IT General

If you're anything like me, then it's very possible you're sick and tired of paying for Audible just to listen to your audiobooks. I found a better way to enjoy my audiobooks without Amazon's hand in my cookie jar, though, and that's with AudioBookshelf.

Budgeting can be a steep hill to climb, but with the right tools in your arsenal, saving, investing, and keeping an eye on your everyday spending can be easy. But with so many free resources and apps to choose from, where do you start?

Whether you're fed up with Google Search returning lots of irrelevant results or you're simply trying to narrow down your search, there are certain things you can do to improve your experience on the world's most frequently used search engine.w

While playing The Sims is fun, it can get stale over time. Players have been thinking up challenges since the early Sims games to add new life to the series. If you need a reason to return, a challenge is likely the smartest thing you can try.

The Dynamic Island displays Live Activities from currently-active apps, allowing you to see live information from them virtually anywhere on your device.

Instagram's Edits just got a few much-anticipated features with teleprompters, overlays, and more, the company announced this week on Instagram.

"New on Edits," the Creators' Instagram account posted on Wednesday. "Update your Edits app today to find more insights, overlays and the much requested Teleprompter feature which allows you to read your script while filming and focus on capturing the perfect take. Swipe through to learn more — and comment below to let us know what features you’d like us to add next!"

The most exciting update in the new package of features is probably the teleprompter feature, which makes content creation a whole lot easier. To try it out yourself, start recording a video by clicking the record button at the bottom of the screen in Edits. On the left, you'll see five options: a music symbol, a little guy with a dotted box around them, a timer button, a zoom button, and, at the bottom of that list, a teleprompter button. Simply click the teleprompter, add your script, and change the text size and teleprompter speed with the slides at the bottom left of the script screen.

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Meta launched Edits in late April. Much like TikTok's CapCut, the app is intended to aid in creating Reels, but it's also pretty clearly a CapCut competitor. The only problem is that CapCut is more established in the space and has a ton more features than Reels does, so the app is having to fight to keep up.

Since Edits launched two months ago, it has added additional fonts, filters, and voice effects, more cropping tools, 35 transition effects, alignment guides and beat markers, tracking sensitivity, and more, as Social Media Today reported.

I’ll admit, I’m a bit of an obsessive streamer, especially when it comes to checking out new content. So far, 2025 has dropped some highly anticipated series on us, such as Dexter: Original Sin, The Studio, Daredevil: Born Again,and MobLand, and they all lived up to their hype. Lucky for us, more are on the way.

Hot hatchbacks have long offered a unique blend of practicality and performance, giving drivers a fun-to-drive experience without sacrificing daily usability. In 2025, one model continues that tradition, delivering serious driving thrills at a price that won’t break the bank.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Saturday, June 14, 2025:

AcrossResearch org. that once employed Dr. Fauci

• The answer is NIH.

Conflict ended on 11/11/1918, for short

• The answer is WWI.

Garment with an underwire

• The answer is Bra.

___ Solo of "Star Wars"

• The answer is Han.

Verify the truth of

• The answer is Confirm.

Student's request while preparing for a test

• The answer is Quiz me.

Music player at a '50s-style diner

• The answer is Jukebox.

"All good to go!"

• The answer is A OK.

Prefix meaning "bird" or "flight"

• The answer is Avi.

By way of

• The answer is Via.

Actor Cage, to fans

• The answer is Nic.

Flecks from a campfire

• The answer is Ash.

Nat ___ (TV channel)

• The answer is Geo.

Down"Saturday Night Live" network

• The answer is NBC.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, by another name

• The answer is Iroquois.

Eight-day Jewish holiday

• The answer is Hanukkah.

Sensationally successful, in older slang

• The answer is Whiz bang.

"Full Metal Jacket" or "Saving Private Ryan"

• The answer is War movie.

Where Baja California is, as opposed to California

• The answer is In Mexico.

"Fee, ___, foe, fum"

• The answer is Fie.

Coding language with a coffee cup logo

• The answer is Java.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to the latest Mini Crossword.

Don't risk it: You need a surge protector to save your electronics from power surges. The right surge protector can take a beating and will protect your gadgets even after it fails. We'll help you pick the best ones for your situation.

Smartphones can do as much as traditional PCs, and they're even better for people who had a difficult time with computers before. Yet smartphone innovation isn't limited to phones. Their design revolution has also bled over onto our desktops and laptops.

On your Android phone, you can make an emergency button that sends your current location to your chosen contact. This lets you get the help you need in an emergency situation. I’ll show you how to make that shortcut.

Last month, I finally took the time to move all my web domains to a new registrar, saving me a lot of money in the process. If you’ve accumulated some web domains over the years, it might be time to shop around for a better deal.

