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Samsung recently shared plans to unify its software experience across all product categories to offer users a more cohesive ecosystem. As part of this change, the company intends to update the software for its TVs and home appliances to One UI and offer seven years of software upgrades to the devices. Although Samsung initially said that this change was scheduled for sometime next year, it has already started rolling out the One UI update for its smart TVs.

The One UI update for TVs is based on Samsung’s Tizen 8.0 operating system. According to Sammobile, the update includes several interface changes that bring it in line with the One UI experience on Samsung smartphones, including new app icons and animations. It introduces a new Game Bar interface with a host of additional features, new tabs on the home screen to help users easily find content, and wallpaper and widget support for the standby screen.

One UI for Samsung TVs also brings a more compact Settings overlay that gives you quick access to frequently used settings and some much-needed design changes that give the Settings menu a more modern look. The complete update changelog is reproduced below.

Changelog:

• [Notify Update]
  • This upgrade includes changes and improvements as listed below.
  • The exact changes may differ depending on your device model, country, etc.
  • Some of the features that change may require you to sign in to a Samsung account.
  • Please keep your device up to date and regularly check for software updates.
  • Once you install this version of the OS, you cannot uninstall or revert back to the previous version.
• [Samsung Tizen OS Updated]
  • Samsung Tizen OS version Ingrade from 7 to & including open-sources and new features.
  • Upgrading the web engine from version 94 to 108 in Samsung Tizen OS 8.0
• [Home Screen]
  • For you tab (personalised recommendations), Live tab and Apps tab have been implemented, allowing easy access to the content and apps you want.
• [Watch Later]
  • The “Watch Later” feature has been added to the content details screen, enabling users to save preferred content in a Watch Later list and enjoy it conveniently.
• [Samsung Daily+]
  • A lifestyle service hub that provides useful daily life experiences has been added to the Home screen.
• [Search]
  • Recently searched content and related content have been implemented as recommendations.
• [Multi Control]
  • You can control multiple Samsung devices signed in with the same Samsung account using the same keyboard and mouse.
• [Workout Tracker]
  • By connecting your Galaxy Watch, real-time workout data, including calorie consumption and heart rate, can be monitored. For more details, refer to the guide available on Daily+.
• [Remote Setting/123/Color Button]
  • Based on usage history and present circumstances, tailored channel and setting recommendations can be provided.
• [SmartThings]
  • loT cameras can be used through the Smart Things app on mobile devices
• [Accessibility]
  • The Accessibility Shortcut can rearrange its options according to usage frequency.
• [Programme Guide]
  • The design has been updated to enhance user convenience and “Samsung TV Plus” has been added as a new category.
• [On-screen keypad]
  • Supported languages have been expanded. The mouse Drag & Drop feature has been enhanced, and when a mobile device is connected, the input pad will be displayed on the mobile screen automatically.
• [Game Bar]
  • The game bar interface has been changed to the latest design.
• [Multi View]
  • Zoom in screens on request. When mirroring a mobile device, you can use keyboard and mouse controls.
• [Daily Board]
  • With Daily Board, you can decorate the screen with beautiful wallpapers and useful widgets – even when the screen is off.
• [ConnecTime]
  • New features include video calls, messaging, and mobile screen sharing for TV and mobile.
• [Security update]
  • Enhanced data protection measures have been implemented (Samsung account sign-in required.
• [Q-Symphony]
  • Wi-Fi Speaker Surround Setup has been upgraded to Q-Symphony, enabling connection to the Music Frame.
• [Notice of change in supported apps]
  • Certain apps may not be compatible with Samsung Tizen OS 8.0. Check compatibility with app providers before upgrading your device.

While the new One UI update for TVs has started reaching users just a few days after Samsung’s announcement, the latest One UI update for smartphones won’t arrive until early next year. The company has confirmed that One UI 7 based on Android 15 will debut with the Galaxy S25 series, but a beta build should reach users by the end of the year.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is Samsung’s most recent book-style foldable. Although it is an upgrade over its predecessor, increased competition among the top foldables has left fans wanting more from Samsung. The company has long been rumored to work on a second Fold 6 version, said to be called the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition, which would feature more upgrades than the standard edition. We now have renders of an upcoming phone, and there’s a chance it could be our first look at the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition.

