IT General

SAVE 8%: As of March 2, you can get the Apple 2024 Mac mini (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for $549, down from $599, at Amazon. That's an 8% discount or a $50 price cut.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple 2024 Mac mini (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $549 at Amazon
$599 Save $50   Get Deal

If you're interested in using OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot), you'll need a system that can keep up. As of March 2, the Apple 2024 Mac mini (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) is down to $549 at Amazon. That's an 8% discount or a $50 price cut. While it isn't the biggest discount we've ever tracked, getting a deal on any Apple product is always a win. Plus, if you happen to get approved for an Amazon Visa, you can instantly knock the price down to $499.

SEE ALSO: The best mini PC deals for running OpenClaw: Save on Apple Mac mini, Kamuri Pinova P2, and Beelink Mini

The 2024 Mac mini has an M4 chip and 16GB of unified memory, all of which they've managed to fit into a space-saving, five-by-five-inch box. That makes it incredibly efficient for running local, always-on AI applications — like Apple Intelligence or the open-source OpenClaw — without slowing down your main laptop. Apple also redesigned this chassis to finally include front-facing USB-C ports and a headphone jack, alongside the Thunderbolt, HDMI, and Gigabit Ethernet ports on the back. It's ready to go for your new era of projects.

Do you feel like Ubuntu is holding you back, but switching feels too risky? What if a "niche" distro could give you more power and better stability? Well, here’s how switching to a less popular alternative helped me find my forever distro.

SAVE $550: The Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller robot vacuum and mop is on sale at Amazon for $1,049.99, down from the standard price of $1,599.99. That's a 34% discount that matches the record low at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Dreame Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller robot vacuum and mop $1,049.99 at Amazon
$1,599.99 Save $550   Get Deal

No one wants to buy a robot vacuum only to find out that it doesn't get the job done. Sadly, not all robot vacuums come with the same specs, suction power, ability to clean corners, get under couches, and mop up messes well. That's why we like to turn to Mashable's resident robot vacuum expert and Senior Shopping Reporter Leah Stodart. She's tested over 30 robot vacuums and when she notes something is exceptional, it's worth paying attention to. That's even more true when one of her favorite models goes on sale. Check out this deal at Amazon.

As of March 2, the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller robot vacuum and mop is on sale at Amazon for $1,049.99, marked down from the standard price of $1,599.99. That's a 34% discount that shaves a massive $550 off the price. It matches the record low at Amazon.

It's not the only spec to pay attention to, but the suction power of a robot vacuum plays a major role in how well it performs. Boasting a whopping 30,000Pa, the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller gets major bragging rights. In Stodart's review of the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller, she wrote, "If the 30,000 Pa of suction power benchmark doesn't mean much to you, here's a frame of reference: That's more than double the 13,000 Pa of suction power of the flagship Roomba with a roller mop, the 2025 Roomba Max 705 Combo."

SEE ALSO: The EcoVacs Deebot X11 robot vacuum is on sale for its lowest price this year — save over $500 right now

On top of this, it has plenty of noteworthy additional features like a self-emptying base, hot water mopping, and hot air drying of the roller mop. Stodart also commended the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller's ability to avoid obstacles like phone chargers and cables.

If you've been considering an upgrade to a robot vacuum and mop, the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller robot vacuum and mop is an ultra-powerful model that comes with equally impressive performance. Snag it while it's back at its lowest price ever at Amazon and kickstart spring cleaning.

One of the best advantages when it comes to desktop PCs is the ability to reuse parts from your previous build in your new system, but it can also be a trap that ends up costing you extra time and money that could have been avoided if you'd used a new replacement part from the get-go.

On Monday, Apple officially announced that its latest budget smartphone, the iPhone 17e, will be available for preorder on Wednesday, March 4, starting at $599, alongside a new M4 iPad Air.

It's a big week for Apple. On Friday, Tim Cook revealed that the company would be announcing new products starting today, ahead of its latest Apple event on Wednesday. Rumors have been swirling about a budget MacBook, possibly with a touchscreen, as well as a new iPad and iPhone.

