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After a week reviewing the Pixel 10 Pro XL, I wouldn't give it up for all the iPhones in the world

Wed, 08/27/2025 - 12:00

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Two-minute review

The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is the Pixel phone to buy this year. The Pixel 10 Pro can match the Pro XL on the most important features, but the benefits of the larger display, along with a couple of features that are simply better on the XL device, make the Pixel 10 Pro XL my favorite of the new Pixel family, and the phone I would recommend first, but not last.

I feel confident recommending the Pixel 10 Pro XL above the rest – and above any other Android phone you can buy right now – because I spent the last year using the Pixel 9 Pro as my primary work phone. That means I know exactly why the Pixel is a great phone for being productive, but I also know that I wish I’d had a bigger screen than the 9 Pro's. The Pro XL will be my primary device this year, for sure.

If you haven’t checked out a Pixel phone in a while, you really should head to a store and get your hands on one. The latest Pixel 10 Pro XL is polished and well-built, with a refined look and gorgeous materials and color combinations. It’s a much nicer-looking phone than the latest iPhone 16 Pro Max, and it delivers on a number of features Apple hasn’t been able to match.

Google’s AI features are the most advanced on any smartphone, and often the most unobtrusive. The newest AI features, like Magic Cue and the live translation, don’t feel pushy or overblown, and they don’t produce embarrassing or useless results. Google is pushing AI into the background as a silent helper, where it should be.

Of course, all of the new Pixel 10 series phones have Google’s advanced new AI features, like the live translator that not only converts your language into another tongue, it also speaks with a voice that sounds remarkably like yours. That may sound alarming from a privacy viewpoint, but Google says this processing happens on the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and not on a distant cloud computer, so your conversations – and your voice – should be safe.

So what makes the Pixel 10 Pro XL so special, the best of the Pixel 10 bunch? First of all, Google’s Pixel displays – so-called Super Actua displays – are among the best you’ll see on any smartphone. These screens are bright and colorful and very sharp. When the screen is this good, I want as much screen as I can get, so I prefer having the larger XL display. At 6.8 inches, it’s 0.5 inches bigger diagonally than the Pixel 10's display, and that equals 13 square centimeters of extra screen space.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL also has the largest battery of all the new Pixel phones, and that equates to the longest battery life, both in my real-world testing and in our Future Labs battery rundown tests. It wasn’t a massive difference – the Pixel 10 Pro XL only lasted an hour longer than the Pixel 10. Still, every bit helps.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL also charges faster than any other Pixel 10 device, whether you’re charging wirelessly or with a USB-C cord. If you have a 45W charger, the Pixel 10 Pro XL can charge that fast, compared to the 30W charging on the other two Pixel 10 phones. The Pixel 10 Pro XL can also use faster wireless charging. Again, it’s not a huge difference, but every bit yada yada yada.

The biggest benefit for me is the combination of Google’s winning Super Actua display with the Pixel 10 Pro XL cameras. If I’m taking serious photos, I want the biggest viewfinder possible to get the right shot. The extra screen space on the Pro XL phone felt like a big advantage, and if photography is important to you, I’d recommend the Pro XL phone first. The Pixel 10 Pro has the exact same camera specs, but having the bigger Pro XL display helped me take better shots.

Are there other benefits to the Pro XL? Well… not really. It isn’t any faster than the Pixel 10 Pro… or even than the Pixel 10. In our benchmark tests, the extra RAM in the Pro models didn’t seem to make much difference. Pixel phones still disappoint if you only care about the numbers.

I don’t rely on benchmarks, though, and the Pixel 10 Pro XL was satisfying and quick in almost every task. There was some lag on the camera, but most other features – including the latest AI helpers – ran smoothly with no delays.

Google has another winner with the Pixel 10 Pro XL – and the whole Pixel 10 family. Between the premium design, the excellent software, and the advanced AI features, this is a phone that iPhone fans should seriously consider, and Galaxy owners should envy. I’ll be keeping this phone close by – snapped to my MagSafe charging stand – until an even better Pixel comes along.

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL review: Price & availability

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU $1,999 for 256GB of storage and 16GB RAM
Costs more than last year, but starts with more storage than the rest

I remember the days when a new phone would cost the same but come with more storage and RAM than last year's model because component costs had decreased. This year’s Pixel 10 Pro XL is more expensive than before, and it comes with 256GB of storage, but I’m not awarding Google any medals for giving the phone enough space. This phone should be cheaper.

To be fair, 256GB of storage is the right amount, unless you play a ton of games or you shoot video with your phone at high-resolution. There’s a 1TB model available, but only serious enthusiasts need apply – and you know who you are.

The color options this year are a bit drab. I like the Moonstone color and the Jade, but they aren’t very exciting. My review unit is the Porcelain white, which looks classy but a bit bland. Google also sent along a silicone case with magnets built in that matches the hone perfectly. If you want the 1TB storage option, it’s only available in the black Obsidian.

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL pricing

Storage

US Price

UK Price

AU Price

256GB

$1,199

£1,199

AU $1,999

512GB

$1,319

£1,319

AU $2,199

1TB

$1,549

£1,549

AU $2,549

Value score: 4 / 5

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL review: Specifications

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL has nearly the same spec sheet as the Pixel 10 Pro, with a few key differences. The display is larger, with more pixels (no pun intended), but it isn’t quite as sharp. You won’t notice, though, and both displays use LTPO tech for the best always-on display with low power drain.

There’s a bigger battery in the Pixel 10 Pro XL as well, and that meant longer battery life in my tests. I also found the 45W charging made a difference, with the Pixel 10 Pro XL charging faster than the other Pixel 10 phones.

Google Pixel 10 Pro specifications

Dimensions:

162.8 x 76.6 x 8.5mm

Weight:

232g

Display:

6.8-inch Actua display

Resolution:

1344 x 2992 pixels

Refresh rate:

1-120Hz

Peak brightness:

3,300 nits

Chipset:

Google Tensor G5

RAM:

16GB

Storage:

256GB / 512GB / 1TB

OS:

Android 16

Main cameras

50MP wide; 48MP ultra-wide; 48MP telephoto (5x zoom)

Selfie camera:

42MP

Battery:

5,200mAh

Charging:

45W wired; 25W Qi2 wireless (magnetic)

Colors:

Obsidian, Porcelain, Jade, Moonstone

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL review: Design

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Sleek and solid, with great materials and matching color options
Mostly the same as last year’s model, which is fine with me

The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is the Pixel 10 Pro all blown up. It doesn’t add any extra buttons or physical details; the two phones look identical, just at a different scale. That’s a good thing because the Pixel 10 Pro is a great-looking phone, and it keeps the same exact design as the Pixel 9 Pro that was my favorite phone of last year. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I like the Pixel 10 Pro XL design even more than the latest iPhone 16 Pro Max. It feels just as refined as Apple’s phone, with fewer unnecessary buttons to get in the way. Does anyone actually use the Camera Control? I know I don’t. To be fair, I don’t use the temperature sensor on the back of the Pixel 10 Pro XL, but I can ignore that easier than a button.

The color options are a bit 'professional' and bland, but closer inspections shows more attention to detail than I would have expected from Google. The Jade color of my Pro review sample, for instance, was matched with a light gold frame that looks barely gilded. It’s a gorgeous match.

The speaker grilles on the bottom of the phone are new, and color-matched to the frame you choose. It’s a nice touch that most people won’t ever notice.

I have no complaints about the Pixel 10 Pro XL design, except that I’d like to see more interesting color options. Google at least matches its phones perfectly with its silicone case colors, and like the Pixel 10 phones, the latest cases have magnets inside that secure a very strong connection to any Pixelsnap (or MagSafe) accessories you might buy.

Design score: 5 / 5

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL review: Display

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

One of the absolute best smartphone displays
Super-sharp and very bright in all situations

Wow… I was expecting to be pleased with the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s display, but this phone somehow looks even better than I anticipated. Google’s Super Actua displays are among the best you’ll find on any smartphone. For the past few years, Google’s new Pixel displays have been dominant, topped only by Samsung’s best Ultra screen, and this year hasn’t been disappointing at all.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL is a joy to use in any situation. It’s great in outdoor light, even for shooting photos or reading my social feeds. It’s perfect for navigating in the car or on the street. It’s a great phone for reading in the dark late at night, or as a bedside lamp with the Pixelsnap screen savers.

In fact, I like this display so much that I think it justifies paying more to have more of it. The Pro XL is the Pixel to buy not just because it has a bigger screen, but because the screen is so enjoyable that I want to have as much of it as possible.

Whether I’m watching videos, taking photos, or playing games, the Pixel 10 Pro XL display is my favorite on any smartphone I own.

Display score: 5 / 5

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL review: Software

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Material 3 Expressive looks fantastic and adapts nicely to themes
AI features are most useful when you barely notice them

The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL highlights Google’s clean and well-designed interface. I love the Material 3 Expressive interface design, as Google calls its Pixel version of Android. It’s friendly without feeling cartoonish, and it packs plenty of useful widgets and tools that are easy to manage and don’t hog my attention.

With so much screen space, it was a joy to create AI wallpapers and populate my home screen with Google’s slick widgets. I let the phone set all of my icon and widget colors to match my wallpaper, creating a unified theme, and the phone darkened the colors as the day went on, finally flipping to dark mode after sunset.

That’s the best of Pixel – a well-designed interface filled with just enough useful features to make the phone a tool you always want in your pocket. The Pixel 10 Pro XL will definitely remain my primary work phone after this review is published. It gives me simple customizations and shortcuts that remove the clutter of apps from my home screen and surface just the information I need. I wish iOS was better at this.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL also has some of the most useful AI features you’ll find on a phone, and I’m a big fan of Google’s call-screening tools. I can let Google AI answer when an unknown number calls, and it will give me a text transcript of whatever my caller says. Then I can decide whether to answer the call or not. This feature is only available on Pro Pixel models, and it’s worth the upgrade if you take a lot of calls.

There are plenty of new AI features as well, and I’ve talked in depth about the new Magic Cue in my Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro reviews. I think it could be an important addition to Android in the long run, but it still doesn’t work consistently. It offers useful links and buttons to info as you need it, and it doesn’t get in the way or seem pushy, like other AI features, so I have high hopes for it.

Otherwise, there are many smaller improvements that I’ve found scattered throughout the interface and which bring Google’s experience closer to the holistic, thoughtful design I expect from iOS more than Android.

Apple lets you make a contact card for yourself that will accompany your phone number when you share your details. Google lets you make the contact card for your contacts, instead of making them do the work. That seems like a better solution, since not everybody owns an iPhone, and Apple’s contact cards don’t work across platforms.

Even Google’s Daily Hub is more useful than other attempts I’ve seen. Samsung, Motorola, and now Google all offer a home page for your personal information, gathered and summarized by AI. On my Galaxy S25 Ultra, the Now Brief page has been useless at best, and oddly flippant at worst. On the Pixel 10 Pro XL, the Daily Hub offers more useful information, links I actually enjoy, and easy access to more information.

There are still some odd and off-putting AI features, usually generative AI tools. The Recorder app for some odd reason offers to generate a musical background for your recordings; I don’t really need a pop-metal soundtrack for my business interviews, thanks. Still, it’s easy to ignore these oddities, and Google mostly doesn’t shove its AI in your face.

Software score: 5 / 5

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL review: Cameras

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The best Pixel to buy for photography
Excellent low-light photos and unique AI zoom capabilities

The Pixel 10 Pro XL and the Pixel 10 Pro have identical camera lenses and sensors, but I’m calling the Pro XL the better camera phone because of the larger display and longer battery life. Both of those attributes are features that camera buyers look for, and they make a difference when shooting with the Pixels.

The photos I got from the Pixel 10 Pro XL were fantastic, perhaps the best I’ve seen on any camera phone (and I compile the Best Camera Phones list for TechRadar). I’ll need to test the cameras in more situations, and head-to-head against more competitors, but in my week with the Pro XL it took pics that matched or beat my iPhone 16 Pro Max in most conditions.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL took photos with very accurate colors and plenty of detail at every focal range. For night photography, it was no contest. The Pro XL took pics that looked like I had a professional flashgun attached, while the iPhone shots looked much darker and lacked focus.

You can see plenty of AI help in the photos, but usually the results don’t look fake or off-putting. It’s a trade-off. I took a picture of a snowy egret from far away with my iPhone and the Pixel 10 Pro XL. The iPhone photo was grainy and fuzzy, but you could see the bird’s reflection rippling in the water. The Pixel created a smoother, more recognizable image, but the AI removed the ripples from the end result.

The only downside to Pixel photography is Google’s Camera app. It’s a nightmare. It’s hard to use, with settings that seem to conflict with each other. Adjust one setting, like changing from 12MP to 50MP resolution, and a handful of other settings suddenly go dark without warning.

I also tested the new Camera Coach feature, and you can read more about it in my Pixel 10 review. I think it helps more on the base-model phone, while the Pro XL Pixel takes photos that are good enough that you may not want an AI coach to get in the way.

Camera score: 5 / 5

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL review: Camera samplesImage 1 of 8

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(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)Google Pixel 10 Pro XL review: Performance

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Tensor G5 performance lags all but the cheapest bargain phones
Camera stalls after taking a high-res photo

The Pixel 10 Pro XL’s performance is the phone’s only real letdown, and even though it didn’t make a difference most of the time, at key moments the phone struggled to keep up. The gap between Pixel performance and the rest of the smartphone world isn’t shrinking – it’s getting bigger and uglier every year.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL had no trouble navigating the Android menus and launching apps as quick as can be, but not every feature was so smooth. I had trouble in the Camera app, especially when I changed to the higher 50MP resolution. The camera sometimes stalled after I hit the shutter button, and made me wait for a few moments until I could snap my next shot.

That’s a huge disappointment, and I don’t know any other phone outside cheap bargain options that fails to perform basic tasks this manifestly. I can press the shutter button on my OnePlus 13 as fast as my finger can fly and it never misses a beat – likely thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset inside.

Qualcomm has a superior platform this year, and phone makers who don’t use the latest Elite option are being left behind in more ways than one (see my battery complaints below). I no longer think the Tensor G5 is good enough for the Pixel 10 Pro XL. It isn’t. It can’t keep up with the latest Android software and features, and it’s time for Google to rethink its platform strategy.

Performance score: 3 / 5

Google Pixel 10 Pro review: Battery

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Mediocre battery life – is the Tensor G5 to blame?
Magnetic chargers make up the shortfall

The Pixel 10 Pro XL has the best battery life of any Pixel 10 phone so far (we haven’t tested the Pixel 10 Pro Fold yet), but that isn’t saying much. The Pro XL lasted through a full day with little trouble, but I was still nervous when the battery hit single digits before bed time, which was often.

I alleviated my stress with the MagSafe chargers I have littered throughout my house and office space. Like the Pixelsnap charger, MagSafe is convenient for fast charging when I have 15 minutes to let my phone sit on a stand. A couple of those charge breaks every day made sure I had enough battery to last as long as I needed.

This mediocre battery life is especially disappointing because I’ve seen massive gains in the rest of the Android world. Phone makers like Samsung and OnePlus – using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite platform – are offering new phones that get hours more battery life than last year’s models.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL lasted 15 minutes longer in our Future Labs battery tests than last year’s Pixel 9 Pro XL. That’s pathetic.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra achieved two hours more battery life than the Galaxy S24 Ultra, even though it uses a battery that's the same size, thanks to the newer Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. If Google can’t offer similar improvements year over year, it’s time to change platforms or it will be time to stop recommending the Pixel.

Battery score: 3 / 5

Should you buy the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL?Google Pixel 10 Pro scorecard

Value

The most expensive Pixel, but also the best. The bigger display, longer battery life, faster charging and larger storage capacity justify the higher price tag.

4/5

Design

Mostly unchanged from the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and that’s a good thing. This is one of the most refined and polished phones you’ll see, and it’s even more durable than before.

4/5

Display

You won’t see a better display on a smartphone than the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s Super Actua screen. It’s incredibly bright and perfectly sharp, even in bright sunshine.

5/5

Software

The latest Pixel interface is one of Google’s best, and it makes the Pixel appealing and easy to use. New AI features can be useful, but if you hate them they won’t bother you much.

5/5

Cameras

Image quality is excellent, especially night photography, which is easily the best you’ll find on any smartphone. This might be the best camera phone you can buy. Camera Coach is a fun feature, but is it replacing real experts? Best editing tools, now helped by useful AI instructions.

5/5

Performance

Frankly unacceptable performance from such an expensive phone. It can’t even run the Camera app properly, and benchmarks are lower than any phone that isn’t cheap. Google needs to take this seriously, or next year won’t be so fun.

3/5

Battery

Battery life suffers under the yoke of the Tensor G5 chipset. While Qualcomm-powered phones see massive battery gains, the Pixel 10 Pro XL can’t last longer than last year’s phone, and even with its faster charging it doesn’t charge as fast as the competition. Get magnetic chargers to keep your phone topped up – you’ll thank me for it.

3/5

Buy it if...

You want the best Pixel phone yet
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is the Pixel to buy this year. The screen is fantastic, and everything is improved by the larger size and enhanced capabilities.View Deal

You take a lot of photos at night The Pixel 10 Pro XL is one of the best camera phones, but it really shines at night. Low-light photos were mind-boggling in clarity and color.View Deal

You're switching from an iPhone and have a bunch of magnets
I’m an unabashed fan of magnetic charging, so I welcome the Pixel 10 Pro XL to my household filled with charging stands and accessories galore.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You need a gaming powerhouse to win
The Pixel 10 Pro XL should be great for gaming, thanks to its incredible display, but performance is a letdown, especially for gamers.View Deal

You want a phone that lasts all day, and you hate magnets
Battery life on the Pixel 10 Pro XL could be better, and my MagSafe chargers saved the day. If you won’t be charging periodically, get a phone that lasts longer.View Deal

You want great cameras but wear tight pants
The Pixel 10 Pro has the same amazing cameras as the Pixel 10 Pro XL, so you don’t need to buy a big phone to get the same capabilities.View Deal

Also consider...

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
The biggest iPhone gives you all of Apple’s great iOS 26 features on a big display, making it easier to share, shoot videos, and play games with iPhone friends.

Read our in-depth Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max reviewView Deal

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
It’s a bit more expensive, but the S25 Ultra is jam-packed with features, including the S Pen stylus and a fourth camera lens for more zoom options. It’s also super-fast.

Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra reviewView Deal

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Price

$1,199 / £1,199 / AU $1,999

$1,199 / £1,199 / AU $2,149

$1,249 / £1,249 / AU $2,349

Display

6.8-inch Super Actua display

6.9-inch Super Retina display

6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display

Processor

Google Tensor G5

Apple A18 Pro

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy

Battery Results (HH:MM:SS)

14:20:57

17:35:30

18:35:39

How I tested the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL

I tested the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL for a week, alongside the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro. I used the Pixel 10 Pro XL as a work phone with my high-security work accounts. I loaded the phone with more than a hundred apps, and multiple Google accounts.

I used the Pixel 10 Pro XL as a camera, testing every camera feature. I used AI features to ask questions and generate sample images. I connected Magic Cue to all of my personal Google account information, and I fed the Pixel 10 Pro XL a regular diet of screenshots of my personal dealings for the Screenshots app.

I connected the Pixel 10 Pro XL to my Pixel Watch 3, my Pixel Buds Pro, and many other Bluetooth headsets and devices. I used Android Auto in my Kia and my friends’ Acura and Subaru cars, and connected to Bluetooth in an older BMW.

I've been testing phones for more than 20 years, since the days of BlackBerry and Palm OS smartphones and Samsung flip phones. I have tested hundreds of devices myself, and our Future Labs experts have tested hundreds more. I even did a brief stint as the internal phone reviewer for Samsung Mobile, testing products before launch in order to predict review scores and reception.

Future Labs tests phones using a mix of third-party benchmark software and proprietary, real-world tests. We use Geekbench, CrossMark, JetStream, WebXPRT and Mobile XPRT, and 3DMark for performance testing. We test a phone's performance on video editing tasks using Adobe Premiere Rush. We also measure display color output and brightness.

For battery testing, we have proprietary rundown tests that are the same for every phone, which we use to determine how long it takes for the battery to run down.

First reviewed August 2025

Categories: Reviews

Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing turns Austin Butler’s cat-sitting gig into a chaotic crime caper that’s a white-knuckle ride

Wed, 08/27/2025 - 08:00

Caught Stealing is a nostalgic slice of '90s New York City life that comes out swinging. Set in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Darren Aronofsky’s new movie captures the nostalgic atmosphere of the time in this cat-and-mouse crime caper chase.

Austin Butler (Elvis; Eddington) plays Henry Thompson, a former baseball player turned bartender with a drinking habit, who insists on being called Hank. Tormented by a car accident that ended his promising sports career, the San Francisco Giants fan has been lifted straight from the pages of Charlie Huston’s novels that the movie is based on.

Hank gets caught up in a case of mistaken identity when his neighbor Russ, played by Matt Smith (The Crown; Doctor Who) – who looks like a punk-rocker that just stepped out of Camden in London (mohawk, studded leather jacket, piercings – the full uniform's here) – asks him to look after his Maine Coon cat named Bud (who you might recognize from Pet Sematary), setting in motion a chaotic chase with a growing group of eclectic goons across underpasses, subways and basements through East Village.

Caught Stealing is a chaotic crime caper crashing into the summer box office (Image credit: Columbia Pictures; Protozoa Pictures)

You wouldn’t expect that cat-care could get you killed, but that’s exactly the catalyst that drives the next 107 minutes of the white-knuckle drama. The bone-splitting violence splattered throughout does not hold back, letting you hear every crunch and snap against the backdrop of a soundtrack composed by Rob Simonsen (The Whale; Deadpool & Wolverine).

What starts with Russian mafia, played by Yuri Kolokolnikov (Tenet; The White Lotus) and Nikita Kukushkin (Attraction), beating up Hank (Kukushkin's mobster has a signature headbutt move) quickly snowballs as more players become involved to look for a mysterious key that they all believe Hank is hiding.

This hunt has got the attention of not just the Russian mobsters but a Puerto Rican gangster, played by Benito Martínez Ocasio aka Bad Bunny (Bullet Train; Happy Gilmore 2), and two extremely ruthless Orthodox Jewish brothers.

These last two might be the most threatening characters of the movie, but who also happen to have the most comedic lines. That's largely down to menacing performances from Liev Schreiber (Spotlight; X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket; Men in Black) that make for a humorous contrast when you find them slurping soup or refusing to drive during Shabbat.

Liev Schreiber and Vincent D'Onofrio provide some of the best laughs in the film (Image credit: Columbia Pictures; Protozoa Pictures)

There may not be any baseball in this film (apart from the brief opening scene) but funnily enough, it's the more violent scenes where it really comes out as we watch Hank sprinting past pedestrians like he's on a home run and swinging a baseball bat at his assailants as if he's a deadly batter.

The sport offers a bridge between the violence and Hank's soft nature. After all, Hank's not a fighter – a fact we're reminded of throughout by police detective Roman, played by Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk; Ray), as well as by his relationships with people (and creatures) around him, from his mother to the homeless man on the street outside of his apartment that he helps out.

Zoë Kravitz’s (The Batman; Blink Twice) Yvonne, Hank’s girlfriend, is a welcome respite from all the violence, breaking up the gut punches and shootouts with a softer charm that shares the heart of the film with the weight of a drink driving accident from when Hank was younger.

Bad Bunny joins Russian mobsters played by Yuri Kolokolnikov and Nikita Kukushkin. (Image credit: Columbia Pictures; Protozoa Pictures)

The biggest highlight of the movie is the nostalgic set created by production designer Mark Friedberg (Joker; Noah) that immerses the characters in the gritty streets of East Village in 1998 during its transformation into the trendy art scene it is today. This is complemented by a soundtrack that includes '90s hits such as Bitch by Meredith Brooks and Wandering Star by Portishead.

However, unlike the secrets of Bud’s litter tray, Caught Stealing isn’t too mysterious, relying on action movie ideas you've seen many times before. From the reluctant hero to the classic revenge storyline, it goes exactly where your brain naturally expect it to go based on the familiar elements – despite it coming from an interesting an unpredictable filmmaker in Darren Aronofsky.

It also lacks the intensity that his movies are known for, and can feel disjointed at times as it transitions from scene to scene, sometimes brushing over key moments. For instance, a lingering shot of a chameleon seems like it could be a reference to Hank's resourcefulness, but this idea isn't hinted at again, making it feel like a stray musing rather than an interesting theme.

Caught Stealing is not a deep psychological character study like Aronofsky's The Whale or Black Swan, it's an action-packed adventure centered around a self-destructive protagonist that's trying to turn the corner.

Indeed, the sunny grasses of California where Hank is originally from are in real contrast to the grimy streets of the Lower East Side, where he now finds himself, is not the subtle backstory that we're used to seeing from the filmmaker. They say stealing third base is a high risk, low reward play in baseball; unfortunately, I think that phrase captures the end result of Aronofsky's push into a new genre.

Kirby and The Forgotten Land’s Star-Crossed World expansion is a Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade that’s well worth the money

Wed, 08/27/2025 - 07:00

It’s fair to say that Nintendo’s slate of Nintendo Switch 2 Editions has been a mixed bag, both in terms of what the company offers in each, how much it’s charging, and how the reception has been.

Review information

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2
Release date: August 18, 2025

The Switch's Zelda titles getting a frame rate and resolution boost for a few bucks each was very welcome but many were left decidedly out of the party mood when it came to Super Mario Party Jamboree’s Jamboree TV add-on.

In many ways, that makes the hilariously titled Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World an outlier, and not just because it’s got possibly the longest name on the platform.

It meshes a modest visual improvement with additional content that’s easy to recommend, and takes a fantastic platformer to new heights, not unlike its protagonist floating on the breeze. It’s not perfect, but it’s still a great stand-in as the wait for a new open-world Mario game goes on.

Rescue mission

(Image credit: Nintendo)

It sounds odd, but I’ve always likened Kirby and the Forgotten Land to the early Astro Bot games, before Sony’s cute mascot went and became a platforming megastar. Its levels feel diorama-like - they’re 3D, but with minimal camera panning, and you’re tasked with searching in every nook and cranny to find a Waddle Dee.

Best bit

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The best part of Star-Crossed World is how it expands on areas from the base game in surprising new ways, with one highlight being a new ‘train track’ style area that begins at ground level before climbing ever higher, with the original level stretched out below it.

If you’re coming to this new version, wondering if anything has changed in that regard, the answer is yes, but only insofar as you’ll be hunting down Starries this time around. While I must admit I had been expecting a separate menu icon a la Jamboree TV Switch 2 upgrade, or even Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, I was surprised to jump into my old save and see that everything happens in the same world map.

Star-Crossed World's story is as simple as a mystery meteor landing and turning various older areas into more colorful, crystal-tinted versions, while even giving some of Kirby’s (admittedly adorable) foes a crystalline makeover, too.

Your pink blob’s mission is simple: rescue Starries in each level, while also ticking off some side objectives that might require a little more exploration.

What’s old is new

(Image credit: Nintendo)

While there’s an argument that for around $20 / £16.99, fans should be able to expect wholly new levels, that’s not what’s happened here. In fact, it’s much cleverer than that. Kirby is tasked with reclaiming Starries (not as cute as Waddle Dees, for my money) by finding them in existing levels, but each becomes a much more expansive quest.

As an example, one area sees Kirby travel through an existing level, only to essentially part the sea midway through and explore a whole new region under what would have been the water. In another (and a personal favorite), our puffy pink protagonist hits the gem to open a new path, only for it to begin a railway track or rollercoaster of sorts that they need to fight and platform their way along.

Given a big differentiator of the base game from the rest of Kirby canon was having our hero wander through a sort of post-apocalyptic, recognizable world, some took umbrage with the more restrictive creativity brought upon by a new setting. That’s almost entirely jettisoned here, like Nintendo is letting its hair down somewhat.

In fact, if you’re jumping in for the first time, the meteor hits right after the first set of levels is completed, so you don’t have to reach the end credits to experience everything new.

All you can eat

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The Mouthful mode returns in Star-Crossed World, and the same criticisms from the original TechRadar Gaming review apply - namely that, as funny as it is to see Kirby become a vending machine or a traffic cone, its implementation is all very linear.

This time around, there’s a Spring for jumping high and crashing down on foes, as well as a Sign that turns Kirby into a sort of flat shape for downhill sliding sections. The highlight, however, is the Gear Mouth, which allows Kirby to roll around on floors, walls, and ceilings, adding a literal new dimension to platforming.

That brings us to the platforming, and while it’s mechanically great to play, it’s just lacking the challenge of, say, a Super Mario Odyssey or even some of Donkey Kong Bananza’s trickier sections. I should stress that this doesn’t make all of the game’s imaginative ideas moot, but it does mean it’s easier to blow through in a weekend than some of its genre peers.

Another holdover from the base game is that boss fights are a little formulaic. While I appreciate that there are usually a handful of approaches to take with a few different upgrades available before the start of each skirmish, it does tend to devolve into dodging as much as you can and then spamming whichever attack you have to hand.

There’s a new Ultimate Cup Z EX boss rush that’s been added to the Coliseum for those looking for more of a challenge, though, which is a nice touch and helps scratch that trickier itch similarly to the Forgo areas of the 2022 original.

Not quite 4K(irby)

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Although the original game was hardly a slouch in terms of visuals, the bump in resolution on Nintendo Switch 2 is welcome.

