Since its premiere in 2018, Yellowstone has been a breakout hit for the Paramount Network and one of the most popular shows on TV. Taylor Sheridan’s modern Western also revitalized Kevin Costner’s career by placing him in the lead as John Dutton, the patriarch of the Dutton family, who own the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, one of the largest ranches in Montana.
The fifth season of Yellowstone premiered in 2022, but the future of the series and the franchise were called into question when reports emerged that Costner was leaving the show and Paramount Network had already ordered a sequel series that will continue without Costner’s involvement. To bring everyone up to speed, here’s everything you need to know about the future of Yellowstone.
Until August 2024, it had been understood that the remaining episodes of Yellowstone season 5 would wrap up the series. However, it sounds like Paramount Network isn’t willing to let its most popular show go quietly. Deadline is reporting that negotiations are underway with Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser to co-headline a sixth season of Yellowstone.
Reilly portrays Beth Dutton and Hauser portrays the Dutton family ranch’s foreman, Rip Wheeler. Both performers have been with the series since the beginning, and a continuation makes sense because neither one has a direct connection to the new characters who will be at the center of the upcoming Yellowstone spinoff, Madison. As of now, there is no definitive timetable for Yellowstone season 6 to begin filming, and contracts haven’t been finalized yet. The one thing we know for certain is that Kevin Costner won’t be back.
Cole Hauser doesn’t seem to be leaving much room for another season during his recent remarks to US Magazine. “It’s been a great ride with everyone involved,” Hauser said. “You’ll have to stay tuned for November for how Taylor [Sheridan] wraps it up!”
Kelly Reilly was more open to the possibility when she spoke with EW.
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“Nothing is set in stone,” Reilly said. “But if Taylor wants to write it, I would want to do it. That’s it. Because he’s the one that’s written every single line I’ve ever said. She came from his imagination. But we’re both in agreement that there’s a shift that has to take place. Because you can’t keep telling the same story. This story is ending. Yellowstone as we know it is ending, but if there is more story to tell with some of the characters, it’s going to be a little different.”
Every report since February 2023 has stated that McConaughey is in negotiations to star in the Yellowstone spinoff series. So far, there has been no confirmation that McConaughey has closed his deal. In February 2024, Puck reported McConaughey would not sign on until he saw a script for the spinoff.
If McConaughey does agree to a contract, it would be his first leading role on TV since HBO’s first season of True Detective in 2014. McConaughey’s star power is also arguably greater than Costner’s at this point in their respective careers.
Yes. Although the Yellowstone spinoff was previously called 2024 at an earlier stage of development, the official name for the show is now The Madison. With that bit intel also comes the first description for the series, which reportedly “follows a New York City family in the Madison River valley of central Montana.” It’s also called “a heartfelt study of grief and human connection.”
That’s a big question and one we can’t really answer at this point. We can only speculate that McConaughey could be playing a member of the Dutton who simply wasn’t mentioned before. But building a series around a character who came out of nowhere would seem odd.
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The other possibilities are that McConaughey’s character could marry into the Dutton family, or he could simply be someone who isn’t related to them by blood or marriage. It’s simply too soon to say which way the new series will go.
Yes. Via Variety, Michelle Pfeiffer will star in The Madison and executive produce the show alongside series creator Taylor Sheridan.
In a statement, Paramount Global co-CEO Chris McCarthy acknowledged the news and said, “Michelle Pfeiffer is a remarkable talent who imbues every role with emotional depth, authenticity and grace. She is the perfect anchor to the newest chapter of the Yellowstone universe, The Madison, from the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan.”
There was no mention of McConaughey’s name, and the last few updates about the series have conspicuously left him out. Pfeiffer’s involvement with the project was first reported in February 2024 by Puck, which noted that the actress was in talks to join the Yellowstone spinoff alongside McConaughey.
After months of apparent inactivity, the cast of the Yellowstone spinoff The Madison is coming together. Via The Hollywood Reporter, Suits star Patrick J. Adams has signed on to a starring role opposite Pfeiffer. Adams will play Russell McIntosh, a man who is described as someone “who has followed the life path set before him from the start.”
Film actress Elle Chapman, whose previous credits include A Man Called Otto and Florida Wild, is making her TV debut in this series as Paige McIntosh, a “somewhat self-centered woman who indulges in a luxurious New York lifestyle provided by her parents and investment banker husband.” She is Russell’s wife and the daughter of Pfeiffer’s character.
Firefly Lane‘s Beau Garrett has also been cast as Abigail Reese. Abigail doesn’t appear to be a member of the McIntosh family, but she is a recently divorced single mother who is described as a “resilient and sardonic New Yorker.” Abigail is Paige’s sister, and the other daughter of Pfeiffer’s character. Amiah Miller will play Abigail’s oldest daughter.
Lost star Matthew Fox has also landed a leading role on the series as Paul, “a self-reliant bachelor who loves the outdoors.” It’s unclear if he has any relationship to the McIntosh family.
A previous report from Deadline noted that veteran actor Kurt Russell is also in talks to join the series. However, McConaughey went unmentioned again, which raises the question of whether he will actually appear in the spinoff at all.
Prior to last year’s actors’ strike, Deadline reported that “it has not been revealed whether the McConaughey-fronted franchise extension will be set on the Dutton ranch in Montana or elsewhere and which of the original stars of Yellowstone will appear in the spinoff series, but we hear a couple of them have received offers. The plan for the returning cast members may not get finalized until Sheridan finishes writing, we hear.”
