Reviews | The VergeThe Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts.2026-05-14T22:03:55+00:00https://www.theverge.com/rss/reviews/index.xmlhttps://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/verge-rss-large_80b47e.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1Allison Johnson<![CDATA[The Razr Fold is stuck in the middle]]>https://www.theverge.com/?p=9302462026-05-14T12:06:17-04:002026-05-14T09:00:00-04:00
Can’t beat Moto on style.
For a phone that gets a lot right, the Motorola Razr Fold is frustratingly hard to recommend.
The Razr Fold is the company's first book-style foldable, and it enters the US market with something not currently available on the competition: truly excellent battery life that rivals the best slab-style phones. No need to worry if you spend a long session gaming or working in a Google doc on the inner screen. The Razr Fold is going to easily get you through your day and then some. Samsung's and Google's foldables are much more likely to generate battery anxiety on a day of heavy use.
Also, the Razr Fold looks nice. The rounded corners, soft-tou …
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Andrew Liszewski<![CDATA[Insta360’s new viewfinder turns the action cam into a retro shooter]]>https://www.theverge.com/?p=9291252026-05-14T11:43:26-04:002026-05-14T08:00:00-04:00
There’s certainly some retro appeal to Insta360’s new action camera accessory.
The pill-shaped Insta360 Go 3S 4K action camera launched in June 2024 as an updated version of the 2.7K Go 3 that debuted a year prior. While last year’s Go Ultra introduced a redesign with a larger sensor and higher frame rates, the Go 3S has stuck around as a smaller but still very capable alternative. To broaden its appeal, the action cam is now available with a new optical viewfinder accessory for framing shots when using it as a handheld camera, but you may be better off splurging on Insta360’s more expensive dock that adds an LCD screen.
The Retro Viewfinder accessory is available today through Insta360’s online store on its own for $47.99, or as part of a new Go 3S Retro Bundle starting at $299.99 that includes the 64GB version of the action cam. That’s cheaper than the $349.99 Standard Bundle that pairs the same version of the Go 3S with Insta360’s Action Pod dock.
As with most tiny action cameras, the Insta360 Go 3S lacks a screen of its own. You can connect it to a smartphone app to see live previews and adjust camera settings, but the Go 3S is designed to be mounted where you wouldn’t be able to see a screen (like atop a helmet) where it captures nearly all the action in front of you using a wide-angle lens.
The new Retro Viewfinder is an attempt to repurpose the action cam as a handheld shooter that lets you frame subjects like a classic camera. It works similar to the Insta360’s Action Pod where the Go 3S slots into the front of the accessory. There’s no spring-loaded latches to keep it securely attached, but a strong magnet kept the camera in place during a vigorous shake test.
Instead of holding the accessory up to your eye to frame shots, you hold it at chest level and look down into the viewfinder. The front panel of the Go 3S functions as your shutter button, snapping photos with a single press and starting and stopping video recording with a double press. It was designed this way to create a “vintage shooting experience inspired by classic film cameras,” according to Insta360. And while framing and snapping photos this way does have some novelty (at one point I felt a little like Ansel Adams as I framed a row of community mailboxes instead of mountains), Insta360’s execution comes with some frustrations.
The viewing angle is extremely limited, and tilting the Retro Viewfinder just 15 to 20 degrees front, back, or side to side results in you seeing nothing at all. The image in the viewfinder is also flipped horizontally. Even after a week of practice, I struggled to intuitively know how to move or adjust the angle of the camera to position a subject exactly where I want them in frame, or to just ensure a shot is level. The process still feels like trial-and-error.
The Go 3S is an excellent camera, but its wide field of view doesn’t help the Retro Viewfinder. As a result, the accessory doesn’t provide an accurate preview of the photos and videos you’re capturing. Walking around my neighborhood one evening, I tried to snap photos that focused on tree lines and a beautiful cloudy sky but ended up with images that included random people, houses, and cars that I deliberately tried to keep out of frame. It’s easy to fix with a quick crop in the Insta360 app, but it feels counterintuitive for an accessory designed to make framing more deliberate. There’s still an element of shoot and see what you get.
