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Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra: two-minute review

Doorbell brands usually sell you the hardware cheap and charge you monthly for the privilege of seeing the footage. Aosu has gone the other way, and for that alone the R1 Ultra is worth your attention.

Video clips go to the AosuBase Mini, a small plug-in box that lives inside your house and does three jobs at once — Wi-Fi bridge, indoor chime, and storage. It holds 8GB and keeps a rolling 60 days of footage.

There is an optional cloud subscription, AosuProtect+, but unlike Ring's arrangement, the doorbell isn't hobbled without it. You get alerts, live view, two-way talk, custom detection zones, and full playback for nothing other than the purchase price.

(Image credit: Future)

Detection is another strength. Rather than relying on a passive infrared sensor and hoping, Aosu layers radar and AI human recognition on top, which lets it judge distance and intent — approaching versus passing, lingering versus walking through.

There's also a Tone button hiding in the two-way talk screen. Tap it, and you can answer the door as either 'uncle' or 'clown', with Aosu's straight-faced explanation that this disguises your voice for privacy.

The uncle setting artificially deepens voices, transitioning women and children to something resembling a man to deter would-be intruders. Clown goes all high-pitched and distorted to mask your identity.

(Image credit: Future)

Fortunately, the latter falls on the right side of sinister, so you can forget scaring off trick-or-treaters with imitations of South Park’s Mickey Mouse.

Where Aosu gets ahead of itself is resolution and framing. The sensor is 2560 x 1920, which is 4.9 megapixels in a 4:3 frame. That’s sharp, and a step up from 2K doorbells at this price, but not the claimed ‘UHD’, which would be 3,840 x 2,160.

The asserted 60% improvement over standard 2K only holds if the 2K you're comparing against is Aosu's own 3MP doorbell. An earlier version of the identical claim, on the identical camera, said 40%.

(Image credit: Future)

Field of view should be taken with a pinch of salt, too. Aosu says 166 degrees, but that's the corner-to-corner measurement. In reality, it's 133 horizontal by 103 vertical, shot in a shallow 4:3 aspect ratio and no head-to-toe image tricks.

With realistic use, the battery should last six months between charges. The kicker is the cell isn’t quick-release, and juicing it from flat to full takes six hours. So that means unclipping the entire doorbell and going without it for quite a while.

Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra: price & availability

• List price: £139.99 / $135.99 (about AU$190)
• Launched July 2026 in the UK
• Available in the UK, US, and across the EU

With a list price of $135.99 / £139.99 (about AU$190), but usually discounted, the R1 Ultra is filed under ‘affordable’ and veers towards bargain territory if you find one hovering around the £100 mark.

At that price, the value case is strong, because the base station is in the box rather than a £50 upsell, and the 60 days of local recording would cost you a subscription almost anywhere else.

Over three years, that's the difference between a hundred pounds and several hundred more.

• Value score: 4/5

Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra: subscription costs

The R1 Ultra is fully functional without a subscription. Alerts, live view, two-way talk, detection zones, and 60 days of local playback are all included.

AosuProtect+ is the optional cloud add-on. In the UK, it's advertised at £9.99 (about $10 / AU$20) a month or £122.99 (about $160 / AU$230) a year, currently discounted to £3.49 (about $5 / AU$10) and £39.99 (about $50 / AU$80). Treat the higher figures with the same suspicion as the hardware list price.

The annual price is simply the monthly rate multiplied by twelve, so there's no built-in saving for paying up front, and £3.49 lands within pennies of what Aosu charges in dollars in the US. There’s a 30-day free trial if you wish to dip your toe.

(Image credit: Future)

What it buys you is cloud backup rather than capability: 14 or 30 days of event recordings, playback from anywhere, faster scrubbing, and bulk downloads. AI facial recognition sits on the top tier and is offered for video doorbells only.

The argument for paying is that local storage is bound to the base station like Bilbo Baggins is bound to the ring in The Lord of The Rings. If it fails, someone takes it, or you inexplicably drop it in the fires of Mount Doom, your footage dies with it.

Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra: specs

Feature

Specification

Type

Battery-powered or hardwired video doorbell; base station required

Resolution

5MP (2560 x 1920) with WDR

Zoom

6 x digital

View

4:3 aspect ratio

Field of view

166 degrees diagonal [133 x 103 degrees]

Night vision

Infrared up to 6 feet / 10m

Audio

Two-way talk with voice disguise features

Motion detection

Radar, PIR and AI human recognition; customizable zones

Power

Rechargeable battery 5,000mAh, non-removable; USB-C cable included; 6 hours from flat; hardwire (8–24VAC)

Connectivity

Doorbell 2.4GHz only; AosuBase Mini dual-band 2.4GHz / 5GHz

Smart detection

AI human recognition; facial recognition requires AosuProtect+

Storage

Local, 8GB on AosuBase Mini, 60-day loop, no subscription; optional cloud with AosuProtect+

Smart home

Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant

Tamper protection

Pry detection with chime alert; footage retained locally

Weather

IP65

Finish

Black/silver

Dimensions

5 x 2 x 3 inches / 12.7 x 5.1 x 7.6cm

Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra: design and installation

• Plain but solid
• Hub required indoors
• Battery or existing wiring

The R1 Ultra is a black plastic slab with silver flourishes similar to a Ring, and very little design ambition beyond flattering imitation.

Installation is straightforward and takes about half an hour all in. Bracket on the wall, doorbell clipped on top, base station plugged in somewhere central.

(Image credit: Future)

Aosu recommends mounting at 4 feet / 1.2 meters rather than eye-level, which is lower than instinct suggests but necessary if you want the frame to reach the doorstep. Worth getting right the first time rather than re-drilling.

A 15-degree wedge is included if you need to angle it towards a path or a gate, along with a screwdriver, extension wires and wire nuts for anyone hardwiring to existing 8–24V doorbell wiring.

The base station isn't optional, and it isn't outdoors-rated. It's the storage, the chime, and the Wi-Fi bridge in one. It needs a mains socket permanently, and it's rated only to 14°F / −10°C, so it lives in the hall or the cupboard under the stairs and stays there.

(Image credit: Future)

Detaching the whole unit from the wall for a full six-hour recharge via USB-C is a weak point, but a cable is bundled in the box.

A neat addition is pry detection. Try to lever the unit off its bracket, and it sounds a chime and pushes an alert, with footage on the base station indoors rather than on what’s being stolen.

• Design score: 3.5/5

Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra: performance

• Sharp in daylight
• Strong multi-sensor detection
• Infrared-only after dark

Daylight is this doorbell’s happy place, with 5MP more than most similarly-priced rivals offer. Faces, delivery uniforms and parcel labels are legible rather than merely present.

Radar handles distance and movement, PIR picks up body heat, and the AI layer decides whether what it's looking at is a person. During testing, alerts felt instantaneous once someone reached the door.

After dark, expectations need managing. There is no color night vision and no spotlight.

FutureFutureFuture

Eight 850nm infrared LEDs offer monochrome up to 33 feet / 10 meters, and the manual warns mounting too close to a side wall will bounce IR back into the lens and fog the image. I’d pair the R1 Ultra with an outdoor light to make up for the shortfall.

Answering the door is well handled. Notifications arrive with a thumbnail of whatever triggered them, so you can tell a courier from a cat without opening the app, and tapping through starts a proper two-way video call rather than a one-way stream.

The 6x digital zoom lets you crop into a face or a label, though at 15fps and with a wide lens, it softens quickly.

FutureFuture

Quick Reply issues an audible preset message when you can't talk. Somewhat boringly, they’re fixed, so you can’t edit the wording or add your own.

On connectivity, the doorbell itself is 2.4GHz only; the dual-band capability belongs to the AosuBase Mini, which talks to your router on 2.4 or 5GHz.

That's a sensible design for a battery device, but it means the camera-to-base link is on the crowded band and placement of the base matters more than usual. Plugged in 33 feet / 10 meters from my front door with the broadband router halfway, all was fine.

