Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Look Up Say More Creator Hub Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Mashable Selects Versus Switch Off Trending Now Safety Net In My Bag VidCon with Mashable All Series Waffle's screen-free kids phone skips apps and social media -- where to pre-order now A phone that just makes calls -- imagine that. Soumya is a deals writer who covers consumer tech, shopping deals, and the products people use every day. With experience writing about everything from AI tools and software to smartphones and home gadgets, she enjoys breaking down product research into clear, useful recommendations. When she's not tracking deals, she's usually comparing products, digging through reviews, and figuring out what actually makes a purchase worth it. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.

Look Up Say More Versus Creator Hub Switch Off Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Trending Now Safety Net In My Bag VidCon with Mashable Back to School Furtastic All Series Will we finally see foldable phones enter the mainstream? Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.

Meta has just wrapped up its 2023 Connect keynote. As promised, the company had a lot more to share about its Meta Quest 3 headset. It also announced the latest pair of smart glasses it created in collaboration with Ray-Ban. In an astoundingly shocking turn of events, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also had some AI updates to discuss. Meta first showed off the Quest 3 back in June to preempt Apple's announcement of the Vision Pro. However, we had to wait a few months to get all of the details about Meta's mixed reality headset (which we've already had some hands-on time with).

Neuromorphic computing company GrAI Matter has $1 million in pre–orders for its GrAI VIP chip, the company told EE Times. The startup has engagement to date from companies across consumer Tier-1s, module makers (including ADLink, Framos, and ERM), U.S. and French government research, automotive Tier-1s and system integrators, white box suppliers, and distributors. As with previous generations of the company's Neuron Flow core, the company's approach for its GrAI VIP chip uses concepts from event–based sensing and sparsity to process image data efficiently. This means using a stateful neuron design (one that remembers the past) to process only information that has changed between one frame of a video and the next, which helps avoid processing unchanged parts of the frames over and over again. Combine this with a near–memory compute/dataflow architecture and the result is low–latency, low–power, real–time computer vision.

Amazon just announced its new line of Echo devices, and they are drastically different than the ones we have grown to love. Their form factor is completely new for 2020, and even more exciting is the fact that they are now available for pre-order. Echo devices and their built-in smart assistant, Alexa, have become the most popular names in smart home following their 2014 debut. Every year since, Amazon has launched new smart speakers, displays, earbuds, fashion assistants, and even eyeglasses. Some of it sticks, and some gets phased.

Gamers will be able to get their hands on the next-generation Xbox consoles from November 10, Microsoft has confirmed. The flagship Xbox Series X is priced at £449, while the compact version, the Xbox Series S, will retail at £249. Pre-orders for both consoles, which are both part of Microsoft's ultra-powerful fourth-generation range, will begin on September 22. The devices will also be made available through its Xbox All Access programme, allowing players to split the cost across 24 months from £20.99 a month. The deal includes Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the top tier of its gaming subscription service, and Xbox Live to play online.

Intuition Robotics has been working on its ElliQ "proactive social robot for older adults" for only a few years--the company, founded in 2016, has managed to secure funding from Toyota AI Ventures, Samsung, and iRobot, among others. For nearly a year, Intuition has been testing ElliQ in the homes of beta testers aged 62-97 in the San Francisco Bay Area, and things have apparently gone well enough that they've decided that the robot is ready to go on sale. If you're wondering what ElliQ actually does, the website is a bit more informative, but not much: ElliQ is specially designed with and for older adults to give them everything they need to stay sharp, connected and engaged. Interacting with ElliQ and the world is easy and fun, and through AI she becomes even more helpful by learning what you like and need. ElliQ enables family members to easily check-in with you and help with the day-to-day, creating more quality time together wherever you live. ElliQ suggests personalized activities at the right time, keeping you sharp, active and engaged.

Nintendo has sold a lot of Switches in the last year thanks to the console's unique ability to play games on a TV and on the go, but also thanks to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. Though they came from 30 year-old franchises, both games helped millions fall in love with them all over again. In 2018, Nintendo is setting its sights in a direction it hasn't aimed at before: the do-it yourself crowd. Nintendo Labo are a series of experiences for Switch that let you (or your kids) build cardboard objects and play games with them. Robots, fishing poles, pianos... there's a lot to build and try here.

Pre-orders for the iPhone X in the U.S., Taiwan and Singapore were not as strong as expected, according to a report by DigiTimes. The iPhone X reportedly had a tight supply in other markets, including Japan. Apple released the iPhone X early November, weeks after it launched the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. The iPhone X comes with an edge-to-edge OLED display and the TrueDepth camera system for the new Face ID and Animoji features. The iPhone X prices start at $999 for the 32GB model and $1,149 for the 256GB version.

The extra'X' in the Xbox One X's name signifies Microsoft's vision for the next few years of video games, but X may also be on the sold-out sign gamers see when they try to find the new console on store shelves come November 7. WIRED's Brendan Nystedt reviewed the new console, concluding that "Microsoft has pulled off something impressive here. If you listen to the talking heads, it's looking more likely that supplies will be limited. Panos Panay, Microsoft's head of devices, recently told CNBC that demand is "super high." The company's U.K. marketing director, Harvey Eagle, also warned gamers to pre-order in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz."I I'd just encourage people if they want one at launch, to get moving."