Technology

• Nvidia wants to turn Germany's retired nuclear sites into AI data centers
• Germany's nuclear shutdown leaves dozens of former power stations awaiting dismantling
• Nvidia and PreussenElektra are investigating new uses for Germany's retired nuclear facilities

Nvidia has agreed to examine whether shuttered German reactor sites could become computing hubs, though the company rules out restarting any idle units.

The US chipmaker signed a preliminary agreement with PreussenElektra GmbH (PEL), a utility from Germany, to study the idea at decommissioned locations.

The arrangement does not involve generating electricity from fission for any future facility, since the work concentrates on existing grid links and water access.

Reusing sites without reviving reactors

Following the Fukushima incident, Germany permanently closed its final operating reactors in April 2023 and is now dismantling about 30 atomic stations nationwide.

PreussenElektra oversees the closure and teardown of eight of those stations, and these are probably the locations that will receive scrutiny.

Neither company has named the sites under review, so the eight locations managed by PreussenElektra remain an assumption rather than a confirmed list.

“Our former power plant sites have valuable industrial infrastructure and offer opportunities for new, future-oriented uses,” said Guido Knott, chairman of PEL’s management board.

“Together with NVIDIA, we intend to conduct a sound assessment of whether and how these conditions can be leveraged for AI factories.”

The assessment will review grid connections, open land and industrial infrastructure to judge whether each site satisfies the strict operating requirements of AI factories.

The two companies say they will test whether the sites can meet engineering and running needs while supporting Germany's computing capacity for AI.

Cost savings and an unproven case

New data center facilities normally need well-located land, industrial zone approvals, access to water for cooling, and powerful grid connections, which former atomic stations already possess.

Nvidia hopes that reusing these locations could lower expenses and shorten development schedules compared with constructing new campuses during an unprecedented expansion of AI infrastructure.

“AI factories require access to power, land and high-capacity infrastructure, and former industrial sites could provide a strong foundation for this next generation of computing,” said Markus Hacker, senior regional director at Nvidia.

“Together with PreussenElektra, we will assess how its sites could meet the technical and operational requirements of AI factories and contribute to Germany’s high-performance AI infrastructure.”

Both companies describe the effort as exploratory, and neither has disclosed funding figures, sanctioned designs or binding building contracts, so the idea remains unproven.

Reusing atomic stations looks efficient on paper, yet neither company has shown that grid capacity at the sites matches the power appetite of AI clusters.

Approval processes for dismantled facilities, local acceptance and the cost of conversion remain unaddressed, so any savings in time or money are still speculative.

The refusal to revive reactors may ease political concerns in Germany, although the announcement does not say whether regional authorities or residents have been consulted.

Via Tom's Hardware

Hisense XR10: One-minute review

The Hisense XR10 offers powerful projection that you can put all over the room and still get squared away. That’s thanks to extensive optical adjustments that include incredible zoom range and lens shift. Hisense definitely cranked up the elegance this year.

The Hisense XR10 is loaded up with blazing RGB lasers that give it stunning brightness and color, while an adjustable iris can help it clamp down black levels for dark room viewing with enhanced contrast. It’s all packed into a stylish box that’s much smaller and more portable than high-end theater projectors like the Sony Bravia Projector 7, and Hisense’s included carrying case will let you take it places in style.

(Image credit: Future)

All of this comes at a high price, though. The Hisense XR10 is $5,999 / £5,999 / AU$9,999 after falling from the original $6,999 price tag in the US. Though it has decent speakers for a projector and a serviceable operating system in VidaaOS, these don’t lend a ton of extra value. It also jumped the gun a bit and missed out on the VRR and 4K/120Hz support that a newer wave of projectors are offering. At its price, it’s not going to lead the charge for value, but you do get a lot for the money. It’s still probably worth waiting to see if the XGIMI Horizon 30 Ultra Max, JMGO Iris Ultra Max, and Hisense C3 Ultra Max leave the XR10 any room to breathe.

Hisense XR10 review: Price and release date

• Release date: mid 2026
• MSRP: $5,999 / £5,999 / AU$9,999

The Hisense XR10 made its debut at CES 2026 and started shipping in May. It came with an initial price of $6,999 / £5,999 / AU$9,999 but that US price has generally fallen to $5,999. In the time it’s been out, some deals have even brought it as low as $4,499, but it hasn’t been a sticky price drop and prices elsewhere seem to be much more static.

For the money, Hisense does include a special carrying case that’s far and away the highest quality one I’ve seen included with a projector like this. But even then it’s not adding thousands of dollars in value.

Hisense XR10 review: specs

Supported screen sizes

65-300 inches

Optical technology

3 Laser DLP

Brightness (specified)

6,000 Lumens

Audio

2x8-watt + 15-watt speakers

Ports

2x HDMI 2.1 (1x eARC), 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB-A, 1x optical, 1x 3.5mm audio

Smart TV

VidaaOS

Dimensions

11.5 x 10.7 x 8.4 inches

Weight

23.4 pounds

Hisense XR10 review: design and features

• Stylish, compact design and serious carrying case
• Highly adjustable optics
• VidaaOS is quick but may be limiting

Hisense has built something particularly gorgeous with the XR10. It simply looks like a work of serious engineering with its brown metal casing, stylish venting and machined accents, knurled lens cover, oversize lens cover, and dark color scheme. The front's sensor array also looks highly technical. The top is a little plain, but Hisense has included a volume dial, power button, ambient light sensor, and a little aesthetic nod to the RGB laser system inside.

The Hisense XR10 is a modestly sized box at 11.5 x 10.7 x 8.4 inches / 292.1 x 271.8 x 213.4 mm, yet with all its packing in it ends up weighing a considerable 23.4 pounds / 10.6kg. To help you lug it around, Hisense includes a fashionable carrying case that looks more like a piece of luggage than the styrofoam cases many projectors come with. It's complete with straps, zippers, padded slots for each component, and it even has wheels and an extendable handle for rolling.

(Image credit: Future)

The projector has everything it needs to help you get it set up for perfect alignment with your screen. It stands on four height-adjustable feet, so you can get it level and squared away with the wall. And it offers extensive zoom and lens shift capabilities. It can shift from a short throw ratio of 0.84:1 all the way to a 2:1 throw ratio, this means you can set it close to a wall or screen and still get a big picture or set it far from that screen and shrink it down to fit without having to use digital cropping. Plenty of competitors are offering zoom now, but the XR10 has a far wider range than most.

The XR10 goes well beyond that, too, adding on 130% vertical lens shift and 46% horizontal lens shift. This makes it much easier to set the projector wherever is convenient for you and still be able to dial in a crisp, perfectly aligned projection where you want it.

Hisense has also built in some automatic picture correction, like screen fitting and obstacle avoidance, but the projector tends to try zooming all the way out to make those corrections. So it's very easy to end up in a situation where the projection is simply too large for the projector to figure out what to do to fit it onto a small screen. Some features also get locked out if lens shift is used, like automatic keystone correction (something you should skip anyway) and eye protection (something it’s also great to have because these are some bright lasers).

(Image credit: Future)

Around back, the Hisense XR10 is pretty well geared up for serious home theater use. It includes a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports one of which supports eARC as well as one HDMI 2.0 port. It also includes a set of two USB 3.0 ports, a gigabit ethernet port, and both optical and 3.5mm analog audio outputs.

That ethernet port could be useful, but the XR10 actually has Wi-Fi 7 on board, so you can get pretty fast networking wirelessly as well. With that wireless connection, you can easily access streaming services using the built-in operating system, which is unfortunately not Google TV.

Instead it’s Hisense's own VidaaOS. It has most of the major streaming apps and some extras like Xbox Cloud Gaming but there's plenty that's missing. On the bright side, navigating the software is fairly quick and Hisense's included remote has a dedicated input button so you don't have to spend much time in VidaaOS if you want to use an external source for video.

(Image credit: Future)

The XR10 offers serious brightness for a small box, so there’s a bit of fan whir in operation to keep the insides cool. It’s noticeable in a quiet room when sitting close to the projector, but it’s easily drowned out by the 2.1-channel sound system.

The remote control included with the XR10 is a fairly simple one, offering directional navigation and direct access to input selection, autofocus, voice input, the settings menu, the home screen, volume and brightness controls, a mute button, and shortcuts to Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, and Disney+. It also has backlighting, but it's only activated after you press a button, not motion activated.

• Design & features score: 4.5 / 5

Hisense XR10 review: picture quality and performance

• Brilliantly colorful, stunningly bright, and capable of deep black levels
• Good gaming chops
• Punchy sound, but not cinematic

One of the greatest aspects of the Hisense XR10 is its color, coming by way of its RGB laser light source. For most content, it can look perfectly natural, but when it really comes time to jazz things up, it’s simply amazing. The attack on Rosalina’s home in the beginning of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a stunning showcase of its capabilities, with dazzling magical effects, so many colorful stars, and plenty of opportunity for the XR10 to demonstrate its vibrant color.

As the convoy heads out at the beginning of Mad Max: Fury Road, the subtle reds of the sand against the blues of the sky are simply gorgeous, and the deeper reds of the flamethrowers are all the more vibrant. The inside of the sandstorm is simply wondrous, with the chaotic flashing of lightning playing against the deep shadows.

All that color comes alongside serious brightness. In my testing with the projector in its Vivid picture settings, with the iris open and brightness set to maximum, I measured it outputting 6,841 lumens. It has the potential to go higher with a cooler white point and a Brightness Enhanced mode, reaching 7,757 lumens, but this tints the whole picture green.

In practice, the high brightness means the XR10 is strong enough to use in a room even if you’re not doing much to shut out ambient light. I found watching a lot of content even with some of my room lights on more than comfortable, and depending on what I was watching, I could even get away with leaving the windows open in the middle of the day and still see well enough.