The Yellowstone spinoff was not originally designed to include characters from the original series. However, a February 2024 report by Puck stated that Yellowstone stars Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, and Luke Grimes as three Yellowstone could join the spinoff. Reilly and Grimes play Beth and Kayce Dutton, while Hauser stars as Beth’s husband, Rip Wheeler. The trio is looking for significant pay increases to return for the spinoff. Reilly and Hauser are asking for a per-episode rate of $1.2 million and 1.25 million, respectively. Grimes’ salary demands were not included. Puck’s follow-up in March 2024 stated negotiations were still ongoing.
Given the way that Yellowstone season 5A ended, it’s hard to picture Reilly and Wes Bentley returning for the spinoff series since their respective characters, Beth and Jamie Dutton, have openly contemplated murdering each other over their ongoing dispute. Beth is John Dutton’s daughter and Jamie is his adopted son, but they have very different endgames in mind. Jamie has already gone against the family by calling for his father to be impeached from his position as the governor of Montana. That alone could get Jamie sent to the “train station,” where the Dutton family tends to dump the bodies of their enemies.
First and foremost, the Yellowstone cast members must finish the final episodes of season 5 before they can work on the spinoff. However, several of the principal actors in Yellowstone are open to joining thespinoff. Reilly revealed that discussions have occurred about her involvement in the spinoff.
“I just care about finishing [the main show] with as much care, as much passion, and as much love as I can muster to put into it,” Reilly told Collider in March 2024. “That’s what I care about. I’m sort of prepping for that now, [and] that’s my tunnel vision thing that I care about most. And what goes on beyond that? There are discussions, you know. Don’t believe everything you read. It’s just nonsense. But we’re gonna, you know, let’s wait and see. I don’t have an answer right now. But we’ll see.”
Hauser also shared a similar sentiment about the spinoff. His focus is on finishing Yellowstone season 5. However, Hauser mentioned how there are ways Rip, Beth, and other key characters could appear in the spinoff.
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“I’m so focused on finishing Yellowstone the way it needs to be finished right now — well, just the show itself,” Hauser told Country Living in April 2024. “We’ll see where that leads, but I know that there’s some stuff on the horizon when it comes to Taylor’s ideas for Kelly Reilly, myself, and some of the other cast. I’m excited to see where he goes creatively with that, but right now it’s just, let’s finish strong; let’s do the best we can.”
Paramount Network has officially announced that Yellowstone season 5, part 2 has begun filming in Montana as of May 20, 2024. That should be more than enough time for the series to film the final six episodes and turn them around for a final run on Paramount Network later this year.
As noted via Deadline, Costner has not returned to the show, and there don’t appear to be any plans for him to do so. Costner is currently promoting Horizon: An American Saga in France at the Cannes Film Festival, and he intends to resume filming the third Horizon movie when he returns to America. It’s not impossible for Costner and Sheridan to make an agreement for him to appear in the final episodes. But with the show back in production, the window for that to happen is rapidly closing.
After months of waiting, Yellowstone fans now know when they can finally see new episodes. Yellowstone season 5, part 2 will premiere on Sunday, November 10 on Paramount Network. The new episodes will also be released on Peacock in America, but we don’t know yet if the streaming service will have them the same day as Paramount Network or if fans will have to wait longer before watching the episodes online. Fans in Canada won’t have the same problem, as Paramount+ will premiere the episodes on the same day they are broadcast.
Yes, for at least the first episode. CBS has announced that Yellowstone season 5, part 2 episode 1 will premiere at 10 p.m.onNovember 10, two hours after its premiere on the Paramount Network. For now, this is the only episode of the new season that will be broadcast on network TV. The remaining five episodes are exclusive to Paramount Network, at least for now.
Sure! You can try live TV streaming options like Sling, Hulu Plus Live, and YouTube TV. The cheapest and best possible, though, is Philo. Philo is a live television streaming service that offers more than 70 top-rated channels and the entire AMC+ library for just $28/month. Some of the channels include A&E, MTV, Hallmark Channel, Lifetime, MTV, BET, and the Paramount Network, which is the home of Yellowstone.
Philo also has over 90 free channels available to watch anytime without creating an account. In addition, the service has a library of over 75,000 content titles on-demand and an unlimited DVR that saves recordings for a year. Philo can be used on mobile phones, tablets, TVs, and desktops so you can watch the Dutton clan pretty much anywhere on any device.
In February 2023, Deadline reported that the dispute between Costner and The Paramount Network concerned his participation in season 5’s filming schedule. It noted that Costner’s priority was Horizon, a new multipart Western film that is his current passion project. According to the report, Costner’s commitments to those films led him to shoot only 50 days for the first half of Yellowstone season 5. But Costner “only wanted to spend a week shooting” for the remaining episodes of the season. Subsequently, Paramount Network made plans to end the series and push toward a sequel show.
Sheridan addressed the issue in a June 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where he said: “My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct. He and the network argued about when he could be done with Yellowstone. I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did.”
“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered,” added Sheridan. “I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone. But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin, and I don’t know that anyone deserves it … I’m disappointed. It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
Costner has not given interviews about the subject until very recently. As reported by Deadline, Costner’s departure from Yellowstone came up during his divorce proceedings in September 2023,
“Somewhere along the line, they wanted to change things,” said Costner during his testimony in court. “They wanted to do 5A and 5B; [it] affected Horizon. I was going to do my movie Horizon and leave that show, do my movie, then do B. A show I was only doing once a year I was now doing twice.”
