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The best gaming keyboards can make you feel in total control when playing a competitive first-person shooter (FPS) or bring you a greater sense of luxury when taking in a solo adventure. They’re not half-bad for typing either. To help those looking to upgrade, I’ve spent more time researching gaming keyboards than any person reasonably should, testing more than a dozen top options along the way. Here are the best gaming keyboards I’ve found, including compact, analog, wireless and budget-level picks.

What to look for in a gaming keyboard

To be clear, any keyboard can be a “gaming keyboard.” If you play lots of video games today and have never sighed to yourself, “man, this keyboard is holding me back,” congratulations, you probably don’t need to pay extra for a new one. Self-proclaimed gaming keyboards often come at a premium, and while the best offer high-quality designs, snazzy RGB lighting and a few genuinely worthwhile features, none of them will give you god-like skill, nor will they suddenly turn bad games into good ones.

Mechanical vs non-mechanical

Now that we’ve touched grass, I did prioritize some features while researching this guide. First, I mostly stuck to mechanical keyboards, not laptop-style membrane models. They can be loud, but they’re more durable, customizable and broadly satisfying to press — all positive traits for a product you may use for hours-long gaming sessions.

Size

Next, I preferred tenkeyless (TKL) or smaller layouts. It’s totally fine to use a full-size board if you really want a number pad, but a compact model gives you more space to flick your mouse around. It also lets you keep your mouse closer to your body, which can reduce the tension placed on your arms and shoulders.

From top to bottom: A 96 percent keyboard, an 80 percent (or tenkeyless) keyboard and a 60 percent keyboard.

Switches, keycaps and build quality

Linear switches, which are often branded as “red,” are generally favored by gamers. These give keystrokes a smooth feel from top to bottom, with no tactile “bump” that could make fast, repeated presses less consistent. They usually require little force to actuate, and they tend to be quiet. However, if you prefer the feel and/or sound of a more tactile or clicky switch, get one of those instead. You might lose some speed in esports-style games, but nothing is more important than your comfort.

Some gaming keyboards are based on different mechanisms entirely. Optical switches, for instance, use a beam of light to register keystrokes, while Hall effect switches use magnets. These often feel linear, but they can allow for a more versatile set of gaming-friendly features, such as the ability to set custom actuation points. (You can read more about how this works below.) In general, they’re faster and more durable too. But keyboards with those extra features typically aren’t cheap.

Regardless, you want a frame that doesn’t flex under pressure, keys that don’t wobble and stabilizers that don’t rattle when you hit larger keys like the spacebar. I prefer double-shot PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) keycaps over those that use cheaper ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plastic, as they won’t develop a greasy shine over time and their icons won’t fade. A hot-swappable PCB (printed circuit board) that makes it easy to change switches if the mood arises is ideal, as are dedicated media keys.

For the sake of simplicity, I only considered prebuilt gaming keyboards for this guide, though many of the picks below allow for customization down the line. If you (and your bank account) really want to go wild, check out our guide to building a custom keyboard.

Software, connectivity and RGB

If a keyboard has companion software, it should let you program macros and custom key bindings for games without frustration. For convenience, a wired keyboard should connect through a detachable USB-C cable. A good wireless keyboard won’t add serious lag, but only if it uses a USB receiver, not Bluetooth. (It’ll probably cost more as well.) Some gaming keyboards advertise super-high polling rates — i.e., the speed at which a keyboard reports to a computer — to reduce latency, but unless your monitor has an especially fast refresh rate, the usual standard of 1,000Hz should be fine. And while nobody needs RGB lighting, it’s fun. Consumer tech could use more of that, so the cleaner and more customizable the RGB is, the better.

How we tested

The best way to evaluate a keyboard is to just… use it, so that’s what I did. To cover a variety of use cases and design styles, I identified 15 keyboards that have broadly received high marks from professional reviewers and users alike. I then used each of these keyboards as my “daily driver” for several days. Since I write for a living, this gave me enough time to get a strong sense of each keyboard’s typing experience.