FutureFutureFuture

The Hisense XR10 offers potent contrast as well. It’s exhibited splendidly in Dune 2 during the black-and-white Harkkonen coliseum fight. Even without color, there’s splendid detail and rich shadows. This contrast comes by way of the low black levels that the projector is capable of by shutting down its iris. In all but the darkest scenes I find that the letterboxes around some videos appear almost completely black.

The projector gets dark enough that light control in the room actually becomes rather important. Light hitting the screen can bounce around the room and end up back on the screen where it should be dark, and this raises the black level. Using a VESA test pattern with two bright boxes in the corners of an otherwise black screen, I measured a contrast of 362:1 without controlling for room reflections. By blocking out the white boxes with black velvet, I could simulate a light-controlled room and measured a 3,251:1 contrast ratio. That was with the optical iris open. Cranking the iris down to its lowest level, I measured a 11,194:1 contrast ratio.

The XR10 uses motion interpolation by default, and this tends to introduce a lot of motion artifacts, though it can be a benefit to panning shots. I’ve found the visuals look smooth enough and avoid issues with the motion interpolation set to Film or disabled outright.

FutureFuture

Gaming on the XR10 is a joy. It supports both 4K/60Hz and 1080p/240Hz modes with very low latency in both, even without enabling Game Mode. I dashed through levels in Hades 2, easily keeping up with the pace of combat and played through 007: First Light while enjoying the deep cinematic shadows the projector enabled. The XR10 misses out on VRR, though, and a new crop of projectors are bringing in 4K/120Hz capabilities as well, leaving the XR10 a little bit behind on those fronts.

The audio of the XR10 is quite something for a box as small as it is. It features a 2.1-speaker setup with two main drivers and a subwoofer. There’s a bit of low-end brunt to it, though I found the volume drops off a cliff below about 70Hz, leaving the deepest rumble out of the picture. The speakers do a good job with most content and get plenty loud without distorting, but they don’t have much stereo separation to help along with the stunning cinematic quality of the projection.

For what it’s worth, the XR10 still comes with the DLP rainbow effect. It’s not as bad as I’ve seen on some DLP projectors, tending only to be noticeable with white on black visuals, but it may be distracting to those who are particularly susceptible to it.

• Picture quality & performance score: 4.5 / 5

Hisense XR10 review: value

• Premium price
• Capable and flexible projection

There’s no getting around the fact that, at $5,999 / £5,999 / AU$9,999, the Hisense XR10 is a very expensive projector, even next to a lot of its competition. It outprices models like the XGIMI Titan Noir Pro, XGIMI Horizon 30 Ultra Max, JMGO Iris Ultra Max, and even Hisense’s own C3 Ultra Max, and by a considerable amount. It is on the bright side of these projectors, though not the brightest. What it does have is a greater zoom range than any of these with its ability to go to a 2:1 throw ratio. For anyone who critically needs flexibility in positioning, that could be a big advantage.

The inclusion of decent speakers for a projector and a streaming operating system are nice to see, but not something that sets the XR10 far apart from its competition.

Ultimately the XR10 ends up with a sizable premium that might be hard to justify for everyone who’s seeking the most value. But if you’re after high-powered projection and serious capabilities, there are really only a few options that effectively undercut this one, and we're yet to see how well they hold up to their promises.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Hisense XR10?Hisense XR10 Scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Design and features

The Hisense XR10 is a complete package with advanced and highly flexible optics, powerful projection, punchy speakers, a competent operating system, plenty of ports, and strong wireless connectivity, all packed into an elegant box.

4.5/5

Picture quality and performance

The XR10’s RGB laser light source offers stunning brightness and looks wonderfully crisp through the optical system. The projector can get plenty dark using its iris, making it great for viewing in both bright and dark rooms. It has solid gaming chops as well, though VRR would have been a bonus. The speakers also leave a little bit to be desired but are still pretty solid for a projector like this.

4.5/5

Value

The XR10 brings a lot to the table, all in one package. But, it asks a high price, and a new fleet of projectors are offering a lot of its capabilities for much lower prices. Most don’t match its optical adjustments, but for many people, that may not be so critical.

4/5

Buy it if...

You want both bright and dark room viewing chops
The magic of the Hisense XR10 is that it can both get extremely bright and dial things down for excellent darkroom viewing. If you just wanted one or the other, you could find a cheaper projector that was capable enough.

You don’t like the gimbal stand aesthetic
Many of the high-end projectors that the XR10 would compete with have all jumped on the gimbal stand train. The XR10, meanwhile, sticks to a standard box format that might be a little bit easier to find space for and is much easier to level horizontally.

You need the lumens
Brighter projectors simply cost more, and the XR10 is terrifically bright. If you know you’re going to constantly be battling ambient light or are going to take advantage of its maximum projection size, it may be worth it.

Don't buy it if...

You’re not going to put it to work
If you don’t plan on using the full brightness, engaging the iris, or adjusting the optics from time to time, you won’t be getting the most out of the XR10 and could be just as well served by a cheaper model.

Gaming is your main use
The XR10 is good at gaming, but the latest wave of projectors steps it up with VRR and 4K/120Hz support. Many are nearly as bright and cheaper.

You can wait a few months
The new wave of projectors from Hisense, Xgimi, and JMGO promise a lot of what the XR10 is delivering at a much lower price. If their performance pans out, they could be a real bargain next to the XR10.

Hisense XR10 review: Also consider

Hisense XR10

Valerion VisionMaster Max

JMGO N3 Ultimate

Xgimi Horizon 20 Max

Price:

$5,999

$3,999

$2,999

$2,999

Screen sizes supported:

65 to 300 inches

40 to 300 inches

40 to 300 inches

40-300 inches

Brightness (specified):

6,000 lumens

3,500 lumens

5,800 lumens

5,700 ISO lumens

HDR support

HDR10+, HLG, Dolby Vision

HDR10+, HLG, Dolby Vision

HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision

Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG, IMAX Enhanced

Optical technology:

3 Laser DLP

3 Laser DLP

3 Laser DLP

Triple laser DLP

Smart TV:

VidaaOS

Google TV

Google TV

Google TV

Connections:

2x HDMI 2.1 (1x eARC), 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB-A, 1x optical, 1x 3.5mm audio

2x HDMI 2.1, 1x HDMI 2.0 (with eARC), 1x optical, 1x 3.5mm

2x HDMI 2.1 (1 with eARC), 1x HDMI 2.0 , 1x optical, 1x 3.5mm

2x HDMI (x1 eARC), 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, 1x 3.5mm, 1x optical audio out

Valerion VisionMaster Max
If you don’t need all the brightness the XR10 offers, the VisionMaster Max offers a wonderful picture and exceptional black levels to rival the XR10 while including optical adjustments of its own, costing less, and bringing Google TV to the table. Read our full Valerion VisionMaster Max review.

JMGO N3 Ultimate
The JMGO N3 Ultimate isn’t quite as flexible, and it doesn’t adapt as well to dark rooms, but it comes at a fraction of the price, supports VRR, and is competitively bright.

Xgimi Horizon 20 Max
Xgimi’s Horizon 20 Max also provides an alternative with competitive brightness, Google TV, and admirable performance. It also won’t quite win in a dark room battle, but that may not matter for everyone. Read our full Xgimi Horizon 20 Max review.

How I tested the Hisense XR10

• Tested at home in multiple, real-world viewing conditions
• Presented the display with a variety of media and formats
• I have tested numerous projectors and displays over the last half-decade

I tested the Hisense XR10 at home, in real-world conditions. This saw it faced with ambient light coming in from numerous windows, in-room lighting, as well as ambient noise that both the projector and speaker systems had to overcome. The projector was tested both against a bare, white wall and an Akia Screens CineWhite screen. It was presented with streamed content, HDR and non-HDR, and console gameplay.

My testing evaluates the projector’s performance with respect to its price and competition from other models I and colleagues at TechRadar have tested.

I have been testing projectors since 2021 and displays for even longer.

• First reviewed: October 2026
• Read TechRadar's review guarantee

• Knicks employees expecting free championship rings received mandatory cybersecurity training instead
• A fake championship ring offer exposed employees to an internal phishing test
• Madison Square Garden admitted that using championship jewellery as bait was inappropriate

The New York Knicks have faced criticism after sending employees an email promising complimentary NBA championship rings that turned out to be a cybersecurity exercise.

Staff members who accepted the invitation were reportedly required to complete cybersecurity training instead of receiving jewellery commemorating the franchise's historic victory.

The incident involved workers at Madison Square Garden, where expectations of receiving championship memorabilia had already grown following the team's successful season.

Fake championship ring offer triggers mandatory training

The deceptive message circulated in late September, offering recipients personalized jewellery supposedly manufactured by the same company responsible for producing players' rings.

Employees could select between two advertised designs, Championship Gold and Garden Classic, before following a link to register their preferred choice.

However, the invitation was actually part of an internal security assessment intended to identify workers susceptible to fraudulent messages and credential theft.

Those who followed the instructions were reportedly assigned compulsory cybersecurity lessons, although the organization has not disclosed how many employees were affected.

Joe Vardon, a senior NBA journalist at The Athletic, reported that several individuals familiar with the situation verified the exercise's purpose.

The report also raised questions about whether the invitation contained recognizable warning signs that might have helped employees identify the deception.

Such exercises commonly use suspicious addresses or misleading website links, although the specific indicators included in this particular message remain unknown.

The controversy followed the Knicks' first NBA championship since 1973, making the promised jewellery particularly significant for employees celebrating the achievement.

Receiving commemorative jewellery was also a reasonable expectation because NBA organizations commonly distribute less expensive versions to personnel outside their playing squads.