Are you intimidated by Arch Linux's reputation for being difficult and hard to use? Do you want an accessible way to get the benefits of Arch without the headaches? Well, here are five Arch-based distros for anyone looking for something powerful but not too technical.

As premium phones continue to go up in cost, the CMF Phone 2 Pro shows that buying one is largely unnecessary. It has its shortcomings, but for the price, they are far fewer than you'd expect.

How to watch 'A Minecraft Movie' at home: BEST NON-STREAMING OPTION Buy or rent 'A Minecraft Movie' on Prime Video $19.99 or $9.99 Get Deal BEST FOR MOST PEOPLE Max (With Ads) annual subscription $99.99/year (save $19.89) Get Deal BEST NO-ADS PLAN Max Standard annual subscription $169.99/year (save $33.89) Get Deal GET MAX FOR FREE Max Basic With Ads for Cricket customers Free for Cricket customers on the $60/month unlimited plan (save $9.99/month) Get Deal GET MAX FOR FREE Max Basic With Ads Free for DashPass annual plan subscribers (save $9.99 per month) Get Deal BEST FOR STUDENTS Max Student $4.99 per month for 12 months (save 50%) Get Deal BEST BUNDLE DEAL Disney+, Hulu, and Max $16.99 per month (with ads), $29.99 per month (no ads) (save up to 38%) Get Deal

The video game with the cult-following among Gen Z and Alpha took over the box office this past spring. The blockbuster film adapted from the game, A Minecraft Movie, will be available to stream soon in households everywhere — provided you have the right streaming service. A Minecraft Movie is officially set to make its streaming debut on June 20 on Max. Sadly, we still don't have a date for the switchover from Max to HBO Max.

From creepers and piglins to villages and the Nether, the film is full of staples from Mojang's crafting game. But that doesn't mean you need to have played the game before to see it (although a primer wouldn't hurt). It stars Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, and Sebastian Hansen and is directed by Jared Hess — the man known for Napoleon Dynamite, the kookiest film of the 2000s. In other words, you know you're in for a dang good time whether you know anything about Minecraft or not.

Here's everything you need to know about how to watch A Minecraft Movie at home — and what your best options are to save money.

What is A Minecraft Movie about?

A Minecraft Movie follows four misfits (Momoa, Brooks, Myers, and Hansen) as they get sucked into the Overworld of Minecraft, a realm where everything is made of cubes (yes, everything — even the living creatures). While it seems like an imaginative playground, it's also under siege from a dire threat. To get back home, they'll have to team up with expert crafter and resident Steve (Black) to keep the Overworld safe.

"'This place makes no sense,' Natalie (Myers) says at one point with a tinge of exasperation, and she is speaking for all of us uninitiated. While it is largely coherent, A Minecraft Movie is all over the place. But no one in the audience is here for the plot. They’re either watching A Minecraft Movie for their love of the Minecraft world or because they love someone who loves it and isn’t old enough to drive themselves to the movie theater. As far as video game adaptations and children’s films go, A Minecraft Movie is so much better than it needs to be," Mashable reviewer Kimber Myers writes.

Check out the official trailer for a better glimpse into the world of Minecraft:

Is A Minecraft Movie worth watching?

We weren't expecting A Minecraft Movie to win awards or anything — it's a kids' movie about a video game mostly unbeknownst to adults. So, the 48 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes is hardly a shock. But audiences, kids and kid-at-heart adults, are largely loving it. It currently holds an 85 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

A Minecraft Movie is also the box office champion of 2025 thus far — and by a considerable amount. The video game adaptation tops the list of highest-grossing movies of the year at $410 million domestically and $911 million worldwide.

"It’s fun and funny, fully engaged with the spirit of the game, in which creativity and imagination rule. It doesn’t feel like it’s pandering to kids, but, as evidenced by the giggles at my screening, they were enjoying it," Mashable's reviewer writes.

Read our full review of A Minecraft Movie.

How to watch A Minecraft Movie at home Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

There are a few different ways to watch A Minecraft Movie at home currently: purchasing via digital video-on-demand, renting via digital video-on-demand, or streaming it on HBO Max starting June 20. Here's a breakdown of costs, deals, and details.

Buy or rent A Minecraft Movie on digital

A Minecraft Movie made its theatrical debut on April 4, 2025, then became available to watch at home a little over a month later via digital video-on-demand platforms like Prime Video and Apple TV. You can purchase the film for your digital collection or rent it for 30 days for $19.99 or $9.99, respectively. If you choose to rent, just take note that you'll have 30 days to watch, but just 48 hours to finish once you begin.