So, what's new with the iPhone 17e?

iPhone 17 e: Specs and cameras

According to an Apple press release, the new iPhone 17e is powered by its A19 chipset, which is the same chip found inside the base model iPhone 17. In addition, the iPhone 17e has the C1X, Apple's latest in-house 5G modem. Apple says the C1X is twice as fast as the C1 found inside the iPhone 17e's predecessor, the iPhone 16e.

Speaking of upgrades from the previous model, the iPhone 17e has a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display and Ceramic Shield 2, which is three times more scratch-resistant than the iPhone 16e.

iPhone 17e Credit: Apple

The iPhone 17e has a single camera lens, but utilizing Apple's 2-in-1 camera system, the device is actually equipped with both a 48P wide-angle and telephoto Fusion camera.

In addition, the iPhone 17e is receiving a big storage upgrade with the base model starting at 256GB, or double what its predecessor had.

The iPhone 17e adds MagSafe Credit: Apple

In a first for Apple's budget smartphone line, the iPhone 17e has MagSafe, making it compatible with Apple's array of MagSafe accessories and wireless charging peripherals.

With many of the same features of the iPhone 17, we're anticipating strong demand for Apple's new budget handset.

How to preorder the iPhone 17e

The iPhone 17e costs $599, or $200 less than the iPhone 17 base model with the same chipset and storage. The device will be available in three different color options: White, Black, or Soft Pink.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 17e will begin this Wednesday, March 4, likely right at the conclusion of the Apple event. The iPhone 17e will then be available just one week later on Wednesday, March 11.

Mashable will be testing the new budget iPhone as soon as possible, so keep checking back for updates and pre-order details.

UPDATE: Mar. 2, 2026, 4:35 p.m. UTC Anthropic has told Mashable in a statement that Claude should be running as usual now: "Claude is back up and running across claude.ai and our apps. We're grateful to our users while the team works to match the incredible demand we've seen for Claude in recent days."

Claude, Anthropic's AI chatbot, experienced technical issues, the company confirmed on Monday.

At 6:49 a.m. ET on Monday, Anthropic posted on its Claude status page that it was investigating "elevated errors" occurring with the Claude chatbot, Claude Opus 4.6 (its latest generation large language model), Claude Console (the Claude developer platform), and Claude Code (the company’s AI-powered coding assistant).

SEE ALSO: Claude is down: What we know about the Anthropic outage

According to Downdetector, over 2,000 users reported issues with Claude (Disclosure: Downdetector is owned by Ziff Davis, the same parent company as Mashable.)

So, what does Anthropic say the issue was?

Anthropic explained to Mashable in a statement that its team was working on a fix, saying:

Claude is currently unavailable on our consumer-facing surfaces such as claude.ai and our apps. The Claude API that powers businesses remains unaffected. Our team is working to restore full service and we’ll share updates as we have them.

We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to bring things back online while experiencing unprecedented demand for Claude over the last week.

"We have discovered that some API methods are not working and we are investigating," the company further wrote on the Claude status page, about everything but Claude Opus 4.6. For that LLM itself, Anthropic only said, "The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented."

Featured Video For You Is ChatGPT Changing the Way We Write?

This level of "unprecedented demand" Anthropic mentioned to Mashable is right. The outage comes after Claude took the number one spot from OpenAI's ChatGPT in Apple's App Store, now the most-downloaded free app in the U.S. (ChatGPT is second, Google's Gemini is fourth).

This also comes after Donald Trump announced that the U.S. government would stop using Anthropic tech including Claude. Following this, OpenAI entered into a deal with the U.S. Department of War for military use of its AI tech in "classified environments".

Want more tech news? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter.

I've installed smart switches to control my indoor lights, but as much as I appreciate what this has done for my home, I'm starting to feel that smart lighting is even more useful when I take it outdoors.

Are you shopping for your first NAS? I made a lot of mistakes when I bought my first networked storage system, and I still regret some of the decisions to this day. Here are five ways I messed up, and how you can avoid making the same mistakes I did.

