Photo credit: SoraNews24
Pocket Tips looks like an ATM and works like a one-minute clothes press. SJOY, a Tokyo apparel startup founded in 2019, built the machine so travelers fold garments into a mold, set them inside, press a button, and take back a compact cube as small as one seventh the original bulk. A thin long-sleeve shirt can shrink to the size of a palm. Bulkier pieces and towels land closer to a hardcover dictionary. One cycle handles about eight items, and the fabric itself is pressed, so no vacuum bag and no extra plastic leave with you.

Haneda, Narita, Kumamoto, and Naha are four Japanese airports that have already gone through the testing process. They hosted Pocket Tips booths from late 2025 to January 2026, including a three-day free trial in Narita’s Terminal 2 and 3 departure halls from January 13 to 15. Japan Airport Terminal’s website, terminal.0 HANEDA, collaborated with SJOY and the other three airport corporations to address a common travel issue: baggage that wouldn’t close. Narita, for example, had 1,073 abandoned suitcases in 2024, a significant rise from 124 in 2020, as customers continued to buy larger luggage and leave the old ones behind.

The findings of those trials always revealed the same issue. Around 400 people provided comments across the four airports, with roughly 70% saying they had to give up on buying more souveniers simply because they didn’t have space in their luggage. When Haneda tested it in a run in 2024, more than 100 people were eager to use the service again, with 89 percent wanting to do it all over again. Queues formed only to utilize the machines. One Tokyo office worker used it to compress two jackets into a backpack, giving him enough room to buy for souvenirs before his trip.

Carry-on limits toughened on April 1st, 2026, making room in the cabin tighter and the boarding process more unpleasant. Airport staff noted a significant decline in visits to duty-free and snack outlets. If seven out of ten people are walking past the stores because their bag won’t close, a machine that allows them to gain those last few inches of room will be a tremendous hit, not just for travelers but also for the airport shops. On September 8, 2026, the joint development of Pocket Tips was officially announced, with the goal of having everything up and operating by 2027. The kiosk’s placement, duration, safety, pricing, language of the screen, and acceptance of card payments are all currently being debated.

In a recent interview, SJOY president Kawaguchi stated that when you wash or simply put the clothes out to air for around 15 minutes, they return to their normal size. So far, trials have concentrated on people leaving Japan, when they tend to go a little crazy and buy last-minute souvenirs and such. Next, the partners aim to install the same kiosk for incoming tourists, allowing them to get rid of heavy bags from the start and travel lighter. After that, the kiosks will make their way into hotels and clothing stores; if airports can build them strong enough for daily passenger traffic, it will only be a matter of time before everything can be pressed, folded, cubed, and packed in a way that allows people to make the best use of the space they have.
[Source]

iOS 27 is now rolling out to compatible iPhones, and with it brings plenty of new and improved features.

While iOS 27 can be downloaded onto the 2019 iPhone 11 and newer, devices that support Apple Intelligence will benefit from improved photo editing tools. These tools include Clean Up, Extend and Reframe, all of which are powered by AI.

If you’re fed up with taking photos and realising there are unwanted objects in shot, or you’ve found the framing is all wrong, then these tools promise to help make a difference. 

We explain where you can access the Apple Intelligence-powered photo editing tools and how to apply them to your shots here. For more on iOS 27, visit our guide on how to adjust Liquid Glass transparency and get notified when a website changes too.

Time for an upgrade? Our round-up of the best iPhones have you covered.

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Apple Intelligence Compatible iPhones

Although iOS 27 is supported by iPhone 11 and newer models, the photo editing features are only available on devices that support Apple Intelligence. These handsets are:

The upcoming iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will also support Apple Intelligence too.

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All of Apple’s photo editing tools are built directly into the Photos app. Simply open the app and find the picture you want to edit. From the image, tap the icon with three horizontal sliders at the bottom of the screen. Then, tap the Tools icon.

Clean Up

Clean Up removes unwanted objects, people and even animals from a photo – leaving an accurate background fill in its place.

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Once you’ve opened Tools on your image, tap Clean Up. From here, you can choose how powerful the Clean Up tool is: Auto, Fast or High Quality. Naturally, the High Quality option will typically generate better results than the Fast iteration.

When you’ve chosen your desired level of Clean Up, tap, brush or circle around the object that you want to remove. However, some items may be highlighted automatically for you to quickly remove them with just a tap.

