Technologies
I Tested the Amazfit Bip 6. It’s Proof Good Smartwatches Don’t Need to Cost a Fortune
After wearing it for a month, I’d say the $80 Amazfit Bip 6 checks (almost) every box — as long as you can live with a few rough edges.
Our Experts
I’ll admit I judged the Amazfit Bip 6 by its low price tag. At $80, I didn’t expect it to hold its own, let alone compete with higher-end smartwatch rivals. But after a week of testing, I can say it’s more than just a good deal.
At a time when most smartwatches cost hundreds of dollars, the Bip 6 stands out because it goes beyond the basics. In my time testing the Bip 6, I found the fitness tracking to be solid, the advanced health metrics to be accurate and the battery life to last more than a week on a charge. Add in the fact that it works on Android and iPhone, and you have one of the few sub-$100 smartwatches that’s actually worth your time.
Pros
- $80 price is much less than most watches
- Works with Android and iOS
- Great battery life (lasts a week with heavy use)
- Tracks a wide variety of fitness activities accurately
- Temperature tracking and advanced sleep monitoring
Cons
- Single sizing option (44mm)
- UI and app are unintuitive
- Some health metrics are hard to interpret
- Voice assistant is unreliable
- Bluetooth range is short (especially on iPhone)
It’s not the most refined watch out there. Design and navigation feel clunky compared to pricier models, but this feels like a small price to pay (pun intended) for everything else the Amazfit Bip 6 delivers on.
If you’re after function over polish, the Amazfit Bip 6 makes for an easy, affordable entry point into the smartwatch world. It’s ideal for first-time smartwatch buyers who want to explore health and fitness tracking without spending big, and particularly appealing to iPhone users curious about smartwatches but hesitant to commit to an Apple Watch.
Amazfit Bip 6 design
The Amazfit Bip 6’s design is simple and functional. It has the boxy, flat look of an old Pebble Watch, with a slight curve to the screen and a metal trim that gives it a bit of polish. The 1.97-inch AMOLED display (390 x 450 pixels) looks bright and crisp indoors but I struggle seeing what’s on screen in direct sunlight. While it feels light, the 44mm watch looks bulky on my medium-sized wrist (6.5 inches), and it doesn’t come in any other size.
My review unit came with the black sport band but it’s also available in charcoal, stone and red (which I might’ve preferred). All the bands lean to the sporty side of the design spectrum and there’s no real way to dress it up unless you go with an alternative band from Amazon.
Amazfit Bip 6 setup and software
Right out of the box, the Bip 6 doesn’t offer the smoothest onboarding experience and it took me a bit of fine-tuning to get the watch set up the way I like. I swapped out the default watch face, adjusted battery settings to keep the screen on during workouts (there’s no true always-on display) and customized which fitness metrics I wanted to appear during my runs. It also took a little trial and error to figure out what the physical button and various swipe gestures actually do. It’s not as intuitive as other smartwatches like the Galaxy or Apple Watch, but if you dig deep enough in settings, you should find a way to make it work.
Even with those tweaks, I still ran into some UI quirks. The font, for example, is too large and uses a billboard-style animation to reveal text that doesn’t fit on the screen — making it hard to read at a glance. The screen feels sluggish, with noticeable lag after selecting an option.
The Bip 6’s voice assistant, Flow, is perhaps its most obvious weakness. Flow somehow makes Siri seem like a damn mind reader. I usually rely on voice commands for quick tasks like setting a timer or replying to messages and while Flow claims to handle these, it rarely gets things right on the first try. I found myself screaming at my wrist, which I’m not proud to admit. Even when it did understand the assignment, the lag between recognizing my request and responding was so long that I was better off just tapping through the menus and doing things on my own.
Fortunately Android phone users can reply to texts with a keyboard or dictation but iPhone owners are out of luck unless they go through a third-party app workaround. It doesn’t help that Flow functionality relies on the phone and the Bluetooth range (at least with an iPhone) is frustratingly short. I often lost connection when my phone was just one room away. This makes the Find My Phone feature pretty useless if you depend on it as a lifeline to locate your phone.
