News

After unveiling the “world’s first” 240Hz OLED and 4K display tech on its new Blade gaming laptops earlier this year at CES 2024, Razer is upping the ante again. Described as “the most powerful Blade ever,” today Razer is officially taking the wraps off its new Razer Blade 18 gaming laptop. The “pinnacle of high-performance gaming laptops” builds upon the success of its “award-winning” Blade 16 and 14 models that debuted earlier this year, setting what Razer calls a “new benchmark for gaming and creative work with its unrivaled desktop-grade performance.” You can give it a closer look down below. 

Just after Geoff Keighley officially announced and confirmed this year’s major Summer Game Fest showcase, Ubisoft has now gone public with its plans as well. With the demise of E3, Summer Game Fest and a series of publisher specific-events have stepped into the fill the void, and we know when Ubisoft will be taking the stage. The next Ubisoft Forward event is set to take place come June 10, the same day as Apple’s highly-anticipated WWDC, and will likely be one of, if not, the biggest Ubisoft show of the year. 

LIFX continues to claw its way back from the grave with a pair of new indoor reveals today. The smart home lighting company first showed off an incredibly cool lineup of outdoor lights meant for bringing Siri to your patio back in February, and now it’s bringing that same attention to a pair of different light bulbs.

Ubiquiti has yet another UniFi gateway out! Hooray. The UniFi Gateway Max justifies its $199 price tag and addition to the lineup with a full slate of 2.5Gb Ethernet ports and all of the usual security features that Ubiquiti is known for.

Update: The Nocturnal Vapor Xbox Wireless Controller is now marked down at Amazon to $54.93 shipped from the regular $69 price tag.

Microsoft has now taken to the official Xbox Wire to reveal the new Nocturnal Vapor Special Edition Xbox Controller. Just after the debut of its S.P.E.C.I.A.L. edition Vault Boy Fallout Xbox Wireless Controllers, the limited South Park: Snow Day bundles, and the new misty Vapor gamepads before that, Xbox is now inspiring gamers to “own the night” with the new moody Nocturnal Vapor Special Edition Xbox Wireless Controller. Now available for pre-order directly from Microsoft and at Amazon, you can get a closer look and more details down below. 

The final Anker Qi2 releases that were first shown off at CES 2024 are beginning to ship. We’ve seen a handful of the company’s new 15W chargers already debut, but today, the brand’s new 3-in-1 charging stands hit store shelves, complete with 15W magnetic power pads and Apple Watch fast charging.

Last time we checked in with the latest from REDMAGIC’s wild, high-tech gadget lineup, we featured its crazy transparent 150W charger with onboard display and custom RGB, and now it’s time for the new REDMAGIC VC COOLER 5 Pro. Described as a “new era of liquid cooling intelligence,” the VC COOLER 5 Pro is the brand’s next-generation smartphone cooling system that looks like it was pulled right from some futuristic sci-fi movie. All of the details and more imagery are waiting down below the fold. 

We have more to share about the upcoming LEGO UCS Jabba’s Sail Barge today. It’s been looming as the fall Ultimate Collector Series set since back in the beginning of 2023. Now over a year later, 9to5Toys can report on what to expect from the largest Star Wars set of 2024 before it’s release in October.

Last week, we posted that LEGO would be revisiting one of the very first Star Wars sets come May 1, and now we have photos to prove it! The upcoming Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator will remake one of the original creations from the theme for not only the 25th anniversary of kits from a galaxy far, far away, but also to celebrate the same anniversary of The Phantom Menace – and the LEGO Group has sent over some images for us to share.

A new batch of LEGO sets are about to hit store shelves for April. It’s no joke! You can now score the long-awaited Dungeons and Dragons set alongside a massive Batman mosaic and quite a few other LEGO sets.

World Backup Day has arrived and, like every year, is reminding you that it’s time to be smarter about your data. Whether it’s beloved family photos, Time Machine backups of your Mac, or your expansive media server, having plan in place to ensure all of your data is protected is crucial. NAS plays an important role in this, and today for the occasion, we’re taking a look at what three different models from Synology bring to the table to join all of the price cuts now live on hard drives and more. Head below for all of our World Backup Day NAS recommendations, tips, and tricks.

