Technology

The contentious issue of data centers — and their impact on the environment and local communities — continues to make headlines, as the need for more computing power comes up against concerns about whether that extra capacity is worth the cost.

One of the natural resources that data centers need is water, and plenty of it, to cool down the chips running calculations. For regions already living through rising temperatures and climate change, that's a big ask, and it's understandably getting a lot of attention.

It's also something the tech giants building these data centers are aware of, and Google has just announced a strategy for using water more responsibly: "how we build is just as important as what we build," Google says. Here's what the plans are, and the size of the problem we're dealing with.

Data center water usage

Data centers are nothing new of course, and are needed for everything from hosting this TechRadar website to delivering movies on Netflix. With the rise of AI, however, there's been a need for more data center capacity, and a higher level of performance from data centers — which all adds to the amount of water needed for cooling.

If you find data center water usage figures confusing, you're certainly not alone. There's a lot of variation in the statistics used to measure it, for all kinds of reasons: data centers water usage can vary significantly from site to site, for example, and there's also the question of what counts as water usage.

Should the water needed to generate the electricity to power a data center be included, or not? What standard is used to measure water 'lost' to the environment if it's returned to the local water cycle? These questions are answered differently in different reports, hence the discrepancies in figures — and the problem is compounded by the fact that many data centers simply don't report their water usage at all.

Data center water usage is in the spotlight (Image credit: May Cloud/Unsplash)

While these figures are a little out of date now, a 2021 study put direct (on-site) data center water usage at 1.7 billion liters per day in the US, compared to a national water consumption of 1,218 billion liters per day — so that's less than 1%. As is often pointed out, golf course usage is about four times more.

A few points worth noting: that doesn't account for indirect water usage, and data center demand is rising fast (unlike, say, water for golf courses). Most importantly though, the significant impacts of data center installations are felt at the local level, not the national level. The largest data centers can use up the same amount of water as a town of 50,000 people, which has clear implications for the people in that town.

Many data centers are being built in water-stressed areas, and then there are the other factors to consider, like electricity demand and noise pollution. While water usage for data centers at a national level may be a small fraction, that doesn't mean it isn't a major problem at a local level, and the problem is getting worse.

What Google is proposing

There are five commitments that Google is making. First, more water will be added back into the system than is consumed by Google data centers by 2030, mostly by separate projects looking at more efficient water use and reduced waste (a little bit like planting trees to offset plane trips).

Second, the company is going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into water infrastructure, to make sure areas where data centers are located are kept well supplied. Third, Google says it will use air-cooled or recycled water data centers in places where water is particularly scarce (these solutions use more electricity and are more expensive, but they don't demand as much water).

Fourth, Google is committing to being transparent when it comes to the water use of its data centers — something that is by no means standard across the industry at the moment. Fifthly and finally, Google says it will "pursue alternative and reclaimed solutions to protect water resources", including looking at reclaimed wastewater.

Google is using water stewardship projects to offset data center demands (Image credit: Google)

"We think it’s really important to sort of put a blueprint out there that communities can reference," Google's Ben Townsend told The Verge. "So if somebody else comes and says, 'we'd like to build a data center there', a community can say, 'well, here are five different things that really put the community and the watershed first... are you doing these?'"

Water usage is only part of the data center story, and it's a story that's becoming increasingly complex and multi-faceted. But positive action (or at least the promise of positive action) is better than nothing, and this may help to shift the industry towards more responsible and sustainable infrastructure.

Turning around public sentiment might be more difficult than cutting down on water usage though. While the hype from AI companies continues, and huge changes are being seen in areas such as software coding, there are still a significant number of people who aren't keen on generative AI and what it brings with it — even before getting to the issue of how many natural resources it uses up.

• Cloudflare finds kick-off time, not match importance, drove the biggest World Cup traffic swings
• Overnight matches more than doubled normal traffic in some countries, while daytime fixtures barely registered
• The tournament's biggest internet moment ironically wasn't the final but Argentina's 3-1 quarter-final win over Switzerland, which moved global traffic by a factor of 1.26x.

Although Spain's 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina closed out the FIFA 2026 World Cup, the tournament's biggest traffic pulls actually came days before.

Cloudflare has published its own analytics, tracking the likes of HTTP traffic, DNS, and security trends across a network spanning more than 330 points of presence in over 120 countries across June and July 2026.

While the analytics confirm some widely held assumptions about the World Cup, it also demolishes others, as it found it was not the final which moved the internet most, but a quarter-final involving Argentina.

A World Cup with plenty of interesting insights

Per Cloudflare's data, the Argentina vs Switzerland quarter-final topped every other fixture with a deviation factor of about 1.26, while the final ranked eighth.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Argentina, the defending champions, also moved the most traffic during their run, at 1.18x that of a typical country, followed by France at 1.16x.

Matches played between roughly midnight and 8 am local time produced the biggest deviations, in some cases more than doubling normal traffic. The reason is straightforward: those are hours when almost nobody is online, so fans staying up or waking early to watch represent a large proportional swing.

Matches falling between 9am and mid-afternoon barely registered, since the people watching would have been online regardless. Early-evening kickoffs produced a smaller secondary lift, most visible on weekdays, as matches kept people connected during hours when usage would normally taper off.

(Image credit: Marvin Ibo Guengoer - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)

Bosnia and Herzegovina illustrated both ends of this. When the national team played at 2 am local time, traffic at points more than doubled. When they played in the evening, traffic fell to around 70% of typical levels as people put their devices down and simply watched.

The clearest demonstration came from Brazil's 2-1 Round of 32 win over Japan on June 29. The same 90 minutes fell during ordinary waking hours in Brazil and in the dead of night in Tokyo. Japanese traffic ran at roughly double normal levels; Brazilian traffic sat about a quarter below normal. Two nearly parallel curves, opposite sides of the baseline, same match.

Grouping countries by the shape of their match-day traffic curves produced three clusters, and the split reveals something about how people actually watch.

The largest group (44 countries across 101 matches) saw traffic rise during halftime and hydration breaks, the familiar pattern of everyone reaching for their phone the moment play stops. A smaller group of eight countries across 18 matches did the exact opposite, with traffic falling during those same pauses.

The explanation turned out to be streaming. That second cluster (Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt and DR Congo) showed a traffic mix dominated by multimedia and streaming requests, meaning a large share of viewers were watching the match online rather than on broadcast television.

Notably, hydration breaks had little effect in the streaming cluster but a clear one elsewhere. Cloudflare's reading is that a viewer won't close a stream for a three-minute cooling break but will for a fifteen-minute interval. In the majority of countries, though, even those three minutes were enough to produce a visible traffic bump: Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina showed the effect most strongly.

Requests to gambling industry sites rose overall from the opening game onward. The more interesting change was structural. Before the tournament, betting traffic followed a pronounced weekly rhythm; afterward it flattened into a near-constant profile, a consequence, Cloudflare suggests, of matches running at near-daily regularity for a month.

At the scale Cloudflare operates, it is genuinely difficult for any single event to leave a visible mark on aggregate global traffic. That the 2026 World Cup managed to do so is the clearest measure of how much the tournament meant to people online.

GameSir G8+ Bluetooth: One-minute review

The GameSir G8+ Bluetooth is the wireless mobile controller in the G8 family and bolsters compatibility from being simply mobile, to the Nintendo Switch, tablets, and PC. The same full-size grips, Hall effect joysticks and triggers, and programmable back buttons that made the wired versions of the G8 so impressive remain, and at $79.99 / £79.99 / AU$129, so does the price.

On paper, you’d think it’s a no-brainer to go wireless, particularly with the addition of a six-axis gyroscope adding to that strong core experience, but the wireless freedom you gain comes with meaningful trade-offs. Noticeably, the lack of passthrough charging and the lack of a headphone jack, both obvious casualties of the move to Bluetooth.

More importantly for iPhone gamers, the GameSir iOS app doesn't recognize the controller, which means the stick calibration, dead zone tuning, hair-trigger configuration, and back button mapping that make the G8 Plus so compelling as an option on other platforms go completely to waste. The Bluetooth connection itself also feels less locked-in than the wired experience on iPhone, with small stick movements occasionally getting lost along the way.

On Android and PC, the experience is significantly better. The app works, the back buttons are configurable, and there’s haptic feedback on offer as well (albeit with patchy support, particularly on mobile). For the first time, you can even use the G8 Plus with your Nintendo Switch. But if an iPhone is your primary device, the wired GameSir G8+ MFi delivers a more complete, more reliable experience for the same money.

(Image credit: Future)GameSir G8+ Bluetooth: Price and availability

• List price: $79.99 / £79.99 / AU$129
• Available from GameSir and major retailers
• Same price as the rest of the G8 range

The middle sibling, the GameSir G8+ Bluetooth launched in mid-2024 at $79.99 / £79.99 / AU$129, matching the rest of the G8 family.

Each variant has pros and cons, so the consistent price puts the onus firmly on the buyer to decide which set of trade-offs works best for their setup. GameSir has also released a couple of special edition color variants in some regions, including a Hulk and a Thanos Edition, which will set you back slightly more.

At this price, it remains highly competitive against the Backbone One 2nd Gen and is significantly cheaper than the Razer Kishi Ultra, though the Bluetooth limitations on iPhone mean it's not the straightforward recommendation the wired models are.