Once I got past those early growing pains, though, the rest of the experience was much smoother sailing.
Amazfit Bip 6 battery life
Battery life is easily one of the Bip 6’s strongest features. I put it through the paces, including multiple GPS workouts, heart rate tracking and using the always-on display during runs and it still managed to get more than a week on a single charge — 8 days to be exact. Had I been more conservative with the settings, I likely would’ve come close to the two-week promise the company boasts. Higher end rivals like the Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch and Pixel Watches need charging after a day and a half. Even the more expensive Apple Watch Ultras with larger batteries don’t last longer than three days on a charge.
When you finally do have to go back for a charge, however, it’ll take about two hours to go from zero to full and there’s no fast-charging option that I know of. Although I’ll take longer lasting battery life over faster charging any day, I’d rather leave it charging overnight once a week rather than having to figure out a time during the day to charge it back up. You’ll also have to supply your own USB-C charging cable (and brick), as the box only includes a magnetic charging puck that needs to be plugged in. Most new watches like the Pixel Watch and the Apple Watch have stopped including the charging brick but do provide the charging cable.
Amazfit Bip 6 fitness features
To say the watch covers fitness tracking basics would be underselling it. It has all the workouts you’d ever need plus nuanced metrics for runners and other popular sports. I mainly tested the running workouts as that’s my primary form of exercise.
Tracking a run on the Bip 6 feels shaky at first — it takes about 10 seconds to lock onto a GPS signal, which can be a momentum killer when you’re ready to hit the pavement. But once it locks in, it’s off to the races. In multiple runs, the GPS worked reliably even without my phone. Heart rate tracking, including zone breakdowns, held up surprisingly well. The data was on par with the Polar chest strap HR monitor (the gold standard for consumer heart rate tracking) which I use to test smartwatches. The Bip 6 was slower at detecting spikes as I approached my peak but that’s a common shortcoming of wrist-based monitors — not something unique to this device. If you’re willing to dig into the Zepp app (more on this later) you’ll also find nuanced metrics like cadence and stride to help you analyze your run.
It did hit a bump in bright sunlight, though, as the screen doesn’t get bright enough to read outdoors.
For indoor workouts, it tracks strength training and even attempts to identify which muscle groups you’re using. I didn’t do a traditional strength workout so accuracy is still TBD but it did correctly flag arm muscles during a Pilates session I had labeled as strength training for testing purposes.
Amazfit Bip 6 health and wellness
The Bip 6 had a hard time telling the difference between when I was sleeping and when I was watching White Lotus and gave me about an hour’s worth of sleep «extra credit» on weekend nights when I was very much awake. It’s worth noting that the Apple Watch has made the same mistake in the past, which makes me question how lucid I actually am when I’m lying comatose on the couch at the end of the day.
The actual measurements, however, are very helpful, as it measures heart rate and temperature variations, sleep stages and breathing quality. This could potentially help signal the onset of diseases similar to the vitals check on other wearables like the Oura ring and Apple Watch.
The Bip 6 also offers a vitals check outside of sleep mode called One Tap Measuring, which collects your heart rate, SpO₂, stress and breathing rate in a single read. You can even track your menstrual cycle on the watch but it doesn’t factor skin temperature into the ovulation predictions like other health wearables.
And if you really want to dig into your sleep and health data, you can subscribe to the Zepp Aura add-on, which offers advanced sleep analysis, AI-powered coaching and tools that can help flag conditions like sleep apnea and insomnia. It’s currently on sale for $60 a year (normally $150).
I also had a bit of trouble blocking notifications during sleep and I had to set up the «do not disturb» mode manually because it didn’t mirror what I had set up on my phone.
Amazfit Bip 6’s Zepp App
The problem with all this health data is that it comes with little to no context. Whether you’re looking at the immediate results on the watch or reviewing long-term health trends in the Zepp app, there’s no guidance on what the numbers mean, what’s considered normal or how to take action based on them. Maybe the Aura premium option helps make sense of it all, but I didn’t test it for this review.
