The last couple of years have been hard on the games industry. Development teams disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic had to delay big games, Starfield and the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom chief among them. But the losses of 2021 and 2022 are the gains of 2023, because we a lot to look forward to this year. This list of release dates for notable 2023 titles is already packed, but for now we’ve only added games set for launch in the first half of the year. More will be added as the year progresses and we get more concrete dates.

2022 was a pretty solid year for games. We got an open-world Pokemon, the long-awaited sequel to God of War and, of course, the tour de force that was Elden Ring. Only time will determine if the games of 2023 reach those same heights, but the numbers are certainly in our favor. Let’s just hope Zelda doesn’t get delayed again.

Here are all the big PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch games to keep track of in 2023.

Fire Emblem Engage (Switch)

Release date: Jan. 20.

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The first big video game of 2023 is a big one, and I do mean big. Fire Emblem games are massive: Engage is a follow up to 2019’s Three Houses, a chunky RPG that players could sink over 100 hours into without seeing everything. Three Houses was loaded with critical acclaim and Engage will hopefully recapture both the scale and the magic of its predecessor. Engage features characters from the series’ long history — which at least means newbies can get properly acquainted with Super Smash Bros. characters like Marth, Corrin and Blyeth.

Forspoken (PS5, PC)

Release date: Jan. 24.

Excitement for Forspoken should straight away come with the asterisk that feedback to the game’s demo was mixed with both compliments and criticisms. But it’s worth paying attention to, even rooting for, because of the simple fact that it’s a new IP from Square Enix. In an industry filled with sequels and spinoffs, that has to count for something.

Forspoken is a fish-out-of-water tale that follows New Yorker Frey Holland, who somehow manages to get plunged into the fantastical land of Athia. Classic stuff. It’s developed by many of the same people who created Final Fantasy 15, something that’s immediately obvious when you see its real-time action in motion. Good luck, Frey, I hope you pull through. Forspoken will launch on PC and PS5, where it’s a console exclusive for at least two years.

Hogwarts Legacy (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC)

Release date: Feb. 10.

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Third time’s the charm is the magic rule, so hopefully Hogwart’s Legacy doesn’t break it. Set in the Harry Potter universe, this RPG was first announced in 2020 with a release date set for 2021. It was then delayed to 2022. But that didn’t pan out, and last year Hogwart’s Legacy was delayed once more. Its latest release date is Feb. 10. Set about 100 years before The Boy Who Lived and He Who Shall Not Be Named, Hogwart’s Legacy is a tantalizing concept: A big open-world game set at the most famous school of witchcraft and wizardry.

Games based on blockbuster franchises can be hit or miss. Hopefully all the delays are a sign that this promising idea has been given the love and nurturing it needs to succeed.

Note: The PS4 and Xbox One versions of Hogwarts Legacy will be released on April 4, with a Switch port coming on July 25.

Horizon Call of the Mountain (PSVR 2)

Release date: Feb. 22.

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One of Sony’s goals for 2023 is to make VR happen. To help do that, it’s enlisted Guerilla Games to make Horizon Call of the Mountain, a virtual reality spinoff to Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West. You won’t be playing as Aloy, but will rather take up the hunter bow of Ryas, a member of the Shadow Carja tribe that featured prominently in Zero Dawn. Being a VR game, Call of the Mountain looks to feature less open-world roaming, but more exhilerating climbing, exploration and bow-based combat. It launches alongside the PlayStation VR2 headset on Feb. 22.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC)

Release date: March 3.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a new IP with a pedigree: It’s developed by Team Ninja, the gang behind the acclaimed Ninja Gaiden and the even more acclaimed Nioh franchise. Wo Long is set during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history — roughly 220 AD — but features plenty of fantastical (and grotesque) beasts to slay. Like Nioh, this looks to be inspired by Dark Souls, meaning you should be prepared to die. A lot.

Resident Evil 4 Remake (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC)

Release date: March 24.

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After the roaring success of the Resident Evil 2 Remake, Capcom is at it again. Originally released in 2005 as a GameCube exclusive (imagine that) Resident Evil 4 is the most acclaimed title in the illustrious franchise. Because of its fanfare, Capcom has ported and remastered Resident Evil 4 over and over again. Hopefully you don’t have RE4 fatigue, because it’s now getting proper remake treatment.

If you’ve never played Resident Evil 4, and if Capcom can do for it what it did for Resident Evil 2, this is sure to be a must-play.

Crime Boss: Rockay City (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S)

Release date: March 28.

We know Rockstar is developing Grand Theft Auto 6, but it’s still yonks away. Crime Boss: Rockay City, by 505 Games, is clearly inspired by GTA, and may help fill the GTA-shaped hole in your heart while you wait for the next big open-world crime bonanza.

Crime Boss: Rockay City is a first-person game about 90’s Florida turf wars, and it’s designed to be played alone or with friends. The most attention-grabbing feature of the game is its celeb-heavy cast. Kill Bill’s Michael Madson stars as the protagonist, Travis Barker, and the supporting cast features Kim Basinger, Danny Trejo, Chuck Norris and Vanilla Ice.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)

Release date: May 12.

