Friday sales start at Amazon, Walmart, and other retailers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Black Friday officially kicks off on November 29th, but if you plan to make that the only day you buy gifts this holiday season, you’re missing out. Several prominent retailers, including Best Buy and Target, have already started rolling out their holiday discounts online and in-store. Both retailers are offering price protection through most of the holiday shopping season as well, so if you buy early and the same item drops to a lower price, you can retroactively get that better deal.

Whether you take advantage of the slew of early holiday deals or hold off until the day after Thanksgiving, it’s important to know how every major retailer is handling the shopping event this year. If you plan to spend some cash, here are the schedules and expectations for Amazon, Walmart, Target, and all the major retailers we know of.

Amazon

Amazon has yet to announce a full Black Friday playbook, but it does have a landing page full of holiday deals, which the retailer may update and convert into its main hub for Black Friday — as well as Cyber Monday. There aren’t a ton of noteworthy early deals, at least in terms of tech, but Amazon is currently discounting a few pairs of Beats headphones. This includes the Beats Solo 4 and Beats Studio Pro, which are on sale for $99.99 ($100 off) and $169.99 ($180 off), respectively.

Just be aware that Amazon does not offer price matching, so price “protection” for many Amazon shoppers means buying the item at the lower price point and returning the original — which, unfortunately, is pretty wasteful.

Best Buy

Black Friday has already kicked off to some degree at Best Buy, with the retailer offering various specials via its “Holiday Savings” event, which runs through November 7th. That being said, the first wave of early “doorbuster” Black Friday deals will go live on Friday, November 8th, with new doorbusters to follow every Friday until November 20th. They’re open to everybody, though those who subscribe to My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total will get access every Thursday before they become more widely available.

Best Buy’s main Black Friday event, which will feature returning doorbusters and new deals, is slated to begin on November 21st (yes, that’s a full eight days for a singular “Black Friday Sale”). The retailer’s Cyber Monday promo, meanwhile, will kick off on Sunday, December 1st, meaning Best Buy is running sales throughout the entire month of November.

Best Buy shoppers also get price protection, ensuring that if you purchase a qualifying item and it goes on to receive a bigger discount between November 1st and December 31st, you can request a refund for the difference through January 14th. As with some of the Black Friday promos, you’ll want to make sure you’re signed in with your My Best Buy account while browsing to ensure you’re getting the lowest price.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple Watches are popular items that usually receive deep discounts around Black Friday.

Target

Like Best Buy, Target has launched a “Deal of the Day” holiday promo, which runs through December 24th for members of its free Target Circle program. Target will also host an Early Black Friday Sale, which will kick off on November 7th and last through November 9th.

Each Sunday in November, Target will drop new deals at brick-and-mortar stores and online, which you can preview a week beforehand using Target’s weekly circular. Target says it will be offering the best prices throughout the holiday season; however, the retailer also has a holiday price-match policy in place if it happens to offer a better deal on an item between now and December 24th. Just keep in mind that you may need to return to the store from which you purchased the product to receive a price match or call Target’s guest services for online purchases.

Walmart

Walmart plans to start rolling out its Black Friday deals in multiple waves. The first begins online at 12PM ET on Monday, November 11th, for paying Walmart Plus subscribers (or 5PM ET for everybody else). An in-store sale will follow on November 15th at 6AM local time.

The second wave begins online at 12PM ET on Monday, November 25th, for Walmart Plus members (or 5PM ET for everybody else). An in-store sale will follow on Black Friday proper (November 29th) at 6AM local time.

Walmart will then hold its Cyber Monday sale online for Walmart Plus members beginning at 5PM ET on December 1st before opening it to non-members at 8PM ET.

If you want to get early access to any of the aforementioned waves, Walmart is offering 50 percent off an annual Walmart Plus membership through December 2nd. The current promo brings the cost of its premium service down to $49 a year. Along with early access to all of Walmart’s holiday discounts, Plus members also get free delivery on millions of products.

GameStop

There is no word yet on Black Friday details from GameStop. We expect to hear more soon regarding store hours on Black Friday and possibly Thanksgiving, as well as some specifics regarding what kind of gaming deals it plans to offer throughout the holiday season.

Newegg

Newegg has already started dropping its Black Friday deals. Like other retailers, it also offers price protection, so you can choose to buy early without having to worry about potential discounts down the line. Newegg is noting price-protected items with a colorful badge near the product’s name through November 20th, and if said product drops in price on or before November 30th, Newegg will automatically refund the difference to the original payment method.

Costco

Costco recently announced two deals events ahead of Black Friday, including a “Holiday Savings” event that runs through December 2nd online and in-store. There’s also an online “November Savings” promo, which runs through November 30th. Costco will continue to drop new deals throughout November, which you can preview here. There aren’t a ton of notable tech highlights (yet), but Costco will be discounting the noise-canceling Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds to $229.99 ($70 off) starting on November 18th. Costco will also throw in a $50 gift card from one of several retailers, including Apple and Google.