For gaming, I gave special focus to each keyboard’s responsiveness in fast, reaction-based online shooters such as Halo Infinite, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Apex Legends, Valorant and Overwatch, as many would-be gaming keyboard buyers get one in the hopes that it’ll help with that genres in particular. I made sure each keyboard felt comfortable with other types of games, though, including Baldur’s Gate 3 (a turn-based RPG), Hi-Fi Rush (an action game with an emphasis on timing and rhythm), and Forza Horizon 5 (an arcade racing game). I used the latter to better evaluate the pressure-sensitive features of the analog keyboards I tested.

If a keyboard could be configured with multiple switch types, I got the linear model. Upon receiving each keyboard, I removed several keycaps to ensure none were chipped or broken. I noted whether any keys felt wobbly, whether the case flexes under pressure, whether the texture and finish of the keycaps changes after use and whether larger keys like the spacebar felt particularly rattly or hollow. I typed on each keyboard in quick succession in a quiet room to get a sense of where they ranked in terms of noise. For wireless models, I checked whether the battery drain at 50 percent RGB brightness aligned with a manufacturer’s estimate. I looked to results from sites like Rtings to ensure nothing was out of order with latency. I did my own testing on a 144Hz monitor with my personal rig, which includes a 10th-gen Core i9 CPU and an RTX 3080 GPU.

This helped me ensure each keyboard met a baseline of overall quality, but to reiterate, so much of this process is subjective. I can tell you if a keyboard is loud based on how I slam my keys, for instance, but you may have a lighter touch. What my tastes find “comfortable,” “pleasing,” or even “useful,” you may dislike. As I’ve written before, keyboards are like food or art in that way. So, keep an open mind.

Best gaming keyboard overall: Wooting 60HE

With most gaming keyboards, claims of “improving your play” are just marketing fluff. With the Wooting 60HE, it’s actually true — or at least, it can be. The key is its analog Lekker switches, which can respond to varying levels of pressure, much like the triggers on a PlayStation or Xbox controller. These use magnetic Hall effect sensors, so they have fewer physical contact points that can suffer from wear and tear over time.

This setup enables a few genuinely beneficial features. For one, you can adjust the actuation point of each key anywhere between an ultra-low 0.1mm and 4mm, in 0.1mm steps. With a fast-paced FPS, setting the actuation point low makes the keys more sensitive and thus exceptionally responsive to quick movements. For a turn-based RPG or simply typing, raising that pre-travel distance makes each press more deliberate and less prone to errors. You can also mix and match, making your WASD keys faster to actuate but leaving the rest at a less touchy level.

Another feature, “rapid trigger,” registers the actuation and reset points of a key press dynamically. This lets you re-actuate a key mid-press, before it has to go all the way back up, so you can repeat inputs faster. It’s a boon for shooting and rhythm games in particular: In a 1v1 shootout in Halo Infinite, you can strafe, stop and start with a little more speed and granularity. We’re still talking milliseconds of difference, but sometimes that’s all that separates defeating a foe and leaving them with a sliver of health.

Beyond that, you can tie up to four actions to one key based on how far it’s pressed. For example, you could lightly press a key to pull out a grenade, fully press to throw it, then release to reequip your main weapon. This requires some brain retraining, but it can ultimately lessen the need to contort your fingers to perform a full set of commands.

Because the keys are pressure-sensitive, you can also set them to mimic an Xbox controller. With a racing game Forza Horizon 5, the W and S keys could stand in for the LT and RT buttons, while A and D replicate the left joystick. Does this feel as natural as using real joysticks or a good wheel? Of course not. But for games that don’t expect you to use a mouse alongside the keyboard, it’s really not as clunky as you’d expect.

That caveat is important: Plenty of games aren’t designed with analog keyboards in mind, so don’t expect the 60HE to replace your gamepad. Owning this won’t magically make you a top-tier player either. When you’re up against other people around your skill level, though, the extra bit of precision these features provide is tangible.

