By AJ Dellinger Published April 12, 2025 | Comments (0) | Donald Trump looks at a smartphone while sitting at a desk. © Saul Loeb (Getty Images) Donald Trump’s tariff regime keeps getting less and less robust. In the latest backtrack from the Trump administration following the repeated warning of the markets to chill out a bit, the US Customs and Border Protection published guidance late Friday night that introduced new exemptions for smartphones, computers, and other electronics—a major carveout for tech companies that were feeling the crunch. The exemptions, as reported by Bloomberg, include popular devices like iPhones and MacBooks, as well as Android and Windows devices made overseas. It also includes hardware like hard drives, computer processors, memory chips, and graphics cards. Some have noted the exemption does not include video game consoles, which leaves things still pretty up in the air for the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2. Notably, the exemptions apply universally, meaning these items coming into the US will not be subject to the 10% global tariff that currently applies to every nation, nor the 145% tariff that is currently levied against China. The exemption was also backdated to April 5, 2025, so just pretend this whole past week didn’t happen. The exemption comes after another week of extremely volatile markets that seem to be pleading with Trump to stop harassing the nation’s top trade partner while the rest of the world side-eyes America and starts shifting its money elsewhere. Pretty much the only thing that has sent the markets bouncing back up in the last few weeks is even the tiniest of breadcrumbs suggesting that maybe Trump isn’t as pot-committed to the nonsensically calculated tariffs as he insists he is. Trump left a little trail for investors, suggesting this type of exemption might be on the horizon on Friday when he told reporters aboard Air Force One that there could be “a couple of exceptions for obvious reasons” coming. He didn’t say what the obvious reasons were, but we can probably interpret that as “we’d like to stop the bleeding for some of our most profitable companies.” The tech sector was certainly signaling that pain was coming. Apple reportedly airlifted 1.5 million iPhones to the United States from Inida to try to keep them from getting hit by the tariffs, and was warning that the prices of their devices could be going up soon. Other major tech players including Asus, Sony, and Nividia all started ticking up the retail price for their devices as the tariffs took effect. Consumers, expecting those price increases, raced to stockpile devices. Those who might be in the market to buy a new phone or computer can breathe a slight sigh of relief now, as can the companies who were ready to upend their entire logistics to try to figure out how to duck the extra charges. The exemption does seem to suggest a backtrack from Trump’s position that we can just make our electronics in the country. Earlier this week, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Donald Trump “believes we have the labor, we have the workforce, we have the resources” to build iPhones in America—which is maybe theoretically true, but in practice, experts say such a device would cost as much as $3,500 to buy, plus years to build the manufacturing infrastructure to even do it. Shocking that idea didn’t stick. Daily Newsletter You May Also Like By Matt Novak Published April 12, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published April 12, 2025 By Alex Cranz Published April 11, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published April 11, 2025 By Matt Novak Published April 11, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published April 10, 2025

Old computers can still have their uses. Image: FRANCESCO CARTA/Getty Images Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 You want to squeeze as much life from a laptop or desktop computer as possible. Doing so can save a substantial amount of money over time, and stops you from contributing to mountains of e-waste. At the same time, dealing with an old, sluggish computer is a frustrating experience. If apps and websites are taking ages to load, it can seriously impact your productivity. At a certain point, the temptation to upgrade to a shiny, speedy new computer proves irresistible. A middle ground exists, which is to make sure your laptop or desktop lasts as long as possible. There are multiple tricks you can try when it starts to show its age—tricks that could mean it stays usable for much longer than you expected. Cut down on the clutter You’ll find several programs starting up with Windows or macOS. Screenshot: Apple One way to stretch the life of your computer is to reduce its load. Uninstall any apps you’re not actively using, and keep your apps trim in terms of extensions and add-ons. We’ve covered how to uninstall programs on Windows and macOS, and it’s not difficult to do. Limiting the number of programs starting up with your computer can help too: It means fewer apps running in the background, freeing up more memory and other system resources. You can take care of this with a few clicks on both Windows and macOS. The more storage space you have the better. It gives your computer and its operating system room to breathe