Author Archives: Sarang Sheth

A GameCube Controller on the Nintendo Switch 2? Meet Abxylute’s Deck-style Joy-Con Alternatives

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When the Nintendo Switch 2 arrived in June 2025 at $449.99, it came with a 7.9-inch display, a faster processor, and a Joy-Con that doubles as a mouse. What it didn’t come with was a comfortable way to hold it for long sessions. The handheld form factor has always been a compromise between portability and ergonomics, and for players who log serious hours, that compromise starts showing up as wrist fatigue, awkward thumb angles, and a nagging wish for something with a proper grip. The accessory market has tried to fill that space for years, with results ranging from decent to deeply uninspiring.

Abxylute’s answer comes in two forms: the N6 and the N9C, both deck-style controllers purpose-built for Switch 2 play. The N6 wraps the console in a full-size ergonomic grip with Hall-effect joysticks, native 9-axis motion control, a dedicated C Button for GameChat, and adjustable vibration levels the player can cycle through without leaving a session. The N9C leans into personality, drawing from GameCube design DNA with mechanical buttons, trigger switches, and a capacitive joystick system paired with swappable gates.

Designer: Abxylute

Click Here to Buy Now: $79 $110 (28% off) Hurry! Only 10 days left.

Joy-Cons were engineered for flexibility: detachable, shareable, usable solo or in pairs, functional as individual controllers for two-player sessions on a single console. That versatility comes at the cost of ergonomics, because a controller small enough to slide into a rail and function independently will never offer the grip depth, trigger travel, or palm support of something purpose-built for extended solo play. The N6 and N9C abandon that modularity entirely in favor of doing one thing exceptionally well, which is making handheld Switch 2 sessions feel like you’re holding a full-size controller instead of a tablet with thumbsticks glued to the sides. The tactile feedback is immediate and familiar, the kind of responsiveness you get from hardware designed around sustained single-player sessions rather than multi-function compromise. Both controllers connect via wired USB-C, skipping wireless pairing lag entirely, because when the target is solo handheld performance, eliminating variables takes priority over flexibility.

The N6’s open-top design is the first thing people will argue about online, and they’ll mostly be wrong. The Switch 2 stands over 11 cm tall, and a fully enclosed grip pushes that height further, putting your palms in the kind of awkward hover position that builds exactly the fatigue you were trying to avoid. Abxylute held the grip height at 8.5 cm, matching full-size controller proportions, so your palms have something to rest against rather than squeeze. The 7-inch grip width sits narrower than the console body deliberately, keeping your hands at a natural, relaxed spread instead of forcing them wide across a bulky frame. The physics of holding something for two hours straight are pretty straightforward, and this design reads those physics correctly.

Hall-effect joysticks solve a specific, measurable problem that standard potentiometer sticks fundamentally cannot. Potentiometer sticks use resistive contact that physically degrades over repeated use, which is why drift rates climb after a year or two of regular play. Hall-effect reads joystick position magnetically, with zero physical contact between moving components, and the N6 bumps the stick travel angle to 23 degrees compared to 18 degrees on Joy-Con, giving your thumbs more range for fine-grained inputs. A POM anti-wear ring around each stick handles mechanical stability without adding stiffness or noise to the movement. It’s a small detail, but the kind that separates purpose-built hardware from a generic controller with a different shell. On a device you use daily, that engineering choice compounds in your favor in a way that contact-based sticks simply never will.

Inputs across the N6 break down by material type, and the distinctions matter. ABXY buttons use conductive rubber for cushioned presses that reduce finger fatigue; the D-pad uses tactile switches for sharper directional accuracy; shoulder buttons deliver tactile clicks for faster responses in action-heavy play; and the linear digital triggers provide a genuine 0-100% input range rather than binary on/off clicks. That trigger range matters considerably in racing games and anything relying on gradual pressure inputs. Vibration adjusts at four levels, 0%, 40%, 70%, and 100%, switchable via button combo directly on the controller, bypassing the game-by-game settings adjustment that the Pro Controller requires. The grip’s internal structure forms a resonance chamber that redirects the Switch 2’s speakers forward and reinforces bass by around 10%, which you’ll register in a quiet room as fuller, punchier audio than bare Joy-Cons produce.

The N9C is doing something more niche and, honestly, more interesting. Where the N6 chases Pro Controller parity, the N9C chases the GameCube controller’s specific feel, complete with a centered A button and asymmetric face layout, rebuilt for a modern console using mechanical micro-switches and ALPS tactile shoulder buttons. Capacitive joysticks sidestep magnetic interference entirely, and the swappable 8-way and circular gate rings mean you can dial in a tight directional gate for fighters and swap to a smooth circular gate for platformers. A built-in battery hatch holds two replaceable batteries that reverse-charge the Switch 2 directly during play. Most grips on the market ignore battery life almost entirely, and a reverse charge system that powers the Switch 2 directly from the controller is a differentiator almost nothing else in this category offers.

The N9C carries four programmable rear buttons, two per side compared to the N6’s one per side, and each supports the same macro-recording system that chains directional inputs and actions into a single trigger. Switch 2 system-level button remapping works natively, requiring no third-party software, so a custom layout travels across every game without reconfiguring anything. An integrated rear stand sets the N9C apart from virtually every grip in this category, giving the Switch 2 a propped tabletop angle without relying on the console’s own kickstand. The primary connection is wired USB-C for ultra-low latency, with BLE available for configuration only, keeping the input chain clean during actual play. Every N9C ships with both C-stick and ring-style joystick caps in the box, so players can dial in the stick feel before the packaging hits the trash.

Mass production kicked off in March 2026, with shipping expected between April and June. Super Early Bird pricing runs $79 for the N6 (retail $110) and $89 for the N9C (retail $120), with a bundle sitting at $159. Nintendo’s own Pro Controller for Switch 2 retails at $79.99 and carries none of the Hall-effect sticks, programmable back buttons, or turbo functionality. Abxylute has shipped over 120,000 units across more than 20 projects to 100,000-plus customers, so the production infrastructure exists. What they’re solving for is specific: handheld Switch 2 play that performs at Pro Controller level without forcing players to accept the Joy-Con’s ergonomic ceiling as permanent.