Framing is more accurate when capturing selfies with the Retro Viewfinder, but still tricky. You can use the front lens as a selfie mirror, but it’s difficult to frame photos because of dark reflections — especially indoors.
Battery life is limited, even with an included clunky clip-on battery pack/charger that more than doubles the Go 3S’ battery life from 310mAH to over 700mAh. I was able to grab about 150 photos during an hour walk before the camera completely died. Capturing 4K video will drain it even faster, as does connecting it to the Insta360 mobile app.
Changing any settings, including selecting film-emulating filters or different color profiles, requires a direct Wi-Fi connection to your smartphone. The Retro Viewfinder includes a hidden NFC tag that streamlines launching and connecting to the app with a tap (the process still takes about 15 to 20 seconds to fully connect), but it’s still far less convenient than pairing the action camera with Insta360’s Action Pod whose touchscreen provides on-device access to most settings.
Turning the Insta360 Go 3S into a pocketable handheld camera is a clever idea given how popular tiny retro cameras like Kodak’s Charmera still are. But the execution here isn’t ideal. The Retro Viewfinder succeeds in making the Go 3S easier to hold, but its other functionality is often frustrating. On its own, the accessory is cheap enough to consider if you already own the Go 3S, but spending an extra $50 for a bundle with Insta360’s Action Pod will serve you better in the long run no matter how you plan to use the camera.
Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge
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John.Higgins<![CDATA[The Apple Studio Display could have been so much more]]>https://www.theverge.com/?p=9290152026-05-14T18:03:55-04:002026-05-13T07:00:00-04:00
The Studio Display looks great next to a MacBook, but its aging display technology holds it back. | Photo by John Higgins / The Verge
For the better part of 12 years, Apple owned the 5K monitor world - primarily because it made basically the only options. LG's 5K UltraFine was a solid, if bland choice, but many people bought a 27-inch iMac from 2014 for its 5K screen alone. Then in 2022, Apple finally gave the people what they wanted by releasing the $1,599 Studio Display (which was essentially the iMac's screen as a separate monitor with a webcam and speakers) and removed the LG from its store.
It wasn't until late 2024 that companies like BenQ and Asus finally began releasing their own 27-inch 5K monitors. And while the Studio Display was the best built and best looking …
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Sheena Vasani<![CDATA[Cricut’s $99 craft cutting machine helped me feel creative again]]>https://www.theverge.com/?p=9242812026-05-10T22:13:05-04:002026-05-10T10:00:00-04:00
The desk-friendly Cricut Joy 2 comes in multiple colors. | Photo: Sheena Vasani / The Verge
I've always been skeptical of products that claim to help you lead a more creative life. But one recently won me over. I've spent three weeks with the Cricut Joy 2, a smart cutting and drawing machine that made it easy for me to get back into making stickers, cards, bookmarks, and more.
The small $99 gadget isn't perfect, but its capabilities and app-provided templates were just what I was looking for. Caregiving, self-criticism, and mental health struggles have made it tough to tinker and doodle like I used to, and yet the Joy 2 clicked with me. It doles out quick wins when you're in the mood to create.
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Dominic Preston<![CDATA[Vivo’s X300 Ultra has the best cameras in any phone]]>https://www.theverge.com/?p=9260672026-05-09T06:23:53-04:002026-05-10T07:00:00-04:00
The X300 Ultra is mostly let down by its rather dull design.
A few months ago, I wrote that the telephoto camera is the only lens that matters any more, at least when it comes to Ultra-class flagships. As phones got better, cameras became where manufacturers tried to stand out. As cameras got better, telephoto lenses became the next point of focus. The most recent Ultra phones from Xiaomi, Oppo, and Huawei have all made the telephoto, above all, their selling point. Vivo's X300 Ultra is doing something different.