You can purchase and rent the film at the following retailers:

• Prime Video — buy for $19.99, rent for $9.99

• Apple TV — buy for $19.99, rent for $9.99

• Fandango at Home (Vudu) — buy for $19.99, rent for $9.99

• Google Play — buy for $19.99, rent for as low as $9.99

Opens in a new window Credit: Prime Video Rent or buy 'A Minecraft Movie' at Prime Video $9.99 or $19.99 Get Deal Stream A Minecraft Movie on HBO Max

The wait is over, Minecraft fans. As a Warner Bros. Pictures film, A Minecraft Movie will officially make its streaming debut on Max (soon to be called HBO Max once again) — the Warner Bros.-owned streaming service on June 20. That's right on target with the typical theatrical-to-streaming trajectory for a Warner Bros. film.

Max subscriptions start at $9.99 per month, but there are a few different ways to save some money on your plan. Peep the best Max streaming deals below.

The best HBO Max streaming dealsBest for most people: Save 16% on Max Basic with ads annual subscription Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max Basic with ads yearly subscription $99.99 per year (save $19.89) Get Deal

While the cheapest monthly Max subscription (Basic with ads) goes for $9.99, an annual subscription brings that cost down to just $8.33 per month. You'll have to pay $99.99 up front for the year, but that will ultimately save you about 16% compared to a monthly plan.

Best Max deal with no ads: Save up to 16% on a Max Standard annual subscription Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max Standard annual subscription $169.99 per year (save $33.89) Get Deal

You can also save 16% by committing to a yearly Max ad-free plan — now dubbed Max Standard and Max Premium. The standard tier costs either $16.99 per month or $169.99 per year (about $14.16 per month), while the Premium tier costs either $20.99 per month or $209.99 per year (about $17.50 per month).

Note: Both tiers offer an ad-free viewing experience, but the Premium tier comes with 4K Ultra HD video quality, Dolby Atmos immersive audio, and the ability to download more offline content.

Best Max deal for Cricket customers: Free Max with ads for customers on the $60/month unlimited plan Opens in a new window Credit: Cricket / Max Max (with ads) Free for Cricket customers on the $60/month plan Get Deal

Cricket customers with the $60 per month unlimited plan get HBO Max with ads for free. When logging into Max, select Cricket as your provider, then enter your credentials to log in. That's it, y'all.

Best Max deal for DoorDash users: Free Max with ads with DashPass annual plan Opens in a new window Credit: DoorDash / Max Max (with ads) Free with DashPass annual plan ($8/month) Get Deal

Get Max for free in 2025 by signing up for DoorDash's annual DashPass plan for $96 per year ($8 per month). A DashPass membership gets you $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees on eligible DoorDash orders all year long. You'll just have to activate your Max subscription through your DoorDash account to get started. If you'd rather watch ad-free, you can choose to upgrade for a discounted rate as well.

Best Max deal for students: Save 50% on Max with ads Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max Student $4.99 per month for 12 months Get Deal

College students can enjoy the massive Max library for an entire year with ads for half price. Just verify your student status with UNiDAYS, retrieve the unique discount code, and watch the price drop from $9.99 to $4.99 per month.

Best bundle deal: Get Max, Disney+, and Hulu for up to 38% off Opens in a new window Credit: Disney / Hulu / Max Disney+, Hulu, and Max $16.99 per month (with ads), $29.99 per month (no ads) Get Deal

If you're looking to consolidate your spending, the Disney+ bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and Max, will only cost you $16.99 per month with ads. That lineup of streaming services with ads would usually run you $25.97 per month, so you'll save about $9 monthly. If you'd rather go ad-free, it'll cost you $29.99 per month as opposed to $48.97. That's up to 38% in savings for access to all three streaming libraries.

UPDATE: Jun. 13, 2025, 12:55 p.m. EDT This article has been updated to include the official streaming date for Warner Bros. "A Minecraft Movie," as well as updated pricing for digital purchases and rentals.

TL;DR: Unblock Pornhub from Kansas with a VPN. The best service for unblocking porn sites is ExpressVPN.

More than a third of U.S. states still have restrictions in place for online adult content after the introduction of age verification laws, meaning millions of potential users are locked out of sites like Pornhub and YouPorn. Fortunately, the workaround is straightforward.

If you want to unblock porn sites like Pornhub for free from Kansas, we have all the information you need.

How to unblock Pornhub for free in Kansas

VPNs are useful tools that can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other locations. This straightforward process bypasses geo-restrictions so you can access sites like Pornhub from anywhere in the world.

Unblock Pornhub by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in a location that supports access to Pornhub

4. Visit Pornhub

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (2-Year Subscription + 4 Months Free) $139 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for unblocking porn sites are not free, but most do offer free-trial peiods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can unblock porn sites like Pornhub without actually spending anything. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you the opportunity to temporarily retain access to Pornhub before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to sites like Pornhub, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for bypassing content restrictions is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for Pornhub?