Click Here to Buy Now: $79 $110 (28% off) Hurry! Only 10 days left.

The post A GameCube Controller on the Nintendo Switch 2? Meet Abxylute’s Deck-style Joy-Con Alternatives first appeared on Yanko Design.

The Shargeek 300 is a Cyberpunk-style Power Bank that can charge two MacBook Pros

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Power banks have spent years being boring on purpose. Black rectangles, white rectangles, the occasional textured finish. The category settled into a kind of utilitarian invisibility, as if the industry collectively decided that anything carrying electrons should look like a bar of soap. SHARGE never got that memo. The Shargeek 300 looks like a prop from a near-future thriller, with transparent panels revealing glowing circuitry beneath, RGB light bars running along its flanks, and a CNC aluminum body that catches light the way expensive things tend to. It belongs on a desk you’d actually want to show people.

Founded in 2020, SHARGE built its identity around the conviction that charging hardware deserves the same design attention as the devices it powers. The original Shargeek 100, launched in 2021, was the proof of concept: a transparent, display-equipped power bank with DC charging that found a devoted audience almost immediately. The Shargeek 300 is what four years of that bet looks like fully cashed in. It pushes 300 watts of total output, enough to charge two 16-inch MacBook Pros simultaneously while still fast-charging a smartphone on a third port. The 24,000mAh battery lands at 86.4Wh, sitting just under the 100Wh threshold airlines enforce for carry-on batteries. Recharge time from flat to full is 75 minutes with a 140W input. The whole unit is roughly the size of a 330ml can of cola. SHARGE spent 40 months getting here, and the result makes most rivals in the category look underprepared.

Designer: Sharge

Click Here to Buy Now: $159 $199 ($40 off) Hurry! Only 6 days left.

That meticulous attention to detail is most obvious in the physical construction. The main body is a matte silver CNC aluminum frame, which is then given a 180-grit sandblasted, anodized finish for a smooth, premium feel. The company’s head of production is even quoted as personally comparing the feel of every unit to an iPhone to ensure they are equally premium. The signature transparent casing is not just a window, but a piece of safety equipment, made from V0 flame-retardant, UL94-certified polycarbonate that resists both scratches and heat. The dual RGB light bars are fully customizable, allowing users to adjust brightness, change colors, and cycle through effects via the onboard display, turning a functional object into a piece of personalized desk art.

Inside that striking shell is technology that sets a new benchmark for portable power. The Shargeek 300 is the first power bank to use the same Full-Tab Battery Cell technology pioneered by Tesla. This design significantly lowers internal resistance compared to conventional cells, a change that unlocks faster charging speeds, higher sustained output, and superior heat dissipation. This internal efficiency is the key to how a device this compact can safely manage a 300W total output without overheating or degrading quickly. The advanced battery structure results in a longer-lasting, more stable power source that can handle the demanding, continuous power draws required by high-performance laptops and other professional equipment, putting truly next-generation power in your hands.

This power is routed through a versatile array of four output ports designed to handle nearly any device. The stars of the show are the two USB-C ports, both of which support the Power Delivery 3.1 standard to deliver a massive 140W of power each. This is what allows the Shargeek 300 to simultaneously fast-charge two 16-inch MacBook Pros at their maximum charging speed. A third USB-A port provides up to 20W for legacy devices and smartphones. The fourth and most unique port is the adjustable DC barrel port, a feature carried over from the Shargeek 100. It now supports up to 140W and its voltage can be manually set between 5V and 28V, unlocking compatibility with a world of gear that USB-C cannot serve, from professional camera equipment to high-performance drones. The 24,000mAh capacity provides enough energy for approximately one full charge of a modern MacBook Pro, six charges for an iPhone 16 Pro, or two charges for an iPad Pro.

The user experience is managed through a 1.9-inch IPS display, which is 60% larger than the screen on the previous model. It provides a level of control that is unheard of in this category. Beyond showing real-time input and output wattage, the display allows you to monitor battery health, track charging cycles, and check internal temperatures. You can use it to precisely adjust the DC output voltage, set a custom welcome message, and configure the RGB lighting. This smart display transforms the power bank from a simple battery into an intelligent power hub. This intelligence extends to its handling of delicate electronics. A dedicated Low-current Mode ensures that devices like earbuds, smartwatches, and fitness trackers receive a safe, optimized charge, preventing the overcharging that can damage the small batteries in those devices.

This combination of raw power and intelligent control is backed by a comprehensive suite of safety features, including overvoltage, undervoltage, short-circuit, and real-time temperature protection. This commitment to safety extends to its travel-readiness. Crucially, the power bank’s 24,000mAh capacity is engineered to a rating of 86.4Wh, keeping it comfortably under the 100Wh limit imposed by airlines for carry-on luggage. This makes it one of the most powerful charging solutions that can be legally carried onto a plane, a critical detail for mobile professionals. The low standby power consumption is another practical benefit, allowing the Shargeek 300 to retain over 90% of its charge after 15 days of inactivity. For anyone who has pulled a power bank from a bag after weeks only to find it unexpectedly dead, this is a genuinely valuable feature.

The Shargeek 300 starts at $199 but is available at a discounted $159 price for earlybird backers. Cobble together $209 and you can get the power bank along with its companion Pixel 140W PD 3.1 wall charger from Sharge with its adorable pixel-matrix display. The Shargeek 300 comes with a 12-month warranty, and ships globally as early as May 2026.

Click Here to Buy Now: $159 $199 ($40 off) Hurry! Only 6 days left.

The post The Shargeek 300 is a Cyberpunk-style Power Bank that can charge two MacBook Pros first appeared on Yanko Design.

Stay Classy, San Diego: This LEGO Anchorman Set Recreates the Entire Channel 4 Newsroom in 1,500 Bricks

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Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy turned twenty in 2024, and somehow, the film has only gotten funnier with age. What started as a Will Ferrell comedy about a hilariously fragile male ego navigating the very real 1970s newsroom gender wars became one of the most quoted, most meme’d, most endlessly rewatchable comedies in modern American film history. “I’m kind of a big deal,” “I love lamp,” “60% of the time it works every time” – the lines are so deeply embedded in pop culture at this point that people quote them without even knowing where they came from. San Diego’s most legendary fictional anchor deserves better than a passing reference in a listicle, and LEGO Ideas builder footonabrick clearly agrees.

