Articles by Hayato Huseman

I’m as big a fan of Sony’s popular WH-1000XM4 headphones as the next person, but especially these days when most of us aren’t sitting on loud planes anymore, there’s not much need to spend $350 just to get a good pair of noise-canceling headphones. This Amazon Prime Day, you can save a whopping 55% on the WHCH710N and get an excellent set of over-ear cans for under $100.

That’s a $110 saving for Prime members — almost enough to cover your entire year of Prime! You’ll need to act fast, though, since this deal won’t last forever.

Great headphones for cheap

Sony WHCH710N noise-canceling headphones

The WHCH710N bring you noise-canceling peace of mind for up to 35 hours per charge, all without breaking the bank. They charge over USB-C, pair in an instant with NFC, and fold down into a portable size for easy travel.

$88.00 $198 $110 off

See at Amazon

You might expect to have to make a lot of sacrifices at this price point, but the CH710Ns offer a lot of what makes Sony’s pricier…

Everything you’d expect from a modern flagship without the modern price.

For years, there’s been a stigma around using plastic designs in high-end, expensive phones. Consumers have come to expect more luxurious materials like metal and glass which, despite being more fragile than plastic, typically have a more “premium” feel.

I’m definitely guilty of shying away from devices whose spec sheets feature the word polycarbonate. I was reluctant to try the Galaxy Note 20 for exactly that reason. But once my review unit came in, my concerns surrounding creakiness and a cheap in-hand feel disappeared. Build quality in general has, of course, massively improved since the days when plastic flagships were commonplace, and the Note 20 felt just as solid as any other phone I’d tested in recent memory.

The story is the same with the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition — better known as the S20 FE. This phone is the latest in Samsung’s crusade to dominate every pricing tier with a well-rounded de…

Samsung’s smartwatches are great for quick notification management and fitness tracking, and they’re equally great for music playback as well, thanks to Bluetooth and local media storage. Whether you want to listen to your favorite tunes on your weekly jog or take in a new audiobook, these are the best wireless headphones for your Galaxy Watch.

Overall best

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live

Staff pick

Samsung’s latest true wireless earbuds pair nicely with its various Galaxy Watch models. They’re incredibly portable, last for eight hours on a charge, and the wireless charging case holds an additional 21 hours of juice inside. The Galaxy Buds Live are water-resistant, tunable within the software, and even feature active noise canceling.

$170 at Amazon
$170 at Best Buy
$170 at B&H

True wireless earbuds

Jaybird Vista

Jaybird has been making quality headphones for quite some time, and the Vistas are no exception. You can get a full six hours of battery life on a single charge, wi…

Best answer: While you can remove and replace the earpads, Sony doesn’t offer replacement parts for the WH1000XM3. We recommend filing a warranty exchange with Sony if possible. However, there are third-party options available as well — just keep in mind that using different earpads can affect factors like isolation and noise-canceling.

Noise canceling exemplified: Sony WH1000XM3 ($348 at Amazon)
Third-party option: SOULWIT Replacement Earpads ($18 at Amazon)

Sony WH1000XM3: Why would I need to replace my earpads?

Because nothing lasts forever, you may wonder if they are Sony WH1000XM3 earpads replaceable. Since Bluetooth headphones are convenient for letting you can take them with you anywhere — whether it’s the coffee shop, the airport, or the train — and not have to worry about wires. The WH1000XM3’s active noise canceling makes it even better for use in loud environments, and Sony explicitly markets them as travelers’ headphones.

That kind of travel can lead to natura…

Nest makes great Wi-Fi-connected security cameras, but their high prices push many customers to seek out the best cheap nest cam alternatives. Thankfully, we’ve found other security cams that hold their own against the Nest Cam Indoor and Cam Indoor IQ, but at more reasonable prices. Whether you’re after the absolute cheapest camera you can buy or something with just as many features as Nest for a little less, we’ve got you covered. Here are some of our favorite Nest alternatives.

Best overall

Logitech Circle 2

The Circle 2 is an excellent 1080p security camera with a wide-angle lens and night vision that’s rated for visibility up to 15 feet. Like Nest’s cameras, you get two-way audio and person detection. There’s also a convenient day brief feature that condenses the last 24 hours into a 30-second time-lapse, so you don’t have to scrub through hours of footage.

