Hands-on with the Apple Watch Ultra and AirPods Pro

Enlarge / The 2022 Apple Watch lineup. From left to right: Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE. (credit: Samuel Axon) CUPERTINO, Calif.—Apple’s Watch lineup doesn’t often see a big shake-up or significant new features, but that wasn’t the case at Apple’s September product launch event today. In addition to modest updates […]

Hands-on: Lenovo’s second foldable PC addresses the first’s biggest problems

Enlarge / Lenovo 16-inch ThinkPad X1 Fold. (credit: Scharon Harding) Lenovo is giving the foldable PC a second shot. The upcoming Lenovo 16-inch ThinkPad X1 Fold announced today attempts to improve on 2020’s ThinkPad X1 Fold with a bigger screen, more powerful specs, and an operating system better suited for multitasking across the bendable OLED […]

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2 hands-on review: a sleek redo

The 2022 ThinkPad X1 Fold is the second generation of Lenovo’s foldable line, which the company says is now bigger, more powerful, and more versatile. After having launched the foldable PC category in 2020 with the original ThinkPad X1 Fold, Lenovo took what it learned from the first generation to make a more streamlined and […]

Hands-on with a $434 replica lightsaber: May the dork be with you

Ars tests an Ultra Saber replica lightsaber (video link) Update: It’s Christmas day and Ars staffers are enjoying a winter break (inevitably filled with series binge-watching and fancy egg preparations). As such, we’re resurfacing a few favorites from the site archives appropriate for the occasion—like this review of what may possibly be the nerdiest (and most […]

New MacBook Air, Mac mini hands-on: Making old favorites new again

Valentina Palladino NEW YORK—Apple led today’s event by talking about two of its most-loved devices: the MacBook Air and the Mac mini. While Apple customers may have loved these devices since their debuts, Apple hasn’t shown them much love over the past couple of years. That changed today with the introduction of the new MacBook Air […]

2018 iPad Pro hands-on: Improving on the world’s best tablet

Valentina Palladino Apple already had the best tablet on the market with the iPad Pro, but for the company’s target audience of creative and tech-y professionals and hobbyists, that wasn’t always enough. Even the iPad “Pro” had limitations that made it hard to see it as a true laptop replacement. So, Apple has introduced new […]

Google Pixel 3 XL hands-on in Hong Kong — three days early

With some smartphones, it seems inevitable that the closer the launch date, the more leaky they get. Google’s upcoming Pixel 3 series — due to launch in New York next Tuesday — is no exception, and I’m speaking as someone who had just gotten up close and personal with a Pixel 3 XL earlier today. […]

PAX hands-on: Retro sequels Streets of Rage 4, Windjammers 2 take us back to ‘94

Enlarge (credit: DotEmu) SEATTLE—PAX West has overtaken Seattle’s downtown convention center with roughly 4,000 new and in-development games across its giant expo halls. Yet somehow, it’s the kind of ragtag show where titans like Spider-Man, Artifact, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate can stand toe-to-toe with promising indies like Due Process and Risk of Rain 2. […]

Nintendo Labo Vehicle Kit hands-on: The Toy-Cons we’ve been waiting for

Nintendo’s first few Labo Toy-Con kits let us go fishing and pretend to be a giant robot. But aside from the motorcycle kit, they didn’t really get you moving much. That’s where the upcoming Toy-Con Vehicle Kit comes in: It has an actual steering wheel; a joystick for flying; and a unique dual-dial submarine controller. […]

Rainbow Six Siege: Operation Grim Sky hands-on –Pitting Maverick against Clash

Ubisoft is revealing the gameplay for Maverick and Clash, the new operators for Rainbow Six Siege today at the Six Major esports event in Paris today. The operators are part of the new expansion, Operation Grim Sky, for the five-year-old Rainbow Six Siege, which has more than 30 million players. I played a couple of […]