The result is a just-over-1,500-piece MOC (My Own Creation) that reconstructs the Channel 4 News Team’s world with an almost obsessive attention to detail, covering the broadcast studio, the newsroom offices, and even the KVWN news van parked out front. The studio section is immediately recognizable: a curved tan backdrop wall, three wall clocks ticking away above the anchor desk, dual blue Channel 4 News Team screens flanking the set, and the full team seated behind that iconic brown desk with their Channel 4 mugs. It looks like a freeze-frame from the film, and that’s entirely the point.

Designer: footonabrick

The broadcast desk is the centerpiece, and footonabrick nails the warm tan-and-brown palette of that gloriously dated 70s newsroom aesthetic. Ron and Veronica sit front and center behind their Channel 4 mugs, with Brian Fantana, Champ Kind, and Brick Tamland flanking them across the curved desk. The curved wall behind them is one of the trickier builds to pull off cleanly in LEGO, and the segmented panel construction keeps it looking smooth without losing the layered depth of the real set. Camera equipment on the studio floor, a boom-arm mic stand, and a vanity mirror station on the side round out the production floor detail beautifully.

Turn to the office areas and you’ll find a bunch of details and easter eggs. Ron’s private office has his nameplate desk, a glass of scotch rendered in a transparent amber round piece, and a “Missing” poster for Baxter tucked onto a side shelf. Brian Fantana’s cologne closet, one of the film’s most beloved gags, is recreated with an open cabinet stocked with colourful brick-built bottles, with a “Brian Fantana” book sitting on his desk for good measure. The hallway outside features a glass-panel wall looking into Ron’s office, and a Ron Burgundy door nameplate that even Veronica would have to respect. My favorite detail, though, is the row of four team portrait tiles mounted on the exterior office wall, each one a miniature LEGO-art-style illustration of the Channel 4 crew. Tiny, considered, and completely unnecessary in the best way.

The eight minifigures are pitch-perfect. Ron arrives in his burgundy suit with a jazz flute and a scowl that says “I have many leather-bound books.” Brick Tamland, naturally, comes with his trident. Champ has his signature cowboy hat, Fantana carries what appears to be a cologne bottle, and Veronica is rendered in her pink suit with that particular expression of someone perpetually tolerating Ron’s nonsense. Baxter the dog is included as a separate figure, and there’s even a bonus Ron on a tiny red bicycle, which is exactly the kind of specific deep-cut that separates a good MOC from a great one.

footonabrick’s Anchorman set is currently gathering votes on LEGO Ideas, the community platform where fan-created MOCs (My Own Creations) need 10,000 supporters to trigger an official LEGO review and potential retail production. With 344 votes on the board and 421 days left on the clock, there’s plenty of runway. If you want to see this land on store shelves, head to the LEGO Ideas page and cast your vote. You stay classy.

The post Stay Classy, San Diego: This LEGO Anchorman Set Recreates the Entire Channel 4 Newsroom in 1,500 Bricks first appeared on Yanko Design.

8 Best EDC Knives To Choose Based on Your Outdoor Personality

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The gear people carry tends to reflect how they move through the world. A minimalist packs light and intentionally. A tactical thinker layers redundancy into every outing. A weekend adventurer just wants something dependable when the trail gets interesting. Knives fall into that same pattern, and picking the right one has less to do with blade length or steel grade than most people assume. It has everything to do with knowing who you are when you step outside.

Tekto has quietly built one of the more interesting EDC knife lineups available right now, spanning OTF automatics, side-opening folders, and premium button-lock builds. Their range runs from sub-2-inch pocket knives to full tactical folders with Zastava Arms collaborations, and the gap between those two endpoints tells you a lot about how wide the brand’s reach actually is. Seven of those knives, each matched to a distinct outdoor personality, make a strong case that the best EDC knife is simply the one built for the way you already carry yourself.

A3 Delta: The Tactician

“Always has a plan B, and a plan C.”

There is a type of person who checks their gear before leaving the house, not out of anxiety but out of habit. They might work in security or construction, or they might simply live by a readiness mindset refined over years of outdoor experience. The A3 Delta fits naturally into that carry philosophy. What makes it work for that person is the specific combination of automatic speed and deliberate safety design. When speed matters, the spring-activated side-opening mechanism delivers. When the knife needs to sit in a pocket for hours without incident, the button lock and safety switch handle that too.

A crimson red indicator on the rear signals when the blade is ready to fire, while a forward shift on the lock reinforces closure against accidental deployment. The blade runs 3.60 inches of titanium-coated D2 steel in a drop point profile, hardened to 60-62 Rockwell, a range that holds an edge through sustained working use. G10 and forged carbon handle scales keep things grippy without adding unnecessary bulk, though at 5.96 ounces this is a knife with real presence. Glass breaker, ambidextrous pocket clip, and lanyard hole round it out at $179.99.

Click Here to Buy Now: $153 $179.99 (15% off, use coupon code “YANKO”). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

A5 Spry: The Backcountry Hunter

“Doesn’t talk about their gear. Just uses it.”

The A5 Spry suits the kind of outdoors person who values performance that shows up in the field rather than on a spec sheet screenshot. This is the backcountry hunter, the hard-use camper, the person who wants every tool in their pocket to feel fast, capable, and dependable under pressure. Its out-the-front automatic action gives it a clean, direct deployment style that fits someone who likes efficiency and precision in equal measure. The A5 Spry feels most at home with users who spend long days outside and want a knife that carries slim, draws quickly, and handles repeated tasks without fuss.

Tekto built the A5 Spry around a premium S35VN steel blade, a major step up for buyers who care about edge retention, toughness, and corrosion resistance. The blade measures 3.50 inches, and the precision-contoured handle is shaped for a secure, slip-free grip during active use. Its OTF thumb-slide mechanism keeps deployment quick and intuitive, while the overall profile stays compact, light, and easy to pocket for an automatic of this class. The design leans tactical, but the utility is broad enough for daily carry, trail work, and demanding outdoor use.