The render above shows the rear of a device with a three-camera setup. We can see the raised camera island and the individual camera rings, which add further thickness to the device.

The second render is a thin, long crop of the device’s side. We see two buttons here, presumably the volume rocker and the power button, on a rose-gold-colored mid-frame with some texturing. The mid-frame looks thin and flat, and the corners have a tight curvature.

There’s no word from Evan on what this device is or whether these two renders are of the same device. However, we presume they could be of the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition (previously rumored to be called the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim) for South Korea, which is further rumored to be branded as the Samsung W25 in China.

Previous leaks have mentioned that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 could have a wider cover display, a less noticeable crease, S Pen support, a thinner body, a 200MP primary camera, and more. We expect to hear more about the device this month as leaked promotional materials have indicated a release on October 18, 2024, with open sales beginning from October 25, 2024, in these select regions.

What do you think of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition? Are you ready to pay a premium for it over the standard Galaxy Z Fold 6? Let us know in the comments below!

Apple announced the iPhone 16 series last month, and one of the standout features is its so-called Camera Control shutter button. Now, OPPO has confirmed that its upcoming Find X8 series will support a similar camera button.

OPPO Find series product manager Zhou Yibao confirmed on Weibo that the Find X8 series supports a pressure-sensitive camera shutter button, posting a video (seen above) to show it in action. The executive said you can double-tap the button to quickly launch the camera app and that the key’s pressure-sensitive nature means you don’t need to press the button hard to take photos.

What else can you do with this camera button?

Apple’s button also supports swipe-based gestures for controlling camera zoom and other functions, and it turns out OPPO’s button supports swiping to zoom as well. Interestingly, OPPO’s video shows that all the Find X8 camera button features work underwater too, including the swipe functionality.

Zhou also explained OPPO’s reasons for including a camera shutter button in the first place. The executive pointed to the aforementioned underwater use case, explaining that you can’t use your phone screen underwater. So having this camera button will allow you to easily take underwater snaps and control zoom.

He also acknowledged that virtually every smartphone lets you take photos with the volume buttons, but claimed that “more than 95% of people” don’t know about this option. I’m not sure about that figure, though. He added that the volume button doesn’t support taking photos and camera zoom, forcing you to choose between the two features.

In any event, we’re expecting the OPPO Find X8 Pro, in particular, to be a strong contender for the best camera phone when it launches later this month. The phone is tipped to offer a quad rear camera system, featuring four 50MP cameras. Much like the Find X7 Ultra, the X8 Pro is expected to offer a 50MP 3x camera and a 50MP 6x periscope lens. The Find X8 series is also expected to launch in global markets in 2025, so we’re definitely keen to get our hands on these devices and try out that camera button too.

The Nintendo DS played a huge part in my teen years, providing much more complex games and experiences than its predecessor, the Game Boy Advance. However, I’ve since moved to a different continent, leaving behind my DS and games.

For years, the state of Nintendo DS emulators meant revisiting the handheld console on other platforms was pretty hit or miss, but I’m happy to say that there’s at least one very, very good Nintendo DS emulator on Android. However, you’d better download it fast because it might not last for long.

Yes, I’m talking about DraStic DS Emulator. It’s been the best Nintendo DS emulator on Android for close to a decade now, achieving performance levels that its competitors couldn’t even dream of.

It’s insane how well this works, even on aging or weak hardware. These days I do most of my emulation on a Galaxy S24 (Exynos 2400 version), but I’ve been using this emulator for years and little has changed, so you can expect great performance on just about any modern device, even cheap ones.

And that’s really the biggest downside of this emulator — it’s no longer under active development. The development team behind it has had a bumpy road, to say the least, with the main person responsible for the Android port going AWOL in 2017. Still, at that point most of the rough edges had been smoothed out.

Every game I’ve tested worked great, although there are a few missing quality-of-life features that more modern DS emulators have added. For example, you can’t load ROMs from an SD card natively, and the cloud save options are pretty dated. It does have all of the basic features you’d expect, like controller support, cheats, savestates, and more, so ultimately, I didn’t miss much.

In bittersweet news, the app is now completely free to download. This comes in the wake of Nintendo shutting down Yuzu and a few emulation sites. The developer has teased making DraStic open-source for years, but as of this writing, it still hasn’t happened.