If you’re using the High Quality processing, then you’ll be prompted to click on a yellow Clean Up button to start the removal process.

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Finally, tap the yellow tick in the top right corner. 

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Extend

Extend enables you to expand the edges of your photo. 

Find your image within the Photos app, then tap the Settings icon and select Tools. Tap Extend, and here you’ll be able to zoom out, reposition the subject and adjust the crop. When you’re happy, tap the yellow Extend icon.

Reframe

The Reframe tool is surprisingly clever, and allows you to change the point of capture even after you’ve taken the photo.

Open Reframe for your image, and you’ll be prompted to touch and drag to adjust the perspective. You can also use two fingers to pan, zoom and rotate the shot – though be warned, there may be limitations to how far you can push it.

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Tap Reframe, and then you’ll be able to see how the altered photo compares to the original. If you’re happy, tap the yellow tick in the top right corner.

Apple had a busy night at the Emmys. At the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, Apple TV scored a staggering 29 wins and, in the process, set a few records, riding atop the momentum of a ridiculous 89 nominations. But it was not only the hit TV shows and their stars hogging the limelight on the red carpet. Apple’s new CEO, John Ternus, was also working his charm at the star-studded event while getting plenty of celeb attention on Apple’s first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo.

A video of Ternus showing off the Duo to a hyped Deadline reporter went viral on social media from the Emmys red carpet, but it seems there was more A-list interest from Hollywood’s heavy-hitters, too. “We hear that stars were hitting him up for the phone privately in LA even before the awards at the Peacock Theater,” says a report from PageSix, noting that some of these famous personalities “brazenly hit him up” for the sleek foldable phone ahead of its wide release in October.

Bose’s original Ultra Open Earbuds were released more than two years ago and sparked the proliferation of a new style of open earbuds that resemble clip-on earrings. I’d been waiting for the Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) to arrive, and now they’re finally here, with improved sound, voice-calling performance and battery life, Bose says.

While the updated buds carry the same elevated $299 list price as their predecessor, the company has also unveiled its completely new Sport Open Earbuds that cost $199 and have a different design than the original Ultra Open Earbuds. Both new buds are available for preorder Sept. 19 and ship Oct. 1.

Read more: Best Clip-On Earbuds of 2026

Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) highlights

According to Bose, the Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) feature new drivers, allowing them to play louder and deliver deeper bass. Like Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen), as well as its QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) and QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen), they’re also equipped with the company’s TrueSpatial technology with head-tracking for Immersive Audio, which now includes a Cinema mode. They look very similar to the original, with a slightly upgraded version of the original’s “cuff-clip form factor” that a lot of other people found quite comfortable.

Bose

Available in black, white smoke and “limited-edition” cherry chocolate or olive green colors, they have an IPX4 rating (splash-resistant) and are rated for up to 9 hours of battery life (that’s up from 7 hours), though that number drops if you engage Immersive Audio.

Thanks to their secure fit and open design, the Ultra Open Earbuds worked well for running and biking, and the new version is also suitable for sporting activities, though Bose is billing the lighter Sport Open Earbuds as more durable and “purpose-built for active use,” with an even more secure fit.

Bose Sport Open Earbuds highlights

The Sport Open Earbuds look similar to Shokz OpenDots 2 earbuds, which also sell for $199. Bose says they “combine a secure cuff-style fit with soft silicone construction, IP54 sweat, splash and dust resistance, tactile controls and rich open audio, all while keeping listeners naturally aware of their surroundings.”

The Sport Open Earbuds don’t support Bose’s Immersive Audio feature and are rated for up to 7 hours of battery life. They’re available in three colors: black, white smoke and “limited-edition” eucalyptus green (that same color is available for Bose’s recently released QuietComfort (2nd Gen) headphones).

My quick take

I haven’t tried the new buds yet, but I’ll be receiving review samples in advance of their Oct. 1 ship date and will post full hands-on reviews of them.

A lot has changed in the clip-on earbuds market since Bose first released the Ultra Open Earbuds in February 2024, with dozens of new clip-on models available, many of them at far lower prices than $300. While I suspect the Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) will be among the best-sounding open earbuds and certainly a good premium option in the category, I also think we’ll see these buds on sale fairly frequently; $300 just seems too high to pay for a pair of clip-on earbuds. (Apple’s new AirPods 5 don’t fit as securely as either of these open buds, but they do feature active noise canceling and start at $129.)