The 60HE isn’t the only keyboard with features along these lines, but it stands out for getting most of the fundamentals right. Its double-shot PBT keycaps feel crisp, its keys are well-spaced and the pre-lubed, linear-style switches are smooth and satisfying to press. (They’re technically hot-swappable too, though the 60HE is only designed to accept Hall effect switches.) It sounds a smidge chattery, but it’s still pleasing to the ear and not especially loud. The compact case doesn’t flex or wobble either. The charmingly-named Wootility software makes it easy to remap keys, assign macros, create profiles or adjust the RGB lighting — and, refreshingly, it’s entirely accessible through the web. That per-key backlighting is tidy, and changing profiles right from the keyboard is simple.

That said, there are a few downsides. The case, while sturdy, is largely plastic and only has one incline setting. It doesn’t come with a wrist rest (though you can buy one separately for $30), and the 60 percent layout won’t be for everyone. If you want to add dedicated arrow keys and a numpad, get the full-size Wooting Two HE instead; just note that you can only buy each model from Wooting, which sells its gear in batches.

Runner up: Razer Huntsman V2 TKL

If you don’t need all the extra features of the Wooting 60HE and just want something a little less pricey, consider the Razer Huntsman V2 TKL. There’s no rapid trigger, analog input or custom actuation here — just a solid, well-built keyboard from a major brand with low latency for gaming.

The best thing about the Huntsman V2 is that it’s unusually quiet, as an internal layer of sound-dampening foam gives it a nice muffled tone with no audible pinging. The linear optical switches are light and responsive, but bottoming out doesn’t feel stiff. The double-shot PBT keycaps have an agreeable texture, while the aluminum-coated case doesn’t creak or flex. The per-key RGB lighting shines through the keycaps neatly. Just about every key is macro-programmable, the whole thing connects over a detachable USB-C cable, and it comes with a decent leatherette wrist rest in the box. The latter isn’t magnetic though. And while you can sneeze and find a million complaints about Razer’s Synapse software around the web, I’ve always found it easier to read than many competing apps. (That says more about the state of gaming software than Synapse, but still.) Razer recently promised to launch an improved version of the app as well. 

I’m specifically recommending the model with Razer’s red linear switches; another version uses purple clicky switches, but those sound harsher and have a slightly higher actuation point (1.5mm instead of 1.2mm). There are other nitpicks either way: The PCB isn’t hot-swappable, and the stabilizers on the space bar, backspace and enter keys are a tad more rattly than everything else. The keyboard can technically support up to an 8,000Hz polling rate, but that’s mostly a gimmick. Media keys would be nice too.

Razer sells full-size and analog versions of the Huntsman V2, but those are usually priced too close to the more versatile Wooting 60HE and Two HE to recommend. (Shortly before this guide was published, the company did announce a new Huntsman V3 Pro line with a more Wooting-esque feature set; we plan to test that soon, though Razer is keeping the V2 models around at a lower price.) At its MSRP of $160, we’d probably skip the Huntsman V2 TKL too, but we’ve often seen it go for $40 to $50 less in recent months. At that price, it’s a better value.

A good traditional mechanical keyboard: Keychron V3

If you aren’t intense about esports-style online play and just want a good mechanical keyboard that also works for gaming, try the Keychron V3. For less than $90, it delivers a stable frame, a hot-swappable PCB, soft double-shot PBT keycaps and smooth stabilizers. By default, it comes with Keychron’s K Pro Red (linear), Brown (tactile) or Blue (clicky) switches: I used the K Pro Red, which is sufficiently light for everyday gaming and, with the help of some sound-dampening foam, mostly quiet. Each switch comes pre-lubed, which helps keep the out-of-the-box typing experience from feeling or sounding cheap. The keys are comfortably spaced and gently rounded, making it easier to avoid accidental inputs. All of it connects over a removable USB-C cable.