Click Here to Buy Now: $212.50 $249.99 (15% off, use coupon code “YANKO”). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

F1 Alpha: The Pragmatic Workhorse

“Carries one knife, uses it for everything.”

The F1 Alpha lines up with the person who actually uses their knife throughout the day, whether that means campsite prep, cutting cordage, opening feed bags, or handling the small repetitive jobs that pile up outdoors. This is the pragmatic nomad, the weekend camper, the trades-minded carrier who values reliability over flash and prefers gear that earns its place through use. The F1 Alpha makes sense for someone who wants one knife to cover a wide range of situations without overthinking the choice. It has the kind of rugged, all-around personality that fits people who carry every day and expect their blade to move easily from routine chores to rougher tasks.

Its 3.1-inch blade is made from titanium-coated D2 steel with a fine edge and full flat grind, which gives it clean slicing ability and solid durability for repeated work. The liner lock keeps operation familiar and straightforward, while ceramic ball bearings help the knife open with quick, smooth action. Tekto also gives the F1 Alpha an ergonomic handle built for comfort and grip, plus a reversible deep-carry pocket clip for easy everyday carry. A glass breaker and lanyard hole add emergency and utility value, rounding out a folder designed to stay useful in real-world conditions.

Click Here to Buy Now: $119 $139.99 (15% off, use coupon code “YANKO”). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

F2 Bravo: The Urban Professional

“Dresses well. Carries smart.”

The F2 Bravo is easy to picture in the pocket of someone who wants their EDC to feel intentional, refined, and easy to live with every day. This is the urban professional, the minimalist commuter, the person who appreciates good design and prefers gear that fits seamlessly into a polished routine. They still want utility, of course, but they are not looking for an oversized statement piece clipped to the pocket. The F2 Bravo works for someone who moves between desk, car, coffee shop, and weekend outing without ever needing to swap knives. It has the kind of clean, low-profile presence that suits a thoughtful daily carry style.

At just 2.4 ounces, the F2 Bravo is one of the lightest knives in Tekto’s lineup, which immediately makes it appealing for daily pocket carry. Its slim frame pairs with a titanium-coated D2 steel blade and a liner lock, giving it a straightforward build that stays practical without feeling bulky. The blade length sits in the sweet spot for everyday cutting tasks, while the handle comes in lightweight, durable materials like G10 and forged carbon. Tekto shaped the Bravo with a simpler, more refined silhouette than the chunkier Alpha or Charlie, which is exactly why it lands so well as a gentleman-style folder.

Click Here to Buy Now: $127.50 $149.99 (15% off, use coupon code “YANKO”). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

F3 Charlie: The Heavy-Use Outdoorsman

“Puts every knife through its paces.”

The F3 Charlie belongs with the kind of person who expects a folder to do real work and never feels fully convinced by anything too slim, too polished, or too precious. This is the heavy-use outdoorsman, the rugged camper, the hunter who wants a knife that feels substantial in hand and ready for long days outside. They want grip, blade length, and confidence, especially when the task stops being light-duty. The F3 Charlie fits that mindset well because it carries like a folder but behaves like something built for harder use. It is the natural pick for someone who would rather have extra capability on hand than wish they had brought a bigger knife.

The design leans into that role with a 3.80-inch titanium-coated D2 steel blade, a button lock, and a larger overall frame than the rest of Tekto’s folding lineup. At 4.5 ounces, it still stays relatively light for its size, which gives it a nice balance between carry comfort and in-hand authority. Ceramic ball bearings help keep the action smooth, while the oversized blade and ergonomic handle contours support stronger cutting tasks and longer use sessions. G10 and forged carbon handle options add durability and grip, and the pocket clip and lanyard hole keep it practical for everyday field carry.

Click Here to Buy Now: $127.50 $149.99 (15% off, use coupon code “YANKO”). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

F4 Echo: The Collector/Adventurer

“Appreciates the story behind the steel.”

The F4 Echo feels tailored to the person who wants their everyday carry to have character, heritage, and a little more presence than the average folder. This is the collector-adventurer, the gear enthusiast, the person who notices collaboration details and actually cares where a design language comes from. With its Zastava connection and more elevated finish, the Echo speaks to someone who enjoys utility but also values the narrative built into the object. It suits a user who might spend one weekend at the range and the next out on the trail, carrying the same knife because it satisfies both performance instincts and collector taste.

Tekto gave the F4 Echo a titanium-coated S35VN blade in a reverse tanto profile, which immediately places it near the premium end of the lineup. The button lock adds fast, easy operation, while the aluminum and G10 handle construction keeps the knife light without making it feel insubstantial. Design details tied to the Zastava collaboration give it a more distinctive visual identity, especially in the different colorways inspired by rifle heritage. The result is a folder that blends edge retention, corrosion resistance, and cutting strength with a look that feels deliberate and memorable.

Click Here to Buy Now: $170 $199.99 (15% off, use coupon code “YANKO”). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

A3 Delta Mini: The Urban Minimalist

“Doesn’t need a big knife. Just needs the right one.”

The A3 Delta Mini fits the kind of person who wants automatic deployment and tactical confidence in a smaller, easier-carry package. This is the urban minimalist, the light-packing commuter, the outdoorsy type who still pays attention to pocket space and carry comfort. They want a knife that feels capable when called on, but never overbuilt for the rhythm of everyday life. The A3 Delta Mini works well for someone who likes the quick response and mechanical satisfaction of a side-opening automatic, yet prefers a tool that stays compact and controlled throughout the day. It feels like the right match for first-time automatic buyers too, especially those who want utility without stepping straight into full-size territory.

The Mini carries the same core design language as the larger Delta, including the button lock and safety switch that help manage automatic deployment with a little more peace of mind. Tekto positions it as a more compact version of the same spring-activated side-opening formula, giving users a smaller footprint without abandoning the tactical styling. That makes it easy to slip into lighter pockets, smaller carry setups, or daily routines where bulk becomes the first thing people notice. It is the Delta concept, trimmed down for users who value precision, portability, and quick access.

