Gadgets Archive

These are the sleekest MSI laptops I’ve ever seen

Antonio G. Di BenedettoJan 5

Dell is eating humble pie and bringing back the XPS brand

Antonio G. Di BenedettoJan 5

XPS is back, but Dell Pros are still here to stay.

Dell reversed course on its confusing naming scheme from 2025, but some of it’s intact — with new tweaks. The returning XPS laptops are still joined by entry-level vanilla “Dell” models. Enterprise-focused Dell Pro laptops are now topped by Dell Pro Precision models instead of the Apple-y sounding Pro Max.

Perfect? No. Better? Much.

A graphic showing the tiers of Dell consumer and commercial laptops for 2026.

Dell’s revised laptop tiers for 2026.

Image: Dell

Lego’s Smart Bricks aren’t just an experiment — and they aren’t just for kids

Julia Goldin and Tom Donaldson explain what the sensor-packed Smart Play initiative means for Lego.

Sean HollisterJan 5

Richard LawlerJan 5

The Cyber Fidget has an OLED display to go with its clicky buttons.

When the Kickstarter launches, it will cost $179 for the machined aluminum version, but if that’s too much, its makers say you’ll be able to get it cheaper with a 3D-printed shell or as just the board.

But until then, you can check out Sean Hollister toying with the Cyber Fidget at CES 2026.

This smart mirror was a menace at CES 2026

Victoria SongJan 5

Lego announces Smart Brick, the ‘most significant evolution’ in 50 years

Starting with Lego Star Wars.

Sean HollisterJan 5

At $50 off, the Shokz OpenRun Pro help you stick to your New Year’s goals

Sheena VasaniJan 5

Stevie BonifieldJan 5

Hisense’s CES 2026 keynote is kicking off soon.

Hisense will be livestreaming its press conference from Las Vegas today at 10AM Pacific/1PM Eastern. You can watch along (and keep an eye on the countdown) from their website.

Image: Hisense

HP’s latest OmniBooks are getting chip bumps and OLED screens

Jess WeatherbedJan 5

HP’s Chromebooks get a minor spec bump.

The upcoming 14-inch HP Chromebook Plus and Chromebook Plus x360 announced at CES have been updated with Intel Core 3 N355 processors and offer up to 512GB of M.2 SSD storage, with the previous 16:9 aspect ratio displays switching to 16:10.

The HP Chromebook 14 Plus (left) and 14 Plus x360 (right).

Aside from the new 16:10 aspect ratio, the most noticeable change on both the Chromebook 14 Plus (left) and 14 Plus x360 (right) is the lack of speaker grills on either side of the keyboard.

Image: HP