Eliana Willis

Apple’s iPad Mini is our top pick for the best small tablet thanks to its A15 Bionic chip, which makes it a powerful tablet packed into a small package. The iPad Mini was last updated in the fall of 2021 with new features like support for the second-gen Apple Pencil, a slightly bigger screen size, and a USB-C port for charging and data transfer.There’s a spot on the right side of the tablet to charge the Apple Pencil, making it a great tablet for drawing or writing notes. Customers who bought the iPad Mini reported in reviews that they were impressed by its battery life, durability, and display. They also noted its portability to fit in purses and bags, particularly for entertainment purposes. Review: Apple iPad Mini (6th Gen.)ZDNET Editor-in-Chief Jason Hiner tested the iPad Mini and said that it “feels more like an [oversized] smartphone than a small tablet at times.””It can easily slip into bags, purses, and even the pockets of some cargo pants and vests,” he wrote. “Compared to a phone, it’s better for reading ebooks, PDFs, documents, news apps, and other digital content — especially when leaning back in a chair or a couch.”Of course, you’ll also get iPadOS 16 with features like shared tab groups, Stage Manager, and external display support if you ever need to see something on a bigger screen. Ultimately, you get all these things for less than what you would pay for an iPad Air or an iPad Pro. iPad Mini tech specs: Display: 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display | Processor: A15 Bionic | Storage: 64GB or 256GB | Colors: Space gray, pink, purple, starlight | Cameras: 8MP rear, 1080p video. 12MP FaceTime camera with Center Stage | Weight: 0.65 pounds | Dimensions: 7.69 x 5.3 x 0.25 inches | Connections: USB-C | Battery life: 10 hours More

Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNETClimate change has brought an increasing number of wildfires and air quality problems. In the US, the West Coast has seen more than its fair share of fires over the past several years. Here on the East Coast, we were affected by wildfires in Canada last year, creating a haze across the skies and warnings to stay indoors as much as possible. Such environmental hazards have hit many regions around the world.”During one week in July, according to reports, firefighters fought through the night as wildfires blazed on the Greek islands of Kos, Chios and Crete,” Google said in a recent blog post. “Authorities in the Spanish community of Extremadura activated 60 personnel to control a forest fire — one of 18 threatening the region. One wildfire, according to reports, in the Paphos region of Cyprus, was caused by light refracted through broken glass. According to estimates, territory that is fire-prone in Europe has doubled in the last 50 years.”To help people avoid these hazards, Google has been offering wildfire tracking in the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. This week, the company added 15 more countries to the list, including Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Kenya, Monaco, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Türkiye, Google noted in its blog post.Also: How AI is saving homes and lives in California during wildfire seasonGoogle’s wildfire tracking relies on multiple sources, such as data from satellite imagery. The company also uses AI to compare its wildfire model with its own model of fire scars (the black scarring left over after a fire has burned through all the vegetation). Other AI models verify the presence of wildfires to more precisely measure their size.To report on air quality in a given area, Google turns to an Air Quality Index in the US and other countries. This measures common pollutants in the air, such as nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide. The index typically averages the readings for a defined period of time, anywhere from one to 24 hours. More

Max Buondonno/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysThe OnePlus Pad 2 More

Jack Wallen/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysThe Tagry X08 earbuds More

The Pixel 9 should keep the rounded rear camera bump, and — like the Pixel 8 — have a dual-lens setup. Similar to the Pixel 8 series, you’ll have to upgrade to a Pro model to get the additional camera. Also, the Pixel 9 looks to have rounded edges with a flat display and a hole punch selfie camera in the middle.Camera specs for the new lineup look much like the current lineup. The Pixel 9 could have a 50MP wide camera and a 48MP ultrawide, while the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL could have a 50MP main camera, a 48MP ultrawide, and a 48MP telephoto sensor. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold could have a 48MP main camera, a 10.5MP ultrawide, and a 10.8MP telephoto. Leaks from 91mobiles show the same general setup, including the protruding camera bump.The Pixel 9 series should have improved sensors, Android Authority says, especially for the front-facing selfie camera. Android Authority also reports that Google is moving the inside selfie on the Pixel 9 Fold Pro to the corner of the screen and adding a new square camera arrangement for the rest, deviating from the Pixel camera bar that’s become iconic for the brand. More

The Boox Note Air 3 C is a color e-ink tablet that is built for note-taking. The screen has a color 1240 x 930 (150 PPI) resolution and a 2480 x 1860 (300 PPI — the same as the Kindle Scribe) resolution in black and white. Plus, it’s super lightweight at just under a pound. I went hands-on with the Boox Note Air 3 C, and it got me out of my productivity slump I had been having. I found my creativity creeping back by using the included stylus, which has virtually no lag, has 4,096 pressure levels, and feels as smooth as your favorite ballpoint pen on a smooth pad of paper.Review: The best E Ink tablet I’ve tested is not by ReMarkable or KindleThis tablet has all the best features of the top note-taking apps built right in: there are dozens of templates to use, audio recording, color-coding, inserting links and attachments to notes, and more. Plus, built-in artificial intelligence allows for text recognition, shape perfection, and a strike-through erase feature that makes erasing much easier.Plus, it has several features that make it a productivity machine. For example, there is a split-screen feature that allows you to switch between two different apps. And, verified customers like the BOOXdrop feature, which allows you to easily send files to the tablet from your computer or smartphone to the tablet. It takes mere seconds, and you can annotate PDFs and other Word documents with ease. Boox Note Air 3 C tech specs: Display: 10.3-inch Kaleido 3 display | Processor: 2.4Ghz octa-core + BSR | Storage: 64GB | Memory: 4GB | Colors: Black | Weight: 0.95 pounds | Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.6 x 0.23 inches | Connections: Wi-Fi (2.4GHz + 5GHz) + BT 5.0 | Battery life: 3,700mAh Li-ion Polymer More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysThe SwitchBot Mini Robot Vacuum K10+ More

Another option from Imalent may not beam as bright as the world’s brightest flashlight, but is still a shining star, packing in 55,000 lumens with 16 LEDs. The turbo setting puts out 55,000 lumens for 42 seconds before going down to 11,000 lumens, which it can sustain for 50 minutes. There are six total settings, including a middle output of 4,200 lumens and a low output of 1,200 lumens. A built-in thermal control module will automatically adjust the brightness output so that you can use the flashlight comfortably without overheating. Amazon reviewers also note and were impressed by the flashlight’s 736,000 candela rating, the unit of luminous intensity in the International System of Units (SI).Steven Short, a flashlight enthusiast and who reviews flashlights and everyday carry (EDC) items on his YouTube channel, said that at 55,000 lumens, it’s definitely bright enough to temporarily blind an attacker if you are ever in a situation when alone at night.”I’ve used it on camping trips to light up the campsite at night. Instead of using a smaller one and having to move around with it wherever I needed to see, the Imalent SR16 is bright enough to illuminate the whole area for me,” Short said. Imalent SR16 tech specs: Lumens: 55,000 lumens | Beam distance: 5,627 feet | Peak beam intensity: 736000cd | Battery life: 7 hours (on lowest setting) | IP Rating: IP56 More