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Not much needs to be said here. The Legend of Zelda is one of gaming’s most renowned franchises, and 2017’s Breath of the Wild is incontestably one of the greatest games ever. Nintendo has a habit of delaying Zelda games — Tears of the Kingdom has already been delayed once — so hopefully the May 12 date sticks.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC)

Release date: May 26.

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Last year’s Gotham Knights was unable to step out of Batman’s Arkham City-sized shadow, so now the Suicide Squad has a perfect opportunity to upstage the good guys… and then kill them.

Though Gotham Knights was a sequel of sorts to Batman’s Arkham series, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is its true spiritual successor. It’s developed by Rocksteady, the same studio that developed the Arkham trilogy. The game lets you play as four members of the Suicide Squad — Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and King Shark — and includes Kevin Conroy’s last recorded performance as Batman.

Street Fighter 6 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC)

Release date: June 2.

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Street Fighter 6 is the first major new game in the franchise since 2016. As you can imagine, it’s expected to have dramatically improved visuals. There will also be five new characters, with more to potentially be announced. Other new additions include a single-player adventure mode and in-game commentary, a welcome feature for esports fans. But as nice as those extras are, the Street Fighter series is all about its rock-solid fighting system, which is simple enough for beginners to have fun but deep enough that dedicated fighters will spend years to mastering it. As long as that still works, this should be a banger.

Diablo 4 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC)

Release date: June 6.

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Last year we got an updated version of Overwatch, now it’s Diablo’s turn to get supercharged. Diablo 4, the latest major installation in Activision Blizzard’s long-running action RPG franchise, couldn’t come sooner. Fans have been awaiting Diablo 4’s arrival since its announcement in 2019, a whole pandemic ago.

Final Fantasy 16 (PS5)

Release date: June 22.

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I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve watched various Final Fantasy 16 trailers several times and I still have no clue what this game is about. There’s a fight going on between six different countries, and somehow giant summons like Ifrit are involved. I’m not super sure, but the fact that Final Fantasy is coming to a new console generation is reason enough for this game to turn into a massive cultural event. (It’ll be a PS5 exclusive until the end of the year.) It may also be the first of two big Final Fantasy releases this year, with Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s sequel potentially — but probably not — hitting during the holiday season.

Hollow Knight: Silksong (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC)

Release date: First half of 2023.

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Hollow Knight, launched in 2017, was praised for being one of the best Metroidvania games without the words “Metroid” or “Vania” in its title. In 2023, indie developer Team Cherry wants to do it all again. You’ll play as a different character — a boss you fought in the original game — but the core gameplay here is the same. Explore, fight a bunch of dudes, get lost, explore some more, repeat a few times and ultimately succeed. I, for one, am ready.

Hollow Knight: Silksong was announced on June 12, 2022, and Microsoft said it would launch within a year of that date.

Redfall (PC, Xbox Series X|S)

Release date: First half of 2023.

Redfall looks like a mix of Deathloop and The Last of Us. It takes place in Redfall, a fictional Massachusetts town that was flowing along swimmingly until a swarm of vampires took it over and cut it off from the outside world. Like in The Last of Us, you’ll explore a town brimming with remnants of the before times, but the game looks to have a less serious, more quirky attitude about it, similar to Deathloop. That makes sense, as Redfall is developed by Arkane Austin, a sister studio to Deathloop creators Arkane Lyon.

Forza Motorsport (Xbox Series X|S, PC)

Release date: Second half of 2023.

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Forza Horizon brought the driving franchise’s open-world exploration to the Xbox Series X|S, but in 2023 we go back to Forza’s driving-sim roots. This game will be more similar to Gran Turismo 7, which hit the PS5 last year, trading open roads for closed tracks. A little more finesse, a little more professional. No matter their flavor, Forza games can be relied on to provide some delicious drives — and 2023’s Forza Motorsport should be the prettiest one yet.

Starfield (Xbox Series X|S, PC)

Release date: First half of 2023.

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Like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Starfield was one of 2022’s great delays. Originally slated for a Nov. 11 release, it was pushed back to the “first half of 2023.” It’s for the best: Starfield is a game from the same Bethesda studio that made Skyrim and Fallout 4.

If done right, Starfield could be a game that people will be playing for years to come. There are apparently 1,000 planets to explore, so an extra few layers of polish will go a long way. If Tears of the Kingdom is most predicted to be 2023’s best game, Starfield may be its most ambitious.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Luna)

Release date: 2023.

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Ubisoft is taking an unusual approach with Assassin’s Creed Mirage. After years of “bigger is better,” Ubisoft is now scaling down and trying the “less is more” approach. In announcing Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the company boasted it to be a “shorter, more narrative-driven game than recent entries in the series.” Sounds good to me. Mirage is set in 9th century Baghdad, a couple decades before Valhalla, and stars Basim, who played a supporting role in that game.

Lies of P (PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S)

Release date: 2023.