Both The Forgotten Land and its Star-Crossed World additions run at what appears to be 1440p while docked, meaning it’s not quite as sharp as the Switch 2 upgrades of Tears of the Kingdom or Breath of the Wild, but it does run at a crisp 1080p in handheld.

The real relief is that it’s now running at 60fps across the board, which makes replaying even old levels feel just a little fresher thanks to the smoothness on offer. Load times have been improved, too.

Still, I do feel like Nintendo could have divorced the new content and the visual upgrade when it comes to what’s on offer.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Is the company really going to be any worse off for giving away the visual upgrade for free and charging just for the extra content? It’s hard to say, but if you’ve been waiting to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land on Switch 2, you won’t get any visual improvements without paying.

All in all, then, Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World is one of the easiest ‘upgrade packs’ to recommend at the time of writing for Nintendo’s nascent console.

While I wish the visual upgrade had been free to anyone with a Switch 2 and a copy of the base game, the added areas in Star Crossed World are some of the best yet, and I’d wager playing the game without them would now make the game feel incomplete in some ways.

Should you play Kirby and the Forgotten Land Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed WorldPlay it if...

You want a meaty adventure
There’s so much here to keep you busy, from finding Waddle-Dees and Starries to completing additional objectives across new and older areas alike, that you could be playing for a while to earn 100%.

You’re looking for a platformer post-Donkey Kong
Bananza’s destruction-based platforming wasn’t for everyone, and if you’re looking for something more traditional, Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star Crossed World will fill that gap.

You want a Switch 2 upgrade that’s actually worth the money
While Super Mario Party Jamboree’s Switch 2 upgrade pack was less comprehensive, it’s hard to argue that what’s on offer in this Switch 2 upgrade is worth the money, between the visual improvements and additional content.View Deal

Don't play it if...

You’re looking for a challenge
While the new content is a tad more challenging than the base game, it’s a low bar to clear. It’s simply not the game for anyone looking for a real challenge, but that does make it pretty approachable for almost everyone.

Accessibility

Sadly, there aren’t a huge number of accessibility features here. There are two difficulty modes, Wild Mode and Spring-Breeze Mode, which offer additional difficulty for more coins, or additional health, respectively.

There’s no button remapping outside of swapping between a pair of preset options, either.

How I reviewed Kirby and the Forgotten Land Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World

I spent the last couple of weeks playing the new content, immediately after replaying the entirety of the base game to give me a better perspective on how things differ and what’s new.

I played both in docked and handheld, with the former being on a Sky Glass TV while the latter made use of AirPods Max for listening to those oh-so-satisfying sound effects that had me itching to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate again.

First reviewed August 2025

Categories: Reviews

The LG Ultragear GX9 Gaming Monitor engulfed me with its ultrawide, immersive OLED screen, and I don't want to give it back

Tue, 08/26/2025 - 17:50

LG Ultragear GX9: Two-minute review

The LG Ultragear GX9 is an impressive, immersive gaming monitor that’s ideal for a relatively small subset of gamers. Let's get a couple of things out the way early though: first, it’s not cheap, so any gamer on a budget will probably want to look elsewhere; and as awesome as a 45-inch (well, technically 44.5-inch) ultrawide screen is, some might find it too wide for practicality’s sake.

After all, it can be tough to focus on the action in the center of the screen and also keep tabs on your health bar in the top-left corner when you have to move your gaze over 20 inches to check on it. This also means it's not ideal for esports gamers, despite the impressive refresh rate and response time.

However, those are issues endemic to this ultrawide form factor and not necessarily a knock on the LG Ultragear GX9. All the best gaming monitors with an ultrawide screen are on the pricier side, and too wide to rely on peripheral vision to catch important information.

For those who have the money and aren’t playing esports (or still want that wrap-around experience), that wide display and 800R curvature, along with the 4K resolution, good color coverage, and speedy refresh rates and response times, make this monitor a delight to use with most games.

Cyberpunk 2077 or Monster Hunter Wilds, for example, look gorgeous and completely envelop my vision during gaming sessions. Of course, it helps that the built-in speakers sound pretty decent as well.

There are a few other pluses as well, such as all the necessary ports (minus a USB hub with KVM support), including a USB-C port with power delivery, and good ergonomics for such a wide monitor. This is a hearty recommendation as the best monitor for the right gamer.

LG Ultragear GX9: Price & availability

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

How much does it cost? $1,999.99 / £1,799.98 / AU$3,499.00
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

When you look at the best ultrawide monitors, the price of the LG Ultragear GX9 doesn’t seem out of place, though it’s still expensive. You can get a nice gaming laptop with an OLED panel or a powerful gaming desktop for the LG Ultragear GX9’s $1,999.99 / £1,799.98 / AU$3,499.00 asking price.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G9, which originally went for $2,199.99 / £1,599 / AU$3,399 and is now $400 cheaper, is a good comparison. It is a little bit older, hence the price drop, but it’s got a great OLED screen with sharp resolution, fast refresh rates/response times reaching up to 240Hz, and good color coverage. It’s also bigger than the Ultragear GX9 at 49 inches across.

However, like most ultrawide monitors, it peaks at a 5,120 x 1,440p resolution compared to the LG Ultragear GX9’s 5K2K or 5120 x 2160p resolution.

Value: 4 / 5

LG Ultragear GX9: Specs

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Screen size:

44.5-inch

Aspect ratio:

21:9

Resolution:

5120 x 2160

Brightness:

275 nits

Response time:

0.03ms (GTG)

Viewing angle:

178˚/178˚

Contrast ratio:

1,500,000:1

Color support:

98.5% sRGB

Inputs:

1x DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB-C (90W), 2x USB-A downstream

Weight:

30.9 lbs (14 kg)

LG Ultragear GX9: Design

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

The monitor is massive
Decent, if limited, ergonomics
Plenty of ports, including USB-C

The LG Ultragear GX9 is a massive gaming monitor. Its 44.5-inch monitor (measured corner-to-corner diagonally) results in a length of 39 inches and a height of 18 inches, not including the stand. This can be an overwhelming monitor to use.

Of course, it has a nice 800R curvature, which brings the far ends of the screen in so that, experientially, its outer reaches fill out the peripheral vision.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

It’s big enough that I have to dart my eyes to the edges to read specific information, like a health bar, which makes the size and curvature great for immersive experiences but not for esports-type gaming (I’ll get into the actual performance aspect below).

Since the monitor is so big, it does have somewhat limited ergonomics. While no specifics are listed, its biggest possible adjustments are a height adjustment of about 5 inches. If I had to guess, it swivels and tilts about 15 degrees in each direction. It’s not a lot, but more than enough for this kind of monitor.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Since this is such a big monitor, it has a large, strong, and stable stand with a wide base. There is cable management, though it’s basic, with a passthrough hole in the middle of the stand so all the cables go in one direction out the back and towards whatever they’re connected to.

Speaking of ports, the selection is pretty good. There are two HDMI 2.1 ports, so you could use this with a next-gen console or gaming computer, a single 1.4 DisplayPort, and one USB-C with 90 watts of power delivery for use with Ultrabooks, MacBooks, and the like.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

There are also two USB-A downstream ports for charging peripherals. Unfortunately, there's no KVM capability via those USB ports.

Lastly, there’s a single button in the center of the lower back for power and navigating the OSD menu.

Design: 4.5 / 5

LG Ultragear GX9: Features

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Game modes in OSD menu
Supports variable refresh rates
Has picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture, but no KVM

The monitor has a couple of cool features baked into the OSD menu worth knowing about beyond the usual, such as HDR and curvature. For instance, there’s a Game Mode icon in the OSD that brings up four presets with settings such as color temperatures, refresh rate max, and whether VRR, HDR, and DAS Mode (Dynamic Action Sync to minimize lag) are on.

Beyond the different modes, you can change the aspect ratio in the OSD menu to a narrower image for when you need all your gaming info in front of you, offsetting the potential esports-related issue I’ve mentioned with using such a large screen.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Not only is there support for HDR, but the LG Ultragear GX9 also comes with support for VRR (variable refresh rate), which synchronizes the frame rates of the monitor with the source to minimize screen tearing, stuttering, and the like.

Picture-by-picture and picture-in-picture are both available as well if you want to use two sources at the same time. Unfortunately, as I’ve previously mentioned, there’s no KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) system where you can use a keyboard and mouse plugged into the monitor to control whichever source you have pulled up.

Features: 4.5 / 5

LG Ultragear GX9: Performance

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Can handle any game, though some are not ideal for the aspect ratio
Very good contrast and colors, along with a 5K2K resolution
Good but not great audio

I've played a number of games on the LG Ultragear GX9, namely Monster Hunter Wilds, South of Midnight, Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Gotham Knights, and found the monitor to be everything it's advertised to be.

Really, the only limitation is when loading up a game that doesn’t support the ultrawide resolution, such as South of Midnight – this just means there are black bars on the sides instead of the game stretching edge to edge – or when a game isn't ideal for that ultrawide resolution.

However, as mentioned before, you can change the aspect ratio. If you don’t change it, and then open up something fast-paced where you need to keep an eye on that health bar, you’re going to be in trouble.

The OLED screen and HDR support provide very good contrast – specifically DisplayHDR TRUE BLACK 400 – enabling me to see in the shadows in certain games. And the colors look more vibrant because of it. It also helps that the LG Ultragear GX9 has a rated 1500000:1 contrast ratio and 98.5% DCI-P3 color coverage.

Between the 165Hz refresh rate, 0.03ms response time, and VRR support, the action is smooth no matter how fast. And the 5K2K resolution (5120 x 2160p) is sharper than most of the competition, as most ultrawide monitors I’ve come across use a 5120 x 1440p resolution.

Since this monitor is so large, I appreciate the fact that it comes with built-in speakers. And while they’re not as good as the best computer speakers, discounting the budget options, they sound pretty decent. You don’t get any real low-end or rumble, but the sound is full and packs a good punch otherwise.

Performance: 4.5 / 5

Should I buy the LG Ultragear GX9?LG Ultragear GX9 scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

The LG Ultragear GX9 is very pricey. However, considering what it is and what it does, the price is more than justified.

4 / 5

Design

Yes, it’s massive, but it has decent if limited ergonomics and a good selection of ports.

4.5 / 5

Features

Variable refresh rates, picture by / in picture, and more make this fairly feature-rich, even if it doesn’t have KVM.

4.5 / 5

Performance

It’s gorgeous, immersive (sometimes a little too much), and has great contrast and colors.

4.5 / 5

Average rating

The good news is that it’s massive. The bad news is that it’s massive. Either way, you have to decide if it’s worth the price.

4.38 / 5

Buy the LG Ultragear GX9 if…

You want an immersive gaming experience
The LG Ultragear GX9 is so massive that it will cover your peripheral vision, transporting you into any game that can take advantage of the ultrawide screen real estate.

You want a great-looking screen
Not only is it OLED, but it has great contrast, helped by the HDR, as well as strong color coverage. Last but not least, it has 5K2K resolution – a higher resolution than what I usually see in the ultrawide monitor space.

You want a gaming monitor with USB-C
There are a lot of good gaming monitors out there. However, USB-C with power delivery is still not standard. So, if you need that to plug in a MacBook when not gaming, it's available here.

Don’t buy it if…

You’re turned off by the price
Whether it’s out of your budget or dropping 2K on a gaming monitor puts a pit in your stomach, there are much cheaper gaming monitors that still offer a good gaming experience.

You don’t want to be overwhelmed
Even if the price doesn’t make you flinch, the sheer size of the monitor could be overwhelming for some, especially if you like playing esports and want a screen where you can see it all without having to constantly move your eyes.

Also Consider

If my LG Ultragear GX9 review has you considering other options, here are two more monitors to consider...

Samsung Odyssey OLED G9
The Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 is a little older, so its price is now much lower than the LG Ultragear GX9 while offering an even wider 49-inch size. The resolution is lower at 5120 x 1440p, but it has a lot of the same features, including the same level of HDR.

Read our full Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 review

MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED
The MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED might be a mouthful to say, but it’s a great ultrawide monitor. Again, it has that lower ultrawide 1440p resolution, but also an almost-as-fast 144Hz refresh rate, and the same HDR and color coverage, plus it goes for about half the price.

Read our full MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED review

How I tested the LG Ultragear GX9

Used regularly for a couple of weeks
Tested with various games and media
Tried out all the features

I used the LG Ultragear GX9 Gaming Monitor regularly for a couple of weeks. I tested it with various games and media, especially Monster Hunter Wilds, South of Midnight, Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Gotham Knights, to see how it would fare. I also played around with the OSD menu, features, and ergonomics.

The LG Ultragear GX9 Gaming Monitor is clearly meant for gamers who want an immersive experience, specifically those who like their games to feel more cinematic, and it does that job well. Of course, it comes with a price tag to match.

I’ve tested a lot of tech gear over the years, from laptops to keyboards and speakers, so I can use my expertise towards giving an honest and fair opinion, not to mention a critical eye, to any product I test.

First reviewed August 2025

Categories: Reviews

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i has just about everything you'd want in a Windows laptop, but falls short of perfection

Tue, 08/26/2025 - 17:50

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Two-minute review

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i may face some stiff competition from the usual excellent offerings from Apple, Dell, and the like, but it’s more than up to the challenge. In fact, I believe it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the best Ultrabooks of this generation.

It’s very slim and portable, helped by the fact that the webcam is hidden under the display in a unique and space-saving measure. And its performance is snappy and responsive, comparing well to the best laptops of this type (don’t expect it to match the power of a gaming laptop, of course). Just as important, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i is a gorgeous-looking laptop with an equally gorgeous-looking OLED display.

Really, there are only two drawbacks. The first is price. It’s not anywhere near a budget offering, though that's to be expected of this type of laptop, not to mention that an OLED display always brings a price bump.

The other issue is a little more concerning. The port selection is worse than on an Apple MacBook Air, which is saying something, as that’s already very minimal. More specifically, there’s no audio jack, so hopefully, you have a good pair of Bluetooth earbuds on hand.

However, that’s a pretty short list of things to be concerned about, and one of them (price) is to be expected with a nice Ultrabook. All in all, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i is a wonderful laptop that will make a solid upgrade for anyone looking for an attractive, portable, and powerful Ultrabook.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Price & availability

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

How much does it cost? Starting at $1,759.99 / £1,800.00 / AU$3,829.00
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The 10th-generation model of the Yoga Slim 9i comes in two configurations, with both available in the US, UK, and Australia. And both configurations are very similar.

The more basic configuration goes for $1,759.99 / £1,800 / AU$3,829 and comes with an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V CPU and 16GB of RAM. The more robust configuration with Intel Core Ultra 7 258V and 32GB of RAM costs a nominally higher price tag of $1,899.99 / £1,900 / AU$4,179. There’s very little difference in performance between the CPUs – it’s just that the 258v supports 32GB of RAM. Essentially, the price difference comes down to whether you want 16 or 32GB of RAM. Everything else is the same, from the color options to the screen and the storage capacity.

The Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4) makes for an easy comparison. Not just because they have a similar-sized screen, though the Yoga Slim 9i has better resolution, but because they have similar price points. This 14-incher from Apple starts at $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,499, but that gets you a 512GB SSD. If you want the same amount of storage (1TB), the price goes up to $1,799 / £1,999 / AU$3,299, which is a little more than the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i. Of course, you’ll probably gravitate towards one over the other, mostly depending on whether you want macOS or Windows.

The Dell XPS 13 offers an interesting comparison, too. It comes in at a similar price – $1,999.99 / £2,049 / AU$3,998.50 – if you opt for a touchscreen like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i has, but the screen is smaller. And while the Dell XPS 13 does have an OLED display, it’s at a lower, though still pretty good, 2880 x 1800p resolution. Both laptops have limited ports, but both have plenty of power.

However, the Dell XPS 13 has an interesting design with its edgeless keyboard (meaning it stretches edge to edge) and a touchpad that just uses haptic feedback and doesn’t have a defined physical boundary. This is one of those love-it-or-hate-it design choices and will probably be a deciding factor for most.

Price: 4 / 5

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Specs

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Of the two available configurations, there’s very little difference. You basically get to choose between two almost identical CPUs, the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V and the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, which is about 0.5% better.

However, if you select the ever-so-slightly better CPU, you get 32GB of RAM instead of 16GB, since that CPU supports the higher amount of RAM.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i Specs

Base configuration

Review / Max configuration

Price:

$1,819.99 at Lenovo.com / £1,830 at Lenovo.com / AU$3,849 at Lenovo.com

$1,979.99 at Lenovo.com / £1,900.00 at Lenovo.com / AU$3,909.76 at Lenovo.com

CPU:

Intel Core Ultra 7 256V

Intel Core Ultra 7 258V

Graphics:

Intel graphics

Intel Arc graphics

RAM:

16GB LPDDR5X

32GB LPDDR5X

Screen:

14" WQUXGA (3840 x 2400), OLED, Glare, Touch, HDR 600 True Black, 100%DCI-P3, 400 nits, 120Hz, Glass, Camera Under Display

Storage:

1TB SSD

Ports:

2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4

Wireless:

Wi-Fi 7 2x2 BE 320MHz & Bluetooth 5.4

Camera:

32MP camera-under-display with e-privacy shutter

Weight:

Starting at 1.25kg / 2.76lbs

Dimensions:

312.93mm x 203.5mm x as thin as 14.55mm / 12.32 x 8.01 x as thin as 0.57 inches

Outside of the internal upgrades to CPU and RAM, there are no other upgrades. Both configurations come in one color, Tidal Teal, which is admittedly beautiful.

And there’s just the one display available. Thankfully, it’s also very nice with high-resolution and responsive touchscreen capabilities.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Design

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Attractive and slim
Gorgeous and impressive display
Limited ports, including a lack of an audio jack

Available in Tidal Teal, a shimmery blue with hints of green, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i is a beautiful laptop even before opening it up. It’s slim and light, even for a laptop of this size, and is about as portable as it gets.

In terms of form factor, the one unusual thing I noticed is that there is a raised bar near the top of the lid. This houses the 32-megapixel webcam that’s hidden under the display and pops up near the top-middle of the screen when in use. Though there’s no physical shutter for the webcam, it does have an effective e-privacy toggle next to the right USB-C port.

Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

It’s also worth noting that, despite having a touchscreen, this is not a 2-in-1, so don’t expect to be able to fold it to use as a tablet. That said, the touchscreen is very responsive and very sensitive, enough so that I’ve accidentally closed my browser multiple times when lightly touching the corner of the screen without thinking.

The screen is pretty remarkable beyond its touch capabilities. This 14-inch OLED panel has a 4K or 3840 x 2400 resolution (that’s a 16:10 aspect ratio) with a 120Hz refresh rate, along with 100% sRGB and DCI-P3 color coverage, which is ideal for photo editing. It also has a Vesa Certified DisplayHDR True Black 600 rating. It even supports Dolby Vision. You get the idea – the display is pretty spectacular.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

The keyboard is a bit shallow, so it's not the most comfortable one I’ve used, but that’s to be expected with a laptop this slim. It’s otherwise accurate and responsive, and I had no trouble pounding out a couple of articles on it.

The touchpad is just as snappy and accurate. While a lot of newer laptops seem to increase the size of the touchpad, that’s not the case here. If you want a really big touchpad, you’re not going to get it here.

Finally, the port selection is very, very minimal. There are just two USB-C ports, one on each side. They’re both Thunderbolt 4, so there’s plenty of throughput if you want to use a dongle. Still, it’s very limited. What I’m most upset about is the fact that Lenovo has done away with any kind of audio jack. As ubiquitous as wireless earbuds are, some of us still use wired headphones from time to time.

Design: 4.5 / 5

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Performance

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Snappy, responsive performance
Copilot+
Great audio quality with spatial audio

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i is quite powerful. It can handle day-to-day work easily. Opening, scrolling, clicking links, typing, photo editing: all the sorts of things most people want from an Ultrabook. For example, I was able to open 20 browser windows very quickly, just by pressing the Plus sign in Microsoft Edge.

Each window, which opens the MSN homepage filled with different news stories and information, loaded up almost immediately. Of course, I reviewed the 32GB configuration, but the CPU and RAM still do quite a bit of heavy lifting.

Even the camera behind the screen pops up promptly. Speaking of which, the webcam performs smoothly and looks good, though it does struggle with noise in low light.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i CPU / System Benchmarks

Benchmark

Score

Geekbench 6.4 Single Core

2,755

Geekbench 6.4 Single Core

11,186

Crossmark Overall

1,689

Crossmark Productivity

1,638

Crossmark Creativity

1,934

Crossmark Responsiveness

1,234

25GB File Copy Transfer Rate (MB/s)

1,032.87

Now, it’s not a gaming laptop, but I was able to run some less demanding or older games without any trouble, like Sable and Alan Wake. For those games, the action was crisp, clear, and smooth. That gorgeous OLED screen really helps. Still, there were some games I tried to run that wouldn’t even open.

As this is a newer laptop, it comes with Copilot+. Using the app is quick and responsive, though I still don’t find it to be a game-changer in my computing experience.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i GPU / Gaming Benchmarks

Benchmark

Score

3DMark Fire Strike

9,107

3DMark Time Spy

4,436

3DMark Speed Way

6,094

3DMark Steel Nomad

823

3DMark Night Raid

35,326

Borderlands 3 (Badass, 1080p)

27fps

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Highest, 1080p)

46fps

Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (Max impact, 1080p)

67fps

Total War: Warhammer III (Ultra, 1080p)

37fps

I’ve rarely been impressed by the audio from a laptop. I was when I reviewed the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i, and I am here. That’s probably because there are more than two speakers in the Lenovo Yoga Slom 9i. Specifically, there are two 2-watt tweeters and two 3-watt woofers. There’s also some virtual spatial audio since the laptop supports Dolby Atmos.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Battery life

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Decent if disappointing battery life
Doesn’t seem to do fast charging

Laptops with OLED displays aren’t always the most efficient, so the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i’s just under 10 hours of battery life in the PCMark 10 Battery benchmark is not surprising, though it is a bit disappointing. It did manage a better showing in our Web Surfing test, where it managed to get just over 11 hours of battery life.

While not the best results we've seen, this isn't terrible battery life. However, we’re seeing a few laptops, particularly ones that this one competes with, hitting up to double those numbers. To be fair, I turned off the laptop’s battery-saver feature, which makes the laptop run more efficiently when the battery is low, so you might manage to squeeze more juice from the battery depending on the settings.

On the bright side, it was very good at maintaining battery life when the lid was closed. I’ve used and tested some laptops where the battery would continue to run down when idling, and that’s not an issue here.

Battery life: 3 / 5

Should you buy the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i?Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i scorecard

I’ve just tested a multi-talented air purifying table – turns out, it can do much more than hold your keys

Tue, 08/26/2025 - 16:00

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table: two-minute review

The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table integrates an air purifier with a tabletop, a wireless Qi charger, a colored ambient light, and a fragrance diffuser.

It has a list price of $269.99 / £299.99, and can be purchased from SwitchBot and Amazon; however, there appear to be very regular discounts on the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table, and at the time of writing, it’s on offer for $175.50 / £180.

Replaceable filters cost $39.99 / £44.99, and will need to be replaced roughly every 6-12 months, depending on use, so it’s important to factor this extra cost in.

(Image credit: Future)

Setting up the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table was fairly simple but a little fiddly, on account of the little electrical connector I needed to plug in before putting the tabletop in place.

It’s a good height for having next to the couch or bedside, and the built-in wireless charger proves particularly useful in these cases. The onboard controls are a little tricky to see due to the tabletop, but I found myself using the SwitchBot app to control the purifier most of the time.

The simple-to-use companion app was pleasingly responsive when operating the air purifier and offers air quality data, scheduling, and a timer, which are all good features to have.

(Image credit: Future)

During testing, the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table quickly detected and cleared dry shampoo contamination. While it didn't immediately remove fragrance, it was cleared fairly quickly once I intervened and increased the fan speed myself.

It operates quietly in sleep mode, and is only as loud as light traffic when on top speed. Pet Mode didn’t operate as I’d expected, but the overall low volume of the purifier meant that it didn't bother my cats. I also found the fragrance diffuser to be efficient in lightly fragrancing the room after I’d applied drops of fragrance oil to the pop-out pad.

Overall, this is a good price for a multi-talented and Matter-compatible air purifier with an efficient companion app. If you’d like to explore other air purifiers we recommend, I suggest taking a look at our guide to the best air purifiers.

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: price & availability

List price: $269.99 / £299.99
Available now in the US and UK

The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table is available to purchase from the official SwitchBot website and Amazon, and has a list price of $269.99 / £299.99.

The list price sounds pretty high considering the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table only detects and reacts to PM2.5; however, there appear to be regular discounts on offer on the SwitchBot site and at Amazon, so it’s common to find it available at a lower price. For instance, at the time of writing, the Air Purifier table has 35% off in the US, and 40% off in the UK at SwitchBot, knocking a considerable $94.50 / £120 off the list price, and lowering the cost to $175.50 / £180.

(Image credit: Future)

There’s a cheaper model available too, the SwitchBot Air Purifier, which includes most of the features mentioned in the following review, just without the tabletop and wireless charging. This has a list price of $219.99 / £239.99 but, as with the Air Purifier table, this price is often discounted, and it’s listed at $119.99 / £139.99 at the time of writing.

Both models use the SwitchBot Air Purifier Filter, which has a list price of $39.99 / £44.99. As with all HEPA filters, this will need to be replaced on occasion, with SwitchBot advising a lifespan of 6-12 months depending on usage and air quality, so it’s important to factor in this regular cost.

Taking into account the convenience and additional features of the Air Purifier Table, and that it’s very regularly available for less than its official list price, I would say that you’re getting good value for money here.

Value score: 4 out of 5

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: specs

Type

Air purifier table

Fan speeds

Timer

Yes

CADR (Clean air delivery rate)

236CFM

Filter

Pre filter, HEPA and activated carbon

Particle sizes detected

PM2.5

Dimensions

11.4 x 11.4 x 16.5 inches / 290 x 290 x 420mm

Weight

10.7lb / 4.9kg

Control

Onboard power buttons, app, and voice control

Additional modes

Auto, Sleep, Pet

Extra features

Fragrance diffuser, Light sensor, Wireless charging, Matter

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: design and features

4-in-1 air purifier, wireless charger, fragrance diffuser, and ambient light
Simple to set up, but a little fiddly
Detects and reacts to PM2.5 contamination

It feels like they were having a “yes” day in the SwitchBot office when they came up with the concept of the Air Purifier Table, like every idea thrown out was met with an enthusiastic nod. But somehow they found a way to make it work.

The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table consists of an air purifier with a tabletop, as one might expect, but it also boasts a wireless Qi charger, a colored ambient light, and a fragrance diffuser. It made a useful little side table next to my couch, and the built-in Qi wireless charger proved handy for keeping my iPhone or Motorola Moto Buds+ earbuds topped up, which was a nice bonus feature.

Does an air purifier really need all these things? Perhaps not, but I appreciated the thought, and found these extra features useful, so you may do, too.

(Image credit: Future)

The air purifier is capable of detecting and reacting to PM2.5 (particle matter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller), but it is also capable of filtering VOCs and odors, thanks to the HEPA and activated carbon filter. This filter sits within the base of the machine, behind a washable pre-filter, both of which can be easily accessed by removing the outer panel.

Setting up the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table was a little fiddly, as there are two parts of a little electrical connector between the purifier and the table top that need to be connected together. Once this was done, it was a case of rotating the table top until it clicked into place. There were four little screws that were meant to be screwed into the purifier underneath the tabletop for extra reinforcement, but this seemed basically impossible, even with my tiny hands, so I had to leave them.

(Image credit: Future)

There are a number of controls on the top edge of the purifier, underneath the tabletop, to use when you’re within reaching distance, or you can use the companion app to control the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table. The onboard controls include a button to change between the air purifier’s three modes: Auto, Pet, and Sleep, a button to cycle through the three fan speeds, a child lock, and a timer.

The controls were a bit tricky to reach, as they’re somewhat hidden underneath the tabletop. It wasn’t easy to change the settings unless I was sitting down and had a better view, although this wasn’t such a problem once I’d used them for a while, and it made more sense to use the app to adjust the settings, anyway.

Design score: 4 out of 5

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: app

Responsive and simple to use
Can set schedules and timers
Shows current and historical air quality data

The SwitchBot companion app is simple to use and houses a good range of features and air quality data insights for the price of the appliance. It proved very responsive over the weeks I used it, making it easy to switch modes or power on or off.

It clearly displays the air quality reading on the dashboard, using ratings from very good to bad, along with a numerical reference that relates to the number of micrograms of PM2.5 per meter cubed.

The app also provides historical data in graphs spanning either the last 24 hours or 30 days. This meant I could view which hour any spikes in air contamination occurred over the last day, and see what the minimum and maximum readings were each day over the last month. It would have been nice to have access to a 24-hour graph for previous days of the month, but this is only a small niggle, really.

(Image credit: SwitchBot / Future)

I could also set schedules within the app, either as a one-off occurrence or repeating on particular days and times. There’s a timer function, too, which offers both hours and minutes, up to 12 hours, so I could leave it running for exactly 11 hours and 26 minutes, if I really wanted to.

Finally, the care and maintenance section told me how many hours of life were remaining on the filter, and how many hours I’d been using it for. At this moment, it’s telling me that I’ve used it for 184 hours, and I’ve got 4,136 hours left. This section also advises that the pre-filter should be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner every two to four weeks, which is all handy info to know.

