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Wired Earbuds Are So Back

Wired Earbuds Are So Back

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Belkin showcased a range of recently released Qi2.2 magnetic wireless chargers at IFA 2025, along with other charging accessories and wireless earbuds. Nestled in all of this were two products that immediately caught my eye: the Belkin UltraCharge Magnetic Charger 25W and the SoundForm USB-C Wired Earbuds with ANC.

I want to talk about that second product, because this is something that has been stuck in a tiny space in the back of my mind for years. I rarely actively seek out noise-canceling wired earbuds, and when I do, I’m always disappointed to find they barely exist. At first glance, there’s not much to Belkin’s SoundForm USB-C headphones: they’re white, with flat wires that terminate in somewhat chunky earbuds. The earbuds are water- and- sweat resistant, feature 12mm drivers (for comparison, Apple’s AirPods Pro use 11mm drivers). Belkin claims they have “rich sound and deep bass.”

I got to test them a little bit, and yes, they sound decent—they’re not tinny, not muffled, the sound is reasonably balanced, and they’ve got nice-sounding bass, though it won’t rattle your brain by any means. Also, the SoundForm USB-C Wired Earbuds seemed to avoid the kind of boxy sound that I’ve noticed with some Belkin wireless earbuds. The active noise-cancelling (ANC) is far from competing with that of the AirPods Pro 2, but it does drop the noise around you—it seemed like it had a hard time with a narrow band of mid-range sounds. Maybe that’s intentional, to let you hear when people are talking to you, but it’s a weird effect. The wired earbuds also have a transparency mode, or you can turn these modes off.

The reason Belkin’s new headphones can actually do ANC is that instead of an unpowered 3.5mm headphone jack, they use USB-C. Sure, that limits where you can use them, but it’s a fine trade-off versus ANC wireless earbuds that you have to recharge and whose non-replaceable batteries are doomed to give out.

Of course, USB-C plugs don’t always last forever—the little pieces that secure them in a port can wear out, making their connection loose and finicky—so there’s a chance these may not endure any longer than the tiny batteries in wireless earbuds, especially if you use them a lot. Belkin representative Jen Wei told me that the company doesn’t hear regular complaints from customers about its USB-C plugs doing this, and it’s true that some last longer than others, but it’s something to be aware of. Still, I’m glad to see Belkin trying this. The SoundForm USB-C Wired Earbuds with ANC will be available in October for $34.99.

Belkin isn’t the only one bringing back wired earbuds. Sony also announced its own IER-EX15C earbuds (sorry, “in-ear headphones”) at IFA 2025. No ANC in these, but they also connect via USB-C. They’re $30, but for another $5, Belkin’s SoundForm USB-C Wired Earbuds seem like the better deal to get ANC.

At a glance, the UltraCharge Magnetic Charger 25W is just a MagSafe-style charging puck, but thicker and with a ring-shaped kickstand that you can also use to stabilize your phone. Unlike the UltraCharge 3-in-1 Magnetic Charging Dock that Belkin released last month, product manager Laurelin Stuart-Smith told me at the booth that the standalone puck has a heatsink inside for passive cooling—magnetic charging generates a lot of excess heat, and the 25W power afforded by this charger’s use of the Qi2.2 standard will only make that worse.

The UltraCharge Magnetic Charger 25W will be available in November for $39.95.

There’s one more thing I want to nerd out about from Belkin’s booth: the BoostCharge Retractable Car Charger 75W. Its integrated USB-C cable extends 75cm (roughly 2.5 feet) and offers 60W charging. The device also has two ports (one USB-A and one USB-C) and Belkin says it actively optimizes power delivery when more than one thing is connected.

I’m always very skeptical about retractable cables, or just retractable things in general—I’ve just owned too many cheap ones whose springs give out, rendering them annoying and useless. I’m also always wary of integrated cables for the same USB-C plug wearing out. I can’t speak to how long the USB-C plug on this device will last, but retractable cables can be done well, and at least from the brief time I had tugging on Belkin’s new car charger’s USB-C cable, it felt pleasantly smooth, with none of the odd clunkiness that tells you This Thing Will Break Soon.

The BoostCharge Retractable Car Charger 75W will be available in the US in October for $29.99.

 

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The original mysterious black box wasn’t an AI model at all, but the Kaaba, the black cube at the center of the Sacred Mosque of Mecca. Prior to Muhammad’s conquest of Mecca, the Kaaba was a sort of all-purpose repository of 360 sacred symbols from around the region. If you were, say, a busy merchant on his way to Medina, whatever the great spiritual truths of the universe may be, they were in there somewhere, so a prayer to the Kaaba had you covered in the god department and you were good to go.

Anthropic seems to be doing something along these lines with Claude.

Last week, representatives from Anthropic—along with OpenAI—attended an event in New York called the “Faith-AI Covenant” roundtable. The New York Board of Rabbis, the Hindu Temple Society of North America, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the U.S.-based Sikh Coalition, and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America were all in attendance.