Madison Square Garden acknowledges its mistake

Madison Square Garden Sports subsequently acknowledged the incident, describing its decision to exploit employees' expectations as inappropriate.

“Using the rings as a lure to gain employees’ attention was an unfortunate mistake,” it said in an official statement.

The organization explained that its security concerns stemmed from an earlier cyberattack in which employee credentials were compromised through a similar fraudulent communication.

Hackers had reportedly used those credentials to access company systems and subsequently extort the organization, prompting additional efforts to improve employee awareness.

The company also disclosed plans to distribute more than 275 commemorative items among players, coaches, employees and other individuals associated with the franchise.

According to the organization, those gifts, comprising championship rings and other jewellery, carry a combined estimated value exceeding $3.7 million.

However, the distribution arrangements have attracted attention because several assistant coaches initially received empty presentation boxes during the championship celebration.

The assistants are expected to obtain their rings later, although numerous long-time arena employees and business personnel reportedly remain excluded entirely.

The organization has not specified exactly how many workers will receive individual rings rather than alternative jewellery under its announced distribution arrangements.

Via Arstechnica

Maxing out the new touchscreen MacBook Pro with a M5 Max chip and 16TB of storage will cost more than buying 10 basic MacBook Air laptops.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, October 28 (game #1738).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1739) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1739) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.

Quordle today (game #1739) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1739) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1739) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• P

• M

• S

• U

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1739) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1739, are…

• PRUDE
• MINUS
• SAVOY
• USHER

Once I decided I had a word ending in S-U-S my first thought was “sinus”.

Fortunately, due to my starter word of “slate” I had already ruled out any other words (after SAVOY) beginning with S, so it had to be MINUS.

This was just one of many things that seemed to work in my favor today, all of which makes me suspect a dastardly game tomorrow.

Daily Sequence today (game #1739) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1739, are…

• SCOLD
• DELTA
• ACORN
• PLAID

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1738, Wednesday, 28 October: DEALT, FLUME, SLEEK, RELIC
• Quordle #1737, Tuesday, 27 October: ANKLE, HAVOC, SULKY, WHITE
• Quordle #1736, Monday, 26 October: ASSAY, GLEAM, MUCUS, WRING
• Quordle #1735, Sunday, 25 October: RAINY, BUSED, PROXY, UNDID
• Quordle #1734, Saturday, 24 October: TOXIN, SMART, MOUSE, STYLE
• Quordle #1733, Friday, 23 October: BLIMP, HOIST, FRIED, LURID
• Quordle #1732, Thursday, 22 October: DECAL, WIDTH, WOKEN, LEVER
• Quordle #1731, Wednesday, 21 October: MOIST, VALVE, VERSE, NORTH
• Quordle #1730, Tuesday, 20 October: COYLY, SAUNA, TRIAL, RASPY
• Quordle #1729, Monday, 19 October: EXIST, DECOY, HITCH, FLUID
• Quordle #1728, Sunday, 18 October: FLINT, FUROR, WEDGE, RODEO
• Quordle #1727, Saturday, 17 October: QUARK, ENEMY, SPASM, BLOCK
• Quordle #1726, Friday, 16 October: SHORT, WORTH, JOIST, SLUNK
• Quordle #1725, Thursday, 15 October: STALE, EPOCH, PIANO, CORNY
• Quordle #1724, Wednesday, 14 October: TIMID, GROUP, GRILL, EVERY
• Quordle #1723, Tuesday, 13 October: FLUFF, DEBUT, TEETH, STEIN
• Quordle #1722, Monday, 12 October: HELLO, BELOW, RIGHT, SLANT
• Quordle #1721, Sunday, 11 October: LILAC, INLET, TRIAD, SHAPE
• Quordle #1720, Saturday, 10 October: SWEAT, THIRD, RURAL, CLASP
• Quordle #1719, Friday, 9 October: OLDEN, DUNCE, SWATH, HILLY

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, October 28 (game #1235).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1236) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• TUXEDO
• TRAFFIC LIGHT
• ROMAN
• EMPEROR
• PARKING METER
• CANDY CORN
• NEAPOLITAN
• PIGGY BANK
• TYPEWRITER
• WISHING WELL
• GOTHIC
• ANTARCTICA
• CALICO
• WADDLE
• SANS
• PAYPHONE

NYT Connections today (game #1236) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Insert cash in these
• GREEN: All linked to a non-flying bird
• BLUE: Type with missing words
• PURPLE: Triple shade

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1236) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: THINGS YOU PUT COINS INTO
• GREEN: ASSOCIATED WITH PENGUINS
• BLUE: ENDS OF FAMOUS FONTS
• PURPLE: THINGS THAT FEATURE THREE COLORS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1236) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1236, are…

• YELLOW: THINGS YOU PUT COINS INTO: PARKING METER, PAYPHONE, PIGGY BANK, WISHING WELL
• GREEN: ASSOCIATED WITH PENGUINS: ANTARCTICA, EMPEROR, TUXEDO, WADDLE
• BLUE: ENDS OF FAMOUS FONTS: GOTHIC, ROMAN, SANS, TYPEWRITER
• PURPLE: THINGS THAT FEATURE THREE COLORS: CALICO, CANDY CORN, NEAPOLITAN, TRAFFIC LIGHT

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

When I was a full-time journalist, I was a peak procrastinator and would often spend ages choosing the exact font for an article instead of just sticking with one (I think it may be apparent here why I am a former full-time journalist).

I came to peace with it in the end and considered it part of the thinking process — but it also meant that the tiles SANS, ROMAN, TYPEWRITER and GOTHIC immediately jumped out at me. Not that I’d ever write anything using Comic Sans of course (people have been sentenced to prison for less).

From here I thought I spotted four types of penguins and included CALICO instead of WADDLE because I had some vague memory of Calico penguins when I should have been thinking of Calico cats. Anyway, no harm done as I got them with the next go and escaped with just one mistake.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, October 28, 2026, game #1235)

• YELLOW: ROMANTIC LIKING: ATTRACTION, CRUSH, FEELINGS, INTEREST
• GREEN: COMPONENTS OF AN EMAIL: ATTACHMENT, BODY, SIGNATURE, SUBJECT
• BLUE: NASA MARS ROVERS: CURIOSITY, OPPORTUNITY, PERSEVERANCE, SPIRIT
• PURPLE: HOMOPHONES OF PATHS: COARSE, RODE, ROUT, WEIGH

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, October 28 (game #969).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #970) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Double, double toil and trouble

NYT Strands today (game #970) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• WIZARD
• BURN
• DESK
• COATED
• WOBBLE
• RAIL

NYT Strands today (game #970) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 8 letters

NYT Strands today (game #970) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: left, 4th row

• Last side: right, 4th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #970) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #970, are…

• WORM
• FIRE
• TONGUE
• SNAKE
• NEWT
• BUBBLE
• LIZARD
• BLOOD
• SPANGRAM: CAULDRON

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Wizard being a non-game word completely threw me.

I felt certain something like Witches and Wizards would be today’s spangram and completely missed seeing LIZARD.

Instead, the theme was CAULDRON and the many things witches in William Shakespeare’s MacBeth threw into their “hell broth” (something that surely should be available alongside Chicken and Beef bone broth) in order to send the would-be king insane.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, October 28, game #969)

• FARCE
• SKETCH
• IMPROV
• SLAPSTICK
• BURLESQUE
• SPANGRAM: FUNNYBUSINESS

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

SteelSeries Sensei Pro Mini: Review

The Sensei Pro Mini brings pro-grade wireless performance to those who prefer less of a handful, thanks to its state-of-the-art polling technology and ceaseless power.

It has the same symmetrical shape as its larger sibling but on a smaller scale. Its size should prove suitable for those with smaller hands, allowing them to get a secure grip around the entire unit. At just 49g, it’s very light, too — lighter than the standard model by 4g — which makes it easy to maneuver.

The sidewalls have a pronounced cinch that forces you to clamp your thumb and ring finger further inwards than is typical, which some may prefer for added security. Grip tape is included in the box if you require more traction, which is entirely possible given the smoothness of the outer shell. The central hump might prove contentious in terms of fit, though: in my experience, it didn’t sit back far enough in my hand, landing underneath my knuckles rather than in the middle of my palm.

(Image credit: Future)

To customize and tweak the Sensei Pro Mini, you can use SteelSeries’ GG peripheral software. Here you can rebind all six buttons, with a fair amount of mapping options available, including keyboard inputs and shortcuts for media controls and system actions. You’ll find some standard performance tweaks as well, including DPI adjustments, although the range is larger than you’ll usually find on other gaming mice (between 1 to 65,000). There are five presets to customize, which you can cycle through using the DPI button underneath the mouse.

There are more advanced tweaks in addition to these, though. You can adjust the click response between 0ms and 20ms, and set the lift-off and landing distances independently, each with a range of 0.7 to 1.7 (presumably this refers to millimeters, though no unit of measurement is given). You can also enable a feature called Scroll Jump Protection, which ignores your first scroll unless a second is performed within a certain time of the first. This threshold is adjustable between 100ms and 1500ms. Motion Sync and Angle Snapping toggles are here as well, with the latter featuring a slider with 10 levels to adjust its straightening effect.

(Image credit: Future)

This isn’t all, though: a further section lets you adjust acceleration, with several graph curve presets available to alter cursor speed relative to movement speed, as well as the angle of the mouse’s sensor by 45 degrees either side of center to match the natural angle of your hand movements.

Then there are the polling and sensor adjustments. You can set the ultra-wideband (UWB) polling rate and the sensor report rate independently, each with a range of 125Hz to 8KHz (with added 9KHz overpolling). There are five presets containing various combinations of both rates, which can be cycled through using the button on the UWB base station.