App score: 4.5 out of 5

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: performance

Quick contaminant detection and clearing
The noise didn’t disturb my rescue cats
Subtly fragranced the air

The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table was pleasingly responsive when I tested it by spraying dry shampoo from roughly two feet away. It took just a few seconds to detect the contamination, with the PM2.5 reading increasing to 619 micrograms per meter cubed in thirty seconds.

In this time, the fan speed increased in order to tackle the detected contamination, and took a further thirty seconds to return the air level to “good”, and back to “very good” in less than two minutes from the initial detection.

As it tackled the contamination so quickly, and therefore returned to its lowest setting, it didn’t do much to tackle the lingering fragrance of the dry shampoo in this time, though this is standard for air purifiers incapable of reading the ambient levels of VOCs in the air. This doesn’t mean that it doesn’t capture VOCs, however, as the HEPA and carbon filter is capable of doing so, but it needs to be manually set back to a higher fan speed to do so efficiently. I upped the fan speed to level two, and could no longer detect the fragrance after about fifteen minutes.

(Image credit: Future)

On the subject of scents, the built-in fragrance diffuser worked better than I was expecting. I’ve encountered this feature before with my beloved GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite, though it was one of the rare sources of disappointment, as it wasn’t very efficient. Things were a bit more positive when it came to the diffuser in the SwitchBot, however; I could detect a good amount of the fragrance from the oils I’d placed on the pad.

One important thing to note regarding fragrance or essential oils and pets is to please make sure you do your research on whether any oils you plan to use are safe, as some can prove toxic to our furry friends.

The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table was very quiet when in sleep mode, measuring just 26dB from two feet away, which is quieter than a whisper. It was therefore very easy to sleep next to, and so I’d have no concerns using the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table as a nightstand.

(Image credit: Future)

Pet Mode worked a little differently than I expected. On the SwitchBot site, Pet Mode is described as using a softer air supply to prevent disturbing pets. In practice, I found that enabling it just seemed to bump the fan speed up to two, regardless of the air quality, which was already good. Nonetheless, neither of my rescue kitties seemed bothered by the 49dB volume, and were happy to come up and have fusses right next to it.

At its top fan speed, the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table gave a reading of 55dB, making it a little louder than the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max, but seeing as this is still only as loud as light traffic, it’s perfectly acceptable.

Overall, the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table is an efficient air purifier for the price, and a handy little side table and phone charger.

Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Should I buy the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table?

Section

Notes

Score

Value for money

Provided you purchase it at what appears to be a regularly discounted rate, you’re getting a good little air purifier and some fun additional features for the price.

4/5

Design & Features

There’s a lot packed into this little table, thanks to its air purifying, charging, and fragrance diffusing features. The setup was a little fiddly in places, but easy enough overall.

4/5

App

The companion app was simple to use and responsive. It gave some insights into any spikes in contamination throughout the day, plus min and max readings over the past thirty days.

4.5/5

Performance

The air purifier reacted to and tackled contamination quickly during testing, and dealt with the odor left over, once I’d manually upped the fan speed.

4.5/5

Buy it if...

You want a smart purifier
Having the SwitchBot app made it really easy to control and schedule the air purification, and it proved responsive and informative during testing.

You’ll make use of the extra features
If you happen to need a new side table or nightstand with built-in wireless charging, then the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table is a great way to feed two birds with one scone.

You want a purifier with auto-detection
It’s always useful to have an air purifier that can be left to its own devices, and the automatic detection and reactivity to PM2.5 means the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table will jump into action on its own accord.

Don't buy it if...

You want VOC detection
Unsurprisingly, considering its price point, the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table doesn’t detect or react to VOC contamination. If you’re looking for something that does, and you have a little more to spend, I highly recommend checking out the Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09 instead.

You just want an air purifier
If you’re not bothered about having an extra side table or a wireless charger, then you’re probably better off opting for the standard SwitchBot Air Purifier and saving some money.

You want it to deal with odors unaided
As it only detects and reacts to PM2.5 contamination and deals with it quickly, the fan isn’t running high enough for long enough to tackle odors. Therefore, manual intervention is required by turning up the fan speed until the odor is gone.

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: Also consider

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table

Blueair Blue Pure 411i Max / Blue Max 3250i

GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite

Price

$269.99 / £299.99

$169.99 / £169

$49.99 / £59.99

Fan speeds

Modes

Auto, Sleep, Pet

Auto, night mode

Sleep, Custom

Additional features

Fragrance diffuser, Light sensor, Wireless charging

Washable fabric pre-filter

Aromatherapy

Filter

Pre-filter, HEPA and activated carbon

HEPA and activated carbon

3-in-1 HEPA filter

App support

Yes

Dimensions

11.4 x 11.4 x 16.5 inches / 290 x 290 x 420mm

18.9 x 10.6 x 10.6 inches / 481 x 269 x 269 mm

6.2 x 6.2 x 10.75 inches / 158 x 158 x 273mm

Weight

10.7lb / 4.9kg

7.5 lbs / 3.4 kg

2.4lb / 1.1kg

Blueair Blue Pure 411i Max / Blue Max 3250i
This delightfully lightweight air purifier offers simpler on-board controls, with one touch button to cycle through the three fan speeds, and auto and night modes. There’s a handy companion app that allows for easy control, along with air quality data based on the ambient levels of PM2.5. BlueAir has cleverly made the pre-filter part of the aesthetic, opting for a washable fabric covering, making this air purifier more pleasing to the eye. If you’d like to find out more, check out my full Blueair Blue Pure 411i Max / Blue Max 3250i review.

GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite
This is another favorite of mine, and makes for a great desktop option. Similar to the BlueAir above, it’s simple to control with a touch button to cycle through the fan speeds and modes. One such mode is the custom mode, which was great, as it allowed me to run a customized routine. The Smart Air Purifier Lite can be controlled via the fantastic Govee Home companion app and voice control, too. For more information, why not take a look at my full GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite review?

How I tested the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table

I tested the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table for a few weeks
I explored the different modes and features
I tested its detection and reaction speeds

I passively tested the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table by having it next to my couch for a few weeks. I used it as a side table, charged my iPhone and earbuds, and made use of the fragrance diffuser and ambient lighting.

I tested out all of the different modes, like Sleep mode when I napped on the sofa, and Pet mode when my rescue cats were about. I explored the app and made use of the various features.

I tested how fast the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table would react to and clear contamination by spraying dry shampoo around two feet away. I also monitored the readings on the app during this time.

First reviewed: August 2025
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Categories: Reviews

Domain.com review

Tue, 08/26/2025 - 15:47

Get 25% off EVERYTHING at Domain.com
Want to buy a domain name? Kickstart an online empire? Become a self-made millionaire with a web-based business? Then fill your cart at Domain.com and get 25% off your order using the discount code TECHRADAR. T&C apply, see further down the page.View Deal

Founded in 1998, Florida-based Domain.com is a web hosting provider and domain registrar who claims to power 1.2 million websites across the globe.

The company is now owned by Newfold Digital (previously known as Endurance International Group), the power behind other hosting names like Bluehost, HostGator and iPage. As of August 2025 the site is closed and has merged with Network Solutions.

Want to try Domain.com? Check out the website here

What types of hosting did Domain.com offer?

Domain.com offered easy-to-use and low cost shared hosting plans in various forms: WordPress hosting, a website builder, an online store builder, and general-purpose do-everything shared hosting plans to cover everything else.

The company didn't offer VPS hosting, dedicated server hosting, or any more advanced hosting plans.

(Image credit: Domain.com)Domain.com shared hosting (No longer available)

Domain.com's shared hosting range is refreshingly simple. There are only three plans, all with the same core features: free domain, free SSL, unlimited bandwidth, 1-click WordPress install and a free website builder. Upgrading only adds more resources, so there are no extra features to weigh up. Prices start at $3.75 a month on the annual plan, $4.99 on renewal, but there's no complex discounting scheme if you sign up for longer. Choose a one, two or three-year contract, it's still $3.75 a month.

We signed up, but quickly ran into problems. Domain.com doesn't use any of our favorite hosting management platforms (cPanel for its all-round tools, Softaculous to install and manage WordPress and other apps.) We found its replacements have fewer options and aren't always organized logically, often leaving us struggling to find key functions.

The 1-click installer is especially disappointing. It only covers WordPress, has the bare minimum of configuration options, includes few management tools, and has occasionally failed to install WordPress in the past (though not during this review.)

The plans have some feature gaps. In particular, there are no backups with the cheaper plans (adding them to our test account would cost an extra $2.13 a month.) Even when we got our site online, performance was below average (more on that, later.)

If you're running a basic site, with few visitors, and long-term prices are your top priority, then Domain.com might, just about, be acceptable. Although many providers have lower prices in the first term, they tend to jump on renewal, and Domain.com's 'from $4.99' renewal price is very low.

Unfortunately, opting for Domain.com means you'll pay in other ways, with below-par speeds, few features and poor management tools.

Hostinger's shared plans start a little cheaper at $2.99 a month on the annual, two or four your plans, although they're more expensive after that $6.99 to $8.99. Backups are still limited on the cheapest plans (weekly rather than daily), but performance is good, there's an excellent control panel and 1-click installer, useful WordPress extras, six data centers, and more.

The WordPress plans come with preinstalled plugins and themes (Image credit: Domain.com)Domain.com WordPress hosting (No longer available)

WordPress is the world's favorite website creation platform, a hugely configurable tool which can handle everything from a single page personal site to a product-packed international web store.

Domain.com's shared hosting supports installing WordPress, perhaps enough if you just want to explore what it can do. But if you've something more serious in mind, Domain.com's WP range extends the range with a handful of extra features.

The WP Starter plan is priced from $3.75 a month, just like the shared hosting, but adds unlimited storage, a customized control panel and pre-installed themes and plugins. They're small improvements, but not worth very much. You probably don't need a lot of storage (simple WordPress sites are often barely 1GB in size), and even newcomers can find plenty of quality themes and plugins for themselves.

The WP Essential plan (priced from $6.95 a month) includes more valuable extras, including Sitelock's malware scanning and removal service, and a direct phone line 'to a team of support agents who are specially-trained in all things WP Essential.'

Malware scanning is useful (hacked WordPress sites are a well-known web danger), and the plans are fair value, but they just don't have enough WordPress-related functionality to justify your time. Many hosting providers offer malware scanning as a paid extra, and you could easily buy a better shared hosting package elsewhere and add malware scanning yourself.

Domain.com does have one unusual extra in its WP Live support service. Priced from $29.95 to $149.95 a month, this goes beyond troubleshooting problems to giving advice on all kinds of design and optimization issues: social media strategies, creating an online store, making sure your site works well on mobile devices, more.

This could be useful in some situations. If you're new to WordPress, just starting your site, spending a one-off $149.95 for a month of design advice could save you a lot of time, and produce a better site. But in reality, you're likely to be better off choosing a more capable WordPress plan with additional WordPress-related features, faster hosting underneath, and the option to upgrade to VPS hosting if your site grows.

Alternatives include Hostinger's shared package, very cheap but with handy WordPress extras. Bluehost has a wide range of plans, with some strong business features at the top of the range. And if you're not quite sure what you need, IONOS' has WordPress options ranging from the impossibly cheap ($0.50 a month for year one, $8 on renewal) to supremely powerful ($120 a month for agencies and developers).

The website builder includes a powerful web store (Image credit: Domain.com)Does Domain.com have a website builder? (No longer available)

If you're looking for the easiest and quickest route to create a web presence, then a website builder is often the best choice. Most builders come with or can create starting sites in minutes, and adding elements to pages (text, images, videos forms) is as easy as dragging and dropping.

Domain.com has three website builder plans, ranging from $1.99 a month (billed monthly) for a limited product which supports a maximum of six pages, to a $12.99 a month ecommerce plan with product listings, inventory tracking, integrated shipping, order and tax management, and more.

The builder is certainly easy to use. No need to browse through templates to find something that appeals: just answer a few questions on yourself, your site and its goals, and it creates a starter site for you right away.

There's a reasonable set of features, too. All plans include free SSL, unlimited storage, social media sharing, blogs, contact forms, easy integration with an existing Facebook page, and more.

The plans are fair value, and the $1.99 plan in particular could be a smart low-cost solution for very simple sites.

As with Domain.com's WordPress plans, though, the lack of VPS or dedicated support is a problem for more demanding projects, such as a web store. If your site outgrows Domain.com's basic shared hosting infrastructure, you can't upgrade to anything better, and could be forced to move somewhere else.

Wix is a capable website builder with many more features and a far wider range of plans. Casual users can build and host a website for free, and an array of other plans covers everyone from personal users to (potentially) big international corporations.

Squarespace is a powerful alternative with great-looking templates and professional business and e-commerce plans. Or if it's value you're after, Bluehost has plans from $2.95 a month, while the Hostinger-powered Zyro has an 'e-commerce essentials' plan from an initial $3.99 a month.

(Image credit: Domain.com)How fast is Domain.com?

Reliability is a must-have for any serious website. If your site is regularly broken, or down entirely, it hurts your reputation and may drive users away.

We check reliability by using Uptime.com to access a test site every five minutes over a two week period. We expect hosts to show 100% uptime with this short a test, but Domain.com managed a disappointing 99.11%. That puts it last in our last 15 tests (11 hosts hit 100% uptime, even the next-to-last host managed 99.63%.)

Uptime also records the response time of each test web server. Domain.com came bottom of the list here, too, with an average response time of 2.97 seconds (nine of our last 15 averaged less than 0.5 seconds.)

(Image credit: GTMetrix)

We measure hosting performance by using a tool called GTmetrix to access a test WordPress site and calculate how long it takes to display the main content of a page (a figure technically called Largest Contentful Paint, or LCP). The lower the LCP, the faster and more responsive your site appears, and the happier your visitors will be.

Domain.com's LCP was relatively disappointing at 1.5 seconds, far slower than providers such as Bluehost (0.8 seconds), GoDaddy (0.7 seconds) and Hostinger (0.6 seconds.) Although 1.5 seconds is still acceptable, keep in mind that's based on launching our very simple template site. If yours has any significant content or features then it could be much slower.

(Image credit: k61)

Finally, we use k6 https://k6.io to measure website performance when it has many visitors loading pages at the same time. Our Domain.com site handled an average 22.67 requests per second, but with a price. Response times became even longer and more unreliable as the site load increased, and the overall test response time was a lengthy 1.591 seconds. Most providers were at least a second faster, and Hostinger, HostGator, InMotion Hosting and Bluehost managed response times of around 100ms or less.

Domain.com's web control panel is basic (Image credit: Domain.com)How easy is Domain.com to use?

Buying a Domain.com plan is easier than usual. There are generally only a few plans, and the site only displays the bare minimum features for each. Pricing is clear and there are no misleading discounts to catch you out (a '$4.99' starter price which leaps to $14.99 after a year, say).

Managing your plan isn't as straightforward. Domain.com doesn't use standard tools such as cPanel or Softaculous, opting for its own custom control panels, instead. We found them relatively basic, with fewer features. These don't seem as intuitive or well organized as more standard control panels, either, and we spent longer than expected trying to carry out some tasks.

Use the control panels for a while and these initial impressions won't matter as much, because you'll learn where everything is. But if you're looking for the most straightforward shared hosting, we'd generally recommend choosing a host which offers quality tools such as cPanel or Softaculous.

Alternatively, there are some hosts who do produce very capable control panels of their own. Hostinger's hPanel is a great example, and it's available in the company's budget shared hosting range (from $1.99 a month).

(Image credit: Domain.com)What is Domain.com's support like?

Domain.com offers 24/7 live chat support and a web knowledgebase. There's no ticket support, though, and the company no longer offers telephone support. That can become a problem if you've a long-term issue, as you'll have to explain the situation from the beginning whenever you talk to an agent.

The web knowledgebase has plenty of useful content, and its search engine does a good job of displaying the most relevant articles at the top. We noticed that some content appeared to be cut-and-pasted from iPage, (both iPage and Domain.com are owned by Newfold Digital), and no-one had remembered to replace the 'iPage.com' references with 'Domain.com.' That looks a little clumsy, but as iPage and Domain.com use the same technology, the articles should hopefully apply to both hosts.

We opened several test live chat sessions, and in every case an agent appeared to respond in under a minute. The initial responses are largely automated, and appeared more or less identically for every test question, but typically we still had an initial reply to our issue within three to four minutes.

The quality of responses varied depending on the issue, with agents performing noticeably less well on more complex or unusual problems (how to install WordPress on a subdomain, and the SSL consequences of that.) But when it came to common issues which you're far more likely to have, the agents quickly identified each problem and pointed us to the best solution.

Domain.com has very few plans (Image credit: Domain.com)Final verdict

Domain.com's low long-term prices are appealing, and if cost is your top priority, your site is basic and you're not that bothered about power or performance, it might - just about - do the job. But if you're managing any more serious project, you'll find faster, more reliable and powerful hosting available elsewhere for only a little extra cash.

Domain.com FAQsWhy have you not completely removed this review?

Domain.com only recently closed. Some readers might want to read back over a review to compare what hosting was like at domain.com and compare it to Network Solutions.

What payment types does Domain.com support?

Domain.com accepts payment via card and PayPal.

Does Domain.com offer refunds?

Domain.com has a 30-day money-back guarantee covering hosting, but not domain registration, setup fees, or the cost of any additional services.

The small print warns that all first-time hosting accounts are eligible. If you've been a customer before, and signed up again, you won't be able to claim a refund.

(Image credit: Domain.com)Does Domain.com have an uptime guarantee?

The Domain.com states in several places that some hosting plans have a 99.99% uptime guarantee, which translates to a downtime of just four minutes and 23 seconds a month. Sounds like good news, especially as most hosting packages only offer 99.9% uptime, or 43 minutes and 50 seconds a month.

Unfortunately, we can't find anything on the Domain.com website which explained anything about the policy: what counted as downtime, what didn't, when you might start being compensated for problems, and you might get. We asked support but our agent couldn't tell us, either.

Maybe the company has the tech to hit that target, maybe it doesn't, but with no clear definition of what 'downtime' means, it's not a meaningful guarantee. We'd recommend you ignore it until Domain.com adds some relevant details to its terms and conditions.

Where are Domain.com's data centers?

The Domain.com website doesn't have any significant information on the company's data centers, and we weren't offered a choice of locations when we signed up for our regular hosting account.

We put our server IP address into IPLocation.net https://www.iplocation.net/ip-lookup to find out where the server is located. This doesn't always return an accurate answer, but of the eight databases IP Location checked, six suggested our IP was in Florida, one said Massachusetts, and one couldn't give us a location.

What is my Domain.com IP address?

Log into the Domain.com customer account panel.

Click the Hosting tab at the top of the screen.

The server IP address is displayed in the Server Information box on the right-hand side of the control panel.

What are Domain.com's nameservers?

Log into your Domain.com customer account panel.

Click 'DNS & Nameservers' in the left sidebar.

Domain.com's nameservers are displayed beneath the 'Add Nameserver' button. (If you don't see them, they're probably ns1.domain.com and ns2.domain.com: try those, first.)

Domain.com's change auto-renewal status to cancel a product (Image credit: Domain.com)How do I cancel a Domain.com product?

Log into your Domain.com web account.

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Categories: Reviews

Surfshark VPN review - a high speed, high value security solution

Tue, 08/26/2025 - 10:14

Surfshark is one of the newer names in the world of VPNs, but it has already made a huge splash. The balanced offering of security-boosting features, an expansive server network, and budget-friendly prices make Surfshark a worthy contender to the throne in our overall best VPN rankings.

We found that Surfshark covers all the basics you'd expect a VPN to have, but there are a few sticking points that might make you consider alternatives. To help you determine if Surfshark is your perfect match, we've examined its speed, privacy policy, streaming performance, and overall value for money to put together this detailed review. So, let's dive in!

Features

Surfshark's roster of tools is varied and impressive, and all are designed to give your digital privacy a major boost while you do your thing online. It's also great to see that the core VPN features are present and correct, too.

For starters, you'll be protected by robust AES-256 encryption and two tried-and-tested VPN protocols: WireGuard and OpenVPN (you can also choose between TCP and UDP).

A kill switch is also available. It's not enabled by default, and one of the first things we did was head into the settings menu and enable it to prevent IP leaks in the event of a VPN dropout.

In June 2025, Surfshark unveiled a shiny new tool designed to boost VPN connection stability, called Everlink. It's not quite a kill switch, but it does work quietly in the background of your device to recover dropped VPN connections without risking any exposure to your IP address. On the surface, this feature might not be as flashy and exciting as, say, a whole host of new servers, but we're still happy to see Everlink make its debut. VPN connection quality is an important metric in our in-house testing and for real-world use, and Surfshark is confident that it'll make a difference in terms of the overall experience. Nobody likes troubleshooting constant VPN dropouts, after all.

You'll also find Surfshark's split tunneling tool in the settings. It's called Bypasser, and it allows you to flag specific sites and services you'd rather route through your original connection, not the VPN tunnel, which is handy for any online banking you plan to do (as logging in to these apps can be tricky if you're connected to a VPN server).

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Surfshark Search is Surfshark's private, ad-free search engine, offering you can access through its Chrome extension or apps to a more secure browsing experience. (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 3

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(Image credit: Surfshark )

Another basic tool that we're glad to see included in the Surfshark roster is the auto-connect. It's nice and easy to use – just enable it via the settings menu. You can choose which server to set as your default – the one you'll connect to automatically – and add trusted Wi-Fi networks to a specific list. Surfshark won't automatically connect to a server when you use these Wi-Fi networks.

Multihop, accessible via the server list, allows you to route your traffic through an extra server for an added layer of protection. It's a nice extra, especially for folks living with invasive data privacy laws.

Surfshark's standout features pack more of a punch. Take CleanWeb, the DNS-level blocker that keeps ads and malware at bay. There's also a browser-based add-on called CleanWeb 2.0 that mops up any threats that slip through the net within your browsing sessions.

During our most recent round of testing, Surfshark successfully blocked 84% of ads, which makes it more effective than Proton VPN's ad-blocker at 79% but second to ExpressVPN at 90%.

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Surfshark Alternative ID offers a one-stop solution to avoiding risk when signing up for websites you don't trust or sites you don't want to use your details for marketing purposes. (Image credit: Future)

Alternative ID is a fantastic addition to Surfshark's toolkit and a unique feature. It generates an entirely new online persona for you in the click of a button, including an email address. This means you don't have to hand over your actual identifiable details when signing up for sites, newsletters, and services, reducing the risk of being caught up in data breaches and scams. Plus, we found that it's a lot quicker than creating a one-use burner email.

Alternative Number adds an extra layer of privacy to your online life by creating a secondary phone number you can use during sign-up, too, preventing potential misuse of your real contact details.

We especially like that you generate and use the number from within the Surfshark app itself and that it doesn't interfere with your original phone number or require you to swap your SIM card. Bear in mind, however, that Alternative Number is a paid extra you'll need to add to your account.

On that note, upgrading to a Surfshark One plan will bag you some extra goodies, including the aforementioned antivirus. You'll also have access to Surfshark Search (an ad-and-tracker-free search engine) and Surfshark Alert, which will let you know if your data is involved in a data leak or your ID is compromised.

Bump things up to a One+ plan, and you'll get access to Incogni, a data removal service that automates requests to remove personal information from databases and people search sites.

Features score: 9/10

Server network

Surfshark has servers in 100 countries – that's an impressive spread and more than Private Internet Access (91); however, it's still fewer than ExpressVPN (105) and NordVPN (118). In terms of locations, Surfshark’s servers span 140, again trailing behind ExpressVPN (148) and NordVPN (111).

Although Surfshark can't claim to have the most pins on the map, we think that the overall distribution of servers is excellent, leaving no region hungry. Europe and the Americas are well-served, and Surfshark even boasts extensive coverage across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

There's even a Chinese Macau SAR server, though, as expected, there are no available locations in Russia.

It's well worth noting that all of Surfshark's servers are RAM-only. That means they're wiped whenever they're rebooted, erasing any stored user data, which is a nice boost to a user’s overall digital privacy.

We're also glad to see that Surfshark now labels whether its servers are virtual or physical. Physical servers provide an IP address based in that same location, whereas virtual servers don't – virtual servers in India, for example, aren't located within the country itself.

Virtual servers come in handy if it's difficult to set up servers in a country with censorship, but they can introduce security issues, especially if your traffic is routed through a country with draconian data protection laws.

Surfshark doesn't offer specialized streaming, gaming, or torrenting servers, but you can check out its static IPs or invest in a dedicated IP (for an extra monthly fee). Similarly, Surfshark's multihop tool lets you route traffic through an extra server. You can choose from a preselected pairing of servers or, if you're feeling choosy, create your own combination.

Server network score: 8/10

Apps

Surfshark has apps for all major platforms, including Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux.

Our hands-on testing experience with the Surfshark UI was smooth and hiccup-free. The UI is a minimalist's dream, without any clutter to slow you down or confuse VPN newbies, and we found it just as easy to switch between tabs on the left-hand side of the screen.

The simplicity means there's nothing to write home about in terms of flair (think Proton VPN and its cyber-chic purple and black UI), but it does mesh well with the native interface of both Windows and Mac clients.

The mobile apps are similarly well-crafted, with a few small improvements proving that Surfshark is thinking about making its offering stand out in an increasingly saturated market.

Whether you’re an Android or iOS loyalist, you’ll be glad to learn that the experience across both platforms is virtually identical.

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Surfshark's Alternative Number feature is hosted within the app, and offers a near-identical experience to what you'd expect from your usual messaging service. (Image credit: Future)

Now, Surfshark's mobile app has widgets that allow you to control your VPN connection without opening the full app. You can also log in by scanning a QR code on a device that's already logged in, which makes it way easier to get the app set up on your mobile phone (and make good use of those unlimited simultaneous connections).

Our testing showed that the Chrome browser extension has improved since our last investigation, and more tools are available directly within the browser. You can now auto-fill forms with your Alternative ID, too, speeding up a previously monotonous process and eliminating the need to fork over real details in the process. It's a win/win and exactly the sort of innovation we like to see.

Currently, Surfshark is one of only a handful of VPN that offer a graphical Linux client rather than a command line interface. It's encouraging as Linux regularly remains an afterthought even among today's top services.

Surfshark gave its Linux app some extra TLC, too, finally adding a kill switch, split tunneling, and its roster of CleanWeb features to the mix.

As is now the norm, Surfshark is also compatible with less common clients, such as Fire Stick, Apple TV, and routers.

Apps score: 9/10

Ease of use

We found the Surfshark app easy to install and set up. Once you've picked your plan and downloaded the right package for your device, you just follow along with an installation wizard and log in to the app when prompted.

(Image credit: Future)

Then, you'll see Surfshark's location tab. The UI is easily digestible. Your recommended servers are displayed at the top of the page, with your pinned favorites and recently used servers right underneath, meaning you can quickly open up the app and connect without scrolling through the lengthy server list.

The panel on the right displays your connection status, which is, really, the most important detail. Others are there for more technically minded folks, including the protocol you're using, your new IP address, and which features you've toggled on or off.

Ease of use score: 9/10

Speed and performanceHow we perform speed tests

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Our testing setup uses two virtual machines positioned in the UK and US, each one with its own 1 Gbps connection. We use this to record VPN speeds. Then, to calculate the averages, we use multiple speed testing sites at different times of the day while connected to the various protocols on offer. You can find out more in our VPN testing methodology.

Surfshark sits at the top of our fastest VPN rankings, and recorded another unbeatable performance during our most recent round of testing. If you're looking for speed, Surfshark is your best bet.

We used the WireGuard protocol to put Surfshark's speeds to the test. Using a 1 Gbps line and connecting to a local UK-based server, we recorded a performance of 848 Mbps. That's pretty impressive, and certainly means that Surfshark is one of the quickest VPNs on our books, but it's a slight fall from grace, too, as the provider previously clocked in at 950+ Mbps.

Our testing also underscored a noticeable amount of variance, here. In the mornings, we saw speeds of 1,045 Mbps, but these dipped to 651 Mbps when we repeated the process in the evening. While this isn't a major red flag, it is something to be aware of if you're going to use your VPN around the clock.

Surfshark's OpenVPN speeds weren't as blistering, coming in at 431 Mbps. This is to be expected, however, as OpenVPN isn't as lightweight and efficient as WireGuard.

Still, it's worth noting that Surfshark's OpenVPN speeds were amongst the most consistent in our hands-on testing. We barely saw any prominent fluctuations throughout the day, meaning that Surfshark is a great pick for tasks like torrenting - where you'll want uncompromising security and decent speeds.

The important takeaway here is to remember that, whether you opt for WireGuard or OpenVPN, Surfshark is more than fast enough to keep up with your day-to-day browsing. You only need 25 Mbps to stream in 4K, too, so you'll have no problem tuning in to buffer-free HD content.

Finally, we noted that it regularly took a few seconds to connect to a Surfshark server. This isn't a total deal-breaker by any means, but I find that NordVPN and ExpressVPN connect in around a second (or even less).

Speed and performance score: 10/10

Unblocking sites and content

Surfshark has made a mark in the industry as a reliable VPN for streaming and unblocking all sorts of platforms. In fact, it currently claims the third-place position in our overall streaming VPN rankings, and fourth-place in our torrenting VPN shortlist.

We put VPNs through a rigorous testing process to see how well they work with Netflix and its global library in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Japan. We also investigate how well VPNs can unblock other platforms, including Amazon Prime Video and Disney+. Surfshark performed flawlessly across all of our tests. We had no trouble checking out content on any platform, regardless of the location, and always on the first try.

Surfshark worked like a charm with smaller regional sites, too, and we unblocked BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, 9Now, and 10 Play.

