TechRadar Reviews

LG Sound Suite H7 review

The LG Sound Suite H7 is the first soundbar in the market to feature Dolby Atmos FlexConnect capabilities — instantly providing a unique option in what is a highly competitive category.

FlexConnect enables the LG Sound Suite H7 to act as something of a hub — you can pair a compatible sub and various surround speakers to the soundbar, and no matter where you place them in the room, you can expect well-optimized sound and Atmos effects.

As I discovered when reviewing the LG Sound Suite Immersive Suite 7 Pro and testing out the LG Immersive Quad Suite 7 — two systems that place the H7 soundbar front and center — FlexConnect works brilliantly. When using a wide variety of configurations, these systems provided impactful and clear sound. It’s a very handy feature, and one that could be useful for those with awkwardly shaped or laid-out living spaces.

Here, though, I wanted to look at the LG Sound Suite H7 soundbar on its own, and assess its quality without the assistance of any W7 subs or M7 surround speakers. Sure, this is a model that’s at its best when paired with other components — as is the case with rivals like the Sonos Arc Ultra. But can it hold its own as a standalone device? Can it compete with the very best Dolby Atmos soundbars?

Let’s begin by taking a look at features on the H7 soundbar. Of course, FlexConnect is great, but there’s a lot more to discover — especially if you download the LG ThinQ app.

One interesting addition is Sound Follow. This optimizes sound not only for your living space, but for your position within it. It works surprisingly well, and although it's not essential, it’s certainly a unique option in LG’s arsenal. On top of this, you can alter the EQ, adjust channel levels, and even cycle between different sound modes.

There’s a decent array of these sound modes, with a bass-boosted option, a vocal-oriented alternative, and an AI Sound configuration. Personally, I found the AI-enabled mode to sound worse than the standard tuning — movie soundtracks lacked balance, and often sounded too bass-heavy. Other than this, you’ll also find an AI upmixing setting, which enables you to convert a stereo signal into a more expansive 9.1.4-channel format.

As well as its various sound modes, the H7 offers a decent amount of connectivity options. Of course, you’ve got the standard HDMI eARC, but you can also make use of a USB connection, or play music and podcasts via a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection.

On the topic of connectivity, though, I do have one key complaint: the LG H7 doesn’t have HDMI passthrough. In 2026, this feels like a huge miss. A lot of even high-end TVs owned by people today are restricted to just two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which will be the HDMI eARC port. Given that the H7 will take one of those up, you may well be left with just one. That could prove to be a point of contention for owners of multiple modern video game consoles, for instance.

Another feature that some may miss is DTS support. DTS has been missing from a lot of LG’s tech as of late, with the company opting to drop the format from its TVs in 2025. If your TV or video player decodes DTS, it's not really a problem — but it's annoying if you buy all LG. Still the best 4K Blu-ray players, where DTS is most important, can generally decode it.

(Image credit: Future)

But you may be wondering by now, just how good does the LG Sound Suite H7 sound? Well, in my view, it’s a very strong performer indeed.

Unsurprisingly, the real highlight here is Dolby Atmos performance. In Top Gun: Maverick, when Tom Cruise flies up and over the head of Ed Harris, the verticality of this move was replicated brilliantly. This is something that a lot of rivals struggle with — especially without overhead speakers for ‘true’ Atmos, but the height channels consistently conjured up excellent effects in my testing.

The H7 also outputs expansive sound with tremendous width, something I found when watching a 4K Blu-ray of The Mask. As the titular character spun around an outdoor area, his movement was tracked well, and it sounded as if he was tornadoing into the corners of our TV testing space. Sure, a full setup with the M7 speakers added more depth and pin-point precision, but the soundbar certainly offered a broad sense of sound on its own.

It was a similar story with music — with Hans Zimmer’s Dream of Arrakis, vocals oozed into the sides of the room, while ambient sound effects felt as if they were crawling along the walls. The bottom line, then, is if you’re looking for excellent Atmos performance, the H7 is a top choice.