“We did negotiate,” added Costner. “There were issues about creative … I tried to break the logjam. They walked away.” Costner also noted that he was offered $24 million to shoot Yellowstone seasons 6 and 7. Additionally, Costner said that he will “probably go to court” over his dispute with Paramount Network. But as of January 2024, no court case has been filed by the actor. And it is still unknown if Costner will return for the final episodes of Yellowstone.
However, a March 2024 report from Matthew Belloni of Puck News stated that Costner wants to return for Yellowstone’s final run of episodes.
“Kevin Costner has been telling people he’s planning to return for at least a cameo and possibly more, but there are currently no discussions for him to do that,” Belloni wrote in his newsletter. “Even if Costner significantly lowers his financial and time commitment demands, Sheridan may not want to bother reopening his finished scripts to accommodate a send-off for John Dutton.
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Those comments were borne out by Costner himself, who has spent the last three months talking about his desire to return to Yellowstone in some capacity… and on his own terms.
A possible return to Yellowstone
Even in June 2024, with new episodes in production, Costner is still striking a conciliatory tone while praising the series.
“I’ve supported that thing and I’ve loved it,” Costner said during an appearance on NBC’s Today. “It’s been really important to me. I would love to go back under the right circumstances I think that all of us want. For me, it really needs to be the right circumstances.”
Costner added that “there’s always a chance,” he could still return, even now. “I love the thing. You’ve got to be really clear about that.”
Costner is now promoting his new western, Horizon. And his interview with Deadline on May 13 showed his apparent anger about the situation and the story that has unfolded in the media over the last year.
“I don’t want to get down in the gutter with the Yellowstone thing but what I’m telling you is straight up,” Costner said. “I have taken a beating from those f***ing guys and I know a lot of times where it’s coming from. I just elected not to get into that. But if you know me well enough, I made Yellowstone the first priority, and to insinuate anything else would be wrong. I did not initiate any of those things. They did. They were doing a tap dance and this poor guy was also having to write so much. And I don’t know why they didn’t stick up for me.”
Costner’s account from his divorce trial lines up with his latest comments about the issues facing Yellowstone season 5, part 2, particularly the lack of scripts to shoot. He also explained where the rumor came from that he only wanted to work a week on the remaining episodes of the season.
“They didn’t have the scripts for anything else,” Costner said. “So, what you read in the end was that I said, ‘Well, look, I’m doing my movie. If you want me to work a week because you want to kill me or whatever else, I can give you a week.’ I really didn’t have that week to give them, but I said, I’ll do that. And then they [spun that] into, I only wanted to work a week.”
“I’m usually working six or seven days per each, whatever they are,” Costner added. “And they took that and a source on their side spun that into, well, he only wants to work a week for a whole season. Do you think that’s who I am? I’ve never missed a day of work. I’ve never left before fulfilling my contractual obligations. A lot of times, I stay as much as I can. In fact, I worked the nine-day stretch just to try to help them in July, when I was starting [Horizon] August 1. I worked a Saturday and Sunday for them, and they still needed four more days. I gave it to them, when I thought we were going to do this so-called B, but there was no B thing. I was just going to give ‘em those extra four days.”
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Costner also voiced his frustration that Sheridan and others did not defend him in the press while these stories were circulating.
“They were silent and that bothered me in the world of how you do things,” Costner said. “Why don’t you stick up for me? I went and sold this thing for you. I was going to only do one season. I made it for three. I fulfilled three. So, I went from one to three, then I did a fourth one for them and they wanted to do three more. So, I made the contract to do that. They imploded. I had a contract to do five, six and seven. I was contracted to do that. There’s nothing I could have done to get out of that, nor was I trying to just figure out how, when we started. When we finished, I wanted to do Horizon. It all happened because they shut down one whole season, didn’t tell anybody and I didn’t work for 14 months.”
Despite the apparent hard feelings over the dispute, Costner still says he’s willing to consider coming back for the final episodes.
“I’m very open to coming back,” Costner said. “If they’ve got so many other things going on, maybe this circles back and it’s a really cool two seasons. Or end it, if the writing’s there and I’m happy with it. I’m open to that. But I took a beating over these guys not speaking up for me and allowing crazy stories to come out. I’m not happy about that. But if the writing is there, I will be there too.”
“They had first position,” Costner said. “I didn’t do Horizon because I was tired of doing Yellowstone. That’s a bulls*** story. I didn’t do Horizon to compete with Yellowstone. This is something I’ve had a long time. Taylor read that script three years earlier when he was contemplating other writers [for Yellowstone]. I said, well, you can look at what John [Baird] and I did, not that I think I’m qualified. I think you write Yellowstone beautifully. So, he read that and knew what the thing was about. It’s just that simple: Paramount and 101 Studios mismanaged this. They had me for five, six, and seven. I agreed to do it. And then they steadily began changing their format.”
If Yellowstone fans were hoping for a good sign about Costner’s return to the show, this is it. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Costner expressed his desire to see Dutton as the author of his own fate.
“[Dutton] needs to be proactive in what happens and I’ve kind of had my own fantasy how [the character’s final arc] might be,” noted Costner. “But that’s Taylor’s thing. I said as much to him a while back. I had thoughts how it could happen, but we just have to see.”
Does this mean that Costner is coming back? Not quite. As noted above, the previous report in Puck suggests that Sheridan may be less than accommodating about changing his scripts for the remaining episodes of Yellowstone even if it means giving the show’s star one last sendoff. Regardless, Costner sounds hopeful about the situation.