GameSir G8+ Bluetooth: Specs

GameSir G8+ Bluetooth

Price

$79.99 / £79.99 / AU$129

Dimensions

9.06 x 4.21 x 2.17 in / 230 x 107 x 55mm

Weight

0.69 lbs / 314g

Connection

Bluetooth 5.3, Wired USB-C (PC), Wireless Dongle (sold separately)

Compatibility

iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PC, macOS

Software

GameSir App (Android only)

GameSir G8+ Bluetooth: Design and features

• Comfortable, console controller-like ergonomics shared with the rest of the G8 range
• Bluetooth versatility across five platforms, but mode switching is a hassle
• Special edition designs are only available in certain markets

The G8+ Bluetooth is the first and only member of the G8 family that cuts the cord entirely. Wireless freedom and the versatility it brings are the entire pitch, and it helps broaden the G8’s platform compatibility too.

Unlike the original G8 Galileo and the G8+ MFi, which are limited to mobile only, this controller works with iOS, Android, the Nintendo Switch, PC (via wired USB-C or Bluetooth, with a wireless dongle sold separately), and macOS. Console gaming aside, in theory, that means the G8+ is ready to follow you anywhere on your gaming journey.

The reality, unfortunately, is a little more complicated. Each platform requires its own Bluetooth pairing mode, triggered by holding different button combinations on the controller. If you're a one-device person, this is a simple pair-once-and-forget situation, and you can skip to the next paragraph.

If you're hopping between platforms, as I was during testing, it gets tedious fast. Switching modes caused regular reconnection failures with devices the controller had previously been paired with, and keeping track of which mode goes with which platform isn't intuitive. It's workable, and we’re in first-world problem territory here for sure, but it's not the seamless experience it should be.

FutureFuture

On the plus side, turning it on couldn’t be simpler because stretching the controller open automatically powers it on and letting it close fully again powers it down. This isn’t a life-changing feature but certainly a nice convenience that worked reliably throughout testing.

A 1000mAh battery sits split across both grips, charging via USB-C. The GameSir app tracks each side independently, which is how I discovered the left and right grips drain at slightly different rates despite charging as a single unit. I saw a couple of percent drop over half an hour of active use, and the rated eight-hour battery life seems about right based on that.

The black colorway is a clean, classic look that feels more like a traditional controller than the grey and grey-and-white of its wired siblings. GameSir has also released rather jazzy Hulk- and Thanos-themed special editions in some regions, making this the only G8 variant with cosmetic variety, though they’ll set you back a little more for the paint job.

The build quality and overall shape match the rest of the family; it’s well designed and well built with the same full-size, Xbox-like grips, textured backs and a solid chassis. It’s comfortable to hold for extended sessions, and while at 11oz/314g it's the heaviest of the three on paper, the balance is good, and the weight didn't register during testing.

Case compatibility is a mixed bag, as is often the case with mobile controller grips. Without a USB-C connector going into the phone, there's no port angle to stress about, thankfully, but the physical cradle can still be tight.

My iPhone 17 Pro fit with a slim case on but sat at a noticeable angle towards the left side, which saw it protrude more than I’d like. There is a rubber pad on the phone deck that appears to serve the same purpose as the G8+ MFi's removable magnetic panel for camera bump clearance, but this one is glued down rather than magnetically attached.

GameSir’s marketing suggests this is still meant to be removed to accommodate camera bumps, but it really didn't feel like it wanted to come off, and I wasn't willing to force it. If you do take it off, don’t expect it to go back on neatly and expect to trap plenty of dust in the residue.

The D-pad shares the same feel as the rest of the G8 family: slightly mushy initial movement but with a clicky, short-travel feel once you commit to an input. Swappable ABXY caps and thumbstick caps carry over, too, as do the three alternate stick options, and they’re easily adjusted by popping off the magnetic faceplates.

Once again, however, GameSir only includes one of each of these replaceable sticks, so you can’t run the same option on both sides. One annoyance that cropped up here for the first time on any G8 I’ve tested: on iOS, the controller connects as a DualShock controller, so all on-screen UI elements in compatible games display PlayStation button labels.

GameSir doesn't include any PlayStation-legended alternative keycaps in the box, so you’ll need to remember that triangle is Y, for example.

(Image credit: Future)GameSir G8+ Bluetooth: Performance

• Hall effect inputs are excellent and responsive, but Bluetooth feels a step behind wired
• iPhone users lose app support, back buttons, and customization entirely
• Vibration motors remain largely a spec-sheet feature with no real-world use

As you’d expect, the core gameplay experience with the G8+ Bluetooth mirrors the other options in the G8 range. The Hall effect thumbsticks and triggers are smooth and precise with a high level of sensitivity.

Resistance in these is just right for my taste; I found I was able to confidently hold the sticks at a midpoint for fine adjustments without the sense that the stick was itching to return to its starting point. The triggers offer full analog travel with a responsive hair-trigger mode (assuming you can enable it, more on that shortly). In analog mode, I felt like I had a nice level of control and was able to modulate the throttle in Forza Horizon 6 with plenty of detail.

That said, the Bluetooth connection introduced a subtle but noticeable difference in feel I hadn’t experienced before with a GameSir G8. I couldn’t quite quantify it, but I didn't feel as locked-in using the G8+ Wireless as I did with the wired equivalents.

It's not consistent, obvious latency, or any kind of genuine stutter or interference; it's more that small thumbstick movements occasionally felt like they were getting lost along the way. Everything was perfectly playable, and my skill as a gamer is certainly not high enough for this to be a make-or-break thing, but if you're serious about your gaming, the wired experience is definitely tighter.

(Image credit: Future)

The biggest issue I came across, and the one that separates this controller from the rest of the G8 family, is the iPhone experience. It’s somewhat lacking. Because iOS sees the controller as a DualShock 4, the GameSir app doesn’t recognize the G8+ Bluetooth. That means no stick calibration, no deadzone adjustment, no hair-trigger toggling, and no back button mapping.

The two rear programmable buttons, labeled M1 and M2, ship unbound by default, and there's no way to configure them on iOS. They don't appear in the iPhone's native controller settings either because iOS thinks this is a DualShock 4, which doesn't have back buttons. On macOS, I was able to rebind other buttons through native system options, but back button mapping wasn't available there either for the same reason.

On Android, the picture is much better. The app recognized the controller (though admittedly it took a couple of attempts at first), and once connected, all the usual calibration, deadzone, hair-trigger, and back button configuration options were available. Gaming on the POCO X5 Pro was a smooth experience, with Fortnite and Call of Duty Mobile both running well after the usual game-side controller recognition quirks.

PC gaming was the most pleasant surprise. Connected via either USB-C or Bluetooth, the controller was recognized immediately as a PlayStation 4 controller and was fully mapped out of the box for both local and cloud gaming. Gyro tracking worked here too, which is a nice bonus for games that support it. On macOS, things were less smooth.

The controller initially tried to connect as a "GameSir G8" which required manual Steam configuration and then wasn't recognized in-game. Reverting to DualShock mode fixed the issue, and games worked with automated mapping after that.

Shoudl you buy the GameSir G8+ Bluetooth?Buy it if...

You're an Android user who wants one controller for phone, Switch, and PC
The Bluetooth versatility and full GameSir app support on Android make the G8+ Bluetooth a seriously flexible, wireless option. If you play across multiple platforms and want a single controller to handle them all, this could well be it.

You value wireless convenience over raw precision
No connections mean a simpler experience and fewer points of failure. It also brings a wider variety of devices into play.

Don't buy it if...

You're primarily an iPhone user
While it does work natively for games that play nicely with a physical controller, the lack of GameSir app support, non-functional back buttons, and DualShock workaround make the iPhone experience feel like an afterthought. The wired G8+ MFi is the better choice for the same money and with little drawback.

You want the tightest possible input response
Don’t get me wrong, the Bluetooth connection is perfectly playable, but it doesn't feel as precise and instantly responsive as the wired G8 controllers. If competitive precision matters to you, go wired.

Also consider...

Trying to work out if the GameSir G8+ Bluetooth is the one to get? Here's how it compares to other, similar controller grips.

GameSir G8+ Bluetooth

GameSir G8+ MFi Galileo MFi

Scuf Nomad

Price

$79.99 / £79.99 / AU$129.99

$79.99 / £79.99 / AU$129.99

$99.99 / £89.99 / around AU$179.99

Dimensions

9.06 x 4.21 x 2.17in / 230 x 107 x 55mm

9.02 x 4.20 x 2.13in / 229 x 106.8 x 54.2mm

6.93 x 3.70 x 1.34in / 176 x 93.98 x 34.03mm

Weight

10.72oz / 314g

10.72oz / 304g

0.5 lbs / 228 g

Connection

Bluetooth 5.3, Wired (USB-C), Dongle (sold separately)

Wired (USB-C)

Wireless (Bluetooth)

Compatibility

Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, macOS

Android, iOS

iOS

Software

GameSir App (Android only)

GameSir App

Scuf Nomad Companion App (iOS)

GameSir G8+ MFi
The G8+ MFi is the wired, Apple-friendly equivalent from the same family. It offers MFi certification, full GameSir app support on both iOS and Android, passthrough charging, a headphone jack, and functional back buttons on every platform. If you don't need wireless or Switch/PC compatibility, it's the more complete package.

For more information, check out our full GameSir G8+ MFi review

Scuf Nomad
The Scuf Nomad is an iPhone-only Bluetooth alternative with a lighter build, 16 hours of battery life, and an app that actually works on iOS. It's more compact, handles phone cases better, and has configurable rear paddles. The trade-off is no Android, Switch, or PC support and a higher price tag.

For more information, check out our full Scuf Nomad review

How I tested the GameSir G8+ Bluetooth

• Tested with multiple devices
• A wide variety of games tried
• Compared to other mobile controllers

I spent several days testing across iOS, Android, PC, and macOS, with a focus on comparing the experience to the wired G8 and G8+ MFi I'd previously reviewed.

