Reviews

Are any of Apple’s official MagSafe accessories worth buying?

Apple, Features, IPhone, iphone cases, iPhone chargers, MagSafe, Qi, Reviews, Tech / Tim Belzer / November 26, 2024

When MagSafe was introduced, it promised an accessories revolution. Meh.

Apple’s current lineup of MagSafe accessories. Credit: Samuel Axon

When Apple introduced what it currently calls MagSafe in 2020, its marketing messaging suggested that the magnetic attachment standard for the iPhone would produce a boom in innovation in accessories, making things possible that simply weren’t before.

Four years later, that hasn’t really happened—either from third-party accessory makers or Apple’s own lineup of branded MagSafe products.

Instead, we have a lineup of accessories that matches pretty much what was available at launch in 2020: chargers, cases, and just a couple more unusual applications.

With the launch of the iPhone 16 just behind us and the holidays just in front of us, a bunch of people are moving to phones that support MagSafe for the first time. Apple loves an upsell, so it offers some first-party MagSafe accessories—some useful, some not worth the cash, given the premiums it sometimes charges.

Given all that, it’s a good time to check in and quickly point out which (if any) of these first-party MagSafe accessories might be worth grabbing alongside that new iPhone and which ones you should skip in favor of third-party offerings.

Cases with MagSafe

Look, we could write thousands of words about the variety of iPhone cases available, or even just about those that support MagSafe to some degree or another—and we still wouldn’t really scratch the surface. (Unless that surface was made with Apple’s leather-replacement FineWoven material—hey-o!)

It’s safe to say there’s a third-party case for every need and every type of person out there. If you want one that meets your exact needs, you’ll be able to find it. Just know that cases that are labeled as MagSafe-ready will allow charge through and will let the magnets align correctly between a MagSafe charger and an iPhone—that’s really the whole point of the “MagSafe” name.

But if you prefer to stick with Apple’s own cases, there are currently two options: the clear cases and the silicone cases.

A clear iPhone case on a table — The clear case is definitely the superior of Apple’s two first-party MagSafe cases. Credit: Samuel Axon

The clear cases actually have a circle where the edges of the MagSafe magnets are, which is pretty nice for getting the magnets to snap without any futzing—though it’s really not necessary, since, well, magnets attract. They have a firm plastic shell that is likely to do a good job of protecting your phone when you drop it.

The Silicone case is… fine. Frankly, it’s ludicrously priced for what it is. It offers no advantages over a plethora of third-party cases that cost exactly half as much.

Recommendation: The clear case has its advantages, but the silicone case is awfully expensive for what it is. Generally, third party is the way to go. There are lots of third-party cases from manufacturers who got licensed by Apple, and you can generally trust those will work with wireless charging just fine. That was the whole point of the MagSafe branding, after all.

The MagSafe charger

At $39 or $49 (depending on length, one meter or two), these charging cables are pretty pricey. But they’re also highly durable, relatively efficient, and super easy to use. In most cases, you might as well just use any old USB-C cable.

There are some situations where you might prefer this option, though—for example, if you prop your iPhone up against your bedside lamp like a nightstand clock, or if you (like me) listen to audiobooks on wired earbuds while you fall asleep via the USB-C port, but you want to make sure the phone is still charging.

A charger with cable sits on a table — The MagSafe charger for the iPhone. Credit: Samuel Axon

So the answer on Apple’s MagSafe charger is that it’s pretty specialized, but it’s arguably the best option for those who have some specific reason not to just use USB-C.

Recommendation: Just use a USB-C cable, unless you have a specific reason to go this route—shoutout to my fellow individuals who listen to audiobooks while falling asleep but need headphones so as not to keep their spouse awake but prefer wired earbuds that use the USB-C port over AirPods to avoid losing AirPods in the bed covers. I’m sure there are dozens of us! If you do go this route, Apple’s own cable is the safest pick.

Apple’s FineWoven Wallet with MagSafe

While I’d long known people with dense wallet cases for their iPhones, I was excited about Apple’s leather (and later FineWoven) wallet with MagSafe when it was announced. I felt the wallet cases I’d seen were way too bulky, making the phone less pleasant to use.

Unfortunately, Apple’s FineWoven Wallet with MagSafe might be the worst official MagSafe product.

The problem is that the “durable microtwill” material that Apple went with instead of leather is prone to scratching, as many owners have complained. That’s a bit frustrating for something that costs nearly $60.

Apple's MagSafe wallet on a table — The MagSafe wallet has too many limitations to be worthwhile for most people. Credit: Samuel Axon

The wallet also only holds a few cards, and putting cards here means you probably can’t or at least shouldn’t try to use wireless charging, because the cards would be between the charger and the phone. Apple itself warns against doing this.

For those reasons, skip the FineWoven Wallet. There are lots of better-designed iPhone wallet cases out there, even though they might not be so minimalistic.

Recommendation: Skip this one. It’s a great idea in theory, but in practice and execution, it just doesn’t deliver. There are zillions of great wallet cases out there if you don’t mind a bit of bulk—just know you’ll have some wireless charging issues with many cases.

Other categories offered by third parties

Frankly, a lot of the more interesting applications of MagSafe for the iPhone are only available through third parties.

There are monitor mounts for using the iPhone as a webcam with Macs; bedside table stands for charging the phone while it acts as a smart display; magnetic phone stands for car dashboards that let you use GPS while you drive using MagSafe; magnetic versions for attaching power banks and portable batteries; and of course, multi-device chargers similar to the infamously canceled Airpower charging pad Apple had planned to release at one point. (I have the Belkin Boost Charge Pro 3-in-1 on my desk, and it works great.)

It’s not the revolution of new applications that some imagined when MagSafe was launched, but that’s not really a surprise. Still, there are some quality products out there. It’s both strange and a pity that Apple hasn’t made most of them itself.

No revolution here

Truthfully, MagSafe never seemed like it would be a huge smash. iPhones already supported Qi wireless charging before it came along, so the idea of magnets keeping the device aligned with the charger was always the main appeal—its existence potentially saved some users from ending up with chargers that didn’t quite work right with their phones, provided those users bought officially licensed MagSafe accessories.

Apple’s MagSafe accessories are often overpriced compared to alternatives from Belkin and other frequent partners. MagSafe seemed to do a better job bringing some standards to certain third-party products than it did bringing life to Apple’s offerings, and it certainly did not bring about a revolution of new accessory categories to the iPhone.

Still, it’s hard to blame anyone for choosing to go with Apple’s versions; the world of third-party accessories can be messy, and going the first-party route is generally a surefire way to know you’re not going to have many problems, even if the sticker’s a bit steep.