“I’d like to be able to do it, but we haven’t been able to … I thought I was going to make seven [seasons] but right now we’re at five,” related Costner. “So how it works out — I hope it does — but they’ve got a lot of different shows going on. Maybe it will. Maybe this will circle back to me. If it does and I feel really comfortable with [it], I’d love to do it.”
The end of an era has arrived. While the writing was on the wall when Yellowstone season 5 resumed without a deal for Costner to return, the actor spent months praising the show in the press and expressing his willingness to return. Now, with episodes already being filmed, Costner has acknowledged that he’s done with with Yellowstone and won’t be coming back.
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“I just want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all the things that that’s required… and thinking about Yellowstone, that beloved series that I love, that I know you love. I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue, season 5 or into the future,” said Costner on his Instagram account.
“I loved it and I know you loved it, and I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning,” Costner added. “I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop, and I’ll see you at the movies.”
Horizon : An American Saga | In Theaters June 2024 and August 2024
Earlier this week, Kevin Costner debuted the trailer for his upcoming movie, Horizon: An American Saga. The movie, a passion project of the actor he personally financed, is set to debut in two parts later this year. Yellowstone fans couldn’t help but notice some similarities between the movie and the show: the Western setting; Costner’s role as a tough patriarch defending his land; and the giant cast of well-known character actors like Will Patton, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Rooker, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Luke Wilson, and many, many more.
Yet, while the movie shares many of the same themes with Yellowstone, it is not connected in any way with the hit show. The movie is set during the American Civil War, and does not chronicle the early years of Dutton clan like the spinoff shows 1883 and 1923 have recently. That hasn’t stopped fans of Yellowstone from gravitating toward the movie. Good Housekeeping reported that fans of the hit Paramount Network show can’t wait to see the movies, which makes sense given that Costner has long been the figurehead and main attraction of the long-running show.
Strands is a brand new daily puzzle from the New York Times. A trickier take on the classic word search, you’ll need a keen eye to solve this puzzle.
Like Wordle, Connections, and the Mini Crossword, Strands can be a bit difficult to solve some days. There’s no shame in needing a little help from time to time. If you’re stuck and need to know the answers to today’s Strands puzzle, check out the solved puzzle below.
You start every Strands puzzle with the goal of finding the “theme words” hidden in the grid of letters. Manipulate letters by dragging or tapping to craft words; double-tap the final letter to confirm. If you find the correct word, the letters will be highlighted blue and will no longer be selectable.
If you find a word that isn’t a theme word, it still helps! For every three non-theme words you find that are at least four letters long, you’ll get a hint — the letters of one of the theme words will be revealed and you’ll just have to unscramble it.
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Every single letter on the grid is used to spell out the theme words and there is no overlap. Every letter will be used once, and only once.
Each puzzle contains one “spangram,” a special theme word (or words) that describe the puzzle’s theme and touches two opposite sides of the board. When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted yellow.
The goal should be to complete the puzzle quickly without using too many hints.
Fitness trackers are an odd category of devices. Smartwatches were initially panned for offering reduced usability compared to phones, and fitness trackers offer even less functionality than smartwatches. Be that as it may, fitness trackers were able to cut out their own niche in the wearables market. Fitness trackers offer users an experience that’s just right, bringing just enough features to keep track of your health and keep from getting distracted. I was given the opportunity to review the new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 to see if it reaches that balance.
Being a person who’s reviewed a ton of mid-range phones, I’ve come to realize that fitness bands share some similarities with mid-range phones. They’re both devices designed to offer just enough functionality and features to create a full experience. They’re missing many of the bells and whistles of fancier devices, but they’re not meant for people who want that sort of fanfare. Just like how mid-range phones need to justify their existence by making you reconsider paying $1000+ for a flagship phone, fitness trackers are doing the same thing to keep you from getting a smartwatch.
So, the question is: is the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 enough to do that, or is it time to start looking for an Apple Watch? Let’s find out in this review.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Review: Design
Fitness bands come in a surprising range of design languages with some of them almost resembling smartwatches. Xiaomi went a more traditional route with its design, and it makes for a nice-looking minimalist design. The screen has the ovular shape that most people associate with fitness bands. The device’s body is ever-so-slightly thicker than the band.
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That display is surrounded by a classy-looking chamfered edge that adds some nice gloss to it. The chamfer is small enough as to not disrupt the overall rounded aesthetic of the Smart Band 9. Also, the gloss from the edge adds some nice contrast to the matte metal that comprises the body. I have the blue color that matches the color of the Xiaomi 14T Pro that I reviewed recently. Just like I said in that review, I absolutely love that color. It has a nice cool tone that makes it a bit lighter than the Bay Blue that we saw with the Pixel 8 phones.
The soft tone of the matte metal characterizes the overall look of this band. While many other fitness bands are rather angular with flat screens and sharp corners, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is much more rounded. The glass curves to meet the metal body, the body itself is subtly round, and we can’t forget about the ovular shape of the display.
There’s a gentleness to the overall design that I like. In a way, it reminds me of the look and feel of the Pixel Watch series. These devices are notably rounded, but there’s an elegance to them that lets you know that they’re still high-quality.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Review: Build Quality
This isn’t a particularly expensive piece of tech, but the build quality does contradict its price. The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is a nicely put-together device. It’s neat that the company chose to use metal for the chassis. It not only adds to the looks of the device, but it also adds some reassuring rigidity. This is a pretty lightweight fitness band, so I’m pretty sure that Xiaomi didn’t opt for the highest-quality metal for the body. Be that as it may, in my usage, I haven’t seen any scratches or blemishes on the metal so far, and I wear it pretty much all the time.
