Tech
๐ Next PS5 Pro pre-order, ๐ถ SteelSeries gaming earbuds, ๐ค Meta Orion AR glasses, ๐ฑ New Samsung devices
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๐ Walmart starts PS5 Pro & PS Slim 30th Anniversary pre-orders in two weeks
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๐ The next PS5 Pro pre-order time is October 10 at 10am ET / 7am PT
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๐ฎ PS5 DualSense 30th Anniversary wireless controller may also restock
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๐ โโ๏ธ None of the 12,300 PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary consoles are expected
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๐ Yes, weโll do a giveaway of a PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Collection for The Shortcut subscribers soon
PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Collection sold out in minutes at PlayStation Direct, even at its $999 price, and the PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary Collection is also out of stock. Only 12,300 of the individually numbered PS5 Pro consoles sold worldwide.
๐ Excellent news: One thankful paid subscriber of The Shortcut doesnโt want his PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary console, and weโre working to set up a giveaway for our loyal subscribers during Black Friday. Stay tuned!
Good news: my 13-step guide and my alerts on X helped about a dozen subscribers of The Shortcut pre-order the ultra-rare Sony console.
Bad news: many of you didnโt get it. Heck, I didnโt even get it, and I authored the 13-step guide! (truthfully, Iโm usually busy helping others get through Sonyโs virtual queue faster by answering an avalanche of your questions).
Great news: Walmart will sell the out-of-stock PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary Collection on October 10. Itโll also sell PS5 Pro for the first time. Hereโs the pre-order page:
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๐ง SteelSeries debuts its first gaming earbuds, the Gamebuds
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๐ Features ANC, transparency mode, and 10 hours of battery life
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๐ Connects wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.3 or 2.4GHz wireless USB-C connector
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๐น๏ธ Over 100 game profiles in the Arctis Mobile app on iOS & Android
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๐ Preorder today for $159, available on October 29
SteelSeries has introduced its first pair of gaming earbuds fittingly named the Gamebuds. They have all the wireless earbuds features youโd expect plus the 100+ game profiles previously only available to their gaming headsets.
SteelSeries is certainly angling their earbuds as a regular lifestyle product as much as it is for gaming. They come with active noise canceling and a transparency mode you would find on any pair of Apple AirPods 4 or the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.
What makes them different is thereโs a 2.4GHz wireless transmitter stowed away in the charging case. This lets you connect your earbuds to an Xbox Series X, PS5 Pro, PC, gaming handheld, laptop, or anything with a USB-C port.
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๐ฅฒ Unsurprisingly, reselling PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary for crazy money
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๐คฏ Listings are going for more than 400% over MSRP
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๐คทโโ๏ธ PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary console is also being resold over MSRP
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๐จ Walmart pre-orders starts on October 10 for PS5 Pro as well as the 30th Anniversary Collection version of PS5 Slim & DualSense controller
The average price started out as $3,000, a 300% markup, but those sold out before you could click on the eBay listing. Weโre now seeing the PS5 Pro go over $5,000.
Whatโs funny is that people are trying to resell the โPS5 Slim 30th Anniversary Editon (NOT PRO)โ as explicitly stated in the headline, though thatโll be in stock at Walmart in two weeks alongside the normal PS5 Pro.
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โ The new Apple Watch 10 is thin and light โ perfect for sleep-tracking
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๐ The sporty Ultra 2 has a bigger battery โ no need to charge daily
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๐บ Both have larger, upgraded screens vs older Apple Watch models
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๐ฒ Prices start at $399 (Watch 10) and $799 (Ultra 2)
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๐๏ธ Which one should you buy?
Our Apple Watch 10 review notes that the newest smartwatch from Apple is a solid upgrade over previous Apple Watch models, but for anyone conflicting when deciding between the Watch 10 and the Ultra 2, youโre not alone.