You could shop for third-party options, but sometimes you want a sure thing. With the possible exception of the FineWoven Wallet, all of these Apple-made MagSafe products are sure things.

Samuel Axon is a senior editor at Ars Technica. He covers Apple, software development, gaming, AI, entertainment, and mixed reality. He has been writing about gaming and technology for nearly two decades at Engadget, PC World, Mashable, Vice, Polygon, Wired, and others. He previously ran a marketing and PR agency in the gaming industry, led editorial for the TV network CBS, and worked on social media marketing strategy for Samsung Mobile at the creative agency SPCSHP. He also is an independent software and game developer for iOS, Windows, and other platforms, and he is a graduate of DePaul University, where he studied interactive media and software development.

Are any of Apple’s official MagSafe accessories worth buying? Read More »

Review: Amazon’s 2024 Kindle Paperwhite makes the best e-reader a little better

Amazon, e-ink, e-reader, kindle, kindle colorsoft, kindle paperwhite, Reviews, Tech / Tim Belzer / November 15, 2024

A fast Kindle?

From left to right: 2024 Paperwhite, 2021 Paperwhite, and 2018 Paperwhite. Note not just the increase in screen size, but also how the screen corners get a little more rounded with each release. Credit: Andrew Cunningham

I don’t want to oversell how fast the new Kindle is, because it’s still not like an E-Ink screen can really compete with an LCD or OLED panel for smoothness of animations or UI responsiveness. But even compared to the 2021 Paperwhite, tapping buttons, opening menus, opening books, and turning pages feels considerably snappier—not quite instantaneous, but without the unexplained pauses and hesitation that longtime Kindle owners will be accustomed to. For those who type out notes in their books, even the onscreen keyboard feels fluid and responsive.

Compared to the 2018 Paperwhite (again, the first waterproofed model, and the last one with a 6-inch screen and micro USB port), the difference is night and day. While it still feels basically fine for reading books, I find that the older Kindle can sometimes pause for so long when opening menus or switching between things that I wonder if it’s still working or whether it’s totally locked up and frozen.

“Kindle benchmarks” aren’t really a thing, but I attempted to quantify the performance improvements by running some old browser benchmarks using the Kindle’s limited built-in web browser and Google’s ancient Octane 2.0 test—the 2018, 2021, and 2024 Kindles are all running the same software update here (5.17.0), so this should be a reasonably good apples-to-apples comparison of single-core processor speed.

The new Kindle is actually way faster than older models. Credit: Andrew Cunningham

The 2021 Kindle was roughly 30 percent faster than the 2018 Kindle. The new Paperwhite is nearly twice as fast as the 2021 Paperwhite, and well over twice as fast as the 2018 Paperwhite. That alone is enough to explain the tangible difference in responsiveness between the devices.

Turning to the new Paperwhite’s other improvements: compared side by side, the new screen is appreciably bigger, more noticeably so than the 0.2-inch size difference might suggest. And it doesn’t make the Paperwhite much larger, though it is a tiny bit taller in a way that will wreck compatibility with existing cases. But you only really appreciate the upgrade if you’re coming from one of the older 6-inch Kindles.

Review: Amazon’s 2024 Kindle Paperwhite makes the best e-reader a little better Read More »

After working with a dual-screen portable monitor for a month, I’m a believer

laptops, Monitors, Reviews, Tech / Paul Patrick / November 14, 2024

I typically used the FlipGo Pro with a 16: 10 laptop screen, meaning that the portable monitor provided me with a taller view that differed from what most laptops offer. When the FlipGo Pro is working as one unified screen, it delivers a 6:2 (or 2:6) experience. These more unique aspect ratios, combined with the abilities to easily rotate the lightweight FlipGo Pro from portrait to landscape mode and swap between a dual or unified monitor, amplified the gadget’s versatility and minimal desk space requirement.

Dual-screen monitors edge out dual-screen PCs

The appeal of a device that can bring you two times the screen space without being a burden to carry around is obvious. Many of the options until now, however, have felt experimental, fragile, or overly niche for most people to consider.

I recently gave praise to the concept behind a laptop with a secondary screen that attaches to the primary through a 360-degree hinge on the primary display’s left side:

Unlike the dual-screen Lenovo Yoga Book 9i, the AceMagic X1 has an integrated keyboard and touchpad. However, the PC’s questionable durability and dated components and its maker’s sketchy reputation (malware was once found inside AceMagic mini PCs) prevent me from recommending the laptop.

Meanwhile, something like the FlipGo Pro does something that today’s dual-screen laptops fail to do in their quest to provide extra screen space. With its quick swapping from one to two screens and simple adjustability, it’s easy for users of various OSes to maximize its versatility. As tech companies continue exploring the integration of extra screens, products like the FlipGo Pro remind me of the importance of evolution over sacrifice. A second screen has less value if it takes the place of critical features or quality builds. While a dual portable monitor isn’t as flashy or groundbreaking as a laptop with two full-size displays built in, when well-executed, it could be significantly more helpful—which, at least for now, is groundbreaking enough.

After working with a dual-screen portable monitor for a month, I’m a believer Read More »

Review: The fastest of the M4 MacBook Pros might be the least interesting one

Apple, apple m4, Apple silicon, m4, m4 max, m4 pro, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Reviews, Tech / Rejus Almole / November 12, 2024

Not a surprising generational update, but a lot of progress for just one year.

The new M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pros. Credit: Andrew Cunningham

In some ways, my review of the new MacBook Pros will be a lot like my review of the new iMac. This is the third year and fourth generation of the Apple Silicon-era MacBook Pro design, and outwardly, few things have changed about the new M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max laptops.

Here are the things that are different. Boosted RAM capacities, across the entire lineup but most crucially in the entry-level $1,599 M4 MacBook Pro, make the new laptops a shade cheaper and more versatile than they used to be. The new nano-texture display option, a $150 upgrade on all models, is a lovely matte-textured coating that completely eliminates reflections. There’s a third Thunderbolt port on the baseline M4 model (the M3 model had two), and it can drive up to three displays simultaneously (two external, plus the built-in screen). There’s a new webcam. It looks a little nicer and has a wide-angle lens that can show what’s on your desk instead of your face if you want it to. And there are new chips, which we’ll get to.

That is essentially the end of the list. If you are still using an Intel-era MacBook Pro, I’ll point you to our previous reviews, which mostly celebrate the improvements (more and different kids of ports, larger screens) while picking one or two nits (they are a bit larger and heavier than late-Intel MacBook Pros, and the display notch is an eyesore).

