Technology

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 Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, October 27 (game #968).

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Comedy club

NYT Strands today (game #969) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• CHESS
• TEAK
• SKIN
• SCRUB
• NECK
• PLATE

NYT Strands today (game #969) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #969) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: bottom, 5th column

• Last side: top, 2nd column

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

NYT Strands today (game #969) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #969, are…

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

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Being a comedian is hard work and possibly the hardest part of the FUNNYBUSINESS is people expecting you to be “funny” 24 hours a day no matter what the situation.

For some comedians that’s easy, because their act is essentially an extension of their personality — but for many who craft and perfect their routines and persona it can all be something of a strain; that’s why you’ll often hear people complaining about comics being really grumpy or miserable in real life, when the only evidence they have to go on is when they stood next to them at an airport.

Anyhow, I digress. After spotting FARCE pretty early on I knew we were looking for comedy genres, although despite this I still labored over SLAPSTICK (or stickslap as I initially attempted).

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, October 27, game #968)

• ANTS
• RATS
• MICE
• COCKROACHES
• TICKS
• TERMITES
• SPANGRAM: EXTERMINATOR

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.

• Attackers flood inboxes with spam, then impersonate IT support through Microsoft Teams messages and calls
• Victims are tricked into sharing remote access via Quick Assist, AnyDesk, or ScreenConnect
• Researchers observed 400+ incidents, warning default Teams federation settings enable the social-engineering campaign

Cybersecurity researchers Arctic Wolf have warned of an ongoing, widespread hacking campaign that includes an email inbox flooded with spam messages, a Teams account impersonating IT support, and the use of absolutely legitimate, everyday software.

The goal seems to be persistent access, possibly in preparation of a subsequent malware or ransomware infection.

How the attack plays out

In its report, Arctic Wolf said it observed the same pattern in more than 400 cases. It starts with the victim - an employee in the target company - receiving hundreds, possibly thousands of spam emails in a very short timeframe, so their inbox gets absolutely flooded with junk, burying any and all meaningful, valuable emails under a mountain of trash.

A few moments later, that same person gets a Teams message from a user that, by all accounts, looks legitimate: their name clearly states “IT Service Desk”, and sometimes even has a first name next to it (something along the lines of Liam, Ethan, or Scott). They tell the victim they’ve been made aware of the problems they’re having with their email (as the IT department should) and offer a solution.

To solve the problem, they need hands-on access to the victim’s keyboard, usually through a legitimate remote monitoring and management tool like AnyDesk or ScreenConnect.

Obviously, this is all a ruse to get the victim to hand over access to their device. The same entity sent both the spam emails and the Teams messages. Sometimes, they even call the victim through Teams, rather than send a message - to make the entire ordeal even more believable.

Arctic Wolf says the key enabler of the whole scheme is the fact that Microsoft Teams ships with external access (federation) turned on by default. That means that, unless the actual IT team changed the default settings in Teams, every employee can receive messages from anyone else with a Microsoft 365 account, even if they belong to an entirely different tenant (dedicated environment within Microsoft's cloud services). Unfortunately, this is not a bug, it’s an entirely legitimate feature that threat actors happily exploit:

“This is the feature attackers most frequently abuse,” Arctic Wolf says. “This activity does not exploit any known Teams vulnerability; it abuses a legitimate, default-on collaboration capability.”

Lock down your Teams

To make matters worse, when they ask for hands-on access, they don’t ask the victim to install any special software. In most cases, they just ask them to bring up Quick Assist, a tool that’s built directly into Windows, signed by Microsoft, and thus requires no installation. All victims need to do is send over a six-digit code and they’ve handed over the keys to the kingdom.

What happens after that is anyone’s guess. The researchers saw the attackers then installing a commercial RMM tool such as AnyDesk or ScreenConnect to gain a separate control channel, and make sure they retain access even if the Quick Assist one is revoked. They would then map out the target IT network and do as much reconnaissance as possible, likely in preparation of a ransomware or malware attack.

Defending against these kinds of attacks starts with locking the proverbial doors on Teams. “Most organizations have no legitimate need for open, any-tenant external chat,” Arctic Wolf says. “Per Microsoft’s guidance in Manage external meetings and chat with people and organizations using Microsoft identities, move from “allow all” to an allow-list of trusted organizations.”

The second crucial step is educating the employees. Everyone should be made aware of the fact that just because a message came from Teams, it doesn’t mean it’s legitimate. Same goes for an audio call, or an email.

If you filed a claim by Dec. 18, 2025, a check for up to $7,500 could be on its way within the next few months.

The smart ring maker wants to ban the Ultrahuman Ring Pro.

• Ukraine identifies a mysterious Russian drone powered by gasoline
• Red-starred wings distinguish the unfamiliar aircraft in photographs
• Russia's new drone resembles the Lancet with different propulsion

Ukrainian defense specialists have identified a previously unknown Russian aircraft powered by gasoline, which adds to Moscow's growing range of unmanned weapons.

The drone reportedly resembles Russia's Lancet loitering munition, although its combustion engine sets it apart from the electrically powered weapon.

“A new enemy drone has been spotted on the front. It resembles the Lancet in shape but has a gasoline engine. We are waiting for captured examples to study. Get in touch,” said Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on defense technologies.

Gasoline engine distinguishes the aircraft from Lancet

Images show red stars painted on the wings, but nothing visible in the photographs identifies the aircraft or what it is designed to do.

According to Beskrestnov, the name, manufacturer, and specifications have emerged, yet he has declined to release them until they are confirmed.

The propulsion system is the clearest reported difference from the Lancet, a Russian loitering munition developed by ZALA Aero Group that uses an electric motor.

Burning gasoline could allow longer missions without reliance on battery capacity, since combustion engines can offer greater endurance depending on fuel use and design.

However, the drone's flight duration, operational range and payload capacity have not been disclosed, which prevents any comparison with existing Russian unmanned aircraft.

Russia continues developing battlefield drone capabilities

The Lancet is designed to strike artillery systems, armored vehicles, and radar installations, launches from a catapult, and comes in versions with varying warheads.

Russia has modified the Lancet family before, and the Ukrainian defense has identified an updated version with a redesigned antenna system.

That change potentially affected the drone’s communications, though Ukrainian defense reporting says its forces kept intercepting the upgraded systems, a claim that has not been independently confirmed.

The new drone could give Russian forces another propulsion option for missions where extended endurance is an advantage, though its deployment extent is unknown.

At a defense forum in Kyiv last month, Ukrainian military officials and industry representatives warned that battlefield technologies were evolving rapidly.

Participants urged faster innovation and wider use of AI tools, along with autonomous systems, and asked engineers to forecast Russian developments six months to one year ahead.

Ukraine has also expanded its domestic drone manufacturing, with locally produced systems accounting for 95% of unmanned aerial vehicles procured for its armed forces.

Similarly, Russia has expanded its drone manufacturing, with satellite imagery showing that the Alabuga zone in Tatarstan grew by 340 hectares in a year.

Ukraine’s military intelligence said Russia produces about 3,000 Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones per month and that Moscow seeks more capacity at Alabuga.

Bloomberg reported plans for more than 7 million FPV drones, while Beskrestnov estimates Russia’s yearly strike drone capacity at 36,000 to 40,000 units.

With both sides expanding their drone factories, the gasoline-powered aircraft is an indication of what may follow as manufacturers keep testing new engines and designs.

Via United24media

It’s been an exceptionally busy few months for Apple. In just seven weeks, the Cupertino giant has refreshed its store shelves with the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone Duo, HomePod mini 2, HomeView, OLED iPad mini, iMac M6, and MacBook Pro M6.

That’s eight new products for your perusal, but by offering more choice than ever, Apple has also thrown up some unique new buying conundrums.

For instance, if it’s cheaper to buy an iPhone 18 Pro and Apple’s new iPad mini than it is to buy the iPhone Duo (spoiler: it is), should you? That’s the argument currently doing the rounds on Reddit and TechRadar sister site Tom’s Guide, where my colleague says the iPhone 18 Pro/iPad mini combo is “cheaper and better” than Apple’s first foldable.

I can absolutely see the logic in this position. The iPhone 18 Pro costs $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099. The new OLED iPad mini costs $699 / £699 / AU$1,099. Together, they cost $1,898 / £1,898 / AU$3,198, while a single iPhone Duo costs $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499. You’d be getting two great products instead of one, and saving $101 / £101 / AU$301 in the process.

The iPhone 18 Pro (left) and iPhone Duo (right) (Image credit: Apple / Future)

The iPhone 18 Pro is also a better phone in many ways than the iPhone Duo. It’s thinner, lighter, has better cameras, and doesn’t rely on Touch ID. The OLED iPad mini, meanwhile, offers a Duo-comparable entertainment experience, and can even be equipped with the same Nano-Texture display technology as Apple’s first foldable. So buying the Pro and mini over the Duo is a no-brainer, right?

Well, I'm not so sure. The fundamental difference between these two purchase decisions is that one involves two devices, and the other only one. These are not like-for-like experiences. Owning and using an iPhone 18 Pro alongside an iPad mini is not comparable to the experience of owning and using a single iPhone Duo. But, crucially, the reverse is true.

The Duo is a compromise, yes, but it still offers an undeniably iPad-like experience in pocketable form. You’re paying a premium for its versatility and portability. The whole point of the Duo (and foldables generally) is that it lets you experience a tablet whenever and wherever you are. It’s like using a spork while camping to save you packing a spoon and a fork. Or buying a Range Rover Sport instead of a Ferrari and a family-sized minivan.

The iPhone Duo offers an iPad-like experience in pocketable form (Image credit: Getty Images / Benjamin Fanjoy / Stringer)

The new iPad mini is small, sure — but are you really going to walk around with an 8.5-inch tablet in your pocket? Tom’s Guide’s assertion that “Apple has inadvertently priced its own foldable out of the market for anyone willing to carry a small bag” makes a rather big assumption about the number of people willing to carry a small bag on their person at all times. I am not one of those people, and I don’t know many of them.