Click Here to Buy Now: $119 $139.99 (15% off, use coupon code “YANKO”). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

A5 Spry Mini: The Stealthy Pocket Carrier

“Barely notices it’s there until they need it.”

The A5 Spry Mini makes the most sense for someone who wants their knife to disappear into a pocket and stay out of the way until the exact moment it is needed. This is the stealthy pocket carrier, the city dweller, the traveler, the person who values discretion as much as performance. They like the speed and clean action of an OTF automatic, but they do not want the size or visual presence that usually comes with that format. The Spry Mini suits people who keep their carry lean, efficient, and highly intentional, especially those who want a premium-feeling tool that can live comfortably in lighter clothing, smaller pockets, or minimalist setups.

Its appeal starts with scale. The blade measures 1.85 inches and the knife weighs about 2.15 ounces, which puts it firmly in micro-EDC territory while still preserving the quick thumb-slide deployment that defines the Spry line. Tekto equips it with S35VN steel and a titanium-coated blade, giving this compact automatic stronger edge retention and corrosion resistance than its size might suggest. The handle is contoured for grip and built to stay light, which helps the knife feel controlled and easy to carry throughout the day. For people in stricter markets, the sub-2-inch blade also gives it added relevance as a California-legal OTF option.

Click Here to Buy Now: $153 $179.99 (15% off, use coupon code “YANKO”). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

The post 8 Best EDC Knives To Choose Based on Your Outdoor Personality first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Brutalist Overland Trailer Turns Your RAM TRX Into Something That Belongs on a Military Base

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Brutalist architecture has always had a cult following, and somewhere along the way, the overlanding world started listening. GEHOcab’s EDGE Explorer Trail looks less like something you’d find at an RV dealership and more like a structure designed for a remote research outpost, all hard facets, dark charcoal caps, and angular geometry that refuses to apologize for its size. The two-tone silver and black body reads almost monumental, and parked next to a RAM TRX or an F-150, it turns the truck into something closer to a tactical vehicle than family transportation.

Two distinct formats live under that same aggressive design language: a truck-mounted cabin that sits in the bed of a full-size pickup, and a standalone expedition trailer riding on a four-wheel tandem axle setup that signals serious off-grid intent. Both share the same faceted profile, the same flat-roof solar-ready cap, and the same sharp window placement that makes the whole thing feel deliberately designed rather than assembled from a catalog. This is a clear rejection of the swoops and swirls that plague the RV industry, a confident step into a design space usually reserved for concept EVs and military hardware.

Designer: GEHOcab

This whole aesthetic feels incredibly deliberate, as if the designers were given a block of aluminum and told to subtract anything that looked soft. The way the wheel arches on the cabin version are cut with such sharp angles gives the entire unit a planted, immovable stance even when it’s just sitting in a truck bed. GEHOcab is known for its carbon-monocoque construction, a technique borrowed from motorsports that creates a lightweight, incredibly strong, and well-insulated shell. That choice of material allows for this kind of sharp, creased design that would be difficult and heavy to achieve with traditional aluminum framing and fiberglass, and it telegraphs a high-tech, high-cost approach before you even step inside.

The slide-in cabin is arguably the more accessible of the two, designed to integrate with the beefy American pickups that dominate the overlanding scene. One of the renders shows a distinctive honeycomb-patterned side panel on a unit mounted to a RAM TRX, a small detail that shows the designers are thinking about texture and visual interest, not just big shapes. The forward alcove that hangs over the truck’s cab is a classic feature, but here it’s reinterpreted with large, panoramic windows that must provide an incredible view from the sleeping area. It’s a smart use of space that also defines the cabin’s aggressive, top-heavy silhouette.

Then you have the trailer, which takes the entire concept to its logical extreme. That four-wheel tandem axle setup is a serious piece of hardware for distributing the load of a long-duration expedition rig and maintaining stability over rough terrain. It’s the kind of feature you see on military trailers or hardware destined for the Australian outback. The trailer also boasts a full array of solar panels across its flat roof and a dedicated front utility module that likely houses batteries, water tanks, and other systems, keeping the center of gravity low and the main cabin uncluttered.

All this severe, functional exterior work seems to be protecting a surprisingly calm and open interior. The large horizontal windows do a lot of heavy lifting, breaking up the monolithic silver panels and flooding the living space with light. This inside-outside contrast is a hallmark of great expedition vehicle design, the idea of a tough, impenetrable fortress that contains a comfortable, human-centric space. The layout appears to be clean and modern, leveraging the structural benefits of the monocoque shell to create an open floor plan without the need for bulky interior supports, making the space feel larger than its footprint suggests.

It is important to recognize that these stunning images are high-quality CGI renders, not photographs of a production model. This is a common strategy for specialized builders, allowing them to showcase a design concept and secure interest before investing in the expensive tooling required for manufacturing. The absence of a detailed spec sheet or a full gallery of interior shots on the main GEHOcab site suggests the EDGE Explorer is still in its early stages. These images represent a statement of purpose, a clear and compelling vision of where the company is heading with its new sub-brand.

The post This Brutalist Overland Trailer Turns Your RAM TRX Into Something That Belongs on a Military Base first appeared on Yanko Design.

Legendary 3,424-Brick Michael Jordan LEGO Poster Actually Bursts Out of Its Own Frame

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There’s a photograph that has lived rent-free in the collective memory of sports culture for nearly four decades. Michael Jordan, ball palmed in his right hand, left arm trailing, legs split mid-air, frozen somewhere between the free-throw line and the rim during the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest. Nike turned it into a logo. Sneakerheads turned it into a religion. And somewhere along the way, the Jumpman silhouette stopped being a basketball image and became something closer to a universal symbol of human ambition, the visual shorthand for defying what should be physically possible. We’ve seen it screenprinted, embroidered, laser-cut, and tattooed. But rendered in 3,424 LEGO bricks, jutting out of a framed mosaic canvas at nearly 107 centimeters tall? This one has the visual authority of a gallery piece.