and get organized, and can improve performance. Uninstalling apps should help with this, but also be on the lookout for files that you no longer need or can move somewhere else. Choose some upgrades Some well-chosen upgrades can breathe new life into an old computer. While this is going to cost you money, it won’t cost as much as a full upgrade would—and it could mean you get several years of extra use out of your device. The right upgrade will depend on your system’s specs, how much you have to spend, how easy the system is to upgrade, and how comfortable you are with opening up your computer. This is mostly for Windows PCs and for desktops, though a few limited laptop upgrades are sometimes possible. Upgrading the RAM or the storage on your computer are usually the best upgrades for getting the most bang from your bucks. It could be something as straightforward as buying an external hard drive to move files over to, for example. Install another operating system There are plenty of lightweight Linux distros to choose from. Screenshot: Lubuntu In the interests of doing more with older components, you can install a fresh operating system to replace Windows or macOS, one that’s less demanding on your aging computer. This will wipe everything on your system though, so be sure to back up all of your important files and folders first. Linux is always a popular and completely free option, and it comes in many different flavors (known as distros). Some of them, such as Lubuntu, are designed to be as lightweight as possible. Have a browse around the web and you’ll find many options to pick from, as well as detailed guides to how to make the switch. Then there’s ChromeOS Flex, which essentially turns your Windows or Mac computer into a Chromebook. You’re just running a web browser with a few extras, so older computers should be up to the challenge. As with Linux, this is free to do, and it’s perfect if you spend most of your computing time in a web browser anyway. Use your computer for something else Then there’s the option of using your computer for something else, rather than an all-purpose machine. One option is using your aging laptop or desktop as a media server: It doesn’t have to do anything except stream audio and video to other devices on your network. Plex and Emby are two programs that can help. Or how about turning your ancient computer into a dedicated writing machine? This could work if your machine is so old that it’s no longer getting security updates, so shouldn’t really be connected to the web. Set up a word processor and you’re good to go (you will need a USB drive to get your writing shared elsewhere, however). Repurposing your laptop or desktop doesn’t save you from the cost of an upgrade, because you’ll still need to buy another computer, but it does cut down on e-waste and does mean your hardware stays useful for longer. And when you do finally need to get rid of a computer, make sure you do it responsibly.

Nature, Published online: 09 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01186-wTonka bean trees might make themselves into lightning rods to edge out the competition. Plus, Trump cuts threaten US scientific leadership in Antarctica and how to build a broader, more inclusive defence of science.

A new report released April 1 by the European Space Agency sheds light on space pollution surrounding our planet — how bad the problem is, and what we need to do to keep Earth orbits clean enough to use.

This started off as an innocent experiment to quickly generate destroyed buildings and spiralled into a full modifier that works by converting a single storey, modelled from flat planes, into a complete building with responsive destruction. I learnt so much from doing it that I tackle problems differently from the beginning of the geometry node graph to the end. With the exception of the original floor layout, everything is procedural including the shaders. I think there's still room to push it so that the internal layouts can be randomised and more detail added to the building - small touches like air conditioners, cables and wall gubbins would also add some much needed visual interest - but I'll probably avoid that rabbit hole for the time being. Considering the intensive use of geometry nodes it's surprisingly responsive as long as you don't stack the building too much and, after a suggestion from a discord member, I also added the option to paint the destruction in dynamically. Come talk with me about 3d on Discord + get the project file/video on Patreon. Enjoy! submitted by /u/GoodGood3d [link] [comments]

RT NROMISSION SUCCESS: NROL-192 launched today at 8:25 a.m. EDT on a @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base.The rapid deployment of NRO’s proliferated constellation directly supports the needs of the people NRO serves.Press release: https://www.nro.gov/Portals/135/Documents/news/press/2025/NROL-192%20Press%20Release%20FINAL.pdf?ver=wvjFwrtVPcw8_Gz7--60-A%3d%3d

Brand Identity design. Brave Duck and Robots is a vibrant, forward-thinking brand known for its playful yet sophisticated approach to storytelling and visual communication. Tasked with an ambitious rebrand, We created a fresh visual identity and dynamic design system that captured their creative essence and reinforced their presence.