All this being said, I am no great iPhone Duo defender. For me, the compromises of getting an iPad-like experience in an iPhone-sized device are, at the time of writing, too great, and I would personally rather stick with my iPhone 18 Pro (and, yes, maybe even buy an iPad mini for watching movies in bed or on the plane).

But that does not mean I think I'd be recreating the experience of owning the iPhone Duo by buying two separate Apple products — watching movies in bed or on the plane is not the same as watching movies wherever I please.

So, yes: buying the iPhone 18 Pro and the new iPad mini might be better value for money than buying a single iPhone Duo, but value and compatibility are two different things. There’s definitely something to be said for owning one device that offers the best of both worlds, and anyone considering the iPhone Duo should remember that before being swayed one way or the other.

Americans could spend over $4 billion on Halloween candy this year.

Companies are accused of training their AI models using copyrighted music and lyrics.

Any personal information posted online could be harvested by data broker sites and remain in their databases for a long time. These sites pose privacy risks that need to be mitigated. A data removal service like PrivacyHawk is an effective mitigation strategy: it scans data broker sites for your data and sends deletion requests where it’s discovered.

PrivacyHawk is one of many data removal services and identity theft protection tools out there. And you’re probably wondering, “Why should I choose it over other options?” I reviewed the platform to answer this question. Read on to learn about its features, pros, cons, and other factors to help decide whether it’s your ideal choice.

PrivacyHawk: Plans and pricing

You can check out the PrivacyHawk platform by clicking here.

It has a simple pricing system. Individuals can choose either the Premium or higher-priced Platinum plan. The former offers mostly data removal, while the latter offers extra features like dark web monitoring, identity theft protection, and priority support.

The Premium plan costs $20 per month, and the Platinum plan goes for $30 per month. However, PrivacyHawk offers steep discounts for users who choose to pay annually. An annual Premium subscription goes for $74, compared to $240 if paid month-to-month, and an annual Platinum subscription costs $125, compared with $360 if paid month-to-month. These steep discounts make an annual payment the best option.

(Image credit: PrivacyHawk )

PrivacyHawk also offers family discounts for both the Premium and Platinum plans. For Premium, a Family package (covering 4 people) goes for $200 annually, and the Platinum Family package costs $300 annually.

If paid month-to-month, the Premium Family plan costs $40, while the Platinum Family plan costs $50. This sums up to $480 over 12 months for the Premium plan, and $600 for the Platinum plan, which are overly high prices. I wouldn't advise paying month-to-month for the Family package—choose it only if you can afford the annual payment.

PrivacyHawk doesn’t offer a standard free trial, which is a drawback, but there’s a 30-day window to request a refund if you're unsatisfied with what you get. After downloading PrivacyHawk, I discovered that I could run some free scans (as part of a so-so, unofficial free tier package), but this isn’t a substitute for a standard free trial.

PrivacyHawk: Setup

Setting up PrivacyHawk doesn’t take much effort. It has designated iOS and Android apps, a feature that sets it apart from most data removal platforms I’ve tested. Setting up PrivacyHawk starts with downloading the app from the Play Store (Android) or App Store (iOS).

After downloading the app, you can sign in with an existing Google or Apple account. Provide the necessary sign-in permissions, and you’ll enter your PrivacyHawk dashboard.

PrivacyHawk welcomes new users with a free scan, as I noted when discussing the lack of a standard free trial. To begin the scan, you’re prompted to enter your name, last name, and age. PrivacyHawk then runs this data against a network of 100+ people-finder sites to discover where your personal data may be present.

Notably, this scanning is geared towards U.S.-centric data broker sites. Non-U.S. residents can run a digital footprint scan, but can’t scan or send deletion requests to data broker sites.

I wasn’t comfortable with the fact that I needed to sign into my email again to run a digital footprint scan (although I did eventually). For most platforms I’ve reviewed, typing the email address is what’s needed to run the scan.

However, PrivacyHawk claims it works by analyzing email inboxes to see which companies could expose personal data. It also compiles a list of junk email senders that you can quickly unsubscribe from. If you’re comfortable with signing into your email address for a deep digital footprint scan, you can do it.

PrivacyHawk covers a network of 100+ data broker sites. This figure isn’t large compared to several competitors, but PrivacyHawk only focuses on U.S.-centric data broker sites, rather than providing global coverage. A scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, after which you’ll see a list of the data broker sites hosting your data. You can quickly initiate deletion requests, and this is where the real work begins.

PrivacyHawk sends automated deletion requests to data broker sites, asking them to remove your personal information from their database. If an automated request isn’t sufficient, PrivacyHawk’s team can send a manually drafted legal request to the data broker sites. Processing removal requests can take a long time, maybe 30 to 90 days, depending on the data broker site. Fortunately, I could monitor the progress of each request from the smartphone app.

You may have discovered your data present on a data broker site that isn’t covered by PrivacyHawk. In that case, you can initiate a manual removal request for that site from your dashboard. PrivacyHawk’s team will send a deletion request on your behalf and follow up on it.

After the initial scan and deletion requests, PrivacyHawk runs monthly rescans of your personal data and sends email alerts if your data is found on any site. You can then initiate new deletion requests. Overall, I found PrivacyHawk to be a reliable data removal platform, although with limited U.S.-centric coverage.

PrivacyHawk: Ease of use

PrivacyHawk scores high when it comes to user-friendliness. The mobile app felt very smooth to navigate, with features neatly arranged and an uncluttered dashboard for scanning, initiating, and monitoring deletion requests.

The interface features a white background with brightly-red-colored icons & buttons that are easy to find. From signing up to scanning and managing deletion requests, I have no complaints about PrivacyHawk’s ease of use.

(Image credit: PrivacyHawk)PrivacyHawk: Security and privacy

PrivacyHawk may not be the best data removal platform, but its complementary features make it practically a full-fledged security suite. With a single app, you can check if your data was discovered in data breaches, identify and block robocall numbers, and counter spam emails. A PrivacyHawk subscription significantly boosts your online privacy and security.

PrivacyHawk: Support

PrivacyHawk users have access to a detailed Help Center with user guides and manuals related to all its features. This Help Center proved very valuable as a new user navigating through data broker and digital footprint scans.

When I needed direct help, I contacted PrivacyHawk’s team via email. I saw what looked like live chat support, only to discover it was an AI chatbot, and I couldn’t chat with human support staff. Given the price of a PrivacyHawk subscription, I think live chat or telephone support should be provided, but they aren’t available.

PrivacyHawk: Competition

I’ll highlight OneRep as the main competitor to PrivacyHawk. It offers broader coverage, with a network of 300+ public data broker sites and 500+ non-public ones, compared to PrivacyHawk’s 100+ coverage. Its plans are more affordable than PrivacyHawk’s.

However, PrivacyHawk offers complementary features like dark web monitoring, identity theft protection, and robocall blocking, while OneRep offers email breach monitoring and little else. I think PrivacyHawk is a more complete security suite, but OneRep is a better option for data removal.

PrivacyHawk: Final verdict

PrivacyHawk has its pros and cons. Its data broker coverage is limited, but for the covered sites, it offers deep scans and effective deletion requests.

For sites not covered, you can still initiate manual deletion requests, although success rates may be lower. PrivacyHawk offers advanced complementary features that make it feel like an enterprise security suite.

The most notable drawbacks are the limited customer support, the lack of a standard free trial, and the limited broker coverage. However, PrivacyHawk remains a decent data removal platform.

• The US Navy has picked Radiant's 1MW Kaleidos microreactor for a prototype plant at Naval Weapons Station Crane in Indiana
• The Pentagon wants it running by September 2028 to keep critical systems powered through potential grid outages
• Kaleidos has not publicly gone critical yet, and one unit will back critical loads, not the whole base

The US Navy wants one of its most important weapons installations to keep running if the commercial grid goes down, so it chose a nuclear reactor that can be trucked in to do the job.

The Navy said it had selected Radiant Industries to design, build, and deliver a prototype microreactor power plant for Naval Weapons Station Crane in southern Indiana, a day after the California startup announced the win.

Brendan Rogers, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment, said dedicated reactor power means "our critical naval support systems will never go dark."

A 'portable' nuclear reactor for critical infrastructure

Radiant's reaction to being picked has been jubilant: President and COO Tori Shivanandan said there is "no organization in the world with more experience in nuclear power" than the Navy, and the company now bills itself as the only nuclear firm selected by the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

It has multiple reasons to be proud; Kaleidos is a factory-built, helium-cooled, TRISO-fueled reactor rated at 1MW of electricity. Radiant says it can travel by road, sea, or air; needs no cooling water, major excavation, or extensive on-site construction; and runs for up to five years per fuel load over a 20-year life.

It will not roam around Crane; the whole unit travels in tandem. Radiant handles its own fueling, refueling, and spent-fuel storage, so host sites never keep spent fuel and can be returned to greenfield within two years of removing a unit, per the company.

The US Army's Janus program (which procured this) requires all radiological material to leave a host site within two years of shutdown, meaning either enlisting the US Department of Energy to help with any potential disposals or shuttling it elsewhere, often on public roads. Critics see the flip side: anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear argues the model puts reactors loaded with irradiated fuel on public highways on their way back to the factory.

The Navy's announcement gives no output, cost, or schedule; the 1MW figure is Radiant's. That is modest for a sprawling installation, and Army officials have been clear that Janus reactors are not meant to run whole bases. They will stay tied to the grid, and Jeff Waksman, the Army's principal deputy assistant secretary for installations, said they are "not going to provide 100% of the power on any of these installations."

The chosen deployment location is no ordinary one; Crane hosts the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division and the Crane Army Ammunition Activity, which, together, handle weapons development, electromagnetic warfare, strategic missions, advanced manufacturing, and conventional munitions production, according to the Navy.

This isn't the Navy's first onshore reactor play; in March 1962, a portable 1.75MW pressurized water reactor known as PM-3A went critical at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, and a Navy team ran it for a decade.

It suffered a hydrogen fire in its first year, shut down for good in 1972 amid cost and corrosion concerns, and removing it meant shipping thousands of tons of contaminated gravel and soil back to the US, according to the Naval Historical Society of Australia. Waksman has cited Janus' two-year cleanup rule as a key break from how the military ran reactors in the 1950s and 1960s.