New chips: M4 and M4 Pro

That leaves us with the M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max.

We’ve already talked a bunch about the M4 and M4 Pro in our reviews of the new iMac and the new Mac minis, but to recap, the M4 is a solid generational upgrade over the M3, thanks to its two extra efficiency cores on the CPU side. Comparatively, the M4 Pro is a much larger leap over the M3 Pro, mostly because the M3 Pro was such a mild update compared to the M2 Pro.

The M4’s single-core performance is between 14 and 21 percent faster than the M3s in our tests, and tests that use all the CPU cores are usually 20 or 30 percent faster. The GPU is occasionally as much as 33 percent faster than the M3 in our tests, though more often, the improvements are in the single or low double digits.

For the M4 Pro—bearing in mind that we tested the fully enabled version with 14 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores, and not the slightly cut down version sold in less expensive machines—single-core CPU performance is up by around 20-ish percent in our tests, in line with the regular M4’s performance advantage over the regular M3. The huge boost to CPU core count increases multicore performance by between 50 and 60 percent most of the time, a substantial boost that actually allows the M4 Pro to approach the CPU performance of the 2022 M1 Ultra. GPU performance is up by around 33 percent compared to M3 Pro, thanks to the additional GPU cores and memory bandwidth, but it’s still not as fast as any of Apple’s Max or Ultra chips, even the M1-series.

M4 Max

And finally, there’s the M4 Max (again, the fully enabled version, this one with 12 P-cores, 4 E-cores, 40 GPU cores, and 546GB/s of memory bandwidth). Single-core CPU performance is the biggest leap forward, jumping by between 18 and 28 percent in single-threaded benchmarks. Multi-core performance is generally up by between 15 and 20 percent. That’s a more-than-respectable generational leap, but it’s nowhere near what happened for the M4 Pro since both M3 Mac and M4 Max have the same CPU core counts.

The only weird thing we noticed in our testing was an inconsistent performance in our Handbrake video encoding test. Every time we ran it, it reliably took either five minutes and 20 seconds or four minutes and 30 seconds. For the slower result, power usage was also slightly reduced, which suggests to me that some kind of throttling is happening during this workload; we saw roughly these two results over and over across a dozen or so runs, each separated by at least five minutes to allow the Mac to cool back down. High Power mode didn’t make a difference in either direction.

	CPU P/E-cores	GPU cores	RAM options	Display support (including internal)	Memory bandwidth
Apple M4 Max (low)	10/4	32	36GB	Up to five	410GB/s
Apple M4 Max (high)	12/4	40	48/64/128GB	Up to five	546GB/s
Apple M3 Max (high)	12/4	40	48/64/128GB	Up to five	409.6GB/s
Apple M2 Max (high)	8/4	38	64/96GB	Up to five	409.6GB/s

We shared our data with Apple and haven’t received a response. Note that we tested the M4 Max in the 16-inch MacBook Pro, and we’d expect any kind of throttling behavior to be slightly more noticeable in the 14-inch Pro since it has less room for cooling hardware.

The faster result is more in line with the rest of our multi-core tests for the M4 Max. Even the slower of the two results is faster than the M3 Max, albeit not by much. We also didn’t notice similar behavior for any of the other multi-core tests we ran. It’s worth keeping in mind if you plan to use the MacBook Pro for CPU-heavy, sustained workloads that will run for more than a few minutes at a time.

GPU performance in our tests varies widely compared to the M4 Max, with results ranging from as little as 10 or 15 percent (for 4K and 1440p GFXBench tests—the bigger boost to the 1080p version is coming partially from CPU improvements) to as high as 30 percent for the Cinebench 2024 GPU test. I suspect the benefits will vary depending on how much the apps you’re running benefit from the M4 Max’s improved memory bandwidth.

Power efficiency in the M4 Max isn’t dramatically different from the M3 Max—it’s more efficient by virtue of using roughly the same amount of power as the M3 Max and running a little faster, consuming less energy overall to do the same amount of work.

Finally, in a test of High Power mode, we did see some very small differences in the GFXBench scores, though not in other GPU-based tests like Cinebench and Blender or in any CPU-based tests. You might notice slightly better performance in games if you’re running them, but as with the M4 Pro, it doesn’t seem hugely beneficial. This is different from how it’s handled in many Windows PCs, including Snapdragon X Elite PCs with Arm-based chips in them because they do have substantially different performance in high-performance mode relative to the default “balanced” mode.

Nice to see you, yearly upgrade

The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros. The nano-texture glass displays eliminate all of the normal glossy-screen reflections and glare. Credit: Andrew Cunningham

The new MacBook Pros are all solid year-over-year upgrades, though they’ll be most interesting to people who bought their last MacBook Pro toward the end of the Intel era sometime in 2019 or 2020. The nano-texture display, extra speed, and extra RAM may be worth a look for owners of the M1 MacBook Pros if you truly need the best performance you can get in a laptop. But I’d still draw a pretty bright line between latter-day Intel Macs (aging, hot, getting toward the end of the line for macOS updates, not getting all the features of current macOS versions anyway) and any kind of Apple Silicon Mac (fully supported with all features, still-current designs, barely three years old at most).

Frankly, the computer that benefits the most is probably the $1,599 entry-level MacBook Pro, which, thanks to the 16GB RAM upgrade and improved multi-monitor support, is a fairly capable professional computer. Of all the places where Apple’s previous 8GB RAM floor felt inappropriate, it was in the M3 MacBook Pro. With the extra ports, high-refresh-rate screen, and nano-texture coating option, it’s a bit easier to articulate the kind of user who that laptop is actually for, separating it a bit from the 15-inch MacBook Air.

The M4 Pro version also deserves a shout-out for its particularly big performance jump compared to the M2 Pro and M3 Pro generations. It’s a little odd to have a MacBook Pro generation where the middle chip is the most impressive of the three, and that’s not to discount how fast the M4 Max is—it’s just the reality of the situation given Apple’s focus on efficiency rather than performance for the M3 Pro.

The good

RAM upgrades across the whole lineup. This particularly benefits the $1,599 M4 MacBook Air, which jumps from 8GB to 16GB
M4 and M4 Max are both respectable generational upgrades and offer substantial performance boosts from Intel or even M1 Macs
M4 Pro is a huge generational leap, as Apple’s M3 Pro used a more conservative design
Nano-texture display coating is very nice and not too expensive relative to the price of the laptops
Better multi-monitor support for M4 version
Other design things—ports, 120 Hz screen, keyboard, and trackpad—are all mostly the same as before and are all very nice

The bad

Occasional evidence of M4 Max performance throttling, though it’s inconsistent, and we only saw it in one of our benchmarks
Need to jump all the way to M4 Max to get the best GPU performance

The ugly

Expensive, especially once you start considering RAM and storage upgrades

Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue.

