The Greatest Devices of August 2025

Wow, are we actually right here once more? Already? It’s nearly September, of us, and Gizmodo’s client tech staff is firmly mounted on upcoming occasions like IFA 2025 in Berlin and Apple’s impending annual iPhone extravaganza (Meta Connect 2025 is mid-month, too!). That being mentioned, there are nonetheless a number of cool devices we reviewed in August that deserve one closing look again earlier than we dive face-first right into a torrential run in direction of (gulps) CES 2026.

ICYMI (ensure that it by no means occurs once more), I’m rounding up this month’s greatest devices, which embody some wholly surprising entrants from Lenovo, some not-so-unexpected Pixel 10 drops from Google, and the strongest pair of ANC wi-fi earbuds I’ve ever shoved in my ears. Bon appétit.

I do know, a brand new Pixel, massive whoop, proper? In some methods, the attention roll could also be deserved, since {hardware} upgrades weren’t a very massive focus this 12 months within the new Pixel lineup, however there’s quite a bit happening below the hood of the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro / 10 Pro XL that will have moved the needle in different methods.

One of these methods, as you will have guessed, is Gemini, which is in each nook and cranny of the brand new Pixel 10 telephones. Some of that phone-focused AI continues to be discovering a objective, however as Gizmodo’s Senior Editor, Consumer Tech, Ray Wong, famous, there are glimmers of what might be the AI cellphone to beat. It could also be some time till all of us really retrain ourselves to make use of mentioned options (if we ever do), however on paper, robotically enhancing pictures with AI or useful, personalised options in Google Maps through Gemini are a palpable shift within the smartphone expertise. An further telephoto digicam within the common Pixel 10 is sweet, too, nevertheless it’s clear that Google is leaning totally into an AI-powered cellphone, whether or not you prefer it or not.

Okay, image this: a laptop computer, however loooooong. Not simply lengthy, however rollable, with a display screen that extends out like a space-age scroll. This is the kind of out-there pondering I like to see within the gadget world. Maybe it’s not essentially the most sensible, however rattling is it enjoyable. Watching Lenovo’s ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is about as distinctive an expertise as you’ll get in laptops—nay, devices generally—and that wild expertise is buoyed by what’s in any other case a stable machine with robust audio and an incredible really feel.

It’s costly, at $3,300, and battery life leaves one thing to be desired, however that is the long run we’re speaking about right here. Long reside the lengthy laptop computer, even when it prices an arm and an outsized leg, and is technically completely pointless.

I had no expectations going into testing out Technics EAH-AZ100, however after I put these suckers in my ears, I knew that they had been the hi-fi earbuds I’ve been ready for. As with any hi-fi audio product, they’re costly at $300, however whenever you begin to hear nuances of songs you’ve heard 1,000 occasions earlier than (even compressed music performed on Spotify), you notice that each one these additional pennies are price it.

Luckily, the EAH-AZ100 additionally nails one other main facet of wi-fi earbuds: battery life. With 10 hours of life with energetic noise cancellation on, these wi-fi earbuds outlast midrange counterparts by a protracted margin, and that’s a very good factor as a result of as soon as you set these earbuds in, you’re not going to wish to take them out.

As lengthy as we’re speaking about premo audio, it’s price mentioning Sony’s new Inzone H9 II. This gaming headset is the counterpart to Sony’s wonderful WH-1000XM6 headphones in a number of methods, delivering wonderful sound high quality and luxury. Sony additionally took steps to enhance the mic high quality during the last era, which implies clearer comms in high-stress video games like Counter-Strike 2. Yes, this gaming headset is costly at $350, however Sony made massive strides gen-over-gen, even when the battery life (30 hours) and among the preset EQ choices are considerably missing.

If there are two issues I really like in devices and gaming, it’s modularity and nostalgia, and the 8BitDo Pro 3 has these in spades. If you weren’t instantly charmed by this controller’s GameCube-coded look, its many customization choices may do the trick.

You can swap A,B,X,Y buttons with coloured and grey variations and map all the pieces to your liking. There’s additionally a USB-C dongle for low-latency gaming, in case you’re getting actually severe. Anyone who’s scarred by controller drift will likely be comfortable to know that it makes use of an iteration of Hall impact joysticks which might be just about proof against the wear and tear and tear that causes drift within the first place. Unfortunately, you may’t wake your Switch 2 with this controller, or most third-party controllers proper now, due to a shift within the protocol utilized by Nintendo, however should you’re searching for an all-around nice expertise for Nintendo or PC, the 8BitDo Pro 3 must be in your radar.

ANC isn’t all the time an important facet of earbuds, however typically it may be. And when noise cancellation is a precedence (on a airplane with a screaming child), you’re going to desire a pair of buds that does it proper. Bose’s second-gen QuietComfort Ultra 2 are precisely that, and so they enhance year-over-year with help for wi-fi charging, higher adaptive ANC, and the flexibility to see the battery lifetime of your case through the Bose app, so that you by no means need to be with no safeguard in opposition to annoying noise.

For $300, you received’t get comparable sound to the aforementioned Technics EAH-AZ100, however Bose nonetheless holds it down. Plus, there’s an incredible transparency mode for whenever you really wish to enable the world to have interaction with you.

To be sincere, I can’t keep in mind an Android cellphone that had individuals as flustered as Nothing’s Phone 3. First, there’s the look: a divisive cubist tackle the Nothing aesthetic with an offset digicam sensor that drives some individuals loopy. There’s additionally the worth, which, at $800, had individuals philosophically unpacking what a flagship cellphone even is.

No matter the place you sit on that spectrum—like it or hate it—Nothing’s Phone 3 made an announcement, and even when options just like the Glyph Matrix are a little bit of a gimmick, it gave us one thing to speak about. If the metric was to make a cellphone that isn’t boring, I’d say Nothing succeeded—older chipset and less-than-flagship digicam system be damned.

The Switch 2 is nice, nevertheless it’s solely as nice as how lengthy you may play it for, and the battery life leaves one thing to be desired. If you’re seeking to prolong your Switch 2 battery life on the go, then Genki’s Attack Vector case does simply that. It’s solely $50 and has a further battery pack accent that’s bought for $70. With the added power pack, Gizmodo Staff Writer Kyle Barr was in a position to get 2.5 hours of further juice whereas taking part in Cyberpunk 2077 in handheld mode—that successfully doubles the battery life when you could have Genki’s charging case outfitted.

This isn’t the case you need for shielding your Switch 2 in opposition to drops, because it’s on the thinner aspect, however should you’re searching for one thing light-weight that provides you an enormous battery enhance, you may’t go mistaken.

Listen, I’m not a fan of good locks personally. Don’t get me mistaken, I’ve stuffed my dwelling with janky internet-connected retailers and lights, however locking my door with a product like that simply looks like a bridge too far. That being mentioned, there’s something a couple of palm-scanning good lock that does really feel objectively cool. Our good dwelling knowledgeable, Wes Davis, praised the TCL D2 Pro for its velocity in studying and unlocking, its easy set up course of, and its simply detachable battery that may be charged through USB-C.

Wes additionally knocked off factors for a buggy setup course of and its lack of help for Apple Home and Matter, although, and clearly, should you’re in a cold-weather a part of the world, you’re going to wish to slip your glove off to get in or use the lock’s not-so-high-tech numpad. Warts and all, although, palm-based good locks are some Jedi magic if I’ve ever seen it.