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Designed to keep track of your inventory, this Android 14-powered barcode scanner enables fast inventory identification with a feature-packed, rugged design. An interchangeable battery and doubling as a standard smartphone all add to its flexibility, whether you need to keep track of stock on a small or large scale.

Amazon's New Year's sale has incredible deals on Apple's best-selling devices, including AirPods, iPads, smartwatches, and MacBooks, starting at $99.99.

The Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat is an easy-to-use Energy Star certified thermostat. It’s not the most sleek or modern-looking device, but it does the job.

The Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat is compatible with up to 2 heat/2 cool conventional, up to 2 heat/1 cool heat pump with electric backup, hot water heat, forced air (gas, oil, or electric.) It isn't compatible with electric baseboard heat (120-240V).

This thermostat comes with detailed installation instructions, but we found it beyond us and ended up hiring a professional to do it. Installation does require a C wire, though Honeywell Home does sell an adaptor kit if your home lacks one. Once the thermostat was physically installed in my home, I had no trouble at all setting it up with the app and getting it working. And it works beautifully.

You’ll need to download the First Alert by Resideo app initially to set up your schedule. You can create a 5-1-1 day cycle, 5-2 day cycle, 7-day cycle, or set up one-week increments. You can also create a vacation schedule, even after you've left. Toggle on the Auto Away feature to allow the thermostat to update automatically based on your phone's location. You can also have the app send you filter change reminders. The First Alert app can also control any of their other home devices you may own, such as CO2/smoke alarms, security cameras, air quality filters, water leak sensors, and more.

(Image credit: Future)

Don't like using a separate app? You can also control the thermostat with your ecosystem of choice, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple HomeKit (Matter certified.) I'm an Apple user, and I did not find that Siri voice control worked properly. However, Control Center worked just fine.

You can also manage the thermostat the old-fashioned way, toggling through the menu with the six buttons next to the display.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat: Price and availability

The Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat was announced at CES in January 2025 and was released for sale in the US and Canada in the spring of 2025. As of this writing, it retails for $79.99 in the US but isn’t for sale yet outside of North America. You can find it at Amazon, Walmart, and tons of other major retailers online and in brick and mortar stores.

This model, otherwise known as RTH2CWF/U X2S Smart Thermostat, replaces Honeywell Home’s RTH6580 WiFi 7-day Programmable Thermostat, which retailed for a similar price. It’s not as fancy-looking as some of the models you’ll find on our roundup of the best smart thermostats, but it gets the job done.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat: Design

Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat comes in just one colorway. Honeywell Home calls it “white,” but I’d call it dove gray and off-white to be more specific. It measures 3.44 in/87 mm high, 5.13 in/130 mm wide, and 1.188 in/29.5 mm deep. It has a basic black-on-gray LCD display that lights up when you press a button. When dormant, the thermostat screen shows Mode, Current Temperature, Set Temperature, Status Display, Fan, and Time. It’s much easier to read when lit up, but it can be read when dormant as well.

The thermostat comes with detailed directions, so you can install it yourself if you’re fairly handy. I ended up calling a professional to install it, since I was unable to do it myself and I was having some other work done as well. It didn’t take the professional long at all. Installation does require a C-wire (24 VAC), which my home didn’t have. Honeywell Home does sell an adapter kit in case your home doesn’t have this wire. You also need to have WiFi 2.4 or 5GHz (802.11 b/g/n) in order for the smart features to work properly. Once you install Honeywell Home’s UWP wall plate, future upgrades will be easier, since you can just change the thermostat without redoing all of the wiring.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

The Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat is Energy Star certified. You’ll need to download Resideo’s First Alert app on your smartphone in order to set up the thermostat. It’s also the easiest way to control the thermostat. But once you’ve set it up, you can control it manually on the thermostat itself, or with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, or Google Assistant. The thermostat is Matter-certified.

The thermostat is compatible with up to 2 heat/2 cool conventional, up to 2 heat/1 cool heat pump with electric backup, hot water heat, forced air (gas, oil, or electric.) It does not work with electric baseboard heat (120-240V).

You don’t need to waste money heating or cooling your home unnecessarily when you’re away. Set up the thermostat’s schedule for a 5-1-1 day cycle, 5-2 day cycle, 7-day cycle, or one-week increments. You can also set up a vacation schedule. Toggle on the Auto Away feature to allow the thermostat to update based on your location.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat: Performance

The Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat was only released months ago, but it looks like something from an earlier time. It’s not unattractive, but it doesn’t look particularly modern either. You can fully operate with the buttons just like you could in the 'old days', but you’ll have to go through a lot of menus to do so. It’s easier just to operate it within the app.