I tested on an iPhone 17 Pro and POCO X5 Pro 5G, playing Fortnite, Call of Duty Mobile, and Forza Horizon 6 via Xbox Cloud Gaming on mobile, and Stardew Valley via Steam on PC. I evaluated Bluetooth connectivity, app compatibility, back button functionality, latency feel, vibration motors, and cross-platform mode switching.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed June-July 2026

• Stream Shark Week 2026 free via YouTube TV / DirecTV / Hulu + Live TV (US)
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• Shark Week 2026 starts at 8pm ET/PT on Sunday, July 26

"It's all psychological. You yell barracuda, everybody says, "Huh? What?" You yell shark, we've got a panic on our hands." We're still waiting on Barracuda Week (which we'd definitely tune into), but in the meantime TV event of the summer Shark Week is back to keep you glued to your telly and out of the Amity Island waters.

Anything to keep Mayor Vaughn happy.

Even better – you can stream all 20 specials across seven nights, including Air Jaws: Red, White and Breach, How to Train a Great White and My Strange Shark Addiction, for free.

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How to watch Shark Week 2026 for free

Discovery is home to Shark Week 2026. If you don't have the channel on cable, it's available on a streaming basis from several cable alternatives. Best of all, a few of them let new subscribers take advantage of a free trial.

YouTube TV usually costs $82.99 per month but comes with a 5-day free trial and $15 off each of your first five months.

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Quick start: Using a VPN to watch Shark Week 2026 free

Using a VPN is incredibly simple; just follow these steps.

1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, Surfshark is the one we recommend.

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3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to your streaming platform of choice and watch Shark Week 2026 just like you would at home.

What to know about Shark Week 2026

(All times ET/PT)

Sunday, July 26
8pm – K-Pop Shark Heroes
9pm – Air Jaws: Red, White and Breach
10pm – Invasion of the Mega Sharks

Monday, July 27
8pm – Bull Shark Dinner Bell
9pm – House of Sharks
10pm – Biggest Mako on Earth

Sunday, July 26
8pm – Jurassic Sharks
9pm – Jaws vs Orca
10pm – Chum Island: Catching a Killer

Sunday, July 26
8pm – Expedition X: Atomic Sharks
9pm – Expedition Unknown: Shark Secrets
10pm – Alien Sharks: Untamed America

Sunday, July 26
8pm – What Shark Attacked?
9pm – How to Train a Great White
10pm – Ultimate Shark Dive

Sunday, July 26
8pm – Secrets of the Great White Kill
9pm – Sharkzilla Takes New York
10pm – My Strange Shark Addiction

Sunday, July 26
8pm – Great White Highway
9pm – Thresher Shark: Stun to Kill

You may also be interested in...

• How to watch Evolution for free
• How to watch UK TV from anywhere
• How access BBC Sounds from anywhere

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

• Accomplish AI showed Claude Cowork could escape a VM sandbox via Linux zero‑day CVE‑2026‑46331
• Agent accessed host Mac files, risking exfiltration of SSH keys, cloud credentials, and more
• Anthropic shifted Cowork to default cloud execution; local users must harden configs to mitigate exposure

Recent news of a ChatGPT agent escaping the sandbox and attacking services on the internet raised quite a few eyebrows, but it seems it’s not the only one capable of running wild. Security researchers Accomplish AI are saying they achieved similar results with Anthropic’s Claude Cowork.

In a new report, the researchers said they ran a local session in a Mac-hosted virtual Linux machine and then observed as the agent broke free of the VM and started reading and writing files on the underlying system.

“We connected a folder to a fresh Claude Cowork session, sent one short message, and watched the agent escape the sandbox,” Oren Yomtov, principal security researcher at Accomplish AI, told The Hacker News. “From inside the VM, it reached the host Mac and read and wrote files all over it, far outside the folder we'd connected, with no permission prompt anywhere.”

Defaulting to cloud execution

This means that, in theory, the agent can be used to access or exfiltrate anything that’s stored on the Mac’s user account, including SSH keys, cloud credentials, and more. To break out of the sandbox, the agent exploited CVE-2026-46331 ("pedit COW"), a Linux kernel privilege-escalation vulnerability. This flaw, fixed in mid-June this year, was given a severity score of 7.8/10 (high).

Accomplish AI disclosed these findings with Anthropic, which allegedly acknowledged them but did not issue a direct fix. However, the version of Claude Cowork that was released afterwards defaults to cloud execution which, the publication claims, addresses the issue. Still, users who opt to run the agent locally rather than in the cloud will remain exposed.

Mitigations are possible, though. Users should disable unprivileged user namespaces, grant/revoke seccopm permissions, stop modules autoloading, and restrict sharing of the whole host into the VM.

"Scope it to the folders that were actually connected instead of all of /, or at least mount it read-only, and run coworkd with ProtectSystem=strict in its own mount namespace so it isn't re-execing binaries a session user can poison," Accomplish AI explained. "Then even a full guest-root has nothing to land on, the last two steps of the chain have nowhere to go."

• Prices on Roku streaming devices are going up
• The products are still available at 'sale' prices
• One source puts the change down to the memory crisis

Streaming devices like the Roku Streaming Stick Plus get you a whole lot of entertainment for relatively little money, but the value proposition is about to change: Roku is the latest tech company to jack up its prices in response to the global memory shortage.

As spotted by Ars Technica and others, the prices for streaming devices on the Roku US website have been put up, though the products are still available at their previous prices — now labeled as 'sale' offers. It's not clear how long this sale might last before the new pricing kicks in, but you might want to grab a Roku quickly.

The Streaming Stick is up to $39.99 from $29.99, the Streaming Stick Plus goes up from $39.99 to $59.99, the Streaming Stick 4K is now $79.99 rather than $49.99 (the biggest jump at 60%), and the Roku Ultra box is up to $149.99 from $99.99.

Looking at Roku's international websites, including the UK, there are no signs of price rises yet — but it seems inevitable that if the company is putting up the cost of buying a Roku in the US, then this will come to other countries too in the near future.

Time to switch?

The Apple TV 4K also recently went up in price (Image credit: Future)

Roku hasn't said anything officially about the new price changes, but according to the team at The Desk, a Roku executive they spoke to confirmed that it was down to "shortages in computer memory and other components".

We know that rapidly rising demands for AI compute capacity have led to a severe shortage of memory and rocketing costs, and everyone in the industry has been affected. Last month Apple raised its prices on a variety of different products in response, including iPads and the MacBook Neo.

Reaction online has been mostly negative, as you would expect. One Redditor says "it's hard to find another affordable option" for streaming devices like these, though other commentators are recommending alternatives from Google and Apple.

There's also some consternation over an increasing amount of ads being shown on Roku screens, and the company's recent acquisition by Fox. Whatever you think of Roku though, it's another sign of consumers being hit hard by memory shortages.

• Huawei removal could cost Europe up to €40 billion, GSMA estimates
• GSMA expects reduced competition to increase telecom equipment prices significantly
• Experts disagree over the true financial impact of Huawei's removal

The European Union's plan to remove supposedly high-risk telecom vendors such as Huawei and ZTE could cost far more than Brussels currently estimates, new figures have claimed

The GSMA trade body has said that direct replacement costs would reach €30 to €40 billion - roughly four times higher than the European Commission's own estimate of €10 to €13 billion in total.

Under the Commission's own projections, the transition away from Chinese equipment would cost between €3.4 billion and €4.3 billion annually across a three-year rollout - that annual estimate equates to a total cost of roughly €10 to €13 billion once the full three-year period concludes.

A costly clash over Chinese telecom equipment

The push to remove Huawei and ZTE from European networks traces back to security concerns raised in the early 2010s.

Several EU governments began restricting Chinese vendors after the United States pressured allies to exclude them from next-generation 5G infrastructure.

The debate intensified further as multiple member states moved to ban Chinese equipment from their national 5G core networks entirely.

The European Commission later proposed a formal ban on high-risk suppliers as part of a new EU Cybersecurity Act now under active negotiation.

GSMA's €30 to €40 billion figure is a one-time total, and it breaks down into fixed networks at €5 billion and transport networks at €9 to €12 billion.

It also projects an extra €8.5 billion in costs between 2027 and 2030 from reduced competition among equipment manufacturers, a cost the Commission's figures do not appear to include.

GSMA attributes that added expense to fewer companies competing for contracts once high-risk vendors are excluded entirely from the market.

Telecom operators across the bloc have already begun pressing regulators for financial compensation tied to the mandated equipment replacement.

Experts clash over whose numbers are accurate

Some economists dispute GSMA's figures, arguing the estimates fail to separate new costs from expenses that would have occurred regardless.

"GSMA estimates are gross, not incremental," said Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director at think tank ECIPE.

He argued that subtracting replacement costs that would have occurred anyway would bring the totals close to the Commission's own figures.

Lee-Makiyama's critique suggests the true gap between industry and Commission estimates may be lower. The European Commission had not responded to requests for comment on the dispute.

GSMA's report arrives as negotiations over the Cybersecurity Act continue among EU member states and telecom industry representatives.

Any eventual compensation scheme would likely require agreement among national governments already divided over how quickly to remove Chinese vendors.

This is not the first time GSMA's figures have contrasted sharply with the European Commission's or individual analysts' estimates.

In 2019, GSMA projected that replacing Chinese-made telecommunications equipment across Europe could cost as much as €55 billion in total.

Strand Consult, by contrast, estimated the cost of replacing Huawei or ZTE equipment eligible for 5G upgrades at around $3.5 billion.