Outside of Atmos performance, the H7 is pretty strong too. It gets a lot of the fundamentals right — clear dialogue, impactful bass, and expressive treble all feature. When watching The Boy and the Heron, I was impressed with the snappy and sharp sound of a wooden sword snapping, and even when harsh wind noises entered the fray, the Heron’s monologue was articulated clearly in the mix.

In one scene, a horde of frogs exclaim “JOIN US,” and powerful deep bass seeps in. The room-swallowing low-end was replicated quite well, even at higher volumes, but it wasn’t quite as full-sounding and thunderous as I’ve experienced — largely due to the lack of a sub. Adding the W7 subwoofer will fix this, of course, but that comes at quite the price.

Movies do generally sound great, however. Whether it was The Mask smashing through a glass door with giga impact or dialogue coming through with a true-to-life echo in Maverick, I was satisfied with the H7’s quality.

Is the H7 the most musically adept soundbar I’ve heard? Not quite. With stereo music, you do get distinct channel separation, and commendable attention to detail. However, I sometimes felt as if low-end sounds were a little overstated, leaving vocals or instruments in the mid-range sounding less prominent than I’d like.

With Atmos music, it was similar. Sure, the spatial effects are translated fantastically, and the dynamism of sudden drum hits or pounding bass was striking. But I sometimes felt that vocals in the center could be a touch understated. Some EQ tweaking can help with this, but I prefer models like the Marshall Heston 120 for music.

(Image credit: Future)

So, overall, the LG Sound Suite H7 is a very admirable performer, but I want to take a moment to talk about design.

Look, I don’t think this is the prettiest soundbar ever. It’s built to a high standard, but the H7 doesn’t have the flashy modern look of the Sonos Arc Ultra or the striking retro style of the Marshall Heston 60.

It ends up looking a bit generic, which isn’t a major problem — however, the more style-focused might wish for something with more flair. On the positive side, I did really like the soundbar’s display, which is handy for checking volume, source, sound mode, and more.

Another design positive relates to button and port placement. Everything is simple and well-sized, making for a relatively straightforward setup. Speaking of setting up, you can simply plug the HDMI cable and power source in, and you’re ready to go.

I did experience a few difficulties pairing the soundbar using the app, which was a little frustrating, but I had things working after a couple of resets. From there on out, the simple app made my user experience fairly trouble-free.

Let’s finish up by talking about value for money. The LG Sound Suite H7 has a list price of $999 / £899 (about AU$1,400), which, let’s face it, is pretty pricey. You can easily grab a great option that comes with a sub for less than this — the Samsung HW-Q800F, for instance, is regularly cheaper than the H7, and boasts DTS support alongside HDMI passthrough. However, the Sonos Arc Ultra — arguably the H7’s main competition — is in the same ballpark, retailing for $999 / £999 / AU$1,799.

Is the H7 worth it, though? Well, if you want Dolby Atmos FlexConnect and you’re planning to build out a full system, then it could be. Individual components, like the M7 speakers and W7 sub are expensive, and there’s no discount on a full system as of yet. But if you’re looking for a massively expansive overall package, then it remains a great option.

All in all, though, the LG Sound Suite H7 is an astute soundbar that packs in highly convenient FlexConnect technology, awesome Dolby Atmos effects, and impressive overall audio. It’s disappointing to see HDMI passthrough and DTS support off the menu, alongside a more enticing look.

And yes, it’s pricey, although it's competitively priced against Sonos, and can act as a highly capable hub if you’re looking to build out a full FlexConnect system.

(Image credit: Future)LG Sound Suite H7 review: price & release date

• List price of $999 / £899 (about AU$1,400)
• Released in early 2026

The LG Sound Suite H7 soundbar released early into 2026, with the W7 subwoofer and M7 wireless speakers joining it. At $999 / £899 (about AU$1,400), the H7 is by no means cheap, though it is priced pretty competitively against options like the Sonos Arc Ultra and Klipsch Flexus Core 300.

LG Sound Suite H7 review: specs

Dimensions

47.2 x 2.5 x 5.6 inches / 1200 x 63 x 143mm

Speaker channels

9.1.6

Connections

1x HDMI eARC, USB, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi

Dolby Atmos / DTS:X

Yes / No

Sub included

No

Rear speakers included

No

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the LG Sound Suite H7?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Dolby Atmos FlexConnect works great, Sound Follow is unique, but no HDMI passthrough, underwhelming AI mode, and no DTS.

