TechRadar Reviews

Softr is a no-code platform that can help you create all kinds of web apps, marketplaces, ERP, dashboards, and more, all from a visual editor, without writing a single line of code. Together with its peers, Softr has gained traction in recent years thanks to its promise of democratizing and streamlining the app creation process.

In this review, we'll explore Softr's standout features, user interface, ease of use, integration and extensibility, deployment and maintenance, pricing, and documentation, and compare it with some of its peers in the no-code space.

Softr: Features

Softr gives you access to over 90 pre-built templates that you can use as starting points to launch web apps faster than starting with a clean slate. You’ll find templates to create help desk portals, all kinds of internal business tools, CRMs, member communities, marketplaces, and a lot more.

Each template has its own layout, and customizable options, which you can tweak as per your needs.

Keeping up with the times, the platform also offers you the option to create an app with an AI prompt.

(Image credit: Softr)

Irrespective of how you start your app, the platform will ease its customization thanks to its drag-and-drop interface. The interface makes it rather straightforward to create layouts, structure pages, and tweak components inside them. The simplicity of it all ensures that even if you don’t have any prior web development experience, you can cobble together a web app without too much fuss.

Softr also supports user management and authentication features, to help create gated content, subscription-based services, or private communities. You can enable email-based logins, two-factor authentication, Google sign-in, and even SSO via SAML and OpenID protocols. You can also create different user groups and control what each group can see, or do.

Similarly, Softr offers integrated payment processing through Stripe, to help build subscription-based apps. It also supports PayPal, and Gumroad for digital purchases.

While it originally started as an interface on top of Airtable, Softr can now work with popular third-party databases, ranging from simple options like Google Sheets, and Notion to relational databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, and more.

You can also create workflows, and automate tasks by integrating your Softr-built app with the Zapier automation platform. This will help set up triggers and actions between your app and other services, for instance to send personalized welcome emails, or for adding users to a CRM, and such.

Best of all, Softr ensures that all your apps are responsive, and display nicely on desktops, tablets, and smartphones.

Softr: Interface and Ease of Use

The platform’s interface is clean and user-friendly. The dashboard gives you access to your projects, as well as the ability to create new ones. You can either start with a blank canvas, use a template, or generate an app with AI.

Softr’s design interface is straightforward, with a navigation bar on the left side where you can access key components like Pages, Themes, Database, Users, and Settings.

You can easily create pages, tweak layout by repositioning or adding, and deleting blocks, all without dealing with complex menus or settings.

(Image credit: Softr)

All pages have blocks, which you can think of as pre-designed components that cater to different purposes. For instance, you can add a Calendar block to map project deadlines, or coordinate team schedules, and such.

You can customize any block from a properties panel that appears when a block is selected. While it does quicken the app creation process, remember though that Softr blocks don’t give you the same level of design freedom that you get with other platforms like Bubble.

For instance, you can add multiple CTA buttons to your app, and change their order of appearance, but can’t reposition them to any part of the page, as you can with Bubble.

As you are building, you can use Softr’s Preview function to look at your app. Very helpfully, it gives you the option to look at the app from the point of view of any user, including logged out users.

You can use the device selector to preview the app as it would appear on devices with different screen sizes. Interestingly, you can even scan the QR code to preview the app on your actual device as well, without installing additional apps.

Softr: Integration and Extensibility

The Airtable integration is one of Softr's biggest strengths, enabling users to easily manage data and display it within their applications.

Beyond Airtable, Softr connects natively to simple spreadsheets, SQL databases, and even data warehouses like BigQuery.

On top of that it also integrates with business apps like HubSpot Chat, Documint, Google Analytics, and more. The platform also natively supports Stripe, PayPal, and Gumroad to help you roll in e-commerce functionality in your apps.

If you want more, you can connect your apps to more sources with Softr’s recently introduced REST API connector.

(Image credit: Softr)

Similarly, you can break beyond Softr’s default capabilities by embedding JavaScript into your app’s pages. Thanks to this flexibility, you can inject your own code snippets, and there are lots of commonly used code snippets in the documentation, and even embed third-party widgets directly into their applications. You can, for instance, easily embed Calendly in your Softr app to schedule and manage appointments.

Softr: Deployment and Maintenance

Once you’ve developed and previewed your app, you can easily deploy them to a live domain, literally with a single click.

The platform relies on the AWS infrastructure, and like its peers, it too handles hosting, domain management, and SSL certificates.

When deploying an app, the platform gives you the option to deploy it to a free Softr subdomain. Or, if your membership tier allows it, you can also point Softr to a custom domain, and publish there instead.

The platform claims it’ll automatically scale all Softr apps according to traffic, which makes the platform suitable for all kinds of businesses, and use cases. However, while not many users have faced any performance issues with their apps, some advise caution for using the platform to build large-scale apps, primarily depending on where you have stored your data.

Softr: Pricing and Documentation

Softr offers a tiered pricing structure.

The free plan includes a basic set of features. You can use it to explore the platform, and build small, personal apps, or prototypes. While you can only publish one app, you can invite as many collaborators as you want to help build the app. It also limits the number of building blocks, the data sources, and the number of records you can use in your app.

Paid plans unlock more advanced features such as custom domains, more data sources, and integrations, and the ability to remove Softr branding. The Basic plan starts at $59/month (or $49/month billed annually) and lets you publish three apps.

Then there’s the $167/month Professional plan ($139/month billed annually), and the $323/month Business plan ($269/month billed annually). As you move up the tier, you’ll get additional features, and functionality, as well as more support options.

(Image credit: Softr)

Talking of support, Softr offers comprehensive text, and video documentation, howtos, and courses, for new users. The documentation covers everything from getting started to publishing. It also has detailed, illustrated guides on advanced topics such as integrating third-party tools, and writing custom code.

In addition to the documentation, Softr offers support through a community forum, and a 24/7 live chat. Some paid tiers also get a personalized onboarding call, and priority support.

Softr: The Competition

Softr shares the space with several other point-and-click no-code platforms that can all churn out web apps.

For starters there’s Bubble, which is often thought of as a more robust platform than Softr, especially when it comes to building complex apps. Bubble offers greater flexibility, though it comes with a steeper learning curve.

Then there’s Bildr, which puts great emphasis on visual development, and offers far more customization freedom. Bildr’s best for those of you who want better control over both the backend and frontend of your web apps. But this means that just like Bubble, Bildr too has a steeper learning curve than Softr.

On the other hand, Softr is a better option for you if you want simplicity, and quick deployment. You also get that same level of simplicity with Adalo, though this platform is primarily designed to build mobile apps.

Softr: Final Verdict

Softr is a good no-code platform for anyone who wants to use their existing business data to build, and roll out web apps quickly. Its plethora of templates, AI builder, and drag-and-drop interface, make it an attractive option for non-technical users.

That said, while Softr is an excellent platform for those who need to deploy quickly, it might fall short for users who need deep customization, and control over their apps.

All things considered, while Softr isn’t as extensible as some of its peers, its ease of use makes it a wonderful platform for creating all kinds of business apps, dashboards, and marketplaces.

But this might soon change for the better, as Softr is set to inherit full-stack app-building capabilities. When these updates roll out, sometime in 2025, you’ll no longer need third-party workflow automation tools, and external databases, which will open up the platform to an even wider range of use cases.

Check out our list of Best Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.

Bildr is a no-code platform that relies on a visual development environment to help users create web apps. The platform has a strong emphasis on real-time collaboration, and you can use its intuitive, drag-and-drop interfaces, and extensive customization options to conjure up apps without any coding knowledge.

In this review, we will dive into the platform's features, ease of use, integrations, deployment, pricing, and how it’s positioned in the no-code space.

Bildr: Features

Bildr’s primary feature is its visual editor, which allows users to create apps simply by dragging and dropping pre-configured components onto a canvas.

This editor provides access to all kinds of user interface (UI) elements, such as buttons, forms, text inputs, tables, and other visual components that can all be customized as per your needs.

(Image credit: Bildr)

You can even use AI to style these elements. All you need to do is enter a prompt for an element, such as “add a cool gradient with red, blue, and white,” and the platform will do the styling for you.

Although Bildr pushes a blank canvas approach, the platform does offer a handful of pre-built templates that you can use, and customize to fit your requirements.

Another good thing about Bildr is that it offers built-in tools for common actions, like user authentication. You can use these to add login screens, user registration, and password management without much effort.

User authentication is actually implemented as what’s known as a pattern in Bildr parlance. Think of patterns as pre-built components, which have all the flows, and the logic built into it. All you need to do is import a pre-built pattern, and tweak it to your heart’s content.

Like all good no-code platforms, you can also connect Bildr to external data sources residing in popular third-party databases such as Google Sheets, Airtable, Xano, and others.

Also, every app built on Bildr is automatically optimized for smartphones, tablets, and desktops, ensuring a consistent experience across form factors.

Finally, while Bildr is designed to build web apps, you can use the platform to create Chrome extensions, and blockchain-enabled decentralized Web3 apps, as well.

Bildr: Interface and Ease of Use

One of the key strengths of Bildr is its intuitive, user-friendly interface. The interface is centered around a drag-and-drop editor, which is a common feature in no-code platforms.

You can use the editor to easily put together your apps by dragging and dropping various elements onto Buildr’s infinite canvas. The advantage of the infinite canvas is that instead of building and viewing individual pages, you can use it to look at your entire app in one view, and even manipulate it in a very visual way. For instance, you can easily drag and rearrange your pages, and position them how you want, using the mouse.

(Image credit: Bildr)

Many people compare Bildr’s dashboard to that of the Figma interface design tool. It has a learning curve, which makes it seem a little daunting and cumbersome, especially if you’re upgrading from designed-for-beginners no-code platforms like Adalo. But tinker with it for a bit, and you’ll soon learn to appreciate its dexterity.

The basic approach of the visual design environment is pretty much the same, and easily navigable. You have a panel for adding components, another to tweak its settings and properties, and a central workspace for building the app.

The components are clearly categorized, and users can easily search for specific elements within the platform. You can use the properties panel to fine-tune attributes, modify styling elements like color, size, and borders, and configure each element’s positioning with padding, margins, and alignment.

In addition to the components, you can also use Bildr to set up flows, and define triggers, actions, and conditions to control your app. You can set automatic responses to user interactions, and even program dynamic interactions without writing any or perhaps a little code.

Combined with the platform's design flexibility, which is particularly appealing to anyone who wants granular control over their designs, Bildr’s drag-and-drop functionality ensures that you can cobble together a polished app even without any technical skills.

Bildr: Integration and Extensibility

One of the key considerations when evaluating no-code platforms is its ability to integrate with external services and tools.

In that vein, you can integrate Bildr with external APIs, and then display, and manipulate data directly within the app. Thanks to this ability the platform can communicate with virtually any service that offers an API, essentially extending its capabilities beyond what’s baked in.

Bildr also integrates with popular services, such as Stripe for processing payments, and Auth0 for authentication.

(Image credit: Bildr)

Also, while Bildr is primarily a no-code platform, it also provides an option to add custom JavaScript, which is a great extensible feature for anyone with the know-how.

Bildr: Deployment and Maintenance

Like all good no-code platforms, you can use Bildr to deploy and maintain apps built using the platform. You can essentially roll out apps with a handful of clicks.

You can publish an app for free inside a Bildr subdomain, as well as on your own custom domains. The platform can also create auto-renewing SSL certificates for you. In addition to traditional web apps, Bildr also lets you transform your artwork into NFTs that you can then sell. It offers a NFT mint contract that you can customize as per your requirements.

While Bildr has a scalable infrastructure, many users believe Bildr is ideally suitable for small to medium-sized apps. Popular opinion says if you are working on complex, and high-traffic apps, the platform’s built-in scalability features might not be enough for you.

Bildr: Pricing and Documentation

Like its peers, Bildr’s pricing is structured around subscription tiers, with additional features as you move higher up the level.

For starters, the platform offers a free tier with basic features. You can use it to experiment with the platform. It offers 1GB bandwidth, 20,000 data records, and 5,000 API calls. You’ll need to switch to one of the paid plans to unlock more functionality, and increased usage limit.

The Launch Plan costs $29/month ($24/month billed yearly) and lets you publish apps to custom domains without any Bildr branding. It comes with 25GB bandwidth, 50,000 data records, and 50,000 API calls.

If you need more resources, there’s the Pro plan that costs $119/month ($99/month billed annually), and over 250 GB of bandwidth, 250,000 data records, and 500,000 API calls. The paid plans also let you invite and collaborate with other builders. The Launch plan allows two collaborators, while the Pro plan allows up to five.

There’s also the one-time $999 Bildr Studio Pass that you can use to create and publish any number of web apps to a custom domain. It also gives you access to several more templates, including those for Web3 apps.

(Image credit: Bildr)

To get the most out of the platform, it’s best if you peruse through Bildr’s official documentation. Although it doesn’t offer the same number of video tutorials as you get on some other platforms, there’s enough to help you get a feel for the platform’s capabilities.

Bildr also doesn’t offer traditional forum boards for users to pick each other’s brains. Instead the platform has a Discord channel for its community, with private channels and events for Studio Pass owners.

Bildr: The Competition

Bildr competes with a wide range of no-code platforms, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Bubble is one of the most popular no-code platforms for building web apps. It too has an intuitive visual editor, though it is often cited for being more flexible and feature rich when compared to Bildr.

Bubble also offers a wider range of prebuilt templates, which makes it easier for inexperienced developers to get started quickly. Bildr, on the other hand, has fewer templates, and targets developers who want granular control over the appearance and behavior of their apps, even if it takes more time to set them up from scratch.

Another option that’s more suitable for beginners is Softr. While it too has more templates than Bildr, Softr may not have all the features and customization options you get with Bildr.

Bildr: Final Verdict

Bildr’s standout feature is its flexibility. The platform does have a learning curve, especially for those new to no-code tools, and its depth of customization may seem overwhelming at first

That said, Bildr is praised for its strong design tools, and collaborative environment. This makes it especially attractive for anyone who prioritizes aesthetics and user interface aspects, and need to build highly customizable web apps. On the flip side though, this makes Bildr less suited for quick, and simple web apps.

Overall, if you are looking for a versatile no-code tool that offers deep customization options, Bildr presents itself a strong choice, though it might take time to unlock its full potential.

Here’s our list of the best web design software.

Vantrue E1 Pro dash cam: two-minute review

While there are literally hundreds of models to choose from out there, I always prefer to stick with the big-name best dash cams. This includes the likes of Nextbase, Garmin, and Vantrue, which recently unveiled its new and updated Element 1 Pro Dash Cam (more commonly referred to as the E1 Pro).

The E1 Pro is well worth a look for anyone who needs a compact, cost effective in-car solution. It's centered around the small black box design, which measures (approx) just 4.7 x 2 x 4.7 inches / 12 x 5 x 12cm. Even then, the design manages to squeeze in a neat little LCD screen on the rear, which proves invaluable for setup steps during installation. The information graphics are a little less easy to read when it’s being used on the move, but it’s a valuable part of the E1 Pro’s appeal.

Vantrue originally released this model a few years ago, and we got to take a first look at it back in 2022, when it was known as the Vantrue E1. The design appears to have changed little since then, with one of its most distinctive features being the protruding circular lens arrangement.

However, Vantrue has beefed up the innards, so instead of 2.5K video there's now crisp and clear 4K 3840 x 2160p 30fps footage on offer thanks to a Sony IMX678 Starvis 2 sensor. Another appealing factor of this model is the 158-degree wide-angle lens, which offers a pretty expansive view of the road ahead.

Vantrue also likes to highlight its PlatePix software, which is designed to offer greater clarity when capturing details such as license plates or road signs. The company claims this delivers a 50 percent clearer view than standard 4K HDR.

High-quality footage needs card space, and to that end Vantrue has upped the microSD card compatibility to a whopping 1TB, although my test unit arrived with a rather leaner 128GB card. Alongside the improved shooting capacity, the Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam packs in plenty of other features and functions, including voice control, a solid supporting app with fast Wi-Fi transfer rates, GPS, and improved temperature protection, as well as the benefit of a supercapacitor internal battery.

My review unit also came supplied with a circular polarizing filter or CPL, which can be screwed to the front of the lens. This cuts through reflections and glare, and can be particularly useful in situations where harsh light is an issue, especially when it comes to capturing finer details including license plates. There's also a remote control if the buttons on the box itself, or voice control, don’t appeal.

(Image credit: Future)

The box includes everything you need to get up and running, including all the cables and an installation tool for pushing wires behind trim. The Vantrue E1 Pro is designed to operate as a solo unit, so there's no option to plug a rear-facing camera into the assembly. However, it's keenly priced, so should appeal to anyone who's going to be content with a front-facing only model.

Another point to remember – and this is the case for the majority of dash cam models, is that the Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam will need to be hard-wired into a vehicle to exploit its advanced parking features. Power can also be supplied via a standard 12V socket, which is found in the majority of vehicles; however, there is value in the parking mode, in which the E1 Pro can capture footage 15 seconds before and 30 seconds after motion is detected. If you’re prone to parking in less-than-ideal neighborhoods, it could be a valuable feature, and worth the extra cost of adding in the hardwire kit.

Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam: price and availability

The Vantrue Element E1 Pro Dash Cam is often listed by its model number, the E1 Pro, and is available now directly from the Vantrue website as well as online retailers including Amazon. VanTrue has it listed for £139.99 in the UK market and $129.99 in the US, while Amazon lists it for £129.99 in the UK, and sells the E1 Pro for $149.99 in the US. As always, it’s worth shopping around and keeping an eye out for special offers, as prices for dash cams can fluctuate a lot. I'd expect this model to be regularly on sale for a good 10% less.