The watch runs on Amazfit’s proprietary Zepp OS, with all your data and settings managed through the Zepp app on your phone. It handles everything from system settings and health metrics to the app and watch face stores. But good luck finding what you need because the Zepp app’s interface is not intuitive and layers tabs upon tabs.
Even when you do find the tab you need, the data itself is often hard to understand. As someone who’s reviewed smartwatches and fitness wearables for more than a decade, I consider myself well-versed in fitness lingo but even I found myself questioning what some of these scores meant.
Take the Readiness Score, which sits right at the top of the dashboard claiming its importance without telling you why. I had to dig deep to figure out it’s calculated using a mix of sleep, exertion, skin temperature and heart rate. But even then, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be ready for. To function? To work out? To parent? I assume it’s similar to Garmin’s Body Battery, which I usually ignore anyway. As a working mom of three, I don’t have the luxury of waiting around for a good score to give me permission to exercise. If I don’t squeeze in a workout during the one 30-minute window I get to myself, it’s just not happening. Ready or not.
Then there’s the PAI (Personal Activity Intelligence) score, which, according to the app, reflects your physical condition. More digging revealed you’re supposed to keep it above 100 to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and boost life expectancy. All good in theory but by the time I finished decoding what the PAI and Readiness scores were, I was too far down the rabbit hole and more ready to lie down than to take action on my metrics.
Another bonus feature is an AI-powered food journal that automatically populates calorie and nutritional information from a photo or barcode. I tested it with a home made cheese sandwich, and it was surprisingly accurate in calculating calorie count, which I later cross referenced with the actual nutrition information of each ingredient. I can see this being a practical tool for people who like to keep track of intake for weight management but didn’t log long term for a comprehensive analysis of this feature.
Amazfit Bip 6 final verdict
The Amazfit Bip 6 is a functional, subdued powerhouse that won’t dazzle you at first glance but will consistently overdeliver where it counts. It’s the kind of rare find that you don’t expect to come across in the sub-$100 smartwatch world and easily the best option we’ve tested in its price range.
Technologies
Which Apple Watch Is for You? Apple Watch Series 11 vs. Ultra 3 and SE 3
Apple revamped its entire Apple Watch line, but some models got more improvements than other. We look at all the details.
When you’re looking to buy a smartwatch, whether you want a way to stay on top of notifications or its health-related features, the Apple Watch is a good place to start. But there isn’t just one. Apple sells three different versions that appeal to different needs.
The flagship Apple Watch Series 11, rugged Apple Watch Ultra 3 and economical Apple Watch SE 3 models are a lot closer in features and specs than they’ve ever been. Let’s compare them to see which deserves a place on your wrist.
Pricing the Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3 and SE 3
The current Apple Watch line spans a wide price range, from $249 for the Apple Watch SE 3 to $1,299 for a titanium Apple Watch Series 11 with an Hermès band. Like most fashion accessories, you can choose from different case sizes, materials, cellular connectivity options and bands to find the right fit — and price — for your watch.
The Apple Watch Series 11 offers the widest price range, with two case sizes, two body materials, optional cellular connectivity and premium Hermès models. The Apple Watch SE 3 is available only in aluminum and has the earlier, slightly smaller case sizes. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 comes only in titanium, with a single 49mm size and cellular included by default.
Read more: Find the best deals on the Series 11 and Ultra 3.
Here’s how they break down:
| Apple Watch Series 11 | GPS | GPS plus cellular |
|---|---|---|
| 42mm aluminum | $399 | $499 |
| 46mm aluminum | $429 | $529 |
| 42mm titanium | $699 | |
| 46mm titanium | $749 | |
| Hermès 42mm titanium | $1,249 | |
| Hermès 46mm titanium | $1,299 | |
| Apple Watch SE 3 | ||
| 42mm aluminum | $249 | $299 |
| 46mm aluminum | $279 | $329 |
| Apple Watch Ultra 3 | ||
| 49mm titanium | $799 | |
| Hermès 49mm titanium | $1,399 |
Series 11 vs. Ultra 3, SE 3 physical designs
The core rounded-rectangle design of the Apple Watch has seen incremental changes since its first iterations. The Series 11 shares the slimmer 9.7mm height profile of the Series 10, with 42mm and 46mm diagonal sizes. Weight is light across the board, from 29.7 to 43.1 grams depending on size and case material. Aluminum models come in space gray, jet black, rose gold or silver, while titanium versions are offered in natural, slate or gold finishes.