Whether the final cost this time lands closer to Brussels' modest estimate or GSMA's far larger figure remains genuinely unresolved for now.

Via Politico

The moon is about the size of Jupiter, and it orbits a brown dwarf instead of a regular planet.

• Stream Shark Week 2026 on Discovery via YouTube TV free trial (US)
• Unlock your stream with Surfshark (save up to 85%)
• Shark Week 2026 dates: Sunday, July 26 – Saturday, August 1

Findulge your inner child and learn something new along the way by diving into Shark Week, a celebration of one of the natural world's most endlessly intimidating and captivating animal groups, playing out over seven days and 20 specials.

Adrenaline-junkie Molly Carlson is embracing that spirit a little too literally for our liking in Ultimate Shark Dive, by attempting a record-breaking freefall dive from a helicopter into a narrow cage surrounded by reef sharks – some species of which are known to be aggressive and/or a little too curious for comfort.

Yes, one of Shark Week's missions has traditionally been to undo the reputational damage wreaked by Jaws, but with titles like Air Jaws: Red, White and Breach, Bull Shark Dinner Bell, Chum Island: Catching a Killer, What Shark Attacked? and Secrets of the Great White Kill also prevalent on the schedule, you can forgive us for staying out of the water for its duration (and beyond).

After all, you never know where Big Rose might be. Here's hoping Dr Neil Hammerschlag and Paul de Gelder manage to track the supersized great white down in Invasion of the Mega Sharks. Expedition X: Atomic Sharks, Phil Torres and Heather Amaro's study of sharks living amongst nuclear waste, and Dr Tristan Guttridge's intelligence-testing How to Train a Great White sound especially fascinating too.

Read on as we explain how to watch Shark Week 2026 from anywhere and potentially for free. Scroll right down to the bottom for the full lineup of specials.

Can I watch Shark Week 2026 for free?

Yes. YouTube TV, which carries Discovery, offers new subscribers a 5-day FREE trial, which would let you watch almost the entirety of Shark Week 2026 for free.

Traveling abroad right now? You can use a VPN to access your usual streaming services from anywhere with a VPN.

Use a VPN to watch Shark Week 2026 from anywhere

A VPN is a handy piece of software that can make your device appear as if it's back in your home country and unlock your usual streaming services. The best VPN right now? We recommend Surfshark – it does everything and comes with up to 85% off.

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How to watch Shark Week 2026 in the US

Shark Week 2026 airs on Discovery on seven consecutive nights from Sunday, July 26 to Saturday, August 1. A triple-header of specials will start at 8pm ET/PT each evening, with a double-header to close.

The Discovery channel is available on a streaming basis from several OTT operators, including YouTube TV, which comes with a 5-day FREE trial.

Alternatively, the HBO Max streaming platform will let you stream Shark Week programming too. Plans start from $10.99 per month, or you can pay more to add live sports and bundle in other streaming services like Disney Plus and Hulu.

If you have a subscription but you're away during Shark Week 2026, you can unlock access your usual streaming services from anywhere by using a VPN.

How to watch Shark Week 2026 in Canada

In Canada, Shark Week 2026 airs on Discovery to exactly the same schedule.

Cord cutters can tune in via Discovery+, which starts at CA$5.99/month.

Away from Canada right now? Use Surfshark to access your subscriptions from anywhere.

Can I watch Shark Week 2026 in the UK?

Although Discovery+ is home to Shark Week programming in the UK, they tend to hit the streaming service in dribs and drabs, instead of airing as an event.

At the time of writing, it isn't clear when any of the Shark Week 2026 specials will be available to watch in the UK.

For now, a VPN will help you tune in if you're spending time in the UK from the US or Canada. Surfshark is our recommended provider, and you can find out why with our in-depth Surfshark review.

How to watch Shark Week 2026 in Australia

Shark Week 2026 goes out on HBO Max in Australia from Sunday, August 16.

Prices start from AU$11.99 per month.

If you'd rather not wait that long, a VPN will help you tune in if you're an American or a Canadian spending time abroad. The solution? Try using a VPN.

Shark Week 2026 – Need to KnowShark Week 2026 trailerShark Week 2026 episode guide

Shark Week 2026 comprises 20 specials, which will air in North America on the following schedule:

Sunday, July 26
8pm – “K-Pop Shark Heroes”
9pm – “Air Jaws: Red, White and Breach”
10pm – “Invasion of the Mega Sharks”

Monday, July 27
8pm – “Bull Shark Dinner Bell”
9pm – “House of Sharks”
10pm – “Biggest Mako on Earth”

Sunday, July 26
8pm – “Jurassic Sharks”
9pm – “Jaws vs Orca”
10pm – “Chum Island: Catching a Killer”

Sunday, July 26
8pm – “Expedition X: Atomic Sharks”
9pm – “Expedition Unknown: Shark Secrets”
10pm – “Alien Sharks: Untamed America”

Sunday, July 26
8pm – “What Shark Attacked?”
9pm – “How to Train a Great White”
10pm – “Ultimate Shark Dive”

Sunday, July 26
8pm – “Secrets of the Great White Kill”
9pm – “Sharkzilla Takes New York”
10pm – “My Strange Shark Addiction”

Sunday, July 26
8pm – “Great White Highway”
9pm – “Thresher Shark: Stun to Kill”

(All times ET/PT)

VPN services are evaluated and tested by us in view of legal recreational use. For example:a) Access to services from other countries, (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).b) Safeguarding your online security and making your online privacy more robust when abroad.Future plc does not support nor condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. We do not endorse nor approve of consuming pirated content that is paid-for.

• It's still unclear whether employers should train workers, or if workers should train themselves
• Most organizations would still pay a premium to have employees who know a thing or two about AI
• AI is increasingly common in performance reviews and promotion decisions

New research has claimed, three in four (77%) UK organizations now expect AI proficient to become a baseline requirement across most non-technical roles within the next year.

But despite a clear demand for AI skills, whose responsibility it is to upskill workers is still very much hotly challenged, the report from HiBob says.

For example, a near-identical number of companies are investing in AI upskilling (82%) and have clear strategies for finding candidates who already have strong AI skills (80%).

Employers are recruiting for AI-proficient workers

When it comes to training workers, employers are using a mix of funding opportunities for employees (33%), providing dedicated time for workers to experiment (33%) and offering pre-built prompts and workflows (31%), indicating that there's not yet a single way forward.

While the report doesn't shift the responsibility onto either party, with more than three in five considering AI when making promotion decisions (63%) and including AI in regular performance reviews (61%), workers are clearly required to take at least some ownership over their upskilling.

"The winners in the AI era will be the organisations that can define a shared language of skills, identify where capability truly sits, and pivot talent to where it creates the most value," CEO Ronni Zehavi wrote.

Regardless, with nearly all (97%) employers prepared to offer at least a 10% salary premium for AI proficiency, demand for such skills isn't going anywhere and the workers who take initiative could be the ones to see the most success in the short term, as organizations battle getting to grips with how to support their workforces.

As noted in my Ninja Creami Swirl review, with the right ingredients, your frozen dessert can help you meet your protein goals. I have tried dozens of recipes and found that I really don't care for the taste or texture of the ready-made protein shakes and powders that many high-protein recipes call for. Plus, they are quite expensive, often around $3 / £2.50 / AU$4.50 per serving, not counting any other ingredients you might add.

Many recipes also call for pudding mix, which is supposed to help with texture, taste, and added sweetness, but I'm not a fan of those either, so I searched out some options that provide a decent amount of protein without any of those products — just real food.

Just yogurt

The obvious option is just to take a tub (or two) of your favorite yogurt, dump it into the Ninja Creami pint, and freeze. Spin it on the Yogurt setting and you get a nice ice cream texture. The key is to use a yogurt that you really like, because the flavor doesn't magically change into ice cream, just the texture! The image above is two tubs of simple vanilla Greek yogurt. Keep in mind that freezing anything dulls the sweetness, so you might want to add a touch of your sweetener of choice before freezing, or add a sweet mix-in, such as cookies or chocolate.

Cherry-vanilla yogurt

Yogurt (or cottage cheese) and fruit is always a great combo. One of my favorites is this simple recipe:

Cherry-vanilla frozen yogurt:

3/4 cup dark sweet frozen cherries

1 cup Greek vanilla yogurt

Blend first and then freeze for 24 hours. Spin it on the Frozen Yogurt cycle. If desired, add more cherries for the Mix-in cycle.

I rarely actually blend mine first, but it's probably better for your machine if you do. This is a favorite I make over and over, and it's simply delicious. Sometimes I add 1/4 tsp of almond extract before freezing for a heightened flavor. I also sometimes add more protein and texture by running a small handful of nuts in the Mix-in cycle.

Karen Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FuturePear-vanilla yogurt

This one sounds a bit odd, but it's so good.

Pear-vanilla yogurt:

2 tubs of Greek vanilla yogurt

1 tub pears

No need to blend, just mix and freeze for 24 hours. Spin on the Frozen Yogurt cycle.

Canned fruit is very soft, which is why you don't need to blend it. You can use any fruit here, it doesn't have to be pears. They all work well. You can try different yogurt flavors, too. Canned pineapple with coconut yogurt is a tasty combo, for example. And if you don't have tubs like I used, you can just measure out a roughly 2:1 yogurt to fruit ratio to the max fill line.

Karen Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureChocolate Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

I have tried many chocolate 'protein ice creams' and haven't yet hit on that perfect recipe. This one is pretty good, with great texture. Be sure to taste it before freezing, in case you want to add more sweetener. User a sugar-free sweetener if you want to cut calories. If you prefer whole foods, try honey, maple syrup, or agave syrup. You could even just use a few dates.