vestan #REFANTAZIO SWEEP Member Dec 28, 2017 27,452 View: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:knj5sw5al3sukl6vhkpi7637/post/3lmn5eby7q32g?ref_src=embed Bungie's Marathon Is A Polished Extraction Shooter, But That Might Not Be Enough Marathon feels like it'll deliver satisfying gameplay, but the experience around it could leave a lot to be desired www.gamespot.com The kicker here is that Marathon is going to launch as a premium product, meaning players will be asked to pay full price. Based on what I experienced and was told, it'll have a battle pass, three maps (with a fourth arriving shortly after launch); fun but no-frills gameplay; a story that currently is all very vague in its nature and unclear in its implementation; and a character-progression system that doesn't yet show signs of offering a meaningful sense of growth. Maybe it's there behind-the-scenes and will be ready for launch, but for whatever reason, a decision was made not to show it. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Thought this was threadworthy as there's been a lot of discussion on whether this would be a F2P or paid title. EDIT: From the official Twitter account, won't be full-price Marathon (@MarathonTheGame) Marathon will be a premium title. Marathon will not be a ‘full-priced’ title. We’ll announce details this Summer. xcancel.com Marathon will be a premium title. Marathon will not be a 'full-priced' title. We'll announce details this Summer. Click to expand... Click to shrink...   Last edited: 14 minutes ago Haze Member Oct 25, 2017 13,196 Detroit, MI Massive flop incoming   Rippa Member Feb 15, 2018 1,322 Good luck   IDontBeatGames ThreadMarksman - Saved Transistor's sanity twice Member Oct 29, 2017 20,481 New York I was barely interested as is, but this is a definite no for me now.   DrScruffleton Member Oct 26, 2017 14,623 i was interested in playing, but yeah...good luck with that   sheeldz Member Jun 8, 2021 914 That's a bad idea.   Nesther Member Oct 27, 2017 2,285 Switzerland Uh yeah. This is not gonna end well   Lifejumper #1 Celtics fan / #7 Serbia fan Member Oct 25, 2017 29,287 Mistake   VeryBerryPunch Member Oct 25, 2017 1,559 Full price as in $70? Good luck  Raigor Member May 14, 2020 15,993 This is going to bomb all over the place. Good luck  Homura ▲ Legend ▲ Member Aug 20, 2019 6,749 Concord 2   th1nk Member Nov 6, 2017 9,243 good luck   Green Mario Member Oct 27, 2017 4,412 I'll try it but the battle pass business model needs to die in a fire.   MrYK Member May 10, 2022 158 Any chance full price means $40 here?   Cruxist Avenger Oct 27, 2017 4,675 I have my doubts about this. Does Bungie have the goodwill/marketing to get this in the hands of people? It'll be interesting to see.   Toiletduck Member Dec 10, 2017 1,788 Yikes. Not sure about this one… Smells like another Concord, but I hope not.  Mocha Joe Member Jun 2, 2021 13,202 Premium product / price but has battle passes and I'd imagine microtransactions (not confirmed at least yet) lol  AaronD Member Dec 1, 2017 4,182 Sony love not learning from past mistakes I guess.   YozoraXV Member Oct 30, 2017 3,717 You would think Sony would have learned from Concord.   Lukar Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth Member Oct 27, 2017 27,446 nvm   Last edited: 25 minutes ago Becks' Member Dec 7, 2017 9,076 Canada CONCORDILLION BUCKS   irishonion Member Oct 25, 2017 3,471 What exactly does full price mean? lol   Grace872 Member Mar 11, 2022 55 Thats a tall price based on what was shown and announced. Destiny going FTP was a good choice for it and it's surprising they didn't apply that here.   