The Apple Watch SE 3 is slightly thicker (10.7mm) and slightly smaller, with 40mm and 44mm sizes. Its design most closely harkens back to earlier Apple Watch models. It weighs 26.4 grams or 33 grams, depending on the case size. As the no-frills option, the SE 3 is available in either midnight (black) or starlight (silver).
The Ultra 3 is the most significant departure from the original design, with a thickness of 14.4mm, a 49mm diagonal, and a weight of 61.6 grams. Its titanium body comes in either natural or black — unless you opt for the Hermès edition, which is only offered in natural.
CNET lead writer Vanessa Hand Orellana described the Ultra 3 in her review as being «like the luxury Land Rover you see in safari brochures: It’s adventure-ready on the outside, with all the modern conveniences on the inside.» The body is also 3D-printed from 100% recycled titanium, but you’d never know it; there are no telltale layering marks found on most 3D-printed items.
Each watch has Apple’s Digital Crown and a side button. The Ultra 3 also includes a programmable Action button, which can, for example, start a workout with a single press.
Aside from looks, all three Apple Watch models are built for durability. The SE 3 is water resistant to 50 meters, so you don’t need to baby it — whether you’re showering, swimming or just living through a rainy Pacific Northwest day.
The Series 11 is also rated for water resistance to 50 meters, while the Ultra 3 doubles that to 100 meters. They’re also both certified IP6X dust-resistant, which is better than the SE.
Series 11 vs. Ultra 3, SE 3 displays
The Series 11 and Ultra 3 both use an LPTO 3 OLED display, which offers an always-on display and a wide viewing angle, so you don’t need to look at it head-on to see the time. It can also get very bright: 2,000 nits of peak brightness for the Series 11 and 3,000 nits (the same as the iPhone 17 Pro) for the Ultra 3.
The energy-efficient screen can refresh its display at just one nit of brightness once every second when in its passive state, so you can always see the second hand or indicator (depending on the watch face).
The display is protected by a sapphire crystal on the titanium Series 11 and the Ultra 3. According to Apple, the aluminum Series 11 uses Ion-X glass, which is twice as scratch-resistant as the Series 10.
In past generations, the SE was stuck with the lowest-quality screen, but not this time. The SE 3 gets an always-on LTPO OLED display that reaches up to 2,000 nits of brightness and dims to just 2 nits when inactive. But it doesn’t refresh as often as the Series 11 and Ultra 3, so the seconds indicator only appears when the screen is active. It’s still a big «quality of life» bump from prior SE watches, which don’t have an always-on display mode.
Series 11 vs. Ultra 3, SE 3 battery life
One surprise with the new Apple Watch lineup is improved battery life in the Series 11 and Ultra 3, plus a fast-charge option on the SE 3 that lets you top up for a night’s sleep after a full day.
Apple claims up to 24 hours of use on a single charge for the Series 11, up from 18 hours for the Series 10. It also claims up to 38 hours in Low Power mode, a notch above the Series 10’s 36 hours. That fast-charging option can bring the battery level up to 80% in 30 minutes, but charging the watch for just 15 minutes can boost it for up to 8 hours.
Hand Orellana writes in her Series 11 review, «The six-hour battery bump on the Series 11 may not sound like much on paper, but it’s given me some welcome breathing room to figure out a better charging strategy.»
The SE 3 still delivers up to 18 hours of use, or 32 hours in Low Power mode. It also supports fast charging — up to 80% in 45 minutes, or about eight hours of use from a quick 15-minute top-up.
