I don't know if you can believe it, but we're fast approaching the end of January. And I want to kick off the first review recap of 2025 by acknowledging how busy it's already been. CES 2025, which to me seemed to go on for a year, now feels like it happened months ago. We've witnessed TikTok disappear and return, a new president get sworn in and Samsung launch new phones. Even with all that's been happening, our reviewers have been hard at work, with Devindra testing the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 and Billy on a number of headphones and grills. So much for easing into 2025.
Before I give you the full recap, I also wanted to shout out some reviews we published in the later half of December, as well as others we recently updated. This article typically goes out every two weeks, but with the holidays, CES and Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked, we had to skip a few editions. In that time, I didn't get the chance to tell you all about our re-reviews of gaming consoles that were launched years ago, like the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5. We wanted to revisit our evaluations of these systems and their respective game libraries, to see how well they stack up today.
The team also published and updated reviews of colorful Kindles, an Intel processor, a Samsung Chromebook and more. Here's a quick list, but you can always go to our Reviews page to scroll on your own time, if you prefer:
Kindle Colorsoft review: The missing link in Amazon’s ereader lineup by Valentina Palladino
Kindle Scribe 2 review in progress: Is slightly useful AI worth the extra cash? by Cherlynn Low
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus review: Quirky in ways both good and bad by Nathan Ingraham
Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 review: An impressive headphone debut by Billy Steele
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: Great movie, good game by Jessica Conditt
Bose Smart Soundbar review: Using earbuds as surround sound speakers by Billy Steele
Formovie Cinema Edge review: A midrange UST projector that lags behind its rivals by Steve Dent
Intel Arc B580 review: The new king of $250 GPUs (for now) by Devindra Hardawar
Echo: The Oracle’s Scroll is a must-play combatless metroidvania for Playdate by Cheyenne MacDonald
CRKD's Nitro Deck+ keeps its best features and adds typical stick layout by Mat Smith
ICYMI: The 12 best gadgets we reviewed in 2024
In case you missed it, in lieu of a typical review recap, we published a list of the 12 highest-rated products we reviewed last year. Spoiler alert: there were a lot of flagship phones, cameras and drones on the list. I also included the two worst gadgets we ever tested, and you'll just have to guess what they are. Or read the article, I guess.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 review
by Devindra Hardawar
If you're the sort of person that's in the market for a $2,000 GPU, then the GeForce RTX 5090 is something you might consider. It's fast, powerful and NVIDIA's frame generation was very impressive, according to Devindra. But for the rest of us with actual, reasonably sized budgets, the company's highest-end offering is probably out of reach. We're most likely setting our sights on the $550 RTX 5070, and I await our review to see how different a product that costs about $1,500 less will be.
Traeger Woodridge and ThermoWorks RFX reviews
by Billy Steele
Grills and cooking accessories continue to get more and more high-tech. And Billy continues to expand his expertise in the space, all while delighting his editors with tantalizing descriptions of smoked and barbecued foods. Believe me, I always have to feed myself before starting an edit, and I remain slightly jealous that I don't have the space for a dedicated grill like the Traeger Woodridge. But as I read Billy's pieces, I am quietly making notes on what I'd like to get for myself one day.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review
by Billy Steele
Billy's been busy, that's for sure. As our resident audio guru, he pretty much spends most of his days with the latest set of headphones in his ears, seeing how they fare not just in daily use but also against the competition. Bowers & Wilkin's Pi8 may deliver excellent audio, but according to Billy they don't offer enough special features for the money. In fact, as he says, "$399 should get you a lot more than superb audio."
On the horizon: Upcoming reviews
Our reviewers already have units of the latest Samsung Galaxy S25 phones and are testing them in the real world as I write this. Devices that were announced at CES 2025, like some headphones, laptops, smart glasses and even LED masks are also making their way to our team members, so stay tuned for our evaluations. We're also planning on some longer-term reviews of popular products, and welcome your feedback on things you'd like to see us take on! Moving forward, Billy Steele will be taking over this roundup, so I leave you with this extremely appropriate and relevant image to remember me by.
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