
Michael L Hicks
Michael spent years freelancing on every tech topic under the sun before settling down on the real exciting stuff: virtual reality, fitness wearables, gaming, and how tech intersects with our world. He's a semi-reformed Apple-to-Android user who loves running, D&D, and Star Wars. Find him on Twitter at @Michael_L_Hicks.
Latest articles by Michael L Hicks

Can the Charge 6 and Pixel Watch 2 fix Fitbit's woes?
By Michael L Hicks published
Sunday Runday Fitbit has several paths it can take to regain people's trust. Most of it starts with improving Fitbit Premium.

Facebook now makes it easy to lead a double life with multiple personal profiles
By Michael L Hicks published
Clean up your feed If you have a personal Facebook profile and want to create a second without all the baggage (or your real name), you can now do so without needing to create a professional account.

Garmin Venu 3 vs. Venu 2: Every key upgrade
By Michael L Hicks last updated
A major improvement Garmin Venu 2 owners have a ton of reasons to upgrade. For Venu 2 Plus owners, it's a tougher decision.

Best Garmin watch 2023
By Michael L Hicks last updated
Best for fitness training These are the best across the Venu, Forerunner, Vivoactive, Instinct, Fenix, and other Garmin lineups, for every type of athlete.

A major Android brand is making its first Wear OS 3 watch
By Michael L Hicks published
Back to business We like Xiaomi's smart trackers, but have mostly ignored its MIUI OS watches. Now, the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro is coming with (allegedly) some really impressive specs.

Google Pixel 8: Everything we know and hope to see
By Michael L Hicks last updated
Tensor G3, revamped cameras, shrunk and flattened displays, and every other rumored change to the Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 8.

The Garmin Vivoactive 5 looks like the Venu 3's more affordable sibling
By Michael L Hicks last updated
More Garmin Garmin's insanely packed 2023 release schedule continues today, releasing the successor to one of our favorite fitness watches.

This Apple Watch Series 9 upgrade only makes the Galaxy Watch 6 look worse
By Michael L Hicks published
Catch up, Samsung Most people don't need tons of smartwatch storage. But the Galaxy Watch 6 deserved more than 16GB for hardcore users.

Best Wear OS watch 2023
By Michael L Hicks last updated
Wear this If you want a feature-packed and stylish Wear OS watch, you have plenty of options from manufacturers such as Samsung, Google, Fossil, Mobvoi, and more.

Google Meet on the Nest Hub Max to be replaced with an app from Google's graveyard
By Michael L Hicks published
Back to Duo Last year, Google merged Duo into Meet. Now, the newer video app will stop working on the Nest Hub Max, while the older video app comes out of retirement.

I'm disappointed by one missing Apple Watch Series 9 feature
By Michael L Hicks published
Sunday Runday If the Apple Watch Series 9 had gotten this upgrade, there's no doubt the Pixel Watch 2 and Galaxy Watch 6 would have followed. Instead, we'll have to keep waiting or choose less "smart" watches.

Evidence of a Galaxy Ring is piling up; here's what we want from the Oura Ring rival
By Michael L Hicks published
Smart jewelry It turns out earlier leaks about the Galaxy Ring's name and impending release were true. Here's what we know and hope to see from Samsung's latest health tracker.

We may know what the next Fitbit will be
By Michael L Hicks published
Leaked release According to a recent report, Fitbit could release a follow-up to our favorite fitness tracker before the end of 2023.

Best Samsung tablet 2023
By Michael L Hicks, Samuel Contreras last updated
Samsung makes the best Android tablets, and these models are the best of the best.

Best Android TVs 2023
By Ted Kritsonis, Michael L Hicks, Andrew Myrick last updated
Android TV Android TV is a sleek and powerful smart TV operating system, and these TVs ship with it built right in. Here are the best Android TVs you should consider and why they're so great!

The company that makes Nokia phones is spinning off its own branded phones
By Michael L Hicks published
HMD Global owns the Nokia brand for manufacturing smartphones until 2026. Between now and then, it wants to start raising awareness of the HMD brand instead.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE and FE Plus: Everything we know so far
By Michael L Hicks last updated
After seeing leaks of a possible Galaxy Tab S8 FE, now we're hearing rumors of a Tab S9 FE. Will Samsung announce it at Galaxy Unpacked? Only time will tell!

Quest v57 update makes a key mixed-reality fix before the Quest 3 launch
By Michael L Hicks published
Future proofing With more XR apps likely to come to the Quest 2, as well as the Quest 3, Meta is preparing the headset to make those apps more immersive.

Meta Quest 3: Everything we know so far
By Michael L Hicks last updated
The Meta Quest 3 has been officially announced and we've assembled everything we know about the next-generation VR headset from Meta in one place.

How I boosted my VO2 Max fitness to 'excellent' on my Garmin watch
By Michael L Hicks published
Boost your endurance VO2 Max is the key metric all smartwatches use to determine how fit you are. Here's how I boosted my score from "Good" to "Excellent" in just a couple of months.

VR news of the week: A Nintendo-Google partnership (?!) and more Quest 3 leaks
By Michael L Hicks published
Nintendo x Google Nintendo has tried to make a VR headset since 1995. Could a Nintendo mixed-reality gaming headset running Google's Micro XR software be on the way?

Google gives us a closer look at the Pixel Watch 2, hints at new features and specs
By Michael L Hicks published
October approaches The Pixel Watch 2 design is mostly unchanged, but we have the first confirmation that it will have brand new health sensors lifted straight from Fitbit.

Withings Body Smart review: Eyes closed, body scanned
By Michael L Hicks published
Eyes closed If you're on the hunt for a new smart scale, the Withings Body Smart checks a lot of boxes you're looking for, based on our testing across the last couple of months.
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