Reviews

Horipad for Steam: One-minute review

The Horipad for Steam is a dedicated PC controller built with Steam integration in mind. This means that Valve's monolithic game launcher recognizes the controller immediately, granting quick access to Big Picture Mode and various settings like deadzone and gyro calibration.

I went into my time with the Horipad for Steam thinking it could be a worthwhile cheap Valve Steam Controller (2026) alternative with that in mind. But after nearly two weeks of testing, I'm thinking I'd recommend almost any other PC-compatible controller over this one.

(Image credit: Future)

The Horipad for Steam is awful; an alarming step-back for a brand that typically delivers solid (if rarely spectacular) budget-friendly controllers and accessories. From its flimsy build quality to the bizarre lack of even Hall effect stick tech, this is a shoddy controller that isn't built to last in the same way many of its competitors are.

Before I get too negative, there are things to like here. For one, it's ergonomically sound and sits in the hands rather comfortably. I also really enjoy the pressure-sensitive triggers, which worked surprisingly well in supported games like Forza Horizon 6. A trigger lock option for digital presses is welcome, too.

That's about where the praise ends, though, because the Horipad for Steam ultimately provides a poor-feeling play experience. The face buttons, d-pad, and bumpers all somehow feel both stiff and mushy simultaneously. The included Bluetooth adapter also isn't fit for purpose - sometimes taking forever to pair and prone to disconnections.

Yet most baffling of all are what Hori calls the 'touch capacitive' thumbsticks. You can assign an input to these in your Steam launcher's controller settings, and they literally activate on touch. By which I mean, the simple act of placing your thumb on the stick will activate your chosen input. At best, this is completely useless, and at worst, it renders your games unplayable as your assigned input will go off if you so much as brush your thumb against the stick. I have no idea why Hori thought this was a worthwhile feature, especially as the controller already has four dedicated buttons for secondary input assignment!

There is practically no scenario where I can confidently recommend the Horipad for Steam. It's not cheap enough to be a legitimate budget choice, especially when rivals like the tremendous 8BitDo Pro 3 are offering a much better experience for even less. I would also strongly consider buying the Valve Steam Controller (2026) instead if you're able to do so. As far as the best PC controllers are concerned, there's no shortage of excellent options.

(Image credit: Future)Horipad for Steam: Price and availability

• Costs $59.99 / £54.99 (around AU$85)
• Available to buy now at Hori's store page
• More desirable options match or beat this controller on price

You can get the Horipad for Steam now from the brand's website, where it's available for $59.99 / £54.99 (around AU$85). This puts it roughly in the same ballpark as other excellent PC controllers like the 8BitDo Pro 3 and the Xbox Wireless Controller.

And 'excellent' sort of is the keyword here, but not for the Horipad for Steam. The fact is that this controller's price is something of a sweet spot, at least in the PC space. You'll be able to find similarly-priced controllers from brands like 8BitDo, GameSir, Victrix, and more, all outperforming the Horipad for Steam by basically every metric.

Horipad for Steam: Specs

Price

$59.99 / £54.99 (around AU$85)

Weight

6.5oz / 185g

Dimensions

6.1 x 4.3 x 2.3in / 155 x 110 x 60mm

Compatibility

PC

Connection type

Wireless (Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)

Battery life

Around 12 hours

Horipad for Steam: Design and features

• Integrated Steam functionality
• Extremely lightweight
• Hollow, plasticky build

I've tested countless controllers in my time at TechRadar, and I would recommend almost all of them over the Horipad for Steam. But to give the brand a bit of credit, this controller does set itself apart from the crowd with its official Steam integration.

The PC gaming launcher recognizes the controller instantly, and the bulk of its customization options (more so than the official Hori Device Manager software) can be tweaked within Steam. That includes stick deadzones, trigger and gyro sensitivity, and ancillary features like those capacitive touch thumbsticks.

The central Steam button grants immediate access to Big Picture mode, and a dedicated Quick Access button to its right opens a handy sidebar where you can check out your notifications, friends list, and quick settings like game recording. It's all pretty nice and convenient.

(Image credit: Future)

I don't hate the Horipad for Steam's overall design, either. It's incredibly lightweight and sits very comfortably in the hands. Referencing the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha and Hori Mario Kart Racing Wheel Pro Deluxe (yes, it really is called that), the brand has always been good at delivering solid look and feel on tighter budgets.

I also quite like the LED display on the Horipad for Steam, wrapping around the d-pad and right thumbstick, and showing things like battery life and Steam connectivity. There are some neat ideas here.

The issue is everything else. That overly lightweight build isn't down to some ingenious engineering. The Horipad for Steam is made from cheap parts, and feels cheap as a result. That extends to the bumpers, face buttons, and d-pad especially, which all feel simultaneously stiff and listless; a feat I didn't know was possible until now.

8BitDo Pro 3: Performance

• Lovely, customizable triggers
• Thumbsticks feel nice, though the lack of drift resistance is concerning
• Inclusions like touch capacitive thumbsticks are baffling at best

It's a similar story on the performance front; the Horipad for Steam has some nice ideas, but is ultimately ruined by the execution. Firstly, I will say that Hori has done a fantastic job with the triggers here. You can swap between a true digital press or pressure-sensitivity via a switch on the rear of the pad. The latter feels surprisingly solid for racing games, especially when applying more force depending on how firmly you hold the triggers down. It's a genuinely cool solution that you just don't see in the modern controller market anymore. So props for that.

It's a shame that everything else feels so shoddy. I mentioned the buttons in the previous section, but I truly hate the Horipad for Steam's d-pad. Somehow feeling both stiff and mushy at the same time, it's among the worst I've ever used. And as mentioned, that feeling extends to the face buttons and bumpers, which offer annoyingly clunky presses during play.

Your wireless connectivity options are also alarmingly limited here. A Bluetooth receiver is included in the box, and it's a tiny thing that I can see being easily lost. Bluetooth connectivity is spotty at best, too, as I experienced bouts of input lag and the odd reconnection while playing games on Steam. Bizarrely, gyro functionality can't be used during wireless play, so you'll need to hook up via USB-C if you want to use that. And I'm sure you can imagine how awful that feels with a cable weighing the pad down slightly.

Battery life is another swing-and-miss. You're getting around 12 hours here, which isn't horrendous. But on average, contemporary PC controllers are putting up 15-20 hours, sometimes more.

Yet by far the worst thing about the Horipad for Steam is its 'touch capacitive' thumbsticks. You can activate these in the controller's Steam settings, and essentially activate an input of your choosing via a quick tap of the thumbstick's top.

The problem here is the input activates no matter what, whether you quickly tap the stick or hold your thumb down. This essentially means that your chosen input is going to go off every single time your thumb meets the top of the stick. In my testing, this renders the controller unusable for normal play, and I couldn't find a single use-case where such a feature would be worthwhile. It's annoying at best, game-breaking at worst.

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Horipad for Steam?Buy it if…

You want a dedicated Steam controller for less
The built-in Steam functionality is useful here, providing quick access for Big Picture Mode and various settings within the Steam launcher quickly and easily.

Don’t buy it if…

You want better battery life and wireless options
The lack of 2.4GHz connectivity hurts, and could have saved the Horipad for Steam from its Bluetooth woes. A measly 12 hours of battery life doesn't really help either.

You want something that feels more premium
Build quality is a real letdown here. There are cheaper or similarly-priced controllers out there, like the 8BitDo Pro 3, that are built with more care and polish. And of course, there's always the official Steam Controller at a slightly higher markup, if you've the budget.

Also consider...

You don't have to settle for the Horipad for Steam controller if you're looking for a dedicated PC pad. Consider the following alternatives.

Horipad for Steam

Valve Steam Controller (2026)

8BitDo Pro 3

Price

$59.99 / £54.99 (around AU$85)

$99.99 / £84.99 / around AU$149

$59.99 / £40 (around AU$84)

Weight

6.5oz / 185g

10.3oz / 292g

8.5oz / 242g

Dimensions

6.1 x 4.3 x 2.3in / 155 x 110 x 60mm

6.3 x 4.4 x 2.2in / 159 x 111 x 57mm

6.1 x 3.9 x 2.6in / 154 x 101 x 65mm

Compatibility

PC

PC, Mac, iOS, Android

Switch, Switch 2, PC, iOS, Android

Connection type

Wireless (Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)

Steam Controller Puck, USB, Bluetooth

Wireless (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)

Battery life

12 hours

Around 35 hours

15-20 hours

Valve Steam Controller (2026)
Currently my go-to PC controller, Valve's second go at a gamepad is a triumph. Excellent build quality meets superb performance via TMR thumbsticks, handy touchpads, and world-class 35 hour battery life. The included Puck doubles as a charger and wireless connectivity device, too.

Read our full Valve Steam Controller (2026) review

8BitDo Pro 3
I think the 8BitDo Pro 3 is perhaps the best budget-friendly controller I've ever tested. It costs the same as the Horipad for Steam in the US (and is much cheaper in the UK), while offering better build quality and a metric ton of customization options. Just buy this instead and thank me later.

Read our full 8BitDo Pro 3 review

How I tested the Horipad for Steam

• Tested for two weeks
• Primarily tested on PC with a variety of games via Big Picture Mode
• Used features like capacitive touch thumbsticks and gyro aiming

For this review, I tested the Horipad for Steam for around two weeks, utilizing a mixture of wired (USB-C) and wireless (Bluetooth) connectivity. I played a wide variety of games with the controller, including Street Fighter 6, Final Fantasy 14 Online, Dark Souls Remastered, and Forza Horizon 6. I also made sure to test features like those capacitive thumbsticks, trying and failing to find a decent use-case for them with a variety of inputs.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed June 2026

Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone: two-minute review

The Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone arrives in an increasingly crowded robot vacuum market, yet it still manages to stand out thanks to a handful of genuinely innovative features. Chief among these is the OmniCyclone docking station, a bagless dust collection system that uses Dyson-style cyclonic technology to capture detritus without relying on pricy disposable dust bags. As a result, it's a great system for anyone with molting dogs or cats, as long as the bin is emptied on a fairly frequent basis.

The X12's floor sweeping credentials aren’t exactly anything to write home about, mind, especially its performance on hard floor.And while its navigation is mostly precise and systematic, I have seen evidence of it occasionally missing some areas.

However, it's the mopping system that really sets this machine apart. Rather than dragging two damp spinning pads around the floor and potentially smearing dirt all over the floor, the X12 employs an extendable roller mop that is continuously supplied with clean water, while simultaneously collecting dirty water into a separate tank. The result is a far more hygienic clean, particularly on hard floors where conventional robot mops can often leave a thin film of grime in their wake. This model also has a unique FocusJet system that squirts water on deep stains before mopping them up, but I simply couldn’t get it to function as it should.

No question, the X12 OmniCyclone is extremely well engineered and packed with clever technology, but me thinks it might be worth a trip back to the drawing board to fix some of its frustrating anomalies.

Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone: price & availability

• List price £1,249 / €1,399 / $1,499.99
• Launch date April 2026
• Availability Worldwide

In the UK, the Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone’s retail price is £1,249 but you can purchase it right now direct from Ecovacs or Amazon for a knockdown £949. At this price, the odd glitch in its performance makes it a lot more justifiable. However, if you mainly want a robot vacuum to collect dry debris from hard floors, the X12 still remains difficult to fully recommend, even at this lower price point.

As of writing, US buyers don’t get the same rosy deal as those in the UK – it sells direct from Ecovacs or Amazon for the full price of $1,499.99 – though you can be sure that big discounts will be applied in the not-too-distant future. The same applies to most of Europe, too, where the X12 OmniCyclone is retailing at a quite considerable €1,399.

If the Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone feels too specialized for your needs. or you’ve been put off by some of my reported performance issues, there are several strong alternatives on the market. For instance, the Roborock Saros 20 (£1,249) offers a much more balanced blend of hard-floor vacuuming, carpet performance and premium mopping. Likewise, the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete is also an excellent all-rounder with particularly strong obstacle avoidance and cleaning coverage. Finally, don’t discount this model’s predecessor, the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone, which delivers much of the X12’s roller-mop appeal and bagless convenience for a lot less money (£699 to be precise).

• Value score: 3/5

Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclon:: specs

Robot dimensions (W x H)

13.89 x 3.85 inches / 35.3 x 9.8cm

Cleaning dock dimensions (H x W x D)

18.30 x 14.96 x 19.40 inches / 46.5 x 38 x 49.3cm

Suction

22,000Pa

Cleaning dock bin size

1.69 quarts / 1.6 liters

Clean water tank size

3.7 quarts / 3.5 liters

Dirty water tank size

2.85 quarts / 2.7 liters

Navigation & obstacle avoidance

dToF (direct Time-of-Flight) + RGBD (Red, Green, Blue + Depth) sensors) + TruEdge 3D Edge Sensor 2.0

Carpet detection

Yes, with mop roller cover

Threshold crossing

TruePass Adaptive 4-wheel-drive up to 1 inch / 2.4cm

Mopping functions

Ozmo Roller 3.0 Instant Self-Washing Mopping Technology + FocusJet + hot-air drying

Robot noise level

59dB at five feet

Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone: design

• Excellent dock with cyclone emptying
• Impressive roller mop system
• Pre-spray system isn’t reliable

I’ll admit that, in this day and age with so many robot vac brands and models on the market, it’s difficult to get too excited about yet another robot vac-and-mop unless it’s bringing a smorgasbord of new tech to the table. Thankfully this one introduces at least three tantalising features that I personally haven’t seen in a robot vac before, and you can read about these below.

As with all robot vacs, setup was very easy because there are only three items in the box: the dock, the robot and the clip-in ramp for the dock. Everything was self-evident, although I will add that there was a surfeit of protective cellophane wrapping on almost every inch of the dock and robot, and I guarantee you will find a piece of cellophane still lurking somewhere that you completely missed on unboxing a few weeks earlier.

Once it was plugged in and ready to go, I launched the Ecovacs Home app and added the robot to my account and Wi-Fi network. I then sent it out on its first mapping run so it could acquaint itself with its new home, and it took a spritely 10 minutes to map my entire floor space of four rooms. The resulting map on the app looked clean and precise and intuitively layout out, though I did have to merge and split some rooms, which is very common and easy to do.

(Image credit: Future)Robot design

The Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone may, at first glance, resemble the vast majority of hybrid robot vacuum leaners, but its engineering sets it apart from much of the competition.

The first thing I should address is that, at 3.85 inches (9.8cm) in height, the X12 won’t be able to scoot under low-slung furniture like the squat Roborock Saros range. However, as is the case with the Saros 10R, this model uses solid-state direct Time-of-Flight LiDAR to navigate so it doesn’t come with an ugly LiDAR turret, and that keeps its height to an acceptable level for most low furnishings.

Aside from its dToF-based navigation system, the X12 also utilises Ecovacs’ AIVI 3D 4.0 which combines an RGB camera and depth sensors with AI processing to detect, identify and manoeuvre around most household obstacles. The camera can also be used to send a live stream to the app and it’s the sharpest image I’ve seen from any robot vac, not that you’ll use it much.

(Image credit: Future)

And then there’s something called TruEdge 3D Edge Sensor 2.0, which combines vertical and horizontal lasers to allegedly detect irregular edges, skirting boards, and recessed areas for improved edge cleaning.

Most robot vacs have a pair of manual controls on top of the robot so you can perform a full clean at the touch of a button or, more importantly, tell it to end its cleaning without having to reach for the app. Sadly, this model only has a single on/off button that you press to continue cleaning after a hiccup in its navigation, and press and hold for three seconds for it to return to dock. I personally prefer having two buttons: one to turn it on and off, or pause it mid clean, and another to end the task and return to dock. Had I not checked the manual, I’d never have know its on/off button served two functions.

Heading to the undercarriage, the X12’s single tapered six-inch brush roller makes a very fair fist of dealing with hair tangles by coaxing it towards the tapered end where it’s sucked into the vacuum path. The roller itself is comprised of four soft rubber paddles for carpet beating and two bristled paddles for hard floors.

(Image credit: Future)

I’ve been watching suction-power stats of robot vacs for some time, and over the past five years they have has exploded from an average of 2,000–2,500 Pascals to between 20,000 and 36,000Pa for today's flagship models. Mind, suction stats are largely a marketing ploy because real-world cleaning relies much more heavily on brush design and airflow. This model boasts 22,000Pa which is about average for its price range.

One of this model’s most distinctive design elements is the extendable roller mop, which automatically extends one inch beyond the robot's chassis to clean along skirting boards and into 90-degree corners that are often left untouched by standard robot mops. I much prefer a roller system like this over twin spinning mop pads because the roller is continually washed during operation, with contaminated water extracted and transferred to a dedicated dirty-water tank while fresh water is supplied to the roller. This ensures that muck is removed rather than redistributed over other sections of flooring.

(Image credit: Future)

The X12’s carpet protection is equally innovative because a protective sleeve rotates beneath the roller, effectively isolating the damp roller and preventing unwanted moisture from transferring to carpet. The mopping system is theoretically further enhanced by Ecovacs’ unique FocusJet Stain Pre-Dissolving technology, which allegedly targets dried-on spills before mopping. This system is said to improve cleaning performance on stubborn messes, but I’ve found it to be very hit-and-miss, which even Ecovacs admits to in a warning written just below the app’s FocusJet setting.

I don’t have any tall thresholds in my home but if you do, you’ll be pleased to learn that the X12 comes with something called TruePass Adaptive four-wheel-drive Climbing System that will, according to Ecovacs, help the robot to scale single thresholds of up to one inch (2.4cm) in height and "navigate continuous double steps of up to 1.57 inches (4cm) with ease".

I wouldn’t say that this model’s battery capacity is especially noteworthy, at least when used extensively. However, Ecovacs says the battery can be restored by 13% in just three minutes to help elongate its operation time if the robot is being pushed to the limits, so that’s a very good thing.

Like quite a few high-end hybrid robotic cleaners, the X12 also uses an AI Agent to "autonomously map your home, identify floor types via intelligent scene recognition, and then schedule and execute a weekly cleaning plan". I personally always turn AI off because I’m human and have a brain capable of setting my own schedules, thank you very much.

Score ref: 3.5/5

Dock design

The Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone’s charging dock combines an impressive range of automation features with styling that looks more like a miniature Art Deco skyscraper from Batman’s Gotham City or Fritz Lang’s Metropolis than a household appliance.

Rather than relying on disposable dust bags, which may need replacing on a two-week basis if shedding pets are in the home, the X12’s dock uses cyclone technology to suck dust and debris from the robot’s small bin into a large 1.69-quart (1.6-litre) collection chamber. To empty, simply unclip it, take it to the kitchen bin and slide down the blue lever. Voila, the debris falls out of the bottom just like a Dyson vac.

As a dog- and cat-owner, I’m a big fan of this type of system because it not only reduces ongoing costs — and environmental waste — but it also helps maintain strong suction performance between the robot and the dock while vastly reducing any issues of clogging that can sometimes occur if the robot has collected too much pet hair.

The dock also houses two large clean and dirty water reservoirs (3.7 quarts/3.5L and 2.85 quarts/2.7L apiece) for the roller mop system which minimises the need for frequent refilling or emptying. It also incorporates two cleaning-solution tanks, including a dedicated one that’s used by the X12’s FocusJet system to tackle dried-on spills and stubborn marks before mopping.

(Image credit: Future)

As with most premium hybrid robots, the dock’s maintenance is almost entirely automated so the station washes the roller mop using heated, pressurised water, extracts dirty water into a separate tank and then dries the mop with hot air to reduce rancid odours and bacterial growth. Ecovacs has also equipped this dock with some self-cleaning functions, including automatic cleaning of the washing tray and dirty-water system.

Score ref: 4.5/5

• Design score: 4/5

Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone: performance

• Top-notch dock performance
• Very good roller mopping to the edge
• Disappointing hard floor performance

Navigation performance

After a very successful initial mapping run, the X12’s navigation seemed a bit wayward for the first few excursions but improved as the robot seemingly learned the quickest route from room to room.

However, I have been perplexed by some of its behavior in our furniture-cluttered lounge which is a mixture of hard wooden floor and thin rugs. It doesn’t help that the app has so many customizable floor-cleaning options that you’re forced to experiment and the surfeit of carpet settings alone is enough to drive you round the twist as you fiddle and mess about with options like ‘clean carpet first’, ‘avoid fringed carpets’, ‘carpet recognition’, the list goes on.

Possibly as a result of some setting I may have incorrectly adjusted, the X12 has never performed a complete clean of the lounge, at least according to the image of its trail on the app. At first I had ‘AI Agent' turned on, and I never trust AI when it comes to automation because you never know what it’s going to do next. Besides, I prefer to be in control of my gadgets. Anyway, after 15 minutes of online research I noticed a tiny grayed-out ‘exit’ word just below the AI Agent option that had been there all the time. So I turned AI Agent off and breathed a sign of relief. Did it make a difference to its lounge-cleaning navigation? Not much, as far as I can tell.

I’m not really sure what it doesn’t like about my lounge, but for some strange reason it usually misses cleaning the 15 inches of wooden floor gap between two thin rugs and it doesn’t completely vacuum under my sofa, even when I’ve lifted the valence. Instead, it performs one pass under the front edge of the sofa and then leaves.

And another thing… When it started my most recent lounge-cleaning attempt there was a dog bed on the floor, which it deftly skirted around. But when I removed the bed while it was cleaning nearby, I expected it to notice the sudden lack of bed and proceed to clean that area too. But no, it simply went home.

The X12 also has a habit of stalling at the edge of every rug before moving forward. It heads towards the rug at full speed and as soon as a wheel detects a slight incline – we’re talking millimeters here – it stops dead while it assesses the situation before proceeding to cross the rug. No great shakes but it was something I noticed that rarely bothers other bots. Thankfully and despite these slightly confounding anomalies, the X12 has behaved perfectly well in every other room with full clean-ups as one would reasonably expect.

Score ref: 2.5/5

Obstacle avoidance

(Image credit: Future)

If the X12’s overall navigation has room for improvement, there’s no such issue with its obstacle avoidance. For this test I set its AIVI 3D obstacle avoidance to ‘high sensitivity’ and used a number of dog toys but also placed two cigarette lighters and a small remote. I was very impressed by how quickly it negotiated a path between them with no collisions to report. At other times the X12’s obstacle avoidance has been set to ‘standard’ and even in this setting it has never ridden slipshod over anything, so I call that a result.

Score ref: 4/5

Vacuuming

I set up two vacuuming tests, one on hard floor, the other on carpet rug using a mix of rice, oats, icing sugar and granola. Test one was on my kitchen hard floor and unfortunately it was a bit of a failure. While this test was extreme, it was no different to every other robot vacuum test I perform on hard floor. Firstly, the act of creating a zone using the Scenario option was far too complicated, but I got there in the end. I went for the full vacuum power, deep clean and two-passes option to give it a better chance.

When it arrived at the zone, it first drove straight over the detritus with its motor off, which was a strange thing to do. It then proceeded to start its cleaning run and collected some of the debris, but left far more behind than it should have done. It also seemed to work haphazardly and made just one pass along the skirting board without cleaning up any of the ingredients. When it finally left the scene, the floor looked in quite a state so I reached for the Dyson Gen5detect, which cleaned up everything in one pass.

I couldn’t tell if this disappointing result was due to sub-par suction power – at 22,000Pa it should pick up debris much better – or if the brush bar is badly designed, but the results for this hard floor test were unacceptable. However, I should add that, during its day-to-day sweeping, I’ve never had too much cause for concern because it has always vacuumed the kitchen and most other hard floor areas efficiently enough. Perhaps I pushed it too far for this test.

FutureFuture

Thankfully the rug test was more successful, though I wouldn’t say it was exceptional by any means, especially considering that I had maxed out all the settings. The first horizontal pass clearly showed that it had collected most of the crumbly debris, but it took a return pass and another two vertical passes to leave it fairly clean. I say fairly because most robots leave behind some detritus in a test like this, which is why you should never get rid of your cordless stick vac or any other form of manual vacuum cleaner. While robots are great for keeping on top of things, homo sapiens is thankfully still way more advanced than any robot when it comes to household duties.

Score ref: 2.5/5

(Image credit: Future)Mopping performanceFutureFuture

Despite having the X12’s FocusJet activated since installing the product, I have never actually seen it in operation, which has really confused me because I thought that the moment the robot spots a large stain area it jet washes it first to break up the stain and then mops it. But maybe that’s not the case — answers on a postcard please.

For my kitchen mopping test I squirted some tomato ketchup on the floor and adjusted the cleaning settings to Vac and Mop (for some bizarre reason there is no mop-only feature), standard water dispensing, Deep Cleaning, and two passes. As I anticipated given all the mopping tech on this bot, the X12 performed well in this test; indeed better than most spinning mop systems I’ve tested. Yes, it was a bit erratic in its chosen path, but it eventually cleaned the mess up and left far fewer smears than I have normally experienced.

Did it use the FocusJet on this unmissable ketchup stain? No, it simply approached the stain and duly mopped it without once using the squirty jet thing. And yet it did squirt water at least twice on an area with no stains whatsoever.

I personally don’t see a need for this water-spraying function because the task of cleaning a specific stain is a lot quicker if you just grab some kitchen towelling or a proper mop and bucket and do it yourself. The mere fact you need to reach for the app and make an educated guess where the stain is on the map and then wait five minutes while the robot gets ready to trundle over to what you hope is the correct spot, is way too long a process in my opinion. And even when it gets there, there’s no guarantee that it will actually use the water spraying system in the correct place, or even use it at all.

Score ref: 3.5/5

Dock performance

The X12 OmniCyclone's charging dock is among the most capable and innovative docking stations I’ve come across. Its bagless OmniCyclone dust collection system has performed particularly well, emptying the robot's onboard dustbin with no clogging to report, though I will admit that I have set it to empty the bot’s bin several times during its daily routines. Yes, I have had to take the bin to the kitchen bin twice in a month for emptying but even this has been a breeze. In fact, it has a better emptying mechanism than a lot of cordless stick vacs I’ve reviewed.

(Image credit: Future)

The dock also automatically washes the roller mop using heated water, removes the dirty water into a dedicated reservoir and then dries the roller with hot air to help prevent unpleasant smells and mould growth. And like most premium models, the dock’s self-cleaning functions also do a grand job of helping to keep the removable washing tray free from accumulated muck.

Score ref: 4/5

Battery performance

The X12’s 4,000mAh battery has a charging time of around two and a half hours. My lounge is roughly 12m² and, according to the app, the double-pass vacuum test in my lounge took 28 minutes to complete, while missing the space between two rugs that I have already mentioned above. After this run the battery showed 54% remaining, which seemed a bit low to me. Anyway, I then set it off to do two vacuum passes at full suction in the kitchen (around 17m²), after which the battery showed just 15%. As a result it headed back to the dock for a top-up before heading out again 20 minutes later to complete the task.

I’ve also noticed it heading back for a near-full top-up midway through an entire house clean and this suggests that the X12 might not be the best model for larger homes. Granted, one is rarely bothered by how long it takes a robot to clean a whole home, but there will be times when you need a quick cleanup in an emergency only to discover that the X12 is too busy charging itself from an earlier task.

Score ref: 3.5/5

• Performance score: 3/5

Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone: app functionality

• Relatively easy to navigate
• Far too many custom options
• Some annoying programming traits

At first I thought the Ecovacs Home app was one of the most intuitive and well laid-out robot app I’d come across – ‘very easy to navigate’, I said in my notes. However, in hindsight I think it’s too complex and confusing for its own good. Don’t get me wrong, I love an app that provides loads of customisation but this app tips it into anorak territory with so many custom options available that it’s difficult to know where to start.

This is especially noticeable when you select ‘Robot Advanced Functions’ because advanced they most certainly are. Yes, some are self explanatory but when you tap ‘Carpet Settings’ you’re met with two pages of settings relating to every carpet-cleaning scenario imaginable. As a result you can find yourself in a rabbit hole of experimentations that take ages to carry out because it’s a robot and robots always do things at their own pace – very slowly.

(Image credit: Future)

On the plus side, the app does cleverly divide all settings into Robot and Dock, and provides instant access to one’s pre-programmed routines, or Scenarios as Ecovacs calls them. However, it might take you a while to find the area where you create them, and when you finally get there and create your series of personalised routines and name them accordingly – like ‘Lounge Vac’, ‘Kitchen Mop’, etc – don’t just click on ‘done’ because there’s also a faint ‘save’ button on top and if you don’t click that, you may be back to square one. Also, as mentioned above, I had issues trying to turn off Agent Mode which I simply don’t trust, especially given the amount of engineered wood flooring in my home.

This is far from the worst robot app I’ve ever used. In fact it’s quite similar to my favourite Roborock app for functionality and personalisation. But as I said above, I think the IT department went a bit over the top when they designed this app and ended up providing too many options.

• App functionality score: 3/5

Should you buy the Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone?Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone: score card

Section

Notes

Score

Value for money

This model features some very clever innovations, but it’s not the best value when it comes to some elements of its performance.

3/5

Design

The dock's sleek Art Deco design and clever bagless system are this model’s standout features.

4/5

Performance

Decent mopping, but its vacuuming and overall navigation are mostly disappointing.

3/5

App functionality

The X12's Ecovacs Home app is too complex for its own good.

3/5

Average rating

3/5

Buy it if

You have hairy pets

The X12’s unique bagless collection system avoids ongoing dust bag costs for pet-owners.

You want good mopping

The X12 is a sterling mopper, though the pre-spray option is unreliable.

Your kids leave toys everywhere

This model has excellent obstacle avoidance.

Don't buy it if

You want great hard floor vacuum performance

Despite high suction claims, the X12 can struggle with picking up debris on hard floors.

You have a complex layout 

The X12’s room-to-room navigation isn’t the best on the market.

You are swayed by the concept of pre washing

The FocusJet feature is very hit and miss.

How I tested the Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone

I tested the Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone across a typical mixed UK home environment, combining hard flooring, rugs and high-traffic kitchen areas. The focus was on real-world performance rather than lab conditions, including everyday debris such as crumbs, dust, huge amounts of pet hair and sticky spills. I ran multiple cleaning cycles using the highest levels of vacuum and full mopping modes, observing how well it handled edge cleaning, room transitions and obstacle avoidance. Particular attention was paid to its roller-mop system, water delivery and the behaviour of the Focus Jet and OmniCyclone dock during emptying and refilling.