Instead of pushing its telephoto hardware to further extremes, Vivo has mostly left it be. The company has focused its efforts on a significantly improved 35mm main camera, unique among the …
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Antonio G. Di Benedetto<![CDATA[Samsung’s flagship laptop is a MacBook Pro clone gone horribly wrong]]>https://www.theverge.com/?p=9258062026-05-07T10:37:49-04:002026-05-07T11:00:00-04:00
Samsung really captured the aesthetic of the MacBook Pro. The feel and performance, not as much. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
II know I'm not the only person who wants a MacBook Pro for Windows: a sleek, ultra powerful, super portable machine with an excellent screen and high-quality build. Samsung's Galaxy Book6 Ultra certainly tries. It's got a beautiful screen and a nice design, and it's as solidly built as laptops come.
It also looks, well, almost exactly like a MacBook Pro, to the point where I occasionally use the wrong keyboard shortcuts out of habit. Other Windows laptops have at times incorporated some MacBook design influences, but the Galaxy houses so many of them that it's obvious what Samsung was going for.
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Andrew Liszewski<![CDATA[The Remarkable Paper Pure is the best digital notepad I’ve ever used]]>https://www.theverge.com/?p=9228432026-05-06T10:03:05-04:002026-05-06T08:00:00-04:00
Was I writing with pen and paper, or a stylus on a tablet? It’s getting more difficult than ever to tell.
The Remarkable Paper Pure is a follow-up to 2020’s Remarkable 2 and a couple of premium color E Ink tablets. As with Remarkable’s first two digital notepads, the Paper Pure features a black-and-white E Ink screen that sacrifices lighting for writing. The screen’s textured finish feels more like writing on actual paper than a tablet with a smooth glass screen. Without lighting, you can’t use it everywhere. But that tradeoff is important. Every stroke seems directly connected to the tip of the Marker as a result, making it feel more like you’re using an actual pen on a piece of paper rather than a stylus on a screen. It’s better than anything I’ve tested so far.
So how about that pen? The Pure comes with a basic battery-powered stylus called the Marker, but I tested the more expensive Marker Plus that adds a dedicated eraser button and is available as part of a more expensive $449 bundle that also includes a new Sleeve Folio case. Its latency is the same as the Remarkable 2’s stylus and not as responsive as the Apple Pencil Pro, but I think the writing experience with Remarkable’s tablets remains unmatched. It’s nice that the stylus can wirelessly charge when attached to the side of the tablet, like the iPad Pro and Air. It’s no thicker than the Remarkable 2’s stylus and attaches more securely than before.
There are some other upgrades. The Paper Pure has a faster dual-core processor, a bump from 1GB of RAM to 2GB, and a storage increase from 8GB to 32GB. Comparing the two tablets side by side, the Paper Pure is faster when it comes to navigating the UI and opening documents, but not significantly. While large ebooks and PDFs opened about half a second faster on the Paper Pure, the speed improvements were less than that for other documents, including its native notebooks.
Remarkable says the Paper Pure’s new third-generation Canvas screen — a customized 10.3-inch version of E Ink’s Carta 1300 panel that’s already in use in many e-readers — offers 20 percent more contrast and a brighter appearance than the Remarkable 2’s second-gen display. There’s a subtle difference between the two, but it’s really only noticeable with both tablets sitting right next to each other.
The upgraded screen contributes to the Paper Pure’s slightly snappier UI performance, but it carries forward the Remarkable 2’s 1,872 x 1,404 resolution and 226PPI, which is less than what you’ll find on many other modern tablets this size, including Remarkable’s color screen devices. Small text still looks crisp and legible, just not as crisp as it would on the latest Kobo and Kindle 300PPI e-readers.
What I like most about the Paper Pure is a new design that feels even more durable. I treated the original Remarkable like a paper notebook that I could toss around and cram in my backpack, and it’s survived years of abuse. The Remarkable 2 was more durable with a stiffer design, but the Paper Pure now has a back panel made entirely of plastic that I’m even more confident will easily survive regular use and abuse. It’s a little bit thicker than the Remarkable 2 as a result, but at 44 grams lighter it’s easier to carry.