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The same goes for the front. I’m happy that the company opted for glass instead of plastic. This is a device that remains on my exterior at all times, as opposed to a phone, which lives in my pockets. Be that as it may, I haven’t seen any scratches. That’s surprising, as I’ve bumped the Smart Band on surfaces every now and then on accident.
As lightweight as the Smart Band 9 is, it’s held up amazingly during my testing. I think that’s a testament to Xiaomi’s engineering. It’s a fitness band, so it’s supposed to be lightweight so as to feel like nothing is on your wrist while you’re working out. The company could have used cheaper materials to easily accomplish this. However, Xiaomi managed to use some rather sturdy materials while keeping both the weight and the price down.
I have no complaints about the overall build quality of this device. It’s lightweight, but it still feels sturdy.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Review: Display
The display on a fitness band isn’t quite as important as the display on a phone. I’m not exactly looking to binge-watch “The Boys” on the Smart Band 9. This is why I’m confused as to why I love this display.
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I’ve used fitness trackers and smartwatches with modest displays. They’re usually pretty pixelated LCD panels that do the bare minimum. And, I didn’t care. If I can see my heart rate and steps, I’m fine. However, I think that the display on the Smart Band 9 has spoiled me for other devices.
Brightness
I don’t think I’ve come across a smartwatch with a display that was hard to read in the sunlight. Wearables are supposed to mimic traditional timepieces, so above all else, they’re meant to be seen. If you look down at your watch, and you can’t see what it’s showing, then it pretty much failed at its job.
The display on the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is definitely good at being seen. In fact, the sunlight readability on this band is fantastic. I can see the information on the screen perfectly clearly. I think that the brightness takes just a second to crank itself up when I enter the sun, but that’s the only gripe I have.
Colors
It seems a bit odd to have a section about the colors in the review, but they really look nice. Xiaomi fitted the band with an OLED display, and it sought fit to calibrate it to show some nice colors. I’d say that they’re similar to the displays on some of its better phones.
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The colors pop with a nice amount of saturation. Sure, fitness data is the same whether you’re looking at a black-and-white screen or an HDR10+ display. However, it’s not just about the data. There are a ton of different watch faces that you can assign, and many of them have some radical and beautiful designs. The quality of the display really does them justice.
Aside from the watch faces, the colors also make the app icons and other UI elements pop with a satisfying burst of color. Everything has a nice dash of color, and I really enjoy it.
Details
I was pretty surprised by how crisp the screen is on the Smart Band 9. I’ve used some watches and bands where the pixelation was evident. That’s not the case with this fitness band. I don’t see a bit of pixelation. Everything from large icons to small text looks fantastic.
Overall
Just like on a smartphone, a nice display on a fitness band is technically a luxury. However, it’s more of a luxury on the latter. You don’t NEED a good display to check your health data, and you’re not watching movies, editing photos, or playing games on your fitness band.
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This makes the display that much better. It feels like I’m enjoying an unnecessary luxury. It’s like getting a designer phone. The fact that Xiaomi went the extra mile to add this extra bit of fanciness makes the experience just a bit more enjoyable. It could have just been a plain old screen, but it’s so much more.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Review: Fitness features
What’s a fitness tracker without a full arsenal of fitness features? The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 comes with a complete suite of tools to help you monitor your health. Going down the list, there is a Stats app that shows your steps and calories, a Workouts app that monitors dozens of different workouts, an Activity Log, a Running Course app, a Heart Rate Monitor, A Vitality app, a Blood Oxygen Monitor, a Sleep Tracker, a Stress Tracker, and a Breathing timer. This is more than enough to cover the basics and satisfy advanced fitness nuts.
Sleep Monitor
The sensors like the heart rate monitor and the sleep monitor are extremely accurate. I was pretty surprised by how accurate the sleep monitoring worked. There would be those times when I’d casually dose off for an hour and see that it was still able to log that.
Heart rate monitor
What’s neat about the heart rate monitor is that it displays your current reading on the widget before you tap on it. It automatically reads and updates the information when you’re not using it. This way, I’m able to see what my heart rate is without needing to open the app and do a reading.
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Stress monitoring
I’d say that the one feature I don’t have the most faith in is the stress reader. I’ve used it when experiencing varying degrees of stress, and it always gives me pretty much the same score. I used it during times of calmness and during times when I felt like I was going to tear my hair out, and I’d still get a similar score. I’m wondering if this tool is just not there yet.
Workout detection
There’s a feature where the watch will automatically detect if you start a workout. At the cost of battery life, it will trigger if it detects an uptick in activity. I find that it’s really accurate in detecting if I’m working out. I tested it out by resting for a bit and then spontaneously going on a run. It was able to start up once my heart started pumping.
Since I’m primarily a walker, there were times when it would erroneously trigger, however. I’d casually walk to the store, and the watch band would log it as a workout. So, this is something to keep in mind.
Mi Fitness app
Just like other fitness wearables, there’s a companion app that shows you your stats in more detail. The app’s home screen shows you a grid of blocks, and each block houses the information from one of your apps. There’s one that shows your sleep stats, your heart rate, blood oxygen, and so on. When you tap on one of the blocks, it will expand to fill the screen.
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Depending on the block you tap, it will show you your progress over time. For instance, if you tap on the heart rate block, you’ll see a chart showing you how your heart rate rose and fell over time. You’ll also see other metrics like your resting, maximum, minimum, and average heart rate. You’ll get additional information relevant to the health metric being measured.