As for the Sport Open Earbuds, I’ll see how they compare to the Shokz OpenDots 2, Anker Aero Clip 2 and Baseus’ XC1 clip-on earbuds ($100), which feature Sound by Bose. Like the Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen), I also expect the Sport Open Buds to see regular discounts to compete with all the new premium sport clip-on buds hitting the market, many of which feature improved sound and voice-calling performance.

David Carnoy

Executive Editor / Reviews

Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET’s Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He’s also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Kobo e-books and audiobooks.

See full bio

Mozilla has partnered with Mistral AI to bring the French company’s models to Smart Window, the AI browsing assistant in beta in Firefox.

The two companies announced the deal on Wednesday in a joint post, alongside the feature’s launch in France.

Smart Window, introduced by Mozilla in August, is a separate AI-assisted browsing mode. It summarises complex searches with sources, helps users find pages they clicked away from, and draws on the tabs they have open.

The two companies describe the arrangement slightly differently. Mistral’s post says Smart Window “is now powered by Mistral models”, while Mozilla’s own announcement says it is adding Mistral Small 4 as one option, and that users can still pick from a range of other models.

Smart Window was already available in English in the US and Canada, and France is its first new market, with official French-language support. Mistral said the UK and Germany are expected to follow later this year.

Mozilla said it chose Mistral Small 4 partly for its multilingual performance, and Mistral said it is fine-tuning models on regional languages and dialects.

Privacy is central to the pitch. Smart Window conversations are not saved on Mozilla’s servers by default, and model partners including Mistral agree to zero data retention, according to the announcement.

Mozilla chief executive Anthony Enzor-DeMeo cast the deal as a stand against AI gatekeepers.

“AI is becoming part of how people experience the web every day. We want to make sure that doesn’t mean people are chained to one company’s self-serving pipeline,” he said. “A browser shouldn’t be a one-way funnel.”

Arthur Mensch, Mistral’s co-founder and chief executive, called it a partnership between “two open source advocates” that brings “privacy, control and choice to AI-powered web browsing.”

For Mistral, which mostly sells to businesses and governments, the deal is a route to consumers, and it comes days after the company raised €3bn at a €21bn valuation. Mistral said the partnership lets it reach beyond enterprise customers to users worldwide.

For Mozilla, it is part of a careful push into AI. Firefox users objected to earlier AI plans, and in February the company added a single setting that blocks all of the browser’s generative AI features. Smart Window stays optional, and users can control which tabs and history it can see.

Brevo confirmed that attackers stole a Cloudflare API key and used it to inject malicious ClickFix scripts into its websites and JavaScript files embedded on customer sites to distribute malware.

The customer relationship management and digital marketing company says the attackers used the API key to create a malicious Cloudflare Worker that modified content at the CDN edge for approximately five and a half hours on September 14.

The attack affected pages on brevo.com, sendinblue.com, login/account/my/onboarding.brevo.com, and sibforms.com. The Cloudflare worker also modified the Brevo forms script, Brevo Conversations widget, and the Brevo SDK loader scripts that customers embed on their websites.

In a post-mortem published today, Brevo explained that attackers obtained a long-lived Cloudflare API key with full account permissions that had been hardcoded in application source code, which allowed them to create Cloudflare Workers, routes, and DNS records across Brevo’s zones without triggering an alert.

“Because the Worker rewrote responses at the edge and removed security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, our origin servers and files remained unmodified and standard integrity checks did not detect the change,” explained Brevo.

The company says the key may have been compromised as early as late August, but there’s no evidence of prior malicious activity.

Upon detecting the compromise, Brevo removed the Worker and its routes, defining the exposure window as between 16:07 and 20:30 UTC.

In the hours that followed, the company revoked the compromised key and credentials created with it, removed the hardcoded credential from its source code, deleted attacker-controlled hostnames, and purged its edge caches.

Brevo says app.brevo.com, its API, email delivery infrastructure, and customer account data were not affected.

Used in ClickFix attacks

The incident was first reported by security firm Sansec, which reported that it may have impacted up to 100,000 websites that use the affected Brevo components.

Sansec says the incident began on September 14, 2026, between 16:05 and 20:13 UTC, but has now confirmed that all malicious subdomains stopped resolving on September 15, and Brevo files are now clean.

Visitors to these websites were shown a fake Cloudflare verification page, followed by ClickFix instructions urging them to run a command on Windows.