I also assessed its noise levels, maintenance demands and app control usability over repeated use. The aim was to determine whether its headline mopping innovations genuinely translate into better everyday cleaning performance. It mostly did in this regard but there’s definitely room for improvement regarding its overall navigation and hard floor sweeping.

First reviewed June 2026.

Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S review

The Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S is a device that came to me when I needed it most. It was a sweltering day in the UK — a nation with little in the way of air conditioning, but lots of humidity. But as I sat there at my desk sweating profusely, my editor handed Dreo’s new misting fan to me, and I have to say, it’s been a lifesaver.

But what exactly is the Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S? Well, it’s a device designed to deliver “mess-free cooling,” and is best-suited for desks and tables. I’ve spent the last three weeks with Dreo’s fan, and have used it at my desk, at the kitchen table, and even in a controlled testing space at Future Labs. And for the most part, it’s proved to be quite an impressive performer — though it’s not totally without its flaws. So, here’s how I’d rate my experience overall.

First of all, let’s talk about who this fan is for. In my view, this is best suited for someone who’s sat at their desk and wants a personal fan, but one they can also set on a bedside table on hotter evenings too. I’d not necessarily recommend it to keep the whole family cool on the sofa, though — it’s still pretty compact, and the fan head is relatively small, meaning you don’t get the huge amount of coverage that some of the best fans can provide.

So, how does the 516S fare when used at a desk? In my case, it was great. I found the mist setting to work exceptionally well, and it added a nice degree of coolness without making any mess or feeling too intense. There were 12 speeds to select, and it was easy to switch between the three mist levels depending on how hot I felt. What’s more, it can oscillate 150 degrees horizontally, up to 20 degrees up, and 10 degrees down, making it easy to tailor coverage to your specific space. Dreo states that the 516S can cool a room by 3C / 5.4F at a max speed of 8m/s.

Setting up misting is pretty straightforward too. Simply fill up the detachable 1.3L water tank, slot it into the fan, and you’re good to go. You have to flip the tank upside down before inserting it, and this can lead to a bit of minor leakage, but I never found this to be a big issue. The tank is also large enough to keep misting for hours on end — 12 hours, according to Dreo — and I never felt that I had to refill it too regularly. And if you’re not in a misty mood, then fear not — it’s easy to switch over to a fan only mode, which works nicely too.

Even when using the mist mode, I found the fan to run pretty quietly, which was especially useful when trying it out at night. I didn’t find it difficult to drift off to sleep with the fan at a middling speed, and it certainly couldn’t cut past my Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones when trying it during the workday. One caveat, however, is that the Turbo mode — for those who want maximum power — can get fairly noisy. This could frustrate some when trying to watch TV or listen to music, but the mode did still work well when I needed a thorough blast of cold.

(Image credit: Future)

There are a number of other ways to customize your experience, though, such as a timer, a humidity preference setting, and a child lock system. Such options can be accessed through a number of control methods: touch controls, a remote, voice commands, or a companion app. This level of versatility is always welcome, and the inclusion of Alexa and Google voice assistants is pretty neat, especially given the 516S’s modest price — more on that later.

I will say, however, that the physical touch controls are… a little temperamental. Sometimes I found myself pressing a button over and over again trying to get it to function properly. That’s pretty frustrating, and often pushed me to reach for the remote instead. It’s no dealbreaker, especially with the various alternative control methods, but it’s worth noting all the same.

Before we sum up, let’s talk about design. This fan is decent-looking, with an easy-to-clean plastic exterior, attractive lighting on the control panel, and a transparent water tank, so you always know when it’s time for a refill. There’s also a practical carry handle, and you can easily dismantle the fan if you need to make a fix. The power cable is integrated, and you won’t be able to use this fan wirelessly, but for the cost, that’s understandable.

Speaking of cost, the 516S will typically set you back $99.99 / £99.99 (about AU$140), which in my view, is a very fair price. Sure, there are cheaper options available in this size-class, but you get mess-free and effective misting, a wide range of speeds, and a wide number of control methods, all without having to break the bank. So if you’re looking for a fan to use at your desk, or a personal cooling solution while watching TV for instance, I think the Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S is well-worth considering.

(Image credit: Future)Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S review: price & release date

• List price of $99.99 / £99.99 (about AU$140)
• Released in April 2026

The Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S has a fairly modest price tag for all of the tech it crams in. It’s typically available for $99.99 / £99.99 (about AU$140), although I have seen it discounted with some online retailers. The fan released in April 2026 as part of Dreo’s 2026 summer lineup.

Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S review: specs

Speeds

12

Oscillation

150 degrees horizontal, 30 degrees vertical

Weight

5lbs / 2.3kg

Dimensions

7.9 x 8.6 x 15.7 inches / 201 x 219 x 400mm

Control

Touch, remote, app, voice

Timer

Yes

Additional modes

Fan only, Turbo

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Wide control options, plenty of modes and speeds, mist and fan only options, wired power only.

4.5 / 5

Performance

Mess-free misting works well, decent coverage, usually quiet unless using Turbo mode.

4 / 5

Design

Decent looking, easily detachable water tank, touch controls could be better.

4 / 5

Value

Cheaper options exist, but a good performer at a relatively modest price.

4 / 5

Buy it if…

You want mess-free misting
I was blown away by the effectiveness of this Dreo fan’s misting. It helped cool me down really quickly, but at the same time, it never made any mess whatsoever. Practical and a steady performer? Sign me up.

You don’t want to refill a misting tank too often
Despite the 516S’s relatively small size, it has a 1.3L tank that can keep misting for hours on end without requiring a refill. If you just want to load up and chill out for the rest of the day, this fan has you covered.

Don’t buy it if…

You want the broadest coverage
This is a desktop fan, and so in spite of its wide-angle oscillation, you won’t get the most expansive coverage in the world. If that’s a dealbreaker, I’d suggest picking a larger model in our guide to the best fans around.

You need the quietest fan around
Although the 516S is generally quiet in use, the Turbo mode is a little loud. It may be better to look elsewhere if you want borderline silence for night-time use, for instance.

Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S review: also consider

MeacoFan Sefte Pro 10in
Our ‘best mid-range pick’, the MeacoFan Sefte Pro 10in is so easy to recommend. Unlike this Dreo fan, it's cordless, so you can pick it up and place it wherever you want with ease. It's powerful yet quiet, and pretty compact too, although it skips on the misting effect that you get with this Dreo model. Read our full MeacoFan Sefte Pro 10in review.

Shark FlexBreeze HydroGo
This one is sometimes on sale at a very similar price to this Dreo fan, and we’re big… fans of it here at TechRadar. The HydroGo has misting capabilities, can be used cordless, and is surprisingly lightweight, making it a spectacular all-rounder. OK, it doesn’t oscillate and there’s no remote control included, but it remains an excellent personal cooling solution. Read our full Shark FlexBreeze HydroGo review.

How I tested the Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S

(Image credit: Future)

• Tested across a three-week period
• Made use of all settings and features
• Used at home and in a controlled testing space at Future Labs

I spent three weeks testing the Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S, using it at home on my desk and the kitchen table, and even trying it in a controlled environment at Future Labs.

During this time, I tested out all of the various features, sifted through the multiple connectivity and control options, and made sure to try the fan both with and without misting activated. During the majority of the testing period, I was using the fan on high temperature days with high humidity, making for a natural and authentic testing process.

More generally, I’ve tested tons of gadgets here at TechRadar across the course of multiple years. I’ve covered home and lifestyle products, audio gear, video games, and more as part of our dedicated reviews team.

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

Sennheiser Momentum 5: two-minute review

The Sennheiser Momentum 5 are noise-cancelling headphones with lossless connectivity, spatial audio, and a promised battery life of 57 hours of battery life per charge with ANC engaged. They also offer heaps of sound personalization features, a smooth sliding scale between 100% noise cancelling and 100% transparent and customizable Sound Zones that allow you to automatically apply sound profiles and ANC settings when you enter predefined locations.

The Sennheiser Momentum 5’s look is clean overall, even if it’s not that adventurous a design, with a build mostly fashioned from plastic with metal highlights. The cushioned headband and faux leather ear cups do feel super comfortable, although I did find the slight ridge inside the cup made my ear to ache during long listening sessions. Otherwise though, they fit well and feel solidly built.

I’ve got to be honest though: when it comes to performance, I found the Sennheiser Momentum 5’s sound out of the box to be on the disappointing side, compared to the best headphones out there. Bass feels decent enough — I dropped Listen by Pola & Bryson & goddard. and not only did that distorted, snarling bass sound substantial, but the synths felt well rounded and there’s some good sub there, especially if you slip the headphones Bass Boost on.

However, when it comes to higher frequencies, the Momentum 5 too often felt like they were pulling punches. Rosewood by Bonobo sounded unusually muffled in the higher mids, with the usually punchy percussion and hats sounding really inert to me. Meanwhile, treble is similarly milquetoast, with the rhythmic static loops of The Gloaming by Radiohead lacking the crispness I’d expect and feeling unnecessarily rolled off.

Fortunately, this is something you can fix, thanks to the Momentum 5’s powerful EQ tools. There are eight EQ presets to choose from, including everything from Rock to Hip-Hop, but I found I was able to get far better results out of whipping up my own tunings.

(Image credit: Future)

Both Sound Check presets and Sound Personalization started the same way, allowing me to pick my favorite tweak by listening to three alternative tunings five times. Where they diverge is how you tweak the resultant profile, with the former letting you adjust it based on an eight-band EQ and the latter a matrix that lets you independently boost or duck bass and treble. With the latter I was able to get pretty great sound out of the Momentum 5, feeling warm in the low end while feeling crisp and dynamic in the high end — I just wish it didn’t require so much tweaking to get the Momentum 5 to sound their best.

On the plus side, the Momentum 5 offer an excellent soundstage. They give real breadth even to stereo mixes, with each instrument meticulously well positioned in the stereo field. And the headphones deftly handle Dolby Atmos — don’t get me wrong, some masters still feel a little hollow in this kind of spatial format, but Sennheiser’s cans do a fine job of situation each element in the space around you.

Speaking of being surrounded by sound, another area the Momentum 5 didn’t quite live up to my expectations was their noise cancelling. Now, not every set of headphones can quite live up to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones’ commotion-quashing capabilities but I found Sennheiser’s often struggled to fully hush everyday conversation or completely stifle traffic noise. Sadly, they can’t compete with much of the market on this front.

Elsewhere, though, the Momentum 5’s features are more impressive. Connectivity is strong — they’re Bluetooth 6 ready, with the standard due to to come to the headphones in a future update, and they offer aptX Lossless, which means those with compatible phones can effectively stream CD quality sound on the go. And Sennheiser's Sound Zones is also a fun feature, allowing you to set the Momentum 5 to switch to certain EQ and ANC profiles automatically based on your location.

One last thing that warrants a special mention is the Momentum 5's battery life. While the Sony WH-1000XM6 offer a decent 30 hours and the AirPods Max 2 offer a pretty disappointing 20 hours with ANC on, Sennheiser's headphones blow right past them, offering up to 57 hours. This was consistent with my testing, meaning you can absolutely rely on these cans to last you days and days without needing a top up.

All told, the Sennheiser Momentum 5 are a solid set of noise-cancelling headphones, with some impressive features, long-lasting battery and spacious high-quality sound. But they’re also frustrating, as without certain missteps like their unbalanced default tuning and weaker ANC, they could be something truly remarkable. As they stand, they’re a good pair of headphones for their price, particularly once you’ve tailored their sound to your taste, but they won’t topple the best noise-cancelling headphones out there.

(Image credit: Future)Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: price and availability

• Launched June 16, 2026
• List price of $399.95 / £329 / AU$749
• Available in Black, White, and Denim

Launched on June 16, the Sennheiser Momentum 5 are available now. They’re available for a list price of $399.99 / £329 / AU$749 — that definitely puts them in the higher-end bracket, although they’re obviously nowhere near as premium as the $549 / £499 / AU$999 AirPods Max 2 or the $649 / £550 / AU$999.95 Sony 1000X The Collexion.

They come in three colorways: Black, White, and Denim. Before you get too worried about having to match that last one to your outfit, don’t: it’s really just a dark indigo hue. All three colorways look decent enough to me, although I definitely think Sennheiser could have given us a little more choice here — at least one stand-out option like mauve or mint might have just helped provide an option for those that like to stand out from the crowd.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: specs

Drivers

42mm dynamic driver

Active noise cancellation

Yes (Hybrid Adaptive ANC)

Battery life

57 hours (ANC on)

Weight

290g

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.4 (Bluetooth 6 ready), USB-C

Frequency response

6Hz – 40kHz (Wireless/USB), 6Hz – 22kHz (Analog)

(Image credit: Future)Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: features

• aptX Lossless compatible — but no LDAC or ALAC
• Versatile EQ & sound personalization
• Sound zones

First off, let’s take a look at what they’ve got going on under the hood. The Momentum 5 are rocking the same 42mm transducers as their predecessor — that’s a considerable step up compared to something like the Sony WH-1000XM6’s 30mm dynamic drivers and even an improvement over the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2’s 40mm. Hopefully that should mean the Momentum 5 can muster up more substantial bass and a broader soundstage.

Connectivity is very strong on the Momentum 5 too, especially if you’re listening from an aptX compatible device. Not only do they currently run Bluetooth 5.4, they’re Bluetooth 6.0 ready, with it due to arrive by a future firmware update. It’s compatible with AptX Lossless, which gives you access to near CD-level quality playback — although sadly not ALAC or LDAC, which means you won’t be enjoying lossless audio on your Apple or Samsung device.

The Momentum 5’s touch controls are easy enough to use and feel pretty intuitive. A single tap to play / pause, swiping forward and back to skip forward and back, up and down to increase / decrease the volume, each control is intuitive and easy to activate… in fact, possibly too easy to activate. As can often be the case with headphones that rely on touch control, it’s really easy to trigger functions on the Momentum 5 when you’re adjusting them or removing them from your head and I’d often pick them up from my desk and realize I’d already set them playing.

The touch controls aren’t the only way to control the Momentum 5 though. Once you’ve paired them with your phone, Sennheiser’s SmartControlPlus app gives you more granular control over many of the headphones settings. As well as switching Dolby Atmos content on and off, you can also use it to tailor noise cancelling to your preferred level — it offers a smooth slider that allows you to gradually shift from 100% ANC to 100% transparency, as well as offering a toggle to turn on Anti-Wind mode in ANC.

(Image credit: Future)

You can use one of eight EQ presets from Dance to Jazz or you can create your own using its eight-band EQ. More unique though is Sennheiser’s Sound Check EQ presets: basically it allows you to pick which you prefer out of multiple different profiles like an eyetest for your ears. After you’ve selected your preferred option five times, it shows you the resultant preset. This feels like a really neat idea, allowing people who aren’t au fait with tweaking audio frequencies to still create their own custom sound.

But even more flexible in my eyes is Sennheiser’s Sound Personalization feature, which has been carried over from the Sennheiser Momentum 4. It runs you through the same setup as the Sound Check EQ but rather than presenting you with a range of EQ bands to adjust after, it instead presents you with a matrix that allows you to independently boost or reduce the bass and treble frequencies to polish your own preferred sound profile. That feels nicely intuitive and seems far easier to tweak on the fly than a standard graphic equalizer.

Lastly, the inclusion of customizable Sound Zones isn’t unique to Sennheiser’s cans — for example, being offered by the last few generations of Sony’s WH-1000 line — but it still feels like a pretty neat feature. Being able to automatically set noise-cancelling to maximum when I hit the office, switch up to a bassier sound profile when I hit the gym or increase the transparency when I’m out of the house saves a lot of effort. While it’s not necessarily trailblazing, it’s useful and really helps to make the Momentum 5 feel very fully featured.

Finally, the Momentum 5’s battery life is seriously impressive, with Sennheiser claiming they’ll last you up to 57 hours with ANC enabled. To test out its claims, I set the Momentum 5 to play music continuously with ANC on at 50% volume for six hours, during which time their battery dropped just 10%. As a back of the envelope calculation, that would put their total life at 60 hours — even though battery discharge curves are rarely linear, 57 hours seems very credible to me.

All in all, the Momentum 5 has a very strong feature set. Perhaps none of them are truly groundbreaking but when taken together, they make these cans feel very well appointed and ensure that you’re getting a great user experience.

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: sound quality

• Disappointing default tuning, with weak treble
• Impressive soundstage and Dolby Atmos
• Ineffectual ANC

As an audiophile, I’ve been a loyal user of Sennheiser’s headphones for years. A good part of the reason for this is that the brand’s cans are known for having a reliably balanced frequency balance, meaning that whether I’m listening to music or producing it, I’ve come to trust that Sennheiser headphones will give me a largely accurate picture of how recordings should sound.

In light of this, I’m a little surprised at how uneven I find the neutral tuning of the Sennheiser Momentum 5. I know preferences vary and some like more bass or more treble, say, but for me this goes beyond simple differences in taste. The default sound here feels like it has some actual deficits, which I find odd from a brand of Sennheiser’s pedigree.

Let’s focus on the most positive stuff first. Bass is pretty creditable here: for example, when listening to No Skin by Frameworks & Mild Minds, I found that the Momentum 5 gave its sustained bassline some wonderful warmth and while there wasn’t quite as much sub as you’ll get from the most premium headphones, it still felt dynamic and punchy enough, especially with the Momentum 5’s bass booster on.

Higher up in the spectrum though, things feel more unbalanced. Playing You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon, all of the elements are present and correct but feel slightly muffled — particularly the toms and the exuberant brass section feel slightly rolled off, with their upper-mid frequencies feeling like they’ve been sanded off. And this is even more noticeable in the treble range: in 236e jour by Marc Leclair: the bouncing, scrape-edged synths end up feeling far duller than they should, while the shuffling hats just lose a little of their cut through.

Now you can obviously go someway toward ameliorating this using EQ. While I found Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac to be pretty dull in places on the neutral tuning, with the vocals in particular feeling totally enfeebled, I was able to cast around in the EQ settings to improve it. The Rock preset, if anything, made the problem worse, making the sound even more baggy and focused around the middle. But creating a Sound Check EQ profile, I was able to crisp up the high-end a little and reintroduce some of the presence it had lost.

By far the best results I achieved though was when using Sennheiser’s Sound Personalization algorithm. After running through the five steps, sound already felt a little more balanced — but it was during fine tuning that I was able to add a bit more warmth to the bass and a soupçon more brightness to the treble. The difference was like having my ears syringed: Outside (Parra for Cuva Remix) by Henry Green suddenly sounded like the sustained bassline was more resonant and satisfying, while the snare and hats punctured through the mix far better.

So the Sennheiser Momentum 5 can absolutely sound strong for their price, if you’re prepared to put the work in. But I do find it a little frustrating that they require you to spend so much time redressing sonic missteps in their engineered sound when other headphones in this price bracket like the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 put their best foot forward with their default sound.

(Image credit: Future)

Once I’d found a sound profile I was happy with though, my experiences of the rest of the Sennheiser’s audio quality was far more positive.

For example, the audio feels very clear and expressive, even over lower quality connections. Even using the lossy AAC codec via Apple Music on my MacBook Pro and iPhone 16 Pro, the vocal, strings and piano of Wasting My Young Years by London Grammar shared the spotlight graciously, avoiding sounding over-compressed. But when listening to it using aptX Lossless via Tidal, it feels like there’s even more dynamic range, allowing far more space for that gorgeous vocal to rise up above the rest of the mix without smothering the rest of the instrumentation.

The Momentum 5 also have a really impressive soundstage, even compared to headphones like the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 that are known for their agile handling of mixes. When I listened to Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons: Spring 1 (2012) by Max Richter, Daniel Hope, Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin & André de Ridder, the way the stirring, dancing strings are spread out across the stereo field is stunning. It genuinely does feel a lot like being sat right in front with the orchestra pit spread out in front of you.

And this extends to their handling of Dolby Atmos mixes. For example, Blue Monday (2023 Digital Master) by New Order sounds appropriately immersive, with its drum rolls scattering around you and its riser-style FX before the final drop swirling a full 180 degrees. All in all, its spatial audio effect is probably even more pronounced than that of the AirPods Max, although the latter doesn’t succumb to the one shortcoming of the Momentum 5’s Atmos: a slight void that opens up in front of you, a not uncommon effect on some headphones when elements from a stereo mix are spatialized.

So the Momentum 5 do still have some serious talents when it comes to making noise. However, it’s a shame that they’re not as talented at its antithesis: nixing background sound. Their ANC can just about cope with typing noise or reducing my boiling kettle while I’m streaming content while cooking. But riding the bus home from work a few days ago, I was subjected to every detail of a conversation about the sex lives of some of my fellow passengers’ colleagues. C’mon, Momentum 5: you’re supposed to protect me from things like this.

This isn’t an isolated event either: I can often overhear fellow TechRadarian’s conversations in the office, even with noise cancelling dialed up to 100%. Even the AirPods Max, not known for their unimpeachable noise cancelling, recently totally saved me at a festival by silencing the enormous Funktion-One rig I was camped 100 feet from, whereas the Momentum 5 struggle with conversations some 50dB quieter.

• Sound quality score: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: design

• Refined if unadventurous looks
• Super-flat profile
• Wearing for long sessions made my ears ache

Unlike the huge redesign from the Sennheiser Momentum 3 to the Momentum 4, there’s not been a massive revolution when it comes to the Momentum 5’s looks. The oval-shaped groove that ran around the exterior side of the earcups has been banished, giving them a cleaner look. Meanwhile, Sennheiser’s logo has been updated with a circular badge, while the grilles covering the ANC mics have been picked out in metal. But if you’ve spent any time with the Momentum 4, you largely know what to expect here.

Broadly speaking, I really like the look of the Momentum 5. Don’t get me wrong: they’re not going to win any prizes for originality, having a slight whiff of Sony’s WH-1000XM6 about them. But this is a common trope in the headphones space — if you disagree with me, see how you get on with our spot the difference between the Sonos Ace and the Sony 1000X The Collexion. And the Momentum 5 still have the most refined look Sennheiser has given its wireless headphones to date, so I’m definitely here for it.

Both the padded faux leather ear cups and cushioned headband feel pleasantly soft, while they have sufficient clamping force that they felt stable on my head without applying excessive pressure. Adjusting their fit is also super easy, even while they’re on your head — their arms extend smoothly and can cater for a wide range of head sizes, whether you’re more new potato or pumpkin-headed.

(Image credit: Future)

However, an ongoing issue I have with Sennheiser’s headphones is that they tend to make my ear cartilage ache during extended wear, thanks to odd lumps on the inside of the earcup, and the Momentum 5 are no different. None of the mid-range headphones from other brands I’ve used over the last five years have suffered from this issue, so it does make me wonder why Sennheiser continues to stick weird ridges and hard lumps on the inside of its cans.

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with headphone cases. They seem to veer wildly between the neat — the Sony WH1000XM6’s handy magnetic holder — and the ridiculous — the AirPods Max’s ludicrous handbag. So when I say I’m a big fan of the Momentum 5’s case, know that’s high praise indeed.

Like the AirPods Max, the Momentum 5 don’t so much fold up as fold flat, but, thanks to the earcups’ low profile, that is really rather flat indeed. As a result, even though they don’t concertina up into a compact package, their case has a very slim profile, making it much easier to slip alongside your laptop and tablet in your bag. It doesn’t have loads of padding, so you might not want to be slinging your bag around like it contains a bunch of bricks, but the case should protect your headphones from most damage.

• Design score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Sennheiser Momentum 5?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

Crammed with features. Clever EQ and sound personalization tools, as well as really granular ANC / transparency slider. Absurdly lengthy battery. Touch controls easy to trigger by accident.

4.5 / 5

Sound quality

Default tuning feels disappointingly off; although bass is strong, upper mids and treble lack in presence. Flexible sound personalization tools necessary to fix sound. Fantastic stereo field and lossless performance, while Dolby Atmos audio is solid. ANC is surprisingly weak.

3.5 / 5

Design

Streamlined looks, even if they’re not revolutionary. Feel well made and are easily adjustable, although they cause my ears to ache when used over long periods. Fold super flat and case has a very shallow profile.

4 / 5

Value

When properly tuned, they offer great features and very creditable performance for their price. But dodgy default tuning, weak ANC and funky on-ear detection stops them excelling quite as much as they should.

4 / 5

Buy them if…

You want a superb soundstage
Not only do the Momentum 5 present excellent separation of various elements when you’re listening to lossless audio but their stereo field is phenomenal, doing an excellent job of positioning instruments in space.

You want a fantastic feature set
Whether it’s super flexible sound personalization, assignable Sound Zones or lossless connectivity, the Momentum 5 come absolutely crammed with features.

Don’t buy them if…

You want great sound out of the box
Unlike headphones from brands like Bowers & Wilkins that sound great from the get go, these need a lot of tuning to achieve their best output.

You want to banish background noise
For upper-mid tier headphones, the Momentum 5 have underwhelming noise-cancelling. I’m not expecting Bose levels of noise-nixing per se but far too often they failed to hush traffic noise or even conversations.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: also consider

Sennheiser Momentum 5

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3

Sony WH-1000XM6

Drivers

42mm dynamic

40mm dynamic bio-cellulose

30mm dynamic

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Yes

Yes

Battery life (ANC on)

57 hours

30 hours

30 hours

Weight

290g

300g

254g

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.4 (Bluetooth 6 ready), USB-C

Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C, 3.5mm

Bluetooth 5.3, 3.5mm

Frequency response

6Hz – 40kHz

10Hz - 20kHz

20Hz - 20kHz

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3
Although they originally retailed for a list price much the same as the Sennheiser Momentum 5, the Px7 S3 now go from $429.99 / £319 / $467.76, improving their value proposition — especially as they offer unerringly precise audio even on their out-of-the-box tuning and more convincing noise cancelling. Admittedly, the Momentum 5’s bass is a touch better and the Px7 S3’s features aren’t quite as impressive but these are still great cans given how much they cost. Read our full Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review.

Sony WH-1000XM6
There’s a reason the Sony WH-1000XM6 currently sit at the top of our list of the best headphones out there. It’s not just because they do a lot of things well — although, they do, with fantastic noise cancellation, superb sonic performance and great features like cupping the right earcup to temporarily enable transparency mode. But it’s also because there are very few areas where they fall short, offering above average performance in every area. Read our full Sony WH-1000XM6 review.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Sennheiser Momentum 5

• Tested over two weeks
• Tried them out with a wide range of genres
• Tested different bit-rates and listened to multiple Dolby Atmos mixes

I tested the Sennheiser Momentum 5 over the course of several weeks. When it comes to sound quality, I made sure to test them out with a range of different quality streams, from aptX Lossless from Tidal to AAC from Apple Music. To get a sense of how they performed with a wide variety of frequencies, I made sure to try them out with a wide variety of genres across the TechRadar testing playlist and my own go-to testing tracks, whether that’s rock, EDM or classical.

To try out the Momentum 5’s features, I spent a lot of time trying out different EQ and sound personalization profiles with different artists. I assessed Dolby Atmos performance by listening to a variety of Spatial Audio tunes from Apple Music, and I tested their noise cancelling in a range of settings, from TechRadar’s chatty offices to walks along busy roads. Finally, I tested their battery by playing music constantly with ANC on for 6 hours and using how much battery they lost to extrapolate how long they could last.

In terms of personal experience, I’ve spent years assessing the performance of audio gadgets, with a particular focus on headphones and speakers. On top of this, I produce music in my free time, which has given me a keen understanding of balancing frequencies and how to assess the dynamic performance of audio.

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

Sonos Era 100 SL: two-minute review

The Sonos Era 100 SL is a wireless speaker that features nearly all the strengths of 2023’s original Sonos Era 100, but at a cheaper price. While it isn't a surprise that there have been some trade-offs to get that cost down, I doubt they'll be a dealbreaker for most people.

Sonically speaking, there aren’t many sacrifices at all. In the mid-range, the Era 100 SL is capable of impressive detail. When I played I Want You by Moloko, I was impressed by how well its funky guitar noises, strings and acidy synth line cut through the mix, without interfering with the wonderfully polished vocals.

However, I found the high end a little more cluttered on occasion: listening to The Gloaming by Radiohead, I did feel that the rhythmic pulsing static was a bit too forward, treading on the toes of the granular synth. It sounds great for the price, but you do get a finer presentation if you pay more.

Bass was always the original Era 100’s achilles heel. It often tipped into being brash, slightly swamping the rest of the mix. When I played Six Days (Machinedrum remix) by DJ Shadow on the SL, the low-end appeared slightly more dynamic when compared to the original Era 100, leading me to wonder if a software tweak to rein in bass was responsible, or whether it's part of the re-engineering inside that Sonos CEO Tom Conrad told us the company had done, to hit the lower price.

Either way, it still isn't great with sub, though: it falls away just when it hits the drop, that swelling bassline feeling nowhere near as substantial as it sounds on the best wireless speakers that are pricier.

Generally, though, the SL offers a spacious presentation, especially when fed high-quality recordings. Playing Wasting My Young Years by London Grammar from Tidal’s hi-res tier, I was struck by the airiness of the mix, which allowed the silvery vocals to stand apart from the piano and drums.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t quite extend to the speaker’s stereo field — as with its predecessor, I found it hard to differentiate a clear stereo separation unless I was very close. As such, you’re unlikely to get a clear sense of left and right from halfway across the room — but then, at this price, you could actually buy two happily.

So the Era 100 SL is as easy on the ear as its predecessor, albeit with some of the same drawbacks. But how does it look?

Given it’s largely decked out in the same getup as the Era 100, there really are few surprises here. It’s the same dimensions and has the same wraparound grille and matte-plastic top surface. The touch-capacitive control scheme is also largely identical — with the voice control button being the only real omission, because Sonos removed that feature. Otherwise, Sonos has stuck with what works for the SL, and I’d say that was the right instinct.

In fact, probably the only area where the SL makes a real departure from its namesake is in its feature set. Connectivity remains solid, offering Wi-Fi 6, AirPlay 2 and a whole host of built-in streaming services — although the only wired input you’ll get is if you splash extra cash on its USB-C to 3.5mm analog converter. EQ options are identical to those on the Era 100, offering just the option to boost or duck bass or treble.