(Image credit: Future)

I hate to put yet another app on my iPhone, but this one, First Alert by Resideo, is important for the best experience with the Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat. I did try controlling it from Control Center on my iPhone, but features are limited there. I also tried voice commands to Siri, but it didn’t work well. The thermostat definitely 'heard' me and changed the temperature, but it did not go to the temperature I said.

Using the First Alert app, the Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat works great. I set it to heat my home to 68°F/20°C during the day and 63°F/17°C at night. Since my husband and I both often work from home, I didn’t set a daytime “away” temperature, though I could. I did take a nine-day vacation and set up a special vacation schedule, which worked beautifully. I checked multiple times on my vacation to make sure my home was only heated enough to avoid the pipes freezing. My home was comfortably warm when I returned on a particularly cold January day.

(Image credit: Future)

The Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat is compatible with Apple HomeKit (Matter enabled), Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa. The First Alert app makes it easy to change the temperature, set up a daily/weekly schedule, turn your fan on and off, switch from heat to cool, and create vacation settings. You can also track your HVAC runtime in the app. You can also run other First Alert products via the app, such as air filters, smoke/CO2 alarms, security cameras, and water leak/freeze detectors.

I found that the Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat worked quite well in heating my home to my specifications. I like being able to set the schedule to my precise daily needs, and being able to set up vacation mode even while already away on vacation. I feel like there is a lot less wasted HVAC use, as the thermostat makes it easy to set up a tailored schedule.

Should you buy the Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat?Buy it if

You want a reasonably-priced smart thermostat

While not the cheapest option on the market, there are certainly pricier ones out there. You can find this one well under the retail price if you shop around.View Deal

You only want to pay to heat and cool your home when you’re in it

Set up granular daily and weekly controls tailored to your schedule. Plus you can set up Auto Away so the thermostat updates based on your phone’s location and Vacation Settings as needed.View Deal

You want a flexible smart thermostat

The First Alert app is very easy to use, but you can also control the thermostat with your home’s ecosystem of choice. You can also go old school and use the buttons on the thermostat itself.View Deal

Don't buy it if

You don’t want to deal with another app

Yes, you do have to install the First Alert by Resideo app to get the thermostat set up. However, you could delete it later and just use your home’s ecosystem assistant or the buttons to control it.View Deal

You’re not handy and don’t want to pay a pro to install it

My husband is pretty handy (I’m not) but we ended up having to pay a pro to install the thermostat. Your mileage may vary.View Deal

You prefer to use voice activation

I had no trouble using Control Center on my iPhone to control the thermostat, but Siri’s voice activation didn’t work for me.View Deal

Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat: alternatives to consider

If you're in the market for a smart thermostat and you're not sure Honeywell Home X2S Smart Thermostat is the one, here are some others you might consider checking out.

Google Nest Learning Thermostat (Gen 4)

This one topped our Best Smart Thermostat list due to its great looks, automatic heating schedule creation, and the fact that it compensates for outdoor temperature. It doesn’t require a C wire, which may make installation easier. However, it’s not compatible with Apple HomeKit.

Read our full review: Google Nest Learning Thermostat (Gen 4)View Deal

Hive Thermostat (2024)

This one is compatible with Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit. You can also use the Hive app if you don’t have any of them. The thermostat has a clear touchscreen display instead of buttons and it makes home heating more efficient.

Read our review: Hive Thermostat (2024)View Deal

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The X2S Smart Thermostat is an easy-to-use Energy Star certified thermostat. It’s not the most modern-looking device, but it does the job.

All the ways to watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid live streams online and from anywhere, as the two bitter rivals compete in the Spanish Super Cup final.

Sony Inzone E9: Two-minute review

Sony makes it very clear who the Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones are for. Developed in partnership with eSports team Fnatic, these wired in-ear monitor (IEM) style earbuds are squarely aimed at competitive first-person shooter (FPS) players or those with a generous budget aspiring to become one.

Retailing for $149.99 / £129 / AU$209, they’re competing closely with some of the best gaming earbuds like the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds, but don’t deliver the same all-round performance. If you’re looking for something that will elevate your experience in some of the best story games like God of War Ragnarok or Cyberpunk 2077, then these are certainly not it.

The Sony Inzone E9 headphones are highly comfortable to wear and come with a superb carrying case, but the unapologetically flat sound is not going to help cutscenes or action sequences sound their best. The GameBuds, or even Sony’s own but more expensive Inzone Buds, are clearly better choices, but it's hard to fault the Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones for that, as that’s obviously not what they’re for.