Last month, I wrote about a series of meetings and dinners Anthropic organized with a collection of 15 Christian leaders. Anthropic was looking for advice from the Christians, and guidance on the supposed “spiritual development” of its Claude AI model. At the time Anthropic said it was working on arranging meetings with moral thinkers who represented other groups.

It’s not clear from a fresh Associated Press piece about the Faith-AI Covenant meeting whether these latest conversations with religious leaders and the earlier meetings with Christians were part of a single coherent program at Anthropic, and whether the staff members who participated in the Christian summit participated in this one as well. Gizmodo asked Anthropic for clarity about this on Saturday, but Anthropic did not return our request as of this writing.

The Associated Press also says OpenAI and Anthropic “initiated outreach,” but also that a Swiss NGO called the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities organized it, and has plans for future events along similar lines in China, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates. Also mentioned as a “key partner” was Baroness Joanna Shields, a member of the British House of Lords.

There’s not a single clear takeaway in the AP story—no religious instructions laid out by all these spiritual leaders. But what Anthropic calls Claude’s constitution includes a dissection of the philosophically fraught moral work Anthropic is at least trying to do by injecting morals into a machine: getting it to make the decision of a person with perfect values when there’s no way to write a rule for a situation that arises, and the consequences of making the wrong decision could be dire. This, Anthropic writes, is “centrally because we worry that our efforts to give Claude good enough ethical values will fail.”

To this end, the Associated Press story extracts some quietly devastating commentary from Rumman Chowdhury, CEO of a nonprofit called Humane Intelligence: “I think a very naive take that Silicon Valley has had for a couple of years related to generative AI was that we could arrive at some sort of universal principles of ethics,” Chowdhury told the AP, adding, “They have very quickly realized that that’s just not true. That’s not real. So now they’re looking at maybe religion as a way of dealing with the ambiguity of ethically gray situations.”

They are indeed looking at maybe religion. But it’s hard to picture Anthropic coming away from these meetings converted, and inserting one set of specific religious doctrines into Claude. They’re just trying to glean high order ethical truths, and demonstrating to the world that they’ve—ostensibly—left no stone unturned in searching for them.

Your mileage will vary on whether you think a machine charged with making decisions or giving important advice would, when the chips are down, be able to synthesize ideal morals thanks to meetings its creators held with administrators from some of humanity’s premier religions. It probably can’t hurt, sorta like nodding at the pre-Islamic Kaaba. But then again, only God knows for sure.

#Anthropic #Added #Religions #Quest #Inject #Perfect #Morals #ClaudeArtificial intelligence,religion">Anthropic Has Added Several More Religions on Its Quest to Inject Perfect Morals into Claude The original mysterious black box wasn’t an AI model at all, but the Kaaba, the black cube at the center of the Sacred Mosque of Mecca. Prior to Muhammad’s conquest of Mecca, the Kaaba was a sort of all-purpose repository of 360 sacred symbols from around the region. If you were, say, a busy merchant on his way to Medina, whatever the great spiritual truths of the universe may be, they were in there somewhere, so a prayer to the Kaaba had you covered in the god department and you were good to go. Anthropic seems to be doing something along these lines with Claude. Last week, representatives from Anthropic—along with OpenAI—attended an event in New York called the “Faith-AI Covenant” roundtable. The New York Board of Rabbis, the Hindu Temple Society of North America, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the U.S.-based Sikh Coalition, and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America were all in attendance. Last month, I wrote about a series of meetings and dinners Anthropic organized with a collection of 15 Christian leaders. Anthropic was looking for advice from the Christians, and guidance on the supposed “spiritual development” of its Claude AI model. At the time Anthropic said it was working on arranging meetings with moral thinkers who represented other groups. It’s not clear from a fresh Associated Press piece about the Faith-AI Covenant meeting whether these latest conversations with religious leaders and the earlier meetings with Christians were part of a single coherent program at Anthropic, and whether the staff members who participated in the Christian summit participated in this one as well. Gizmodo asked Anthropic for clarity about this on Saturday, but Anthropic did not return our request as of this writing. The Associated Press also says OpenAI and Anthropic “initiated outreach,” but also that a Swiss NGO called the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities organized it, and has plans for future events along similar lines in China, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates. Also mentioned as a “key partner” was Baroness Joanna Shields, a member of the British House of Lords. There’s not a single clear takeaway in the AP story—no religious instructions laid out by all these spiritual leaders. But what Anthropic calls Claude’s constitution includes a dissection of the philosophically fraught moral work Anthropic is at least trying to do by injecting morals into a machine: getting it to make the decision of a person with perfect values when there’s no way to write a rule for a situation that arises, and the consequences of making the wrong decision could be dire. This, Anthropic writes, is “centrally because we worry that our efforts to give Claude good enough ethical values will fail.” To this end, the Associated Press story extracts some quietly devastating commentary from Rumman Chowdhury, CEO of a nonprofit called Humane Intelligence: “I think a very naive take that Silicon Valley has had for a couple of years related to generative AI was that we could arrive at some sort of universal principles of ethics,” Chowdhury told the AP, adding, “They have very quickly realized that that’s just not true. That’s not real. So now they’re looking at maybe religion as a way of dealing with the ambiguity of ethically gray situations.” They are indeed looking at maybe religion. But it’s hard to picture Anthropic coming away from these meetings converted, and inserting one set of specific religious doctrines into Claude. They’re just trying to glean high order ethical truths, and demonstrating to the world that they’ve—ostensibly—left no stone unturned in searching for them. Your mileage will vary on whether you think a machine charged with making decisions or giving important advice would, when the chips are down, be able to synthesize ideal morals thanks to meetings its creators held with administrators from some of humanity’s premier religions. It probably can’t hurt, sorta like nodding at the pre-Islamic Kaaba. But then again, only God knows for sure. #Anthropic #Added #Religions #Quest #Inject #Perfect #Morals #ClaudeArtificial intelligence,religion