Ahead of Apple's March 4 special experience, everyone's favorite fruit company announced the imminent launch of the newest iPad Air. As expected, the iPad Air will be available for sale starting March 4.

The new iPad will be powered by M4 silicon and comes in 11- and 13-inch versions, with starting prices of $599 and $799, respectively. For education customers, prices will start at $549 and $749. Traditionally, the Air is Apple's mid-range tablet, with the base version iPad being popular with budget shoppers and the M5 iPad Pro reserved for professionals and super users.

Here's everything we know about the new Apple tablet so far.

Upgraded performance and specs Credit: Apple SEE ALSO: The 8 best tablets of 2026: I compared iPads, the Microsoft Surface Pro, and Amazon Fire

The previous-gen iPad Air launched in May 2024, and Apple says the new model gives users "a big jump in performance at the same starting price."

With the launch of iPadOS 26 and Liquid Glass last year, the iPad has become more like a laptop, with distinct windows and multitasking capabilities.

To support those new features, the seventh-generation iPad Air has upgraded specs:

• Processor: M4 silicon, 16-core Neural Engine, 8-core CPU

• GPU: 9-core GPU

• Memory: 12GB of unified memory (120GB/s of memory bandwidth)

• Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB configurations.

• Colors: Blue, purple, starlight, and space gray

• Camera: 12MP Center Stage camera

• Sizes: 11- and 13-inch models

• Wireless and cellular connectivity: N1 and C1X silicon

• Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, 5G cellular, and Thread

• Accessories: Magic Keyboard, Apple Pencil, Apple Pencil Pro

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

What's new, what's not Credit: Apple

Users in need of a new laptop will definitely want to consider upgrading to the iPad Air, which is known for being incredibly thin and lightweight without sacrificing performance. However, at first glance, the improvements here seem pretty iterative, and it's not clear why users with the existing M3 iPad Air would rush to upgrade.

The M4 processor and enhanced wireless/cellular connectivity will undoubtedly deliver performance upgrades. Apple promises the new iPad Air will be 30 percent faster than the M3 model, with "50 percent more unified system memory."

The iPadOS 26 features described at length in the announcement press release are already available with the iPad Air and iPad Pro. Likewise, Apple didn't announce that the new iPad Air would be thinner or lighter than previous versions, which are already remarkably thin.

When can you buy the M4 iPad Air? Credit: Apple

Apple says customers will be able to start ordering the M4 iPad Air on March 4 at the Apple Store (and at Apple.com). Apple expects it to ship to customers on Wednesday, March 11.

We'll be testing and reviewing the M4 iPad Air as soon as we can, so keep checking back for updates.

Your phone's storage is bound to get depleted over time. We often blame it on photos and videos, but apps use a lot of storage, too. There are, however, some apps that use much more storage than others. Here are 5 to keep an eye on.

I do almost all my computer on Linux devices these days, and I don't manage that without a lot of useful Linux software. One of my favorite formats for Linux software is AppImages, and these are the ones I always keep on-hand.

China's Tecno Mobile is known for some wild phone concepts, and the company took it to the next level this year at MWC Barcelona.

Case in point: Tecno's booth in Barcelona was chock-full of people trying to make sense of what the heck all those weird phones are about.

Actual neon gas inside. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Perhaps the weirdest of the bunch was the Tecno Pova Neon, a concept phone with actual ionized neon gas lighting up its rear panel. This result in a dynamic display of lightning-like lights; unlike some other phones with dynamic lighting in the back, Tecno's variant is truly random and probably won't get boring as fast. We're not sure how this makes the phone better, but it will definitely turn heads when you whip it out of your pocket at a business meeting.

That's a lot of gadgets, and they're all incredibly easy to connect with the phone, and each other. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Then there's the sexily-named Modular Magnetic Interconnection Technology, a concept that consists of an incredibly thin, fairly basic phone that can be expanded with magnetically attached modules.

It's hard to resist the temptation of just adding more stuff onto it. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

We've seen modular phones before, but never has attaching new stuff to a phone felt this easy or fun. You can attached modules onto modules, too. You can, for example, slap two batteries onto your phone; or a battery and an extra speaker; or a speaker and an improved camera; the possibilities are endless.