RayCharlizard Member Nov 2, 2017 4,263 Concord flopped because the majority didn't like the gameplay in the alpha and the art was god awful. If this alpha pops off, the price isn't going to be as big of a factor as it was with Concord. Extraction shooter genre is also not as played out as the general hero shooter one. So we'll see.   MysticBooty Member May 27, 2024 74 lmao   jonasvutt Member Jan 17, 2018 606 But how much is "full price". 20, 40, 70, 80, 90 in Europe?   Mentalist Member Mar 14, 2019 21,454 Boldstrategy.gif   Saucycarpdog Member Oct 25, 2017 19,888 Full price? As in $60 or $70? Lmao  BloodHound Member Oct 27, 2017 10,898 No way this is $70. I refuse to believe it lol.   Jake2byFour Member Oct 28, 2017 5,136 $70, lmao   Genesius Member Nov 2, 2018 20,038 Maybe this leads to them swinging back and making a single player game again one day. But that's probably insane wishful thinking.   Tsunami561 Member Mar 7, 2023 5,167 3 maps, 6 characters, full price. huh?   OP OP vestan #REFANTAZIO SWEEP Member Dec 28, 2017 27,452 Sony doubling down after Concord is crazy. Not even $40?   Stibbs Member Feb 8, 2023 4,148 The 518 Paul said it was too late to go F2P a few months ago Bungie, I wish you luck....  maze001 Member Sep 18, 2024 488 Just one big yikes. I thought this game would already be a hard sell as F2P since it seems so similar to other shooters on the market, but a full priced game with a battle pass? I'm shocked. They must be really confident in this.  MrPink Member Oct 27, 2017 3,727 I guess the question is what full price means in this instance.   nsilvias Member Oct 25, 2017 29,448 sony hasnt learned   wagon Member Jan 6, 2025 261 Well what is that price? The current AAA pricing of $70 USD or $40 like helldivers?   ajoshi Member Sep 11, 2021 2,305 ok yea "convincing groups of 3 friends to pay $210 to try the latest gaas BR/extraction squad shooter" is a no go. as other poster mentions, its not quite Concord, but this still certainly a choice.   Dust C H A O S Member Oct 25, 2017 40,250 So what, $70? That's a tough cookie.   Healthy_Gamer Member Jan 18, 2023 319 Bungie will disappear end of 25   GodDestroyer Member Dec 12, 2024 361 Companies that fail to learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them. AKA Are they dumb?  GravaGravity Member Oct 27, 2017 4,618 I understand the resources to create these big games need that kind of money, but I can't think of any multiplayer game that has survived recently at a premium price point. I'd be keen to hear examples but there's too many free alternatives free days, particularly when you need to pull in friends for the best experience   Razgriz-Specter Member Oct 25, 2017 34,199 They'd have to pay me to play this game, Full price... good luck  ethanradd Member Oct 30, 2017 2,193 $80?   hydruxo ▲ Legend ▲ Member Oct 25, 2017 22,401 I doubt it's "full price" $40 has been the rumor and that's more likely  KanjoBazooie ▲ Legend ▲ Avenger Oct 26, 2017 32,305 Chicago Green Mario said: I'll try it but the battle pass business model needs to die in a fire. Click to expand... Click to shrink... It really does, if you're gonna be full priced the post purchase monetization should be handled differently.   Ushojax Member Oct 30, 2017 6,217 We've got another historic bomb coming here. I don't see an opening in the market for a game like this.   mrmickfran The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 32,701 Gongaga Sony already trying to break their Concord record   Xando Member Oct 28, 2017 36,268 I would have expected them to launch F2P with some kind of premium version that included bonus stuff so this is a bit surprising. This will have initial success based on the bungie name but i wonder if they can translate it into a long term success. 