was a sort of all-purpose repository of 360 sacred symbols from around the region. If you were, say, a busy merchant on his way to Medina, whatever the great spiritual truths of the universe may be, they were in there somewhere, so a prayer to the Kaaba had you covered in the god department and you were good to go.

Anthropic seems to be doing something along these lines with Claude.

Last week, representatives from Anthropic—along with OpenAI—attended an event in New York called the “Faith-AI Covenant” roundtable. The New York Board of Rabbis, the Hindu Temple Society of North America, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the U.S.-based Sikh Coalition, and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America were all in attendance.

Last month, I wrote about a series of meetings and dinners Anthropic organized with a collection of 15 Christian leaders. Anthropic was looking for advice from the Christians, and guidance on the supposed “spiritual development” of its Claude AI model. At the time Anthropic said it was working on arranging meetings with moral thinkers who represented other groups.

It’s not clear from a fresh Associated Press piece about the Faith-AI Covenant meeting whether these latest conversations with religious leaders and the earlier meetings with Christians were part of a single coherent program at Anthropic, and whether the staff members who participated in the Christian summit participated in this one as well. Gizmodo asked Anthropic for clarity about this on Saturday, but Anthropic did not return our request as of this writing.

The Associated Press also says OpenAI and Anthropic “initiated outreach,” but also that a Swiss NGO called the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities organized it, and has plans for future events along similar lines in China, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates. Also mentioned as a “key partner” was Baroness Joanna Shields, a member of the British House of Lords.

There’s not a single clear takeaway in the AP story—no religious instructions laid out by all these spiritual leaders. But what Anthropic calls Claude’s constitution includes a dissection of the philosophically fraught moral work Anthropic is at least trying to do by injecting morals into a machine: getting it to make the decision of a person with perfect values when there’s no way to write a rule for a situation that arises, and the consequences of making the wrong decision could be dire. This, Anthropic writes, is “centrally because we worry that our efforts to give Claude good enough ethical values will fail.”

To this end, the Associated Press story extracts some quietly devastating commentary from Rumman Chowdhury, CEO of a nonprofit called Humane Intelligence: “I think a very naive take that Silicon Valley has had for a couple of years related to generative AI was that we could arrive at some sort of universal principles of ethics,” Chowdhury told the AP, adding, “They have very quickly realized that that’s just not true. That’s not real. So now they’re looking at maybe religion as a way of dealing with the ambiguity of ethically gray situations.”

They are indeed looking at maybe religion. But it’s hard to picture Anthropic coming away from these meetings converted, and inserting one set of specific religious doctrines into Claude. They’re just trying to glean high order ethical truths, and demonstrating to the world that they’ve—ostensibly—left no stone unturned in searching for them.

Your mileage will vary on whether you think a machine charged with making decisions or giving important advice would, when the chips are down, be able to synthesize ideal morals thanks to meetings its creators held with administrators from some of humanity’s premier religions. It probably can’t hurt, sorta like nodding at the pre-Islamic Kaaba. But then again, only God knows for sure.