ExpressVPN is the top choice for unblocking porn sites like Pornhub, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast streaming speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $139 and includes an extra four months for free — 61% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Unblock Pornhub for free in Kansas with ExpressVPN.

Buying a new television can break your brain more than it breaks your budget. If you're not a picky cinephile or longtime gamer, TV specs are one of those Michael Scott "Explain it to me like I'm five" things. (So are laptop specs.)

Lengthy product titles on Amazon TVs definitely aren't helping the confusion. A cluster of nebulous descriptors like "Omni Mini-LED, QLED 4K UHD, Dolby Vision IQ, 144hz, Ambient Experience" isn't exactly accessible to the average person — it's pure chaos.

SEE ALSO: Our favorite expert-tested TV brands include LG, TCL, Hisense, and Samsung

So I'm simplifying that mess in this straightforward TV buyers guide, breaking down specs like QLED and OLED lighting, 4K resolution, brightness, and refresh rate. Recommendations for the best TVs to buy in 2025 are at the bottom of this guide, thanks to intel from CNET's Ty Pendlebury. (CNET and Mashable are both owned by publisher Ziff Davis.)

Lighting explained: LED vs. QLED vs. OLED

The main thing to know: 4K and LED are not talking about the same thing. 4K refers to resolution, and terms containing -LED refer to lighting.

Contrary to the TV-related queries that fill Google's "People also asked" section, you don't have to choose between, say, 4K or QLED. For example, a TV can have 4K resolution with LED, QLED, or OLED lighting. The order listed there also reflects their escalating price points: LED TVs are the most affordable of the types of TV lighting, QLED TVs can be entry-level and affordable or high-end and expensive, and OLED TVs are the most expensive type of TV because their lighting system is the most advanced. You're much more likely to find cheap QLED TVs than you are to find cheap OLED TVs.

What is QLED?

Technical translation: QLED stands for Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diode.

Quantum dots are tiny nanocrystals that can convert the basic spectrum of light into billions of vibrant colors. Measuring no more than 10 nanometers in size, a quantum dot beside even a single piece of human hair would look as small as Earth looks beside massive stars in those 'scale of the universe' videos. Existential dread incoming.

Because they're so small, millions (sometimes billions) of quantum dots can be packed into a quantum dot display. Each has the ability to receive and reflect the light coming from the backlight panel layered behind them. The color of the light reflected depends on the size of each particle.

The color of the light reflected in a quantum dot depends on the size of each particle. Credit: Samsung

The more quantum dots that can be packed into a display, the more vibrant the range of colors and brightness the TV can produce. Color gamut is the official term you'll see denoting the range of colors a TV can produce. A wide color gamut simply means more saturated colors, regardless of where they fall on the rainbow.

Brightness, simply the amount of light that the TV screen produces, is measured in nits. Traditional LED TVs typically hit around 500 nits, while even the cheapest QLEDs out there nowadays will clear 1,000 nits. Nit count continues to ante up as the TVs get more premium — the best TVs of 2025 easily hit 2,000 nits at peak brightness.

SEE ALSO: Thank goodness: Max is changing its name back to HBO Max What is mini LED?

Technical translation: Mini LED is a type of TV lighting that uses more, tinier-than-usual LED bulbs in a TV's LCD panel.

QLED is not synonymous with mini LED — QLED has to do with the nanocrystals that reflect light from bulbs in the panel, while mini LED has to do with the bulbs themselves.

Smaller, more jam-packed LED bulbs across the screen allow for more precise brightness control within small zones (called dimming zones) of the screen. These clusters of bulbs can be dimmed or turned off together to achieve more detailed contrast without muddying things up for the parts of the scene that need to be bright and colorful.

The more local dimming zones a screen has, the more opportunities to fine-tune color and contrast across each inch of each scene, ultimately leading to a sharper, more realistic image on the screen. Budget-friendly mini LED TVs probably won't have more than 200 dimming zones, while solid mid-range picks might up the count to 500. The best mini LED TVs have 1,000+ dimming zones and will get the closest to the OLED experience in terms of contrast (more on that later).

SEE ALSO: Best 55-inch and under TVs for your bedroom, the kids' room, or your apartment

When QLED does its best work: The main advantage of QLED is brightness, which is inherently better at handling glare and reflections in bright rooms. QLED TVs are ideal for people whose TV usage happens mostly in the daytime, especially watching sports. Less than 1,000 nits of brightness, like the low numbers produced by a more basic LED TV, just isn't bright enough for comfortable visibility when it's competing with direct sunlight.

Ideally, QLED technology will be paired with mini LED technology to create the most well-rounded picture — this is what Samsung's Neo QLED TVs do.