Review: The fastest of the M4 MacBook Pros might be the least interesting one Read More »

macOS 15 Sequoia: The Ars Technica review

AI, Apple, apple intelligence, Apple silicon, Features, iMac, Mac Pro, Mac Studio, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, macOS, macOS 15, macos sequoia, Reviews, Tech / Kris Guyer / September 16, 2024

The macOS 15 Sequoia update will inevitably be known as “the AI one” in retrospect, introducing, as it does, the first wave of “Apple Intelligence” features.

That’s funny because none of that stuff is actually ready for the 15.0 release that’s coming out today. A lot of it is coming “later this fall” in the 15.1 update, which Apple has been testing entirely separately from the 15.0 betas for weeks now. Some of it won’t be ready until after that—rumors say image generation won’t be ready until the end of the year—but in any case, none of it is ready for public consumption yet.

But the AI-free 15.0 release does give us a chance to evaluate all of the non-AI additions to macOS this year. Apple Intelligence is sucking up a lot of the media oxygen, but in most other ways, this is a typical 2020s-era macOS release, with one or two headliners, several quality-of-life tweaks, and some sparsely documented under-the-hood stuff that will subtly change how you experience the operating system.

The AI-free version of the operating system is also the one that all users of the remaining Intel Macs will be using, since all of the Apple Intelligence features require Apple Silicon. Most of the Intel Macs that ran last year’s Sonoma release will run Sequoia this year—the first time this has happened since 2019—but the difference between the same macOS version running on different CPUs will be wider than it has been. It’s a clear indicator that the Intel Mac era is drawing to a close, even if support hasn’t totally ended just yet.

macOS 15 Sequoia: The Ars Technica review Read More »

Asus ROG Ally X review: Better performance and feel in a pricey package

ASUS, asus rog ally x, Features, gaming, gaming handheld, Reviews, ROG Ally, rog ally x, steam deck, Tech, Windows / Kris Guyer / August 31, 2024

Faster, grippier, pricier, and just as Windows-ed —

A great hardware refresh, but it stands out for its not-quite-handheld cost.

Kevin Purdy – Updated Aug 30, 2024 11: 30 am UTC

It's hard to fit the perfomance-minded but pricey ROG Ally X into a simple product category. It's also tricky to fit it into a photo, at the right angle, while it's in your hands. — Enlarge / It’s hard to fit the perfomance-minded but pricey ROG Ally X into a simple product category. It’s also tricky to fit it into a photo, at the right angle, while it’s in your hands.

Kevin Purdy

The first ROG Ally from Asus, a $700 Windows-based handheld gaming PC, performed better than the Steam Deck, but it did so through notable compromises on battery life. The hardware also had a first-gen feel and software jank from both Asus’ own wraparound gaming app and Windows itself. The Ally asked an awkward question: “Do you want to pay nearly 50 percent more than you’d pay for a Steam Deck for a slightly faster but far more awkward handheld?”

The ROG Ally X makes that question more interesting and less obvious to answer. Yes, it’s still a handheld that’s trying to hide Windows annoyances, and it’s still missing trackpads, without which some PC games just feel bad. And (review spoiler) it still eats a charge faster than the Steam Deck OLED on less demanding games.

But the improvements Asus made to this X sequel are notable, and its new performance stats make it more viable for those who want to play more demanding games on a rather crisp screen. At $800, or $100 more than the original ROG Ally with no extras thrown in, you have to really, really want the best possible handheld gaming experience while still tolerating Windows’ awkward fit.

What’s new in the Ally X

Specs at a glance: Asus ROG Ally X
Display	7-inch IPS panel: 1920×1080, 120 Hz, 7 ms, 500 nits, 100% sRGB, FreeSync, Gorilla Glass Victus
OS	Windows 11 (Home)
CPU	AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme (Zen 4, 8 core, 24M cache, 5.10 Ghz, 9-30 W (as reviewed)
RAM	24GB LPDDR5X 6400 MHz
GPU	AMD Radeon RDNA3, 2.7 GHz, 8.6 Teraflops
Storage	M.2 NVME 2280 Gen4x4, 1TB (as reviewed)
Networking	Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Battery	80 Wh (65W max charge)
Ports	USB-C (3.2 Gen2, DPI 1.4, PD 3.0), USB-C (DP, PD 3.0), 3.5 mm audio, Micro SD
Size	11×4.3×0.97 in. (280×111×25 mm)
Weight	1.49 lbs (678 g)
Price as reviewed	$800

The ROG Ally X is essentially the ROG Ally with a bigger battery packed into a shell that is impressively not much bigger or heavier, more storage and RAM, and two USB-C ports instead of one USB-C and one weird mobile port that nobody could use. Asus reshaped the device and changed the face-button feel, and it all feels noticeably better, especially now that gaming sessions can last longer. The company also moved the microSD card slot so that your cards don’t melt, which is nice.

There’s a bit more to each of those changes that we’ll get into, but that’s the short version. Small spec bumps wouldn’t have changed much about the ROG Ally experience, but the changes Asus made for the X version do move the needle. Having more RAM available has a sizable impact on the frame performance of demanding games, and you can see that in our benchmarks.

We kept the LCD Steam Deck in our benchmarks because its chip has roughly the same performance as its OLED upgrade. But it’s really the Ally-to-Ally-X comparisons that are interesting; the Steam Deck has been fading back from AAA viability. If you want the Ally X to run modern, GPU-intensive games as fast as is feasible for a battery-powered device, it can now do that a lot better—for longer—and feel a bit better while you do.

The Rog Ally X has better answered the question “why not just buy a gaming laptop?” than its predecessor. At $800 and up, you might still ask how much portability is worth to you. But the Ally X is not as much of a niche (Windows-based handheld) inside a niche (moderately higher-end handhelds).

I normally would not use this kind of handout image with descriptive text embedded, but Asus is right: the ROG Ally X is indeed way more comfortable (just maybe not all-caps).

Asus

How it feels using the Rog Ally X

My testing of the Rog Ally X consisted of benchmarks, battery testing, and playing some games on the couch. Specifically: Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor and Tactical Breach Wizards on the devices lowest-power setting (“Silent”), Deathloop on its medium-power setting (“Performance”), and Shadow of the Erdtree on its all-out “Turbo” mode.