(Image credit: Future)

They really come into their own in a competitive first-person shooter (FPS) setting, pairing well with games like Counter-Strike 2, Valorant, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Here, the lack of bass prevents explosion and gunfire sound effects from overwhelming your senses, allowing you to focus on the impressive directional reproduction instead. The direction of key audio cues like footsteps is crystal clear and remarkably easy to discern, potentially giving you an advantage over those without such specialised audio gear.

The noise isolation is exquisite, thanks in no small part to the excellent seal of the headphones in your ears. A plethora of ear tips is included in the box to make it easy to find the perfect fit, and the included USB-C audio box stores EQ profile settings to make for a hassle-free setup every time - ideal if you’re competing in tournaments and need to access the same settings on a new machine.

Sony Inzone E9: Price and availability

• $149.99 / £129 / AU$209
• Available directly via Sony
• Also at a range of retailers including Amazon

The Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones are priced at $149.99 / £129 / AU$209. This is a significant investment for a pair of wired gaming earbuds, with top wireless options like the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds costing not much more at $159.99 / £159.99 / AU$359.

In addition to traditional gaming options, the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones are also competing with the pricey in-ear monitor (IEM) earbuds favored by some FPS players. Here they come in at a very similar price to relatively affordable models from other big brands, such as the $149.99 / £129.99 Sennheiser IE 200. The Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones are made specifically for gaming, however, setting them apart from most of the market and helping to justify the price.

The Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones are available directly via Sony in the US and UK. They can also be found at a wide range of retailers, such as Best Buy in the US or Amazon in the UK. In Australia they’re in stock at both JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman.

Sony Inzone E9: Specs

Price

$149.99 / £129 / AU$209

Weight

0.16oz / 4.7g

Compatibility

PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, mobile

Connection type

Wired (3.5mm / USB-C with audio box)

Battery life

N/A

Features

USB-C audio box, spatial audio

Software

Inzone Hub (PC)

Sony Inzone E9: Design and features

• IEM style design
• Included USB-C audio box stores settings
• Fantastic carrying case

The Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones will have a familiar design if you’ve used a pair of IEM earbuds before.

They’re lightweight, with rounded earbuds connected to a rigid section of cable that hooks around the top of your ears. Two colorways are available: black and white. Both are rather plain, but the abundance of Inzone logo branding printed on the earbuds does give them some character.

Sony has definitely made some smart decisions when it comes to practicality, particularly with the length of the headphone’s cable. At 5.9ft / 1.8m, I found that it was more than long enough to comfortably reach my ears directly from my gaming PC’s 3.5mm headphone jack without the need for a cable extender. If you play on a console, you won’t have any issues hooking it up to your controller.

I also appreciate the clear left / right marking that’s printed on each earbud, with the latter presented in a bright red that makes it easy to spot at a glance.

(Image credit: Future)

A wealth of alternate ear tips come in the box, with a total of eight pairs to choose from. This includes standard silicone rubber ear tips and more foamy noise isolation earbud tips, both in four sizes (ranging from extra small to extra large). These are Sony’s widespread EP-EX10A and EP-NI1010 series tips - so replacements are easy to find if you need them later down the line.

You get a USB-C audio box for use with PCs, too. This can be used to store settings from the compatible Inzone Hub software, like your desired equalizer pre-sets or custom profiles. It also lets you use a dedicated spatial sound mode, giving a good impression of sound in a 3D space, albeit at the cost of some overall fidelity.

(Image credit: Future)

Between uses, you can store everything in the included carrying case that benefits from a surprisingly unique design. It’s divided into two compartments (one for the earbuds and the other for the audio box) joined together by a springy rubberized strip.

The underside of the strip has little magnetic buttons, clipping down to keep everything in place. It might be a bit hard to imagine, but it works really well and is much more practical than the cheap pouches included with most earbuds these days.

You also get a little Inzone-branded cable tidy, which is a neat bonus.

Sony Inzone E9 review: Performance

• Clear sound
• Highly tuned for FPS games
• Underwhelming with other genres

The Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones have quite a flat sound profile out of the box, though this is presumably intentional. There’s not a lot of bass leading to quite an unexciting sound. Playing through some Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Assassin’s Creed Shadows on PS5, key story moments felt a tad muted with the backing music missing the punch needed to really drive the emotion home.

You can address this somewhat by tweaking the EQ settings in the compatible Inzone Hub software, but there’s only so much that you can do to increase the bass on hardware that’s not designed for it. For story-focused games, the results were never punchier than what you get out of the box with the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds and far less effective than even cheap wired over-ear sets like the Corsair HS50.

This lack of bass makes a lot more sense when you jump into a competitive shooter like Counter-Strike 2. Flashbangs and grenades are no longer overwhelming and don’t threaten to deafen you if you’re playing at higher volumes. Gunfire is more subdued, helping you stay focused in firefights.