When I went to Bellevue, Washington, in early April to visit Bungie’s headquarters and take a gander at Marathon, the studio’s upcoming extraction shooter, I remembered the first time I played a PC copy of Halo as a teen. Despite logging hundreds of hours on Xbox before, I was terrible with my mouse and keyboard until a patient stranger spent hours guiding me to victory. I had another guide with Marathon, but it wasn’t a random username hundreds or thousands of miles away via the internet — it was Kevin Yanes, a former Destiny developer who is now the Runner gameplay lead for Marathon. And it was in my victory alongside Yanes — and our eventual defeat — that I started to believe that with Marathon, Bungie might actually pull off the three-peat by bringing yet another genre to the masses.The way Marathon works will be familiar to you if you’re already an extraction shooter sicko and have played games like Escape From Tarkov. But even if that’s not you, the game will still be mostly familiar if you’ve played a battle royale game like Fortnite or Apex Legends. What sets games like Tarkov and now Marathon apart from the battle royale genre — which involve a large group of players getting dropped onto a map where they loot items and try to be the last to survive — is that the loot can leave the match with you. The goal of Marathon isn’t to be the last player in the lobby; it’s to find cool shit (either hidden in a chest or stolen from other players), and then extract safely with said cool shit in tow.Each game of Marathon begins with you selecting the Runner you’d like to play. These Runners are essentially heroes — each one has a distinct look, a couple of specific abilities, and a fistful of passive effects. You’ll then set your loadout by pulling items from past runs into your inventory, like increased shields, higher-rarity weapons, and perk nodes. Or, if you’re just starting out and don’t have any items or currency yet, you can launch in with a sponsored pack, which is a free or cheap (in terms of credits, the in-game currency) loadout that comes with low-quality versions of everything you need.When you’re ready, you’ll group up (or matchmake) with two other players and head into the map of your choosing — of which there are several, each with varying difficulty levels and player caps. While Bungie did tell us that you can turn off squad-fill matchmaking and jump into a round as a solo or duo player, you’ll be at a distinct disadvantage. Image: BungieYou’ll load into a map with varying numbers of opponents, with the count depending on the map size. Dire Marsh, the map we played on for most of my preview, can hold 18 players — six squads of three, including your own. The goal is twofold. First, you want to find the best kind of loot you can on the map; you can earn loot as a reward by completing events that appear, taking on AI enemies (all of which are very dangerous and will easily kill you if you lose focus), and solving minor puzzles. Second, you’ll be trying to make progress on any contracts you have with the game’s major factions. While we didn’t get to interact with the contract and reputation metagame as much as I would have liked, it showed a lot of promise — especially for players who don’t just want to hunt other teams for sport.When your backpack is full and contracts are complete, it’s time to find an Exfil location. When you activate your extraction beacon, it shoots up a giant “please don’t hurt me” beam into the sky that alerts all other players that someone is trying to escape with the good stuff. If you survive until the Exfil goes off, you keep your spoils, and it all goes into your vault for the next time you want to use it. If you die at any point in the match, you lose everything you had in your inventory and cannot get it back.If that sounds harsh, it is. It’s kind of the point. And while there are some friendlier elements to Marathon when compared to Tarkov and games like it — your allies can revive you an unlimited number of times, for example — it’s the most hardcore and punishing game that Bungie has ever made. But that’s where all the tension is, and it’s what led to some truly adrenaline-pumping moments during my sessions, a reaction that genuinely surprised me.Image: BungieWhen I first arrived at Bungie, I had assumed that Marathon wouldn’t be for me. I was a big Halo multiplayer guy in my youth, I’ve put hundreds of hours into PUBG, played plenty of Apex, and basically haven’t put down Destiny or its sequel since 2014. But as I age, I’m less inclined to engage with PvP, and for that reason, the extraction genre hasn’t ever truly gotten my attention. Although Bungie has managed to make games that speak to me for my entire life, my history with the studio wasn’t enough to outweigh my skepticism.After the developers walked us through how Marathon works, I was escorted to the play area to get my hands on the game. The squads were premade, and I was placed in a group with another American journalist and one from a different country who struggled to communicate with us. And thus began our morning of getting destroyed. Whenever we ran into other players, it didn’t go well for us, in what admittedly felt like a true “random matchmaking” experience.As I went to lunch for the day, I felt conflicted. On one hand, I worried that my PvP woes were well founded, and that Marathon would eventually not be very fun if I couldn’t reliably or confidently take on other squads. On the other hand, the game was slick as hell. The sleek, mechanical aesthetic is astounding, and