The keen price point pits the E1 Pro against the likes of the Nextbase Piqo 2K and Miofive S1 and is excellent value for the features on board.

Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam: specs Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam: Design

One of the most appealing aspects of the Vantrue E1 Pro is its cute, cubist design. It’s basically just a small black plastic box, but with all of the stuff needed to make it appealing at the same time. There’s an LCD screen on the back, which packs in a very decent resolution and looks great in use, even though the information icons packed into the small viewing area are a bit too much to take in with a quick glance.

Another great feature with this model is the mounting bracket, which can be attached to a windshield directly via an adhesive pad or by first mounting it to a static sheet, which makes removal easier if the camera needs to be transferred to another vehicle. While it is in situ, the dash cam also features a slide-out bracket, which means the camera can be pulled out and put away if needed, leaving just the windshield part in place.

(Image credit: Future)

As mentioned, Vantrue now supplies this model with a polarizing filter, which I found to be a valuable addition, especially for use in variable lighting conditions. Fitting it can be a little awkward, mind, especially for anyone with large fingers, as the threading process is quite fiddly. Nevertheless, I like the way this also keeps the F1.8, 7-glass lens nicely covered, and it's much easier to wipe over in case of any unwanted fingerprint marks. Overall, the build quality is very impressive, and everything you need to get started is inside the box, including a Type C data cable if Wi-Fi isn’t available.

(Image credit: Future) Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam: Performance

Specification was left a little bit wanting on the original incarnation of this design, and i's in this department where the real improvements have been made. Vantrue has upped the quality of the innards, with 4K 3840 x 2160p 30fps footage now delivered very nicely by the Sony IMX678 Starvis 2 sensor. The F1.8 lens and 158-degree wide-angle field of view captures impressive coverage of the road ahead, and I found little to grumble about during everyday use.

(Image credit: Future)

The addition of the polarizing filter is useful, and it did seem to keep glare to a minimum, and VanTrue’s PlatePix software seems quite good at boosting the definition of license plates and the like. Similarly impressive results were recorded after dark, so I do think this model is a solid all-rounder, and clearly an improvement over the original model – and it can be purchased for roughly the same price.

(Image credit: Future)

Vantrue is a past master at delivering great app support, and that’s very much the case here. As this model shoots 4K there is a little more to think about in terms of file management, although the up-to 1TB microSD card option takes the pressure off a lot. That capacity can handle up to 66 hours of footage, plus the loop recording can be adjusted in 1-, 2-, or 3-minute segments. There is also the appeal of Wi-Fi transfer; otherwise the Vantrue E1 Pro supports what is fairly standard 5G, or cable transfer if that’s preferred.

Should you buy the Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam?

(Image credit: Future) Buy it if...

You bought the original version
The Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam is a genuine improvement over the original model, and feels like much better value for money with its beefier spec.

Compact design is a must-have
One of the most appealing aspects of the Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam is its compact form factor, which is ideally suited for vehicles with a smaller windshield area.

Capturing details is a crucial requirement
Vantrue makes much of its PlatePix software, and alongside the polarizing filter and better sensor does deliver more detailed footage.

Don't buy it if...

You need a more manageable form factor
Be warned: the Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam is quite a compact model, and using it might be a challenge for anyone with chunky digits.

You need a rear-view solution too
This model is designed to run solo, which means there's no option for connecting a rearward-facing camera for a complete solution.

You aren’t too bothered about 4K appeal
Having the beefier-quality video produced by the Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam is a real plus, but cheaper alternatives are plentiful if you’re not bothered about this.

How I tested the Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam

• I installed the dash cam into a test car for an initial period of two weeks
• I used it for various journeys during the day and at night
• I connected it to my phone and downloaded recordings for comparison

After receiving my review loan unit, I fitted the Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam to a family-sized car using the supplied cable and powered it via the 12V socket. The camera was fitted with a 128GB microSD card, which allowed me to test the reliability of recording 4K files to media. The resulting data was also shared to my phone, with files being managed by the VanTrue app on an Apple iPhone, along with cable transfer for good measure.

One of the very useful features of the Vantrue E1 Pro Dash Cam is the mounting bracket, which allowed me to remove it whenever needed and click it back into place just as quickly. Although I wasn’t able to hard-wire this model into my test vehicle, I have every reason to expect the optional parking monitoring features to function just as well as everything else.

• First reviewed April 2025

One of the oldest no-code app builders, Bubble can help you build web and mobile apps without writing a single line of code. Bubble provides a comprehensive point-and-click visual development environment, where users can design interfaces, set up workflows, and create databases, without writing any code.

In this review, we'll examine the features of Bubble, its user interface, ease of use, integration and extensibility, deployment and maintenance options, pricing, documentation, and how it compares to its peers..

Bubble: Features

Bubble AI is one of the platforms’ most interesting features. You can use it to create a blueprint for an app, and then review its features, and refine it as per your needs. It’ll then generate the app, which you can then customize using the UI builder.

To design the app you can drag-and-drop UI elements into the canvas and arrange them as required. The platform gives you access to a wide range of pre-built UI elements, such as buttons, input forms, and containers like popups, which can all be customized to match your apps’ look and feel.

Best of all, you can also arrange elements responsively for various screen sizes to ensure your app has a consistent user experience across devices.

(Image credit: Bubble)

Then there’s Bubble’s marketplace, which offers a wide range of both free and paid plugins that can help you extend the functionality of your app. You can use the plugins to integrate with popular services such as payment gateways, analytics tools, communication platforms, log in services, and more.

Similarly, the marketplace also hosts lots of free and paid templates for pre-built apps that you can use as starting points.

Bubble also has an AI page creator that can generate pages for your apps based on a description or prompt. This is meant to simplify the process of creating common page types, such as landing pages, forms, and dashboards, which you can then tweak to meet your requirements.

In addition to the apps’ UI, you can also use Bubble to visually define actions that occur when specific events are triggered in the app, such as a button click. Bubble also has a flexible database management system that you can easily connect with your app, and manage, via a graphical interface.

Bubble: Interface and Ease of Use

Bubble’s interface is pretty intuitive for anyone who has worked with no-code tools before. All of its interfaces, including the UI builder, the workflow editor, and others are logically organized and easily navigable.

The platform’s app design interface includes a canvas where you can drag-and-drop all kinds of elements and components to create the layout of your app. Additionally, you also have the ability to group the various elements, adjust their spacing, and more.

On the left of the canvas are its various sections, led by the Design section that houses all options to help you create and arrange UI elements. Then there’s the Workflow section where you define how your app reacts to user interactions, like button clicks, by setting up a sequence of actions that Bubble will perform in response to those events.

There’s also the Data section where you can define how your app accepts data from the user, and manage the database. Another important section is the Plugins section from where you can browse, install, and tweak add-ons to extend your app’s functionality.

(Image credit: Bubble)

Together with the ready-made templates for all kinds of use cases, and the AI app and page builders, Bubble offers enough to help ease users into the platform.

That said, first timers may find the sheer number of options in the designer a little overwhelming. So while you can get started with your app rather quickly, it might take you some time and effort before you can utilize the platform's full potential.

Bubble: Integration and Extensibility

One of Bubble’s USPs is its extensive integration and extensibility options. We’ve already mentioned its extensive marketplace of pre-built plugins. The platform can also integrate with AI tools such as ChatGPT, and DALL-E, and you can go further by integrating it with dozens of popular apps thanks to Zapier.

The platform also offers several extensibility options for advanced users. For starters, you’ll appreciate its API connector that allows you to interface with external systems by connecting your app to any JSON or XML-based API.

The API Connector also supports various authentication methods like OAuth2. You can also go beyond the platform’s capabilities by integrating custom JavaScript code to extend your app.

(Image credit: Bubble)

In terms of extensibility, Bubble's database is also quite flexible and supports custom data types and fields. This makes it fairly straightforward to create complex data structures and relationships, and tailor the app to fit your unique requirements.

And while Bubble can’t create native mobile apps yet, several users have used tools like Phonegap and GoNative to turn Bubble web apps into native apps.

Bubble: Deployment and Maintenance

Deploying apps created with Bubble is straightforward.

You can preview your app at any time to ensure everything works properly. Once you're satisfied, you can then deploy the app to a Bubble-provided domain, or to a custom domain from a third-party domain registrar like GoDaddy, in a couple of clicks.

The platform uses Cloudflare Content Delivery Network (CDN) for all apps to ensure your apps can be accessed quickly from anywhere in the world.

In terms of scaling, when your app starts grabbing eyeballs, Bubble can increase traffic and data storage needs as required. You can ask the platform to do this automatically, which shields against sudden spikes in traffic, and is perhaps more suitable for large-scale apps. You can also scale manually for better control and to keep costs in check.

Like all good app builders, Bubble also has a version control system that you can use to track revisions. It’ll help you make and test changes in a development version of the app, and then deploy them to its live instance without much effort.

(Image credit: Bubble)

You can also use Bubble to connect with popular analytics tools to track visits to your apps and get all kinds of insights. The platform also keeps detailed logs of every action performed within your app to help you track user interactions, and more. You can essentially use these logs to identify potential issues and troubleshoot problems.

Bubble: Pricing and Documentation

Bubble offers a tiered pricing model to suit different needs.

The free plan is good to learn the ropes and familiarize yourself with the platform. Its paid plans start at $29/month for the Starter Plan that’s meant for individual developers, followed by the $119/month Growth Plan for building complex apps, and the $349/month Team Plan for larger businesses.

To publish your app you’ll need to subscribe to one of the paid plans, all of which also offer the option to deploy to a custom domain. The paid plans also offer security features, and can handle more traffic. Starting with the Growth Plan you also get the ability to collaborate on the apps with more than one user.

The platform has a lot of learning resources. There are written tutorials, step-by-step guides, and video walkthroughs that’ll help new users through their journey of getting oriented with the platform, to building complex apps.

Then there’s Bubble’s Academy that offers structured courses for everyone from beginners to experienced campaigners. The platform also points to various other community built learning resources, both free and paid.

Talking of community, Bubble’s community-supported forum is the primary outlet for dispensing help and support.

Bubble: The Competition

Bubble goes up against several other no-code platforms, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

For instance, Adalo can create both web and mobile apps, and offers a more streamlined experience for creating native mobile apps. However, developers often cite it as being less versatile than Bubble when it comes to creating web apps.

Similarly, there’s Thunkable that you can use to build native mobile apps. However, it too lacks Bubble’s comprehensive web app capabilities. That said, both Adalo and Thunkable have a less steep learning curve than Bubble.

Then there’s Glide that can create web and mobile apps from your existing data. While it is often cited as being simpler to use than Bubble, it doesn’t offer the same flexibility and scalability that you get with Bubble, especially when it comes to complex apps.

Bubble: Final Verdict

Bubble offers all the features you’d expect from a no-code platform to create everything from simple to complex apps. It has intuitive point-and-click interfaces, and also caters to advanced users who want to extend their apps through API integrations, and custom code.

Bubble primarily focuses on web app development, and while it can be used to create mobile-friendly apps, they are essentially web apps optimized for mobile browsers. However, its developers have announced that you’ll soon be able to use Bubble to create native mobile apps as well.

All things considered, Bubble stands out for its versatility and depth, and is a good option especially for those looking to create complex and scalable apps.

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Lovable is a relatively new entrant in the rapidly expanding field of no-code platforms that help businesses spin up all kinds of apps without writing a single line of code.

In this review, we will explore Lovable’s features, interface and ease of use, integration and extensibility, deployment and maintenance, pricing, documentation, and how it stands in comparison to its competition.

Lovable: Features

One of the main reasons for Lovable’s growing popularity is its AI app builder.

You describe your app idea in natural language, which the platform will use to create a fully functional app for you. The AI prompt can be as simple as “Create a login page” to something more complex like “Can you build me a CRM app and hook it up to a database, along with an authentication system that allows users to sign up, and log in.”

Once you enter the prompt, Lovable’s AI builder will generate the app’s user interface (UI), along with the backend, complete with the necessary database tables, forms to input customer details, and even set up functionality for viewing, editing, and deleting customer records.

(Image credit: Lovable)

Going one step ahead, you can also use the AI to further edit and refine your app by describing changes to the AI.

Besides AI, Lovable also offers an array of pre-built templates that you can use as starting points to speed up the development process. These templates cover a wide range of application types, such as marketplaces, CRMs, analytics, cryptocurrency trading, and more.

This is especially helpful if you are a green horn developer, and don’t have a clear idea for the app, or someone who wants to roll out apps quickly.

On the backend, Lovable relies on Supabase, which is an open source alternative to Google’s Firebase platform. It’ll help you add databases, authentication services, and other backend functionalities, to your apps.

You can also hook Lovable to your GitHub, and it’ll transfer your project's code to your GitHub repository for two-way sync of edits. This means the platform will be aware of any manual commits you make in the repo, and roll them into the app on its own. This functionality is somewhat unique, as most other no-code platforms just hold on to the code.

If you don’t have a GitHub repo, you can also view, and even edit the code in Lovable itself.

Lovable: Interface and Ease of Use

Lovable has a simple dashboard with a textbox smack in the middle of the screen where you can describe your app idea.

If you’re new to building apps, Lovable suggests leveraging pre-built styles to improve your app’s appearance. Lovable points to 21st.dev where you can browse pre-built designs, and then copy its prompt into Lovable.

After you’ve described the project, Lovable will tell you how it’ll go about building the initial version of the app, describing its features, and design elements. On the right, it’ll tell you the files it’ll create, and then write the code.

When it’s done spinning up the first iteration, it’ll open it up for preview. You can then tweak the layout, and other aspects of the app via more prompts. For more control, you can even make edits to the different elements inside the app using Lovable’s Figma-like visual editor.

(Image credit: Lovable)

You can also attach images to guide the AI. For instance, you can browse the designs at Dribble, screenshot the relevant section, upload it to Lovable, and ask it to redesign the relevant section of the app based on the uploaded design.

The dashboard also gives you access to projects that other users have built. Explore a few to see how others have used the AI to refine, and fine tune their apps. You can also use one of the templates to get off the ground, and then refine it with the AI builder.

The intuitive interface makes it fairly simple to navigate through the different pages in your app. You can also easily switch between the manual edit mode, and the AI mode.

Lovable ensures the UI of your app is responsive, and works well on both desktops and mobile devices. You can easily toggle between web, and mobile views to visualize how your app looks across different screen sizes.

Very helpfully the platform also lets you define global styles by adding a system prompt in the project settings’ Knowledge field, such as “make sure all buttons have rounded corners.” From then on, everytime you ask Lovable to add a button, the AI builder will ensure it adheres to this predefined style.

Lovable: Integration and Extensibility

Lovable leverages popular tools and frameworks such as React, Tailwind CSS, and the Vite JavaScript build tool to optimize frontend performance. This helps ensure your app adheres to industry best practices.

As we’ve mentioned before, Lovable natively integrates with Supabase for backend database capabilities, and more. Supabase can also handle things like user authentication, and supports several authentication providers, from plain email signups, to Google logins, and more.

One way to extend your app, is to ask Lovable AI to modify the database to connect the frontend UI to the backend, for instance, to create and save login details. Based on this information, Lovable will then automatically create the appropriate tables as required, and it’ll write the SQL for you.

(Image credit: Lovable)

You can also instruct Lovable to integrate payment gateways, social media APIs, or data analytics tools directly into your project. Simply ask the AI to "help me integrate Stripe into my app," and then follow its instructions to implement the integration, which basically involves handing it your API keys.

Remember however, Stripe integration doesn’t work in the preview. To test the integration, make sure to first deploy your app. Also refer to the platform’s documentation to see how to make test payments using dummy card details.

If you are looking for something more than simple payments, for instance, subscriptions and role-based access based on payment tiers, Lovable recommends using Supabase.

Besides Stripe, Supabase, and GitHub, Lovable also has a list of over a dozen verified integrations that work well with the platform. These include OpenAI, Anthropic, Replicate, Highcharts, p5.js, Clerk, and more.

Then there are several other unverified integrations, which will work with the platform, but might make you jump through more hoops. There’s Perplexity, Zapier, Google Workspace, Notion, Calendly, SendGrid, Ticketmaster, and others.

Lovable: Deployment and Maintenance

Deploying and maintaining apps built on Lovable is pretty straightforward as well.

After you’ve built and previewed your app, essentially all it takes to deploy it is a single click. By default, your Lovable app is accessible via a Lovable subdomain, but you can also connect it to any custom domain you own.

You can maintain, and debug your apps using the Lovable AI. For most issues, the platform will give you a “Try to fix” button that will automatically solve many issues for you. If that doesn’t work, you can describe the error in detail to the AI, and ask it for directions.

(Image credit: Lovable)

One of the best things about Lovable is that it actively monitors your code, and might recommend refactoring your code to make it more scalable, and easier to maintain.

The platform also includes built-in version control, which allows you to track changes, bookmark important versions, and roll back to previous versions, without much effort. This makes it easier to track, and review your progress, and undo any mistakes.

Lovable: Pricing and Documentation

Lovable has a tiered pricing plan, starting with a free tier with limited functionality, followed by several paid plans that offer more features and higher usage limits.

For instance, on the free plan, you can prompt the AI five times/day, with a total limit of 30 messages/month.

The Starter plan costs $20/month and increases this to 100 messages a month, with no daily caps. The Launch plan at $50/month bumps this up to 250 messages, while with the $100/month Scale1 plan you get 500 messages/month, but can pay more for additional messages. All paid plans also enable you to publish your app on custom domains.

Lovable handholds you through a series of illustrated introductory documentation, quick start guides, and video tutorials. They cover everything from helping you write the right AI prompts, to fleshing out your apps by integrating them with Supabase, Stripe, and other verified and unverified services.