None of this means Crane won't get its reactor, but it does create red tape and a cautious environment. On the other side of the equation, the Pentagon has a hard deadline and an eager host state; the Navy's reactor program is lending its expertise; and Radiant has a $750 million Army contract in tow.

However, for now, the Navy has picked a reactor that has never publicly run at power to keep a weapons base lit when the grid fails, and testing at Idaho National Laboratory will decide whether "never go dark" is a plan or a hope once it happens.

The latest Ace Combat game feels like a polished, punchy airborne adventure — unapologetically anime in its storytelling and a joy to play.

• Dynabook V83/PA packs a rechargeable stylus inside a convertible laptop weighing 989g
• The 13.3-inch touchscreen delivers WUXGA resolution in a lightweight convertible design
• Battery estimates reach 28.5 idle hours and 16 hours during video playback

Dynabook has introduced the V83/PA, a 989g convertible laptop which offers the portability of conventional notebooks.

The device incorporates a stylus that fits into a dedicated compartment within its chassis, allowing users to store and recharge it internally.

Its 13.3-inch LCD touchscreen offers 1920 × 1200 resolution, and its convertible design allows users to switch between regular business laptop and tablet use.

Lightweight construction with extensive connectivity

Measuring approximately 298.8 × 212 × 18.8mm, the laptop features rounded rear edges, a Dark Tech Blue finish and an enlarged touchpad.

The laptop includes two Thunderbolt 4 connections, with one installed on either side to accommodate peripherals without restricting cable placement.

Two additional USB 3.2 Gen 1 connections accompany HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet and a 3.2mm audio socket for attaching conventional computer accessories.

Its wireless connection uses Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, while optional mobile broadband configurations provide access to either 4G or 5G networks.

The keyboard incorporates spill protection against approximately 30cc of liquid, but for protection, users have to shut down the computer after accidental spillage.

Dynabook has not published the battery capacity, but it estimates 28.5 hours idle and 16 hours of video playback.

Intel processors, AI capabilities, and enterprise security

Under the hood, these laptops offer different Intel chips, including the Core Ultra 7 365, Ultra 7 355, Ultra 5 335 and Ultra 5 325 chips.

The Dynabooks come with a memory capacity of 16GB or 32GB of RAM, accompanied by 512GB or 1TB of SSD storage and Windows 11 Pro.

The V83/PA includes a proprietary AI tool that translates and summarizes onscreen content when users circle the relevant information with a finger or stylus.

Processing takes place locally rather than through external servers, allowing the software to handle selected content without transmitting it for cloud analysis.

For video conferencing, the laptop also supports AI noise cancellation and Windows Studio Effects, which provide additional software capabilities for online meetings.

Its proprietary Empower Technology sustains processor performance during demanding workloads.

Dynabook offers the V83/PA with either a 5MP front sensor that supports facial recognition or a 0.92MP alternative, and the rear camera is rated at about 8MP.

Users can also unlock the device with a fingerprint reader, which sits alongside the face recognition option on the higher-resolution camera.

Business protections include Secured-Core PC conformity, NIST SP800-171 support, and a proprietary security manager that guards the BIOS.

The V83/PA starts at ¥1,057,320, roughly $6,740, and that figure covers only the base configuration, so the 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD version will likely cost considerably more.

Its 989g weight and battery endurance remain manufacturer estimates that no independent test has verified.

Many premium convertibles and ultralight laptops from other brands offer comparable processors and memory for less, although few of them store a charging stylus inside the body.

The V83/PA therefore depends on its low weight and built-in pen to justify a price that is hard to defend for specifications that are otherwise fairly typical.

Via PC Watch

Though 2026 has been a tumultuous time for technology when it comes to price hikes and shortages, the tech that's reached us has been excellent — in fact, it's been a banner year in most areas, just with some downsides for your wallet.

We've already crowned the best tech of the year as chosen by you in our TechRadar Readers' Choice Awards 2026 — but this is where we let our experts have their say.

Our writers and editors chose their favorite products in nearly 100 categories, ranging across all the kinds of products we review. In some cases, we agree with the readers; in lots of cases, we don't. So read on to see which gadgets we rate as being the most impressive of the last 12 months.

Phones & tabletsPhone of the Year

Apple iPhone 18 Pro

Wherever you look, the iPhone 18 Pro excels. It might not have the biggest camera sensor or the longest-lasting battery of any phone on the market, but it does offer a near-unrivaled combination of premium flagship features. From its variable aperture feature and pro-level video capabilities to its phenomenal performance and gorgeous display, the 18 Pro is the Swiss Army knife of 2026 smartphones.

Read our full iPhone 18 Pro review

Phone Brand of the Year

Honor

The Chinese company has brought something competitive to the table at every turn in 2026. The Honor Magic 8 Pro is an extremely capable flagship. The Magic V6 is easily one of the best foldables you can buy. The Honor 600 series offers some serious value for money in the mid-range sector. The MagicPad 4 is an iPad-beating tablet in several ways. And the Robot Phone is, well, the Robot Phone. Honor’s products aren’t globally available in the same way as, say, Apple's or Samsung’s, but those who have tried the brand’s phones and tablets will know about their level of hardware quality.

Phones Innovation of the Year

Honor Robot Phone

Sticking with Honor, it’s hard to see past the Robot Phone as the most exciting Phones Innovation of the Year in 2026. There's been some competition from foldables in this area this year, but Honor deserves credit for bringing something wildly different to the market (in China, at least). Will we ever see the Robot Phone and its fully motorized mechanical gimbal arm in Western markets? I doubt it — but that doesn’t make it any less exciting.

Read our Honor Robot Phone hands-on

Best Value Phone

Motorola Edge 70 Fusion

The Motorola Edge 70 Fusion is in another world for pure value compared to most phones — for example, compared to the iPhone 17e, it costs almost exactly half the price and offers an extra camera, a much larger battery, faster charging, and a higher display refresh rate. The Edge 70 Fusion is not a flashy phone, but it certainly punches above its budget price tag.

Best Mid-Range Phone

Apple iPhone 17

The Apple iPhone 17 is over 12 months old now (it just slips into this year’s eligibility window), and it wasn’t replaced with a successor in September — but it didn’t need to be. With its 120Hz refresh rate, two great rear cameras, powerful A19 chipset, and still-industry-leading Center Stage selfie camera, the iPhone 17 is still the iPhone we recommend to most people.

Best Folding Phone

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the only globally available passport-shaped foldable we’ve tested fully (and that's eligible for this year's awards), and it's earned our pick as the Best Folding Phone of the year. We were skeptical about the practicality of the Z Fold 8’s stumpy form factor, but after living with the phone for a month, we came around to its charming oddness.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z fold 8 review

Best Flip Phone

Motorola Razr Ultra 2026

The Motorola Razr Ultra 2026 (or Motorola Razr 70 Ultra, as it’s called in certain regions) is, for us, the best phone you can buy in this category. The Galaxy Z Flip 8 has better software, a newer chipset, and is slightly more affordable — but the latest Razr Ultra has a larger battery, faster charging, and better cameras. It’s a close-run thing, but this is the flip phone we'd choose.

Best Camera Phone

Oppo Find X9 Ultra

The Oppo Find X9 Ultra is an absolute beast of a camera phone. It boasts a 200MP main lens, a 50MP ultra-wide lens, a 200MP 3x telephoto lens, and a 50MP 10x telephoto (f/3.5) lens, which is a combination that helped it beat the Galaxy S26 Ultra and hold its own against even the Lumix TZ300 and Nikon Z8 in our head-to-head comparisons. It’s heavy, thick, and eye-wateringly expensive, but the Find X9 Ultra is the closest we’ve come to a truly camera-rivaling smartphone.

Read our full Oppo Find X9 Ultra review

Best Gaming Phone

RedMagic 11 Pro

If you’re looking for an unashamedly gamer-y smartphone, it doesn’t get much better than the RedMagic 11 Pro. With its exposed water-cooling system, capacitive shoulder buttons, powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, and gorgeous 6.85-inch OLED display, it’s more handheld console than phone.

Read our full RedMagic 11 Pro review

Best AI Phone

Google Pixel 11 Pro

Even though Google’s latest Pixel series doesn’t bring much newness to the table, it’s hard to argue against the Pixel 11 Pro’s status as the Best AI Phone money can buy. There’s Camera Coach, Magic Cue, Magic Editor, Magic Capture, Rambler, and, of course, system-wide Gemini integration to take advantage of with Google’s latest flagship. If AI is your jam, the Pixel 11 Pro should be your phone.

Read our full Google Pixel 11 Pro review

Best Phone Accessory

DJI Osmo Mobile 8P

Phone gimbals aren’t the flashiest products around, but the DJI Osmo Mobile 8P deserves credit for being one of the best phone accessories money can buy. As we noted in our review, the 8P adds a remote control and even better tracking capabilities to the already impressive Osmo Mobile 8 formula, and as such, it’s an easy recommendation for content creators.

Read our full DJI Osmo Mobile 8P review

Best Tablet

Honor MagicPad 4

The Android tablet market is a real mix of good, bad, and terrible right now, but the Honor MagicPad 4 surprised us by being a genuinely iPad-rivaling slate in testing this year. For a lower price than the latest iPad Air, the MagicPad 4 offers a thin and lightweight design, a stunning OLED screen, an excellent eight-speaker stereo setup, and near-unbeatable update support. Here’s hoping Honor continues its hot streak into 2027.

Read our full Honor MagicPad 4 review

Best eReader

Amazon Kindle Scribe (2025)

The last 12 months have seen plenty of great ereaders and digital note-takers come to market, but the Amazon Kindle Scribe (2025) has become our go-to recommendation for those after an ereader/notebook hybrid. It's pricey, yes, but the Scribe’s 11-inch E Ink Carta 1300 display is a joy to behold.