But there are two significant differences. First off, as I alluded to above, voice control has been stripped out of the SL. This feels like a reasonable sacrifice to lower that price — and I’d rather that than weaker sound quality.

Slightly more an issue for me is the omission of Trueplay room correction for Android users (which is a consequence of dropping the microphones, since the Android solution relies on them). Those with an iPhone can still tailor the SL’s sound to their space using their device to track calibration sound as they walk around the room. Given how well this feature polishes its sound, it is a shame that you'll miss out if you're on an Android device.

Despite this though, the Sonos Era 100 SL is well worth it. You get the quality sound plus classic design of Sonos’s pricier speaker, for the reduced price of $189 / £169 / AU$289. That’s a pretty great bargain and ameliorates our biggest hesitation with its pricier predecessor. Yes, it's a shame that Android users miss out on a great feature but it's still the best home speaker you'll get for this price.

(Image credit: Future)Sonos Era 100 SL review: specs

Category

Specification

Drivers

2 x angled tweeters, 1 x mid-woofer

Amplification

3 x Class-D digital amplifiers

Dimensions

182.5 x 120 x 130.5mm / 7.18 x 4.72 x 5.14 inches

Connectivity

Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C (Line-in via adapter)

Streaming support

Apple AirPlay 2, Sonos app (Spotify, Tidal, etc.), Amazon Music

Voice assistant support

None

Other features

Advanced Trueplay (iOS only), Stereo pairing, Humidity resistance

Sonos Era 100 SL review: price & availability

• Launched on March 31, 2026
• Costs $189 / £169 / AU$289
• Available in black or white

Having launched on March 31, 2026, the Sonos Era 100 SL is available now, at a cheaper price than its predecessor, the Era 100.

The SL comes in at $189 / £169 / AU$289, compared to the Era 100’s now-reduced price of $219 / £199 / AU$319. While not a huge gulf, it still amounts to a decent saving, especially given the near-identical specs.

And, as is usually the case with Sonos gear, for that price you have the option to pick up the speaker in white or black.

(Image credit: Future)Sonos Era 100 SL review: features

• Good connectivity options and streaming service support
• Room correction only compatible with iPhone
• No voice control of any kind

So how does the Sonos Era 100 SL’s featureset differ from its spendier stablemate? Well, on paper, it’s very similar to the Era 100, with only a couple of key differences.

Let’s start with its drivers. The SL offers the same setup as as the Era 100, with a mid-woofer to handle both mid-range frequencies and bass, while two angled tweeters take care of the treble and help form its stereo field. These are all driven by the speaker’s three class D amplifiers, meaning you get decent volume and low-end heft.

Setting up Sonos products has always been a breeze, and the Era 100 SL is no exception. Simply plug it in, download the Sonos app, and select the system you want to add it to. Tap on your speaker when it appears, and it will play an audio pin to connect it to your system. After installing an update via the app, I was good to go.

The last (optional) step is to set up the SL’s Trueplay room-calibration tuning, which is designed to get you the best possible sound from the speaker, and that works much the same as it did on the Era 100.

Essentially, you point your iPhone’s mic toward the speaker, then walk around the room while whirling it around in slow circles with one arm, like a lopsided propeller.

Following calibration, the sound definitely seemed free of obvious acoustic issues — there wasn’t any boom back from the bass, nor any unfortunate reverberations off the surfaces or walls — so Sonos’ room correction seems as effective as ever.

Unfortunately, there’s a pretty major caveat here: unlike on the Era 100, the SL’s Trueplay tuning is only compatible with iOS. And that is a real shame, given it does help unlock the SL's best sound. However, it still offers great performance for Android users, even if the lack of Trueplay does add an asterisk there.

(Image credit: Future)

Trueplay for Android users isn’t the only feature removed to help reduce the SL’s price. The voice control offered by the full Era 100 has been omitted, too, saving you the price of the mic module and controls. Personally, it takes me far longer to horsewhip my thoughts into a spoken command than it does to simply pull out my phone, so I’m not all that bothered about the lack of voice assistant. But if you are, you’ll probably prefer the Era 100.

While I’ve mentioned how much I rate the Era 100 SL’s room-correction tech, I can’t really say the same for its EQ options. The Sonos app only offers the ability to boost or duck the treble or bass by up to 10 levels. While I do think Sonos’s speakers sound a lot better than some wireless speakers out of the box, plenty of rivals now offer nine-band or even parametric EQ — which makes the SL’s bass and treble sliders feel like old hat.

As far as connectivity options are concerned, the Era 100 SL offers a decent range. Using Wi-Fi 6, you can stream tunes directly from your devices using AirPlay 2, or from the speaker using built-in apps including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Soundcloud, Spotify, Tidal and a whole heap more. Meanwhile, Bluetooth 5.3 will allow you to hook up all your non-Apple devices, although there’s no support for higher-res formats such as aptX HD.

Sadly, the Era 100 SL is less well equipped when it comes to physical connections. Its USB-C port is only for plugging in adapters, so banish any thoughts of hooking up wired digital audio. So while it does allow you the option for plugging in either a 3.5mm jack for analog audio or an Ethernet cable, each of these requires you to buy a separate adapter. It’s a world away from the wealth of ports that a speaker such as the Bluesound Pulse Flex offers.

• Features score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Sonos Era 100 SL review: sound quality

• Impressive detail
• Rich mids, and bass feels slightly less muddy
• Relatively weak stereo field

My big worry when preparing to test the Sonos Era 100 SL was that in trying to hit the cheaper price point, there would have been a negative impact on the quality of its sound. Fortunately, I’m pleased to reveal this isn't the case — the Era 100 SL happily holds its own against its predecessor and, in some areas, I actually wonder if software tweaks have reined in some of the Era 100’s worst impulses.

First, let’s start with the mid-range. When listening to Venera by George Fitzgerald, I was impressed with how much presence and detail the SL could squeeze out of the track’s vocal, pad washes and synth lines, making them sound like a richly textured whole. Admittedly, some of the percussion felt a little less punchy than I’m used to, but that was more than made up for by how well it balanced the saturated, arpeggiated synth and organic organic woodwind sounds that close out the track.

The original Era 100 came unstuck mainly in the bass — like an overexcitable puppy, it was both enthusiastic and yet lacking in discipline. Here, it sounds like the SL’s software has been tweaked slightly to rein this in.

Comparing Listen by Pola & Bryson and Goddard on both speakers, sustained bass notes sound less reverberant and flabby on the SL, while snarling distorted bass synths seem more tightly expressed. However, not that if you’re expecting super-low bass from either device, you’ll be left wanting: there’s very little in the way of sub from either.

(Image credit: Future)

I tested the SL’s treble by playing Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac — an exam it easily passed, even if it didn’t quite ace it. There wasn’t any unpleasant distortion or oversaturation to it, while the snare and toms had a delicious punch that kept everything moving forward. However, my one reservation was that the rhythmic punch and the polished vocals slightly outshone the twangy rhythm guitar — for me, they’re part of what makes the track so iconic, so it was a shame they didn't get to share as much of the limelight.

Given the Era 100 SL doesn’t exactly sit at the premium end of the market, it also does a good job of separating different instruments in the mix. Playing a hi-res stream of Clair de Lune by Kamasi Washington straight from Tidal, I was impressed by the clarity of timbre of each instrument, especially during the solos. The trumpet beautifully conveys the instrument’s rich harmonics, while the sliding strings of the double bass as the player launches into their solo are brilliantly expressed.

Like its predecessor, the SL is only capable of so-so stereo. Unlike some more premium speakers, it still largely feels like the sound is issuing from a single point. And when I played Manchild by Eels, I could appreciate the stereo separation between elements — with the guitars clearly panned to the right and the vocals to the left — but only when I was sat within a few feet of the device. At least listening angles are pretty consistent, with only a very slight drop off in the treble as you travel toward the speaker’s back.

All in all, my biggest worries going into this were ill-founded. Despite the cheaper price of the Sonos Era 100 SL, it doesn’t demonstrate any significant sonic sacrifices compared to its full-fat sibling. And there may have even been a few software tweaks behind the scenes to slightly rein in the wilder tendencies of the older speaker. Either way, it’s a very decent-sounding speaker for the price.

• Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Sonos Era 100 SL review: design

• Almost identical to the Era 100
• Solid, tactile build
• Effective touch-capacitive controls

When it comes to looks, the Sonos Era 100 SL remains almost identical to its older sibling. They share the same cylindrical ellipse shape, are wrapped in the same metallic grille, and arrive in the same black or white colorway. If you’ve ever gawked at the older Era 100, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting here.

All in all, the Era 100 SL is decently stylish, feels solidly built, and the matte plastic of its top surface is pleasingly tactile. While I’ve poured scorn on quite a few wireless speakers lately for defaulting to this same basic format, I’ll give Sonos a pass here. First off, it was largely the brand that coined this look in the first place — and, more importantly, the Era 100 SL is principally a cheaper speaker wearing its spendier brother’s clothing, meaning it was never going to break the mould of existing speakers.

In light of this, so not surprisingly, the Sonos Era 100 SL is the same size as its full-fat sibling, measuring 7.19 x 4.72 x 5.14 inches / 182.5 x 120 x 130.5mm. However, it's ever so slightly lighter — presumably thanks to its shedding of voice control mics — weighing in at 4.3lbs / 1.95kg compared to its predecessor’s 4.45lbs / 2.02kg. That makes it a pretty average size in the grand scheme of things, neither Lilliputian like the 0.96lbs / 0.44kg Sonos Roam 2, nor Brobdingnagian like the hulking, 3 lbs / 14.5kg Cambridge Audio Evo One.

(Image credit: Future)

With one notable exception, the erstwhile voice control button, the buttons on the Era 100 SL are the same. And that’s very much a plus: there’s no need to fix the Era 100’s control scheme since it definitely isn't broke. Its touch-capacitive controls are easy to activate, allowing you to play, pause and skip tracks, while swiping its touch bar lets you tweak its volume. Sure, it could offer light-up symbols for use in darker rooms or customizable shortcut keys, but it covers the core functions well.

Fundamentally, the Era 100 SL is the spitting image of the Era 100 before it. So if you were a fan of the older model, you can be sure you’ll like its younger sibling.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Sonos Era 100 SL review: value

In our review, one of our criticisms of the original Sonos Era 100 was its increased cost. Its initial list price of $249 / £249 / AU$399 presented a chunky markup on the Sonos One at $219 / £199 / AU$319 , but even more so when compared to the Sonos One SL's $199 / £179 / AU$289. Even though the Era 100 has now come down in price to $219 / £199 / AU$319, that’s still only roughly comparable to the Sonos One.

Conversely, the Era 100 SL has a list price of $189 / £169 / AU$289, making it the same price or even cheaper than the Sonos One SL but with many of the same features and the exact same sound quality as the Era 100. That’s not to be sneered at.

In fact, if you’re an iPhone user, the only real thing you’re losing here is voice control, something I’m personally happy to sacrifice for a bit of a bargain. And even if you’re an Android user, this price is still well worth it as you're unlikely to get much better performance by investing your spend elsewhere. Access to Trueplay is a definite bonus but that shouldn't detract from the fact the SL still offers great sound for its price.

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Sonos Era 100 SL?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

Good range of connectivity options, but weaker EQ settings. No voice control. Room correction not available on Android

4/5

Sound quality

Well-expressed mids and highs, and excellent clarity and separation; bass seems slightly less doughy.

4.5/5

Design

Near-identical to its predecessor, with the same classy looks and effective touch controls.

4/5

Value

Much better price than its predecessor for much the same performance, even if one or two features were dropped to get it there.

4.5/5

Buy it if…

You want very decent sound
While the Era 100 SL isn't audiophile-grade per se, it offers very creditable sound for a speaker for its price, with bold bass, detailed mids and punchy yet not overdone treble.

You want better value
Given it comes in at $30 / £30 / AU$30 less than its older sibling, but without any significant sonic differences, the SL offers a more affordable way to get the Era 100’s sound into your home.

Don’t buy it if…

Lack of room-correction is a deal-breaker
If you're running Android and you can't bear to miss out on Sonos's most polished sound, it may still be worth you picking up the Era 100 instead.

Voice control is a necessity
The main way Sonos has achieved the SL’s lower price is by excising its mics and voice control. If you hate using your fleshy digits to control devices by hand, you’ll also want to opt for the pricier Era 100.

Sonos Era 100 SL review: also consider

Sonos Era 100 SL

Sonos Era 100

WiiM Sound Lite

Drivers

2 x angled tweeters, 1 x mid-woofer

2 x angled tweeters, 1 x mid-woofer

2x 1-inch silk-dome tweeters, 1x 4-inch paper-cone woofer

Amplification

3 x Class-D digital amplifiers

3 x Class-D digital amplifiers

100W (50W woofer, 2x 25W tweeters)

Dimensions

7.19 x 4.72 x 5.14 inches / 182.5 x 120 x 130.5mm

7.19 x 4.72 x 5.14 inches / 182.5 x 120 x 130.5mm

7.6 x 5.7 x 5.7 inches / 193 x 146 x 146mm

Connectivity

Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C (Line-in via adapter)

Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C (Line-in via adapter)

Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, Ethernet (100Mbps), 3.5mm Aux-in

Streaming support

AirPlay 2, Sonos app (Spotify, Tidal, etc.)

AirPlay 2, Sonos app (Spotify, Tidal, etc.)

Chromecast, Spotify/Tidal/Qobuz Connect, DLNA, Roon Ready

Voice assistant support

None

Amazon Alexa, Sonos Voice Control

Works with Alexa/Google (via external device)

Sonos Era 100
The OG Era 100 is identical to the SL in many ways. It looks almost exactly the same, delivers very good sound, and comes with all the same smarts built into its app. The extra cost comes from the inclusion of voice control. On top of this, it also offers Trueplay for Android users, something the SL unfortunately omits. Read our full Sonos Era 100 review.

WiiM Sound Lite
While the WiiM Sound Lite can’t keep up with either Era 100 speaker in some areas, it absolutely outstrips them in others. I found its bass to be somewhat lacking, its room-tuning less smart than Sonos’, and it has an even narrower stereo field. However, it’s capable of hi-res 24-bit/192kHz playback, offers gorgeously spacious and expressive mids, and its parametric EQ is a quantum leap ahead of Sonos’s bass / treble tweaking. Read our full comparison of the WiiM Sound Lite vs Sonos Era 100.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Sonos Era 100 SL

• Tested it over four weeks
• Compared it to the Era 100 using a wide range of tracks
• Have decades of experience using audio hardware

I tested the Sonos Era 100 SL over the course of about a month. I made sure to utilize many of its key features, including room-tuning and EQ, and tried connecting to it through a range of options from direct streaming on the device through to connecting discrete devices using AirPlay 2.

To assess its sound quality, I played a wide variety of music, from classic rock to liquid drum & bass. I also compared the sound, side by side, with the Era 100 to see whether I could perceive any significant differences between their sound signatures. In addition, I compared each version’s stereo field and angle drop-off to see whether either revealed any issues with their soundstage.

As well as spending at least the past six years reviewing wireless speakers for tech publications, I have decades of experience using audio hardware in my home environment, including a range of wired and wireless speakers and headphones. I’ve also spent 20 years producing music from home, which has given me a firm understanding of how to assess the balance of frequencies and stereo elements.

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

Polaroid Go Gen 3: Two-minute review

Cards on the table: I love Polaroids. I’m of the right generation to have grown up with these instant-film wonders on holidays and at parties, and I was thrilled when the brand was properly revitalised in 2017 under new ownership. From the early OneStep cameras to more recent efforts like the Polaroid Flip (which I currently own), I’ve used a lot of nu-Polaroid’s offerings, and I was thrilled to try out the Polaroid Go Gen 3.

The Go series are Polaroid’s range of super-small instant cameras. They use their own dedicated ‘Go’ film, producing prints measuring 66.6mm x 53.9mm with an image area of 47mm x 46mm (for context, a full-size I-Type print measures 107mm x 88mm with an image area of 79mm x 77mm). They still have that Polaroid look, that lo-fi charm, that iconic square format. They’re just smaller.

The Go Gen 3 is the smallest camera the series has yet produced. It is clearly pitched at a younger crowd — festival-goers, beach-enjoyers, selfie-takers, and it has a selfie mirror to facilitate this. Its controls are extremely simple; you can’t control settings, you just point and shoot.

Most of this was also true of previous Go cameras, such as the Go 2, so what exactly is new here? Well, as well as the reduced size, Polaroid has outfitted the Gen 3 with a boosted flash and a redesigned lens sporting a narrower focal length of 63.75mm, compared to 51.1mm on the Gen 2. This gives you a slightly tighter perspective, gets you closer to your subjects, and makes your selfies that little bit more flattering.

(Image credit: Jon Stapley)

So, it's a much simpler offering than the Flip, which has a fancy four-zone focus system and offers full settings control via the Polaroid app. The Polaroid Go Gen 3 does have a shutter speed range of 1/500–1sec and aperture settings of f/14.4 and f/32, but it will be selecting those for you. However, that’s not to say you’re completely without agency. You can turn the flash on and off via the flash control button, which also activates a self-timer mode and a double exposure mode — meaning you can expose the same frame twice for surreal, creative effects.

I used the Polaroid Go Gen 3 for about a week, mostly capturing shots on photo walks outdoors, but also making use of the selfie mirror to shoot some self-portraits indoors. I’ve been very impressed with the level of quality those little prints are able to display — when the light’s been right, I’ve found myself absolutely poring over images, appreciating all the subtle details that are conveyed in these tiny prints. Even in the smaller size, you still get the feeling of Polaroid’s signature lo-fi tones.

It’s not perfect. I found ultra-bright sunlight to be a problem, with the prints easily becoming blown out and overexposed on sunny days — which also seem to me like the days you’re most likely to want to use the camera. However, the relative affordability of Go film compared to I-Type makes me much more willing to play, experiment and have fun with the Go Gen 3, and not sweat my mistakes too much. Which as far as I’m concerned, is what instant photography should be all about.

(Image credit: Jon Stapley)Polaroid Go Gen 3: price and availability

Polaroid has been cannily stalking the Instax market share with the Go series, and part of that has been keeping the cameras nice and cheap. The Go Gen 3 comes at a reasonable launch price of $89.99 / £79.99 / AU$150, which is about the same as the comparable Instax camera, the Instax Mini 13, and similar to cheap lo-fi digital cameras like the Camp Snap.

However, as it’s a film camera, you have ongoing costs to factor in. Polaroid Go cameras use dedicated Polaroid Go film, which costs around $21.99 / £18.99 / AU$39 for a pack of sixteen shots (two cartridges of eight). Again, this is similar to Instax mini, which is slightly cheaper at around $20.99 / £14.99 / AU$34.95 for a pack of twenty.

Happily, it’s much more reasonably priced per shot than full-size I-Type film. As much as I love proper Polaroids, $18.99 / £16.99 / AU$32 for just eight shots is really quite brutal, and makes the experience a bit less fun. You don’t kick yourself for a fluffed Go shot in quite the way you do for a fluffed I-Type shot, and it makes the Polaroid Go Gen 3 a more realistic option for kids and families.

Polaroid Go Gen 3: Design

• Super small, trop mignon, fits in the palm of your hand
• Very simple operation with just three buttons
• No tripod thread, but there are lugs for a strap (and one is supplied)

Polaroid Go cameras have always been cute — it’s practically their key USP — and the Go Gen 3 is the cutest yet. The makers call it the world’s smallest instant camera, and I certainly can’t think of a challenger. This thing is tiny, sitting comfortably in the palm of a hand. It measures 106.5 x 83.8 x 64.6 mm and weighs just 8.9oz / 251g.

As such, there isn’t a whole lot of room for bells and whistles, and operation of the Polaroid Go Gen 3 is no-frills. There are just three buttons — power, shutter, and flash control, the latter of which also activates self-timer and double-exposure modes. The entire bottom of the camera is taken up by the film door, meaning there’s no tripod screw thread — best find a flat wall if you actually want to use that self-timer. There also isn’t any of the app-based camera-trigger functionality that you get with the likes of the Polaroid Flip, which also means you won’t be capturing long exposures or anything like that.

The viewfinder is small but lovely. I really enjoy looking through it; I just love that square frame. It really fires my imagination compositionally, and if I hadn’t been limited by how much film I had on hand, I would have been firing off shots left and right. Flip the camera around, and you’ll see that the front of the viewfinder is reflective. This is the selfie mirror, and I have to say, it works exactly as intended.

Jon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon Stapley

On the side, there’s a USB-C port for charging, and at the back are two lugs on the right and left for attaching straps, and a rope-style wrist strap is included in the box. And, well, that’s pretty much it! This is a very simple offering, something that works in its favor as a lo-fi camera for fun, friends and family. It’s a camera so simple a child could use it, something I tested by giving it to a three-year-old, who — with a little coaching — did indeed manage to capture a photo. If you’re looking for a camera with kid-appeal, I can attest that the Go Gen 3 has it in abundance.

It’s available in five stylish colorways: white, black, teal blue, ice blue and purple. As you can see, I had the white version, and as I took it out and about, it did draw a few comments and compliments from passers-by. This is a nice-looking camera.

(Image credit: Jon Stapley)Polaroid Go Gen 3: Performance

• Lovely detail and tonality in prints, even with small size
• But ultra-bright sun can easily overwhelm images
• Flash is always on, so you need to remember to turn it off every time if you don’t want it

When a Polaroid works, there’s nothing like it. Even in the smaller Go size, I’m really impressed by the level of detail and tonality you can get out of this thing. For me, it beats Instax any day of the week. In good light, with a well-chosen subject, you can make images that absolutely sing, and I genuinely adore some of the shots I’ve captured with this camera.

I'm really impressed with the level of depth and detail here. The reflection is gorgeous and there are some lovely hints of blue in the sky. (Image credit: Jon Stapley)

One thing that really impressed me was the selfie-taking capability. The Polaroid Go Gen 3’s reworked lens and powerful flash are designed to facilitate just that, and using the mirror as a compositional aid, I was able to capture selfie images that were vivid, detailed and true-to-life, the flash comfortably illuminating the scene without blowing it out.

The flash automatically adjusts by distance for a balanced image. (Image credit: Jon Stapley)

Out in the big wide world, of course, you can and will run into issues. While I was testing the Gen Go 3, we were blessed with several days of glorious sunshine, and in very bright conditions — you know, the exact kind of conditions where you might find yourself saying something like, ‘Darling, it’s lovely out, shall we bring the Polaroid?’ — it’s easy for those little frames to just be overwhelmed.

For all these frames, conditions were just a bit too bright, even with the flash off. (Image credit: Jon Stapley)

More than a few of my images were quite significantly bleached by very bright sunlight, even when I remembered to turn the flash off — and you have to do this manually every single time, because the camera will always turn it back on. Even, as I discovered, halfway through a double exposure.

This worked better than I expected, but that blast of flash probably wasn't needed. (Image credit: Jon Stapley)

I’m generally a bit wary of double-exposure modes on instant cameras; I feel like most of the time, I’m likely to end up wasting a frame on a blurry, muddled mess. However, the lower cost of the Go film made me much more willing to give it a try than I ever am with my Polaroid Flip, and I ended up with a decent image — though I think it would have been better without that unexpected blast of flash halfway through.

Jon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon Stapley

Ultimately, as with any Polaroid camera or indeed any instant camera, the Polaroid Go Gen 3 is solid knockabout fun. You’ll get some images you like, and some that feel like a bit of a waste of film. That’s just the game, and it’s a much easier game to enjoy when the film is more reasonably priced than full-size I-Type.

Polaroid Go Gen 3: Should you buy?

(Image credit: Jon Stapley)Buy it if...

You want an instant camera to take travelling
With its tiny dimensions and relatively cheap film, the Go Gen 3 is a great option for trips.

You want simple, point-and-shoot operation
The Polaroid Go has minimal controls and is very straightforward to operate.

You want an all-analog experience
No screens, no apps — at the core, the Polaroid Go is just chemicals and light.

Don't buy it if...

You want a high level of image quality.
While I like the look of the little prints, there are limits to what they can manage. Bright sunlight in particular posed a problem.

You don’t want ongoing costs
While Polaroid Go film is cheaper than I-Type, it still represents an ongoing cost that you won’t get with, say, a digital Camp Snap.

How I tested the Polaroid Go Gen 3

(Image credit: Jon Stapley)

• I received a sample camera from the manufacturers, along with some Go film
• I took the camera on several photo excursions, mostly shooting outdoors
• I shot with and without flash, and tested the double-exposure mode

I’ve had the Polaroid Go Gen 3 with me for the past couple of weeks, and I’ve taken it on excursions around London, as well as on a trip to Bradford-upon-Avon. During that time I’ve gone through a double pack of Polaroid Go film, and have tested out the camera in different scenarios and lighting conditions, with a particular focus on seeing how it renders different colors.

I have shot outdoors and indoors, both with and without the flash. I also gave the double-exposure mode a whirl, using it to create a composite image of my own face from different angles. I shot selfies with flash using the selfie mirror as a compositional aid.

First reviewed June 2026

Klipsch The Nines II: Two-minute review

The Klipsch The Nines II are a tough pair of small speakers to beat for a large room. The amount of power and the clean, slightly overly bassy, sound are just some of what make these speakers special. There's also a ton of features on offer, including virtualized spatial audio (which is admittedly limited) Wi-Fi streaming, and even Dirac Live (though I couldn't seem to get it to work during my testing).

In fact, the buggy nature of the Dirac Live is my only real gripe with Klipsch's The Nines II (well, that and their cumbersome name if you're writing a review…), and the Dirac issue could be more due to environmental factors than a fundamental problem. My other issue — the fact that the speakers are heavy — is more just inconvenient than a real flaw.

Whenever I listen, I’m convinced that The Klipsch The Nines II are among the best stereo speakers to come out this year. And the amount of connectivity and features make them a nice alternative to the best soundbars, especially if you still want a bit of that more traditional stereo speaker setup.

Just be aware that these are quite a bit more expensive than the original Klipsch The Nines. That said, The Klipsch The Nines II offer a lot more than the first version as well.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)Klipsch The Nines II review: Price and release date

• How much does it cost? $2,399 / £2,249 / AU$4,999
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The original Klipsch The Nines have been out for a few years now, so the Spring release of the Klipsch The Nines II in 2026 is perfect timing. Speakers may not benefit from the yearly iterations of something like phones or TVs, but it’s about time for the upgrade considering the improvements in Bluetooth technology and W-iFi streaming over those last few years.

Interestingly enough, the Klipsch The Nines II are more than an iterative upgrade. Dolby Atmos (even if it’s a virtualization) and Dirac Live support are on offer in the new version, along with support for more Hi-Res codecs and a wider frequency range, which is why this newer version also comes with a much higher price tag — they're $700 / £700 more than the originals. That’s quite a price hike.

Klipsch The Nines II Powered Stereo Speakers: Specs

Dimensions

18.13” (460.38mm) H x 9.62” (244.5mm) W x 14.75” (374.65mm) D

Weight

Active speaker: 32.8lbs (14.9kg); Passive speaker: 31.7 lbs (14.43kg))

Active or passive

Active

Subwoofer

No (has sub out)

Frequency response

31Hz-25kHz +/- 3dB

Dolby Atmos / DTS:X enabled

Yes (virtualized)

Maximum output

107dB

Klipsch The Nines II Powered Stereo Speakers: Features

• Virtualized Dolby Atmos, and Dirac room correction
• Wi-Fi streaming for a bunch of different music apps
• App has a lot of functionality, including custom EQ

The Klipsch The Nines II speakers may be limited in terms of features just by their form factor compared to a soundbar system like the Klipsch Flexus Core 300, but they have the right amount of options for a pair of bookshelf speakers.

Dolby Atmos and DTX:S is available on these speakers, though the spatial audio support is virtualized due to the fact that there aren’t any upward-facing speakers, and obviously limited width. Still, the virtualization does give a sense of height to the audio that works decently with a blockbuster movie.

Along with Bluetooth connectivity (5.4 specifically), the Klipsch The Nines II also support Wi-Fi streaming, specifically Google Cast, Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect, and more. Since they work with Google Cast, they can be set up with Google Home for smart home users.

There’s a tiny bit of a lag between source and speaker when going wireless. However, there is a Lip Sync setting in the app to better synchronize when using the speakers with a wireless source with visuals, such as watching a video on a laptop with the audio coming through the Klipsches.

There will still be a lag between play, pause, etc. but that’s not something that I found to really affect my experience of the speakers.

The Klipsch app's front page is intuitive to useFuture / James HollandAll the inputs are selectable from the app's front pageFuture / James HollandThe Klipsch The Nines II have a number of audio adjustments on offer in the appFuture / James HollandThe Klipsch app has a five band EQ along with some presets availableFuture / James Holland

Speaking of the app, this is the central place for any deeper fine tuning. If you want to tweak the audio, there’s a five-band EQ in the app along with some presets. If you want to set up or use Dirac Live, you do that through the app — by the way, the speaker comes with a limited license that will adjust the audio between 200 and 500 Hz (the full frequency is paywalled).

Lastly (well, I’m leaving a few less consequential things out), you can turn on a few different modes: Dynamic Bass, Dialog mode, and Night Mode, and they all work decently enough with the latter being the most effective at its purpose (bringing up quiet sounds and bringing down loud ones).

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

The controls on the Klipsch The Nines II are fairly minimalist (Image credit: Future / James Holland)Klipsch The Nines II Powered Stereo Speakers: Sound quality

• Weighty, robust sound
• Lots of bass, mid-bass a bit too full
• Lots of dynamic headroom

Klipsch's The Nines II are really good sounding speakers, and they might be the most weighty sounding speakers I’ve heard for the size, too. Despite not having a subwoofer (or maybe because of it and still providing a lot of bass), every element seems to have a thickness or robustness to it that I usually don’t hear with a lot of audio equipment.

Listening to music the low end is there in spades, whether I was listening to pop, hip hop, or even Counting Crows. The massive bass gives a boominess to the mid-range that is not unpleasant, but is far from neutral or accurate. Using the app to bring the 400Hz slider down one or two notches does clean up the sound a lot, but know that this is fundamentally built into its audio profile.