While some VPNs have a collection of servers optimized for streaming, Surfshark doesn't. It's not all bad news though, as all of Surfshark's servers are capable of accessing region-specific streaming content.

This means that you don't have to hunt for one specific server to join when you're in the mood for some Disney+ or Hulu – which is a nice bonus for VPN newbies who don't want to be bogged down in menus.

Similarly, Surfshark has no torrenting-optimized servers, but you can engage in P2P activity on any of them. The only thing to note here is that, unlike PIA, Surfshark does not have a port forwarding feature, which means you might have trouble seeding.

Unblocking score: 9/10

Privacy and security

Firstly, it's great to see that Surfshark's privacy policy and no-logs promise are easy to find and navigate. The information is dense, certainly, and not what we'd call light reading, but there's a table of contents that allows you to skip through to relevant sections.

We like that Surfshark takes the time to discuss each of its tools and how associated data is handled, giving users more leverage to decide whether they want to check them out or not.

Surfshark has proven, on multiple occasions, that transparency is a critical part of its operations. A warrant canary clearly states that the service hasn't endured any data breaches or leaks, and recent audits by Deloitte and Cure53 prove that the service just isn't interested in keeping tabs on user activity or logging it. Surfshark has also undertaken audits of its server architecture and apps.

In fact, the results of Surfshark's most recent audit were made public in June, 2025. The VPN invited Deloitte to comb through its no-logs policy for a second time, with the auditors confirming that the policy is properly implemented and enforced. Simply put, Surfshark has no interest in keeping tabs on what you get up to while connected to one of its servers.

On a more technical level, Surfshark relies on industry-standard AES-256 encryption to secure user data as it travels between the user’s device and the VPN server.

Only the OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols are available, which is encouraging, as they both ensure that data remains safe from snooping and tampering while inside the VPN tunnel.

We found that Surfshark ticks off the basics, too. The kill switch is a simple on or off switch and cuts your internet connection in the event of a VPN dropout to prevent data leaks. We previously noted some kill switch bugs, but Surfshark quickly released an update improving the stability of the feature.

We especially like that the kill switch is customizable. You can choose a more lenient option, which disables the internet during accidental interruptions, or a stricter version that will cut the internet if the VPN is interrupted in any way at all.

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Other must-have tools include DNS leak protection that stops ISP snooping, multihop that routes traffic through an extra server for more security, and a No Borders mode that allows users to bypass strict government censorship to enjoy a freer, safer internet.

We also put Surfshark's phishing and malware site detection to the test by feeding it 100 new malicious URLs from OpenPhish. Unfortunately, the results leave something to be desired.

In testing, Surfshark only blocked 6% of malware sites and 7% of phishing sites, underscoring the simple fact that while you can rely on a VPN package to shore up your online security, you’re better off opting for a dedicated antivirus.

Privacy and security score: 9/10

Track record

Surfshark has a keen ear and listens to its customers – it's a great reputation to have, even if the service has experienced its ups and downs over the years.

In 2024, Surfshark addressed an issue where it was not correctly labeling all of its virtual servers – only 27 out of 50 locations were identifiable. After we spoke to the VPN directly, Surfshark amended these labels within two days, which is a fantastic turnaround.

Surfshark is based in the Netherlands, which, to privacy purists, will be a point of concern. The Netherlands is part of the infamous intelligence-sharing organization: the Nine Eyes.

Fortunately, the VPN has begun publishing a quarterly transparency report outlining the number of requests for user information that Surfshark has had to respond to, as well as law enforcement inquiries. Currently, we can assume that Surfshark has not handed over user information related to a single inquiry.

Track record score: 8/10

Customer support

Surfshark has several avenues of customer support, but the first one we ran into was the AI chatbot. We had a brief conversation with this bot, querying basic information about server numbers and locations, and were sent links to relevant knowledgebase articles.

If you'd rather speak to a human being, the good news is that it's easy to do so, and we found Surfshark’s agents to be friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable about the service.

As you'd expect from such a big name in the VPN world, Surfshark has an extensive knowledge base. Inside, you'll find all sorts of articles, including setup guides for each platform and more in-depth explainers about the various tools.

The "Surfschool" is especially neat and contains end-to-end advice on how to use the VPN, making it a good place for newbies to start.

Customer support score: 8/10

Pricing and plansNordVPN pricing

- 1-month plans: $15.45/month (Starter) $17.95/month (One) $20.65/month (One+)

- 12-month plans: $3.19/month, plus 3 months free (Starter) $3.39/month, plus 3 months free (One) $6.09/month, plus 3 months free (One+)

- 24-month plans: $2.19/month, plus 3 months free (Starter) $2.69/month, plus 3 months free (One) $4.29/month, plus 3 months free (One+)

Surfshark is by far the cheapest premium VPN on the market, but you won't sacrifice quality for a budget-friendly price tag. On the contrary, Surfshark's roster of tools and unlimited simultaneous connections make it an excellent value for money, especially if you subscribe to a multi-year plan.

A 2-year subscription to the Starter plan is only $2.19 a month – and even comes with an extra 3 months for free. Only PIA is cheaper, at $2.03 a month for 3 years. It is worth noting that Surfshark's prices rise to $4.98 upon renewal, making the rock-bottom price point a one-and-done sort of deal.

If you want access to all of Surfshark's privacy-boosting tools, you'll need to subscribe to a One or One+ plan. A dedicated IP is a separate add-on to consider, too, and will set you back an additional $3.75 a month.

Pricing score: 9/10

Should you use Surfshark?

Surfshark is a stellar service and a worthwhile alternative to the likes of NordVPN and ExpressVPN, especially if you're on the hunt for a bargain. Plus, while some VPNs focus solely on their VPN product, Surfshark has become an all-in-one security solution.

Add unlimited simultaneous connections to the mix, and we think it's a service that offers serious value for money on top of rock-solid security.

Surfshark isn't without its drawbacks, though, especially if you plan on relying on its phishing or malware site protection. Other providers have more servers in more locations, too, and more regular audits under their belt.

Still, with a 30-day money-back guarantee, it's well worth taking the time to check out Surfshark in your own time.

Total score: 88/100

Surfshark alternatives

Not sure if Surfshark quite fits your needs? Here's our three top alternatives available right now:

1. NordVPN – from $3.09 per month
The best VPN overall
NordVPN is our #1 rated VPN and the total package. It's quick, has a similarly impressive raft of security tools, and receives regular updates across all of its apps and extensions. It's slightly more expensive than Surfshark, but the Spring Sale brings monthly prices on a 2-year plan down to just $3.09. Try it for yourself with a 30-day money-back guarantee.View Deal

2. ExpressVPN – from $4.99 per month
The best VPN for beginners
ExpressVPN is a luxe provider but, unlike Surfshark and NordVPN, has decided to hone in on its VPN offering rather than a suite of tools. Its apps are a breath of fresh air and are easy to use, making it a fantastic option for anyone new to the world of VPNs. Again, ExpressVPN is on the pricey side, but you can put its value to the test with a 30-day money-back guarantee.View Deal

3. Proton VPN – from $3.59 per month
A great pick for small businesses
Proton VPN puts privacy above all else, but that doesn't mean it skimps on features, speed, and unblocking power. We especially like that Proton VPN recently spruced up its app interfaces, making them more accessible and intuitive than ever before. If you're working with a seriously limited budget, you'll also be glad to learn that the free VPN plan is fantastic (but limited), and a great way to get a feel for Proton VPN's tools. See how Proton VPN stacks up with a 30-day money-back guarantee.View Deal

Surfshark FAQsDoes Surfshark have a free trial?

Yes, a free 7-day trial is available to users who subscribe to Surfshark via the App Store or Google Play Store. Once you've picked up your trial, however, you can use it on all of your other devices.

Does Surfshark work with Netflix?

Yes, Surfshark is effective at unblocking Netflix as well as other popular streaming services like Amazon Prime, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer.

Does Surfshark have an antivirus?

Yes, Surfshark Antivirus is part of Surfshark's One and One+ plans. Users subscribed to a Starter plan will need to upgrade.

Who owns Surfshark?

Surfshark and Nord Security (the company that offers NordVPN) merged in 2022, but Surfshark and NordVPN continue to operate independently.

Protect your online privacy with our Surfshark coupons. Get great deals on VPN services and secure your internet browsing at a discounted price.

Categories: Reviews

I spent six hours blasting grubs in Gears of War: Reloaded, and it was a bloody good time

Tue, 08/26/2025 - 10:00

Nearly two decades after Gears of War helped popularize cover-based shooting on the Xbox 360, the game is now on its second remaster, this time developed by The Coalition and sporting the fancy new title: Gears of War: Reloaded.

This outing's many improvements retroactively make the previous remaster, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, seem like anything but an ultimate version of the first chapter in this decades-spanning series.

Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
Release date: August 26, 2025

Gears of War: Reloaded dramatically upgrades the beloved shooter's visuals and performance for a present-day audience. It comes packing 4K assets and remastered textures, HDR support, new lighting and shadows, 60 fps in campaign and up to 120 fps in multiplayer, and more. While it's impossible to fully obscure the game's age, these improvements do a great job at bringing it reasonably close to current-gen expectations.

Additionally, for the very first time, PlayStation fans can download and play a Gears of War game on PS5. We live in wild times, and I'm happy to be along for the ride.

But underneath the fresh coat of paint and the hype of the series joining a new ecosystem, this is still the Gears of War that players fell in love with years ago and whether that makes it worth your time and money is likely to depend entirely on your previous experiences (or lack thereof) with the game.

Gorgeous familiarity

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The original Gears of War landed before I was even old enough to drink or rent a car, and I've beaten its campaign at least five times between getting married, buying a house, raising a kid, and becoming old enough to grunt when I get off the couch. It should be old news to me by now, but there's a timelessness to its campaign that made it easy for me to dive back in with Gears of War: Reloaded without feeling like it’s a chore.

It's exactly the same game as it's always been, too. As a grizzled COG soldier named Marcus Fenix, you spend six to eight hours shooting and chainsawing through mutated humanoids called Locusts as you work to find and plant a bomb capable of destroying their subterranean lair. It's loud, gory, and incredibly satisfying third-person chaos that has aged shockingly well.

It may look and sound like little more than a hyper-violent ‘bro’ game at a glance, but the series as a whole is known for its surprising character work, exploring Marcus and his team's struggles with family, sacrifice, and the never-ending toll of war. And while subsequent games admittedly capitalized a bit more on the overarching lore and individual characters' backstories, this introductory entry remains a meaningful foundation for them to build upon.

Best bit

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

An early showdown against a nearly invulnerable enemy forces you to carefully bait its charging attack to break doors down as you lure it through a building. Once you get it outside, you can finally blast it with an all-powerful laser from the sky. It's a tense game of cat and mouse that switches things up to great effect.

Despite being the same old Gears of War, though, one particularly noticeable update is the all-new lack of loading screens. Sure, it's not exactly surprising that a nearly 20-year-old game can pull that off in the same era as God of War Ragnarok's seamless no-cut camera work, but it's a quality-of-life feature that makes the campaign all the more efficient and enjoyable for both newcomers and veterans alike.

But speaking of the game being almost two decades old, it's important to remember that even with significant visual and performance updates, there's no hiding the Xbox 360's footprint in Gears of War: Reloaded.

The gray and brown aesthetic that defined many seventh-generation action titles can't be erased with snazzy 4K assets and lighting improvements, and some stiff animations give away the game's age pretty clearly.

There's only so much that can be done without completely remaking a game from the ground up, so I'd argue The Coalition has done a commendable job of getting things close to modern standards while maintaining the integrity of the original experience.

Here come the shotguns

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While the servers weren't turned on during the review period, I spent enough time with the beta back in June to know that Gears of War: Reloaded's multiplayer, though much prettier and smoother, largely plays the same as it did in 2006. As always, it's a polarizing mode best summed up with the question, "Do you like shotguns?"

Most matches in any Gears of War game, including this one, come down to players repeatedly cancelling slide-to-cover animations to rapidly bounce from wall to wall (which is unsurprisingly called "wall-bouncing") while wielding the Gnasher shotgun. They move in on one another and engage in frenetic hip-fire shootouts to see who explodes into a million pieces first.

While not technically an exploit, wall-bouncing can seem like an abuse of game mechanics to newbies who expect the multiplayer to flow the same way as the campaign. You can find an occasional long-range showdown if you hang back and play defensively, but veteran players who bounce around like the ball in a pinball machine will usually still close the gap and pop you with a single Gnasher shot. This focus on point-blank gunplay isn't inherently bad, of course, but it can make matches feel one-dimensional.

Still, existing Gears of War enthusiasts and new players willing to adapt to the unique playstyle the community espouses will be happy to know that Gears of War: Reloaded is certainly the most complete version of the first game's multiplayer.

It includes all of the post-launch DLC, 60Hz dedicated servers, up to 120 fps (if your TV or monitor supports it), and cross-play support for every platform. And that last point is especially important, as this game reaches an audience it never has before: PlayStation owners.

A new platform for carnage

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

In a way, all of the visual and performance updates Gears of War: Reloaded brings to the table feel second to the real story here, which is that its release marks the first time the franchise has been available on a PlayStation console.

Seeing the title screen of one of Microsoft's biggest exclusive IPs boot up on my PS5 felt bizarre at first, but as with Forza Horizon 5 earlier this year, it didn't take long for the dust to settle.

Before I knew it, all the running, gunning, and sliding into cover with a DualSense controller felt just as natural as it always has with an Xbox controller. It was a great reminder that, while exclusives can be an important part of a console's identity, the most important thing is that a fun game is a fun game anywhere.

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

As you might expect, the DualSense adds some extra flair for those who enjoy its unique features. All of the immersion is in full force here, like how the vibrations differ between firing a weapon or using your chainsaw to grind through a Locust, or the way the adaptive triggers have a specific feel for each gun. Still, if you normally prefer a different platform, I wouldn't consider these DualSense features worth prioritizing the PS5 version.

The important part is that, wherever you decide to play Gears of War: Reloaded, it's the best version of the game available. Whether you're fresh meat or a franchise devotee, this remaster's facelift makes for a great opportunity to join Marcus Fenix and his loyal band of brothers on their first perilous adventure, or see if you've got what it takes to duke it out in some anarchistic multiplayer matches.

Should I play Gears of War: Reloaded?Play it if…

You're new to the Gears of War franchise
Gears of War: Reloaded is the first game in the series and a great place to onboard, especially if you've been in the PlayStation ecosystem for the past few generations. However, there's no confirmation of the sequels making their way over to PlayStation yet, if ever. So, if you want to see the rest of the games through, you'll need to check them out on Xbox.

You value strategy over guns-blazing
Gears of War: Reloaded's campaign is about cover as much as it is about shooting. You'll spend a lot of time behind walls waiting for the right time to strike and explode your foes into bloody little bits. Strategic positioning and wielding the right gun at the right time can make all the difference to your chances of survival.

You like chainsaws in your video games
Look, chainsaws have shown up as a melee weapon in a lot of video games over the years for a reason — they're cool as hell. And Gears of War: Reloaded's chainsaws are attached to a frickin' assault rifle so you can saw nearby enemies in half and then get back to shooting. It'll never not be awesome. View Deal

Don’t play it if…

You've beaten the campaign recently and aren't into multiplayer
Gears of War: Reloaded is the second remaster of the 2006 Xbox 360 title, so if you're a franchise fan, there's a good chance you've played this before — maybe even multiple times by now. The flashier visuals and higher framerates are nice, but if you've already seen the campaign through in the past few years, or don't dig the game's shotgun-focused multiplayer meta, it may not be worth the investment.View Deal

Accessibility features

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

Gears of War: Reloaded won't be winning any awards for its accessibility options, but it has the basic suite of features like subtitles and text-to-speech.

You can make it so that button tap challenges allow you to simply hold down the button rather than rapidly press it, while photosensitive players will appreciate the flash reduction setting that limits sudden brightness changes.

How I reviewed Gears of War: Reloaded

I played Gears of War: Reloaded on a PS5 Pro using a Sony X90K LED TV. I swapped between my Sony Pulse Elite Wireless Headset and Alienware Pro Wireless Headset for audio.

I played Gears of War: Reloaded for around 6 hours, during which time I worked my way through the full campaign on Normal difficulty while finding all 33 of the COG tag collectibles.

I wasn't able to play any multiplayer since the servers weren't on during the review period, but I got a good feel for it when I spent a few afternoons playing online during the beta back in June.

First reviewed August 2025

Categories: Reviews

I tested Bambu Lab's latest 3D printer - and the H2S single nozzle design comes hot on the heels of the H2D to offer ultimate speed and accuracy

Tue, 08/26/2025 - 07:59

The H2S comes hot on the heels of the H2D full laser combo and standard H2D 3D printer (see my review here), but with a few major differences that make it a superb option for any enterprise business requiring a machine that offers scale, reliability and speed.

It might not have the headline-catching dual nozzle that so interested the 3D printing market, but with much the same form factor, just with a single nozzle rather than dual nozzle tool head, it offers something a little different.

Essentially, Bambu Lab is touting this as a bigger X1C, which has become a staple for many design studios due to its print quality, flexibility, multiple filament printing, and of course, speed. Now, with the H2S taking yet another leap in scale and performance, and what's more, it's also coming in at a relatively affordable price point.

In use, the H2S is impressive, and the single-nozzle hotend is highly tuned for precision and quality. The speed, while quoted as faster than the X1C, in real-world tests using standard settings is on par; however, tweak the options and the full speed of the machine is unleashed, seeing a standard 20-30% boost in print times across the board. The H2S also has a far larger print bed, enabling more potential with the style and type of prints you're able to produce. There's absolutely no doubt that, when it came to side-by-side print quality, the X1C is one of the market leaders, but the H2S just took the edge during my test.

One feature that appeals to me about the H2S is that, compared with the H2D, it is far more affordable and there is a laser option as well, in fact, the new H2S line exactly reflects the H2D, just at a more affordable price.

What this essentially means is that, for any product design studio or anyone looking for the best 3D printer for quality, the Bambu Lab H2S is a balanced option, especially if you mainly print with a single filament with the occasional use of multifilament.

Bambu Lab H2S: Price and availability

There are three versions of the H2S available: the Base, the AMS Combo, and the Laser Full Combo. The two more advanced versions, the AMS Combo and the Laser Full Combo, are available now for $1,499 and $2,099, respectively. Bambu Lab will also be releasing the Base unit, which is just a single-nozzle machine, for $1,249.

Each model offers an upgrade route, so if you are working on a budget and just want an exceptionally good single FFM printer, you can start with the Base, then upgrade with the AMS Pro 2 to the AMS Combo. If you want to go all the way, you can upgrade to the Laser Full Combo, but only pick out the additions that you need.

Bambu Lab H2S: Design

(Image credit: Bambu Lab // Future)

Like the H2D, the H2S has almost an identical form factor, so once again it's a large-scale machine that will take up a sizable amount of your desktop, and now that I have three of these machines side by side, that doesn't leave a lot of space for much else.

The fact is, however, that with the H2S, it cuts away a lot of the frills of the H2D and the excitement those machines create. Instead, the H2S goes back to the core of 3D printing, offering a single nozzle toolhead and a few additional features that help elevate what's possible. It positions itself as a successor to the phenomenal X1C, or if not a successor, then a larger-scale version that takes on the new form factor of the H2 series.

At the base level, the first thing you notice alongside that nozzle is the larger print volume, which measures in at 340 × 320 × 340 mm, making it one of the largest on the market. It also once again utilises the CoreXY system, offering high-speed printing, both single and multifilament, when coupled with the AMS Pro 2.

Once again, the 3D printer is fully enclosed, so if you want to print with more advanced materials, that is perfectly possible, with a heated bed that reaches up to 120°C and a 65°C actively heated chamber. This is great for materials like ABS, nylon, and ASA.

One of the features that I've really liked across all of the H2 series is that large touchscreen. It's just really intuitive, beautifully designed, and very quick to respond, which is not always the case.

Inside, they've also boosted the number of sensors, with five flame sensors covering monitoring, emergency stop, and airflow optimisation, once again almost mirroring the H2D series, but building on the feedback and experience of those first H2 machines.

When it comes to the major differences between the H2S and the H2D, aside from that single nozzle toolhead, most of the other differences come in the technology and steps forward in development. For instance, there's second-generation extrusion motion technology with a PMSM servo motor that exerts a 67% increase in extrusion force. There's also a 20 kg feedback load for precise filament control.

Once again, we see the Vision Encoder, which is optional, but will boost the motion accuracy for prints under 50 microns. This is essentially industrial-grade precision, so it will really only be of interest if you're using this for high-precision product design. However, if you're into gaming and want to make desktop game figures, then this is going to be a great feature. I have noted that there are several 3D artists now producing FFF-ready miniatures. With the Vision Encoder having industrial-grade precision, it could mean that printing miniatures on an FFM machine should now, in some cases, be possible, meaning that you don't have to deal with messy resin.

Bambu Lab has also taken a look at monitoring and intelligence, and the H2S includes 23 sensors inside the machine that are monitoring the print process and conditions. This is coupled with three onboard cameras, one for live view, one for the nozzle, and one for monitoring. This compares to just one on the H2D. There's also smarter fault detection if a print does go wrong, and I have to say, during the three-week test, I didn't have any print failures, even when I tried with an impossible print, the machine just detected it and paused.

Now, while the form factor of the machine is identical to the H2D, when it comes to the build volume, because it only has a single nozzle rather than two, the full print bed can be used, so you have a larger print volume of 340 × 320 × 340 mm compared with 325 × 320 × 325 mm for single-filament printing on the H2D.

Bambu Lab also says that the H2S is a high-speed machine, capable of printing up to 1000 mm/s and with acceleration over 20,000 mm/s². However, during my tests, I'd say they are both pretty much on a par until you delve manually into the settings.

Once again, there's a heated chamber, and in the H2S, this is capable of reaching around 65°C, exactly the same as the H2D. Likewise, the hardened steel nozzle seems to be the same, as does the 5-inch touchscreen.

One of the big questions I had when the machine arrived was: because it is a single-nozzle machine, does it still have the capability of using a laser and cutter? There are, of course, three versions of the H2S, including the Laser Full Combo version that offers laser engraving, cutting, digital cutting, and precision drawing capabilities.

Bambu Lab H2S: Features

(Image credit: Bambu Lab // Future)

Take a look through the machine's features, and aside from the single nozzle, which is obvious, the main feature aside from technology enhancement is the larger print area, which means that this is essentially a large successor to the X1C. Through the test, the speed of the H2S impressed. Put alongside the X1C on standard prints, print speeds were essentially similar until you delve into the settings. However, there are more options, and if you really want to push the speed of the printer, it is possible to get up to a 30% faster printout of the H2S than the X1C, although there is a small drop in quality.

The maximum speed of the printhead goes up to 1000 mm/s with 20,000 mm/s² acceleration. So, while the acceleration matches the X1C, the print speed essentially doubles, with a real-world speed increase of around 30%.

Like the H2D, the single nozzle of the H2S is capable of reaching 350°C, which makes it a perfect option for printing engineering-grade materials such as ASA and nylon. The H2S is a fully enclosed environment, which helps ensure optimal printing conditions for those materials, and with the filtration also helps to remove any toxins from the materials as they print.

Once again, Bambu has included a whole series of sensors that will detect if any print goes wrong and stop proceedings before issues are caused. Through the test, aside from running out of filament, I only had one occasion where the error-checking needed to kick in, due to some filament falling onto the print bed from a previous print. The new machine now includes 23 sensors and three onboard cameras. During the test, I didn't have any tricky situations with printing. The one issue that could've caused a problem was instantly recognised, and the printing was paused until I removed the filament, then the print completed successfully.

What I also liked was that when it came to filament changes due to running out, the process of restarting the print was absolutely spot-on. There wasn't the usual worry about layer misalignment that can often happen.

One of the big new features of the extruder is that it now includes a PMSM servo motor that can apply 67% more force. While I couldn't visually see the difference, the extrusion of the filament did seem exceptionally smooth for all materials tried, including Carbon fill and TPU. When I compared prints between the H2D and the H2S, there was very little difference; it was only when testing a specific model that I could see a very slight uplift in the print quality coming from the H2S.

Like the ability to add a laser cutter and digital cutter to the machine, there's also the option to add the Vision Encoder, which you'll need if you're going to be using this for professional product design or any dimensionally critical work. The Vision Encoder can be used for any print that needs 50-micron precision.

Through the software, there's also hole and contour compensation to assist with more intricate models. Again, the intelligent monitoring will stop if there is an issue. During the test, I tried to push the printer with a few excessive overhangs just to see what would happen, and the machine essentially paused as the print failure was detected.

As with the H2D machines, there's AMS Pro 2, and again, the new model is fully compatible with the original AMS and the AMS HT. You can also link several AMS modules together so you can extend printing to more than just four filaments, up to 16, and some people have even claimed it can be pushed further.

Bambu Lab H2S: Performance

(Image credit: Bambu Lab // Future)

Getting started with the H2S is as simple as any other Bambu Lab 3D printer, as it essentially comes pretty much ready to go. In this review, I'm looking at the Bambu Lab AMS Combo, so you get the 3D printer and the AMS Pro 2 to enable multifilament printing.

Getting it all set up is extremely straightforward. First, the packaging is stripped away, the AMS is popped on top, one tube connects the AMS to the machine, and then there's a data cable that also connects between the machine and the AMS. Once that's done, the activation key is popped into the back along with the power cable, and the machine is switched on.

After running through the initialisation and calibration process, which is all handled by the machine, you can then install the four filaments and get started with connecting to Bambu Studio and producing your first print.

As ever with this machine, there are a few prints just to get you started, and it shot through these in no time at all, with the 3D Benchy model looking exceptionally good, fine detail and a high-quality finish to all of the outer walls and using the default settings this took 33 minutes with all checks.

As I went through the test, there were some larger models to print to create a Shadow Force suit of armour, and this is where the machine really started to come into its own. The ability to print at a scale that is normally only possible with large-scale printers, combined with the high nozzle quality, meant that the end result had a surface cleanliness and consistency that you don't usually get with large-scale consumer 3D printers.

What I really liked was that, for quite a few of these large-scale prints, I did run out of filament partway through. However, the filament detection worked exceptionally well. As with many machines, it detected the issue, but what impressed me was that feeding in the new filament aligned perfectly, continuing the print from exactly where it left off. Adhesion to the print bed was sufficient that there was no movement or issue, even when the print had been left for a few hours in between filament changes.

For single filament printing, the print speed was exceptionally good, although at present, there isn't a huge array of presets for materials. So, if you are new to 3D printing and want high-speed prints, it is a little tricky to adjust the settings to get exactly what you want. However, if you are experienced with Bambu Studio, then delving into the quality, strength, speed, and support settings will enable you to fine-tune for those higher print speeds.

At those high speeds, the quality actually remains exceptionally good. While you can see a slight reduction in outer surface quality, for prototyping or quickly printing ideas, the quality is beyond what I've seen with most 3D printers of this type, size and price.

Going on to multifilament printing, again, the speed of the print was good. But, as with all other Bambu Lab AMS system printers, the volume of waste that gets kicked out of the back is quite extraordinary. So, while multifilament 3D printing is obviously a major pull for this machine, the fact that it still produces so much waste is a bit of an issue.

The quality of the 3D prints, however, is once again exceptionally good, with a high-quality finish and one of the best surface finishes for a multifilament print that I've seen. Multifilament print times are obviously slower on the H2S than compared with the H2D. That second nozzle makes a huge difference to both the amount of waste produced and overall duration. Still, because of the high-speed printing that is possible with the H2S, the speed was still good.

As an example, the Robo Tortoise four-colour print took just over 24 hours. On the H2D with its two nozzles, this print took only 20 hours. So, while there is a reduction in speed between the H2S and the H2D for multifilament prints, it isn't huge. The biggest difference really is the amount of waste produced.

As I ran through the test prints, I became more taken with this machine. While the single nozzle isn't as headline-grabbing as the dual nozzle of the other H2D machines, it's still exceptionally high quality and essentially makes this machine a top option for any designer looking to prototype or even run small production batches.

The quality of the casing and the size give you plenty of flexibility in how you use it, and the fact that it has that heated chamber enables you to use engineering materials such as nylon, ABS, and ASA. What really impressed me was that, across multiple prints, there were no real failures.

Bambu Lab H2S: Print quality

(Image credit: Bambu Lab // Future)

Target 25 = X: 24.88mm / 0.12mm Error | Y: 24.96mm / 0.06mm Error

Target 20 = X: 19.87mm / 0.13mm Error | Y: 19.90mm / 0.10mm Error

Target 15 = X: 14.87mm / 0.13mm Error | Y: 14.80mm / 0.20mm Error

Target 10 = X: 9.90mm / 0.10mm Error | Y: 9.80mm / 0.20mm Error

Target 5 = X: 4.90mm / 0.10mm Error | Y: 4.80mm / 0.20mm Error

X Error Average = 0.114

Y Error Average = 0.152

X & Y Error Average = 0.133

Fine Flow Control – Score of X

Fine Negative Features – Score of X

Overhangs – Score of 5

Bridging – Score of 5

XY Resonance – Score of 5

Z-Axis Alignment – Score of 5

Total Score – 29 / 30

Bambu Lab H2S: Final verdict

(Image credit: Bambu Lab // Future)

At the end of the test, there's no doubt that I'm impressed once again with this Bambu Lab machine. The H2S takes the scale of single-nozzle 3D printing up a notch, and unlike many other large-scale 3D printers, it offers a brilliant enclosed environment. This enables you to print with engineering materials, not just mainstream PLA that can be used with open frame machines.