Chocolate Cottage Cheese Ice Cream:

1 cup cottage cheese

3 tbsp cacao powder

2-3 tbsp sweetener of choice

2 tbsp almond butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Blend well and freeze for 24 hours. Spin on the Light Ice Cream setting.

Add nuts, cookies, and/or chocolate on the Mix-in cycle if desired. I mixed in a few chocolate chips. If the cottage cheese is too salty for you, or you just don't like the taste, you could use milk or Greek yogurt instead. You can even do some combination of the three. The cottage cheese does give a nice texture, but you don't need the full cup to get it. Even a quarter cup helps.

Karen Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureAnd more

I have several high protein recipes in my recent article, healthier recipes for your Ninja Creami, including a pistachio ice cream recipe I particularly like and a banana nut ice cream I eat quite regularly. I also have some high protein options in my article about eating ice cream for breakfast!

I know my recipes tend to be dairy-forward, because that's what I like, but there are other options out there. I've seen bean-based and tofu-based recipes, but haven't had the guts to try them.

There are other additions to you can blend into any favorite recipe, such as hemp seeds, chia seeds, and flax seeds. Just a tablespoon added to any recipe will increase the protein and other nutrients without doing much of anything to the flavor of your ice cream.

AI is everywhere, which is exciting for some and concerning for others — and nowhere is this dichotomy more prevalent than health. AI has the ability to enable huge leaps in healthcare, both at home on your phones and smartwatches, and in the medical industry advancing tools and research using vast corpuses of training data. However, given that AI relies on harvesting data to train the next generation of models, its use of sensitive personal information is under intense scrutiny.

Samsung, unsurprisingly, is all-in on AI. On 22 July during Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, we saw how AI was being used across Samsung's ecosystem, especially on the Samsung Health app and wearables like the Samsung Galaxy Watch. It's crunching the data you give it to help notify you of problems such as sleep apnea, irregular heart rhythms, and even common illnesses such as a cold.

It's not the only big tech company to dive head-first into AI health: Google's done it too with the revamp of its Google Health app, retooling its premium tier into a Chatbot called the Google Health Coach.

Some people don't trust AI with their health information, as our writer David Nield illustrates, and some AI companies' cavalier use of user data has clearly got users worried. Is the pivot to AI in health happening too quickly? Do we have appropriate safeguards in place yet? And is your data being mined without your consent?

It's all about user trust, it seems. Samsung made headlines earlier this month for the wrong reasons, as a claim hit the internet stating that Samsung Health will delete your data unless you allow the app to access your sensitive health information for AI training purposes. Samsung later clarified this was not the case in a statement to 9to5Google. While the rumor was apparently false, it does demonstrate how worried people are when it comes to AI harvesting their health data.

Trust and Privacy

(Image credit: Future)

During Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, I got to conduct a one-on-one interview with Annika Bizon, VP of Product and Marketing for Mobile Experience at Samsung, and ask her about Samsung's strategy when it comes to AI and healthcare — including how it's intending to safeguard their user's valuable data.

"The user is in control, right?," she tells me, "you opt-in to decide what you want something to understand around your health. You're in control through your phone and through the Samsung health app. That's number one. AI is there to assist you and make your experience better."

Bizon and her team also clarified that all Samsung Health features are usable whether you choose to share your data or not. This attempt to reassure Samsung users about trust and privacy echoed all throughout the Unpacked conference: when I approached someone to talk about Samsung's new Intelligent Eyewear smart glasses, the first bit of sales spiel I got was centered on privacy and transparency features. Clearly, Samsung and its partners at Google are keen to avoid the growing backlash against smart specs.

(Image credit: Samsung)

This continued during a Health Forum attended by journalists. Speaking about medical advances powered by Samsung and AI, Rohit Ali, Head of the Technology Incubation Lab at Samsung R&D Institute UK, said during the panel, "as long as we ensure that data is private, trust can be viable. We at Samsung completely believe that data belongs to the user, and we are just custodians."

Bizon said Samsung's approach is "if it's got AI involved in it, you're in control," with the ability to toggle the data you share and the data you don't. However, she did then go on to say that when users start to use these features, that "you realize you don't want to 'not opt-in' because it's giving you better understanding of your health situation." Without opting in to using the AI features, you're not getting everything Samsung Health has to offer.

'We want to keep people away from doctors'Watch: Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 / Watch9 hands-on

"Gone are the days of 10,000 steps and eight hours' sleep," said Bizon, telling me that old-fashioned blanket advice was never suitable for everyone. "We're in a space of 'your health, your way', and that's where AI and incredible sensor technology innovation brings those two together.

"We want to keep people away from doctors. We want to give people small nudges so they can make their lives better."

Bizon is talking about AI picking up on your body's trends and seeing things before they happen, with preventative health features ensuring people don't necessarily need doctors — and when they do, they're catching things like heart problems early.

The new Vitals feature is the key to this, which tracks five different metrics, many of them based on heart health, while you sleep with a Samsung watch or Galaxy Ring on. "Through things like understanding how your respiratory system is working, it might tell you that might be coming down with a cold," says Bizon, "and therefore, you can manage that. You might go, 'I need to have more vitamins' or 'I need to sleep a bit more', or 'I might not go to the gym tomorrow'.

"Little triggers and little nudges, right the way through to understanding your heart health in way more detail. Your ECG is taken while you're sleeping. And then that is, you know, even endorsed by the MHRA [the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency], which means that you can send that directly directly to your doctor."

(Image credit: Samsung)

An AI nutrition tracking feature will also be launching in beta on Samsung Health very soon, which allows you to take a photo of your plate and it'll log an estimation of your macros like Google Health and Garmin Connect does. These coupled with the Antioxidant Index on watches, which Bizon says help users "understand what you're putting in your body, so that you can manage your overall health in a better way", have the potential to become quite a powerful set of nutrition features across the Samsung ecosystem.

This preventative health design is part of Samsung's desire to keep people away from doctors, as Bizon puts it, and empower its users to lead healthier lives. It just might work, too — as long as that all-important trust and faith in Samsung's ability to keep its user's health data private is maintained.

During Samsung's Health Forum, Samsung's Head of Digital Health Dr Hon Pak said "whether it's data or the insights we derive, someone has to trust this is right for them. And then there's the issue of what we're doing to store and use that data appropriately, because once you lose trust, nothing else matters."

Samsung is being very careful and conscious with all its trust-first messaging, and it's paying attention to controversies involving other companies like Meta. The success of its plans for AI health all depend on this.

Marvel’s presentation on Saturday night.

There weren’t too many drops, but one rumor did come true about Johnny Blaze.

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked took place earlier in the week, and amongst the key launches we the got a look at a brand new compact foldable: the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8. This clamshell phone is Samsung's slimmest and lightest Flip yet, measuring just 6.1mm thick when folded, and weighing in at 180g.

Preorders are open now, and if you've decided this is the phone for you, now's a great time to get a case sorted. Below, I've rounded up a selection of my favorites in the US and in the UK. I've focused on reputable brands like Otterbox, Spigen and Casetify, alongside Samsung's official offerings, but I've also mixed in a handful of Amazon options for those seeking something cheaper. As a relatively niche launch, there isn't the usual glut of cases to choose from, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a decent range available.

When making your selection, keep in mind what you need from a case. Do you want the toughest case, with reinforced corners, to keep your foldable safe from bumps and scratches? Are you seeking a fun design that lets you express some personality? Or do you need something minimalist that lets the phone itself take center stage? I've also included a number of MagSafe options.

Scroll down to browse my favorite Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 cases and covers, to keep your new clamshell safe and looking great.

US cases for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8

Spigen Galaxy Z Flip 8 Series — Ultra Hybrid Pro (mag Fit)

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Mirror Magnet Case(kakao Friends)

Spigen Galaxy Z Flip 8 Series - Nano Pop (mag Fit)

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Silicone Ring Magnet Case, Pink

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Clear Magnet Case, Transparent

CASETiFY Stamp Collection

CASETiFY Black Kingsnake

OtterBox Folding Galaxy Z Flip8 Case — Thin Flex Series

Pepmune Magnetic Case Matte Clear Bumper, Pink

RMOCR Galaxy Z Flip 8 Case With Lanyard, blue

WRJ Shockproof Magnetic Phone Case for Z Flip8 — Black

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Flipsuit Case, Silver

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Clear Case, Transparent

CASETiFY Dragon Pang

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Mirror Magnet Case(esther Bunny)

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Hybrid Shield Magnet Case, Black

Spigen Galaxy Z Flip 8 Series - Ultra Hybrid Pro Neo One (mag Fit)

Spigen Galaxy Z Flip 8 Series - Core Armor (mag Fit)

UK cases for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8

CASETiFY Bridgerton Blooming Flowers Case

CASETiFY Strawberry Print

OWKEY Magnetic Case With Built-In Screen Protector, Blue

Natbok Galaxy Z Flip 8 Case with 2 Screen Protectors, black

SIXBOX Flip 8 Case With Stand, Compatible With Magsafe, Dark purple

WFTE Split Case with 2x Tempered Glass Screen Protectors

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Flipsuit Case

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Clear Case

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Silicone Ring Magnet Case

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Clear Magnet Case

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Hybrid Shield Magnet Case

• Nearly 400 4K Blu-ray users shared info about player problems
• There's a huge gap between the best and worst in the poll
• Panasonic will be happy; Sony not so much

One of the things I like best about Reddit is the way people share their experiences of particular products: whether it's a kitchen knife, a portable AC or a Gibson guitar I know I'll be able to find sage advice on what to buy and what to watch out for. And now the good people of r/hometheater have come together to talk about the best 4K Blu-ray players and their reliability.