If you want the most time between charges, the Ultra 3 is the Apple Watch to get. It can last for up to 42 hours, per Apple, or up to 72 hours in Low Power mode. Fast charging its larger battery takes it to 80% in about 45 minutes, and 15 minutes on the cable will give you roughly 12 hours of power.
Some of these gains come from Apple factoring in a night’s sleep, but credit also goes to the more power-efficient LTPO 3 screen in the Series 11 and Ultra 3.
It’s one thing to reference Apple’s claims, but what about battery life in practice? In Hand Orellana’s review of each model, she recorded even better battery life than Apple’s estimates. Keep in mind your daily usage will affect results, but here’s what she found:
| Apple Watch | Apple’s estimate | CNET review |
|---|---|---|
| Series 11 | 24 hours | 27-32 hours |
| Ultra 3 | 42 hours | 45-49 hours |
| SE 3 | 18 hours | 20-25 hours |
Series 11 vs. Ultra 3, SE 3 health features
The Apple Watch SE line has always sacrificed some hardware and features to remain the least expensive option, and the SE 3 continues that tradition — but not to the same extent. It lacks an electrical heart sensor found in the Series 11 and Ultra 3, so it can’t take heart readings using the ECG app to look for signs of atrial fibrillation (Afib).
According to Apple, the SE 3 uses a second-generation optical heart sensor that tracks heart rate during exercise, sleep and potential emergencies — though, like all Apple Watches, it can’t detect heart attacks or measure blood oxygen. The Series 11 and Ultra 3 upgrade to third-generation optical heart sensors.
The SE 3 is also missing a water temperature sensor and depth gauge, making the Series 11 and Ultra 3 better options if you spend a lot of time in water and want to track swim workouts or shallow dives more reliably.
This year’s standout health feature is the ability to analyze data and detect signs of hypertension, or high blood pressure. «It’s not the full on-the-spot blood pressure monitoring Apple fans have long hoped for,» wrote Hand Orellana, «but it’s a major step forward — one that Apple says could help 1 million people get diagnosed with hypertension in the first year alone.»
Like the sleep-apnea tracking introduced last year, hypertension notifications are not a screening tool; think of it as a warning system that prompts you to get checked out by your doctor. The Series 11 and Ultra 3 include this ability (sorry, SE 3), and require 30 days of data collection before triggering notifications. The Series 9, Series 10 and Ultra 2 also get hypertension notifications in WatchOS 26.
Series 11 vs. Ultra 3, SE 3 connectivity
Each Apple Watch model supports cellular connectivity, so you can stay connected even when your iPhone is at home. You can order the aluminum Series 11 models and the SE 3 with the cellular option; the titanium Series 11 and the Ultra 3 include it by default.
What’s unique about these watches is their support for both 5G and LTE networks, offering faster speeds and broader compatibility. Plus, they use 5G Reduced Capacity technology, which is more power efficient than the 5G networking in your iPhone.
They also support Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, Bluetooth 5.3, and L1 GPS location chips. The Ultra 3 includes dual GPS radios (L1 and L5) for more precise location tracking, especially in challenging environments like dense downtown corridors.
Plus, the Ultra 3 offers satellite connectivity directly from the watch. With a direct view of the sky, it can communicate with overhead satellites to send and receive texts, share your location, and access emergency services.
Series 11 vs. Ultra 3, SE 3 processors
One of the biggest surprises in the lineup? The Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3 and SE 3 all include the same S10 chip. It’s worth noting that the S10, introduced in last year’s Series 10, isn’t a new processor generation for 2025. But each watch now includes 64 gigabytes of storage, a four-core Neural Engine and a 64-bit dual-core processor.
The only significant difference is that the Apple Watch SE 3 is the only model not to feature Apple’s second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, which enables precise location tracking. You can still use Find My on an iPhone (with UWB) to see if the SE 3 is with you or if you left it at home. But with the Series 11 and Ultra 3, Find My will point you in the right direction as you get closer to your mislaid watch.