The V3 isn’t as focused on ultra-low latency as a dedicated gaming keyboard, and it doesn’t have any of the special features available with the Wooting 60HE, but it should be responsive enough for all but the most competitive players. A built-in switch lets you swap between Windows and macOS modes, and there are OS-specific keycaps in the box. (It works with Linux too.) You can program the board through the VIA software, which may take a second to figure out and isn’t loaded with gaming-specific bonuses, but makes it easy enough to remap keys, create macros or adjust the backlight across OSes. It’s also accessible over the web.

The V3’s keys are individually backlit, and you can adjust its RGB effects right from the board. This looks odd with the default, non-translucent keycaps though. There’s a pair of foldable feet on the back, but this is a high-profile keyboard that doesn’t include a wrist rest, so it’s not the most ergonomic setup. The chassis is also made of plastic, so it’s hard to call “premium.” Nevertheless, this is a comfortable, customizable entry point for those looking to get into mechanical keyboards as a hobby, which makes it a strong value for non-twitchy games.

The V3 is the tenkeyless model in Keychron’s V Series. It strikes a good balance between size and functionality, but Keychron sells similar models ranging from 60 percent to full-size. You can configure them with a programmable volume knob for an extra $10. The V Series is wired-only though. The Keychron K8 Pro adds wireless functionality for $99, but only via Bluetooth, which isn’t ideal for steady gaming performance.

Best budget gaming keyboard: G.Skill KM250 RGB

If you want to pay as little as possible for an acceptable, honest-to-goodness gaming keyboard, get the G.Skill KM250 RGB. For $40, it offers PBT keycaps, hot-swappable switches, per-key RGB backlighting, adjustable feet, a detachable USB-C cable and even a dedicated volume control knob. Its translucent “pudding” keycaps look funky but help show off those RGB effects. The linear Kailh Red switches are quick and smooth enough, without the pinging noise that often plagues budget keyboards. Its 65 percent layout doesn’t chew up space, but it still fits in a set of arrow keys. Though there’s no dedicated software for programming the KM250, you can quickly swap through lighting effects right from the device. Avoiding potential bloatware may be better anyway.

Now, this isn’t a miracle. The plastic frame is lightweight and surprisingly sturdy, but you don’t get the level of sound-dampening foam, reinforced stems or pre-lubed springs you’d find in a more premium keyboard. Key presses sound hollower and feel a bit stiffer when you bottom out as a result. Plus, while having PBT keycaps at all in this range is great, they aren’t as pleasingly textured as more expensive options.

But come on, it’s $40. For that price, everything here is beyond functional. And if you ever want to upgrade some of its lesser elements, you can.

Best wireless gaming keyboard: SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless

If you want a gaming keyboard you can take on the road, or you just despise cable clutter, check out the SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless. Similar to the Wooting keyboards above, its linear-style switches use magnetic Hall effect sensors, which open up a range of legitimately useful gaming features. You can raise or lower the actuation points of individual keys anywhere between 0.1mm and 4mm, enable a rapid trigger mode to repeat presses faster and bind multiple commands to one key based on how far it’s pushed. (For example, you could lightly press W to walk, then hold it to run.) There’s no full-on analog mode, and you can “only” assign two actuation-based commands to a key at once, but the Apex Pro TKL still allows for finer control than most wireless options.

The “keyboard” part of the Apex Pro TKL is satisfactory as well. The double-shot PBT keycaps avoid grime, the aluminum-plated chassis is robust and the per-key RGB looks fine. You can connect over a 2.4GHz dongle, Bluetooth or a detachable USB-C cable. There’s a set of feet with two incline angles around the back and a magnetic wrist rest in the box. On the front is a volume roller and a mini OLED display, the latter of which lets you check the battery, quickly swap profiles, adjust the actuation, set macros, change backlight brightness and even see info from certain apps.