Lies of P sounds gnarly as hell: It’s the story of Pinocchio reimagined as a 2023 Dark Souls. Your goal is to find Mr. Geppetto, and a synopsis for the game talks about needing to lie your way through a rough city to do that. That’s all well and good, but from Lies of P’s trailer it looks like combat will be the real star of the show here.

Spider-Man 2 (PS5)

Release date: Fall 2023.

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I didn’t like 2018’s Spider-Man as much as I’d hoped to: It was good, but no Batman: Arkham City. Almost everyone else loved it, though: Spider-Man has an 8.7 rating on Metacritic, and beat out Arkham City to become the best-selling superhero game ever. Spider-Man 2 will launch in late 2023 exclusively for the PS5, and will feature both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, who starred in his own 2020 spin-off. The Spider-Men will need to combine their powers in this game, because there’s a wild Venom on the loose.

Mint Mobile, the prepaid carrier owned in part by actor Ryan Reynolds, could soon be sold. According to Bloomberg, the company is “in talks” to be purchased by T-Mobile.

The budget provider has made a name for itself in recent years with ads featuring Reynolds pitching Mint as a more affordable option to larger telecom companies like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. A division of Ultra Mobile, Mint Mobile has long been rumored to be up for sale.

T-Mobile didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Mint Mobile declined to comment on speculation.

While Mint Mobile pitches itself as a rival to larger wireless companies, it doesn’t run its own 4G LTE or 5G service and instead is an MVNO that operates on T-Mobile’s network. That Mint is already using T-Mobile could help make any transitions of customers a bit easier.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Ultra Mobile would be sold alongside Mint, or if T-Mobile was just interested in the latter. It’s also unclear whether the Mint Mobile brand would continue or if it would be folded into other T-Mobile-owned brands such as Metro by T-Mobile.

Reynolds became part-owner of Mint Mobile in 2019 and has promoted the company through TV ads he’s starred in and social media posts from his personal 21 million follower Twitter and 47 million follower Instagram accounts, as Bloomberg pointed out. He currently owns about one-fourth of Mint Mobile.

The last notable prepaid brand sale was Tracfone, which Verizon acquired for $6 billion in 2021. The carrier then launched its own prepaid brand, called Total by Verizon, in September 2022 to take on similar prepaid brands Metro by T-Mobile and AT&T’s Cricket Wireless.

CES 2023 is over, and together we’ve seen our share of both weird and wonderful devices at this year’s show, but… mostly weird.

Flying cars and obscure robots are so old hat now, and so I wondered if CES could do anything less practical and even more completely bonkers. Turns out it can! Over the past 20-plus years, I’ve seen gadgets so stupefying that sometimes they exist purely because journalists like me will write about them. But it’s time to call out the really awful ones, the worst of the worst. Vacuum shoes, toilet paper robots, MP3 weapon holsters, it’s your time to shine!

The most interesting part about this rogues gallery is that some of these products — the Pepe pet dryer, the HapiFork and the Hushme, to name a few — are still being sold today. That’s right: You blew it up, you maniacs!

Dyson Zone Air-Purifying Headphones

Not technically a CES product, as this was announced during 2022, but Dyson was demonstrating the Zone headphones in Las Vegas during CES 2023. Though the Zone looks like it should be a COVID mask, that’s unfortunately not what it does. According to the Dyson site, development on the Zone began way back in 2016 as a personal air filter — for pollution, mainly — and as such, it was never designed to protect against COVID. Furthermore, one critic has claimed the gadget’s force-driven fans could even help maximize your chances of catching coronavirus. CNET’s Katie Collins, who tried it out at Dyson’s HQ in the UK, thought it was “too brilliant and bizarre to ignore.”

Read more: Dyson Zone Air Filtering Headphones on Sale in January for $949

Charmin Rollbot

Computer peripherals manufacturer Razer is the king of creating “look at me” products specifically for CES, but toilet tissue brand Charmin became notorious for this 2020 entry. That’s right, in the year that saw the mass panic buying of toilet paper came a robot that could bring you even more! Coincidence? Yes… probably. The RollBot was never going to be a real product, but we loved/loathed it anyway.

Read more: These Charmin Robots Make Us Wonder: Is Pooping the Next Tech Frontier?

Kolibree Smart Toothbrush

Remember when we had to wash our hands for 20 seconds by singing songs to ourselves? The same methodology also applies to brushing your teeth, but why should you use your own brain and lips like a sucker? There have been many smart toothbrushes over the years, but today I’m picking on the Kolibree. Everything was just fine until the arrival of “the world’s first connected electric toothbrush.” Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…

Read more: Kolibree’s Connected Toothbrush Aims for Better Dental Health

Taser MP3 Holster

Back in the 2000s, the iPod became such a cultural phenomenon that every company rushed to create an MP3 player of its own. This culminated in what is one of the dumbest CES products in recent memory: the Tazer MP3 holster. Imagine trying to not only charge your holster but also connect it via USB to your computer to fill it up with 1GB of tunes.

Read more: What Every Taser Needs: A Music-Playing Holster

Pepe Pet Dryer

Want to find a new way to make your small dog or cat hate you forever? Lock them in a cube prison for 25 minutes (!) and subject them to gusts of hot air. This combination torture device/dryer would have set you back $660, or you could just throw a towel over your wet dog like a normal human.

