Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

Senior Reviewer, Smart Home

Jennifer Pattison TuohyAug 13

Ninja’s new water filter is speedier than a Brita.

But also pricier. The HydraSense is a new countertop water filter that dispenses water with a button press, filling your cup or bottle in seconds.

The $199 gadget launches today, and is more elegant than a big water jug in your fridge, while costing less than cold/hot filtration devices. I just got one to test, and think it’s useful if you don’t have a built-in fridge filtration system and find waiting on your Brita a pain. Here’s a first look.

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<em>The HydraSense is a sleek-looking device that plugs into an outlet to power a touchscreen control panel and filtration system.</em>

<em>It comes with one <a href="https://www.sharkninja.com/ninja-hydrasense-filter-replacement-1-pack/XSKWATFILSUS.html?dwvar_XSKWATFILSUS_size=1">$40 filter</a> rated for 6 months/120 gallons. Ninja claims it removes “up to 99% and 80+ contaminants including microplastics, PFAS, carcinogens, pharmaceuticals.“ You can buy a <a href="https://www.sharkninja.com/ninja-hydrasense-filter-replacement-2-pack/XSKWATFIL2PK.html?dwvar_XSKWATFIL2PK_size=2">two-pack for $70.</a></em>

<em>There’s no built-in cooling; to get cold water, Ninja says you can store the 96oz tank in the fridge or fill it with ice and hit a recirculate button to cool the water quickly. Its side handle isn’t that easy to grab, though; a handle on top would be more intuitive.</em>

<em>To dispense water, you touch and hold the droplet button, and the water shoots out very quickly. The button had a tiny lag, which took a bit of getting used to</em>.

<em>There’s also the option of preset amounts, useful for recipes or filling water bottles hands-free (just make sure you know the exact size of your water bottle!).</em>

<em>You can set custom dispense amounts, which could be helpful for baby bottles and coffee makers. There’s also a slow pour mode for things like ice trays</em>.

<em>The device tracks filter life and promises to measure your water intake after 4 weeks.</em>

<em>The HydraSense comes in pink, blue, black, and white and is available now for $199.99.</em>

1/8

The HydraSense is a sleek-looking device that plugs into an outlet to power a touchscreen control panel and filtration system.

Photos by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Jennifer Pattison TuohyAug 10

“Hey Sonos, open the shades.”

Your Sonos speakers can now control your Lutron Caséta lights, plugs, and shades alongside your music with Sonos Voice Control. This is the second lighting integration for the speaker’s built-in assistant, which added the ability to control your Hue lights last year.

Sonos Voice Control can now control your Lutron Caséta devices alongside your music.

Image: Lutron

Jennifer Pattison TuohyAug 6

Today’s Vergecast: The next big thing in movies is 60-year-old IMAX tech.

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is the first feature film ever shot entirely with IMAX 70mm film cameras, which is apparently a very big deal, and why it’s been harder than usual to get a ticket to see Matt Damon on the biggest screen. Now that Spider-Man is moving onto IMAX screens, it may be even harder.

So, why is this 60-year-old tech suddenly the hottest thing in movies? The Verge’s Charles Pulliam-Moore joins The Vergecast to compare the standard and IMAX versions of The Odyssey and talk us through the difference between IMAX, LieMAX, and Infinity Vision.

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Jennifer Pattison TuohyAug 4

GE Appliances doubles down on US-made chips.

The Chinese-owned appliance manufacturer announced it will use US-manufactured Texas Instruments semiconductors in its new laundry machines made at its Louisville, Kentucky, headquarters. Along with its Wi-Fi and BLE connectivity solutions, GE Appliances says it’s exploring using TI’s intelligent microcontroller platform to bring advanced AI to its washers and dryers.

Image: GE Appliances

The ban on robot vacuums won’t make them safer, only worse

You’ll have fewer robot floor cleaners to choose from and higher prices.

Jennifer Pattison TuohyJul 31

Jennifer Pattison TuohyJul 21

Philips Hue’s latest camera might be for your TV.

According to Hueblog.com, the smart lighting company is readying a new solution for its popular entertainment sync feature. “Screen Sync” is a TV-mounted camera that matches Hue lights to on-screen content. Unlike Hue’s HDMI Sync box and TV Sync apps, a camera-based system — popularized by rivals Govee and Nanoleaf — should be able to sync with any content on the screen.

Philips Hue may soon launch a camera-based solution for its entertainment sync system.

Image: HueBlog.com

Surprise! Facial recognition smart locks are actually good

I tested four locks that unlock with a look, and while hands-free with UWB is better, if you want a sci-fi experience for your front door, facial recognition is worth considering.

Jennifer Pattison TuohyJul 18

Jennifer Pattison TuohyJul 10

Apple Intelligence in Apple Home will require the $10-a-month iCloud Plus plan.

As spotted by MacRumors, to get the new AI-powered camera features — text descriptions, searchable camera clips, and noteworthy clips — you’ll need Apple’s 2TB plan or higher.

HomeKit Secure Video has always required the base iCloud plan for recording, but now you may need to upgrade to get these smarter alerts. I’ve been testing them in the beta, and they’re a big improvement.