When QLED isn't great: The main disadvantage of QLED TVs is dulled contrast, especially when it comes to black levels. QLEDs simply have a hard time reaching as deep of a black tone as OLED pixels do. The combination of these muted black levels with the brightness of light colors can sometimes backfire with what's commonly called blooming or haloing: a ring-shaped glow around bright objects on the screen. The halo effect can mess with the legibility of details on the screen, like captions written in white letters.

What is OLED?

Technical translation: OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode.

The one-letter shift between QLED and OLED doesn't accurately represent how starkly different these two lighting technologies are. While QLED pixels are merely casting light coming from behind them (but making it juicier), OLED pixels emit their own light. These self-lighting pixels can individually turn themselves on and off, which is how light/dark scenes show up.

The OLED TV on the right has one less layer — no backlight. Credit: Samsung Display

When OLED does its best work: The main advantages of OLED TVs are contrast and deep black levels. OLED TVs are ideal for people who do most of their TV watching or gaming in the dark, or watch a lot of dimly-lit content that gets muddied on more basic TVs.

SEE ALSO: How to watch 'Sinners': See the smash horror hit at home

The main disadvantage of OLED is the eventual likelihood of "burn-in," or permanently dimmed OLED pixels that show up as little black dots on the screen. OLED burn-in happens over a span of several years — not quickly enough that it stops many TV experts from generally preferring OLED TVs over QLED, anyway. Most newer OLED screens have built-in protective features that can prolong burn-in, like pixel refresh to shake up a static screen. You can also mitigate burn-in by simply not leaving your TV on all day, every day.

Resolution explained: FHD vs. 4K vs. 8K

Technical translation: Resolution refers to the number of pixels(p) that make up the picture on the screen.

The most common TV resolutions in 2025 are FHD, 4K, and 8K. Resolution technically measures the pixel count horizontally and vertically, but is sometimes shortened to just the vertical number. (For example, FHD is 1920x1080p, but is often represented as just "1080p".) A higher pixel count allows for more details, leading to clearer picture quality.

SEE ALSO: The best Netflix movies of 2025 now streaming

You've probably stumbled across 4K the most, which is a much more self-explanatory term than you may think: 4K is literally just four times the resolution of FHD. (4K measures 3840 x 2160, which is double the horizontal and double the vertical resolution of FHD's 1920 x 1080.) For most consumer buying purposes, 4K and UHD are essentially interchangeable.

For most intents and purposes, 4K and UHD are interchangeable. Credit: LG

The math gets more intense with the switch to 8K: At 7680 x 4320, 8K is four times the resolution of 4K and 16 times the resolution of FHD. But honestly, you probably don't have to worry about 8K right now. While it's the sharpest TV resolution one can get on paper, there's not enough content that can even be watched in 8K right now to make buying an 8K TV worthwhile.

HDR explained

Technical translation: HDR stands for high-dynamic range.

In the most lucid sense, HDR allows certain content to get brighter and more contrasted — as close to seeing the image IRL as possible. HDR is a technology that has the capacity to "understand" color and contrast data about what was originally shot through the camera lens that more basic technology, like SDR (standard dynamic range), just can't translate.

HDR "understands" color and contrast data better than SDR. Credit: LG

Not all TVs can get bright enough to fully take advantage of HDR's brightening capabilities, even if they claim to technically support the technology. Remember that conversation about brightness and nits we had earlier? Any TV toeing 1,000 nits probably won't be able to give you the optimal HDR experience.

On the flip side, a really good TV can't magically turn everything into HDR content — the movie, show, or video game has to be HDR compatible in the first place. For example, Hulu supports HDR for some titles and devices, but not others. Depending on your TV, calibrating HDR could be relatively simple or a pain in the ass, and is often trickier to nail with video games and monitors than with streamed content on a TV.

SEE ALSO: 10 Nintendo Switch 2 launch titles I can't wait to play (besides 'Mario Kart World')

There are a few main types of HDR formats: HDR10 (the most common "generic" one), Dolby Vision (the next most common one), and HDR10+ (Samsung's own version of HDR10). Most streaming services support at least the first two. The main difference between the HDR formats involves some heavy jargon that the average TV buyer probably doesn't need to dissect — but if you're really interested in the comparison between HDR10's use of static metadata versus Dolby Vision and HDR10+'s use of dynamic metadata, CNET breaks down the HDR formats well.

Refresh rate explained

Technical translation: Measured in hertz (Hz), refresh rate refers to the number of times a display refreshes its image per second.