Read more: At CES 2019, a $660 Sauna Will Give Your Dog the Blow Dry of His Life

HapiFork

Throughout history, there have been so many gadgets designed to limit normal human behavior, but this one takes the (pan)cake. The HapiFork is yet another vibrating gadget that tells you to eat your meals slower (over 20 minutes), with the idea being that you are less likely to overeat. Personally, I wolf my own meals down like I’m in prison, so do your worst, HapiFork. I’ll eat with my hands if I have to! You’re not the boss of me!

Read more: Bolting Your Food? Put On the Brakes With HapiFork

Hushme

The Hushme is literally a “dumb” product — it’s designed to make its user mute to other people in the immediate vicinity. It was pitched as being useful in workplaces, but… if a co-worker gave me one of these, they’d better be wearing vacuum shoes, in order to clean up the gleefully stomped-on bits.

Read more: Hushme May Be the Weirdest, Yet Most Useful Wireless Headphones Ever Created

Belty

The original Belty was a prototype smart belt with a motor in it that adjusted itself to whether you just ate or were sitting down. Impractical as hell, but kind of cool? While there is a newer model, also called Belty, this one is even weirder — there’s no auto-sizing, but it does have a power bank charger in the buckle. OK, two things. Not only do I not want a potentially volatile compound near my nethers, I don’t want to connect a series of devices there either.

Read more: Meet Belty, the Ridiculous but Strangely Popular Show-Stealer of CES Unveiled

Xybernaut Poma

First shown off at CES 1998, the Hitachi Xybernaut wearable computer was a terrible idea long before Google Glass was even a gleam in Babak Parviz’s eye. The Windows CE-based Xybernaut Poma offered a 128MHz RISC processor and 32MB of RAM for the low price of $1,499, plus it strapped to your arm and your face and your belt!

Read more: Hitachi Fashioning Wearable PCs

Denso Vacuum Shoes

Shoes. You wear ’em. They wear out, you buy more. But that’s not exciting now, is it? They need things in them — phones, rockets, rollers and… vacuums? There are so many puns I could make about even just the name of the Denso Vacuum Shoes, but the fact that they existed at all was the biggest joke of all.

Read more: Vacuum Cleaner Shoes Show Up at CES Because Why Not

Xbox and Bethesda Games will host the Developers Direct showcase on Jan. 25, the companies said Wednesday. Gamers can expect snapshots of upcoming releases for Xbox, Game Pass and PC.

When to stream it

Xbox and Bethesda will livestream the event at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 25.

Where to watch

Catch the livestream on Xbox’s YouTube or Twitch channels — or on Bethesda’s YouTube or Twitch channels.

What to expect

The Jan. 25 presentation will include information on The Elder Scrolls Online, Minecraft Legends, Redfall and Forza Motorsport. Starfield will not be part of this showcase, but fans can follow Bethesda’s social media pages for details about a standalone event at a future date.

Fans will learn details on the fresh features and expanded gameplay regions on deck for Elder Scrolls. Mojang Studios will provide a glimpse of the multiplayer experience for the new Minecraft Legends, due out this spring. Arkane Austin will preview Redfall, in which “you and your friends will take down bloodthirsty Vampires on the picturesque island of Redfall.” Turn 10 Studios, the company behind Forza Motorsport, is poised to share what’s to come for the next generation of the game.

Microsoft is rolling out a new, less expensive subscription option for Microsoft 365 later this month, the company said Wednesday.

The new Microsoft 365 Basic tier for the company’s collection of productivity apps includes, among other things, “100GB of cloud storage, ad-free and secure email with Outlook, and access to support experts for help with Microsoft 365 and Windows 11,” Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft 365 Basic is scheduled to become available Jan. 30, at a cost of $2 a month or $20 for an annual subscription. That’s much cheaper than the $70 annual fee for Microsoft 365 Personal, and it includes more features than the current $20 annual subscription for OneDrive.

In addition to 100GB and ad-free email, security features like ransomware recovery and password-protected sharing links in OneDrive will be added to Basic later this year. Current OneDrive customers will automatically be transferred to a Microsoft 365 Basic account when the Basic subscription goes live later this month, according to Microsoft.

You can sign up for Microsoft 365 Basic on Microsoft’s website or through the OneDrive or Outlooks apps. The free option for Microsoft 365 will also remain available, Microsoft said in a statement.

It seems like the cost of having a phone just keeps going up as time goes on, but there are ways to avoid major price hikes if you get creative. That might include looking beyond the three major players in the US market — those being Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile — and scouting out some deals at the lesser-known carriers that piggyback on the larger carriers’ networks. Though your coverage and customer service experience may differ, it could open you up to a plethora of additional options you may not have known about and save you a decent chunk of change in the process.

Whether you simply want to lower your current bill or switch to something new so you can add some more lines, there are various cheap phone plans available and some great deals you should be aware of. Below, we’ll show you the best phone plan deals available right now below.