#Anthropic #Added #Religions #Quest #Inject #Perfect #Morals #ClaudeArtificial intelligence,religion">Anthropic Has Added Several More Religions on Its Quest to Inject Perfect Morals into ClaudeAnthropic Has Added Several More Religions on Its Quest to Inject Perfect Morals into Claude The original mysterious black box wasn’t an AI model at all, but the Kaaba, the black cube at the center of the Sacred Mosque of Mecca. Prior to Muhammad’s conquest of Mecca, the Kaaba was a sort of all-purpose repository of 360 sacred symbols from around the region. If you were, say, a busy merchant on his way to Medina, whatever the great spiritual truths of the universe may be, they were in there somewhere, so a prayer to the Kaaba had you covered in the god department and you were good to go. Anthropic seems to be doing something along these lines with Claude. Last week, representatives from Anthropic—along with OpenAI—attended an event in New York called the “Faith-AI Covenant” roundtable. The New York Board of Rabbis, the Hindu Temple Society of North America, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the U.S.-based Sikh Coalition, and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America were all in attendance. Last month, I wrote about a series of meetings and dinners Anthropic organized with a collection of 15 Christian leaders. Anthropic was looking for advice from the Christians, and guidance on the supposed “spiritual development” of its Claude AI model. At the time Anthropic said it was working on arranging meetings with moral thinkers who represented other groups. It’s not clear from a fresh Associated Press piece about the Faith-AI Covenant meeting whether these latest conversations with religious leaders and the earlier meetings with Christians were part of a single coherent program at Anthropic, and whether the staff members who participated in the Christian summit participated in this one as well. Gizmodo asked Anthropic for clarity about this on Saturday, but Anthropic did not return our request as of this writing. The Associated Press also says OpenAI and Anthropic “initiated outreach,” but also that a Swiss NGO called the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities organized it, and has plans for future events along similar lines in China, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates. Also mentioned as a “key partner” was Baroness Joanna Shields, a member of the British House of Lords. There’s not a single clear takeaway in the AP story—no religious instructions laid out by all these spiritual leaders. But what Anthropic calls Claude’s constitution includes a dissection of the philosophically fraught moral work Anthropic is at least trying to do by injecting morals into a machine: getting it to make the decision of a person with perfect values when there’s no way to write a rule for a situation that arises, and the consequences of making the wrong decision could be dire. This, Anthropic writes, is “centrally because we worry that our efforts to give Claude good enough ethical values will fail.” To this end, the Associated Press story extracts some quietly devastating commentary from Rumman Chowdhury, CEO of a nonprofit called Humane Intelligence: “I think a very naive take that Silicon Valley has had for a couple of years related to generative AI was that we could arrive at some sort of universal principles of ethics,” Chowdhury told the AP, adding, “They have very quickly realized that that’s just not true. That’s not real. So now they’re looking at maybe religion as a way of dealing with the ambiguity of ethically gray situations.” They are indeed looking at maybe religion. But it’s hard to picture Anthropic coming away from these meetings converted, and inserting one set of specific religious doctrines into Claude. They’re just trying to glean high order ethical truths, and demonstrating to the world that they’ve—ostensibly—left no stone unturned in searching for them. Your mileage will vary on whether you think a machine charged with making decisions or giving important advice would, when the chips are down, be able to synthesize ideal morals thanks to meetings its creators held with administrators from some of humanity’s premier religions. It probably can’t hurt, sorta like nodding at the pre-Islamic Kaaba. But then again, only God knows for sure. #Anthropic #Added #Religions #Quest #Inject #Perfect #Morals #ClaudeArtificial intelligence,religion

The original mysterious black box wasn’t an AI model at all, but the Kaaba, the black cube at the center of the Sacred Mosque of Mecca. Prior to Muhammad’s conquest of Mecca, the Kaaba was a sort of all-purpose repository of 360 sacred symbols from around the region. If you were, say, a busy merchant on his way to Medina, whatever the great spiritual truths of the universe may be, they were in there somewhere, so a prayer to the Kaaba had you covered in the god department and you were good to go.

Anthropic seems to be doing something along these lines with Claude.

Last week, representatives from Anthropic—along with OpenAI—attended an event in New York called the “Faith-AI Covenant” roundtable. The New York Board of Rabbis, the Hindu Temple Society of North America, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the U.S.-based Sikh Coalition, and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America were all in attendance.

Last month, I wrote about a series of meetings and dinners Anthropic organized with a collection of 15 Christian leaders. Anthropic was looking for advice from the Christians, and guidance on the supposed “spiritual development” of its Claude AI model. At the time Anthropic said it was working on arranging meetings with moral thinkers who represented other groups.

It’s not clear from a fresh Associated Press piece about the Faith-AI Covenant meeting whether these latest conversations with religious leaders and the earlier meetings with Christians were part of a single coherent program at Anthropic, and whether the staff members who participated in the Christian summit participated in this one as well. Gizmodo asked Anthropic for clarity about this on Saturday, but Anthropic did not return our request as of this writing.

The Associated Press also says OpenAI and Anthropic “initiated outreach,” but also that a Swiss NGO called the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities organized it, and has plans for future events along similar lines in China, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates. Also mentioned as a “key partner” was Baroness Joanna Shields, a member of the British House of Lords.

There’s not a single clear takeaway in the AP story—no religious instructions laid out by all these spiritual leaders. But what Anthropic calls Claude’s constitution includes a dissection of the philosophically fraught moral work Anthropic is at least trying to do by injecting morals into a machine: getting it to make the decision of a person with perfect values when there’s no way to write a rule for a situation that arises, and the consequences of making the wrong decision could be dire. This, Anthropic writes, is “centrally because we worry that our efforts to give Claude good enough ethical values will fail.”