You can take your queries to Lovable’s Discord community, while paid users also get access to premium support options.

Lovable: The competition

Lovable shares the space with other AI-assisted no-code app builders.

For instance, Bubble, one of the popular platforms, too has an AI builder, but it places a 300 characters limit to the prompts. Bubble is often touted as a good option for building complex apps, as it offers greater flexibility, but has a steeper learning curve.

Then there’s Softr, which again places a 200 characters limit on its prompts. It’s very user friendly as well, though it might fall short for those of you who need deep customization, and control over their apps.

(Image credit: Lovable)

Hostinger has also recently ventured into the no-code space with their Horizons tool. Just like with Lovable, you can use Horizons to build, edit, and enhance your apps just by using AI. However, Horizons is still under active development, and doesn’t offer all the features, and conveniences you get with Lovable.

Lovable: Final Verdict

Lovable’s extensive use of AI for everything from creating the app, to adding new functionality, and debugging, makes it one of the best no-code platforms for anyone who’s new to building apps.

You’ll have to hone your prompt writing skills to get the most out of the platform, especially if you are on the lower tiers of its paid plans. Based on the list of featured projects, it appears the platform can manage rather complex workflows, which is a definite plus.

All things considered, Lovable’s user-friendly interface, integration capabilities, and extensibility, make it a compelling option for anyone looking to build apps in record time.

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Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: two-minute review

The third version of Bowers & Wilkins’ Px7 wireless over-ear noise-cancellers is the most expensive yet. This money does buy a pair of extremely well-specified headphones, mind you – between Bluetooth 5.3 with aptX Lossless compatibility and multipoint connectivity, chunky battery life and a bespoke noise-cancellation platform, the S3 have it where it counts. And there’s more to come, in the form of spatial audio and Auracast compatibility, via promised upgrades. It also buys slightly less, in the physical sense. The profile of the S3 is a little more discreet than any previous Px7 model.

It also gets you absolutely impeccable build quality and standard of finish – there’s undeniable pride of ownership included as part of your outlay. Wearing them outdoors will reveal a little inefficiency where suppression of wind noise is concerned, but at least you won’t feel as self-conscious as you might have when wearing previous Px7 models.

The new active noise-cancellation platform works well, and it brings Bowers & Wilkins into line with the best noise-cancelling headphones that aren’t Bose. And where sound quality is concerned, this is now the best way to spend your cash. In every respect, the Px7 S3 impress. They’re detailed and dynamic, they’re open and spacious, they’re punchy and rhythmically adept – and best of all, they’re engaging and entertaining.

Circumstances a long way out of Bowers & Wilkins’ control means that a North American launch date, as well as a North American price, are yet to be confirmed. There are papers to be written about whether pricing Americans out of ownership of products like this is a good thing, and there are obviously ramifications for companies like Bowers & Wilkins when the North American market is so difficult to read. But for those of us living where the Px7 S3 are available and (relatively speaking) affordable, the news is uncomplicatedly good.

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas) Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Price and release date

• Release date: April 24th, 2025
• Price: $TBC / £399 / AU$699 (approx.)

The Px7 S3 launch at a very similar price (in the company’s native UK, at least, where tariffs aren’t quite such a thing as they are in some other territories) to 2023’s £379 Px7 S2e – so Bowers & Wilkins is to be congratulated for developing and releasing a new product without having to up the price all that much. At the time of writing, though, Bowers & Wilkins is still not certain of a launch date in North America, and still less of the price when that launch finally comes. This, apparently, is the sort of uncertainty that will make America great again.

The Px7 S3 nevertheless find themselves contesting the very upper end of the 'premium/mainstream' best wireless headphones market where the fearsome likes of Bose and Sony (to name just a couple of high-profile alternatives) roam. In other words, it’s going to take more than a premium logo and a premium price to make a success of the Px7 S3…

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Specs

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas) Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Features

• Bluetooth 5.3 with aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless codec compatibility
• Redesigned 40mm biocellulose drivers with discrete amplification
• 30 hours of battery life

When it comes to the most important stuff, Bowers & Wilkins has specified the Px7 S3 without apparent compromise. This may be a relatively expensive pair of headphones, but don’t doubt that it’s got it where it counts.

And while Bowers & Wilkins will tell you it’s concentrated its efforts on the physical design of the Px7 S3 and on upgrading the active noise-cancelling system, that doesn’t mean the driver arrangement hasn’t come in for attention. The company may, in public, declare itself very satisfied with the way the outgoing Px7 S2e sounded, but it’s made plenty of changes in an effort to liberate even better sound.

So while the 40mm biocellulose cones themselves are unchanged over the previous model, the Px7 S3 features a new chassis arrangement, new voice-coil, reworked suspension and upgraded magnet. The intention is to lower distortion and coloration yet further while offering superior dynamics. And for the first time in a pair of Bowers & Wilkins over-ear headphones, these drive units are powered by dedicated, discrete headphone amplification – improved sonic scale and energy is the idea.

Getting audio information to the drivers can be done in a couple of ways. As well as charging for the battery (which is, incidentally, good for 30 hours of playback with active noise-cancellation switched on and can turn 15 minutes of charging into seven hours of action), the USB-C slot can be used for data transfer. Connect it to the digital or analogue output of an appropriate source of music and 24bit/96kHz high-resolution content can be dealt with.

Multipoint wireless connectivity is handled by Bluetooth 5.3 and, as well as aptX Adaptive, the S3 are compatible with the aptX Lossless codec. This technology will automatically optimize transmission resolution, and will allow you to hear what that top-tier Presto, Qobuz or Tidal streaming service subscription is actually buying you (Qobuz and Tidal are both available for direct streaming in the Bowers & Wilkins ‘Music’ control app). The company also intends to make the Px7 S3 compatible with Bluetooth LE Audio (which includes the LC3 codec) and Auracast via a free firmware update ‘soon’. Support for spatial audio won’t be all that far behind.

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)

As well as the ability to integrate (some of) the best streaming services around, the ‘Music’ control app also gives access to a five-band EQ with memory to save some settings, as well as presets including the company’s preferred ‘True Sound’ settings. It allows you to switch noise-cancelling on or off, engage ‘transparency’ mode, adjust wear-sensor sensitivity, check on battery status, and more besides.

Voice control is available via your source’s native assistant, and there are some physical buttons arranged on each earcup. On the right side there’s ‘volume up/down’ and ‘play/pause’ – these buttons have been reshaped to help with operation – and on the left there’s a ‘power on/off/Bluetooth pairing’ slider and a ‘quick action’ button. You can use the app to switch its function between ‘cycle through ANC options’ and ‘summon voice assistant’. Really, all that’s missing is a physical control for ‘skip forwards/backwards’.

Optimizing active noise-cancellation without impacting on the sonic performance of the headphones isn’t an easy trick, of course, but Bowers & Wilkins has given it a very thorough go. It’s developed a new ANC platform from scratch, and has deployed a total of eight mics to monitor the output of the drivers as well as outside noise in an effort to offer its best-ever ANC as well as outstanding call quality.

• Features score: 5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas) Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Sound quality

• Wide open and yet tightly unified
• Great tonal balance
• Detailed and dynamic in equal measure

I may as well get right to it: the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 are a great pair of headphones in purely sonic terms, and represent the very best way to spend £399 (or thereabouts, once worldwide pricing is sorted) if outright sound quality is the most important thing to you.

Tonally, they’re really nicely judged – even and pretty much neutral, with just the tiniest hint or warmth to prevent things sounding austere or chilly (unless you’re listening to something like Kraftwerk’s Trans-Europe Express, of course, which sounds just as draughty and frostbitten as is appropriate). The top end has bite that’s balanced against substance, and at the opposite end there’s weight and ample variation. In the midrange, the character and ability of singers as dissimilar as Mark E Smith and Aretha Franklin is made absolutely explicit. As well as the impeccable tonal balance, the Px7 S3 retrieve and contextualize a huge amount of fine detail, which contributes no end to the sensation of a complete and unexpurgated account of recordings.

Frequency response is equally convincing - there’s no suggestion of any area of the frequency range getting understated or overplayed. And while the Bowers & Wilkins can hit with more than enough purpose to make Holy Calamaf*** by Run the Jewels sound as assertive and uncompromising as anything, control of bass sounds is such that rhythmic expression is natural and coherent. The sort of dynamic variation that’s apparent in this recording is given free expression, too – there’s an appreciable amount of distance between the most and least intense passages.

The soundstage on which all of this occurs is large and properly defined. Despite the width and depth to the Px7 S3’s presentation, though, and despite the fact that every element of a recording enjoys a fair amount of space in which to operate, there’s a unity and singularity to the overall presentation that makes recordings sound of a whole. Even something like Aphex Twin’s Alberto Balsalm, which never was a performance, sounds somehow together.

Where active noise-cancellation is concerned, Bowers & Wilkins has made great strides with the Px7 S3. The headphones deal decisively with the majority of external sounds, and can do so without affecting their sonic signature in the slightest. That these headphones can’t do as complete a job on ambient noise as an equivalent pair of Bose will come as no surprise, because no other headphones can either, but now the Bowers & Wilkins ANC needs no excuses made for it. It’s a match of any of those ‘not quite Bose’ contenders from Sennheiser, Sony and so on.

In fact, about the only way I can imagine there is scope for worthwhile improvement is in suppression of wind noise. My part of the UK's south coast is windy more often than it isn’t, and the Px7 S3 prove more susceptible to wind noise than quite a few alternative designs. It’s by no means a fatal flaw, but it’s noticeable nevertheless. And I guess it’s a measure of just how accomplished the Px7 S3 are that my contractually obliged complaining consists of some tepid bleating about how they could deal with wind noise a little better…

• Sound quality score: 5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas) Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Design

• Choice of three finishes
• Slimmer profile, redesigned arms and headband
• Look and feel expensive (which is just as well)

On first acquaintance you’d be forgiven for thinking the Px7 S3 are the same as the outgoing Px7 S2e where design is concerned – certainly that’s what my first glance led me to believe. But Bowers & Wilkins has had a bit of a think about this new model's design, and has made some very worthwhile adjustments without in any way affecting its perceived value.

For instance, the earcups are now appreciably slimmer in profile. Previous Px7 models have made the wearer look a bit, well, Cyberman-y – the earcups and pads were deep enough to increase the width of the wearer’s head more than somewhat. The Px7 S3 aren’t as slim as, say, the Sonos Ace, but they’re definitely tidier, and it makes for a less conspicuous look when they’re in position.

A new headband and redesigned arm mechanism makes the Px7 S3 ever so easy to get comfortable inside – an all-in weight of 300g has a part to play in this – while the pleather-over-memory foam contact points are nicely padded and reluctant to return your body heat too rapidly. And in a first for Bowers & Wilkins, the inner section of the headband and the earpads can be removed and replaced (by a trained service engineer, of course).

The fabric around the outside of the headband and the earcups looks and feels good, and will prove hard-wearing if previous Px7 models are anything to go by. The narrow grille that separates the outer part of the earcup from the earpads, first seen (on a much smaller scale) on the splendid Pi8 true wireless in-ears, allows mics and Bluetooth aerials to operate more freely, but the fact that it’s a nice design flourish doesn’t do any harm either.

The standard of build and finish is basically impeccable, and the concealed headband adjustment mechanism operates with well-damped precision. It doesn’t matter if you choose the ‘anthracite’ black of my review sample, ‘indigo’ blue or ‘canvas’ white, you’ll find yourself in possession of a pair of headphones with appreciable perceived value, which is just as well, given how much you’re paying.

The Px7 S3 can be kept in peak condition during transit thanks to a nice robust carry-case that’s just a few millimetres smaller in each direction than the case the Px7 S2e travelled in. As well as protecting the headphones, it features a pocket behind a magnetically closing flap that conceals USB-C / USB-C and USB-C / 3.5mm cables.

• Design score: 5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas) Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Value

• Extensive specification
• Excellent standard of build and finish
• Class-leading sound

Just because it’s possible to spend plenty more than £399 on a pair of wireless noise-cancelling over-ear headphones (not least with Bowers & Wilkins itself), that doesn’t mean it’s an insignificant amount of money.

Happily, at every turn the Px7 S3 try their hardest to make it seem like a perfectly reasonable asking price. The standard of build and finish here is basically impeccable, and a thoughtful little redesign has resulted in a more discreet, yet somehow no less premium, appearance – pride of ownership is significant.

Specification is as good as it currently gets at anything like this sort of money. And where sound quality is concerned, you’re getting what I am confident is the most complete performance available at anything like this sort of money.

• Value score: 5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas) Should I buy the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3? Buy them if…

You like nice things
The Bowers & Wilkins look, feel and (for the first few days of ownership, at least) even smell like a premium product. Perceived value is very high indeed.

You intend to wear them in public
The new slimmer profile suits the Px7 S3, and you’ll feel a lot less conspicuous wearing them than you did in previous Px7s.

You value sound quality above all else
The balance struck by the Px7 S3 is beautifully judged. They have sonic talent in every department, and are a very satisfying listen.

Don't buy them if…

You’re expecting extended functionality
There are plenty of alternatives that offer touch controls, hearing tests, heart monitoring and all the rest of it. Bowers & Wilkins has concentrated on sound quality.

You’re an impatient listener
You can only skip through tracks by getting your source player out or asking your voice-assistant to take care of it. There’s no physical control for this function.

You live on a hillside
The Px7 S3 are a little more susceptible to wind noise than is absolutely ideal.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Also consider

Sony WH-1000XM5
If you want all the whistles and bells of extended functionality while still enjoying very agreeable sound and a fair serving of perceived value, Sony’s venerable WH-1000XM5 remain strong contenders. Appreciably more affordable than the Px7 S3, they’re excellent all-rounders, though they have to concede to the Bowers & Wilkins where outright sound quality is concerned.
Read our full Sony WH-1000XM5 review

Bose QuietComfort Ultra
If you’re preoccupied with noise-cancellation, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra are basically a default choice. Bowers & Wilkins may have made strides with ANC where the Px7 S3 are concerned, but it, like every other brand, has to concede that Bose rules the roost in this respect. The Ultra are not as deft a listen as the Px7 S3, though.
Read the full Bose QuietComfort review

Dali iO-8
If you want an alternative to the Bowers & Wilkins that can match them for outright sound quality, well, it’s going to cost you – you’re probably looking at forking out even more money for a pair of Dali iO-8. These are deeply accomplished, great-sounding headphones, facts that are reflected in the asking price.
Read our full Dali iO-8 review

How I tested Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3

• Wireless connection to an Apple iPhone 14 Pro, wireless and wired connections to a FiiO M15S digital audio player
• A variety of music, a variety of file types and sizes
• Indoors and outdoors

Wireless listening used the AAC and aptX codecs (depending on the source player), while the wired listening was able to extend to 24bit/96kHz content.

I listened at my desk, I listened while on the street and I listened on public transport, to a wide variety of music of many different file types and sizes. I spent well over a week listening critically, and found myself listening simply for listening’s sake too.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed: April 2025

Technology is moving at an increasingly fast pace, requiring more and more data and bandwidth as it does. This means that keeping track of everything that is going on can be challenging, especially if you’re looking to track how much data you’re using and what external threats could have access to your network. Luckily for Windows users, Microsoft has been doing a good job, including its Windows Firewall in its operating system. Windows Firewall is by no means perfect, but it’s more than enough for the average user. However, if you belong to another group of users or are looking to “advance,” then additional firewall tools may be required to give you the granular control and overview of your network.

Enter GlassWire, an application that, among other things, offers better manageability for the Windows Firewall. Some users may argue that a VPN could be an equally suitable solution; however, a VPN mostly protects your privacy and anonymity when you’re online, whereas a firewall takes things a step further. Namely, with a firewall, you can determine which programs should be allowed to access your network and devices. GlassWire does this remarkably well, nevertheless, users who do not have a lot of networking experience may be confused by all of the graphs and data offered by GlassWire.

Downloading and installing the app is as easy as it can be, and as soon as you launch it, the graphing starts. Your network traffic is analyzed and recorded, showing you the last five minutes of activity (for new users). Once you’ve been using the app for some time (day, week), you will get more data and “markers” on your graphs. These markers represent an individual event (i.e., first connection of an app), and they’re clickable so you can glean more information from the events. Graph spikes are also clickable, and unusual activity is also recorded. While all of this is great, if you’re an average user, it can, and does, feel simply overwhelming.

(Image credit: GlassWire) Features

While internet usage tracking represents the bread and butter of GlassWire, it can do much more. It offers an extra layer of security thanks to its in-depth analysis of each application on your computer, as well as which apps are accessing the internet and how they’re doing this. For each new event, you will get a discrete notification that contains enough information for you to make an educated step towards resolving an issue. Under the GlassWire Protect tab, you can see all of the apps on your PC as well as details such as Version, GW Score, Traffic in/out, Hosts, and download and upload speeds. Here you will also find the Firewall toggle button that lets you turn on or off the firewall functionality, which comes from Windows Firewall. GlassWire interacts with Windows Firewall for program control and reporting, which is a different approach compared to competing solutions such as ZoneAlarm, etc.

(Image credit: GlassWire)

If you want to put an app onto a block list, simply click on the flame icon, or if you want, you can block all network traffic for the app if you do not wish to block the app itself. This way, you can quickly block all connections until you end the mode. If you like granular control over your network access, you can turn on the “ask to connect” mode, where you will be asked to confirm each time a program attempts to access the network. Note, if you have some apps that have already connected to the internet, this mode will not affect them. If some apps you’re using trigger a “this might be malware” alarm, GlassWire gives you the option of submitting the file to VirusTotal. VirusTotal checks the file against dozens of antivirus engines and reports how many of them recognize the file as malware. This is a handy feature, however, you will need to provide your VirusTotal API key to GlassWire (you can find the specific location to enter your API key under the settings menu). Another note, VirusTotal can present you with some false positives, so we would not rely solely on the analysis provided by them.