The sound is crystal clear too, with an impressive level of directionality that makes it easy to track enemy movements using key sounds like footsteps. It’s very impressive, especially given how well the effect holds up in more frantic situations. Diving into an explosive match of Nuketown in Black Ops 7, I was able to accurately hear where nearby opponents were moving, even against the constant barrage of explosions conjured by grenades and killstreaks.

(Image credit: Future)

The detail is excellent, which is borderline essential in tense extraction shooters such as Escape From Tarkov, where being able to discern the subtle snapping of a twig can often mean the difference between life and death. If you’re currently one of the many people devoting every waking moment to Arc Raiders, I could see the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones being worth the asking price on this fact alone.

Despite offering no active noise cancellation (ANC), the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones do a commendable job of blocking out background noise by virtue of the strong seal of their fit. No, it’s not as effective as the ANC of the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds, but it is good enough to drown out household sounds and conversations with the volume set at a decent level.

Although very uncommon in the IEM market, I’m also a little disappointed that the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones don’t come with a small built-in microphone. It’s not a dealbreaker by any means, but it did mean that I had to reach for my Final VR2000 gaming earbuds when I wanted to chat with a friend while playing an Xbox Series X game.

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones?Buy it if...

You’re a die-hard FPS fan
If you’re an FPS-head shopping for a pair of earbuds that you want to use exclusively to play the latest shooters, then the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones could be a very worthwhile investment.

You want every possible advantage
The directionality offered by the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones is excellent and could mean the difference between a win and a loss in a competitive gaming setting. Pick up a pair if you want to ensure you have every possible advantage.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You want a general use pair
The flat sound profile of the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones means that they’re not ideal for general use. At this price, there are loads of strong alternatives if you want something designed for a wider selection of genres with a microphone to help you chat with friends.

Also consider...

Not sure whether the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones are worth it for you? Check out these two compelling alternatives.

Sony Inzone E9

SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds

Sony Inzone Buds

Price

$149.99 / £129 / AU$209

$159.99 / £159.99 / AU$359

$199 / £179.99 / AU$249

Weight

0.16oz / 4.7g

0.19oz / 5.3g (each bud); 1.7oz / 48.7g (case)

0.2oz / 6.8g

Compatibility

PC, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Mobile

GameBuds for PlayStation: PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, Meta Quest 2/3, mobile; GameBuds for Xbox: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, Meta Quest 2/3

PS5, PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch, Mobile

Connection type

Wired (3.5mm / USB-C with audio box)

2.4Ghz (via USB-C), Bluetooth 5.3 (mobile)

2.4GHz wireless (via dongle), Bluetooth 5.3

Battery life

N/A

Up to 40 hours (buds 10 hours; case 30 hours)

Up to 24 hours (buds 12 hours; case 12 hours)

Features

USB-C audio box, spatial audio

360° Spatial Audio, Qi Wireless Charging Case, 6mm neodymium drivers, four-mic ANC, transparency mode, in-ear detection/sensor, IP55 rating, fast charge, companion app with more than 100 presets

360 spatial sound, optimization for your ear, tap controls. 8.4mm drivers, IPX4 waterproof

Software

Inzone Hub (PC)

Arctis Companion App (mobile), SteelSeries Sonar (PC)

Inzone Hub (PC)

SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds
The SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are a brilliant all-rounder. They’re wireless, compatible with most platforms, and offer superb sound that can be fully customized to your liking. They have microphones for chatting, plus effective ANC built in.

For more information, check out our full SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds review

Sony Inzone Buds
If you’re shopping for something specifically in the Inzone product line but don’t care about competitive FPS games, then the more general Inzone Buds are a better pick. They offer spatial sound, ANC, and a low-latency wireless connection.

For more information, check out our full Sony Inzone Buds review

How I tested the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones

• Tested for nearly three months
• Used with a wide range of platforms
• Compared to lots of other products

I tested the Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones over a period of roughly two and a half months. During that time, they were my primary gaming earbuds across all of my usual platforms. This included PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

I tried the earbuds with a wide selection of games, ranging from story-based titles such as Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater to some of the most popular FPS games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Black Ops 7, Valorant, and Counter-Strike 2.

Throughout my time with the earbuds, I compared their performance to my hands-on testing of a wide range of other gaming audio devices across the price spectrum.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed December-January 2026

The Sony Inzone E9 in-ear gaming headphones are a good pick for hardcore FPS gamers thanks to their detailed directional sound, but are poorly suited for anyone else with flat bass and a high asking price.

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