GG is clearly laid out and proved fast and stable during my time with it. It also contains explanations for many of its settings, which is something I’m always glad to see. One minor gripe I had is that the actual area to make adjustments and customizations opens in a second window, which is somewhat inconvenient.

(Image credit: Future)

The first thing that’s noticeable about the Sensei Pro Mini’s performance is just how smoothly it glides. This is no doubt thanks to the large PTFE skates underneath. There’s almost no friction when gliding over a mouse mat, which makes the Sensei Pro Mini feel incredibly gratifying to fling around, yet also allows for super-controlled slow movements.

Next is the Sensei Pro Mini’s buttons. Clicks are light and snappy enough for quick spams, yet still provide enough feedback to allow for controlled inputs. They also have just enough dampening to make them satisfying to use. The side buttons are great to use as well, being easy to reach and offering a clicky, tactile feel. The same is true of the middle click, and I didn’t trigger miscrolls when using it, since the notching, while light, is tight enough to prevent accidental knocks from registering. This also means that quick flicks and controlled single scrolls are both relatively easy to perform.

My one issue with the inputs concerns the DPI button. It’s underneath the Sensei Pro Mini, which makes it harder to access. This is exacerbated by the fact it’s placed on the thumb side (for right handers) rather than the pinkie side, which means you can’t wrap your fingers underneath to press it without turning the mouse over.

(Image credit: Future)

I didn’t experience any connectivity issues with the Sensei Pro Mini. Given the sheer size of the UWB station itself I would’ve been disappointed if I had. Also, the cable provided to connect it to your PC is long enough to give you versatile placement options to avoid interference. It’s a shame a mouse this expensive doesn’t have additional Bluetooth support, though; many other wireless gaming mice feature this, allowing you to hot-switch between two devices.

To power the Sensei Pro Mini, SteelSeries has kitted it out with its ‘infinite’ battery system, something it and a few other brands have used in mice and other peripherals before. The idea is that you’ll never need to go wired (the Sensei Pro Mini doesn’t even have a USB port) to charge. Instead, you’re provided a pair of removable batteries that you cycle between your mouse and the charging dock in the UWB station.

(Image credit: Future)

This system works well, as it’s quick and easy to remove and insert the batteries — just as well, since the battery life drains rapidly when every performance setting is at maximum, barely lasting a day. At less intensive settings, though, the battery’s longevity is much better, lasting more like several days.

There will be gamers who would like the reassurance of additional wired support, though, should connectivity be compromised for whatever reason (I’m reminded of inference issues derailing a recent Valorant tournament). At this very high price point, such an addition would be especially welcome, as would Bluetooth. As it stands, the Sensei Pro Mini is an elite gaming mouse with all the wireless performance a pro could hope for, and it’s perhaps only this cohort that’ll see the value in it.

(Image credit: Future)SteelSeries Sensei Pro Mini review: Price & availability

• $179.99 / £169.99 (about AU$260)
• Available now in black and white variants
• Top-end of the wireless gaming mouse market

The Sensei Pro Mini costs $179.99 / £169.99 (about AU$260) and is available now in black or white. A full-size variant is also available for the same price. It comes with two swappable batteries, the UWB base station (which doubles as the battery charging dock), and a braided USB-C-to-A cable, as well as spare PTFE skates and optional grip tape.

Even for a pro-grade wireless gaming mouse, the Sensei Pro Mini is expensive. It’s the same price as the Razer Naga V3 Pro, although that mouse has additional Bluetooth and wired support, as well as a lot more buttons. If you want the same limitless battery power, you can pair it with Razer’s charging mouse mat, although this a costly addition to an already expensive mouse.

Another pointer with a similar battery swapping system is the AngryMiao AM Infinity.97. This is even lighter than the Sensei Pro Mini at 47g. However, its garish style won’t be for everyone, and its software pales in comparison to the tweaking depth on offer in GG.

SteelSeries Sensei Pro Mini review: Specs

Connectivity

Wireless (Ultra-wideband)

Battery life

120 hours (1K), 32 hours (16 hours per battery) (8K)

Sensor

TrueMove 42K Pro Sensor

Polling rate

8KHz (with 9KHz overpolling)

Maximum sensitivity (DPI)

42,000 (65,000 with DPI Overdrive)

Programmable buttons

6

Dimensions

4.65 x 2.46 x 1.43 inches / 118 x 62.5 x 36.2mm

Weight

49g

Should I buy the SteelSeries Sensei Pro Mini?Scorecard

Attribute

Notes

Score

Design

A great size for those with smaller hands, although the hump might be inconveniently placed for some. The DPI button isn’t easily accessible, either.

4/5

Performance

Super smooth gliding and all the buttons respond brilliantly. There are plenty of performance tweaks available in GG, too.

4.5/5

Value

It’s very expensive, yet lacks Bluetooth and a wired option. Only gamers most concerned about elite wireless performance will see its worth.

3/5

Buy it if…

You want elite performance
Glides and inputs are superb, while the tweaking provided by GG is peerless.

You want infinite battery life
Thanks to the swappable battery system, you’ll never need to plug in to charge.

Don't buy it if…

You want a wired security
This mouse might upset Esports pros with its lack of a wired play, for when you can’t rely on a perfect wireless signal.

You’re a casual gamer
Its elite performance features will only be of use to the pros, while its lack of convenience features might deter those after something more versatile.

SteelSeries Sensei Pro Mini review: Also consider

Razer Naga V3 Pro
The Naga V3 Pro has additional Bluetooth support and wired capability, as well as a lot more inputs to customize. It also has ‘infinite’ battery life if used with Razer’s optional charging mouse pad, although this is an expensive add-on. Read our full Razer Naga V3 Pro review.

AngryMiao AM Infinity.97
If you want the same battery swapping system but in something more flashy, the AM Infinity.97 fits the bill. Its software is far less capable, though, and it’s slightly dearer than the Sensei Pro Mini. Read our full AngryMiao AM Infinity.97 review.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the SteelSeries Sensei Pro Mini

• Tested for a few days
• Used for various tasks, including gaming
• Plentiful PC gaming experience

I tested the Sensei Pro Mini for a few days, using it for not just gaming, but also working and general browsing.

I played Counter-Strike 2, which is a great test for gaming mice, since it demands quick and accurate movements and clicks.

I’ve been PC gaming for over a decade, and used a great deal of pointers in that time. I’ve also reviewed plenty of them before, including the full size Steelseries Sensei Pro.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: October 2026

The new feeds, similar to those used on TikTok, are rolling out worldwide.

• Laboratory-grown muscle tissue has been developed to improve robot dexterity and motion
• Researchers working at ETH Zurich have demonstrated tissue-based muscle actuators that flex
• The actuators enable small robots to jump and swim, as well as walk and grasp

Flesh-covered robots that can walk, jump, swim and move among us may be closer than we think. Researchers working out of ETH Zurich have been busy developing muscle actuators from centimeter-scale living tissue. These muscle actuators are the latest in a design program, and motion has been improved over 10 times compared with previous iterations.

In designing the biohybrid robots, the researchers have found that it isn’t all about the volume of muscle tissue. How the muscle and the bone (or in this case, an “artificial scaffold”) interact is also important.

Grown from mouse muscle cells, the results are being viewed as a new way of building robots.

Biohybrid muscle

The project is run from the ETH Zurich Soft Robotics Lab and is overseen by Professor Robert Katzschmann, who states that “We’re just beginning to build robots in a more natural way.” The research focuses on biohybrids, which basically refers to integrating biological materials like muscle tissue with artificial, man-made materials like electronics or mechanical scaffold.

Design of the robots has evolved through the research to the current state, where the muscle tissue is secured to the scaffold using grooves that the tissue can attach to. Meanwhile, the robots are currently limited to motion within a nutrient solution intended to feed the muscles and keep them “alive.”

An interesting result from the research is that not all muscle actuators behave in the same way. This “natural variability” that comes from using living tissue contrasts with what is achievable with manufactured components.

Flesh for cyborgs

Development of flesh muscles for robots has taken place over several years, with designs built on computer. Over what has been called an “iterative process” by co-lead author of the published study Aiste Balciunaite, the idea of “a fixed form for our muscle geometry” was eschewed in favor of designing “the whole thing from scratch on the computer.”

“With previous systems, you sometimes had to look under a microscope to see the flexing,” Balciunaite adds, highlighting how far the project has come.

The video above demonstrates the range of movement that can be performed by the muscle actuators, with the activity now visible to the naked eye. Measuring over 1cm, the bioactuators can move and grasp, and are shown here swimming. Other biohybrid robots have been programmed to walk, managing to cover 6.2 millimeters a second.

Will these bio-attached structures develop into an army of time traveling, human-destroying cyborgs? Probably not, and as they have applications for exploration and medicine, we shouldn't be too concerned.

Commentary: Yes, I’m judgy about how smudgy Apple’s new laptop screen is going to be.

Sony Bravia Theater Trio (HT-A8) review

The Sony Bravia Theater Trio is hard to define, but easy to love. Hard to define because its three-speaker (Trio, geddit?) package doesn’t feel quite like either a soundbar or a home theatre separates system; easy to love because it sounds amazing.

Sony’s own story of how the Trio came to be states that it was borne from frustration in its audio department about the inability of regular soundbar solutions — even high-end ones — to deliver sound with enough power and scale to convincingly partner with really big TVs. It was deemed that rather than creating a mammoth uber-long single soundbar to solve this problem, a much more practical solution would be to create a three-piece centre, left, right speaker package instead.