Read our full Amazon Kindle Scribe (2025) review

Cameras & dronesCamera of the Year

Sony A7R VI

Perfect ratings are rare, but the A7R VI earned five stars with its 66.8MP stacked full-frame sensor, image stabilization, new processor and improved subject-detection autofocus, which combine for class-leading quality and performance. Whether you shoot landscape photography or action, the A7R VI can handle it all, and its excellent handling and new and improved battery was the cherry on the cake. Our verdict? "Sony can stop making cameras now."

Read our full Sony A7R VI review

Brand of the Year

Sony

Following a relatively quiet year, Sony has stood out in 2026 with three top cameras and a raft of new lenses. We gave a perfect five-star rating to the Sony A7R VI, which received high praise from our veteran Cameras Editor who said it had "no weaknesses". The A7 V took top spot in our best mirrorless cameras guide, while the RX10 V revived bridge cameras and extended Sony’s lead at the top in this category. Add Sony’s stellar macro lens to the mix and this award was inevitable.

Camera Innovation of the Year

Antigravity A1

The Antigravity A1 was a first-of-its-kind drone, one that can shoot true 360 degree video thanks to its dual camera array. The Insta360-backed company effectively gave us an airborne Insta360 X5, with immersive 8K video recording that sees in every direction. At the launch event, we donned the company’s goggles and followed racing cars around a track, and the whole experience was intuitive — but most of all immersive. You don’t need to worry about framing the shot, because that happens later using Insta360’s clever software, which can frame and compile videos after the fact.

Read our full Antigravity A1 review

Best Beginner Camera

OM System PEN

It was a tight call between the OM System PEN and the Lumix L10, but ultimately we felt that the PEN is the better starting point for beginner photographers, at a much lower price point. Not only is the PEN easy on the eye, but it features image stabilization, a rangefinder-style EVF, a weatherproof body, and a host of clever computational photography modes that smartphone upgrades will feel at home with, and that encourage creativity. A huge choice of lenses and a new weatherproof kit lens complete the package.

Read our OM System PEN review

Best Mid-range camera

Sony A7 V

The mid-range full-frame category is fiercely contested by Canon, Nikon, Sony and Panasonic, but Sony stole back its crown with the new A7 V, in a year that Canon also released the stellar EOS R6 Mark III. Between those two 5-star cameras, we felt the A7 V had the (slight) edge overall; there's nothing to choose in terms of resolution, but the A7 V has a partially stacked sensor for what should be quicker readout speeds, plus snappier subject detection autofocus, wider dynamic range, versatile flip-and-tilt screen, and class-leading battery life.

Read our Sony A7 V review

Best Professional Camera

Sony A7R VI

It’s actually been a quiet year in the professional camera category, but that's probably good for the other companies, because the A7R VI would’ve been hard for anyone to compete with. It ups the bar with a class-leading 66.8MP full-frame stacked sensor that's backed up with the power, speed and pro-grade body that make the camera a formidable tool in any pro photography scenario. We shot landscape, portrait and wildlife photography, and the pro camera thrived in all situations.

Read our full Sony A7R VI review

Best Compact and Instant Camera

Ricoh GR IV

Being intimately familiar with the GR III, we were super excited about the GR IV launch and the upgrades it would bring. A new 26MP APS-C sensor with five-axis stabilization and improved battery life topped the improvements, but we’ll have to keep fingers crossed for next time for the improved build quality, a tilt screen and built-in-flash we wished for. Even still, the GR IV can shoot the best quality photos from a truly pocketable camera, with a dedicated Monochrome edition that came alter to boot. The price hike stung, but no other brand is making a compact like Ricoh is.

Read our Ricoh GR IV review

Best Action and Vlogging Camera

DJI Osmo Pocket 4P

It’s been a busy year in this category, with Insta360 and DJI in particular trading blows. First came DJI's Pocket 4, which was a modest upgrade of the Pocket 3, but DJI had something extra special up its sleeve; a twin-lens gimbal camera Pocket 4P, which would change the game for vlogging. Insta360 then tried to steal DJI’s thunder with its innovative Luna Ultra's twin lenses and removable remote module — but DJI's Pocket 4P feels like the more polished of the two, and the one we have found ourselves turning to more often for shooting stabilized 4K content.

Read our DJI Osmo Pocket 4P review

Best Camera Lens

Sigma 135mm f/1.4 DG | Art

Lenses is a competitive category year after year, and 2025-2026 was no different, with a top Sony macro optic, Nikon's slimmed down 70-200mm f/2.8 and a number of superb-value Viltrox optics. However, we must recognize innovation and give credit where it's due, which is why Sigma’s first 135mm telephoto lens with a f/1.4 aperture blew us away. Bulky, yes, but we gave it five stars in our review, calling the 135mm F1.4 DG / Art the 'bokeh master' — if you want the dreamiest portraits, look no further.

Read our Sigma 135mm f/1.4 DG | Art review

Best Camera Accessory

Insta360 Mic Pro

DJI and Insta360 have been trading blows all year, but it was Insta360’s Mic Pro that was the final piece of the jigsaw for the 360 camera maker’s ecosystem. Insta360 fans using the likes of the class leading X6 360-degree camera, Ace Pro 2 action cam and Luna Ultra vlogging cameras can enjoy all the benefits of direct compatibility with one of the best wireless mics we’ve ever tested — mixing and matching their camera with a third party mic is no longer necessary. And what a mic it was — the Mic Pro has DJI-beating noise cancellation and an eye-catching, customizable e ink display.

Read our Insta360 Mic Pro review

Best Drone

DJI Avata 360

First came the Antigravity A1 drone, and then came the DJI Avata 360, which felt like the more polished and versatile 360-degree drone of the two. Where the A1 has two fixed lenses to capture 360-degree footage, the Avata 360’s twin lenses are mounted to a gimbal which can rotate 90 degrees to switch between regular (front-facing) single-lens and top/bottom facing 360-degree use. The product also joins DJI's existing Avata ecosystem, which already includes superb FPV goggles and motion controller accessories. Bottom line — the A1 came first, but the Avata 360 upped the bar, and it costs much less.

Read our DJI Avata 360 review

ComputingLaptop of the Year

Apple MacBook Neo

If there's one laptop that has made the biggest impact in 2026, then it's the MacBook Neo. When Apple announced its brand-new MacBook earlier this year, along with the impressively-affordable starting price of $599 / £599 / AU$1,049, it sent shockwaves through the industry. That might sound like hyperbole, but by releasing a budget laptop that still features a premium-feeling (and looking) design and without too many compromises when it comes to features and performance, the MacBook Neo shook rival PC makers out of their complacency and got them to up their budget laptop game. We had numerous laptop makers freely admit that they were releasing $600 laptops to challenge the MacBook Neo. For the sheer impact alone, the MacBook Neo has to be our pick as laptop of the year.

Read our full MacBook Neo review

Computing Brand of the Year

Nvidia

Once again, Nvidia has dominated the computing industry this year — all without releasing a new consumer graphics card. While the AI bubble, and Nvidia's role in it, continues to have a huge impact on the computing industry, the company has continued to innovate. DLSS 4.5 brought improved image quality to Nvidia's upscaling tech, while also introducing 6x Multi Frame Generation that can help improve gaming performance, especially on lower-end cards. Nvidia also released RTX Spark, its Arm-based System-on-Chip (SoC) aimed at taking on Apple's M-series chips, especially in regards to creative and local AI tasks. Even its controversial DLSS 5 feature has won over some critics since its announcement.

Best Computing Innovation

Intel Arc G3 Extreme

This year's release of the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip — yes, another SoC, this time one that's been specifically designed for mobile gaming devices by concentrating on graphics performance and power efficiency. So, it's not surprising that it is the beating heart of many of the most powerful and exciting PC gaming handhelds that have come out this year, including the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, Acer Predator Atlas 8, and OneXPlayer 3. They're all expensive, sadly, but they offer truly brilliant gaming performance in even the most graphically-intensive titles, and the Intel chip is why.

Best Value Laptop

Dell XPS 13 (2026)

While we were very tempted to give the MacBook Neo our award for the best value laptop of 2026, we've actually gone for one of the laptops it influenced: this year's XPS 13. In the past, Dell's XPS 13 laptop was a premium thin and light laptop, but Dell relaunched it as an affordable alternative to Apple's laptop, initially targeting the same $600 starting price. This isn't a conspiracy — Dell explicitly compared the XPS 13 to the MacBook Neo when showing off the laptop to us. The reason we're giving the XPS 13 the edge is that it feels like Dell made fewer compromises with its affordable laptop, especially when it comes to backlit keyboard and faster USB-C ports.

Read our full Dell XPS 13 (2026) review

Best AI Laptop

Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

Pretty much any laptop these days ships with some form of AI feature included, even baked into the operating system — but of all the laptops that have come out this year, the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is, in our view, the best AI laptop because it doesn't just settle for adding AI features from other companies. Instead, Samsung has included its own Galaxy AI features, which offer additional tools, and work across its laptops, smartphones, and tablets. While not every Galaxy AI feature is a killer app, it shows a level of ambition and investment that many of its competitors lack.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra review

Best Gaming Laptop

Razer Blade 18

Razer has been putting out excellent gaming laptops for years, marrying cutting-edge technology with thin and light designs that banish any memory of big and bulky gaming laptops of yore. This year's Razer Blade 18 is no exception, offering almost desktop-levels of performance thanks to some of the most powerful components on the market today, with up to an RTX 5090 GPU and 128GB of DDR5 RAM. You can throw any game at this thing and it'll handle it like a champ, and its large 18-inch display offers UHD+ resolution at 240Hz, and FHD+ at an incredibly fast 440Hz, for unbelievably slick performance in games.

Read our full Razer Blade 18 (2026) review

Best PC Gaming Handheld

MSI Claw 8 EX AI+

While all the Intel Arc G3 Extreme-powered PC gaming handhelds that we saw at Computex were impressive, one stood out: the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+. Not only was it one of the first handheld to come with Intel's latest hardware, but MSI completely redesigned the device itself to make it feel more comfortable and responsive when playing. This bore out in our full review, which highlighted the incredible performance (for a handheld) and the bright and vibrant screen that really made the games look spectacular.

