Latest articles by Michael L Hicks
Meta Quest 3S vs. Quest 3: More similar than you'd expect
Affordable or premium? You'll be shocked how alike the Meta Quest 3S is to the costlier Quest 3, though some budget-friendly Quest 2 traits return.
How to review app permissions on your Android phone
Stay private It's easy to lose track of which apps can access your files, camera, mic, location, contacts, and other private data. But you can double-check and change your app permissions with just a few taps.
The COROS PACE Pro is the new mid-range running watch to beat
Sunday Runday I tested the COROS PACE Pro's HR and GPS accuracy against the most powerful Garmin watch; turns out it's one of the best running watches out there.
Wear OS watches have a real problem with slow updates
Wear OS Weekly This six-week Wear OS 5 delay on last-gen Pixel Watches isn't that long (yet), but Wear OS has a long history of painful waits for new features.
Best fitness trackers 2024
Time to get fit! There are a lot of fitness trackers out there, from regular ol' fitness trackers to full-fledged smartwatches. If you're trying to figure out which one to buy, we're here to help.
Watching the Warriors in VR was so close to epic
Courtside seats I sat courtside at a Warriors-Rockets game in virtual reality. While it started off exciting, the novelty wore off because of some issues with cameras and UI.
Best Garmin watch 2024
Best for fitness training These are the best Garmin watches across the Venu, Forerunner, Instinct, Fenix, and other Garmin lineups, for every type of athlete.
I'm trying not to feel underwhelmed by this $1,100 watch
Mo money mo problems The Garmin Fenix 8 is like an onion: you can keep peeling back layers to find hidden depths, but also some aspects that make it hard to justify the $1,100 price tag.
Absolutely game-changing Google Maps update will cut down on wrong turns
Enhanced navigation I visited the Google Maps Street View garage to learn more about its new enhanced navigation features, which should cut back on your wrong turns in unfamiliar places.
One of the last MIP holdouts released its first AMOLED running watch
Seeing clearly The COROS PACE Pro is the brand's first AMOLED watch, and it's packed with upgrades designed to make it a compelling option for $100 less than the Garmin Forerunner 265.
Future Pixel Watches have three potential hardware paths, but I hope Google doesn't go with the most likely one
RISC factor Arm, RISC-V, or Oryon. Google has a few options to consider when developing future Pixel Watch models.
Meta's leaked 'Avalanche' could bring back Oculus Rift games, but I want more
Good old days of VR A long-rumored cloud gaming app was briefly leaked on the Quest Store. We suspect it'll arrive on Quest 3 soon, but used in a safe way — and we'd love to see something more ambitious.
Best smartwatches for students 2024
Student-friendly Need a portable calendar, workout tracker for your club, or a way to stay atop messages without disrupting class? These smartwatches may help you.
Smartwatches and rings make health a game; the challenge is being ready to lose
Sunday Runday Smartwatches and smart rings do a pretty good job of monitoring your health metrics, but you should also be mindful of how you feel.
Google Pixel 8a vs. Pixel 8: Every key difference
Pixel vs. pixel The Pixel 8a is barely a compromise compared to last year's Pixel 8, but there are a few downgrades in exchange for the $200 off the price tag.
Qualcomm VP discusses its 'next' chip for Wear OS watches
Wear OS Weekly I spoke with Qualcomm VP of Wearables Dino Bekis about the future of Wear OS watches, including the next Snapdragon SoC coming "next year."
Google Pixel Watch 3 review: Our favorite smartwatch
Running towards the goal The Google Pixel Watch 3 fixes most of the Watch 2's shortcomings with improved battery life, two enlarged displays, and improved running tools. It's imperfect, but trending in the right direction.
Qualcomm has intense AI plans for your next car with Cockpit Elite, and not just self-driving tech
Qualcomm Summit 2024 Cockpit Elite's Oryon CPU, 12X-boosted NPU, and ray-tracing graphics bring flagship mobile specs to "software-defined vehicles."
'The equation has changed': Qualcomm explains why the Snapdragon 8 Elite doesn't need efficiency cores
RIP efficiency cores I interviewed several Qualcomm product managers to figure out why efficiency cores aren't needed to make CPUs more efficient.
How long does the Meta Quest 3S battery life last?
Wireless compromise As part of our initial Quest 3S testing, we checked how long the Quest 3S will last. Thankfully, it appears Meta was honest when it gave its battery life estimate.
Snapdragon 8 Elite offers a dramatic power boost for 2025 flagship Android phones
Flagship power Qualcomm's new 3nm chip offers "Elite" performance growth over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
Only one smart ring's workout HR is reliable — and probably not the one you'd expect
Sunday Runday After the Oura Ring 4 launched with a major fitness focus, we decided to test it and other smart rings to determine how well they do for heart rate accuracy. Here's what we discovered.
New Kindle Scribe fixes my biggest complaint with the last one
Scribbling time Amazon's engineers acknowledged that the whole point of a Kindle Scribe should be to write all over ebooks via Active Canvas.