All four of those games worked mostly fine, but DRG: Survivor pushed the boundaries of Silent mode a bit when its levels got crowded with enemies and projectiles. Most games could automatically figure out a decent settings scheme for the Ally X. If a game offers AMD’s FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) upscaling, you should at least try it; it’s usually a big boon to a game running on this handheld.

Overall, the ROG Ally X was a device I didn’t notice when I was using it, which is the best recommendation I can make. Perhaps I noticed that the 1080p screen was brighter, closer to the glass, and sharper than the LCD (original) Steam Deck. At handheld distance, the difference between 800p and 1080p isn’t huge to me, but the difference between LCD and OLED is more so. (Of course, an OLED version of the Steam Deck was released late last year.)

Asus ROG Ally X review: Better performance and feel in a pricey package Read More »

Sunrise alarm clock didn’t make waking up easier—but made sleeping more peaceful

Reviews, Smart Home, Tech / Kris Guyer / August 31, 2024

The Hatch Restore 2 with one of its lighting options on.

Scharon Harding
The time is visible here, but you can disable that.

Scharon Harding
Here’s the clock with a light on in the dark.

Scharon Harding
A closer look.

Scharon Harding
The clock’s backside.

Scharon Harding

To say “I’m not a morning person” would be an understatement. Not only is it hard for me to be useful in the first hour (or so) of being awake, but it’s hard for me to wake up. I mean, really hard.

I’ve tried various recommendations and tricks: I’ve set multiple alarms and had coffee ready and waiting, and I’ve put my alarm clock far from my bed and kept my blinds open so the sun could wake me. But I’m still prone to sleeping through my alarm or hitting snooze until the last minute.

The Hatch Restore 2, a smart alarm clock with lighting that mimics sunrises and sunsets, seemed like a technologically savvy approach to realizing my dreams of becoming a morning person.

After about three weeks, though, I’m still no early bird. But the smart alarm clock is still earning a spot on my nightstand.

How it works

Hatch refers to the Restore 2 as a “smart sleep clock.” That’s marketing speak, but to be fair, the Restore 2 does help me sleep. A product page describes the clock as targeting users’ “natural circadian rhythm, so you can get your best sleep.” There’s some reasoning here. Circadian rhythms are “the physical, mental, and behavioral changes an organism experiences over a 24-hour cycle,” per the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Circadian rhythms affect our sleep patterns (as well as other biological aspects, like appetite), NIGMS says.

The Restore 2’s pitch is a clock programmed to emit soothing lighting, which you can make change gradually as it approaches bedtime (like get darker), partnered with an alarm clock that simulates a sunrise with brightening lighting that can help you wake up more naturally. You can set the clock to play various soothing sounds while you’re winding down, sleeping, and/or as your alarm sound.

The clock needs a Wi-Fi connection and its app to set up the device. The free app has plenty of options, including sounds, colors, and tips for restful sleep (there’s a subscription for extra features and sounds for $5 per month, but thankfully, it’s optional).

Out like a light

This is, by far, the most customizable alarm clock I’ve ever used. The app was a little overwhelming at first, but once I got used to it, it was comforting to be able to set Routines or different lighting/sounds for different days. For example, I set mine to play two hours of “Calming Singing Bowls” with a slowly dimming sunset effect when I press the “Rest” button. Once I press the button again, the clock plays ocean sounds until my alarm goes off.

Routines in the Restore 2 app.

Scharon Harding/Hatch
Setting a sunrise alarm part one.

Scharon Harding/Hatch
Setting a sunrise alarm part two. (Part three would show a volume slider).

Scharon Harding/Hatch

I didn’t think I needed a sleeping aid—I’m really good at sleeping. But I was surprised at how the Restore 2 helped me fall asleep more easily by blocking unpleasant noises. In my room, the biggest culprit is an aging air conditioner that’s loud while on, and it gets even more uproarious when automatically turning itself on and off (a feature that has become a bug I can’t disable).

As I’ve slept these past weeks, the clock has served as a handy, adjustable colored light to have on in the evening or as a cozy nightlight. The ocean noises have been blending in with the AC’s sounds, clearing my mind. I’d sleepily ponder if certain sounds I heard were coming from the clock or my AC. That’s the dull, fruitless thinking that quickly gets me snoozing.

Playing sounds to fall asleep is obviously not new (some of my earlier memories are falling asleep to a Lady and the Tramp cassette). Today, many would prefer using an app or playing a long video over getting a $170 alarm clock for the experience. Still, the convenience of setting repeating Routines on a device dedicated to being a clock turned out to be an asset. It’s also nice to be able to start a Routine by pressing an on-device button rather than having to use my phone to play sleeping sounds.

But the idea of the clock’s lighting and sounds helping me wind down in the hours before bed would only succeed if I was by the clock when winding down. I’m usually spending my last waking moments in my living room. So unless I’m willing to change my habits, or get a Restore 2 for the living room, this feature is lost on me.

Sunrise alarm clock didn’t make waking up easier—but made sleeping more peaceful Read More »

Dual-screen laptops make more sense with this spiral notebook-like hinge

laptops, Reviews, Tech / Paul Patrick / August 23, 2024

Dual-screen PC with a twist —

Having two laptop screens needn’t mean foregoing a built-in keyboard.

Scharon Harding – Aug 23, 2024 7: 57 pm UTC

On the left is Screen B, on the right is Screen A.

Scharon Harding
The closed laptop’s lid.

Scharon Harding
Opening the lid reveals the underside of Screen B, which is on top of Screen A.

Scharon Harding
Screen B wraps around and snaps onto the computer’s lid.

Scharon Harding
A left-profile view.

Scharon Harding
A top-down view of the hinge with the secondary screen wrapped around to the back.

Scharon Harding

As I write this article on the AceMagic X1, two things stand out most. The first is its convenience—being able to write on one screen and view specs and information about the laptop and a chat window on a second integrated screen. The second is that with each aggressive keypress, that convenient secondary screen is jiggling just enough to distract me and rattle my nerves.

I often use sleek, small-screened ultralight laptops, so I find dual-screen laptops intriguing. The dual-screen laptops I’ve used up until this point have come with a huge caveat, though: no integrated keyboard. That’s what makes AceMagic’s X1 stand out to me. Not only does its secondary screen swing out from the system horizontally (instead of vertically), but the laptop manages to include two 13-inch screens and a traditional keyboard and touchpad.

But the somewhat precarious way that Screen B hangs off the left side of Screen A, floating above my tabletop, proves that even an integrated keyboard can’t resolve all the limitations of dual-screen laptop designs.