You’d buy this for gaming first and foremost though. The Hall effect switches are comfy, but there’s an audible, mildly sharp click to each press. It’s not harsh, but it’s not soothing. The space bar, however, is noticeably louder and more hollow-sounding than everything else. (The switches aren’t hot-swappable either, though that’s to be expected given their unique design.) SteelSeries’ Engine software is also wonkier to navigate than apps like Wootility; I often had to leave it open to ensure my custom actuation profiles weren’t overridden. The battery life, estimated around 40 hours with the wireless dongle, isn’t all that long either.

And at $250, none of this comes cheap. If typing and key feel is your primary concern, we have a better value in our honorable mentions below. But for gaming specifically, the Apex Pro TKL’s feature set gives it a slight edge. SteelSeries makes several other Apex Pro keyboards in different form factors, but we’d recommend the Wooting 60HE and Two HE over those unless you must go wireless and prefer a TKL layout.

Best low-profile option: NuPhy Air75 V2

A low-profile keyboard combines the flatter shape of a laptop keyboard with the more gratifying feel of mechanical switches. Compared to typical mechanical keyboards, low-profile models aren’t as tall, and their switches have a shorter travel distance. This can make it harder to type accurately, but since low-profile switches usually require little force to actuate, they’re almost inherently well-suited for gaming.

If you like this sort of design, get the NuPhy Air75 V2. Like the Keychron V3, it’s not outright marketed for gaming, so it’s not as feature-rich as our other picks, but its core experience makes it worthwhile. Latency is low enough for online shooters, and the linear “Daisy” switches in my test unit are light and responsive across games. They bottom out quickly, so they can strain your fingers over time, but they’re fast. The keys also sound nice, with a mild clack to each press. If you want something more tactile, clicky or even lighter, NuPhy sells the Air75 V2 with several other switch options as well. (NuPhy technically doesn’t pre-configure the device with the Daisy switches, but the “Cowberry” model should feel similar, if a bit faster.) The switches are also hot-swappable, though the market for low-profile keycaps and switches isn’t super extensive.

The board itself is impressively slim, so you don’t have to contort your wrists to type comfortably. It’s a 75 percent model, so it saves space yet squeezes in arrow keys and a full Fn row. (The layout can feel a little overstuffed, but I’d rather have more dedicated keys than fewer.) While the chassis will flex a tiny bit if you push down hard, the keys are stable, the stabilizers don’t rattle and the fold-out feet are firm. The wide, double-shot PBT keycaps give ample room for each press. Plus, it all looks kind of cute. There’s per-key RGB as well, but the default keycaps aren’t shine-through, so the effect looks clumsy — plus it’ll drain the battery faster.

On a related note, this is another wireless model, one that can connect over a USB dongle, Bluetooth or a removable USB-C cable. I did notice a few connection hiccups using the dongle when I had a wireless mouse paired at the same time, but for non-gaming tasks, the option is nice to have. The device works with Windows, macOS and Linux, with system-specific keys in the box and a switch on the top for swapping between the first two platforms. Regardless of OS, it uses the VIA software for remapping keys, assigning macros and the like, just like the Keychron V3. (As of this writing, you may need to do a little extra setup to get VIA to recognize the keyboard, but not much.) With the backlight off, NuPhy says it can last up to 220 hours; with it on, that drops between 35 and 57 hours.

The Air75 V2 is a new keyboard from a smaller company, so it may take a little longer than usual to ship. NuPhy said my review model was part of its first mass production batch — hence the switch and software quirks — so it could make slight tweaks in the future. Still, this is largely an iteration of a keyboard we already liked, so we can recommend it confidently.

Honorable mentions

ASUS ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless

The ASUS ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless (phew) is a close second to the Apex Pro series if you must go without a cable. It’s a joy to type on, with superb sound dampening, pre-lubed ROG NX switches, an impressively sturdy case and stable, PBT-coated keys. It’s hot-swappable, its battery life rating is much higher than the Apex Pro TKL Wireless (90 hours with RGB on) and it has a multi-function key that puts volume, media and RGB controls in one place. At $180, it’s also $70 cheaper than our SteelSeries pick. That said, it doesn’t have the rapid trigger or custom actuation tricks of a Hall effect model like the Apex Pro TKL Wireless, and ROG’s Armoury Crate software is a bit of a mess. But if you care about typing experience more than extra gaming-friendly features, it’s excellent.