The poll was carried out by r/hometheater poster "requieminadream" and generated nearly 400 responses — almost double the number of previous poll respondents — from r/4KBluray, r/Bluray, r/PhysicalMediaMatters, the AVS Forums, and the Blu-ray.com forums. And there are some very clear differences between different firms' Blu-ray devices.

Requieminadream very kindly summarized the results in a sentence: "The Sony UBP-X700 is still the problem child, the Panasonic DP-UB820 is still champ, and the pricey UB-9000 posted the cleanest numbers (small sample though)."

But there were some interesting discoveries in the detail too, so it's definitely worth looking at if you're considering a pre-owned 4K Blu-ray player purchase, or just which one seems to make people the happiest long-term.

The 4K Blu-ray Standalone Player Reliability Poll numbers ARE IN! from r/hometheaterWhich 4K Blu-ray players are the best?

One of the reasons I like Reddit wisdom is because with few exceptions, reviewers can't spend years with the products they test — so the reviews of my car don't know about the software issues that drive me wild and sometimes require a reboot at traffic lights, and the reviews of my router don't know about its tendency to misbehave every few weeks.

It's the same with Blu-ray players: even the most in-depth review won't be able to tell you if a player's likely to pack up in year two or three. (Though one exception is our Panasonic DP-UB820 review, written by our TV Hardware senior writer James Davidson, because he wrote us a fresh review based on combining using it in our test room and having used it daily for several years beforehand.)

But in general, polls like this are a brilliant resource.

By a large margin, the Panasonic DP-UB820 is the community's favored player: 43.4% of respondents have one, and its problem rate was around half that of the Sony UBP-X700. The rate of serious issues was very low, at just 8% — backing up what James had said, when he called it "the workhorse of the 4K Blu-ray player world".

The "problem child" that emerged from this latest poll is the Sony UBP-X700. Of the 103 Sony users, some 77.7% reported some issues over time; recurring and/or serious issues were 23%. The number one complaint is freezing during triple-layer transitions, which is something that has long been discussed on Blu-ray forums.

The poll shows another interesting pattern, which is problems over time. For the Sony, issues became more common over time — but for the Panasonic the pattern was of any failures showing up early, but better long-term reliability.

The other players in the survey came in between the two extremes, but some of the best results were from "other" players including games consoles and more niche Blu-ray products.

Satisfaction with those products was exceptionally high, with the PS5 getting a significantly higher rating than the Xbox. That's all the more striking given the Sony X700's performance: the PS5 is a more premium product and that seems to be reflected in its reliability — alas, we shouldn't expect any more PlayStations to arrive with a disc player.

I should make clear, as the original Redditor did, that in some cases the sample sizes for ownership in these polls is pretty low, so we should take the results with a pinch of salt. However, the Panasonic UB820 and the Sony X700 were the best-represented, and are the two most popular players, so their data is arguably the most useful anyway.

• Ukraine Central Research Institute has unveiled Marichka, a closed neural network intended to cut brigade-level planning decisions from six to 12 hours down to minutes
• The system calculates force ratios, estimates losses, and models courses of action on an interactive map, but has so far only been trialed on test data, with classified document integration still pending
• Marichka adds another layer to Ukraine's tech stack for battlefield planning: the country already fields Delta for situational awareness and works with Palantir at multiple levels

Ukraine's Central Research Institute of the Armed Forces has presented Marichka, a closed neural network designed to compress the operational planning cycle at brigade level and above from hours to minutes.

The system, still in testing, is built to collect and verify battlefield information, then calculate force ratios and estimate required resources and likely losses, presenting commanders with modeled options on an interactive map. Military standards currently allow a regiment or brigade commander six to 12 hours and roughly 20 documents to reach the same point.

It can also alert command posts to changes in the operational situation as new information arrives. Colonel Yurii Kliat, who heads the institute, was explicit about where authority stops, telling the briefing that the final decision remains with the commander.

A battlefield-layer replacement for Palantir

Palantir has been embedded in Ukrainian operations since shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, and it remains a mainstay in that theater, with a scope that dwarfs what Marichka is attempting.

Marichka is still an important step. If it works as described, it would give Ukraine sovereign control over part of the reasoning layer that currently sits with a foreign vendor, even as Palantir's pipeline remains the more established presence in the country's software-driven war effort.

According to Colonel Yurii Kliat, head of Ukraine's Central Research Institute of the Armed Forces, Marichka centrally gathers battlefield information, automatically calculates the balance of forces and combat potentials, and estimates required resources and likely losses.

The intent is to let brigade and regiment commanders reach an informed decision in minutes, measured against a doctrinal standard that currently allows six to 12 hours and roughly 20 documents.

Ukraine already fields the system that most closely answers to the description of a homegrown Palantir: Delta, which has provided situational awareness across the defense forces since 2022. Marichka is a new layer proposed on top of a stack that already includes Delta, Palantir's platforms for fusion and analysis, and, as of this year, a dedicated Defense AI Center. Whether it will integrate with Delta or run separately has not been disclosed, and that is arguably the most important open question about the program.

Brigadier General Andrii Lebedenko told the Drone Autonomy 2026 conference in May that the Armed Forces had already begun integrating AI agents into command-and-control systems, which places Marichka within an existing effort rather than presenting it as a departure.

This is not Ukraine's first attempt at an operational-level command system for headquarters. Dzvin was ordered from a contractor in 2016 and frozen in 2021 after the prototypes encountered disputes over cost, timelines, and product ownership.

Delta, developed in parallel rather than as a replacement, succeeded partly because it grew out of a volunteer reconnaissance unit solving an immediate battlefield problem, rather than from a procurement process.

Marichka comes from a research institute, which is a different pedigree again, and the harder test will not be the neural network but the bureaucracy around accreditation for classified data. That hurdle may be reinforced by the argument for the incumbent: Palantir has a proven record in theaters of war, and its early work in Ukraine, much of it provided free, secured a first-mover advantage that a domestic prototype will have to overcome.

Via United24Media

Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact Ultra-Wideband: One-minute review

The Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact Ultra-Wideband is a small gaming keyboard with a few surprises in store.

True to its name, it certainly doesn’t take up much room on your desk. It’s also pleasingly light, which means it’s easy to move around. Despite this and the plastic construction, the build quality seems high.

There are some unique features to the design of the K63W Pro. One is the prominent springiness of the gasket-mounted layout, which is a little strange at first, but ultimately it’s not an issue and the keys still feel just as solid as those in the best gaming keyboards.

Another is the arrow keys. Not only are they much larger than most, but each of the four directions has a second binding to include right control, right shift, menu, and Fn inputs. There’s a shortcut for toggling between the two sets of bindings, as well as activating both at the same time, with the input triggered determined by whether a key is pressed or held.

(Image credit: Future)

There’s also an option to select these modes in Cherry’s companion software. This software has other customizations, but not many. The remapping options are especially disappointing, thanks to their very awkward setup and limited options. There’s barely any performance tweaks here, either.

Thankfully, the K63W Pro is a capable performer as it is. The keys travel further than you might expect given their low profile, but they’re still just about snappy enough for fast gaming and typing. The ergonomic slant of the keycaps, as well as the generous spacing between them, make them easy to use, while the aforementioned thinness of the chassis makes for a comfortable experience, even without a wrist rest.

Cherry makes much of the K63W Pro’s Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless technology, which is designed to prevent potential interference. However, I can’t say I noticed an improvement over other wireless keyboards, and the tech isn’t worth the impracticality that comes with the incongruously large wireless puck. It’s also a shame there’s no Bluetooth support.

The K63W Pro is reasonably expensive for a compact keyboard, although the quality and interesting layout help its case in this regard. The performance is good and it's comfortable to use, but I’m not sure every gamer is going to get along with its unique features.

Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact Ultra-Wideband review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

• $169.99 (about £150 / AU$240)
• Available now
• Expensive for a small board

The Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact Ultra-Wideband costs $169.99 (about £150 / AU$240) and is available now. It comes with a USB cable and the UWB USB receiver.

This is a reasonably high price for a 70% keyboard, especially one that lacks Bluetooth support and input customizations. However, there are certainly more expensive mechanical boards out there, such as the Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75. I loved the performance of that board when I reviewed it, and it has a much better selection of input customizations than the K63W Pro.

If you want something more budget-friendly, consider the Monsgeek FUN60 Ultra. This keyboard has analog switches with a heap of performance-related features and tweaks at their disposal. They also feel just as good as mechanical switches in my view.

• Value score: 3.5

Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact Ultra-Wideband review: Specs

Layout

70%

Switch

Mechanical (Cherry MX Low Profile 2.0)

Programmable keys

Yes

Dimensions

12.1 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches (307 x 135 x 30 mm)

RGB or backlighting

Yes (customizable)

Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact Ultra-Wideband review: Design and features

(Image credit: Future)

• Thin and light
• Springboard-like
• Limited input customizations

There's nothing particularly exciting about the way the K63W Pro looks. It keeps things basic, although the rounded edges are a nice touch, helping to relieve its austerity a little.

True to its name, the K63W Pro is indeed compact. In addition to its truncated width, it’s also quite thin, making it comfortable to use even without a wrist rest — which is just as well, since it doesn’t come with one.

Despite its plastic construction, the K63W Pro feels sturdy and built to a high standard. Rather unique is the prominent flex of the keyboard plate. This can be pushed down quite a way when pressing a key, which is a little disconcerting at first, but it still feels perfectly stable and it rebounds fully. I wasn’t concerned about its durability, either.