The higher the refresh rate, the smoother and more lifelike the motion on the screen will be. But if your TV watching doesn't really exceed casual streaming service perusing, don't focus too much on refresh rate in your shopping. You'll probably be perfectly fine with 60Hz, which is what's found on most budget 4K TVs, like Amazon's 4-Series Fire TV.

Serious film watchers might find 60Hz too laggy, though, and might consider upping the ante to 120Hz. If you want to play the Switch 2 in all of its glory, a TV that supports at least 120Hz is crucial.

SEE ALSO: What Wes Anderson thinks of social media imitations of his aesthetic

Refresh rate plays the most influential role in video games, especially games that rely heavily on on-screen responsiveness. For gamers, anything under 144Hz will probably just be frustrating. This is the number that separates the good TVs from the best gaming TVs. For instance, LG's B4 OLED is a great midrange OLED option unless you're a hardcore gamer who wants to play at 144 fps — in that case, you'd need to upgrade to the LG C4 OLED, which supports 144Hz.

Final thoughts: How to choose a TV

Visualizing the differences between TV specs based solely on descriptions is hard. I thought my 2019 4K LED looked fine until I tested a high-end Samsung QLED in my apartment on the same TV stand in the same bright living room sunlight. Then I understood the hype.

My point? If you can, go to a store that has a TV aisle and see for yourself in person. Ideally, the TVs lined up in your local Best Buy or Target will be playing the same thing for easy side-by-side comparison of big features like picture quality, brightness, and color accuracy that can't quite be explained.

If you need a starting point for the TVs to hunt down IRL, check out some recommendations for the best televisions of 2025 below. There's a budget-friendly option, a mid-range mini LED option, and a top-of-their-class pick for both QLED and OLED. There's a high chance that one or two of them will be on sale whenever you're reading this — most of them were at the time this story was written.

Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL QM6K QLED Mini LED 4K TV Between $799.99 (55-inch) and $2,999.99 (98-inch) Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: Hisense Hisense U6 Mini LED QLED 4K TV Between $529.99 (65-inch) and $999.99 (85-inch) Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: LG LG C4 OLED 4K TV Between $999.99 (42-inch) and $3,499.99 (83-inch) Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony Bravia 9 QLED Mini LED 4K TV Between $2,999.99 (65-inch) and $4,799.99 (85-inch) Shop Now

Mario Kart World, the lone original flagship launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2, is as much defined by what it is as what it is not. 

What it is is a tremendously fun Mario Kart game that hones the franchise’s trademark fun to a hilarious, borderline sadistic, and nearly scientifically perfect degree. What it’s not is a revolutionary open-world epic on par with the Switch 1’s biggest launch title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or even other open-world racers like Burnout Paradise and Forza Horizon. 

Do not create a game in your head that doesn’t exist; this is a kick-ass Mario Kart game that happens to have an open world in it. Whether that’s enough for you to want to buy a Switch 2 at launch or not is your business, not mine. While Mario Kart World doesn’t necessarily live up to the seemingly infinite potential of an open-world Mario Kart game, it lives up to my expectations as a longtime fan of the series who really, really enjoys playing it online, which in turn makes it a great showcase for what makes the Switch 2 awesome.

You can get Mario Kart World for $79 at Walmart (and $79.99 at Nintendo), or you can try to find the Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle Check prices at Walmart Shop Now

You can also read my full hands-on deep dive on the Switch 2, but in the meantime, let's get into my Mario Kart World review.

Mario Kart World may not be what you expect Knockout Tour is the real highlight here. Credit: Nintendo

Back in April, when Nintendo first detailed Mario Kart World to the masses, plenty of folks (myself included) became wide-eyed with awe in thinking about what an open-world Mario Kart game could be. Mario Kart World is not quite that.

To be clear, after a week of extensive play, I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but it is disappointing, especially if you tuned out the later marketing that made it explicitly clear that the free roam feature is a goofy little side mode and not the main attraction. It’s an easy way to unlock new costumes for characters, and it’s full of little bespoke challenges to complete, but their rewards pretty much only come in the form of stickers, which don’t actually do anything meaningful. Those challenges are only worth doing for the love of the game, in other words.

Mario Kart World’s biggest surprise, then, is how much that doesn’t really bother me. Once the final game was in my hands, I realized the open world exists to justify the modes you just pick from a menu. Grand prix races ask players to race between tracks, for instance. The new Knockout Tour mode, which is the game’s biggest highlight, takes players on a Cannonball Run-esque (that’s a reference the kids will get) cross-country race, in which those at the back of the pack are gradually eliminated from contention over time. 