A short digression, the fact that VirusTotal is used, we would appreciate it if the apps would automatically show a malware score based on what VirusTotal has in its database, but that is not the case; you need to submit files to get some feedback.

If you want to configure what GlassWire monitors, you can do so in the settings under the security tab. You have 15 settings that you can tweak; in the free plan, only four are “unlocked”. By default, most of the settings are on, and GlassWire will notify you when a new device joins the network, or when a program connects for the first time, or even when a remote session starts. Speaking of remote sessions, GlassWire allows you to have a remote connection, even on the free plan (only one, though). If you move onto the paid plan, you will get an unlimited number of remote connections, but also access to something called the Wi-Fi evil twin detection. Hackers use deceitful wireless connections to gain access to devices through Wi-Fi, which means that these malicious actors can use any internet-connected PC/smartphone to create an evil twin Wi-Fi that looks legitimate. The goal is for you to connect using this evil twin and to siphon all of your data. GlassWire protects you by notifying you of any Wi-Fi password loss, the same name Wi-Fi’s or any new hardware.

If you’re a Mac user or an iOS user, you’re out of luck with GlassWire as it is not available for Apple’s ecosystem. On the positive side, you can get it on Android, using Google’s Play Store. On Android, the app looks and feels the same as the one on Windows and has all of the powerful features available on its desktop counterpart. It’s similarly easy to set up, but just like the desktop version, if you want to make additional tweaks, you will have to go for the paid version.

Pricing

(Image credit: GlassWire)

You can get GlassWire completely free, with a lot of powerful features, and for most, this should be enough. However, if you’re looking for additional features, you can opt for a paid plan that starts at $2.99 for one license. While the free plan covers basic monitoring like real-time traffic, anomaly detection, and new device alerts, Premium significantly expands the toolset. It unlocks unlimited bandwidth history, full access to historical alerts, and advanced threat detection features like ARP spoofing detection, system file monitoring, and proxy settings alerts. Users can also customize and automate firewall behavior with features like unlimited app blocking, lockdown mode, and firewall profiles. For privacy-focused users, Premium offers DNS server monitoring and unlimited remote device connections. It also includes exportable usage data, an interactive network map, and dedicated customer support. Finally, the icing on the cake is the fact that the premium version also unlocks theme selection, offering roughly 13 additional themes. While the price is not that steep, the usability of the premium features comes down to the professionals who require all of the additional bells and whistles.

Protection

It’s worth noting that GlassWire is not an antivirus replacement, but a companion tool that adds a crucial layer of network-level visibility and early threat detection. The usability and blocking rate depend on your settings and how you utilize the app. There have not been any independent laboratory tests of the application, but since it uses the Windows Firewall API, its performance and effectiveness could be generally assessed within the context of the overall Windows security infrastructure, rather than through isolated testing. We tend to recommend Windows Firewall as the go-to firewall solution for most users, believing that it’s more than enough to protect you online, so take that for what it's worth.

Ease of use

GlassWire is generally pleasing to the eye, and we enjoyed using it. The icons and settings are well laid out and logical; however, if you’re newer to the world of networking and security, all of the colors, graphs, and information can be overwhelming. An additional positive remark we would like to make here is the notifications. Most firewalls tend to bombard you with notifications, alerts, bells, and various sounds; not GlassWire, they’ve managed to implement a discreet system of notifications which we enjoyed very much. If you’re one of those people who simply have to have a notification presented to them at each activity, GlassWire somewhat allows this if you go for the ask to connect mode.

Final verdict

As far as third-party firewall apps go, GlassWire offers a unique approach and a unique experience by relying on the Windows Firewall API. It’s easy to install and get working out of the box, but interpreting all of the data requires some “advanced” computer knowledge that is not common among PC users. If you’re an average user who has never even fired up Windows Firewall settings, then keep enjoying your browsing experience and skip over any additional firewall tools. GlassWire is not for you!

On the other hand, if you’re a competitive gamer looking to squeeze the last iota of performance from your network, analyzing your networking with a tool like GlassWire makes a lot of sense. We also see security professionals benefiting from such a tool, especially under the paid plan, since it offers a granular approach to tweaking your network and devices on it. We’re sure others can benefit from the app, but paying for more licenses certainly has to have a business value behind it.

All in all, GlassWire is a great addition to Windows Firewall. The fact that you have a free forever version gives you a great opportunity to test it out or even use it fully without the need to make a purchase. The developers behind the app are active across various developer forums, giving us confidence that user feedback is appreciated and updates are going to keep coming.

• Check out our rundown of best firewall software

The first tape of DON’T NOD’s latest narrative adventure, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, ended on a particularly heart-rending cliffhanger. Kat, the beloved firecracker of the titular girl group, has been hiding an illness and isn’t likely to make it through the year. After two months of waiting, Tape 2 picks up almost immediately after this climactic information is revealed, with the once inseparable girl group now splintering as the weight of the real world starts to seep into their surreal summer.

Review information

Platform reviewed: PC
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam
Release date: April 16, 2025

Ever since I rolled credits on the first half of Lost Records, I’ve been anxious to unpack the remaining hours of this time-bending coming-of-age story, which highlights heady themes like rebellion, girlhood, and grief. Not just because I wasn’t ready for the story to end, but because DON’T NOD’s ambitious narrative had a lot of big questions to answer, and I wasn’t entirely sure how or if they would bring it home.

I was also keen to get back behind the lens of protagonist Swann’s video camera to record and relive more memories, which is by far the game’s most compelling mechanic.

Unfortunately, single-player game and follow-up, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage Tape 2, doesn’t fully investigate the most exciting motifs Lost Records laid up in the first half, and the addition of janky new modes of gameplay don’t play nice with the previously curated vibe. Still, even with Tape 2’s rough edges, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage tells an important story that celebrates the complexities of female friendship in a sincere and meaningful way.

The kids aren't alright

(Image credit: DON'T NOD)

If Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 concerns the slow burn of blossoming friendships, this second part is more about raging violently against the machine. The hazy palette that dominated Tape 1 has been swapped for a darker, more brooding set of hues that create a shrouding atmosphere.

The local watering hole is now adorned in chauvinistic graffiti, and Swann’s clutter-filled room is half empty and ready for her big move out of state. This tone shift feels wonderfully emblematic of the second tape’s narrative pivot – I felt the Summer slip away and a cold Autumn breeze roll in in its place.

As the girls struggle to negotiate their positions in the past, their adult counterparts wobble in the present, too. Unearthing their memories of Kat introduces a new tension in conversation that feels difficult to navigate from both a gameplay perspective and an emotional one.

Swann, Autumn, and Nora appear ready to thaw their frozen feelings, though how they choose to cope seems oppositional from one another, and I found myself enthralled by the complexity of their characters, even though I was constantly walking on eggshells when picking a conversational response.

Best bit

(Image credit: DON'T NOD)

Across both tapes of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, you work on a song with your gal pals to condemn Dylan’s antagonizing boyfriend Corey and the other close-minded folks of the town through the sonic lens of 90s punk. See You In Hell – a nostalgic earworm performed IRL by Montreal’s Nora Kelly Band – is revisited throughout the game and feels like an auditory timestamp that reflects the emotions of the protagonists as they journey towards Tape 2’s climactic finale.

However, it’s not just the mood that’s changed as the gameplay in Tape 2 has evolved in tow – with mediocre results. Sadly, Swann’s profound camcorder documentation projects take a back seat and are replaced with fetch quests, minor puzzles and a surprising bout of forced stealth, which all feel strangely out of step with a game that was previously story-first and better for it.

Searching an area for a screwdriver or using your wits to intuit the owner of a toothbrush felt like passable additions. On the other hand, sneaking around a house at night and dealing with janky sightlines was much less interesting.

These mechanical changes align with Swann’s deflated mood, but I persistently missed the nostalgic, game-defining act of whipping out my camera in search of collectable memories I could remix and watch back later.

There are still a handful of camcorder moments to encounter, they just don’t feel essential this time around, which is a real shame. I didn’t feel that exploring every nook and cranny would necessarily teach me anything new in Tape 2. It was as if I’d done my due diligence already with the first half, and these final hours were more about rewarding my previous attentiveness than giving me some fresh narrative meat to chew on.

The adults aren't talking

(Image credit: DON'T NOD)

Even with the inclusion of new mechanics, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2 has a significantly shorter runtime than Tape 1, which can make the pacing feel a bit uneven at times. In Tape 1, I had hours between pivotal points to roam and investigate the quirks and familial history of the supporting cast.

There isn’t the same amount of downtime in Tape 2, as you jump between plot points at an urgent pace. It makes sense in the broader context of the story, but it means that the most intriguing developments established in the first half are left unanswered when the credits roll.

In particular, I was left with more questions than answers when it came to Kat’s sister, Dylan, and her abusive boyfriend Corey. Despite efforts to give both of them personalities and depth in Tape 1, Tape 2 sees the duo reduced to strangely one-dimensional archetypes. I wasn’t looking for any kind of redemption arc, but I would have loved to investigate the nuances of their messy relationship in more detail.

Yet despite all my gripes, I was still in floods of tears when the curtains closed on this sensational story. Ultimately, the primary cast of Lost Records are just so tenderly written and easy to connect with – even when the framerate chugs or an annoying gameplay mechanic rears its head to stifle your fun. I could see pieces of myself in all four girls – as teens and adults – from their sisterhood to their shame, and even their awkward kisses.

Should you play Lost Records: Bloom and Rage Tape 2? Play it if...

You want to play a game that will stick with you beyond the credits
If you thought Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 was emotional, Tape 2 capitalizes on those intense story beats to deliver a moving finale you won’t soon forget.View Deal

You prefer cinematic games
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2 is filled with thoughtfully choreographed scenes and shocking moments that propel the story towards its climactic end.View Deal

Don't play it if...

You prefer action-oriented games
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2 flubs its attempts to fold in more action-oriented gameplay. The main purpose of this narrative adventure is just that… to embark on a story-driven journey propped up by memorable characters.View Deal

Accessibility

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2 arrives as an update from Tape 1, and so the accessibility settings are essentially the same. From the settings menu, you can choose the interface text size (small, medium, and large) and toggle on and off subtitles. From this screen, you can also select the size of the subtitles (small, medium, large). Due to the heavy themes in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, you’ll also have the choice to turn on trigger warnings.

These warnings include topics such as drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. On this screen, you can also tweak audio dynamic range, choosing between a narrow (little difference between loud and quiet moments, suitable for low-quality sound systems or noisy playspaces), Medium (moderate difference between loud and quiet moments, ideal for most speakers), and Wide (sizable difference between loud and quiet moments, ideal for high-quality sound systems or quiet playspaces).

From the pause menu, under controls, you can toggle on and off vibrations and how the camcorder behaves in the game. There are also options to reduce motion sickness, such as toggling off head bob, camcorder motion controls, and shifting the camcorder feel between regular, light, very light, and none. You can additionally invert cameras and movements and remap the entire keyboard from this menu.

Where visual effects are concerned, you can toggle on and off motion blur, camera smoothing, and camera shake. From the interface menu, you can also toggle on and off a speaker cue that provides a visual cue for who is talking, as well as toggle the persistent reticle in first and third person.

How I reviewed Lost Records: Bloom and Rage

I completed Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2’s story in around six hours on PC. In that time, I searched thoroughly through each environment and made conversational choices until the finale. I used an AOC 27-inch QHD VA 144Hz gaming monitor, a Logitech MX Master 3S mouse, and a Logitech G915 TKL gaming keyboard.

For sound, I used my external Creative Pebble V2 computer speakers and Audio Technica ATH-MX50X headphones plugged into a Scarlett 2i2 interface. My gaming PC is powered by an RTX 3080 graphics card, and my CPU is an AMD Ryzen 9 3950X.

First reviewed April 2025

Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S: two-minute review

The Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S hit the market in April 2025, offering customers a wide selection of features for a relatively affordable price.

The tower fan is tall at 42 inches and has 210 blades pushing out air at nine different fan speeds. On the highest speed, I could feel cool air about 30 feet away, and airflow from the lowest fan speed about 20 feet away, meaning it was plenty powerful enough to cool a couple of connected rooms in one go.

There are also four speciality modes to choose from: Sleep, Natural breeze, Normal and Auto mode. It's the last of those that really stood out during my review period. It adjusts the fan speeds automatically to keep the room at an ambient temperature of your choosing.

You can control the tower fan in three ways: with the display buttons, a remote, and my favorite method – in the Dreo app. Not only does the app mean you can switch the fan of remotely, while you're out of the house, but it also unlocks options for scheduling, for ultimate convenience.

Coming in slightly over $100 / £100, it's not a budget fan but it's far from the priciest option on the market. I think it delivers excellent value for that price, given the strong performance and long feature-list. If you're looking for something powerful and ultra-convenient, this could well be the best fan for you. Keep reading for my full Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S review.

Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S review: price & availability

• List price: $119.99 / £109.99
• Launch date: April 2025
• Availability: US / UK

Dreo launched a number of cooling products in April 2025, including the Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S. It's available to buy via Amazon and costs $119.99 in the US and £109.99 in the UK. Considering the height of the fan, its app connectivity, and cooling capabilities, the price seems more than fair.

There are a number of very similar looking Dreo tower fans, with similar but slightly different features, so it's worth taking a minute to make sure you're buying the right one for your needs. For example, you can get this same model without Wi-Fi, for a slightly cheaper price.

• Value for money score: 4.5 out of 5

Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S specs Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S review: design

• 42-inch tower fan that can oscillate 90 degrees
• Smart and remote control capabilities
• 9 fan speeds and 4 speciality modes

The Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S is a slim black plastic tower fan that's 42 inches tall with a round base. Assembly only took about five minutes, and did not require any tools. I was slightly confused when putting together the circular base, but the instructions were clear, and I had the tower fan plugged into the wall in no time.

There are 210 airfoil-shaped blades, which move cool air around the room whether it's sitting in place or oscillating 90 degrees. It's outfitted with nine different fan levels and four specialty modes – Sleep, Auto, Natural, and Normal.

(Image credit: Future)

At the top of the tower fan, there is a circular display with a power button and buttons that let you choose from the nine different fan speeds and four different modes. Here you can also set a timer for up to 12 hours and set it to oscillate. A digital display screen illuminates the different settings in use, and the fan speed.

A remote control is provided, with the same buttons that are found on the circular display. When not in use, the remote control can be stored at the top and along the back of the tower fan where there is a cut out in the design.

(Image credit: Future)

The Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S has Wi-Fi capabilities and connects to the Dreo app. Within the app, I can turn the fan on and off and adjust the settings in the same way I can with the remote or on the fan's display screen. There are a few additional settings in the app. For instance, I can turn on and off the panel sound, as well as the display auto, which basically turns off the display on the tower after 1 minute of inactivity.

The most interesting feature in the app is the temperature. This tower fan can read the temperature in the room and notates it in the app. This capability exists for the Auto mode, which senses heat and adjusts fan speeds automatically to cool a room. Even if I don't have Auto mode on, I can use the temperature reading to adjust the fan speed manually.

(Image credit: Future)

As for noise, Dreo claims that the fan has a dB rating of 25. However, when I measured the sound rating, I found that the tower fan had a 44dB rating on the lowest fan speed of 1 and a 52 dB rating when the fan speed was set 6. This is not particularly loud, and if I was sleeping or sitting 10 feet away from the fan, the noise would not be bothersome. For reference, I tested the noise rating by placing my phone, with the sound rating app, right next to the fan.

• Design score: 4 out of 5

Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S review: performance

• Powerful airflow – max modes can be felt ~30 feet away
• Auto mode is very effective, but oscillation range could be wider
• Remote control effective and convenient, and the app even more so

The Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S is the first tower fan I've tested, and I can say without a doubt that if you're going to invest in a tower fan, this is the one to buy.

The buttons on the display worked just as well as the remote, though I usually opted for using the remote, because I didn't have to get up and go to the fan to adjust the settings. I was able to use the remote 33 feet away, as long as the remote and the tower fan were in a direct line of sight. Perhaps I'd be able to use the remote further away, but I was not able to move further back because of the design of my house.

Though the remote was convenient, the app was even better to use since I could use it in any area of the house without having to be in direct sight of the tower fan. The app is easy to use, since it has the same buttons as the remote and the tower fan display.

There are 9 different fan speeds. Most of the time, I didn't need to go beyond 6, but some days my house grew particularly warm, and I appreciated the higher speed levels. When placed on the first speed level, I could feel the air blowing on my skin about 19.5 feet away. On the highest speed level, I could feel cool air at 29 feet away. With this in mind, you don't have to be in the same room as the fan to enjoy cool air from it.

(Image credit: Future)

When I had company over, I usually set the tower fan on oscillating, which allowed cool air to blow on multiple people at a time. Though I appreciated that the fan could oscillate at 90 degrees, I was surprised that it did not have the capability to oscillate at a higher angle like 180 degrees. It would have also been nice if I could adjust the oscillation degree within the app (say to 45 degrees if I wanted), but alas, this was not an option.

The Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S has four different modes – Normal, Natural, Sleep, and Auto. Most of the time, I used the Normal mode. When set on this mode, I adjusted the speed manually and it remained that same speed until I changed it again.

I also really liked the Natural mode, because it simulated a natural wind breeze by switching between different fan speeds. This mode is great if the temperature inside your house is fairly comfortable, and you just want some air circulation that isn't harsh against your skin.