(Image credit: Future)

The keycaps feel premium, too. They’re pleasingly textured and solid with little play. On top of this, the bright RGB backlighting shines through them very well, and the main legends are large and clear, although those for the Fn shortcuts on the function keys are a little too small.

You get more keys on the K63W Pro than you might think, including some navigation ones such as delete and insert. However, it’s odd there’s a blank key in the top-right corner; a missed opportunity to squeeze in another, perhaps, such as a Home key.

There are quite a few useful Fn shortcuts on the function row, including those for adjusting volume and one for opening your default browser, which are all welcome. However, a few remained a mystery to me. Two look like they adjust some sort of performance-related parameter, but I didn’t notice any action when I pressed them. There’s also one on F9 with Cherry’s logo on it that opens the Windows Run box and enters some kind of address, but again nothing happened when I pressed it. The text was too long and disappeared too quickly for me to read it, but my only guess is that it’s supposed to open some kind of Cherry software.

(Image credit: Future)

The most interesting aspect of the K63W Pro’s layout is the Mod Tap arrow keys. These are larger than your typical set since they have secondary bindings, with control, shift, menu, and Fn inputs mapped to each direction. Pressing Fn+M (there’s another Fn key mapped to the insert key) will cycle between three different modes: one enables the usual arrow key inputs, one enables the secondary bindings, and one enables both sets at the same time, with taps triggering arrow directions and holds triggering the secondary functions. The M key lights up a different color depending on which mode is active.

You can also switch between these modes using the Cherry Utility. This desktop app also features other customizations, although their dearth is disappointing. It has perhaps the worst rebinding mode I've ever seen in peripheral software, requiring you to click a ‘create’ button for every key you want to rebind, in order to bring up the option to rebind it. The layout graph doesn’t display your remapped bindings, which is another baffling oversight, and you can’t alter the Fn layer of shortcuts. There aren’t many performance-related settings here, either; you can adjust the polling rate for both wired and wireless modes, and there’s a SOCD mode with three basic settings, but that’s all you get.

Rather than your typical USB dongle, the K63W Pro comes with a block-shaped puck that requires a USB cable (also included) to connect to your device. This is what facilitates the UWB connectivity, which Cherry claims reduces interference compared to standard wireless connections. It looks sleek, but it’s quite large and takes up more space than I’m happy with, especially when you factor in the trailing cable.

• Design & features score: 3.5 / 5

Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact Ultra-Wideband review: Performance

(Image credit: Future)

• Relatively heavy keys
• Great space bar
• Unnecessary Ultra-Wideband connectivity

I mostly enjoyed my time using the K63W Pro. The keys feel well lubed and reasonably damped, although it still verges on the side of clicky than thocky, which, depending on your preferences, is either a good thing or a bad thing. Personally, I liked the feedback they provided.

I was also fond of the low-profile keycaps, which seem to slant slightly towards the user. This helped me hit keys flush, making up for the somewhat limiting tilt angle of the board, even with the two-stage feet out. This was especially noticeable with the space bar, a key I often hit on its edge but not here. It also feels slightly more damped than the other keys, while still being easy to press, a combination that makes it very satisfying to hammer away at.

The switches themselves are also low profile (specifically, they’re Cherry’s MX Low Profile 2.0). However, they have surprisingly deep travel, which makes them more satisfying than they otherwise would be. Despite this, their actuation point is relatively shallow, which meant I could still type with a reasonably light touch. They strike just the right balance between being snappy and forgiving of minor mispresses.

(Image credit: Future)

Tying accuracy is also aided by the large size of the keycaps, as well as their wide spacing. While this made reaching certain keys a little difficult when touch typing, it made gaming in the WASD position quite comfortable and secure. I could also reach the peripheral keys easily from here, including the space bar, thanks to its aforementioned slant and low profile.

In my experience, the Mod Tap feature works reasonably well, achieving Cherry’s aim of reducing side bulk without sacrificing inputs. However, you have to hold an arrow key for a long time to activate its secondary binding. I found this particularly frustrating when typing, as I required quick and regular access to the right shift key, but I often didn’t hold the Up arrow key long enough to access it. It’s also disappointing that you can’t alter the hold time.

Although Cherry makes bold claims about the UWB wireless connectivity, I can't say I noticed any performance gains over other wireless keyboards I’ve tested. Such models have greatly improved in recent years, to the point where regular-sized USB dongles perform pretty much flawlessly. And if you are an elite player concerned about lags and dropouts, you’ll probably opt for a wired connection anyway. All this is to say that the UWB tech and the outsized puck are ultimately overkill for many. What’s more, the K63W Pro doesn’t have Bluetooth support, as lots of other premium wireless keyboards feature.

• Performance score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact Ultra-Wideband?Scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

Expensive for a compact board, but the quality and spec is there at least.

3.5 / 5

Design and features

Thin and light, with a solid build and a unique layout. The software is disappointing, though.

3.5 / 5

Performance

The K63W Pro is comfortable for gaming and typing for the most part, but the Mod Tap feature will take some getting used to.

4 / 5

Overall

The K63W Pro is a solid mechanical keyboard that does a few things differently, but not entirely successfully. Still, it’s a reliable and comfortable unit for most gamers.

3.5 / 5

Buy it if…

You want a compact board
The K63W Pro cleverly includes keys usually omitted from such a small layout, although it does take some getting used to.

You want a comfortable board
The thin chassis and ergonomic keycaps makes the K63W Pro a board you can use all day long, although touch typing will test your dexterity at times.

Don't buy it if…

You want the snappiest experience
Despite the low profile keycaps, they have a greater travel than you might expect, which might deter those after lighting-quick taps.

You want the best input customizations
The companion software’s rebinding functionality is quite woeful; there are barely any performance-related tweaks.

Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact Ultra-Wideband review: Also consider

Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75
If it’s superb mechanical performance you’re after, you can’t do much better than the Razer BlackWidow. I love how tactile and satisfying key presses are, and the number of customizations on offer via Razer’s Synapse software is impressive for a mechanical keyboard, greatly eclipsing the K63W Pro on this front. However, the BlackWidow is an incredibly expensive board, so those wanting to save money should look elsewhere. Read our full Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75 review.

Monsgeek FUN60 Ultra
For something decidedly more budget-friendly, the FUN60 Ultra offers all the thrills of a great gaming keyboard without the expense. Its analog switches almost feel as good as mechanical ones, and there are plenty of adjustments you can make to alter their performance. Its construction is surprisingly solid for the price, too. Read our full Monsgeek FUN60 Ultra review.

How I tested the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact Ultra-Wideband

(Image credit: Future)

• Tested for a few days
• Used for a variety of tasks
• Plentiful gaming keyboard experience

I used the K63W Pro for a few days, during which time I used it for working, general browsing, and of course, gaming. I used it in both wired and wireless modes.

I played games such as 007 First Light and Counter-Strike 2, which are good tests for the speed and accuracy of key inputs.

I’ve been PC gaming for over a decade, and have used numerous keyboards in that time. I’ve also reviewed a large number of them, ranging widely in their form factors, switches types, feature sets, and price points.

• First reviewed: July 2026
• Read more about how we test

• Raspberry Pi's new 10.1-inch Touch Display 2 lands at $80 with a 1200 × 1920 IPS panel and ten-finger touch, sitting above the $40 5-inch and $60 7-inch models
• The upgrade breaks backward compatibility, extending compatibility with the Raspberry Pi 5 and Compute Modules only, ruling out Pi 4 and earlier as well as the entire Zero lineup
• The 10.1-inch Touch 2 also offers an IPS display that offers viewing angles of 85 degrees, matched by the 7-inch variant, even as the 5-inch variant clocks in a bit lower at 80 degrees

The Raspberry Pi 5 is a surprisingly capable device, and it finally has an "official" 10-inch display that can hold a candle to its capabilities.

While the new Touch Display 2 has already had 5-inch and 7-inch offerings, the 10-inch variant is new, offering a slew of upgrades under the hood even as it cuts down on peak brightness to go with the larger display.

It is also the first Touch Display that leaves most of the Raspberry Pi installed base behind, essentially scrapping support for older Raspberry Pi options as well as its current Zero lineup.

The 10.1-inch Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 (Image credit: Raspberry Pi Foundation)A new display with compromises for a limited user base

While the 10-inch Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2's announcement is direct about the incompatibility, explaining that the higher resolution needs four DSI lanes and the newer connector is found only on Raspberry Pi 5 and Compute Module IO boards, it says nothing about what that means in practice.

The restriction effectively cuts off a large segment of the user base that runs older Raspberry Pi models, as well as anyone building on the Zero line.

At $80, the display is relatively affordable for its size, and there are real upgrades under the hood.

Resolution rises to 1200 × 1920 in native portrait, the touch controller returns to 10 points after the 5-inch and 7-inch models were limited to 5, and the switch to an IPS panel tightens the worst-case touch response from 40 ms to 35 ms. The 85-degree viewing angle is worth qualifying, though: it beats the 5-inch panel's 80 degrees but matches the 7-inch exactly, despite the announcement presenting it as a step up across the board. Those variants are listed at $40 and $60, respectively.

The math might be a bit ugly for some, considering that a Compute Module with an I/O board isn't how most people buy their Raspberry Pis, and that the pair generally costs more than a board with I/O onboard bought outright.

That matters more than usual right now. The cheapest compliant path is real enough: a 1GB Raspberry Pi 5 at $45 plus the $80 display comes to $125. But anyone wanting memory headroom is buying into a market that has moved sharply against them.