Some background

Specs at a glance: AceMagic X1 (as reviewed)
Screen	2x 14-inch 1920×1080 IPS
OS	Windows 11 Home
CPU	Intel Core i7-1255U (13th Gen SKU coming soon, an AceMagic rep told me)
RAM	16GB DDR4-3200
Storage	1TB M.2 NVMe 2280 PCIe 3.0 SSD
Networking	Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Ports	2x USB-C, 1x USB-A, 1x HDMI 2.0
Dimensions	13.3×8.7×1 inches
Dimensions	13.3×8.7×1 inches
Weight	4.27 lbs
Warranty	3 years
Price (MSRP)	$900 as of this writing

For the unfamiliar, AceMagic is a PC brand owned by Chinese company Shenzhen Shanminheng Technology Co., Ltd. AceMagic sells other laptops besides the X1. But if you know AceMagic, it’s probably because of their Mini PCs—or because of the malware that was discovered inside of some of its Mini PCs (AceMagic has responded to this).

With this recent history in mind, what makes the X1 most interesting isn’t its specs or benchmark results, but rather one of the most distinct and clever approaches to giving laptop users extra screen space.

How the screens work

The X1 has two separate 14-inch IPS non-touch screens, each with 1920×1080 resolution. This differs from other dual-screen laptops on the market. For example, Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i has two 13.3-inch OLED touchscreens with 2880×1800 resolution in each screen.

Enlarge / Pictured is the Yoga Book 9i with its Bluetooth keyboard detached.

Scharon Harding

The Yoga 9i—and virtually every other laptop with two laptop-sized screens—uses a clamshell laptop form factor but with the keyboard/touchpad replaced with a screen. They come with detachable Bluetooth keyboards that inevitably have shallow keys. But using the X1 feels more like using a normal clamshell, down to the tactile keyboard. AceMagic (along with Windows 11’s Snap layouts) simplifies use of the dual screens and makes good use of the X1’s deck, with features for controlling which of the two screens is on.

The deck's buttons make the PC display on Screen A only, on Screen B only, Screen A and B as extended displays, or duplicating the displays. — Enlarge / The deck’s buttons make the PC display on Screen A only, on Screen B only, Screen A and B as extended displays, or duplicating the displays.

Scharon Harding

Getting to any display, though, requires opening the lid and then opening Screen B, which is folded on top of Screen A like a book cover. Once you flip the secondary screen out to the left, you can use one screen or both screens, divided by a striking hinge system.

A close-up of the X1's hinge. — Enlarge / A close-up of the X1’s hinge.

Scharon Harding

The hinge supports up to 360-degree movement, meaning the secondary screen can flip all the way back, like the cover of a spiral notebook, and snap onto the back of the lid, allowing someone behind the laptop to view it.

Dual-screen laptops make more sense with this spiral notebook-like hinge Read More »

Pixel 9 phones: The Gemini AI stuff, reviewed

Google, Google Pixel, google pixel 9, google pixel 9 pro, google pixel 9 pro xl, pixel 9, pixel 9 pro, pixel 9 pro xl, Reviews, Tech / Paul Patrick / August 21, 2024

We can put phones on the moon, but we can’t set an alarm (yet) —

A newcomer dives into AI with the Pixel 9 Pro.

Kevin Purdy – Updated Aug 21, 2024 5: 18 pm UTC

Three Pixel 9 phones, but with the background set to an AI-generated moonscape, with another moon visible in the background. — Enlarge / I asked Gemini to “reimagine” the background of this Pixel 9 group shot (originally on beige paper) as “science fiction moonscape,” and then used “Auto frame” to expand the initially tight shot. Maybe that explains why this moon surface has another moon visible?

Kevin Purdy / Gemini AI

Google made its AI assistant, Gemini, central to its pitch to reviewers and the public—it’s what makes Pixel phones different from any other Android phone, the company says. In fact, you have to go 24 minutes into Google’s keynote presentation, and cringe through a couple of live AI demo failures, before Pixel hardware details are even mentioned.

I’ve been using a Pixel 9 Pro as my daily phone for about a week. There is almost nothing new about the Pixel 9 that is not linked to Gemini in some way, minus the physical design of the thing. So this review will look at how Gemini performs on the Pixel 9, which is Google’s premier platform for Gemini at the moment. While some of the Pixel 9’s AI-powered features may make it to other Android-powered phones in future Android releases, that’s not a certainty. AI—as a free trial, as a custom Google-designed chip, and as an OS integration—is something Google is using to set Pixels apart.

I wrote a separate review of the three main Pixel 9 devices. But considering the Pixel 9 as a hardware-only product is strange. The short version is that the phones themselves are capable evolutions of the Pixel series and probably the best versions Google has made yet, and they’re sold at prices that reflect that. If you love Pixel phones, are eager to upgrade, and plan to ignore Gemini specifically and AI features generally, that might be all you need to know.

But if you buy a Pixel 9 Pro, Pro XL, or Pro Fold (coming later), starting at $1,000 for the Pro, you get access to a free year of Gemini Advanced ($240 per year after that), and you’ll see Gemini suggested in every Google-made corner of the device. So let’s talk about Gemini as a phone task assistant, image editor, and screenshot librarian. I used Gemini as much as felt reasonable during my week with a Pixel 9 Pro.

I’m very new to general-purpose AI chatbots and prompt-based image generation and had never used an “advanced” model like Gemini Live before. Those with more experience or pre-existing enthusiasm will likely get more out of Google’s Gemini tools than I did. I’ll also leave discussions of Google’s approach to on-device AI and its energy impacts for other articles.

Gemini, generally: Like a very fast blogger working for you

Testing the Pixel 9 Pro, I’ve had access to the most advanced versions of Gemini, both the “Advanced” model itself (a free one-year trial given to every Pixel 9 buyer) and its advanced speech dialogue, “Gemini Live.” Has it been helpful?

It has been like I hired a blogger to be available to me at all times, working much faster and with far fewer complaints than its human counterparts, at the push of a button. This blogger is a capable if unstylish writer, one who can look things up quickly and cobble together some facts and advice. But the blogger is also easily distracted and not somebody you’d inherently trust with key decisions without further research, perhaps into the very sources they’re citing.

I should know—I used to be that kind of fast-writing, six-posts-a-day blogger when I worked at Lifehacker. In the late 2000s, I was in my mid-to-late 20s, and I certainly didn’t have all the knowledge and experience needed to write confidently about every possible subject under the broad topics of “technology,” “productivity,” and “little things that might improve your life if you think about them for a bit.”

But I could certainly search, read, and triangulate the advice of a few sites and blogs and come up with reasonable summaries and suggestions. Depending on how you looked at it, I was an agile general assignment writer, a talented bullshitter, or some combination thereof.