The high end is slightly on the warm side due to that weightiness I spoke about. Boosting the 8kHz slider in the app does brighten the affair though, if you prefer. Regardless, the Klipsch The Nines II did retain all the detail in the high-end in elements such as the strings in Radiohead’s Pyramid Song or Joni Mitchell’s higher register in A Case of You.

The soundstage, while dependent on correctly setting up the speakers, is not only nice and wide but has good separation thanks to the amount of headroom on these speakers. After all, I never really had them higher than halfway up in volume and they filled a good sized room full of distortion-free, clean audio.

• Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5

Klipsch The Nines II: Design

• These speakers are big for bookshelves
• Few physical controls, lots of inputs
• There's a subwoofer output

The Klipsch The Nines II are big at over 18 inches tall, over nine and a half inches wide, and almost 15 inches deep, weighing up to 33 lbs per speaker (the one without all the controls is two measly pounds lighter). They’re also attractive, thankfully, coming in three colorways: walnut, red oak, and black (reviewed here).

In terms of controls, the active speaker only has a volume dial and a single power / input cycle button. There’s also an LED indicator above the power button that changes colors depending on the input selected and, while there may only be two physical controls (there’s also a pairing button on the back of each speaker labeled Utility), there are quite a few inputs.

There’s HDMI eARC, optical, phono, USB, Bluetooth, coaxial, and ethernet. It’s easier to select them through the app, because remembering which color corresponds to which port isn't easy to remember.

All the ports are situated on the back of the primary speaker. Besides the physical ports for the channels listed above that need them, there’s also a sub out and a mic in, the latter of which is for the Dirac Live feature.

Also included are speaker covers that attach magnetically, along with a matte black remote, the aforementioned wired mic, an HDMI cable, power cable, and cable to connect the two speakers to each other physically, if you don't want to have them speaking to each other wirelessly (they’re automatically paired with each other out of the box, so going wireless is no hassle).

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

It's a good thing these are large, because there's a lot you can connect (Image credit: Future / James Holland)Klipsch The Nines II review: Setup and usability

• Setup is made more difficult by the speakers’ weight
• App is intuitive to use for the most part
• Dirac Live is difficult to set up

The Klipsch The Nines II are both easy and not easy to set up, entirely based on their weight. The primary and secondary speakers are automatically paired out of the box and just need to be plugged in to power. Pairing via Bluetooth requires just being on the Bluetooth input and connecting via your smart phone.

And the physical connections just need their respective cables and possibly a settings change — changing a TV’s audio output to eARC, for instance. In terms of functionality, that’s all you have to do to use them.

That said, each speaker is heavy at over 30 lbs each (or over 14.5kg). That’s cumbersome to move. Even if that weight is not a problem for you, these are big boxes. Add in speaker stands, which I believe are ideal for getting the best sound out of these speakers (an additional $475 for a pair if you want Klipsch's own…) and setup becomes more of a physical challenge than it might be for some speakers.

The stand just takes time to assemble: connect the proper rubber feet based on flooring, the base to the stand, and the stand to the speaker. But if you connected the stand to the speaker upside down like I did, you’ll encounter my least favorite part… flipping the speaker over while connected to the stand, which weighs an additional 24.1 lbs (10.9kg), by the way.

Each complete 57 lbs unit was unwieldy, to say the least, and I felt like I had to be careful so as not to let these fairly pricey speakers accidentally fall and get damaged.

Outside of that, adjusting the speakers for placement is similar to any other pair of bookshelf speakers, if heavier, and it didn't take me long to get them situated for a listening sweet spot on the couch.

Using the speakers is likewise a slightly mixed bag. Using the remote is easy and I appreciate the ability to remap the two bottom buttons to my favorite inputs. The app is generally intuitive as well.

However, as much as I enjoy the difference Dirac Live can make with speakers, I had an incredibly difficult time getting the calibration test to run even though I had the upgrade for the full frequency range (an additional $99).

I know that the microphone is very sensitive so needs as much quiet as possible, but no matter how hard I tried, that degree of quiet threshold I just could not reach.

• Setup and usability score: 3.5 / 5

The Klipsch The Nines II do come with a number of accessories. Cat not included… (Image credit: Future / James Holland)Klipsch The Nines II Powered Stereo Speakers: Value

• Comes with a premium price tag
• A lot of very good speakers available for much less
• Much more expensive than the original Klipsch The Nines

When the original Klipsch The Nines came out, they were priced similarly to the KEF LSX II LT, one of the most popular active stereo speaker systems out there. The Klipsch The Nines II are not only seven hundred bucks more than the original, but the KEF speakers have come down to $999 / £899 since they came out. That’s a massive price difference.

That said, the KEF LSX II LT are compact so are not able to really fill a room the way The Nines II can. Plus, there’s no analog connectivity or the extensive set of features the Klipsch The Nines II have.

When it comes to being a complete and yet powerful stereo system in two (reasonably) compact boxes, The Nines II are good value — but no one's going to claim they're a bargain.

• Value score: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Klipsch The Nines II speakers?Score card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

Dolby Atmos, Wi-Fi streaming, Dirac Live and a huge suite of connectivity options.

4.5 / 5

Sound quality

You might want to do some minor EQing, but they sound immersive and full, with enough bass to skip adding a subwoofer.

4.5 / 5

Design

They look good, the controls are nicely done, and the connectivity is well-handled.

4.5 / 5

Setup and Usability

Setup is easy but does take some muscle or a second person to do properly. Dirac Live calibration has issues.

3.5 / 5

Value

The price hike from the previous version may seem too much, but it’s worth it with the added features.

3.5 / 5

Buy them if…

You want a robust, immersive sound
The audio quality is so good, it makes you want to just turn up. It has a certain weight to it that makes you forget there’s no subwoofer.

You want all the features
Spatial audio, Wi-Fi streaming for just about every app, and a bunch of other features are about all one could ask for in a pair of stereo speakers.

You want stereo speakers at the heart of an entertainment system
With all the inputs available, one could switch between a TV, turntable, smart phone, and more with just a few presses of a button.

Don’t buy them if…

You’re on a budget
If you’re looking at The Nines II, you probably know that Klipsch is pricey (and there are certainly more expensive powered speakers out there). However, if you’re tight on cash, you can get some good audio for much less.

You want full Dolby Atmos
While the Klipsch The Nines support spatial audio formats such Dolby Atmos, the speakers themselves do not reproduce full height or, obviously, rear sound. If you’re looking for a quick way to spatial audio, this is not it.

Klipsch The Nines II review: Also consider

KEF LSX II LT
The KEF LSX II LT don’t work as well for large rooms, but if you’re looking for a wonderful sounding set of speakers for a smaller listening room and want to save some money, the KEF LSX II LT might be the best option out there.

Read our full KEF LSX II LT review

Kanto Ren
The Kanto Ren has it all in terms of connectivity – USB-C, HDMI, Bluetooth 5.3. Plus it comes in interesting colors, though it will pick up every fingerprint. It’s lovely with a full, robust sound. However, the bass can get a little flabby.

Read our full Kanto Ren review

How I tested the Klipsch The Nines II

• Used regularly for a few weeks
• Listened to all sorts of audio
• Used the various controls and ports

I used the Klipsch The Nines II for a few weeks, listening to all sorts of genres of music, such as hip hop, EDM, pop, rock, jazz, and folk to get a better feel for these speakers. They were also tested with some TV viewing and computer games.

I’ve tested a lot of tech gear over the years from laptops to keyboards and speakers, and so have been able to use my expertise towards giving an honest and fair opinion, not to mention a critical eye, to any product I test.

• First reviewed: June 2026
• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

UGREEN Maxidok 17-in-1 TB5 Dock: 30-second review

The Ugreen Revodok Maxidok 17-in-1 arrives as the brand's flagship Thunderbolt 5 dock, and it makes a strong case for that title. It sits at the top of UGREEN's new Maxidok range, above two 10-in-1 siblings, and it earns the crown through sheer specification depth rather than marketing bravado.

At its core, the dock delivers a full Thunderbolt 5 host connection rated at 120Gbps and up to 140W of laptop charging, paired with two downstream TB5 ports running at 80Gbps each. That is the kind of bandwidth that makes a real difference with high-resolution multi-display setups and fast external storage. The headline party trick is the built-in M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 slot, which accepts drives up to 8TB. For video editors and creative professionals who burn through storage, that alone justifies a serious look.

The form factor is a neat 133 x 133 x 53mm cube closely matching the Mac mini footprint, or many performance NUCs.

Finished in dark grey zinc alloy with copper-tone grill accents, making it look the part on a professional desk. Cooling is handled by a hybrid system that combines passive chassis dissipation with a temperature-triggered fan, and that’s a remarkably quiet fan.

The port count of 17 covers most professional requirements, including USB-C, USB-A, SD and microSD card readers, DisplayPort 2.1, 2.5GbE Ethernet, and no less than three audio jacks. The missing piece is HDMI, which will frustrate anyone with monitors that lack DisplayPort. Networking at 2.5GbE is functional but feels conservative at this price point.

At $390, this is not a casual purchase. The CalDigit TS5 Plus offers more ports, better networking, and higher total power, but lacks the SSD slot and costs $110 more. If that internal M.2 flexibility matters to you, the Maxidok 17-in-1 has a compelling answer.

A few wrinkles with the M.2 slot and the 2.5GbE LAN port keep this from being automatically enrolled in our guide to the best laptop docking stations we've tested. But a firmware fix might still resolve them.

UGREEN Maxidok 17-in-1 TB5 Dock: Price & availability

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• How much does it cost? $390/£320/€391
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Direct from Ugreen or via an online retailer

The Ugreen Revodok Maxidok 17-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station carries is available from Ugreen's Amazon store where at the time of my review, it's priced at $390 in the US (was $500), and running to a cost of £315 (was £420) in the UK.

I can't say how long those prices will hold, though, so they may return to the full price. As with many products from Chinese brands, the gap between stated RRP and actual street price can be significant.

At this price, the 17-in-1 sits alongside CalDigit, OWC, and Kensington in the premium tier of Thunderbolt 5 docks. Whether that represents fair value depends heavily on whether the integrated M.2 slot is a priority for your workflow.

The alternative many will turn to is the CalDigit TS5 Plus, a dock that features a 10GbE LAN port and a 140W power profile. That 20-port option doesn’t have an M.2 slot, and it costs $499.99 / £469.99 on Amazon.com. A less expensive option from CalDigit is the CalDigit TS5, a dock with 15 ports that sells for $399.99, but it has only a 2.5GbE LAN port and no M.2 slot.

OWC hasn’t delivered a dock with nearly this many ports so far; its top-of-the-range OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dual 10GbE Network Dock has only 11 ports in total. Its strengths are dual 10GbE LAN ports and four TB5 (one uplink, three down). But, at $499.99, it’s not inexpensive.

There are only two choices that can compete on price: the Plugable TB5 Dock and the Anker Prime TB5, but both have fewer ports, no M.2 slot, and the same 2.5GbE LAN cap. The Plugable is cheaper at $350, as is the Anker at $357, but the pricing reflects their limited port selection, which more closely matches the UGREEN Maxidok 10-to-1 TB5, a $250 dock.

UGREEN also makes a Thunderbolt 5 Dock exclusively for Apple Mac Mini users, but that’s beyond my remit to assess.

In short, this is the cheapest flagship design available, though it is possible to get a TB5 dock for less.

• Value: 4 / 5

UGREEN Maxidok 17-in-1 TB5 Dock: Specs

Model

Ugreen Revodok Maxidok 17-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station (U716)

Host Connection

1x Thunderbolt 5 upstream (120Gbps bidirectional, 140W PD)

TB5 Downstream

2x Thunderbolt 5 (up to 80Gbps each)

DisplayPort

1x DisplayPort 2.1 (supports 8K@60Hz or dual 6K@60Hz)

HDMI

None

USB-C Ports

3x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps, front panel)

USB-A Ports

3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps, rear)

Storage Slot

M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 (up to 8TB, up to 6000MB/s rated)

Card Readers

1x SD 4.0 + 1x microSD/TF 4.0 (front panel)

Ethernet

2.5GbE

Audio Front

1x 3.5mm combo jack

Audio Rear

1x 3.5mm audio in + 1x 3.5mm audio out

DC Power Input

12V barrel jack

Power Supply

240W external brick

Host Charging

Up to 140W via Thunderbolt 5 host port

Second Port Charging

Up to 60W

Total Power Output

240W

Bandwidth

120Gbps unidirectional / 80Gbps bidirectional

Display Config

Single 8K@60Hz OR dual 6K@60Hz

Cooling

Hybrid: passive aluminium chassis + internal temperature-triggered fan

Chassis Material

Zinc alloy with aluminium shell, copper-tone grill accents

Dimensions

133 x 133 x 53mm

Weight

0.87kg (dock only, excluding PSU)

Operating System

macOS (M4 Pro/Max for full TB5), Windows 11 TB5/TB4/USB4

Backwards Compatibility

Thunderbolt 4, USB4 v2, USB4 v1, USB 3.2

Security

Kensington lock slot

Warranty

2 years

In The Box

Dock, 240W PSU, multi-region power cables, 0.7m TB5 cable, M.2 screwdriver, manual

UGREEN Maxidok 17-in-1 TB5 Dock: Design

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• Two colour metal construction
• Logical port layout
• M.2 slot underneath

Ugreen has made a clear decision with the Maxidok 17-in-1. This is not a dock that hides under your monitor or lurks at the back of the desk. It is a cube that demands a spot on the surface, and it has the build quality to justify that placement.

The chassis measures 133 x 133 x 53mm and weighs 0.87kg. Those are almost exactly the dimensions of an Apple Mac mini, and that resemblance is clearly intentional. The dark gun-metal grey zinc alloy and aluminium body slots naturally into any desk arrangement that includes Apple hardware.

The copper-coloured grill panels on the sides add a flash of visual character, which sets this apart from the sea of anonymous black and silver boxes that populate the docking station market.

Port layout is sensible. The front panel carries the most frequently accessed connections: a power button with LED indicator, the SD and microSD card readers, three USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. The rear carries the more static connections.

Three USB-A ports that are all 10Gbps, the DisplayPort 2.1 output, two Thunderbolt 5 downstream ports, the Thunderbolt 5 host port, the 2.5GbE Ethernet jack, a DC 12V barrel input, and separate 3.5mm audio in and out jacks.

The power button doubles as a master disconnect, cutting power to all connected peripherals and displays with a single press. That is a useful addition for a device intended for 24-hour desk duty.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Under the dock, a hinged trap door conceals the M.2 NVMe expansion slot. Ugreen includes an M.2 screwdriver in the box, and installing or swapping a drive is straightforward.

Where this differs from other docks that I’ve encountered with an M.2 slot. Instead of the drive being near the surface, here it is buried deep inside. The cover has a metal heatsink on it that, once the included thermal pad is used, will touch the top of the drive.

This arrangement is meant for an SSD without an integrated heatsink, obviously.

Cooling combines passive heat dissipation through the chassis with an internal fan that activates based on temperature. I’m saying this because UGREEN told me, but in all my testing, I never once heard this fan running. It’s either silent or hardly ever activated.

One practical note that I’d like to relay is that the external power supply is substantial. At 240W, it needs to be, but the brick is longer than the dock in any direction. Depending on where you place it, the PSU takes up meaningful desk real estate or cable management effort.

• Design: 4 / 5

UGREEN Maxidok 17-in-1 TB5 Dock: Features

• 120Gbps Bandwidth
• Only 2.5GbE LAN
• 140W + 60W charging

The Maxidok 17-in-1 is built around a Thunderbolt 5 host connection that delivers the full 120Gbps unidirectional bandwidth the standard allows. In practical terms, that is double the throughput of Thunderbolt 4, and the difference is not theoretical.

With multiple high-resolution displays active alongside fast external storage, TB4 docks begin rationing bandwidth between devices. The Maxidok does not have that problem, and it also doesn’t fall into another common trap about power distribution.

Laptop charging via the host port reaches 140W. That is enough to sustain even the most power-hungry professional laptops under full load. A second Thunderbolt 5 port can simultaneously fast-charge a second device at up to 60W, bringing total delivery to 240W when all outputs are in play. That doesn’t account for the dock's power consumption, so I suspect 200W is closer to the peak output.

Display support runs to either a single 8K at 60Hz or dual 6K displays at 60Hz simultaneously, both routed through the DisplayPort 2.1 output and the downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports. Reaching the 8K ceiling requires a host with a genuine Thunderbolt 5 connection.

Apple Mac owners should note that the M4 Pro and M4 Max are the earliest Apple Silicon chips to support TB5; older MacBooks top out at 6K via TB4.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The built-in M.2 NVMe slot is the feature that most clearly differentiates this dock from competing products at a similar price. Ugreen rates the slot at PCIe Gen4 x4, which should permit read speeds up to 6000MB/s on compatible drives, and capacities to 8TB are supported. In practice, this turns the dock into a workstation hub where a single cable connects everything, including a substantial pool of fast local storage.

What I like about docks with M.2 slots is that they can provide a fast snapshot of working files on a laptop, with a live backup configured. And they can be formatted, typically in ExFAT or NTFS, so they can be moved into a PC or caddie and remain accessible.

The LAN port is 2.5GbE, but as I’ll discuss later, that’s a label, not a promise. For most office and home office users, 2.5GbE is adequate, but at this price, it is reasonable to expect at least an option for 5GbE or even 10GbE. CalDigit's TS5 Plus and various other competitors in this tier provide 10GbE as standard. If network throughput matters to your workflow, this is worth noting.

Card reader performance uses the SD 4.0 standard on both the SD and microSD slots, which is a genuine upgrade over the SD 3.0 slots found on many rival docks. Faster card readers make a measurable difference to photographers and videographers working with modern high-speed memory cards.

Audio provides a front-panel combo jack for headsets alongside separate line-in and line-out 3.5 mm jacks at the rear -- a useful split that supports both monitoring and microphone inputs without adapters.

• Features: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)UGREEN Maxidok 17-in-1 TB5 Dock: Performance

• TB5 Bandwidth Boost for video
• 240W PSU fixes power pinch
• Performance issues with M.2 and 2.5GbE LAN

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The bandwidth headroom of Thunderbolt 5 is the core performance story here. While Thunderbolt 4 docks must arbitrate between competing devices when bandwidth pressure builds, the 120 Gbps ceiling of TB5 removes that constraint in most real-world configurations. For Thunderbolt devices, everything works well, with no sign of contention or throttling.

Host charging performance is also straightforward. The 140W available at the TB5 host port keeps demanding laptops stable under load. The second 60W port handles a second device simultaneously without reducing host power delivery.

Display output performs as expected when the host hardware supports it, enabling even those with a TB4 connection to get 6K output at 60Hz.

Full 8K output requires a TB5 host, which currently means a machine running an Intel Thunderbolt 5 controller or an Apple M4 Pro or M4 Max. Using the dock with older TB4 hardware remains useful and fully stable; the display ceiling is simply lower.

However, there are two aspects to this dock that didn’t live up to expectations.

The first of those is the performance of the M.2 slot, which, according to the specifications, is rated for Gen4x4. The performance I experienced on both TB5 and TB4 strongly hinted that this is a PCIe Gen3 x4 performance slot, not Gen4.

I even tried a Gen5 drive in here, and that didn’t move the needle. Using a Kioxia Exceria Plus G3, rated for 5,000MB/s reads, the fastest speeds I managed were 3900MB/s reads and 2200MB/s writes. What’s truly baffling about these results is that by inserting a Corsair EX400U external USB4 drive, I was able to achieve the same read speed and 3700MB/s writing.

I compounded this by then removing the Kioxa Exceria Plus G3 from the dock, putting it in a Ugreen 40Gbps USB4 caddie, and achieved 3671Mb/s reads and 2167MB/s writes. So the internal M.2 slot isn’t appreciably any faster than an externally connected USB4 SSD. And, depending on the drive, it can be dramatically slower.

This discrepancy between what was expected and delivered wasn’t limited to the M.2 slot, it was also apparent on the 2.5GbE LAN port.

As part of my testing, I copied some files from my Ugreen NAS, a system that is connected to my network at 10GbE, using the 2.5GbE LAN port on the dock. But instead of the standard speed of around 280MB/s these transfers capped at about 160MB/s. It was like this was a 1.5GbE LAN port, not 2.5GbE.

But, and this is where things got weird, when I plugged a UGREEN 2.5GbE USB LAN adapter into one of the 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, I got the full 2.5GbE speed.

Therefore, if you want 2.5GbE LAN on this dock, spend another $25, and you're good, unless you need all those USB ports.

Both of these issues have the same source: the way a UGREEN engineer decided how bandwidth would be allocated among the different ports. Probably incorrectly, I’ve always assumed that this is a dynamic allocation on the Thunderbolt silicon, but evidently that’s not the case. In both circumstances, the only thing plugged in was the port or slot being tested, and in theory, it could have had all the bandwidth in the dock.

It might be possible to adjust these allocations with a firmware upgrade, but based on my research, I couldn’t find a single example of one for a Ugreen Thunderbolt dock. Therefore, I wouldn’t hold my breath that this hardware will get one.

I need to say that this isn’t the only Thunderbolt 5 dock I’ve experienced these issues with, so it may be a problem Intel created along with their latest chips.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

UGREEN Maxidok 17-in-1 TB5 Dock: Final verdict

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The Ugreen Revodok Maxidok 17-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station is a well-considered product from a brand that has been building credibility in this category over several product generations. The combination of full Thunderbolt 5 bandwidth, 140W host charging, 240W total output, and a built-in PCIe Gen4 M.2 slot creates a genuinely differentiated package in an increasingly crowded market.

The design is one of the better efforts in the category. The cube form factor looks considered rather than an afterthought, and the quality of materials justifies the price tag from a tactile standpoint. The cooling system handles sustained workloads quietly, which matters for a device sitting permanently on a desk.

The omission of HDMI is a real inconvenience for anyone without a DisplayPort monitor, but then the same would be true for those with a DisplayPort monitor if it had HDMI. At this price, a single HDMI output alongside the DisplayPort would have removed a friction point entirely. The 2.5GbE networking is functional but underperforms, and rivals at this price offer 10GbE, and that gap is noticeable in network-heavy workflows.

The M.2 slot is the reason to choose this over CalDigit's TS5 Plus. If you need integrated fast storage expansion alongside all the Thunderbolt 5 benefits, the Maxidok 17-in-1 delivers it in one cable. If you do not need the SSD slot and want better networking plus more ports, the TS5 Plus is the stronger choice at a similar price.

The performance of the M.2 slot is also underwhelming, given that it is supposedly Gen4x4.

In the end, the Maxidok 17-in-1 TB5 Dock comes with more caveats than I expected, even though many alternatives have similar or the same issues.

If you have Thunderbolt 5, a dock like this opens up plenty of possibilities, but I wouldn’t recommend it for those with Thunderbolt 4 or USB4, since you can’t reasonably exploit its advantages.

UGREEN Maxidok 17-in-1 TB5 Dock: Report card

Value

The cheapest flagship TB5 dock

4 / 5

Design

Elegant cube with plenty of ports, but a huge PSU

4 / 5

Features

M.2 slot and 240W PSU are the headline features

4 / 5

Performance

Issues with both the M.2 and 2.5GbE LAN ports in getting the full performance

3.5 / 5

Overall

A great TB5 dock, other than the LAN port and M.2 slot

4 / 5

Should I buy a UGREEN Maxidok 17-in-1 TB5 Dock?

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Buy it if...

You have Thunderbolt 5 or USB4v2
If you have the right ports, you can extract levels of performance from this dock that TB4 and USB4 could only dream. And, it can also handle dual 8K video, should you have the monitors to connect.

You need 140W charging
Some docks claim 140W charging, and then only come with a 180W PSU, meaning that there isn’t the power to have other ports output to their power limits without eating into the 140W base. This dock has a 240W PSU, allowing it to charge at 140W and also have 60W spare for other ports to utilise.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You are operating on a budget
This 17-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 dock isn’t one of the cheapest devices for this connection technology. There are cheaper TB5 docks available if you don’t need all of the features of this one. The Ugreen 10-in-1 is a good, affordable alternative.

You use the LAN
The performance of the 2.5GbE LAN port on this dock is disappointing, as it doesn’t deliver the speeds it should be capable. There are ways to address this problem, but it requires additional cost and the use of a USB port.

Also consider

Ugreen Maxidok 10-to-1 TB5 dock
Fewer ports but the same underlying TB5 technology, and a much lower price. The 10-to-1 dock offers two TB5 downlink ports and a single HDMI monitor output at only 60% of the price of its 17-to-1 big brother.

Check out my Ugreen Maxidok 10-to-1 TB5 dock review

Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool review

The Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool PC3 is the latest tower fan from the British brand, and it offers up not only excellent cooling with owl-like oscillation, but also air purification.

That makes the Find+Follow Purifier Cool particularly helpful for those with asthma or allergies when they don't want dust, pollen and other particulars floating round their home.

But the party trick here is in the ‘Find+Follow’ name, and it’s what sets it apart from its predecessor, the Purifier Cool PC1, while also kicking the Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09 to the curb.

This particular cooling and air purifying fan features a small camera that can identify people in its field of view, and then follow them round a room, ensuring the breeze is always directed where it’s needed.

It’s a good looking fan, but all this comes at a steep cost — $849.99 / £549.99 to be exact. With many of the best fans coming in at a lower price point, Dyson has its work cut out to justify the premium cost of its latest offering.

Things get off to a positive start with the fan arriving in suitably protective packaging that’s almost all cardboard — the main piece of plastic is a large bag over the fan itself. It’s easy to unpack, and setup via the free My Dyson app is straightforward.

You’ll need both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled on your phone, allowing you to get the fan connected to your device, as well as your home network. I liked the ‘Getting started’ video in the How To section of the app: it’s just under two minutes long and walks you through the core functions of the fan.

Controls in the app are nicely laid out, with easy access to on/off, fan speed, and oscillation. There’s also auto and night modes, a timer setting to turn off the fan after a set duration, and the ability to switch from fan to diffuser mode, if you want to purify the air in your home without the main fan being active.

Shifting focus back to the fan itself, it stands tall with its large, oval bladeless design sitting atop a gold pedestal that hides the air purifying tech and HEPA H13-grade and K-Carbon filters. Dyson claims the filter “captures 99.95% of particles such as viruses and bacteria, as well as pollen, pet dander and mould spores”.

It not only cleans the air, but the K-carbon filter can remove smells and gases, handy if you’ve been over-enthusiastic in the kitchen and want to get rid of that burning smell. I found it did a pretty good job of getting rid of the burnt toast smell in the morning quicker than leaving it to dissipate on its own.

(Image credit: Future)

There’s a power button just above the circular display on the base of the fan, but Dyson doesn’t provide any further controls on the device itself. Instead you need to use the remote, which magnetically clings to the top of the fan for simple storage, or the app to adjust settings.

You can also link the PC3 to your smart home, allowing you to use Google’s Gemini or Amazon’s Alexa voice assistants to control the fan. Linking it to my smart home setup also allowed me to control the Find+Follow Purifier Cool from the Google Home app as well as the My Dyson app.

The display on the fan is subtle, and from a distance it can be difficult to read due to its small size, but you can get all the info displayed here in the My Dyson app.

You can adjust the information the display shows by clicking the ‘i’ button on the remote, allowing you to cycle through visuals for various data including; indoor air quality, indoor humidity, indoor temperature, and remaining filter life. It’s useful stuff, but it’s better viewed in the app.

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I was particularly impressed with the range of oscillation on offer, with the ability to rotate 45, 90, 180, and 350 degrees. Pop the Find+Follow Purifier Cool in the middle of a room and it’ll reach almost every area.

This was particularly useful when it came to placing the fan in a bigger room, as the huge angle of coverage provides far more flexibility. In my large, open-plan living space I could position it towards the center and have it reach most areas — although there was one small shortcoming: the length of the power cord.

At 1.8m it’s similar to many other rival fans, but as there are 350 degrees of movement, this is a fan you might be more inclined to position further away from a wall outlet to get maximum benefit. I was able to plug it into my kitchen island, allowing it to stand well away from a wall, without the cord or an extension cable draped across the floor — but your home’s setup will be different, so it’s worth considering where you’ll be plugging it in.

Once on, Dyson’s clever bladeless design delivers smooth air flow that feels like a natural breeze moving through your home, rather than the harsh buffeting you get from some other propeller and tower fans.

(Image credit: Future)

Coupled with its quiet operation — especially at lower fan speeds — you might find yourself forgetting it’s even on. My partner questioned whether I’d left the back door open as she felt a breeze, but it was simply the Dyson’s caress of the air is so gentle that it didn't feel artificially generated.

In our open-plan living space, I needed a fan speed between eight and 10 to really feel the effect during the warm weather, when sitting around four to five meters from the fan. In my small office (16m2), a fan speed of three was enough to keep me feeling cooler, with the Find+Follow Purifier Cool positioned a couple of meters away.

At its highest speed setting of 10, the Find+Follow Purifier Cool was still relatively quiet at 40-60dB, allowing you to comfortably have a conversation without the need to shout over the noise. Halving the speed sees the sound generated dropped to 20dB (similar to a mosquito), while at its lowest speed I got a reading of around 15dB, just slightly louder than normal breathing (10dB). If you’re looking for a quiet fan, the Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool is a strong contender, but the Duux Whisper Flex 2 has it beat, just.

The quiet operation meant I was able to keep the fan on overnight in our bedroom, with the low level hum not loud enough to disturb my sleep. My partner is a lighter sleeper, and after an initial adjustment, they were able to sleep with it on as well.

(Image credit: Future)

And then there’s the Dyson's Find+Follow party-trick. Enable this mode by pressing the button on the remote or in the app, and the fan will scan the room looking for people. Once it’s detected a person, it’ll direct air flow towards them. Get up and move around the room, and the purifying fan will oscillate to maintain air flow in your direction. It doesn’t rotate particularly quickly, but it’ll keep moving until it picks you up again.

If you leave the room briefly, the Find+Follow Purifier Cool will wait patiently in a ‘dormant’ state for your return. The fan will continue, but movement will only resume when you re-enter the room and it picks you back up.