Read more: Best Phone Deals

Best prepaid phone deals

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Mint Mobile

From $15 per month

One of the best deals in wireless service comes from Mint Mobile. You can sign up for service for as little as $15 a month (prepaid in three-, six- or 12-month blocks), which is just a fraction of what the big carriers are charging. Mint Mobile runs on the nationwide T-Mobile network, so you’ll have service all over the place and getting started is as easy as answering a few questions online. You can move your current number to Mint Mobile with your current phone, or look to get new of both. It’s entirely up to you. Mint Mobile just rolled out some new family plan options as well.

See at Mintmobile

Sarah Tew/CNET

Visible

Up to a $200 gift card

Visible is running several deals right now that are all worth considering depending on your current needs. If you bring in an old phone that’s not compatible with Visible’s network (which is built on Verizon’s nationwide network), you can get a ZTE Blade A7 Prime for free from Visible. If you finance your phone using Affirm through Visible, you can upgrade your phone once it’s paid off at least 50%. The final offer is a virtual gift card of up to $200 for people who transfer their existing number to Visible and complete three full months of service payments. After this, Visible will send a code to redeem for the virtual gift card.

See at Visible

Sarah Tew/CNET

Verizon

Save with loyalty discounts

Verizon is one of the largest carriers in the US. It offers both prepaid and contract plans, but on the prepaid side the company rewards people who keep using the service and paying for it. Verizon offers prepaid customers up to $10 off per month for loyalty discounts. You need to be a prepaid customer for 10 months to see the discount, but for months four to nine you can save $5. In addition, Verizon offers those who use Autopay an additional $5 monthly discount, meaning you can save up to $15 a month for sticking around.

See at Verizon

Sarah Tew/CNET

Boost Mobile

SIM card for $1

Boost Mobile has been around for a long time and right now the carrier is offering a deal on a SIM card. New customers can try out Boost’s 5G network with 2GB of high-speed data and get the SIM Kit for just $1, making this deal a real no-brainer if you want to save some money. You can sign up for plans at Boost Mobile with prices as low as $15 a month, depending how much data you plan to use.

See at Boost Mobile

Sarah Tew/CNET

Metro by T-Mobile

Free subscriptions included

Metro by T-Mobile offers four different prepaid plans, with the top-tier option also including a one year subscription to Vix+, 20GB of hotspot data and a 100GB Google One membership. With this plan, you can also get four lines of service for $150 a month, which is cheaper than the price you’d normally pay to get only three.

See at Metro by T-Mobile

Best contract plan deals

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Verizon

Free perks with select plans

Instead of offering a monetary discount each month on its contract plans, Verizon has just continued to expand the amount of free extra items that are included with the plans. Right now, select plans offer free subscriptions to things like Hulu, Disney Plus, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, TravelPass and more. The freebies that are included with Verizon’s 5G Get More plan total up to $65, plus Verizon offers a $10 discount for those who enroll in Autopay.

See at Verizon

Sarah Tew/CNET

T-Mobile

Get a free line

T-Mobile has a few different plan options that can save you money, but you have to meet certain requirements for some of them. For example, T-Mobile offers military, veterans, and first responders a discount as well as those who are over 55 years old. If you don’t qualify for either of those, everyone is eligible to buy two lines, get a third free, which means you can get three lines for as little as $85 a month. Like Verizon, T-Mobile also offers things like six months of Apple TV Plus a year of Paramount Plus for free, a standard Netflix subscription, and more.

See at T-Mobile

Sarah Tew/CNET

AT&T

Hotspot and streaming subscriptions included

On its Unlimited Premium Plan, AT&T offers up 50GB of hotspot data and unlimited talk and text in 19 Latin American countries. These are in addition to the other normal offers, like unlimited talk and text, 5G access, AT&T Active Armor advanced mobile security and more, plus discounts for military, veterans, and medical workers.

See at AT&T

Many work from home workers have become aware of just how important it is to have a good monitor. Even if you already have one screen for your home office setup, adding a second can make a huge difference in your productivity. And fortunately, you don’t have to break the bank to get a decent display for work, school or gaming. Below, we’ve rounded up some of the best budget monitors on that you can grab for less than $200.

There are a few things to keep in mind: When buying a budget monitor, you should check out the listing to see what’s included. Make sure it’s not missing items that you would have to purchase separately and that would drive the price above that “cheap monitor” threshold, like a stand or cables. The stand might not be an issue if you’re planning to use the VESA mount to put it on a wall or arm. But in that case, you should ensure the mount screws on the back of the monitor match yours: The bulk of these have 100×100-millimeter mounts, but in some cases, they have 200x200mm or 75x75mm mounts — or they don’t support a VESA mount at all.

Got a Mac? If it’s an old MacBook Pro with an HDMI port, or an iMac or Mac Mini, you won’t have a problem. MacBooks with USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 connections will require an adapter or cable with conversion built-in because they won’t have a dedicated display port. You may also need to fiddle with the resolution and scaling settings in Mac OS, since it natively prefers a 16:10 aspect ratio, not the 16:9 aspect ratio that’s much more popular on Windows.