Live view includes a UHD/SD toggle to drop the quality when the connection struggles, and you can save a clip or a still straight to your phone's camera roll if you ever need to hand something to a neighbor or the police.

The six-month battery figure assumes up to ten events a day at 20 seconds each — about three-and-a-half minutes of recording daily. On a busy porch with a path or pavement in frame, expect considerably less.

• Performance score: 3/5

Should you buy the Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

Local storage, included base station, and no monthly fee at around £100 make the maths hard to argue with.

4/5

Design

Solid and easy to install, but the base station needs a permanent socket, and recharging equals doorbell removal.

3.5/5

Performance

Sharp daylight video and excellent multi-sensor detection, let down by infrared-only night vision and overstated specs.

3/5

Buy it if

You're sick of subscriptions

Sixty days of local recording on the included base, with nothing important behind a paywall, is undoubtedly attractive.

You'd rather not be yourself

Uncle and clown voice settings let anyone home alone answer the door sounding like someone else.

You want fewer useless alerts

The radar, PIR, and AI combination is a real step up from the single-sensor budget crowd, and it shows in your notification tray.

You have existing doorbell wiring

Hardwiring to 8–24V takes the recharging problem off the table entirely, and this is one of the cheaper doorbells that supports it.

Don't buy it if

You need to see faces after dark

Infrared monochrome to 33 feet / 10 meters is all you get. There's no spotlight and no color low-light mode, so a night clip tells you someone was there, but not necessarily who.

You don’t want to remove the doorbell

No quick-release battery means every recharge is a six-hour outage with the unit off the wall and on your kitchen counter.

Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra: also consider

Ring Battery Video Doorbell (2nd Gen)

Cheaper, shoots Retinal 2K with a genuine head-to-toe 1:1 view and color night vision, and installs without a hub. The trade-off is Ring's subscription model and Amazon's data record.

Eufy Video Doorbell C31

The closest like-for-like on the no-monthly-fee promise, with 2K video and a quick-release battery, though you'll want a HomeBase to get the most from it.

How I tested the Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra

• Fitted to a domestic front door
• Assessed daylight and infrared video, detection accuracy, and audio
• Ran entirely without a subscription

I mounted the R1 Ultra on my own front door and used it as the household's main entry camera for a fortnight, deliberately running it on local storage alone so the no-subscription claim could be tested as most buyers will experience it.

I checked live-view responsiveness and alert latency, reviewed clips in daylight and after dark, and tracked battery drain against Aosu's 180-day claim.

First reviewed September 2026

With the introduction of the iPhone Duo, U.S. smartphone customers can now choose from seven contemporary folding smartphones, including one from Google, two from Motorola, and three from Samsung.

The number of laptops with foldable screens ever produced is far fewer: one each from Asus, Huawei, HP and two from Lenovo.

While the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip have entered an annual upgrade cycle for Samsung, the foldable-screen laptop pipeline has been quiet. The most recent - Lenovo’s ThinkPad Fold 16 Gen 2 - hit the market in November 2023, more than a year after its unveiling.

Surely, we haven’t seen the last of laptops with foldable screens, but a range of structural, technological, and economic issues have conspired to keep folding laptops from becoming more mainstream

ASUS touted the flexible usage scenarios of the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED. (Image credit: Future)A RAMpocalypse victim

At their launches, foldable-screen laptops were among the most expensive in their line-ups. The Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED launched at $3,500 in 2022. A year later, the HP Spectre Foldable PC launched at $5,000, about 2.5x the price of a Galaxy Z Fold Ultra.

Obviously, anyone spending this much is going to demand performance, including substantial RAM and flash storage, the two components that have seen their prices skyrocket during the AI data center-fueled 'RAMpocalypse'. While PC vendors can eat a bit of margin on such high-end products, it’s reasonable to assume that successors launched today would require untenable prices.

On the other hand, it’s been more difficult for vendors to justify the premium because of the lack of a “device-class” jump. In other words, one of the great promises of foldable-screen phones is that you can have the functionality of a tablet in a form factor that stores in your pocket.

This isn’t just about more screen real estate. Full participants in Apple’s ecosystem understand the differences in experience between the largest iPhones and the iPad mini, which were magnified when Apple finally went full desktop GUI on the iPad in iPadOS 26.

In contrast, when it comes to foldable-screen laptops, the jump from an approximately 13” Windows experience in clamshell mode to a 16” or 17” Windows experience in unfolded mode is less dramatic. (That said, there are some niceties such as the taller aspect ratio compared to most 16” laptops and the option of a portrait mode.)

This also helps to explain why we haven’t seen any foldable tablets from Samsung or Lenovo. Curiously, most of the work around extending Windows on a folding display has been around the scenario of adapting Peek preview to make more efficient use of virtual dual screens, UI improvements that of course also apply to laptops with actual dual screens such as the Asus Zenbook Duo, which received an update this year.

Designs like Lenovo's ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable provide extra screen real estate while preserving clamshell design (Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Some assembly required

Furthermore, while foldable-screen phones require the extra step of unfolding to take full advantage of their screen real estate, their front displays enable everyday usage even when folded; even flip models like the latest from Samsung are improving their folded utility, In contrast, foldable-screen laptops include more significant prep trade-offs.

For example, while Lenovo’s first ThinkPad X1 Fold was able to store the Bluetooth keyboard between the halves of the folded display, the Gen 2 kept it separate, protected for travel by a case that doubles as a stand for the screen. When it’s time to move on, you have to reassemble the bundle, that is, after making sure to remove the keyboard lest you risk damaging the device.

In contrast, the few early glimpses of laptops with rollable screens that we’ve seen from Lenovo can make their full screen area available without any keyboard shuffling. Even though these motorized designs make you wait until the screen retracts before closing the lid, most users will likely find the trade-off worth it.

When comparing foldable-screen phones to foldable-screen laptops, it makes sense that — other things being equal — the smaller device will reap the greater relative value from extra screen real estate on demand.

But these dynamics have meant that there’s been far more working in favor of smartphones; the next generation of laptops with bending displays will require some rethinking

• Fable's achievement list has been nailed down, say associate game directors Craig Littler and Will Kennedy
• They say players won't have to do "30,000 playthroughs" to achieve 100% completion
• They want to keep the list secret for now to not "spoi the surprise"

Playground Games has confirmed it has locked down Fable's trophy list, but swears players won't have to do several playthroughs to achieve 100% completion.

Speaking in a press Q&A at Gamescom attended by TechRadar Gaming, associate game directors Craig Littler and Will Kennedy were asked about the game's achievements and whether players can expect a typically funny trophy list similar to the previous games in the series.

Although the developers confirmed the list is essentially nailed down, Plaground wants to keep it secret for now to avoid spoiling the experience.

"We'll say that we have the list, but we're not going to spoil the surprise," Littler said.

Fable is an open-world role-playing game (RPG), meaning players will spend plenty of time exploring during the game's 15-20 hour main story and interacting with over 1,000 unique non-player characters (NPCs).

When TechRadar Gaming asked whether achieving 100% completion, or the Platinum Trophy on PlayStation 5, is feasible without having to complete multiple playthroughs, Kennedy said, "It's doable," but couldn't say how long it will take.

"I will promise you, you won't have to do [something like] 30,000 playthroughs," Littler said, laughing. "We'll commit to that."

Fable will officially launch on February 23, 2027, for PS5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC. Playground has confirmed that the Xbox Series X version will have a 60fps performance mode.

• Bitdefender launches privacy tool built specifically for autonomous AI agents
• Each agent task gets a disposable, temporary connection that deactivates when the task is done
• VPN for AI Agents runs on a Model Context Protocol server architecture entirely

Bitdefender has introduced VPN for AI Agents, a standalone privacy tool built specifically for the autonomous software agents now browsing, researching, and transacting on behalf of everyday users.