Read our full MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ review

Best Gaming Keyboard

Corsair Makr Pro 75

Reliability, performance, and build quality are all incredibly important considerations in a keyboard, and the Corsair Makr Pro 75 ticks every box. Its Corsair MGX Hyperdrive magnetic hot-swappable hall effect switches are an absolute joy to type on, and the overall build quality is exceptional (if a little heavy). It's expensive, and the software isn't great, but when crowning 2026's top gaming keyboard, there was only one choice here.

Read our full Corsair Makr Pro 75 review

Best Gaming Mouse

Razer Naga V3 Pro

The Razer Naga V3 Pro is an incredibly versatile gaming mouse that, thanks to its swappable side plates that offer gamers two, six, or 12 additional buttons, will appeal to almost any one, no matter what time of games you play. We use this mouse with the six-button side plate (which is easily attached via magnets) for quick access to macros and shortcuts while playing current obsession Planet Coaster 2. The mouse feels very comfortable to use, the 50K optical sensor offers fantastic control and with an 8,000Hz polling rate, even when used wirelessly, this is a mouse that can give you a serious competitive advantage.

Read our full Razer Naga V3 Pro review

Best Gaming Monitor

Alienware AW3426DW QD-OLED

The Alienware AW3426DW is an ultra-wide gaming monitor with a stunning five-layer tandem OLED panel that offers incredible, vision-spanning image quality. It supports Dolby Vision HDR, and a very fast 280Hz refresh rate that makes it a great choice for fast and frantic competitive games. The 3440x1440 (offering a 21:9 ultrawide aspect ratio) offers plenty of detail without putting too much strain on your GPU, and that wider field of vision, along with the fast refresh rate, could make a huge difference when playing.

Read our full Alienware AW3426DW QD-OLED review

GamingGaming Device of the Year

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite

The Arctis Nova Elite is the best gaming headset we've ever tested. It's simply that good. It's not just a headset that has you covered by collecting features you'll find elsewhere altogether either; this is a genuinely individual beast. The design and build are of premium materials: SteelSeries has made a custom Carbon Fiber driver with a brass surround ring for spectacular hi-res audio. Connectivity is all you could ever want in terms of need and convenience, and the whole experience is absolutely fantastic. A world-beater of a gaming headset and device that is peerless.

Read our full SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite review

Gaming Brand of the Year

Asus

With an enormous number and diversity of products being launched by the gaming brand, from first attempts at desktop soundbars to quality PC gaming handheld follow-ups, and more excellent gaming monitors with the latest panels in that you can shake a stick at, Asus has been the hardware brand to beat this past year.

Gaming Innovation of the Year

Nvidia DLSS 4.5

With PC gaming becoming increasingly demanding, DLSS has never been more important, and DLSS 4.5 is one of the biggest leaps forward for upscaling tech yet. It delivers such high image quality and clarity that you can barely tell the difference between Quality and Performance modes, helping supported games like Doom: The Dark Ages and Arc Raiders look better and run better than ever before.

Best Console Accessory

Corsair Novablade Pro

A pleasant surprise in the past year or so's gaming hardware releases, the Novablade Pro leverless fightstick is a fantastic game controller that oozes quality and prioritizes customization to make life easier and better for fighting game players.

Read our full Corsair Novablade Pro review

Best Gaming Service

Amazon Luna

With hardware prices spiraling out of control, cloud gaming has never been a more attractive proposition — and Amazon continues to offer one of the best services in the space. This year saw Amazon Luna games integrated directly into the Prime Video app on Fire TV devices, making it easier than ever to access great games wherever you are.

Read our full Amazon Luna review from 2024

Best Gaming Controller

8BitDo Pro 3

The 8BitDo Pro 3 looks like a small upgrade compared to the Pro 2, but in real-world use, the improvements are simply astronomical. 8BitDo has crammed drift-eliminating TMR thumbsticks, magnetic hot-swappable face buttons, trigger locks, and an extra pair of optional remappable buttons into a versatile, budget-friendly package that is miles ahead of the competition.

Read our full 8BitDo Pro 3 review

Best Gaming Headset

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite

The best gaming headset we've ever tested. The Nova Elite raises the bar for premium, do-it-all, high-end gaming headsets, and this ticks every box from feature set to battery life, and from connectivity to audio quality, design, and build.

Read our full SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite review

Best Gaming Chair

Secretlab Atlas

Secretlab's latest chair is a hit. This practical task chair offers the brand's supreme materials and build quality in a less gaming-oriented format, making it perfect for your work-from-home setup. It's attractive, comfortable, and feature-packed — what more could you ask from your seat?

Read our full Secretlab Atlas review

TV & home theaterTV of the Year

LG C6

In terms of all-around performance, features and versatility balanced with price, the C6 is the best TV around. When we tested it next to its predecessor, the LG C5, it was a noticeable upgrade: one that's rare to come across, and that was helped by LG adding its highest-end image processing. If you want a TV that can do it all, the C6 is that TV. Few TVs have impressed me as much this year as the C6, and that's why it takes the top spot.

Read our full LG C6 review

Home Entertainment Brand of the Year

Sony

Sony released two RGB LED TVs this year after years of teasing, and both of them were best-in-class, and are the TVs that most have me believing that OLED really should watch its back based on where this technology could do. Outside of this, the brand has also produced some excellent soundbars and speakers across the board, including the ground-breaking Bravia Theater Trio wireless LCR system, which is something we've been hoping to see a company make for years.

Home Entertainment Innovation of the Year

Sony True RGB

RGB TVs have been the big buzz of the TV world in 2026, and while it's been a mostly mixed bag, Sony's version called 'True RGB' stands above the rest. While it delivers spellbinding colors and superb brightness, it's the OLED-level black tones that impressed me most. I've tested Sony's two True RGB TVs and it's the best that dark and high-contrast scenes have ever looked on a backlit TV. In terms of innovation, it doesn't get more impressive than this in 2026.

Best Gaming TV

LG C6

For gaming, there's no better option in 2026 than the LG C6. Not only does it have a full list of features — 4K at up to 165Hz, full variable refresh rate support, and Dolby Vision Gaming — and fantastic performance, but it's also available in 42-83-inch sizes to suit all gaming spaces. When I played games on the C6, I had a fantastic time thanks to its buttery-smooth response times and excellent picture quality. There are other great gaming TVs around, but none delivers such a good all-round experience for the same price.

Read our full LG C6 review

Best TV for Sound

Sony Bravia 9 II

While TV sound is often a mixed bag, no other TV delivers better built-in audio in 2026 than the Sony Bravia 9 II. It delivers impeccable detail and clarity with a wide soundstage and pinpoint accuracy. Watching our reference scenes just impressed us across the board — very few other TVs have ever delivered such a level of audio authenticity.

Read our full Sony Bravia 9 II review

Best OLED TV

LG C6

Our TV of the Year is also the best OLED TV of 2026. More premium models may deliver better picture or more features, but none deliver a more complete package that's a significant step above their predecessor for a seriously competitive price. The C6 is a jack-of-all-trades TV that ticks every box a user could need across a wide range of sizes, and no other OLED has impressed me as much as the LG C6 when compared to last year's models.

Read our full LG C6 review

Best Mini-LED TV

Sony Bravia 9 II

RGB mini-LED is the next step in the evolution of mini-LED and no other TV this year does it better than the Sony Bravia 9 II. It delivers fantastic backlight control, OLED-rivaling black tones, vibrant, rich colors and realistic detail. No backlit TV has ever wowed our reviewers more than the Bravia 9 II, and it's an exciting sign for the future of mini-LED.

Read our full Sony Bravia 9 II review

Best Value TV

TCL QM7L/C7L

It really doesn't get better in terms of bang-for-your-buck value than the TCL QM7L (US model) and TCL C7L (UK and Australian version). The new SQD panel delivers great brightness and color, as well as excellent backlight control. Its great for gaming for a near-full suite of features, and it has credible built-in sound. The real highlight however is its price-to-size ratio, where you can get a big screen at a ridiculously affordable price, given how good the picture looks. If you want the best value, the QM7L/C7L is our top pick.

Read our full TCL QM7L review

Best Projector

Hisense XR10

This projector simply creates the most impressive pictures you can expect from a living-room-friendly projector — anything beyond this requires going pro. It's bright enough to work for lit rooms as well as dark-room viewing, and looks fantastic in both cases — and it even has a slick decor-friendly design. Sure, it lacks 120Hz at 4K, but cinephiles won't care — and this is made for cinephiles, make no mistake. Our full review will land shortly.

Best Soundbar

Sonos Beam Ultra

This wasn't the only soundbar this year to earn a rare five-star rating, but it's the one with the most 'wow' factor, because it's hard to believe such an expansive sound is coming from such a small design. The Dolby Atmos effect reaches a scale you'd never expect for a compact bar, and does it with clarity and precision of spatial audio. This feels like a premium bar, but with a mid-range price, and that's why it earns this award.

Read our full Sonos Beam Ultra review

Best Wireless Home Theater Speakers

Sony Bravia Theater Trio

This is product option we've wanted for so long: a wireless LCR system (meaning left, center, right channels) that's as easy to set up as a soundbar, but with the better width and impact that you get from a separates system. And that's what you get here: tons of power, a super-immersive Dolby Atmos experience, and a sense of scale to match a projector screen or giant-screen TV in a way a soundbar can't match. It's the wireless living home theater dream come true, especially with its easy expansion to add rears and subs. Our full review is coming soon.

StreamingStreaming Service of the Year

HBO Max

Three years on after winning our coveted Best Streaming Service of the Year crown, HBO Max has done it again — and with good reason. Its long-overdue launch in multiple European nations, including the UK and Ireland, and the introduction of new user-friendly features are two such reasons why it was an early contender for this year’s prize. Throw in its unrivaled catalog of unmissable new shows and returning TV favorites, ongoing movie-exclusive partnership with acclaimed indie studio A24, and ever-expanding live sports coverage, though, and no other platform came close to besting it.

