1+ hour, 28+ min ago (1219+ words) As every aspect of our working and social life is digitized, screen addiction has become less an exception to our way of living and more a widely accepted characteristic of it. I see this most commonly when I ask my friends, family, and coworkers how many hours a day they spend on their phones. The answers vary from three to eight hours." I average around four hours of my day on my phone, checking emails, responding to texts, scrolling social media, and checking the weather. That's four hours I could be spending reading a book, writing an article, learning how to predict the weather, calling a loved one, and doing anything besides checking the time suck and brain rot that is social media sites and messaging apps." Also:"I gave up my iPhone for a dumbphone with no apps. A…...

9+ hour, 39+ min ago (284+ words) Black Friday is almost here. If you've been eyeing a PlayStation 5, now is the time to start looking, because retailers have begun rolling out the big deals. Significant discounts on console bundles, accessories, and games are cropping up across the internet. Also:Best Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals The PlayStation 5 has been available for over five years, and it has only continued to improve with age. A steady stream of great games and software updates has kept the console feeling fresh throughout its lifecycle. To help you cut through the chaos of the internet, I've compiled the three best PS5 offers currently available, along with some video games that I highly recommend. This particular model is the Digital Edition, which means all games must be purchased through the PlayStation Store. However, if you want a disc drive, the standard PS5 Slim is…...

14+ hour, 40+ min ago (303+ words) Follow ZDNET:Add us as a preferred sourceon Google. That's common, since the smartwatch debuted only a few months ago and it's an expensive item. Apple wouldn't greatly discount it so soon. But you know which smartwatch the tech giant would? The Apple Watch Ultra 2. Despite being a year old, the smartwatch has similar functionalities to the Ultra 3, and it's highly discounted right now. You can get it for $200 off right now on Amazon. Also: The best Black Friday deals live now Read the review:The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is the premium smartwatch I prefer The Ultra 2 and Ultra 3 have the same brightness (3,000 nits), the same fall and crash detection, a siren, and an Action Button for accessing your favorite features with one touch. The Ultra 2 lacks a longer battery (but still checks in at a whopping 36 hours of normal…...

1+ day, 14+ min ago (629+ words) Black Friday is still a few days away, but if you're in the market for a new Mac computer, now is the moment to strike. Some of the year's best Apple deals are already live, with multiple MacBook models receiving significant discounts across online retailers." Also: Best Black Friday laptop deals 2025 Also:"Best Black Friday Apple deals 2025 Winner of ZDNET's Best Product of 2022 award, the M2 MacBook Air remains an excellent buy three years after launch. It won't be able to match the power of Apple's latest machines, so it's for that reason that this model is the best budget-friendly MacBook you can buy today. Review: MacBook Air M2 If you're willing to spend a bit more, I recommend the M4 MacBook Air over the M2 model. It's just as lightweight as the older model, but it enjoys better performance thanks to the M4 chip....

1+ day, 2+ hour ago (1185+ words) I love my iPhone 17 Pro Max, but even this phone gives me battery anxiety on days when I know I'll be away from a charger for an extended period. So I'm forever attaching wired or wireless power banks. I'm turning a sleek, thin, and light phone into a gigantic, unwieldy brick. So why not start with a gigantic, unwieldy brick instead of a power bank? Also:I thought this iPhone screen protector was overrated - until I hit it with a brass knuckle If this sounds like something you want to do, then the Blackview Xplore 2 might be the smartphone for you. The Blackview Xplore 2 is a ruggedized smartphone packing one of the biggest batteries that I've seen in a smartphone to date. Blackview has been producing large, ruggedized smartphones with huge batteries for years. If you wanted a rugged smartphone,…...

1+ day, 3+ hour ago (1164+ words) It's that time of the year when ZDNET braces for the'Black Friday'rush, and our team of experts gathers the most helpful buying advice we can. While retailers like Amazon,'Best Buy, and'Walmart'have already begun to ramp up their sales and discounts, there's one bit of information that you may find useful as you prepare for your holiday phone-shopping journey: a popularity list. We curate this list by identifying the products our readers actually purchase after visiting our various reviews, buying guides, and other content. (A note: Your privacy is protected -- we only have access to aggregate data from our user base, and there is no way for us to identify individual people's purchases.)' Also: The best Black Friday phone deals live now The goal? Giving you some insights to empower and inform your next buying decision. With that said, here's…...

1+ day, 7+ hour ago (865+ words) Black Friday is just around the corner, and there's no time like the present (pun intended) to start making those holiday shopping lists and checking them twice. And every good gift-giver knows that the best time to score big savings on TVs, headphones, smart accessories, and more is during Cyber Week, which kicks off with Black Friday on Nov. 28 this year. Or is it? Also:Our favorite early Black Friday deals Suppose you think Black Friday hasn't been the same since we stopped tackling each other in aisles, queuing over expensive systems and coveted toys, and rushing out to brick-and-mortar stores to hit the midnight sales -- and maybe you're right. The truth is, some of today's deals are actually quite shady -- inflated markups that aren't necessarily seasonal bargains. As a result, there's more onus than ever on you as a…...

1+ day, 15+ hour ago (1246+ words) How do you convince yourself to pay $400+ for a pair of headphones that look and operate almost identically to the previous generation? That's a question I hope to answer, and a question Bose hopes its latest flagship headphones will answer based on their performance alone. Also: The 20+ best Black Friday headphones deals worth grabbing now I spent months now working, traveling, and lounging in the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (Gen 2), which I'll refer to as the QC Ultra 2, searching for how Bose spent two years making them more "ultra" than their predecessor. Without major upgrades to design, speaker drivers, or noise cancellation performance, I'll have to dig deep. It's easy to position the Sony WH-1000XM6 as QC Ultra 2's direct competitor, but I wonder: are the QC Ultra 2 competing with their predecessors as much as they are with other brands? Let's…...

1+ day, 16+ hour ago (1080+ words) It's been three years since Sony released the last iteration of its revered WH-1000X series over-ear headphones, and there couldn't be bigger shoes to fill. The WH-1000XM5are considered by consumers and industry experts to be some of the best headphones on the market, with high marks for their comfort, sound, software features, and excellent noise-canceling capabilities. Also: The 20+ best Black Friday headphones deals worth grabbing now Now, the WH-1000XM6 are here, positioned as Sony's most advanced (and expensive) consumer headphones to date. But with so many fabulous headphones on the market and the XM5 being as good as they are, is the upgrade worth nearly $500? Let's find out. The sixth generation of Sony's flagship headphones don't disappoint in the sound, noise cancellation, or battery life departments. The XM6 feature Sony's typical warm and smooth sound profile, characterized by minimal peaks and piercing…...

1+ day, 16+ hour ago (834+ words) I would argue that the most crucial aspect of any television set is its picture quality. Never mind its smart capabilities, brand prestige, or super-high refresh rate. For human beings, at first glance anyway, the visual stimulus overrides all else. This is why when you walk into Costco, you are arrested by the exquisite images flashing on a bunch of big-screen TVs set to "Retail Mode," peacocking their 4K beauty. First impressions are always based on appearance." Also: This TCL Mini LED TV deal on Amazon makes pricier OLED models unnecessary for me The LG C5 OLED TV delivers a stunning picture and sleek design with welcome upgrades across the board. The C5 has a unique construction and a futuristic aesthetic. For one thing, it has one of the thinnest screens I've ever seen -- at a mere 0.25 inches thick. When lifting it out…...