(Image credit: Future)

The Sleep mode on the Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S is a bit different than others. When in this mode, the tower fan is muted, and the fan speed decreases every 30 minutes until it's two levels below your original setting. For instance, if the tower speed is set at a level 9, after 30 minutes it'll go down to 8, and then another 30 minutes later it'll decrease to a speed of 7, where it will remain the rest of the night. (If you set the fan at level 2, it'll stick at 1 rather than turning off completely.)

Most sleep modes on fans are designed so that the fan is quieter, and thus doesn't bother the person trying to fall asleep. Unfortunately, a quieter mode also means a fan speed that might not be as high, or effective in cooling to help you fall asleep. With the Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S, I think the idea is to allow users to fall asleep with a higher and more effectively cooling fan speed. As it reduces in speed over the course of an hour, the sound will lessen which should help you fall or stay asleep.

(Image credit: Future)

Auto mode is perhaps the most unique mode I've seen on a fan. In Auto mode, the Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S adapts to the ambient temperature. So if you have the ambient temperature set at 75 degrees, the tower fan will automatically adjust the speed of the fan to maintain that temperature. Usually, the tower fan reduces the temperature by at least one degree less than the ambient temperature. I like that it monitors the temperature and maintains it to something that feels comfortable to you.

Overall, I enjoyed the Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S. I loved the smart features and the app connectivity and how well the fan kept me cool no matter the mode I used.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S? Buy it if...

You want a powerful fan

During testing, I was able to feel the highest speed level up to 29 feet away and the lowest speed level nearly 20 feet away. With this fan, you can effectively cool two connected rooms at a time.

You want remote control options

You can change the fan settings with a remote, by pushing buttons on the display, or adjusting the settings in an app. With the app, you could even start the fan before you get home, ensuring your space is cool upon entering.

You want a fan with smart features

When on Auto mode, the Dreo Smart Tower Fan 529S automatically adjusts the fan speed based on the temperature of the room. So, if it senses the room is hot, the fan will increase the speed and cool it down for you.

Don't buy it if...

You're looking for a fan with 180-degree oscillation

This Dreo fan has a 90-degree oscillation capability. While any oscillation is appreciated, some users may prefer a fan that can oscillate up to 180 degrees for better room coverage.

You want to control the degree of oscillation

With some Dreo fans, you can adjust the oscillation degree within the app. That's not the case with the Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S. For instance, you can't adjust it to 45 degrees. It's either 90 degrees or nothing at all.

How I tested the Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S

I tested the Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S in my 105-year-old house in Dallas, Texas, in April. Temperatures ranged day by day from quite warm to a bit chilly. I tested all four modes and the fan speeds in my bedroom, living room, and kitchen, so I could get a sense of how well the fan cooled the room or circulated air. During this time, I did not use my air-conditioning or heater and found that the Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S was powerful enough to keep me cool no matter the temperature.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed April 2025

Printerpix photo book review

If you’re looking to create a physical manifestation of your treasured memories, then a Printerpix photo book may look like an appealing proposition. You can easily import your favorite photos and integrate them into a photo book with a theme and finish of your choosing, all through its easy-to-use software.

And that ease-of-use is what makes Printerpix a delight to use for creating a custom photo book. Its editing platform has a pretty modern look and breaks down everything you need into key categories within a side bar, including: Photos, Text and Layout. Even when you begin a new project, you’re instantly met with a photo uploader menu, which loads all of your photos quickly and easily.

For reference, I made a totally custom photo book in order to create a product as close to our standardized TechRadar template as possible. That way I could compare Printerpix to its rivals and see if it can compete for a place in our guide to the best photo book services. But if you want a bit of inspiration to get you off the mark, fear not. There are a number of preset themes on offer, including, but not limited to: ‘Wedding Memories’, ‘Vintage’ and ‘Cat Diagonal Strips’ … yep, that’s a real theme. These are separated out into sub-categories too, like ‘Clean and Simple’, ‘Love’ and ‘Family books’, enabling simple navigation.

(Image credit: Future)

So, how did making our standardized book go? Well, the whole experience was a bit of a mixed bag – but I’m happy to report that there was more good than bad. Firstly, I was delighted to get through the entire creation process without any nasty glitches or anything. When I reviewed the Shutterfly photo book platform at the end of 2024, I experienced a few issues, like images jumping around the page – no such horrors here! There was one point where the photos menu got a bit laggy, but after refreshing the page, I had no further problems.

But the platform isn’t just smooth sailing, it’s well laid out too. There’s no need for tutorials or digging through menus – everything is super-straightforward, whether you want to alter the size and shape of an image, add a text box or rejig page order.

Having said that, sometimes the user experience felt almost too simple, with a handful of crucial features missing. When adjusting image size, for example, I couldn’t see the exact dimensions in millimeters or inches, which made getting one-to-one likeness with our template decently challenging.

In addition, elements like shapes, which can be added in the Clip Art section, aren’t totally malleable. For example, I wanted to use a rectangle shape on some pages, but this wasn’t available – meaning I had to use a square. I could make this larger or smaller, but couldn’t alter its proportions, meaning I had to mess around with images to cover up excess width.

(Image credit: Future)

This rigidness is fairly widespread across the platform. You can’t use custom font size; you have to pick from a list. You can’t use hex code to get a particular shade; you have to pick from a preset list. And there’s no search tool to find a shape or border type that you may want to use. That leaves Printerpix feeling a little bare-boned – perhaps even a touch unintuitive.

But again, the actual creation process was pretty easy for me to carry out. A lot of that was thanks to the Layout tab, which creates one, or multiple boxes that cover the whole page, a portion of it (like a square), or an area within a page border. These can be auto-filled with the images you’ve uploaded and makes for a swift, seamless photo-book-building process. You can also add images freehand, too, which was useful when placing the TechRadar logo on the book’s spine, for instance – something that’s proved tricky to do on other platforms.

What’s more, there are some nice background options, including plain colors or patterned ones like ‘Geometric’ or ‘Striped’. And you can adorn these with plenty of icons, shapes and text from the Clip Art section – some of this does look like it's stuck in the noughties, though. And some of the other graphic elements, like borders and frames do look a little dated too. These aren’t compulsory, of course – I didn’t include any borders or frames in my design. I just wish the decoration elements looked as modern as the user interface.

(Image credit: Future)

Now, let’s take a peek at the finished product and whether it met expectations. In honesty, my experience was somewhat mixed in this department.

I was generally impressed by the reproduction of colors in my book. Forest greens on one page were saturated to a pleasant degree and were neatly contrasted by an ensemble of purple flowers. Waves in a cliffside image also looked defined and the azure blue sea was mimicked to a high standard. Also, pages felt thick and durable, meaning I was never worried about accidentally tearing or ripping them when flicking through the book.

But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. One major sticking point I had with the Printerpix photo book was banding. That’s essentially unwanted lines appearing on a finished print – and there were a number of images affected by just that. For instance, the image of a man looking to the sky and accompanying color block are clearly afflicted with banding issues – a real distraction and something you’d not expect if you’re spending upwards of $100 / £100.

(Image credit: Future)

OK, so the finished products ended up being quite middling, but was it worth the money? Well, let me start by saying that I hardly went for the most premium finish. I selected standard pages, a hardback front and back cover and non-HD printing. You can pay extra for a number of aspects though, be it a matte finish, glossy pages – even a removal of the Printerpix logo. All of this will cost you a fair bit more though.

We managed to grab our photo book in the Mother’s Day sale at a cut price, but the finished product would typically have cost a grand total of about £90 (about $115). For reference, delivery came to £7, though you can pay an additional £4 to jump the production queue and have your design prioritized. Our previous creations with Mixbook, Printique and Shutterfly all cost more, but then again, we’ve got books for less with rivals like Blurb. All in all, pricing is solid here – just don’t expect a perfect end product.

In the end, the Printerpix photo book is a slightly flawed, yet solid option for those looking to put their favorite moments to paper. The building process is restricted, but undoubtedly straightforward. The finished product is vibrant and fairly durable, but you may experience some quality issues, like banding. So, if you’re not in need of the most premium print on the market, this could be a worthwhile option for you. Otherwise, I’d recommend checking out the Blurb photo book, which is both cost-efficient and nicely finished, in our experience.

(Image credit: Future) Should I buy the Printerpix photo book? Buy it if…

You don’t want to mess around with complicated software
Printerpix has a super easy-to-use photo book making platform, which I got to grips with straight away. There are no complex, overly technical settings to grapple with, which makes it ideal if you’re not ultra techy. And the whole experience was essentially glitch-free, so you’re in for a pretty pain-free user experience here.

You don’t want to pay top dollar
OK, so there may be a few cheaper options out there, but we found that this Printerpix photo book wasn’t as pricey to print as some of its rivals. We also grabbed our book on sale for essentially half-price, so I’d strongly recommend you pull the trigger on a purchase during discount season.

Don't buy it if…

You have a very precise request in mind
If you have very particular measurements you want to follow – or if you want a specific color shade to be used in your photo book, Printerpix might not be the right option for you. You’re unable to view specific dimensions in millimetres or inches and there’s no option to alter color via hex code.

You need the most premium print available
When I received the finished photo book from Printerpix, I instantly realized there was banding on a number of the photos. Lines on images take away from some of the nicer aspects, like accurate color reproduction and detail replication. So if you want the best-looking print on the market, you might want to search elsewhere.

Printerpix photo book review: also consider

VistaPrint
We enjoyed using VistaPrint's easy and capable editing software a lot, which helped it rank as one of the best phot book services we've tried so far. Colors looked vibrant, print quality was sharp and there was no visible blurring. Read our full VistaPrint photo book review.

Snapfish
Snapfish's photo book services didn't fare quite as well as VistaPrint's, but still, there was a lot to like there. Our photo book was good value on sale, had decent print quality and was delivered to us very snap-pily indeed. Some images appeared a little wonky and dark colors looked a little underwhelming, however. Read our full Snapfish photo book review.

How I tested the Printerpix photo book

(Image credit: Future)

• Built a photo book to recreate the TechRadar template
• Compared against other websites’ photo books and software

I used the Printerpix website to create a custom photo book and test out a handful of templates. Here at TechRadar, we have selected a standardized set of photos to use across all photo book services, in order to fairly compare each platform. We try to use the same layout for each photo book design to help discover which service is the best of the best.

As well as comparing software features, I ordered the Printerpix photo book and observed its print quality, color fidelity and whether there were any scuffs or scratches to the finished product. For reference, the finished photo book I created was 27 x 27 centimeters, had a hard photo cover and used the standard page type.

• First reviewed: April 2025
• Read more about how we test

Adalo is one of the popular no-code app builders that you can use to create mobile and web apps without writing any code. The platform offers a rich set of features and an intuitive interface that help make it a compelling option for anyone looking to roll out apps quickly.

In this review, we’ll examine Adalo's features, interface, ease of use, how it stacks up against the competition, and more to help you determine whether it’s the right option for you.

Adalo: Features

Adalo offers a wide range of features that help make it stand out among its no-code peers.

For starters, Adalo offers a variety of pre-designed templates for different types of apps, such as food ordering apps, ecommerce apps, coaching apps, appointment apps, and more. These templates are customizable and can help you save a lot of design time.

(Image credit: Adalo)

One of its core user experience features is its intuitive drag-and-drop builder. You can use it to add all kinds of elements and user interface (UI) components without writing any code. Adalo offers dozens of commonly-used components, including buttons, text, lists, images, forms, and navigation bars. You simply drag elements from an organized side menu and place them wherever you want inside your app.

Furthermore, Adalo also has a component marketplace that lists even more components that help make your app more professional. Here you’ll get everything from integrations with third-party services like Stripe for payment processing to user authentication with Google, and Apple, as well as things like QR code generators, in-app purchase widgets, and more.

Adalo also integrates with popular third-party services through Zapier. This allows you to connect your apps with tools like Gmail, Google Sheets, Slack, and others.

Best of all, you can use Adalo to create both mobile and web apps with responsive design features, which helps your apps look great whether on mobile devices, tablets, and desktops. And once you’ve designed and tested your app, Adalo will also help you publish it directly to both Google Play and Apple’s App Store.

Adalo: Interface and Ease of Use

Adalo’s interface is designed with non-technical users in mind. The builder is intuitive and logically organized, with panels and menus clearly arranged in sections to ease navigation.

The platform has a clean and straightforward dashboard, from where you can create new apps with just a few clicks.

(Image credit: Adalo)

You can use Adalo’s app designer to build your app’s UI by simply dragging and dropping elements. When you select a component, the designer lets you customize its properties to help you tailor their appearance and functionality, and resize and position it as required. You can also easily assign actions to components, for example, to navigate to a different screen.

You can also easily add multiple screens for your app, such as a login screen, a home screen, and more, and switch and customize them individually. Adalo provides a built-in preview mode that allows you to test your app and see how it looks and functions on a simulated device.

Adalo: Integration and Extensibility

As we’ve mentioned before, Adalo offers a component marketplace where you can download additional components. The marketplace lists both free and paid components.

Adalo also supports a variety of third-party integrations, which will help expand an app’s functionality and connect with other popular tools and services. For instance, Adalo integrates with Stripe, which enables you to set up payment systems inside your apps.

(Image credit: Adalo)

The highlight is the platform’s integration with Zapier that expands Adalo’s connectivity to thousands of other apps that it doesn’t support natively. Thanks to this integration, you can automate workflows and transfer data seamlessly between Adalo and all kinds of external services such as Google Sheets, Slack, Trello, SendGrid, Salesforce, and thousands more.

Furthermore, advanced users can also create custom actions to connect with external APIs for more control, and functionality.

Adalo: Deployment and Maintenance

When it comes to web apps, you can use Adalo to literally deploy them with a single click. Once your web app is ready, you can deploy it directly as a web app under Adalo’s subdomain, or in a custom domain of your own.

Adalo also allows you to publish your apps as native mobile apps on both iOS and Android app stores. But going about this is a bit more involved than deploying a web app as this requires following the respective store’s submission guidelines, which includes creating developer accounts on Apple’s Developer Program and Google Play Console, and submitting the apps for review.

(Image credit: Adalo)

When it comes to updating the apps, any changes made to the web apps are reflected immediately. For iOS and Android mobile apps, updates must go through the usual process of creating a new build, before submitting it to the app stores for approval. You can also integrate Adalo with One Signal via Zapier, for instance, to send push notifications about updates to users.

Adalo: Pricing and Documentation

Adalo offers several pricing tiers, catering to different users from individuals creating simple apps to businesses that need advanced features and scalability.

Adalo’s Free Plan limits you to creating and deploying a single app. As a free user, you can use Adalo to build web apps, but can’t build and publish mobile apps to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Also, apps built on the free plan display Adalo branding.

Adalo pitches the Free Plan as a starting point for individual app designers who want to build simple web apps. You can also use it to explore the platform and its capabilities, before diving into one of its paid plans.

The Starter Plan costs $45/month and gives you the ability to connect your app to a custom domain. You can also use it to design and publish mobile apps. Then there’s the Professional Plan that costs $65/month and comes with enhanced functionality for larger projects, and offers full support for custom API integrations. There’s also the Team Plan that costs $200/month and is designed with collaborative features to help larger teams work together on an app.

(Image credit: Adalo)

In terms of documentation, Adalo provides lots of detailed guides and step-by-step tutorials to help users navigate the platform, learn its features, and build functional apps. There’s also Adalo App Academy that lists over 70 courses covering all aspects of creating apps.

In addition to written documentation, the platform also offers a wide array of video tutorials on its YouTube channel. You can seek support from Adalo’s active community forum, and if you’re on one of the paid plans you can also send your queries directly to Adalo.

Adalo: The competition

Adalo operates in a crowded market of no-code app builders. Some of its main competitors include Thunkable, Glide, and Bubble. Each platform has its strengths and is suited for different types of projects.

The best thing Adalo has going for it is its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, which makes it beginner-friendly. You get the same with Thunkable, which is also designed primarily to build mobile apps.

Bubble too has an easy to navigate interface, and although it offers more advanced customization for full-stack development, it has a steeper learning curve than Adalo. Like Thunable, Bubble too is a good option for creating complex apps, but this also makes them both overkills for users with simpler needs.

Also, while you can use Bubble to create mobile apps, it’s primarily a no-code platform for building web apps. Then there’s Glide, which too can create both web and mobile apps. However it’s designed to quickly turn spreadsheets into simple and functional apps.

Adalo: Final Verdict

Adalo is a powerful and user-friendly no-code app builder that strikes an excellent balance between ease of use and functionality. One of its strongest suites is its ability to create both mobile and web apps without writing any code.

Its drag-and-drop interface, plethora of pre-built components, and integrations with third-party services make it an excellent choice, whether you are a non-technical user, an individual developer, or even small and large businesses. Adalo offers enough flexibility to allow you to quickly prototype, and design a minimum viable product (MVP) to validate your app, as well as build more advanced apps.

While it faces competition from other no-code platforms, Adalo's ease of use and versatility make it a strong contender in the no-code app builder market.

All things considered, Adalo’s primary strength lies in its accessibility, which makes it a great starting point for anyone venturing into the world of app development.

• We’ve also rounded up the best mobile app development software

Hostinger is a pretty well-known name in the web hosting industry, and it has recently ventured into the no-code space. Hostinger’s no-code platform, Horizons, taps into the demand for web app builders, and uses AI extensively to allow anyone to spin up web apps without writing a single line of code.

In this review, we’ll examine its features, interface, ease of use, target use cases, and how it stands against competitors in the booming no-code space.

Hostinger Horizons: Features

Horizons operates through a simple AI chat interface. You just describe your app idea using natural language, and the platform’s AI will translate it into a working web app. Very helpfully, Horizons supports over 80 languages, which allows even non-English users to build apps using the platform’s AI.