To this end, the Associated Press story extracts some quietly devastating commentary from Rumman Chowdhury, CEO of a nonprofit called Humane Intelligence: “I think a very naive take that Silicon Valley has had for a couple of years related to generative AI was that we could arrive at some sort of universal principles of ethics,” Chowdhury told the AP, adding, “They have very quickly realized that that’s just not true. That’s not real. So now they’re looking at maybe religion as a way of dealing with the ambiguity of ethically gray situations.”

They are indeed looking at maybe religion. But it’s hard to picture Anthropic coming away from these meetings converted, and inserting one set of specific religious doctrines into Claude. They’re just trying to glean high order ethical truths, and demonstrating to the world that they’ve—ostensibly—left no stone unturned in searching for them.

Your mileage will vary on whether you think a machine charged with making decisions or giving important advice would, when the chips are down, be able to synthesize ideal morals thanks to meetings its creators held with administrators from some of humanity’s premier religions. It probably can’t hurt, sorta like nodding at the pre-Islamic Kaaba. But then again, only God knows for sure.

#Anthropic #Added #Religions #Quest #Inject #Perfect #Morals #ClaudeArtificial intelligence,religion

The only downside I could find with the G2 is that it is largely devoid of offline features, so the glasses have to be connected to the internet to do much of anything. Considering the G2’s capabilities, it’s a trade-off I am more than happy to make.

Other Captioning Glasses I Tested

There are plenty of capable captioning eyeglasses on the market, but they are surprisingly similar in both looks and features. While many are quite capable, none had the combination of power and affordability that I got with Even’s G2. Here’s a rundown of everything else I tested.

Leion’s Hey 2 is the price leader in this market, and even its prescription lenses ($90 to $299) are pretty affordable. The hardware, however, is heavy: 50 grams without lenses, 60 grams with them. A full charge gets you six to eight hours of operation; the case adds juice for up to 12 recharges.

I like the Leion interface, which lays out caption, translation, “free talk” (two-way translation), and a teleprompter feature on its clean app. You get access to nine languages; using Pro minutes expands that to 143. Leion sells its premium plan by the minute, not the month, so you need to remember to toggle this mode off when you don’t need it. Pricing is $10 for 120 minutes, $50 for 1,200 minutes, and $200 for 6,000 minutes. There’s no offline use supported, and I often struggled to get AI summaries to show up in English instead of Chinese (regardless of the recorded language).

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

You’re not seeing double: XRAI and Leion use the same manufacturer for their hardware, and the glasses weigh the same. The battery spec is also similar, with up to eight hours on the frames and another 96 hours when recharging with the case. XRAI claims its display is significantly brighter than competitors’, but I didn’t see much of a difference in day-to-day use.

The features and user experience are roughly the same, though Leion’s teleprompter feature isn’t implemented in XRAI’s app, and it doesn’t offer AI summaries of conversations. I also didn’t find XRAI’s app as user-friendly as Leion’s version, particularly when trying to switch among the admittedly exhaustive 300 language options. Only 20 of these are included without ponying up for a Pro subscription, which is sold both by the month and minute: $20/month gets you a max of 600 upgraded transcription minutes and 300 translation minutes; $40/month gets you 1,800 and 1,200 minutes, respectively. On the plus side, XRAI does have a rudimentary offline mode that works better than most. For prescription lenses, add $140 to $170.

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

AirCaps

AirCaps Smart Glasses

AirCaps does not make its own prescription lenses. Instead, you must purchase a pair of $39 “lens holders” and take them to an optician if you want prescription inserts. I was unable to test these with prescription lenses and ultimately had to try them out over my regular glasses, which worked well enough for short-term testing. Frames weigh a hefty 53 grams without add-on lenses; the company couldn’t tell me how much extra weight prescription lenses would add to that, but it’s safe to say these are the bulkiest and heaviest captioning glasses on the market. Despite the weight, they only carry two to four hours of battery life, with 10 or so recharges packed into the comically large case. Another option is to clip one of AirCaps’ rechargeable 13-gram Power Capsules ($79 for two) to one of the arms, which can provide 12 to 18 extra hours of juice.

The AirCaps feature list and interface make it perhaps the simplest of all these devices, with just a single button to start and stop recording. Transcriptions and translations are available for free in nine languages. For $20/month, you can add the Pro package, which offers better accuracy, access to more than 60 languages, and the option to generate AI summaries on demand (though only if recordings are long enough). As a bonus: Five hours of Pro features are free each month. Offline mode works pretty well, too. The only bad news is that these bulky frames just aren’t comfortable enough for long-term wear.

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

The most expensive option on the market (up to $1,399 with prescription lenses!) weighs a relatively svelte 40 grams (52 grams with lenses) and offers about four hours of battery life. There’s no charging case; the glasses must be charged directly using the included USB-connected dongle.