4/5

Performance

Excellent Atmos, clean dialogue, relatively impactful bass, but musicality could be better.

4.5/5

Design

It isn’t the prettiest, but built to a high standard, has a useful display, and has neat physical controls.

4/5

Setup & usability

Some in-app pairing issues, but straightforward plug and play setup otherwise.

4/5

Value

Pricey, but in a similar ballpark to rivals like Sonos Arc Ultra, and brings unique FlexConnect functionality.

3.5/5

Buy it if…

You want to build a Dolby Atmos FlexConnect system
The biggest selling point of this soundbar is its Dolby Atmos FlexConnect support, which enables you to connect up multiple speakers and place them just about anywhere, while still enjoying well-optimized, expansive sound. If you add the W7 sub and M7 or M5 speakers, then, the H7 is a great centerpiece for this surround sound system.

You’re looking for a powerful one-box solution
Sure, this soundbar is great to build a system around, but it’s also a very admirable performer on its own. With powerful bass, clear dialogue, and impressive Atmos effects, the H7 can take your viewing experiences to new heights.

Don’t buy it if…

You need HDMI passthrough
If you want a soundbar with HDMI passthrough for a device like the PS5 or Xbox Series X, then the LG Sound Suite H7 isn’t your best option. It leaves out an HDMI in port, meaning you’ll be better off with rivals like the Klipsch Flexus Core 300.

You’re looking for something flashy
The H7 may be built to a high standard, but it’s hardly the prettiest soundbar I’ve seen. If you want a sleek, modern alternative, I’d go with the Sonos Arc Ultra, which I’ve covered down below. If you’re someone with more retro tastes, then I’d instead point you towards the Marshall Heston 120, or Heston 60 if you’re short on space.

LG Sound Suite H7 review: Also consider

LG Sound Suite H7

Sonos Arc Ultra

Samsung HW-Q800F

Price

$999 / £899 (about AU$1,400)

$999 / £999 / AU$1,799

$1,099 / £799 / AU$1,099

Dimensions

47.2 x 2.5 x 5.6 inches / 1200 x 63 x 143mm

3 x 46.4 x 4.4 inches / 75 x 1178 x 110.6mm

Main soundbar: 43.7 x 2.4 x 4.7 inches / 1110.7 x 60.4 x 120mm; subwoofer: 9.8 x 9.9 x 9.8 inches / 249 x 251.8 x 249mm

Speaker channels

9.1.6

9.1.4

5.1.2

Connections

1x HDMI eARC, USB, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi

1x HDMI eARC, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

1x HDMI input, 1x HDMI eARC, digital optical, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3

Dolby Atmos / DTS:X

Yes / No

Yes / No

Yes /Yes

Sub included

No

No

Yes

Rear speakers included

No

No

No

Sonos Arc Ultra
The H7’s most obvious rival is the Sonos Arc Ultra — and it makes for a very tough opponent indeed. With spacious, regimented, and articulate sound, a beautiful design, and impressive Atmos effects, this model is a titan of the soundbar game. It’s priced very similarly to the H7 and has similar flaws — i.e. no HDMI passthrough or DTS. Read our full Sonos Arc Ultra review.

Samsung HW-Q800F
This one's the top overall pick in our guide to the best soundbars, and it’s easy to see why. This soundbar and sub combo provides palpable bass, amazing Atmos, defined dialogue, and spectacular value for money. It’s regularly available for less than $750 / £600 / AU$800. This bar has 4K passthrough, although only at 60Hz. However, its DTS support, user-friendly companion app, and easy setup make it a phenomenal choice. Read my full Samsung HW-Q800F review.