In addition to written prompts, you can also converse with the platform using voice prompts, which again help make Horizons more accessible. You can also upload user interface sketches, and designs to the AI to ensure it understands your requirements.

Like most platforms, Hostinger allows you to publish your apps on a custom domain as well. In fact, Horizons also takes advantage of Hostinger’s infrastructure to offer web hosting, domain services, professional email, and other tools. This helps Horizons pitch itself as an all-in-one solution, which you don’t get with most other no-code platforms.

(Image credit: Hostinger)

Web apps created with Hostinger Horizons are responsive, and mobile-friendly, which means they’ll work and look good on desktops, as well as on smartphones. That said, remember that web apps created with the platform can’t be published as native mobile apps on the Google Play Store, or the Apple App Store.

Hostinger Horizons: Interface and Ease of Use

Horizons has a straightforward interface, with an AI text box in the middle of the screen. Enter your prompt, or select from one of the listed example prompts, and let it tip.

It’ll analyze the prompt, break it down into tasks, tell you how it’ll approach the build, before it spins it up. When it’s done, it’ll show you a preview of what it will build. You can then make modifications, or just ask it to build the app as per the preview.

Horizons will also helpfully suggest ideas to help extend the app. For instance, when I asked it to create an ecommerce web app, it suggested I improve it by connecting it to a database for real product data storage, add a shopping cart, and checkout functionality, implement user authentication, and more.

And you can roll these features simply by asking the AI.

Whenever you use the AI to add new functionality, Horizons will also tell you how to test it. Some processes like adding social logins (Google, Facebook, and such) require some running around, but the platform does its best to guide you through the process with clear step-by-step instructions.

Hostinger Horizons: Integration and Extensibility

Horizons builds web apps in Node.js, and creates the necessary HTML, CSS, and JSS files.

You can use Horizons to fuse your app with third-party tools, for things like database management, and user authentication. However, at the moment, these integrations require some effort outside the Horizons tool itself. But, like we said, the platform does its best to lay out the steps for you.

Hostinger Horizons is compatible with the open source Supabase cloud-based database. You’ll need to pass your Supabase details to Hostinger to get them to work together.

(Image credit: Hostinger)

You can also add a payment gateway, for instance with Stripe, or Paypal. But again, you’ll need to step out of the Horizons, and share certain details like the Paypal Client ID, or the Stripe Publishable Key with the platform.

Horizons says you’ll be able to integrate any backend services to your app built on the platform, as long as the service has an API, and you provide the integration information Horizons asks for. That said, adding certain backend functionality might be easier than others, for the time being, as the platform is still under active development.

Hostinger Horizons: Deployment and Maintenance

After your prompt is entered and the web app is ready, you need to deploy it to make it live. Simply click on the Publish button. As with other no-code platforms, Horizons will publish the app with a random URL to a hostinger subdomain, by default.

But, as usual, you can publish the app to your own custom domain as well. Also, you can unpublish your web app, and can also always come back to it to tune it further, and republish it.

If you’d like to look at the code for your web app, you can use the Export function on the platform to download it. This will roll all the HTML, CSS, and other files into a zip file that it’ll then save on your computer.

Horizons can’t import your code to code sharing websites like GitHub, which is something you can do with Lovable. Also, while you can edit the code offline, there is no way to import it back to Horizons, and continue refining it with its AI.

You can also ask the Horizons AI to help you add your web app to your existing website. It’ll recommend adding the app as an embedded component, but will also offer the option to include the app as an iFrame. As usual, it’ll generate the necessary code for both approaches, along with instructions on how to go about both procedures.

(Image credit: Hostinger)

Horizons also has a version control system, and you can undo a change, or revert to a previous version with a single click. Just like with Lovable, you can also use the Horizons AI to help fix any errors.

If it encounters an error while building the app, the platform will usually give you the Ask to fix button. When pressed, the platform will analyze the error, and try to mend it on its own. You can also copy or describe the error to the AI, and ask it to help you solve it.

Hostinger Horizons: Pricing and Documentation

Hostinger Horizons was rolled out to a limited audience in February, 2025, before its general availability on March 4, 2025.

All existing users with a Hostinger hosting subscription can use Horizons for free with a five messages/day limit.

You will need to have a Horizons subscription plan besides having a hosting plan in order to have a complete experience with building your projects under the tool.

The Starter plan costs $19.99/month, and comes with 100 AI prompts/month. Then there’s the $49.99/month Hobbyist plan with 250 messages, the $99.99/month Hustler plan with 500 messages, and the $199.99 Pro plan with 1000 messages.

You can publish 50 web apps with all the paid plans, and they all also include one month of free hosting, unlimited bandwidth, and 50 mailboxes with 1GB of storage each.

In terms of documentation, Horizons has several official guides that’ll handhold you from building your first app, to integrating it with other services such as Google AdSense. Besides illustrated text tutorials, Hostinger also has a bunch of instructional videos on YouTube. You also get 24/7 customer support with all the paid plans.

Hostinger Horizons: The competition

Hostinger Horizons is the newest entrant in the no-code web app builder market, and faces stiff competition from several well-established platforms.

For starters, there’s Bubble. While Horizons uses AI to generate web apps based on natural language descriptions, Bubble requires users to manually design and configure their apps. Although Bubble has a steeper learning curve than Horizons, it provides more flexibility for building custom web applications.

Then there’s Adalo, which can build both web, and mobile apps. It has a drag-and-drop UI, as well as a plethora of pre-built components to help you put together your apps. While Adalo does offer some AI capabilities, its strength is its mobile app-building capabilities.

(Image credit: Hostinger)

Horizons closest competition is with Lovable. Both platforms make extensive use of AI to create, edit, and debug web apps. However, Horizons is still very new to the markets, and doesn’t yet offer all the features you get with Lovable, such as the two-way sync with a GitHub repo.

Hostinger Horizons: Final Verdict

Horizons’ use of AI to cover all aspects of app development, from creation, to editing, makes the platform truly democratic for everyone, including those with no coding experience.

The platform’s support for multilingual, and audio prompts makes it a good option for non-English developers. Also, unlike other platforms it takes advantage of Hostinger’s infrastructure to offer an all-in-one solution to create and deploy your web apps.

However, it’s important to remember that the platform has just debuted, and is constantly being worked on. It doesn’t yet offer the features and conveniences you get with its peers.

But even in its early stage, we’ll definitely suggest all existing Hostinger users to take Horizons for a spin. The platform is evolving rapidly, but since it doesn’t offer a free tier, it might be a good idea to give it some time to refine itself before you jump in to sign up.

• Here’s our list of the best website builders

AceFast AceFit Pro: Two minute review

Having tested several of the best open-ear headphones now, I’ve been waiting for a really affordable pair of earbuds to shake up this burgeoning and relatively new audio market that's perhaps still looking for a reliable budget offering. So when I heard that AceFast had made some open-fit earbuds, I was ready to be excited – however, I was wrong to be.

AceFast isn’t a big player in the game yet, but I tested the AceFast T9 last year, and loved the funky look, low price and emphasis on usability. I was expecting the new AceFit Pro to replicate all three of these traits, then. Sadly, it only actually nails one.

Arguably, the one attribute it does nail is the most important check-box for open earbuds. These designs typically hover just over the ear canal instead of sitting in it, to ensure you can hear your surroundings while listening to music. And AceFast’s have a reliable, comfortable fit that doesn’t wobble in your ear or fall out without warning, issues other open-ears have certainly fallen foul of.

But AceFast drops the ball with the other two traits. The price is one, as not only are they not cheap earbuds, they’re actually more expensive than some impressive mid-range rivals from Honor and Huawei.

And then there’s the design, which initially began as my favorite thing about these earbuds. Not only do they come in a range of colors, all toting see-through cases with LED lights that you can customize the hue of, but they also boast battery displays. This lets you know the battery percentage left for the case, and how close to fully-charged the buds are. And I absolutely love it – it’s incredibly handy in planning your charging and knowing how much listening time you have left (that’s despite the battery life being pretty awful, all things considered).

Unfortunately, the AceFit Pro’s design is its biggest strength but also its biggest weakness, with a few sad and curious design choices. The sad one is that, like many other cheap earbuds, the case is unreliable – just two weeks into my testing, the right earbud developed a problem that meant the case didn’t always recognize its presence. It wouldn’t always charge when in the case, or turned on when removed, and though removing and reinserting the bud several times would generally resolve the issue, it’s not a good sign for the longevity of the AceFast AceFit Pro.

The ‘curious’ decision I spoke of was to put the charging port on the underside of the case. To power it up, you have to flip it on its back like a beached turtle.

Beyond that, the AceFast AceFit Pro don’t do that much to impress. They have a limited range of features (though they do have an equalizer at least, which you can’t say about all open-ears) and the audio quality leaves a lot to be desired.

Most of these issues could be hand-waved with the simple explanation that cheap earbuds aren’t perfect, and that’s what I did a lot of the time during my testing… but the inescapable fact is that the AceFast AceFit Pro aren’t actually that low-cost, according to pricing we currently have (more on this later). They just have all the hallmarks of cheap earbuds – and all in all, that makes them hard to recommend.

AceFast AceFit Pro review: Specifications AceFast AceFit Pro review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

• Kickstarter campaign ran Jan-Feb 2025
• Priced $159.99 (roughly £120, AU$250) but that may change…
• Cheaper option is AceFit Pro at $79.99 / £79.99 (roughly AU$160)

The AceFast AceFit Pro were launched on Kickstarter, in a campaign which ran from mid-January to late-February 2025. Briefly, you could buy them on Amazon, but we've had further news from AceFast since publishing this review… 

AceFast tells us that the AceFit Pro are expected to launch (on Amazon, that is) around mid May. At the time of writing, the AceFast AceFit Pro are not actually on sale in the US, UK or Australia, though based on precedent (and the Pro's siblings, which we'll get to) I'd expect them to hit Amazon's UK site at roughly the same time as they'll launch in the US.

You could briefly pick the buds up for $159.99 (roughly £120, AU$250) so they’re mid-range open earbuds, in the rough price bracket that most rivals inhabit (although towards on the higher end of the spectrum than most contemporaries). I'll continue with this review based on that pricing.

For some context, the also-open-ear AceFast AceFit Air sell for $79.99 / £79.99 (roughly AU$160) so those at least are affordable earbuds.

AceFast AceFit Pro review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

• Funky battery display and see-through parts
• Weird-placed charging port
• Earbud recognition/charging issues

It’s unusual to find much to say about the case of headphones; that’s never the case with AceFast products. The case – which you can pick up in white, pink, purple or green, as with the buds – is transparent, letting users pretend they’re putting on gadgets from the noughties instead of the twenties.

That’s not all, as the case also has a digital battery display that shows you the overall power of the case in a percentage, as well as the charge in each bud while they’re enclosed. This isn’t just a funky design element but a really useful way to know that your case is fully charged, to prevent overcharging, and to remind you when it needs charging too. I really appreciated this feature and it deserves being mentioned in the ‘Pros’ list of this review.

The feature came in handy when (and this is where things take a turn for the worse) it showed me that one of the buds wasn’t charging. The AceFit Pro buds weren’t always good at recognizing that they were in their charging case: they wouldn’t begin powering up when inserted, or automatically turn on when taken out, and I’d have to wiggle the buds or remove and re-insert them for it to work. I can’t say whether this was a problem with my review unit or a larger issue with the device but it’s not an uncommon headache among cheap earbuds (and in the case of these buds, it didn’t completely scupper the buds, which isn’t always true).

This feature is potentially disastrous, so if you’re confused why I’m not making a bigger deal about it than I am, it’s because the buds still worked, and because I can’t say with any certainty that it’s not just my review unit. It seems unlikely, but it’s not impossible.

Yes, it is an odd spot for the USB-C charger (Image credit: Future)

As well as the battery display, the case has an array of LED lights to fully embody that noughties aesthetic. You can change the color of this via the app, and since it only turns on when the case is open there’s no need to turn it off.

The case is quite thin, and it’s light too at just 74g. It looks like it’s made from cheap plastic, as you can probably see from the images, but it actually feels surprisingly premium and solid when you get your mitts on it. It’s also sturdy, as I found out through dropping it repeatedly. This wasn’t my butter-fingers but a symptom of the shape of the case: it’s rounded like a pebble, not even flat on the bottom, and so it had a habit of sliding off things I put it on if they weren’t totally flat.

Another weird quirk of the case is that the charging port is on the bottom, meaning you need to turn the case on its back like a flipped turtle in order to power it up – apparently AceFast didn’t take notes from the Apple Magic Mouse. Functionally it doesn’t have much of an effect but it means you can’t really see the battery display while charging, and it frankly looks pretty silly too.

Finally, we move to the earbuds. These will look pretty standard to people familiar with open earbuds: A large pill that hovers over your ears, and a sports loop that ends in a counterweight ad battery pack behind the ear. Your earbuds will be the same color as your charging case.

The AceFit Pro buds are comfortable and lightweight to wear, at 7.8g each. I only rarely found issues with them wobbling too much during exercise, and they felt pretty flexible to fit different ears too. They’re also protected against sweat with an IP54 rating.

There’s a touch-sensitive area on the buds’ body for gesture controls, but this was less reliable than South London buses and I rapidly gave up any hope of using them.

Something that may impress certain users (and upset others) is that the AceFast logo on each bud lights up, which is a lot more obvious than the simple, single LED that most buds have. I’ll admit I did feel quite self-conscious working out with a giant glowing logo on each ear, but the app does let you turn this off.

• Design score: 2.5/5

AceFast AceFit Pro review: Features

(Image credit: Future)

• 6-hour battery life (25 for case) or less
• AceFast app brings few features
• Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity

Even early into my testing for the AceFit Pro, I was surprised by how quickly the battery level dropped. AceFast says the buds have a battery life of 6 hours and the case bumps that to 25 hours, both relatively low figures compared to rivals. But read the fine print and you discover that that’s listening at just 60% volume – I don’t think I ever listened with the volume this quiet.

In my personal testing, I found the AceFit Pro to have a battery life of about five hours, listening at around 80%-90% of their volume (out and about I generally used them one or two volume increments below max volume). That is, frankly, pretty awful battery life – even the AirPods Pro 2 beat that! You know if your product is beaten in battery life by a 2022 Apple option, it’s not quite up to par.

(Image credit: Future)

The AceFit Pro can pair to the AceFast phone app, but it doesn’t offer all features that buyers might hope for. No ANC, no find-my-buds feature, no listening tests, but at least there’s an 8-band equalizer and a few presets, as well as the ability to change gesture controls.

It feels like the main point of the app is to customize the LED lights of the bud and case. You can toggle whether the AceFast logo lights up on the buds and change the light color and effect pattern of the case. It’s not exactly a feature which makes the app a must-download, I'd say.

The AceFit Pro connect to your phone with Bluetooth 5.4 and I never had any issues with it during my testing.

• Features score: 3/5

AceFast AceFit Pro review: Sound performance

(Image credit: Future)

• 20x8mm driver
• V-shaped audio profile loses mids
• Some peaking

If, like me, you’re used to cheap-and-cheery AceFast buds sounding… well, cheap, then you might be surprised to peruse a little down the AceFit Pro specs list: three-magnet 20x8mm speakers, bass enhancement tech and a special design to reduce sound loss – it's all painting a very pretty picture.

The acoustic design sadly comes to nothing, because these earbuds simply don’t sound amazing, embodying once again AceFast’s modus operandi of ‘cheap and cheerful’. The audio is fine for the budget-conscious end of the market, but the AceFit Pro can't compete with the big dogs they find themselves up against at this price.

The buds have quite dramatic V-shaped audio – bass and treble vocals abound, but at the expense of just about anything else. As I write this, I’m listening to Counting Crows’ Omaha. I can hear the vocals and bass well but the accordion frequently trails off into nothingness and the acoustic guitar is almost totally missing.

(Image credit: Future)

It doesn’t help that audio isn’t very detailed, with character and texture missing from instruments and vocals. And this is when I’m listening indoors – as open-ear users will know, buds like this sound much worse when you’re out and about and they’re competing with every passing bus, street busker and annoying fellow human playing social media videos straight out of their phone's speakers instead of using their own headphones.

For what it's worth, audio loss outside isn't as bad on some other buds I've tested. It's still noticeable, but that's hard to avoid due to the nature of open-ears.

There’s some peaking going on here too, though it’s admittedly hidden well by the fact it’s largely happening in the midrange frequencies – which are so lost in the mix themselves that you might not notice!

I can see buyers looking for simple workout buds finding the AceFit Pro acceptable due to the audio profile, but audiophiles – the few of them who’d ever consider open earbuds – won’t love these buds.

• Sound performance score: 3/5

AceFast AceFit Pro review: Value

(Image credit: Future)

The AceFast AceFit Pro have all the trappings of the best cheap open-ear buds… except the price.

If these buds had launched for more than a third less (or even better, half the price), I’d be hailing them as a great option for budget-conscious buyers, however the various issues are hard to overlook when you consider the price you’re paying for these earbuds. The low battery life, unimpressive audio and possible longevity concerns all hurt when you’re paying $160 (or equivalent) for earbuds. The competition at this level is fierce – and AceFast simply hasn't aced it.

If you can find the AceFit Pro for below $100 (or equivalent), they could be worth picking up, but it’s hard to recommend them even then, especially when the AceFit Air are still cheaper.

• Value score: 3/5

AceFast AceFit Pro: scorecard AceFast AceFit Pro: Should you buy them? Buy them if...

You like the battery display

The battery display is a really useful feature that I've loved on various AceFast gadgets, as it's both functional and fun.