When there’s clear sightlines in an uncluttered room, the Find+Follow AI does a reasonably good job of tracking movement, delicately rotating as you move about. However, I found if I passed too closely and too quickly, it wouldn’t always continue tracking me, even though I was still within its range of movement. This feature works best in large, open-plan spaces where you don’t need to pass too closely to the fan itself. In smaller rooms, the AI tracking can struggle a little more.

In cases where you leave the room for more than an hour, the system will switch to Auto mode, where the fan’s sensors will adjust the settings to reach the target air quality for the room.

(Image credit: Future)

For those concerned about the privacy implications of this technology, Dyson says the: “AI vision system never identifies anyone and only detects presence. Images are processed instantly within the machine, deleted and never leave the device.” And you can turn off the follow mode at any point using the remote, app, or smart home voice assistant.

When it comes to maintenance, Dyson’s bladeless design makes things super simple, with the wipe of a damp, lint-free cloth all that’s required. You do need to keep an eye on the air intake holes on the base though, as I found pet hair from my two cats would build up over the course of a few days. Dyson suggests using a soft brush to remove this debris.

The Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool is a highly accomplished purifying fan with useful modes, impressive features, and a fun — if slightly creepy — follow mode that a subset of users will find beneficial. Though I wouldn’t say the addition of this tracking camera does enough to fully justify Dyson’s asking price.

I’ve no problem saying that if you have the money, and are looking for a true flagship purifying fan, the Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool absolutely delivers. It’s supremely easy to set up and use, while the performance matches other high-end multi-purpose rivals. But if you’re bulking at the list price, there are plenty of reasonably priced fans — and Dyson purifying fans without Find+Follow — that provide similar levels of performance for less.

(Image credit: Future)Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool review: Price & release date

• Premium price tag of $849.99 / £549.99
• Costs considerably more than its closest rivals
• Available in the UK and US from June 2026; not on sale in Australia

The Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool has been on sale since May 2026 in the UK, and went on sale in early June 2026 in the US but it's unfortunately not currently available in Australia. You can buy it via Dyson directly and a number of major third-party retailers.

The Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool costs $849.99 / £549.99, making it one of the more expensive fan and purifier combos on the market. It’s not Dyson’s most premium purifier (that’s the Dyson Purifier Big+Quiet Formaldehyde), but it is the firm’s most expensive fan, nudging out the $499.99 / £399.99 Hot + Cool HF1.

While the Find+Follow comes with its eponymous following camera tech, that has added $300 / £100 to the retail price of the Purifier Cool PC1 it replaces. The PC1 is still available though and is generally discounted too, if you want similar cooling and purifying results without the person-tracking tech.

If you’re not fussed about the heating or air purifying features, Dyson’s cheapest comparable fan is the Cool AM07 tower at $399.99 / £349.99, although this older model is sometimes discounted.

(Image credit: Future)Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool review: Specs

Speeds

10

Modes

Auto, Find+Follow, Sleep, Purify-only

Control

Remote, app, voice

Room coverage

Medium

Sound level (Max)

61.5dBA

Sound level (Quiet Mode)

50dBA

Oscillation

350 degrees horizontal

Cord length

1.8m

Product diameter

220mm

Weight

5.48kg

Height

1,050mm

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Features galore, and they actually work. If you’re after a do-it-all fan and air purifier, this Dyson has you covered - plus it has a fun party trick in Find+Follow.

5/5

Performance

Excellent air flow thanks to clever bladeless design, and impressive horizontal oscillation. Shame there’s no vertical oscillation adjustment. though.

4.5/5

Design

Sleek, premium and well made, with a small footprint. You need to like white and gold, as there are no other color options. The My Dyson app is also an accomplished offering.

4.5/5

Value

Considerably more than pretty much any direct competitor. You get a supremely premium package, but it’s difficult to justify such a significant price jump versus rivals.

3/5

Buy it if…

You want the ultimate do-it-all fan and air purifier combo
There’s no doubting the Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool is a highly accomplished offering, with plenty of useful features and excellent performance. The remote and app work nicely, while quiet operation and smooth air delivery means you almost forget it’s even on.

You want a fan that reaches almost anywhere
I loved the 350-degree oscillation of the Find+Follow Purifier Cool, as it allowed me to place it in the middle of my open-plan living space and have it gently blow air to almost every corner, hitting folks in the kitchen, dining area, and on the couch.

You care about your home’s air quality
With its HEPA H13 and K Carbon filters, the Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool cleans up the air in your home, removing 99.95% of particles including viruses, bacteria, pollen, pet dander and mould spores, while also neutralizing odors. Plus, you get a detailed air quality report in the My Dyson app.

Don’t buy it if…

You’re looking for the best bang for your buck
The Find+Follow Purifier Cool is considerably more expensive than its rivals, so if you’re after the best feature-to-price ratio, there are reasonably priced fans that deliver impressive performance.

You don’t like the idea of being tracked by your fan
Find+Follow mode is easily turned off, but there’s no physical cover for the camera hardware. It shouldn’t track your life, but I understand if you’re not comfortable allowing a camera of this nature in your home. Dyson still sells the Purifier Cool PC1, which is almost identical to the PC3 on review here, just without the Find+Follow feature.

You aren’t fussed about air purification
Part of the cost here is Dyson’s air purification tech, and if this isn’t a feature you’re interested in you can pick up fans for much less without it. Dyson still sells its Cool AM07 that has the same design as the PC3, without the purification feature.

Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool review: Also consider

Shark TurboBlade
Shark has its own innovative, premium fan design, and the TurboBlade is unlike any fan you’ve seen before. The horizontal bar featuring two fan blades provides unmatched directional control making it the best fan for coverage, and is a vital sleep companion during hot, sticky nights. It doesn’t purify your air, but at less than half the price of the Dyson, it’s a high-end fan worth considering. Read our full Shark TurboBlade review.

Dyson Purifier Cool PC1
If you can live without the Find+Follow feature of the PC3, but still want premium cooling and air purifying, Dyson’s own PC1 purifying fan fits the bill. It has the same design, similar performance, a more neutral colorway (white with a silver base), app connectivity and is $400 / £200 cheaper at time of writing.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool

• Used the Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool for a week
• Used it in the bedroom, office and main living space
• Tested various modes, including Find+Follow and Sleep

I used the Dyson Find+Follow Purifier Cool at home in the UK during a week of very warm May weather (28-31C / 82-88F). I set it up in my open-plan living space, master bedroom, and small home office, to experience how effective it was in different locations.

I tested the range of modes the fan has to offer, including auto, sleep, and Find+Follow. I operated it with the remote, via the My Dyson and Google Home apps, and I even asked Gemini via the smart speakers in my home to adjust fan speed and turn the unit on and off.

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

• Looking for the free video editor version? See our DaVinci Resolve 21 (2026) review

DaVinci Resolve comes in two flavors: a powerful free version - which I reviewed recently, and it remains the best free video editing software and best video editing software I've ever used.

But there's also the more powerful DaVinci Resolve Studio. This is the high-end, pro-grade variant for professional filmmakers and videographers. It unlocks a raft of extra features for a reasonable one-time fee.

Now, I'm a massive fan of both of Blackmagic Design's video editing tools, so I was keen to see what the latest version of Studio brings to the editing bay.

You can download the app by clicking here.

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: Pricing & plans

• One-off cost just under $300
• Advanced professional non-linear desktop video editor and visual effects compositor
• Frankly, it’s a steal at this price

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that you have to pay for professional software. Yes, the free version of DaVinci Resolve is the outlier here, as it offers so much for free, but there are some limitations compared to Studio.

For instance, whereas Resolve limits your exports to 4K and 60 fps (which is honestly fine for the overwhelming majority of us), pros have been known to need more, so Studio lets them work up to 32K and 120fps.

This is but scratching the surface of course, and I’ll show you some exciting features Studio exclusively has over its free sibling in this review, but how much will this cost you, I hear you ask. Less than $300.

Not as a subscription, not the price you have to pay for each major new version, but $300 as a one off, which is the same price Apple charges for Final Cut Pro - at least as long as Apple keeps its one-time charges, since unlike Blackmagic Design, the company have now embraced subscription pricing for its Creator tools.

So yes, $300 for a professional video editing platform, which includes powerful colour grading, special effects creation and audio cleanup, for Windows, Linux and Mac computers. Not too shabby.

Why is it so cheap? Because just like Apple, Blackmagic subsidizes the development cost through their hardware sales - which is there waiting for you, when you’re ready to take your video editing to the next level

• Score: 5/5

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: Interface

(Image credit: Future)

• Modern interface
• Cleverly crams so many features into a single app

Launching Studio after having worked in Resolve, you’ll be hard pressed to notice any difference. The interface looks identical. Even the app’s icon is merely labelled ‘DaVinci Resolve’. The only way you can definitely tell at a glance which version you’re in, is lower left of the bottom toolbar - you’ll either see ‘DaVinci Resolve 21’, or ‘DaVinci Resolve Studio 21’.

Very briefly, Studio’s interface is divided into various sections, which are referred to as ‘Pages’. They’re listed in the order you’re expected to work in (although that’s by no means compulsory). ‘Media’ is where you import and catalog your clips and footage, and ‘Photo’ is brand new for 21 (I explored it in greater detail in my review of the free DaVinci Resolve 21).

‘Cut’ and ‘Edit’ are there to build your project; one is for quick work, the other is for more precise editing, coupled with far more tools and features. ’Fusion’ is for all your special effects magic, while colour correction and grading is done in ’Color’. ‘Fairlight’ is for detailed audio work and sound editing, and when all your work is done, ‘Deliver’ is where you export your finished project.

Each Page offers different tools and capabilities, keeping all workspaces focussed on the work at hand, while letting you effortlessly and seamlessly switch between each as you need to. It’s a great way to keep the interface as simple as possible while allowing you to do everything in a single app, and allows for the easy addition of new Pages, as the developers have just done with Photo.

• Score: 4.5/5

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: AI tools

(Image credit: Future)

• AI tools speed up workflows
• Seriously useful features like background cataloguing

Version 21 of Resolve Studio brings a wealth of new features for the free and paid-for versions, like the aforementioned Photo Page. There are also some interesting and welcome additions, like a spell-checker, as well as emoji support, and being able to see nodes - which are always a challenge for Resolve newcomers - as a list.

This makes them look more like the effects you’re used to from other competing video editors. All that and more is great, but what truly sets Resolve Studio apart is its AI tools, and version 21 introduced some much needed ones, some impressive ones, and some deeply troubling ones.

But let’s start with the positives: AI IntelliSearch. The concept isn’t anything new, as Adobe Premiere Pro has had that ability for a while, and even Apple introduced the same for Final Cut Pro recently (imagine trailing behind FCP…). What this does is ever so useful, especially if you have to deal with a ton of media: select all the clips you need to sort, then right-click, and go to AI Tools > IntelliSearch > Analyse for Search.

If this is the first time you’re doing this, you’ll need to download some ‘packages’, namely ‘AI IntelliSearch Faster’. You can also take the opportunity to grab the ‘Better’ search package, along with any others you’d care to install.

Resolve Studio will then analyse your chosen clips, and depending on how many you have, this could take a little time. Once done, use the regular search field to look for anything specific, like clips containing a ‘person’, a ‘tree’, or an ‘insect’, and after a few seconds, your media pool will only show clips with what you’re after.

Another useful new feature for large projects, is the ability for the algorithms to detect a slate, and catalog your footage based on the information contained on it. You no longer need to manually type in all that info - it’s all done for you upon request. This is what complex algorithms are supposed to do: making cataloguing and organising easier for us humans.

• Score: 5/5

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: Clips

(Image credit: Future)

• Use AI to fix clips without costly reshoots
• Your mileage may vary here

Then we have tools designed to fix problematic shots - those whose focus was a little off, for instance. Ultra Sharpen is an effect that will help salvage such shots… but it doesn’t work miracles: don’t expect a clip whose focus was way off to be rescued in that way.

AI Motion Deblur takes this a little further and aims to sharpen up blurry moving shots. This works by Resolve creating entirely new clips based on the original. You access this feature via the AI Tools menu, just like you do to initiate IntelliSearch. I could see a difference between the original and the improved clip, but I wasn’t able to replicate the remarkable improvements you see in Blackmagic’s promotional pages. You’re given options prior to rendering a new clip, such as choosing an ‘Extreme’ or ‘Standard’ model (the former is selected by default), rendering at the source resolution or not, or using more GPU memory to improve the quality. I turned everything on, and that did actually make for a better output.

These tools are definitely worth checking out if you need to fix some clips and have no alternatives. They’re definitely better than if they weren’t there.

AI Cinefocus lets you alter the focus of footage after it’s been shot. If your foreground and background are pretty much even focus-wise, you can use that feature to add depth of field to your clip, and choose to focus on the foreground, background, or move between the two over time, thanks to a few convenient sliders in the Inspector sidebar. This is a surprisingly powerful filter, with easy to manipulate controls.

• Score: 4/5

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: Face reshaper & transformerFutureFuture

• A common tool for complex AI algorithms
• Improve - or degrade - a person’s face with just a few clicks

If you’re used to manipulating images in Photoshop and the like, you’ll have no trouble understanding these three new tools Resolve Studio are introducing in this latest version. One of them lets you remove blemishes from people’s faces. The process is but a drag and drop away, with a slider to alter the extent of the effect’s power. It’s as simple as you can get, and you don’t even need to put on your makeup!

Face Reshaper is an odd one. After it’s detected the face you wish to alter, and analysed your clip, tracking your subject over time, you’re able to make changes to their facial features - make the eyes wider, reposition the nose, thicken the left eyebrow, and even alter every change you make over time. It can be a little disconcerting, but it can have its uses, especially if you wish to simulate cartoon-like effects in live action footage, or give viewers that ‘uncanny valley’ feel.

And speaking of uncanny valley, there’s AI Face Age Transformer. Remember how we laughed at Marvel’s original de-ageing technology, only to later be impressed with what all those Disney dollars could achieve? Well now it’s possible to replicate this from the comfort of your own editing chair. More or less.

The technology is impressive and works the same way as the Face Reshaper tool, but instead of altering your face like it’s made of putty, you tell Resolve Studio the age the person is and how many years you’d like to add or remove to them (the offset is limited to 50 years either way).

I found aging a person yielded better results, as adding more wrinkles feels more convincing than smoothing out a face (anyone remember those “almost people” from Doctor Who? I kept thinking of that when I used the filter to de-age myself), but it’s still highly impressive what you can achieve with a personal computer these days: de-ageing for the rest of us!

• Score: 4/5

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: AI speech generator

(Image credit: Future)

• An amazing - yet terrifying - feature
• Could be used for nefarious reasons

I've touched on a lot of AI tools found in Resolve Studio 21.

What comes next, though, is as amazing as it is terrifying: AI Speech Generator. Now this is not new. Resolve Studio already allowed you to clone someone’s voice, but you needed a recording of about 10 to 15 minutes, then you had to record yourself speaking and Resolve would then graft the generated voice onto your speech cadence… this was a lot of work, especially compared to what you can do now…

As with IntelliSearch, should you be trying this for the first time, you’ll need to download an additional package. It’s just as free, and is pretty much a seamless experience.

Resolve Studio’s Speech Generator comes bundled with two male and two female voices, which sound pretty much as you’d expect a generated voice to sound… but that’s not even close to the interesting part: there’s also the option to choose a ‘Custom Voice’. In order for that to work, you need to load a recording of the voice you wish to copy. 10 to 15 seconds of clean audio will do, although there’s a hurdle.

A tiny little hurdle: the audio must be a WAV file - not even AIFF is acceptable. This means that if you record someone with your phone, you won’t be able to use that audio - until you convert it into the approved format (which frankly isn’t hard to do).

You then only need to type in your script, click on ‘Generate’, give Studio a few seconds to work its magic, and a new audio clip will appear in your timeline sounding… exactly like the original. You have a few parameters you can alter, such as speeding up or slowing down the speech, altering the pitch, or adding some variation to the audio. Each change you make necessitates the generation of a new audio file before you can check the result, but once you’ve found the right balance, you can churn out clip after clip.

Considering how little this filter needs to work its magic, the result really is truly impressive. It’s so good in fact, it’s concerning. It’s far too easy to make anyone say anything they never said, nor would ever say.

Now of course, Resolve Studio is not the only software capable of doing this; frankly, the genie’s been out of that particular AI bottle for a while, and it’s far too late to put the cork back in. I can see so many potentially useful ways this could be of benefit to a video project, but I also know scammers and nefarious people are also going to love this.

• Score: 2.5/5

Should I buy DaVinci Resolve Sstudio 21?

(Image credit: Future)

Buy it if...

If you’re serious about video editing, need a powerful all-in-one software package which includes the creation of special effects and powerful audio tools, love very useful and well implemented AI tools, and especially appreciate an affordable one-time fee.

Don't buy it if...

The additional tools go above and beyond what you’re looking for in a video editor, you don’t need to export video at 32K, would rather not deal with AI algorithms, and feel the free version of Resolve is more than powerful enough for your needs.

(Image credit: Future)

For more creative software, we've tested and reviewed the best video editing software for beginners and the best video editing apps for mobile devices.

Contains spoilers for all of Sugar season 1.

Sugar season 2 is here after a two-year wait, and the Apple TV series is one of the eight huge new movies and shows streaming this weekend (June 19).

If, like me, you have been eagerly awaiting John Sugar's return, you may have mixed emotions. Although it's great to be back in the sunny LA backdrop with those stunning film noir vibes, it doesn't explore the huge twist we saw in season 1.

Sugar's season 1 twist was so huge, in fact, that if you tell it to someone who has never seen the series, they'll probably laugh at you. It's quite the reveal and does not suit what we see at face value, changing the tone of the series entirely.

In season 1, episode 6, we learned that the sophisticated private detective (played brilliantly by Colin Farrell) is actually an alien disguising himself as a human. It is a plot twist that can make or break a series, as this goes from a film noir mystery to full-blown sci-fi in seconds. Mind blown.

Believe it or not, the alien reveal does work, and it made me more interested in the series as a result. So I was disappointed that Sugar season 2 does not focus on the sci-fi elements as much as it should've, disguising itself once again behind the glitz and glamor of Old Hollywood and the totally normal humans who reside there.

Had they gone harder on the sci-fi, I would have definitely rated this season higher because there is plenty to enjoy here. John Sugar continues to blend in as a human, while most of his alien race have already left Earth. There's a key reason for this, as he's looking for his missing sister Djen (Maeve Djen) and does not want to leave Earth without her.

Sugar's investigation seems legitimate enough; humans go missing all the time, so he's been able to hide his real identity... for now. But when the trail runs cold, he takes on a new case to occupy himself involving Danny Moon (Jin Ha), an up-and-coming boxer whose brother and trainer, Ji (Raymond Lee), has gone missing. Nothing like a new missing person to distract you from your own personal demons.

Kirby Howell-Baptiste has more of a guest role in season 2. (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

Sugar season 2 also features less from Kirby Howell-Baptiste, who plays Sugar's handler and confidante. As an alien herself, she has since left Earth, leaving John behind to do what he needs to. Those hoping to see more from Howell-Baptiste will be disappointed, as Ruby has much more of a backseat role this time.

I am hopeful that, if Sugar season 3 is confirmed, we will see more from Ruby and the other aliens, especially since their mission was compromised and some humans are aware of the alien existence. Sugar simply being on Earth is dangerous, which does present opportunities and threats for future episodes.

The sci-fi elements are not completely forgotten, thankfully, and we do see Sugar using his extraterrestrial powers throughout. But it's like he is trying to hide much of his true self from the audience as well as the in-universe characters. It makes sense given the slow burn of the series, but I really would have liked to see more alien stuff going on, personally.

Sugar season 2 is not quite as good as its predecessor, but I did enjoy returning to its universe after a long break. There's some escapism in the vintage aesthetic; every scene is styled and acted beautifully, but much like the fashion, it won't be to everyone's tastes.

If you liked the noir aspects more than the sci-fi ones, I certainly think you will like Sugar season 2, as it picks up with new cases and characters to learn about. The universe is crafted with care, creating a world full of secrets, no matter what planet you come from.

But you would be forgiven for wanting more, especially since season 1 has dangled that reveal in front of us only to leave us wondering. If they had balanced the Old Hollywood vibes with the sci-fi ones better, I honestly think season 2 could have been perfect.

Sugar season 2 ultimately feels like a sequence of slow, filler episodes teasing what's to come later, which isn't all bad. But it means if season 3 does not happen we will be left with more questions than answers, much like John Sugar left behind on a planet that is not his own.

Outkitel WP500 Ultra: 30-second review

Oukitel has plenty of mid-tier phones, but it’s always interesting to see what it comes up with for a flagship release.

The WP500 Ultra brings a 640 x 512 thermal camera, a hardware privacy kill switch, and a Dimensity 8300 chipset into a single package. Most of those things aren’t gimmicks and are potentially useful to the right buyer.

This design packs a punchy SoC with a good GPU and NPU in the package, plenty of RAM, tons of storage, and a decent camera cluster. But at the asking price of nearly $700, you might reasonably expect that, and possibly more than the 10000mAh of battery.

But the headline feature here is the AI thermal imaging solution using Smart ClearTherm and SceneSync Fusion. This produces remarkably detailed thermal images and video.

For those professionals who want a rugged worksite phone that does most things, the Oukitel WP500 Ultra ticks plenty of boxes. But the asking price still seems a little on the high side for a company that makes some excellent $200 rugged phones.

The only thing stopping this from being one of the best rugged phones we’ve tested this year is the price.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Outkitel WP500 Ultra: price and availability

• How much does it cost? $700/£522/€604
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Direct from the maker or via an online retailer

The Oukitel WP500 Ultra launched with an MSRP of $1,099.99. Direct from Oukitel, the ‘Early Bird’ price is $699.99 in the USA, £521.77 in the UK and €603.86 for those in Europe.

I do hope those lower prices stick a little, because north of $1,000 seems excessive even with these specifications.

At this price, the hardware package is genuinely strong. A Dimensity 8300, 1TB of storage, and a 640 x 512 thermal camera at under $700 would have been exceptional by 2024 standards. And, in the middle of 2026, the price point remains an important factor.

The caveat is that the specialist features inflate the cost relative to buyers who do not need them. A user who wants only a fast, durable, rugged phone can spend less and get a comparable daily-use experience. The WP500 Ultra makes the most sense for buyers who will actively use the thermal camera and the special privacy switch.

To a certain degree, Oukitel is competing with itself for rugged phones with thermal cameras, since they also have the WP61 Ultra. That design costs about $30 less and has double the battery capacity, but that comes with a weight and size penalty.

A phone with thermal vision is the AGM G3 Pro, which sells for the same price, but has less storage, a less powerful SoC and a lower thermal resolution.

If you just want thermal vision and don’t care about the resolution of the sensor, Blackview still makes the BL9000 Pro, which can be found for as little as $550.

Overall, the Oukitel WP500 is offering a better platform than the majority of competing options, but matching their price isn't easy.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• Value score: 4/5

Outkitel WP500 Ultra: Specs

Item

Spec

CPU:

MediaTek Dimensity 8300

GPU:

ARM Mali-G615 MC6

NPU:

MediaTek NPU 580

RAM:

12GB LPDDR5

Storage:

1TB

Screen:

6.78" IPS TFT 550 nits

Resolution:

1080 x 2460 FHD+

SIM:

2x Nano SIM

Weight:

414.3g

Dimensions:

177.2 x 82.6 x 22.9mm

Rugged Spec:

IP68 IP69K dust/water resistant (immerse up to 1.5m for 30 min), MIL-STD-810H Certification

Rear cameras:

108MP Samsung S5KHM6 + Samsung 8MP S5K4H8 Night Vision/Mix + Thermal AI sensor

Front camera:

32MP Sony IMX616

Networking:

WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3

OS:

Android 16

Battery:

10,000 mAh battery (Max 33W charge wired, 7.5W Reverse)

Colours:

Orange, Black

Outkitel WP500 Ultra: Design

• Chunky rugged phone
• Anti leaking technology
• No SDCard slot

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

There is no pretending the WP500 Ultra is anything other than an industrial tool. It is big, heavy, and it is built to take punishment. At 414.3g and nearly 23mm thick, this is a device that earns its keep rather than lives in your pocket unnoticed.

The chassis is reinforced polymer with rubberised grips along the sides and corner armour that looks like it means business. It does. The thermal camera module dominates the rear panel. It is the largest single element on the back of the device and leaves nobody in any doubt about what this phone does for a living. Unless they mistake it for a speaker.

Oukitel has covered all the certification bases. IP68 handles immersion to 1.5 metres. IP69K adds resistance to high-pressure water jets at close range. MIL-STD-810H extends protection to extreme temperatures, shock, vibration, and altitude. That is the full rugged stack. Nothing has been left out.

The screen is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 at 1.1mm. That is a sensible, honest choice. The privacy kill switch sits alongside the standard power and volume controls on the chassis. Its position matters. It needs to be reachable with gloves on, and Oukitel appears to have thought about that.

However, the phone comes with a bumper that left this reviewer entirely confused. In other Oukitel phones I’ve seen recently, a soft TPU bumper was included, but this is a hard, rigid plastic that is as likely to transmit any shock it receives to the phone as it is to protect it.

There is another issue with this bumper that I’ll discuss in the camera section, which might encourage many to dump it.

Where Oukitel haven’t wandered off the rugged phone highway is with the button layout, which has all the usual suspects located where you might reasonably expect them.

The one exception to this model is an extra button that Oukitel amusingly labelled as the “Anti leakage button” and also as ‘the one click encryption button’, or even ‘Privacy kill Switch’, depending on where in their documentation you look.

So what does it actually do, you might reasonably wonder? According to Oukitel, “A single slide instantly disables cameras, microphones, and GPS, preventing photos, videos, audio, and location data from being captured. Ideal for sensitive meetings, confidential work, and situations where privacy matters most.”

My immediate reaction is that it’s a feature someone involved in a criminal enterprise might like, but it makes almost no sense in a business context. Because if you are your worst security threat, and record conversations and take pictures in sensitive meetings, then you’re probably not going to click this button to stop yourself, are you?

And if the phone is doing all these things on its own because it’s been compromised by malware, then that’s probably disabled the button anyway.

Oukitel promises peace of mind with this feature, but presumably only if you don’t think about it.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Other aspects of this design seem better considered, especially the screen.

The 6.78-inch panel runs at 1080 x 2460 with a 120Hz refresh rate. Those numbers sit comfortably alongside mainstream mid-range phones. That is exactly where you want a rugged display to be in 2026. Peak brightness comes in at 550 nits. It is adequate for most conditions, but in direct sunlight, it will test it severely.

As for the rest of this design, there are a few things that look a little rushed or that ended up entirely omitted. On the rushed side are holes for a lanyard, where one isn’t included in the box. And missing in action are a headphone jack and a MicroSD card slot.

What’s truly odd about the MicroSD card situation is that on Oukitel’s specification, it mentions storage expansion being a 2TB TF card. But unless I’m being remarkably dumb, there is no place for this to go. The SIM card tray is incredibly small and only carries two Nano SIMs back-to-back. If this phone does take a memory card, I’m interested to know where it goes.

Those points aside, the design of this phone isn’t terrible, but a few things, like the misplaced features and issues with the bumper, do hint that it might have been brought to market at such a pace that didn’t allow these details to be ironed out.

Design score: 3.5/5

Outkitel WP500 Ultra: Hardware

• MediaTek Dimensity 8300
• 1TB of storage
• 10000 mAh battery

The Dimensity 8300 is the right chip for a phone at this price. It is built on TSMC's 4nm process, uses Armv9 CPU cores, and pairs with the Mali G615 GPU. Benchmarks from other devices using the same chip place it ahead of the Snapdragon 778G and close to the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in sustained loads. This is not a mid-range chip in a rugged case. It is a proper performance part.

Previous Oukitel flagships relied on the Helio G99 or Dimensity 7050. Both chips did their jobs. Neither came close to the 8300. The step up here is real, and it shows in everyday use.

I’ve yet to test a device using the new 9000 series chips, which can use 10667 MHz RAM, but until those become more common, chips like the Dimensity 8300 are a solid choice for both compute and graphics.

The 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM is the honest figure to focus on. Some listings inflate RAM numbers by using virtual memory expansion, which uses storage space rather than physical chips.

Oukitel are one of these, putting 36GB in big letters on the box, and then in a much smaller font 12+24GB below. Yes, you can map 24GB of storage as if it were memory, and with 1TB, you have plenty to spare, but it doesn’t mean this phone has 36GB.

Anyway, 12GB physical is a good number for this category, and it will handle multitasking and demanding applications without complaint.

The 1TB of internal storage is where the WP500 Ultra genuinely pulls ahead. That capacity rivals that of a budget laptop and gives field professionals ample room for thermal imaging, 4K video, and documentation without worrying about running out of space for some time.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Unless weight is a big priority, a 10,000mAh battery is expected at this level. What changes the runtime picture compared with older rugged phones is the chipset. The Dimensity 8300 is a 4nm part, and it is noticeably more efficient than the 6nm and 7nm designs it replaces. That efficiency advantage compounds across a full working day, allowing the WP500 Ultra to perform more and extend its running time significantly.

The 45W wired charging is acceptable, and better than some 33W options we’ve seen elsewhere. Filling a 10,000mAh cell from flat at 45W takes close to two hours and fifteen minutes. Some competitors at this price point have moved to 66W and above, but even with 45W, you can get the battery half full in around thirty-five minutes from flat.

Sadly, there is no wireless charging, and Oukitel could reasonably have done better here given the asking price.

The quoted video playback time is 15 hours, and the standby is a whopping 1754 hours, or just over 73 days.

Some will wonder why it doesn’t have a 20000mAh battery, but that would have elevated the weight closer to 600g, and 414g is enough without making it entirely impractical to carry.

• Hardware score: 4/5

Outkitel WP500 Ultra: Cameras

• 108MP, 8MP and thermal on the rear
• 32MP on the front
• Four cameras in total

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The Outkitel WP500 Ultra has four cameras:

Rear camera: 108MP Samsung ISOCELL S5KHM6, Samsung 8MP S5K4H8, Thermal AI sensor
Front camera: 32MP Sony IMX616

This camera arrangement can be confusing, especially from the Android 16 OS perspective.