In other words, download this while you still can because it could disappear anytime.

Of course, it’s been years since DraStic DS Emulator has been actively under development, and other options have steadily gotten better. None of them are as good, but at the very least, if DraStic is suddenly pulled off the Play Store, retro gamers won’t be left entirely in the lurch.

The first decent alternative is MelonDS. It’s an unofficial port of the open-source PC emulator, but it has a few features that other emulators (including DraStic) don’t have, starting with DSi support. It also supports RetroAchievements, which is great news for more hardcore retro gamers.

It’s still in beta, but my early testing shows a lot of promise. Games run just as well on MelonDS as on DraStic, at least on more powerful devices. It’s also more likely to see updates than any other Nintendo DS emulator on Android, although the last update was nearly a year ago. Unfortunately, that’s pretty recent as far as Android DS emulators go.

You can also use an all-in-one emulation platform like RetroArch, Lemuroid, or EmuBox. These use Libretro cores for emulation, so you can choose from MelonDS or DeSmuME. DeSmuME has been around for years and has lots of added features, but I still prefer MelonDS. Just be aware that the Libretro core might lag behind the standalone emulator for a while.

There’s one final Nintendo DS emulator on Android that I’ll tentatively recommend, and that’s SuperNDS Emulator. One plus is that it has a free version to see how it works on your device, but the free version is riddled with ads. I couldn’t even access my list of ROMs on startup without a lengthy, unskippable ad.

The good news is that there’s a pro version to eliminate those ads, and it’s just three bucks. That’s three bucks more than DraStic and MelonDS though, both of which are ad-free and offer better performance. Paying might encourage the developer to update the app more frequently, but for my money (or no money), I’d stick with DraStic.

The HONOR Magic 6 Pro was one of the best Android phones of 2024 in terms of hardware, delivering plenty of cutting-edge features. We already know the Magic 7 series is coming, and a company executive has now issued a launch date.

HONOR CEO George Zhao announced on Weibo today (October 14) that the HONOR Magic 7 series phones would launch on October 30. The executive shared a poster for the event — check out the machine-translated version below.

Zhao also noted that its Magic OS 9.0 software will be released on October 23. Fingers crossed that this software will be available on devices in global markets before the end of the year.

What should we expect from the Magic 7 series, though?

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor is all but guaranteed as these phones have always used the latest flagship Snapdragon chipsets. HONOR was also the first major brand to adopt silicon-carbon batteries in its phones, so we’re expecting a large battery that’s at least on par with the Magic 6 Pro’s 5,600mAh capacity.

In any event, we praised the Magic 6 Pro’s battery life, camera hardware, video features, and performance. However, we criticized the phone for its poor USB-PD support, “cluttered” Magic OS skin, and a hit-and-miss 180MP telephoto camera. We therefore hope the company has addressed all of these weaknesses with its new phones.

This October 30 launch is almost certainly a China-only affair. HONOR tends to release its mainline Magic flagships outside China in Q1 each year, so you might have to wait a few months if you want to officially get your hands on the Magic 7 series.

It’s also worth noting that the HONOR Magic 7 series won’t be the first next-generation Android flagships to launch. Vivo will reveal its X200 series of phones later today (October 14), while the OPPO Find X8 series will be launched on October 24. However, both OPPO and vivo’s phones will be powered by the Dimensity 9400 chipset. So HONOR’s phones could be the first to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 silicon if Xiaomi doesn’t beat it to the punch.

Most Android flagships ship with the Google Play Store out of the box, so it is natural for the platform to evolve into the premier destination for exploring apps and games on these devices. Google does a lot of work to protect users on the Play Store while balancing the interests of app developers who choose to list their apps on the platform. App developers are advised to create detailed and rich app listings to give the user as much information as possible before a download. However, the trade-off is that the app listing becomes too long, and the Install button is no longer in sight. An upcoming Google Play Store change could fix this by making the Install button a permanent part of the app listing.

Google Play Store v43.1.19 includes code that indicates Google is working on fixing the header in place on an app listing. We managed to activate the feature, so here’s a better look at it.

As you can see in the video above, a future update to the Google Play Store will affix the header at the top of the screen while you scroll the app listing.