Read more: How to Buy a Monitor for Gaming or Working From Home

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Unless you’re a hardcore gamer or creative professional, many of the most technical specs — latency and color gamut, for example — won’t really matter to you (though many of these could serve as a budget gaming monitor). You should always take them with a grain of salt, anyway.

For less than $200, you can generally expect to get:

• A maximum of 1,920×1,080-pixel screen resolution (dubbed by marketers as “Full HD resolution” and also referred to as 1080p or 2K for its roughly 2,000 pixels across). Below 27 inches, that’s fine. At 27 inches or larger, it’s not great except in one important case. Essentially, the reason you buy a 27-inch monitor over a 24-inch is usually because you want to fit more on to it. But if it’s using the same number of pixels, it just makes everything bigger — it doesn’t put more on the screen. And because it’s spreading them across a bigger screen, some people (like me) may get annoyed at seeing the pixel grid. I find a pixel density (the number of pixels per inch, or ppi) of at least 90 a good balance, but YMMV. The exception? If you actually need things like text to be bigger, such as if you have impaired vision.
• A stand that lets you tilt the computer monitor, not raise or lower it. We want to reduce eye strain and optimize ergonomics wherever possible.
• While there might be one or two larger, the monitors go mostly up to 27 inches.
• Between 250 and 350 nits of brightness. That should be fine for most uses.
• Up to 75Hz refresh rate for an IPS (which stands for in-plane switching) monitor or 144Hz refresh rate for a TN (twisted nematic). A high refresh rate matters if you’re planning to play a lot of FPS, racing, fighting or other motion-sensitive gaming. An IPS monitor is better for general-purpose use, since it’s superior for off-angle viewing and typically has better color. But the fastest IPS monitor you’ll find for the money is 75Hz. A TN monitor is better for fast gaming and a better gaming experience; it has a higher contrast ratio, but poorer viewing angle — color accuracy and contrast changes as you move further from looking straight-on.
• If it comes with built-in speakers, don’t assume they’re a replacement for real standalone versions. They’re occasionally better than expected, but think of the speakers as a nice perk for basic system sounds or videoconferencing and consider it a windfall if they’re satisfactory for entertainment. (I’ve been relatively impressed with the speakers in BenQ’s EW series.)
• A lot of these cheap monitors support AMD’s adaptive refresh FreeSync technology, which works with AMD’s graphics processors for syncing game frame rates with the display.
• A curved monitor, which can make a wide display fit into your field of view without requiring you to sit too far back, isn’t worth paying more for in monitors 27 inches or smaller; then the bezels are too far within your field of view. One potential exception is if you plan to span across three identical monitors for gameplay. Then they wrap around you better than three flat screens.

Upping your budget to between $200 and $300 will bring more 32-inch screen size options and 2,560×1,440 resolution. And, of course, the more you’re willing to spend, the more you’re likely to find something in stock and ready to ship.

Read more: Best Speakerphone for Working From Home

Samsung

Samsung T35F 27-inch FHD IPS Monitor

If you are looking for budget gaming monitors, this budget FHD monitor’s 75Hz refresh gives you a little latitude for gaming and has an IPS panel for better color and viewing angle in the sea of VA competitors; plus, this cheap gaming monitor option is pretty attractive with thin bezels and a stand that’s less clunky-looking than some. You’ll get an HDMI cable in the box, and it has a 100×100 VESA mount. There are some drawbacks, such as some backlight bleed that buyers have noticed, and it has an HDMI 1.4 connection instead of 2.0 (if you care), plus the stand only allows the screen to tilt, not raise or lower.

$220 at Samsung

$220 at Amazon

$220 at Best Buy

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LG

LG 24-inch FreeSync Monitor (24ML600M-B)

The LG is a solid, attractive general-purpose choice with some gaming perks. Though I’d hardly call it a gaming monitor, it has features for a good gaming experience, such as AMD FreeSync support, the ability to overdrive the response time, a 1ms motion-blur reduction mode and an optional center crosshair. It’s slightly brighter than most, and there’s a Photo mode that seems to improve the color accuracy. It’s got a VGA connector in addition to the two HDMIs (though that’s not uncommon in this price range) if you’ve got a really old device to connect. The 24-inch is a smaller version of the 27-inch monitor we tested which has since been discontinued (though still available in places at a much higher price).

$127 at B&H

$130 at LG

LG

LG 27MP60G-B 27-inch FHD IPS FreeSync Display

This looks to be a more recent follow-up to the 27MK600M-B we tested, with a different stand and a DisplayPort connection instead of the second HDMI. Like that one, it’s got some gaming perks, identical to the 24-inch LG I mentioned above.