You want a reliable on-ear fit

I've tested a fair few open-ear buds that don't sit still when you're walking, running or working out, so sometimes it's nice for buds to just fit reliably.

You find them majorly discounted

The AceFit Pro doesn't offer a great value-for-money proposition, but that could change if you find them with a meaty discount.

Don't buy them if...

You need to listen for long periods of time

Sub-6-hour battery life gadgets are always hard to recommend, due to many use cases requiring longer-lasting buds.

You're worried about how long they'll last

The fact that my buds kept falling off surfaces and partly broke may put off people who've been burned by cheap tech before.

You want top-tier audio

Actually, you can get great audio in an open-ear design (from Huawei or Honor, see below), but if audio quality is your chief concern, you won't enjoy the AceFit Pro.View Deal

Also consider

Huawei FreeArc

These are the best open-ear buds I've tested and they significantly undercut the AceFast AceFit Pro. They sound great, they last longer in your ears and they fit comfortably.

Read our full Huawei FreeArc review

AceFast AceFit Air

The Pro's siblings, which I haven't actually tested, seem to be everything the Pro aren't. They're more affordable, last longer and weigh less, yet don't sound any worse and seem to fit just the same. You're missing out on the battery display, mostly.

How I tested

I tested the Acefast AceFit Pro for two weeks in order to write this review, though I continued to test them for an extra week during the writing process.

The use cases match how I tested many rivals: I paired them to an Android smartphone (and, a few times, a Windows laptop) to go on walks, work at home or in the office, go on runs, cycle around my city and work out at the gym.

I have six years of experience testing tech for TechRadar, which includes many earbuds. I've tested five different pairs of open-ear buds in the last four months and have plenty more waiting to be tested...

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed: April 2025

Blurb photo book review: specs

(Image credit: Future) Blurb photo book: review

Blurb is an affordable printing service that allows you to produce your own high-quality photo books. Offering a wide range of sizes, from a Lilliputian 13 x 13cm to a colossal 33 x 28cm, five kinds of paper stock and three cover options, it offers a huge range of products. And unlike many photo book services, you can design books in a variety of ways, using professional design tools like Adobe InDesign or Lightroom or Blurb's bespoke software, BookWright.

For those who fancy creating a photo book without the fuss, Blurb’s BookWright software has plenty of options. You can let it do all the work: just upload your photos, click the ‘Save Me Time’ button and it will automatically place your photos on the page. However, I did find when trying this feature out that BookWright defaulted to displaying a single full-size image per page, so you’ll likely only want to use this as a starting point.

Helpfully, there’s another option: dragging one of Blurb’s 188 different layouts onto each page, then choosing the order and placement of your photos yourself. These templates offer a great amount of variety, from large images with smaller photographs inset to blocks of free-flowing text accompanied by tiny thumbnails.

(Image credit: Blurb / Future)

Keen to blaze your own trail? Creating your own unique designs using Blurb is more flexible than pretty much any of the best photo book services. Simply select the photo frame tool, draw a frame, and then you can click and drag photos from your uploaded library.

Adding type is just as straightforward: once you’ve drawn a text frame, punch in your text and then you can tweak fonts, styling and alignment to achieve your desired look. And you can also link text frames together, making it possible to automatically flood text from frame to frame.

While most photo book services offer this kind of hassle-free placement, what sets Blurb apart for me is how accurate you can be. I was able replicate TechRadar’s photo book test template with surgical precision, thanks to the detailed properties menu available when you double-click each element. Not only can you precisely set the size of photo and text frames in inches, but you can also easily rotate and flip photographs, and add borders and round the edges of frames, giving you really precise control over the final look of elements on the page.

On top of this, standardizing layouts and alignments is a breeze. Not only do frames handily snap to each other or to the vertical and horizontal midpoint of each page, but you can also set ruler guides to specific measurements, making it simple to use common alignments from page to page. I also really appreciated the ability to save layouts for reuse – this meant I could easily duplicate arrangements for multiple different spreads, without the hassle of recreating them from scratch.

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While Blurb doesn’t offer the pages and pages of clip art that some photo book tools do, what it does offer is actually far more flexible than many rivals. Blurb allowed me to create custom shapes with dimensions of my choosing, as well as dialing in precise RGB color values, rather than being limited to a bunch of preset imagery. Sure, it only offers a spectrum of 386 in its color wheel, there's no color picker, and I’d have loved the option to input Hex and CMYK values as well; but Blurb still offers far better precision than many of its competitors.

Once I was done finessing my photo book, all I had to do was click Review and Upload. This runs you through any warnings and gives you a chance to fix flagged issues, as well as running a spell check. That’s a feature not many photo book platforms offer, so it’s a nice additional touch – although its suggestion that I correct ‘TechRadar’ to ‘technocrat’ feels like a level of sass I’m not used to receiving from software.

Colors within were vibrant without feeling like they were oversaturated – the moss on a log has come out in a gorgeous, vivid green, while a shot of an aurora shows off a rainbow of rich pastel hues. The resolution of images also looked exquisitely detailed; for example the bristle of grey hairs in one subject’s beard were incredibly well-defined, adding real depth to the image.

(Image credit: Future)

There were few visible print errors either. As you’d imagine from the precision of its tools, alignments looked spot on, with no awkward gaps between frames or ragged corners, and there were no issues with the edges of pages being unevenly trimmed. It is worth noting that my book did arrive with some damage, with an unsightly dent in the front cover. The blame for this probably falls more on the shoulders of FedEx, but I would appreciate some additional packaging to protect books from these kinds of knocks.

But however strong the finished result was, perhaps the most remarkable thing about Blurb’s photo book was how reasonably priced it was. Setting aside the eye-watering delivery costs for the Australian market, the $80.72 / £50.76 / AU$99.44 plus $6.99 / £8.99 / AU$71.49 price for our sample was much cheaper than the $130 (around £100 / AU$200) cost charged by Shutterfly or $145.78 (roughly £112) charged by Printique. That’s a very decent price to pay, particularly in light of the (generally) excellent finish.

(Image credit: Future) Should I buy the Blurb photo book? Buy it if…

You want precise, accurate design tools
Blurb’s BookWright software is capable of producing unerringly precise designs – you can manually set precise dimensions for frames, punch in RGB color values, use ruler guides to use the same positions from page to page. Alternatively, if you’re a design pro, you can create your own book from scratch in Adobe InDesign or Lightroom.

You want a top-quality finished photo book
Blurb’s photo books are produced to an excellent standard. Colors are vibrant without looking artificial, the clarity of printed images is genuinely impressive, and there are also no glaring errors with alignment or the margins of pages.

Don’t buy it if…

You want an online solution
Using an app is the only way you can design a book for Blurb’s platform. So if you’re unable to install third-party apps on your computer and don’t have a tablet to design on, you may find it slightly trickier to use the platform.

You want drag-and-drop clip art
Blurb is more focused on precise photo- and text-focused layouts than stock illustrations and flourishes. If you’re looking to decorate your photo book with clip art or pre-formatted aphorisms, it doesn’t have a lot of options.

The finished quality of Blurb's photo book on the left, compared to our sample from Snapfish – colors were noticeably brighter and the print smoother (Image credit: Future) Blurb photo book review: also consider

Printique
Printique is another very solid photo book platform. You can adjust the measurements of elements accurately, and punch in specific color values, and it also offers 88 pre-made themes, making it easier to tailor your photo book to a specific style. One serious caveat though is that it’s significantly more expensive – our 12 x 12-inch photo book cost us $145.78 including delivery (roughly £112), which is almost double the price of Blurb.

Snapfish
If you’re looking for even more of a bargain, Snapfish might well be the way to go. While a 12 x 12-inch 28 page photo book like ours costs roughly the same price, at $84.95 / £46.95 / AU$101.55, Snapfish also offers regular deals of 40% off, which would bring this down to an absurdly low $50.97 / £28.17 / AU$60.93. Unfortunately, Snapfish books don’t have quite as accurate color as Blurb, looking a little duller, and you don't get the ability to set specific values for dimensions or hues. But, if you catch it on sale, it’s still one of the cheapest photo books you’ll find. Read our full Snapfish photo book review.

How I tested the Blurb photo book

• I precisely reproduced TechRadar’s photo book template
• I spent a number of hours trying out layouts and putting the platform through its paces
• I’ve worked in the print and design industries for more than 10 years

TechRadar has a specific photo book template that we try to recreate from scratch using the photo book platform we're testing. When testing out Blurb’s BookWright app, I duplicated this as accurately as possible, copying the exact dimensions of photo and text frames, precisely reproducing the positioning and alignment of elements, and using the exact RGB color values from the original. I also spent multiple hours playing with Blurb's various templates to get a sense of the kinds of layouts that were available.

When the final printed product arrived, I checked it for damage and marks from handling or the printing process. Next, I compared it to the photo book template to see how the colors and alignments compared to the original, specifically looking for any patches of low resolution imagery or inaccurate hues.

In terms of experience, I’ve spent many years taking photographs on both on my Canon DSLR and my iPhone 16 Pro. I’ve also had over a decade’s experience working in print publishing, working on layouts and doing post-production on images, which has given me a keen eye for printing errors and issues with image reproduction.

• First reviewed: April 2025
• Read more about how we test

Obsbot Meet SE webcam: Two-minute review

The webcam market has long been dominated by a few familiar names, with the Logitech C920 reigning supreme for years. However, the recent arrival of the Obsbot Meet SE signals a shift in the landscape. This compact powerhouse, priced at an incredibly competitive $69, delivers a level of performance and features that surpasses many of its rivals, including the venerable C920.

(Image credit: Future)

The Obsbot Meet SE represents a significant leap forward in webcam technology. Its most striking feature is the exceptional image quality for the price. Colors appear remarkably accurate and vibrant, showcasing a great level of detail thanks to a 1.8 f-stop: the wider aperture allows for greater light capture, and Dual Native ISO with two separate ISO settings means the Meet SE can effectively minimize image noise and preserve detail in a wider range of lighting scenarios. This all results in brighter and more detailed images, even in challenging lighting conditions; particularly beneficial for streamers and content creators on a budget who may not have access to professional studio lighting.

Being able to fit all of this into such a small package is down to the stacked CMOS sensor. The stacked design allows for faster data processing and improved low-light performance, resulting in sharper images with reduced noise. Here's a side-by-side comparison of the Osbot Meet SE up against the Logitech C920, one of the best cheap webcams, and you can immediately see the difference in sharpness, quality, detail, and colour balance.

(Image credit: Future)

The built-in microphones do the job, but I personally wouldn't rely on them too much. They're fine in a quiet room, but in a busy office they picked up a little too much background noise for my liking.

Beyond its impressive image quality, the Meet SE boasts a suite of features that set it apart from the competition. Setup is incredibly straightforward. Simply plug the camera in, and it's ready to use. The intuitive proprietary software provides easy access to adjust settings like exposure, contrast, and sharpness, allowing users to fine-tune the image to their preferences. To make the most of these, you’ll need to download the Obsbot app - an annoyance, I know, but I really would recommend it to make the most of this little powerhouse.

(Image credit: Future)

In terms of the listed performance quality and features, you can capture smooth, fluid motion with 1080p at 100 frames per second or 720p at 150 frames per second. I personally found that 1080p at 60 fps is the sweet spot for this camera. The AI auto-framing feature ensures that you always remain in focus. I didn't think I moved around that much while on camera, but it's actually rather helpful.

Elsewhere, the gesture control feature that has become standard on Obsbot's cameras is here too, enabling hands-free operation - but I’d personally turn it off immediately, as anytime I waved my hands around on a call to illustrate what I was saying, the camera would start doing something I didn't want it to do. I understand the idea and how it could be useful for some users, but for me, it was just a frustration.

You can also seamlessly switch to vertical orientation either in the Obsbot app or by manually rotating the camera on the magnetic stand if you want to film yourself vertically. The final feature to discuss here is the 4X digital zoom, though I didn't really end up using this much; if I needed to show something, I would simply hold it up the camera, and the autofocus worked so well that zooming in felt unnecessary. Still, it's nice to have if you need it.

(Image credit: Future)

The Obsbot Meet SE impresses not only with its performance but also with its sleek and compact design. The first thing that surprised me when I got it out of the box was how small it was. To give you an idea of just how small it is, here is a picture of it with an SD card for comparison.

(Image credit: Future)

This size and its rectangular shape with rounded edges give it a really nice, cute design aesthetic, made even more evident with colors like the Aurora Green option. Obsbot also offers the Space Grey or Cloud White options for those of us who prefer a darker or cleaner look to our setup; the perfect way to have a solution for every buyer.

Its minimalist aesthetic is a welcome departure from the bulkier, more angular look of most of the best webcams. The inclusion of a magnetic mount adds a touch of convenience, allowing for easy placement and removal on various surfaces. However, this also means it can be knocked easily and isn’t as sturdy as a permanent mount. The mount itself can also be a bit fiddly to set up and feel a bit insecure, but it works fine once it's in place.

Obsbot Meet SE webcam: Price & availability

• How much does it cost? $69 / £65 / AU$119
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? The US, UK, and Australia

Priced at $69 / £65 / AU$119, the Obsbot Meet SE offers exceptional value for the price. It significantly outperforms the similarly priced Logitech C920 in terms of image quality, features, and overall performance while remaining competitively priced.

There are some other great webcams out there around this price, but for my money, what helps to make the Obsbot Meet SE stand out is that it also looks great and comes in three color choices. This makes it an excellent choice for content creators and anyone seeking to enhance their video conferencing experience without breaking the bank while getting a nice-looking webcam at the same time.

Obsbot Meet SE webcam: Specs Should you buy the Obsbot Meet SE webcam?

(Image credit: Future) Buy it if...

You want a great cheap webcam
Despite its relatively low price, the Obsbot Meet SE has a lovely compact design and also delivers strong 1080p performance with a rich feature set.

You need a webcam to match your setup
With black, white, and pastel green colorways, the Meet SE is one of the very few good webcams on the market that offers a range of color customization options.

Don't buy it if...

You want 4K video
The Meet SE is a fantastic webcam, but if you're a serious content creator who wants to record in 4K, you're going to need to pony up a bit more cash.

Obsbot Meet SE webcam: Also consider

Logitech C920
The quintessential 1080p webcam. Logitech's C920 has been a reliable and sensibly priced choice of webcam for years, making it a good pick if you'd like to save some cash and don't need the fancy AI features found on the Obsbot Meet SE.

Read our full Logitech C920 review

Obsbot Tiny 2
If you're looking for a more premium webcam than the Meet SE, the Tiny 2 from Obsbot delivers 4K video along with AI-powered tracking via its mechanical gimbal mount. For those who want a high-end video experience, this is a great pick (though it's naturally more expensive than the Tiny SE).

Read our full Obsbot Tiny 2 review

How I tested the Obsbot Meet SE webcam

• Tested the webcam in video calls
• Spent a while experimenting with the gesture command feature
• Compared image quality to other webcams

I used the Obsbot Meet SE for video calls and general image quality testing, as well as trying it out with various lighting levels to see how well it performed. I also tried out the gesture controls, and did some side-by-side comparisons with other webcams that offer the same resolution.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed March 2025

This review first appeared in issue 343 of PC Pro.

While the KW 9100 Slim will never be the subject of yearnful second glances, there’s something cute about the KW 9200 Mini. Perhaps it’s the red detailing around the keys, perhaps the subtle way the Cherry logo sits atop the spacebar, but ultimately it boils down to size. You just want to pick it up and pop it in your bag, so it’s handy that it ships with a fabric carry case for protection during travels.

Not that you need have any worries it will fall apart, as Cherry’s robust build quality is once again evident. There’s a solid metal frame within and durable ABS plastic without, with a two-year warranty and the same claim of ten million activations for each key as the 9100 Slim.

Both boards use Cherry’s SX scissor keys, which are low profile but deliver a satisfying typing action. You can lift the rear with the retractable feet, and again these feel built to last. My biggest adjustment was getting used to the width of the keyboard, but that’s psychological – the active area is identical to a full-size keyboard. The only sacrifice is that the cursor keys eat into the main body, shortening the spacebar in the process.

You also lose out on dedicated shortcut buttons, so the FN key below Enter is pivotal to advanced operations. You’ll need to press this together with F1, F2 and F3 to choose between your three possible connections: 2.4GHz RF via the USB receiver, which cleverly tucks into a slot at the rear of the keyboard, or two Bluetooth partners.

It charges via USB-C, with no backlight to drain the batteries, but that lack of illumination could be a problem when travelling. This is one of the advantages of the Logitech MX Keys Mini. At least there are LED indicators on the first four function keys (for example, to show which Bluetooth connection has become active) and a smart red LED when Caps lock is on. Unlike its rival it doesn’t support multiple OSes, only Windows.

The KW 9200 Mini isn’t cheap, but it’s cheaper, lighter and slimmer than the MX Keys Mini and – as with the KW 9100 Slim – feels like it should last for years. It would make an excellent companion for business trips.

We also ranked the best business laptops.

This review first appeared in issue 343 of PC Pro.

Cherry is well known within the gaming community for its mechanical keyboard switches, but any long-time reader will associate the German brand with high-quality keyboards as well. Perhaps, I might dare to venture, keyboards that lean towards the ugly.

Not so the KW9100 Slim. While its square edges, square keys and plain black finish won’t appeal to all, this wireless keyboard will lend any desk a smart, professional look. It’s a solid piece of equipment, and Cherry claims each key has a service life of 10 million actuations. I can’t imagine the key labels will last that long, but they should survive the two years of warranty.