Due to the CoreXY mechanics, you also have ultra-fast print speed, reliability, and the dimensional accuracy that comes with it. The test prints that came out of this machine were some of the cleanest I've seen, and at this scale and consistency, it's really difficult to match with any other model.

While the machine compares very closely to the other H2D models, just with a single nozzle, when it comes to print quality and speed, it takes a small leap forward for single-filament printing. Where it really comes into its own is in being able to print larger than any other Bambu Lab printer, and the scale of those prints is genuinely exceptional.

Although the prints Bambu sent me for testing were clearly optimised to show the printer at its best, I also tried it with other complex single-filament prints. It coped with contours, overhangs, and overall print quality exceptionally well. As ever, the AMS Pro 2 is a standout feature, and since I was reviewing the combo version, I was able to give that a proper test with the machine and once again it works exceptionally well, with the only downside being the amount of waste that is produced.

The quality of the multifilament print was again exceptional, and the fact that it's going through a single nozzle just gives you a little more real estate to print large. The full-scale helmet from the Cosplay armour I printed came out with exceptional quality and a support structure that was easy to remove.

One of the big points I would highlight while using this printer was not only the speed and scale, but also the quality of the surface finish.

Surfaces were exceptionally smooth, and when I printed the Autodesk Kickstarter test model I've been using for many years, it was almost a full 30 out of 30. The print surface was exceptional, and the only thing that let it down slightly was dimensional accuracy, although my thought is that, if I used the Vision Encoder, I'd likely hit that full 30 out of 30 for the first time.

Regarding the fine flow test, while I've had many 3D printers that can produce a very clean result, there are often slight signs of angel hair filament, with only the AnkerMake M5C previously producing a model with this level of cleanliness.

The other point I really like about the H2S is its simplicity. The base unit isn't expensive considering. If you're looking at this as an enthusiast or business user, the fact that you can buy the base unit for just over $1,000 and then upgrade all the way to the Laser Combo means it's relatively affordable and offers a solid upgrade path for the future.

At the end of the test, once again, Bambu Lab has demonstrated why it leads the market with its 3D printers, and the H2S single nozzle combo version reviewed here once again shows the level that all other 3D printer manufacturers need to aim for. However, with the likes of the Original Prusa XL and SnapMaker U1, while it's great to see a larger print area single nozzle machine it feels like there is a move now into multitool head options which could leave Bambu Lab behind in the technology stakes.

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(Image credit: Bambu Lab // Future)Should I buy the Bambu Lab H2S?Buy it if...

You need a large build volume and speed.

Once again, this printer comes in the superb H2 form factor that offers a fully enclosed environment. This time, the single nozzle enables an even larger print area that should suit most home and small business projects.

You need precision for engineering projects

While a fully enclosed environment is nice for some users, if you're working in education or in the professional sector and need to print in engineering materials, this enclosed environment with its heated chamber is absolutely essential.

Don't buy it if...

You need native dual-nozzle multi-material

While single-filament printing is exceptionally good, if you need to use support materials as standard, then upgrading to an H2D will probably be a better idea.

You're a casual or first-time hobbyist

Starting with one of the best 3D printers on the market might seem like a great idea, but with so many superb printers at a fraction of the Price, it might be worth starting with a cheaper printer before investing in the H2S.

For more tech for your crafting studio , I've tested the best laser engravers.

Categories: Reviews

I tested the minimalist Hasselblad X2D II 100C – it's my dream portrait and landscape photography camera that sets the image quality bar

Tue, 08/26/2025 - 07:17

Hasselblad X2D II 100C: two-minute review

If you've read any of my articles about Hasselblad's 'medium-format' mirrorless cameras, you'll know I have a soft spot for the premium Swedish camera maker's X-series.

They're stunning minimalist cameras with quality craftsmanship that are simple to operate and a joy to use. Naturally, it also helps that the recent models can shoot the best-looking photos this side of $10,000.

The latest addition to the series is the X2D II 100C, which is an update of my dream camera; it's refined in all the right ways, and it costs much less than its three-year-old predecessor, pushing it closer to reality for photographers on the edge of splashing out.

If I were to pick one camera for landscape photography, this would be it. You can expect highly-detailed 100MP resolution, gorgeous natural colors that need little to no editing, and 16-bit files with rich HDR, along with probably the best image stabilization performance for this full-frame-dwarfing format.

Usually cameras in this 44 x 33mm sensor format are largely confined to the studio for still life and static subjects, but the X2D II is way more versatile than that, especially since it gets an all-new autofocus system, equipped with subject-tracking continuous autofocus and LiDAR.

For the first time with a Hasselblad I felt confident using its autofocus for shooting portraits, given its largely reliable people-detection skills. There's no obvious gap in autofocus performance between Hasselblad and a Fujifilm GFX model now.

I also felt comfortable shooting without a tripod, getting sharp shots handheld with shutter speeds in excess of one second.

Don't get me wrong – I still needed to be more involved in the process to get the results I wanted than when shooting with my full-frame Nikon, but the X2D II has strong automatic chops too.

Otherwise, for the most part the shooting experience felt largely the same as with the original X2D 100C, which is fine by me.

The X-E5 can be purchased in a bundle with this nifty, space-saving 23mm pancake lens. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

The X2D II 100C has what for me is probably the best camera design bar none: a gloriously minimalist body with exotic curves, a high-quality build with a slight reduction in weight compared to its predecessor, a larger-than-average tilting touchscreen with gorgeous color and clarity, plus various refinements that include a new joystick for adjusting the autofocus point and more.

A built-in SSD provides 1TB of storage for those mammoth 200MB raw files, and a CFExpress Type B card slot offers another storage option.

Some downsides remain: it has middling battery life, there's still no video recording capabilities (which for some could be a plus, but for me would be a nice to have), while the quality of the 5.76m-dot viewfinder display feels only okay.

And while this is the best-performing Hasselblad yet, Fujifilm GFX rivals can shoot faster, while full-frame alternatives are faster still. The X2D II is a steady shooter, just not one for action.

But again, that's fine – a camera that can deliver such rich detail can't be expected to sustain high-speed burst sequences.

Improved autofocus performance was probably my top wish for a X2D 100C successor, and that wish has come true, alongside other design refinements which improve the overall user experience.

A pleasant additional surprise is the X2D II 100C's list price: $7,399 / £6,400 (AU$ pricing TBC). That's a good deal less than the X2D 100C, even if it's still a pricey premium snapper.

Hasselblad X2D II 100C: price and availability

Available now for $7,399 / £6,400 (Australia pricing TBC)
Costs less than the original X2D 100C
Launched alongside a new XCD 35-100mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens

Hasselblad products are pricey, and with good reason – the build quality is top-drawer, as is the medium-format sensor tech, plus there's a 1TB SSD built-in. Yet despite several refinements in this latest model, it actually costs much less than the original X2D 100C, which was launched in September 2022.

The price difference depends on the region, but in the UK the X2D II 100C costs £1,000 less than its predecessor. It's still pricey, as is the new 35-100mm zoom lens (28-80mm effective), which costs $4,599 / £4,100 (Australia pricing TBC), but this Hasselblad is edging closer to Fujifilm in terms of pricing.

Price score 4/5

Hasselblad X2D II 100C: specs

Sensor:

100MP 'medium-format' sized 43.8 × 32.9mm

Video:

None

Cont. shooting:

3.3fps (approx)

Viewfinder:

5.76m-dot OLED

LCD:

3.6-inch, 2.36m-dot tilting touchscreen

Battery (CIPA rating):

Up to 327 shots, extended to 466 shots with HDR off

Weight:

29.6oz / 840g (with battery)

Dimensions:

5.85 x 4.17 x 2.95 inches / 148.5 x 106 x 75mm

Hasselblad X2D II 100C: design and handling

Very similar design to its stunning, minimalist predecessor
Slightly lighter than before, new joystick added
Large tilting touchscreen with stunning display
1TB built-in SSD and CFExpress Type B card slot

Having tested the Hasselblad X2D 100C at length, the X2D II feels very familiar. At 840g with battery, the latest model is slightly lighter, but it retains the same form factor, with a wonderfully minimalist layout and an exaggerated grip. Given the sensor format, the X2D II is impressively compact.

The finish on the high-quality body is different, and I prefer the new version both in appearance and feel.

We have the same touchscreen as before, and it's delightful. At 3.6 inches it's larger than most, plus it's wonderfully bright, rich in color and contrast, and its touch response is spot on, which is something that can't be said for all cameras – touch response feels more smartphone-like than camera-like.

Initially, pulling out the tilt screen stills feels a little fiddler than it could be, and the tilt motion is stiff; but it feels durable, and the up and downward tilt range is handy, especially for shooting at low angles.

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That tilt range also means the screen clears the viewfinder, which sticks out from the body, for unimpeded viewing from low angles. The large 5.76m-dot viewfinder display is lovely too, although it's far from the absolute best viewfinder I've used.

Once again we get a 1TB built-in SSD for storing images – and you'll need it, with each raw file coming in at a whopping 200MB. There's also the option to use removable media in the form of CFXepress Type B, which is one of the fastest card types today – I made use of both options during my review period.

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One of the headline new features is an autofocus system that's totally new to Hasselblad, which I'll get onto in the next section, and in terms of the design this has prompted the addition of a joystick. This can be used to manually select the autofocus point – I find it a more intuitive method than the touchscreen. Despite the addition of the joystick, which is very welcome, the design still feels wonderfully minimal.

The same goes for the UI – menus are still super stripped-back and easily navigable, even with a new range of autofocus modes. The omission of video recording helps here, while there are no color profile options at all, and I really appreciate how quick and easy it is to make adjustments to settings.

I have only one niggle with design – the protective door for the USB-C port (the port which can be used to charge the camera), pops open all too easily, especially when using a camera strap.

Design and handling score 5/5

Hasselblad X2D II 100C: features and performance

5-axis sensor-shift IBIS with up to 10EV stabilization
New subject-detection autofocus recognizing humans, animals and vehicles
Continuous shooting up to 3.3fps

The original X2D's autofocus is poor by today's standards – I used it to shoot a wedding, and I quickly reverted to my old DSLR for moments when I needed autofocus with a quick response.

Hasselblad has sensibly focused its attention on various performance improvements for the X2D II, and chief among them is a completely new autofocus system. The X2D II's focusing is a different proposition altogether, almost matching Fujifilm GFX standards.

This is the first Hasselblad camera with continuous autofocus, plus the first with subject-detection autofocus, being able to recognize and track humans, animals and vehicles. It also utilizes LiDAR focusing, an improvement that comes courtesy of drone maker DJI (which bought Hasselblad some years ago, and which introduced the built-in SSD in previous models).

I tested the camera on all of the subject types it's able to recognize, and it performed well, but don't expect the same degree of autofocus sophistication you'll get from, say, recent Sony / Canon / Nikon models.

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I shot this self portrait remotely using Hasselblad's Phocus software, triggering the camera with my Apple iPad (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 2

Animal subject detection picked up this bird for sharp focusing, no problem (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

Still, given it was my first time shooting portraits on location with a Hasselblad, I felt confident that the focus was going to be pin-sharp on my subject's eyes, and that's a big deal. The AF was also able to track my children's pet guinea pigs and recognize birds and horses.

Hasselblad says image stabilization performance has also been improved, and it's now rated up to 10EV, which would be a world-first for any camera in any format.

(Image credit: Tim Coleman)

I was using the X2D II with the new 35-100mm lens, and put stabilization to the test. Based on 10EV of stabilization, at the wide-angle end of the lens zoom range I would expect the camera to be able to shoot sharp handheld shots with shutter speeds of 15 seconds.

Not a chance – that simply isn't the case. I was getting sharp shots like I was before with the X2D, down to around three seconds, which is more like 7.5EV. Nonetheless, it's still an incredible performance for such a high-resolution camera.

Despite its improved autofocus performance, the X2D II, like its predecessor, is not a camera for action photography. Its burst shooting performance is limited to around 3fps, which by today's standards is very slow. No, this is a camera for single shots really, like landscapes and portraits.

Features and performance score: 4.5/5

Hasselblad X2D II 100C: image quality

Stabilized 100MP 'medium-format' 44 x 33mm sensor
16-bit raw files and 'end to end' HDR capture
No video recording whatsoever

Image quality for the most part is much the same as from the X2D, but Hasselblad didn't need to make any improvements here – the original model was already capable of taking the best-looking pictures I've ever made with a camera.

Not convinced? Check out this Hasselblad X2D vs Nikon Z6 II feature I wrote.

The X2D II utilizes the same 44 x 33mm sensor with 5-axis stabilization as before, shooting 100MP stills with 14-bit or 16-bit color-depth options. What is new, however, is what Hasselblad calls 'end to end' high dynamic range (HDR) capture – you simply check the box in image quality section of the menu to activate it.

HDR, as the name suggests, increases the range of tones in an image. Without it, the X2D II already has a wide dynamic range given the large sensor format and pixel density, but with it we get over 15EV of dynamic range. Check out some HDR landscape photos in the gallery, below.

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I took photos with and without HDR active (in raw and JPEG simultaneously), and really I could take or leave HDR – the raw files are stunning either way. Yes, you get more visible detail in shadow and highlight areas, but you also lose some of the punch of the raw files as a result.

And there's plenty of latitude to brighten shadows and darken highlights of raw files for HDR-like results using editing software. Perhaps the main benefit to in-camera HDR is that you can skip the editing process for the times when you want more detail in the tonal extremes. It could also mean that shooting in JPEG-only format is a more realistic option. I still think HDR capture is an excellent feature.

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If you're a camera owner who's used to a choice of in-camera color profiles, like you get with virtually all other cameras, such as Fujifilm's film simulations, then you'll quickly notice the absence of those here. There's not even a black-and-white mode.

It's another example of Hasselblad's minimalist approach which I appreciate, especially when the natural colors look this good – they're somehow vivid and natural at the same time – so unless you like to dial the saturation slider up to unnatural levels, stylize your images, or go monochrome, you really don't need to spend time tweaking colors in post. All the images in the gallery above are completely unedited.

The impressive image stabilization on board and improved autofocus performance really help too, meaning you can get sharp handheld shots more easily.

Hasselblad has left out video recording once again – the X2D II is purely for photographers. That will no doubt delight photography purists, but I can't see any harm in adding video recording, besides perhaps clogging up the menus.

One thing to note about all of the images included in my galleries – they are original unedited files. With 100MP to play with, there's plenty of cropping potential to focus in on certain details, like the distant person sat on a hillside, framed by the setting sun.

There's also various aspect ratios available in camera, such as Hasselblad's legendary X-Pan panoramic format.

Image and video quality score: 5/5

(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Hasselblad X2D II 100C: Test scorecardHasselblad X2D II 100C

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Price

A premium camera for a premium price, but it's surprisingly and significantly cheaper than it's predecessor

4 / 5

Design

Simply one of the best camera designs of all time

5 / 5

Feature and performance

Much improved autofocus, built-in SSD storage, but slow burst shooting speeds

4.5 / 5

Image quality

The best looking photos you can get, for the price. No video recording though.

5 / 5

Should I buy the Hasselblad X2D II 100C?

(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Buy it if...

You want natural-looking images from the off
Hasselblad's 100MP, 16-bit Raw files are packed with detail and the stunning colors look right from the off

You appreciate camera design
I dig Hasselblad's minimalist design philosophy – the X2D II not only looks the part, but it feels great in the hand and comes with a refreshingly simply UI.

You're a pro portrait and landscape photographer
If you want the absolute best image quality for portrait and landscape photography and don't often shoot action, then the X2D II sets the bar.

Don't buy it if...

You shoot video
An obvious one, but the X2D II has no video capabilities – it's purely for photographers.

You shoot any kind of action photography
Yes, the X2D II has subject tracking autofocus which makes it more reliable, but it's no match for industry-leading systems, while continuous burst shooting is a slow 3fps approx.

You want supreme battery life
Up to 330 shots is a pretty poor battery life for such a camera. That said, it's a photography-only camera with slow continuous shooting performance, so you're unlikely to rinse the battery quickly.

Hasselblad X2D II 100C: Also consider

(Image credit: Tim Coleman)

Like the sound of the Hasselblad X2D II 100C but keen to know what else is out there? Here are a couple of solid alternatives…

Fujifilm GFX100 II
Fujifilm's flagship camera with the same 44x33mm sensor format is the GFX100 II. It also has a 100MP sensor, but it has superb video recording capabilities too. It's a little pricier than the X2D II.

Read our in-depth Fujifilm GFX100 II review

Sony A7R V
The best full-frame alternative to the X2D II is the high-resolution Sony A7R V. It has the same pixel density – 61MP on a stabilized full-frame sensor, together with a wide dynamic range and impressive autofocus skills. It costs around 40% less than the X2D II too.

Read our in-depth Sony A7R V review

How I tested the Hasselblad X2D II 100C

Hasselblad loaned me the X2D II 100C for three weeks ahead of its launch
I had the new XCD 35-100mm f/2.8-4 lens to test it with
I've taken camera and lens pairing on several outdoor photography shoots

I've had plenty of chances to use the X2D II with the new XCD 35-100mm f/2.8-4 lens ahead of their launches, taking the pairing on a few landscape photography trips, plus for candid portraits of humans and animals.

I've shot during daylight and nighttime, outdoors and in, and paired the camera with the latest (beta test) version of Hasselblad's Phocus app for remote control of the camera and image uploading.

My testing took place over the course of about one month.

First reviewed August 2025

Categories: Reviews

This quiet but powerful pedestal fan blew me away during testing – here’s why I’ve rated it 5 stars

Tue, 08/26/2025 - 05:48

Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan: two-minute reviewProduct info

For this review, I tested the UK version of the Levoit CirculAir. A version with the same product code is available in the US, but there are minor differences compared to the UK model, including fewer fan speeds and slightly different onboard controls.

The Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan, also known as the Levoit Pedestal Air Circulator Fan in the UK, might be the best fan I've tested. I’ve been seriously impressed with the strong performance, convenience, and quiet operation.

This fan can be configured in two ways: either at full height or shorter, by simply unscrewing a section of the stand. This lower height is a little bit tall for use on a tabletop, but perfect for circulating air from heaters or floor-standing air conditioners.

(Image credit: Future)

It offers automatic horizontal and vertical oscillation, which makes for great air circulation, and also makes it really easy to fine-tune the position of the airflow just using the remote. The only thing it’s missing here is the option to select different oscillation ranges; instead, it's limited to 90 degrees horizontally and 120 degrees vertically.

On the front of the stand there’s a well-lit LED screen that displays the selected mode, and either the fan speed or the ambient temperature. Below this are the onboard touch controls (which vary slightly depending on region), and the CirculAir can also be controlled with the easy-to-use circular remote, which is magnetic for convenient storage on the back of the air circulator.

(Image credit: Future)

The airflow proved impressively strong during testing, and I was very grateful for it during a recent heatwave. Even at its lowest speed, I could feel a good breeze from 8ft / 2.4m, and I ran out of space to back up any further at 18ft / 5.5m away when the fan was at its top speed of 12, so it’s clear it has super-strong airflow when running full blast.

Despite its strength, the CirculAir runs satisfyingly quietly. I measured a volume of just 29dB from around 2ft away on fan speed one, 37dB at speed five, and 51dB at speed 12. This means it can operate with whisper-quiet volume at its lowest speed, and only gets as loud as moderate rainfall.

All this for a not-too-painful price tag: this fan is available to purchase at Amazon at a list price of $89.99 / £119.99, but I've already spotted a few discounts, so you might be able to avoid full whack. That's the short version; read on for my full Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan review.

Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan review: price & availability

List price: $89.99 / £119.99
Availability: US and UK

The Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan, AKA the Levoit Pedestal Air Circulator Fan in the UK, has a list price of $89.99 / £119.99, and is available at VeSync in the US, and at Amazon in both regions.

This is a good price considering the impressive performance the Levoit CirculAir delivered during testing, but I recommend keeping an eye out for offers, too, as there appear to be fairly regular deals available at Amazon. For example, at the time of writing, there’s a 10% limited-time deal knocking the price down to $80.99 in the US, and the price was regularly dropping to below £95 in the UK a couple of months ago.

I’ve tested the UK model, and while the model number is the same in the US, there are some slight differences, which I make note of in the following sections.

Value for money score: 5 out of 5

Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan review: specs

Type:

Pedestal air circulator

Speeds:

9 (US) / 12 (UK)

Oscillation:

Automatic: 90 degrees horizontal, 120 degrees vertical

Dimensions:

43.7 x 12.5 x 14.5 in / ‎36.5 x 110.8 x 32 cm

Weight:

12.7lb / 5.8kg

Control:

Onboard buttons and remote control

Timer:

Yes

Additional modes:

Eco, Turbo, Sleep

Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan review: design & features

Automatic vertical and horizontal oscillation
2 height options and 4 fan modes to choose between
Onboard touch controls and remote control

The Levoit CirculAir is a pedestal air circulator with two height options, so it can be placed on the floor or a tabletop. I personally found its shorter height to be a little taller than I’d prefer for a desktop fan, but this is a good option to have if you happen to be short on floor space. This shortened height could also prove useful if you wanted to, for example, position the fan in front of a heater or floor-standing AC unit, as it would be more efficient at circulating the heated or cooled air from that position.

I found it satisfyingly easy to get the Levoit CirculAir setup in either configuration – it was a simple case of screwing the poles together and into the base. The base is just the right weight: heavy enough that the fan felt sturdy on my medium-pile living room carpet, but not too heavy to move it around when required.

(Image credit: Future)

There are two ways to control the Levoit CirculAir: by using the circular remote or the large touch panel on the front of the stand. The remote was just the right size; small enough to be easy for me to hold and reach all the buttons, but large enough that the buttons were well-spaced and the icons were easy to read.

The large LED panel has a generous screen that displays either the fan speed or ambient temperature, as well as which mode the CirculAir is currently set to. The controls vary slightly on the UK model from the one in the US, but all controls are accessible on the remote in both regions.

(Image credit: Future)

The number of fan speeds also varies slightly between regions, curiously, with 12 fan speeds on offer on the UK model I tested, but only nine in the US. There are a few different modes that can be cycled through: Normal mode (where I could choose the fan speed), Turbo mode (which amps up the fan), Sleep mode (which silences the responsive beeps and dims the display), and Eco mode (which makes use of the CirculAir's internal temperature sensor and adjusts the fan speed to suit).

Unlike most desktop fans, the Levoit CirculAir boasts automatic vertical oscillation, along with the standard horizontal oscillation. There isn’t the option to choose the degree of oscillation, sadly, so it’s either 90-degree horizontal oscillation and 120-degree vertical oscillation, or nothing. I did have the choice to use just one or the other, or both, though. Not only does this range of oscillation equal better air circulation, but it also means that it could be set to just the right angle from the comfort of my couch using the remote, which I loved.

Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan review: performance

Easy to use, responsive controls
Super strong airflow
Satisfyingly quiet operation

Controlling the CirculAir was straightforward, as the touch buttons on the well-lit display were simple to understand and responsive, as were the controls on the remote. I really liked that the remote control could be magnetically clipped onto the back of the air circulator, as this made it really easy to store and retrieve.

The Levoit CirculAir has delightfully strong airflow, and I found it to be a real help cooling me down during a recent heatwave here in the UK. In fact, it has the strongest airflow out of the fans I’ve tested to date, to the point where I wasn't able to confirm how far the air travelled when it was running at its top speed, as I ran out of room at 18ft / 5.5 meters.

The airflow strength was great at lower speeds, too, as I could still feel a pleasantly cooling breeze from an impressive 8ft / 2.4m away at speed 1, and 15ft / 4.5m at speed 6, which means it reaches further at half power than the Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09 does at full blast.

(Image credit: Future)

I love it when a fan has an automatic mode, and 'Eco mode' (as it's called in the CirculAir's case) came in particularly handy during the recent heatwave. The CirculAir adjusted the fan speed in response to the rising ambient temperature throughout the day, though I found it to be much more conservative in terms of the fan speeds it applied compared to my current favorite air circulator, the MeacoFan Sefte 8in. This is good news for energy saving, though, and doesn’t make it any less efficient, really, considering the concentration of air kicked out even at the lower fan speeds.

The volume levels were pleasingly quiet, especially when taking into account the CirculAir’s punchy airflow. I got a reading of just 29dB from about 2ft away on fan speed 1, 37dB at speed 5, and 51dB at speed 12, so it was whisper quiet at its lowest, and only as loud as moderate rainfall when running at top speed.

(Image credit: Future)

Its low volume meant I had no problem at all sleeping with it toward the foot of my bed. I really appreciated the automatic vertical and horizontal oscillation at nighttime, too, as being able to control both with the remote meant I could get the angle of the airflow exactly where I wanted it without needing to get up and manually adjust it.

After testing, I have no complaints about the Levoit CirculAir. It was easy to use and responsive, and it operated at low volumes while delivering impressively strong airflow.

Performance score: 5 out of 5

Should I buy the Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan?

Section

Notes

Score

Value for money

This air circulator’s fantastic performance and versatility make it great value for money, but it’s always worth keeping an eye out for discounts.

5/5

Design

With 2 height options, automatic horizontal and vertical testing, plus responsive controls with clever remote storage, there’s plenty of versatility.

4.5/5

Performance

The airflow is seriously strong, and yet the CirculAir runs pleasingly quietly. The automatic oscillation proved particularly convenient.

5/5

Buy it if...

You want strong airflow
This air circulator certainly packs a punch! With impressively strong airflow even at its lower speeds, verging on ridiculous when running at full blast.

You want automatic cooling
The CirculAir’s Eco mode is a handy feature to have when the ambient temperature fluctuates, as it’ll adjust the fan speed to suit.

You want a fan with adjustable height
Having two different height options is great, whether you want to move it from the floor to a table, or you want to get the most efficient air circulation, depending on the position of your heater or air conditioner.

Don't buy it if...

You want something smart
If you love your smart tech and prefer to operate things from your phone, then this won’t be the air circulator for you.

You’re looking for a desk fan
Even at its shortened height, the CirculAir is a bit too tall, and the airflow is likely too strong to be a personal fan.

You want to fine-tune the oscillation
Unlike fans like the Dyson Cool CF1, which offers angles of 15 to 70 degrees, the Circulair doesn’t have the option to fine-tune the range of the oscillation.

Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan review: Also consider

Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan

Shark FlexBreeze

Meaco MeacoFan 1056P

Price

$89.99 / £119.99

$199.99 / £199.99

$189.99 / £149.99

Speed settings

9 US / 12 UK

Oscillation

Automatic: 90 degrees horizontal, 120 degrees vertical

Automatic:180 degrees horizontal

Manual: 55 degrees vertical

Automatic: 60 degrees horizontal, 80 degrees vertical

Timer

Yes

Controls

Touch buttons, remote control

Buttons, remote control

Power

Corded

Corded or cordless

Corded

Additional modes

Eco, Turbo, Sleep

Boost, Mist

Sleep, Natural, Eco

Height adjustable

Yes

Dimensions

43.7 x 12.5 x 14.5 in / ‎36.5 x 110.8 x 32 cm

37 x 13.8 x 13.8in / 94 x 36 x 36cm

32.3-37.6 x 12.6 x 13.4 in / 82-95.5 x 32 x 33.9cm

Weight

12.7lb / 5.8kg

12.2 lb / 5.7kg

12lb / 5.4kg

Shark FlexBreeze
This is a great option if you like the idea of taking your fan outside and making use of its misting attachment on sunny days. It can be used as a pedestal or table fan, plus it can run cordless, and our reviewer was pleased with the battery life. It only has five fan speeds, but it still delivers airflow that can be felt up to 70 feet away. If you’d like to learn more, check out our full Shark FlexBreeze review.

Meaco MeacoFan 1056P
Another impressively quiet fan, this height-adjustable air circulator proved a hit with our reviewer. It delivered a great performance when tested during hot weather, and proved pleasingly quiet, even at higher speeds. This is another fan with clever fan storage, too, as the circular remote magnetically clips to the front. To find out more, have a read of our full Meaco MeacoFan 1056P review.

How I tested the Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan

I tested the Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan for a week
I tried out the different modes and features
I tested its volume and how strong the airflow was

I used the Levoit CirculAir Oscillating Fan in our photo studio, my home office, and my bedroom over the course of a week. I evaluated the assembly process and build quality closely before using it passively and in specific tests that allowed me to assess the available features.

I tried the CirculAir at both heights, oscillating, and static. I tested out the different modes, particularly Eco mode, to see how the CirculAir would respond to fluctuating temperatures.

I assessed the airflow by checking the distance I could still feel a cooling breeze on the top, middle, and lowest settings. I used a decibel meter on my iPhone to check the noise levels, taking the readings from around 2ft / 600mm away, ensuring the fan wasn’t blowing directly into the microphone.

First reviewed: August 2025
Read TechRadar's Reviews Guarantee

I tested Cambridge's Evo 150 SE streaming amp and it is as high-performing a just-add-speakers system can possibly be, for this money

Tue, 08/26/2025 - 05:30

Cambridge Evo 150 SE: Two-minute review

A little over four years after it launched its well-regarded Evo 150 music streaming amplifier, Cambridge has given it the once-over and rechristened it Evo 150 SE. The differences are not numerous, but they are noteworthy nonetheless – and that’s even before you take into account the fact that this new model is actually less expensive than the model it replaces.

A neat form factor, with swappable side panels a particularly nice touch, a big, bright display and several very decent control options are all carried over. So is the expansive selection of digital and analogue, wired and wireless input options. Power, at 150 watts per channel into 8 ohms, is unchanged too – but now the Hypex NCOREx Class D amplification is ‘tuned by Cambridge’. This is by far the most significant differential between the 150 SE and the outgoing 150.