On WordPress websites embedding an affected Brevo widget, the script also checked whether the visitor was logged in as an administrator and attempted to upload a malicious plugin from https://cdn10.sendibt1[.]com/p/wm.zip.

While SanSec was not able to retrieve the archive, BleepingComputer found it uploaded to VirusTotal and can confirm it pretends to be a WordPress plugin named “Web Media Optimizer” but acts as a persistent backdoor and JavaScript loader.

Other domains BleepingComputer saw distributing the malicious WordPress plugin and scripts include https://yelahaye[.]surf and https://boiseno[.]club.

Once installed, it hides itself from the WordPress plugin list, copies itself into the must-use plugins directory for persistence, and periodically contacts the attacker-controlled ‘https://glegchner.com/ads.php’ server.

That URL is currently returning a Base64-encoded URL pointing to JavaScript that the plugin then injects into visitors’ pages. The current Base64-encoded URL decodes to https://corralos[.]beer/a412dkoq.js, which the site injects to fetch a ClickFix lure to display.

The plugin also stores a backup copy of the last valid JavaScript URL so it can continue loading malicious code if the remote server becomes unavailable.

Finally, the plugin contains a hardcoded authentication key that allows attackers to generate a valid login session for a WordPress administrator account without knowing the account password. 

On September 10, Brevo disclosed a different SSO-related incident where attackers hijacked customer accounts and launched phishing attacks targeting customers of companies using Brevo.

One high-profile victim was cryptocurrency wallet vendor Trezor, which reported on September 11 that phishing attacks reached 347,000 user email addresses and successfully compromised at least 2,500.

Brevo did not respond to BleepingComputer’s questions as to whether the SSO incident and the Cloudflare compromise were connected.

WordPress administrators who visited an affected site while logged in on September 14 should check for unusual plugins installed or activated that day and remove them. If found, they should also rotate administrator passwords.

Join Mikko Hyppönen and security leaders from the NFL, CHANEL, and Atlassian for a two-hour digital summit on what AI-speed attacks change, what defenders should stop doing, and how to validate, decide, fix, and re-validate at machine speed.

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Photo credit: MKBHD
Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro keeps last year’s aluminum frame, 8.75 mm thickness, and camera plateau almost unchanged, so first glance will fool most people into thinking nothing moved. Engineers did color-match the rear glass to the frame, killing the two-tone look that marked the 17 Pro. Burgundy shifts between deep red and purple with the light and has become the color most reviewers mention first. Glacier is a quieter light blue, Silver finally looks clean, and Black is the darkest Pro finish Apple has offered.

The weight of the phones has increased slightly. The 6.3-inch model now weighs 211 grams, while the 6.9-inch Pro Max weighs 249 grams, which is roughly the limit of how much you’d want to carry around every day. Some people believe the smaller one is still treatable, however the larger one is a borderline situation. However, the phone’s footprint has not changed, so if you already have a case, you can continue to use it without issue. The front of the phone is now covered with Ceramic Shield 2, the IP68 rating remains, and the sides are still aluminum, albeit they appear to pick up nicks more quickly than the old titanium frames did.

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Since Apple relocated the Face ID camera beneath the screen, Dynamic Island has reduced by almost a quarter. That means the pill can now store three Live activities at once, rather than just two, and you can notice the extra space when you’re viewing movies or playing video games. The display sizes remain same at 6.3 and 6.9 inches, as do the 120 Hz ProMotion panel, Always-On mode, and 3,000-nit outdoor peak brightness.

The 48-megapixel primary camera now has six laser-cut polymer blades within that are thinner than a human hair. These blades can open to f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8, and f/4.0. When they’re wide open at f/1.48, they can gather around half a stop more light than the 17 Pro’s fixed f/1.78, resulting in approximately 50% more light on the same sized 1/1.28-inch sensor. When you snap a shot in nite mode, the exposures are shorter, the ISO is lower, and blurring from holding the phone is less prevalent. As the blades are stopped down to f/4, a group or a close subject can stay sharp from front to back without having to rely on software blur, and if the blades close in, starbursts appear around streetlights as well as string lights. Most of the time, the auto mode keeps the blades at f/1.8 or switches to f/1.48 when it gets dark.