The header consists of several key app details, such as the app icon and name, the developer name, its Play Store average rating, and whether it contains ads (mentioned twice for some reason). There’s also an Install button to quickly install the app on the device you are viewing the listing on and a dropdown to let you install that app on your other devices. This header remains visible and accessible at all times.

This header also stays in place for app updates where some details are not present (and don’t need to be). The important detail here is that the Update button remains visible and accessible at all times, irrespective of your scroll position.

Why this change, though, you ask? We can offer a possible theory for this. For one, app store listings are long, and informed users do end up sifting through a lot of details, like reviews, data safety, etc., before downloading an app, especially if it is a paid app or if they are comparing multiple alternatives.

It’s no secret that if you want great conversion (converting a “potential customer” to a “customer”), your call-to-action should remain easily accessible at all times. A long app store listing is great for informing the user about the app, but in a way, it penalizes the app developer for being transparent and proactive, as the call-to-action (the Install button, in this case) is left behind at the very top of the app listing. The more you have to scroll, the more potential customers the developer would lose, as users would find it easier to navigate away from the app listing than to scroll back to the top of the listing for the Install button.

A fixed header for the Install button would thus make it easier for a user to install the app after checking out its details and consequently improve conversion for developers who take the pains for a detailed and rich app listing.

We don’t know when Google will roll out this change to all users. We’ll keep you informed when we learn more.

For a few years, Google has positioned its Pixel smartphones as the go-to choice for AI features. But the recent boom in AI tools like ChatGPT has led other smartphone brands to follow suit too. The recent release of Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 16 series stands to further threaten Google’s ambitions of leading the AI space. The search giant still has a numbers advantage, though, with the entire Android ecosystem at its disposal. So unsurprisingly, we’re now starting to see Google’s Gemini Nano AI model on more and more devices, including Samsung and Xiaomi phones.

So what does Gemini Nano achieve on Android and should your next smartphone support it? Here’s everything you need to know.

What is Gemini Nano and why does it matter?

Gemini Nano is Google’s smallest AI model designed specifically to run directly on smartphones like the Pixel 9 series. Specifically, it’s a large language model that excels at text-based tasks — it can suggest replies for chat conversations, draft messages, and more. Recent Gemini Nano releases are also multimodal, meaning it can understand images and audio. However, it’s not as capable as a full language model either — you can’t directly talk to Gemini Nano like you would with ChatGPT or the standalone Gemini app. The latter is Google’s AI chatbot that’s accessible on any device.

The advantage of Gemini Nano is that it runs on-device, which means it does not send any data to Google’s servers for processing. In fact, Gemini Nano will work offline even if you don’t have an active internet connection. This translates to faster response times and better privacy, since most online AI platforms use your data to train future models.

Gemini Nano is specifically optimized for mobile hardware, but it still takes up some memory as it has to run in the background. This is why the Pixel 9 series ships with 16GB of RAM — a sizable chunk is reserved for AI models like Gemini Nano. Modern chipsets like the Tensor G4 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 also have neural processing units (NPUs) to efficiently run such AI models.

With Gemini Nano support now extending beyond the Pixel lineup, Google’s goal is to make AI capabilities a core part of the Android experience. However, we may only see the model supported on premium phones given the relatively higher processing requirements. You can find a full list of devices with Gemini Nano support below.

Gemini Nano features: What do you get?

The list of Gemini Nano features will differ depending on your device, but here’s a quick rundown of what the model is capable of. We’re starting to see more and more features trickle down to other devices, but chances are that you’ll need a modern phone with powerful enough hardware to ever see Gemini Nano support.

While smartphone keyboards have offered next-word suggestions for over a decade, Google added experimental Gemini Nano support to Gboard for “smart replies” with “conversational awareness”. In simpler terms, the keyboard now uses AI to suggest replies based on the text of your chats. The feature works within WhatsApp, Line, and KakaoTalk, but is limited to US English for now.

The Pixel Recorder app relies on Gemini Nano to offer AI-generated summaries of audio recordings. On the Pixel 8 series, the model could only summarize around fifteen minutes of audio. However, Google’s latest Pixel 9 series includes a newer version of the model that allows for summaries of recordings over half an hour long.

The Galaxy AI suite also includes a similar AI summarization feature in Samsung’s Voice Recorder app. However, it relies on Google’s larger Gemini Pro model that can only run in the cloud. The upside is that Samsung’s competing feature can handle hours-long recordings at the expense of privacy and speed.

