Eliana Willis

Samsung Galaxy S25 EdgeLinks Kerry Wan/ZDNETMany smartphones have seen significant discounts at Amazon More

Nina Raemont/ZDNETTake a scroll on your favorite news site, and you might believe that a health tracker, like an Apple Watch or Oura Ring, is a paranoia-inducing and life-ruining device that causes more harm than good to its owners. A few weeks ago, The New York Times published a story documenting the anxiety some users experience after wearing an Oura Ring. Earlier this week, Vox’s senior tech correspondent, Adam Clark Estes, wrote about how his quest to monitor every aspect of his health stressed him out. Also: I took these four sleep trackers to bed. Here’s which one I recommend mostHe wrote: “In the six months I spent hooked up to every health tracker I could find, feeding my morbid curiosity, I drove myself slightly crazy.”Whenever a new technology emerges, skepticism ensues. How critical should we be of these health trackers that get a front-row view of our habits? And are we ready to confront our behaviors when we purchase one of these devices? As a health and wearables editor, I’ve spent over a year tracking my health with various smart rings, sleep apps, continuous glucose monitors, and smartwatches. Despite unlimited access to my health data, I have developed a disciplined yet forgiving approach to my health, sleep, exercise, and diet. The argument against these wearables and the anxiety-inducing emotions they stir up is based on several factors: a failure to recognize the target demographic for wearables, a ‘doomer’ approach to emerging technology, and a general inability to take the data as a suggestion instead of gospel. Also: Your next Apple Watch or smart ring could have a feature that transforms healthcareIn the beginning, this data and the novel scores I would receive would stress me out if they weren’t in the high 80s or 90s. At one point I got a 70 Oura readiness score and wondered whether I should cancel plans to stay home. But as I tested more and more wearables, I became less afraid of these poor scores. Here’s how I learned how to take them as suggestions that inform my day instead of final determinations on my health.Who should and shouldn’t buy a wearable? The Times story primarily focused on the experiences of younger women who compulsively check their health metrics and scores, or change their behavior to achieve better scores. One source, who told The Times she was poorly managing her obsessive behavior, was checking her heart rate data “24/7.”  In my opinion, The Times story is more an illustration of health anxiety’s prevalence in younger women than it is a condemnation of wearable technology writ large. Also: I tested smart glasses with built-in hearing aids for a week, and didn’t want to take them offHealth anxiety might have gotten a boost during and after COVID, but its existence dates back to the Middle Ages when some royals and noblemen were convinced their bodies were made of glass. Even King Charles VI experienced this “glass delusion,” as it was called at the time. “To keep himself from ‘shattering,’ Charles would stay motionless for hours, wrapped in piles of thick blankets. When he did have to move, he did so in a special garment, which included iron ribs to protect his glass organs,” explained History’s Hadley Meares.  More

pros and cons Pros Boost is offering the iPhone 16 for free when you enroll in its Infinite Access plan. It’s a great deal if you’re looking for a fresh start or already a Boost Mobile customer. All models are included. Cons The catch is that you’ll have to pay for Boost Mobile’s networking plan, […] More

Milwaukee/ZDNETMemorial Day might be over, but you can still find great deals on hand tools and wrench sets, like this 77-piece Milwaukee SAE/Metric wrench and socket set More

Jason Hiner/ZDNETI, like a lot of other people, waited a few months after launch to grab the new iPhone 16 Pro Max More

Jada Jones/ZDNETIt’s been one year since Sonos released its first pair of consumer headphones, and although they made waves when they first dropped, how have they fared after the hype has died down? You can often find the Ace discounted for up to $120 off their original price, and if you’re interested in them, that’s the best time to buy them.Also: The best headphones of 2025I’ve worn the Sonos Ace More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETThe first Roku device was launched 17 years ago. It was initially developed in partnership with Netflix to stream its “Watch Instantly” service. Since then, the company has released numerous generations of streaming players and its very own Roku TVs — which means you might own one of these older devices. What is a cache?Just like your computer or smartphone, your Roku TV also stores temporary data (the cache) to help apps load faster. It’s like a digital shortcut; when you open an app, instead of redownloading everything from scratch, your Roku remembers certain elements, like images or login information. Over time, this cache can become cluttered, corrupted, or just plain too full. When that happens, it can lead to sluggish performance, apps freezing, audio-video sync issues, or even those dreaded error messages that pop up right when the show you’re watching is getting good. Also: Which Roku streaming stick should you buy in 2025? I recommend only these modelsWhile Roku is somewhat unique compared with other smart TVs that might have a direct “clear cache” button buried in the settings, it’s still an option, and an important one to check now and then. Below are the two quickest and most effective ways to clear your Roku cache. More

We Are/Getty Images Not so long ago, generative AI could only communicate with human users via text. Now it’s increasingly being given the power of speech — and this ability is improving by the day. On Thursday, AI voice platform ElevenLabs introduced v3, described on the company’s website as “the most expressive text-to-speech model ever.” […] More