Best for Movies

Prime Video

Movie lovers should flock to Prime Video, as it boasts a library of over 20,000 movies in the US. The streaming service regularly adds new movies from Hollywood blockbusters, independent films, and classic cinema across the years, as well as its own Prime Video Original movies. Recent additions include the romantic comedy Love of Your Life and survival horror The Devil's Mouth.

Best for Documentaries

Netflix

Considering Netflix has everything from true crime to celebrity-fronted food documentaries, it's the place to be if you love all things real life. There's plenty of shocking stories of scandals, murders, mysteries and more, as well as lighter options for those in need of some escapism. Whatever you're after, Netflix probably has it. Recent must-see documentaries include a nail-biting series called Worst Neighbor Ever and the shocking Titan: The OceanGate Disaster.

Best for TV Shows

Apple TV was the most awarded streaming service at the 2026 Emmys, with many of its original series being hailed as the best. We’re inclined to agree, considering the quality of Apple TV shows has been consistently excellent across the board. Whether you want a mind boggling thriller like Severance or a horror comedy like Widow’s Bay, there’s plenty on offer for all tastes.

Best Free Streaming Service

Tubi or not Tubi? That’s the question we ask ourselves who should win our annual Best Free Streaming Service of the Year award. Well, this year, it is Tubi. Supported on over 30 devices — the most of any ad-supporting video on demand (AVOD) service — it’s available to every kind of person working to every kind of budget. Add in its movie and TV show catalogs, which number hundreds of thousands of offerings covering numerous genres, as well as its ongoing featuring of myriad live television channels and networks, and it’s the 2026 people’s AVOD champion.

AudioHeadphones of the Year

Apple AirPods Max 2

As we said in our full review, these cans are "doubtless the best noise-cancelling iPhone headphones on the planet" — and we weren't expecting to love them as much as we did. Aside from the USB-C lossless audio and incredible comfort, they also boast some of the best voice capture on any headphones we've ever experienced. This was a really hot year for headphones, the AirPods Max 2 still lag behind the competition for battery life (and the weird bra case continues to mystify) — but that they won out should tell you just how good they are in every other way.

Read our full AirPods Max 2 review

Audio Brand of the Year

iFi

Hi-res specialist iFi isn't afraid of conquering the whole hi-fi market, serving up launches such as the excellent five-star elite iFi iDSD GR2 and the cheap and cheerful Go Cable this year. We love seeing this hard-working visionary outfit in full flow. Whatever level you're at, it's got something for you — and it's hard to look past a brand that hires out London's Tower Bridge, gets its entire team into black tuxedoes, plasters the walls with the word 'Phantom' so it feels as if 007 himself could drop in at any minute and then unveils the most stunning-sounding flagship DAC we've ever heard. Bravo, iFi. For you, the world is not enough… 

Audio Innovation of the Year

Cambridge L/R S speakers

Before I heard these speakers, I thought Cambridge had taken a big risk here. Then, I gave them a thorough listen and I knew they were winners. The L/R S is a genuinely active stereo speaker system, so it does not involve a powered primary speaker and a dumb counterpart to make a pair. OK, only the primary speaker receives power, but there are two channels of amplification for each speaker. Then, there's a full DSP crossover which acts as a PWM signal to each amp — and that's before the bespoke four-conductor cable to connect the primary speaker to the secondary! Might we call them over-engineered? Maybe — or you could simply call Cambridge's work ethic ‘admirable’, as I do.

Read our full Cambridge L/R S review

Best Wireless Headphones

Nothing Headphone (a)

There's something so untethered about Nothing's approach to audio architecture and design that it makes these cans downright joyous in their appeal — we actually have the pair with yellow accents (you can call them over-easy eggs if you like, that actually makes me dig them even more). The company upgraded and finessed the audio compared to the original Headphone (1), while keeping the excellent on-ear controls (the roller for volume is a true highlight) stellar battery life, very good ANC and truly useful app — then somehow shaved a load off the price. A deserved winner.

Read our full Nothing Headphone (a) review

Best Wireless Earbuds

Soundpeats H3

These delightfully different, affordable and sonically superb buds from Soundpeats sound better than some buds at twice their price (and at around $129 / £129, they're really quite humbly priced), thanks to their triple-driver array per bud, a secure fit, plus aptX, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless and LDAC support. Audiophile on a budget? Add this name to your list.

Read our full Soundpeats H3 review

Best Open Earbuds

Shokz OpenFit Pro

Our Audio Editor uses these superb, if pricey, open earbuds multiple times per week, and it's hard to look past the personal recommendation. The fit is sports-worthy (aided by extra optional bands in the box, useful for sports that require a different fit, such as tennis) but they're also office-friendly and professional in terms of design — and the excellent active noise reduction is as unusual as it is class-leading. As far as I'm concerned, Shokz served an ace here.

Read our full Shokz Openfit Pro review

Best Value Headphones

CMF Headphone Pro

We knew we loved these minty fresh cans as soon as we slipped them over our ears. Would you expect hearing tests for a personalized sound profile, LDAC support, an excellent volume 'roller' control on the right ear cup, glorious build quality, zealous wireless sound, exemplary battery life and 3.5mm hi-res wired listening for under $100 / £100? The design flair, energetic audio quality and additional perks won this race.

Read our full CMF Headphone Pro review

Best Value Earbuds

JLab JBuds Mini ANC

Look at them! The JLab JBuds Mini ANC's one perceived failing stems from their biggest selling point: because they're tiny enough to fit on a keyring (they are the smallest ANC earbuds on the planet), you might think they're little more than junk. I'm here to tell you emphatically that they are not — in fact, they're so far from junk that you can't lose them. They're the first earbuds to have support for Apple's Find My network. I don't think any rival came particularly close to the value you get here for $39 / £39 — our full review is coming soon.

Best Value Open Earbuds

Baseus Bowie MC2

We think a Labyrinth-era Bowie (that's 1986, to save you the bother of checking) in full Goblin King Jareth regalia would've put these dark, cuff-style open earbuds on without a second thought — and he'd have looked fantastic in them. These cheap clip-style buds often had us wondering whether you even need to spend more on a flagship set from class-leaders such as Shokz or Bose. If all you need is good sound with surprisingly regimented, impactful bass (and you're prepared to forego expensive extras) these Baseus buds are a winner.

Read our full Baseus Bowie MC2 review

Best Wired Headphones

Meze Audio Strada

We're going for a set of stunning racing green closed-back headphones that sound as airy and spacious as open-back headphones, except nobody hears your playlist. As a closed-back option, they're also relatively easy to drive and they're capable of supremely detailed, organized and thoroughly addictive audio.

Read our full Meze Audio Strada review

Best Wired Earbuds

Sennheiser CX 80U

I said it before (because these were your choice too, dearest reader) and I'll say it again: when people ask me, "What's the cheapest way to get better sound from my phone?" my first response is to suggest these delightfully inexpensive 2026-release USB-C wired earbuds. For around $35 / £30 you really cannot do better. You don't get volume controls on the in-line remote and the mic doesn't deliver crystal-clear calls, as our Sennheiser CX 80U review explains. What you do get is acutely nimble but impactful bass, clear mids and sparkling, appealing highs. Pair that with their surprisingly effective passive noise isolation and you’re looking at an incredibly good pair of wired buds for the money.

Best Bluetooth Speaker

JBL Xtreme 5

Do you want a Bluetooth speaker you'll be able to slip into a purse and take to the park for a podcast, or do you want a party-ready beast with a shoulder strap all of its own? Because JBL's Xtreme 5 is in the latter camp, but if that's what you want, you'll be delighted with it. This is one of the best bigger Bluetooth belters we've ever tested — as our five-star JBL Xtreme 5 review will impress upon you at great length. OK, enough talk: let's dance!

Best Wireless Speaker

Denon Home 400

I got a chance to hear this speaker among its siblings (the Home 200 and 600) at launch, and it is my favorite of Denon's 2026 wireless home trio. It is also the best-looking new wireless speaker on the market, for me (it's about the size of a chopping-board rack or bread bin, fitting neatly on shelves and bookcases while serving up delicious sound). Another great feature is that during setup, you are encouraged to list where the speaker is placed — far from a wall, close to one wall or in a corner — within the HEOS companion app. You can then opt for a 'pure' stereo hi-fi mix, or add 'width' to boost the horizontal spaciousness of the sound field. The spatial and directional stuff is a lot of fun to play with and, as our full Denon Home 400 review explains, provided you don't rely on a voice assistant to do your bidding at home (I do not) it's a hugely talented wireless speaker.

Best Portable Audio Player

Astell & Kern PD5

I absolutely get why the TR readership chose Astell & Kern's newest 'entry level' hi-res audio player, called the A&K PD5 (I put 'entry level' in quotation marks because A&K's definition and ours may well differ). And while I've been lucky enough to listen to the May 2026-release flagship Astell & Kern SP4000T, very briefly — and I have to tell you, it's excellent — it is a huge chunk of cash. This option is far more palatable from a purely financial perspective and is still a fantastically gifted DAP. We gave the PD5's wonky, quirky SR35 older sibling a glowing five-star review, and now this glorious successor is here in a more conventional form factor. Our full review is almost here, but here's a spoiler alert: it's good news. I predicted this category would be won by Activo's parent company, and so it has come to pass — the hi-res DAP specialist is truly bossing the quality portable music machine market.

Best Turntable

Fluance RT87

This is a player for the purist, and so it is pretty light on convenience-focused features — there's no built-in phono preamp, for example — but we don’t think that is a bad thing. The Fluance RT87 is designed for someone who is ready to enter a more serious vinyl listening state and is prepared for manual tone arm adjustment and tweaking to make the turntable as flat as possible using the provided bubble level. This means you won't damage your particularly irreplaceable presses when you spin them — that's the kind of person this turntable is aimed at, and it nails that brief.

See our full Fluance RT87 review

Best DAC

iFi iDSD GR2

When we chose iFi as our Audio Brand of the Year, one of the key deciding factors was this phenomenal digital-analog-converter. It's all stunning design, punchy power, exceptional performance, and a brilliant OLED touchscreen for extra features. I love iFi's dedication to K2HD restorative mastering tech, and its fan-fave XBass and XSpace filters. This DAC even has a lower asking price than its xDSD Gryphon predecessor at launch. It would be churlish to ask for much more than that in 2026.