The company says this public beta is a direct answer to the growing anxiety over machine-driven data exposure.

Unlike a conventional privacy tool that stays connected at all times, this tool activates only when an AI agent needs it, then deactivates once the task is done.

Why agents need their own privacy layer

Cybersecurity researchers have increasingly warned that autonomous agents occupy an ambiguous identity space, often borrowing a person's own credentials or shared workload logins to complete tasks online.

Without a clear separation, every website an agent visits and every transaction it completes remains traceable back to a single household IP address.

Recent Pew Research Center data found 71% of adults in the United States believe wider AI adoption will make their personal data less secure, a fear that extends well beyond American borders.

Bitdefender's new offering, built on a Model Context Protocol server architecture, spins up a disposable digital workspace for each prompt and discards it when the task is done.

Each prompt opens its own encrypted tunnel and exits through the VPN server's IP address, so no cookies, cache, or session state carries over to the next task.

The tool covers network transport and IP masking only, leaving the actual content of a prompt exchanged directly between the user and whichever AI provider is running it.

"AI agents are quickly becoming an extension of the people who use them, showing up in both our workdays and our personal lives," said Ciprian Istrate, senior vice president of operations, Consumer Solutions Group at Bitdefender.

"That means security can no longer stop at protecting the person behind the screen; it has to extend to the agent itself acting on their behalf."

This approach treats each agent like an independent team member requiring its own security boundary rather than inheriting the user's existing protections wholesale.

Bitdefender also describes this as clean-IP browsing, useful for QA checks on pages that display different content depending on the visitor's country.

The tool supports up to four simultaneous exit locations, or eight under the recommended testing configuration.

Access remains limited during the beta period

For now, the tool works only on macOS devices, though Bitdefender has confirmed plans to expand to additional operating systems after beta testing.

The beta specifically requires macOS 13 or later and an Apple silicon processor, meaning Intel Macs are not supported.

Bitdefender recommends macOS 15, 16 GB of memory, and roughly 10 GB of free disk space for smoother testing.

Once installed, it operates automatically across several popular AI platforms, including Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, and OpenCode, without requiring manual configuration from the user.

Bitdefender lists several practical use cases, including letting an agent compare prices across regions or complete multi-country research in one session.

The company frames these tasks as a productivity gain too, since they would otherwise need manual, country-by-country effort from a person.

Bitdefender is explicit about the tool's limits as well. It does not protect a device's other apps or browser.

It also does not hide prompts from the AI provider running them, and does not override a site's terms of service, rate limits, or an existing IP ban.

"With Bitdefender VPN for AI Agents, we're giving students, workers, and everyday consumers the confidence to let their AI agents work freely, knowing their identity and activity stay protected," Istrate added.

VPN for AI Agents public beta is currently available for free, but whether the free offering continues after the beta testing remains to be seen.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Friday, September 25 (game #1705).

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

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

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

Quordle today (game #1706) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

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

Quordle today (game #1706) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1706) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

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

Quordle today (game #1706) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

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

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

Quordle today (game #1706) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• S

• B

• L

• C

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

Quordle today (game #1706) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1706, are…

• SNORT
• BIBLE
• LAPSE
• CRANE

I had one of those moments here where I was absolutely certain I would be seeing the bouncy letters that mean you have completed the game.

Aptly, however, my guess of “false” turned out to be completely wrong.

Fortunately, I had space for a mistake.

Daily Sequence today (game #1706) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1706, are…

• GLEAM
• GOUGE
• DWELL
• ROGUE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1705, Friday, 25 September: SWEAR, FLOOD, GUPPY, GROAN
• Quordle #1704, Thursday, 24 September: TOPIC, METRO, SCALP, FREED
• Quordle #1703, Wednesday, 23 September: SHEET, BLAND, JOIST, GUAVA
• Quordle #1702, Tuesday, 22 September: COMFY, LOBBY, DRESS, PANEL
• Quordle #1701, Monday, 21 September: WAXEN, HIPPO, PETAL, LEASH
• Quordle #1700, Sunday, 20 September: DERBY, LIMBO, GAWKY, REIGN
• Quordle #1699, Saturday, 19 September: SCOPE, HEIST, PULSE, CHAMP
• Quordle #1698, Friday, 18 September: MUCUS, MIRTH, APPLE, TILDE
• Quordle #1697, Thursday, 17 September: CRIER, CHIRP, NEIGH, FREER
• Quordle #1696, Wednesday, 16 September: SPEAR, PRICE, BLUNT, FISHY
• Quordle #1695, Tuesday, 15 September: SHUSH, LITHE, DELTA, BUGLE
• Quordle #1694, Monday, 14 September: ZEBRA, LEGAL, RATIO, TROLL
• Quordle #1693, Sunday, 13 September: LUCID, SPRAY, MANGE, EMAIL
• Quordle #1692, Saturday, 12 September: SUPER, BRUSH, RESET, SOWER
• Quordle #1691, Friday, 11 September: PLUSH, PAINT, RIVAL, AFOUL
• Quordle #1690, Thursday, 10 September: AGENT, EXILE, TITAN, PUREE
• Quordle #1689, Wednesday, 9 September: HAPPY, GONER, SMACK, MOTIF
• Quordle #1688, Tuesday, 8 September: FLUNG, DIARY, HALVE, BERTH
• Quordle #1687, Monday, 7 September: VISIT, CLANK, FEVER, OCEAN
• Quordle #1686, Sunday, 6 September: PILOT, HONOR, BOWEL, TAUNT

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, September 25 (game #1202).

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

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

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

NYT Connections today (game #1203) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• MINT
• PRESS
• GRAIN
• BEANS
• STARCH
• CAT
• CUCUMBER
• RINGS
• GUM
• FOLD
• KNOTS
• CUSTOMER
• WASH
• MOUTHWASH
• BURL
• SPRAY

NYT Connections today (game #1203) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Oral hygiene methods
• GREEN: Stages of attire care
• BLUE: Timber markings
• PURPLE: The opposite of hot stuff

Need more clues?

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

NYT Connections today (game #1203) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: BREATH FRESHENERS
• GREEN: THINGS DONE TO A DRESS SHIRT AT THE LAUNDRY
• BLUE: FEATURES OF WOOD
• PURPLE: "COOL" THINGS, IN EXPRESSIONS

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

NYT Connections today (game #1203) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1203, are…

• YELLOW: BREATH FRESHENERS: GUM, MINT, MOUTHWASH, SPRAY
• GREEN: THINGS DONE TO A DRESS SHIRT AT THE LAUNDRY: FOLD, PRESS, STARCH, WASH
• BLUE: FEATURES OF WOOD: BURL, GRAIN, KNOTS, RINGS
• PURPLE: "COOL" THINGS, IN EXPRESSIONS: BEANS, CAT, CUCUMBER, CUSTOMER

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Today I scored another Purple First to add to my collection.

Whenever I see the word CAT I immediately think of the word cool, as it’s an expression that’s always amused me in part because of the song Cool For Cats by Squeeze and equally because of Top Cat, my favorite cartoon as a kid.

From here I just said the word cool to myself in front of every tile. Fortunately, I had the office to myself as I did this, so I was able to maintain my reputation as a cool CUSTOMER.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, September 25, 2026, game #1202)

• YELLOW: LUXE: BOUGIE, FANCY, POSH, SWANK
• GREEN: PARTS OF A MECHANICAL CLOCK: ESCAPEMENT, PENDULUM, RATCHET, SPRING
• BLUE: FAMOUS DANS: AYKROYD, LEVY, RATHER, SAVAGE
• PURPLE: TAXONOMIC RANKS PLUS A LETTER: BORDER, CLASSY, FOAMILY, GENIUS

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, September 25 (game #936).