LEGO Ideas is the fan-driven platform where builders submit their own creations (MOCs, or My Own Creations, in the community’s vernacular) and the public votes on which ones deserve to become real retail sets. Hit 10,000 votes, and LEGO’s internal team formally reviews the submission for potential production. The community has produced some genuinely remarkable work over the years, but every so often something surfaces that feels less like a toy pitch and more like a legitimate design object. LAFS85’s Michael Jordan tribute is exactly that. It’s a relief sculpture, a mosaic, a framed poster, and a courtside diorama all collapsed into a single build, and it’s currently gathering momentum on the platform with a Staff Pick designation already in hand.

Designer: LAFS85

The central concept here is a relief sculpture mounted on a brick-built canvas, and the execution is what separates this from a standard LEGO Art mosaic. Rather than keeping everything flush and flat, LAFS85 has pushed Jordan’s figure forward off the background plane using layered brickwork, so the figure genuinely protrudes from the frame. The effect, especially in the front-facing renders, is arresting. Jordan looks like he’s mid-flight toward you, ball raised, and the bold pixelated “23” dominating the dark background behind him only amplifies the drama. The builder used SNOT (Studs Not On Top) techniques throughout the figure to capture the flow of the jersey fabric and the muscular geometry of the legs, which is exactly the kind of decision that an industrial designer notices and appreciates. Flat tile surfaces read as smooth fabric. Angled plates suggest tension in the limbs. The red and white of the Chicago Bulls uniform pops hard against the dark grey background bricks, and the brick-built recreation of Jordan’s signature in the lower corner is a genuinely lovely finishing touch.

My favorite detail, though, is the tiny courtside diorama that sits at the base of the frame. It’s a micro-scale hardwood court complete with the painted free-throw area in Bulls red, a custom Jordan minifigure dribbling on the baseline, and a beautifully proportioned basketball hoop with a transparent backboard and a weighted red stanchion. The scale contrast between the enormous relief portrait looming above and this tiny matchbook-sized court below is genuinely witty, and it gives the whole piece a kind of narrative arc. The legend on the wall, the player on the court, the moment suspended between the two. At approximately 89.6 centimeters wide, the full assembly is a serious statement piece, the kind of thing you’d actually want above your desk rather than tucked in a display cabinet.

LAFS85 describes the project as a fusion of 2D art and 3D sculpture, a tribute to the Jumpman spirit that honors the greatness of the player without leaning on external logos or licensed branding. That restraint is smart, both practically for LEGO Ideas approval purposes, and aesthetically because it keeps the focus on the craftsmanship rather than the IP. The build has already earned a Staff Pick designation from the LEGO Ideas team, which is a meaningful signal of quality, and it’s sitting at just over 2,059 supporters with 564 days remaining to reach the 5K milestone on the way to the full 10,000 votes needed for an official LEGO review. The only thing I’d wish for in a retail version is an alternate colorway, a black and pinstripe away-jersey variant would make this an absolute must-buy twice over. Until then, head to the LEGO Ideas page and cast your vote here.

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Govee’s Retro-inspired Smart-Bulb is Matter-compatible and Still Looks Like It Belongs in a 1920s Speakeasy

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The Edison bulb revival was always a little dishonest. Those glowing spirals in coffee shop pendants and boutique hotel corridors were never actually Edison bulbs, just modern LEDs engineered to impersonate them, optimized for ambiance over accuracy. Nobody really minded, because the aesthetic did exactly what it was supposed to do: made a space feel warm, considered, and vaguely artisanal. Govee has now taken that impersonation one step further.

Their new E26 Smart Edison Light Bulb looks the part completely: clear glass shell, retro spiral COB strips, the kind of warm glow that makes exposed-socket pendant fixtures look intentional rather than unfinished. It also ships with Matter connectivity, 64-plus scene modes, full RGB color, music sync, and a tunable white range that runs from candlelit warmth at 2,700K to crisp daylight at 6,500K. A bulb that looks like 1925 and behaves like 2026. The speakeasy aesthetic was already a performance. Govee just upgraded the show.

Designer: Govee

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Each spiral strip packs over 25 LEDs per inch using COB construction, which is how Govee gets the filament illusion to hold up under scrutiny without actually using filament. The tradeoff against something like Philips Hue’s ST19 is obvious but instructive: Hue’s filament uses amber-tinted glass and a genuinely curly element, and it looks more authentically antique in a way Govee’s doesn’t quite replicate. The cost of that authenticity is that the Hue locks you into 2,100K with no tunable white and zero color modes. Govee covers 2,700K to 6,500K, CRI above 90, and full RGB on top of it, so you trade a bit of period accuracy for a bulb that can actually do things.

Matter support means the E26 drops into Apple Home, Google Assistant, Alexa, and SmartThings without a hub. One nuance worth flagging though: Matter handles the basics, on/off, brightness, color temperature, and the more involved stuff like scene modes, music sync, and the 64-plus presets all still live in the Govee Home app. That’s not a Govee-specific limitation, it’s where the Matter lighting specification currently sits across the industry. You get universal integration for the skeleton, and the app handles everything that makes the bulb worth buying.

So much of the Edison’s value is in how it looks, which is why Govee’s reproduction tries to stay as authentic to the original as much as possible. Clear outer shell, distinct filament-style LED twirls, a warm color output that feels incandescent, not diode-ish, and absolutely no whiff of smart-ness. Leave them on 2,700K on a Tuesday night and nobody in your kitchen suspects the bulbs have a music sync mode and 64 scene presets. That particular flavor of discretion, smart technology that discreetly hides behind a timeless design, is genuinely hard to pull off at $17.50 a bulb, and Govee mostly pulls it off.

Pricing lands at $69.99 for a 4-pack on Amazon, working out to about $17.50 per bulb, with a 2-pack available on Govee’s own store. If you’re already running Govee ceiling lights, a pendant, or any of their strips, the case for adding these is straightforward: everything lives in the same app, groups together cleanly, and can be pulled into shared scenes across your whole setup. That kind of ecosystem coherence is genuinely useful when you’re trying to make a room feel intentional rather than assembled. And if you’re not deep into Govee yet, $17.50 a bulb is a low-stakes entry point into a pretty capable smart lighting ecosystem, especially for a format as universally compatible with existing fixtures as a standard E26 screw-in.