Pixel 9 phones: The Gemini AI stuff, reviewed Read More »

Surface Pro 11 and Laptop 7 review: An Apple Silicon moment for Windows

Features, Reviews, surface laptop, surface pro, Tech / Rejus Almole / July 2, 2024

Microsoft's Surface Pro 11, the first flagship Surface to ship exclusively using Arm processors. — Enlarge / Microsoft’s Surface Pro 11, the first flagship Surface to ship exclusively using Arm processors.

Andrew Cunningham

Microsoft has been trying to make Windows-on-Arm-processors a thing for so long that, at some point, I think I just started assuming it was never actually going to happen.

The first effort was Windows RT, which managed to run well enough on the piddly Arm hardware available at the time but came with a perplexing new interface and couldn’t run any apps designed for regular Intel- and AMD-based Windows PCs. Windows RT failed, partly because a version of Windows that couldn’t run Windows apps and didn’t use a familiar Windows interface was ignoring two big reasons why people keep using Windows.

Windows-on-Arm came back in the late 2010s, with better performance and a translation layer for 32-bit Intel apps in tow. This version of Windows, confined mostly to oddball Surface hardware and a handful of barely promoted models from the big PC OEMs, has quietly percolated for years. It has improved slowly and gradually, as have the Qualcomm processors that have powered these devices.

That brings us to this year’s flagship Microsoft Surface hardware: the 7th-edition Surface Laptop and the 11th-edition Surface Pro.

These devices are Microsoft’s first mainstream, flagship Surface devices to use Arm chips, whereas previous efforts have been side projects or non-default variants. Both hardware and software have improved enough that I finally feel I could recommend a Windows-on-Arm device to a lot of people without having to preface it with a bunch of exceptions.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has chosen to launch this impressive and capable Arm hardware and improved software alongside a bunch of generative AI features, including the Recall screen recorder, a feature that became so radioactively unpopular so quickly that Microsoft was forced to delay it to address major security problems (and perception problems stemming from the security problems).

The remaining AI features are so superfluous that I’ll ignore them in this review and cover them later on when we look closer at Windows 11’s 24H2 update. This is hardware that is good enough that it doesn’t need buzzy AI features to sell it. Windows on Arm continues to present difficulties, but the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop—and many of the other Arm-based Copilot+ PCs that have launched in the last couple of weeks—are a whole lot better than Arm PCs were even a year or two ago.

Familiar on the outside

Enlarge / The Surface Laptop 7 (left) and Surface Pro 11 (right) are either similar or identical to their Intel-powered predecessors on the outside.

Andrew Cunningham

When Apple released the first couple of Apple Silicon Macs back in late 2020, the one thing the company pointedly did not change was the exterior design. Apple didn’t comment much on it at the time, but the subliminal message was that these were just Macs, they looked the same as other Macs, and there was nothing to worry about.

Microsoft’s new flagship Surface hardware, powered exclusively by Arm-based chips for the first time rather than a mix of Arm and Intel/AMD, takes a similar approach: inwardly overhauled, externally unremarkable. These are very similar to the last (and the current) Intel-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop designs, and in the case of the Surface Pro, they actually look identical.

Both PCs still include some of the defining elements of Surface hardware designs. Both have screens with 3:2 aspect ratios that make them taller than most typical laptop displays, which still use 16: 10 or 16:9 aspect ratios. Those screens also support touch input via fingers or the Surface Pen, and they still use gently rounded corners (which Windows doesn’t formally recognize in-software, so the corners of your windows will get cut off, not that it has ever been a problem for me).

Surface Pro 11 and Laptop 7 review: An Apple Silicon moment for Windows Read More »

M4 iPad Pro review: Well, now you’re just showing off

11-inch iPad Pro, 13-inch iPad Pro, Apple, apple m4, Apple Magic Keyboard, apple pencil, Apple Pencil Pro, Features, ipad, ipad pro, oled, Reviews, tablet, Tech / Mike M. / May 14, 2024

Enlarge / The 2024, M4-equipped 13-inch iPad Pro.

Samuel Axon

The new iPad Pro is a technical marvel, with one of the best screens I’ve ever seen, performance that few other machines can touch, and a new, thinner design that no one expected.

It’s a prime example of Apple flexing its engineering and design muscles for all to see. Since it marks the company’s first foray into OLED beyond the iPhone or Watch, and the first time a new M-series chip has debuted on something other than a Mac, it comes across as a tech demo for where the company is headed beyond just tablets.

Still, it remains unclear why most people would spend one, two, or even three thousand dollars on a tablet that, despite its amazing hardware, does less than a comparably priced laptop—or at least does it a little more awkwardly, even if it’s impressively quick and has a gorgeous screen.

Specifications

There are some notable design changes in the 2024 iPad Pro, but really, it’s all about the specs—and it’s a more notable specs jump than usual in a couple of areas.

M4

First up, there’s the M4 chip. The previous iPad Pro had an M2 chip, and the latest Mac chip is the M3, so not only did the iPad Pro jump two whole generations, but this is the first time it has debuted the newest iteration of Apple Silicon. (Previously, new M-series chips launched on the Mac first and came to the iPad Pro a few months later.)

Using second-generation 3 nm tech, the M4’s top configuration has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core NPU. In that configuration, the 10-core CPU has four performance cores and six efficiency cores.

A lower configuration of the M4 has just nine CPU cores—three performance and six efficiency. Which one you get is tied to how much storage you buy. 256GB and 512GB models get nine CPU cores, while 1TB and 2TB get 10. Additionally, the two smaller storage sizes have 8GB of RAM to the larger ones’ 16GB.

This isn’t the first time Apple has tied RAM to storage configurations, but doing that with CPU cores is new for the iPad. Fortunately, the company is upfront about all this in its specs sheet, whereas the RAM differentiation wasn’t always clear to buyers in the past. (Both configurations claim 120GB/s memory bandwidth, though.)

Enlarge / Can the M4 help the iPad Pro bridge the gap between laptop and tablet? Mostly, it made me excited to see the M4 in a laptop.

Samuel Axon

Regardless of the specific configuration, the M4 promises substantially better CPU and GPU performance than the M2, and it supports hardware-accelerated ray-tracing via Metal, which some games and applications can take advantage of if developers put in the work to make it happen. (It looked great in a demo of Diablo Immortal I saw, but it’s unclear how often we’ll actually see it in the wild.)

Apple claims 1.5x faster CPU performance than the M2 and up to 4x faster graphics performance specifically on applications that involve new features like ray-tracing or hardware-accelerated mesh shading. It hasn’t made any specific GPU performance claims beyond those narrow cases.