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๐ย Orion is Metaโs first true augmented reality glasses
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๐ชย 70ยบ field of view is the widest on any current AR glasses
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๐ฝ๏ธย Micro-LED projectors beam graphics to your eyes via waveguides
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๐คย Metaโs generative AI overlays information onto physical objects in your vision
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โกย Controlled with neural impulses gathered from an EMG wristband
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๐ปย Powered by custom Qualcomm processors housed in a โcompute puckโ
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๐ซย Likely never something you can actually buy, unlike Apple Vision Pro
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๐ฆ Samsung announced new devices at its latest AI launch event
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๐ฑ $649 Galaxy S24 FE is an affordable 6.7-inch phone (like to S24 Plus)
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โ $249 Galaxy Watch FE LTE (40mm) adds cellular (like Watch 4)
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๐ฑ $999 Tab S10+ & $1,299 Tab S10 Ultra are powered by MediaTek
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๐ค All four have Galaxy AI features, as seen in our S24 Ultra review
Samsung announced new devices at its latest AI event, and we sent
, in her first article for The Shortcut, to go hands-on with everything. This is the time of year when Samsung introduces affordable versions of its prior products.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE (fan edition) takes some of the Galaxy AI features seen in our Galaxy S24 Ultra review and applies them to a $649 phone thatโs similar in size to the 6.7-inch Galaxy S24 Plus. The new Galaxy Watch FE is akin to the Galaxy Watch 4, while the Tab S10+ and Tab S10 Ultra are brand-new entries from Samsung.
As always, you can pre-order these devices at a discount after reading Sherriโs hands-on experience with them.
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๐ฅฝ Meta introduces an affordable $299 Meta Quest 3S mixed reality headset
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๐ธ Itโs $200 cheaper than the Meta Quest 3 flagship headset
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โ๏ธ Same processor, 8GB of RAM, touch controllers, and tracking technology
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๐ 2.5 hours of battery life, the longest out of all of Metaโs headsets
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๐ด Display resolution and lens type is the same as the Meta Quest 2
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๐ Available to preorder now for $299-399 and ships October 15
Meta introduced its more affordable Quest 3S mixed reality headset at its Meta Connect conference earlier this week, and if youโve been a Meta Quest 2 die-hard like me, this is definitely the time to upgrade.
While the Meta Quest 3S is a $200 cheaper alternative to the Meta Quest 3, it features essentially the same specs as the more expensive Meta Quest 3 with few trade-offs โ but more importantly, big upgrades for Meta Quest 2 owners.
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โจ๏ธ SteelSeries introduces a new series of Apex Pro Gen 3 gaming keyboards
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๐งฒ New OmniPoint 3.0 built around magnetic Hall Effect sensors
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โก Promises to be 11x faster and twice as durable as mechanical switches
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๐โโ๏ธ๐ถโโ๏ธ Bind two commands to one key with 2-in-1 Action Keys
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๐น๏ธ Counter-strafe, crouch-jump, and slide-cancel like a pro with Rapid Tap
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โฌ๏ธ GG Quickset lets you download pro-gamer and community profiles
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๐บ Roku announced a new version of the Roku Ultra streaming player
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๐๏ธ It offers 30% faster performance and ships with a brand-new remote
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๐ฒ Itโs still priced at an affordable $99.99
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๐ Roku is launching the new Ultra in time for Black Friday
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๐ Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has a Metacritic score of 86
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๐คฉ The game has 91% positive reviews, 7% mixed and 0% negative
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๐ธ Itโs the first time Zelda has been given the leading role
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๐ The game is out now for Nintendo Switch
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๐คฏ The new PS5 Pro is capable of outputting some games at 8K resolution
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๐ค Sonyโs PS5 retail box promises 8K gaming, but it was never realized
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๐ PS5 Pro, however, is making 8K video games a real thing
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๐ Only a few games are supported, but weโll update this 8K games list often
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๐ฆ $100 PlayStation giftcard for $83
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๐ $50 Nintendo Gift Card for $39.99
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๐ฉ $50ย Xbox Gift Cardย forย $40
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โ 50% off Xbox Game Pass for $26 (Microsoftโs MSRP is $60 for 3 months)
Weโre expanding our discount codes for paid subscribers as a pack-in. Itโs sort of like CD-ROM pack-ins for subscribers of 90s magazines.
๐ฌ Canโt afford it? Totally fine. Iโm opening up more ways to be a paid subscriber for people who canโt spare the $5/mo ($4.16/mo) to keep us going. Support us in other ways by referring your friends & family to The Shortcut. Help us grow!