Technology

The Telegram CEO says Apple made the app unavailable for download without any warning.

The feature — previously rumored as Pixel Glow — may bring a visual twist to Google’s next Pixel series

These shows and tons of great new movies arrive to HBO Max this month.

The company now operates its autonomous ride-hailing service in more than a dozen cities.

You can play the Gears of War: E-Day beta, Ball x Pit and more this month.

Newly released texts and emails give us insight into how lawyers for two billion-dollar tech companies can’t figure out how to use their email.

Whether you like it depends on how you feel about earth tones.

BenQ has been one of my favorite monitor brands for quite a while now. The build quality is spectacular, the built-in features are wonderful, and their companion software makes it feel like a first-party device for Apple products, which is a huge win for me as an Apple product lover.

When it comes to creative hardware, those working in the industry need the best of the best. They crave color accuracy. A lot of them crave fun features as well, but above all they crave the ability to reduce friction in their day-to-day work.

Specifically, when it comes to monitors, color accuracy and calibration matter more than most people realize. If you're in this space, you're very familiar with how to calibrate your monitor. BenQ decided to answer that not just with its own hardware, but by building its own hardware. The company built a color calibrator into its monitors that are designed for those who need the color calibrator. BenQ didn't just do it in a way that would work, but did it in a way that's elegant and very BenQ-esque.

The monitor has a color calibrator arm that swivels down from the monitor and then pushes itself back up as well, hiding away when you're not using it but popping out when you need to calibrate further. It has a light shade or a hood, depending on the industry that you're in, that helps make sure there's no glare or reflections or anything that can manipulate the colors, producing an even more true-to-spec experience. So, for those looking for the best video editing monitor or best photo editing monitor, this one is excellent in my experience.

BenQ PD2770U: Price and availability

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )

Right now, this monitor sells for around $1,700, and that comes with the hood and the built-in color calibrator. BenQ is also really good about sending cables that you need in the box, so don't worry about that.

If you buy this monitor, you can literally just plug it straight into your computer of choice without needing any extra accessories. It's widely available, and you can pick this up from BenQ's website, Amazon, and other retailers.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )BenQ PD2770U: Unboxing and First Impressions

As expected with BenQ monitors, the packaging is simple yet well-done. It's no Apple unboxing experience, but it is one that is predictable and expected. On first unboxing, I was a little confused about how the shield could be folded up so tightly, but then I realized how intricately they've tucked it into the box to keep it safe and protected.

Other than that, I was able to set up the monitor fairly quickly. I tried it first with the built-in stand and then quickly added it to a monitor arm that I had to try out some testing. Once I finished initial rounds of testing, I moved this to somebody on my team who does a lot of video editing, and now he has been using it on his desk for the last 100 days.

I've tested this monitor in low-light scenarios and in high-light scenarios with fluorescent lights directly above the desk. Thanks to the shader, this monitor has performed brilliantly and brighter, but the shader makes it so that even this dimmer color is still spectacular and vibrant.

BenQ PD2770U: Design & Build Quality

This brand came out very much like all the others, to where it is professional and simple. It's got a basic stand if you choose to use it. It's got great cable management and simple height adjustments.

What's great is that even if you choose to not use the stand, the hood attachment magnetically connects directly to the monitor itself, meaning that you can use this with any monitor arm or monitor stand that you so choose.

Also, since it is magnetic, if you're the kind of person that works in a light-controlled room or maybe a dimmer room (like a personal home office), you can customize the lighting. Perhaps you won't need the shade. If you work in a coworking space or an area where you cannot control the lighting as much, that's where the shade comes in clutch.

Last but not least, having the USB-C hub built in makes this a monitor and a hub all in one. If you don't have a ton of ports and perhaps you're just running a more simple setup where you have a desktop or laptop plugged directly into this monitor and that's about it, then you can run all of that.

You can have plenty of room to wiggle directly from the monitor itself without needing a docking station. Even if you had a couple accessories from a laptop, you can plug those in if you wanted to.

BenQ PD2770U: In use

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )

As I previously mentioned up above, my team and I have had this 4K monitor in our arsenal for over 100 days. It's actually even closer to 150 at this point. I wanted to make sure that we could get some good long-term testing with this panel before giving results.

In that 100 days, my team and I have put this monitor through the tests. We've edited countless videos on it, done multiple big photo projects, done administrative tasks, and used it for managing content and so much more. While it is phenomenal, all those things, it is 100% overkill for anything other than photo or video editing where you need color accuracy.

Currently, this monitor is set up in a coworking area that has some pretty aggressive fluorescent lighting right above the desk. For our scenario, having the shader has been an absolute game changer, as it helps keep any glare off of the monitor, changing and destroying the color and visual sighting.

Plus, having the color calibrator built in is not only a fun element but an absolute game changer if you need to confirm and double-check calibration throughout your projects.

BenQ PD2770U: Final verdict

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )

I've been using this monitor mostly for creative products, but of course had to test and see how it would work for basic administrative tasks. As expected, I can reassure you that if you are using this monitor for business or productivity or administrative tasks, you are dead wrong.

This is not meant for that at all. It's overkill in price, feature set, and physical operation. However, if you are in that creative space and you want something that is more consistent than what you ever had before, then you should absolutely check out the BenQ Creative Pro PD2770U monitor.

To make a long story short, if you are in the creative space and you need color accuracy above all else, or if you find yourself reaching for or even wishing for a color calibrator regularly, then this is absolutely your monitor.

If you are just looking for a 27-inch 4K monitor, this is 100% overkill, but it will do the job in a better and fancier way than you probably need. If image quality, screen resolution, and picture clarity are a part of your workflow, consider this one. If not, check out some of our other spectacular monitors.

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For more top-performers, we've tested the best business monitors and the best monitors for Mac mini.

Multiple studies have found that the average person has over 150 passwords. As a password security expert, I regularly recommend that every single password people use should be both unique and strong - but this adds the problem of being able to remember each one, or store them securely.

Password managers are designed for this exact reason. They store your passwords in encrypted vaults and autofill your credentials as and when you need them. For this very reason, Keeper is one of our most highly rated password managers.

Right now, Keeper has cut prices on its personal, family, and business starter plans by up to 50%, providing an affordable password management solution that can store and generate your passwords, while also providing convenient features for securely sharing regularly used household or business passwords.

Get up to 50% off Keeper plans

Keeper is offering 50% off its Personal and Family plans, making it even more affordable to secure both personal and household accounts. The Family plan covers multiple users with five secured vaults, making it perfect for shared accounts without the hassle of mixing browsers and reusing passwords.

Keeper Business Starter is discounted by 30%, and is an excellent choice for small teams looking for a credentials control platform without the complexity and hassle of enduring an enterprise rollout. It includes centralized management, secure password sharing, and role-based access, cleanly organizing your passwords without unnecessary complications.

The full terms and pricing are available on the Keeper site.View Deal

Why we recommend Keeper

In our Keeper review, we praised the zero knowledge architecture and device level encryption that helps keep the contents of your personal vault hidden from hackers.

Keeper also scored great marks in our usability and convenience testing. Rather than having to enter your master password each time you need to fill in your credentials, Keeper uses biometric security to access your vault. Biometric security uses a facial scan or fingerprint to verify that its actually you accessing your vault. It's also phishing resistant.

Four households, the Family Plan includes five private vaults, allowing you to quickly share Wi-Fi or streaming passwords using Keeper's shared vaults.

The Business Starter plan covers 5 users, covering an unlimited devices, shared team folders, user activity reporting for IT admins, and a free Family Plan for every team member.

These discounts apply to the first year only, so the value is highest for new customers or anyone switching from a monthly plan. After that, pricing goes back to standard rates.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 6 is exactly what you expect to see if a ThinkPad got Botox. This computer is a professional workstation with the familiar soul of a ThinkPad business laptop, just in a sleek, facelifted chassis.

Everything about the P14s is geared toward getting work done without compromising looks or quality-of-life features that have been overlooked in the past when other workhorse laptops hit the market.

It combines serious hardware with a compact design without sacrificing the physical qualities that make a work laptop enjoyable to use. Given the size, In my experience it's one of the best laptops for engineering students looking for a more portable powerhouse, or professionals working across multiple locations.

Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 6: Price and availability

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )

The P16s Gen 3 is available in a range of configurations, with both AMD and Intel chips. You can grab the AMD version and the Intel version from Lenovo US. That's the same for Lenovo UK with AMD models and Intel models.

I'm testing the Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 6, Model 21QT0029US to be exact. It has an Intel Core Ultra 7 265H processor, an Nvidia RTX Pro 500 Blackwell GPU with 6 GB of GDDR7 memory, 32 GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1 TB NVMe SSD. It also includes Windows 11 Pro and Intel vPro support, which fits Lenovo’s stellar reputation for business security and management.

This ThinkPad P14s Gen 6 has 32 GB RAM, while leaving the second slot unused. For this laptop, Lenovo supports up to 96 GB, giving the device room to grow for larger projects. There is also only one internal M.2 storage slot, though, so if you increase storage, you must replace the existing drive.

Our exact testing model and configuration can be found for about $2,700, but with Lenovo’s frequent promotions you can also find a similar P14s configuration closer to the mid-$2,000 range. That number makes more sense when the laptop is compared with other professional mobile workstations.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 6: Unboxing and First Impressions

Physically, the ThinkPad P14s Gen 6 is fantastic. Its aluminum top and bottom give the chassis a sturdy feel with very little flex or anything else that makes it seem fragile.

Lenovo also puts the system through MIL-STD-810H testing, which is a standard used by the DOD for drops/shocks, extreme temperatures/humidity, dust, and high altitude. So, TL;DR—this thing is solid.

Its construction feels quite fitting for a computer you’d expect to travel with, to and from work every day. The design itself is unmistakably ThinkPad as well. Which is a pro and a con depending on how unique you want to be in your laptop.

It features an all-black, professional-looking frame with subtle Lenovo branding and the familiar red TrackPoint on the keyboard. If you want to stand out and make it your own, slap a sticker on there, but if you want to look professional and crisp, then you'll fit right in with yet another ThinkPad that looks exactly like the rest.

Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 6: Design & Build Quality

The keyboard is the undisputed favorite part of the laptop across our entire team. The shape and texture of the keys feel excellent, and each press is incredibly responsive, tactile, and honestly satisfying. Typing for long periods never makes my hand feel tired or makes me want to switch to a different keyboard for a break.

In fact, this whole article is typed on the P14s, that’s how much I enjoy its keyboard. I have several people who help me test laptops to ensure I am not just using my own personal bias in my reviews, and we all unanimously agree that the ThinkPad keyboards are spectacular, and the P14s Gen 6 is no exception.

The backlighting of the keyboard is also convenient, with brightness control using the Fn key and spacebar that offers a few different lighting/brightness options. The TrackPoint, along with its corresponding buttons, works as you’d expect too. With so many laptops moving to have this be software-driven, it is nice to see some business devices still have these elements built into key commands that have been around for quite some time.

The fingerprint reader is built into the power button, works quickly, and was much more dependable for us than facial recognition. The 5 MP infrared camera is acceptable for video calls, but we ran into issues when strong backlighting was present, mainly with facial recognition when trying to unlock the device.

The 14.5-inch display on this configuration has a 2560 × 1600 resolution at a 16:10 aspect ratio, a 90 Hz refresh rate, and a rated brightness of 400 nits. It covers 100% of the sRGB color space and is X-Rite factory-calibrated. In person, the screen is beautiful: the text looks sharp, colors have plenty of vibrance, and the taller 16:10 aspect ratio gives you extra vertical space for any project, document, or webpage.

The 90 Hz refresh does a good enough job to keep up with pretty much all on-screen movement and keep it looking smooth. Of course, we wouldn't suggest video editing or photo editing even on this at a professional level, but that's not what this is designed for now, is it? I'm still shocked at how many people in the classic professional white-collar jobs are happy with standard HD screens.

Movies, TV, and other media look great, but its more important job is providing a clear, color-accurate workspace for professional applications, and it does that quite well, too. The screen itself has that silky, smooth feel that many modern displays have.

There are also two 2-watt speakers, which are surprisingly good for laptop speakers. Dolby Audio helps voices and other sounds come out clearly and gives music and video a fuller sound than I would have expected from a laptop.

Of course, they will not replace quality headphones or external desktop speakers, but they work well for calls, presentations, and, as I mentioned before, your movies and TV if you plan on using this laptop for fun things too.

Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 6: In use

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )

During normal use, the P14S feels extremely fast. I was able to move between multiple programs, browser windows, and background tasks without experiencing any noticeable lag. It responds like a computer ready for real work rather than one suited for online shopping and the occasional email.

The RTX Pro 500 is a workstation-class GPU, and the P14s carries independent software vendor certifications for its intended professional applications. That matters when stability is more valuable than chasing gaming-level frame rates. It also shows that Lenovo knows its lane with this laptop.

They aren't making this for the gamers, generalists, or the budget-seekers. This has its niche in the professional category of needing to be able to handle demanding programs with speed but needing to break records in any way either. The reliability and stability are the game here, and Lenovo has it in spades.

There are reasonable limits. The GPU’s 6GB of memory may restrict extremely complicated renders, massive simulations, or demanding local AI projects - set expectations, though, and you'll get by.

The included 32GB may also become a ceiling for unusually large workloads, although the 96 GB upgrade limit provides potential to grow. For seriously demanding workloads, the ThinkPad P16 Gen 3 is still the king.

The laptop “can” run games, but gaming is simply not its purpose. Performance is good rather than great, maybe even just okay, and the RTX Pro hardware is better suited to professional engineering applications than maximizing frame rate for games. This kind of testing is helpful too, as it gives a glimpse into how this may perform for CAD renderings and other graphically-intensive scenarios.

While this could pull up some models, the more complex ones may take longer than desired, and this isn't the machine you'd want long-term if you live in that space -- or at least not as your only machine.

The cooling system for the P14s becomes noticeable during heavy work. Under sustained loads, the fan is medium-loud, with a somewhat turbine-like sound. Imagine a Dyson bladeless fan. It’s not crazy loud, but there is no mistaking when the laptop is working hard.

Our review unit has the larger 75Wh battery and a 100-watt USB-C charger. Under normal or light use, it lasted pretty much the entire day even at maximum brightness. This was a real-world observation rather than a controlled rundown, but it showed that the device can work away from an outlet without constant anxiety over battery life.

Heavy CAD rendering or other sustained CPU and GPU work will indeed drain the battery much faster, especially with higher screen brightness. That is to be expected from mobile workstation hardware. Lenovo rates Rapid Charge to restore up to 80% in about an hour, which makes it easier to recover a useful amount of battery life during a short break.

Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 6: Final verdict

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )

The ThinkPad P14s Gen 6 feels like another professional tool to choose from if you are in that arena of the professional workforce. Its solid construction, fantastic keyboard, sharp display, quality ports, upgradable memory, and consistent performance support the work it was designed to do.

When you consider the professional hardware, ISV certifications, display quality, and upgradable options, the price of this laptop honestly shifts from a negative to one of its strongest positives.

For professionals and students seeking serious power without moving to a larger or significantly more expensive workstation, this computer is a solid all-around option. They don't necessarily want the newest or the fanciest in the category, they want something they know they can rely on, because downtime isn't worth the cost of a fun feature they occasionally use.

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For more powerhouse performers, we've tested the best business laptops and the best mobile workstations.

• Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 detailed three Google passkey exploits
• Attacks require prior malware infection; methods ranged from impersonating victims to stealing the master secret protecting synced passkeys
• Google implemented fixes after disclosure, with some services (e.g., eBay) patching vulnerabilities directly

Security researchers from Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 have found three ways to exploit Google’s passkey system and log into people’s PIN- or biometrics-protected accounts.

They named these ways ‘Pass-ta-key’, ‘Silver Pass-ta-key’, and ‘Golden Pass-ta-key’, each being progressively more dangerous than the previous one.

While it sounds mighty dangerous, there are major caveats to the exploit, and some of the holes have been plugged already.

Trusting the wrong device

The biggest caveat is that the victim’s device needs to be infected with malware beforehand. Malware can do all sorts of things, from stealing session cookies to exfiltrating sensitive data, so if a device is tainted with malware, it’s already in trouble.