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

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

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

NYT Strands today (game #937) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… A breath of fresh air

NYT Strands today (game #937) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• CURE
• FEEL
• PREY
• BREW
• DICE
• SWIFT

NYT Strands today (game #937) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #937) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: top, 1st column

• Last side: bottom, 6th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #937) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #937, are…

• BREEZE
• ZEPHYR
• GUST
• WHIFF
• PUFF
• FLURRY
• CURRENT
• SPANGRAM: GENTLEWIND

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I began, as I’m sure most players did, by finding the words linked to the two letter Zs.

However, while BREEZE was a breeze, ZEPHYR was not something I would have got without the fact that its letters connected straight down.

ZEPHYR is, like all of today’s game words, a way of describing a GENTLEWIND — but prior to today its only appearance in my life was in The Zephyr Song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which seemed to imply it was some kind of magical vehicle we could fly away on.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, September 25, game #936)

• NINE
• TWENTYFIVE
• FOUR
• EIGHTYONE
• THIRTYSIX
• SPANGRAM: SQUARENUMBER

What is NYT Strands?

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

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

• Air Force explores unmanned tankers to replace its ageing refuelling fleet
• The MQ-25's progress has revived plans for autonomous Air Force tankers
• Range remains the biggest obstacle to building an unmanned tanker today

The US Air Force is considering whether its next refueling aircraft, expected to replace the KC-135 and KC-46, could fly with no crew aboard.

The idea gained ground because the Navy's Boeing MQ-25 Stingray, an unmanned refuelling drone, flew for the first time earlier in 2026.

On Thursday, the Navy cleared the MQ-25 for low-rate production and purchased three additional units, raising its order to 14 aircraft.

Crews are not needed, but size remains unsolved

At the recent Air, Space & Cyber 2026 conference in National Harbor, Maryland, the Air Force said its future refueling aircraft might not need a crew.

“I do not believe that it has to be manned, a future air-refuelling solution…But then, how do we, the U.S. Air Force, bring that to bear in scope, scale, and range?” said Lt. Gen. Daniel Tulley, commander of Air Mobility Command

The service is still buying Boeing KC-46 Pegasus tankers, and it spent $12 million this year to study a new tanker design.

However, its proposed fiscal 2027 budget drops that funding entirely and asks for $13 million instead, labelled as money for advanced refuelling systems.

Tulley said a tanker able to cover the needed distances would be huge, and no fully autonomous aircraft of that size flies today.

The current KC-46 has a range just short of 7,400 miles and carries over about a hundred tons of fuel.

However, the autonomous MQ-25, which is driving this idea, manages roughly 500 miles and holds up to 7.5 tons, which is a small share of what the KC-46 offers.

Boeing’s aircraft can currently take off, follow programmed routes, and land on autopilot, though the Air Force does not use them autonomously.

The Air Force is probably hoping to build on this autopilot capability, aiming to turn the partial automation into full autonomy.

Merlin Labs says autonomy can begin with crews aboard

Merlin Labs, a company that builds autonomous flight systems, plans to install its autonomous pilot software on the C-130J, an aircraft similar in size to the KC-135.

The aircraft will still carry a human crew, which lets Merlin add autonomy step by step instead of jumping straight to an unmanned tanker.

“That's a way that you can start to chip away at that without actually going fully to the unmanned tanker right away,” said Matthew George, CEO of Merlin Labs.

“The goal is that the unmanned tanker is ready, and the autonomy ends up being ready at the same time.”

The company must next win certification, and it is working with the Air Force this year to get that approval.

“None of this matters unless it's certified and safe. So for us, getting certification done is important, and that's what we're working really closely with the Air Force on this year,” George said.

Merlin has not announced a date for the C-130J to carry its autonomous pilot, though the company's technology has completed a critical design review.

With no set flight date and unfinished certification, the Air Force's plan for an unmanned tanker the size of the KC-46 remains far off.

Via Defense One

• Polish rally driver Mikołaj Marczyk set the new Guinness World Record
• Audi A6 e-tron managed a staggering 830 miles on a single charge
• Lucid Air Grand Touring previously held the title

Polish rally driver Mikołaj Marczyk is no stranger to eking out as much range as humanly possible, having coaxed 1,759 miles from a single tank of fuel in a Skoda Superb back in 2025.

Now, Mikołaj has turned his attention to electric propulsion, particularly the Audi A6 e-tron that, despite only having an official WLTP range of 482 miles on a single charge, managed to travel almost double that on a recent record-breaking journey.

Starting at Zakopane, Poland, the endeavor saw the electrified A6 traverse the Tatra Mountains (handy for regenerative braking), travel to Kraków, then along the Vistula Valley to Sandomierz and finally to Hel (no, not that one).

Once in Hel, the pro driver turned around and started retracing his steps before the Audi A6 e-tron eventually conked out, having covered a mightily impressive 831.4 miles on a single charge.

(Image credit: Audi)

That's the same distance as driving from New York to Chicago or London to Milan without stopping at a charging station.

The exact model used in the attempt was the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron performance, which features a 326hp rear-mounted motor and a 100kWh gross battery capacity, which equates to a net usable capacity of 94.9 kWh.

More impressively, the previous record holder, the Lucid Air Grand Touring, has a larger battery pack with a nominal capacity of 112kWh.

According to Marczyk, many sections of the trip were carried out in rush hour traffic and at an average temperature of 15 degrees Celsius.

However, at certain points, the mercury dropped to just seven degrees Celsius, proving that EVs can still perform in cold weather.

Analysis: easy does it

(Image credit: Audi)

When looking at the official range figures of modern EVs, it is generally good practice to aim for a number that is 10-20% lower than the one advertised.

Real-world driving eats into electric range, something that’s even more pertinent when tackling cold weather. But the recent Guinness World Record is proof that things can be flipped on their head with a spot of careful driving.

Marczyk says that maximizing regenerative braking opportunities, regularly checking tire pressure, and reading the road to avoid any abrupt braking can massively increase the potential range of an EV’s battery.

So next time you hear someone stressing about range anxiety, remind them that it might be their driving style that’s forcing all of those charging stops.

• HP’s new workstation carries 192GB of memory for demanding local AI workloads
• The ZBook Ultra G3a can reportedly handle models reaching 300 billion parameters
• The workstation combines a 96Wh replaceable battery with an 180W adapter

HP has debuted the ZBook Ultra G3a 16, a workstation built around AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 processor and substantial unified memory.

The laptop combines up to 192GB of LPDDR5X memory with integrated Radeon graphics and support for demanding local AI workloads.

HP says the highest-memory configuration can run large language models with up to 300 billion parameters directly on the laptop.

HP brings a high-memory workstation to market

The ZBook Ultra G3a uses 16 processor cores and 32 threads, with clock speeds reaching 5.2GHz and an integrated neural processor.

Its 192GB memory pool can allocate up to 160GB toward the Radeon 8065S graphics processor, leaving substantial capacity for system tasks, and will allow users to load models that exceed the graphics memory available on many conventional notebooks with discrete GPUs.

AI workloads are handled by a 55 TOPS neural processing unit, adding dedicated hardware alongside its integrated graphics processor.

The storage of this device reaches 8TB through a single PCIe Gen5 x4 slot, although there are other models with lower capacities.

This workstation sustains power up to 100W, nearly twice the 55W figure from its earlier model.

It is equipped with a 96Wh replaceable battery which can last up to 14 hours, and its 180W adapter can reach 50% charge within 30 minutes.

The ZBook Ultra G3a 16 uses a dual-fan cooling system with copper heat pipes, and a shared heat spreader covering the processor and memory components.

Pricing and workstation specifications

The official price of this device has not been released; however, the price estimate using HP's Local AI Value Calculator shows that the Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 model with 192GB memory and 512GB storage costs $7,449.

A 128GB version using the same processor costs $5,999, while the Ryzen AI Max PRO 490 configuration with 64GB costs $3,899.

“Professionals need AI experiences that are powerful, reliable, and integrated into the way they work,” said Jim Nottingham, senior vice president at HP.