Some of the attachments are heavier and larger than the phone itself. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

It's unclear whether either of these are coming to market, but this may be the first time I'm actually interested in a modular phone.

SEE ALSO: Every major MWC 2026 announcement, including Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Honor Robot phone

If you prefer your futuristic phone branded with a familiar luxury brand, Tecno's got you covered, too. The company partnered with Lamborghini to create a bunch of Lamborghini-themed accessories, including a phone called The Tecno Pova Metal Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition. It, too, has a glowing thingy on the back; that's been a theme this year, as we've seen similar devices all over the show floor in Barcelona.

Nothing just can't stop leaking more details about its upcoming Nothing Phone 4a ahead of time.

So far, we've seen the phone, which is scheduled for a full reveal on March 5, in Nothing's standard black-and-white, semi-transparent color.

Now, the company unveiled the phone in a somewhat surprising color for the brand – pink.

It's still a Nothing phone, meaning the pink is very subtle, and the phone still has Nothing's trademark semi-transparent look.

SEE ALSO: Nothing shows us the Nothing Phone 4a ahead of time

Lucy Birley, Colour Material Finish Design Lead at Nothing, has a fun explanation for the phone's look. "Pink is actually just desaturated red (...) when we put the tint inside the transparency, because of how the light interacts with the resin underneath you get this incredible sense of depth which makes our products look really lively," she said in a statement.

Sure, but we'll just call it pink-ish.

The company also shared a 12-minute video, giving us a very detailed look into the phone's design, including that new Glyph bar on the back.

Nothing still hasn't revealed all of the phone's specs, nor has it said anything about the (possible) more powerful variant, the Nothing Phone 4a Pro. We'll get all the details at the official reveal, which is happening on March 5, at 10:30 a.m. GMT (5:30 a.m. ET).

We knew Nothing would be up to something (sorry) during this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but the company just made it official by sending us an invite for the launch of its next smartphone, the Nothing 4a.

The event is technically happening during MWC, which is held from March 2 to 5, 2026, but it will take place in London, UK. It starts at 10:30 a.m. GMT (5:30 a.m. ET), and it will be livestreamed on Nothing's website.

SEE ALSO: MWC 2026: What to expect at the world's largest phone show

The invite's tagline is "something new is coming," though there's not a lot of mystery here, as the invite also says that the event is about the Nothing Phone 4a series.

During last year's MWC, Nothing launched two smartphones, the Nothing 3a and Nothing 3a Pro. Both were slick-looking, fairly affordable mid-rangers with big displays, big batteries, and a couple of Nothing-specific software features.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

There's no official world on what, exactly, is coming, but we're probably going to see Nothing Phone 4a and Phone 4a Pro, both featuring Snapdragon 7-series chips. While Nothing is best known for its monochromatic designs, the new phones will probably be available in several colors.

Fun fact: Nothing's launch event will be held just one day after Apple's 'special experience' event, where the company is expected to launch a multitude of new products (as referenced by Nothing CEO Carl Pei's cheeky tweet). As we've said in our recent MWC overview, it's going to be a busy couple of weeks for gadget lovers.

Featured Video For You Samsung first look: Go up close with Galaxy Z TriFold, the futuristic foldable only available in Korea

Nothing has decided to slowly drip product teasers ahead of launch, and the latest in line are a pair of over-the-ear headphones.

A first for the brand, the Nothing Headphone (a) will launch alongside Nothing Phone 4a (and, potentially, other products) on March 5, during this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

SEE ALSO: The Nothing Phone 4a will be available in pink, and we have pictures and a video

The company revealed very little about the headphones, besides saying that they'll come in "bold colourways" and deliver "the longest battery life of any Nothing audio product to date."

One of those bold colourways is seen in the first teaser image shared by Nothing (see above), a fancy shade of yellow. Given Nothing's trademark semi-transparent product designs, we're pretty excited what the company will do with the new headphones.