The glasses are extremely simple, offering transcription and translation features—with support for about 80 languages, which is impressive. I unfortunately found the prescription lenses Captify sent to be the blurriest of the bunch, making the captions comparatively hard to read. And while the device supports offline transcription, performance suffered badly when disconnected from the internet. I couldn’t get translations to work at all when offline. For $15/month, you get better accuracy and speaker differentiation, and access to AI summaries of conversations. Prescription lenses cost between $99 and $600.

#Captioning #Smart #Glasses #Leads #Packbuying guides,shopping,smart glasses,eyewear,health,augmented reality,accessibility">I Tried the Best Captioning Smart Glasses, and Only One Leads the PackUnlike the other glasses I tested, Even doesn’t sell a subscription plan; everything’s included out of the box.The only downside I could find with the G2 is that it is largely devoid of offline features, so the glasses have to be connected to the internet to do much of anything. Considering the G2’s capabilities, it’s a trade-off I am more than happy to make.Other Captioning Glasses I TestedThere are plenty of capable captioning eyeglasses on the market, but they are surprisingly similar in both looks and features. While many are quite capable, none had the combination of power and affordability that I got with Even’s G2. Here’s a rundown of everything else I tested.Photograph: Christopher NullPhotograph: Christopher NullPhotograph: Christopher NullLeion’s Hey 2 is the price leader in this market, and even its prescription lenses ( to 9) are pretty affordable. The hardware, however, is heavy: 50 grams without lenses, 60 grams with them. A full charge gets you six to eight hours of operation; the case adds juice for up to 12 recharges.I like the Leion interface, which lays out caption, translation, “free talk” (two-way translation), and a teleprompter feature on its clean app. You get access to nine languages; using Pro minutes expands that to 143. Leion sells its premium plan by the minute, not the month, so you need to remember to toggle this mode off when you don’t need it. Pricing is for 120 minutes, for 1,200 minutes, and 0 for 6,000 minutes. There’s no offline use supported, and I often struggled to get AI summaries to show up in English instead of Chinese (regardless of the recorded language).Photograph: Christopher NullPhotograph: Christopher NullYou’re not seeing double: XRAI and Leion use the same manufacturer for their hardware, and the glasses weigh the same. The battery spec is also similar, with up to eight hours on the frames and another 96 hours when recharging with the case. XRAI claims its display is significantly brighter than competitors’, but I didn’t see much of a difference in day-to-day use.The features and user experience are roughly the same, though Leion’s teleprompter feature isn’t implemented in XRAI’s app, and it doesn’t offer AI summaries of conversations. I also didn’t find XRAI’s app as user-friendly as Leion’s version, particularly when trying to switch among the admittedly exhaustive 300 language options. Only 20 of these are included without ponying up for a Pro subscription, which is sold both by the month and minute: /month gets you a max of 600 upgraded transcription minutes and 300 translation minutes; /month gets you 1,800 and 1,200 minutes, respectively. On the plus side, XRAI does have a rudimentary offline mode that works better than most. For prescription lenses, add 0 to 0.Photograph: Christopher NullPhotograph: Christopher NullAirCapsAirCaps Smart GlassesAirCaps does not make its own prescription lenses. Instead, you must purchase a pair of “lens holders” and take them to an optician if you want prescription inserts. I was unable to test these with prescription lenses and ultimately had to try them out over my regular glasses, which worked well enough for short-term testing. Frames weigh a hefty 53 grams without add-on lenses; the company couldn’t tell me how much extra weight prescription lenses would add to that, but it’s safe to say these are the bulkiest and heaviest captioning glasses on the market. Despite the weight, they only carry two to four hours of battery life, with 10 or so recharges packed into the comically large case. Another option is to clip one of AirCaps’ rechargeable 13-gram Power Capsules ( for two) to one of the arms, which can provide 12 to 18 extra hours of juice.The AirCaps feature list and interface make it perhaps the simplest of all these devices, with just a single button to start and stop recording. Transcriptions and translations are available for free in nine languages. For /month, you can add the Pro package, which offers better accuracy, access to more than 60 languages, and the option to generate AI summaries on demand (though only if recordings are long enough). As a bonus: Five hours of Pro features are free each month. Offline mode works pretty well, too. The only bad news is that these bulky frames just aren’t comfortable enough for long-term wear.Photograph: Christopher NullPhotograph: Christopher NullThe most expensive option on the market (up to ,399 with prescription lenses!) weighs a relatively svelte 40 grams (52 grams with lenses) and offers about four hours of battery life. There’s no charging case; the glasses must be charged directly using the included USB-connected dongle.The glasses are extremely simple, offering transcription and translation features—with support for about 80 languages, which is impressive. I unfortunately found the prescription lenses Captify sent to be the blurriest of the bunch, making the captions comparatively hard to read. And while the device supports offline transcription, performance suffered badly when disconnected from the internet. I couldn’t get translations to work at all when offline. For /month, you get better accuracy and speaker differentiation, and access to AI summaries of conversations. Prescription lenses cost between and 0.#Captioning #Smart #Glasses #Leads #Packbuying guides,shopping,smart glasses,eyewear,health,augmented reality,accessibility

Leion’s Hey 2 is the price leader in this market, and even its prescription lenses ($90 to $299) are pretty affordable. The hardware, however, is heavy: 50 grams without lenses, 60 grams with them. A full charge gets you six to eight hours of operation; the case adds juice for up to 12 recharges.

