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8BitDo’s drift

Jun 11, 2023

By Antonio G. Di Benedetto, a writer covering tech deals and The Verge’s Deals newsletter, buying guides, and gift guides. Previously, he spent 15 years in the photography industry.

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Nobody likes stick drift in their game controllers, but everybody loves a good deal. So this sale on the 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller and its drift-free Hall effect sticks is a perfect solution. You can get the white version of the controller with its included charging / receiver dock for $55.99 ($15 off) at Amazon.

8BitDo’s Ultimate controllers come in a few flavors (both wired and wireless), but this Bluetooth version is made for the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows PCs. It’s got some pro-level software features — like button remapping, stick and trigger response curves, and custom profiles — that you can tweak via an app, and it even has two mappable rear buttons. But its biggest strength is its magnetic Hall effect sticks, meaning there’s no physical internal contact that causes wear and tear over time, eventually leading to stick drift. It’s one of our favorite controllers to use on the Switch, where it can even wake the console with a shake, and it makes a great alternative to Nintendo’s pricier Pro Controller.

The 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller comes with its own charging dock, features remappable controls, and is compatible with the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows PCs thanks to its Bluetooth and 2.4GHz connectivity. Unlike the 2.4GHz-only version, it features Hall effect sticks.

If you’re even moderately handy (or forced to pretend due to inescapable homeownership obligations), you may own some cordless DeWalt power tools. You can put those rechargeable batteries to work in new ways with DeWalt’s USB-C Charging Kit, which is now on sale at Amazon for $72.87 (around $26 off).

It’s basically a big yellow-and-black adapter that puts a USB-C and USB-A port onto any DeWalt battery, allowing you to charge a laptop, phone, tablet, etc. while on the go or at a job site. Even some of the smaller DeWalt batteries offer quite a bit of portable juice, and the USB-C port on the adapter can output up to 100W of power to charge things quickly. Alternatively, you can use it to charge your tool batteries via USB — though our own Sean Hollister found some caveats to that in his review, like requiring the traditional DeWalt charger to bring a fully depleted battery back to life.

Turn any DeWalt power tool batteries you already own into high-capacity portable USB-C power banks, capable of outputting up to 100W — enough to charge a laptop and phone. The kit also includes a 65W power adapter you can use to recharge your tool batteries via USB-C.

Samsung’s absolutely gargantuan 49-inch Odyssey Neo G9 Ultrawide Mini LED gaming monitor is on sale at Woot for $1,385.99 ($914 off). The monster of a monitor may have a monstrous price tag to match (even when on sale), but it’s got the specs to back it up. It uses a Mini LED panel for some very high brightness, and it supports a super-fast refresh rate of up to 240Hz with VRR via HDMI 2.1. The ultrawide 32:9 aspect ratio can be very immersive for gaming, and its 5120 x 1440 resolution offers enough real estate that it can feel almost like using a dual or triple monitor setup when it comes to productivity and multitasking.

While the Neo G9 exhibited some HDR-related technical issues in our review back in 2021, according to Rtings, those problems have been solved via recent firmware updates.

The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 is a massive and bright Mini LED PC monitor with 32:9 aspect ratio, fast 240Hz refresh rate, and HDMI 2.1 with VRR support.

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8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth ControllerDeWalt’s USB-C Charging Kit49-inch Odyssey Neo G9 Ultrawide Mini LED gaming monitorAnker’s 100W USB-C chargerAmazon Fire TV CubeGoogle Nest Wifi Pro