If you ask the phone how many camera sensors it has, it will tell you it has five, not four, but it's obvious, examining the cluster, that there are three cameras on the rear, and another on the front.

The confusion comes with the 8MP S5K4H8, because the phone thinks it has two of these, where in reality it has one pulling double duty. Normally, it is a night vision sensor that uses infrared to illuminate the darkness and capture images.

But it also provides a source for the thermal camera to mix into its data to improve the detail and context of its thermal image captures.

This is where the WP500 Ultra makes its case. A 640 x 512 thermal camera is the highest resolution sensor currently found in a rugged smartphone. The AGM G3 Pro sits at 512 x 384. The Blackview BL9000 Pro manages 160 x 120. Oukitel leads the segment on this single metric, and the gap is not small.

Resolution tells part of the story. NETD tells the rest. The WP500 Ultra claims a figure below 50 millikelvin. NETD measures thermal sensitivity. A lower value means the sensor can resolve finer temperature differences, which produces more useful images in real conditions. The stated accuracy of plus or minus 2 degrees Celsius is standard for sensors in this class.

Two AI processing layers sit on top of the raw sensor output. Smart ClearTherm handles image enhancement. SceneSync Fusion attempts real-time scene interpretation and object classification.

The problem here is that I’ve no idea what the actual sensor is, because Oukitel haven’t divulged that. And, it might be that what I’m seeing is 320 x 256 thermal data that is then AI processed with the 8MP data from the S5K4H8. That said, however these results are achieved, it looks remarkably good in my examples.

The practical applications are genuine. Electricians finding overheating components, surveyors checking insulation continuity, security professionals detecting heat signatures, and maintenance engineers spotting failing machinery before it breaks are all realistic use cases for this technology.

If you want to take ordinary pictures, the 108MP Samsung ISOCELL S5KHM6 is a stalwart, delivering great colour-balanced images that are sharp and have a great dynamic range even without HDR turned on.

However, it was when I was taking night vision images that I ran into some issues, specifically in relation to the hard plastic bumper.

It appears that the IR lights used to illuminate scenes interact with the bumper, causing it to emit or refract light back into the Samsung 8MP S5K4H8. This causes odd reflections and smears that can clearly be seen. In one of my example images is a printer, and there is one of these aberrations crossing over it. Once I removed the bumper, these went away, and the images had significantly more contrast.

This is clearly a problem Oukitel overlooked, and those who use the night vision mode will need to ditch the bumper and find something else.

To finish on a high note, Oukitel used some of the asking price to cover Widevine L1 certification. That means Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ deliver full-resolution content rather than a downgraded stream. For professionals on extended deployments who want something decent to watch in the evening, it is a useful detail.

Outkitel WP500 Ultra Camera samplesMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark Pickavance

• Camera score: 4/5

Outkitel WP500 Ultra: Performance

• 4nm SoC
• High-tier performance

Phone

 

Oukitel WP500 Ultra

Oukitel WP210

SoC

 

MediaTek Dimensity 8300

Mediatek Dimensity 8200

GPU

 

Mali-G615 MC6

Mali-G610 MC6

NPU

 

MediaTek NPU 580

MediaTek NPU 580

Memory

 

12GB/1TB

12GB/512GB

Weight

 

414.3g

311g

Battery

 

10000

8800

Geekbench

Single

1239

1246

 

Multi

3525

3968

 

OpenCL

7196

4310

 

Vulkan

8171

4736

PCMark

3.0 Score

15219

13970

 

Battery

22h 37m (19%)

22h 44m

Charge 30

%

42

26

Passmark

Score

18554

16455

 

CPU

8748

8490

3DMark

Slingshot OGL

Maxed Out

Maxed Out

 

Slingshot Ex. OGL

Maxed Out

Maxed Out

 

Slingshot Ex. Vulkan

Maxed Out

Maxed Out

Wildlife

7958

6023

 

Nomad Lite

953

625

Initially, I was going to compare the WP500 Ultra with another phone that had thermal credentials, but my tests don’t cover that aspect, so I went with a different approach.

From the same brand, the WP210 has similar specifications but a smaller battery and no thermal camera. The smaller battery sheds 25% of the weight, though the Dimensity 8200 isn’t far from what its 8300 brother offers at computing tasks.

Where the 8300 excels is with its GPU, which, in a few tests, was 70% quicker at OpenGL and Vulkan. But deep diving into the data I captured when I tested these phones, the GPU improvements mostly come from the memory model each phone deploys.

On the WP210, the average memory latency was 42.5 ns, and database operations were 55,8 KOps per second, whereas on the WP500 Ultra, those numbers were only 32.7ns latency and 228 KOps per second. Those memory enhancements, coupled with the 4th Gen Valhall architecture improvements in the Mali-G615 MC6, explain why the 8300 is that much better at graphics than the 8200.

While the battery life looks similar, as I recall, the WP210 was completely exhausted at 22 hours and 44 minutes, whereas the WP500 Ultra still had 19% capacity left. That implies another 4 or more hours of runtime to completely empty the battery.

A slightly sobering point is that you can get the WP210 direct from Oukitel for $449.99/£295.99, making it substantially cheaper than the WP500 Ultra. It comes down to whether you need the thermal camera or the extra performance if you wish to invest another $250 in the WP500 Ultra.

• Performance score: 4/5

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Outkitel WP500 Ultra: Final verdict

The Oukitel WP500 Ultra is a phone with a clear identity. It knows exactly who it is built for, and it does not try to be something else. The thermal camera resolution leads the segment, and the hardware kill switch is a unique feature in consumer smartphones.

The Dimensity 8300 and 1TB storage give it a performance foundation that most rugged phones cannot match.

The price is the problem. At $699.99, the WP500 Ultra faces serious competition from the AGM G3 Pro. Both offer compelling alternatives for buyers who do not need a hardware privacy disconnect. Oukitel wins on specialisation. It loses on the value aspect for the general buyer.

For professionals who regularly work with thermal imaging, operate in environments where hardware privacy controls are not optional, and need a rugged phone that can keep up with serious workloads, the WP500 Ultra earns its price. For everyone else, the AGM G3 Pro is the smarter spend.

One thing needs resolving before any enterprise buyer commits. Oukitel must confirm its software update policy. Seven years is the benchmark. Anything less at this price needs to be disclosed clearly and reflected in the final recommendation.

That said, no other phone matches 640 x 512 thermal resolution at this cost. The Dimensity 8300 is genuinely fast, and the 1TB of storage is exceptional. For professionals who will use those tools every day, these features might justify the outlay. For everyone else, there might be cheaper alternatives elsewhere.

Should I buy a Outkitel WP500 Ultra?Oukitel WP66 Score Card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

Not a cheap phone, but the thermal vision system justifies some of the cost.

4/5

Design

Not a radical departure, but there are some missing features.

3.5/5

Hardware

Powerful SoC, 1TB of storage and 10000mAh of battery

4/5

Camera

Impressive thermal AI camera and 108MP main sensor

4/5

Performance

Decent performance and efficient use of the battery

4/5

Overall

Great features, an annoying bumper, but the price is too high

4/5

Buy it if...

You need thermal imaging
This is the highest thermal resolution available on a smartphone, though some of this might be AI-enhanced from lower-resolution data. But it's good for thermal work, unless you need a macro for electronics work.

You can make sense of the privacy kill switch
Not leaking critical information from private meetings is something many in business would find an important feature. However, the button doesn’t stop anyone else from doing it around you, so it might not have the impact you want.

Don't buy it if...

You travel light
For some, a phone weighing more than 400g is a practical dealbreaker, and the size of this one won’t allow it to fit in a trouser pocket.

You need a MicroSD/TF card
While the WP500 Ultra does have 1TB of internal storage, you can’t expand this with a memory card like most other rugged smartphones. If you use these cards to capture images and video and then store them, you will need to come up with a different approach.

Also Consider

Ulefone Armor Mini 20 Pro
Another practical, rugged design with an inbuilt camping light, night vision camera and about 60% of the battery capacity of the WP500 Ultra. It’s cheap, but conversely, the cameras aren’t as good, and the SoC isn’t as powerful. For those needing a cheap, tough phone, the Ulefone Armour Mini 20 Pro might be a good choice as it's easily pocketable.

Read our Ulefone Armor Mini 20 Pro reviewView Deal

AGM G3 Pro
A slightly lower-spec phone that uses the Dimensity 7300 platform and has a 512 x 384-resolution thermal camera. However, the trade down in hardware knocks about $70 off the cost of the WP500 Ultra, and it weighs less, too.

Check out my full AGM G3 Pro review

For more ruggedized devices, we've reviewed the best rugged tablets, the best rugged laptops, and the best rugged hard drives

Coway Airmega 100: one-minute review

The Coway Airmega 100 is a small, cylindrical air purifier. It's designed for rooms up to around 63 square meters, packing an impressive Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) of 244 cubic meters per hour and a three-stage filtration system (pre-filter, True HEPA and deodorization filter).

Design-wise, it's a compact white cylinder that's light enough to carry one-handed and small enough to sit on a desk or tuck into a corner. The touch controls on top are simple and intuitive, with an air-quality indicator ring that shifts color based on what it detects.

Performance is where this purifier really shines, though. It's remarkably quiet even for one of the best air purifiers, especially in sleep mode where it drops to just 20 dB, and the auto mode does a good job of ramping up when it detects something in the air. There was also a noticeable reduction in surface dust after a few days of running it, and cooking smells triggered the sensor quickly. While it won’t eradicate stronger smells completely as a purifier with pellet-based carbon filters would, it still performs brilliantly when it comes to everyday dust, pollen and pet dander.

As you’d expect, there are some downsides, though, such as a lack of any Wi-Fi connectivity or app control. A quick look at the Amazon reviews will highlight a number of reports of replacement filters being hard to source in the UK, and while build quality is perfectly fine, it does feel a bit budget in places. Nevertheless, at around £110 / $84 on sale, it represents exceptional bang for your buck.

(Image credit: Future)Coway Airmega 100 review: Specs

Category

Specification

Price

$129.99 / £99.99

Dimensions

8.7 x 15.6 x 8.7 inches / 220 x 395 x 220m

Weight

6.6 lbs / 3.0kg

Room coverage

810 sq ft / 75 sq m

Fan speeds

4 stages (Sleep, 1, 2, 3)

Oscillation

No

Filtration

3-stage True HEPA filtration

Filters

Inseparable 3-in-1 filter (Vacuumable Pre-Filter, True HEPA Filter, Deodorization Filter)

Stated filter replacement cycle

Up to 12 months

Controls

On-device touch controls (Auto mode, Fan speed, Timer, Light, Filter reset)

Additional features

Real-time PM2.5 particle sensor, 3-color LED air quality indicator, 360-degree air intake, soothing night light, timer (1, 2, 4, 8 hours)

(Image credit: Future)Coway Airmega 100 review: Price and release date

• Available now
• List price: £109.99 / $83.99 / AU$199

The Coway Airmega 100 is available to buy now in the UK, US and Australia. It sits at the affordable end of the air purifier market, and even at its full UK RRP of £149.99 / $129.99 / AU$199, it undercuts most comparable models from Philips, Blueair and Levoit, and it's a fraction of what you'd pay for anything from Dyson. At the time of writing, the unit can be picked up direct from Coway for a sale price of $83.99 / £109.99.

Replacement filters cost a very reasonable £27.99 / $39.99 / AU$59, especially compared to the £69.99 you'll pay for the larger Airmega 350's filters. Coway says they should last around 12 months, though in dustier environments you may need to swap them more often.

One thing to flag: a few buyers have reported difficulty finding genuine replacement filters on Coway's UK site, with stock appearing to come and go. Filters are available on Amazon, but some buyers have reported sketchy availability from Coway’s official web store, so it's worth keeping an eye on this if you're planning to keep this long-term.

Running costs are minimal too. With a 25W motor, you're looking at pennies per day even if you leave it running around the clock.

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Coway Airmega 100 review: Design

• Compact and minimal, fits anywhere
• Touch controls are simple and intuitive
• Feels a little cheap, and there are no carry handles

The Airmega 100 is essentially a small, white cylinder measuring just 8.66 inches / 220mm across and about 15.75 inches / 400mm tall. This compact size means it can easily sit on a bedside table, a desk, or the floor in a corner and, at 6.61 pounds / 3kg, it's light enough to pick up and move around to put wherever you need it with ease. The minimal white finish might leave a bit to be desired, but it’s nice enough and will blend in with pretty much any room without drawing attention to itself.

As for the touch panel on top, this is a straightforward design that makes it super easy to navigate, sporting haptic buttons for fan speed, sleep mode, timer, light on/off and a control panel lock. Wrapping around the 360-degree fan grille is an air quality indicator ring that changes color from blue (clean) through green and yellow to red (polluted), giving you a quick visual check on air quality status without needing to press anything. I found the whole thing easy to get to grips with, no manual needed.

(Image credit: Future)

If I had to pull out a negative, I’d say build quality is where the Airmega 100 lets itself down a bit. It looks nice enough from a distance, but up close the plastic feels a bit on the cheap side. It's not flimsy or poorly made; it just doesn't have that reassuring heft you get from pricier models. There are also no carry handles, which is a minor gripe given how light it is, but still feels like something Coway could have added without much effort.

Air is drawn in through inlets at the bottom and expelled upwards through the top grilles, so, like its bigger sibling the Airmega 350, don't expect it to double up as a fan. This device is for cleaning air, not cooling you down.

• Design score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Coway Airmega 100 review: Features and performance

• Impressively quiet, especially in sleep mode
• Auto mode reacts quickly to changes in air quality
• Carbon filter won't tackle strong cooking smells

For such a compact air purifier at such a low price, the Airmega 100 performs surprisingly well. The three-stage filter (pre-filter, True HEPA and deodorization) does a top job of capturing dust, pollen and pet dander, and I noticed a genuine drop in surface dust after just a few days of running it in my open-plan living and dining room.

The auto mode is the standout feature here, though. With a built-in PM2.5 sensor, it’s able to monitor air quality in real time and adjust fan speed accordingly. Start cooking, spray some deodorant or disturb some dust, and the ring will shift color before the fan kicks in. Then, once the air clears, it’ll settle back down. It's properly hands-off, and works really well.

Noise levels are also excellent. In sleep mode, the Airmega 100 drops to a claimed 20 dB, and I can confirm it's near-silent. I ran it overnight in the same room and totally forgot it was there. Even on its highest speed, it's not what I'd call loud, topping out at around 52 dB — that's roughly dishwasher territory, so for a bedroom or home office it's ideal.

FutureFutureFuture

The one area where the filtration falls a bit short is when it comes to strong odors. The deodorization filter uses a carbon-coated fiber rather than the pellet-based activated carbon you'll find in pricier models. While it handles light smells and general stuffiness fine, don't expect it to neutralize strong cooking smells or smoke from a burnt pan. For everyday dust, allergens and general air quality improvement, though, it's perfectly capable.

As with its older brother, the Coway Airmega 350, there's no Wi-Fi connectivity, app nor smart-home integration on the Airmega 100. This means you can't check air quality stats remotely or control it from your phone. That's not ideal, although — unlike on the pricier models — it doesn’t feel as much of a missing feature here. Still, it still feels like something Coway should be thinking about, as a basic app showing air quality trends and filter life isn’t exactly a cutting edge feature these days.

Nevertheless, the purifier’s timer options (you can choose between one, two, four or eight hours) and the control panel lock are both pretty useful additions. And there's a mood-light feature that provides a soft glow for bedroom use, which is a nice touch.

• Features & performance score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Coway Airmega 100?

You want a quiet, compact purifier for a bedroom or office
The Airmega 100 is one of the quietest small purifiers around, and it's small enough to go practically anywhere.

You're on a budget
At around £110 / $84 on sale, with cheap filters and minimal running costs, it's really good value.

You have allergies or pets
ECARF-certified and ozone-free, with solid HEPA filtration for dust, pollen and dander.

Don't buy it if…

You need to tackle strong odors
The carbon filter is fine for light smells, but won't cut it for serious cooking or smoke.

You want smart features
There’s no app, no Wi-Fi, and no voice control, so if remote access matters to you, look elsewhere.

You're worried about long-term filter availability
Some UK buyers have reported difficulty sourcing genuine replacements, which is worth keeping in mind.

Coway Airmega 100 review: Also consider

Category

Coway Airmega 100

Coway Airmega 350

Levoit Core 300S

Price

$129.99 / £99.99

$329.00 / £259.99

$149.99 / £127.48

Dimensions

8.7 x 15.6 x 8.7 inches / 220 x 395 x 220 mm

12 x 23 x 12 inches / 305 x 590 x 305mm

8.7 x 14.2 x 8.7 inches / 220 x 360 x 220mm

Weight

6.6 lbs / 3.0 kg

17.19 lbs / 7.8 kg

5.95 lbs / 2.7 kg

Room coverage

810 sq ft / 75 sq m

2,640 sq ft / 245 sq m

1,051 sq ft / 98 sq m

Fan speeds

4 stages (Sleep, 1, 2, 3)

5 stages (Sleep, 1, 2, 3, Turbo)

4 stages (Sleep, 1, 2, 3)

Oscillation

No

No

No

Filtration

3-stage True HEPA

3-stage HyperVortex True HEPA

3-stage True HEPA

Filters

3-in-1 integrated filter (Pre-Filter, True HEPA, Deodorization)

3-in-1 custom side-load filter (Pre-filter, True HEPA, Activated Carbon)

3-in-1 cylindrical filter (Pre-filter, True HEPA, High-Efficiency Carbon)

Stated filter replacement cycle

Up to 12 months

Up to 12 months

6 to 8 months

Controls

On-device touch controls

On-device touch controls

On-device touch controls, VeSync App, Voice control (Alexa/Google Assistant)

Additional features

Real-time PM2.5 particle sensor, 3-color LED indicator, 360° air intake, night light, timer

Real-time particle sensor (up to PM10), 4-color LED indicator, Eco mode, Mute mode, Light sensor, Control lock, side-loading filter hatch

AirSight Plus laser particle sensor, 4-color LED indicator ring, Auto mode, VeSync app scheduling, voice control, display lock, sleep mode

Coway Airmega 350
If you need to cover a much larger space, Coway's own 350 offers significantly more power and coverage. It shares the same lack of smart connectivity, but the filtration performance is top notch. Read our full Coway Airmega 350 review here.

Levoit Core 300S
A popular compact alternative that has a similar RRP to the Airmega 100. It also boasts built in Wi-Fi and Alexa support, filling the smart features gap the Coway lacks. Read our full Levoit Core 300S review here.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Coway Airmega 100

I used the Coway Airmega 100 for several weeks across different spaces in my home, from my home office to open plan living room and dining area. I tested all fan speeds and modes, monitored the sensor's reaction to cooking, dust and general household air, and assessed the build quality, noise levels, filter access and overall usability throughout.

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

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: 30-second review

The Kensington SD5010T5 EQ is a 13-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 docking station announced in May 2026. It sits at the entry end of Kensington's growing TB5 line-up and is designed to bring next-generation connectivity to a broader audience without the price tag of the flagship EQ Pro.

The key design choice here is straightforward. Kensington trades two of the three downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports found on the SD5000T5 for a pair of built-in HDMI 2.1 outputs. That is a significant swap.

Windows users gain the convenience of plugging monitors in directly, but Mac users with Apple-only displays lose access to the full TB5 daisy-chain capability offered by some of the alternatives.

What remains is still competitive, but it’s a Windows-centric choice.

Another PC-friendly inclusion is that the dock delivers 140W power delivery with KonstantCharge, meaning peripherals continue charging even when the laptop is absent. There are two USB-C Gen 2 ports that the SD5000T5 lacked, three USB-A ports across two speed grades, SD 4.0 and microSD 4.0 card readers, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack.

That spec pitches to Windows-based creatives who want to connect their laptop to multiple monitors and peripherals while recharging.

The issue with Kensington-branded equipment is always the asking price, and the SD5010T5 EQ is at the premium price end of the small TB5 dock offerings. That said, it’s a highly capable device, and on the cusp of being the best laptop docks for Thunderbolt 5 right now.

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Price & availability

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• How much does it cost? $300/£330
• When is it out? Available now in the USA
• Where can you get it? Direct from Kensington or via an online retailer

The Kensington SD5010T5 EQ Thunderbolt 5 Triple 4K Docking Station is currently available through Kensington's official site and selected retail partners.

Launched at an MSRP of $349.99 / £329.99, it falls squarely within the premium pricing tier commanded by next-generation multi-display docks. The actual retail price is $299.99 on Amazon.com in the US, but it has yet to appear on European Amazon locations.

On the UK Kensington website, you are directed to ask for ‘business pricing’, hinting that Kensington want to keep this product decidedly B2B in some regions.

This investment positions it alongside competitor offerings like the Cable Matters Thunderbolt 5 Dock, yet it undercuts hyper-premium alternatives by choosing a tightly curated 13-in-1 layout over expansive, multi-device enterprise chassis. For business fleets, it's a standard three-year limited warranty and unified hardware SKU offer tangible IT cost-reduction benefits during long-term workspace standardisation rollouts.

However, the recent Ugreen Maxidok 10-in-1 offers very similar specifications, equivalent build quality, and better availability than the SD5010T5, but it sells for $50 less.

Also cheaper is the StarTech Thunderbolt 5 Dock, which sells for around $283 on Amazon, and bears an uncanny resemblance to the Kensington product. The same spec, ports, and layout hint that one or both of these products are rebrands or derivatives.

Therefore, with this pricing, Kensington is hoping that its customer base is more trusting of its brand than Ugreen, or that the deals its B2B channel pathway can offer counter those comparisons.

What I should say is that, compared to a few Kensington docks I might mention, the SD5010T5 seems to be on the right side of affordable. But that doesn’t make it a bargain.

• Value: 4 / 5

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Specs

Feature

Specification

Model

SD5010T5 EQ (K35210EU)

Compatibility

Thunderbolt 5, Thunderbolt 4, USB4 (Windows 11 23H2+, macOS 14.5)

Total Ports

13

Thunderbolt 5 (upstream)

1x TB5 host port (80Gbps / 120Gbps Bandwidth Boost)

Thunderbolt 5 (downstream)

1x TB5 ports

USB-A ports

3x USB-A 3.2 Gen2 (1x 10Gbps, 2x 5Gbps)

USB-C ports

2 x USB-C Gen2 10Gbps (1 x 30W, 1 x 7.5W)

Video

2x HDMI 2.1 (+ 1xTB5 ports with adapters)

Display Output (Windows / TB5)

Triple 4K @ 144Hz, or Dual 8K @ 60Hz

Display Output (macOS M4/M5 base, M-Pro/Max)

Dual 4K @ 60Hz via HDMI, or 4K + 6K via HDMI + TB5

Power Delivery

Up to 140W on upstream

Power Use

4.5W each on USB-A ports, 30W on 1x USB-C, 7.5W on 1x USB-C, 15W on TB5 downstream

Storage Slot

N/A

Card Readers

SD 4.0 + microSD 4.0

Network

1x 2.5GbE Ethernet

Audio

1 x 3.5mm Combo Microphone & Headphone Port (front)

Security

Kensington lock slot (cable lock sold separately, (K65020EU or K65021WW))

Thermal

Passive cooling

Construction

Aluminium

Weight

780g

Size

140 x 140 x 40mm

Warranty

3 years

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Design

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• Mac mini-sized
• Plenty of ports
• Only one TB5 downstream port

In terms of physical construction, Kensington has delivered an exceptionally solid, industrial-grade brick. The shell is sculpted from 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) aluminium, featuring a striking milled exterior with structural ridging across its top surface that serves dual purposes: heat dissipation and minimalist styling.

Capped with sleek black impact-resistant composite faces on the front and rear, this unit sits anchored heavily on the desktop. It is a substantial, reassuringly weighted device designed to remain planted even when thick, stiff high-bandwidth cables are plugged into its rear ports.

While this is a guess on my part, I think the target audience here was undoubtedly Apple Mac Mini owners. The size is about 13mm larger, front and side, than the current Mac Mini, and therefore it would easily fit on top of the SD5010T5. I could test that assertion if I owned one, but I never have.

On this dock, the Port layout follows a logical workflow separation, though they show distinct philosophy differences from lower-tier hubs. The front face hosts immediate-access operational IO: an informative status LED, one high-speed 10Gbps USB-A port providing 7.5W of charging, a 3.5mm audio combo jack, and twin high-performance SD and MicroSD 4.0 card readers.

Wisely, the primary high-power upstream Thunderbolt 5 connection is routed safely away to the rear panel alongside the downstream expansion tree.

This layout successfully pushes trailing host cables out of sight, maximising usable desk space. The rear array includes two native HDMI 2.1 ports, a 2.5GbE LAN interface, two standard legacy USB-A ports, and two Thunderbolt 5 receptacles, one each for uplink and downlink.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Unlike competing consumer-grade products, the dock includes integrated dual security-lock slots for Kensington cables, along with an optional zero-footprint vertical-mounting bracket array tailored specifically for dense corporate desks.

The issue the port selection immediately raises is how committed is this dock to TB5. Since you can only connect a single downstream device, that doesn’t naturally translate into more direct ways to exploit its maximum performance potential.

Unsurprisingly, the Kensington Security Slot is present, as it is across the EQ range. A zero-footprint mounting bracket is also available as an optional accessory (K34050WW), allowing the dock to be hidden beneath a desk. That is a thoughtful addition for hot-desking environments where visibility and access are priorities.

Build quality across the Kensington EQ family has been consistently praised. The three-year limited warranty reflects confidence in that construction.

• Design: 4 / 5

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Features

• TB5 Bandwidth
• Triple monitors
• 140W charging

The core proposition of the SD5010T5 EQ centres entirely on the transformative potential of Intel's Thunderbolt 5 standard. By doubling the bi-directional throughput of Thunderbolt 4 to a baseline of 80Gbps, it eliminates the strict interface constraints of yesteryear. Or, that’s the theory.

For complex multi-monitor tasks, its asymmetric Bandwidth Boost mechanism dynamically flexes to deliver up to 120Gbps of pure display pipeline throughput. This immense pipeline allows a Windows 11 host to comfortably drive a spectacular three 4K monitors at 144Hz or dual 8K displays at 60Hz simultaneously over native HDMI and downstream ports without sub-sampling artefacts or compression stutter.

For macOS workflows, the docking station provides comprehensive native support, although it is constrained by Apple's architectural variations across its silicon tiers. Base M4/M5 MacBooks can confidently extend to dual 4K monitors at 60Hz via the direct dual HDMI outputs, while advanced configurations equipped with M5 Pro or M5 Max silicon can completely maximise productivity by driving a full triple-display array.

That said, for numerous reasons, I suspect that Apple fans are more likely to gravitate toward a dock with TB5 daisy-chaining as a priority than toward this layout, which has only one downlink port.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Beyond data and video, power delivery is a standout highlight. Operating under the advanced USB-C Power Delivery 3.1 architecture, the dock outputs a massive 140W over its single upstream link. That’s plenty of power to rapidly fast-charge a high-end 16-inch workstation laptop under maximum computational loads, assuming nothing else is sucking power from the dock.

I’ll talk more about this later, but a 140W output uses most of the PSU's capacity, leading to potential deficits elsewhere.

Kensington has integrated its clever KonstantCharge engineering, which guarantees that downstream accessories and smartphones connected to the designated charging ports continue to receive stable power even when the host laptop is entirely uncoupled from the desk. Which is useful.

Power management on this dock is one of its strengths, but conversely, if you do use three monitors, you won’t have any downstream Thunderbolt ports to connect a TB5 external SSD or an adapter to run 10GbE Ethernet.

• Features: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Performance

• 80Gbps upstream bandwidth
• TB5 Bandwidth Boost for video
• Power seems an issue

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

In synthetic testing and real-world deployment, the SD5010T5 EQ runs at the absolute peak of peripheral capabilities, provided you are feeding it from a native Thunderbolt 5 silicon host. Interfacing with next-generation external storage configurations reveals blistering cross-device speeds, easily saturating high-end NVMe drive enclosures well beyond old Thunderbolt 4 thresholds.

The built-in SD and MicroSD 4.0 readers operate natively on the UHS-II bus, consistently sustaining benchmarked file transfer rates up to 312MBps. This easily outpaces the built-in card readers integrated into premium notebooks, making it a highly valued asset for digital content creators, photographers, and video editors handling raw 8K video timelines.

Networking performance is similarly robust. Upgrading from standard 1GbE to an integrated 2.5Gbps RJ45 Ethernet port allows the dock to mesh perfectly with modern high-speed corporate network infrastructures, accelerating large local network backups and NAS file transfers.

However, early testing uncovers a clear hardware limitation regarding the dock's 180W external power supply unit. While 140W is reliably allocated to feed the host laptop over the upstream cable, that leaves a slim 40W headroom to run the internal hub logic, the high-power 2.5GbE controller, and all remaining downstream ports.

When a user populates the 30W fast-charging USB-C port while simultaneously running a 15W downstream Thunderbolt accessory and drawing power from the front legacy USB-A line, the power envelope hits an absolute wall, which might lead to minor wattage throttling on the uplink or brief accessory disconnection cycles under full load.

It’s hard to say how much extra power the PSU needed to negate this possible pitfall, but some smaller docks, like the Ugreen Maxidok 10-in-1, have roughly 60W to work with above the laptop charging requirements. And, I did also notice that the Maxidok 17-to-1 promises 140W laptop charging, but has a 240W PSU.

But conversely, the Plugable TBT-UDT3 has the same 180W PSU and 140W output as the SD5010T5 EQ, but doesn’t include a 30W-enabled USB 3.2 port.

It may be that Kensington thinks that much headroom is unnecessary for the majority of customers, but evidently, other dock makers see things differently.

Overall, the SD5010T5 EQ delivers the sort of experience that encourages those who have the choice of a laptop or Mini PC with TB5 to side with that technology. For those with TB4 or USB4, there is no practical advantage to this over cheaper docks.

