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LG just revealed several new speakers in the xboom line ahead of CES 2026. These speakers are part of an ongoing collaboration with will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas, who is on board as the “experimental architect” involved with “development, design and brand marketing.”

These speakers are fairly different from one another, but they all have AI in common. Each speaker includes an algorithm that automatically adjusts the EQ after analyzing the audio content and the listening space. Many also feature an AI algorithm for ambient lighting, which will adjust the lights to match the song being played.

The xboom Stage 501 is intended for parties and karaoke sessions. It features additional AI that can remove vocals from “virtually any song” and even adjust the pitch. The battery lasts for around 25 hours and can operate while plugged in. The speaker delivers up to 220W of power, with dual woofers and full-range drivers. It boasts a five-sided cabinet design that allows for vertical and horizontal placement.

The xboom Blast is a boombox with a 99Wh battery that allows for up to 35 hours of continuous playback. That’s a mighty fine metric. This is a modern boombox, so it’s designed for durability. There are edge bumpers and a side rope handle for carrying.

The Mini is a tiny doodad that can be placed just about anywhere. It offers ten hours of battery life per charge and a strap for easy placement. The speaker also includes a built-in tripod mount.

The Rock is a, well, rock-shaped speaker that’s larger than the Mini but can still be held in the palm of the hand. The battery lasts for ten hours and the design is focused on durability. It has been tested to “seven military standards” to ensure reliability in “challenging outdoor environments.” This is an upgrade of the pre-existing XG2 model.

We don’t have pricing or exact availability on this stuff yet, though the speakers will be on display at LG’s booth at CES. The company has said that all four of these gadgets will come out in 2026.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/lg-announces-new-line-of-xboom-speakers-ahead-of-ces-010052598.html?src=rss 

OneXPlayer is quickly establishing itself as a company that isn’t afraid to get weird as hell. (Take, for example, its transforming dual-screen gaming portable.) Its latest venture is another retro gaming handheld that, at first glance, looks like a standard dual-screen model. But the Android-powered OneXSugar Wallet uses a single foldable screen instead.

The device was teased via a 54-second video on the Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili. Retro Handhelds reports that the Wallet uses an 8.01-inch OLED with a 2,480 x 1,860 resolution. (That’s a 4:3 aspect ratio when unfolded.) The video also shows an asymmetrical analog stick layout with a D-pad and four action buttons.

OneXSugar Fold

Given foldable phones’ long-term durability concerns, we aren’t necessarily betting on the OneXSugar Wallet being a wise purchase. We also don’t know how much it will cost. (The aforementioned weird dual-screen device retails for a whopping $799.) But at the very least, don’t be shocked if the novel form factor ends up sparking a few copycats in the competitive retro gaming industry.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-onexsugar-wallet-is-an-upcoming-retro-handheld-with-a-43-foldable-screen-215528433.html?src=rss 

Samsung will have two new inexpensive mobile devices arriving on the US market next month. The Galaxy A17 5G starts at $199 and will be available on January 7. Arriving on January 8, the Galaxy Tab A11+ will retail for $250. 

The Galaxy A17 5G has a 6.7” FHD+ Super AMOLED display and is powered by the same Exynos 1330 chip found in the Galaxy A16 5G. The photography setup is also unchanged from last year’s model, with a 50MP main camera, 5MP ultrawide, 2MP macro and 13MP selfie lenses. The base model has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but can be upgraded with up to 2TB of additional storage via microSD. Its 5,000mAh battery also supports fast-charging, a feature we’re happy to see becoming more of an industry standard this year. Essentially, this is more of the same from Samsung, but this product line has a solid legacy of decent smartphones that don’t break the bank. Don’t be surprised if this joins our lineup of best budget Android phones come 2026.