HP is actually promoting the workstation through its calculator that estimates potential costs when AI workloads move from cloud services onto local hardware.

The company’s calculation assumes roughly 6.3 million tokens daily under its heavy workload profile and models electricity use from continuous operation.

Independent testing remains necessary to establish how the ZBook Ultra G3a performs when handling large models under sustained workloads.

The highest-priced configuration uses an FHD display, despite HP offering higher-resolution IPS, OLED, and DreamColor display choices for buyers.

The workstation measures 17.9mm thick and starts at 4.2 pounds, despite carrying a larger cooling system and 16-inch display.

Display options include a 3840 × 2400 IPS panel, a 2.8K OLED touchscreen, a 2.5K panel, and a lower power WUXGA configuration.

For connectivity, this laptop includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports, USB-C, USB-A, HDMI 2.1, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and optional 5G networking support.

It supports Windows 11 Pro, Windows 11 Home, FreeDOS, and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, giving professional users several software environment choices.

Via Videocardz

• Alien Deathstorm was built on a new version of the Atomfall engine
• Head of design Ben Fisher says it's an "advanced" version that offers a new lighting system
• Producer Martin Willingham says this is "a must" for an action horror game

Rebellion has confirmed that Alien Deathstorm was built on a new version of the Atomfall engine, which also let the team bring the horror aspect to life.

Speaking in an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, where we went hands-on with the upcoming first-person horror game, producer Martin Willingham and head of design Ben Fisher discussed how it's not a survival shooter with typical survival horror features; the team considers it a "dynamic" experience with sandbox elements where the player's actions can affect unscripted enemy encounters.

Willingham said the team values replayability and sandbox freedom, which means "we had to do something dynamic," and "building the encounters around the player and the player's activities means it's a different experience."

This sandbox survival experience was built on "a more advanced version" of the studio's Atomfall engine, Fisher revealed, which offered an improved lighting system and a deeper sense of realism as players explore their surroundings.

"Which for an action horror game is actually a must," said Willingham. "The tech team have just been absolute wizards with us being able to manifest and visualize that deathstorm."

He added, "We've been working on a lot of the GPU particles, visual effects, and fog system as well."

Alien Deathstorm doesn't have a release date yet, but it's coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC in Spring 2027.

• Alibaba's T-Head unveiled the Zhenwu V900 with 216GB of memory, 1.2TB/s links, and a claimed 3x gain over the already-shipping M890
• Very few details associated with its raw performance: Alibaba gave no FLOPS, node, foundry, or power figures, and both specs it did share project it will trail Huawei's Ascend 960DT, which releases in the same quarter
• CEO Eddie Wu targeted more than 20GW of Alibaba Cloud-operated capacity by 2032 while admitting supply-chain shortages are limiting growth for the company

Alibaba opened its annual Apsara Conference in Hangzhou with three big numbers: a chip that it says triples the performance of its predecessor, AI clusters that could stretch to 500,000 of those chips, and a pledge, quoted by the South China Morning Post, that the data centers Alibaba Cloud operates worldwide will pass 20 gigawatts of capacity by 2032.

CEO Eddie Wu called the new Zhenwu V900, designed by the group's T-Head chip unit, the "most powerful AI chip in China today."

This was part of an address that distinguished Alibaba's offering as a GPU rather than an ASIC, landing it squarely in Nvidia's territory even as the latter's H200 GPU is highly sought after by AI labs.

A powerful offering on paper, but one that doesn't publish actual performance

The Zhenwu V900's spec sheet might be intentionally short, even as its performance figures versus comparable current-generation Nvidia GPUs, a banned option, could limit interest ahead of launch.

Alibaba has, however, added an impressive amount of memory and interconnect, allowing it to cluster a configuration it claims can run as many as 500,000 GPUs in parallel.

The V900, as per Zhidx, reporting on the launch, lists 216GB of memory and 1,200GB/s of chip-to-chip bandwidth and was originally expected to be available to clients in Q3 2027 before the recent revision pushed it two quarters earlier.

T-Head vice president Gao Hui now says the company will, going forward, keep a one-generation-per-year cadence, with a J900 due in the third quarter of 2028.

Despite the closer timeline, it is interesting that Alibaba has published no FLOPS figure, process node, foundry, power rating, or even the V900's internal memory bandwidth, making it hard to gauge its most powerful single-chip offering in terms of raw AI and compute performance.

This is particularly ironic at a time when the competition from Huawei, the Ascend 960DT, which was launched the same quarter after being pulled earlier by three quarters, is offering far more detail.

It lists 2 petaFLOPS of FP8 compute, 288GB of memory, 9.6TB/s of memory bandwidth, and a 2.2TB/s interconnect, making it a higher-VRAM and higher-interconnect offering based on the information Alibaba has already published.

The 500,000-card figure interestingly may just be a scaling limitation, not a system anyone has built. For scale, T-Head said in May 2026 that it had shipped just over 560,000 Zhenwu chips in total. One maxed-out V900 cluster, in other words, would need nearly as many chips as the company had shipped in its entire history.

It does, however, bring a secondary calculation into the equation: if each V900 drew what Nvidia rates its H200 at, up to 700W, the accelerators alone in such a cluster would pull a significant amount of power. A newer, larger chip could run hotter and be more power-hungry than Nvidia's Hopper offerings, even as China remains limited to older process nodes because of US sanctions on chips and chipmaking equipment.

A large cluster of 500,000 or similar GPUs would undoubtedly rack up power requirements considerably fast for the regional AI juggernaut, and 20GW by 2032 is not an unforeseeable event when one considers that per-GPU power draw is only heading up for the foreseeable future as the chips get faster, denser, and more monolithic at the same time.

Wu said medium- to long-term demand far exceeds what Alibaba can supply, and that shortages across the AI data center supply chain "are currently limiting the speed at which we can scale our compute infrastructure." The target covers capacity Alibaba Cloud operates, and the company did not say whether it means IT load or total facility power.

A Nomura note relayed by Sina puts Alibaba's current footprint at roughly 4GW and expects future buildouts to blend owned, leased, and third-party-financed sites, implying about fivefold growth in six years.

Whether the upcoming V900 displaces Nvidia's global market dominance, even slightly, is unclear, with Team Green already far ahead in a market where AI customers buy GPUs years in advance. The situation, however, is vastly different in Beijing.

In China, much of the disruption has already happened, with Chinese AI labs being 'persuaded' to stay away from Nvidia solutions by the state. Nvidia's latest 10-Q says shipments of data center Hopper products to China were under 1% of its $89 billion in data center revenue for the quarter to July 26, and the company said in its earnings report that objections in Beijing kept it from selling the full volume of H200s that Washington had licensed when relations briefly thawed.

Chinese labs have turned to a mix of homegrown solutions, including specific ASICs, GPUs, and CPUs, allowing local players such as Alibaba, Huawei, and others to thrive in a market devoid of foreign competition.

With the US government restricting Nvidia's power limits and the Chinese state taking a dim view of local labs depending on foreign chips, Alibaba's V900 GPU doesn't need to beat Nvidia's Rubin GPUs or even its Blackwell offerings. It simply needs to take on and provide a viable alternative to a GPU that is two generations older: the H200 (based on Nvidia's Hopper architecture).

Its bigger challenges will be Huawei's locally produced Ascend 960DT and similarly configured chips from upcoming local chip design firms, as well as supply chain limitations that could restrict overall production and, by proxy, deployment for a company looking to spend billions on AI infrastructure in the coming days even if its "most powerful" status, which is currently consigned to a claim holds at the time of its release.

• A free update is rolling out to the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5
• It adds blood pressure and insulin resistance trends with monthly reports
• Sleep breathing quality metrics are being introduced too

The best health and fitness wearables are racing to pack as many features as possible into their small form factors, and the three most recent Pixel Watch models — the Pixel Watch 3, Pixel Watch 4, and Pixel Watch 5 — are now getting a major upgrade.