• Performance: 4 / 5

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Final verdict

(Image credit: Kensington Technologies)

There is plenty to like here, if you can ignore Kensington’s temptation to make things more expensive than it can easily justify.

However, if you intend to attach three monitors to a dock, then the ports on this one are well organised, unless you use DisplayPort and not HDMI. That could save you additional expense on adapters that other docks require implicitly.

The flip side of those design choices is that there is only one TB5 downlink, so those who designed this device assumed the buyers wouldn’t have more than one TB5 high-performance peripheral. While that might not seem crazy now, in a few years' time, TB5 or USB4v2 external SSDs might be the norm, creating a bottleneck with this arrangement

In this respect, the SD5010T5 EQ makes a guess about the future: while Thunderbolt 5 is an excellent technology for connecting a dock, it's too expensive for external storage that isn’t premium-priced. If you agree with that prediction, the SD5010T5 EQ is likely a good fit for you. If you think differently, that faster external drives are going to dominate in the near future, a dock with more TB5 ports would probably be a better choice.

As a product in the broader Thunderbolt 5 docking market, the SD5010T5 fills a specific gap. Entry-level TB5 docks with built-in video outputs and strong USB-C provision are not yet common. If the pricing were more competitive, this dock would be easy to recommend to the right buyer.

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Report card

Value

High-quality product but a premium price

4 / 5

Design

Nice engineering and plenty of ports

4 / 5

Features

Works with TB5, TB4 and USB4, and the native HDMI ports avoid the need for adapters.

4 / 5

Performance

Native TB5 video and dual HDMI, but no DisplayLink, The 180W PSU gets stretched thin if every port is used.

4 / 5

Overall

The price and only a single TB5 downlink stop this device from being a go-to choice.

4 / 5

Should I buy a Kensington SD5010T5 EQ?

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Buy it if...

You have Thunderbolt 5
If you have the right ports, you can extract levels of performance from this dock that TB4 and USB4 could only dream. And it can also handle dual 8K video, should you have the monitors to connect to. However, the enormous architectural benefits and 120Gbps video boost require a proper next-gen host to be fully realized.

You demand multi-display native HDMI setups
The inclusion of dual native HDMI ports significantly streamlines multi-monitor cable management without relying on adapters. And, not needing those might save the difference between this and something cheaper.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You are running a Thunderbolt 4 or legacy USB4 laptop
This dock won’t work with TB3, it requires TB4, TB5 or USB4. But while fully backwards compatible with TB4 and USB4, you will pay a massive early-adopter premium for speed capabilities you cannot access.

You need a native DisplayPort
Those aiming to route displays solely via traditional DisplayPort connectors will find this dock heavily prioritising HDMI. You can get a Thunderbolt to DisplayPort adapter, but that’s an extra cost, and you can only use one.

Also consider

Kensington SD5000T5 EQ
More of a hub than a dock, but overall, it is a well-specified dock for those planning to head down the TB5 rabbit hole. However, the lack of machines with this port and peripherals to connect does make it largely overkill at this point. But cheaper than the SD7100T5 EQ Pro.

Check out our Kensington SD5000T5 EQ reviewView Deal

Ugreen Maxidok 10-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station
A similarly sized dock that went a different path with the display and Thunderbolt downlinks, making it probably more suitable for Mac users. I wasn’t a fan of a permanently attached uplink cable, but the rest of this device is excellent. And, it's also $50 less than the Kensington SD5010T5 EQ.

Check out my full Ugreen Maxidok 10-in-1 review

Circular Ring 2: One minute review

The Circular Ring 2 is an ambitious smart ring. On paper, it has almost everything you need. Alongside standard health, recovery and sleep tracking, it offers features you won't find on many rivals, including electrocardiogram (ECG) readings and atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection. Circular is also promising blood pressure and blood glucose trend monitoring in future updates.

At first glance, it feels like a genuine challenger to the likes of Oura, RingConn and Samsung. The ring itself looks good, feels lightweight on the finger and comes with a charging case, which is a welcome upgrade over the previous Circular model. Battery life is solid too, lasting around six days during my testing.

But unfortunately, the day-to-day experience doesn't live up to that impressive spec sheet.

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

The biggest issue is the software. Smart rings don't have screens, which means the app is incredibly important. That's where the Circular Ring 2 struggles the most.

Syncing regularly took several minutes, occasionally failed altogether and often required multiple attempts. Several times I opened the app to check my data, waited for it to sync, gave up and closed it again.

The app itself feels cluttered and unintuitive. Health data is scattered across multiple screens, navigation can be confusing and the language often feels strangely robotic.

One morning, for example, I was told my sleep was "Incorrect" and the next my wellness summary informed me: "Your sleep was correct. Your energy seems low. Your body and mind are unbalanced." Rather than helping me understand my health, experiences like this often left me more confused.

Some of the ring's most exciting features also failed to impress. ECG and AFib monitoring never fully worked during my testing, while promised blood pressure and glucose tracking features have yet to arrive.

What makes all of this especially frustrating is that when I revisited my Circular Ring Slim review from back in 2024, I found many of the same complaints. The hardware has definitely improved, but the software experience still feels a step behind the competition.

The Circular Ring 2 isn't a bad smart ring. It has a good design, respectable battery life and an ambitious feature set. But in a market increasingly dominated by the best smart rings from polished competitors like Oura, RingConn and Samsung, ambition alone isn't enough. Right now, Circular still feels like a company with great ideas struggling to execute them.

Circular Ring 2: Specifications

Component

Circular Ring 2

Price

£280 (black), £360 (silver), £440 (rose gold, gold) / $349, $449, $549 / AU$497, AU$639, AU$782

Dimensions

2.55mm thick, 7.8mm wide

Weight

3g

Finish

Black, silver, rose gold, gold

Sizes

6 to 14

Material

Titanium body, hypoallergenic interior with a PVD coating

Battery life

Up to 8 days (power mode); 5 days (performance mode)

Sensors

ECG, PPG, temp sensor, 3x accelerometer

Connection

Bluetooth

Water resistance

Fully waterproof (rating not specified)

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)Circular Ring 2: Price and availability

• Pricing starts at £280 / $349 / AU$497
• Rolled out after a Kickstarter release in late 2025 / early 2026
• No subscription needed, but premium features expected soon

Rather than arriving as a traditional retail release, the Circular Ring 2 began life as a Kickstarter project in 2025 before gradually rolling out to customers through late 2025 and into 2026.

Pricing starts at £280 / $349 / AU$497 for the black version, rising to £360 / $449 / AU$639 for the silver model I tested. The gold and rose gold finishes sit at the top of the range at £440 / $549 / AU$782.

At first glance, the Circular Ring 2 looks competitively priced. One of its biggest selling points is that it doesn't require a mandatory subscription to access core features, unlike the Oura Ring 4, which starts at £349 / $349 / AU$534 and also requires an additional monthly membership fee of £5.99 / $5.99

However, the picture becomes a little more complicated when you look closer. Circular is already promoting upcoming premium features, including blood pressure and blood glucose trend monitoring, which aren't available but are expected soon. The company says these features will either require a subscription or can be unlocked using Circular Coins, which are earned through regular use, but details remain limited and pricing has yet to be confirmed.

Looking across the wider smart ring market, the Circular Ring 2 sits in a crowded middle ground. It's cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy Ring, which starts at £399 / $399 / AU$699, but more expensive than the RingConn Gen 2 at £299 / $299 / AU$460. There are also budget-focused options now, like the Amazfit Helio Ring, which costs significantly less at £149.90 / $149.99 / AU$269.

The problem isn't necessarily the asking price here but more that the performance doesn't justify it. While the Circular Ring 2 undercuts some of the biggest names in the category, like Oura, Samsung and RingConn, they all currently offer a more polished experience. That makes the Circular Ring 2 difficult to view as good value, even before any future premium features are brought into the equation.

• Value score: 2.5/5

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)Circular Ring 2: Design

• Lightweight, slim design
• Silver color doesn’t scratch
• Nice new charging case included

I liked the design of the Circular Ring 2. The fit was very comfortable throughout testing, even when I was sleeping, and at just 2g it felt light on my finger. The silver finish also looks fairly premium.

Circular offers a wide range of sizes here, from 6 to 14, which beats most rivals. I tested a size 8 on my left index finger, which matched the recommendation from Circular's new digital AI sizing tool.

While the company still offers a traditional sizing kit as well, it's nice to see a less wasteful digital alternative that actually proved accurate in my case. Especially considering you’ll need to pay an extra £5 / $5 for Circular's traditional sizing kit.

The Circular Ring 2 has softer, more rounded edges than rivals like the RingConn Gen 2 or previous Circular Ring Slim. Whether that's a positive or negative will come down to personal preference, but it does make the ring feel slightly chunkier than some competitors despite it being one of the slimmest choices available at 2.5mm thick. A small circular logo on the outer edge makes it easy to get the right way round so that the sensors are where they need to be.

I tested the silver model, which I'd recommend over the black version. Black smart rings tend to show scratches more easily, and that was one of the big problems on the previous Circular Ring Slim. After two weeks of wear, my ring had picked up a few minor scuffs but was in good condition overall.

Another welcome improvement here is the charging case. Unlike the Circular Ring Slim, which relied on a charging cable and small plinth, the Ring 2 ships with a compact clamshell charging case that's easy to carry and use.

Overall, the ring's design is one of the Circular Ring 2's biggest strengths. The company has clearly refined the hardware. Unfortunately, as we'll see later, the software hasn't evolved at the same pace.

• Design Score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)Circular Ring 2: Features

• Lots of features
• ECG and AFib
• Glucose and blood pressure readings on the way

The Circular Ring 2 has an ambitious set of features. Alongside standard health, sleep and activity tracking, it measures metrics like heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), skin temperature and breathing rate.

There are also women's health features designed to track hormonal shifts and fertility, plus stress monitoring, guided breathing exercises, medication reminders and an AI assistant called Kira.

The headline features are ECG measurements and AFib detection, both of which are rare in smart rings. Circular is also promising blood pressure and blood glucose trend monitoring in future updates, though neither feature was available during testing and both will sit behind a premium-ish model when they arrive. Blood pressure is not easy to measure with LED-based optical heart rate sensors, without an inflatable cuff for calibration: it will be interesting to see what form the blood pressure feature eventually takes, and whether it will be accurate.

On paper, it's an impressive package that rivals, and in some cases actually exceeds, what you'll find from bigger names in this space.

• Features Score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)Circular Ring 2: Performance

• Disappointing app
• Slow to sync and update
• Battery life is improved

The Circular Ring 2 made a good first impression. Basic metrics like steps, heart rate and sleep tracking all seemed reasonable during the first few days of testing. But the longer I wore it, the more problems started to emerge.

The biggest issue is the app. Smart rings don't have screens, which means if you think about it, the app effectively is the product, much like a Whoop band. That's where the Circular Ring 2 falls behind rivals.

Syncing is frustratingly slow. Pulling data from the ring often took several minutes and occasionally failed altogether, forcing me to try again. That might sound like a small complaint, but it adds unnecessary friction. Several times I found myself opening the app, waiting for data to sync, then simply closing it again. If I owned this ring long-term, I suspect I'd eventually stop checking the app altogether.

The app itself feels cluttered and unintuitive. Health insights, scores, charts and features are scattered across multiple screens, while the home page is filled with circles, cards and widgets competing for attention. Even as someone who tests wearables for a living, I often found it harder than it should be to locate specific information.

The language doesn't help either. As mentioned above, the app kept telling me my sleep was “Incorrect”, or my body was "unbalanced", which left me confused rather than enlightened.

The AI assistant, Kira, wasn't much better, largely repackaging existing data in a confusing format with tiny fonts and a huge chunk of text with generic recommendations, like "stay hydrated". Some of the ring's most exciting features also failed to deliver. ECG and AFib monitoring never fully worked during my testing, repeatedly getting stuck on a loading screen.

Sleep tracking was generally accurate when I followed a conventional sleep schedule, but it struggled with fragmented sleep and occasionally recorded inaccurate sleep times. On several occasions I woke up for a few hours before going back to sleep, only for the ring to record the entire period as one continuous sleep session.

Workout tracking isn’t what smart rings do best. But here it still feels like an afterthought. Sports Sessions are hidden away, must be started manually and there's no automatic workout detection, unlike competitors like the Oura Ring 4 and Samsung Galaxy Ring. I also experienced a handful of smaller bugs, including random disconnections and occasional time zone changes despite not travelling anywhere.

Battery life is one area where the Circular Ring 2 performs well. Circular promises up to five days in Performance Mode and I managed six days during testing. That's competitive with most major rivals and a significant improvement over the Circular Ring Slim.

Overall, the Circular Ring 2 feels like a smart ring with excellent ideas but inconsistent execution. Yes, the hardware is good, the feature list is impressive and the battery life is solid. But the software experience remains frustratingly rough around the edges, and in an increasingly competitive smart ring market, that's difficult to overlook.

• Performance score: 2.5/5

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)Circular Ring 2: Scorecard

Category

Comment

Score

Value

There’s no subscription, which makes it seem like good value. But once you factor in the inconsistent performance and the strength of the competition, it's difficult to justify the price.

2.5/5

Design

Lightweight, comfortable to wear and I liked the charging case. It doesn't stand out against the best-looking smart rings on the market, but the hardware feels thoughtfully designed with minimal signs of wear.

4/5

Features

An impressive range of health, wellness and sleep tracking features, including ECG and AFib monitoring. The challenge isn't the breadth of features available, but the fact that some are still missing despite being promised.

4/5

Performance

The feature set is promising, but it’s held back by slow syncing, buggy behavior and an app that feels cluttered and unfinished. Battery life is good, but an overall lack of polish makes it difficult to recommend.

2.5/5

Circular Ring 2: Should I buy?Buy it if...

You don't want to pay a subscription
Most of its features are available without an ongoing monthly fee. If you've been put off smart rings like Oura because of the subscription, this is a big draw.

You want a comfortable smart ring
It’s lightweight, comfortable to wear and a noticeable improvement over the Ring Slim that came before it.

You mainly want general health insights
If you're looking for a broad overview of things like sleep, recovery and activity rather than detailed fitness data, it does cover the basics.

Don't buy it if...

You want a polished, reliable experience
Slow syncing, occasional bugs and an unintuitive app make the Circular Ring 2 feel less refined than leading rivals.

You care about data accuracy
Sleep tracking struggled with fragmented sleep during testing, ECG and AFib monitoring didn't work consistently, and workout tracking feels underdeveloped.

You're considering Oura, Samsung or RingConn
The Circular Ring 2 has an ambitious feature set, but the overall experience isn't as polished as the leading smart rings on the market.

Also consider

Oura Ring 4

For a more premium and polished ring, app and performance, try the Oura Ring 4. The main reason I'd dissuade people from the Oura is it's expensive, but the silver version is actually cheaper than the Circular Ring 2. Granted you do then have to pay £5.99 / $5.99 per month for the subscription, but that's still better value considering it's a major step up in performance. The Oura Ring 5 has just been released, which means if you want the cream of the crop do consider that too.

Read our full Oura Ring 4 reviewView Deal

Amazfit Helio Ring

Now, this ring is not necessarily better than the Circular Ring 2. It certainly doesn't track as much, the design isn't as premium-looking and there are limited sizes. But I'm including it for those on a budget, as it's significantly cheaper and continues to be reduced. On the Amazfit site at the time of writing, you can pick one up for £149.90 / $149.99. Ideal if you're not sure if the smart ring form factor is for you.

Read our full Amazfit Helio Ring reviewView Deal

How I tested

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

I tested the Circular Ring 2 for 2 weeks. I wore it 24/7 and only took it off to charge it and when I was lifting weights — I learned the hard way testing smart rings over the years that they're very easy to scratch. It was on throughout workouts, working, socializing, relaxing on an evening and sleeping at night.

I've been reviewing smart rings since the very first iteration of the Oura ring came out in 2017 and have tested almost every generation from every smart ring brand since. Which puts me in a great position to compare models, tell you which is right for you and bring you that all important context about the smart ring industry.

• First reviewed: May 2026

Camp Snap 2: two-minute review

From a simple idea, Camp Snap is building an empire. The concept of an ultra-cheap point-and-shoot digital camera with no screen — meaning you can’t see the photos you take until you download them after the fact — proved to be a massive hit, and the original Camp Snap camera has since been joined by the video-focused Camp Snap CS-8, and the upgraded CS-Pro, which doubles the resolution from 8MP to 16MP. And now, we have the Camp Snap 2.

The makers are clearly keen not to mess with success, because the Camp Snap 2 keeps the feel and concept of the original camera very much intact. This new model keeps an 8MP sensor, and it once again has no screen, just a small panel with a running shot counter, a fixed-focus lens, and an LED flash. So, you might ask, what actually is new?

A few things, but the most significant is the new ‘Filters’ button, which allows you to select from a series of vintage-style looks for your images. This was an idea already explored on the CS-Pro, but the Camp Snap 2 ups the ante with six filters rather than the Pro’s somewhat paltry four. While you have to invest some time into learning which filter is which and what they look like (since you can’t check your images mid-shoot), this makes the Camp Snap 2 a more varied and versatile camera to use than the original, adding greater scope for creativity.

This is an important addition, given that there's little room for creativity elsewhere — the lens is fixed-focus and there’s no settings control. Furthermore, the Camp Snap 2 adds a tripod mount, a 33.5mm filter thread on the lens and lugs to attach a strap (though one isn’t supplied). These additions combine to make the Snap 2 feel a bit more like a proper camera than the original ever did. Its image quality is still no great shakes, but the Camp Snap 2 offers more scope and variety without sacrificing its identity as a camera that basically anyone can use — like the original, it’s very kid-friendly.

(Image credit: Jon Stapley)

I’ve taken the Camp Snap 2 everywhere with me for a couple of weeks, and I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The newly slimmed-down body makes it easy to slip into a pocket and pull out for quick grab shots here and there, and with no screen, you can’t spend time fussing over them after the fact.

Normally, when a successor camera is this iterative and minor an upgrade, we reviewers tend to say things like 'If you already own the original, save your money.’ But this is a bit of a different situation. Because the Camp Snap 2 is so cheap, I’d say that if you already own, like and use the original Camp Snap — hell yeah, you might as well upgrade. The filter button adds depth and variety, and one of the most irritating features of the previous model — the shutter lag — has mostly been dealt with.

I’d also go so far as to say that for many users, this is probably a better buy than the more expensive CS-Pro. You get a more pocketable camera for a lower price, and for the types of people who are shooting with Camp Snaps, I don’t think an extra 8MP of resolution is all that useful, particularly when the sensor is not especially larger. The main reason you might prefer the Pro is that its filters are more dramatic and distinctive, though there are fewer of them.

So, if you like the original Camp Snap, and like the sound of the Camp Snap 2 — yes, I feel comfortable recommending you buy it too. At this price, why not?

(Image credit: Jon Stapley)Camp Snap 2: price and availability

Camp Snap hasn't got carried away with its success, and the Camp Snap 2 is still very attractively priced indeed, launching at $69.95 / £53 (around AU$130). This is at about the same level as the original Camp Snap, and comes in way less the CS-Pro, which goes for $99 / £90 (around AU$180).

Snap 2 is currently available from the Camp Snap website, and I expect before long it’ll also make its way to major retailers, the way the original Camp Snap has.

Frankly, this pricing is perfect. For a fun, knockabout digital camera that doesn’t offer much in the way of image quality and is all about the ultra-simple point-and-shoot vibes, nobody should be paying more than this. It’s a camera that pretty much anyone can instantly pick up and use, at a price that lots of people can afford.

Camp Snap 2: design

• Even slimmer and lighter than the original, just 3.8z / 108g
• All-plastic build with LED flash and fixed-focus lens
• Point-and-shoot operation, but adds button to switch filters

The original Camp Snap was already slim, but the Camp Snap 2 is even slimmer — around 15% slimmer according to the manufacturers. It is genuinely pocketable in a way that not all cameras that make ‘pocketable’ claims actually are, and at 3.8oz / 108g it’s a true featherweight. The body is all-plastic, of course, but the front has a nice textured surface for a bit of extra grip, and there’s an indentation on the rear panel for your right thumb to rest. On the sides there are lugs for attaching a strap, though no strap is supplied with the camera.

On the top you have just a single button: the shutter. This is of course a point-and-shoot, so you won’t be fiddling with settings dials. On the front you have the LED flash and the fixed wide-angle lens — and, a new addition, a 30.5mm filter thread on the lens. Though this was on the CS-Pro, it wasn’t on the original Camp Snap, and it allows you to attach screw-on filters to imbue your images with specific effects — as one reader suggested, a good fit for the Camp Snap would be a mist filter to enhance the lo-fi, retro feel of images. Camp Snap has also not-so-subtly hinted that Camp Snap-branded filters will be coming in the future.

At the rear you have the simple screen, which displays a shot-counter and lets you know which filter you currently have selected. As well as the aforementioned thumb groove, you also have the power switch, which doubles as a flash toggle, and the tinny speaker that plays the stock ‘shutter release’ sound effect. The viewfinder is a perfectly serviceable optical type — if you’ve ever used an old-school disposable, it’ll be familiar. It’s nothing special but it does the job.

Jon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon StapleyJon Stapley

To the right of the screen, there’s the new filter select button. Pressing this button allows you to cycle through the filter selection. It can also be held down for ten seconds to activate ‘Camp Lock’ — which locks the button to make the camera more useable for children (negating a scenario in which they accidentally take all their pictures in black and white). Hold down for ten more seconds to unlock. Also, while testing this, I inadvertently discovered that tapping the filter button twice in quick succession will cause the camera to take two photos. Not sure why, but there you go.

At first it seems like the Camp Snap 2 doesn’t have a battery indicator like the four LEDs on the CS-Pro. In fact, it does, but you could be forgiven for not noticing it. When you boot up the camera, the screen will briefly display a number between 0 and 100, before reverting to your current shot counter. This is, I believe, a percentage-based battery indicator. It’s not exactly advertised, and easy to miss given that your shot counter will likely be a quite similar number, but it is there.

(Image credit: Jon Stapley)

Color-wise, the Camp Snap 2 is available in a selection of standard shades — green, black, white, yellow and brown. However, it can also be bought in a selection of rather stylish translucent ‘jelly’ colorways, evoking the early-millennium trend for translucent tech. I’ll admit that I think these versions are pretty cool, and my partner (who isn’t into cameras) independently showed me them on Instagram because she liked the look of them. I suspect they’ll be very popular.

Camp Snap 2: performance

• Image quality is a bit scuzzy, but it's part of the lo-fi charm
• Operation is very easy, and the shutter lag from the original has been dealt with
• New filters add creative options, but aren't as striking or distinctive as those on the CS-Pro

As mentioned, the Camp Snap 2 uses the same sensor as the original, so raw image quality is identical. You still get 8MP images with limited dynamic range. Blown-out highlights are a fairly common sight, as are muddy and indistinct shadows. In the latter situation, the LED flash can be helpful, though it’s nowhere near as powerful as a proper Xenon flash (which the CS-Pro has).

The new filter dial really does add some welcome creative depth. You have six options — first there’s the Standard (S) look, which produces naturalistic but warm colors. Then you have Vintage 1 to 3 (V1, V2, V3). V1 ups the saturation and has a slight purple tint; V2 is almost identical to Standard, but slightly cooler; V3 has a distinctly sunny yellow cast.

Next, there’s the black & white mode (BW), which delivers decent contrast for striking monochrome. And lastly there’s the interestingly named Analog (A). I was expecting this to be covered in artificial film grain, something that Camp Snap experimented with on the CS8. But in fact, it’s the warmest look of the bunch, with muted colors and a slight magenta cast, and it proved to be my favorite.

Standard (S)Jon StapleyVintage 1 (V1)Jon StapleyVintage 2 (V2)Jon StapleyVintage 3 (V3)Jon StapleyBlack & white (BW)Jon StapleyAnalog (A)Jon Stapley

I was surprised by how subtle the filters were, especially coming off the back of the CS-Pro, in which they are very striking. Someone looking for a dramatic image effect might come away a little disappointed; V2 in particular is so similar to Standard that I questioned the point of having it. I think in practicality, most users will probably just figure out which is their favorite and stick with it, occasionally switching to BW when the moment calls. I can't exactly picture myself agonizing over whether this pub garden sunset deserves V2 or V3.

Filter: SJon StapleyFilter: SJon StapleyFilter: SJon StapleyFilter: SJon StapleyFilter: SJon StapleyFilter: SJon StapleyFilter: V1Jon StapleyFilter: V2 Jon StapleyFilter: V3Jon StapleyFilter: BWJon StapleyFilter: AJon StapleyFilter: AJon StapleyFilter: S, with flash. It's not flattering, but it works.Jeremy LowenFilter: I don't know, I'd had a few beers.Jon StapleyFilter: AJon StapleyFilter: AJon Stapley

One oft-criticized aspect of the original Camp Snap was its shutter lag — the appreciable delay between the user pressing the shutter button and the photo actually being taken. This was significantly improved in the CS-Pro, with a more powerful processor, and in the Camp Snap 2 it seems to have been somewhat improved.

However, I would note that the lag seems to be mostly confined to the cosmetics — the shot counter and the shutter release sound effect. On a few occasions, I pressed the shutter and then heard the MIDI ‘clunk’ half a second after moving the camera away, and chastised myself for missing a shot through impatience. But later, when I reviewed the image, I seemed to have gotten away with it. And I can live with the sound effect being slow if I still have the shot in the bag.

It’s also worth noting that the Camp Snap 2 has a new feature called QuickDraw. After a period of inactivity, the camera sleeps to save power, but you can press the shutter button while it’s in this state, and it will wake and quickly take a picture. Note that I said ‘quickly’, not ‘instantly’ — it does take a moment to bestir itself. I’ve seen a few comments online complaining about shutter lag, and I actually think this is probably what they’re referring to. When the camera was awake, I experienced no real shutter lag issues.

Should I buy the Camp Snap 2?

(Image credit: Jon Stapley)Buy it if...

You want a camera to take everywhere
Slimmer than ever, the new Camp Snap 2 is genuinely a pocketable camera, so light it’s easy to always have on you.

You want a screen-free experience
Camp Snap’s key selling point, the lack of a rear screen, makes it great for those who want a more immersive, analog-style shooting experience.

You want a bit more creative versatility
While it’s still a point-and-shoot, the new filter selection, tripod mount and filter thread all make the Camp Snap 2 a more versatile camera than its predecessor.

Don't buy it if...

You want an image quality upgrade
The Camp Snap 2 uses the same small 8MP sensor as the original.

You want a fast, responsive camera for action
While the shutter lag has been improved, you still wouldn’t exactly call the Camp Snap 2 a speedster — there’s no burst mode.

How I tested the Camp Snap 2

(Image credit: Jon Stapley)

• I received a loan unit of the Camp Snap 2 for testing
• I have taken it out on a number of photo excursions, as well as to a sporting event and to a concert
• I’ve shot in variable light conditions throughout June, though with mostly very bright and sunny weather

I received a review sample of the Camp Snap 2 from the manufacturers, and had it in my pocket and about my person for a couple of weeks. I took it on excursions around London, as well as on trips south to Bradford-on-Avon, Frome and Bath, during which time I used it to capture more than 100 photos using all of the filters, in a range of weather and lighting conditions.

First reviewed June 2026

UGreen MagFlow Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 10000mAh Qi2 25W review

The absurdly lengthily named UGreen MagFlow Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 10000mAh Qi2 25W is the sort of gadget that makes everyday life feel that little bit easier.

It’s a power bank that features three key components: a wireless charging pad, an integrated USB-C cable, and an additional USB-C port. These can be used individually or simultaneously, making it easy to juice up multiple devices at once, or even charge the power bank while bringing your phone back to life.

No matter which of these three components you’re using, the UGreen Qi2 25W power bank assures steady performance — a base requirement for any model rivaling the best wireless chargers and best power banks. For instance, the 5,000mAh Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra projected that it would take about 2 hours and 58 minutes to charge with this power bank, and I found that figure to be spot on. In addition, fast-charging worked well with the integrated cable and extra USB-C port, whether I was juicing up the Nothing Phone (4a) or recharging the power bank itself, with 30W charging available here.

Luckily, this model also supports a wide range of charging standards, including PD 3.0, Qi2 25W, QC 4.0, PPS, and more, meaning its well-equipped to serve a gigantic range of devices from a variety of brands, including Apple gear, Android phones, and a whole host of others.

Of course, this model has a 10,000mAh capacity battery, which should be fine for charging a phone and a pair of the best wireless earbuds, for instance, but you’ll still need to recharge the power bank fairly regularly. If you want a device that’s better suited to more power hungry devices, or one that can juice up your phone multiple times on a single charge, then it may be worth looking at a bulkier alternative like the Anker 737 140W.

One of the benefits of the UGreen Qi2 25W’s more modest capacity, though, is that it's incredibly compact. This model can easily slide in your pocket, and when it's magnetized to your phone, it doesn’t feel clunky or uncomfortable to hold. Its highly portable design makes it the ideal device to take when you're journeying by train or plane, or whenever you’re out and about, especially given it's just 0.6lbs / 254g in weight.

As is the case with most UGreen chargers, this model is also rammed with tech designed to prioritize safety. UGreen says the Qi2 25W has “13-layer protection,” with features like high-temperature shielding, short circuit prevention, and overcharging protection.

I never experienced any technical faults with my unit during testing, and although my charger and phone did feel a little hot after a full charge, this wasn’t to a dangerous degree — and this is understandable given the power bank’s slim build.

(Image credit: Future)

One final thing that impressed me with the UGreen Qi2 25W, was its build quality. This model is beautifully constructed, with a textured silicone and metallic finish, a range of attractive color options, and a “military grade” integrated cable, which UGreen claims to have survived a 10,000+ bends test. There’s also a nifty display on-board, which makes it easy to know when your power bank is close to being fully charged.

So, is the UGreen Qi2 25W worth buying? On performance alone, I’d say yes. Although there’s one more thing we have to consider: price. And this device doesn’t come cheap. It has a typical asking price of $89.99 / £79.99 / AU$99.99, which is quite a bit for a power bank with a 10,000mAh capacity and 30W wired charging capabilities.