ASUS ROG Azoth

The ASUS ROG Azoth, meanwhile, is like a smaller version of the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless with a few more enthusiast touches, such as a gasket-mounted design — which gives keystrokes a softer feel — a programmable OLED display and a toolkit for lubing switches in the box. It’s exceptionally well-made by any standard, not just “for a gaming keyboard.” But its feature set still isn’t as flexible as the Wooting 60HE or SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless, which makes its $250 price tag a tough ask.

Razer Huntsman Mini

The Razer Huntsman Mini is a solid, no-frills option if you want a more affordable 60 percent gaming keyboard. It often retails for less than $100, but its textured PBT keycaps and aluminum top plate keep it from feeling too cheap, and it uses the same fast optical switches we praised with the Huntsman V2 TKL. Again, I would opt for Razer’s red linear switches, as the purple clicky ones sound distractingly sharp.

Corsair K70 RGB TKL

The Corsair K70 RGB TKL is a worthy alternative to the Huntsman V2 TKL if you see it on sale. It covers most of the essentials, with dedicated media controls and the option to use Corsair’s optical-mechanical switches or various Cherry MX models. It’s noisier than the Razer keyboard, however, and its iCue software is more of a pain to navigate.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-gaming-keyboard-140019954.html?src=rss 

Maybe I’ve been too hard on widgets. Ever since they appeared in the macOS X dashboard, I’ve thought of them as a nuisance – tiny memory hogs that only exist to disappoint me with their limited functionality. Microsoft took a cue and brought them into Windows Vista, and now they’re back in Windows 11. Widgets are harmless, I know. But every time they’ve showed me the weather, or reminded me of an upcoming appointment, I’ve wished for a world where they didn’t disrupt the sanctity of my desktop experience.

Now I wouldn’t say macOS Sonoma made me a total widget convert. But, at the very least, it’s made me more tolerant of them. The new widget experience is a minor, but helpful quality of life upgrade – something that basically describes macOS Sonoma as a whole. There aren’t any major new features like last year’s Ventura, which brought over Stage Manager from iPads. But Sonoma shows that Apple can still come up with new ways to make its desktop OS more pleasant.

You must widget

While you can still access widgets in macOS Sonoma’s notification center, something you could do for years, I never found that placement too compelling. My Mac isn’t like my iPhone or iPad, where I’m always trying to keep up with the latest alerts. I’m usually focused on getting some work done. By bringing widgets out of the side bar and onto the desktop, Sonoma integrates them far more organically.

Now, you don’t have to go out of your way to get a quick weather update, or to see the battery levels of your Apple devices. Your widgets are just always sitting there, ready for a quick glance whenever you close a few windows or expose the desktop (something I do frequently with hot corners). Apple also revamped many of its existing widgets to take advantage of the additional screen space.

Another new feature: You can bring over widgets from your iPhone (assuming it’s signed into the same iCloud account as your Mac, and is also on the same Wi-Fi network). Those have been hit or miss, in my experience. They often take a while to load properly on your desktop, and if you interact with them, they either redirect to a website or tell you to open their iPhone app. When I enabled Spotify’s iPhone widget on Sonoma, for example, it showed me the track I’m currently listening to, but that’s it. As soon as I touched the widget, it said I had to open Spotify on my iPhone to continue.

That wonkiness could be smoothed over if more developers start building macOS widgets. But Apple has been trying to make widgets a thing for years with little success. Maybe they’ll have more success now that widgets aren’t hidden away in a corner.

macOS finally gets serious about gaming

Historically, Apple has never really been a gaming-focused company. But with Apple Arcade and the unstoppable success of the mobile App Store, not to mention its own growing CPU and GPU prowess, the company has finally started to lean into games over the last decade. Now with macOS Sonoma’s Game Mode, Apple also has a way to focus its hardware to deliver the best performance possible.