Update: The new TP-Link dual-outlet outdoor smart plug with Matter is now seeing its first price drop down to $22.99 with free shipping for Prime members or in orders over $25. Regularly $30, this is the very first deal and a subsequent Amazon all-time low. Details below. 

Today we are taking a closer look at the latest piece of smart home kit from TP-Link, its new Tapo P400M Matter Outdoor Smart Plug. One of the very first outdoor plugs with Matter support to be available for purchase from a major smart home brand (alongside this Leviton model), TP-Link’s latest outdoor power solution delivers the multi-platform integration the Matter standard is known for directly to your backyard with its latest 2-outlet model now available over at Amazon for $29.99. Head below for more details.

After launching F-ZERO 99 for Switch Online, Nintendo has now brought the classic F-Zero Maximum Velocity Game Boy title to its online, on-demand game membership. Today’s addition to the Game Boy Advance lineup comes on the heels on the Mario Day additions that came in the form of the original Dr. Mario, Mario Golf, and Mario Tennis Game Boy titles that landed a couple weeks back, but this time Nintendo taking its Game Boy Advance lineup into overdrive with its future-classic mobile racing experience. Head below for more details. 

Wyze is out with its latest feature-packed budget home security camera, the Wyze Cam v4. With a long list of upgrades in addition to the standard specs we’ve come to expect with Wyze cameras, it’s a welcomed update to the three-year-old Cam v3. Be sure to hit the video below and check out all the details. 

9to5Toys can report on another one of the 25th anniversary LEGO Star Wars minifigures today. After locking in Saw Gerrara as the next addition to the lineup of celebratory figures from our coverage of the Sith Infiltrator, we have R2-KT. The pink Astromech droid will be debuting later this year as the sixth and final 25th anniversary LEGO Star Wars minifigure.

Today, VIZIO is introducing a new oversized 4K smart TV to its 2024 lineup of displays. The brand is refreshing the look and feel of its lineup this year that is said to go “beyond the brand-new Home Screen design, the “Watch Us” 360 campaign, and updated color palette.” Rolling out to national retailers now and throughout the spring, the brand is looking to double down on the value-packed models that made it somewhat of a household name in year’s past with new HD and 4K models across the usual spectrum of sizes, but today it is announcing a new addition, an 86-inch 4K smart TV that will carry a retail price at $999. Head below for details. 

With just days remaining to win yourself one of two massive $500 gift cards to spend on Burton Goods’ gorgeous leather Apple gear accessories, the brand has introduced a new leather iPhone 15 case. We recently had a chance to go hands-on with its fantastic Modern Pocket Book Wallet case and loved every second of it – it is the best one I have tested out in the category – but the brand has now released its new, more simple leather case. Giving folks a chance to score one of its artisan-crafted cases without spending nearly as much as the full wallet model, the new Burton Goods leather case is now available for purchase and we have an exclusive deal for you. Head below for a closer look. 

About a month go we reported on rumors of potential upcoming all-white, all-digital Xbox Series X and now, recently surfaced imagery is fueling the fire further. While there was no mention of this machine back when Phil Spencer and friends hinted an upcoming ultra-powerful next-gen hardware and maybe even an upcoming Xbox handheld machine, but, if recent leaks are to be believed, Microsoft does look to be readying the release of a new version of the existing Xbox Series X with a fresh coat of all-white paint for this summer. Head below for more details. 

Venture is officially coming to Overwatch 2 next month as the latest hero added to the Blizzard team-based hero shooter. Not letting Marvel Rivals have all the fun today, the newest DPS will be bringing a unique new kit to the game based around digging under enemies and doing damage with their drill.

Described as the “premier Super Hero Team-based PVP,” the new Marvel Rivals is making its official debut today. Marvel has teamed up the developer NetEase games to bring the best of the Marvel Multiverse into a 6v6 hero shooter of sorts, blending the ultra-popular superhero stable with the likes of titles like Overwatch. The official announcement trailer has now landed on the Marvel YouTube channel and you can check it out below. 

2024 is the year of Space for the LEGO Group, and it’s newest Collectible Minifigure Series is following the trend. Launching in May, the new CMF Series 26 figures will assemble 12 delightful characters that are all out of this world. There’s the return of Ice Planet, M:Tron, and so much more.