Staff favorite

$127 at Amazon
$150 at Walmart

Best for Alexa

Ring Indoor Cam

Ring’s Indoor Cam captures 1080p v…

Why do you need a battery case for your Galaxy Note 9? The phone already has fantastic battery life, but sometimes things happen. Maybe you’re going on a weekend camping trip without power, or maybe you just forgot to charge your phone overnight and have to rush out to work. It’s also an older phone so maybe the battery isn’t what it used to be. Whatever the reason, a battery case is always handy to have. It adds significant thickness to the already huge Note 9, but that’s better for some than having a dead phone in your pocket.

Best overall

Mophie Juice Pack

Staff pick

Mophie is one of the most recognizable brands when it comes to batteries and charging accessories, and its popular Juice Pack is available for the Galaxy Note 9. Its capacity is fairly small at 2,525mAh, but the Juice Pack supports wireless charging for easy top-ups, just like the Note 9 itself, and the speaker grills on the bottom reroute your audio to come from the front of the phone.

$37 at Amazon
$51 at Bes…

Let’s take a closer look at Samsung’s $1999 foldable.

Reviewing flagship slabs like the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has been fun, but I can’t remember the last time I was more excited to get into a phone than when the Z Fold 2 showed up at my doorstep this morning. After getting to spend a short time with the original Galaxy Fold last year (and subsequently hearing my friend Michael Fisher sing its praises year-round), I’ve been anxiously awaiting my chance to daily drive one.

Sadly, this review unit comes to me on just a two-week loan, so I shouldn’t let myself get too comfortable with it, lest I start to think up ways to justify its prohibitive $2000 price tag. But in the mere hours since it’s arrived, the Galaxy Z Fold 2’s myriad of design improvements over the original Fold have me feeling extremely optimistic about the future of foldables.

It’s hard to quantify what makes a product’s packaging feel “premium,” but the Z Fold 2’s box is nice. There’s a sleeve over the box that dis…

Big Red may charge an arm and a leg for its service, but the best Verizon phones don’t all have to be unattainably expensive. Whether you’re after the top-of-the-line Galaxy Note 20 Ultra or you’d rather save some money and pick up something like the Pixel 4a, there are plenty of great options for one of the nation’s top-rated carriers.

Best overall

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

Staff Pick

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is Samsung’s ultimate mobile experience, cramming powerful specs and a 6.9-inch 120Hz display into a modern design. It also has an enormously capable camera system that features a 108MP main sensor and up to 50X zoom with the periscope-style telephoto camera. You also get a massive 4500mAh battery and 5G support, along with the multifunctional S Pen stylus.

$54.16/mo at Verizon

Best compact phone

Samsung Galaxy S20

The Note 20 Ultra isn’t the only great 5G phone in Samsung’s lineup. The Galaxy S20 has the same incredible build quality, a triple camera syste…

Heating and cooling are the single biggest factors of your monthly energy bill, so it makes sense for most people to consider picking up a smart thermostat that better manages the temperature of your home. The Nest Learning Thermostat is the best overall option, offering a sleek and modern design that fits into any home and automated schedule creation based on your habits.

Best Overall — Nest Learning Thermostat

Like most smart thermostats, Nest’s offering can be controlled by your phone or through a voice assistant like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa (though notably, the Learning Thermostat isn’t compatible with Apple’s HomeKit service). You can set the temperature remotely, or simply rotate the stainless steel dial around the frosted glass display. The Nest Learning Thermostat can also detect when you’ve left the house to automatically shut down heating and cooling, and resumes things when you return.

The Nest’s defining feature, though, is its ability to learn your prefer…

Bigger, better display

Moto Z4

$400 at Amazon

Pros

Larger display with tighter bezels
Faster processor and higher storage
Revival of the headphone jack
Better, higher resolution camera
Great battery life

Cons

Moto Mods leave an uncomfortable gap
More expensive

While there’s no Play model this time around, the Moto Z4 is still a great mid-range option from Motorola. The tighter bezels help squeeze a much larger, more vivid display into roughly the same body as the Z3, and the camera is much more capable.

Better Mod fit

Moto Z3 Play

$410 at Amazon

Pros

Moto Mods fit the Z3 Play better
Better capacitive fingerprint sensor
More affordable

Cons

Design feels dated
No headphone jack
Slower specs

The Moto Z3 Play doesn’t have the modern fit and finish of the newer Z4, but it’s still a capable mid-range phone. Best of all, it still has full support for the Moto Mod ecosystem.

Most phones become obsolete once their successors hit the market, but that’s not the cas…