Nothing actually offers a couple of earbuds, as well as full-sized headphones, including the Nothing Headphone 1 and Nothing Headphone Pro. The Headphone (a) name indicates that these are an entirely new product line.

Featured Video For You Samsung first look: Go up close with Galaxy Z TriFold, the futuristic foldable only available in Korea

Right now, the Nothing Headphone Pro lead the pack as far as playback time goes with up to 100-hour battery life. Per Nothing, the new Headphone (a) will go on for even longer.

The official reveal of Nothing Headphone (a), as well as the new phones, will be livestreamed on nothing.tech, starting on March 5, at 10:30 a.m. GMT (5:30 a.m. ET).

As for the rest of MWC, check out Mashable's guide to what you can expect this year.

Fast solid-state drives have effectively replaced hard drives as the main storage devices on our computers. However, the hard drive itself still has a lot going for it where SSDs fall short. This means that not only are hard drive still common today, but that development of them has been ongoing.

You can find plenty of doom-and-gloom takes about the Nintendo Switch 2. Many of them boil down to complaints about the lack of compelling exclusive games for the system.

The users making these complaints, however, have not yet played Pokémon Pokopia.

A combined effort from Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, Game Freak, and Koei Tecmo, Pokémon Pokopia launches exclusively on Switch 2 on March 5. More importantly, you may not be prepared for how big of a deal this game might be.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon Pokopia $69.99 at Amazon
  Pre-order Here

Essentially, the Nintendo team took Minecraft, stripped off the ugly art style, added social friendship mechanics a la Stardew Valley, and put a bunch of Pokémon in it.

Personally, I do not vibe with these types of games at all. But Pokopia combines player creativity, charming writing, a magnetic sense of progression that makes it hard to put down, and a downright shocking level of depth. It legitimately has me hooked. I want to keep digging away at Pokopia just to see what it has to offer, and it hasn't disappointed me yet.

SEE ALSO: Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen preorders go live — where to buy now for Nintendo Switch I just want to pick up Pokémon Pokopia and give it a hug Yep, that's what humans look like. Credit: Nintendo

I covered the basics of Pokopia in a hands-on preview. But here's the TL;DR. The easiest way to think of this game is that it takes elements of Minecraft, Animal Crossing, and Stardew Valley, all mixed in with an extremely potent dose of Pokémon creatures.

You start the game as a Ditto (a basic "normal" shapeshifting Pokémon) who wakes up in a world where all the humans are gone, leaving only ruined settlements. You take on the shape of a human (well, close enough) and set out to rebuild what once was, in the hope of attracting more Pokémon and eventually maybe some humans to come live with them.

Aesthetically, this means you play as a human child with a mildly creepy smiling Ditto face on it. Mechanically, this means all of your farming and town-building abilities include classic Pokémon moves such as Cut, Strength, and Surf, each learned from a different Pokémon and copied by the Ditto.

Bulbasaur is one of the best little guys we've got. Credit: Nintendo

The best part of Pokopia is that each Pokémon who settles in your towns — you'll actually build several across many different biomes as the game progresses — speaks your language and has a personality of its own. There's no combat in Pokopia. You endear yourself to Pokémon by giving them gifts and building homes for them.

The writing in Pokopia is surprisingly funny; I was especially taken by a Magikarp who punctuates almost every sentence with the word "yo" for no good reason.

A big part of what makes Pokopia work for me, where games like Minecraft haven't, is that you spend as much time talking to NPCs and trying to figure out how to solve their problems as you do digging through rocks and placing structures.

The game has a really nice amount of player direction, so there's never any confusion as to what you can or should be doing at any point in time. Pokopia is also smart not to push the player too hard in any one direction. Even when you unlock new areas, the game explicitly encourages you to stick around the old ones and improve them before moving on.

The result is relaxing and peaceful, without ever really feeling like work.

But Pokopia also has so, so much more going on than you think This is where I want to be at all times. Credit: Nintendo

Having said that, there is a lot of work you can do in Pokopia. In the 10 to 15 hours I've played, I've been gobsmacked at the level of mechanical depth in this game. A lot of the things you can do are similar to activities in Minecraft and its many derivatives, but I expected a Pokémon-themed take on that kind of game to simplify things.