The key action uses Cherry’s SX scissor switch, which is shallow but satisfying. I prefer the action of Logitech’s MX Keys, but the KW 9100 Slim is a fraction quieter. What you don’t get is the Logitech’s backlighting, with the only sign of light being indicators for the Num, Scroll and Caps lock keys.

The upside to this lack of illumination is battery life. I find myself recharging the MX Keys every week, but I suspect the KW 9100 Slim would keep going for a couple of months between charges. This is easy to do, with a USB-C port at the rear, next to a switch that allows you to flick between Bluetooth and the nano USB receiver supplied in the box (this model only supports Windows, but there is a Mac version).

Don’t immediately throw the box away, as hidden within is a magnetic foot that attaches to the rear of the keyboard. So if you like your keyboards to have a raised angle rather than lie entirely flat, you have the option. It snaps on with vigor, so I was never worried it might fall off as I shoved the keyboard around my desk.

There is nothing fancy about this keyboard. It doesn’t have the backlight of its Logitech rival, nor the ability to flick between Bluetooth partners at the press of a button, and its “extras” amount to shortcuts to the default web browser, the Windows calculator and volume controls (although you can program the keys using Cherry’s software). Its looks are equally subdued. But if you’re looking for a reliable, quiet keyboard for an office rollout or your own setup, it does the job and should last for years.

We also rated the best RAM for your PC.

De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine: two-minute review

The De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine might be one of the best espresso machines for new and experienced baristas alike. The reasonable price tag, simplicity of use, and relatively compact size make it an appealing choice for just about anyone.

While it's not completely automated like a capsule system or a high-end machine that includes a coffee bean grinder and touch screen, it's simple enough to use and takes some of the guesswork out of brewing espresso. A totally manual espresso machine requires you to measure and heat your water to just the right temperature and decide the right amount of pressure to use for your brew. The De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine eliminates the need for any of that; just fill the water tank with cold water; the water quantity, temperature, and pressure is decided for you. Just load up the portafilter with enough finely ground coffee for one or two shots of espresso, insert the portafilter, and press a button for either a single or double shot. Within seconds, you have a beautiful espresso (or two.)

It's all pretty straightforward, though it's important to tamp your coffee grounds just right. Tamping too firmly causes the water to brew through too slowly, and the espresso will be too intense and bitter. Tamping too loosely lets the water through too fast, and your brew will be too light and sour. If you don't like the automatic setting for water quantity, you can can change the factory setting to allow more or less water to be used.

The frothing wand froths or steams your milk of choice. A setting on the wand lets you choose between frothing and steaming milk. You can also dispense hot water though the wand, which is perfect for making an Americano (espresso with added hot water.) After using the frothing wand, the machine will be too hot to brew espresso; you'll need to run a cooling cycle or give it time to cool down.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future) De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine: price and availability

• Available at many online and brick-and-mortar retailers
• Retails for $199.95 (£154 / AU$313)
• Discounted on Amazon

De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine is available directly from De'Longhi as well as most big box retailers both online and in brick-and-mortar stores. The retail price is $199.95 (about £154 / AU$313) but you can find a slight discount on Amazon. At the time of writing it's only available to buy in the US.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future) De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine: specs De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine: design

• Small footprint and lightweight design
• Everything you need except coffee and cups included
• Fairly straightforward to use but not foolproof

The De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine is an attractive blend of shiny chrome and plastic. All of the pieces are just heavy enough feel like high quality. It looks nice in my kitchen and would likely look good with just about any decor.

On the front of the machine, you see a pressure gauge and four buttons. On the right side are your power button and frothing wand selection button. On the left are the single espresso and double espresso buttons. The frothing wand control dial is on the right side of the machine and the water tank is at the back.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

At just 8.89 x 11.14 x 12 inches (22.6 x 28.3 x 31 cm), the De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine doesn't take up a ton of space in your kitchen. It's lightweight, too, at just nine pounds (4.1 kg), which is handy if you need to store it away and take it out every time you use it. The water tank has a pretty decent capacity, 57.48 fluid ounces (1.7 liters). I was able to brew a lot of espresso before I needed to refill the tank.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

The portafilter and two filters (single and double espresso-sized) are included in the box. The portafilter is the device with the handle that holds the filters. The scoop that comes in the box is perfectly-sized for a single espresso brew, just use two scoops to make a double. The other end of the scoop is your tamper, which you will use to press the grounds firmly but gently, forming a puck of coffee in the filter. If you tamp too hard or not hard enough, the espresso won't taste very good.

None of the parts of the De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine are dishwasher-safe, so you'll need to wash all of these by hand after each brew.

The water tank has a capacity of 1.8qt / 1.7 liters, and slots onto the back of the machine (Image credit: Karen Freeman Future)

If you want to get fancy, you can buy endless accessories, such as a coffee bean grinder, food scale to weigh your coffee, frothing mug, and of course fancy cups and spoons. None of that is included, nor are they necessary to get you started.

On the back of the machine is the water tank, which can easily removed, refilled, and replaced as needed. The wand can be adjusted to dispense hot water, heat your milk, or heat and froth your milk at the same time. It pulls apart for cleaning, which you'll need to do every time you use it.

The drip tray prevents a mess on your counter. It's easy to remove and clean, which you'll only need to do once in a while. Like all of the other parts, it's hand-wash only.

• Design score: 4.5/5

De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine: performance

• Produces beautiful espresso drinks with ease
• Frother is effective
• Getting brew just right takes trial and error

The De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine performs perfectly in the sense that you load up your coffee in the portafilter, press a button, and beautiful espresso brews every time. However, espresso is a little bit more complicated than that. Taste is highly subjective, but some of my brews were definitely better than others. Getting it just right isn't easy.

If you're not a fan of the factory settings, you can change them to brew your espressos with more or less water than standard. I stuck with the factory settings for my testing.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

I'm not a trained barista myself, my usual daily espresso comes from my favorite Nespresso machine. So I called upon my middle child, who has taken a class in brewing espresso. He has a fully manual espresso machine at home, so he was excited to try the much easier-to-use De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine. He gave me some tips for brewing better-tasting espresso, such as loosening up the grounds after scooping but before tamping. He was thrilled with the results.

We did a blind taste test with him, my oldest daughter, my husband, and I, comparing espresso from the Linea Classic to a Nespresso capsule. The results were split down the middle. Everyone's tastes are so different, it's hard to say definitively what is a good espresso and what isn't.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

There are definitely some quirks with the milk frother. It is quite effective in both steaming and frothing milk, both dairy and non-dairy. It also dispenses hot water, which is handy for making Americano-style (diluted) espresso. However, it doesn't click into place, nor does it click when switching from "hot milk" to "cappuccino" mode. I like to have that confirmation click on devices like this, but you get used to it.

Press the steam button to go into frothing wand mode, and then turn the dial on the side to operate the wand. The biggest quirk about this frothing wand is that once you use it, you can't brew espresso again immediately.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

Once you've frothed or steamed some milk, the machine will likely be too hot to brew espresso again right away. Before you can brew again, you'll need to run a cooling cycle by opening the steam dial to dispense steam and hot water until the heating element has cooled. Alternatively, you can wait for the heating element to cool down on its own.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

Cleanup is pretty easy. After brewing, you'll need to dump out the used coffee puck, I used a plastic utensil to scrape out most of it and a paper towel to wipe out the rest before washing. You'll want to be careful not to let grounds go down your sink drain, even if you have a disposal. Coffee will clog your pipes like cement, so compost or throw away the used coffee grounds. Then just hand wash all of the parts you used. You'll also need to descale the machine periodically, as per the manufacturer's instructions.

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• Performance score: 4/5

Should you buy the De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine? Buy it if

You want to make authentic espresso drinks with ease

In just a few minutes from start to finish, you can make real espresso and espresso-based beverages like cappuccino. It's quicker and easier to use than similarly-priced fully manual machines.

You want to make real espresso on a budget

At less than $200, the De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine is a solid entry in the home espresso machine market.

You don't have a ton of space

The lightweight and compact De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine fits into just about any kitchen. It's similar in size to a small, no-frills drip coffee machine.

Don't buy it if

You don't want to put in more effort than pressing a button

While brewing espresso with the De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine isn't hard, it's certainly not as easy as just popping in a pod or pressing the button on a fully automatic machine.

You want a super consistent taste

While the factors of water and pressure are taken care of for you, you still need to grind, measure, and tamp your coffee just right to get the best taste.

De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine: also consider

Breville Bambino Plus

This is one of the best espresso machines currently on the market. While pricier, this highly customizable machine makes amazing espresso and espresso-based drinks. In the UK, Breville products are known as Sage.

Read our full Breville Bambino Plus review

De'Longhi La Specialista Touch

This semi-automatic espresso machine has a frothing wand, coffee bean grinder, and a touch screen so you can make nine different custom drinks with the touch of a button.

Read our full De'Longhi La Specialista Touch review

How I tested the De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine

I brewed a bunch of espressos and made a few cappuccinos with the De'Longhi Linea Classic Espresso Machine over the course of several weeks. I carefully cleaned the machine before use and between each use. The coffee I brewed was De'Longhi's own espresso blend. I used filtered water from my refrigerator's water dispenser, refilling the water tank as needed. For the cappuccinos, I tried both low-calorie almond milk and whole dairy milk, cold from the refrigerator.

First reviewed April 2025

Insta360 X5: two-minute review

Almost precisely a year on from the launch of the Insta360 X4, its successor has arrived – and at first glance it’s hard to tell the difference. The two 360 degree cameras are near-identical in size, weight and shape, and it’s only a few aesthetic differences – plus, of course, the name emblazoned on the front – that enabled me to tell the new camera from the old once I’d pulled it out of its box.

The well-worn phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” feels apt here, and it’s hard to blame Insta360 for not ringing major changes. After all, TechRadar’s glowing five-star review of the X4 dubbed it the best 360 degree camera on the market, and the company would have been unwise to ditch a winning formula. My early impressions of the X5, gleaned from a few hours of use, suggest that it has instead polished and honed where refinements are needed, finessing one superb and versatile camera into an even better and more flexible one.

Incremental improvements have been made across the board, but the headline progression I’ve really noticed has been in image quality. And yes, that’s a big one, brought about largely through the introduction of 1/1.28-inch image sensors. These are 144% larger than those on the X4, and they’ve been paired with a trio of image processing chips (or “AI chips” as Insta360’s marketing department calls them) for noise reduction, sharpening and other enhancements that, in theory, should make the image quality markedly better than the X4’s, particularly in challenging conditions like low light.

I’ve not had the chance to give it a go once the sun goes down just yet, but having taken the Insta360 X5 out for a morning test-run on foot and on my bike I’m more than happy with the general image quality. I’ve embedded the videos below, one of which was recorded at 5.7K 60fps with HDR, the other at the camera’s highest resolution of 8K 30fps, with no HDR.

I used the Insta360 app’s AI-powered automatic editor to create both videos before exporting them at 1080p and 1440p resolution respectively, and both at 30fps. I largely used the default settings here, but it’s worth noting that it’s possible to export at much higher bitrates than this if you wish, and at higher frame rates too provided your original recorded was captured that way.

I’ve been really impressed with the results so far. Sure, the conditions for my test were bright and sunny, so about as far from challenging as can be, but the levels of detail, rich colors, wide dynamic range and general all-round “pop” of the clips are wonderful – and they’re ready to be shared on social media right away, with very little in the way of editing or tweaking to do. Sure – a fully manually edited clip still beats the robo-editor’s take on things, and the tunes and templates provided here are a little cheesy, but those who want to put in the work to do things the old-fashioned way are still free to do so.

Technically, things look great too. There’s barely any sign of the stitch between the two planes, lens flare is minimal, and the selfie stick I was using has been artfully removed from view in signature Insta360 style.

I haven’t experimented much with audio yet, but Insta360 says the X5’s internal mics should be a major upgrade on the X4’s thanks to a built-in steel mesh wind guard plus software-based tweak like the new selectable Voice Enhancement mode, ideal for vlogging. I’ll be testing this fully in the coming days, but for now I’ll say that the above videos were captured on a quite breezy day on the coast and that wind noise is definitely still quite audible, if not overwhelmingly distracting.

Other things I’ve noticed in my initial few hours with the X5 are that its battery life can go down fast, particularly if you shoot in 8K. It also drained the battery of my iPhone 13 very quickly, while I was paired with it, using the companion app and editing and exporting footage. These are all very intensive tasks, so it’s not that surprising – but worth noting all the same.

Insta360 X5 specs Image 1 of 3

(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 2 of 3

The X5 (left) alongside the X4 (right) (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 3 of 3

(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen) Insta360 X5: Price and availability

• Launched worldwide in April 2025
• Standard edition costs $549.99 / £519.99 / AU$929.99
• Essentials bundle available for $659.99 / £609.99 / AU$1,109.99

The Insta360 X5 is available to order from its launch day of 22 April 2025, and costs from $549.99 / £519.99 / AU$929.99 – which is only around 5-10% more than its predecessor the X4 cost when it launched in April 2024 ($499.99 / £499.99 / AU$879.99). That’s not too bad of a price jump given inflation and the uncertainty surrounding US tariffs.

That above price is for the standard bundle, which includes just the camera, but an Essentials bundle is also available and might make more sense for certain customers, especially if you’re just getting started on your 360 action camera journey. For $659.99 / £609.99 / AU$1,109.99, it offers the camera plus a second battery, fast charge case, 114cm invisible selfie stick, standard lens guards, rubber lens cap and carry case.

How I tested the Insta360 X5

• Tested for two hours, full production model running early firmware
• Camera mounted on invisible selfie stick
• Recorded videos on foot and on a bicycle

I've only had a few hours to test the Insta360 X5, but as a frequent users of all its predecessors it felt immensely familiar so I was able to get out and shoot video with it almost immediately. I mounted it on the company's invisible selfie stick and shot short videos while walking and riding my bike during daylight hours. For the full review, I'll test it in different conditions, and try out its other shooting modes, including still photography.

• First reviewed April 2025

This review first appeared in issue 345 of PC Pro.

There are dozens of 15.6in portable monitors available on Amazon, many costing around £100, so you may wonder why anyone would consider paying over four times that price for the ViewSonic VP16-OLED. The first clue is in the name: including an OLED panel rather than IPS immediately puts this display on a different pedestal.

But the real reason is quality. Cheap portable monitors usually reward you with poor color coverage, low brightness and lackluster color accuracy. What ViewSonic promises is much more in line with a professional monitor. With Pantone validation and a guaranteed average Delta E of less than two, you can be confident of the colors you see. This was borne out in the tests for our review unit, with typical averages of around 0.5.

I say “typical” because this monitor ships with numerous color modes: user, DCI-P3, sRGB, REC.709 and DICOM. DICOM is a medical standard, while REC.709 is used in broadcasting and similar to sRGB. That means it’s conservative in terms of coverage, so for the punchiest colors you should choose DCI-P3.

Inputs include two USB-C ports and micro-HDMI (Image credit: Future)

When testing such profiles, we’re always looking for it to clamp down on the gamut as much as possible. That’s why it was comforting to see sRGB lock the panel to 96.4% coverage out of a 98.6% volume. So, only a tiny fraction of the colors you see on the VP16-OLED will sit outside the sRGB gamut when you’re in that mode.

Likewise in DCI-P3, where the monitor produced results of 95.4% and 96.9%.

It’s also easy to switch between profiles. ViewSonic places four buttons on the monitor’s base, and the text-based OSD is so simple to navigate that I was left wondering why all monitors don’t follow its lead.

Height adjustment in pictures. STEP 1 Here’s the ViewSonic in its most basic position (Image credit: Future)

The panel’s only minor negative is that it isn’t a true 10-bit display but 8-bit plus FRC. FRC stands for frame rate control, and mimics colors not supported by the 8-bit panel by flashing alternate colors incredibly quickly. It’s effective, but purists prefer 10-bit panels.

ViewSonic has gained DisplayHDR 400 certification for this screen, but don’t expect images to burn your retina. Still, OLED is naturally easier to view in brighter conditions than IPS thanks to its “infinite” contrast ratio, so although the VP16-OLED peaked at 402cd/m2 in our tests I can’t imagine any situation where you won’t be able to see its contents.

There’s even a hood in the box. This is normally included with professional monitors to stop ambient light interfering with colors, but here it’s most useful to keep the screen’s light from interfering with your darker shoots. I was also hoping it would offer protection during travel, but the folding mechanism isn’t quite clever enough to perfectly wrap around the screen.

STEP 2 Then, with a swivel of the stand, it’s raised a few inches (Image credit: Future)

Otherwise, I can’t fault ViewSonic’s design. One of the cleverest elements is the adjustable height stand. The photos below tell most of the story; all I need to add is that it moves smoothly through every stage and locks perfectly into position.

The VP16-OLED doesn’t include a battery, but it can draw power from a host laptop over USB-C or work the other way round: plug in the supplied USB-C power supply and then power your laptop. However, it only delivers 40W, so it’s better suited to keeping a laptop topped up than charging it from empty. There’s also a micro-HDMI input.

STEP 3 And finally it’s at its peak height, elevated by around 100mm (Image credit: Future)

ViewSonic includes a pair of 1W speakers, and as that power rating indicates they aren’t going to fill a room. Sound quality is mediocre – no depth, weak bass – but if you’re on a video shoot and want to check the audio they’ll be up to the job, or you can resort to the 3.5mm jack.

There’s one final downside to this monitor, and that’s its 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. Again, hunt online and you’ll find 4K portable monitors for half the price. Personally, I didn’t find this a problem in practice as text, photos and videos still look sharp at normal viewing distances.

For its target audience, then, this OLED monitor is worth every penny. It’s accurate, flexible and images pack a punch you won’t see from IPS rivals.

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