Still, Unit 42’s findings were important enough to warrant a fix from Google.

In the first technique, the attackers pretend to be the victim. By using malware, they can “ask” Google to log into a passkey-protected account as if it was the victim themselves. Usually, the service being logged into would require a PIN or a fingerprint to confirm the authenticity of the request, but in this scenario, that wasn’t the case.

The method doesn’t work everywhere, though. Unit 42 could not replicate the attack on GitHub, but they succeeded on eBay. The latter later fixed the problem.

In the second attack, Unit 42 managed to make Google “trust” the threat actor’s device, meaning the victim’s computer was no longer necessary.

In the third attack, the researchers managed to steal the “master key”.

Google Password Manager syncs the passkeys between devices, and to do that, it uses a master secret that protects all of the synced passkeys. The researchers found that, under certain circumstances, malware can grab this master secret while Chrome is temporarily using it, unlocking all of the synced passkeys, copying them to another computer, and being able to use them at a later date.

The researchers disclosed their findings with Google before publication, and some fixes were already implemented. Google is yet to comment on the findings and confirm that all of the flaws were addressed.

Via BleepingComputer

• Private Internet Access has rolled out its VPN for Android on F-Droid
• It provides de-Googlers with an alternative to sideloading
• It reinforces PIA's commitment to maintaining its open-source status

Open-source Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN has rolled out its Android app on the digital store F-Droid, a privacy-focused alternative to the Google Play Store.

The move comes to the delight of VPN users who don’t trust Big Tech and its notorious track record of privacy violations, but are also fed up with more old-school, DIY de-Googling alternatives.

From now on, PIA users will be able to safely download the Android VPN app directly from the community-run store dedicated to open-source Android apps. This ensures that the version is free of Google dependencies without users having to manually source and upgrade new versions themselves.

The best VPNs often benefit from independent third parties to prove their reliability, including through commissioning security reports or independent audits.

With PIA now available via F-Droid, PIA users can now rely on a community of privacy-conscious individuals instead of having to blindly trust a binary file provided by the VPN directly. "We pride ourselves on being a VPN where anyone can read the code we actually ship — landing on F-Droid is a natural extension of that commitment," said the company.

Private Internet Access (PIA) — best Linux VPN
One of the best VPNs for Linux, and a popular VPN for torrenting, PIA is an industry veteran that has proven its no-logs policy in court (twice). Some connection issues and underwhelming speeds saw it fall out of our top ranks, but it's still offer reliable open-source apps across all major platforms at among the best cheap VPN pricing you can get.

What is F-Droid?

To install a VPN, Google Play Store is usually the common way. However, some users steer clear of the tech giant, which has faced countless legal cases relating to privacy and is known for collecting vast amounts of user data, including for targeted advertising.

A breath of fresh air, F-Droid's catalog of free and open-source Android apps is run by a group of volunteers that builds every app from the public source code rather than from a file provided by the developer, and makes it available on its Google-alternative store.

Because all apps on F-Droid are open-source and compiled independently, users can be sure that the binaries are tamper-free builds of the listed source code.

What’s more, F-Droid volunteers carry out these checks on users' behalf by auditing the open-source code, inspecting the code to check that it contains no spying or any sort of malicious behaviour — so you don’t have to do it yourself.

Why a native PIA's F-Droid app matters

(Image credit: Private Internet Access)

The digital store offers a far more reliable alternative to the more traditional method of sideloading your VPNs. This involves changing the device's security settings to allow the installation of apps from sources outside the Google Play ecosystem, including the VPN's website or alternative sites.

However, compiled binary code is opaque and has to come from somewhere, often the developer themselves. And by relying on the developer you are implicitly trusting their word — something that is easily abused.

Furthermore, with sideloading, you won’t receive the automatic notifications and pop-up messages from the official app stores that you would get via Google Play, which means you’ll need to monitor and install the APK manually to keep the app up to date — something that F-Droid takes care of.

To download the F-Droid app, you can visit f-droid.org in your browser and download and install the F-Droid APK; then install PIA once you've found it in the list of downloaded apps.

Ultimately, you are always relying on a third party unless you install the software yourself. But between a profit-driven company and a group of volunteers with a privacy policy that guarantees no shared accounts, no installation tracking and no adverts, we are sure the choice for many will remain a no-brainer.

For many enterprises, virtualization has become so foundational that its strategic importance is easy to overlook.

Hypervisors, management tools, and the surrounding infrastructure stack quietly support the systems that run finance, operations, customer engagement, supply chain and other business-critical processes.

When that layer changes, the impact is rarely confined to IT.

It can affect cost, resilience, agility and the organization's ability to set its own technology roadmap.

That is why the latest shift in the VMware ecosystem deserves close attention from technology leaders.

With vSphere 7 reaching the end of general support and newer platform models emphasizing bundled, subscription-based private cloud architectures, many organizations are being pushed into a compressed decision cycle.

The question is no longer simply which version to upgrade to. It is whether a vendor-driven platform shift aligns with the business, operating and financial outcomes the organization is trying to achieve.

That distinction matters. A version upgrade is a technical project, but a virtualization strategy is a business decision.

And business decisions should be guided by requirements, value and timing, not simply by changes in a vendor’s roadmap.

Don’t confuse urgency with strategy

Support deadlines have a way of focusing attention. They also have a way of narrowing choices. When a critical platform approaches the end of vendor support, the instinct is often to move quickly toward the recommended next step. In some cases, that may be the right decision. In others, it can lead to organizations into unnecessary cost, disruption and loss of flexibility before they have fully evaluated the alternatives.

The risk for IT leaders is treating the vendor product roadmap as if it were automatically the enterprise roadmap. The two may align, but that alignment should be proven, not presumed. A vendor’s timeline is not, in itself, a business case for broad infrastructure change.

A vendor’s priorities are shaped by product strategy, recurring revenue, portfolio simplification and platform consolidation. An enterprise’s priorities are shaped by uptime, security, cost control, application performance, operational continuity and business agility. Those priorities can overlap, but they are not identical and treating them as interchangeable can result in decisions that solve for the vendor’s direction more than the customer’s needs.

This is where CIOs and infrastructure leaders need to step back and ask a more fundamental question: what business outcome are we trying to achieve, and does this change materially advance it?

If the answer is improved resilience, better automation, simplified management, stronger security or a more cloud-like operating model, then modernization may be justified. But, if the answer is simply maintaining continuity or preserving support status, organizations should examine the full range of viable paths before committing to a major platform shift. The right response is not always the most disruptive one.

The cost question is bigger than licensing

Pricing changes often capture the most attention, but the true cost of an infrastructure change extends well beyond the license or subscription line item. In many cases, the larger costs are organizational: the time, risk and disruption that accompany a broad platform transition.

Virtualization platforms sit at the center of complex environments. A major change can trigger downstream work across storage, networking, backup, monitoring, disaster recovery, security tooling, compliance processes and application dependencies. Even when the technical migration appears manageable, the operational validation can be extensive, and the burden on teams can be significant.

Organizations should consider the full cost of change, including staff time, retraining, integration testing, potential downtime, consulting support and hardware implications. Just as important is the opportunity cost. Every major platform transition consumes budget, leadership attention and skilled talent that could otherwise be directed toward security improvements, automation, AI initiatives, customer-facing innovation or other strategic priorities. A more bundled platform may simplify some parts of the stack, but it can also introduce new commercial and architectural constraints.

This is particularly important for enterprises running stable, heavily integrated environments. Many virtualization estates have been tuned over the years to support specific workloads, service levels and operational requirements. Stability is not a weakness to be corrected by default; in many cases it is a business asset. Replacing or restructuring that environment should be justified by measurable business value, not just by pressure to conform to a new delivery model.

The three choices: migrate, modernize or maximize

Most organizations facing a virtualization decision have three broad options, and the right answer may differ by workload, business priority and time horizon.

The first is to migrate. This could mean moving to the vendor’s latest platform, shifting workloads to a hyperscale cloud provider, adopting an alternative hypervisor or pursuing a hybrid architecture. Migration may be the right choice when the current environment no longer supports business needs, when hardware refresh cycles align with broader transformation goals, or when the organization has a clear cloud operating model, budget and execution plan for the next state. But migration should be a deliberate strategic move, not a reflexive response to a platform event.