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Stop Adjusting Your Office Chair. The LiberNovo Omni Adjusts to You Instead

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Spring cleaning has a branding problem. Every year, the ritual circles back to the same tired playbook: declutter the shelves, reorganize the desk, maybe splurge on a new monitor arm. What never makes the list is the thing your body has been arguing with for eight hours a day, five days a week. The chair. It sits there, static and indifferent, while you shift and squirm through another afternoon of accumulated spinal resentment. LiberNovo’s Spring Refresh campaign, running now through April 15 across North America, is built on a premise the rest of the furniture industry still hasn’t internalized: the most important thing in your workspace is the one holding your skeleton together.

We’ve been fans of the LiberNovo Omni pretty much since day one (and the chair even secured an iF Design Award this year) because it rejected the foundational assumption behind almost every ergonomic seat on the market. Traditional chairs treat sitting as a problem to be solved with the right fixed position. The Omni treats it as a continuous, dynamic event. Its Bionic FlexFit backrest uses 16 spherical joints and eight elastic panels to create a responsive S-curve that maintains full spinal contact as you move, lean, and fidget through your day. Rather than locking you into an ideal posture and hoping for the best, it follows you. LiberNovo calls this “Support by Motion,” and after three rounds of coverage, it remains the most honest description of what the chair actually does.

Designer: LiberNovo

Click Here to Buy Now: $929 $1099 ($170 off). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

What the Spring Refresh edition brings into focus is the Moss Green colorway, and the design rationale runs deeper than seasonal window dressing. Office furniture has defaulted to clinical grays and matte blacks for decades because they read as serious and professional, but that palette does nothing for the visual fatigue that compounds over a long work session. The Moss Green option is a low-saturation, earth-toned hue informed by biophilic design principles, which connect sustained exposure to natural tones with measurable psychological restoration. The short-pile velvet surface introduced with this variant reinforces that effect tactilely, rated to withstand over 50,000 wear cycles while remaining breathable against skin. It is a quieter, more grounded presence than the existing Midnight Black and Space Grey options, and it suits the growing cohort of professionals who want their workspace to feel less like a server room.

The four recline modes map to distinct cognitive and physiological states that anyone logging long creative or technical sessions will recognize. The 105° Deep Focus position keeps the body alert and slightly forward, suited for concentrated output where posture and attention run in parallel. The 120° Solo Work setting is where most of a professional day actually happens, steady and supported without any sense of being locked in place. At 135°, the chair shifts into active recovery territory, appropriate for long calls or the kind of diffuse thinking that does not look like work but frequently is. The 160° Spine Flow position, combined with the OmniStretch motorized stretch function, delivers a five-minute spinal decompression cycle that reframes the mid-afternoon energy crash as something addressable rather than just inevitable.

The Spring Refresh pricing is tiered across both US and Canadian markets for the duration of the campaign. In the US, the Omni starts at $848, with Spring Refresh bundles discounted up to 30% off. Orders over $800 receive a $15 instant checkout discount, orders above $900 include the Eco Comfort Set comprising a silk eye mask, eco tote bag, and StepSync mat, and orders over $1,000 unlock the Ultimate Perks Pack with a branded cap, sticker set, tote bag, and limited-edition fridge magnet. Canadian pricing starts at CA$1,292, with bundles up to 34% off and parallel tier thresholds at CA$1,200, CA$1,400, and CA$1,500 respectively. The promotion runs through April 15 in both regions.

The broader argument LiberNovo is making this season is worth sitting with. Most workspace upgrades stop at the surface: a new desk pad, better cable management, the kind of organization that photographs well but does not change how your body feels at 4pm. The Omni, particularly in the Moss Green edition, pushes toward a different category of improvement, one that treats the workspace as health infrastructure rather than aesthetic backdrop. That is a less immediately gratifying pitch than a fresh coat of paint on the home office, but for anyone who has spent enough time in a bad chair to understand what a good one actually costs, it is the more compelling one.

Click Here to Buy Now: $929 $1099 ($170 off). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

The post Stop Adjusting Your Office Chair. The LiberNovo Omni Adjusts to You Instead first appeared on Yanko Design.

This $130 Mario Kart Racing Wheel for the Switch 2 Has Seven Sensitivity Levels for Throwing Banana Peels

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Nobody sits down to play Mario Kart and thinks “what this experience needs is a force feedback wheel, a pedal set, and a clamp-mounted desk rig.” And yet here we are, with Hori releasing two officially licensed racing wheels for the Switch 2, timed to launch alongside Mario Kart World on March 23. The Deluxe has an 11-inch wheel, a full pedal set, seven sensitivity levels, an adjustable dead zone, and a Quick Handling Mode that toggles steering output between 270 and 180 degrees. That last feature exists so you can more precisely navigate a rainbow-colored highway while a cartoon turtle throws a shell at you.

To be fair, the wheels look genuinely good. The Deluxe goes for a dark, almost aggressive red-and-black motorsport aesthetic, while the Mini leans fully into Mario’s red-blue-white color scheme with the Mario Kart World logo stamped on the base. Both add a C button for Switch 2’s GameChat, connect via a 9.8-foot USB-A cable, and work with the original Switch and OLED too. The Deluxe is $129.99, the Mini is $79.99, and both are available for pre-order now.

Designer: Hori

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The two wheels are closer in spec than the price gap suggests. Both have textured rubber grips, ZL and ZR buttons, racing paddles, programmable buttons, and the same ZL hold function that lets you drag items behind your kart in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. That hold function is disabled in Mario Kart World, which handles item use differently, so if World is the primary reason you’re buying one of these, that particular feature is decorative. The Mini’s 8.6-inch wheel is smaller but not dramatically so, and for a game where precision steering matters about as much as knowing when to deploy a star, the size difference probably won’t register mid-race. Both also carry the Nintendo/PC toggle on the back, which is new to the Switch 2 versions and means you can run either wheel through a PC racing title if the Mario Kart novelty wears off.