(Image credit: Future)

While the left and right speakers of the Trio system are larger and heavier than the sort of satellite speakers usually sold with or as options for regular soundbar systems, the package overall still looks startlingly compact overall for a system designed for king-sized TVs. The center speaker only measures in at 23.19 x 2.52 x 6.5 inches / 589 x 64 x 165mm, in fact. But you can, of course, place the wireless left and right speakers pretty much as far apart as your room allows, to help create a soundstage commensurate in scale with a monster TV.

I would quickly add at this point, though, that I personally don’t see the Trio as only worth getting if you have a huge TV. It’s actually so good and, as I’ll explain, so flexible with its sound that it’s worth considering by really any home theater fan who’s able to afford it.

Just throwing a trio of speakers at the big TV audio problem won’t in itself guarantee a satisfying home theater audio solution, of course. Especially when those three speakers only deliver dedicated left, right, centre and up-firing channels, rather than the many more channels that even some single bar soundbars can manage these days. The thing is, though, the Bravia Theater Trio’s channel count isn’t actually restricted to the the handful we’ve just mentioned. The brand’s revolutionary 360 Spatial Sound Mapping system is capable of adding up to 24 ‘virtual’ (created by psychoacoustic processing) extra channels of sound to the system’s ‘physical’ ones.

(Image credit: Future)

The 360 Spatial Sound Mapping system’s calculation process for figuring out where to place the sound from these extra virtual speakers uses a supplied, high-quality mic dongle that plugs into your phone to tailor the sound to your room layout. This works so well that you’ll be able to still enjoy a totally coherent, balanced, symmetrical soundstage from your Trio system no matter how awkward your room layout might be.

This room adaptation part of the 360 Spatial Sound Mapping system becomes even more useful if you add a pair of Sony’s new Rear 9 optional surround sound speakers. Even when I deliberately set the the two front and Rear 9 speakers in the most unhelpful positions I could manage, the processing still somehow manages to put me at the heart of a colossal 360-degree soundstage.

I’ve let the Trio’s cleverest trick, though, lead me into discussing the system’s performance before I’ve finished going through every feature it has to offer. So let’s quickly get back to that.

While the Trio’s centre speaker’s long, slim design suits simple placement on a desktop under your TV, the left and right speakers sneak a narrow straight bit into their otherwise cylindrical shape to allow them to be wall mounted if that suits your set up.

(Image credit: Future)

Connectivity is passable. The highlight is an HDMI loop through that supports 4K/120Hz gaming feeds — as you’d hope with a sound system from the brand responsible for the PlayStation 5 — as well as the HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision HDR formats, but not HDR10+. And the HDMI output also supports the eARC system for taking in sound from your TV.

Unfortunately, the only other port is a USB slot that’s apparently only for software updates. A second HDMI input and an optical digital audio input would have been nice on a £1,999 home cinema system these days perhaps, but the Trio’s support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (6.0) alongside the HDMIs will likely deliver everything most modern households will need.

These wireless options support direct streaming from Spotify Connect and Apple Airplay 2. On top of this, the system can also utilize Hi-Res Audio files and carries Sony’s redoubtable DSEE Ultimate AI upscaling system for making compressed audio sound better.

The latest Bravia Connect app for iOS and Android helps you set the system up, as well as providing an attractive and useful visual interface as a back up to the fairly basic remote control the system ships with. And it's particularly handy, given the Trio doesn’t carry an LED display.

Finally in the feature department, the Trio can play both the Dolby Atmos and DTS:X surround sound formats. In fact, it doesn’t just play them; it eats them for breakfast.

Any doubts about the Trio’s $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$2,999 price evaporate in an irresistible bombardment of almost impossibly massive sound staging, levels of power, detail and impact that seem to go far beyond the system’s claimed 405W of confirmed power. It also serves up mesmerizing detailing and precision, and an immaculate tone that has more in common with a premium full separates system than a minimalistic three-speaker package.

(Image credit: Future)

The system’s remarkable drivers and even more remarkable 360 Spatial Sound Mapping processing create a soundstage that fills at least the front half of even very large rooms, with the physical existence of the Trio’s three speakers essentially completely disappearing. As well as being capable of creating an epic sense of space for big movie locations, the size of sound the Trio can produce means it's effortlessly able to ‘fill’ the screen area and match the cinematic scale of even the very biggest TVs.

Despite its immense and immersive size, though, the Trio’s sound doesn’t forget the small things in home cinema and music life. It can pull in the boundaries of its sound superbly when a soundtrack wants to portray a tight space, for starters. Also, every detail in a movie sound mix is beautifully rendered, no matter how small, and produced with exactly the correct weight relative to other mix elements.

There’s no hint of harshness or brittleness to any sound the Trio makes, no matter how high pitched or deep it might be. In fact, despite the center speaker’s small size, the system gives the impression of having no ceiling for treble sounds to butt up against and turn harsh, and no low-frequency floor for bass sounds to flatten off against.

The relatively hefty left and right speakers do most of the heavy low-frequency lifting without making deep sounds feel trapped in, hard edged or distorted. They’re reactive enough to serve sudden bass hits with impeccable timing, too, and have enough range in the low frequencies they can produce to stop rumbles becoming overwhelming or coarse.

(Image credit: Future)

This excellent bass performance is particularly welcome, given that bass has been a weakness of some of Sony’s current soundbars, and that the system is quite compact. Perhaps an even bigger worry is that Sony sells Sub 8 and Sub 9 external wireless subwoofer upgrades for the package, which always makes me wonder if there’s a weakness in the core system that such an add-on is required to fix.

The Trio can deliver hard, sudden impact sounds with proper venom and propulsion, while the soundstage remains balanced and authoritative even at high volumes, no matter how dense the content might be.

Sound systems that go as big and dynamic with film soundtracks as the Trio can aren’t always able to turn their hands effectively to music. The Trio, though, is at least as engaging with music as it is movies.

Even in native stereo mode, without any of Sony’s remarkable virtual surround processing in play, the trio of speakers deliver excellent stereo separation and vocal placement. Nothing sounds at all strained, no matter what type of music you’re playing or how dense a track gets. It retains its genuinely hi-fi feel, too, at higher volumes than you’ve probably ever heard your favorite albums before. And yet, at the same time, people with neighbors will be pleased to hear that its speakers are sensitive enough to deliver music compellingly even at low volumes, something many soundbars struggle with.

Dolby Atmos music sounds similarly refined. It's detailed without being forensic, but also enjoys a more three-dimensional presentation that includes height elements. And if you’re happy to take off your purist music hat, I’d also recommend you try stereo tracks — or, at least, relatively poppy or ambient stereo tracks — through its 360 Spatial Sound Mapping processing, which gives it a more spacious and surround sound feel. Certainly Sony’s ‘upmixing’ with this effect is much superior to similar modes attempted by most other home audio packages.

(Image credit: Future)

It’s a tough ask to find things I don’t love about Sony’s Trio system. But I’m paid to try, so here goes. First, for all its virtual speaker creating talents, it only creates a quite limited sense of sound coming from behind your seating position. This can be solved extremely well by adding Sony’s new Rear 9 extra wireless surround speakers — though, at $749.99 / £699 / $ 1,299 a pair, this upgrade isn’t cheap.

The left/right spread of stereo music strangely narrows slightly when playing music through the 360 Spatial Sound Mapping despite expanding in every other way. And finally — and possibly most frustratingly depending on how big your household is — the area you need to sit in after calibrating the Trio for the optimal 360 Spatial Sound Mapping effect is quite small. Though even outside of this sweet spot, it’s still gloriously easy to appreciate just how good the Trio’s overall sound is.

Sony Bravia Theater Trio (HT-A8) review: Price and release date

• Released: July 2026 (UK and Australia), May 2026 (US)
• $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$2,999

At first glance the Trio’s $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$2,999 price looks substantial for a three-piece speaker package. Samsung gives you a full surround soundbar package, the HW-Q990H, for just $1,499 / £1,499 / AU$1,499, after all. Once you’ve placed the Trio’s speakers wherever you want them to go, though, and run the 360 Spatial Sound Mapping system setup, the system reveals itself to be a pretty much separates-grade performer capable of partnering with a huge screen and even filling a big room.

Hitting almost $2,750 / £2,700 / AU$4,300 if you add the admittedly impressive Rear 9 speakers starts to look a bit of a stretch, but you could always add the rears later as funds allow. The out-of-the-box Trio won’t let you down in the mean time.

Sony Bravia Theater Trio (HT-A8): Specs

Dimensions

Main bar: 23.19 x 2.52 x 6.50 inches / 589 x 64 x 165mm; left/right speakers: 6.3 x 13.27 x 6.5 inches / 160 x 337 x 165mm

Speaker channels

3.0.2

Connections

One HDMI input (with eARC), one HDMI output (4K/120Hz), USB service port

Dolby Atmos / DTS:X

Yes/Yes

Sub included

Optional extra

Rear speakers included

No

Should I buy the Sony Bravia Theater Trio (HT-A8)?Sony Bravia Theater Trio (HT-A8) Scorecard

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

The system’s three-front-speaker approach enables it to deliver a sound appropriate to really any screen size, even really huge ones. Its processing and audio format support is excellent too.

4.5 / 5

Performance

Despite the fairly compact size of its three speakers, the Trio package often manages to sound like a premium separates system

5 / 5

Design

From the surprisingly compact shape of the center speaker to the gorgeously well-built cylindrical stance of the left and rights, the Theater Trio is an elegantly understated addition to your room.

4.5 / 5

Setup & usability

The speakers all connected with each other automatically during my tests, and provided you plug the provided mic into your phone and run the 360 Spatial Sound Mapping set up procedure, its speakers are extremely flexible when it comes to where you put them.

4.5 / 5

Value

The Theater Trio package’s price puts it above the vast majority of regular soundbars — but its sound is a cut above any regular soundbar, too

4 / 5

Buy it if...