The second is to modernize in place. This approach keeps the core environment intact while improving the capabilities around it. That may include stronger automation, better observability, improved security controls, more resilient backup and recovery, tighter cost management or more intelligent workload placement.

For many enterprises, modernization does not require a wholesale migration. It requires identifying the gaps that matter most and addressing them with targeted investments. Modernization and migration are not the same thing, and organizations should be careful not to treat them as if they are.

The third is to maximize the existing environment. This option is often overlooked because it sounds less transformational, but it can be the most rational business decision when a platform is stable, secure, performant and well understood. Extending the value of an environment that continues to meet requirements is not inertia; it is intentional lifecycle management. If the platform remains fit for purpose, the better decision may be to maintain it effectively while redirecting budget and talent toward higher-value initiatives.

The right answer may include elements of all three. Some workloads may be ready for cloud migration. Some may benefit from in-place modernization. Others may be best left alone because they are stable, cost-effective and do not justify major reinvestment. The goal should not be uniformity for its own sake, but alignment between each workload and the business value it is expected to deliver.

Start with business requirements

Before committing to any virtualization path, CIOs should bring the conversation back to business requirements. What systems does the platform support? What uptime is required? Which workloads are growing, and which are stable or declining?

What regulatory or compliance obligations must be met? Where does the business need more agility, and where is predictability more important than change? Those are the questions that should shape the roadmap.

From there, organizations can conduct a practical assessment:

1. Which systems truly need to change now for security, compliance, performance or support reasons?

2. Which workloads can remain in place with the right resilience, security and operational controls?

3. Which applications are real candidates for cloud migration, and which are not?

4. Where would this decision increase lock-in or weaken negotiating leverage?

5. Which investments will deliver measurable business value over the next three to five years?

6. What strategic initiatives will be delayed if budgets and talent are redirected to this transition?

This kind of analysis helps technology leaders avoid making decisions based on urgency, assumption or vendor pressure. It also gives CFOs, boards and operating leaders a clearer view of the trade-offs, including where change is necessary, where it is optional and where it may create more disruption than value.

Control the roadmap before the roadmap controls you

The vSphere 9 era is part of a broader shift in enterprise technology: vendors are consolidating platforms, simplifying portfolios and steering customers toward subscription-based operating models.

That approach can offer advantages, including more integrated tooling, simplified procurement and a more standardized operating model. But it can also come with trade-offs, including higher costs, reduced flexibility and greater dependency on a single vendor’s pace and direction of innovation.

Virtualization remains too important to be managed as a reactive upgrade cycle. It underpins mission-critical operations and increasingly shapes hybrid cloud strategy, resilience planning and long-term infrastructure economics. Enterprises should treat it with the same strategic discipline they would apply to any other decision that affects business continuity, cost structure and future flexibility.

As infrastructure models evolve, the message for CIOs is simple: don’t let a support deadline become your strategy. Use it as the moment to define one based on business requirements, financial reality and the level of change the organization needs.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

• Philips Hue accidentally leaked a new Pro TV lightstrip on its own website
• There are no details of its price or release date yet
• A new Philips Hue Play Sync camera is expected to launch soon

I love Philips Hue lights, and I particularly love Hue lightstrips — so I'm excited by an accidental leak that indicates a new Pro lightstrip is coming to your TV.

The leak was spotted by the excellent Hueblog, who discovered the following text on the US Hue website: "Check out Philips Hue Play gradient strip lights and Play gradient strip light pro." There isn't currently a gradient strip with the 'pro' suffix, so this appears to be a new product that's coming very soon.

I hope so, although I worry about the "pro" bit because that usually indicates a premium price. But if it uses the same tech as the spectacular Hue Omniglow lighting strip I reviewed earlier this year, it could be a stunning addition to your home cinema or gaming setup.

Unlike other Hue lightstrips, the Omniglow delivers seamless gradients where individual LEDs aren't obvious. (Image credit: Future)Philips Hue Play Gradient Strip Light Pro: what to expect

The Philips Hue Play system synchronizes your smart lights and bulbs, enabling you to change the lighting with music or to reflect what's going on in a game, TV show or movie. The Gradient Strip Light models are designed to go on the back of your TV and deliver a similar experience to an Ambilight TV, extending the colours from your screen onto the walls and ceiling.

I'm a huge fan of Hue Play – I've been using it since the first-gen Play Sync box was released in 2019 – but the individual LEDs are very visible. If the Pro version were to be closer to the Omniglow, which delivers seamless gradients without the LEDs being visible individually, that would be a great upgrade. Although I suspect it's likely to be pricey too: the Omniglow has an RRP of $139.99 / £119.99 / AU$279.99 for the 3m model.

At the moment details are non-existent, but we do know that Hue is getting some more Hue Play products imminently: the Hue Play Screen Sync TV camera is expected to launch very soon as a more affordable alternative to the clever but expensive Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K. As with the Sync Box it'll mirror your display to your smart lights and bulbs, but you won't need to connect any devices to do it as it'll simply watch what's on the TV.

As AI becomes a greater and more important presence in our everyday lives, the way we interact with the "traditional" internet is changing.

For so long the main way to access the internet, the web browser is now having to rethink how to appeal to an audience which often seeks AI-first interaction - raising new challenges for developers to create the best and most interactive experience.

We spoke to Ajit Varma, Head of Firefox at Mozilla, to find out more.

• The web has always been built on the principles of openness and interoperability, but today's internet is increasingly shaped by a handful of dominant platforms and AI-powered services. What does the 'open web' mean in 2026, and why does it still matter?

The open web matters more today than it has in years because AI is changing how people experience the internet. As a small number of platforms become the gateway to search, content and AI-powered services, it's becoming easier for a handful of companies to shape what people see and how they interact online.

That's why the principles of the open web still matter. Common standards mean developers can build without asking permission from a dominant platform, and users can choose how they access the web rather than being locked into a single ecosystem. Those principles have driven innovation for decades, and they're just as important as AI reshapes the internet.

The challenge now isn't simply keeping the web open as it exists today. It's making sure openness evolves alongside AI, so the next generation of the internet remains competitive, interoperable and accessible to everyone

• AI is changing the way people discover information and interact with the internet. How do you see browsers evolving over the next five years, and what role should they play in helping users navigate an increasingly AI-driven web while maintaining trust and choice?

Over the next five years, you’ll start to see more divergences in how browsers treat AI. Many companies will use the browser to try and push a specific AI agenda but at Firefox we’re focused on how AI can make the tasks a user wants to do in a browser better. This includes things like a personal agent that can help a user accomplish tasks, navigating the web through voice, making the web more enjoyable, and creating new vibe-coded extensions and mini-apps.

We’ll do all this in a way that is user centric. The browser should adapt to the user, rather than the other way round. Some people will want AI integrated into their everyday browsing, while others will prefer to use it for specific tasks. Maintaining trust means supporting those preferences and letting people decide how much they use AI.

Users should be able to choose any model they want including open and local models. The important thing is preserving that flexibility, so people can browse, search and get things done in a way that feels natural to them.

• Privacy has long been a core part of Mozilla's mission, but consumers also expect convenience and highly personalised online experiences. How do you strike the right balance between protecting users' privacy and delivering the features people now expect from modern web experiences?

For me, striking the right balance starts with recognising that every user has different expectations of their browser. While context can make online experiences more useful and personalised, people should be able to understand how their data is used and decide what they are comfortable sharing. By giving users meaningful control over the features they adopt, Firefox can deliver modern experiences while continuing to protect their privacy.

This has guided our phased approach to AI, beginning with practical features such as summarisation, translation, tab organisation and optional AI chat integrations. Before introducing more advanced AI experiences such as Smart Window, we launched AI Controls so people can manage individual features or switch them off altogether.

Firefox is also model-agnostic, so users can choose or switch providers, use local models, or opt out entirely. Even though only a small minority of users disable AI features, people regularly tell us they value knowing the controls are there. Privacy and convenience can coexist when people are able to set the terms of the experience.

• There's growing concern that the future of the web could become fragmented between closed AI ecosystems, proprietary platforms and app-based experiences. What do you see as the biggest threats to the open web, and what gives you confidence that it can continue to thrive?

