The Engadget Podcast

2025 is almost over (gasp!), so it's time to look back at all of the best devices we've seen so far. In this episode, Engadget Deputy Editor Billy Steele joins Devindra to talk about the highlights of the year, which range from the usual suspects (like Google's Pixel and the iPhone 17 Pro), to surprises like the Ninja Swirl. Also, we chat about yet another super-thin phone and the latest sampler from Teenage Engineering.

Engadget’s Best of 2025: phones, tablets, cameras, even EVs! – 1:40

Reuters reports Meta projected 10% of its revenue ($16B) came from ads for scams this year – 32:20

Moto Edge 70 is another super thin smartphone, but who wants it? – 41:43

Netflix is going big on video podcasts in 2026 – 42:56

You can now stream PS5 games you own to the PS Portal via the cloud – 48:23

Around Engadget: Why DJI drones may be banned in the U.S. – 52:27

Pop culture picks – 56:05

Home robots are moving way beyond Roombas. 1X unveiled its NEO helper bot this week, a terrifying $20,000 machine that can perform basic tasks after you've trained it, and more complex tasks via teleoperation. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Igor Bonafacic try to figure out why 1X made the Neo look like a murderbot, as well as the future they see for home robots. Also, we discuss last week's AWS outage and our over-reliance on a single cloud provider, as well as Apple's rumored push for OLED devices in 2026.   

Devindra also what’s with John Gearty, a former Apple Vision Pro engineer, about the state of Apple’s headset and the world of XR.
 

Interview with John Gearty, former Apple Vision Pro engineer and founder of PulseJet Studios – 1:30

Robotics company 1X announces Neo, a $20k home assistant that *might* become autonomous…someday – 33:05

Amazon says automation bug caused AWS outage – 45:11

NVIDIA is the first company in history to hit a $5T market cap – 50:55

OpenAI finishes reorganization that paves path for future IPO – 55:21

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announces plan to photograph non-citizens entering the country for facial recognition – 1:08:45

Around Engadget: Billy Steele’s Echo Studio 2025 review – 1:17:25

Working on – 1:19:39

Pop culture picks – 1:22:07

The era of AI video is upon us, and honestly it's kind of terrifying. Between OpenAI's Sora and official communications from the Trump White House, it's clear that we're not ready for an unending onslaught of AI video. In this episode, Devindra and producer Ben chat with the Washington Post's technology reporter Drew Harwell and Jeremy Carrasco (AKA "ShowtoolsAI"), a former livestream and media producer turned AI video literacy creator. Also, we chat about our final thoughts on Apple's M5 MacBook Pro and iPad Pro, with a few quick notes about the new Vision Pro.

Google and Open AI’s video generation models have upended our sense of reality online, what comes next? – 1:10

Apple’s M5 chip is a significant boost in graphics power on the Macbook Pro – 34:11

The iPad Pro M5 is a solid speed boost for whoever wants it – 39:36

Preview of the Vision Pro M5 review – 44:00

Working on – 50:23

Pop culture Picks – 51:45 

Apple just announced its fall slate of devices powered by its new M5 chip: A 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and revamped Vision Pro. In this episode, Devindra and Sam Rutherford dive into what's actually new this time around. (Spoiler: It’s really all about the new GPU.) Also, Sam goes deep on his review of the ROG Xbox Ally X, Microsoft’s first stab at a portable “Xbox.”
 

Apple refreshes of the Macbook Pro, Vision Pro and iPad Pro with M5 chips – 1:24

Sam Rutherford’s Review of the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X – 18:45

Microsoft makes big promises with Copilot Voice, can it follow through? – 39:00

OpenAI’s Sora app reaches 1M downloads in less than 5 days, faster than ChatGPT – 50:42

Sam Altman announces you’ll be able to sext with ChatGPT starting in December – 54:00

Working on – 1:06:50

Pop culture picks – 1:09:41 

This week, EA announced that it plans to go private as part of a massive $55 billion sale, a move that will likely have huge implications for the gaming landscape. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Sam Rutherford chat about what this deal really means (and why it includes a Saudi Arabian investment fund), and also dive into the messy state of Xbox. Is the ROG Ally Xbox X already a failure at $1,000?
 