$150 at Target

$161 at Amazon

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LG

LG 29-inch UltraWide FHD FreeSync Monitor (29UM59A-P)

This big ‘un doesn’t have ultraskinny bezels or a curved screen — it’s four years old — but when you consider its size, a 75Hz refresh rate and USB-C DisplayPort connector (as well as two HDMI 1.4 ports), you get a lot for the money. It often lists for closer to $300, but right now at Amazon you can snag it for less than $200, making it a pretty good value for the features. There’s a slightly more game-oriented model for $230, the 29WP60G-B, with FreeSync support, thinner bezels and a slightly sleeker design, but don’t get FOMO over the “HDR” you’ll see in the name; it has the same color and brightness specs as the cheaper model. LG has simply added decoding hardware that lets it more-or-less intelligently cram real HDR content to the dim, small gamut display, which is never pretty.

$197 at Amazon

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Gigabyte

Gigabyte G27FC A 27-inch 1080p 165 Hz Curved Gaming Monitor

I don’t like curved 27-inch monitors or VA panels much, but in a sea of 75Hz options, the Gigabyte is a refreshing 165Hz. That makes it a lot more suited to gaming than all the 75Hz models. It also has a greater-than-sRGB color gamut, low-power stereo speakers and a USB hub, which you rarely find together in this price class. The lowest price you’ll find on this monitor right now is $230, but we’re keeping it on this list for the moment as we’ve often seen it discounted to $200 or even lower.

$230 at Amazon

$230 at Best Buy

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Xbox and Bethesda Games will host the Developers Direct showcase on Jan. 25, the companies said Wednesday. Gamers can expect snapshots of upcoming releases for Xbox, Game Pass and PC.

When to stream it

Xbox and Bethesda will livestream the event at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 25.

Where to watch

Catch the livestream on Xbox’s YouTube or Twitch channels — or on Bethesda’s YouTube or Twitch channels.

What to expect

The Jan. 25 presentation will include information on The Elder Scrolls Online, Minecraft Legends, Redfall and Forza Motorsport. Starfield will not be part of this showcase, but fans can follow Bethesda’s social media pages for details about a standalone event at a future date.

Fans will learn details on the fresh features and expanded gameplay regions on deck for Elder Scrolls. Mojang Studios will provide a glimpse of the multiplayer experience for the new Minecraft Legends, due out this spring. Arkane Austin will preview Redfall, in which “you and your friends will take down bloodthirsty Vampires on the picturesque island of Redfall.” Turn 10 Studios, the company behind Forza Motorsport, is poised to share what’s to come for the next generation of the game.

The Jacksonville Jaguars knocked off the Tennessee Titans in the last game of the regular season to claim the AFC South and the right to host a first-round playoff game. It’s the first time the Jaguars have been to the playoffs since 2017. They begin their 2023 playoff campaign against the dangerous Los Angeles Chargers, who won 10 games this season (one more than the Jags) behind a high-powered offense led by quarterback Justin Herbert. The Jaguars and Chargers Wild Card game kicks off in Jacksonville on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. ET (5:15 p.m. PT) on NBC and Peacock.

How to watch Chargers vs. Jaguars without cable

If you don’t have a cable or satellite TV subscription, you can watch the Chargers-Jags game on NBC with a live TV service or on NBC’s Peacock streaming service. The good news for football fans is that NBC is available on each of the five major streaming services. The catch is that not every service carries every local network, so check each one using the links below to make sure it carries NBC in your area.

If you live in an area with good reception, you can watch the broadcast on NBC for free on over-the-air broadcast channels just by attaching an affordable (under $30) indoor antenna to nearly any TV.

All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live-TV streaming services guide.

The Galaxy Z Flip 3 is no longer the latest foldable in Samsung’s lineup, following the launch of the Galaxy Z Flip 4, but the previous-gen clamshell foldable is still a great option for most people. If you’re looking to keep it in working order, you’ll want to make sure it’s protected with a proper case. And thanks to the Z Flip 3’s unique design, you’ll need to make sure you’re getting a case specifically designed for this model. To help you find the right one, we’ve rounded up the best Galaxy Z Flip 3 case options on the market right now.

Unlike the best cases for Apple’s iPhone 14 or even the Galaxy S22, the number of companies making cases for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 is relatively small, thanks to its more recent release and folding design, so there are fewer options to choose from. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. With competition as fierce as ever, and exacting customers weeding out the excess, our choices from the cases available focus on features, grip and uncompromising style. I’ll be updating this list as I try out more cases (yes, I’ve tried all the cases on this list), to help you find the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 case of your dreams.

David Carnoy/CNET

Spigen Thin Fit

Slim case

Available in black or lavender, Spigen’s Thin Fit has a two-piece design with a soft-to-the-touch finish. It’s a straightforward, lightweight case that looks good on your phone. There’s no hinge protection.

$31 at Amazon

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David Carnoy/CNET

Speck Presidio Perfect-Clear Fold

Most protective clear case

Speck only makes one case for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 and it’s a good one. The Presidio Perfect-Clear Fold is rated for 13-foot drop protection, and it’s the most protective clear case I tried, although there’s no hinge protection. Grip this Flip cover, and try it out.

$60 at Speck

David Carnoy/CNET

Samsung Silicone Cover With Ring

Ring case

I liked Samsung’s Silicone Cover with Ring. It’s protective, it has a nice soft-to-touch finish and there’s that built-in ring that helps prevent you from dropping the phone — and you can also clip the ring to a lanyard and wear the phone around your neck. Alas, while I could kind of prop the phone up using the ring on certain surfaces, I would have liked the case even more if it converted into a kickstand.