The biggest risk isn't AI itself, it's concentration. If the same companies control the AI models, the interface people use to access them and the browser they interact through, users lose visibility, choice and ultimately agency. That's a much bigger shift than simply moving from one technology generation to another.

What's encouraging is that the issue is becoming harder to ignore. Developers want open standards. Regulators are paying closer attention to competition. Users are asking tougher questions about transparency and control. The web has always evolved through periods of disruption, but it has remained resilient because it's built on interoperability rather than permission. AI can strengthen that model rather than replacing it with a handful of closed ecosystems. The future doesn't have to be a choice between innovation and openness. We should expect both.

• Developers have always been central to Mozilla's community. As AI transforms software development and web creation, how do you think the relationship between developers, browsers and the open web will change over the coming years?

AI is making it dramatically easier to build software, which means we're going to see more developers – and more people who aren't traditional developers – creating for the web. That's a huge opportunity, but only if they can build on an open platform rather than for a handful of closed ecosystems.

That's why the browser becomes even more important. It's no longer just where websites are displayed – it's becoming the layer where people interact with AI to search, create, organise information and complete tasks. As that layer becomes more powerful, it has to remain open, interoperable and centred around user choice.

For developers, that means being able to build for the web, rather than for whichever company happens to control the dominant model or platform. That's always been one of the web's greatest strengths, and it's something we shouldn't lose as AI reshapes how software is built and experienced.

(Image credit: Mozilla)

• If you look ahead to the end of this decade, what do you hope people will say about the state of the web? What would success look like for Mozilla's vision of an open, healthy internet?

Success, for me, is a web that's become more useful through AI without becoming less open. Technology should expand what's possible, not narrow the ways people can access information, build new ideas or participate online.

Innovation should continue to come from everywhere, not just a handful of dominant platforms. The web has always been at its best when anyone with a good idea can build something that reaches millions of people. That only happens when developers have open standards to build on and users aren't locked into a single ecosystem.

The web should still be the best place to build, discover and innovate because it remains accessible to everyone. If AI has expanded participation rather than concentrated power, we'll be heading in the right direction.

• Mozilla is competing in a browser market dominated by much larger technology companies. How do you differentiate Firefox, and why do you believe there's still a commercial and societal case for an independent browser?

We differentiate through independence, choice and accountability. Most browsers are tied to larger technology ecosystems spanning across multiple systems, search, advertising and AI.

Instead, Firefox is powered by Gecko, the only remaining independent browser engine, which gives us the freedom to make product decisions around what benefits users. It ensures that Mozilla is not only advocating for these principles but actively building the underlying infrastructure that makes them possible.

That independence is commercially relevant because there’s such a clear demand for genuine choice. Firefox has been selected through EU browser choice screens more than six million times in two years and those users are five times more likely to remain with Firefox than people who find it organically.

Societally, independent engines prevent one company’s technical and commercial priorities from being the default for the entire web. They also preserve competition, interoperability and the ability to build around different values.

• As regulators around the world seek to promote competition in digital markets, are we at a turning point for the open web, or is there still a risk that power becomes even more concentrated through AI?

There are certainly some encouraging signs that regulation can restore meaningful choice. The impact of browser choice screens in Europe shows that people choose alternatives when they are presented fairly and without being steered towards a default.

However, AI is creating a new concentration risk. If the same small group of companies control the operating system, browser, search engine and AI model, it becomes much easier for them to shape how people access information and which services they encounter.

Regulation needs to keep pace not only with how AI is developed, but with how it's distributed and embedded into everyday products. However, regulation can't do this alone. Interoperability, genuine defaults and strong technical competition will matter just as much.

• Trust has become a key differentiator in technology. How can browser makers earn and maintain users' trust as AI assistants become embedded in everyday web browsing?

Trust starts with being clear about what the technology is doing. AI should be optional, transparent and designed so users can understand what information it can access, how it’s being used and who is acting on their behalf.

That’s the principle behind Firefox’s AI controls. AI features are optional and can be managed individually, while a single setting allows users to block current and future generative AI features. We also use on-device models for features such as Link Previews and Smart Tab Groups, allowing people to receive AI assistance without any data leaving their device.

Ultimately, trust isn't earned through a single feature. It's earned by being transparent about how AI works and consistently respecting the decisions people make.

Whether it's for blocking out noise while travelling or helping you concentrate during focus time, you can't beat a good pair of headphones. One of the top manufacturers right now is Sony, and conveniently, several of its top-rated options are now on sale at Amazon as part of this year's back-to-school sales.

• See all Sony headphone deals at Amazon

I've picked out seven deals that I think are genuinely worth buying if you're on the hunt for a new pair of headphones or earbuds. As well as Sony's flagship over-ear option, I've also found offers on more budget-friendly alternatives, and some of its cheapest in-ear buds.

Let's start with the cream of the crop: the latest Sony WH-1000XM6 on Amazon for $398 (was $459.99). Yep, they cost a lot, but these are some of the best headphones ever made, according to our review. Sony has achieved this by combining all of our favorite features from previous iterations. Namely, that's the fantastic audio quality, comfortable fit, lightweight design, and industry-leading noise-cancellation.

There are a couple of other options I'd like the look of if you don't want to spend quite so much on your next pair of cans. You can pick up the WH-CH520 Headphones for $38 (was $69.99), or the WF-C510 Earbuds for $48 (was $69.99) — both are excellent cheaper options that punch well above their lower price tag.

Do have a browse through my top picks from the full Sony sale at Amazon below for more info on all of the headphones and earbuds that I'd recommend — not only as good back-to-school options, but also for regular use, commuting, or at the gym.

7 best Sony headphones deals at Amazon

The excellent WH-1000XM6 are now just $30 more than the previous record-low price in the latest Amazon sale. These headphones offer beautifully balanced audio, top-tier touch controls, a comfortable fit, and some of the best active noise cancellation we've tried. They're fantastic all-rounders and worthy of an impressive 4.5-star score, as our Sony WH-1000XM6 review digs into.View Deal

The newer XM6s are a solid upgrade over this older model, but the Sony WH-1000XM5s are still a fantastic pair of headphones — especially at this discounted price. You don't get a foldable design, but they're still a comfortable, smart, great-sounding pair of headphones that block outside sound highly effectively.View Deal

The WH-CH720 were slightly cheaper a couple of months ago, but these are still some of Sony's most affordable headphones. As we said in our four-star Sony WH-CH720 review, these cheaper Sony cans pack in a lot of audio finesse and smart features for the price. They're a comfortable, enjoyable listen, and the ANC does a good job of lowering outside noise given the budget-friendly price.View Deal

Even when they're at their standard price, the Sony WH-CH520 are a bargain. Now, at under $40, they are unbeatable value for money. These cans supply super-long-lasting battery life, impressive audio quality and companion app support for customizing EQ. Sure, you're not going to get fancy features like active noise cancellation, but that's to be expected at a price like this.View Deal

We already called the new version of these popular cheap earbuds 'great value for money' in our Sony WF-C510 review – and that was at the full asking price. At under $50, I think they're an absolute steal. Yes, 20 hours of battery can be bettered — but 10 hours from the buds alone certainly can't at this price point. They're also light and comfortable, providing an exciting, musical sound that also beats the latest AirPods.View Deal

This is the second-best discount we've seen on Sony's first foray into the world of clip-on open earbuds. They may not have been as immediately enticing as other models after some initial testing, but they offer a solid fit, lots of battery life, and balanced sound — all in that open-ear design. If that's what you're after, then these are a decent pick, just be aware that we were completely blown away, as we have been by other headphones and earbuds from the brand.View Deal

These are the cheapest option of everything in the latest Sony sale. If you want cheap in-ear buds from the brand, then you'll struggle to find anything for less. Expect fairly basic power and performance, but there's up to 25 hours of battery life, an IPX4 rating that makes them good for the gym, and easy-to-use controls.View Deal

In a monoculture, a single species or type dominates a system, to the exclusion of all others.

The term comes from agriculture, when a field is planted entirely with one crop. It may be efficient and easy to manage, but a single disease, pest, or environmental change can wipe out the entire yield.

Different varieties have different vulnerabilities, so a field of diverse crops can contain the damage naturally. A monoculture has no such defense.