The only disappointing design change is that the Paper Pure doesn’t carry forward the contact pads on the edge of the Remarkable 2 that it uses to connect to the company’s excellent Type Folio keyboard case. The change doesn’t entirely rule out a similar accessory for the Paper Pure, but it will have to connect in a different way.
The Paper Pure’s software experience is identical to the Remarkable 2’s that’s been regularly updated over the years, but the company is introducing some new features that its older tablets will also get. Webpages saved through Remarkable’s Chrome extension or mobile apps and other imported documents can be converted to editable notebooks, allowing their content to be reorganized or reformatted before sharing with others.
The tablets are also getting Google and Microsoft Outlook calendar connectivity for a new meeting notes feature that automatically populates a notebook with details about the agenda pulled from the invite. Additional notes taken during the meeting can be summarized using AI that will highlight important details or action items before sharing.
And while the Paper Pure can be used to read ebooks and PDFs with an adequate amount of formatting options, it still lacks the expanded functionality of other E Ink devices. Amazon’s $429.99 Kindle Scribe (if Amazon ever releases the version without a screen light) doubles as a more capable e-reader with access to a large bookstore, while Boox offers several E Ink tablets under $500 that run Android with access to the Google Play Store, further expanding how you can use them.
If your priority is finding a digital replacement to stacks of notebooks, sticky notes, and wherever else you jot down your thoughts, the Remarkable Paper Pure is as close as you’ll get to a pen-on-paper experience minus the cluttered stacks of paper. The Paper Pro and Paper Pro Move might be tempting with their excellent color screens, but the Paper Pure is the better option. However, if you’re already a happy Remarkable 2 user, aside from a slightly larger battery there are few compelling reasons to upgrade given the company’s strong commitment to making new features available on its existing devices.
Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge
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John.Higgins<![CDATA[Bose takes a swing at Sonos with its new home speakers]]>https://www.theverge.com/?p=9236862026-05-05T10:37:53-04:002026-05-05T08:00:00-04:00
The new Bose Ultra Speaker can be used individually, as a stereo pair, or as the rear speakers in an Atmos setup.
Last Thursday, in a staged home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I sat on a couch that was a bit too low and a tad too deep in front of a small, beige-colored smart speaker sitting on the middle of a trio of arched midcentury storage cabinets. On either side of the smart speaker sat two tall curved white screens.
The speaker was the new $299 Lifestyle Ultra, Bose's answer to the Sonos Era 100. Alongside a $1,099 Ultra soundbar and $899 subwoofer, it's one of three new home audio products the company announced today, all of which seem to be gunning directly for Sonos - hopefully minus that company's recent missteps. I heard all three at …
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Andrew Liszewski<![CDATA[These reusable digital Polaroids are a clever way to cover a fridge in memories]]>https://www.theverge.com/?p=9170672026-05-03T17:02:27-04:002026-05-03T09:00:00-04:00
You can update this photo as often as you want.
I love when my friends have their fridges covered in Polaroids. It’s often a visual crash course of what’s been going on in their lives chronicling recent adventures, get-togethers, and other fun moments. But I don’t love the idea of schlepping around a clunky instant camera or paying a premium for instant film with hit-or-miss results. That’s why I’m infatuated with these magnetic digital Polaroids from a small company called VidaBay. They look like instant photos, but use NFC tech and color E Ink screens so you can change the image as often as you want without ever having to charge a battery.
At roughly 4mm thick and 2.5 inches in size, the VidaBay NFC E-Paper Fridge Magnet — also known as the Snap — reminds me of Xteink’s tiny X3 e-reader, but it doesn’t have any buttons, ports, or connectors. The Snap is more like a very tiny version of the Aura Ink digital photo frame you can stick to your fridge.
The Snap uses the same kind of NFC chip that lets your smartphone double as your credit or debit card. Using an accompanying mobile app images are wirelessly transferred by aligning your smartphone’s NFC antenna to the one located inside the lower left corner of the Snap.