The case comes in multiple colors.

$40 at Samsung

$23 at Amazon

$40 at Best Buy

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David Carnoy/CNET

Gear4 Bridgetown Case

All-around solid protection

Gear4’s Bridgetown case shares some similarities with Spigen’s Tough Armor case (see below). It, too, is a tough case that only comes in black and has some nice hinge protection. One of the best protective cases for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3. I only wish it were available in more colors, or a clear version.

$24 at Amazon

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David Carnoy/CNET

Otterbox Symmetry Flex

Best Otterbox

Otterbox makes only two cases for the Galaxy Z Flip 3: the Thin Flex and this one, the Symmetry Flex. Alas, the Thin Flex Series feels cheap and is hard to get off your phone once you have it on. However, the sturdy and more attractive Symmetry Flex qualifies as a top case for the Z Flip 3. It’s a translucent case with a black border around it that shows off your phone a bit while offering good drop protection. I only wish it came in more colors.

$30 at Amazon

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David Carnoy/CNET

Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G Leather Cover

Sleek leather option

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G Leather Cover is its equivalent of Apple’s leather case for the iPhone. It’s expensive, but nice — and slim. While it doesn’t offer quite as much protection as some of the cases on the list, it’s one of my favorites and if you get it in a bright color like mustard, it makes your phone easy to spot. It’s also available in green and black. The biggest knock against it is that it’s expensive, but you can occasionally find it on sale for around $40.

$36 at Walmart

$25 at Amazon

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David Carnoy/CNET

Samsung Silicone Cover With Strap

Security strap

This has the same soft-to-the-touch finish as Samsung’s Ring case, but instead of a ring it incorporates a strap. You slide your hand under the strap (and behind the phone), which allows you to get a grip and hold on to your phone without really wrapping your fingers around it. It’s essentially a security strap. The strap also offers a little bit of protection for the hinge when you fold up the phone. Additionally, you can attach the end of the strap to a lanyard or clip it to another strap (say, on a bag or backpack).

Aside from having some utility, the strap also seems designed to bring some attention to your phone. For better or worse, it does just that, so if you use this case, plan on having people ask you about your phone. It comes in a few colors.

$25 at Amazon

$17 at Best Buy

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David Carnoy/CNET

Spigen Tough Armor

Good hinge protection

Spigen makes a few cases for the Galaxy Z Flip 3. As its name implies, the Tough Armor is durable and offers the most protection in Spigen’s line. It’s also the only Spigen case that has an integrated protective covering for the hinge.

As far as protective cases go, it’s one of the best and is only missing an integrated kickstand. I also kind of wish it came in more colors. Black is the only option for now.

$40 at Amazon

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David Carnoy/CNET

Spigen Air Skin Crystal Clear

Slim clear case

Part of Spigen’s Air Skin case line, the Crystal Clear version is a slim clear case that offers basic protection. There’s some adhesive that makes sure the case doesn’t slip off your phone (as you can see from the photo, I didn’t pull off the little tab to expose it). It’s hard not to get a dust particle or two trapped under the case when you’re putting it on — and those dust particles will show if you have an all-black phone like mine.

$25 at Amazon

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David Carnoy/CNET

Samsung Aramid Case

Slim Samsung

Aramid fiber is essentially Kevlar, so this case manages to be durable but slim. It has a soft-to-the-touch finish and is easy to grip. A lot of people like this case, though it looks simple and it’s expensive. It adds very little weight (and size) to the Z Flip 3 and seems protective.

$30 at Walmart

$25 at Amazon

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David Carnoy/CNET

Spigen GlastR Optik Lens Protector

Protector for exterior screen

This isn’t a phone case per se, but if you’re looking for some added protection for your Z Flip 3’s exterior display, Spigen sells an exterior screen protector in a two-pack. It fits around the lenses and over the back display and should work fine with most cases, although it does pair best with Spigen cases. (Not all Z Flip 3 cases’ cutouts around the back display are the same dimensions.)

$10 at Amazon

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David Carnoy/CNET

Vego Z Flip 3 case with slide camera cover and kickstand

Budget kickstand case

If you’re looking for an affordable case with an integrated ring that converts into a kickstand, this Vego is a good option, though it looks more premium on the surface than it really is. It also sells under other brand names on Amazon. I can’t tell you how it will hold up over time, but it has some nice features, including a cover that slides up to protect the phone’s camera and it’ll stick to a magnetic car mount. The one big downside is that it does not support wireless charging.

$10 at Amazon

David Carnoy/CNET

InvisibleShield Ultra Clear Plus With D3O

Mini Zagg screen protector

Zagg brings its line of InvisibleShield screen protectors to the Z Flip 3’s exterior screen. This is probably the smallest screen protector Zagg’s ever made. However, it somehow costs as much as the screen protectors it makes for much larger screens.

$20 at Amazon

$28 at Best Buy

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