You have a very big TV
The Trio’s package of separate center, front left and front right speakers was expressly designed to solve the issue where regular soundbars just don’t create a sound stage big enough to match the size of the pictures made by massive TVs (especially those of 85 inches and more).

You want fantastic movie and music sound quality
The Trio throws off the shackles of some of Sony’s current soundbars, using hi-fi grade speaker designs and up to 24 virtual speakers created by Sony’s amazing 360 Spatial Sound Mapping to craft one of the most powerful but also most refined, balanced and immersive soundstages I’ve heard from a one-box speaker package.

You have an awkwardly shaped room
A key part of the Trio’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping involves adapting the sound of its real and virtual speakers to your room layout — and this process is so flexible that it can deliver a convincing sound stage no matter how awkward your speaker placement might be.

Don't buy it if...

You can’t afford it
There are some very good soundbars around for much less than the Trio’s $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$2,999 asking price - which rises to nearly $2,750 / £2,700 / AU$4,300 if you add the Rear 9 surround speakers. But if you can afford it, the scale and finesse of the Trio’s sound is a cut above those cheaper soundbar alternatives.

The small sweet spot is a problem
The Trio optimizes the sound stage created by its real and virtual speakers around what turns out to be a rather compact sweet spot. So if you have a big household to cater for, you’ll have to accept that not everyone will get the perfect experience — unless you all huddle up.

You want a sound system that can work as a switch box
The Trio’s limited connectivity prevents you from attaching more than one hard-wired source to it at a time.

Sony Bravia Theatre Trio (HT-A8) review: Also consider

Samsung HW-Q990H
If you can’t quite stretch your finances to accommodate the Sony Trio package, Samsung’s HW-Q990H soundbar system delivers a powerful and detailed full surround sound solution for $1,499 / £1,499 / AU$1,499. The Q990H crafts a remarkably full hemisphere of sound for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks, but the Trio’s sound is more refined and flexible — and only requires you to house three speakers. Read our full Samsung HW-Q990H review.

Sennheiser Ambeo Max
Sennheiser’s most powerful soundbar delivers a remarkably large sound stage for a single-bar device, courtesy of the fearsome array of ultra-robust and punchy drivers it squeezes into its uncompromising chassis. This helps it get nearer than any other remotely mainstream single-bar soundbar to supporting really big screens like the Trio does. While it used to cost $2,999.95 / £2,199 / AU$3,999, too, it’s now widely available for $1,699.99 / £1,599 / AU$2,999. It still can’t ultimately match the scale of the Trio, though, due to the latter’s separate left and right speakers.

How I tested the Sony Bravia Theatre Trio (HT-A8)

• I used the Sony Trio as my main living room audio system for 11 days.
• Also tested in a second room with a different size and layout, and with a pair of optional Rear 9 surround speakers.
• Tested with 4K Blu-rays, CDs, streamed audio, and games, using all direct HDMI connection, eARC and wireless connection options

I tested the Trio as my main living room audio system for 11 days overall, as well as using it in a second room with a different layout for two further days. I also moved the left and right speakers (and the optional rears) to all sorts of awkward places to test the flexibility of the 360 Spatial Sound Mapping processing.

During the testing period, I fed the Trio system audio content from a wide range of sources, including movie soundtracks from streaming boxes and 4K Blu-ray players over HDMI; music from a CD player and the various music streaming services the system supports; and game soundtracks from an Xbox Series X. Key movies used were Blade Runner 2049, It Chapter One, Civil War, and Sinners.

• First reviewed: October 2026
• Read TechRadar's review guarantee

• Mississippi regulators say three SpaceXAI sites began work without required stormwater permits
• SpaceXAI could face $6.1 million in penalties across three Mississippi sites
• State officials are seeking daily penalties of up to $25,000

Elon Musk's SpaceXAI faces potential penalties reaching $6.1 million after Mississippi regulators identified alleged construction permit violations involving three data center facilities in the state.

State environmental authorities claim construction activities began before the company obtained the necessary stormwater authorization, exposing its subsidiary to substantial financial penalties.

It is now seeking penalties of up to $25,000 daily, with the company's preliminary financial exposure calculated across all three affected facilities.

Three Mississippi data centers face regulatory scrutiny

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality issued the enforcement notice to MZX Tech LLC, a subsidiary responsible for the company's local infrastructure.

The affected facilities include Macrohard and Macroharder, both already operational, while construction continues at a third computing complex known as Minihard.

Although the three facilities support operations around Memphis, Tennessee, their locations across the state boundary place them under Mississippi's environmental regulations.

A fourth computing facility sits within Memphis itself, where the company began developing its artificial intelligence infrastructure during 2024.

The alleged violations were disclosed through a regulatory filing submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of the company's financial reporting.

SpaceXAI confirmed that it is cooperating with state environmental officials and discussing a possible settlement covering the alleged violations at all three locations.

The proposed arrangement would consolidate the regulatory matters into one agreement, although the company has not disclosed any finalized settlement terms.

Separate lawsuit challenges gas turbine operations

Beyond the construction allegations, SpaceXAI faces another legal challenge concerning gas turbines used to generate electricity at its Southaven facility in Mississippi.

The NAACP alleges that the company constructed and operated the power generation installation without securing environmental permits required under federal and state regulations.

The organization is seeking financial penalties and an injunction restricting turbine operations, arguing that the company's activities violated federal air pollution legislation.

Federal government lawyers attempted to dismiss the lawsuit, maintaining that the requested penalties and operational restrictions could threaten economic and national security interests.

However, US District Judge Debra Brown rejected that intervention, determining that federal enforcement responsibilities did not grant unrestricted authority over environmental litigation.

"The EPA’s role as a primary enforcer of the Clean Air Act does not mean that the federal government retains complete control over all Clean Air Act litigation," said Brown.

The decision permits the NAACP's lawsuit to continue without establishing whether the company's turbine operations breached the environmental requirements cited by the organization.

Mississippi has previously penalized developers for construction without stormwater permits, including Complete Oil Field Disposal, which received a $4,200 sanction in August 2024.

In February 2025, JS LLC was fined $10,200 after regulators identified unauthorized construction affecting approximately 10.44 acres.

SpaceXAI has faced separate environmental scrutiny over its Memphis power generation, removing 20 generators and obtaining permits for another 15 following complaints about unauthorized operations.

The company's potential $6.1 million liability across three Mississippi sites remains unresolved, with regulators still discussing a possible settlement.

Via DCD

Huawei FreeBuds Neo: Two-minute review

Storied Chinese company Huawei may still be struggling to win friends in the phone and tablet worlds, with its lack of access to the Play Store still making the company's hand-held products impossible to recommend, but the brand's been a surprisingly reliable maker of admirable earbuds.

We gave the Huawei FreeBuds 5 Pro a perfect score earlier this year, and I maintain that the Huawei FreeArc are the best hook-style open earbuds I've ever tested. But now, instead of doing something better than everyone else, Huawei is doing something different.

The Huawei FreeBuds Neo seem to be the result of someone thinking the AirPods Pro 3 are perfect except for being too big; the brand continues its mission of all-but imitating Apple, while slyly improving the formula. That is to say, these are wireless in-ear buds which are ice-white (note: other finishes are available) but really small.

We've seen small earbuds before (see the JLab JBuds Mini for something really diddy) but they often tend to be cheap and feature-light. Not the FreeBuds Neo, which don't ask you to make compromises and are still affordable, compared to the FreeBuds 5 Pro or AirPods.

The carry case is a slender pill, which was second to none when it came to how easy it was to slip into my pocket and forget about. The buds are light, with shortened stems which make them look truncated.

It's not all about the design. These buds sound fun and energetic, with a V-shaped sound profile that adds some zest to your music. They're not the best-sounding buds I've tested, even at the price, but only audiophiles will be let down by what you're getting.

Now for the let-down, and it's a common one for Huawei: software. You see, the brand's app isn't on the Play Store, and you have to download it through its own app store, which you have to side-load on your phone. A complicated process which literally didn't work for me. Throughout my testing process, I couldn't access the app, and I know from past experience that this isn't an unheard-of occurrence.

Admittedly the app isn't that useful if you don't want EQ — a problem in and of itself — but if features are locked behind the roll of the dice that is 'will the app download?', it's not great.

Add to that the knowledge that the battery life and ANC are both good, but not particularly stellar and you'll see compromises — but these are all more understandable when you bear in mind the small size.

Despite the setbacks, these are still the best small earbuds you can buy — the best of a small bunch, if you'll pardon the pun — but they might not be mighty enough to sway people who don't care all that much about the compact and oh-so-portable size of their earbuds.

Huawei FreeBuds Neo review: Price and release date

(Image credit: Future)

• Released in September 2026, sold October
• Goes for £119.99 / AU$290 (about AU$160)
• Don't get excited though; there is unlikely to be a US release

The Huawei FreeBuds Neo were unveiled on September 2, 2026, ahead of a release later in the month.

The buds cost £119.99 / AU$290 (about $160, but Huawei doesn’t officially sell them in the States). So they’re about a third cheaper than the brand’s top buds, including the FreeBuds Pro 5, which go for £179.99 (about $240, AU$360).

It’s a smart price, for buds which feel like a ‘Lite’ alternative to the Pro model, as you can consider them a streamlined pick.

Huawei FreeBuds Neo review: Specs

Drivers

11mm

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Battery life

6 hours (ANC on), 9 hours (ANC off)

Weight

4.8g (buds) 31.4g (case)

Connectivity

Bluetooth 6.0

Frequency response

20-40kHz

Waterproofing

IP55

Huawei FreeBuds Neo review: Features

(Image credit: Future)

• Significant app download problems
• Unimpressive 6-hour battery life
• ANC is fine, not great

Installing Huawei’s Audio Connect is a real challenge for Android users like me. It’s not on the Play Store, so you have to side load the Huawei AppGallery, and use that to download it. (If you have an iPhone, you’ll find Audio Connect on the App Store, easy peasy).