It makes its presence felt, too, in the weighty, punchy (and ultimately fractionally overstated) low frequency reproduction. But it hasn’t affected the machine’s ability to create a big soundstage, to extract and deliver lots of detail, to manage a rhythm confidently, or to generate a large and persuasive soundstage.

Add in great ergonomics, a fine standard of build and finish and the ability to drive a couple of pairs of speakers without alarms, and it’s apparent the Cambridge Evo 150 SE is a very worthwhile proposition indeed. Even if it doesn’t look all that different to the product it replaces.

Oh, it's red and no mistake (Image credit: Future)Cambridge Evo 150 SE review: Price and release date

Release date: July 2025
Price: $3,299 / £1,999 / AU$5,999

The Cambridge Evo 150 SE launched in July 2025, and in the United Kingdom it sells for £1,999 – the same price as the outgoing Evo 150 had hit after launching at £2,249 back in 2021. In the United States you should expect to pay $3,299, while in Australia it’s currently listed at AU$5,999.

Of course, the market for streaming amplifiers is hotting up nicely – brands as venerable as NAD and as up-and-coming as Eversolo have products contesting this region of the market. So simply having a decent reputation for this sort of thing is only going to carry Cambridge (and the Evo 150 SE) so far…

Cambridge Evo 150 SE review: Features

150 watts of Hypex NCOREx ‘Tuned by Cambridge’ Class D amplification
Numerous wired and wireless, analogue and digital inputs
Four-layer PCB

There was very little wrong with the feature-set of the original EVO 150, so Cambridge has (very sensibly) left well enough alone. Or, at least, it has in all but one very significant area.

So what’s carried over from the outgoing model? Well, there’s the remarkably generous selection of physical and wireless inputs and outputs, for starters. Where analogue stuff is concerned, the Evo 150 SE has a line-level unbalanced input on stereo RCAs, a balanced equivalent via XLRs, and a moving magnet phono stage for use with a turntable accessed by another pair of RCAs. Digital inputs run to a digital coaxial input, a digital optical socket, an HDMI ARC and a USB-B input.

Wireless stuff is handled by dual-band wifi and Bluetooth with aptX HD codec compatibility. Wi-fi, of course, means the Cambridge can deal with AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Spotify Connect and TIDAL Connect - and it also gives access to internet radio. The 150 SE is Roon Ready, too.

As far as outputs go, there are binding posts for two pairs of speakers and a 3.5mm headphone socket. In addition, there’s a pre-out for a subwoofer, corresponding pre-outs for use with a power amplifier. And the Cambridge is a Bluetooth transmitter as well as a receiver, so it can drive your wireless headphones.

Incoming digital signals are handled by an ESS Sabre ES9018K2M digital-to-analogue converter that can deal with resolutions of up to 32bit/384kHz and DSD256. The Cambridge is compatible with all popular file types, and quite a few unpopular ones too.

So far, so very-similar-indeed-to-the-old-model. But what makes this machine an ‘SE’ is the fact that Cambridge has worked in such close collaboration with Hypex on its NCOREx Class D amplification that here it’s branded as ‘Tuned by Cambridge’. And it is, at least according to the companies involved, ready and able to produce “warm, dynamic and controlled sound”.

Features score: 5 / 5

Note the 'wings' (Image credit: Future)Cambridge Evo 150 SE review: Design

39 x 317 x 352mm (HxWxD)
Large, bright, full-colour display
Swappable side panels

Just as with ‘features’, not a lot has changed where the design of the Evo 150 SE is concerned - it demonstrably wasn’t broken, and so Cambridge has chosen not to fix it. Unlike the ‘features’ section, though, where there’s a difference here between the 150 and this 150 SE it is absolutely trifling.

So your £1999 buys you a nicely proportioned, beautifully made and flawlessly finished box with a bright, crisp full-colour display on the fascia that will display album artwork or virtual VU meters as well as providing menu and set-up options. The Evo 150 is supplied with two pairs of side-panels that attach magnetically and can easily be swapped - one is a real wood veneer, the other a dark grey slatted alternative.

So yes, the difference between the Evo 150 and this Evo 150 SE is - hold on to your hat - the knurling of the two-part volume dial/input selector. It’s less knurled than it was before.

Design score: 5 / 5

Everything in its right place… (Image credit: Future)Cambridge Evo 150 SE review: Sound quality

Detail and dynamism in equal measure
Big, organised soundstage
Slightly overconfident low-frequency reproduction

There are differences between the way the Evo 150 SE sounds when delivering a DSD64 file of Tears For Fears’ Head Over Heels via some network-attached storage compared to the same song streaming from the free tier of Spotify, of course – but one of the most admirable things about this Cambridge machine is how consistent it sounds. No matter which of its inputs you’re using, its fundamental character comes through loud and clear.

And broadly speaking, its character is a lovely balance between ‘detail’ and ‘energy’, and between ‘scale’ and ‘dynamism’. The Evo 150 SE is capable of revealing the finest, most minor details in a recording, and giving them the appropriate amount of emphasis relative to the overall performance. It invests music with the sort of vigour and momentum that can bring it to life, without ever threatening to lose control of proceedings. It creates a large and well-defined soundstage, and ensures that every element of recording (no matter how numerous the elements might be) gets the required elbow-room to express itself – though it delivers music as a unified and singular piece at the same time. It has the sort of dynamic headroom that allows it to track the shifts in intensity or volume during the course of a recording without sounding pressured or stressed.

At the top of the frequency range, the Evo 150 SE attacks with chunky determination. Treble sounds have brilliance and a fair amount of bite, but they’re substantial enough to prevent any hardness or edginess creeping in. It’s a similar story through the midrange: the Cambridge is forward and direct, but never pushy, and it reveals a big amount of information, both broad and fine, about what’s going on there. Voices, in particular, benefit no end from this eloquence and positivity.

The tonal balance up to this point, and down into the low frequencies too, is almost (but not quite) neutral – there’s just a hint of warmth that suits the overall character of the Evo 150 SE just fine. The frequency response, though, is slightly skewed. The Cambridge puts slightly more emphasis on the bottom end than is absolutely ideal, with the result that the overall presentation is slightly tiled towards bass. It’s not that the low end here lacks detail or is in any way ponderous – the Evo 150 SE controls the low frequencies carefully at their attack and decay, and expresses rhythms confidently as a result. But while there are doubtless plenty of listeners who will interpret this slight bottom-heaviness as ‘exciting’, it serves to make the Evo 150 SE sound less than neutral. And to demand you take some care with partnering equipment, especially loudspeakers.

Having praised the Cambridge for the consistency of its sound through its numerous inputs, it’s nevertheless worth pointing out just what a gem the Evo 150 SE’s phono stage is. A vinyl copy of The Cinematic Orchestra’s Every Day sounds full, dynamic to almost comical degree, lavishly detailed and is delivered with complete positivity. Yes, that tilt towards the bottom end is still in evidence – but the way the Cambridge handles the various rhythms and tempos goes an awfully long way towards making up for it.

Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5

The bulk of my testing was done with the Sennheiser IE900 or the Austrian Audio 'The Composer' (Image credit: Future)Cambridge Evo 150 SE review: Usability & setup

Remote handset or app control
Simple to get attach to your local network
Big-print on-screen menus are nicely realised

Control is available via the on-screen menus and the input dial, or via the perfectly adequate yet entirely unremarkable remote control handset. Or you can do what all sensible people will do, and use the fourth (and current) version of the StreamMagic control app. This is a comprehensive, logical, stable and usable app, which offers a lot of options – I’m particularly keen on the ability to include only those inputs you’re using on the home screen. It’s good for integrating your favourite music streaming services, saving half a dozen internet radio stations as presets, and plenty more besides.

As far as ‘setup’ goes, it’s simply a question of making the physical connections you want to make, and then getting the 150 SE on to your local network. It behaves as an AirPlay speaker when fresh out of the box, so finding it and hooking it to your network couldn’t be easier (unless you’re using an Ethernet connection to your router, which makes it easier still). Then load up your streaming services and internet radio stations, nominate the inputs you’re using to the front of the app, and away you go.

Usability & setup score: 5 / 5

This white light (for aptX Lossless) was oddly hard to come by when using sources able to handle it… (Image credit: Future)Cambridge Evo 150 SE review: Value

When the original Evo 150 launched back in 2021, it cost £2249 – and everyone seemed to think that was fair enough. Somehow Cambridge has managed to retain everything that was great about the original, dial in some upgraded amplification and lower the asking price to an extremely eye-catching £1999. So yes, there’s splendid value for money here.

Value score: 5 / 5

Note the new 'rails' on the casework to help with cooling (Image credit: Future)Should you buy Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE?Buy it if...

You admire well-realised industrial design
The Evo 150 SE is an understatedly swish looker, and those magnetically attached side panel options are never less than gratifying.

The description of sound as ‘thumping’ strikes you as a positive
You’ll never find yourself craving greater low-end heft or substance.

You own (or will own) some capable loudspeakers
The Cambridge is an adept performer in so many ways - and it deserves the speakers that can do that fact some justice.

Don't buy it if...

Your speakers or source equipment aren’t of a similar standard
See above, really - if you want the Evo 150 SE to sound like the money’s-worth (which it most definitely can) your sources and speakers need to step up.

You crave perfect sonic balance
There’s a definite flavour to the way the Cambridge sounds - and as with all flavours, it’s very much a matter of taste.

(Image credit: Cambridge)Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE review: Also consider

In 2025 the Naim Uniti Atom is an old stager – but that just means it’s matured, rather than being in any way past it. The audio balance is more neutral than the Evo 150 SE, and what the Naim lacks in inputs (there’s no phono stage, for instance) it more than makes up for in both tangibles and intangibles.

iFi makes strong design choices and you love to see it (Image credit: Future)How I tested the Cambridge Audio Evo 150 SE

Two-week testing period
Bowers & Wilkins speakers
Rega P1 turntable; network storage; Tidal Connect, internet radio

With a pair of Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature at the business end, with a Rega Planar 1 turntable as a physical source and a mixture of Tidal Connect, network-attached storage, internet radio and various devices attached via Bluetooth at the other end, the Cambridge Evo 150 SE always held its own.

No genre of music seemed to be off-limits, and it wasn’t as ruthless with lower quality content as it might have been - try as I might, I couldn’t make it insist on hi-res stuff. Which means it was a pleasure to listen to in pretty much every circumstance.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed August 2025

Categories: Reviews

The Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II is a versatile ereader with potential – so it's a shame it fumbles its key feature

Tue, 08/26/2025 - 00:47

Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II: Two-minute review

As you can probably tell from my Onyx Boox Go Color 7 review, I didn’t take a shine to the original model released in 2024, which meant I had higher expectations from its successor.

The Boox Go Color 7 Gen II launched in April 2025 alongside a monochrome edition called the Boox Go 7, both sharing the same design and and feature set – the only difference being the screen: the former uses the color E Ink Kaleido 3 display while the latter is the grayscale E Ink Carta 1300.

Physically, both the 2025 Go Series siblings are nearly identical to the Go Color 7 from 2024, with one tiny design change that I’m pleased with – the page-turn buttons on the new models are smaller, rounded and separated a little to improve ergonomics.

On paper, the Go Color 7 Gen II is the better device compared to its predecessor, running Android 13 (rather than Android 12), getting a generation newer processor and adding writing capabilities that the previous model lacked. Like many smaller-screen epaper tablets like it, you will need to purchase the stylus separately, although at the time of writing, the only pen that works with the Go Color 7 II – the Boox InkSense – has been discontinued and no official replacement has been made available.

According to Boox, it’s preparing a new stylus after taking on user feedback, and the new pen “is expected to be available in the third quarter” of this year. Reimagining a stylus is admirable, but it still begs the question: why release ereaders with stylus support (this affects the monochrome Boox Go 7 as well) if their only pen isn’t available to buy?

When I started testing the device about 11 weeks ago, third-party retailers still had stock of the InkSense, which is how I was able to source one for this review, but even those are no longer available. That said, I’m glad the pen is being replaced as I didn’t enjoy the writing experience with a hard nib on a very smooth screen. I’ll update this review when the promised stylus is released.

The 2025 Boox Go series ereaders get writing capabilities but, at the time of publication, the compatible stylus has been discontinued (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

While I’m not docking any points for the lack of a supported stylus at the time of publication, I’m disappointed to see that the 7-inch color screen on the Gen II isn’t as nice to read on as its predecessor. Text on the Gen II is 'fuzzy', for the lack of a better word. Compared to its predecessor, its monochrome Go 7 sibling and the Kobo Libra Colour, text within ebooks and speech bubbles clearly lacks crispness. You can still read, that's not the issue, but it's hard to recommend an ereader when others do a better job.

And while some colors are more saturated here than on the older model and the Kobo Libra Colour, the additional contrast means small details are lost in the darker areas. Strangely, though, the color 'inks' when writing lack this same saturation and look washed out compared to what I've experienced on older color Boox models like the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C.

Boox has somehow managed to make the display yellower (or warmer) than on any of its other tablets, and it's a stark difference between the Gen II's monochrome sibling as well. This warmth sadly affects the displayed colors as well. The yellowness is exacerbated when the frontlight is switched on, giving comics and graphics novels what I call the 'jaundiced look'. In fact, the frontlight isn't even as bright on the Gen II as other Boox ereaders (or even Kobos and Kindles).

The overall user experience is also marred by constant ghosting. It’s not as obvious as I’ve seen in older Boox devices, but it is distracting enough to be an issue. Setting the device to higher refresh rates, however, eats into the battery life, which also drains at a faster rate than other ereaders. Even the preset refresh modes that can be set on a per-app basis weren’t well optimized here, causing excessive stuttering while scrolling on the native web browser.

The good news is that the software issues I’ve had with the previous generation have been fixed and I was thrilled to see that wired transfer via OTG (directly plugging an external hard drive or portable SSD to the USB-C port) works smoothly – something I’ve had problems with in previous Boox tablets I’ve tested. Even the fonts folder within Storage is correctly bound, so things work a little more smoothly now, although the user interface continues to be slightly complicated.

Better implementation of the software doesn’t make up for the subpar reading experience, and neither does selling it at the same price as its predecessor – in fact, I'd say it’s hard to recommend at any price.

The magnetic case made specifically for the 2025 Boox Go series comes with a loop to secure the supported stylus (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II review: Price & availability

Announced end April 2025 for US, Europe and Australia
List price: $299.99 / €279.99 / AU$439
Available directly from the Boox Shop and select retailers, including Amazon

As alluded to earlier, the Boox Go Color 7 Gen II was announced alongside the monochrome Boox Go 7, both becoming available at the end of April 2025.

Despite the added note-taking functionality, the Boox Go Color 7 Gen II carries a similar price tag to its predecessor (which is already listed as out of stock on the Boox Shop, indicating it might get discontinued soon). Where the older model had a launch price of $249.99 / €279.99 (about £245) / AU$459, the Gen II is listed for $279.99 / €279.99 / AU$439 at the time of writing. As you can see, only US customers face a slightly higher charge likely due to tariffs on several imports. This price includes a magnetic case that features a loop to secure a stylus.

In comparison, the Kobo Libra Colour is cheaper at $229.99 / £209.99 / AU$379.95 for the standalone ereader, but you will need to add on the $69.99 / £69.99 / AU$119.95 for the Kobo Stylus 2 if you want to use it for writing notes, and you’ll need to purchase a case separately if you want one.

The only compatible stylus for the 2025 Go series was the Boox InkSense, which has been listed as “out of stock” since the release of the Go Color 7 II (and its monochrome sibling), and at the time of writing is no longer available from third-party retailers either. I have official confirmation that the pen has been discontinued, and while the Boox Shop lists a bundle that includes the stylus, I’d recommend holding off purchasing the full package until the replacement pen has been released. There’s no confirmed release date at the time of publishing this review, and neither is there any indication of how much the stylus would cost. I’ll update this article as soon as I know more.

Given my subpar experience with the Go Color 7 Gen II, I think the monochrome Boox Go 7 would be the better buy and it retails for $249.99 / €249.99 / AU$399, a price that includes an identical magnetic case as well.

• Value score: 3 / 5

The Boox Go Color 7 Gen II is a very compact size for a 7-inch ereader, and it's lightweight too (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II review: Specs

Display type:

E Ink Kaleido 3

Screen size:

7 inches

Resolution:

300ppi in B&W; 150ppi in color

CPU:

Qualcomm Snapdragon 690

Frontlight:

Warm and cold

Storage:

64GB (expandable)

Battery:

2,300mAh

Speaker:

Stereo/dual

Water protection:

None

Software:

Android 13

Connectivity:

Wi-Fi (2.4GHz + 5GHz); Bluetooth 5.1

File support:

20 document; 4 image; 2 audio

Dimensions:

156 x 137 x 6.4 mm (6.1 x 5.4 x 0.25 inches)

Weight:

195g (6.9oz)

Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II review: Design & display

Exact same dimensions and weight as Gen I model, but design tweaks to buttons
Compact and lightweight, lacks waterproofing
7-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 screen lacks contrast and sharpness

As the old adage goes: if it ain’t broke… The original Go Color 7 was a lovely compact ereader that I liked the design of, except for the closely placed page-turn buttons. That's been changed on the Gen II model, which now sports smaller, rounded buttons with some space in between.

This tiny change, in my opinion, makes the Gen II a touch more ergonomic in use, but there’s a case to be made for the asymmetric design of the Kobo Libra series (and the Kindle Oasis models) – it provides a nice resting place for the thumb along the edge of the broader bezel. The slim and flat form factor of the Go Color 7 II can be harder on the fingers and wrists in comparison, although the added thickness from its magnetic case helps a alleviate the soreness a little.

As before, the page-turn buttons automatically become volume controls for apps that don’t require scrolling or page turning, and this functionality can be set on a per-app basis in the Settings menu.

Image 1 of 3

The page-turn buttons have been redesigned to being separated and rounded... (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 3

..compared to the straight-edged, closely packed ones on the 2024 Go Color 7 (left) (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 3 of 3

The rounded and separated buttons are nicer to use on the Gen II (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Where the buttons on the older model were a different color to the rest of the chassis (silver on the white colorway and dark grey on the black), the Gen II – and its monochrome sibling – are a single color, available in black (as reviewed here) or white. The one-color look without any trimmings or accents makes the device look a little dated, but that’s not a complaint, merely an observation made in comparison to the older model.

All other physical attributes are identical to the Gen I model, including the textured rear panel which, to me now seems just a smidge rougher that makes the Gen II a little grippier if you prefer not to use its magnetic case. In terms of dimensions and weight, nothing has changed since 2024 and that’s not a bad thing as the Go Color 7 II is compact and lightweight, making it quite portable.

There’s a tiny power button on the bottom right corner of the device, while the right edge is home to the USB-C port, the speaker grilles and a microSD card tray. Only the mic has moved, now housed on the opposite edge.

Image 1 of 2

On paper, the Go Color 7 Gen II (top) is the better ereader than its predecessor (bottom) (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2

The page-turn buttons are the most obvious design change, but the mic is gone from beside the speaker grille to the opposite edge (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

What it lacks is waterproofing; there’s no IP rating for it listed on the official website, so if you plan to travel with it – it's the perfect compact size for doing so – steer clear of the pool.

As I mentioned earlier in this review, the Go Color 7 II uses a 7-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 display, the same as the previous generation, although Onyx has made the newer model more naturally yellow in comparison. This has the unfortunate effect of adding a yellow hue to all the colors on screen, giving them what I call the 'jaundiced look'.

This is exacerbated by the frontlight on the Gen II as it enhances the yellowness of the display. It’s also, rather strangely, not as bright as the Gen I model which, at the time of testing it in 2024, I said wasn’t bright compared to the even older Onyx Boox Page. In fact, the light on the Go Color 7 Gen II is dimmer than its own 2025 sibling, the Boox Go 7.

I had complained about the lack of sharpness on the Go Color 7 (Gen I) when compared to the Kobo Libra Colour, but Boox has managed to make that a lot worse on the Gen II, and that is its biggest failing – a subpar display (more on this below in the User Experience section).

• Design & display score: 3 / 5

The Boox InkSense stylus still works with the Boox Go Color 7 II, but there's no word on what its replacement will be like (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II review: Android software & apps

Runs a custom version of Android 13
User interface takes time to get used to
Access to the Google Play Store; AI Assistant app available on board

Where the older model from 2024 was running Android 12, the Go Color 7 II has been upgraded to a custom version of Android 13. There’s usually no need to worry about a device like an ereader running an older version of Google’s OS as there typically aren’t any security issues here, and I doubt anyone would save sensitive information on a device like this.

The trimmed-down version of Android on the Go Color 7 Gen II caters specifically to reading and writing, and should be familiar to anyone who has used a Boox tablet before. If not, the user interface will take some getting used to as it’s not the most streamlined UX I’ve come across. For a simpler setup, you’ll need to turn to a Kindle or a Kobo ereader.

Image 1 of 3

The navigation menu doesn't have the Notes tab by default and finding it requires some online research (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 3

Third-party app downloads via the Google Play Store are quick and easy (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 3 of 3

The Boox user interface has evolved a little, but it still takes a while to get a handle on as a first-time user (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The home screen, once you’ve connected to Wi-Fi, is easy to get around, with a navigation menu at the bottom of the display. This gives you quick access to your library, the storage menu and your apps, plus it’s customizable via the device’s Settings menu. There’s space here for five options and, strangely for an ereader with writing capabilities, the native Notes app is not one of them.

Finding it wasn’t easy, but Boox at least has a quick guide online on how to access it: you’ll need to navigate to Settings > System Display > Homescreen Navigation Bar where It’s listed as one of the options for the aforementioned customization. This may not seem like a big issue, but my expectation from a device like this is to highlight its main features up front rather than tuck them away, highlighting the unintuitive UX. In my case, I swapped out the Bookstore as it’s not as enticing a source of content as the Kindle or Kobo stores.

Preset refresh modes are nice to have, but they didn't work as well I had hoped on the Go Color 7 II (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Given its open Android ecosystem, the interface on the Boox Go 7 II includes a lot of advanced settings that help you use third-party apps as smoothly as possible, but submenus for native applications are difficult to find. For example, you need to open an ebook in the NeoReader app (the native library), tap onscreen to open the top menu bar, click on More, then select Settings from there – another example of a convoluted interface.

Thankfully adjusting fonts and overall styling for individual books is easier to do, but there’s a lot going on here compared to what you’d see on a Kindle or Kobo. The setup for styling, however, is now improved, which makes it easier to understand than previous iterations of Boox’s interface.

In fact, there’s another improvement to the software that I’ve previously had trouble with on Boox devices – taking advantage of the USB-C port’s OTG support for wired file transfer. Previously, the menu required to copy files across from an external hard drive to a Boox tablet would disappear as soon as I tried to navigate back to the Storage pane, thus not letting me add files to the default Books folder. Now that is no longer an issue and I was able to select multiple ebooks saved on my Samsung T7 portable SSD and save into the Go Color 7 II without any issues.

I was thrilled to see that OTG transfer worked a charm on the Boox Go Color 7 Gen II (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

I had no trouble downloading third-party Android apps to the Go Color 7 II. These included the Kindle and Kobo apps as the bulk of my library is on these two platforms, plus an app called CPU X that detects the exact chipset a device is using. I didn’t try any third-party note-taking applications as I’ve always found Boox’s native Notes app to be full featured and more than enough for my needs.

• Software score: 3.5 / 5

Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II review: User experience

Excessive yellow hue on screen affects colors
Subpar reading experience due to lack of text sharpness
Writing experience could change depending on the new stylus

An unintuitive user interface aside, the Go Color 7 Gen II is quite usable. It’s when you compare it to other models, including its own predecessor and its 2025 monochrome sibling that you begin to realize there are better color ereaders to spend your money on. And that’s exactly what my job, as the reviewer, entails – doing the side-by-side comparisons so you, dear reader, can make the most informed buying decision.

As you will see in the comparison photos below, the Go Color 7 Gen II doesn’t hold up well as an ereader. As for writing, it’s hard to rate the experience when you can’t purchase a compatible stylus yet.

There are quite a few submenus to explore on a Boox device (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Reading

I’ve tested several ereaders in the last eight years and I don’t think I’ve ever been as disappointed with the reading experience as I was with the Go Color 7 Gen II. Admittedly that’s because I’m comparing it directly to a few of its contemporaries, but even if you didn’t do a side-by-side comparison, it’s easy for anyone who’s used an ereader before to say the display looks hazy. I suspect that’s because of the anti-glare layer on the screen, and it’s just a lot more pronounced here when compared to other brands and Boox models.

Colors appear saturated on the Boox Go Color 7 Gen II, but the higher contrast hides details (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The 7-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 display used here is naturally more yellow than other ereader I’ve previously tested and found this affected how colors appear on screen. I compared it to its predecessor and the Kobo Libra Colour, both of which have paler backgrounds in light mode and made the displayed colors appear as close to natural as is possible on an epaper screen. While I can't say this alone affects the reading experience, I found the monochrome Boox Go 7 was nicer to read on in light mode because of the whiter background – it added a touch more contrast to the page.

The frontlight, which isn’t as bright as I’ve seen previously on other Boox tablets (even the Go 7 that released alongside this ereader is brighter), exacerbates the ‘jaundiced look’. Boox doesn't list how many amber LEDs are used on the Go Color 7 II, but the frontlight is warmer compared to five other ereaders I had with me at the time of this review (two other Boox tablets, two Kindles and a Kobo), which makes the screen look yellower when switched on. The only other E Ink tablet that surpasses the Gen II's warm display and light is the Kobo Elipsa 2E, but here it's not a problem as the epaper tablet doesn't display color.

Image 1 of 2

The frontlight of the Boox Go 7 Gen II (left) makes the screen yellower than on the Gen I model (right) (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2

Even the Boox Go 7 (right) that launched alongside the Go Color 7 Gen II (left) is clearer and brighter with the frontlight at full bore (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

As with every color ereader using the E Ink Kaleido 3 screen technology, the Go Color 7 II has a screen resolution of 150ppi for color and 300ppi in grayscale. Colors appear more washed out when compared to its own predecessor which, at the time of writing the Boox Go Color 7 review, I said was pale beside the Kobo Libra Colour. And while I don’t expect the Gen II to match what I would see on an LCD display, I did expect it to be similar to its older sibling, if not better.

Image 1 of 3

The warmer light affects colors on screen, giving them a 'jaundiced look' on the Boox Go Color 7 Gen II (left) compared to the Gen I (right) (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 3

Colors might appear darker on the Go Color 7 Gen II (right), but the text is sharper on the Gen I (left) (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 3 of 3

A closer comparison between the Go Color 7 II (left) and the Gen I (right) shows text just isn't as nice to read on the newer device (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The flip side to that is colors on the Gen II look more saturated compared to the Kobo Libra Colour. Newer firmware may have made the Gen I better at displaying colors, but the release notes for v4.1 on the Boox website make no mention of changes that would account for this improvement. The more saturated hues, however, do come at the cost of some details in darker areas being diminished, but this may not be a deal breaker for many readers of comics and graphics novels.

Image 1 of 2

Compared to the Kobo Libra Colour (left), the Go Color 7 II (right) is yellower and text paler (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2

The lack of contrast is clear when seen closely (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

What is truly disappointing is how the text is displayed, whether in ebooks or in speech bubbles – letters are fuzzy on the Go Color 7 II compared to the Gen I and the Go 7. Even the Kobo is better at displaying text.

The new Boox interface allows you to have custom styling for individual titles you’re reading, but enhancing text weight (or boldness) didn’t help, although setting the Dark Color Enhancement to its maximum improved the text a tiny bit, but note that you will lose further details in darker areas when reading in color. Switching to dark mode also made no difference as overall contrast is lacking.

Long story short, it’s hard to recommend the Boox Go Color 7 Gen II as an ereader.

Even compared to the Boox Go 7 (top), the Go Color 7 Gen II (bottom) is a lackluster ereader (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Writing

It’s hard to rate the Go Color 7 Gen II’s writing experience objectively as the Boox InkSense is no longer available (although it still works if you can find stock at a retailer) and will be replaced by a new stylus that I hope will add a touch of friction.

The hard plastic nib of the InkSense just slides across the screen of the Go Color 7 II, and I often felt like I was losing control over my writing because of that. I think a softer nib would be ideal, but we’ll just have to wait and see what Boox releases for its 2025 Go series 7-inch ereaders.

However, as with reading, the color ‘inks’ available for writing look washed out compared to what I’ve experienced on older Boox tablets like the Onyx Boox Tab Mini C, and black is the only option that stands out clearly.

Image 1 of 3

There's no friction between the screen and the Boox InkSense, so writing isn't very paper-like (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 3

There's a good color palette to choose from for writing and drawing... (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 3 of 3

..but results appear paler than expected (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The native Notes app, though, is the same as you’d find on the brand’s more high-end epaper tablets like the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 and is more than enough for the average user who needs to jot down some thoughts or doodle. Power users would appreciate the Notes app better, thanks to several tools that could prove handy for productivity. For example, the Insert option allows you to add images and audio files to your notes, and the same tool lets you hyperlink selected text to an external URL or to a different page within the same notebook.

The adjustable Lasso tool gives you a lot of flexibility for text selections, and promptly adds the AI tool for instant handwriting-to-text conversion. Handwriting recognition is not always accurate, but then it’s very simple to make edits manually.