A lot of both Apple’s attention and that of the media is focused on the Neural Engine, which is what Apple calls the NPU in the M-series chips. That’s because the company is expected to announce several large language model-based AI features in iOS, macOS, and iPadOS at its developer conference next month, and this is the chip that will power some of that on the iPad and Mac.

Some neat machine-learning features are already possible on the M4—you can generate audio tracks using certain instruments in your Logic Pro projects, apply tons of image optimizations to photos with just a click or two, and so on.

M4 iPad Pro review: Well, now you’re just showing off Read More »

Review: Pitch-perfect Renegade Nell is a gem of a series you won’t want to miss

culture, Disney Plus, Entertainment, Renegade Nell, Reviews, streaming television, TV reviews / Paul Patrick / April 15, 2024

Don’t call her “Nelly” —

It’s a good old-fashioned swashbuckling adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Jennifer Ouellette – Apr 15, 2024 8: 34 pm UTC

A young prodigal tomboy returns home from war and finds herself framed for murder in <em>Renegade Nell</em>.” src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/nellTOP-800×536.jpg”></img><figcaption>
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Award-winning British TV writer Sally Wainwright is best known for the dramatic series Happy Valley (2014–2023) and Gentleman Jack (2019–2022), the latter produced jointly by BBC and HBO. Wainwright partnered with Disney+ for her latest series, the resolutely PG-13 Renegade Nell, which is a different beast altogether: a good old-fashioned, swashbuckling comic adventure with a supernatural twist, featuring a sassy cross-dressing heroine forced to turn to highway robbery to survive.

(Some spoilers below, but no major reveals.)

Set in 1705 during the reign of Queen Anne (Jodi May, Gentleman Jack), the series stars Louisa Harland (Derry Girls) as Nell Jackson. Nell is a headstrong young woman with tomboy flair and a taste for adventure who returns home to her village of Tottenham after running off five years before to marry one Captain Jackson against her father’s wishes. She’s now widowed and possessed of occasional supernatural skills whenever someone threatens her, courtesy of a fairy sprite named Billy Blind (Nick Mohammed, aka Nathan from Ted Lasso), who has been tasked to protect Nell. Nell’s family thought she’d been killed on the battlefield alongside her husband, so her homecoming is a bit of a shock.

Alas, Nell soon runs afoul of one Thomas Blancheford (Jake Dunn), the louche, drunken offspring of the town’s landlord, Lord Blancheford (Pip Torrens, Preacher). Let’s just say things escalate, and Nell soon finds herself on the run and framed for murder, along with her two sisters, Roxy (Bo Bragason) and George (Florence Keen), and the Blanchefords’ former groomsman, Rasselas (Enyi Okoronkwo, The Lazarus Project). The group gets further assistance from a charming aristocratic dandy/secret highwayman named Charles Devereaux (Frank Dillane, The Essex Serpent).

Nell just wants to evade capture long enough to find an honest magistrate to clear her name. In the process, she finds herself battling the formidable black magic of the Earl of Poynton (Adrian Lester, Euphoria) and his acolyte, Thomas’ sister, Lady Sofia (Alice Kremelberg, The Sinner), and stumbles upon a sinister plot to dethrone the queen.

Louisa Harland stars as Nelly Jackson, who finds herself framed for murder.

Disney+
Nick Mohammed plays a sprite named Billy Blind, charged with protecting Nell.

Disney+
Charles Devereaux (Frank Dillane) is an impoverished aristocrat who does highway robberies on the side.

Disney+
Nell returns home to her family: father Sam Trotter and sisters George and Roxy.

Disney+
Thomas Blancheford (Jake Dunn) is a drunken louche who torments the villagers.

Disney+
The Earl of Poynton (Adrian Lester) dabbles in black magic and has sinister plans afoot.

Disney+
Lady Sofia Wilmot (Alice Kremelberg) chafes at the limitations imposed upon her by society.

Disney+
Nell and her sisters end up on the run.

Disney+
The Blanchefords’ former groom, Rasselas (Enyi Okoronkwo), helps the sisters.

Disney+
Rebellious young socialite Polly Honeycombe (Ashna Rabheru) is rather thrilled to be robbed by a dashing highwayman.

Disney+

The writing, pacing, and production values are top-notch, and the cast is terrific across the board. Lester brings a ruthless authority to Poynton’s spooky supernatural machinations, while Kremelberg is all seething bitter resentment and steely resolve as Lady Sofia, a brilliant, ambitious noblewoman (also widowed) who is far more qualified to run the family estate than her worthless brother, yet prohibited from inheriting by the laws of the time. Dillane’s Devereaux provides much of the witty repartee and comic relief, as does Joely Richardson’s (The Sandman) newspaper magnate, Lady Eularia Moggerhanger. And Ashna Rabheru (Red Rose) is delightful as a spoiled young aristocrat, Polly Honeycombe, with a lively romantic imagination who longs for something more in life than an arranged marriage.

But it’s Harland’s sensational portrayal of Nell that anchors it all. This is a role that requires her to be a tough rebellious tomboy in one scene and sport a posh accent and fancy dress in another; to balance action comedy with moments of genuine fear and heartbreaking tragedy. It’s also a highly physical role: Harland underwent several months of stunt training prior to filming. She does it all with refreshingly unpretentious aplomb.

Renegade Nell keeps the action flowing and wisely never takes itself too seriously. Sure, there is injustice, class warfare, and strong intelligent women chafing within the strict confines of traditional binary gender roles—and Polly Honeycombe definitely qualifies as bicurious. But Wainwright never lets the story get bogged down in heavy-handed symbolism or didacticism. Even Nell’s cross-dressing is handled with the lightest touch. Asked to comment on her character’s gender politics, Harland told the Guardian that there was no ulterior motive or agenda: “Why does she dress as a man? To pass as a man.” Simple as that.

Will we see more of feisty Nell and her delightfully eccentric compatriots? That’s up to Disney. There are plenty of questions left unanswered and definitely more stories to tell, both past and present. Series director Ben Taylor told Radio Times just after the premiere that a second season was currently being written and that it would likely involve some kind of time jump (given that some of the younger actors will visibly age), picking up with the various surviving characters from where they left off in the first season. But Disney has yet to confirm this. Here’s hoping this series finds the broader audience it so richly deserves. We’re rooting for you, Nelly… err, Nell.

Renegade Nell is now streaming on Disney+.

Trailer for Renegade Nell.

Review: Pitch-perfect Renegade Nell is a gem of a series you won’t want to miss Read More »