Not only does that mean you’re downloading an unwanted app just to get to another one, but the process is fraught with difficulty. Case in point, I simply couldn’t install the AppGallery onto my Samsung phone, despite trying multiple times and diving into the settings. The APK wouldn’t take, and so I couldn’t use Audio Connect.

I’ve had troubles with the process before, and I’m ready to declare the app unusable for some people. Every time I need to use it on a pair of buds, it feels like I’m tossing a coin to see if it’ll work out this time.

If you do download it, you’re offered the bare bones of such an app, including the ability to change the touch control functions, tweak ANC strength, adjust EQ, use multipoint connections and turn on spatial audio. I used the FreeBuds Neo just fine without Audio Connect, though if I’d paid money for the buds, I’d be irked that I wasn’t getting all of these tools.

(Image credit: Future)

The buds have a 6-hour battery life with ANC on and 9 hours with it turned off (not 6.5 and 10 hours, as Huawei advertises loudly — the small text on its website reveals that this is just for lower-quality music such as MP3s, which I really hope you don’t listen to).

Using the case, you get up to 22 hours with ANC on, or 33 hours with it turned off. Again, those stats are for higher-resolution music streaming, but you'll get more if you listen to low-res tunes. Don't do that to yourself, though.

It’s not an especially competitive battery life, but in my testing, it often felt like I’d eke an extra half hour or so out of the buds. And it’s hard to be too annoyed with the limited battery life with small buds: where would a chunkier battery pack go?

ANC isn’t ground-breaking either, but it’s absolutely fine. I used it on planes, trains and buses; it removed the engine rumble from the last two and lessened it on the former, but didn’t do as much to silence people around me with all their unreliable or sporadic sounds.

• Features score: 3/5

Huawei FreeBuds Neo review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

• Tiny 31.4g lozenge case
• Light short-stem buds
• Reliable in-ear fit

The FreeBuds Neo’s entire pitch rests on their design: they’re the JLab JBuds Mini meets the AirPods Pro 3. They’re small earbuds, both in terms of the carry case and the buds themselves.

As soon as I removed the lozenge-shaped charging case from the box, I was surprised by how small it was. It’s just shy of 7cm wide and 3cm deep, and weighs just 31.4g. It disappeared into my trouser pockets enough that I kept losing them, only to discover that what I thought was a rolled tissue was in fact the charging case.

Like the earbuds, the case comes in white, black, silver or pink. The case basically just has enough space for the earbuds, along with a USB-C charging port and color-changing status indicator LED, which was useful for letting me know if the buds were at full charge.

(Image credit: Future)

Those earbuds don’t take up much space either, because like the case, they’re minuscule. Unlike those other baby buds from JLab, the FreeBuds Neo are ostensibly stem-toting earbuds, but with the tiniest stem I’ve ever seen. They look a lot like imitation AirPods Pro, but if Huawei changed its mind half-way through making the stem.

True to the pint-sized promise, the FreeBuds Neo only weigh 4.8g, and the weight isn’t just useful for comfort. Tip-toting earbuds can be rather hit-or-miss when it comes to in-ear stability, but not once in my testing did the Huawei’s wobble or fall.

Despite the small size, Huawei found space in the Neo to add touch controls — if you can set them up in the app. The buds also have an IP55 protection, ensuring they’re safe against limited dust ingress and gentle jets of water (including rain).

• Design score: 4.5/5

Huawei FreeBuds Neo review: Sound quality

(Image credit: Future)

• 11mm driver per bud.
• Has V-shaped sound: focus on bass and treble
• Supports LDAC playback on supported phones

Huawei hasn't returned the FreeBuds 5 Pro's dual-driver system in the FreeBuds Neo, and I don't blame it; the whole point is for them to be nice and small.

Instead, you're getting a sole 11mm driver per bud, which acts as a jack of all trades across the audio spectrum.

Don't expect audiophile-level sound, then, but I see these being pleasing for the average listener. They offer a V-shaped sound profile, which means the bass is hearty and the treble sharp.

As is always the case with V-shaped sounds, it means that you'll sometimes find mids are lacking. For example in Mipso's Talking in My Sleep, you get lovely textured strings and vocals, and the bass is controlled and full, but it's hard to tell where the acoustic guitars begin and other instruments end. Likewise in What About Flamingos? by Lake Street Dive, you get lovely resonant low-end and articulate treble, but only the faint hint of all the other instruments making up the composition.

(Image credit: Future)

Of course, in plenty of songs, all you want is low-end and top-end. I enjoyed listening to pop and electronic music without feeling like I was missing out on anything. There's a reason this kind of sound profile is chosen by earbud manufacturers; it's a crowd-pleaser.

Perhaps a symptom of the small size or driver configuration, but I didn't hear as prominent or pronounced a sound stage as you often do in earbuds like this. Sometimes instruments sounded a little more squished together than I'd like, but it was only an issue in songs with a complex instrumentation.

If you perked up at my earlier mention of high-res and low-res playback, in the battery section, then you'll be happy to know that the buds do support the LDAC codec (as long as you're on Android, because iPhones somehow still don't support it).

• Sound quality: 4/5

Huawei FreeBuds Neo review: Value

(Image credit: Future)

• Cut the costs from premium alternatives
• Cost more than alternative small buds

Is size all you care about when it comes to your earbuds? Then as a super-small option, you're likely going to find these poor value for money. Buy the JLabs — the JLab JBuds Mini ANC even have noise-nixing!

For everyone else, though, these are a good get. They look like premium earbuds, they feel like premium earbuds, and they sound like them... However, they cost a fair bit less than you'd expect.

I'd happily recommend the FreeBuds Neo at their retail price. Obviously, discounts are always great, but you shouldn't wait for one before buying them if you're interested.

• Value: 4/5

Should I buy the Huawei FreeBuds Neo?

(Image credit: Future)Huawei FreeBuds Neo score card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

The battery life and ANC won't wow you, but the app problems make the features worth ignoring.

3/5

Design

They're lovely and compact, and I never had comfort or fit issues

4.5/5

Sound quality

A charming V-shaped sound will be a crowd-pleaser, but not ideal for audiophiles.

4/5

Value

You're getting some solid ANC headphones for a smaller price.

4/5

Buy them if…

You want small-form earbuds
That's the main appeal of these, right? If you want something smaller than the average earbuds, these are the best ones to look at.

You want premium-feeling earbuds
I kept forgetting that the Huawei cost what they do, because they feel like buds which cost 50% more.

You want a charging indicator
It's a small feature, but many brands do it poorly; the Huawei's LED is great so you know as soon as your buds are charged.View Deal

Don’t buy them if…

You're a frequent app user
Always using your earbud app to tweak with settings? Fine if you're an iOS user, a bit risky if you're on Android.

You need top-tier ANC
The FreeBuds Neo are fine for noise cancellation, but you can do better, and you don't need to pay that much more for it either.

Huawei FreeBuds Neo review: Also consider

Looking for alternative over-ears? Here are a few small-sized ones we would recommend.

Huawei FreeBuds Neo

JLab JBuds Mini ANC

Sony WF-C710N

Drivers

11mm

6mm

40mm

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Yes

Yes

Battery life (ANC on)

6 hours (buds) 22 hours (case)

7 hours (buds) 25 hours (case)

8.5 hours (buds) / 30 hours (case)

Weight

4.8g (buds) 31.4g (case)

3.4g (buds) 20.7g (case)

5.2g (bud) 38g (case)

Connectivity

Bluetooth 6.0

Bluetooth 6.0

Bluetooth 5.3

Waterproofing

IP55

IP55

IPX4

JLab JBuds Mini ANC
These are small and, more importantly, roughly half the price of the Huawei. You won't get the same audio quality, but the even-smaller case and buds will please those who just want something tiny.
Read our hands-on with the JLab JBuds Mini ANC

Sony WF-C710N
Another tiny premium option comes from Sony, so you know they're good. They have fantastic ANC and sound great, but they don't support LDAC and don't have great touch controls.
Read our full Sony WF-C710N review

How I tested the Huawei FreeBuds Neo

• Tested for a month
• Paired with Android phone for Bluetooth playback
• Used on multiple holidays as well as use at home and around neighborhood.

The Huawei FreeBuds Neo got the pleasure of an entire month of use before I wrote this review, which gave me time to fully appreciate how they work.

That time included multiple holidays, so I brought the buds to various countries and tested them on flights, train journeys and coach trips. Of course, I also used them at home, at the gym, and on walks around my neighborhood.

During the testing process, the buds were connected to my Android phone. I listened primarily on Spotify and to my own music library of WAV tracks, but also conducted calls, played games and streamed lots of TV on Prime Video.

I've been reviewing tech for TechRadar since early 2019, and in that time have tested many other pairs of earbuds, as well as countless Huawei products.

• First reviewed in October 2026

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

The Garmin Fenix 9 Pro is Garmin's latest — and greatest — watch. The Fenix series always occupies a flagship position in Garmin's lineup: while the company does make more expensive watches, most of those are specialist pieces of gear, such as the Tactix for soldiers, the Descent for professional divers, and the Marq series as an ultra-premium option for fashion-forward Garmin users.

The Garmin Fenix series is its top-tier 'generalist' watch, and considering it only comes out once every few years, anticipation is always high. Fortunately, the Fenix 9 Pro lives up to the hype, and is my Fitness Devices of the Year at the TechRadar Product of the Year Awards 2026.

It's a powerhouse of a watch, from construction and performance, and has coped with every test we have thrown at it, from hikes in Chamonix, to comparison tests against the Apple Watch Ultra 4 and an electrical heart rate monitor, the Frontier X2.