As announced by Google, the free update rolling out now to devices will let users monitor blood pressure trends, sleep breathing metrics, and (something the Apple Watch doesn't have yet) insulin resistance trends.

When it comes to blood pressure and insulin resistance, these aren't instant clinical readings — these smartwatches aren't quite advanced enough for that yet — but longer-term patterns, with assessments popping up once a month.

We knew these features were coming too, because they were announced alongside the Pixel Watch 5 unveiling back in August. What wasn't clear was exactly when the features would land, and now we know.

Lots and lots of data

The Google Pixel Watch 5 (Image credit: Future)

Google says the insulin resistance trend model has been trained on more than a trillion data points gathered from over 5 million users, while the blood pressure model was built with billions of minutes of raw heart and movement data.

With the sleep breathing quality trends feature, you'll get a report each morning on how your breathing varied over the night. This can help you assess overall sleep quality and figure out the best routine and environment for optimal sleep.

Meanwhile, Pixel Watch 4 and 5 models are also getting Breathing Emergency Detection in select European markets (including France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK). This can spot dangerous drops in oxygen saturation and even place a call to the emergency services.

If you're a Fitbit Air user rather than a Pixel Watch user, you'll get blood pressure and insulin resistance trends on your device "later this year," but you'll need a Google Health Premium subscription to access them, which isn't the case with the Pixel Watches.

We're big fans of the Jackery Explorer 2000 v2, which combines a 2,042Wh LiFePO4 battery with enough output to run demanding appliances and equipment.

Best for: Homeowners and campers who need enough stored power to run appliances and equipment rather than simply top up portable electronics.

The deal: The Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 is now $899 (was $999) at Amazon. In the UK, the power station is now £899 (was £1061).

Why it matters: This is the power station that saved our sanity (and our hunger) during power outages when we tested out this unit. Its combination of 2,042Wh capacity and 2,200W output means it can handle much more demanding equipment than smaller portable batteries.

Explorer 2000 V2 Portable Power Station: was $999 now $898.99
The Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 combines a 2,042Wh LiFePO4 battery with 2,200W AC output, three AC outlets, 100W USB-C charging, 20ms UPS switching, solar support and 39.5lb compact construction.

In the UK: now £899 (was £1061)View Deal

Why we recommend it

In his recent 4.5-star review, our expert Owain said he found it "to be easy to use, simple to transport, and more than capable of dealing with everyday needs."

It impressed him for several reasons. "Firstly, the build quality and easy setup stand out, limiting setup stress and giving you peace of mind. I also really liked the amount of power you get from such a small and portable unit. I used it extensively in different scenarios, including working, running home appliances, and during a camping trip, and it never even got close to running out. "

The Explorer 2000 v2 provides a lot of AC power across three outlets. Jackery uses a LiFePO4 battery for a service life of up to 10 years. Cell-to-Body construction helps keep the unit relatively compact at 13.2 x 10.4 x 11.5 inches and 39.5lb. There's also a 100W USB-C PD connection for fast charging compatible laptops, phones and other electronics without needing their regular power adapters.

Price context & historical value

The reduction from $999 to $898.99 knocks $100.01 off the regular price. That's not close to being its cheapest price however. I've seen it for as low as $743.83 on Amazon earlier in the year, and it may well be reduced further for this upcoming Black Friday.

For more options, take a look at our roundup of the best portable power stations.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 if...

You want emergency home backup capacity for power outages, camping or RV trips and need something reasonably portable.

❌ Skip the Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 if...

You only need something to keep your phone, tablet and laptop charged. A smaller power station will cost considerably less and be much easier to carry.

• Shop all generators and portable power stations at Amazon.

I do love a gadget, so this mini 20000mAh power bank from Inui really caught my eye. I can't say it's the smallest in the world, but it's certainly ultra-compact and travel-friendly, with a built-in flashlight and USB-C cable that doubles as carry handle.

• Best for: Professionals, students, and travelers who want enough capacity for several phone charges without carrying a separate USB-C cable.

• The deal: The Iniu mini portable charger is now $27 (was $33) at Amazon.

• Why it matters: A 20,000mAh battery provides considerably more endurance than smaller pocket-sized power banks, while 22.5W output offers relatively quick phone charging. The portable unit also features a display, and a flashlight.

Portable Charger: was $32.99 now $26.96
This charger combines a 20,000mAh lithium-polymer battery with 22.5W fast charging, three ports, a built-in USB-C cable, digital battery display, integrated flashlight, compact construction and a three-year warranty.View Deal

Why we recommend it

The Iniu charger measures just 4.1 x 2.8 x 1.2 inches and weighs 11.3oz, making it small enough to slip into a bag or pocket while providing greater capacity than other more-expensive power banks. It provides enough energy for around four full phone charges. You also get a built-in braided cable, which means there's one less cable to remember to take with you.

Its 22.5W fast charging can top up compatible phones much faster than basic 5W or 10W battery packs. Iniu claims an iPhone 16 can reach 60% and a Samsung Galaxy S25 70% in 25 minutes. The built-in flashlight is a useful feature, and the digital display makes it easier to judge when it's time to plug in the charger.

Price context & historical value

At $26.96, this is the lowest price I've seen - although that's for the black version. Other colors - like beige white, blue, and green - are discounted, but the prices are slightly higher at $32. With this model, you're saving just over 18%. That's a welcome discount for a 20,000mAh model with an integrated cable.

For more shopping options, take a look at our roundup of the best power chargers.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Iniu Portable Charger if...

You want plenty of battery capacity with fast charging and a few tricks up its sleeve without paying a fortune.

❌ Skip the Iniu Portable Charger if...

You want something that can charge your laptop. This is fine for phones and many smaller USB-powered devices, but it can't handle more powerful devices.

• Shop all portable power banks at Amazon

• Meta's Petal cable will carry a petabit of data every single second
• The cable stretches roughly 7,000 kilometers between the United States and France
• Meta expects Petal to enter commercial service sometime in 2029

Meta has announced Petal, a subsea cable system built to carry a petabit of data every second across the Atlantic Ocean.

The company says this new system will stretch roughly 7,000 kilometers, or about 4,300 miles, linking the United States and France.

Meta expects Petal to enter service in 2029, working alongside NEC Corporation and Sumitomo Electric Industries on its construction and eventual deployment.

How Petal reaches such enormous speed

Undersea cables already carry about 99% of the world's intercontinental internet traffic, according to Meta, making new capacity increases commercially significant.

Traditional transatlantic cables move data in terabits each second, but Petal aims for petabit scale, roughly a million gigabits every second.

"Achieving petabit-per-second capacity across a transoceanic submarine system represents a major technological milestone in the history of global telecommunications," said Eduardo Mateo, Chief Strategy Officer, Submarine Network Division at NEC Corporation.

According to Meta's estimate, that much capacity could let 75% of Earth's population stream music simultaneously.

Reaching that scale required multi-core fiber technology, doubling the 24 fiber pairs used on Meta's earlier Anjana cable system into 48 spatial channels.

Petal also uses a lower power repeater design that allows the entire system to run from a single feeding point for added resilience.

That capacity would make Petal roughly 3.3 million times faster than a typical American home internet connection, based on average broadband speeds.

At that speed, Petal could theoretically move every song ever commercially released to another continent in under one second.

Meta says Petal will double existing transoceanic capacity without adding more power equipment or new physical structures, a claim still untested outside controlled trials.

Undersea cables remain critical infrastructure despite the cost

Communication traffic keeps rising as AI tools and everyday digital services demand more resilient, reliable connections between continents.

This is why Meta keeps expanding its subsea capacity across multiple regions and long-distance routes worldwide.

The company has backed more than 20 subsea cable projects already, including its wider Project Waterworth initiative, giving it a long record in undersea infrastructure.

"Meta continues to invest in digital infrastructure, such as subsea cables, because they are foundational to delivering the high quality services our end users expect," said Alex-Handrah Aime, Vice President, Network Investments at Meta.

