Garmin announced a new smart band today designed to track “advanced fitness and wellness features” without a screen to eliminate distractions and push its battery life to up to 10 days between charges. Similar to competing products like the Whoop 5.0 and Google’s recently announced Fitbit Air, the Cirqa uses a combination of heart rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature, and motion sensors to monitor your health and activities around the clock, but without any subscription fees.

The Garmin Cirqa is available now through the company’s online store for $199.99 and comes with an adjustable fabric strap in several different colors that can be worn on the wrist or as an armband. Google’s Fitbit Air is $99 with an optional $99/year annual Google Health Premium subscription that unlocks advanced features, while Whoop’s latest hardware is only available with subscriptions that start at $199/year.

The smart band can track more than 80 different activities such as running or yoga that are selectable through the accompanying Garmin Connect app or using its single side button as a shortcut to your favorite. Through the app, you can monitor your training progress including the effectiveness of a workout and whether your body is ready for your next training session or would benefit more from a rest day.

When worn day and night, the Circa can keep tabs on health metrics including your heart rate and blood oxygen saturation that can help detect conditions such as asthma and sleep apnea. In the morning it can provide a detailed breakdown of your sleep stages, breathing, and heart rate that contribute to an overall sleep score so you can compare the quality of your rest to previous nights. Women can also use the Cirqa’s skin temperature monitoring to track their menstrual cycles for “better period predictions and past ovulation estimates.”

Ninja has added everything from ice cream makers to double-decker toaster ovens to its extensive lineup of counter-clogging appliances, but it’s only now introducing its first microwave. What makes the new Ninja Crispi Microwave stand out among its many competitors is that it doubles as an air fryer. After heating your food using microwaves, you have the option to switch over to using superheated air so the results are crispy instead of soggy, while also potentially replacing two kitchen appliances with just one multitasker. It’s available starting today through SharkNinja’s online store for $449.

It comes with a bunch of standard microwave presets including popcorn, defrost, frozen dinner, and even a setting for softening butter. Instead of a turntable, the 1,000-watt Crispi Microwave has a flatbed design inside that Ninja claims offers 40 percent more usable cooking surface than a traditional microwave. You can squeeze two bags of popcorn in there, and its design is supposedly easier to clean.

Once food is sufficiently heated, the microwave switches over to air fryer mode, which has its own assortment of presets including air bake, max crisp, and air broil. To ensure the air that’s heated to up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit circulates all the way around your food for an even crispy finish, the air fryer mode relies on a 5.5-quart glass container with an insert allowing for air circulation beneath your food. That container has enough capacity for an 8-pound chicken Ninja claims, and it comes with two lids: one for storage and one with a vent for steaming vegetables.

Skullcandy announced a new version of its Crusher wireless headphones today featuring a few of Bose’s audio technologies including its QuietControl ANC and head-tracking spatial audio. The Crusher headphone line differentiates itself from the competition through the use of both full-range and dedicated bass drivers in each ear cup to boost deeper frequencies. Skullcandy admits that approach can result in a loss of audio quality when the bass is heavily boosted, but its new Crusher 1080 ANC are meant to address and improve that with Bose’s help.

Available starting today for $279.99 in black, candy, primer, and cement color options, the new Crusher 1080 ANC feature redesigned drivers with a stiffer diaphragm material resulting in enhanced clarity and detail with less distortion at higher volume. As with previous models in the Crusher line, the bass boosting is entirely adjustable using Skullcandy’s mobile app or the on-headphone controls that now include a more prominent dial on the outside.

The Crusher 1080 ANC will be the first non-Bose headphones to feature that company’s TrueSpatial audio technology with head tracking that works whether you’re stationary or out for a run and its WaveForm audio engine that “keeps audio full, balanced, and smooth.” Skullcandy’s latest will also offer industry-leading noise cancellation with Bose’s six microphone QuietControl ANC tech that adapts as sounds around you get louder or quieter. The Crusher 1080ANC even features Bose’s SpeechClarity that reduces noise so your voice comes through clearly during a call, but they’re not the first third-party headphones to offer it.

Battery life is estimated to be up to 60 hours with ANC turned off, or 50 hours with it on, while a 10-minute rapid charge will keep the Crusher 1080 ANC going for up to four hours if they die. There’s multipoint pairing for connecting and switching between multiple devices, auto reconnect and wear detection that pauses music when you take the headphones off, and a design that folds flat for easier storage. The Crusher 1080 ANC supports Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio, low latency audio, and Auracast.