the strong art direction has already driven up hype. As long as I was progressing my contracts and just being present in the world of Marathon, I was having fun. My concern was what would happen when those contracts turned more intense, and when not interacting with other players would no longer be an option.Luckily, things changed after lunch, as Bungie decided to move my team around. Suddenly, we were joined by Kevin Yanes. All anyone would say about Yanes was that he was good at Marathon. That’s an understatement, I soon learned. Yanes changed the game for me and our third squadmate, not because he could carry us while we were learning — although that was certainly part of it, I won’t lie — but because he could teach us things that would have taken hours of playing on our own to discover.When we dropped into our first match together, Yanes opened the map and pinged two nearby locations. “OK, we got a Complex spawn,” he said, denoting where on the map we were. “There are two other squads that can spawn here and here, so we need to be careful unless we want to go after them right away.” It was overwhelming — and intoxicating. What started as a team that absolutely did not want to get into scrapes became a squad that was actively hunting players down. Suddenly, mysterious gas-filled rooms that once seemed impossible to open, we now knew how to vent. An Exfil beam didn’t mean “thank god, a team is leaving” anymore; it was more like an enemy team’s dinner bell ringing to say, We found all this cool stuff for you; please come take it! And we did.Image: BungieAs my knowledge grew, so did my comfort level. In very short order, I found myself going from asking Yanes questions to taking my newfound knowledge and putting it into action. Still, I did worry that Marathon wouldn’t be fun without someone like Yanes as a squadmate. That the joy was in extracting with great shit every time, not in the game itself. But even when we lost to some extremely talented Valorant players on the final match of day 2, I found that I still felt good about my experience and my team.It’s too bad that not every player out there will have Yanes to teach them the game — as much as his co-workers joked that they should ship him with every copy of Marathon. But they will have me. And their favorite streamers. And guides (on Polygon). And Tarkov friends. And Halo players. And Guardians from Destiny’s Crucible.Since Halo, Bungie has relied not only on its skilled developers, but on its community of players around the world to help with tutorializing its games. For my friends, I will be Yanes when it comes to Marathon — I will be the online stranger I met when I played Halo for the first time back in the day.Marathon is difficult. It’s punishing, and it’s intentionally frustrating. It has low lows and high highs, by design. It’s a difficult sell to the masses — the most difficult pitch Bungie has made yet. But what Bungie has always been good at is producing converts: players who see the vision, get pulled inside, and can’t wait to share the game with their friends. I find myself an unlikely convert to Marathon’s vision, and I left Bellevue desperate to get my hands on the game again — one of the best feelings you can have about something you’re playing when on the clock.There are a million factors that could sink Marathon: the crowded live service market, the game’s monetization strategy — all that Bungie has confirmed is that it won’t be free-to-play — its release timing, and the state of the global economy. You’d have to be a fool to look at any upcoming game in 2025 and say, “That’s a surefire hit.” But what I can say, without being a fool, is that Marathon made me truly enjoy PvP for the first time in nearly a decade. Others have been teaching me to play Bungie games for 20 years, and even if I won’t be as good a teacher as Kevin Yanes, I’m excited to pay it forward with my own friends when Marathon comes to PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X on Sept. 23.Disclosure: This article is based on a Marathon preview event held at Bungie’s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington, from April 2-4. Bungie provided Polygon’s travel and accommodations for the event. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.See More: MarathonWindowsWindows logoExplore The Game

Product Info Epomaker Magforce 68 Price$159.99 There's no doubt in the fact that Epomaker is a leading keyboard manufacturer, offering one of the best product lineups, ranging from full-sized keyboards, all the way to 65% designs, and they manage to nail every single one of them. Now, with Epomaker's Magforce 68, the company has been able to integrate compactness, design, and quality all in a single package, and this particular keyboard is what I would call one of the best options out there if you are looking for something "small." Epomaker Magforce 68 - Gateron Magnetic Jade Pro Switches, Hall Effect Technology & Speedy Type-C Connection Well, in the keyboards segment, there are really many 65% layout options that are said to be something a hardcore gamer would prefer, and Epomaker probably had these in mine before designing the Magforce 68. For someone like me whose work performance revolves around having a decent keyboard, my experience with this keyboard has been a charm. While the "compactness" hasn't appealed to me much, the typing quality is simply something that I am sure every purchaser will appreciate. For a quick rundown of Epomaker Magforce 68 specifications, it features the Gateron Magnetic Jade Pro switches, which