It’s well-timed too, as we’re also seeing recent titles like Lies of P and Resident Evil Village make their way to the App Store. Some Steam offerings, like Tunic, Disco Elysium and Inscryption, also include Mac support. Game Mode won’t magically turn your Mac into a superpowered rig, but it’ll help achieve better framerates and lower latency by prioritizing what you’re playing.

Based on an hour of playing Lies of P on an M2-equipped 13-inch MacBook Pro, Game Mode helped to deliver a smooth, console-like experience. The game appeared to be hitting near 60fps while playing with medium settings at a 1,920 by 1,200 resolution, though it occasionally slowed to a 30fps crawl in expansive outdoor environments. Latency with my 8BitDo Ultimate controller felt minimal over Bluetooth, and I was also surprised that the game performed just as well on battery power.

Sonoma’s Game Mode won’t make me an all-Mac gamer anytime soon, but it’s a nice feature to have, especially if you don’t have access to consoles or PCs with beefy GPUs. It would also be nice to see cloud saves for native Mac games that can synchronize with other platforms. (Dead simple cloud saves are a major reason why I lean on Steam as my primary gaming storefront.)

The best screensavers ever

I wasn’t super excited to see macOS Sonoma’s aerial screensavers at first, mostly because I’ve been getting my fill of that lovely drone and helicopter footage since it debuted on the Apple TV in 2015. But in my months with the Sonoma beta, I’ve learned to appreciate them. Occasionally when I’m lost in thought (and probably trying to finish a review), an aerial screensaver will flip on and deliver a calming view of Hong Kong’s cityscape, or the fog over Sonoma Valley. It’s like a free brain massage, something that lifts me out of the daily stress of work, kids and home maintenance.

No matter how many times I see it, I still get a kick out of seeing aerial screensavers slowly pause to a stop and transform into my wallpaper. It’s purely aesthetics, but it’s the sort of thing few companies would spend much time on.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/macos-sonoma-review-widgets-gaming-141540494.html?src=rss 

Joy-Cons are the Switch’s weakest feature. The two itty-bitty controllers have caused a plethora of issues for players — and Nintendo itself — since the Switch first came out in 2017, tarnishing the sheen of an otherwise fantastic hybrid console. Stick drift was the main problem and it became such a widespread phenomenon that Nintendo faced a class-action lawsuit over it, and the company is still offering free repairs for all busted Joy-Cons, even outside of warranty terms.

The left Joy-Con on my Switch went wonky about a year ago, but I also had a Switch Lite and a few Bluetooth controllers, so I never bothered to get it fixed. And now, I never have to. The Nitro Deck is a handheld frame for the Switch screen, complete with Hall Effect thumbsticks and incredibly clicky buttons. It’s so, so much better than the standard Joy-Con setup.

The Nitro Deck comes from CRKD, a new company founded at Embracer Group’s Freemode incubator lab. The Nitro Deck is a simple idea executed well: Slide your Switch screen into the frame and it acts as a self-contained, beefed-up gamepad. It feels like the offspring of a Switch Lite and a Steam Deck, and it comes in black, gray and white as default colorways. Limited edition styles include mint, GameCube purple and an SNES-y gray. (The hottest versions come from a collaboration with Limited Run, but these transparent lovelies are sold out).

The Nitro Deck includes a stand for Bluetooth play, but it really shines as a handheld. The D-pad is responsive and face buttons are crisp. They have a satisfying weight and pop back up quickly after each press. The shoulder buttons are clicky, the triggers are buttery-smooth, and though I haven’t actually found a use for the four back-panel buttons, I’m happy with their positioning and the way they feel.

The analog sticks are the star, though, simply because they’re such an upgrade from the standard Joy-Con experience. Hall effect joysticks mean there’s no chance of drift and they offer a wide, accurately tracked range of motion. The Nitro Deck carry case kit includes two spare sticks with different textures, and it’s incredibly simple to pop one out and replace it with a new one.