However, it’s worth noting that an all-in-one combination of Qi2 wireless charging, an integrated cable, and a display is always going to come at a premium. There’s also an extra USB-C cable included in the box, and again, the build quality here is excellent. What’s more, you can grab this model on sale quite regularly. When writing this review, I spotted it on sale for less than $60 / £55 / AU$80, and at that price, I think this wireless charger-power bank hybrid is well worth considering.

(Image credit: Future)UGreen MagFlow Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 10000mAh Qi2 25W review: price & specs

Price

$89.99 / £79.99 / AU$99.99

Capacity

10,000mAh

Total wattage

25W

Number of ports

1 (excluding 1x built-in USB-C cable)

Port type(s)

USB-C

Wireless charging

Qi2, MagSafe

Weight

0.6lbs / 254g

Dimensions

0.8 x 2.8 x 4.3 inches / 21 x 70 x 110mm

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the UGreen MagFlow Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 10000mAh Qi2 25W?Buy it if…

You want a compact all-in-one charging solution
With 25W wireless charging, an integrated cable, and an extra USB-C port, it really does feel like this model is the ideal all-in-one charging solution. You can even recharge the power bank and juice up your phone simultaneously, which makes this an incredibly convenient tool to have in your arsenal.

You’re yet to upgrade from a 15W wireless charging
Until last year, 15W wireless chargers were the standard, so a lot of consumers are yet to take the step up to a model that supports 25W. So, if your device is capable of 25W wireless charging, but you’re still stuck with an old 15W model, this UGreen power bank is sure to give you a significant performance boost.

Don’t buy it if…

If you don’t really need wireless charging
If you don’t need wireless charging, but just want a compact power bank to take out and about, then I’d suggest skipping this and going for something cheaper. I regularly use the Anker Nano Power Bank 10K 45W Built-In Retractable USB-C Cable, which is much cheaper in markets like the US and UK, but is incredibly reliable.

If you need to charge power-hungry devices
The UGreen Qi2 25W is great for juicing up the best phones, wireless earbuds, and smaller electronic devices, but if you need something capable of charging laptops or more power-hungry handsets, then this model’s 10,000mAh capacity and max 30W charging won’t be enough for you. Instead, I’d recommend a power bank like the Anker 87W 20,000mAh Power Bank.

UGreen MagFlow Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 10000mAh Qi2 25W review: also consider

Anker Nano Power Bank 10K 45W Built-In Retractable USB-C Cable
If you don’t mind skipping on the wireless charging aspect to save a bit of cash, then this Anker power bank could be ideal for you. It has the same capacity as this UGreen model, but can charge a little faster with a 45W max power output. It has an integrated cable for practical on-the-go charging, but also features an extra USB-C and USB-A port if you’re looking to juice up multiple devices simultaneously. Its neat display and ultra-compact form only help to establish it as one of the best small power banks around. Read my full Anker Nano Power Bank 10K 45W Built-In Retractable USB-C Cable review.

Light spoilers follow for House of the Dragon season 3 episodes 1 to 4.

House of the Dragon has a reputation to rebuild after its somewhat divisive second season. At watching its first four episodes, I suggested that House of the Dragon season 2 was the popular show at its "volatile, merciless, and masterful best". However, its latter chapters drew fierce fan criticism for spinning the show's narrative wheels, and a distinct lack of high-stakes, fiery action.

The high-fantasy series' latest installment, then, has the chance to set things right; and, after sitting through House of the Dragon season 3's first four entries, it goes a long way to making amends for its sluggish forebear, even if this season itself isn't beyond reproach.

Fire and ash

Alyn (left) and Corlys (right) prepare for The Battle of the Gullet, aka this season's first major set-piece (Image credit: HBO)

Just as its predecessor did after season 1's bombshell ending, House of the Dragon 3 seamlessly transitions from House of the Dragon's season 2 finale by immediately picking up where that episode left off.

Amid multiple plot threads left dangling by season 2 episode 8, this season opens with the one that saw Queen Dowager Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) secretly make a deal that would allow Rhaenyra to fly to King's Landing, and finally claim the Iron Throne with little to no resistance. In return, Rhaenyra would grant Alicent and her daughter Halaena (Phia Saban) safe passage out of Westeros' capital city.

House of the Dragon has certainly improved across the board but, maddeningly, still has its limitations

As the saying goes, though, the best-laid plans often go awry — and this one certainly does, in dramatic, action-packed, and ultimately fatal fashion.

Indeed, with season 2 seeing Rhaenyra instruct Ser Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) to form a blockade of King's Landing's ports to starve out the Hightowers, one of the latter's allies in House Lannister convinces the Triarchy — an Essosi naval military alliance — to align themselves with Team Green to destroy said blockade. Thus, the much-anticipated Battle of the Gullet begins.

The Battle of the Gullet is visually impressive, but ultimately left me wanting more (Image credit: HBO)

Considering how much this sea-based conflict has been hyped up by the cast and crew pre-release, I was expecting a devastating, multi-stage set-piece to rival those of Game of Thrones' best action-heavy standalone episodes, such as 'The Watchers on the Wall' or 'The Battle of the Bastards'.

Color me disappointed, then, that this titanic clash only flaunted across the final 25 minutes of House of the Dragon 3's premiere.

The Battle of the Gullet isn't worthy of a spot in Thrones' best battles pantheon

That's not to say it's terrible. The Battle of the Gullet is a brutal and nerve-fraying showdown between Corlys and Triarchy commander Sharako Lohar's (Abigail Thorn) forces, and the ruinous events that occur create irreversible shockwaves that ripple out and impact every subplot and major story strand.

Nevertheless, it's not as hard-hitting as conflicts that occur in the aforementioned Thrones episodes, nor does it fully capture the unrelenting pace or futile struggle of the White Walkers' attack section of the main show's fan-favorite 'Hardhome' installment. That's partly down to this season's first major action sequence being intercut with other scenes, which disrupt its flow and dampen its explosive impact.

Sharako Lohar leads the Triarchy during The Battle of the Bullet (Image credit: Ollie Upton/HBO)

The Battle of the Gullet was supposed to bookend last season, but was withheld for this season's opener due to budget and time constraints. However, despite having a longer runway, and more money to do justice to this hugely significant conflict, it's not worthy of a spot in Thrones' best battles pantheon.

It's not the only action-based criticism that season 3 arguably deserves. Like the HBO Max TV series' sophomore outing, this season's first half disappointingly opts to only show us the final moments of Daemon Targaryen's (Matt Smith) ongoing crusade in the Riverlands, rather than a full battle. If House of the Dragon wants to overcome accusations of being an action-light show, it seriously needs to step things up in season 3's latter half.

Seize the throne

Rhaenyra will aim to become Westeros' new monarch in season 3 (Image credit: HBO)

Thankfully, House of the Dragon 3 succeeds in other areas, including its depiction of Rhaenyra's emotional and psychological unraveling.

Few other actors could deliver the kind of powerhouse performance and emotional gravitas that D'Arcy does

Given the sheer number of traumatic events she's tolerated, few viewers will be surprised by this development. Unfortunately for Rhaenyra, more heartache awaits, and one such moment early in season 3 episode 2 left me in little doubt, if any remained, that few other actors could deliver the kind of powerhouse performance and emotional gravitas that D'Arcy does in this show.

D'Arcy continues to fire on all cylinders in a breath-taking seasonal display of acting prowess (Image credit: HBO Max)

That opinion has only been further strengthened by how D'Arcy handles a grief-stricken and rage-filled Rhaenyra's not-so-subtle evolution into something of a mad queen, too. This season's third episode, an action-free, one-woman character study that might be my favorite House of the Dragon episode in a long time (which, given my earlier-outlined criticism, is something of an irony), tangibly cranks up the pressure on Rhaenyra in ways I won't spoil here, and lays the foundations for what I expect will be a full-blown breakdown in the near future.

In that regard, Rhaenyra's descent into madness will be less abrupt and abrasive than of Daenarys' similar heel-turn in the final season of House of the Dragon's parent show. Nonetheless, as much as I like her as a character, I can't wait to see how her volatile decision-making and handling of those loyal to her will come back to haunt Westeros' would-be monarch.

Enemy at the gates

Alicent (left) and Aemond (right) continue to have differences of opinion (Image credit: HBO)

This isn't simply the Rhaenyra show, though. Many other individuals — new and old alike — help to season House of the Dragon 3 with the prerequisite amount of melodramatic spice, and ensure there's plenty more delicious political scheming, and familial backstabbing and betrayals, to gorge yourself on. Suffice to say, then, there are more than enough twists and turns to keep you engaged amid the perpetual cycle of one-upmanship, and inter- and intra-familial machinations.

Smith continues to deliver a devilishly delightful display as the unpredictable and power-hunger Daemon

Of the myriad character arcs and storylines that comprise season 3, many fans may be most satisfied to hear that more tasty scenes between leading ladies Alicent and Rhaenyra await. Elsewhere, the screen-commanding Smith continues to deliver a devilishly delightful display as the unpredictable and power-hunger Daemon, whose cruelty, arrogance, and self-serving actions are, like Rhaenyra, sure to come back to bite him.

It's events surrounding Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), though, that — Rhaenyra's impending crash out notwithstanding — I've found to be this season's most intriguing subplot.

With last season's finale seeing the latter convince Westeros' physically and emotionally scarred monarch to abdicate the throne and flee King's Landing, the pair's meandering and dangerous journey isn't novel in its approach and execution. After all, we've seen similar storylines involving characters like Tyrion and Arya in the main show.

Larys (left) and Aegon's (right) subplot is one of this season's most interesting (Image credit: HBO)

Nonetheless, by virtue of the deeply humbling quest it forces the egocentric Aegon to go on, it's yet another example of the Thrones-Verse doing what it does best; that being, making you feel sorry for characters you've actively or subconsciously detested.

Aemond and Criston Cole are the biggest casualties of the show's ever-expanding ensemble

Speaking of unlikeable individuals, the debut of the nefarious Ormond Hightower (James Norton) is the most noteworthy of this season's new additions.

A calculating, cunning, and smarmy tactician, Norton, who commands the most screentime of this season's newcomers, imbues Alicent's cousin with an striking obnoxiousness that'll immediately — and continue to — bother you throughout this season, especially once he lays out his daring masterplan in full. I for one can't wait to see if he spectacularly fails or somehow succeeds.

James Norton is fantastic as the antagonistic Ormund Hightower (Image credit: HBO)

With so many characters vying for time in front of the camera, it's inevitable that some will be relegated to the sidelines.

As of season 3's midpoint, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) are the biggest casualties of the show's ever-expanding ensemble. Sure, the pair are handed moments to shine, but viewers hoping to see plenty of them in this season's first half should temper their expectations accordingly. Here's hoping they have more to do in the chapters ahead, especially if House of the Dragon 3 belatedly dials things up on the action front.

My verdict

After the fan outcry to last season's anticlimactic ending, plus the critical and commercial success that fellow Thrones offshoot A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms enjoyed earlier this year, House of the Dragon season 3 needed to step up big time — and, in some ways, it does.

As an overall package, it's certainly improved across the board but, maddeningly, still has its limitations. If this season's second half addresses its biggest issues — for starters, giving us plenty more tentpole action — then I foresee many viewers re-evaluating their overall opinion of this show. Season 2 promised plenty but largely failed to deliver on the destructive Targaryen civil war, otherwise known as the Dance of the Dragons, and I really hope that we're not sat here in a few months' time saying the same things about its follow-up.

House of the Dragon season 3 launches on Sunday, June 20 (North and South America) and Monday, June 21 (UK and everywhere else).

I'm turning into something of a Harlan Coben fangirl. Much like a stalker in one of his compelling crime stories, wherever I go is somewhere he already seems to be.

Looking at his TV track record since 2020 alone, this is hardly a surprise. Coben has had 10 of his stories adapted for Netflix in this time alone, with a further two — including one completely original script — on Prime Video. He's truly the King of Crime both on page and screen, and frankly, I bow to his majesty.

I Will Find You is our tenth Netflix adaptation in this list, and the moment I saw it would be joining the streamer this month, I was locked in with a laser focus. However, now that I've streamed all eight episodes, the lasting effect is more lukewarm than boiling hot.

Perhaps I'm spoiled for choice. I'm used to crime dramas that truly melt the mind, and both Lazarus and Run Away (two Coben shows that have been released in the last year) have done exactly that. I've been left with my head spinning, my eyes rolling and my jaw on the floor, even when they weren't absolutely perfect.

This time around, I've metaphorically shrugged my shoulders. I Will Find You is largely solid, and everything there is to critique isn't exactly world-destroying. But when we've been solving crime at such lofty heights, the comedown effect feels ridiculously devastating.

Harlan Coben's I Will Find You is the plain bread equivalent of Netflix crime drama

So, what's the story? Without giving too much away, we follow David Burroughs (Sam Worthington), who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his son, Matthew. When his ex-sister-in-law, disgraced journalist Rachel (Britt Lower), finds evidence that Matthew might still be alive, the race is on to prove David's innocence and find his son.

Whipped into a tight paragraph, that all sounds incredibly exciting... and for the most part, I Will Find You hits the brief. Worthington plays it Kiefer Sutherland-in-24-style as David, hotfooting it out of prison like his life depends on it (and it does).

There's a beautiful cat-and-mouse chase between David and the FBI from episode 2 onwards, both trying to outfox the other by almost nailing what the other is thinking — except one key detail is always catastrophically wrong. This type of rollercoaster storytelling is where the series is at its strongest, and that's all thanks to Mr. Coben himself.

Obviously, this is why we're tuning in. We've watched and read enough to know that Coben is a master of his craft, turning even the most mundane of moments into something truly thrilling. The problem, however, is just how much mundanity he's working with... even though that's basically his own fault.

Unless bodies are being hacked into pieces, a curveball the size of the Empire State Building is dropped into the storyline, or our characters betray each other on an epic scale, we've all consumed so many crime dramas that most of the nuts and bolts would be considered boring.

With such a linear storyline, I Will Find You wholeheartedly falls into this trap. We can guess what will happen to David, Matthew, and, frankly, who did it, which isn't as impressive as Coben's biggest mind-melters.

I Will Find You is the first American Harlan Coben adaptation on Netflix — and I hate that

(Image credit: Netflix)

I Will Find You hasn't helped its predictability problem by making a Columbo-shaped error with its casting announcement. Back in the days of 1980s crime-solving shows like it and Murder, She Wrote, the guest with the most star power would always be booked as the killer.

Fans eventually caught on, and it became so obvious that shows had to completely change their casting strategy. I'm not going to tell you which cast member this is aimed at, but one of I Will Find You's biggest-billed and most-promoted stars is also suspiciously absent from most of the drama. I wonder why that could be?

Then there's the final kicker, which will be an absolute gut-punch to anybody watching across the pond in the UK who has also co-opted Coben as an honorary Brit. I Will Find You marks the first adaptation for Netflix that is based in the US rather than the UK, with accents to match. This has happened once before in Prime Video's Shelter, but Netflix has been committed to using stalwart British actors since Cobenmania caught on.

After spending the first 10 minutes in disbelief, shouting "Wait, this is American?!" at my TV, I realized that I Will Find You had lots of bits of its grittiness and bite by being set on the East Coast. Apologies if this offends our American friends — I've just seen too many iterations of Law & Order, 9-1-1 and Blue Bloods for me to think that fictional crime in the Big Apple is anything other than cheesy.

Maybe I'm just being pedantic, but that's what happens when a streaming service gives you a never-ending wealth of content to gorge on. I Will Find You isn't the Harlan Coben I will return to or even remember after this week, but it did the job it needed to while I was watching.

Oukitel WP66: 30-second review

.Oukitel seems to have a particular strategy in the rugged phone market that involves launching lots of products, presumably on the assumption that a percentage of them will find favour with some customers.

The WP66 is at the end of a long list of recent phones, which includes devices I’ve covered, like the WP61 Plus, WP60 and WP30 Pro. Typically, these devices are affordable, rugged designs which avoid the latest SoC technology but often have some core features that make them attractive.

On paper, the WP66 isn’t much of a step away from its WP61 Plus predecessor, using the same MediaTek Dimensity 7025 SoC, identical memory and storage sizes, However, the WP66 has roughly half the battery capacity, and that makes it much easier to use as a daily driver.

With this level of practicality baked in, this is probably Oukitel's most design-aware rugged phone yet. It trades brute bulk for a slimmer profile and adds a neat 1.81-inch secondary display that does real work. The 11,000mAh battery is the headline number, and it delivers genuinely exceptional runtime. The Dimensity 7025 is capable enough for daily tasks, but it is not a performance chip.

Camera quality is fine in good light and ordinary in other conditions. At under $450 from the makers, this is a competitive proposition for anyone who needs genuine ruggedness without the usual aesthetic punishment.

It’s mostly the SoC that stops this from being one of the best rugged phones we’ve seen this year.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Oukitel WP66: price and availability

• How much does it cost? $450/£337/€390
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Direct from the maker or via an online retailer

Oukitel is one of those phone makers that likes to discount its phones at launch and sets a huge MSRP that the device is never sold at. Doing that in Europe isn’t legal, but it's something Chinese phone makers don’t appear concerned about.

It's available in the US via Oukitel's official site, where the MSRP for the WP66 is $639.99 - but at the time of review, it's down to $450. On Oukitel's UK site, it retailss for £474.99, while currently being discounted to £287.99.

Considering the specifications and features of this phone, the price seems competitive enough, but how they came up with the MSRP values is a mystery.

The phone most likely to be compared is the Doogee S200, as it also has a rear display. The Doogee phone typically sells for $360/£285/€328 via AliExpress. But the processor in it is less powerful, it has half the storage and can’t do 4K video. However, it has twice the battery capacity if you need longer runtime.

Given the recent price increases for both RAM and storage, the Oukitel WP66 is probably priced right, but maybe in the next six months, it needs to get a little cheaper to cope with phones with more concurrent technology being released into the busy mid-tier market.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• Value score: 4/5

Oukitel WP66: Specs

Item

Spec

CPU:

MediaTek Dimensity 7025 (Octa-core, up to 2.5GHz)

GPU:

IMG BXM-8-256 (PowerVR IMG GPU)

NPU:

MediaTek NPU 550

RAM:

12GB

Storage:

512GB

Screen:

6.6" IPS TFT 750 nits and 1.8” rear screen

Resolution:

1080 x 2408 (FHD+)

SIM:

2x Nano SIM, or 1x Nano +TF

Weight:

365g

Dimensions:

172.2 x 81.0 x 15.8mm

Rugged Spec:

IP68 IP69K dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min), MIL-STD-810H Certification

Rear cameras:

108MP Samsung S5KHM6 (f/1.9, no OIS) + 2MP GalaxyCore GC02M1 macro

Front camera:

32MP Sony IMX616

Networking:

WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3

OS:

Android 15

Battery:

11,000 mAh battery (Max 33W charge wired, 7.5W Reverse)

Colours:

Orange, Black

Oukitel WP66: Design

• Slim for a rugged phone
• No wireless charging
• Rear display

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The WP66 that Oukitel sent was the orange model, and I think this version looks much more interesting than the one with a black colour scheme.

One oddity I noticed almost immediately is that on the rear of the case is a GT logo, and this also appears on the maker's webpage. But this phone isn’t the WP66 GT; it's just the WP66, which suggests a change of plan in the naming scheme before launch.

Another chin-scratcher is that this phone has holes in the bottom-right corner for a lanyard, but there isn’t one in the box. It also comes with a TPU bumper that has a slot for the same purpose.

I’m glad about the bumper, because if it weren’t attached, the camera cluster would be excessively prominent, with each of the three elements sticking out at least 2mm. The included bumper guaranteed that this phone doesn’t have wireless charging, and to confirm that, I removed it and tested for wireless functionality. That’s a shame, because below the camera and rear display, the underside of the WP66 is extremely flat.

What I liked was that WP66 bucks the rugged phone aesthetic in a meaningful way. Most rugged devices lean into aggressive styling: heavy frames, pronounced corner armour, and military-surplus colour palettes. The WP66 is comparatively restrained. The Orange colourway is vibrant rather than utilitarian, and the Black variant suits a professional context.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

At 15.8mm thick, this is slim territory for a phone carrying an 11,000mAh battery. The trade-off is visible: the bezels around the main display are wider than a mainstream consumer phone would accept in 2026. The screen-to-body ratio sits at roughly 75%. For a rugged device, that is acceptable. For anyone accustomed to modern frameless designs, it might feel dated.

The secondary display on the rear panel is the most distinctive design element. It sits cleanly within the casing and gives the phone a dual-screen character that most rivals lack entirely.

Oukitel has packed the rear display with functionality, showing you a calendar, battery status, messages, and a million other things. My only issue with it is that by the time you’ve scrolled through all the functions to find the one you want, you could have easily turned the phone over and gone directly to that information three or four times over.

The button layout is by-the-numbers, and the designer has resisted the temptation to add extra buttons when they’re not specifically required. The right side has the power button with integrated fingerprint reader and volume controls, and the left has a single user-definable button and the SIM card slot. The card slot supports a MicroSD card and a Nano SIM, or you can forgo the MicroSD card and use a second Nano SIM. As this phone comes with 512GB of storage, not having a MicroSD card isn’t that limiting.

Overall, for a business user who might want a rugged phone for site visits or other outdoor work, the WP66 is pleasantly restrained, and it's not so big and heavy that it couldn’t be used as a daily driver.

Design score: 4/5

Oukitel WP66: Hardware

• MediaTek Dimensity 7025
• 512GB of storage
• 11000 mAh battery

In other reviews, I’ve talked about the current MediaTek strategy that involves taking older technology and rebranding it with relatively small changes to make it look current.

What they can’t paper over is that the Dimensity 7025 is a 6nm SoC, because its origins are the Dimensity 930, an SoC that first appeared in 2022.

Oukitel used this in the WP300, WP60 and WP55 Pro, so this will be the fourth design to use the same platform.

My view of this silicon is that the CPU is workable, but the PowerVR IMG BXM-8-256 GPU is a poor GPU that struggles with the OpenGL and Vulkan APIs.

What challenges the GPU in this phone design is that the display is 1080 by 2408 pixels, whereas in the WP60, as an example, it only had a 720 x 1560 pixel screen.

If you like to game or use more demanding 3D titles, this probably isn’t the platform for you, but for everyday use, it works well enough to navigate Android.

What many people might consider a high point of this design is the 512GB of storage, which is enough when combined with the 12GB of RAM to handle plenty of applications and the data that comes with them. This SoC doesn’t have an NPU; instead, it has an APU, which is the CPU and GPU merged to perform a similar function. Thankfully, most AI done from phones is cloud-based anyway.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

One interesting change from its predecessor is that the battery is now rated at 11,000mAh, where the WP58 Pro and WP60 had 10,000mAh. That’s not a huge increase, but it might take you 10% further depending on how you use it.

While the makers did source a larger-capacity battery, they didn’t find one that charged any faster or delivered more power to other phones.

It’s got the same 33W wired charge and 7.5W reverse-charging specs as the 10000mAh devices, which translates to a full recharge from flat in under two hours.

Like most of the Oukitel designs I’ve seen in the past two years, the WP66 doesn’t represent cutting-edge technology. It’s assembled from a collection of parts that are chosen based entirely on price, and that create an ensemble of functions that can attract customers at the right cost.

Oukitel aren’t the only Chinese rugged phone maker using the same approach or with a selection of middle-of-the-road devices that use older technology, but there aren’t any huge surprises here for those willing to do their research about this brand.

• Hardware score: 3.5/5

Oukitel WP66: Cameras

• 108MP and 2MP on the rear
• 32MP on the front
• Three cameras in total

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The Oukitel WP66 has three cameras:

Rear camera: 108MP Samsung ISOCELL S5KHM6, Macro 2MP GalaxyCore GC02M1
Front camera: 32MP GalaxyCore GC32E1

This is a similar camera arrangement to the WP61 Plus, with the primary sensor being the excellent Samsung S5KHM6, supported by a less-than-epic 2MP macro camera from GalaxyCore. What’s missing, and was on the WP61 Plus, is a night vision sensor.

The primary sensor can produce some top-notch results in bright lighting, ideally outdoors, but it's not as impressive when there is less light. But the worst aspect of this design is the 2MP macro camera, a camera that produces results from the dawn of cameras on phones.

It’s grainy, difficult to get the optimal focus and often not worth the effort.

What’s also crushingly disappointing is that even with a 108MP sensor and 512GB of storage to handle some big recordings, this phone doesn’t offer 4K video. The best it can manage is 2K video at 30fps, which, considering the capabilities of the ISOCELL S5KHM6, is pitiful.

Also, like all the Oukitel phones I’ve tried recently, this phone doesn’t support Widevine L1, so streaming services are often reduced to 480p resolution.

You can take good pictures with this phone, but it takes more effort than it should.

Oukitel WP66 Camera samplesMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark Pickavance

• Camera score: 3.5/5

Oukitel WP66: Performance

• 6nm SoC
• Mid-tier performance

Phone

 

Oukitel WP66

Oukitel WP61 Plus

SoC

 

MediaTek Dimensity 7025

MediaTek Dimensity 7025

GPU

 

IMG BXM-8-256

IMG BXM-8-256

NPU

 

MediaTek's APU 780

MediaTek's APU 780

Memory

 

12GB/512GB

12GB/512GB

Weight

 

365g

656g

Battery

 

11000

20000

Geekbench

Single

897

959

 

Multi

2296

2362

 

OpenCL

156

failed

 

Vulkan

137

failed

PCMark

3.0 Score

10912

13080

 

Battery

27h 27m (20%)

32h 7m + 25%

Charge 30

%

33

28

Passmark

Score

6691

6620

 

CPU

5391

5284

3DMark

Slingshot OGL

3592

3741

 

Slingshot Ex. OGL

2549

3738

 

Slingshot Ex. Vulkan

2490

2614

Wildlife

1447

Failed

Nomad Lite

131

Failed

Even if initially, this looks like a pointless comparison, since both phones use the same SoC, there is some interesting data in these tests to examine. For most benchmarks, the difference between the two is within the standard deviation.

But it’s interesting to note that now running Android 16, the WP66 can run Wildlife and Nomad Lite, where the WP61 Plus, which was also running the same OS, could not. The obvious conclusion is that the WP61 Plus launched with some issues that may have been resolved, or that UL has tweaked 3DMark to make it more forgiving.

This isn’t to say that the WP66 runs either of the benchmarks well, but at least it pops out a number. It also succeeds on GeekBench for OpenGL and Vulkan, where it previously failed on the WP61 Plus, but the numbers are still horrible. The IMG BXM-8-256 isn’t a GPU anyone would want if they got a choice.

What I found most fascinating about these results was the battery performance, with the WP61 Plus running longer than the WP66. That’s not much of a revelation given the relative battery capacities, but it is worth noting that the WP61 Plus lasts only 17% longer despite having nearly twice the battery capacity.

This makes little sense, since they use a practically identical platform, and if I still had the WP61 Plus, I’d be curious to see what it was when running that used up the battery. It would be guesswork to pin this on any aspect of that phone, but it does suggest that the WP66 may be in a better place at launch than its predecessor.

Looking at these numbers overall, neither of these phones is ideal for gaming or VR, since the GPU can’t offer the range of features that more modern silicon can.

Battery life is decent, but everything else is bordering on an entry-level performance envelope.

• Performance score: 3.5/5

(Image credit: Oukitel)Oukitel WP66: Final verdict

The Oukitel WP66 is the rugged phone that does not punish you for choosing durability. The slim profile, the secondary display, and the extraordinary battery life form a compelling package. The Dimensity 7025 processor is an honest mid-range device that does support 5G, but isn’t a gaming platform.

The camera is capable in daylight and ordinary in poor light. The 33W charging rate is the one frustrating limitation in an otherwise well-considered design. At the launch price of $450, this is one of the more interesting propositions in the mid-market rugged segment.

With Oukitel having so many phones in the WP series, the company's shotgun approach aims to make a handset that’s perfect for most customers. The WP66 is aimed at those who want a rugged phone without impractical size or weight. It manages that, and it even shows off a little with its rear-facing display.

I’m just not convinced that with such relatively old technology on the SoC, there is much longevity to be had. There are similarly priced rugged phones with better cameras and newer silicon for those who can spot them. The WP66 has a platform on its fourth outing for Oukitel, and that might be one or two bites of that cherry more than the Dimensity 7025 deserves.

Should I buy a Oukitel WP66?Oukitel WP66 Score Card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

No an excessive price for the spec

4/5

Design

Slim for a rugged phone; secondary display is a standout touch

4/5

Hardware

The fourth time Oukitel used this SoC

3.5/5

Camera

Good 108MP primary camera sensor, poor Macro, but only 2K video

3.5/5

Performance

Dimensity 7025 handles daily use; not a gaming chip

3.5/5

Overall

Other than the rear display, a bit forgetable

3.5/5

Buy it if...

You need a phone for outdoors
The water and dust resistance on the Oukitel WP66 is enough to handle submersion and drops. And, its not too large to fit in a pocket, or too heavy to carry.

You carry lots of data or apps
With 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM, this phone is ideal for those who like to carry data and install numerous apps. And, if you give up a SIM card slot, you can add a MicroSD card for even more space.

Don't buy it if...

You need the best video
The sensors on this phone aren't bad, but they're not exploited fully by the phone. With a 108MP sensor, video capture is capped at only 2K resolution. If you record video, you will want a design that can capture 4K.

You use demanding apps
Hardcore gamers and VR users will find the GPU in the WP66 is underpowered. There isn’t any way to fix this with 2022 SoC technology under the skin.

Also Consider

Blackview Oscal Tank 1
An inexpensive phone with a 20000 mAh. But in this case, it comes with a superior SoC platform and a better camera cluster. Therefore, you get 4K video recording on both rear and front sensors, and you also get an SoC that supports 5G comms.

Read my full Blackview Oscal Tank 1 reviewView Deal

RugOne Xever 7 Pro
A RugOne design with swappable battery technology, but smaller batteries. The one critical advantage of this design is its thermal imaging camera. However, it costs more than the WP66, because of that feature.

Read my RugOne Xever 7 Pro review

For more ruggedized devices, we've reviewed the best rugged tablets, the best rugged laptops, and the best rugged hard drives