Pokopia does not dumb it down, however, and that's a good thing.

For instance, bodies of water have rudimentary physics. You can dig out creeks if you feel like it. Grass on either side of a creek will benefit accordingly, so that's a smart place to plant crops. Putting too much water in one area will increase its humidity, which might upset some Pokémon, but will please others. Yes, you can manage humidity in Pokémon Pokopia.

That's not all. Windmills and water wheels can be used to power electrical appliances, and you can string together utility poles to power a whole town. Materials like clay can be turned into necessities like bricks if you happen to know a guy who can smelt them for you.

Pokémon like to have their own homes — but if you build a big enough one for yourself, you can invite your favorites to move in with you. I became roommates with Scyther at the earliest opportunity, because Scyther is cool as hell.

Welcome to Homie House. Credit: Nintendo

Pokopia even has cooking mechanics, which I've barely touched because I've been so busy doing other stuff. And I haven't even had a chance to try the online multiplayer, which enables groups of friends to turn blank landmasses into the Pokémon paradises of their dreams through collaborative construction projects.

Each step of the way, Pokémon Pokopia will introduce some wild new idea or mechanic, which turns out to be a great way to keep someone who isn't especially keen on managing little towns invested in the proceedings.

In short, I am wildly impressed by what I've played of Pokémon Pokopia, and I'm not even the game's target audience. It may be the best Pokémon spin-off I've ever played, and easily one of the best games in the whole series in a long time, even including the RPGs.

I can't wait to see what people who get really into Pokopia do with its menagerie of systems once the game has been out for a few weeks.

Pokémon Pokopia launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on March 5.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon Pokopia $69.99 at Amazon
  Pre-order Here

Buy the TCL RayNeo Air 4 Pro AR glasses Best Deal RayNeo Air 4 Pro AR/XR Glasses $249 (save $50 at Amazon) Get Deal Buy direct RayNeo Air 4 Pro AR/XR Glasses $249 (save $50 at RayNeo) Get Deal Limited-Edition RayNeo Air 4 Pro × Batman Limited Edition $269 (save $50 at Amazon) Get Deal

TCL has finally released its RayNeo Air 4 Pro smart glasses, alongside two limited-edition Batman-themed models. These AR glasses are the world's first smart glasses with an HDR display, and they're designed for watching movies and playing video games. While most smart glasses are priced at $500 or more, the new RayNeo AR glasses are priced at $299, which could shake up this emerging market.

On top of that, early buyers can also save $50 when they purchase the glasses from TCL or Amazon, bringing the price to $249 for a limited time.

When TCL showed off its RayNeo Air 4 Pro smart glasses at CES 2026, I was impressed, and I wrote at the time that competitors like Xreal should be worried. Despite the relatively affordable price tag, the glasses have super-bright OLED displays that support HDR10, something never seen before in smart glasses. TCL describes them as "head-mounted TVs," and that's what they feel like.

I've been testing the glasses over the past few weeks, and overall, I'm still impressed, despite their quirks. Like other AR glasses, you connect them to a compatible laptop, smartphone, or gaming device via the included USB-C cable.

SEE ALSO: Hands-on: The RayNeo Air 4 Pro smart glasses are like wearing an OLED TV on my face Introducing the RayNeo Air 4 Pro smart glasses Take a look under the hood. Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

The RayNeo Air 4 Pro smart glasses launched today. The base version is priced at $299, but TCL also released two limited-edition, Batman versions of the glasses, the Limited Justice and Limited Chaos Editions. The Batman glasses come with additional accessories like a Batman cowl that attaches to the frames; they have an MSRP of $319, though they're also discounted at launch to $269.

The RayNeo Air 4 Pro smart glasses have an impressive list of specs. While they're priced like a pair of budget smart glasses, they have a premium display.