Magic Compose is a feature within the Google Messages app that uses Gemini Nano to generate suggested replies based on the last 20 messages in a conversation. It offers various writing styles like Formal, Excited, Chill, and even Shakespearean, allowing you to adjust the tone of the AI-generated responses.

Introduced with the Pixel 9 series, the Pixel Screenshots app uses Gemini Nano to extract and identify important information from past screenshots. The app offers a search bar so you can ask for specific details like a recipe you saved or an address from a friend’s chat in plain English instead of scrolling through a list of unorganized screenshots.

Since all of the AI processing takes place offline, you get near-immediate results even with thousands of screenshots in your gallery.

5. TalkBack

TalkBack, Android’s accessibility feature, is getting a boost thanks to Gemini Nano’s multimodal abilities. It provides rich and detailed descriptions of images, allowing users with blindness or low vision to understand what’s on their screen.

Unlike TalkBack’s older model, which only offered simple descriptions, Gemini Nano can identify specific landmarks or details. You can think of it as a reverse AI image generator, meaning it can offer useful results like “A panoramic view of Sydney Opera House at night.”

As you may have guessed from the name, this is an AI integration within Google’s dedicated Weather app. Prior to the Pixel 9’s release, tapping on the weather forecast would take you to the Google app. However, the Pixel Weather app offers more data, better widgets, a smoother UI, and support for Gemini Nano.

Why would you need an on-device AI to know the weather? The idea is that Gemini Nano generates a short summary of the upcoming weather at the top of the app, saving you the trouble of reading through the expected precipitation, temperature, and other forecast numbers. It can also take additional factors such as UV index and air quality index into account, giving you well-rounded information at a glance.

Call Notes is another Pixel-exclusive feature that debuted alongside the Pixel 9 series. The feature records your phone calls and then employs Gemini Nano to generate a summary of the conversation. However, you’ll need to manually activate the feature for each phone call that you’d like to record and summarize. The other party will hear an audible message that says “Google Call Notes is on. The call is recorded.” Galaxy AI offers a similar feature, which also processes recordings offline.

Gemini Nano made its debut exclusively on the Pixel 8 Pro, but it has slowly made its way to more devices, including several non-Google ones. Here’s a list of devices that support Gemini Nano:

We expect future premium smartphones to include Gemini Nano support especially since regular apps on your phone will soon be able to take advantage of the AI model. Google has streamlined the process of downloading and updating the Gemini Nano model via AICore, which also provides an interface to third-party developers. In early 2024, Google said that it provided an early access preview to companies like Adobe and Grammarly to incoporate the on-device model within their apps. This could allow a PDF reader like Adobe Acrobat to generate AI summaries without an internet connection.

Developing the Vision Pro was an expensive endeavor for Apple, which is why the device has such a high price tag. Although the product sold better than initially expected, the iPhone maker has had an uphill battle with trying to recoup the cost of development. In an attempt to salvage the money spent on creating the headset, the Cupertino firm wants to make more products that use the Vision Pro’s technology.

According to Bloomberg, Apple’s Vision Products Group is working on “at least” four new products. One of the new products is said to be smart glasses. Another product could be AirPods built with a camera within. Both are expected to arrive in 2027.

The smart glasses, in particular, wouldn’t be AR glasses, but rather glasses with a built-in camera, speakers, and mic. These glasses are said to be similar to the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

If you’re wondering why Apple is working on smart glasses and camera-equipped AirPods, the report says Apple is attempting to salvage the billions of dollars it invested into the Vision Pro. The company wants to apply the Vision Pro’s visual intelligence — technology that allows it to scan and understand its surroundings — to more products. Outside of this, it’s unclear what would make these smart glasses more appealing than Meta’s solution or regular sunglasses.

Another product the team is said to be working on is a cheaper Vision headset, which could cost about $2,000. This low-end Vision headset is expected to have an inferior chip, be made of cheaper materials, lack EyeSight, and launch early next year. A second-generation Vision Pro is also mentioned, which would launch in 2026 with a more powerful processor.

My ideal bedtime routine is for my teeth to brush themselves as I stumble into pajamas and curl into a ball among an excess of pillows. In other words, I hit the sack hard, so if I am going to track sleep, it needs to be simple, comfortable, and easy to initiate.