Electronic Arts to go private in a deal worth $55 Billion – 1:43

What the heck is going on with Xbox? The $1,000 ROG Ally Xbox X could be a failure even before launch – 15:23

Great games out now: Final Fantasy Tactics, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hades II and more – 42:46

Amazon’s fall hardware event announced new Echoes, a new Fire TV and a panopticon powered by Ring – 59:10

Google announces new Nest Doorbell along with a couple of Nest Cams – 1:09:34

Hollywood film stars recoil in disgust at Tilly Norwood, an AI actress created by a Dutch production studio –1:14:30

OpenAI’s Sora video app is full of fake shoplifting clips – 1:14:13  

Working on – 1:17:35

Pop culture picks – 1:19:01 

Buying a car in America is usually a hellish experience involving pushy salespeople, mysterious fees, and hours-long financing negotiations. That’s something Carvana aimed to solve with its online used car marketplace when it launched 13 years ago. In this episode, Devindra chats with Carvana Chief Product Officer Dan Gill about how the company moved beyond the flashy marketing of its early car vending machines, and how it’s still trying to perfect the online car buying experience. We also dive into some of the issues the company has faced – including delayed registrations and vehicle issues – and how it’s trying to learn from them. 

We're still in iPhone mode this week, as all of our reviews of Apple's new hardware are rolling out. In this episode, Senior Writer Sam Rutherford joins us to chat about his experience with the iPhone Air and our final thoughts on the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup. Also, we dive into all of the news from Meta Connect 2025, including the Ray-Ban Display smart glasses. Is Meta actually on to something with these smart glasses? Or is Zuck just desperate to get people away from phones?


iPhone 17 Air review: Thinness with a purpose – 1:21

What’s the iPhone 17 Air’s battery life like? – 14:47

iPhone 17 Pro: a more substantive update than meets the eye – 24:54

The base iPhone 17 is a great phone for pretty much everyone – 35:26

Mark Zuckerberg announces Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses during his Connect keynote – 39:35

Other News: The ‘framework’ of a TikTok deal is in place, U.S. may license ByteDance’s original algorithm – 1:09:08

New rumors about a touchscreen MacBook Pro – 1:10:41

Working on – 1:14:32

Pop culture picks – 1:15:02 

This week, managing editor Cherlynn Low and senior reporter Karissa Bell are joined by The Verge's Allison Johnson to talk all about the new iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17s. We also answered some questions from Threads and talk about our hopes and dreams from the next Apple event. Also, Devindra and Ben chat about some recent news, including a truly awful AI podcasting company.

Cherlynn, Karissa, and a special guest break down the iPhone 17 news from Apple headquarters – 1:04

Notes from the iPhone Air hands on – 14:59

Once again, a big Apple event with no mention of Apple Intelligence – 40:27

Animated movie Critterz will use OpenAI’s tech to try to make a CGI movie on a shoestring budget – 59:24  

Inception Point AI wants to use virtual hosts to make 5,000 new podcast episodes a week – 1:04:26

David Zaslav thinks HBO Max should be more expensive, because of course he does – 1:23:27

Working on – 1:25:41

Pop culture picks – 1:28:29 

We've survived Apple's iPhone 17 event and we're here to dive into all of the news. In this bonus episode, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham recap all of Apple's new hardware and try to determine if the iPhone Air has any substance behind all that style.  

We're just days away from Apple's September 9th iPhone 17 event, and the hype seems practically nonexistent. Did the many (many) leaks splash cold water on an enthusiasm, or are we just tired of annual iPhone events? In this episode, Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham joins Devindra to discuss why even the rumored iPhone Air isn't really tingling our gadget geek senses. Also, we dive into the final repercussions of the US. v. Google antitrust trial: Turns out Google doesn’t have to sell Chrome, or give up much of anything else.   

The iPhone 17 is almost here, does anyone care? – 1:36

U.S. antitrust judge rules that Google won’t have to sell Chrome – 23:24

More Gemini-powered smart home products will be revealed on October 1 – 30:02

The Browser Company’s sale to Jira parent company Atlassian shows how hard upstart browsers have it – 33:15

After 15 years Instagram is finally getting an iPad app – 40:41

Dolby announces Dolby Vision 2 with a bunch of AI features that seem useful – 44:25

There’s AI in your pizza oven: Ooni’s Volt V2 will cook a pie in 90 seconds using machine learning – 49:02

Around Engadget: Remarkable Paper Pro Move, Acer Chromebook 14 Spin Plus, and Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 – 52:51

Working on – 56:55

Pop culture picks – 57:20