I think that the Mi Fitness app does a great job of displaying your health data. The interface is simple to use and all of your health metrics are easy to read. Also, there are subtle animations here and there. There’s even a feature that tells you how many calories you burned in terms of food items. It will say something like “You burned 443 kcal! That’s equivalent to 1 chicken leg.”
One small complaint
I think that this is a one-size-fits-all type of app. You’re able to connect it with different Xiaomi wearables, and these devices will have varying health features. This means that the app could potentially display blocks for health metrics that your device isn’t compatible with.
For example, the Mi Fitness app shows a block for blood pressure. I searched, but there’s no blood pressure sensor on the Smart Band 9. So, it’s just a bit awkward seeing a block for a feature sitting there that I can’t use. It’d be nice if the app would tailor the interface to the device so that it only shows what each device can measure. That’s just one minor complaint that I have.
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Overall
The Mi Fitness app is a prime showcase that Xiaomi is not new to the wearables game. The app is great for showing you your health data.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Review: Smartwatch features
The Smart Band 9 isn’t a smartwatch, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t snag a few features from larger devices. For such a small and affordable device, it has a ton of functionality packed into it, actually.
For starters, as I mentioned before, there’s a wide selection of watch faces that you can apply. It comes with a pre-installed collection of faces, but you can download more from the Mi Fitness app. There are an absolute ton of watch faces that you can download. They range from formal to artistic to minimalistic to cute; you name it. In fact, there are 18 different categories of watch faces. I couldn’t even scroll through them all before I found a handful that I loved.
Apps
Moving onto the non-fitness apps, there’s a timer, alarm clock, stopwatch, world clock, weather app, calendar, events app, tasks app, music app (to control the music playing on your phone), find my phone, phone silencer, camera control, flashlight, and focus mode.
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All of these features work flawlessly on the band as well. Accessing your apps is as easy as swiping up on the watch face. The apps will live on two pages, and you’ll have to scroll a bit to get to the second page.
Thankfully, you can reorder the apps in the Mi Fitness app. So, you can move your most-used apps to the top of the feed.
Widgets
One of my favorite features is the widgets feature. Widgets are full screens that you can swipe through on the band. You’ll swipe either left or right to access your widgets. An example of a widget is the music controls screen. Rather than scrolling through the apps and tapping on the Music app, you can just swipe on your screen and access the controls. There’s also the weather widget and the tools widget, which houses the settings, Do Not Disturb, and Find Phone icons.
My favorite widgets are the customizable ones. Each customizable allows you to stack two apps on top of one another. This makes it easier for me to access my favorite apps. What’s neat is that, if you add an app that has health data, like the heart rate app or the stress app, the widget will show you the most recent measurements. So, if I want to see my heart rate, I’ll be able to just swipe and see it.
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You can edit the order of your widgets, so you can prioritize the apps you use the most.
Notifications
When it comes to the notifications, they’re pretty good. I like that it will show you a long feed of your notifications. Some fitness bands I’ve used will only show you a limited number of notifications. The Smart Band 9 will do its best to show you all of your notifications.
It shows a little red dot at the top of the screen when you have a notification to view. Just swipe down to access your notifications. What I like is that you can dismiss individual notifications with a swipe to the left and a tap on the trash can icon.
The text in the notifications displays pretty nicely given the screen’s aspect ratio. After viewing a notification, you have the option to dismiss it or back out of it, leaving it in the notification shade. When you dismiss a notification on the band, it will dismiss it on your phone, which is pretty standard practice.
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What’s nice is that the watch will actually group notifications together that are from the same app. This helps keep the notifications from getting too messy. Also, there’s the handy Dismiss all button at the top of the screen.
My only complaint is that there’s no option to open the app on your phone when you tap on a notification. I’d sometimes tap on a notification to have it open on my phone when I plan on getting to it later. It’s not a big issue, it’s just that I haven’t seen too many wearables that didn’t have this ability.
Extras and Gestures
Aside from the apps and widgets, there are a few extra goodies to enjoy. There’s an AOD (Always on display) that I like. You can either tap on the screen to wake the watch or swipe.
If you’re so inclined, you can enable the rise-to-wake feature if you want. This will wake the screen automatically when you raise the watch to your face. This feature will have an effect on your battery life, as there’s always the chance that you’ll wake it by accident when you lift your hand.
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The screen will shut off automatically when you lower your hand, but there’s a nifty gesture to manually shut off the screen. When enabled, you’ll just need to cover the screen with your hand, and it will shut off.
Overall
Sometimes, I feel like the Xiaomi Band 9 is as much of a smartwatch as it is a fitness band. There are some nice quality-of-life features that I enjoy.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Review: Battery
The battery life of this device is a bit of an odd story. When I first charged it up, the battery life was pretty bonkers. It drained about 5% in the first day, and it took almost a week for it to drain properly. So, I give the battery life high marks based on that.
However, the battery life diminished noticeably after just a few cycles. After a few weeks of using it, I’d say that it can last me around three days on a charge. I did enable features like the AOD and the raise-to-wake gesture, so they have an effect on the battery life. So, when it comes to longevity, you should expect a few days of battery life after breaking it in and running the battery a few cycles.
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When it comes to charging, I’m able to plug it in and get from 0% to 100% in less than an hour. It charges super fast.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Review: Final verdict
Wrapping this up, I think that picking up the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is a no-brainer. It’s a high-quality, feature-packed, health nut-grade fitness tracker that not only covers the basics, but goes beyond its intended purpose. I don’t think of this as less than a smartwatch, I think of it as more than a fitness tracker. It’s useful both on and off the track.