The 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 has climbed from $120 in November 2025 to $305 by April 2026 as Raspberry Pi passed on what it describes as a seven-fold rise in LPDDR4 pricing. The irony is pointed. The company has protected pricing on the Zero series and Pi 3 by drawing down existing LPDDR2 inventory, and those are precisely the boards this display locks out.

(Image credit: Raspberry Pi)

The one thing Raspberry Pi does gloss over is peak brightness, which drops to 400 nits from the 500 nits of its older 5- and 7-inch siblings, a difference that will show in the brightly lit rooms where kiosks and signage actually live.

While the panel offers a decent 225 ppi pixel density, slightly outdoing the 7-inch at 210, it does not hold a candle to the much sharper 5-inch display, which shares the 7-inch's resolution across a smaller area for 294 ppi. That makes the 10-inch a middle-of-the-road offering at best in terms of sharpness.

On raw value, the largest panel is the strongest in the family. Its 135.4 × 216.6 mm active area works out to roughly 366 square millimeters of screen per dollar, against about 224 on the 7-inch and 171 on the 5-inch.

The most telling detail about the launch, however, may be the production commitment: Raspberry Pi guarantees availability until at least January 2030, a promise it extends to the smaller Touch Display 2 variants as well.

Coupled with an operating range of −20°C to +70°C and the Compute Module compatibility, that reads less like a hobbyist accessory than a panel intended for embedded integrators building point-of-sale terminals, industrial HMIs, and signage on a decade-long design cycle.

For makers, the 10-inch is a straightforward, if slightly dimmer, upgrade that costs backward compatibility and, at current board prices, rather more than the sticker suggests. For the industry customers Raspberry Pi has courted since listing publicly, it is something harder to buy than a screen: a component with a guaranteed support horizon, available only to those already standardized on the company's newest boards.

Following the launch of Dyson's first ever compact hair dryer, the Supersonic Travel, I spent four weeks putting it through its paces, including during a trip to San Francisco — you can read about this in depth in my Dyson Supersonic Travel review.

What I kept coming back to was how similar it seemed to Dyson's Supersonic Nural, despite there being a $150 / £150 / AU$300 gap between the two. Both use the same motor and the same intelligent heat control technology. Both use the same magnetic attachment system, meaning any nozzle or diffuser from either machine works on both. And both deliver the same smooth, frizz-free finish that Dyson has become known for.

I've tested many of the best hair dryers on the market, and Dyson consistently sits near the top. So if the technology is this similar, what exactly are you paying the extra cash for — and is the Nural worth it? I tested the two side by side. Here's what you need to know.

Dyson Supersonic Travel vs Supersonic Nural dryer: efficiency

On sheer drying power, the Nural wins. It's a full-size dryer with full airflow, and on my fine, mid-length hair it dried in around two and a half minutes on high heat. The Travel took around four minutes in the same conditions.

Four minutes is fast for a travel dryer — faster than every hotel dryer I've used and faster than some standard home dryers too. The finish was smooth and shiny every time, which is the more important result. But the gap is significant, and if you have thick or long hair that already takes 15 or 20 minutes at home, you'll feel it a lot more than I did.

Both have a 110,000 RPM motor, and both use a built-in thermistor sensor that continuously monitors air temperature to prevent heat damage and protect your hair's shine.

Interestingly, the cheaper Travel measures temperature more frequently than the pricier Nural — over 100 times per second versus 40. However, where the Travel uses it as a protective measure, the Nural uses it in more advanced ways for its Scalp Protect Mode. This mode uses a network of Nural sensors and an infrared beam to measure the distance between the dryer and your scalp in real time, automatically reducing heat and airflow as it gets closer to maintain a consistent 131 F / 55 C at the roots.

Winner: Dyson Supersonic Nural

Dyson Supersonic Travel vs Supersonic Nural dryer: design & comfort

The size difference is obvious, with the Travel (right) designed to take up much less luggage space than the Nural (left) (Image credit: Future)

Both the Nural and Travel look unmistakably like Dyson products. They have the same cylindrical head, narrow handle, and magnetic barrel as the entire Supersonic range. I tested the Travel in Ceramic Pink/Rose Gold and the Nural in Red Velvet/Gold, and both have a stylish soft matte finish.

The biggest and most obvious design difference is in size.

The Nural weighs 1.5lbs / 684g and measures 3.8 x 3 x 11.3 inches / 9.8 x 7.7 x 28 cm. The Travel is 32% smaller — at 2.7 x 2.8 x 8.7 inches / 6.8 x 7.1 x 22.2 cm — and almost half the weight. This makes it small and light enough to drop into a handbag without rearranging everything around it and I carried the Travel to San Francisco in a tote bag alongside my laptop and it barely registered.

Both models put airflow and temperature buttons on the rear of the barrel (pictured on the Travel) with LEDs above each button showing your current setting. Unlike the Nural through, the Travel model doesn’t include rear scalp protection sensors (Image credit: Future)

Both put airflow and temperature buttons on the rear of the barrel, with LEDs above each button showing your current setting. On the Nural, these LEDs change color as you cycle through settings to make it easier to see, at a glance, what setting you're on. The Travel's stay white, making it harder.

Beyond this, the Nural offers four heat settings plus three airflow speeds. The Travel has three heat settings and two airflow speeds. On the Travel, its cool shot requires sliding the power button upward past its 'on' position. This will be familiar if you own a Dyson Airwrap i.d but if you don't, this feature won't feel obvious the first time you use the Travel.

The Nural offers four heat settings plus three airflow speeds. The Travel has three heat settings and two airflow speeds (Image credit: Future)

The Nural gives you meaningfully more control over both heat and airflow, which matters if you have multiple hair types or needs in your household, or if you regularly switch between drying and styling with different attachments.

Cord length is 9.2ft / 2.8m on the Nural and 6.6ft / 2m on the Travel, and neither folds. The Travel's cord is longer than I'd like for a machine sold primarily on portability but this longer length does make it easier to use in a hotel room when the plug socket aren't always in the most useful places.

Winner: Draw – even though the Nural has some standout design benefits compared to the Travel, they fit different needs: the Nural is better designed for home, while the Travel is better for everywhere else.

Dyson Supersonic Travel vs Supersonic Nural dryer: special features

The Travel's standout feature is auto-voltage. It adapts automatically to any supply between 100V and 240V without the need for a converter or a switch. I used it in San Francisco with a standard plug adapter and there was no drop in power, change in noise or overheating.

The Nural counters with Scalp Protect Mode, which uses proprietary sensors to detect proximity to your scalp and automatically drops the air temperature. When you pull the dryer away, it returns to your selected setting. This setting works in the background, and over months of daily use I haven't once scorched my roots on a high heat setting. For anyone with a sensitive scalp, fine hair, or hair growth concerns, it's a functional benefit rather than a convenience feature.

For the higher price, the Nural ships with multiple attachments (pictured) compared to the Travel's single nozzle. The specifics of these attachments vary slightly depending on which model you buy (Image credit: Future)

The Nural also has Attachment Learning, which recognises which nozzle is fitted via RFID chips and remembers your preferred settings.

For example, if you swap to the diffuser, the Nural will automatically drop to your usual diffuser heat and speed. The Pause Detect feature then cuts the airflow when the dryer is put down and resumes when you pick it back up.

The Travel has neither of those features but it is compatible with the entire Supersonic and Supersonic Nural attachment range. If you already own the Nural, you can pack your existing nozzles and diffuser and use them on the Travel.

Winner: Dyson Nural – the Travel's auto-voltage is the most widely practical feature across the two dryers but the Nural is a much more advanced choice.

The Travel is compatible with the entire Supersonic and Supersonic Nural attachment range. If you already own the Nural, you can pack your existing nozzles and diffuser and use them on the Travel (pictured) (Image credit: Future)Dyson Supersonic Travel vs Supersonic Nural dryer: specs

Model:

Dyson Supersonic Travel

Dyson Supersonic Nural

Wattage:

1,000–1,220W

1,600W

Weight (without cord, appox):

0.7lbs / 330g

1.5lbs / 684g

Size (H x W x L, approx):

2.7 x 2.8 x 8.7 inches / 6.8 x 7.1 x 22.2cm

3.0 x 3.8 x 11.3 inches / 7.7 x 9.8 x 28.8cm

Airflow settings:

2

3

Temperature settings:

3

4

Extra modes:

Cool shot

Cool shot, Scalp Protect Mode, Pause Detect, Attachment Learning

Cord length:

6.6ft / 2m

8.6ft / 2.6m

Should I buy the Dyson Supersonic Travel or Supersonic Nural dryer?Buy the Dyson Supersonic Travel if...

✅ You travel frequently and your hair matters to you: Hotel dryers are a lottery. The Travel gives you consistent Dyson-quality results wherever you are.

✅ You already own a Dyson Supersonic or Nural: The attachment compatibility means you're not buying a second set of nozzles – just a travel body for your existing routine.

✅ You have fine or mid-length hair: The reduced airflow won't be an issue for finer hair types. Four minutes is still fast, and the intelligent heat control means the finish is just as good as you'd get from a full-size dryer.

Buy the Dyson Supersonic Nural if...

✅ You want the best Dyson for home use: Full airflow, smarter controls, color-coded LEDs and five attachments make this the more complete package for everyday drying.

✅ You have a sensitive scalp or fine hair at the roots: Scalp Protect Mode works in the background and over months of daily use, the difference in root and hair health is noticeable.

✅ You dry your hair every day: The Nural's Attachment Learning and Pause Detect are small features that add up to an easier daily routine.