That same monoculture condition is now occurring in software development.

Many organizations using AI tools for coding rely on a single AI model to both generate code and review it. On paper, this is efficient. But in reality, it creates a closed loop where the reviewer can't catch things that the generator is blind to.

Security flaws go undetected in reviews and suboptimal architectural decisions go unchallenged because the reviewing system shares the same assumptions as the system that produced the code.

When issues arise, engineers look at recent commits, failed deployments, and configuration changes. The assumption that a single AI platform can objectively review its own output is rarely questioned.

The solution to an agricultural monoculture is to introduce different crop varieties with different vulnerabilities, so that no single threat can devastate the entire field. The same is true in AI coding monocultures. Organizations need to introduce AI tools that are genuinely independent of the systems they're reviewing.

Separation of duties

So, why can't the same AI just review its own work?

Asking a coding assistant to review itself is like asking a human to proofread their own writing. The human may catch typos and grammatical errors, but they often won't catch logical inconsistencies or arguments that don't hold up.

This is because the human writer often subconsciously reads what they meant to write rather than what is actually on the page. A model reviewing its own output does the same thing; it evaluates the output against the same patterns and objectives that produced it in the first place.

Similarly, an AI model trained on the same data and optimized for the same signals as the model that wrote the code will carry the same blind spots. It will catch what it's capable of catching, and miss the things that the generating model missed.

Finance figured out this separation-of-duties principle long ago. If the same person who initiates a transaction can also approve it, that opens the door to fraudulent or erroneous transactions. The approval step only works if the approver is independent of the person who initiated the transaction.

Likewise, organizations must introduce a dedicated review tool that operates independently of the system that generated the code. Choosing a different vendor won't automatically solve the problem if the underlying models share the same training data or architectural assumptions.

Genuine independence requires different training data and different signals, and the tool must specifically be built for scrutiny, not completion.

Defense-in-depth

A dedicated review tool is a strong starting point, but separation of duties alone isn't enough. The same principle that argues against a single AI doing everything also applies within the review function itself.

Code review is not a single task. Finding bugs, enforcing standards, assessing risk, and understanding how a change fits into the broader system are separate forms of reasoning, even when they appear in the same pull request.

Asking one agent to handle all of them at once forces tradeoffs between depth, speed, and coverage. In other words, some things will get less attention than they require.

Just as a mature security architecture layers independent controls so that what one misses another catches, a mature review architecture assigns distinct responsibilities to systems optimized for each one.

In practice that might mean one agent focused specifically on security vulnerabilities, another enforcing architectural standards and coding conventions, a third assessing the blast radius of a change, and a human reviewer making the final judgment call on anything flagged as high risk.

Each layer asks different questions and operates on different signals. The goal is ensuring that no single blind spot, including those shared across an AI monoculture, can let a problem through unchallenged.

The shifting role of platform engineering

As AI generates a larger share of production code, organizations will need to designate clear ownership over which AI does what, and ensure the review function doesn't get quietly collapsed into the generation function in the name of efficiency. That responsibility will increasingly fall on platform engineering teams.

The role has traditionally been about making developers more productive by simplifying tooling, maintaining infrastructure, and reducing friction. That work hasn't disappeared, but as developers move from writing code themselves to directing agents that write it for them, platform engineers will need to govern the systems that generate code, not just maintain them.

That means owning the standards those agents follow and ensuring visibility into what’s actually happening across the codebase. Most importantly, it means treating code generation and code review as distinct functions that require distinct capabilities, and resisting the organizational pressure to consolidate them into a single platform because it's simpler to manage.

Organizational memory

As AI handles more of the writing and reviewing, accumulated institutional knowledge gets lost. Why was that architectural decision made two years ago? Which parts of the codebase affect each other in ways that aren't obvious? What broke before and why? AI coding tools don't carry any of that context. They look at the task in front of them, complete it, and move on.

This kind of institutional knowledge used to live in the heads of the engineers who wrote and reviewed the code. As AI takes over more of that work, it needs to be captured in places such as documented standards and recorded review decisions or it simply vanishes. When organizations build that kind of memory into their development process, their systems get smarter about their codebase over time.

That means a review function that doesn't just flag problems in isolation, but learns the organization's standards, remembers past decisions, and understands how different parts of the codebase connect and depend on each other.

Getting ahead of monoculture risk

The AI monoculture risk is what happens when no one asks whether the system reviewing the code is genuinely independent of the system that wrote it.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently argued that the real opportunity in AI is not in picking the best model, but in building a learning loop where human knowledge and AI capability compound together, and that a company should be able to swap out a generalist model without losing the expertise built into its own systems.

That's only possible if the governance infrastructure is built at the same pace as the generation capability.

The organizations that do that early will be in a much better position than those that wait until something breaks.

We've reviewed, rated, and ranked the best vibe coding tools.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

• AdGuard VPN arrives in the Meta Horizon Store as a standalone app
• The new app encrypts all VR activity rather than just browser traffic
• It joins NordVPN, ExpressVPN in offering dedicated Meta Quest apps

Diving into virtual reality has often felt like stepping into a privacy blind spot, but the tools to protect yourself are finally catching up. Following the release of its VR browser extension in March, AdGuard VPN has now officially launched a standalone app for Meta Quest headsets.

Available directly from the Meta Horizon Store, the new dedicated app brings system-wide privacy and security to Horizon OS.

This marks a significant upgrade for users who previously relied on AdGuard's browser-only extension. Now, whether you're battling friends in multiplayer games, streaming Netflix, or simply exploring virtual worlds, your traffic is encrypted across the entire headset.

"AdGuard VPN for Meta Quest works just like our mobile apps: it encrypts your traffic, hides your IP address, and secures your personal data, giving you a safer, unrestricted, and completely private virtual reality experience," the company explained in its official blog post announcement.

AdGuard joins a growing — albeit still small — number of providers offering dedicated Meta Quest apps. So, if you are looking for the best VPN to secure your headset, your options just expanded.

AdGuard — Free and Paid options
AdGuard VPN is a secure and capable VPN that uses an open-source proprietary stealth protocol to evade blocks and advanced security features like post-quantum encryption. It offers a free VPN service capped at 3 GB per month. For unlimited access, plans start from the equivalent of a $2.99 monthly fee and are covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee.View Deal

Why AdGuard VPN's Meta Quest app matters and how to get it

Until recently, securing a VR headset required frustrating workarounds. Users had to configure a virtual private network (VPN) on their router, share a connection from a PC, or sideload an Android app using developer tools. The arrival of native apps eliminates these technical hurdles.

While the AdGuard browser extensions for its VPN and ad-blocker tools launched earlier this year were a welcome addition, it was limited in scope.

As Vladimir Ozersky, Lead Product Manager at AdGuard, notes: "This isn't just another platform for us, it's a leap forward in bringing distraction-free, secure browsing into immersive environments."

The new standalone VPN app takes that leap further by encrypting your IP address in gaming lobbies and dedicated streaming apps, where browser-level protections simply don't reach.

(Image credit: AdGuard)

Installing the new app is just as simple as downloading any other Quest title.

Users can navigate to the Meta Horizon Store on their headset, search for AdGuard VPN, and install the app directly.

Once installed, you can simply sign in to your account to connect to one of its 80+ server locations. The app is compatible with the Meta Quest 2, Quest Pro, Quest 3, and Quest 3S.

The growing list of VPNs on Meta Horizon

AdGuard isn't the first provider to recognize the need for better VR security. The Meta Quest ecosystem has rapidly transformed from a privacy desert into a highly competitive space for cybersecurity firms.

ExpressVPN paved the way in February, launching an "industry-first hybrid" browser extension alongside a dedicated Meta Quest app. This launch made ExpressVPN the first major provider to offer full-device encryption directly on the platform, specifically pitching it as a way to combat ISP throttling during bandwidth-heavy VR gaming.

NordVPN then landed on Meta Horizon in June with its own native application. Much like ExpressVPN and AdGuard, the NordVPN app allows users to encrypt all data leaving the headset without resorting to complex router configurations.