The design is stunning, the build is high-quality, the performance is smooth, the software is intuitive, the screen is nice, and the companion app is fantastic, and it’s all wrapped up in a sub-$60 package. Xiaomi knocked it out of the park with this device, and I highly recommend that you buy it!
We’re in the awkward stretch between Amazon’s October Prime Day event and next month’s Black Friday sales, so it’s admittedly a slow week for tech deals. Nevertheless, we’ve found a few steep discounts on premium OLED TVs from Samsung and LG, the entry-level Apple Pencil, our favorite cheap running earbuds, recommended power banks, Sony headphones and more. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still buy today.
Samsung S90C OLED TV (65″) for $1,300 at Best Buy ($300 off MSRP): The S90C’s QD-OLED panel mixes the typical advantages of an OLED TV — excellent contrast with deep black tones, clear motion, wide viewing angles and so on — with a layer of quantum dots. The latter helps it deliver a wider gamut of more vibrant colors and generally improved brightness compared to traditional OLED sets. This model is from 2023, but it receivedhighmarksacrossthe web, and the differences between it and the newer S90D aren’t massive. For reference, that updated set costs $300 more as of this writing. We may see further discounts as we get closer to Black Friday, of course, but for now this deal is only about $20 more than the lowest price we’ve tracked for the 65-inch model. It’s also available at Amazon, albeit from a third-party seller.
LG C3 OLED TV (65″) for $1,297 at Amazon ($203 off): The LG C3 is another well-regarded premium TV from last year. Its WOLED panel isn’t quite as bright or color-rich as a good QD-OLED set, but it offers top-notch contrast, motion response and viewing angles. Like the S90C, it has four HDMI 2.1 ports and can play in 4K at 120Hz, the maximum refresh rate supported by the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Unlike the S90C, it supports the popular Dolby Vision HDR format. Its webOS software is generally easier to navigate than Samsung’s Tizen platform, too. Outside of select in-store deals and a very brief dip to $1,245 earlier this year, this is the lowest price we’ve seen for the 65-inch variant. Again, there’s a newer model available, but most reviews suggest that it’s not a huge upgrade, and it costs $300 extra right now.
The Sony ULT Wear. (Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget)
Sony ULT Wear for $148 at Amazon ($52 off): While the ULT Wear aren’t a top pick in our guide to the best wireless headphones, they’re worth considering at this price if you prefer a (very) bass-heavy sound profile. Decent active noise cancellation, a refined design, above-average call quality and a solid 40-ish hours of battery life add to the appeal, though again, you really need to be a “basshead” to enjoy them. We gave the pair a score of 78 in our review. This deal marks an all-time low, and it’s also available at Walmart.
Apple Pencil (USB-C) for $65 at Walmart ($14 off): Here’s a new low for Apple’s entry-level iPad stylus. This model doesn’t support pressure sensitivity or wireless charging, so those who can afford to step up to one of Apple’s more expensive Pencils should do so. But if you just want a pen for casual doodling or note-taking — or if you own a 10th-gen iPad, which doesn’t support those better options — this one should do the job at a more palatable price.
JLab Go Air Sport for $14 at Amazon ($16 off): The Go Air Sport is the budget pick in our guide to the best running headphones. They aren’t the cleanest-sounding set of wireless earbuds around, but their hook-style design stays in place while you’re on the move, they have an IP55 water-resistance rating and, most importantly, they’re very affordable. This deal is among the lowest prices we’ve tracked; just clip the $6 on-page coupon, and note that it only applies to the teal colorway. Other colors are also on sale for $20, which is still a decent value.
The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max. (Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget)
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max + Xbox Core Wireless Controller (Sky Cipher) + 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $80 at Amazon ($67 off): If you happen to be in the market for a streaming stick and a new Xbox controller, Amazon is bundling its top-end Fire TV Stick with said gamepad at a discount. This is mainly a deal because it includes the “Sky Cipher” version of the Series X/S pad, which usually costs between $60 and $70 on its own. (If you don’t care about the color, you’ll likely be able to save more by getting the Max and a standard Xbox controller separately around Black Friday.) Amazon is selling this bundle to push the streamer’s ability to play Xbox games over the cloud, so it’s also throwing in a month of Game Pass Ultimate. The 4K Max still tends to promote Prime Video and other Amazon services above all else, but it’s fast, and it supports all the major apps. We’ve also found it to be a surprisingly decent retro gaming machine.
Resident Evil 4 (PS5) for $22 at Amazon ($8 off):In other video game deals, this is an all-time low for the physical PS5 copy of last year’s Resident Evil 4 remake. The Xbox version is available for the same price. Just note that you can save a couple bucks through PSN if you don’t mind buying digital.
Anker Prime Power Bank for $90 at Amazon ($40 off): The Anker Prime is the premium pick in our guide to the best power banks. It might be overkill for most, but its hefty 20,000mAh capacity and pair of 100W USB-C ports allow it to recharge multiple laptops, let alone smartphones and tablets, at full speed. There’s a 65W USB-A port on top of that, plus a handy display that keeps you updated on the battery’s status. We’ve seen this discount a few times before, but it matches an all-time low. The deal is also available at Anker.com with the code WS7DV2DWW6CW.
Samsung Bar Plus USB flash drive (128GB) for $13 at Amazon ($8 off): The Bar Plus is a basic but dependable thumb drive if all you need is a simple stick to hold and transfer files. We saw this discount during Amazon’s October Prime Day sale earlier in the month, but it comes within a dollar of the drive’s all-time low all the same. The 128GB model has usually sold between $15 and $20 over the past year.