SANDMARC, a brand that has quickly become a personal favorite and one of the better-selling iPhone accessory makers around here, is introducing its latest piece of kit today known as the Travel Backpack. In a marketplace filled to the brim with carriers geared towards photography, SANDMARC has decided to create a dedicated backpack “for the most popular camera in the world: the iPhone.” While it appears to me to be just as useful as a typical backpack as well, it is specifically geared towards iPhoneographers, filmmakers, and content creators with a special exclusive pre-order price available to 9to5Toys readers starting today (details below). Head below for all of the details. 

New special edition South Park Xbox Series X bundles are here, but you’ll have to try to win one. After seeing the new special edition Dune model and the official SpongeBob Xbox Series X console bundle after that, Microsoft has now unveiled its next custom console job in celebration of the release of South Park: Snow Day today. The infamous and beloved animated characters from the show are debuting in their latest console experience starting today, and Microsoft has now revealed these four unique Xbox Series X consoles and matching controllers, each featuring the iconic South Park characters. head below for more details and a closer look. 

Just after getting a chance to go hands-on with Razer’s impressive new Chroma V3 Seiren mic, another one of the brand’s new smart lighting solutions is now available for purchase. The PC gaming smart light with Matter was first unveiled earlier this year and, after being sold out directly from Razer for most of 2024, you can now bring home the new Razer Aether Monitor Light Bar to kit out your battlestation even more at $129.99 shipped via Amazon. It now joins the rest of the Razer Aether smart lighting gear and you can get a closer look at the feature set down below. 

The fourth LEGO Star Wars set slated to release on May 1 has been revealed. 9to5Toys can now confirm that we’ll be getting the first-ever creation based around Order 66 with the upcoming LEGO BARC Speeder Escape set (75378).

Qi2 is one of the biggest things to happen in smartphone charging since MagSafe launched to start off the 2020s. But how does the new, open standard compare to Apple’s own 15W implementation? Below, I explore how the specs line up on paper and how the chargers in each category actually compare from my own hands-on experiences.

With more direct drive wheelbases hitting the market, the search for the best sim racing cockpit continues. We’ve tried the Playseat Trophy and the new entry-level GTRacer from Next Level Racing but now we’re taking things up a notch with the GT Omega Titan. While not the top-of-the-line cockpit that the Scottish company sells, it’s a solid choice for a sim-racing cockpit and has been a great upgrade for my live streams. Be sure to hit the video below to see all of the details. 

Samsung’s new 2024 TVs are now available for pre-order. The whole collection was first revealed back at CES in the beginning of the year, and now we finally have pricing. Not just that, but you can also lock-in your order and score some savings along the way.

Amazon’s new Big Spring Sale has arrived. As we do through the rest of the year, the team at 9to5Toys will be working around the clock in order to highlight all of the best discounts. Whether you’re doing spring cleaning on all your gadgets or just want to lock-in all the best deals, we’ll have everything rounded up in one place.

We have more details to share today on the upcoming PDP Riffmaster gaming guitar controller. The first and only new guitar designed to work with Fortnite Festival will be launching on April 30. You can pre-order both the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions now.

Update: We had to take the photos down. All the info is still provided on what to expect from the sets.

These leaks are getting out of hand, now there’s two of them! Today, we’re able to share a first look at two of the upcoming LEGO Star Wars sets launching on May 1. Launching ahead of May the 4th and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace, we can share the first images of the new LEGO Boonta Eve Podrace Diorama and buildable Droideka sets.

ESR just recently launched its new 3-in-1 Qi2 Charging Stand, and I’ve been using it with my Apple setup for the past week. It might not be the most premium option on the market, but it’s the most affordable way to enjoy 15W speeds with a desktop form-factor, AirPods power pad, and Apple Watch charger.

The Scanwatch 2 is one of Withings’ newest hybrid smartwatches, and it features more information on your health within the Withings app than my Apple Watch provides within Apple Health. Available for $349.50, the Scanwatch 2 can detect potential health problems, assess your respiratory system, and of course, provide you with health and activity metrics. I’ve had mine for about a month, and I have been impressed with everything the Scanwatch 2 has to offer. Keep reading below the fold to learn more.