For privacy-conscious users, this growing trend is excellent news. With three major players now offering frictionless, native applications, securing your digital footprint in the metaverse is finally as straightforward as protecting your smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy S26: Two-minute review

Every year, Samsung's S-series lineup consists of three models. There's the entry-level option — in this case, the Galaxy S26 — followed by mid- and high-end offerings, which in 2026 are the Galaxy S26 Plus and Galaxy S26 Ultra. While the Ultra steals most of the headlines, the Galaxy S26 is no slouch. It's a great, well-rounded option for those who want a compact phone or don't want to shell out silly money on buying one of the very best Android phones.

The S26 features a slightly tweaked design versus the Galaxy S25, with a new pill-shaped camera array on the back, a 6.3-inch display, and several color options. Tucked underneath its exterior is a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, 12GB of RAM, and storage options that now start at 256GB (RIP 128GB). All these specs, along with Android 16 and Samsung's feature-packed One UI 8.5 software, combine for a smooth mobile experience.

In terms of endurance, the Galaxy S26's 4,300mAh battery routinely delivered more than a full day of use in my testing, often leaving me with enough juice to go into the next day. And its trio of rear-facing cameras does the job, as does the selfie cam.

One downside is the $100 / £80 price increase over last year's model (though Australian buyers actually get a AU$50 saving). Yes, this is an industry-wide trend right now — but that doesn't make the numbers feel any better. Thankfully, while the S26 starts at $899 / £879 / AU$1,349, it can often be found on sale.

Another blemish is the limited 25W charging speed and lack of internal magnets to fully support Qi2 chargers and accessories without a case.

Overall, then, if you can find the Galaxy S26 on sale and want to stay within the Samsung ecosystem, it's a great pick-up. However, there's stiff competition at this price point — and below it, too.

Samsung Galaxy S26 review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

• Starts at $899 / £879 / AU$1,349 for 256GB + 12GB RAM

Samsung announced the Galaxy S26 line, including the base S26, S26 Plus and S26 Ultra, on February 25, 2026. Preorders opened the same day, and deliveries started March 11.

You can buy the S26 directly from Samsung with a starting price of $899 / £879 / AU$1,349 (which represents a $100 / £80 increase and AU$50 decrease versus the S25). However, Samsung frequently offers discounts, and at the time of writing, the S26 is going for $799 in the US.

Regardless of where you're buying the phone, you'll get double the starting storage versus previous entry-level S-series models (256GB vs 128GB).

Buying directly from Samsung means you'll have two additional color options in Silver Shadow and Pink Gold. Picking it up from third-party retailers like Best Buy and Amazon, or a wireless carrier such as Google Fi or Verizon, limits you to Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, White, or Black.

• Value score: 3 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S26 review: Specs

Here's a breakdown of the Samsung Galaxy S26's key specs:

Dimensions:

149.6 x 71.7 x 7.2 mm

Weight:

167g

Display:

6.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x

Resolution:

2340 x 1080

Refresh rate:

120 Hz

Peak brightness:

2,600 nits

CPU:

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

RAM:

12GB

Storage:

256GB, 512GB

OS:

Android 16 with One UI 8.5

Cameras:

50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide, 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom

Selfie Camera:

12MP

Battery:

4,300mAh

Charging:

25W wired, 15W wireless

Colors:

Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, White, Black, Silver Shadow, Pink Gold

Samsung Galaxy S26 review: DesignFutureFuture

• Same core design as the S25
• New camera array on the back

At first glance, it'd be easy to mistake the S26 for last year's S25. The design differences are small. The biggest visual change is the triple camera array on the back of the phone. Instead of each lens protruding out of the phone's housing, there's a single pill-shaped camera bump. Otherwise, the display is only slightly bigger at 6.3 inches compared to the S25's 6.2 inches. That increase also means the overall size of the phone grew a bit, too. The S26 measures 149.6 x 71.7 x 7.2 mm and weighs 167g.

As previously mentioned, there are a total of six color options available: Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, White, Black, Silver Shadow, and Pink Gold — the latter two of which are exclusive to Samsung.

My daily drivers are an iPhone 15 Pro Max and a Pixel 10 Pro XL, both of which are much larger devices than the S26. Yet, I rather enjoyed the smaller form factor of the S26, and I didn't feel like the smaller display was too small at any time during my testing.

I've often debated whether I should stop using the biggest phone every phone maker offers, and after using the S26 for a couple of weeks, that internal debate is stronger than ever.

The only area I struggled with regarding the design of the Galaxy S26 was the orientation of the sleep/wake button and the volume up/down buttons on the right edge. I found myself instinctively reaching for the volume down button while scrolling through Reels on Instagram, only to press the sleep/wake button and lock the phone. My muscle memory just couldn't adjust to the S26's arrangement, which is the exact opposite of the Pixel 10 Pro XL's, which has volume buttons below the sleep/wake on the same side of its housing.

On the bottom, you'll find a nano-SIM card slot (I thought we were done with physical SIMs?!) and a USB-C port. The left side and top edge of the phone are completely clean.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S26 review: Display

(Image credit: Future)

• Easy to use in direct sunlight
• Smooth refresh rate

The Galaxy S26 features a 6.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 2340 x 1080 resolution and an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. All these technical specs mean one simple thing: it looks fantastic.

Everything from standard text messages to high-res YouTube clips appears incredibly sharp. Gaming is equally impressive; the display delivers fluid, stutter-free graphics in fast-paced titles like Asphalt Legends, which can take full advantage of the S26's 120Hz refresh rate.

The AMOLED panel truly shines — literally — when you take it outdoors, thanks to a rated peak brightness of 2,600 nits. Even under direct midday sun, I had absolutely no trouble reading the screen or navigating through apps.

There's really not much more to say about the Galaxy S26's screen other than it looks great. No issues. 10/10, would recommend.

• Display score: 5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S26 review: Software

• 7 years of software updates
• Multitasking features are nice-to-haves

The Galaxy S26 runs Android 16 with Samsung's One UI 8.5 adding customizations and features to the overall experience. If you've ever used a Samsung phone or tablet, you'll feel right at home with the S26's interface.

One UI used to feel duplicative of the base Android experience, particularly when it came to the apps preinstalled on a phone. For instance, Samsung Messages and Google Messages were both available. However, Samsung recently retired Messages in favor of Google's offering.

Samsung hasn't fully given up on its own apps. The Samsung Browser and Gallery are still available, for example. It's still confusing and a cluttered user experience, but it is getting better.

Default apps aside, One UI is mostly interface tweaks and customizations you don't see on, say, a Pixel phone. For instance, the new gestures to view your notifications or the quick settings panel in One UI 8.5 have taken me some getting used to.

Swiping down from the left three-quarters of the screen opens your notification panel, while swiping down from the top-right quarter reveals your quick settings.

I've been using a Galaxy Z Fold 7 running One UI 8.5 for a few months and adjusted to the new interaction with little effort, but for some reason, the smaller screen of the Galaxy S26 keeps tripping me up.

But I digress.

The Now brief interface on the Samsung Galaxy S26 (Image credit: Future)

Galaxy AI is a big part of Samsung's AI initiative. You can use Galaxy AI to do things like let AI screen an incoming call, use writing and editing tools, photo editing, summarize and prioritize notifications, and even get personalized health insights using your Samsung Health data.

The feature list reads like a standard AI suite on any 2026 phone. That's not a bad thing, by any means.

I used the editing tool (Object Eraser) in the Gallery app to remove objects from photos a few times, and each time it nailed it. I'm not a huge fan of converting photos into pop art or retro anime, but in my brief experimentation with that feature, it mostly worked.

Pre-Object EraserFuturePost-Object EraserFuture

Having said all this, the redundancy of every phone maker and major tech company offering its own version of the same AI features can get overwhelming and confusing for users. Hopefully, after the AI boom goes bust, the mass spamming of AI features for the sake of AI features will stop.

Beyond Galaxy AI, one of my favorite features of the S26's software experience is the ability to touch and drag down on a notification to instantly create a small window for that app. It's super helpful when you want to reply to a message or continue a conversation without switching apps. The first time I triggered it was by accident, but once I figured out how it works, I'd routinely swipe down on the pop-up for an alert, do what I needed to do, and then close out the app — all without leaving whatever app I was in at the time. All phones should offer similar multitasking features.