According to one reviewer, the sharpness peaks at f/2.8 and remains fine at f/1.8 before becoming somewhat weaker at either end, most likely due to edge fall-off or diffraction. What’s remarkable is that at f/1.48, you get true optical bokeh on close subjects, despite the fact that Portrait mode still overlays its own depth map and looks very identical to last year’s model. Low-light crops from both the center and the edges appeared to outperform the 17 Pro in side-by-side tests, and video benefits as well, with nearly four stops of range, smoother motion if you slow down the shutter, and a slew of post-capture effects that you can apply later. Autofocus is also fairly dependable, keeping the subject in focus even when it moves out of frame.

Pro Controls have now been included into the default camera app. With a single swipe, you can adjust the aperture, shutter speed (from 1/6000 to one second), white balance, and even a live histogram, and third-party apps such as Halide can also access the same iris. Photographic Styles 3 has added a few texture sliders, giving you greater control over things like Soft Skin, Glow, and Film grain. Reviewers found this was pleasant and tasteful, rather than going overboard. The 48-megapixel ultrawide and 4x/8x telephoto cameras retain their fixed apertures, while the front-facing camera remains the 18-megapixel Center Stage module.

A20 Pro is the world’s first two-nanometer chip to appear in a smartphone. Memory is given its own real estate right next to the Silicon rather than being piled on top, a tactic adopted from the M-series Macs, and there’s a vapor chamber with more than triple the surface area of last year’s version, which does an excellent job of keeping things cool. The CPU scores are 22 to 27 percent higher than the A19 Pro in terms of speed, the GPU is 40 percent higher, and the dual 16 core Neural Engine is doubling down on AI processing capacity. More amazingly, testers reported virtually no throttling during marathon video or gaming sessions, and the phone remained cool, in a positive way, even after hours of use. MKBHD referred to the chip as the unsung hero of what was essentially an S-year update.

The battery life stats were what drew everyone’s attention because they exceeded the usual yearly rise. Apple claims 36 hours of video playback on the regular Pro model and 45 on the Pro Max, and independent web-browsing tests came close with 16 hours and 17 minutes on the smaller phone and slightly less than 18 hours and 27 minutes on the Pro Max, both of which are about an hour longer than their 17-series counterparts. In the real world, a typical day of mixed usage will provide you with one full day of hands-on time from the Pro and one and a half day for the Pro Max. Then there’s wired charging, which provides a 50% boost in just 15 minutes if you have a charger with a 40 watt rating or greater.

KRAFTON India has rolled out the BGMI 4.6 update with several new experiences for players. The latest season brings the new Midnight Hunters theme mode, the return of Ocean Odyssey, and the India-first character Kiaraa. It also adds a One Punch Man collaboration, festive content, creator-focused features, and new WOW experiences. Here’s a look at the major additions coming to BGMI 4.6 and their release dates.

Midnight Hunters Brings a Vampire Twist to BGMI

BGMI 4.6 introduces Midnight Hunters as its main themed gameplay experience. The mode will remain available on Erangel from September 16 to November 16. Four locations, including Rozhok, Mylta, Quarry, and Gatka, become Vampire Takeover points. Stalber and Sosnovka Military Base now house the Nightkeeper’s Hunter Guild. The indoor arena hides secrets and offers new combat challenges. Squads can take on Guild Missions to complete special objectives and earn better rewards. Players can also explore the Hunter Shooting Range, Clock Tower, and Scream Crates. Bloodwalkers, Nightbats, the Vampire Elder, and the Nightkeeper add new threats.

The mode also changes what happens after a player gets eliminated. Bloodline Awakening allows eliminated players to return as Vampires. The game can have up to 20 active Vampires at once. These Vampires can use Claw Strike, Absorb, Blood Sense, and Blood Amberfication. Midnight Hunters also introduces several themed items. The Silvermoon Chain helps with combat, movement, and defense. Twilight Bat Wings support flight and enemy detection. Scarlet Tonic speeds up recovery, while Blood Pact connects teammates through persistent links.

Ocean Odyssey Returns, While Kiaraa Brings an India-First Experience

Ocean Odyssey is returning to Erangel on September 30 after continued requests from the BGMI community. The experience brings back the Ocean Palace, Trident, and Kraken. Players can once again explore the underwater world and enjoy its unique gameplay. While Midnight Hunters focuses on vampires, Ocean Odyssey takes players back beneath Erangel’s waters.