WatchOS 26 on the Series 11, Ultra 3 and SE 3
Each model is preloaded with WatchOS 26, which has the new Liquid Glass interface (though in most cases, it’s quite subtle). And all models add features like the new Wrist Flick gesture, nightly sleep scores, Workout Buddy, the Notes app and live translation in Messages. The Series 11 and Ultra 3, with their upgraded sensors, also gain hypertension notifications.
Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3 and SE 3 specs
| Apple Watch Series 11 | Apple Watch Ultra 3 | Apple Watch SE (3rd Gen) | |
| Design & sizes | Rectangular, 42mm, 46mm | Rectangular, 49mm | Rectangular, 40mm, 44mm |
| Display | 42mm: 446 × 374 pixels; LTPO3 OLED Retina display (wide-angle) 46mm: 496 × 416 pixels; LTPO3 OLED Retina display (wide-angle) | 49mm: 514 × 422 pixels; LTPO3 OLED Retina display (wide-angle, Always-On) | 44mm: 368 × 448 pixels (Always-On Retina LTPO OLED)Apple 40mm: 324 × 394 pixels (Always-On Retina LTPO OLED) |
| Brightness | Between 1 and 2000 nits | Between 1 and 3000 nits | Up to 1000 nits |
| Thickness & weight | 46mm: 9.7mm; 37.8g (aluminum GPS), 36.9g (aluminum GPS+Cellular), 43.1g (titanium) 42mm: 9.7mm; 30.3g (aluminum GPS), 29.7g (aluminum GPS+Cellular), 34.6g (titanium) | 49mm: 14.4mm; 61.6g (titanium) | 44mm: 10.7mm; 33.0g (aluminum GPS+Cellular) 40mm: 10.7mm; 26.4g (aluminum GPS+Cellular) |
| Material & finish | Aluminum: Jet black, rose gold or silver finish; Titanium: slate, gold or natural finish with sapphire crystal display (titanium) | Titanium, natural or black finish with sapphire crystal display (titanium) | 100% recycled aluminum, midnight and starlight |
| Durability | 2X more scratch resistant glass (aluminum), 5ATM Water + IP6X (dust) | Water resistance 100m; dust IP6X, scuba to 40m, tested to MIL-STD 810H | Cover glass is 4X times more resistant to cracks than the SE 2; made of Ion-X glass. Water resistant up to 50 meters |
| Battery life | Up to 24 hours, up to 38 hours Low Power (always-on) + Fast charge: 80% in 30 min, 100% in 60 min | Up to 42 hours; up to 72 hours Low Power. Fast charge to 80% in 45 min, 100% charge 75 min | All-day, 18-hour battery life. Fast charging with 8 hours of normal use in just 15 minutes on the charger |
| Sensors | ECG, 3rd-gen optical heart sensor, skin temp, depth gauge, SpO2, Noise monitoring, water temperature, compass | ECG, 3rd-gen optical heart sensor, skin temp, depth gauge, SpO2, Noise monitoring, water temperature, compass | Wrist temperature, Second-generation optical heart sensor |
| Emergency features | Satellite SOS, Emergency SOS, Fall detection, Crash detection, Check in and Backtrack | Satellite SOS, Emergency SOS, Fall detection, Crash detection, Check in and Backtrack | Fall Detection, Crash Detection, Emergency SOS, and Check In |
| AI & coaching | Siri (voice assistant); Workout Buddy | Siri (voice assistant); Workout Buddy | On-device Siri, Workout Buddy |
| Processor | S10 SiP with 64-bit dual-core processor, W3 Apple wireless chip | S10 SiP with 64-bit dual-core processor, W3 Apple wireless chip | S10 SiP with 64-bit dual-core processor, W3 Apple wireless chip |
| RAM/Storage | 64GB (storage) | 64GB (storage) | 64GB (storage) |
| Payments | Apple Pay | Apple Pay | Apple Pay |
| Price (US) | $399-$750 (titanium) | $799 | $249 (starting) |
Technologies
NASA Admits Fault in Starliner Test Flight, Classifies It as ‘Type A’ Mishap
Remember the astronauts who were stranded in space for months? NASA says it’s close to identifying the «true technical root cause» of the spaceship malfunctions.