Changing the photo the Snap displays takes about 25 to 30 seconds. While the actual image transfer is a 10-second process, the rest of the time is used to refresh the Snap’s E Ink screen. Unlike devices such as the Kindle Colorsoft that use a black and white e-paper screen overlaid with a color filter so screen refreshes happen almost instantly, the Snap uses e-paper with multiple color pigments that take much longer to refresh. The results look better, but you’ll have to wait a little longer for them.
The process of updating the Snap with a new image using NFC is easy once you master it, but it can take a few attempts to get there. Out of the box the device comes with a plastic screen protector that’s printed with a guide so you know exactly how to position your smartphone to ensure the NFC antennas line up. But the guide only works for the iPhone. Android is also supported, but its up to you to figure out exactly where your device’s NFC chip is located which can take some trial and error. The Snap and your smartphone also need to be held very close for the NFC pairing to work – closer than a case allows. The process doesn’t work with my iPhone 16 Pro inside a leather Nomad case, and even the thin silicone case protecting my OnePlus 12 was too thick for the NFC transfers to succeed.
One of the many advantages of E Ink’s display tech is that, similar to an Etch A Sketch or Magna Doodle toy, once an image is formed it remains on screen without any additional power. That’s why e-readers have such excellent battery life. The Snap comes with a 2.5-inch E Ink screen, and while it uses color technology similar to what you’ll find in large, vibrant, and expensive E Ink posters, it’s actually a repurposed Spectra 3100 screen that E Ink specifically developed for retail use as an electronic shelf label.
They’re cheaper, but the Snap’s color screen is also limited to only displaying black, white, red, and yellow, which limits its ability to accurately reproduce colors. It’s a big tradeoff, but not necessarily a dealbreaker. The VidaBay mobile app lets you crop, zoom, rotate, add filters, and make basic brightness, contrast, and color saturation adjustments to images selected from your phone’s camera roll. Because the transfer process can take upwards of 30 seconds, the app also generates a preview of what the image will look like on the Snap’s four-color screen.
After using the Snap for a couple of weeks I have a better idea of what images will look good on its E Ink screen, and which won’t. Brighter photos with lots of contrast work well, as do photos with color palettes leaning toward reds and yellows. Blue and green areas in an image end up completely desaturated instead of disappearing, but the results aren’t entirely unpleasant. The limitations of the Spectra 3100 screen actually result in color images reminiscent of the lo-fi aesthetic of classic Polaroid photos.
The Snap has no screen lighting so it looks best in a place with lots of ambient light. The device also features a non-removable plastic cover over the E Ink panel, which protects it but also produces a lot of glare and reflections. Removing that for future versions would definitely improve viewing angles and image quality.
At $35.99 each (currently discounted to $29.99), the VidaBay Snap comes close to impulse purchase territory. When I first covered them earlier this year I was skeptical of how effective repurposing the screens many grocery stores now use to display prices could be for displaying photos and memories. But the price, and the fact that the Snap never needs to be charged, more than makes up for its color fidelity limitations. Instant photos might still be cheaper per shot, but the Snap is a good alternative if you don’t have an endless budget for film. Either way, your fridge is a blank palette just waiting to be decorated with memories.
Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge
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Jennifer Pattison Tuohy<![CDATA[Dyson finally made a better robot, but a worse vacuum]]>https://www.theverge.com/?p=9211362026-05-01T12:09:36-04:002026-05-01T07:00:00-04:00
The Dyson Spot + Scrub Ai is Dyson’s first combination robot vacuum and mop. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
I'm deeply conflicted about the Dyson Spot + Scrub Ai robot vacuum and mop. It's the company's best robotic floor cleaner to date, with excellent mopping performance, good navigation and obstacle detection, and a multifunction dock that takes much of the busywork off your hands. But Dyson's first attempt at a vacuum-and-mop combo is a worse vacuum than its predecessors, and that's because there's no Dyson motor in this vacuum.
You read that right. For $1,200, the Spot + Scrub doesn't get you a Dyson vacuum; instead, you're getting a third-party motor and brush system. "It's not one of our V10 motors, it's one of our partner technologies," N …