Sumitomo Electric echoed that reasoning, framing its new two-core fiber as essential to supporting long-term global network expansion.

"We are committed to supporting the global network expansion essential to realizing a highly digital future," said Takehiko Okada, General Manager, Optical Fiber and Cable Division at Sumitomo Electric Industries.

Whether Petal meets its 2029 deadline will depend on regulatory approval, ocean permitting, and manufacturing timelines that often slip for projects this size.

The Netgear Orbi 770 mesh router system is one of the best we've ever tested, scoring 4.5 stars in our review. Now, it's just hit its lowest ever price at Amazon.

• Best for: Home users and small businesses that need strong Wi-Fi coverage in every room without dead zones.

• The deal: The Netgear Orbi 770 Wi-Fi 7 mesh system three pack is now £579 (was £759) at Amazon.

• Why it matters: Under testing, we found this mesh system delivered "impressive Wi-Fi 7 speeds at a competitive price." It's tri-band model that takes full advantage of Wi-Fi 7 speeds, reaching up to 11Gbp. Coverage is up to 6,750 sq ft from the router and two satellites, which is ideal of large premises. There's support for MLO, up to 100 connected devices, and a 2.5 Gig internet port for full-speed fibre connections.

Orbi 770 Wi-Fi 7 mesh router (3-pack): was £759 now £579
This is the 3-pack configuration: one Orbi 770 router plus two satellite units, built to blanket a larger home in strong signal without the dead zones a single router leaves behind.View Deal

• Don't need the 3-pack? The 2-pack Orbi 770 is now £450 (was £550) at Amazon

Why we recommend it

When we put the Orbi 770 to the test, we found it offered "excellent performance for home users and small businesses," scoring it 4.5 stars.

It might be cheaper than the flagship Orbi 970 series, but it "doesn’t cut any corners when it comes to performance." It did aa great job of extending wireless connectivity to hard-to-reach areas of the house during review.

Bonus points for the easy-to-use app, which lets you set up guest Wi-Fi accounts and IoT networks. It's simple to get started, although some features are locked behind an optional subscription.

Overall, we rated it the top pick for homes in our guide to the best mesh Wi-Fi systems.

Price Context & Historical Value

At £579, this is an all-time low for the Orbi 770 series. It proved to be a strong all-round performer at an affordable price (well, compared to the Orbi 970). At this deal price, it's about on par with the Amazon eero 7 Pro.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Netgear Orbi 770 if...

You want whole-home Wi-Fi 7 coverage to eliminate internet dead zones, especially if you have a lot of devices or run a multi-gig fibre connection.

❌ Skip the Netgear Orbi 770 if...

You live in a flat or smaller house where a single router or two-pack model will suit you better, or you don't have devices for Wi-Fi 7 speeds with no plans to future-proof or upgrade.

• See all mesh router systems at Amazon

What happened to Jensen Huang? The Nvidia co-founder and CEO seems about as disconnected as a person can be from other humans' life experiences. That wouldn't be so concerning if it weren't for the fact that he runs the most valuable company in the world and is responsible for the hardware behind the most life-altering innovation in our lifetime: AI.

Huang, who founded Nvidia 33 years ago, has been a CEO for decades and a billionaire since 1999; he's also now firmly on the side of rapid AI development and deployment with little-to-no regulation, putting Huang firmly at odds with a growing legion of, admittedly, some other billionaires and CEOs — among others — who are calling for a foundational model development pause or at least slow down.

It's in this moment that Huang has been talking — a lot. He's sat down with multiple journalists for chats, but none now more notable than the extensive New York Times podcast with columnist Ezra Klein.

Unlike some of the other interviews, Klein used Huang's own description of the AI as a Five-Layer Cake: Applications, Models, Infrastructure, Chips. Energy to frame the conversation, which invited Huang to opine on all these critical AI bits, and I have to say, many of his comments were eye-opening.

Here are the most startling things Huang said and maybe why he's saying them:

'There are a lot of skills that don’t matter'

"There are a lot of skills that don’t matter."

The topic here was studies in China showing that while AI in education may initially help students work more efficiently, it, on average, lowers their test scores by almost 20%.

Huang agrees with Ezra that the use of AI is, while helping them work faster, possibly degrading student performance, at least in certain skills.

"The multiplication table is starting to be forgotten. Doing square roots, my goodness. Basic math is being forgotten. Does it matter?...Yeah. I don’t think it does. I don’t think it does."

Huang believes that even as we lose some skills, or as students become adults entering the workforce, they will gain other new skills. Of course, that's sort of a zero-sum game where you can easily replace one thing with another.

I don't know about you, but I do consider the multiplication tables to be a core skill and useful even if you don't work in a math-related field. Naturally, Huang and most AI providers would like to believe that, like the calculator before it, AI will handle this skill and do all the math for you. Perhaps. But at what point do we lose the ability as a culture to double-check AI's work?

'I actually don’t know my address'

This next one is actually connected to the prior quote but is worth calling out:

"My first confession, I actually don’t know my address."

Not his email address, not his phone number or his partner's phone number, but where he lives. The street number and zip code (I'll assume he knows the town and state).

Huang used this as an example of a skill he no longer needs, but admits that realizing it while pumping gas and needing his zip code (I'm guessing for credit card verification) panicked him.

Listening to this while driving my own car, I almost pulled over. "What?!" I yelled at my AI-filled iPhone 18 Pro Max, which was playing the podcast. First of all, how? Second, Huang could not have crafted a better comment to undermine this and many of his other comments.

The only way you don't know your home address is if you've been shielded from the act of entering it on documents and driving yourself home because you always have someone else doing it for you. Huang's lived experience is thoroughly disconnected from the average person, and yet the choices he's making impact most regular people.

'[China] manufacture[s] everything in volume. They manufacture smart kids in volume'

Throughout the long conversation, Huang comes off as an industry Pollyanna and wildly self-serving.

He's asked repeatedly about China's approach to AI and if and how the US should be competing with them and ensuring that the US doesn't fall behind in this critical race. To put his comments in context, you have to remember that Huang personally asked the White House to allow it to continue selling AI chips to China. Huang did note, by the way, that he at least sells new technology to US companies first.

Overall, Huang essentially never criticizes China and, in fact, seems almost in awe of its approach on most fronts, especially in its use of open-model community (calling it "super-vibrant), and how it's raising an army of people to build its AI future.

"They have so many scientists and mathematicians. The number of engineers they have, they manufacture that in volume. They manufacture everything in volume. They manufacture smart kids in volume."

I don't know if that last bit was a backhanded criticism of the US education system, but it's not like he added, "Of course, we are creating just as many smart kids in the US."

'all of the rhetoric and all the alarmism, all the doomerism, all of the predictions — they’re scaring people'

If Huang has any criticism, it's reserved for his US counterparts, whom he calls "alarmists" and "doomers".

"I want to see us not ruin the opportunity for the United States to benefit at the highest level. And notice all of the rhetoric and all the alarmism, all the doomerism, all of the predictions — they're scaring people."

Huang insists that these AI models are still just programs running on operating systems, and wishes people would stop infusing them with human attributes.

'Just because it comes from a scientist doesn’t make it scientific'

While Klein mentions most of Huang's partners and occasional alarm-sounders, like Altman, Modei, and Musk, Huang doesn't actually mention any of them by name. The 'Godfather of AI' and chief alarmist Geoffrey Hinton, though, does receive special mention.

In response to a question about Hinton's assertion that there's a 10% chance AI will end society as we know it, Huang calls the statement "irresponsible" and adds, "Just because it comes from a scientist doesn’t make it scientific."

In a way, Huang is right. After all, Hinton is still just a person who can bring personal opinions to the debate. Huang argues that the "10% chance is not grounded on science."

But isn't it? If Hinton is the Nobel Prize-winning person who introduced the world to deep learning, which helped trigger the generative AI revolution, isn't everything he says, in some way, based on science?