• Software score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S26 review: Cameras

(Image credit: Future)

• 50MP main camera
• 12MP ultra-wide
• 10MP telephoto

The camera housing on the S26 might be new, but the actual hardware is unchanged from the S25. You still get a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom.

I had fun taking photos with the S26. Samsung phones have historically taken photos that are slightly over-saturated, and sometimes overexposed, but that look pretty darn good at the end of the day, and the S26 is no different.

The phone performed beautifully in brightly lit environments, like when I snapped pics of the new Rivian R2 after a test drive. It also did a solid job of preserving detail and color late in the afternoon as the sun went down during my evening walks.

The telephoto lens works well up to its 3x optical limit, but its digital zoom past that point is hit or miss, especially once you get near the 30x limit. I had hoped I'd be able to read a 'no trespassing' sign posted down the street from me at 30x zoom, and while some of the text is legible, it's difficult to read.

The phone's 12MP front-facing hole-punch camera is centered along the top of its display. It takes good selfies, although it makes me look old. Or maybe I'm getting old. It's probably the latter. Sigh.

• Camera score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S26 review: Camera samplesFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureSamsung Galaxy S26 review: Performance

(Image credit: Future)

• Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset
• 12GB memory
• 256GB starting storage

The Galaxy S26 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, with 12GB of memory and 256GB or 512GB of storage.

All of that combines to provide a smooth overall experience, with no obvious slowdowns in daily use. I spent my time testing the S26 using it as I would my daily phone.

I made random calls, talked in group chats and with my wife and kids, took pics of random stuff, played a game once in a while, streamed music, and watched some videos. The phone handled everything I put it through without any hiccups. Apps launched fast, and multitasking didn't trigger any lag or unresponsiveness.

One thing I noticed while gaming and running benchmarks is that the S26 gets hot. While it never becomes too hot to hold, it can become uncomfortable during extended gaming sessions. After noticing the temperature rise during a benchmark test, I grabbed my infrared thermometer and measured it at 113 degrees Fahrenheit.

Although I didn't have a case to test with, I imagine a case will likely cause the phone to heat up faster and potentially throttle its performance. This isn't a dealbreaker, but it's something to keep in mind.

Samsung Galaxy S26 benchmark scores

Geekbench 6 single-core

3,616

Geekbench 6 multi-core

10,827

3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test best

6,933

3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test low

2,962

3DMark Solar Bay

12,007

• Performance score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S26 review: Battery

(Image credit: Future)

• 4,300mAh battery
• 25W wired charging
• 15W wireless charging

Inside the Galaxy S26 is a 4,300mAh battery that's big enough to power through 30 hours of continuous video playback, according to Samsung's claims. In practice, that claim held up. I was easily able to get through a full day of heavy use — starting at 6am and ending around 10pm — and still have enough juice left to make it into the lunch hour the following day.

I felt spoiled while testing the S26, especially since my aging iPhone 15 Pro Max now needs to be recharged multiple times a day.

I normally don't leave my phone overnight without plugging it in, letting it drain precious battery in the process. But I wanted to see just how far I could push the S26's battery, and it delivered. I routinely saw a drop in charge of 4-5% overnight.

When it came time to charge the S26, using a 25W power adapter nets you an 18% charge from empty in 15 minutes. A full charge with the same adapter took 1 hour and 35 minutes. That's slightly slower than the Motorola Razr Plus 2026 I recently tested, but to be expected considering the Razr charges at up to 45W.

Wireless charging is an option at 15W with support for the Qi2 standard. However, there are no magnets in the phone to hold any compatible wireless charger or accessory in place. Instead, you'll need to buy a Qi2-compatible case that includes a ring of magnets to take full advantage of the feature.

I'm sure this is a design and cost-saving decision, but it's an odd one. As someone who uses a MagSafe wallet and has MagSafe chargers all over my home, office, and even in my truck, I've noticed the lack of magnets in the Galaxy S26 daily. At least fixing the problem is just a simple case purchase away.

The S26 also supports reverse wireless charging at up to 4.5W, which isn't a whole lot of power, but it's perfect for those situations when you need to recharge your smartwatch or wireless earbuds while on the go.

• Battery score: 4 / 5

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S26?Samsung Galaxy S26 scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

An unwelcome price increase over last year's model.

3 / 5

Design

A tried-and-true design that looks great.

4 / 5

Display

A display that hits all the marks of what you'd want in a flagship phone.

5 / 5

Software

Android 16 and One UI 8.5 team up to provide a reliable experience.

4 / 5

Cameras

All three cameras take solid pics, but don't rely on the telephoto past 3x.

4 / 5

Performance

Quick and powerful, but the phone does get hot during intense tasks.

4 / 5

Battery

All-day battery life is welcome, but slow charging speeds are not.

4 / 5

Buy it if...

You want a Samsung phone
The base S26 doesn't totally break the bank, but you are paying more for a Samsung phone than you would with, say, a Google Pixel. But if you're in the Samsung ecosystem, then that extra expense may be worth it.

You want a workhorse
The Galaxy S26's performance doesn't know when to quit. Gaming, multitasking, and doom-scrolling aren't an issue — just don't play graphically intensive titles for too long!

You want all-day battery life
The S26's 4,300mAh battery powered through a full day and then some in our testing.

Don't buy it if...

You want faster charging
Being limited to 25W wired charging means topping off your battery in a hurry just isn't going to happen.

You want full magnetic Qi2 support
The S26 supports the Qi2 wireless charging standard, but you won't find a single magnet on the back of the phone. You'll have to buy a magnet-equipped case for that.

Samsung Galaxy S26 review: Also consider

Google Pixel 10
Google's Pixel 10 checks all of the same boxes as the Galaxy S26, with a starting price of $799. It often goes on sale for much less than that, too.

Read our full Google Pixel 10 review

Apple iPhone 17
It doesn't run Android, but Apple's iPhone 17 matches the S26's size, performance, battery life, and camera quality, with a starting price of $799.

Read our full iPhone 17 review

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy S26Why you can trust TechRadar

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I spent two weeks testing the Galaxy S26, using it as I would my everyday smartphone. I sent countless BlueBubble messages, played games, streamed music, and watched far more TheBurntPeanut streams and clips than I care to admit. I took pics of my food, my pets, and other daily randomness, as one does.

Read more about how we test

First tested July 2026

• Microsoft reports Russian APT29 (Midnight Blizzard) hijacking captive portals in hotels and conference centers
• Victims redirected to fake Microsoft 365 logins or bogus update pages, spreading CornFlake and CocoShell malware
• CornFlake steals files, credentials, and device data; CocoShell targets browser cookies, passwords, and Microsoft tokens

Threat actors are taking over Wi-Fi networks in hotels and conference centers and using the log-in portals to steal credentials and deploy information-stealing malware, experts have claimed.

Researchers from Microsoft have published a new report outlining how they spotted Russian state-sponsored actors, known as Midnight Blizzard or APT29, attacking captive portal equipment - networking hardware and software that manages the login page users see before accessing public Wi-Fi.

When connecting to a hotel network, users are often redirected to a page where they must enter their room number, accept the terms of service, and click “Connect” - that redirection is handled by the captive portal.

CornFlake and CocoShell

Microsoft did not explain exactly how this gear is attacked. However, when users try to log in on compromised networks, they may be redirected to a fake Microsoft 365 login portal that steals their credentials.

They may also be redirected to device code phishing pages abusing Microsoft Entra ID authentication flows. Finally, the researchers also saw the captive portals being used to display fake browser and OS update pages that trick victims into downloading infostealers.

So far, MIcrosoft found two malware variants being distributed: CornFlake, and CocoShell.

CornFlake acts as an infostealer capable of grabbing keystrokes and clipboard, running remote shell access, grabbing screenshots, using the microphone and the webcam, stealing browser credentials and cookies, exfiltrating files, and more. It presents itself as a “Cloud Sync Service” while using multiple persistence mechanisms.

CocoShell, on the other hand, is an in-memory PowerShell credential stealer targeting browser cookies, saved passwords, Microsoft 365 and Azure AD tokens, and Wi-Fi credentials.

APT29 is one of the most documented state-sponsored threat actors out there. It’s been active for years and is well-known for its links to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service and notable attacks on high-ranking western targets, such as US and German Government officials, as well as SolarWinds and Microsoft.