Baseball fans who love to smoke their meals on Traeger wood-pellet grills, you are going to love this announcement! Traeger is proudly announcing a unique partnership with Louisville Slugger, the official bat of Major League Baseball, with the release of limited-edition Traeger Louisville Slugger Pellets just in time for the very first games of the 2024 season. These limited-edition maple pellets are crafted from the same maple hardwood that is used to create the iconic bats from Louisville Slugger. This partnership brings together barbecue enthusiasts and baseball fans to pay homage to baseball’s history and the togetherness that a classic tailgate barbeque at the ballpark provides. 

Lexar is officially unveiling its new portable SSD for iPhone 15, Mac, and more. After seeing a new PNY release, the next out of the gate in 2024 when it comes to portable solid-state drive solutions is Lexar with its new SL500 Portable SSD. The drive delivers some of the faster speeds we have seen from the latest releases across the product category, as well as being specifically marketed as a solution that supports “Apple Pro Res recording so users can shoot directly to the drive in up to 4K 60FPS with iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.” Hit the jump for all of the details. 

Samsung’s new Music Frame is about to actually debut. The unique speaker was first revealed back at CES 2024 back in January, and now the company is gearing up to begin shipping the quirky new listening device. Ahead of time, you can get a $100 discount when you sign up at this link ahead of time. All you have to do is put down your name and email, and you’ll be able to get an extra $100 towards that new home theater upgrade –no cash down ahead of time or anything else needed.

Backbone is rounding out its iPhone gaming controller grips today by refreshing the Lightning side of its lineup. We first saw the USB-C version get some love last fall, and now those with an iPhone 14 or older can enjoy the same improvements.

Official photos of the upcoming LEGO Dungeons and Dragons Red Dragon’s Tale set (21348) are officially here! Stacking up to nearly 3,800 pieces, the upcoming set celebrates the RPG’s 50th anniversay with six all-new minifigures, a giant Cinderhowl red dragon, and tons of other fiends.

Samsung showed off its new 2024 lineup of TVs back at CES in January, and now the company is gearing up to launch them later this month. In true Samsung fashion, you’ll also be able to save on the new releases before they’re even officially on store shelves. Right now, you can score an extra $100 discount on that future Samsung 2024 TVs pre-order when you sign up at this link ahead of time. All you have to do is put down your name and email, and you’ll be able to get an extra $100 towards that new home theater upgrade –no cash down ahead of time or anything else needed.

Battlefield Season 7 is right around the corner, and like most updates, EA/Dice invited members of the press and creators to take a sneak peek and try out what’s coming up in a “capture event.” While we couldn’t try out everything that will be released throughout the full season, we did get to try the new maps, and most of the new weapons, and get a feel for some of the other core changes made to gameplay coming in Battlefield 2042 Season 7. Be sure to hit the video below to see all of the details. 

After alleged internal specs on an upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro hit the interwebs late last year, a new report is putting more fuel under the fire of what is starting to feel like an all but imminent reveal of the upgraded PS5 Pro. It appears a technical overview document from Sony has surfaced, detailing what to expect from PS5 Pro ahead of what some are suggesting a holiday 2024 launch window. Hit the jump for all of the details on the what might very well be early details on PlayStation 5 Pro and its graphical prowess. 

Back in the summer of 2022, the LEGO Group brought its minifigure customization from retail stores to the internet. Now, it’s back! You can once again build and buy yourself a completely unique minifgure – and this time, LEGO says it’s not going away. 

Update: You can go check out the official photos over in our reveal coverage for the new Dungeons and Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale set.

While we’re expected to officially get a reveal of the new LEGO Dungeons and Dragons set next Tuesday, I am here to spoil some of the fun. Tonight, the newest LEGO Ideas set has leaked, and now you can get a first look. I’ve been waiting to officially show you this model since it was first approved to be an official kit well over a year ago, and now it’s here!

The annual Steam spring sale is now in full swing with about as many deals on top-tier PC titles as anyone could ever ask for. These seasonal Steam events are a great chance to load up your back catalogue with older titles and indie gems, not to mention scoring some deals on newer releases you have yet to pick up for both your desktop/laptop machines and Steam Deck. Hit the jump for more details. 

The MSI Claw is finally available for purchase. The newest entry into the world of Windows gaming handhelds was first revealed to start the year, and now it’s officially shipping after going up for pre-order earlier in the month.