There are several Knockout Tour stretches available. Credit: Nintendo SEE ALSO: Switch 2 smashes Nintendo's own record, selling 3.5 million consoles

It’s tempting to call the open world “tacked-on,” but I would argue that's not really appropriate. The idea that all of these tracks are physically connected to one another is baked into the design of the major modes; Knockout Tour wouldn’t exist without the open world, therefore, the existence of the open world is justified. That said, since this is a Mario Kart World review, it’s worth noting that most tracks can be turned into regular three-lap circuits during multiplayer races, if you prefer that.

Still, I don’t want to let Nintendo entirely off the hook here. Free roam should be more rewarding than it is. Stickers are not a good enough incentive to complete P-switch challenges, many of which are genuinely pretty difficult. That being said, Mario Kart World is a ton of fun on its own merits, regardless of what you may or may not wish it was instead.

But the part where it’s Mario Kart might be better than ever The races are great. Credit: Nintendo

Once you process and get over the fact that this isn’t Burnout Paradise with blue shells, Mario Kart World rocks. The sorcerers over at Nintendo have found a bunch of ways to make the races more frenetic, chaotic, and arguably fun than ever.

For starters, there are now 24 competitors per race, rather than the traditional 12. That means the beginning portion of every race is kind of a nightmare, in a great way. There’s just a mass of humanity (and cows, and dolphins, and Goombas, and anything else that’s ever been in a Mario game) all trying to knock each other out. If you’re inclined to get mad at the part of Mario Kart where sometimes you get hit by a shell that you couldn’t do anything about, get ready for twice as much of that.

I’m not inclined to get mad about that because I think it makes Mario Kart more interesting than many other racing games. If I wanted to play a game where mere driving prowess was enough to win on its own, I would play almost any other racing game. I find comfort in the idea that sometimes you can be perfect, and it’s still not good enough because of some nonsense that was out of your control. That’s just life, man. 

Crucially, it’s also very funny to go from first to 20th in about three seconds. Learning to laugh at yourself is key to enjoying Mario Kart.

Donkey Kong rocks. Credit: Nintendo

With that in mind, though, the driving mechanics here are maybe my favorite in any Mario Kart. It still works roughly the same on the surface as it did in Mario Kart 8, in that drifting in order to build up boost is the main thing you have to worry about when you aren’t dodging items. There’s also a new charge jump mechanic on top of that, which enables the player to grind on rails or even ride along walls, two things that also build up boost if you do them right.

I haven’t even really scratched the surface of the kinds of shortcut opportunities that surely exist if you get good enough at those moves, but just knowing that there’s more depth here than before is enough for me. Pulling off a sick wallride feels great, if nothing else. 

All of this works in concert with the true greatness of the Knockout Tour mode to create something I’m going to casually play online for many, many dozens of hours. It’s truly exciting to win a Knockout Tour in a way it’s never been to win in Mario Kart before. Every time I finish in first place in an online Knockout Tour, I feel like I can take on God.

Mario Kart World is an excellent Switch 2 showcase The water is gorgeous. Credit: Nintendo

One very important aspect of Mario Kart World that maybe doesn’t come through until you see it running on a 4K TV with HDR turned on is that it’s one of the best-looking games of 2025 so far. The Switch 2’s big boost in horsepower over its predecessor, combined with Nintendo’s excellent-as-usual art direction, make it an absolute delight to look at pretty much at all times.

Mario Kart World is vibrant, colorful, and full of fun little details. Karts and racers bend and contort in cartoonish ways when they take hits, explosions now have comic book-esque “KABOOM!” text callouts on top of them, and the water, oh my god, the water. I think Mario Kart World might have the best-looking water I’ve seen in a video game. It needs to be seen to be believed.

Aside from World’s prowess as a technical showcase, it’s also a great demonstrator of the Switch 2’s neat online social features. I’ve had a ton of fun doing online races and Knockout Tours against friends while we casually hang out and talk about whatever is happening in our lives via GameChat. World is an incredible hangout game, if nothing else.

But there are some gaps in the online feature set Also gorgeous. Credit: Nintendo

Unfortunately, the online features could be a bit more fleshed out in a couple of ways.

First, free roaming around the open world with friends appears to be limited to driving around while waiting for races or Knockout Tours to start. The P-switch challenges are removed from the open world when playing this way, turning it into a glorified lobby rather than a true, cooperative open world. I wish there was more to do in the open world in general, but I think this sentiment is especially true of the online version of it.

Secondly, I wish you could queue up for online Knockout Tour races against random strangers while partied up with your friends. Instead, to do an online Knockout Tour with friends, you either need to find 23 other people (unlikely) or accept that some of the slots will be filled with NPC characters. I think this is a fantastic online game in many ways, but it’s not always ideal.

Is Mario Kart World worth it?

Look, everyone has their own idea of what a dollar is worth, or in this case, 80 of them. I think Mario Kart World is a great game and I would pay $80 for it if I had to, but I’m also comically irresponsible with money.