• User experience score: 2.5 / 5

Hopefully the redesigned stylus for the Boox Go 2025 series will be better than the InkSense (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II review: Performance

Not the fastest ereader I’ve tested
Lots of light ghosting that quickly becomes annoying
Battery drain is higher compared to other similar models

The Boox Go Color 7 Gen II uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 chipset paired with 4GB of RAM to keep things running as smoothly as possible. The CPU is a small improvement over the Snapdragon 680 used in the older Go Color 7, but it doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference in overall performance.

Boox tablets aren’t known for being speedy loaders, and the latest Kindle and Kobo ereaders boot up faster from sleep mode than the Go Color 7 Gen II. Even the native Library app takes its time to open a chosen title, even if it’s been saved locally to the device. It’s not a deal breaker in terms of overall usability, although it’s undeniably slower than the 2024 Kindles and Kobo devices when opening up a book to read.

Even wired file transfer via USB-OTG was very quick. Wireless transfer of files has always been easy using the BooxDrop platform, but I had no trouble signing into my Google Drive account either, with cloud transfer also working quite well.

Third-party apps, however, load quickly and, during my testing, worked smoothly, with no app crashes experienced with the few that I downloaded for this review. That said, reading on the Kindle or Kobo app also suffered from the same screen issues as when using the native NeoReader application.

Image 1 of 2

There are options to tweak the text style on the Go Color 7 Gen II, both for comics/graphics novels... (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2

..and text-heavy ebooks, but they don't help the Go Color 7 Gen II very much (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

My biggest performance issue with the Go Color 7 II was ghosting. Adjusting refresh rates using the presets available for individual apps didn’t help at all and the only way I found to counter this was to set system refresh rate to a faster option. I tested a full-refresh frequency set at 10 taps and 5 taps, with the latter working fine for the most part, although it came at the cost of battery life. There was still some ghosting on the display between the 5 taps, and the only way to eliminate this was setting full-refresh frequency to 1 tap. This drains the battery even more significantly, but was the best solution for me.

In fact, the preset refresh rates that can be set on a per-app basis didn’t even help smoothen stuttering while scrolling web pages on the native browser. I wasn’t expecting seamless scrolling like on a phone, but I’ve experienced better refresh-rate presets on other E Ink devices: case in point, I had no such problems in my ViWoods AiPaper review which also runs a custom version of Android 13 like the Go Color 7 II.

Image 1 of 3

Dark mode doesn't improve readability very much, but it has its own quirks. It's fine when first switched on... (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 3

..but the white floating bar gets distracting. (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 3 of 3

Turn a page, though, and the bottom information bar becomes white, which is just as distracting as the floating toolbar (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

As I’ve already mentioned, battery drain for me on this ereader was quite significant after I changed the system refresh rate to a quicker option, but even on default settings, the Go Color 7 II chews through its 2,300mAh battery quite quickly.

I had the ereader set to powering off after 48 hours of no activity, but upon switching the Go Color 7 II on again I found the battery life would be significantly lower than when I put it into sleep mode. I expect about 5% to 10% drain for ereaders in scenarios like this, but the Go Color 7 II would drop by 25% on average – in one instance where it was in sleep mode for 48 hours and powered down for a further 36 hours, battery life dropped from 81% to 56%.

This isn’t behavior I’ve experienced with any other Boox tablet, so I suspect there’s a bug that’s affecting battery efficiency and a future firmware might be able to fix it. In the meantime, you’ll still get about a week of reading from every top-up with the system refresh rate set to 15 taps. This will reduce if you use faster refresh rates and will also be affected by how bright you set the frontlight to and how often you use Bluetooth connectivity.

Recharging, thankfully, isn't slow and it went from 12% to full in 1 hour and 57 minutes plugged into a wall adapter during my testing. Connected to a dock slowed down the charging rate only marginally, going from 17% to full in 2 hours and 10 minutes.

• Performance score: 3 / 5

I wish submenus were easier to find on Boox devices – for example, you can't tell there's a library settings option under the More in the above image (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Should I buy the Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II?

Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II

Kobo Libra Colour

Kobo Clara Colour

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024)

Price

$279.99 / €279.99 (about £245) / AU$439

$229.99 / £209.99 / AU$379.95

$159.99 / £149.99 / AU$249.95

from $159.99 / £134.99 / AU$299

Screen

7-inch E Ink Kaleido 3

6-inch E Ink Carta 1300

7-inch E Ink Carta 1300

Resolution

300ppi in B&W; 150ppi in color

300ppi in B&W

Operating system

Android 13

Linux-based

Storage

64GB (expandable)

32GB

16GB

CPU

Qualcomm Snapdragon 690

Undisclosed 2GHz dual-core chipset

Undisclosed 1GHz dual-core chipset

Battery

2,300mAh

2,050mAh

1,500mAh

Undisclosed

Connectivity

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-C

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (in select regions), USB-C

Waterproofing

None

IPX8

File support (including images and audio)

Speakers

Yes

Dimensions

156 x 137 x 6.4 mm

161 x 144.6 x 8.3 mm

112 x 160 x 9.2 mm

176.7 x 127.6 x 7.8 mm

Weight

195g

199.5g

174g

211g

Buy it if...

You want a compact color ereader with writing capabilities

With a 7-inch color display, the Go Color 7 II is quite compact and very light too. And given it’s also got writing features built in, it’s versatile. Unfortunately, its many usability and performance issues makes it hard to recommend over similar devices.

Don't buy it if...

Readability and performance are important to you in an ereader

The Go Color 7 II has potential, but its subpar screen and above-average battery drain leaves it trailing behind many of its contemporaries. If the color display isn’t important, you’ll be better off opting for the grayscale Go Color 7.

Value for money is important

Compared to its predecessor, the Go Color 7 is well priced as it adds writing features for the same cost. However, its lackluster user experience and lack of performance makes it hard to recommend at any price point.

You want a compatible stylus at the time you buy a device

It’s very strange for a brand to release devices that require an optional add-on that gets discontinued soon after their launch. Stranger still is that no replacement was made available at the time. So until Boox releases a replacement for the InkSense stylus, it’s hard to recommend the 2025 Go series ereaders.

Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II review: Alternatives

Kobo Libra Colour

It's displayed colors might look washed out in comparison to the Go Color 7 II, but that means you can see a few more details in darker areas. It, too, allows you to read and write and Kobo's Advanced Notebooks are quite full featured. You will, of course, need to purchase the Kobo Stylus 2 separately if you want to use jot notes, but I think it's worth the additional ask. Compared to the Go Color 7 II, though, it's the better ereader and has a more streamlined interface.
Read my in-depth Kobo Libra Colour review

Kobo Clara Colour

If you don't want the writing features, but the color screen is important to you, you can save quite a bit of cash opting for a 6-inch color ereader and I think the Kobo Clara Colour is the best option in that regard. Seamless performance and a compact form factor are just some of its attributes.
Read my in-depth Kobo Clara Colour review

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024)

The 12th generation Kindle Paperwhite is a fantastic 7-inch ereader with a black-and-white screen that I'd recommend if you're already part of the Amazon ecosystem. With direct access to the Kindle Store and a smoother interface than Boox, its E Ink Carta 1300 is one of the best optimized in the business.
Read our in-depth Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024) review

How I tested the Onyx Boox Go Color 7 Gen II

Used as main ereader for approximately 11 weeks
Used wireless and wired file transfer methods for books and audio files
Separately purchased the Boox InkSense to test writing

The Boox Go Color 7 Gen II has potential... if only its screen hadn't been so disappointing (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

When Boox sent the Go Color 7 Gen II for review without a stylus, I was a little surprised. On enquiring, I was told that the Boox InkSense – the supported pen – had been discontinued and I would be sent its replacement as soon as it was released. However, that meant delaying this review until later this year, so I purchased the InkSense myself from a third-party retailer in Australia (where the the testing was done) who still had stock. The stylus is now no longer available anywhere.

It was fantastic to see that I didn't need to manually pair the stylus to the Go Color 7 II – it just worked. To test the writing features, I wrote some notes and tried doodling a little (I can't draw to save my life).

To test the Go Color 7 II as an ereader, I used USB-OTG to transfer a few ebooks, but also signed into my Google Drive account for cloud transfer of other files, including the Bookerly font family I'm partial to and some MP3s. I also 'pushed' a couple of existing files I had in the cloud via the BooxDrop platform as well.

I compared the Go Color 7 II to two other color ereaders: the older Boox Go Color 7 and the Kobo Libra Colour. I also compared it to its 2025 sibling, the Onyx Boox Go 7, as well as the 2024 Amazon Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite for direct text comparisons.

I listened to some audio files using the native music player. I downloaded a couple of other reading apps (Kindle and Kobo) and used the native web browser to see what the experience is like on an E Ink tablet.

I've tested more than 30 ereaders in the last eight years, giving me the knowledge and expertise to comment on the Boox Go Color 7 Gen II's usability and performance.

I discovered how much easier trips get with the EcoFlow River 2 power station by my side

Mon, 08/25/2025 - 23:07

EcoFlow River 2: Two-minute review

The River 2 has been out for a couple of years now, but I think it's a great buy due to the solid spec and increasingly cheap price. The unit tested here has been with me since launch and I have taken it on dozens of adventures without it skipping a beat.

Are you after the latest model instead? Take a read of our EcoFlow River 3 review and see if the updated version is better suited to your needs.

The River 2 is the smallest in EcoFlow's ultraportable River 2 power station series and it has a 256Wh capacity. Note that I tested the Australian spec model, but aside from a different AC plug depending on the country it's sold in, the underlying capabilities are the same.

The River 2 is basically a big battery bank combined with a 230V/120V inverter, high power USB and 12V outputs, and a range of charging ports. The River 2 can handle 300W AC appliances, with a surge capacity up to 600W.

The River 2 series is designed to be very portable, and is great for any charging or power needs when out and about. Not just for recreation either – it’s well suited for professionals who need to run equipment in the field – especially since it can be combined with solar for charging anywhere. The River 2 can also be used like a UPS, to automatically keep your modem or other critical devices powered on through a blackout.

Importantly, the River 2 series uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells, which allows for a large amount of full cycles. The River 2 is rated at 3,000 cycles (100% to 0%) before capacity drops to 80% of the original. That means you could recharge it almost every day and it would take 10 years to drop to 80% of original capacity. Even then, with 80% capacity being around 200Wh, that's still a heap of juice.

On the front, the River 2 has a single 230V/120V AC power socket, a 12V/8A car-style DC accessory socket, dual USB-A ports (5V/2.4A) and a 60W USB-C PD input/output that can charge a laptop, or charge the power station itself. When plugged into the wall, the River 2 charges at up to 360W. That's fast, and means it can go from dead flat to full in just an hour – an incredibly handy feature when you need to recharge in a hurry. It also has a DC input port on the back that can accept 11-30V, and charge the battery at 110W. This means the power station can be quickly charged in the car (or 24V in a truck), or with a solar panel or other DC power source.

The River 2 has a screen that shows remaining charge, time until flat at current usage, and input/output wattage. That’s all that most users will likely need, but you can also connect to the power station using a slick app from EcoFlow. This provides all sorts of deeper functionality, like setting maximum charge and discharge levels, setting specific charge rates, updating the firmware and more.

I have really enjoyed my time with River 2, but of course there are some minor niggles. At higher loads, the River 2 does need a fan to keep internal temperatures down. It’s not especially noisy and doesn’t run all the time, but is potentially a way for dust to build up (and require occasional cleaning) over time. Otherwise most of the things I wish for (like a 100W USB-C output) are options on the larger capacity models.

The River 2 did command a somewhat premium price at launch but has been getting much more affordable over time and has had some great discounts lately. All in all, it offers an excellent mix of features that is well worth it for those who need reliable portable power on the go.

Do you need something smaller, for charging a phone or laptop? Then check out the TechRadar guide to the best power banks.

The River 2 has a very capable 256Wh battery and is ready to power all your devices no matter where you are. (Image credit: Future)EcoFlow River 2 review: price and availability

How much does it cost? Launch RRP of $239 / £269 / AU$649
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in most major markets including the US, UK and Australia

The River 2 has been out for a couple of years now and is easily available for much less than the launch RRP. The easiest place to find it is generally direct from EcoFlow, though it's also stocked on Amazon and at a large number of third-party retailers.

Generally speaking the River 2 is solid value, considering the focus on portability, unique features and long warranty. It also has fairly frequent sales that can bring it down to less than half price.

• Value score: 4 / 5

On the rear the River 2 has AC input for 360W charging, and a DC input for car or solar charging at 110W. (Image credit: Future)EcoFlow River 2: Design and features

X-Boost for over-wattage appliances
Very fast AC charging
Solar input
5-year warranty

One of my favorite features on the River 2 series is a completely non-technical one – the huge grab handle. Even though the unit is only 3.5kg, the handle makes it very easy to carry long distances, but doesn't make it too bulky to fit in a bag. My least favorite thing is the fan, which can get mildly noisy under load, and is a potential place for dust or water to get inside the River 2.

At 256Wh, the battery in the River 2 can be run flat very quickly (under an hour) if using the full 300W AC output. Lower power devices will run from hours to days, depending on the power use. Thanks to the huge 3,000 cycle life (to 80% capacity), you can fully discharge and recharge the River 2 multiple times in a day if need be, and rest assured the battery won’t wear out in a hurry. One thing to keep in mind is that the 256Wh capacity means the River 2 can’t be taken on a flight, as it's over the 160Wh limit most airlines use. For the full rundown of the rules, take a look at my guide on how to travel safely with a power bank.

It’s great to have a wide range of charging options on the River 2, but the clear standout is the very impressive 360W AC charge rate. I extensively tested the power station out and about, and being able to quickly grab some charge was very useful. While it takes just 1 hour to go from 0% to full, even just 5 minutes can bring back 10% charge. Charging in the car and using the solar mode is a fair bit slower (around 100W), but it was very handy when further afield, or camping. I also loved the USB-C charge option, as it made it easy to plug in overnight without using the bulky AC cable, and does not need to use the fan.

EcoFlow River 2 specs

Capacity: 256Wh
AC Output: 300W (Surge 600W) Pure Sine Wave 230V/120V
Solar / Car Charging: 11-30V, 8A, 110W max
Cycle Life: 3,000 cycles to 80% capacity
USB Charging: 1x 60W USB-C (input/output), 2x 12W USB-A
Other Outputs: 12V, 8A (100W)
Dimensions: 24.5 x 21.4 x 14.2 cm
Weight: 3.5kg
Warranty: 5 years

The 300W (600W surge) AC output is well-sized for most devices that might be used on the go, and the River 2 also has X-Boost, which allows certain high power devices (up to 600W) to be run at lower power without overloading the power station. The AC output can also be turned off completely via a button, or in the app, saving standby power. If the River 2 is plugged into the wall, and a device is plugged into the power station, then it automatically works as an Uninterruptible Power Supply. This is a handy extra feature, especially for when the River 2 is not being otherwise used. For example, it can be left plugged in to keep your modem running in the event of a blackout, or power critical things like a fish tank heater.

While the River 2 has a screen with key information, the more in-depth control is done via the app. It can connect via Wi-Fi and be managed even when away from home, or directly connected to (for example when camping) via Bluetooth. The EcoFlow app has options like being able to limit the maximum charge or discharge percentage of the power station, turn the outputs on and off, or set timeout periods. Importantly, the River 2 series is backed by an impressive 5-year warranty, which gives peace of mind that the power station will be with you for the long haul.

• Design and features: 4.5 / 5

While the River 2 can output 60W via USB-C, it can also charge itself, reducing the need to carry the bulkier AC cable. (Image credit: Future)EcoFlow River 2 review: Performance and testing

60W PD USB input/output
UPS style functionality
Solar and DC charging

The River 2 series rates very well for portability, and the 3.5kg heft is very easy to carry with the sturdy grab handle. The unit has large rubber feet, and the plastic shell is robust. The ports on the front are well laid out and not too crowded, so plugging and unplugging multiple things is easy. The display is easy to read even in bright sunlight, though I wish the buttons were more recessed, as I found they could be accidentally pressed if the River 2 is in a bag.

I connected the River 2 up to a load tester for the 12V DC and USB outputs, and the ports all happily gave their specified wattages and voltages. The AC output provides clean power without dropping the voltage at full load, and the X-Boost functionality worked as intended to avoid shutdown at higher loads.

The River 2 real-world usable capacity depends on how fast you discharge it, and through what output, but overall efficiency is excellent, and generally under 10% of the rated capacity is lost in conversions. One minor niggle – charging power banks has mixed results, with some charging, and others only being able to charge the River 2. A workaround is to use a USB-C charger in the 12V socket, but it would be great if the River 2 had a USB-C input only port on the rear.

The River 2 fan won’t kick in for USB-C use, but will spool up to high speed if fast charging via AC, or running something that uses a significant amount of the 300W available. The AC charge rate can be limited in the app, and at the minimum 100W, the fan is quiet, but still audible. One minor frustration is that the fan speed control is overly enthusiastic, and often cranks up to full speed for a few seconds before dropping back.

I managed a full charge from dead flat in 58 minutes on AC, and at peak rates could restore 10% charge in just 5 minutes. Charging from USB-C took a touch over 5 hours. Solar and car charging worked well – though the solar voltage and amperage inputs are somewhat awkward compared to what typical portable solar panels provide. Still, a 100W solar panel (or the EcoFlow 110W panel) can easily charge the power station up in as little as 4 hours. For those who want more solar input, check out the River 2 Pro and Max. The River 2 is rated for a UPS switching speed of under 30ms, and in my testing I didn’t have an issue even with finicky, lower power electronics. That said, it's not quite a true UPS, so not designed for very sensitive equipment.

While excellent overall, the EcoFlow app doesn’t have as much detailed information as I’d like, like allowing tracking of solar collected (or other data logging), or viewing how many cycles the power station has done. I also feel it's a missed opportunity to add some automation options, like being able to schedule the outputs to turn on and off at certain times.

• Performance: 4.5 / 5

The relatively low 3.5kg weight and the large grab handle on the River 2 makes it very easy to carry longer distances. (Image credit: Future)Should I buy the EcoFlow River 2?EcoFlow River 2 report card

Attribute

Notes

Rating

Value

The River 2 series has a fairly premium feature set, which results in a higher-end price tag. Compared to the limited competition, the River 2 excels in areas like battery cycle life, being compact and low weight, and the inclusion of USB-C charging.

4 / 5

Design & features

The River 2 includes a solid mix of features, without going overboard on options that will add mass without providing much extra utility. The key advantages are that it's lightweight, very portable, and flexible enough to be used every day for many years.

4.5 / 5

Performance

The River 2 performed above and beyond in all my tests, and was extremely reliable, yet rugged enough that it does not need to be treated too gently. All the outputs (and inputs) happily sustained their full wattages for the entire battery capacity, even in (simulated) hot and cold conditions.

4.5 / 5

Buy it if...

You need an ultraportable solution
The large grab handle and low weight of the River 2 mean it's just begging to be taken out on adventures. Bring an electric throw rug when stargazing in winter, hold your own movie night in the park, take it camping and more.

You will use the River 2 a lot
With a standout 3,000 cycle battery longevity, the River 2 is perfect for heavy use, and is well suited for everything including home or day-to-day use, camping, or for professionals who need power in the field.

256Wh is enough capacity for your charging needs
If you need a larger battery capacity between recharges, then consider the heavier, but even more capable 512Wh River 2 Max, or 768Wh River 2 Pro. Or even the larger Delta Series, like the 2016Wh Delta Max.

Don't buy it if...

If you need to power high wattage appliances
300W of AC power (100W DC at 12V, 60W USB-C) is enough for most smaller appliances and gadgets, but not everything. Items like power tools, or appliances for cooking, all need a higher AC output, and more storage capacity.

Silence is important
The fan in the River 2 is fairly quiet most of the time, and only really ramps up to noisier levels under heavy load, or when rapidly charging. But even at its lowest setting, the fan is audible – especially on a quiet night.

You need a waterproof and dustproof power station
While the River 2 can handle normal outdoor use just fine, it’s not waterproof and needs some protection from the elements. The fan is also a dust entry point and the power station does not have covers on the ports.

Final verdict

Connected up to a portable solar panel, the River 2 can be fully recharged in as little as 4 hours. (Image credit: Future)

Overall the River 2 is a very competent little power station that is well suited to a variety of uses. It focuses on portability over maximizing features and spec – leaving that for the larger River 2 Max and Pro. The River 2 is powerful enough to be a worthy addition to your next camping trip, and combined with a solar panel, makes it possible to keep devices charged indefinitely. Other options like the UPS functionality mean the River 2 is also useful at home between adventures.

The 256Wh capacity is well suited to daily use, and the fast charge ability makes it very easy to top up any time. The ability to silently charge from USB-C is great for nighttime use, or just for avoiding needing too many cables. The long 5-year warranty and 3000 cycle battery longevity mean the River 2 can be pushed hard without worrying about a shortened lifespan. The EcoFlow app is quite slick, but a little lacking when it comes to deeper levels of control and data logging.

While the power station isn’t perfect, and larger Max and Pro models might suit some users better, the River 2 is a great option.

[First reviewed August 2025]

Categories: Reviews

I sat on the butt-cooling AutoFull M6 Ultra gaming chair in the middle of a heatwave – but did it actually keep my buns chilly?

Mon, 08/25/2025 - 15:00

AutoFull M6 Ultra: Two-minute review

Alright, I'm going to be totally honest: I wasn't expecting the AutoFull M6 Ultra gaming chair to be very good. I've seen gaming chairs with fancy massage and cooling functions before, and I was never very impressed with them (in fact, I had a good laugh about one of them during Amazon Prime Day 2022).

On paper, it sounds a bit ridiculous: a premium gaming chair absolutely loaded with features, from '6D' armrests to built-in fans and even a heating element that helps keep your posterior the perfect temperature. In practice, though, it delivers on all the advertised promises - almost all of them, anyway.

(Image credit: Future)

For starters, it's genuinely very comfortable and feels like a premium product. The cushioning is nice and plush on the seat, back, and headrest, and the PU leather finish is pleasantly cool to the touch. Both the base of the seat and the lumbar support section are perforated to make them more breathable, too.

I'd potentially go so far as to call this one of the best gaming chairs out there right now - but more due to the overall high quality and comfort, rather than the extra fancy features. That being said, the cooling and heating functions genuinely do work - more on that later in this review.

In fact, I'd have to admit that some of my issues with the AutoFull M6 Ultra are more to do with me than the chair itself. I'm 6'3", and I can't help but feel like this chair simply wasn't designed for someone of my stature. But if you're six feet tall or less, this could be the perfect chair for you - especially if you live somewhere with a warm climate.

AutoFull M6 Ultra: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

With a $799.99 / £799.99 (around AU$1,225) price tag, the M6 Ultra is far from affordable. Even relatively premium offerings from respected gaming chair brands like SecretLab and NobleChairs are cheaper.

That being said, it's worth noting that this is the highest-end model sold by AutoFull. If you're willing to sacrifice the massage and cooling/heating functions, there's also the M6 Elite, which retails for $599.99 / £599.99 (around AU$920) and retains the same high build quality without the extra bells and whistles.

Plus, at the time of writing, the M6 Ultra is on sale at AutoFull's website (seemingly in every territory), bringing the price down to a far more reasonable $569.99 / £569.99 (around AU$875). In that range, it's going up against chairs like Razer's Iskur V2 and the SecretLab Titan Evo, and for my money, it performs reasonably well against those rivals.

AutoFull M6 Ultra: Specs

Max weight of user

396lb / 180kg

Max height of user

Not specified

Recline angle

90-160° Backrest recline

Warranty

3-year

Lumbar support?

Yes (Adjustable)

Material

PU leather, fabric headrest

AutoFull M6 Ultra: Design and features

(Image credit: Future)

To describe this gaming chair as feature-rich is almost an understatement; I'm frankly surprised it doesn't also cook my dinner and do my taxes. In terms of its core construction, it's nothing groundbreaking; we've got a five-armed ergonomic base with smooth rolling casters, a fully reclining backrest, and a racing seat design with sturdy but not uncomfortable bolsters on either side.

The armrests feature '6D' movement, which sadly doesn't mean that they're capable of accessing a forbidden sixth dimension of spacetime, but rather that they can move in six specific directions.

This makes the armrest position highly customizable, which is great, though I would've liked to see a little more resistance on the 360-degree rotation; it's a bit too easy to push them out of position when getting up or sitting down, but this is an admittedly very minor quibble on my part.

(Image credit: Future)

The recline function works well, with a sturdy feel to the backrest and the option to go back almost to a fully horizontal position. Combined with the extendable flip-up legrest, it's certainly one of the most comfortable gaming chairs - you could reasonably take a comfortable nap in the M6 Ultra if you were so inclined, or reclined (sorry).

The headrest is very plush, but - somewhat unusually for a premium gaming chair - isn't removable. Instead, it's mounted on an adjustable bracket, and the sides can be 'folded' inwards too for a cradling effect. It's good enough, but I can't help but feel like a magnetic headrest would've been a better choice here. The lumbar support is also fully adjustable (and very comfy), but can't be removed without damaging the chair.

(Image credit: Future)

Now, onto the good stuff: does this chair really keep your bum cool? Surprisingly, yes, it does. Two fans in the breathable seat center can be set to three different power levels, and they definitely do keep the temperature down. I reviewed the M6 Ultra at the peak of a nasty heatwave here in the UK, and while I wasn't exactly blown away (no pun intended) by the cooling, it did make a noticeable difference after an extended period in the chair.

The heating function works quite well, too. Given the current temperatures at the time of writing, I was reluctant to use it for very long, but it certainly does get nice and toasty. It's easy to imagine how pleasant that could be in the middle of winter.

The same can't really be said for the 'massage' functionality, unfortunately. This is basically just a vibration motor concealed in the lumbar cushion, which can be set to pulse at three different speeds. I was hoping for a more active massage experience (like those bulky chairs you see at malls and airports) and ultimately found it more annoying than relaxing.

All of these features are controlled by three buttons on the seat.

AutoFull M6 Ultra: PerformanceImage 1 of 5

(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 5

(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 5

(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 5

(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 5

(Image credit: Future)

So, how does the AutoFull M6 Ultra actually perform in practice? Well, for me, not great. At 6'3", I'm simply a bit too tall for this gaming chair; the headrest was the main offender, as setting it to the maximum height was still a little too low for me to sit comfortably. The NobleChairs Hero TX that I use as my regular desk chair stands about two inches taller by comparison.

Luckily, I have a 5'9" fiancé who I was able to persuade (read: bribe with snacks) into using the chair for a few days, and he reported that it was actually fantastically comfortable if you're not excessively tall. Even after a five-hour Stardew Valley binge, it was comfy and sweat-free thanks to the cooling function. Consider this a warning, then: if you're my height or taller, this might not be the chair for you.

In terms of other body types, the M6 Ultra is wide enough to accommodate most plus-sized users, and it works well for cross-legged sitting as well. The lumbar support is genuinely great (something I'm always on the lookout for in desk chairs), and it's very easy to find a natural elbow position thanks to the multi-directional armrests. It's also Lucy-approved, an extremely important certification for any chair, as you can see in the picture below.

Don't worry, she was perfectly happy to sit in the chair; she just looks perpetually concerned. (Image credit: Future)

When it comes to the question of longevity, it's always difficult to gauge exactly how well a chair will last based on a few weeks reviewing it, but I have to say that I feel confident about the staying power of the M6 Ultra. The stitching looks and feels high-quality, and the chair as a whole is very robust, with mostly metal and leather in its construction; the only plastic I could see here was the external covers for the seat hinges and the lumbar adjustment dial.

One last thing I have to bring up: don't expect to be rolling around in this thing unless you've also got a USB power bank to connect to it. The USB cable that powers the extra features is simply too short to practically connect it to a PC or wall outlet unless you remain perfectly still, so the best solution is to plug it into a portable charger and store that in the handy pocket on the back of the chair.

AutoFull M6 Ultra: Should you buy it?Buy it if...

You want a feature-rich gaming chair
The AutoFull M6 Ultra is positively overloaded with features, from the fully adjustable lumbar support to the cooling fans. If you want a chair that can do it all, this is the one to pick.

You want to be super comfortable
With breathable PU leather, plush cushioning, a built-in legrest, and near-horizontal recline, the M6 Ultra might be one of the most comfortable gaming chairs on the market - just so long as you're not too tall for it.

Don't buy it if...

You're taller than six feet
If you're on the tall side, this probably won't be the right chair for you - due primarily to the headrest, which can be adjusted up and down but not fully removed (or at least, not without permanently breaking it).

You’re on a budget
If you want a new gaming chair but don't want to spend a lot, you'll be better served elsewhere - this is an undeniably pricey throne.

Also consider...

AutoFull M6 Ultra

Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 XL

Razer Iskur XL

Max weight of user

396lb / 180kg

395lb / 180kg

Max height of user

Not specified

6'9" / 205cm

6’10" / 208cm

Recline angle

90-160° Backrest recline

85-165° Backrest recline

139° Backrest recline

Warranty

2-year

5-year

3-year

Lumbar support?

Yes (adjustable)

Material

PU Leather, fabric headrest

Neo Hybrid Leatherette / Softweave Fabric / NAPA Leather

PVC leather

Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 XL
The Titan Evo range from Secretlab is one of the best in the business and its 2022 range is excellent. It offers a similar package to the Kaiser 3 XL but will give you a better finish and build quality that many folks value and don't mind paying extra for.

Here's our full Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 review

Razer Iskur XL
The XL variant of the Razer Iskur will cater for the bigger player just as much as the Kaiser 3 XL but it will offer perhaps a more 'fulsome' lumbar system - an entire panel of the chair's back can be moved into the perfect position.