Let's start with construction. The Fenix 9 Pro's entire case is now made of titanium, rather than a titanium bezel and fiber-reinforced polymer (that's plastic, to you and me) elsewhere.

It's thinner, and the lack of visible screws (aside from the back plate) make for a refined, sleek aesthetic. The display is sapphire crystal as standard, too, protecting the super-bright AMOLED touchscreen display, with the usual MIP Power Glass solar charging options as an additional extra.

The construction makes for an amazing watch, and these upgrades make the Fenix 9 Pro really feel just that, Pro — more like a Marq. I'm wearing the 43mm version, and it really doesn't feel like an ultra-chunky Fenix. In fact, it feels far more like wearing an upmarket metal dive watch.

This sealed unit design necessitated a redesign in the buttons, according to Garmin's promotional material, in order to make sure it remained waterproof up to 40m deep, but Garmin cracked it and the watch retains Garmin's distinctive five-button design.

It's even revamped the LED light, with an introduction of a third green option to add to its black and red tones. The green light offers improved visibility compared to the red option, without sacrificing your night-eyes.

Software-wise, the UX is familiar to Garmin watch users, as everything is innately customizable, from the widget stack to workout views to watch faces. New features include Garmin Epic, which allows you to string several workouts together into one mega-event, such as multiple ski runs over one long weekend, for example. You can start it from the watch, and view or share it in the app. Rucking also got a useful redesign, while Maps has been updated to provide an angled POV option.

(Image credit: Future / Julia Clarke)

In our performance test, I was expecting accuracy — after all, the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro retains Garmin's Elevate V5 heart rate sensor array from previous years — but I wasn't expecting it to cleave so close to the heart rate monitor and the Apple Watch Ultra 4 (which Apple claims is the most accurate wearable to date) during my test workouts.

Rerouting course directions has proven to be responsive and speedy, while the battery performs as described, lasting for a week, and the watch is comfortable to wear during sleep, workouts and every day.

There wasn't really any doubt that the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro was going to be a good watch, or even a great one. Like the Apple Watch Ultra 4, it builds on everything Garmin has done before to create a worthy successor to the ever-popular Fenix line. When the Fenix 10 comes out in a few years, this one will come down in price just like the Fenix 8 before it, and we'll see far more adopters take it on and have fun with it.

I suppose I could have chosen something like the cheap Google Fitbit Air, the Garmin Cirqa, or the Apple Watch Ultra 4 to be our Fitness Device of the Year. But when I thought about what was going to dominate my limited wrist real estate if I sign up for a race, there was only ever going to be a handful of options, and the 43mm Garmin Fenix 9 Pro was first on the list.

It's smart enough not to look out of place in the office, it's got everything I need for training, it's got all the complications I need from the Connect IQ score, like Spotify and Komoot, and a week-long battery life (sorry Apple) that cinches it for me over the Ultra 4.

Staying safe online is as imperative as ever, especially since AI has inadvertently increased the volume of cyber attacks. Good online safety leans more on preventing attacks from happening in the first place than on countering them, and certain tools help you do that.

DuckDuckGo is most famous for its privacy-focused search engine and browser (we've reviewed it here), but it also provides other tools that help users surf the web without giving out their identities. These tools are offered under a single, cost-competitive Pro bundle. It's a VPN, AI tool, and data removal service all in one.

I’m reviewing the DuckDuckGo Pro bundle to help you decide if it’s worth adopting for your online security. Read on to learn what this bundle offers, its pros, cons, and how it compares to the competition.

DuckDuckGo: Plans and pricing

DuckDuckGo follows a simple pricing system, which I like - you can see all the plans by clicking here. A monthly subscription costs $19.99 and unlocks access to all Pro features. An annual subscription is discounted to $200, equivalent to $17 per month instead of the $19.99 paid on a month-to-month basis. This discount is quite small compared to what I’ve seen on rivals, but is a discount nonetheless.

The pricing varies slightly for users who live outside the U.S. For example, U.K.-based users pay 19.99 pounds monthly and 200 pounds annually. Converted to the U.S. dollar, that sums up to $27 per month and $273 annually (inclusive of value-added tax). Other countries have similar pricing variations, so you may pay more (or less) than the sticker price mentioned.

DuckDuckGo offers a 7-day free trial for its Pro plan. This is shorter than the 14 to 30-day free trials I’ve used on various online security platforms, but still provides an opportunity to test the features before deciding whether to pay.

Subscriptions can be cancelled anytime, but DuckDuckGo’s website doesn’t mention a specific money-back guarantee period. It seems that refunds can be requested, but it’ll take a lot of back and forth, which I consider a drawback.

DuckDuckGo: Setup

Setting up DuckDuckGo Privacy Pro isn’t as straightforward as most security software bundles I’ve reviewed. You’ll need to first download the DuckDuckGo browser on your PC or smartphone (you can’t use Pro features on Chrome, Firefox, or Edge). The privacy-focused browser is the foundation of DuckDuckGo’s Pro package: it blocks ads, trackers, and cookies that pose privacy risks. The browser is free, but the Pro bundle unlocks enhanced security features, which are the focus of this review.

After paying for a Pro subscription, the first feature to take note of is the VPN. This VPN, built into the DuckDuckGo browser, routes your traffic through remote servers to prevent third-party tracking. Your location, IP address, and browsing history get hidden from third parties, like advertisers or, at worst, malicious actors.

There’s a limitation, though. DuckDuckGo’s VPN servers are concentrated in the U.S. and Europe, with few outside these locations. If you’re surfing the web from, let’s say, the Middle East, connections can get a bit slower because of the server distance. DuckDuckGo’s VPN isn’t like full-fledged VPNs that let you choose from dozens of countries.

On the bright side, DuckDuckGo’s VPN has a default kill switch, which automatically cuts off your internet connection if the VPN malfunctions, ensuring your data doesn’t leak because of a slight network mishap. I checked thoroughly, but didn’t find any button to turn off this kill switch, which is a plus in my perspective. Turning off a kill switch poses privacy risks during network lapses.

The VPN coverage can be used on five devices simultaneously. For example, you can install it on your work PC, home PC, and smartphone via the DuckDuckGo browser. Your traffic gets encrypted on all connected devices.

Another key feature offered under DuckDuckGo Pro is quite unique: identity theft restoration. If you face any incident of identity theft, you can work with an expert to mitigate the effects. For example, the expert helps identify fraudulent transactions that your card may have been used for and then files reimbursement claims with your bank. You'll also get help in fixing any credit report errors from fraudulent transactions.

There’s a catch, though: DuckDuckGo doesn’t offer identity theft restoration services directly. Rather, it has partnered with Iris, a prominent ID protection platform, to provide this service. You’ll be working with Iris’ experts if you use this service.

In this AI era, you’ll hardly find a security platform that doesn’t offer an AI-centric feature. For Pro subscribers, DuckDuckGo offers advanced chatbots (based on ChatGPT and Claude) with active privacy protection. This way, you won’t have to pay separately for the premium versions of Claude and ChatGPT, as DuckDuckGo offers access under the Pro bundle.

(Image credit: DuckDuckGo )

Overall, DuckDuckGo’s Pro bundle is feature-rich and effective at maximizing online privacy. However, with plans starting at $19.99 per month, I think it’s quite pricey.

DuckDuckGo: Ease of use

DuckDuckGo is a mixed bag when it comes to ease of use. Its features are exclusive to the DuckDuckGo browser, not the more popular Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browsers.

For most people, paying for the Pro bundle means learning to use a new browser on Windows, macOS, iOS, or Android. I didn’t find it difficult to get adapted to the DuckDuckGo browser, but it took some time because the browser worked differently from the ones I was used to.

(Image credit: DuckDuckGo )DuckDuckGo: Security and privacy

DuckDuckGo offers a very effective online privacy suite, starting with a browser that doesn’t allow cookies, trackers, or anything that keeps a trail of the sites you visit. The built-in VPN encrypts your online traffic and prevents third-party prying eyes.

Identity theft restoration is another valuable service, and so is the bonus of interacting with advanced chatbots. You’ll be a lot safer online when using DuckDuckGo’s Pro bundle.

DuckDuckGo: Support

DuckDuckGo offers decent support resources. You can start with the help page, which lists answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs). I liked the breakdown of questions people often ask about DuckDuckGo’s privacy features and the detailed answers provided.

Users who need direct help can contact DuckDuckGo’s support team via email or by filling out a support form. There’s also an option to interact with DuckDuckGo’s staff via a dedicated forum on Reddit. However, there’s no telephone or live chat support, which I consider a major drawback given the price of a DuckDuckGo Pro subscription.

DuckDuckGo: Competition

Given the many features offered under DuckDuckGo Pro, it’s hard to pinpoint an exact competitor. Instead, I’ll highlight some competitors to key DuckDuckGo Pro features.

For the private browser, Brave is a notable option. After using both, I’ll say Brave offers more privacy controls and is more advanced in general. For instance, Brave supports browser extensions just like you’ll find on Chrome, but the DuckDuckGo Browser doesn’t.

For DuckDuckGo’s VPN, I’ll say any dedicated VPN app like Surfshark and Windscribe would be a better option, with broader server locations to choose from.

However, the point of DuckDuckGo Pro is to kill multiple birds with one stone: you won’t get the best of each feature, but, overall, you’ll get a good deal.

DuckDuckGo: Final verdict

A DuckDuckGo Pro bundle maximizes your online privacy, preventing third parties from tracking your online activities. If you want to surf the web without leaking data that’ll stay on the internet for a long time, I highly recommend it. However, you’d need to be ready to switch to a new browser and pay a significant amount, which I would see as drawbacks.

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