Both 8BitDo and GameSir announced tiny gamepads designed to turn smartphones into Game Boy-inspired handhelds at CES 2026. GameSir released its Pocket Taco months ago, but the longer wait for 8BitDo’s FlipPad has been well worth it. While the Pocket Taco may be a better fit for some players and devices, the FlipPad is a thinner, lighter, cheaper, and smaller alternative that’s easier to keep on hand for occasional gaming on your phone without having to rely on an emulator’s touchscreen controls.

The FlipPad is one of 8BitDo’s smallest gamepads to date, but instead of using Bluetooth, it directly connects to and communicates with your smartphone using its USB-C charging port. That approach eliminates the need for a rechargeable battery, making the FlipPad thin enough to leave attached to your phone when slipped into your pocket.

The underside of the FlipPad is covered in a thin rubbery layer to prevent scratches where it makes contact with your phone’s screen and to add some grip and stability. However, because the gamepad is only secured to your phone using its USB-C connector, it does tend to wiggle back and forth by about a quarter of an inch while you’re playing.

The gamepad’s USB-C connector isn’t adjustable or extendable, and while I had no problem connecting it to OnePlus and Google Pixel phones protected by thin silicone cases, it was a no-go for my iPhone 16 Pro while it was inside one of Nomad’s thicker folio-style cases.

I like not having to charge the FlipPad or dig into Bluetooth settings to re-pair it when moving the gamepad between multiple phones, and its USB-C connector is hinged so when connected to your device the controls can be flipped out of the way, giving you complete access to your smartphone’s touchscreen. You don’t need to disconnect the FlipPad to unlock your device or jump between apps.

8BitDo has long been known for its excellent hardware, and the FlipPad looks and feels as premium as its most expensive console controllers, with button labels etched onto most of the buttons themselves. However, while 8BitDo confirmed that the FlipPad’s D-pad and ABXY buttons use silicone membranes, they’re stiffer and have more of a clicky feel than you’ll get with the company’s other controllers.

The buttons still feel very responsive but have much less travel. It’s not necessarily bad, just different. What could prove more divisive to gamers is the FlipPad’s two pairs of shoulder buttons that aren’t located on its top edge. You’ll instead find them lined up along the top of the front of the gamepad as a single row of four round buttons. It feels like a workaround to help keep the gamepad thin, but not a good one. Using your index fingers to press the FlipPad’s shoulder buttons while your thumbs handle the rest feels awkward and unnatural.

You’ll also want to be mindful of the controller’s limitations. You can only use it with games you play vertically and that won’t be blocked while the controls cover nearly half of your phone’s screen. I tested 8BitDo’s FlipPad with Game Boy, GBA, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis games using the Delta and RetroArch emulators on my iPhone. Delta centers games vertically when you’re using a controller and they get partially obscured by the FlipPad, but it’s easily fixed by turning on touch controls and using a skin that positions the game closer to the top of the screen.

Preorders for the FlipPad are now available through 8BitDo’s online store and Amazon, and the gamepad is expected to release on July 30th. It’s available for $29.99 in black or a version inspired by the original Game Boy’s colors.

With a price that’s slightly cheaper than the $34.99 Pocket Taco, the FlipPad may seem like the obvious better option, but there are a few things the Pocket Taco does better. While I prefer the FlipPad’s slim design, I’m also more of a casual gamer who doesn’t chase high scores and sticks to classic Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles. Others may prefer the larger D-pad and buttons on the Pocket Taco, which have more of a soft and squishy feel, or its shoulder buttons, which are positioned on the back of your phone where your index fingers can more comfortably reach them.

8BitDo FlipPad

Where to Buy:

• $29.99 at 8BitDo (G Classic)
• $29.99 at 8BitDo (Black)

The Pocket Taco’s design makes it larger and heavier than the FlipPad, but its clamping mechanism feels more secure when attached to your phone, and it opens wide enough to accommodate devices inside a thick case. The Pocket Taco’s rechargeable battery also means it won’t drain your phone’s battery while you play, and it can function as a standalone wireless controller for a myriad of devices, including the Switch. As much as I like the FlipPad, for an extra $5 the Pocket Taco still makes a strong case for itself.

Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge