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All eyes were on transparent displays, glare-free screens and wireless televisions, among other innovations, as TV makers premiered their new lineups at CES 2024. (These are our favorite TVs from the show.) The best TVs advertise an alphanumeric soup of extras such as HDR, 120Hz and HDMI 2.1. TVs often include all of those features and more, making it tough to tell the difference.

Unlike the rest of those TV tech terms, QLED and OLED are fundamentally different, even though they’re only one letter apart. And in our side-by-side comparison reviews, one is better than the other.

For the last few years, Samsung has been branding its TVs “QLED.” Its 2024 QLED lineup includes Neo QLED models in 4K and 8K resolution, The Frame art TV, the Serif and the Sero rotating TV. But Samsung isn’t the only one: TCL also makes QLED TVs, including the excellent QM8, and Amazon has a Fire TV Omni QLED television of its own.

On the other side of the fence are OLED TVs. In the last few years, LG has dominated the OLED market, and its 2024 OLED TV lineup is more extensive than ever. Sony and Sharp also sell OLED TVs in the US. Adding to the confusion, Samsung has an OLED TV of its own, meaning it sells both OLED and QLED TVs.

So what’s the difference between OLED and QLED? We’ll start with picture quality. In our side-by-side comparison reviews, OLED beats QLED every time. None of the QLED TVs we’ve tested, including the Samsung QN90B, the TCL QM8 or the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED, look as good as any of the OLED TVs we’ve tested, such as the LG C3, G3 or Samsung S95C. In every comparison we’ve done, the OLED TV won.

QLED vs. OLED: Quick summary of the TV technologies

Let’s start with a quick breakdown.

• OLED stands for “organic light-emitting diode.”
• QLED (according to Samsung) stands for “quantum dot LED TV.”
• OLED is a fundamentally different technology from LCD, the major type of TV.
• QLED is a variation of LED LCD, adding a quantum dot film to the LCD “sandwich.”
• OLED is “emissive,” meaning the pixels emit their own light.
• QLED, like LCD, is “transmissive” in its current form and relies on an LED backlight.

A QLED TV is just an LCD TV with quantum dots

The main takeaway is that QLED is closer to regular old LCD than it is to OLED, which I (and most other experts) consider a distinctly different class of television, much like plasma before it.

Quantum dots are microscopic molecules that, when hit by light, emit their own differently colored light. In QLED TVs, the dots are contained in a film, and the light that hits them is provided by an LED backlight. That light then travels through a few other layers inside the TV, including a liquid crystal (LCD) layer, to create the picture. The light from the LED source is transmitted through the layers to the screen’s surface, which is why we say it’s “transmissive.”

Samsung has been using quantum dots to augment its LCD TVs since 2015 and debuted the QLED TV branding in 2017. Samsung says those quantum dots have evolved over time — that color and light output have improved, for example. In my experience, however, improvements caused by better quantum dots are much less evident than those caused by other image quality factors (see below).

Other TV makers also use quantum dots in LCD TVs, including Vizio and Hisense, but don’t call those sets QLED TVs.

An OLED TV is not an LCD TV at all

LCD is the dominant technology in flat-panel TVs and has been for a long time. It’s cheaper than OLED, especially in larger sizes, and numerous panel-makers can manufacture it.

OLED is different because it doesn’t use an LED backlight to produce light. Instead, light is produced by millions of individual OLED subpixels. The pixels themselves — tiny dots that compose the image — emit light, which is why it’s called an “emissive” display technology. That difference leads to all kinds of picture-quality effects, some of which favor LCD (and QLED), but most of which favor OLED.

Aside from the US brands mentioned above, Panasonic, Philips, Grundig and others sell OLED TVs in Europe. All OLED TVs worldwide use panels manufactured by either LG or Samsung.

Until 2022, LG was the only company making OLED panels, but that year Samsung started making its own panels using QD-OLED technology. Samsung promises improved color and brightness compared with current OLED TVs because its TVs use quantum dots — just like QLED TVs — and in our tests, the color of the Samsung S95C QD-OLED was superb. But we liked the LG G3 better, in part because it uses another new OLED panel technology called MLA (or Micro Lens Array) to improve brightness. We expect OLED technology to continue evolving in the coming years.

Read more: What is the best OLED screen type?

QLED vs. OLED image quality

Based on my reviews, here are some general comparisons.

QLED TV picture quality varies more than OLED

Samsung and TCL each have multiple QLED series, and the most expensive ones perform a lot better than the cheaper ones. That’s mainly because the biggest improvements in the picture quality of QLED sets don’t have much to do with quantum dots. Instead, they’re the result of mini-LED backlights, better full-array local dimming, bright highlights and better viewing angles, which help them outperform QLED (and non-QLED) TVs that lack those extras.

Meanwhile, every OLED TV I’ve reviewed has very similar image quality — all have earned a 10/10 in picture quality in my tests.

OLED has better contrast and black level

One of the most important image-quality factors is black level, and their emissive nature means OLED TVs can turn unused pixels off completely, for literally infinite contrast. QLED/LCD TVs, even the best ones with the most effective full-array local dimming, let some light through, leading to more washed-out, grayer black levels and blooming around bright sections.

QLED is brighter

The brightest QLED and LCD TVs can get brighter than any OLED model, which is a particular advantage in bright rooms and with HDR content. In my tests, however, OLED TVs can still get plenty bright for most rooms, and their superior contrast still allows them to deliver a better overall HDR image than any QLED/LCD TV I’ve tested.

OLED has better uniformity and viewing angles

With LCD-based displays, different areas of the screen can appear brighter than others all the time, and backlight structure can also be seen in some content. Even the best LCDs also fade, lose contrast and become discolored when seen from seats other than the sweet spot directly in front of the screen. OLED TVs have almost perfectly uniform screens and maintain fidelity from all but the most extreme angles.

Resolution, color, video processing and other image-quality factors are basically the same

Most QLED and OLED TVs have the same resolution and 4K, and both can achieve 8K resolution, too. Neither technology has major inherent advantages in color or video processing, although QD-OLED could deliver improved color. Check out OLED vs. LCD for more details.

QLED can get bigger and smaller (and cheaper)

There are six sizes of OLED TV on the market today. Two more sizes, 42-inch and 97-inch, were new for 2022.

OLED TV sizes

• 42-inch
• 48-inch
• 55-inch
• 65-inch
• 77-inch
• 83-inch
• 88-inch
• 97-inch

Meanwhile, as QLED TVs are LCDs, they can be made in a greater range of sizes. Non-QLED LCD TVs can get even smaller.

QLED TV sizes

• 32-inch
• 43-inch
• 50-inch
• 55-inch
• 58-inch
• 65-inch
• 75-inch
• 82-inch
• 85-inch
• 98-inch

One big advantage that QLED and LCD have over OLED is the cost of mainstream sizes over 65 inches. Large televisions are the fastest-growing segment of the market and show no signs of slowing down. However, 77-inch OLED TVs cost $2,200 and up, significantly more than most 75-inch QLED TVs, and in larger sizes the difference is even more drastic.

What about OLED burn-in?

Burn-in happens when a persistent part of the image — a channel logo, a news ticker or a scoreboard on a TV, for example — remains as a ghostly background no matter what else appears on screen. All OLED screens can burn-in, and from everything I know, they’re more susceptible than LCD displays, including QLED.

All things considered, however, burn-in shouldn’t be a problem for most people. Burn-in is typically caused by leaving a single, static image element, like a channel logo, on the screen for a long time, repeatedly. That’s an issue if you keep Fox News, ESPN or MSNBC on for multiple hours every day and don’t watch enough other programming, for example. But as long as you vary what’s displayed, chances are you’ll never experience burn-in.

Check out our guide on OLED screen burn-in for more.

Which is better in 2023 and beyond, QLED or OLED TVs?

As I mentioned above, when I pit an OLED TV against a QLED TV, OLED wins every time.

What about the future? Beyond its QD-OLED TV, Samsung is researching direct-view quantum dot, which dispenses with the liquid crystal layers and uses quantum dots themselves as the light source. Emissive QLED TVs have the potential to match the absolute black levels and “infinite” contrast ratio of OLED, with better power efficiency, better color and more. That’s pretty exciting, but it will be a few years before we see emissive QLED TVs for sale. Hopefully, they’ll think up a new acronym by then (EQLEDs?).

Then there’s MicroLED. It’s another emissive technology, once again spearheaded by Samsung but also sold by LG, that’s on sale now for the super rich — the largest examples cost more than $1 million. As you might guess from the name, it uses millions of teeny-tiny LEDs as pixels. MicroLED has the potential for the same perfect black levels as OLED, with no danger of burn-in. It can deliver higher brightness than any current display technology, wide-gamutcolor and doesn’t suffer from the viewing angle and uniformity issues of LCD. It’s also friggin’ huge. It doesn’t involve quantum dots, at least not yet, but who knows what might happen when it comes to market. QDMLED, anyone?

For now, however, OLED rules the picture-quality roost over QLED.

Samsung has been selling smartwatches for more than a decade. But at its Unpacked event on Wednesday, we got a glimpse at what’s next for Samsung’s wearables line: The Galaxy Ring.

Smart rings aren’t new, although they’re not as popular as smartwatches. The Oura ring is a favorite of celebrities like Kim Kardashian, and Movano’s Evie smart ring was designed with women’s health in mind, which my colleague Bridget Carey recently put to the test. But Samsung’s entry into the smart ring market suggests tiny devices worn around the finger that can gather health metrics may be more than just a niche device for celebrities and athletes.

For Samsung, the Galaxy Ring is just one part of the company’s broader goal to create a network of devices that can feed information into the Samsung Health app, painting a fuller picture of our habits.

“I think you should look at the ring as one of many steps towards multi-device engagement,” said Hon Pak, vice president and head of the digital health team for the mobile experience business at Samsung Electronics.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra First Look: AI Takes Center Stage

The Galaxy Ring looks just like an ordinary piece of jewelry at first glance, until you notice the tiny sensors and electronics strewn across the inner lining. The version of the Galaxy Ring that I saw was a prototype, but I was told that it generally reflects the appearance of the model that will eventually go on sale. I wasn’t allowed to photograph the ring, but I tried on all three colors: silver, dark gray and gold. The ring felt larger than typical women’s jewelry, but was surprisingly light on my finger. Like the Oura ring, the design itself is sleek and minimalist and almost looks like a traditional groom’s wedding band.

There’s a lot we don’t know about the Galaxy Ring yet, such as when it will launch, how much it will cost, which types of sensors it will have and which health metrics it will gather compared to the Galaxy Watch. But the Galaxy Ring is another vehicle for Samsung to carry out its health strategy, which focuses on four specific types of health data: sleep, nutrition, activity and stress.

With the Galaxy Ring, Samsung hopes to gather that type of data in a way that’s more subtle and less distracting than a smartwatch. To put it plainly: Not everyone wants to wear a watch, particularly a smartwatch.

“Some people want a more simple form factor, and [the] ring represents that,” said Pak, adding that the ring can passively measure health metrics without requiring the level of engagement that a watch would. “And then it’s got to be stylish, it’s got to be comfortable, it’s got to have long battery life. And those are the characteristics that we’re working on.”

We’ll have to wait until Samsung reveals more details about the Galaxy Ring to know more specifics. But Samsung did show some the new health features it’s developing for the Samsung Health app during its Unpacked keynote, which could provide some insight into Samsung’s approach.

Samsung is launching a new metric called My Vitality Score, which is essentially a rating meant to evaluate your physical and mental readiness based on factors such as sleep, activity, resting heart rate and heart rate variability. Pak tells me it will include a validated test for measuring your alertness in the morning, and it’ll be available for Galaxy Watch devices and the Galaxy Ring. It sounds similar to readings and scores we’ve seen from other wearable tech brands, such as Oura, Fitbit and Garmin, all of which already have scores for measuring readiness.

Samsung also wouldn’t be the first to put an alertness test in a wearable; the Pison Ready wristband and Citizen CZ smartwatch also have this type of functionality. However, it’s rare to see a test like that on a ring, which could be one way the Galaxy Ring could stand out from Oura’s offerings.

The other major new feature coming to Samsung Health is Booster Cards, which are tidbits within the app that provide insight into the “why” behind your health readings. If your sleep score was low, for example, a Booster Card might tell you it’s because you were tossing and turning too much. Oura and Garmin also provide similar insights in their apps.

Regardless, it’s another indication that tech companies are making a bigger effort to connect the dots between your health data points. And Samsung isn’t alone in this regard; Google’s Fitbit is also using AI to provide deeper health insights through a new feature called Fitbit Labs launching later this year.

Samsung is thinking about other ways to improve the way you discover health data in its app, too. After all, the Samsung Health app is as important as ever for a device like the Galaxy Ring since it doesn’t have a screen. When asked whether Samsung is considering creating a chatbot or virtual assistant to help users parse through health data, Pak said Samsung is looking at the option.

“We think the concept of a digital system that helps you to navigate and understand the context and navigate them to solutions are going to be necessary,” Pak said. “And what form factor that’s going to be is to be determined. And it may vary based on person to person, right? Some people just probably want audio; some people want a video on the TV.”

We’re likely a ways away from the overall vision Pak described in which having smart mattresses and refrigerators communicating with your smartwatch or ring would be the norm. But Samsung hopes the Galaxy Ring is another step toward that reality.

Boasting a lineup of 22 of the world’s top 50 golfers, the PGA Tour makes its way to La Quinta, California, this weekend for The American Express 2024.

Still commonly referred to as the Bob Hope — the tournament’s previous name, bestowed upon it by its former showbiz host — The American Express sees 156 golfers tackle three courses at PGA West.

With John Rahm having defected to the rival LIV golf tour, this year’s American Expressis without a defending champ. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is ranked as favorite, ahead of Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Wyndham Clark, to claim the tournament’s $8.4 million prize.

Keep reading to find out the best live TV streaming services to use to watch each day of the tournament live wherever you are in the world.

Livestream The American Express 2024 in the US

Linear TV coverage in the US is on The Golf Channel, while streaming service Peacock also boasts the same coverage of the entire tournament.

For more comprehensive coverage, PGA Tour Live streaming coverage takes place Thursday through Sunday on ESPN Plus, offering main action feeds, marquee groups, featured groups and featured hole coverage.

Four of the major live TV streaming services offer The Golf Channel.

Livestream The American Express 2024 in the UK

Golf fans in the UK can watch the tournament live on Sky Sports. The tournament will be broadcast on its Sky Sports Golf channel. Coverage begins with featured groups at 8.30 a.m. each day and runs until 6pm from Thursday to Saturday and 5.30 p.m. on Sunday, with extended highlights also available each day.

Livestream The American Express 2024 in Australia

The American Express 2024 can be watched Down Under on Fox Sports via Foxtel. If you’re not a Fox subscriber, your best option is to sign up for streaming service Kayo Sports. Coverage kicks off at 12 a.m. AEST for each day of the tournament.

Stream The American Express 2024 in Canada

Live coverage of the 2024 American Express will be available in Canada via TSN. Cord-cutters can watch via the network’s streaming service TSN Plus. Coverage of the third round starts at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday and at the same on Sunday for the final round.

Quick tips for streaming The American Express 2024 using a VPN

• With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming The American Express 2024 may vary.
• If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
• If you’re having trouble getting the tournament after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
• All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
• And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.

With the Galaxy S24 series, Samsung is making its first big bet on generative AI, the type of AI that powers ChatGPT and has thrown the tech world in a fervor since the popular chatbot’s arrival in late 2022. Those efforts have culminated in a suite of new features called Galaxy AI that includes everything from photo editing options for moving objects in photos to translating calls between languages in real time. They arrive on the new Galaxy S24 family first before coming to the Galaxy S23 series.

In its current form, Galaxy AI consists of a handful of tools and features primarily aimed at communication, productivity and content creation. But that’s just the beginning, said Won-Joon Choi, executive vice president and head of the research and development office for Samsung’s mobile experience business, who sat down with CNET ahead of Samsung’s Unpacked event on Jan. 17. According to Choi, Galaxy AI will arrive on everything from foldable phones to wearables.

“Galaxy S24 is just a specific bar-type smartphone,” he said. “But we do have a lot of different form factors, so we’re going to expand our Galaxy AI into multiple form factors, like tablets, foldables [and] a lot of others.”

Read more: Best Galaxy S24 Preorder Deals

Galaxy AI feels similar to generative AI-powered features we’ve seen from companies like Microsoft and Google over the past year but tailored specifically for Samsung’s smartphones. The Galaxy S24 will be able to rewrite text messages in a different tone before you hit the send button, translate text messages and documents in Samsung’s Note app, translate live phone calls in real time, fill in parts of photos you’ve edited, and identify speakers in audio transcriptions, among other things.

Some of these features might sound similar to tools Google previously introduced on the Pixel 8 family and in its own Messages app, and that’s intentional. Samsung and Google are partnering on certain Galaxy AI features, including Circle to Search, which lets you launch a Google search for any object in a photo simply by circling it.

Taken together, Samsung and Google’s efforts can be considered a sign that features like these are becoming the norm for new smartphones. And for Samsung, Galaxy AI provides a foundation to build on.

Choi couldn’t elaborate on forthcoming Galaxy AI features for its line of Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip foldables, Galaxy Tab tablets or Galaxy Watch wearables. But he did say that Galaxy AI features would be tailored to the device rather than a straight replica of the Galaxy S24’s offerings.

“Rather than just simply extending it, we want to come up with very specific…optimized experiences according to those form factors,” he said. “Not just [a] copy and paste but enhancing the experience for those specific form factors.”

Samsung is no stranger to AI — it established the Samsung Research Artificial Intelligence Center in 2017 and launched its Bixby voice-enabled virtual assistant that same year. But Choi doesn’t see Galaxy AI becoming a replacement for Bixby in the future.

Read more: From AI to Mixed Reality, CES 2024 Products Imagine a World Beyond Apps

Instead, he sees Samsung’s new generative AI developments as a means to upgrade Bixby, which may be crucial considering the Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa are the most-used voice assistants in the US, according to Insider Intelligence. Samsung is currently working on a new version of Bixby infused with generative AI, although Choice couldn’t comment on timing.

“Bixby will evolve with the help of generative AI and basically will get smarter and understand people better,” he said.

AI has played a big role in our phones for years when it comes to tasks like separating the background from the foreground in portrait mode photos and language translation. But Galaxy AI is just one example of how tech giants are trying to push that a step further by putting more sophisticated tools in the hands of users rather than using AI in the background.

“It’s not behind the scenes,” Aaron West, senior analyst for market research firm Omdia, said to CNET in a previous interview referring to generative AI. “It’s really obvious that your phone is actually doing something and generating something new and original.”

It’s going to take time before we know how generative AI will change the smartphone experience on a more fundamental level. Sameer Samat, Google’s general manager and vice president of Android, Google Play and Wear OS, similarly believes we’re the beginning phase. When speaking with CNET at CES 2024 ahead of Samsung Unpacked, he said it’ll take time before AI influences the smartphone software and operating systems more broadly.

“We’re still early days and all of that,” Samat said. “But I think we’re seeing how that can come together in ways that can really help you accomplish a lot more.”

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.

A federal appeals court reportedly ruled on Tuesday that Apple can’t keep selling its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US with the blood oxygen feature under a patent dispute, according to Bloomberg. The company had initially stopped selling the wearables because of an ongoing legal battle with health tech company Masimo over the blood oxygen detection feature in those watches and had resumed selling them over the holidays before this latest decision by the federal appeals court.

The US International Trade Commission, the federal agency that handles trade-related mandates, previously issued an order that would prohibit Apple from importing the Series 9 and Ultra 2. The decision came after a US judge ruled in January that Apple had infringed on Masimo patents related to the technology used in Apple’s blood oxygen sensing system. The order was under presidential review until Dec. 25 and became final on Dec. 26 after US Trade Representative Katherine Tai decided not to reverse the ITC’s decision.

Apple received a temporary win in December after an Appeals Court paused the ban, allowing Apple to resume selling the devices. While Apple waited for the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to weigh in on the issue, the company set up a plan to sell versions of the Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2 that had pulled the blood oxygen monitoring features subject to the dispute, according to Bloomberg.

“Apple strongly disagrees with the ITC’s decision. In addition to the appeal at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Apple is vigorously pursuing legal and technical options to ensure that we can continue to provide consumers with Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, including having submitted a proposed redesigned Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 for US Customs approval,” Apple’s statement said.

The Apple Watch is one of Apple’s most important products and has helped make the company’s wearables, home and accessories business its second-largest product category, behind the iPhone. Apple has previously said the size of its wearables unit alone equals that of a Fortune 150 company. Smartwatches were also among the top products sold during the Black Friday period, according to holiday shopping data from Adobe.

Apple began pausing online sales of the affected watches on Dec. 21 and halted in-store sales on Dec. 24. The ITC order specifically applies to sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 through Apple in the US. The watches have remained on sale through Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart and Target. The Apple Watch SE, which doesn’t include a blood oxygen detection feature, is not affected.

Apple issued the following statement in response to the initial ITC decision.

“At Apple, we work tirelessly to create products and services that meaningfully impact users’ lives. It’s what drives our teams — Clinical, Design and Engineering — to dedicate years to developing scientifically validated health, fitness and wellness features for Apple Watch, and we are inspired that millions of people around the world have benefited greatly from this product. We strongly disagree with the USITC decision and resulting exclusion order, and are taking all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible.”

Masimo CEO Joe Kiani had said the January decision “should help restore fairness in the market.”

Can I buy the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 from other retailers?

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are both on sale again at retailers in addition to Apple. The ITC order affected US sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 through Apple, but 9to5Mac points out that the order prohibited Apple from importing these watches and selling them to resellers, which could limit the watches’ availability should both watches become restricted from sale at a later date.

The order only applied to sales in the US, meaning the Series 9 and Ultra 2 were still available abroad.

Best Buy and Walmart both confirmed that they would continue selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. Amazon and Target did not respond to CNET’s question about whether the affected watches will continue to be sold, but all four retailers continued offering both watches through their websites.

Which Apple Watch models are affected?

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are the only models affected. Since the legal dispute involves the blood oxygen sensing tech used in the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch SE continues to be sold as usual. The Apple Watch SE is the lower-end model in Apple’s lineup, meaning it’s missing some health tracking features like blood oxygen sensing and the ability to take an ECG.

Current Apple Watches with blood oxygen monitoring, which includes any non-SE models starting with the Series 6, also remain unaffected. There is no impact for those who already own the Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2.

What is Masimo and why did Apple halt sales?

Masimo is a medical technology company that creates professional and consumer health products, including a smartwatch called the Masimo W1. The ITC order is the latest development in an ongoing legal dispute between Apple and Masimo, in which the latter accused Apple of infringing on its pulse oximeter patents.

What happens next?

Apple said it’s pursuing a range of legal and technical options to permanently resume Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 sales.

Apple is awaiting the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to hear the company’s motion for a stay on the temporary lifting of the sales ban, which is expected to take place as early as Jan. 15. Apple is requesting that sales be allowed during the entire duration of the company’s appeal.

Apple is also working on a proposed redesign in an effort to no longer infringe on Masimo’s patents, about which the customs office will review and issue a ruling on Jan. 12, according to Reuters.

Apple didn’t provide details about what the proposed redesign entails. Ahead of the decision being finalized, Bloomberg reported that Apple was developing a software change that alters how the watches monitor and present blood oxygen levels as a workaround.

If I can’t buy an Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2, what are my alternatives?

Those with an iPhone who just want a smartwatch for tracking activity, workouts and sleep should consider the $249 Apple Watch SE. While it lacks ECG and blood oxygen monitoring, it can still provide notifications for high and low heart rates and irregular heart rhythms.

The Apple Watch SE is the best choice for those who are most comfortable in Apple’s ecosystem, but other options work across iPhone and Android, like the Fitbit Versa 4 and Garmin Venu 3.

Those who are specifically looking to monitor blood oxygen levels from home should consider buying a standalone pulse oximeter, said Jennifer Schrack, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“Consumer wearables are a great supplemental way for people to stay informed about their health, but they are subject to error,” Schrack said over email. “It is important to remember that they are measuring blood oxygen using PPG sensors, which can be affected by things like skin tone.”

Apple released the iOS 17.3 release candidate to public beta testers and developers on Wednesday, about a week after the tech giant released iOS 17.3 beta 3. The latest update brings a few new features, like Stolen Device Protection, as well as bug fixes to the iPhones of beta testers and developers.

We recommend downloading the RC only on something other than your primary device. Since this isn’t the final version of iOS 17.3, these features might be buggy and battery life may be short, and it’s best to keep those troubles on a secondary device.

If you’re a developer or public beta tester, here are some of the new features you can find in the iOS 17.3 RC. Note that the RC isn’t the final version of iOS 17.3, so these might not be the only new features to land on your iPhone when iOS 17.3 is released. There’s no word on the public release for iOS 17.3 just yet, but Apple could release the update to the general public next week.

Stolen Device Protection

Apple introduced Stolen Device Protection in iOS 17.3 beta 1, which aims to help protect you and the data on your iPhone. Here’s what Apple writes about the new feature:

Testing is now available for Stolen Device Protection. This new feature adds an additional layer of security in the unlikely case that someone has stolen your phone and also obtained your passcode.

• Accessing your saved passwords requires Face ID to be sure it’s you.

• Changing sensitive settings like your Apple ID password is protected by a security delay.

• No delay is required when iPhone is at familiar locations such as work and home.

According to CNET’s David Lumb, Stolen Device Protection requires you to enter your biometric authentication, like Face ID and Touch ID, multiple times to access some of your sensitive settings and information. This is an optional security feature, but Apple recommends everyone turn it on.

Once you’ve updated your iPhone, it should prompt you to enable Stolen Device Protection. If you didn’t see a prompt or you skipped it for later, you can turn the feature on by going to Settings > Face ID and Passcode and tapping Turn On Protection under Stolen Device Protection.

Read more: Apple’s New iOS 17 Security Feature Blocks Opportunistic iPhone Thieves

New Unity wallpaper

In honor of Black History Month, Apple is releasing a new wallpaper, called Unity Bloom, for all devices that run iOS 17.3. According to Apple, the wallpaper shows an outline of flowers that will fill with color once the display is active.

The return of Apple Music collaborative playlists

Apple announced collaborative playlists in Apple Music at WWDC 2023 in June, and the feature was included in some beta versions of iOS 17.2. Apple removed this feature from the final version of iOS 17.2. With iOS 17.3 beta 1, Apple brings collaborative playlists back, allowing multiple people to edit and control shared playlists in Apple Music.

And with iOS 17.3 beta 2, Apple introduced the ability to react with an emoji to a song in a collaborative playlist that someone else added. That way you can let someone know instantly if you like a song or not in the playlist.

Here are the full release notes for the iOS 17.3 RC:

About This Update

Stolen Device Protection

Stolen Device Protection increases security of iPhone and Apple ID by requiring Face ID or Touch ID with no passcode fallback to perform certain actions.

Security Delay requires Face ID or Touch ID, an hour wait, and then an additional successful biometric authentication before sensitive operations like changing device passcode or Apple ID password can be performed.

Lock Screen

New Unity wallpaper honors Black history and culture in celebration of Black History Month.

Music

Collaborate on playlists allows you to invite friends to join your playlist and everyone can add, reorder, and remove songs.

Emoji reactions can be added to any track in a collaborative playlist.

This update also includes the following improvements:

AirPlay hotel support lets you stream content directly to the TV in your room in select hotels.

AppleCare & Warranty in Settings shows your coverage for all devices signed in with your Apple ID.

Crash detection optimizations (all iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models).

Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

Those are some of the new features developers and beta testers will see in the iOS 17.3 RC. That doesn’t mean these are the only features coming to the next iOS update, or that these changes will stick when iOS 17.3 is released to the public.

For more on iOS 17, check out what was included in iOS 17.2 and iOS 17.1. You can also check out our iOS 17 cheat sheet.

Google searches on your high-end Android phones are going to get substantively more powerful thanks to the new Circle to Search feature, the company said in a press release on Wednesday. The feature allows you to pull up Google while using any app, circle or highlight any text or object and, with the power of AI, get results instantly. This enhanced version of visual search will launch on the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S24 line of phones on Jan. 31.

Circle to Search, as the name suggests, lets you circle any object to search for it. For example, if you see a TikTok featuring funky-looking corn dogs, you can swipe up to bring up the Google app and circle the food item with your finger. Using AI, Google will give you the brief on Korean corn dogs. The AI can also explain the cultural relevance of Korean food in the current gastronomical zeitgeist.

The power here isn’t only being able to search any object or text you see on your screen but doing so without having to fumble between multiple apps.

This announcement coincides with Samsung’s announcement today of the same feature coming to the new Galaxy S24 line of phones. At the moment, other phones with this more powerful in-app version of Google Search haven’t been announced.

Google’s continued love affair with AI comes after ChatGPT upended its Search mojo in late 2022. When ChatGPT launched, the AI chatbot could seemingly answer any question with unique answers. Compared with a standard Google search, which brings up lists of websites requiring you to filter and find relevant information, ChatGPT did that for you. Both Google and Microsoft were quick to introduce AI chatbots of their own to stay competitive.

Since then, Microsoft’s AI investments has catapulted the company into becoming the most valuable in the world, overtaking Apple earlier this month. Google is also integrating AI into more of its products, from Search itself with Search Generative Experience to the camera app on its Pixel devices. Considering that generative AI is estimated to bring in up to $4.4 trillion annually, according to McKinsey, companies are rushing to be at the cutting edge to maintain market dominance.

Along with Circle to Search, Google said that multisearch in Lens is also getting an AI-powered upgrade. In the past, if you saw a dress you liked, Google Lens would be able to identify that dress and you could then ask Google to search for variations in green. Now those visual matches will give AI-powered insights, allowing you to ask more nuanced questions. The example Google posits is seeing a board game at a yard sale without the box. Google Lens can soon identify the game and you can ask what that game is called and how it can be played.

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.

Android fans have long appreciated the top-tier quality of Samsung phones. They’re consistently ranked among the best phones you can get, and now devotees can preorder the latest Samsung Galaxy lineup. While Samsung had its own reservation deal for early birds, we’ve gathered all the best preorder deals you can currently take advantage of to help you get your hands on one without paying full price.

Samsung launched the Galaxy S24 series at its Unpacked event on Wednesday. This new flagship comes with a number of solid upgrades over its predecessor, including bigger batteries and brighter screens and, most impressively, these phones are among some of the first smartphones to include generative AI capability directly on the device itself. That means users will be able to use generative AI anywhere, even when the device is offline. The new phones come equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which means performance for on-device AI should be speedy.

It’s worth noting that the gen AI features that will be available on the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra will also be coming to previous-gen phones in the S23 series along with the Z series later this year. That means you may still be able to take advantage of that particular upgrade for a bit less, with expected Galaxy S23 deals set to roll out as the latest models hit shelves.

Read more: Best Samsung Phones of 2024

How much does the Galaxy S24 cost?

The three models of the Galaxy S24 are available in various storage configurations. US pricing for each model is as follows:

• Samsung Galaxy S24 price: $800
• Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus price: $1,000
• Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra price: $1,300

That puts the Ultra at $100 more expensive than the S23 Ultra was at launch. However, it has a titanium frame this time around, which may account for the extra cost.

In terms of configuration upgrades, the S24 remains the same as its predecessor with 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. The S24 Plus has 12GB of RAM, which is up from 8GB in the S23 Plus, and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. The Ultra is also sporting an upgraded 12GB of RAM and is available with 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage.

What colors does the Galaxy S24 come in?

The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus come in yellow, violet, gray and black at retailers. However, if you order directly from Samsung, you will also be able to order green, blue and orange hues.

Best Galaxy S24 preorder deals

At its Galaxy Unpacked event Wednesday, Samsung rolled out its new Galaxy S24 and S24 Ultra phones along with a promise to support its phones for longer. Before it got into the AI features, bigger batteries and brighter screens of the S24 models, Samsung announced it has extended the OS and security updates for its phones. It will now offer seven years’ worth of security updates along with seven generations of Android upgrades.

Seven years of security and OS upgrades is a big jump up from the five years of security and four years of OS updates in last year’s Galaxy S23 models and puts Samsung on par with Google’s pledge of seven years of updates for its Pixel 8 phones.

Days after reviewing Meta’s newest VR headset, the Quest 3, last fall, I was hospitalized with high blood pressure. Although the two events were unrelated, the latter changed my life quite a bit. Besides needing to pay even more attention to my eating habits, and going on a lot of new meds, I was told to focus on getting regular cardio exercise. These were familiar reminders: I’ve faced this path before.

When I told a friend I needed to exercise more, she recommended a VR fitness app called Supernatural on the Quest. I laughed because I’d already tried it, but this time I was hearing a testimonial from someone I didn’t even know used VR. She got the Quest 2 as a gift earlier in the year and has been using it ever since. So I joined again too.

I’ve been doing daily VR workouts for months now. The Quest 3 headset is my purpose-based fitness device. Meanwhile, downstairs, my oldest son plays Beat Saber and The Walking Dead on Quest 2. For him, it’s his game console.

The future is now the present. Welcome to VR and AR, circa 2024. While Apple and its forthcoming Vision Pro, arriving in February, represent an exciting potential future for the technology, Meta’s Quest and headsets like it are the already real and sometimes functional present.

But can these devices do even more? Can they transcend being game consoles, fitness devices and experimental toys? Will VR and AR, in a sense, grow up? It’s something I’ve seen slowly emerging throughout the pandemic years and the obsession with the metaverse, but in 2024 we may finally see products and apps that bring virtual augmented reality into the same functional universe as our phones and computers, maybe finally leading to mass adoption like smartphones over a decade ago.

Apple Vision Pro: The device that could change the landscape

I’ve seen the immediate future of AR and VR. Apple’s Vision Pro headset, arriving Feb. 2, melds camera feeds of the real world with incredibly high-fidelity virtual visuals. It’s a technique previously used by Meta and in higher-end headsets like the Varjo XR-3 and XR-4, but Apple has refined the interface with hand and eye tracking that, at least in early demos I’ve had, feels remarkably easy and fluid.

Apple is also changing the sales pitch by replacing the terms “VR” and “AR” with its own phrase: “spatial computing.” Instead of focusing on games or fitness or even social connection to start, the company’s marketing discusses how the Vision Pro can run all sorts of iOS apps and connect with Macs. Apple also emphasized a wearable display that’s good enough for viewing movies and photos in fantastic quality. In my demos, that’s actually what impressed me most. Apple’s going big on supporting 3D movies and immersive videos in Vision Pro right out of the gate.

The Vision Pro headset is Apple’s first major new product since the Apple Watch and is the most anticipated new piece of hardware in the VR/AR space since the original Oculus Rift. Despite its high price ($3,499) and likely limited availability, the Vision Pro could completely redefine virtual and augmented reality devices for the next decade. Or it could be another product blip in a landscape of forgotten headsets. Based on Apple’s history of successful products, the former seems more likely to me.

However, Apple’s starting out from the beginning and with likely missing features that VR veterans might have expected. It’s Apple’s style to launch products with limited features at first and gradually add more over time. It means that the Vision Pro is emphasizing visual quality and working with iOS apps at launch instead of gaming and fitness, which means Apple and Meta are, for the moment, pursuing different paths.

Will app compatibility with mixed reality become a larger trend after Vision Pro? It needs to be. Will Apple’s controller-free design push other manufacturers to think of their own hand-and-eye interfaces, too? It seems likely. Meta already wants to eventually sell its VR headsets without controllers.

Mixed reality at large

Everyday AR glasses, where virtual images and information appear in the lenses alongside the reality you see, aren’t a thing yet. There are many roadblocks: prescription concerns, safety, social acceptance, app compatibility, gesture interfaces, and also just keeping them running for more than an hour on a charge.

In the meantime, VR with mixed reality has become the stand-in. Meta’s Quest headsets, Apple’s Vision Pro, Varjo’s industrial headsets and likely every VR headset going forward will have capabilities to blend virtual things with the real world using depth sensors and improved headset cameras. Sony’s recently announced business-focused mixed reality headset, announced at CES and arriving in 2024, is yet another entry with its own flip-up visor.

The concept is still new, and so far, limited. Meta’s Quest 3 relegates mixed reality to being a gimmick in a few games right now. The Vision Pro, as we’ve seen so far, mostly uses mixed reality to float 2D displays over the real world.

In 2024, the door seems wide open for developers to figure out ways to apply toolkits used today in phone- and tablet-based AR apps like Pokemon Go. While we think of VR at the moment as being “Hey look at me, I’m in another world,” the experiential shift could move quickly to pockets of immersion embedded in real-world environments. The Quest 3 is a device I expect to lead that change.

Expect a new wave of apps

Apple won’t be the only new VR/AR platform in the picture. Samsung and Google and Qualcomm are about to debut their own mixed reality headset in 2024, likely offering another high-end alternative to the Vision Pro with a high-end display, but in a way that opens up development via Google’s software. It sounds like a return to Google’s long-dead Daydream dreams, but it’ll likely mean a whole new set of worlds opens up: Apple’s App Store, and very likely Google Play as well.

For Apple, it starts with familiar 2D iOS apps translated to a mixed reality interface, but the possibilities beyond that could get vast. Apple could add 3D movie support to Photos, for instance, or the Persona avatars to FaceTime. App developers already working with the VisionOS software are going to have to solve for different ideas than on the Quest’s hardware, which could also change the type of apps offered on each device. Games, for instance, won’t be able to use standard VR controllers on the Vision Pro: instead, we’ll have a lot of hand- and eye-tracking-driven apps.

Meta’s CTO, Andrew Bosworth, has already welcomed 2D apps onto the Quest platform, and told me that Google moving Play onto Quest would be “trivial.” It hasn’t happened yet. Google could open up Android into mixed reality as Apple opens iOS, both of these moves possibly opening the floodgates to developers who may not have been tempted by more limited Quest, PlayStation, Vive or SteamVR avenues. VR’s pipeline of new games and apps has slowed down over the past few years. Will Apple, Google and Samsung spark a new movement?

AI enters the mix

After a year entirely defined by AI, it’s no surprise that AI would somehow find its way into VR and AR. Especially for Meta, that’ll be a big part of 2024’s plans. Meta’s Bosworth and CEO Mark Zuckerberg already laid out AI-infused plans for their metaverse dreams at the last Meta Connect developer conference, and both the Quest 3 and Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses have new chipsets with more robust AI processing capabilities.

Wearables like Humane’s Ai Pin and Meta’s new Ray-Ban glasses will both use cameras to fuel AI on-device. Camera-driven AI, which should work in a similar spirit to how Google Lens “sees” the world to interpret the environment, objects and text, would make a ton of sense in camera-studded mixed reality headsets. There could be assistive uses, safety features or just better ways that software could recognize the world and fold augmented reality into it.

The greatest immediate movement in this space could come in smart glasses instead of VR headsets.

What about glasses? Or other wearables?

Qualcomm, and a number of other companies, are actively exploring ways to make glasses even smarter and more phone-connected. In the short term, glasses like Meta’s latest pair of Ray-Bans focus on being camera-enabled, microphone- and speaker-connected phone peripherals. In 2024, expect more layers of AI to help these devices listen and use camera data more intelligently, and maybe act more like wearable assistants.

Glasses with displays already exist from a number of companies including XReal, Lenovo and TCL. Expect more plug-in, monitor-on-your-face solutions in glasses form, especially since more devices are friendlier to USB-C connections and the display tech is improving constantly. I’ve already tried using an AR glasses-based “laptop,” so the idea is possible. Now they need to work better with regular glasses and feel less clunky.

We may even see some AR glasses that aim to do (in smaller forms) what mixed-reality VR headsets are doing. Still, the signs are clear that the progress in that zone has slowed down. Until mixed reality software improves, and phone manufacturers — namely, Apple and Google — find ways to dovetail glasses seamlessly as everyday phone peripherals, AR glasses won’t become a truly everyday thing for anyone.

Would I make my next pair of glasses a set of smart Ray-Bans? I’m already test-driving a prescription pair, and the experience is already sometimes profound. Smarter glasses will figure out the territory as VR headsets improve, and someday they’ll meet in the middle. That someday isn’t this year, and it won’t be the year after. In 2024, all VR and AR need to solve is finding a few more ways to be really useful. My family and I have already found a couple in fitness and gaming. I bet 2024 finds a few more.

There’s also the possibility that wrist accessories and other peripherals finally start entering the mix more for both VR and AR. Meta’s working to develop its own neural input-based wristband for AR glasses, and could be working on its own watch — possibly a device that does fitness tracking to work with its already-popular VR fitness apps like Supernatural. The Apple Watch already works with Supernatural for heart rate tracking, but the company hasn’t announced any watch-to-Vision Pro compatibility yet… although the Apple Watch is already adding hand gestures. Sony’s recently announced mixed reality headset includes a ring with gesture tracking, along with a handheld stylus, and Sony already has a content creator-focused full-body tracking system called Mocopi. Hand tracking may become the norm for headsets, but more wrist and body wearables are bound to emerge soon.