Here's our full Razer Iskur review

How we tested the AutoFull M6 Ultra

I spent more than a week testing out the AutoFull M6 Ultra gaming chair, swapping out my usual desk chair, the NobleChairs Hero TX, to use it daily at home, both for work (since I work from home) and a fair bit of gaming.

I'm 6'3" and weigh about 95kg (209lbs), so I'm on the large side - which is why I had both my 5'9" partner and 5'11" friend spend some time in the chair too, to get a properly rounded idea of how comfortable it is for different people.

We all tested out various positions for the headrest, armrests, and lumbar cushion, as well as seeing how comfortable the footrest and additional features were. I carefully documented their feedback and also took the time to read some product reviews on AutoFull's own website, to make sure there were no glaring issues with the M6 Ultra that I'd somehow missed in my own testing (and there weren't, so my pride remains intact).

Read more about how we test

First reviewed: August 2025

Categories: Reviews

I tried the Piranha Plant camera for Nintendo Switch 2 and wanted to love it – but it’s got one fatal flaw

Mon, 08/25/2025 - 12:00

Hori Piranha Plant Camera for Nintendo Switch 2: review

The Hori Piranha Plant Camera for Nintendo Switch 2 is a peculiar, yet undeniably fun creation. It’s a webcam for Nintendo Switch 2 that’s modelled on the classic Super Mario enemy, Piranha Plant. You know, the one that rears its head from a pipe in an attempt to eat you whole.

This model is produced by video game accessory producer Hori, but licensed by Nintendo itself. Yes, it’s a lot more character-filled and extravagant than the official Switch 2 camera, but still, it costs a fair chunk less, coming with a list price of just $59.99 / £33.99 / AU$64.95. But why?

Well, before we get to that, I want to talk about this thing’s design – which is more unique than even the best webcams. Not only is it playful and perfect for any Nintendo fan, but it’s pretty well made too. It comes with a poseable stem to angle the webcam with, a leaf part – which you can attach to its stem – and a mouth that can be opened and closed to reveal or conceal the camera.

(Image credit: Future)

On top of that, there’s a plant pot, which can be kept closed and used as a stand, or opened to mount the plant on top of your monitor or TV. For the most part, I kept the pot closed, and connected it up to my Nintendo Switch 2 via the included USB-C cable. The open position wasn’t wide enough to fit on top of my TV, which I expect will be the case for a lot of users.

If you’re playing in handheld mode, you can plug the Piranha Plant into your Switch 2’s USB-C port directly, which makes it a highly versatile option. I also appreciated a 3.5mm right-angle adapter, which enables you to use one of the best Nintendo Switch headsets wired, without the leaf part obstructing your cable.

So far, it all looks very rosy for this lil’ plant. But we haven’t really addressed the key reason for that low price point yet. And it is, unfortunately, tied to performance. Yes, Hori’s Piranha Plant camera offers a 480p resolution, which would’ve been fine 20 years ago but, in 2025, it’s simply not good enough.

As you can imagine, 480p is highly restrictive, and the picture quality you get from this camera is poor. I tried playing some Mario Kart World with my friend, and details on my face and clothing were unclear, while colors lacked vibrancy and that true-to-life tone. On top of that, I tried sitting about one meter from my TV in docked mode, and my picture was extremely blurry. In fact, my face looked almost as if it was melting. Thankfully it wasn’t, but the Plant made me question that.

(Image credit: Future)

One thing I’ll commend the Piranha Plant on, though, is that it tracked my face fairly well. In Mario Kart World, a webcam can be used to show your face in a small circle on the results page, or alongside your character mid-race. Throughout, the Piranha Plant was able to keep me well-centered, even if the actual sharpness of my picture was lacking.

It’s worth noting that there aren’t all too many titles with webcam functionality right now. Yes, it adds a fun touch to Mario Kart World's online multiplayer, and it unlocks a few extra minigames in Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV, but that's about it right now.

With that said, is it worth purchasing Hori’s Piranha Plant webcam? Well, its 480p resolution makes it impossible for me to recommend outright – that is unless you want to reminisce over the camera quality of the Nintendo DSi and 3DS.

And so ultimately, it matters not how much I adore the very sight of this dashing plant. For I cannot help but feel despair – no… anguish – over its tragic picture quality. It makes me wonder, then, how can we possibly reconcile two such polarising emotions for just one individual. Well, maybe we can’t. Maybe that conflict is, at its core, what makes this plant so intriguing. Its beauty is undeniable, yet so are its flaws. To buy it is to experience conflict in its rawest form.

(Image credit: Future)Hori Piranha Plant Camera for Nintendo Switch 2 review: price & specs

Price

$59.99 / £33.99 / AU$64.95

Resolution

480p at 30fps

Field of view

85 degrees

Dimensions

65 x 44 x 150mm (camera); 49 x 49 x 47 (base)

Weight

30g (camera); 80g (base)

Compatibility

Nintendo Switch 2, Windows, MacOS

Should you buy the Hori Piranha Plant Camera for Nintendo Switch 2?

(Image credit: Future)

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Design

Fun, endearing look, flexible stem, mount works well, but won’t fit every screen

4.5/5

Performance

Dismal 480p resolution, very blurry at a distance, but framing works well

2/5

Value

Considerably cheaper than official Switch 2 camera, but at a quality cost

3/5

Buy it if...

You’re a big fan of Piranha Plant
Honestly, there’s a case to pick this lil’ guy up as a collectible, or a statement piece – rather than to use as your Switch 2 webcam. The Piranha Plant cam is well made and oozing with character, and it can add a splash of color to your TV unit or monitor.

You want a flexible design
I appreciate the versatility of the Piranha Plant webcam a whole lot. You can find the perfect angle for your living space using its poseable stem and L-shaped mount, and it can be used in either handheld mode, or in TV mode (using the mount or plant pot base).

Don't buy it if...

You value strong picture quality
Oh what could’ve been. See, this Piranha may look pretty neat on the outside, but on the inside, it’s not really equipped for peak performance. That’s due to its resolution being capped at 480p – the same as that of the DSi, which first released in 2008. Ouch.

You want an ultra-secure, highly versatile mount
The L-shaped mount on this webcam is good enough to sit on top of most monitors, and a good amount of slim TVs. Still, it’s not exactly the most secure mount I’ve used, and if you’ve got a chunkier TV, then it won’t be able to sit on top. You can instead place it inside the pot and on top of a TV unit, if the mount isn’t working out, of course.

Hori Piranha Plant Camera for Nintendo Switch 2: also consider

Nintendo Switch 2 Camera
Well, I’ll be honest, there aren’t too many Switch-2-oriented competitors out there right now, so if you’re not sold on this plant creature, I’d just suggest picking up the official Nintendo Switch 2 Camera. It offers far higher picture quality, thanks to its 1080p resolution, and even if that’s the only reason to pick it over this model, it’s a pretty major one!

How I tested the Hori Piranha Plant Camera for Nintendo Switch 2

(Image credit: Future)

Tested for one week
Used at home in handheld and TV mode
Predominantly tested while playing Mario Kart World

I tested the Hori Piranha Plant Camera for a week, using it as the primary camera for my Nintendo Switch 2. During this period, I used the camera in both handheld and docked mode, with my console connected to the Sky Glass Gen 2 television and Samsung HW-Q800D soundbar.

There aren’t all too many titles that support camera functionality on the Nintendo Switch 2 just yet, so for the most part, I tested this model’s picture quality on Mario Kart World. To do this, I entered GameChat with my Future colleague, Nikita, and assessed the quality of my picture from various distances.

Read more about how we test
First reviewed: August 2025

Categories: Reviews

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is an action-packed, visually stunning side-scroller that I simply can’t get enough of

Mon, 08/25/2025 - 07:00

Review information

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
Release date: August 29, 2025

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is an all-new side-scrolling action title from Streets of Rage 4 and Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap developer Lizardcube. As someone who’s loved the dev’s previous works, I’m happy to say its take on Sega’s legendary Shinobi series is nothing short of a slam dunk.

The Lizardcube staples are all here. Sublime hand-drawn visuals, slick and responsive combat, and plenty of replay value after you’ve rolled credits. Art of Vengeance is a game that - much like Streets of Rage 4 before it - is maddeningly hard to stop playing.

Each and every stage offers a unique flavor, in terms of both setting and gimmicks. There are some light metroidvania elements, with opportunities to explore off the critical path for vital upgrades and abilities, but that’s (perhaps thankfully) not the main focus. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is more linear than, say, a Hollow Knight or a Metroid Dread, and that’s no bad thing.

The bulk of gameplay here, then, is a careful mix of platforming, light puzzle-solving, and that oh-so moreish combat, which quite honestly is some of the best-feeling and most satisfying I’ve had the pleasure of playing in a side-scroller in a long while. It mixes Shinobi staples like throwing kunai and powerful Ninpo spells with combo-happy melee combat that constantly thrills, especially in boss fights and optional challenges.

While Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master will likely always be my favorite game in the series, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance can absolutely be mentioned in the same breath as that Sega Mega Drive classic.

A-to-Z of vengeance

(Image credit: Sega)

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance puts players back in the role of series protagonist Joe Musashi, head of the Oboro ninja clan. The game’s subtitle is adequately portrayed in its opening chapters, as a powerful warlord named Ruse and his ENE Corp forces raze the clan’s village to ashes and wipe out just about everyone, save Musashi himself. Thus does his road to vengeance begin.

The plot is thin, but accomplishes what it sets out to do, taking a backseat to the action. Some cutscenes and fully-voiced interludes between stages add a good amount of flavor, but certainly don’t overstay their welcome. Musashi only communicates in vaguely threatening grunts, which leads to the odd bit of humor as other characters attempt to get the gist of what he’s saying.

If this is your first exposure to the Shinobi series, you might be surprised by its futuristic setting. Things start out simply enough in the rustic Oboro clan village, but Musashi will also make his way through neon-drenched city skylines, a fish market, lantern festival, and even a high-tech laboratory as just some of the stops on his journey. Each level is jam-packed with detail, too, and eagle-eyed Sega fans will spot plenty of loving references and cameos (be sure to check the background of the fish market stage for a Shenmue-themed surprise!).

Art of the kill

(Image credit: Sega)

Musashi’s combat abilities are the bread and butter of the game. He’s an incredibly powerful force of destruction, with a broad list of melee attacks and combos; more of which can be unlocked in shops with coins collected from defeated enemies and optional challenges.

Musashi can also toss kunai to dispatch distant foes, Ninpo spells that achieve a variety of effects (such as countering powerful attacks or breathing flames for massive damage), as well as screen-clearing Ninjutsu arts to get yourself out of a bind.

Best bit

(Image credit: Sega)

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance does several things expertly, but nothing quite beats clearing out rooms of goons with Musashi’s surprisingly robust move set. Enemy variety is excellent, too, making for several thrilling encounters that properly make you feel like a master ninja.

Supplementing Art of Vengeance’s combat is the Execution gauge, which all enemies have. Filling it will allow Musashi to instantly kill a foe regardless of their remaining health. Chaining several of these together isn’t only satisfying, it provides Musashi with health and kunai refills as well as an abundance of coins.

Enemy variety in Art of Vengeance is superb, and you’ll need to change up your approach depending on the types of baddies you encounter. Some toss shuriken from afar, while others will rush you with combos of their own. Some enemies can fly or even control space with a rain of arrows. Later on in the game you’ll also encounter armored foes which resist staggering until fully depleted, and these are best handled with particular moves or Ninpo abilities.

Above all, combat in Art of Vengeance just feels fantastic. There’s a satisfying amount of hit stun on Musashi’s attacks, and his nimble movement makes darting between targets a joy. Stealth and subtlety are simply not part of the Musashi playbook.

What I will say is that Musashi is so incredibly powerful that the game isn’t particularly hard. There are some challenging boss fights and optional encounters (and some of the late game platforming challenges truly tried my patience), but Art of Vengeance is a pretty forgiving game overall with unlimited lives and generous checkpointing - even on normal difficulty. I think the game could benefit from a harder difficulty option, perhaps as part of a post-launch update.

Lastly, I did run into a small handful of bugs during my playthrough. In one level, the map stopped updating Musashi’s location after exiting an Ankou Rift challenge. Another completely froze the game upon executing a Ninjutsu technique. Both were solved by simply resetting the game, but I naturally hope small issues like this will be patched out on or close to launch day.

Should you play Shinobi: Art of Vengeance?Play it if...

You want some of the best side-scrolling combat in years
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is endlessly satisfying to play thanks to its slick combat and dense enemy variety. No two stages offer quite the same experience, and there’s plenty of optional challenges to slice your katana through.

You’re a big Sega head
Lizardcube clearly has reverence for Sega and its history, and this is apparent with plenty of background references for keen-eyed players. A couple of bonus stages pay loving tribute to past Shinobi games, too. Some Sega-themed DLC is also on the way, including a boss fight with Sonic the Hedgehog’s Dr. Eggman.

You want a compact 100% completion experience
At around 15-20 hours for full completion, you can get through Shinobi: Art of Vengeance in a pretty slick amount of time. But if you want more, you’ll also get access to Arcade and Boss Rush modes after rolling credits. There may be a secret, high-difficulty boss fight, too…

Don't play it if...

You want a high level of challenge
Art of Vengeance is fairly forgiving in the difficulty department, outside of a select few optional challenges and some tricky boss fights. I’d say it’s still very much worth playing regardless of this, but if you’d prefer a more hardcore experience, you may wish to hold off until a potential harder difficulty option gets patched in.

Accessibility

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance doesn’t have much in the way of robust accessibility options, sadly. You can fully remap controls, however, and custom difficulty options exist including variants on enemy damage and attack frequency.

How I reviewed Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance took me around 16 hours for 100% completion. That included a full campaign playthrough, as well as full completion achieved on all stages. I fully explored each level’s map, uncovering secrets like upgrades, abilities and Ninpo techniques. I also took some time to play some stages via the unlockable score-based Arcade mode as well as Boss Rush for an extra challenge.

First reviewed August 2025

Categories: Reviews

Smeg's new Mini Milk Frother prepares perfect foam for cappuccinos – but it's too thick for latte art

Mon, 08/25/2025 - 07:00

Smeg Mini Milk Frother: two-minute review

The Smeg Mini Milk Frother is extremely easy to use, and would be a great choice for anyone who finds a steam wand tricky to use, or those who want to prepare cold drinks

It has three modes: Hot Milk Foam, Hot Milk, and Cold Milk Foam. As with all other Smeg devices I’ve tested to date, its controls are refreshingly straightforward. There’s a single button on the front, which you press once, twice, or three times to choose a setting. There’s no need to confirm your selection – just wait a few seconds and the frother will start.

The Smeg Mini Milk Frother has a single button, which you press once, twice, or three times to choose a mode (Image credit: Future)

The Smeg Mini Milk Frother’s 500W motor is remarkably quiet, and during my tests it was barely audible, registering only 40dB on my sound meter, with the occasional soft tick from the heating element on the hot foam mode. It was about the same volume as my fridge, and much quieter than texturizing milk with a steam wand. When your milk is ready, the Mini Milk Frother will beep to let you know.

The Smeg Mini Milk Frother is intended to be used with chilled full-fat dairy milk. In tests, hot foam was super thick, and best suited to topping a cappuccino or an espresso macchiato. It wouldn’t be suitable for a caffe latte, which requires milk to have a similar texture to emulsion paint. Unlike the Dreo Baristamaker or Smeg Multi Milk Frother, there's no choice of foam textures.

Whether prepared hot or cold, full-fat dairy milk produced a thick foam suitable for cappuccinos, but not for pouring latte art (Image credit: Future)

The Cold Milk setting also made very thick and stable foam, which would work well for an iced cappuccino, while the Hot Milk program produced sweet milk ideal for night time, or for pouring onto hot chocolate powder.

When using the Hot Foam or Hot Milk mode, milk is heated to a consistent temperature of 140F / 60C, which is optimal for coffee – hot enough to keep the milk sweet without scalding it and denaturing its proteins.

The frother heated milk to a consistent temperature of 140F / 60C, which is optimal for coffee (Image credit: Future)

The instructions don’t mention plant milk, and unlike some other milk frothers, the Smeg Mini Milk Frother has no separate modes for non-dairy drinks. I did test it with oat and almond milk for comparison with frothers such as the Dreo Baristamaker, but since these aren’t explicitly recommended by Smeg, I didn’t factor its performance with plant milks into my final score.

In these tests, barista-style oat milk turned out very well – perhaps more so than dairy – producing a smooth, glossy foam. As is often the case, almond milk produced quite a stiff, dry foam, but it was very stable whether prepared hot or cold.

Image 1 of 2

Smeg only recommends using the Mini Milk Frother with full-fat dairy milk, but oat milk turned out thick and glossy foam using the Hot Foam setting (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2

Almond milk produce a more stiff, dry foam (Image credit: Future)

The carafe has a non-stick lining that helps your foamed milk slide out easily, and that makes washing it up a breeze. Just bear in mind that it’s not suitable for use with metal utensils; if you need a tool to remove any foam, use something like a soft silicone spatula to avoid scratches.

The lid and whisk can be washed in the top drawer of a dishwasher, but the carafe and its base should only be cleaned carefully by hand using a cloth, and not immersed in water.

The Smeg Mini Milk Frother isn’t recommended for making drinks such as shakes or hot chocolate (there’s no mention of that in the manual), so I stuck with milk alone. If you’d like a quick and easy way to make frothy hot chocolate or other drinks, the Smeg Multi Milk Frother would be a better choice.

Smeg Mini Milk Frother: price and availability

List price £99.95 (about $140 / AU$210)
Not currently available in US or Australia
Costs much less than the Smeg Multi Milk Frother

The Smeg Mini Milk Frother has a list price of £99.95 (about $140 / AU$210), but at the time of writing it’s not available in the US or Australia.

For comparison, the Smeg Multi Milk Frother, which has six functions and is also suitable for making drinks like hot chocolate, costs $249.95 / £179.95 / $299 and is available globally. The Dreo Baristamaker, which I reviewed last year and has dedicated modes for plant-based milks, is $99 / £119.99 (about AU$150).

Smeg Mini Milk Frother: specifications

Dimensions (H x W x D)

7.9 x 3.7 x 3.7 inches / 200 x 93 x 93mm

Minimum capacity

2oz / 60ml

Maximum capacity

6oz / 180ml for hot foam or 4oz / 120ml for cold foam

Motor

500W

Modes

Noise

40dB

Smeg Mini Milk Frother: design

Minimalist 1950s-inspired design
Available in six colors
Non-stick lining for easy cleaning

The Mini Milk Frother is one of Smeg’s 1950s-inspired kitchen appliances, with a minimalist design and clean lines. It comes in six colors (black, cream, pastel green, pastel blue, red, and white), and has a glossy finish.

Image 1 of 3

The Smeg Mini Milk Frother has a carafe with non-stick lining and transparent lid, a power base, and a magnetic whisk (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 3

The base uses induction to power the Mini Milk Frother (Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 3

The whisk is attached to the bottom of the carafe and rotated magnetically (Image credit: Future)

It comprises a carafe (which is shaped like a squared-off cylinder with rounded corners), a transparent plastic lid, a removable whisk that’s held in place magnetically, and a base that powers the frother using induction, similar to an electric toothbrush. Note that there’s no rechargeable battery, so you can’t use the frother when it’s not on its base.

The carafe has a non-stick ceramic lining, with raised markings on the inside showing the maximum and minimum fill levels. These are quite far down, and are a little difficult to see unless the light is just right.

The markings inside the Smeg Mini Milk Frother can be tricky to see unless the lighting is just right (Image credit: Future)

Each corner of the carafe can serve as a pouring spout – a smart choice that makes it easy to decant your prepared milk. It doesn’t have a fine pouring spout, so you won’t be able to use it to create latte art; but in tests, the hot milk foam was rather thick for that.

Should you buy the Smeg Mini Milk FrotherBuy it ifDon't buy it ifSmeg Mini Milk Frother: also consider

If you're not sure whether the Smeg Mini Milk Frother is the right device for you, here are two alternatives to bear in mind.

Smeg Multi Milk Frother

If you want to prepare drinks other than just milk, the Smeg Multi Frother is more versatile, with six options for foaming and/or heating milk. You can also add other ingredients for preparing drinks such as shakes or hot chocolate, and it has a larger capacity than the Mini Milk Frother. It looks just as good, too, but is considerably more expensive.

Dreo Baristamaker

Unlike the Smeg Mini Milk Frother, the Dreo Baristamaker has modes for creating foam at different consistencies, including a fine option suitable for latte art. It wasn't quite as good as a steam wand in my tests, but was a reasonable alternative.

Read our full Dreo Baristamaker review

How I tested the Smeg Mini Milk Frother

I tested each of the Smeg Mini Milk Frother's modes using fresh, chilled whole milk in accordance with Smeg's instructions.

I also tried it with chilled oat and almond milk , since these are both popular choices for making coffee at home. However, I only tried this for the sake of comparison. I didn't factor the frother's performance with plant-based milks into my scores, since such milk alternatives aren't explicitly recommended by Smeg.

I cleaned the non-stick carafe using a damp cloth as directed by the manual, and washed the whisk and lid by hand using warm water and dish soap.

First reviewed August 2025

Categories: Reviews

I tried ManageEngine OpManager, and found it offers comprehensive network monitoring for enterprises

Mon, 08/25/2025 - 06:00

ManageEngine OpManager is an enterprise-ready network monitoring solution trusted by over 1 million IT administrators worldwide. It provides comprehensive visibility into network health and performance across switches, routers, servers, and other critical infrastructure components. For organizations evaluating network monitoring options, OpManager deserves consideration alongside the solutions featured in our best network monitoring tools roundup.

TechRadar reviewers spend several weeks researching each major IT platform in the market, analyzing everything from feature depth to pricing structures. During our evaluation process, we found that while LogicMonitor remains our top pick for network monitoring in 2025 thanks to its AI-powered suite for day-to-day IT network automation, OpManager offers a compelling alternative for budget-conscious enterprises.

OpManager's strength lies in its end-to-end approach to network infrastructure monitoring, supporting both traditional and hybrid environments including VMware, Hyper-V, and cloud-based networks. Its proactive alert system and real-time dashboards provide IT teams with the visibility needed to prevent outages and resolve issues quickly, making it a practical choice for organizations prioritizing network uptime and performance.

ManageEngine OpManager: Features

OpManager delivers a feature-rich monitoring platform that covers nearly 3,000 metrics across network devices, servers, and applications. It is particularly well-suited for mid-to-large enterprises managing complex hybrid infrastructures, offering solid core monitoring functions like device discovery, performance tracking, and alert management.

While OpManager includes essential capabilities like network topology mapping, bandwidth monitoring, and automated workflows, it notably lacks some advanced features found in competitors such as sophisticated machine learning integration and multi-threshold alerting. But given the competitive pricing at $245 for 10 devices, the feature set provides excellent value for organizations seeking comprehensive monitoring without premium-tier costs.

Real-time network monitoring

OpManager excels at continuous performance monitoring across routers, switches, firewalls, and servers, tracking availability and health metrics in real-time. The platform supports multiple monitoring protocols including SNMP, WMI, and CLI, ensuring compatibility with diverse network hardware. Users consistently praise the real-time dashboards for providing clear visibility into network performance without latency issues.

Automated device discovery

It automatically discovers network devices and builds topology maps, significantly reducing manual configuration time. OpManager can detect newly added devices in subnets and immediately begin monitoring them, though some users report challenges with older legacy devices requiring manual SNMP OID mapping. The discovery process supports hybrid environments including cloud and virtualized infrastructures.

Alerting and notifications

OpManager's multi-channel alerting system sends notifications via email, SMS, and SNMP traps when thresholds are breached. The platform allows customization of alert thresholds and escalation procedures, though users note limitations in setting multiple threshold levels for the same parameter. Real-time alerting capabilities help IT teams identify and address issues before they impact end users.

Performance analytics and reporting

ManageEngine generates comprehensive reports on network performance, bandwidth utilization, and device health trends. Built-in dashboards provide visual representations of network data, while customizable reports support compliance and capacity planning requirements. Most users appreciate the intuitive graphical interface and NOC dashboard building capabilities.

(Image credit: ManageEngine)ManageEngine OpManager: Ease of use

OpManager has a user-friendly interface that simplifies network monitoring for IT administrators of varying experience levels. The web-based console features intuitive navigation and customizable dashboards that allow users to quickly access critical network information. New users can typically navigate the basic monitoring functions within hours, though the extensive feature set may require several days to master fully. Plus a graphical approach to network topology mapping and performance visualization reduces the learning curve compared to command-line alternatives.

However, initial setup can be time-consuming, particularly when integrating legacy devices or complex hybrid environments. Some users report that adding older network equipment requires manual configuration and SNMP OID mapping, which demands deeper technical knowledge. The default report templates may also need customization to meet specific organizational requirements, occasionally requiring scripting or external tools for advanced reporting needs.

ManageEngine OpManager: Pricing

Plan

Starting price (paid annually)

What's included

Standard Edition

$20.42/month

10 devices, basic monitoring, web-based console, email alerts

Professional Edition

$28.75/month

10 devices, advanced reporting, mobile app, workflow automation

Enterprise Edition

$38.52/month

25 devices, distributed monitoring, business views, enhanced security

OpManager's pricing structure offers competitive value compared to enterprise-grade alternatives, with transparent per-device licensing that includes unlimited interfaces, nodes, and sensors. This allows organizations to start small and scale up as monitoring needs grow, though the jump from Professional to Enterprise edition represents a significant price increase for advanced features.

While more affordable than premium solutions like LogicMonitor or Datadog, OpManager's pricing can become substantial for large-scale deployments, with the Enterprise edition reaching $11,545 for 250 devices. The inclusion of all monitoring capabilities within the base license helps avoid unexpected costs, making it easier to budget for network monitoring initiatives.

ManageEngine OpManager: Customer support

ManageEngine provides comprehensive support options through both Classic and Premium tiers, with Classic support included free with subscription licenses. Classic support offers email and chat assistance during regional business hours, with acknowledgment within 8 hours and access to product upgrades and online resources. The support team is knowledgeable and responsive for most technical issues, though response times can vary depending on case complexity and geographic region.

Premium support significantly enhances the experience with 24/7 multi-channel assistance including telephone support, single point of contact, and faster response times with acknowledgment within 3 hours. This tier includes additional services like health checks, custom product support, and online training sessions. However, Premium support requires additional investment beyond the base license cost, and some advanced customizations may still require professional services or partner assistance.

Phone support is available across multiple regions including the US (+1 877 834 4428), UK (0800 028 6590), and Australia (1800 631 268).

ManageEngine OpManager: Alternatives

OpManager occupies a solid middle-ground position in the network monitoring market, competing directly with solutions like Paessler PRTG, Auvik, and SolarWinds NPM. The platform is best suited for mid-to-large enterprises seeking comprehensive monitoring capabilities without the complexity or cost of premium alternatives like Datadog or LogicMonitor.

Key competitors include Auvik, which offers superior ease of use and cloud-native architecture, and Paessler PRTG, which provides more flexible sensor-based pricing and stronger customization options. Premium alternatives like LogicMonitor and Datadog offer more advanced AI/ML capabilities and extensive integrations but command significantly higher prices.

ManageEngine OpManager: Final verdict

ManageEngine OpManager delivers reliable network monitoring fundamentals at a competitive price point, making it an attractive option for enterprises seeking comprehensive infrastructure visibility without premium costs. It excels in device coverage, real-time alerting, and hybrid network support, providing teams the essential tools needed to maintain network health and performance.

While it may lack some advanced features found in higher-end competitors, OpManager's combination of functionality and affordability creates strong value for budget-conscious organizations. And its proven track record with over 1 million administrators worldwide demonstrates its viability as a long-term monitoring solution.

FAQs

What devices can OpManager monitor?

OpManager supports monitoring of switches, routers, firewalls, servers, wireless devices, load balancers, and virtualization platforms including VMware, Hyper-V, and Citrix XenServer. The platform can monitor nearly 3,000 different metrics across these device types using protocols like SNMP, WMI, and CLI. It also supports cloud and hybrid network infrastructures, making it suitable for modern enterprise environments.

How does OpManager pricing compare to competitors?

OpManager offers competitive pricing starting at $245 for 10 devices annually, significantly less expensive than premium alternatives like LogicMonitor or Datadog. The per-device licensing model includes unlimited interfaces and sensors, providing predictable costs. However, large-scale deployments can become expensive, with Enterprise edition pricing reaching $11,545 for 250 devices.

What support options are available with OpManager?

ManageEngine provides Classic support free with subscription licenses, including email and chat during business hours with 8-hour acknowledgment times. Premium support offers 24/7 assistance, phone support, faster response times (3-hour acknowledgment), and additional services like health checks and custom support. Phone support is available globally across multiple time zones and languages.

Can OpManager integrate with other IT management tools?

OpManager supports integration with other ManageEngine products and third-party systems through APIs and standard protocols. The platform can send alerts to external systems via SNMP traps, email, and webhooks. However, the integration ecosystem is more limited compared to cloud-native competitors, and complex integrations may require custom development or professional services.

Is there a free trial available for OpManager?

Yes, ManageEngine offers a 30-day free trial of OpManager that includes full functionality for evaluation purposes. The trial allows organizations to test the platform with their actual network infrastructure before purchasing. Trial users receive evaluation support with 2-business-day acknowledgment times, though some advanced support features are reserved for paid customers.

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