I like the Leion interface, which lays out caption, translation, “free talk” (two-way translation), and a teleprompter feature on its clean app. You get access to nine languages; using Pro minutes expands that to 143. Leion sells its premium plan by the minute, not the month, so you need to remember to toggle this mode off when you don’t need it. Pricing is $10 for 120 minutes, $50 for 1,200 minutes, and $200 for 6,000 minutes. There’s no offline use supported, and I often struggled to get AI summaries to show up in English instead of Chinese (regardless of the recorded language).

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

You’re not seeing double: XRAI and Leion use the same manufacturer for their hardware, and the glasses weigh the same. The battery spec is also similar, with up to eight hours on the frames and another 96 hours when recharging with the case. XRAI claims its display is significantly brighter than competitors’, but I didn’t see much of a difference in day-to-day use.

The features and user experience are roughly the same, though Leion’s teleprompter feature isn’t implemented in XRAI’s app, and it doesn’t offer AI summaries of conversations. I also didn’t find XRAI’s app as user-friendly as Leion’s version, particularly when trying to switch among the admittedly exhaustive 300 language options. Only 20 of these are included without ponying up for a Pro subscription, which is sold both by the month and minute: $20/month gets you a max of 600 upgraded transcription minutes and 300 translation minutes; $40/month gets you 1,800 and 1,200 minutes, respectively. On the plus side, XRAI does have a rudimentary offline mode that works better than most. For prescription lenses, add $140 to $170.

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

AirCaps

AirCaps Smart Glasses

AirCaps does not make its own prescription lenses. Instead, you must purchase a pair of $39 “lens holders” and take them to an optician if you want prescription inserts. I was unable to test these with prescription lenses and ultimately had to try them out over my regular glasses, which worked well enough for short-term testing. Frames weigh a hefty 53 grams without add-on lenses; the company couldn’t tell me how much extra weight prescription lenses would add to that, but it’s safe to say these are the bulkiest and heaviest captioning glasses on the market. Despite the weight, they only carry two to four hours of battery life, with 10 or so recharges packed into the comically large case. Another option is to clip one of AirCaps’ rechargeable 13-gram Power Capsules ($79 for two) to one of the arms, which can provide 12 to 18 extra hours of juice.

The AirCaps feature list and interface make it perhaps the simplest of all these devices, with just a single button to start and stop recording. Transcriptions and translations are available for free in nine languages. For $20/month, you can add the Pro package, which offers better accuracy, access to more than 60 languages, and the option to generate AI summaries on demand (though only if recordings are long enough). As a bonus: Five hours of Pro features are free each month. Offline mode works pretty well, too. The only bad news is that these bulky frames just aren’t comfortable enough for long-term wear.

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

The most expensive option on the market (up to $1,399 with prescription lenses!) weighs a relatively svelte 40 grams (52 grams with lenses) and offers about four hours of battery life. There’s no charging case; the glasses must be charged directly using the included USB-connected dongle.

The glasses are extremely simple, offering transcription and translation features—with support for about 80 languages, which is impressive. I unfortunately found the prescription lenses Captify sent to be the blurriest of the bunch, making the captions comparatively hard to read. And while the device supports offline transcription, performance suffered badly when disconnected from the internet. I couldn’t get translations to work at all when offline. For $15/month, you get better accuracy and speaker differentiation, and access to AI summaries of conversations. Prescription lenses cost between $99 and $600.

#Captioning #Smart #Glasses #Leads #Packbuying guides,shopping,smart glasses,eyewear,health,augmented reality,accessibility">I Tried the Best Captioning Smart Glasses, and Only One Leads the Pack

Unlike the other glasses I tested, Even doesn’t sell a subscription plan; everything’s included out of the box.

The only downside I could find with the G2 is that it is largely devoid of offline features, so the glasses have to be connected to the internet to do much of anything. Considering the G2’s capabilities, it’s a trade-off I am more than happy to make.

Other Captioning Glasses I Tested

There are plenty of capable captioning eyeglasses on the market, but they are surprisingly similar in both looks and features. While many are quite capable, none had the combination of power and affordability that I got with Even’s G2. Here’s a rundown of everything else I tested.

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

Leion’s Hey 2 is the price leader in this market, and even its prescription lenses ($90 to $299) are pretty affordable. The hardware, however, is heavy: 50 grams without lenses, 60 grams with them. A full charge gets you six to eight hours of operation; the case adds juice for up to 12 recharges.