The Philips Sleep Headphones with Kokoon introduce a unique sleep-tracking experience that stands apart from traditional methods I typically spend my nights testing like those you’ll find on smartwatches and smart rings. The headphones pack meditative experiences, sleep guidance, and the ability to keep tabs on your bedtime data. Above all, though, they offer the opportunity to tune into whatever you want to hear as you pass out. If you are only after truly base-level sleep specs and audio ambiance, they’re a pretty clever product. I don’t know that they are the best choice for me, but I am definitely more impressed than I expected.

The most successful aspect of the Kokoon Headphones is the product’s design. At its center is a slightly curved, pill-shaped unit intended to be worn at the nape of your neck. Measuring just 7cm, it’s fairly unobtrusive and tucked under the natural curve of my head in a way that never got between me and my favorite pillow. Branching from each side of the unit is a squiggly line of wire ending in a petite earbud. Each unit ships with alternative tips so you can swap into the silicone that fits your ears best. The overall impression is somewhere between wired headphones and a long-armed sea creature.

Most importantly, I found the headphones quite comfortable, especially for side sleeping. The earbuds stayed in place each night I wore them and quietly joined me for many middle-of-the-night bathroom breaks and jaunts for ice water. I can’t say the same for other audio devices I’ve attempted to use in bed. In fact, my AirPods have even journeyed through the washing machine after disappearing into my bedsheets without me realizing. The first few nights, I did tend to remove the headphones, forgetting in my sleep state that they were all-night stats and not just for bedtime audio. However, the adjustment period was quick.

I was also afraid the wires would tangle in my hair and I’d wake up to a painful rat’s nest like the time I used a rubber band as a hair tie. Miraculously this was never the case despite how much my typical bed head implies I move around. All in all, the device is well-designed for overnight comfort.

It doesn’t matter how comfortable something is if it doesn’t get the job done. In this regard, the headphones are a more nuanced sell. The device pairs with the Kokoon app, a simple companion app for managing your headphones that also houses a small hub of audio sleep resources. In the app’s Library tab, users find five categories of content: Going to Sleep, Feeling Anxious, Disrupted Sleep, Brighter Mornings, and Programmes. These files range from one minute in length to just shy of an hour and include a variety of formats, including music, meditations, coaching, stories, and white, brown, or pink noise (all of which sound like noise but are actually quite distinct).

Generally speaking, Kokoon’s library is a solid start, but it’s quite small, especially compared to popular apps like Calm. I tried out a bit of content from each format type and found the meditations satisfactory but the coaching pretty basic. The music includes mostly environmental sounds and is much more wind-down-friendly than my Spotify playlist. It turns out it’s a lot easier to fall asleep to mood-setting nature vibes than Lil Wayne.

With that said, the headphones can also be used to tune into your own personal audio as well. The headphones are compatible with Apple Music, Audible, Spotify, Calm, and Headspace. A deeply inconsiderate bedmate, I have a habit of playing audiobooks over my smart speaker at night, forcing my partner to buy into whatever book I’m on or retreat below a sound-smothering pillow. These Sleep Headphones gave us both the chance to hit the hay within our preferred soundscapes instead, mine being the wizarding world of Harry Potter, and his being silence.

Notably, the headphones do not offer active noise canceling. Instead, Philips offers noise masking, which uses an ambient level of sound across the full spectrum of frequencies to drown out external sounds. I can verify the effectiveness of this method because I often struggled to hear my partner asking me questions, like “Can you hit the light?” once my headphones were on. The device also offers automatic audio fade-out, which gradually turns down your content as it detects you’ve fallen asleep. This can be set to hit silence or colored noise after a determined amount of time.

Finally, unlike popular wearables that offer robust sleep-tracking platforms, the headphones only record bare-bones sleep data. With a small heart rate sensor tucked within the right earbud, the device records your total sleep including bedtime, wake time, and what time you slipped into sleep. Within the Kokoon app, you can review your sleep session timeline to check in on recorded sleep stages and view trends related to sleep time, bedtime vs target bedtime, and awakenings.

Again, the data is quite watered down. If you’re looking for more substantial metrics and guiding insights, this isn’t the sleep tracker for you. Still, the headphones did record very similar data to my Oura Ring and Apple Watch Ultra 2, especially in terms of total sleep duration. This is a good sign that while the device may only hit the basics, it does so with accuracy.