As evidenced in my Steam Deck review, my hands are on the smaller side, and the Nitro Deck fits just fine in my palms. I have a touch of anxiety over the distance between the right thumbstick and the face buttons directly above it, but it hasn’t actually affected my ability to play any games. Tiny Hands Gang, I think this one’s OK.

The most jarring aspect of the Nitro Deck is its rumble function. The rumble on this thing isn’t particularly powerful in terms of physical feedback, but it’s certainly loud. This was especially noticeable while playing Mario Kart 8, which activates rumble with every drift, crash and off-track tire touch, sometimes for seconds at a time. The noise generated is obscene. It sounds like a ghost with a cold groan-screaming into your hands, and it doesn’t offer any subtlety. That said, it’s easy enough to turn off the rumble completely. That’s what I did, and I didn’t miss it.

Hades is the game I’ve spent the most time with on Switch and Switch Lite, and playing it on Nitro Deck was a refreshing experience. The Nitro Deck supports a larger screen than the Switch Lite and its inputs are much better than the classic Switch, making the game look and feel like something new. I’ve been playing with a traditional Switch screen, but the Nitro Deck also supports the OLED model.

While I’ve been putting off getting my weird Joy-Con fixed for free, this device might be the final push I need to actually drop some cash on an OLED Switch. With clearer visuals, a slightly bigger screen and updated controls via Nitro Deck, the complete package would feel like a brand-new, end-of-cycle refresh.

The Nitro Deck costs $60 on its lonesome, or $90 with the carry case. The case itself is worth the extra $30, in my opinion: It’s sturdy and thick, and it comes with two swappable thumbsticks, a screen wipe and an eight-foot USB-C charging cable. Nitro Deck pre-orders placed before September 18 are currently shipping, and any units purchased from now on should be sent out this week or next (more detailed information can be found here).

The Nitro Deck improves the Switch in ways I didn’t know I wanted. Truthfully, I may never connect the Joy-Cons to my Switch again. This is simply my Switch’s final form: bulbous, purple, loud and, more than anything, satisfying to play.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/crkd-nitro-deck-review-the-switch-has-never-felt-this-good-130041763.html?src=rss 

The first black hole humanity has ever imaged has also provided us with what researchers are calling “unequivocal evidence” that black holes spin. An international team of scientists headed by Chinese researcher Dr. Cui Yuzhu analyzed 22 years of observational data gathered by more than 20 telescopes around the world. What they found was that the black hole at the center of galaxy M87, which is 6.5 billion times more massive than our sun, exhibits an oscillating jet that swings up and down every 11 years. This phenomenon confirms that the black hole is indeed spinning.

Black holes gobble up huge amounts of gas and dust, which they attract with their massive gravitational pull. A small fraction of those particles that don’t fall into the black hole get spewn out and travel close to the speed of light, showing up as narrow beams along the axis. These beams are called “jets.” The telescopes’ observations show that M87’s jet oscillates by 10 degrees in a recurring 11-year cycle, just as predicted by Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.

So, what causes the M87’s jet to swing back and forth? The researchers’ analysis indicates that the black hole’s spin axis doesn’t perfectly align with the rotational axis of its accretion disk. This disk-like structure is typically found surrounding a black hole, because it’s made of materials that gradually spiral into the void to be consumed. That misalignment between the rotating mass and the matter that swirls around it causes “a significant impact on surrounding spacetime,” which affects the movement of nearby objects in what the General Theory of Relativity calls “frame-dragging.”

This is a significant discovery that massively improves our understanding of the mysterious region of spacetime — aside from proving Einstein right, of course. Scientists have yet to find out the size of M87’s accretion disk and how fast its black hole is spinning, though, and that entails further observation and analysis.  

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/scientists-confirm-that-the-first-black-hole-ever-imaged-is-actually-spinning-105041168.html?src=rss