The other new entry-level device is the Galaxy Tab A11+, which boasts an 11-inch LCD display. The rear camera is 8MP and the front one is 5MP. It has an option for 6GB of RAM with 128GB in storage, or for 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Like with the Galaxy A17 5G, the tablet can also be juiced up with additional microSD storage. Performance-wise, you’ll top out at 15 hours of video playback on the battery, but fast-charging is also supported here. There are many swankier tablets on the market these days, but if you’re looking for a bare-bones option, this Samsung offering is a solid consideration.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-unveils-its-new-200-galaxy-a17-5g-smartphone-arriving-in-january-184846560.html?src=rss 

Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images

Hisense is perhaps best known for its budget-friendly electronics and appliances, like TVs and refrigerators. But at CES 2025, the China-based company showed its high-end chops with a massive 136-inch micro LED TV, which recently became available for a whopping $100,000. So what’s on deck for this year’s show? New leadership, for starters.

The company has two new hires, including Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Larsen and Chief Commercial Officer James Fishler. In a press release, Hisense said Fishler’s experience in home entertainment, appliances and HVAC is important as the company “builds toward a milestone 2026 and its presence at CES.”

We’ll give you a rundown of what to expect during Hisense’s presentation and how you can watch it.

How to watch

Hisense will have a livestream available on Monday, January 5 at 1PM ET on its website. We’ll embed the link here once it’s available.

What to expect

With its new hires in place, Hisense is clearly aiming to further polish its brand. Between Fishler and Larsen, the new front office is bringing to bear their experience from such high-powered competitors as LG, Samsung and Beats. And in a recent interview with Tom’s Guide, Larsen emphasized a continued focus on the company’s fast turnaround time from concept to market as a key differentiator for Hisense.

As for actual announcements, while you can expect Hisense to tout its strength in appliances and HVAC systems (really), Larsen’s aforementioned interview specifically calls out the emerging RGB TV space as a focus. We expect this year’s show will be all about explaining the shades of difference between mini and micro LED display technologies, as both Samsung and LG have already thrown down pre-announcement gauntlets on the latter. Will any of them cost less than six figures? Let’s hope Hisense has some good news to share on that front.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/how-to-watch-the-hisense-ces-2026-presentation-live-190040090.html?src=rss 

Hot on the tail of Amazon’s Kindle Scribe Colorosoft, TCL is introducing its own take on a distraction-free note-taking and reading device. Unlike the new Scribe, however, it doesn’t use E Ink. The TCL Note A1 NXTPAPER is the company’s latest device to use NXTPAPER, TCL’s custom paper-like LCD screen, which offers some of the qualities of E Ink without the limitations.

TCL says the 11.5-inch color “NXTPAPER Pure” display on the Note A1 has a 2,200 x 1,440 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, which should mean it looks clearer and feels much smoother to interact with than the color E Ink screen used on something like the reMarkable Paper Pro. The tablet supports TCL’s T-Pen Pro for taking notes and drawing on the screen, but also features eight built-in microphones for recording and transcribing audio. The Note A1 also has a 13-megapixel camera for scanning documents, an 8,000mAh battery and 256GB of storage, with the option to access cloud services like Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive if you want it. 

A diagram of different Note A1 NXTPAPER features arranged in a grid.

Unlike TCL’s past NXTPAPER tablets, the Note A1 doesn’t prioritize media consumption — it’s a productivity tool first and foremost. TCL says the device runs Android, but hasn’t shared whether it’ll have access to the Play Store. All the features the company has announced focus on taking notes and using AI to process and organize whatever you’ve written down. The device will also support real-time translation and “handwriting beautification,” among a collection of other AI-powered features.

Engadget has reached out to TCL for more information on the Note A1 NXTPAPER’s software. We’ll update this article if we hear back.

There will likely never be one “Goldilocks” version of these note-taking devices, but the Note A1 NXTPAPER’s combination of display and microphones does make it an intriguing, if limited, alternative to Boox’s E Ink tablets. Anyone interested in TCL’s new device won’t have to wait long to try it, either. 

The TCL Note A1 NXTPAPER is available to order now through Kickstarter (with additional bonuses and discounts) and will officially go on sale for $549 at the end of February.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/tcl-introduces-its-own-take-on-a-color-kindle-scribe-140000207.html?src=rss