I like the Leion interface, which lays out caption, translation, “free talk” (two-way translation), and a teleprompter feature on its clean app. You get access to nine languages; using Pro minutes expands that to 143. Leion sells its premium plan by the minute, not the month, so you need to remember to toggle this mode off when you don’t need it. Pricing is $10 for 120 minutes, $50 for 1,200 minutes, and $200 for 6,000 minutes. There’s no offline use supported, and I often struggled to get AI summaries to show up in English instead of Chinese (regardless of the recorded language).

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

You’re not seeing double: XRAI and Leion use the same manufacturer for their hardware, and the glasses weigh the same. The battery spec is also similar, with up to eight hours on the frames and another 96 hours when recharging with the case. XRAI claims its display is significantly brighter than competitors’, but I didn’t see much of a difference in day-to-day use.

The features and user experience are roughly the same, though Leion’s teleprompter feature isn’t implemented in XRAI’s app, and it doesn’t offer AI summaries of conversations. I also didn’t find XRAI’s app as user-friendly as Leion’s version, particularly when trying to switch among the admittedly exhaustive 300 language options. Only 20 of these are included without ponying up for a Pro subscription, which is sold both by the month and minute: $20/month gets you a max of 600 upgraded transcription minutes and 300 translation minutes; $40/month gets you 1,800 and 1,200 minutes, respectively. On the plus side, XRAI does have a rudimentary offline mode that works better than most. For prescription lenses, add $140 to $170.

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

AirCaps

AirCaps Smart Glasses

AirCaps does not make its own prescription lenses. Instead, you must purchase a pair of $39 “lens holders” and take them to an optician if you want prescription inserts. I was unable to test these with prescription lenses and ultimately had to try them out over my regular glasses, which worked well enough for short-term testing. Frames weigh a hefty 53 grams without add-on lenses; the company couldn’t tell me how much extra weight prescription lenses would add to that, but it’s safe to say these are the bulkiest and heaviest captioning glasses on the market. Despite the weight, they only carry two to four hours of battery life, with 10 or so recharges packed into the comically large case. Another option is to clip one of AirCaps’ rechargeable 13-gram Power Capsules ($79 for two) to one of the arms, which can provide 12 to 18 extra hours of juice.

The AirCaps feature list and interface make it perhaps the simplest of all these devices, with just a single button to start and stop recording. Transcriptions and translations are available for free in nine languages. For $20/month, you can add the Pro package, which offers better accuracy, access to more than 60 languages, and the option to generate AI summaries on demand (though only if recordings are long enough). As a bonus: Five hours of Pro features are free each month. Offline mode works pretty well, too. The only bad news is that these bulky frames just aren’t comfortable enough for long-term wear.

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

  • Photograph: Christopher Null

The most expensive option on the market (up to $1,399 with prescription lenses!) weighs a relatively svelte 40 grams (52 grams with lenses) and offers about four hours of battery life. There’s no charging case; the glasses must be charged directly using the included USB-connected dongle.

The glasses are extremely simple, offering transcription and translation features—with support for about 80 languages, which is impressive. I unfortunately found the prescription lenses Captify sent to be the blurriest of the bunch, making the captions comparatively hard to read. And while the device supports offline transcription, performance suffered badly when disconnected from the internet. I couldn’t get translations to work at all when offline. For $15/month, you get better accuracy and speaker differentiation, and access to AI summaries of conversations. Prescription lenses cost between $99 and $600.

#Captioning #Smart #Glasses #Leads #Packbuying guides,shopping,smart glasses,eyewear,health,augmented reality,accessibility

Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you love coziness.

If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 10, 2026

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for May 10, 2026

Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:

A hooded jacket.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Vote for your favorite creators today

Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter A appears twice

Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…

Today’s Wordle starts with the letter P.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL.

The Wordle answer today is…

Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today’s Wordle is…

PARKA

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.

#Wordle #today #answer #hints">Wordle today: The answer and hints for May 10, 2026 Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you love coziness.If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 10, 2026 Where did Wordle come from?Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.What’s the best Wordle starting word?The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.What happened to the Wordle archive?The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers. Is Wordle getting harder?It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though. SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for May 10, 2026 Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:A hooded jacket. Mashable Top Stories Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Vote for your favorite creators todayDoes today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?The letter A appears twiceToday’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…Today’s Wordle starts with the letter P. SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is…Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.Drumroll please!The solution to today’s Wordle is…PARKADon’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle. #Wordle #today #answer #hints

Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you love coziness.

If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 10, 2026

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for May 10, 2026

Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:

A hooded jacket.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Vote for your favorite creators today

Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter A appears twice

Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…

Today’s Wordle starts with the letter P.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL.

The Wordle answer today is…

Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today’s Wordle is…

PARKA

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.

#Wordle #today #answer #hints">Wordle today: The answer and hints for May 10, 2026

Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you love coziness.

If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 10, 2026

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for May 10, 2026

Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:

A hooded jacket.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Vote for your favorite creators today

Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter A appears twice

Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…

Today’s Wordle starts with the letter P.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL.

The Wordle answer today is…

Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today’s Wordle is…

PARKA

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.

#Wordle #today #answer #hints

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