As with any device, the Philips Sleep Headphones with Kokoon do have some shortcomings. For starters, the Kokoon app requires a subscription. Users do receive a 12-month membership at purchase, but at the end of the year, renewing the membership costs $35 annually. This isn’t much, but the headphones are already pricey, and I resent ongoing fees at any denomination. I am also deeply irresponsible about canceling memberships I don’t use, and I feel like The Little Mermaid signing a witchy octopus’s contract every time I sign up for one I know I will inevitably forget about.

But I digress. Subscription aside, a set of headphones costs $230. If you’re coupled up and feeling generous, you can purchase two sets of headphones for $460. In case you didn’t mentally do that math, the price is the same whether you buy a solo set or a two-pack. I don’t know why they list the Couple’s Package at all if it doesn’t provide savings, but here we are.

Lastly, the battery life on the headphones isn’t anything to write home about, either. According to the company, the device offers up to 10 hours of music play per charge. On the evenings I started with 100% battery, I woke up with power measuring in the low 50s. By the time I tucked in the next night, the headphones weren’t charged enough to last another session. This is not great for a sleep tracker. Charging also takes about two hours via USB-C.

As I mentioned above, I like to expend minimal effort at night and prefer a device that won’t break my heart with low battery when I’m already emotionally committed to my bed. To avoid leaving users stranded with a dead device, many sleep-tracking smart rings offer nearly week-long battery life. Smartwatches typically offer less, but compensate with a substantially larger tool kit on top of sleep tracking. I would have loved to see these headphones land somewhere in the middle in terms of charge.

The Philips Sleep Headphones with Kokoon are a unique option within the sleep tracking market. Rather than a dedicated tracker with a data-driven companion app, the headphones are more of a bedtime companion, offering calming audio tools and content or access to the favorites already on your phone. They’re comfortable and effective, and can further elevate users’ bedtime with unique features like auto-fade.

As far as traditional tracking, however, the headphones aren’t in the same league as something like the Oura Ring. The Kokoon app is very simple and the data the device collects is foundational at best. In other words, unless you are specifically looking for headphones, not a dedicated sleep tracker, there are better options.

I can’t express my bias enough when it comes to sleep tracking. I like comfort, convenience, and enough data to make tracking worth my time. I don’t need a device to know I sleep very few hours, but insights and guidance are abundantly welcome. I also selfishly just find it easier to play content out loud than wear anything else on my head when I’m already rocking a retainer and a mess of hair. If you are more considerate and you’re just here for the basics and a tuneful night’s sleep, the Sleep Headphones are a solid buy. But at this price (plus a necessary subscription), anyone like me who is looking for detailed sleep data to pore over might be left wanting a little more.

Although Apple has had a fairly lackluster presence in the smart home industry, it’s looking to change its fortune. A new report says the company wants to conquer the space and is refocusing its efforts to do so.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is deploying a new aggressive strategy aimed at capturing the smart home market. To help achieve this mission, it is prioritizing the sector by creating a new Home Ecosystem team, which it has moved over some engineers from its canceled car project. Overall, the plan appears to be driven by three key components: artificial intelligence, screens, and software.

The first part of this strategy includes Apple Intelligence, which will be used to supercharge home automations. It’s also said that the AI will be used for precise control of applications, devices, and media.

The second part of the strategy involves smart displays. Apple is reportedly working on a new smart display that’s like an affordable iPad. People will be able to use the display for Apple TV Plus streaming, FaceTime calls, browsing the web, and accessing apps like Calendar and Notes. It was also previously reported that the company had a tabletop robot in development. This device is said to be a swiveling robotic limb with a smart display attached. It will use AI to detect who is looking at the screen, what people are doing, and who is speaking. The tabletop robot will focus on home security monitoring, advanced videoconferencing, and media playback with high-quality audio. Gurman predicts it could cost around $1,000.

As for the final part of the strategy, Apple is creating a new smart home operating system called homeOS. According to the report, the software is built on the underpinnings of tvOS.

Whether Apple’s strategy works remains to be seen. Its smart home offerings have paled in comparison to the likes of Google and Amazon. However, Google and Amazon don’t exactly have a tight grasp on the market either, so there is room for Apple to wiggle its way in.