7 New Gadgets to Have on Your Radar This Week

The big news of the week was undoubtedly Samsung’s Unpacked event, where it announced a bunch of foldable smartphones, smartwatches and a pair of wireless earbuds. But there were a bunch of other news-worthy things (such as Amazon announcing it will compensate consumers for defective products) and new gadget announcements. Here’s what you need to know.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3

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The Galaxy Z Fold3 is the third-generation of its Samsung’s smaller foldable smartphone, and despite looking very similar to its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Fold2, it’s better in a couple key ways. It’s more durable with an IPX8 water-resistant rating). It works with the S Pen2, making it the first foldable smartphone that works with a stylus. It’s more powerful and has an improved camera system. Also, Samsung made it a little more affordable than previous models. The Galaxy Z Fold3 starts at $1,800 and is available for preorder now.

Price: $1,800+

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3

Samsung

The other foldable smartphone that Samsung announced, the Galaxy Z Flip3, is the one you’re more likely to buy. This is because it starts at under $1,000, putting it in line with other flagship smartphones. In addition to making it more affordable, Samsung has give the Galaxy Z Flip a larger cover screen (the screen you see when it’s folded), a better camera and a more durable design; it now has an IPX8 rating, like the Z Fold3. It starts at $1,000 and is available for preorder now.

Price: $1,000+

Satechi USB-C Clamp Hub

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Satechi’s newest USB-C accessory adds ports to your M1 Mac in a pretty clever way: a clamp. It attaches to the base of the display, right near its rear-port array, and adds six ports — USB-A (3x), USB-C (1x) and SD and Micro SD card readers — while also elevating off of your desk. The other neat thing is that Satechi is making the Clamp Hub in silver and blue so that it will match the colorful M1 Mac. (If you have an M1 Mac with one of the other five colors, you’re out of luck for now.)

Price: $55

Twelve South PlugBug Slim

Twelve South

The PlugBug Slim is a 20-watt USB-C wall adapter that’s capable of fast-charging any iPhone. The neat thing about is that is thin and vertical design, so that it can fit in tighter spaces (like outlets right next to furniture). It’s the ideal companion to the Apple’s MagSafe Charger, which requires a USB-C adapter, and it also can work with the HomePod mini.

Price: $25

Kodak Luma 400

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Kodak makes a variety of different portable projectors, the latest one being the Luma 400. The new model has a variety of connections (including HDMI, USB and Bluetooth) so you can easily use it with your smartphone, laptop or video game console. It has a built-in Android operating system so you can also stream shows and movies from the likes of Netflix or Amazon Video straight from the projector (so long as there’s a Wi-Fi connection or you’ve downloaded the shows ahead of time). And it can produce up to a 150-inch screen.

Price: $450

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 (and Watch4 Classic)

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Samsung announced two new smartwatches this week, both of which are redesigned to look small, slim and sleek — similar to the Galaxy Watch Active 2. There’s the Galaxy Watch4 and the Galaxy Watch4 Classic, and they are the first smartwatches to run the new Wear OS that’s designed by both Samsung and Google. The big difference between the two smartwatch is that the “Classic” model is slightly larger and more premium, plus it has a wonderful rotating bezel. The Galaxy Watch4 and Galaxy Watch4 Classic are available for pre-order right now.

Price: $250+ (Watch4); $350+ (Watch4 Classic)

Samsung Galaxy Buds2

Samsung

The Galaxy Buds2 are Samsung’s newest wireless earbuds, joining the Galaxy Buds Pro and the Galaxy Buds Live (the bean-shaped ones) in the company’s lineup, and they deliver active-noise-canceling and wireless charging at a pretty affordable price: $150. Samsung also redesigned the Buds2 so that they are smaller, lighter and (potentially) more comfortable to wear. You can expect these new earbuds to fall short of the Buds Pro in terms of sound quality, noise-canceling and water-resistance, but the Buds2 might be go-to wireless earbuds for people with a Samsung smartphone who are shopping on a little bit of a budget. They’re available for preorder now.

Price: $150

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