Read our full iFi iDSD GR2 review

Best Stereo Speakers

Dali Sonik 1

While these may be small and budget-friendly, sonically they’re huge and luxurious. Think clear-headed, stunning vocals with more room to breathe than should be possible at this level, plus tangible transients through to a deep, thrumming low-end. They are far from the first of this type of speaker, and they certainly won’t be the last — but they’re emphatically among the best currently on the market, especially at such a wallet-friendly price.

Read our full Dali Sonik 1 review

Health & Fitness techHealth & Fitness Device of the year

Garmin Fenix 9 Pro

Expensive the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro may be, but the ultimate adventure smartwatch is one of the best devices Garmin has ever produced, building on years of technical advancements. It's a money-no-object powerhouse with amazing build quality: the all-titanium case houses a powerful battery, behind the super-tough sapphire crystal lies a vibrant AMOLED screen, and during my test runs against a heart rate monitor it's consistently accurate. I've been wearing the 43mm version non-stop since getting my testing unit — a clear indicator that it's first in line for valuable wrist real estate this year.

Read our full Garmin Fenix 9 Pro review

Health & Fitness Brand of the Year

Garmin

Garmin has had a strong 2026. It's revamped its cycling range, brought out a few new features such as AI-powered nutrition tracking to justify the cost of its Garmin Connect+ service, and has developed a few extremely well-reviewed gadgets — notably, the screenless Garmin Cirqa fitness tracker and the top-flight Garmin Fenix 9 series, both of which feature in this list to no-one's surprise. It remains the brand to beat in the endurance world, but the Cirqa shows that it's making inroads with the gym crowd too.

Health & Fitness Innovation of the Year

Huawei Watch D3

This watch advances the smartwatch-as-medical-device category further into refinement, boasting more than its signature medical-grade blood pressure cuff technology. With emergency fall detection, blood pressure trends, sleep tracking and six days of battery life compared to the Apple Watch's 24 hours, it's the watch I recommend to people looking for a health-orientated smartwatch for seniors. It's all packed into a sleek Apple-inspired design.

Read our full Huawei Watch D3 review View Deal

Best Smartwatch

Apple Watch Ultra 4

The Apple Watch Ultra 4 retains its crown for another year as this year's top smartwatch. Like every other Apple Watch Ultra model before it, this is an iterative update to an already-excellent watch, rather than a top-down redesign, but did we expect anything else from Apple? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. What has changed is the back of the watch: a redesigned LED Health Sensing System ensures better-than-ever accuracy and more frequent heart rate readings, enabling improved sleep tracking (along with a boost in battery life, as you're less likely to take it off to charge it) and the new Readiness Score.

Read our full Apple Watch Ultra 4 review

Best Running Watch

Garmin Fenix 9 Pro

The Garmin Fenix 9 Pro is back. The redesigned Maps feature places you right into the middle of things, mimicking your perspective to reduce the glance-to-interpretation delay when you're trying to find your way on long runs, which even the Apple Watch doesn't do. It's a triathlon athlete or ultra marathon's dream watch thanks to its trail features, while its battery life is more impressive than the Ultra 4. Recommended workouts based on your Training Readiness score and Garmin Coach training plans are the icing on the cake.

Read our full Garmin Fenix 9 Pro review

Best Fitness Tracker

Garmin Cirqa

The Garmin Cirqa narrowly beats up the Fitbit Air: even though it's more expensive up-front, the lack of reliance on a subscription service and its tactile button (just click it to start tracking, no messing around with the app) means it's the screenless fitness tracker of choice this year, and the best new fitness tracker overall.

Read our full Garmin Cirqa review

Best Smart Ring

Oura Ring 5

The competition was super-hot this year, but Oura came back swinging with the Oura Ring 5. It's thinner than ever, which is so important in a smart ring, earning top marks for design in our review. Its slickly-orientated app and smorgasbord of metrics justify the ongoing, mandatory subscription, making this a great premium smart ring option.

Read our full Oura Ring 5 review

Best Electric Toothbrush

Suri Core 1.0

The Suri Core 1.0 takes the original Suri brush's elegant, simplified aesthetics and environmental credentials, and manages to cut a few corners to shave some money off the price. A bio-plastic handle rather than aluminium, and a slightly less powerful motor and battery, helps keep the Core affordable. You can still recycle the brush heads for free, and the unit still looks nice and stylish, especially with its slick magnetic mount. Its battery life will last over a month between charges.

Read our full Suri Core 1.0 review

Best Connected Fitness Tech

Withings BodyScan 2

Withings is a brand that's quietly been making excellent health products for years, from discreet hybrid smartwatches to under-mattress sleep analyzers and, well, smart scales. The Withings BodyScan 2, with its handle creating a circular current and offering a comprehensive list of 40 different metrics, is not just its best yet, but our best smart scale at the premium tier. It tracks blood oxygen levels, hypertension risk and estimates your vascular age. And you thought scales were just for BMI!

Read our full Withings BodyScan 2 review

Home techHome Device of the Year

DJI Romo P

The Romo P is DJI's first robot vacuum, but you wouldn't know from its performance. It offers the best obstacle avoidance of any robovac we've tested, as well as superb wet cleaning on hard floors, and very good vacuuming on carpet. It gets our seal of approval as this year's best robot vacuum, if your wallet can take the hit.

Read our full DJI Romo P review

Home Tech Brand of the Year

Philips Hue

Philips Hue is the biggest name in smart lighting for a reason, and this year it's become more accessible than ever with the launch of Hue Essential — a range of budget-friendly bulbs and LED strips that are an affordable entry to the smart lighting ecosystem. Meanwhile, power users can enjoy AI-powered lighting tools thanks to the new Hue Bridge Pro, which supports over 150 lights in a single network.

Home Tech Innovation of the Year

Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool

The smartest fan we’ve tested this year, the Dyson Find+Follow uses AI to track you as you move around the room, ensuring you’re kept cool and comfortable at all times. It blew us away with its 350 degrees of oscillation, super quiet operation, and smooth air flow — and its voice and app controls make operating it a breeze.

Read our full Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool review

Best Home Light Tech

Philips Hue Omniglow Strip Light

The Omniglow uses tiny micro LEDs to produce a seamless gradient unlike any LED lightstrip we’ve seen before — and it looks amazing. Not only are the individual LEDs invisible, it’s also incredibly bright, and looks particularly stunning when flowing from one color to the next in a Dynamic Scene. One of the most exciting smart lights I’ve seen in recent years.

Read our Philips Hue Omniglow review

Best Home Security Device

Aqara Camera Hub G350

It might look like a children’s toy, but the Aqara Camera Hub G350 is a serious home security camera, and one you can trust to guard a whole room thanks to its 360-degree panning. Despite its cute looks, the G350 is packing a 4K wide-angle camera, plus a 2.5k telephoto lens for getting up close. It’s compatible with all the main smart home ecosystems, and you can store footage on an SD card so there’s no subscription necessary. And, for some reason, it has detachable bunny ears. What more could you want?

Read our full Aqara Camera Hub G350 review

Best Robot Vacuum

DJI Romo P

DJI's first robot vacuum is a triumph — the company has put its expertise in obstacle-detection to good use, and the DJI Romo P is the best robovac we've ever tested when it comes to avoiding common hazards. Its cleaning is top-notch as well, with its mopping function proving particularly effective at removing tough spills from hard flooring.

Read our full DJI Romo P review

Best Vacuum

Roborock F25 Ultra

The F25 Ultra packs a lot more cleaning power than your typical wet/dry vacuum, with steam-cleaning, hot-water degreasing, and powerful suction to tackle huge amounts of dirt and water. Its power-assisted wheels make it feel surprisingly nimble too. Perfect for households with pets, children, or both — your floors won't know what hit them.

Read our full Roborock F25 Ultra review

Best Air Fryer

Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer Convection Oven Toaster

This is much more than just an air fryer — it’s a full countertop oven, with an extra-large cooking area that can accommodate an entire pizza or chicken. It cooks astonishingly fast, with 10 dedicated modes, and produced perfect fries, vegetables, quesadillas, and even bagels during our tests. It looks great as well, and you can open the French doors one-handed for easy access.

Read our full Ninja French Door Premier Air Fryer Convection Oven Toaster review

Best Coffee Machine

Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2

The classiest coffee maker we've tested in the last 12 months, and the one I'd be proudest to have in my own kitchen, the Meraki Gen 2 is a pleasure to use, automating certain parts of the brewing process without taking over, and helping you hone your own barista skills. The results? Sensational coffee, provided your wallet can stand the hit.

Read our full Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 review

Best Value Coffee Machine

Philips Baristina

If you're looking for an affordable coffee maker, you can't go wrong with the Philips Baristina — an innovative little appliance that combines the best features of manual and automatic espresso machines. It handles the whole brewing process for you, but without the awkward maintenance of your typical bean-to-cup machine. Look for the version bundled with a milk frother and you'll never bother buying takeout coffee again.

Read our full Philips Baristina review

Best Fan

Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool

Dyson's smartest fan to date, the Find+Follow tracks your movement as you walk around the room, and makes sure its airflow is always angled in your direction. The airflow is smooth and quiet, which makes the Find+Follow an ideal choice for night time as well, and the filtration system effectively removes dirt and allergens while it's keeping you comfortable.

Read our full Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool review

• High-end electric sedan aims to rival Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz and BMW
• Quad-motor platform and solid-state battery tech rumored
• Flagship model is due to be unveiled in Dubai in November

Chinese EV maker BYD has been teasing a number of photos in the lead up to the launch of one of its most luxurious and technologically accomplished model to date.

It is understood that BYD’s luxury sub-brand, Yangwang, will be the badge on the hood of the upcoming vehicle, codenamed “Project Hu” that, even in its extensive camouflage, can easily be recognized as a Rolls-Royce or BMW i7 rival.

Yangwang general manager Hu Xiaoqing revealed photos of the vehicle earlier this month, while China's ThinkerCar X account also posted videos suggesting it's undergoing final testing.