BGMI 4.6 also introduces Kiaraa, a new original character developed by KRAFTON India’s in-house art team for Indian players. Kiaraa follows Anamika, BGMI’s first original character IP created in India. She arrives in the game on October 8 with a new Diwali-themed Indian Bazaar on Erangel. Players can activate four peacock-shaped lamps to awaken Kiaraa and enter her Boss Battle. The season also includes Kiaraa Arena challenges, the Kiaraa Exchange Center, and daily login rewards. The Kiaraa Nakshatra Collection includes:

• Divine Peacock Glider
• Divine Radiance SCAR-L
• Divine Chariot Buggy
• Arrow Rain Emote
• Divine Edge Machete

One Punch Man, Techno Gamerz, and More Arrive in BGMI 4.6

The new BGMI season is also bringing several collaborations to the game. One Punch Man arrives on September 21 through a Spin and Mini Royale Pass. Players can collect character skins, themed sets, and other collaboration items. The Lincoln Motor Cruize runs from September 16 to November 9. It adds the Lincoln Model L and Lincoln Navigator Black Label, with multiple color options. Meanwhile, the B.DUCK collaboration introduces battles on floating platforms. Players can turn into B.DUCK and compete in turn-based collision matches. The goal is to knock opponents into the water as the play area shrinks.

Creator content also gets a major addition with the Techno Gamerz collaboration. It goes live on October 20 with a Techno Gamerz Voice experience, Sunken Templar collection, and themed weapons. BGMI will also mark Diwali with its first India-specific Prize Path. It runs from October 22 to November 15 across 20 levels. Rewards include the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650, Royal Enfield Bullet 350, Revel 01 Set, and Diwali Gold Set. The season also includes Navratri and Diwali-themed experiences.

WOW gets a Halloween update for Steal Brainrot, along with Ghost Ship Event Mode and the Brainrot Wand. Its Mobile Editor also receives new tools for creation, gameplay, performance, and customization. WOW has crossed 50,000 created maps, with more than 35,000 live maps. Over 23 million players have tried WOW, and nearly one million play it daily. Platinum Soulmeister, Sanguine Sonata, and Umbral Scorpius will arrive on September 25, October 25, and November 1, respectively.

Amazon still sells an 8-inch tablet you can toss in a backpack or a carry-on and not treat like jewelry. Fire HD 8 in its 12th-generation line, priced at $84.99 (was $130), updated again in 2024, keeps the same 7.94 by 5.40 by 0.37-inch polycarbonate body and 11.88-ounce weight that made earlier versions easy to forget until you needed a screen. Black, Emerald, and Hibiscus covers have a light texture that hides smudges. USB-C sits on the edge next to a 3.5mm headphone jack that most newer tablets have already abandoned, plus a microSD slot that accepts cards up to 1TB, while dual speakers fire from the bottom in landscape.

An IPS LCD with a resolution of 1280 by 800 provides eight inches of screen real estate and a reasonable 189 pixels per inch. It’s ideal for indoor viewing of movies, comics, and Kindle pages from a tray table. Still, the moderate resolution helps the battery survive a little longer. Amazon claims up to 13 hours of mixed use, but lab testing indicate it’s more like 10 hours of video or 9.5 hours of streaming; either way, that’s a full travel day and then some. The included charger is a wimpy 5W USB-C brick that takes approximately 5 hours to fully charge. Fortunately, a 15W charger, which you probably already own, reduces that time to roughly 2.5 hours.

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The processor, MediaTek’s MT8169A hexa-core microprocessor with a top speed of 2.0GHz, remains unchanged from last year, but the quantity of RAM has altered. The base 32GB devices now have 3GB of RAM, up from 2GB, while the 64GB variant has 4GB. As long as you’re not attempting to do too much, like as playing a hefty 3D game or running many apps at the same time, the gadget runs fairly smoothly. After the OS has taken its chunk, you’ll have around 25GB of storage on the 32GB device and 54GB on the 64GB model. Which is why the extra $30 for the 64GB model appears to be a very decent deal if you intend to save a lot of movies on it.

The software layer is still Fire OS 8, which is built on Android 11. Amazon promises to provide at least four years of upgrades after launch, which is reassuring. As expected, Prime Video, Kindle, and Audible all function normally, and the hands-free Alexa remains as useful as ever. The appstore is, as usual, Amazon’s, and if you want to access the Google Play store, you must sideload it (instruction above). The cameras may as well be honest: a 5 megapixel rear shooter that can only produce 1080p video and a 2 megapixel front camera that is just good enough for a quick video call. Parental controls and a child profile are offered as usual, however.