• Style: Augmented reality smart glasses

• Display: 0.6-inch micro-OLED display

• Screen size: 201 inches

• Brightness: Up to 1,200 nits

• Resolution: 1920x1080 (3840x1080 for 3D)

• Refresh rate: Up to 120 Hz

• Color accuracy: ΔE

• Sound: Bang & Olufsen surround sound (4 speakers)

Using a Vision 4000 processor and dual OLED displays, the Air 4 Pro glasses can create a virtual screen up to 201 inches in size. I wore them to watch Mad Max: Fury Road and The Hobbit (not to mention countless YouTube videos), and the display is gorgeous, though it has some problems, too. As I noted in my initial review, the display has a flickering problem and lacks the 3D features Xreal recently introduced.

SEE ALSO: These color-changing sunglasses are like something out of a sci-fi movie Are the RayNeo Air 4 Pro smart glasses worth it? These AR/XR glasses have a huge price advantage over their rivals. Credit: TCL

If you're an early adopter looking to try out AR glasses, it's hard to argue with the $299 price tag. For reference, Xreal recently launched a more affordable version of its glasses called the Xreal 1S, priced at $449.

There's no doubt that the RayNeo Air 4 Pro smart glasses have a better display. The Xreal 1S has a peak brightness of 700 nits, compared to 1,200 with the RayNeo. In addition, the micro-OLED displays on the Air 4 Pro are noticeably more vibrant, ideal for watching movies and gaming.

However, before you get too excited, Xreal glasses still have some big advantages. First off, Xreal can project much larger virtual screens. You can also control the screen distance and angle for optimum viewing, and set the display to anchor in a specific spot in your eyeline or move with your head. There's no anchor feature with the RayNeo glasses.

If you're looking for AR glasses that can be used as a productivity tool, giving you an extra screen while you work, then Xreal is by far the better choice. But for entertainment, the Air 4 Pros are going to be hard to beat, especially for the price. If money is no object, then check out the ROG Xreal R1 AR Gaming Glasses.

Opens in a new window Credit: TCL RayNeo Air 4 Pro AR/XR Glasses $249 at Amazon
$299 Save $50   Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: TCL RayNeo Air 4 Pro × Batman Limited Edition $269 at Amazon
$319 Save $50   Get Deal

While the Linux command set is great on its own, it seems that programmers can't stop reinventing it. Here are some of the best modern takes on classic Linux tools that fix some common annoyances with Unix-like systems. You might wonder how you ever got by before you knew about them like I did.

SAVE OVER $20: As of March 2, the Lego Icons The Lord of The Rings: Balrog Book Nook is on sale for $108.99 at Amazon. This deal saves you $21 off its list price of $129.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Icons The Lord of The Rings: Balrog Book Nook Kit (10367) $108.99 at Amazon
$129.99 Save $21.00   Get Deal

When it comes to the Mashable team's favorite Lego sets, the Lego Icons The Lord of The Rings: Balrog Book Nook (10367) has earned a special place on the list. If it's a set that's been on your radar but you've been waiting to see a price drop, you're in luck: Amazon has dropped its price down to $108.99.

This 16% discount saves you just over $20 on the Balrog Book Nook set, but what really makes this deal so appealing is it's just one dollar away from its lowest-ever price of $107.99 at the retailer. That's a pretty great deal to take advantage of, so why not take this opportunity to grab it for the Lord of The Rings fan in your life?

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It's certainly an eye-catching set to have up on display. Coming with 1,201 pieces, the Balrog Book Nook set features the fiery Balrog at its center and Gandalf the Grey facing off against it with his staff and sword. The coolest part is that it can be positioned in two different ways. It can either be slotted between books on your shelf as a little window into that moment on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, or opened up to reveal a bigger snapshot of the scene with even more flames and the Balrog’s big wings on display.

Of course, this comes with a mini plaque with the classic "You shall not pass!" quote. It's a truly excellent pick-up for Lord of The Rings fans, so why not grab the Lego Icons The Lord of The Rings: Balrog Book Nook (10367) while it's still on sale?

Curious what's new this month from Lego? Check out our breakdown of the best new Lego sets to see some of the latest drops.