The long, luxurious electric sedan is tipped to feature massive coach doors, which are rear-hinged to make it much easier to clamber in and out, while the predicted 5.5m length is large enough to see it go toe-to-toe with the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class and the Huawei/JAC-built Maextro S800, according to CarNewsChina.

There is no confirmation on the powertrain that will underpin the model, but speculation suggests it will pack Yangwang’s quad-motor architecture and DiSus active suspension.

#BYD Yangwang ultra-luxury executive sedan https://t.co/8Z2CieeJ6GOctober 7, 2026

It is also hotly-tipped to be one of the first production models to be released with the BYD Group’s solid-state battery technology, while teaser images show it next to BYD's Flash Charge technology, suggesting top-ups could take a matter of minutes.

During a recent interview, BYD’s executive vice president Stella Li revealed that the company’s first vehicle to use solid-state batteries will debut in 2027, which coincides with a suggested launch date for the Project Hu vehicle.

It also makes sense given that prices for the Hu are rumored to start in the two million yuan range, or about $300,000 / £225,000 / AU$430,000, according to Electrek, which would help cover the cost the expensive, non-mass produced solid-state battery tech.

Analysis: Even the luxury market isn't safe

(Image credit: Hu Xiaoqing/Yangwang)

The fact that BYD is choosing to unveil Project Hu in Dubai next month suggests that it is confident that its products can rival some of the most luxurious and globally-recognized automotive badges on sale in the world today.

CarNewsChina states that YangWang already offers a U8 (the marque’s enormous premium SUV) in the Middle East for 659,900 AED — or around $180,000 / £134,860 / AU$256,420 — which greatly undercuts things like the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

If BYD’s products genuinely stand up to the industry benchmarks, prestige western brands could soon have to fend off the same sort of competition that is causing headaches for manufacturers in the fiercely ruthless mass markets.

It isn’t just new hardware dropping this week in Apple’s “Pro and Tell” event.

The Fathom’s built-in inverter can keep the lights on in your home during an outage — not bad for under $30,000.

AI is finding new holes in the infrastructure of the internet. Is anyone around to patch them?

• De'Longhi has updated its All-in-One Combination Coffee & Espresso Machine
• The new coffee maker has a smaller footprint and a cold milk frother
• It's on sale now in the US for $349.95 (about £260 / AU$500)

De'Longhi has released a new, smaller version of its multi-functional coffee maker, with a 20% smaller footprint and built-in cold-milk frother. The updated De'Longhi All-in-One Combination Coffee & Espresso Machine can make espresso, drip coffee, and cold brew, and is available to buy now in the US for $349.95 (about £260 / AU$500; availability outside the US is TBC) direct from De'Longhi and major retailers.

The new coffee maker offers six drip coffee sizes, from a single 8oz mug to a full 12-cup carafe, and a choice of four brewing styles: classic, bold, cold brew, and over ice.

Like its predecessor, the new All-in-One Combination Coffee & Espresso Machine has an adjustable steam wand, with settings for frothing dairy and plant-based milks, while the addition of a retractable whisk-style frother on the side means you can also prepare cold milk foam for chilled drinks.

Other new additions include an adjustable-height drip tray to accommodate everything from espresso cups to travel mugs, and a new front touchscreen display that lets you tweak brew settings and customize your drinks.

(Image credit: De'Longhi)

The machine has a 15-bar pump, and a thermoblock heating system with electronic temperature control for fast heating and consistent brewing temperatures.

We'll be testing the new all-in-one coffee maker very soon to see how it compares with De'Longhi's other machines, and close rivals like the Ninja Luxe Café Mini and Ninja Prestige DualBrew System.

• Proton will ‘re-interview’ some employees about how they use AI at work between November 4 and 11.
• A leaked email says the results could affect roles, responsibilities, and “continued employment.”
• Proton denies it is using AI as an excuse for layoffs, but the move mirrors a growing trend of AI-first workplace mandates.

Proton, the Swiss company behind Proton Mail and one of the best VPN services around, has told staff it will ‘re-interview’ employees about how they use AI in their jobs.

The plan was revealed in an internal email obtained by 404 Media. It describes the interviews as “consequential,” warning that assessments will feed into a wider review that may lead to “changes in roles, responsibilities, and continued employment.”

From the outside, it's a somewhat jarring move from a company built on pushing back against Big Tech. But it also puts Proton in step with a growing list of tech firms that now treat AI fluency as a job requirement.

What Proton told its staff

According to the email, CEO Andy Yen began the process by interviewing more than 40 senior leaders across Engineering and Product. Those interviews are now being extended across the company, although not everyone will be called in.

The selected staff will be assessed by someone outside their own team and reporting line, drawn from a pool of leaders who “demonstrate strong AI capability.” The interviews run from November 4 to 11, and employees have been told to bring concrete examples of how AI has changed their work and what results it produced.

Proton has since responded to the leaked email publicly on Reddit, saying it is “not doing layoffs and using AI as an excuse.” The company claims it's facing a talent shortage, is hiring across the organization, and wants to identify who needs extra support.

Proton's general relationship with AI is a reluctant one. It does have an AI product, the Lumo chatbot, but Yen told Wired in August that he sees AI as a form of surveillance and that Proton was reluctantly drawn into building it once it was clear AI is here to stay.

Part of a wider AI-first push

Proton is far from the first tech company to tie AI skills to job security. In April 2025, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke told teams they must show why AI can’t do a job before asking for more headcount. Duolingo followed with its own AI-first memo, saying it would stop using contractors for work AI could handle.

Others have gone further, adding AI into performance reviews. Meta made “AI-driven impact” a core expectation for every employee from 2026, while Google has started factoring AI use into reviews for its software engineers.

These policies have not always gone to plan, though. In September, Meta told staff it would no longer use AI adoption dashboards or token counts to judge performance, after employees began gaming usage leaderboards.

There's another problem: cost. Many companies have been using AI for a while now, and the bills have been racking up.

AI is a tool like any other, having both effective and ineffective ways to use it. Ineffective use incurs a lot of cost and produces little to no value, giving companies another reason to investigate how it's being used—to weed out people spending loads but contributing very little.

Either way, for Proton VPN and Proton Mail users, nothing changes for now.

Way back in January, we wrote about how retro cameras were making an unexpected resurgence. Now we're nearing the end of the year, and that trend is showing no signs of slowing — and I've rounded up some of our favorite old-school styled cameras of 2026.

'Retro' is a broad term, and these cameras span a wide spectrum too. Leica and Ricoh's dedicated black-and-white cameras are serious snappers optimized for monochrome photography, while the OM System PEN and Fujifilm X-T30 III have retro designs that'll beginner photographers will love.

At the more frivolous end of the market we have Camp Snap's basic, screen-free point-and-shoot, and a fuss-free film camera from Kodak that managed to produce some charming, characterful shots in our tests. And no retro camera roundup would be complete without the viral Kodak Charmera — a dinky keychain snapper that our Cameras Editor hates to love.

Scroll down to learn more about all of these retro wonders, and hit the View Details button for more info and links to our reviews.

Retro snappers

Kodak Snapic A1

Read more: I tested Kodak's cheap and pocketable film camera, and it's packed with retro-futuristic charm

View on the Kodak website

Pros

• Clean, compact and stylish design
• Delivers characterful shots in good lighting
• Useful OLED panel on top

Cons

• No exposure controls
• Weak flash limits indoor capabilities
• Extra cost of film development and prints

Fujifilm X-T30 III

Read more: I tested the retro Fujifilm X-T30 III and tiny new zoom lens, and the kit is a great pick for beginner photographers

View on the Fujifilm website

Pros

• Sharp stills and video
• Tidy retro design
• Can be stowed in jacket pocket

Cons

• Modest upgrade of the X-T30 II
• A bit pricey
• Loss of shooting mode dial

Kodak Charmera

Read more: The viral Kodak Charmera is the worst camera I’ve ever used – but it’s so bad and so retro, that I actually love it

View on Kodak website

Pros

• Thumb-sized
• Retro design, collector colorways
• It's a fully working camera!
• A genuinely great gift idea

Cons

• Probably the worst image quality I've seen
• Tiny battery
• There's a risk it'll quickly become an unused gadget

Leica Q3 Monochrom

Read more: I tested the Leica Q3 Monochrom – it's a top digital camera for black-and-white photography purists

View on the Leica website

Pros

• Same superb design and lens quality as the Q3
• The purest experience from a digital camera for black and white photography fans
• High-resolution full-frame sensor

Cons

• As niche a digital camera as they come
• Limited customization for its standard color profiles
• Pricier than the Q3
• As with the Q3, stabilization is only okay, battery life is average, tilt screen is awkward

Ricoh GR IV Monochrome

Read more: I was ready to buy Ricoh’s incredibly niche black-and-white compact camera — but then I saw the price and it’s an absolute dealbreaker

View on the Ricoh website

Fujifilm Instax Evo Cinema

Read more: I tested the retro Instax Mini Evo Cinema for two weeks — it’s awesome and terrible, but it still wins my heart

View on the Instax website

Pros

• Multi-media skills
• Unique design and well-made
• Fun color mode dial

Cons

• Sluggish operation
• Poor image quality
• Video clip length limitations
• Pricey

Camp Snap CS-PRO

Read more: Camp Snap’s upgraded screen-free retro compact camera hits the right notes, and I love how affordable it is

View on the Camp Snap website

Pros

• Super-easy point-and-shoot operation
• Filter dial adds a few creative options
• Very lightweight, with stylish looks
• Affordable price tag

Cons

• Flash unit overexposes images
• Can't handle high-contrast lighting
• All-plastic body doesn't feel robust

OM System PEN

Read more: I replaced my phone camera with the OM System PEN for a month — and discovered the beginner camera of the year

View on the OM System website

Pros

• Excellent value
• In-body image stabilization and neat computational photography modes
• Classy design
• Splash-proof, as is the new kit lens

Cons

• Basic video features
• Some controls are fiddly
• Design less suitable for long lenses
• Lower rated weather resistance than the OM-5 II