Razer Basilisk V3 gaming mouse for $40 at Amazon ($30 off):We recommend the Basilisk V3 in our gaming mouse buying guide for those who don’t mind using a cable and prefer a more ergonomic, right-handed shape. This deal has been live for a couple of weeks but still matches the device’s all-time low. Note that Razer released an updated version with an improved sensor earlier this month — we’ll test that one soon, but the upgrades appear to be fairly minor in practice.
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ChatGPT’s Canvas feature allows users to edit the chatbot’s responses on the app rather than copying and pasting them to a separate document.
However, when Canvas launched in early October for its paid tiers, it didn’t let people see what changes GPT-4o made to its responses. OpenAI’s latest update to the feature corrects that.
The show changes button will show the most recent changes to either the generated text or code on Canvas. It will highlight added information in green and deleted sections in red.
Tracking changes has always been a good feature of any editing platform; Google Docs and Word documents offer a toggle for users to check what’s been changed. But OpenAI had been planning to roll out updates to Canvas slowly as ChatGPT subscribers get used to it.
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Canvas already offers familiar features like comments, where users can add suggestions or give more instructions for the AI model to follow when editing responses.
Canvas is still only available on the web version of ChatGPT for ChatGPT Plus, Teams, Enterprise and Edu users. Mac app users and anyone downloading the recently released Windows version of ChatGPT will have to wait until Canvas is rolled out to these standalone apps.
Currently, people can access Canvas on the regular ChatGPT window rather than in any custom GPTs.
A much requested feature
OpenAI’s developer X account acknowledged that developer customers have requested a track or show change feature since Canvas launched.
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But while many developers said this was a step in the right direction, Canvas still doesn’t immediately connect to code repositories like GitHub or let users visually see how the edited code works.
This is one area where ChatGPT competitor Claude from Anthropic and its Artifacts feature excels. Artifacts function much like Canvas; users can begin a prompt on the Claude chat interface.
When users launch Artifacts, a dedicated window opens where they can manipulate the model’s responses. Artifacts let users replicate websites using the code Claude just generated and edited, so developers can see not only which lines of code have changed but also whether it worked. Artifacts are now available to all Claude users, including those on mobile devices.
Canvas and Artifacts represent what could be the next phase in the evolution of AI chat platforms and assistants. The Interface War could see other platforms begin to explore how to keep users in the platform instead of opening other dedicated windows for different tasks.
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Along with giving New York Comic Con attendees a chance to see Lazarus’ first episode, Adult Swim revealed today that Koichi Yamadera and Megumi Hayashibara — the Japanese actors who voiced Cowboy Bebop’s Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine — are part of the show’s cast. Yamadera and Hayashibara are joined by Mamoru Miyano (Death Note), Maaya Uchida (Chainsaw Man), Yuma Uchida (Jujutsu Kaisen), Makoto Furukawa (Kaiju No. 8), Manaka Iwami (Phantom of the Idol), and Akio Otsuka (Spy x Family).
Adult Swim also posted a short clip from Lazarus introducing Axel Gilberto (Miyano) a young fugitive who’s knack for breaking out of prison and evading police makes him the perfect candidate to join team Lazarus. With the entire world plunged into panic about a popular wonder drug that’s about to start killing people, Axel and Lazarus’ other operatives are the only people who might be able to find a solution.
The clip does’t really clue you into just what Axel will bring to the team when Lazarus premieres some time in 2025, but it does show off how useful his parkour skills will be as he sets out to save the world.
Yes! You can finally buy 26TB hard disk drives, two years after launch, but only in packs of 20 for $9100, and you will probably need a data center to run them
Back in May 2022, Western Digital unveiled its 22TB CMR and 26TB UltraSMR hard disk drives, the latter of which achieved its high capacity through the use of large block encoding and an advanced error correction algorithm to increase track-per-inch (TPI) density.
The 26TB Ultrastar DC HC670 UltraSMR HDD is a 3.5-inch hard drive featuring a SATA or SAS interface with a transfer rate of up to 261MB/s. It operates at 7200 RPM using SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) technology and includes a 512MB cache for improved performance. Built with Western Digital’s EAMR, TSA, and HelioSeal technologies, it’s optimized for sequential write applications and is ideal for use in data centers.
We initially reported the 26TB drive was set to begin shipping to select customers in the summer, but by October 2022, it became clear why customers wouldn’t be able to buy the 26TB drive any time soon.
Packs of 20
When we spoke to Western Digital, the company explained these were host-managed drives that “require host software and stack modification with sequentialized data streams and error handling for random writes.” As a result, WD said it would only be offering them to strategic hyperscale and OEM customers. Fast forward to now, and the drive is finally available for anyone to buy – with some caveats.
Bottom Line Telecommunications is selling the 26TB 512 7200RPM SATA ULTRA 512E SE P3 DC HC (as it’s called on the site), but doesn’t have them in stock. Instead they will be ordered directly from the manufacturer as required, meaning there’s a 15-business-day wait between the site ordering the product and having it ready to ship. No returns or exchanges are offered either.
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You also have to order a pack of 20, which will set you back $9,142.68, with free ground shipping in the US. Even though you can now purchase the HC670 UltraSMR HDD, it remains a host-managed drive, and the same restrictions that kept it out of most people’s hands remain. Still, if you have access to a data center and $10,000 to spare, this high-capacity storage solution could be yours to deploy in a little over a fortnight.
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