we'll discuss extensively ahead of time, along with a CNC aluminum body and much more. Here's a summary of the keyboard's features/specifications: Here’s the table with the technical specifications of the EPOMAKER Magforce 68: Specification Details Brand EPOMAKER Model Magforce 68 Layout 65% ANSI US Layout Number of Keys 68 keys Connectivity Type-C Wired Compatibility WIN Case Material Aluminum Finish Anodized Flex-Cut No Flex-Cut Mounting Structure Top-Mount Plate Material FR4 PCB Thickness 1.6mm Stabilizers Plate-Mount Stabilizer Typing Angle 7 degree Sound Dampening Poron Sandwich Foam, Bottom Foam, Bottom EVA Keycaps Profile Cherry Profile Keycaps Material PBT Plastic Keycaps Manufacturing Technique Double-Shot RGB South-facing, per-key RGB Polling Rate 8000Hz Scan Rate 32kHz per key Latency 0.125ms (USB) Anti-Ghosting N-Key Rollover Keyboard Dimensions 314.5 * 113.9 * 38.6 mm Keyboard Weight 1.5kg Package Weight About 2kg Epomaker Magforce 68 - Unboxing & Close-Up The packaging of the keyboard is undoubtedly creative, as the box features a black and blue-themed design, with the branding at the very front. When you open up the box, there's cushioning on both the top and the bottom, which means that the company has ensured that the unit doesn't get damaged when shipping it across different regions. Inside the box, you get the standard manual, a Type-C USB cable, and a keycap puller, which is pretty standard for every keyboard. You also get extra Gateron Magnetic Jade Pro switches in case a replacement is needed, which might come in handy. When I saw the keyboard for the first time, I started to think about the unit's compactness, since I could almost carry its weight entirely at the palm of my hands. That is indeed the beauty of a 65% layout, since not only does it make portability much easier, but it occupies a little space on your desk, which means that you can use the extra space left for something else. But, you do get void of elements such as a dedicated numpad, so it is more of a consumer choice in the end. Starting with the keycaps come in a cherry profile design, which is the common notion in the segment. They are made out of PBT Plastic, which not only is a sturdy material but also ensures that there are no thumbprint impressions on the keycaps after extensive use, and I did notice this after using the keyboard for several days. Another interesting factor about the Magforce 68 is its sound-dampening mechanism, which uses Poron Sandwich Foam as the main cushion, creating that "crisp" typing sound. Epomaker Magforce 68 - Design Language, Hall Effect Technology & Gateron Magnetic Switches One thing about the keyboard that makes it a bit weird is the design language. The overall vibe of the product is seen as something "minimalistic" and more professional-oriented, but switching on the RGB makes the design layout complicated. Apart from this, the RGB really strikes out when you look at it for the very first time, and a more "diffused" look would have been a better choice, like the Galaxy100 counterpart. One of the standout features of the Magforce 68 is the "Hall Effect" technology, which uses a magnetic field to detect keystrokes, providing a smoother and quieter experience. Here's how Epomaker describes it: This feature allows users to fine-tune the actuation distance, catering to specific gaming or typing preferences. The Snap Tap function ensures rapid keystroke registration, while the Dead Zone adjustment eliminates unintended inputs, providing unparalleled control. This level of customization, powered by magnetic switches, ensures that every keystroke is accurate and consistent, enhancing performance across various use cases. So, consumers of different segments could easily fine-tune the actuation distance to get the desired typing experience, which really opens up the Magforce 68 to several types of users. You can utilize Epomaker's cloud adjustment platform to fine-tune the keyboard's performance. Speaking of the onboard switches, the Epomaker Magforce 68 comes with the widely-known Gateron Magnetic Jade Pro, a magnetic linear switch popular for their "cracky" sound, similar to Mahjong tiles clicking together. They come with a travel distance of 3.5mm with a lifespan of over 100 million keystrokes. These switches are primarily used in keyboards supporting the Hall Effect technology and are widely used by a variety of keyboard integrators. Since switches are a personal preference, I won't comment much on them, apart from the fact that if you don't like a "cracky-sounded" keyboard, the Magforce 68 isn't for you. Epomaker Magforce 68 Conclusion - Ideal Option If Compact & High-Performing Keyboard Is Your Need This particular keyboard is one of the best options in a 65% layout segment, but it comes with a hefty price tag of $159.99, which might seem justified if you look at the specifications alone. If you are eager to purchase the Epomaker Magforce 68, you can refer to the company's official website here and enjoy a great experience. 8.5 WCCFTECH RATING The Epomaker Magforce 68 is a great option for consumers looking for a compact keyboard option that features a great typing experience. Combined with the Hall Effect technology, the Magforce 68 is suited for many consumers out there. Pros Compact Form Factor High-Quality Gateron Switches Hall Effect Technology Minimal Design Extensive Customization Cons High Pricing Wired Connectivity Buy for from Amazon The links above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Wccftech.com may earn from qualifying purchases.