Instead of saying he understands the concern but here's why he's wrong, Huang just claims the foundation of Hinton's argument is faulty, and therefore his statements are not really worth addressing. Huang would simply like everyone, all the doomers, to stop scaring everyone.

'The A.I. supercomputers are super energy efficient, but they’re still going to use a lot of power'

Huang says he wants AI to benefit every company and person, and he tries to offer a reasoned approach to the growing outcry over data centers.

He agrees that if people don't want them in their town, "then so be it," and encourages companies to be transparent about the impact, though he argues that their "use of water is really efficient." In the same breath, Huang tries to have it both ways: "The A.I. supercomputers are super energy efficient, but they’re still going to use a lot of power."

If, in Huang's perfect world, AI companies do generate their own power (building power sources takes time, probably more than it takes to build data centers) and they somehow lower property taxes, maybe data centers could someday be a net positive. Most, I think, would argue we're not there yet, even as the number of data centers being built across the US explodes.

'I think we just have to acknowledge that we got ourselves really gummed up in climate change and sustainable energy'

More concerning is Huang's shocking perspective on climate change and fossil fuels.

"I think we just have to acknowledge that we got ourselves really gummed up in climate change and sustainable energy, and as a result, we just didn’t plan enough energy production."

Klein, naturally, asked what Jensen meant by "gummed up," and, yes, it got worse.

"Well, in the near term, energy production requires fossil fuel. And because there’s just so much angst about fossil fuel energy production, if you look at our country, we’ve produced very little net new energy for a long time."

There's a lot to unpack there. It sounds like Huang is downplaying real climate change concerns, something that might align with the beliefs of his pal and "drill-baby-drill" and climate-change denier US President Donald Trump.

In fact, Huang never addresses whether climate change is real or not and instead seems fixated on how the loss of more fossil-fuel-burning energy plants puts us behind China in the energy race, and, more problematically for him, at a time when AI needs a lot more energy.

'They’ve got to inflict an enormous amount of pain and suffering on you so that they can save you'

It's not all bad. Huang believes, "If you want a future that is sustainable, lean into AI”

And then he says this:

"Yeah. It’s kind of like, in order to save you, they’ve got to hurt you first — that’s the nature of surgery. They’ve got to cut you open to save you. They’ve got to inflict an enormous amount of pain and suffering on you so that they can save you. And so I think A.I.’s kind of like that."

As for what level of "pain and suffering" Huang believes we should endure, he didn't elaborate.

If you were watching or listening to the interview hoping for some encouragement or a more rational, middle-of-the-road approach to regulating and governing AI in ways that truly benefit all, you might've been disappointed. Huang does say that when the builders see AI going awry, they should stop it, and when an AI acts out of alignment, "they shouldn’t release the product. That’s the simple answer." But he never addresses the concerns over what appears to be happening before Anthropic, OpenAI, and potentially others release their models. These systems are jumping fences in testing.

Huang may not understand the needs of the common person, but that pales in comparison to the dispassionate AI, which neither knows nor cares about us. We need leaders like Huang to start caring, but first they have to understand us and our very reasonable concerns.

Samsung is behind some of our favorite portable SSDs, with the T7 being an excellent example. This incredibly versatile 1TB drive combines USB 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity with a durable aluminum enclosure.

• Best for: Professionals, students, photographers, and creators who need fast, compact external storage that can easily switch between modern devices.

• The deal: The Samsung T7 1TB SSD is now $230 (was $275) at Amazon.

• Why it matters: Samsung has consistently delivered an excellent range of portable SSDs. The T7 is a real classic of the range - compact, durable, and speedy enough for most users. It delivers read speeds up to 1,050MB/s and writes speeds up to 1,000MB/s, making large file transfers considerably quicker than with portable hard drives.

Today's best Samsung portable SSD deal

1TB T7 Portable SSD: was $274.99 now $229.99
This portable SSD provides 1TB storage, up to 1,050MB/s reads and 1,000MB/s writes, USB 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity, AES-256 hardware encryption, aluminum construction and six-foot drop resistance.View Deal

Why we recommend it

The T7 uses NVMe storage and USB 3.2 Gen 2 to deliver sequential read speeds of up to 1,050MB/s and writes of up to 1,000MB/s. Samsung supports recording compatible high-resolution video directly to the T7, including ProRes 4K at 60fps from supported iPhones. The aluminum drive measures just 3.3 x 2.2 x 0.3 inches, weighs around 2.1oz and is designed to withstand drops of up to six feet.

Price context & historical value

The reduction from $274.99 to $229.99 will save you 16%. That's a welcome price cut in 2026, but it's still expensive for a 1TB external SSD by historical standards. In 2023, before component prices began sky-rocketing, it was available to buy for just $64.99. I don't expect to see it that low again for a very long time, if ever.

For more shopping options, take a look at our roundup of the best portable SSDs, and the fastest external SSDs.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Samsung T7 Portable SSD if...

You frequently move large files between devices and need something faster than a hard drive. The T7 supports 256-bit AES hardware encryption, which is useful if you'll be carrying important work or personal files about with you.

❌ Skip the Samsung T7 Portable SSD if...

Your priority is getting as much storage as possible for the money. You're paying a premium for the T7's combination of SSD performance, compact dimensions and portability, and a slower external drive will give you much more space for the same money, or probably even less.

Also consider

1TB Portable SSD: $159.99
This cheaper Sandisk alternative provides 1TB of portable storage, read speeds up to 1,000MB/s, two-meter drop protection and a pocket-sized design compatible with laptops and tablets.View Deal

1TB Pocket External SSD: $139.99
This even cheaper Verbatim alternative provides 1TB of portable storage, read speeds up to 1,000MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity, a keyring and a cable holder.View Deal

• Shop all portable SSDs at Amazon.

• New Jersey issues $1.07m fine for failure to obtain permits to run gas generators
• DataOne campus was observed using at least 45 of the generators without a permit
• DataOne "disagree[s]" but has 45 days to obtain the relevant permits

A data center slated to provide "AI infrastructure" to Microsoft later this year has been hit with a $1.07 million fine by the US state of New Jersey after allegedly installing no fewer than 62 natural gas generators on-site without obtaining the correct environmental permits.

The state found out about the generators after a local farmer photographing a neighboring golf course noticed equipment appearing on the campus. This led to an investigation by the nonprofit newsroom Floodlight, in partnership with the Guardian, and the deployment of a thermal drone — which reportedly observed 45 of the 62 generators in operation.

The fine was based on New Jersey's Air Pollution Control Act, which requires both preconstruction permits to install the generators and operating certificates to run them. Neither had been obtained across all 62 units, the department said in an announcement.

DataOne campus due to supply Microsoft in coming months

The DataOne facility has been built for the Dutch cloud AI company Nebius, which announced earlier this month that it would be using it to "deliver AI infrastructure to Microsoft," starting later this year.

DEP Commissioner Ed Potosnak described the fine as "by far the largest ever taken against a data center in New Jersey and possibly one of the largest such actions in the nation."

He continued: "The Sherrill administration demands accountability and corporate responsibility in the construction and operation of data centers and is committed to putting in place legal and regulatory guardrails that protect ratepayers, communities and the environment.”

With each generator rated at 1,982 kilowatts, they collectively have a 123-megawatt capacity. For reference, the state asserted that any individual generators with a 37kW or higher capacity requires approval.

The generators effectively provide the data center with a considerable amount of off-grid electricity supply, but while this may be good news to alleviate strains on local infrastructure and household energy prices, there are concerns over CO2, NO2 and CO emissions.

"While we disagree with the temporary generator determination, we will apply for the air permits for the temporary generators and are in communication with the Department of Environmental Protection regarding its findings and the fuel cell transition timeline," DataOne, said in a statement.

DataOne has been given 45 days to obtain the relevant permits, but in the interim, it can continue using the gas generators.