The Mini, with its Fischer-Price aesthetic, attaches via suction cups only, which works fine on a smooth desk but becomes a liability if you’re the type to slam the wheel hard into a corner. The Deluxe, on the other hand, adds a physical clamp mount, a meaningful upgrade for anyone who takes their banana peel delivery system seriously. The dead zone adjustment and the 180/270 degree toggle are also Deluxe-only, and those matter more than they sound: dialing in the dead zone tightens center response considerably, and 180-degree mode makes the wheel feel snappier in arcadey conditions where full-rotation sim behavior would actively work against you.

The Deluxe reads like a peripheral that wants to be taken seriously, with perforated black leather-look grip material, metallic red spokes, and a fairly restrained button cluster around the center M logo. The Mini abandons that restraint completely: solid red rim, blue and white spokes, yellow accent buttons, Mario Kart World branding on the base. They’re aimed at different buyers within the same audience, and the visual split is deliberate enough that you wouldn’t mistake one for the other in a product lineup.

Both wheels connect over USB-A, which is worth flagging because the Switch 2 uses USB-C natively. You will need an adapter or a hub, and Hori ships neither in the box. The 9.8-foot cable is generous in length, but the connector mismatch is a friction point on a product designed specifically for a new console, and it’s the kind of thing that should have been sorted at the design stage rather than left to the buyer.

Hori has been the default answer for Switch racing wheels since the original console launched, and these Switch 2 versions do not reinvent that position. The older Switch wheels already work on the Switch 2, so this is really a product for new Switch 2 buyers rather than existing Hori customers looking to upgrade. For that audience, $79.99 for the Mini is a reasonable ask, $129.99 for the Deluxe is justified by the clamp mount and calibration options alone, and both are about as good as a wired USB wheel built around Mario Kart is ever going to get. Whether you need one is a separate question, but if you’re going to sit down with a dedicated racing rig to hurl banana peels at a go-kart driven by a plumber, at least Hori has given you two good ways to do it.

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The post This $130 Mario Kart Racing Wheel for the Switch 2 Has Seven Sensitivity Levels for Throwing Banana Peels first appeared on Yanko Design.

The $199 VITA RING Wakes You Up Mid-Apnea Before You Ever Know It Happened Thanks To AI Health Tracking

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The fact that you have to charge your Apple Watch every 48 hours means there’s a small sliver of time in the day where it isn’t capturing data. Your body uses sleep to run its most important maintenance cycles, and the biometric signals during those hours carry real diagnostic weight: heart rate variability, breathing quality, blood oxygen levels during deep rest. These are the readings that can flag early signs of atrial fibrillation, sleep apnea, or chronic stress load well before symptoms appear in your waking hours. A device sitting on your nightstand during this window captures none of it. The form factor that makes the most sense for genuine 24/7 health tracking turns out to be one that never needs to come off. Something like a ring.

The VITA RING leans into this idea with a design that prioritizes both elegance and endurance. It uses a polished Aerospace Ceramic for its outer body, a material that feels more like a piece of refined jewelry than a piece of consumer electronics, and is 3x harder and scratch-resistant compared to titanium. This results in a device you are willing to live with twenty-four hours a day. With a battery that lasts up to a week on a single charge, it closes the data gap left by other wearables and operates silently in the background, using gentle haptic vibrations to deliver important alerts. It’s a design that ensures the ring remains forgotten until it has something important to share.

Designer: VITA TECHNOLOGY INC

Click Here to Buy Now: $199 $399 ($200 off).

VITA’s core proposition organizes around three verbs: Alert, Advise, Act. The ring’s Multi-Agent Health System tracks over 17 health metrics continuously, watching for deviations from your personal baseline rather than population-level averages. When something shifts meaningfully, a gentle haptic pulse is the only output, keeping the alert channel completely separate from the noise of your phone screen. The AI layer contextualizes what it finds, identifying patterns across sleep, stress, recovery, and activity to surface insights specific to your body. For a market that has treated data volume as a proxy for intelligence, that distinction matters.

Where VITA separates itself is in how it handles sleep. Most trackers deliver a score after the fact; VITA monitors sleep stages, breathing quality, and runs Apnea Intervention in real time. The ring detects disrupted breathing and responds with a gentle vibration prompting the user to shift position, often helping restore a more regular breathing pattern. Sleep apnea affects an estimated 936 million people globally, the majority of them undiagnosed, and real-time intervention at the consumer level addresses a clinical gap most wearables have stepped around entirely. The seven-day battery earns its keep here specifically, because consistent nightly data is how health patterns actually emerge.

“In Tune With You” is VITA’s attempt to build women’s health tracking around biology rather than calendar math, covering cycle awareness, fertility window detection, and pregnancy monitoring, all anchored in continuous biometric data. Most mainstream wearables approach this space with a period date counter and little else. Layering temperature shifts and HRV patterns onto reproductive health tracking delivers a different category of insight, capable of identifying a fertile window or flagging a physiological change earlier than any date-based system. Women’s health has been chronically under-engineered in consumer wearables, and making it a first-class feature is a deliberate product statement.

Circle of Care extends private health monitoring into a shared experience, letting users choose which wellness insights to share with trusted contacts alongside AI-guided care tips and relevant context. The Emergency SOS feature lets users send their live GPS location to those same contacts with a single tap when they cannot reach their phone. For adult children with aging parents, or anyone managing a chronic condition within a family dynamic, this broadens the ring’s utility considerably. Health monitored in isolation often goes unacknowledged, and VITA has built the architecture to change that.

Oura Ring charges $5.99 a month for premium features on top of the hardware cost. WHOOP’s entire model is subscription-based, with users paying around $30 a month to access their own data. VITA is different: core health tracking is completely free, but AI Health features require a subscription. Kickstarter backers get 1 year of AI Health features at no extra cost. The VIP pre-launch price sits at $179, representing 53% off eventual retail, and early backers who sign up before March 17 receive a free sizing kit. The real measure of whether it all holds up comes when hardware reaches users, but the pricing structure alone will earn serious attention in a market that has normalized subscription fatigue.

Click Here to Buy Now: $199 $399 ($200 off).

The post The $199 VITA RING Wakes You Up Mid-Apnea Before You Ever Know It Happened Thanks To AI Health Tracking first appeared on Yanko Design.