Moving past the value proposition of it all, World is just a ton of fun. It’s fun to look at, fun to win at, and even fun to lose at, if your mindset is properly attuned to it.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Mario Kart World - U.S. Version $79 at Walmart
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If you can't figure out why you're dead exhausted upon waking or want to track how your body handles the stress of daily life, a smart ring will deliver answers. And my favorite smart ring, the famous Oura ring, starts providing answers quickly. Almost the second I slipped on the ring, I got data on my heart rate, skin temperature, and blood oxygen levels. And within days, the Oura app was collecting and reporting trends on my health biometrics. But for some data, users have to be patient.

The Oura app has three tabs: Today, Vitals, and My Health. 'Today' and 'Vitals' provide data you can immediately access — quick snapshots of your real-time health data. But 'My Health' is a home base for data that takes some time to calculate. And this isn't just one or two weeks of processing; one calculation requires months of patience.

Credit: Oura App / Mashable Photo Composite

'My Health' has three reports: Resilience, Heart Health, and Sleep Health. After about 28 days, data populates in both Resilience and Heart Health, but Sleep Health takes longer. I had to wait three months for my sleep chronotype to calculate. So, after 90 days of daily use, I finally got my chronotype, and it was well worth the wait.

What is a chronotype?

The terms early bird and night owl are more than just an idiom. They refer to chronotypes, aka your natural sleep cycle. Chronotypes were popularized by Dr. Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist specializing in sleep medicine. Dr. Breus described sleepers as either a lion, bear, wolf, or dolphin, adding a couple more animals to the traditional sleep cycle menagerie.

Oura breaks down users into six chronotypes: early morning, morning, late morning, early evening, evening, and late evening. With each chronotype comes a suggested sleep and wake time that works with your natural circadian rhythm, helping you get the best quality of sleep. Plus, it helps you realize when you're most productive so you can stop scheduling early morning meetings when you're most focused and productive in the afternoon or evening anyway.

How does Oura calculate chronotype? Any other 'early evening types' in the crowd? Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Oura rings track an impressive amount of biometrics to calculate your chronotype (hence the months-long wait). Through sleep tracking, activity tracking, and body temperature, Oura coalesces the data to conclude what chronotype category you fall into. And Oura isn't just taking a snapshot of data. Through three months of data collection, it can paint a fuller picture of your habits than you'd get after just 28 days, which might contain an off week or two and sway the data.

Why does Chronotype matter?

If you're trying to follow doctor's orders and get those recommended seven to eight hours of sleep a night, choosing the right sleep and wake times is crucial. If you're working backward, planning your sleep time around when you need to be awake, you may find that your bedtime still doesn't feel right. If you're having a hard time falling asleep or waking up way before your alarm, you might not be embracing your natural circadian rhythm.

Your chronotype gives you the insight to know when your body wants to wake and rest, as well as when it's most productive. While most people don't have the luxury to create their work hours around their sleep schedule, you can still get useful data for optimizing your life.

Why I love Oura's Chronotype feature According to Oura, evening types are innovative (not to brag). Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

My sleep schedule has been a problem since I was a kid. I'd stay up past my bedtime and oversleep early wake times for school. While I once saw this as a discipline problem, the irresponsibility of youth prompting me to stay up late, I've since learned this is just my natural sleep cadence. It's no surprise that I thrived while working restaurant hours post-grad.

Now that I'm working a 9-to-5, working from home, those late nights need to be cut short. For a while, I tried going to sleep at the same time as my partner, who goes to bed early and wakes at dawn, I just ended up tossing and turning in bed, frustrated that I couldn't fall asleep.

After wearing my Oura ring for three months, I finally got some answers. Oura assigned me the chronotype of 'early evening'. While I'm not an extreme night owl, my schedule does stray toward the later side. When Oura provided the suggested bedtime of 12:30 a.m. with an 8:30 a.m. wake time, I realized that was what my body wanted. When I was trying to be an early riser, I was fighting against my chronotype. I've since adjusted my schedule to embrace this routine and found that I fall asleep more easily and wake fully rested.

Oura isn't the only fitness tracker to provide this type of data. Whoop also does a good job at suggesting sleep and wake times; however, Whoop doesn't offer chronotype profiles.

There's a lot of vital information you can get from your Oura ring, but chronotype is my favorite feature. It's given me tangible info that genuinely improved my quality of sleep.

I know that an Oura ring is an expensive investment, and if you're going to splurge, it's reassuring to know you'll receive data that's actually useful.

Who can access chronotypes?

You can access the chronotype feature with the newer Oura Ring 4 and the older Oura Ring Gen3, but you'll need an Oura membership. The Oura app membership costs $5.99 a month or $69.99 a year.

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