NASA has been investigating the now-infamous Boeing Starliner incident since the story dominated headlines in late 2024 and early 2025. The Starliner suffered malfunctions that stranded now-retired astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore for months. The agency has now released a report on what happened, taking responsibility for its role in the mission’s failure.
«The Boeing Starliner spacecraft has faced challenges throughout its uncrewed and most recent crewed missions,» said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in a NASA blog post on Thursday. «While Boeing built Starliner, NASA accepted it and launched two astronauts into space. The technical difficulties encountered during docking with the International Space Station were very apparent.»
NASA has now labelled the mission a «Type A mishap,» which is defined as a «total direct cost of mission failure and property damage greater than $2 million or more,» or where «crewed aircraft hull loss has occurred.» Both of those apply to the Starliner, which has cost the agency $4.2 billion to date.
Isaacman also released a letter addressed to all NASA employees on X. The letter outlined various issues with the mission, including a «prior OFT thruster risk that was never fully understood,» disagreements among leadership about Williams and Wilmore’s return options, and the agency’s delay in declaring the mission a failure, despite its high-profile nature clearly showing it was.
These sentiments were echoed in NASA’s press conference on Thursday.
NASA has committed to working with Boeing to make the Starliner launch-worthy again and has been investigating technical issues and addressing them since the mishap early last year. Isaacman admitted at the press conference that the «true technical root cause» of the malfunctions still hasn’t been identified, but NASA believes it is close to identifying it.
«We’re not starting from zero here,» Isaacman told a reporter during the press conference. «We’re sharing the results of multiple investigations that will be coming to light in the hours and days ahead. Boeing and NASA have been working to try and understand these technical challenges during that entire time period.»
A malfunction to remember
The crewed Starliner flight was delayed several times before finally launching on June 5, 2024. The crew experienced malfunctions en route to the ISS, including several thruster failures, which made docking particularly stressful.
The Starliner’s return was delayed by two weeks before finally being sent home without Wilmore and Williams, who were left stranded on the ISS until returning with Crew-9 in March 2025.
The Starliner’s story is far from over. NASA and Boeing intend to send the Starliner back to the ISS in an uncrewed resupply mission with a launch date currently set for April 2026.
Technologies
Let T-Mobile Pick Up the Tab. Get a Free iPhone 17 With a New Line
If you’ve been looking to add a new line or switch carriers, you can scoop up Apple’s latest flagship on T-Mobile’s dime.
Apple’s new iPhone 17 typically costs $830 for the 256GB configuration, or up to $1,030 for the 512GB configuration. However, T-Mobile isoffering it to customers for free if they meet certain qualifications. If you’ve been looking to trade in your old device or choose an eligible plan, now is a great time to nab this deal.
T-Mobile doesn’t mention a deadline for this deal’s end, but it’s best to act fast if you’ve been wanting the latest iPhone.
To get a free iPhone 17, you’ll need to switch to T-Mobile on an Experience Beyond or Experience More plan and open a new line. You can also choose a Better Value plan, but you must add at least three lines with that plan to get your phone. You can also add a new line on a qualifying plan to score the deal, so long as you also have an eligible device to trade in.
Buyers are still responsible for the $35 activation fee. You’ll get bill credits for 24 months that amount to your phone’s cost. Additionally, you can only get up to four devices with a new line on a qualifying plan.
Note that newer phones will net you more trade-in credits, but an iPhone 6 will net you at least $400 off. The iPhone 17 Pro is also free with a trade-in of an eligible device on an Experience Beyond plan. The iPhone 17 Pro Max is just over $4 per month right now, with the same qualifications.
We’ve also got a list of the best phone deals, if you’d like to shop around.
MOBILE DEALS OF THE WEEK
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Why this deal matters
The iPhone 17 series is the latest in Apple’s ecosystem. These smartphones are made to work with Apple Intelligence, include faster chips, offer improved camera performance and show off Apple’s trademark gorgeous design. Starting at $830, they’re not the cheapest phones around, so carrier deals like this one are the best way to save some serious cash.
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