How I tested the LG Sound Suite H7

(Image credit: Future)

• Tested across multiple weeks
• Used at our TV testing space at Future Labs
• Played 4K Blu-Ray, streamed movies and streamed music over Wi-Fi

I tested the LG Sound Suite H7 across the course of multiple weeks. For this review, I used the soundbar on its own, although I made use of its Dolby Atmos FlexConnect capabilities in my review of the LG Sound Suite Immersive Suite 7 Pro and the LG Immersive Quad Suite 7.

During my time with the LG Sound Suite H7, I watched a variety of movies — using the Panasonic DP-UB820 with 4K Blu-rays, and Netflix with Dolby Atmos content. I also connected my phone up to the soundbar for listening to music, and played a wide variety of tracks using Tidal Connect.

More generally, I’ve tested a whole lot of soundbars here at TechRadar, including everything from budget-friendly options — like the Sony HT-SF150 — through to premium alternatives such as the JBL Bar 1300MK2.

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

AWeber is one of the original email marketing platforms, having launched in 1998. Founded by Tom Kulzer in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, the company has grown to serve over one million small businesses and individual creators worldwide. Its focus hasn't shifted much in 25 years: AWeber is built for people who want to send newsletters and automated email sequences without managing complex technical infrastructure.

Since TechRadar last reviewed the platform in 2023, AWeber has made several notable updates. The AI toolset has expanded considerably, with an AI Subject Line Assistant now included on all paid plans and a standalone AI Writing Assistant for drafting full email copy. The company also renamed its automation builder from Campaigns to Workflows in mid-2025 and added a direct Facebook Lead Ads integration that pulls new leads into your AWeber list automatically.

Another significant structural change is the Done For You plan, which replaces the previously listed Unlimited tier. Rather than offering higher subscriber limits, Done For You brings in AWeber's team to configure your account within seven days. That covers your email template, landing pages, signup form, and an initial automation sequence, with 30 days of edits included after delivery.

• You can sign up to AWeber here.

(Image credit: AWeber)My experience with AWeber

AWeber has one of the smoothest onboarding experiences in the industry. The platform walks you through your business goals before you build anything, and importing subscribers follows a structured five-step process that handles data mapping and tagging before sending an opt-in confirmation. It's particularly well-suited to creators and small business owners who want to get a first campaign out without reading through documentation.

The email builder is where things get slightly muddier. AWeber's drag-and-drop editor works fine once you're in it, but selecting a template can trip you up: the preview thumbnails are small, and there's a checkbox labeled "Keep My Message Content" that's easy to overlook. If you leave it ticked, only part of the template applies. I found this confusing during testing and it's a friction point that has been around since at least 2023.

That said, AWeber's new AI Subject Line Assistant is one of the more practical recent additions. It generates suggestions based on your actual email content rather than a generic prompt, so the output tends to be relevant.

The value of the new Done For You plan depends heavily on what you're starting from. It's a reasonable option if you're migrating from another tool or launching email for the first time, but once the initial 30-day edit window closes, you're responsible for maintaining everything yourself.

AWeber: Plans and pricing

Plan

Starting rate (billed monthly)

Starting rate (billed annually)

Subscriber count

Lite

$15.00/month

$12.49/month

Up to 500

Plus

$30.00/month

$19.99/month

Up to 500

Done For You

$30.00/month + $79 setup fee

$20.00/month + $79 setup fee

Up to 500

The Lite plan gives you one email list, three landing pages, three automations, and up to three team members. It covers the basics for most new senders but carries a 1.0% transaction fee on ecommerce sales and excludes behavioral automation and advanced reporting.

Plus removes most of those limits: you get unlimited lists, automations, landing pages, and users, along with priority support and a reduced 0.6% transaction fee. Paying annually on Plus saves you roughly $120 per year at the base subscriber tier.

Done For You is AWeber's managed setup tier. It includes everything in Plus and adds a professional team that configures your account within seven days: an email template, two landing pages, a signup form, a welcome sequence, and a 1:1 setup call.

The $79 setup fee shown is a promotional rate, reduced from the standard $599 at the time of writing. Businesses with more than 100,000 subscribers need to contact AWeber directly through its large-account pricing page for a custom quote.

(Image credit: AWeber)AWeber: Features

Aweber provides a collection of 600+ email templates designed by professionals that you can edit to fit your brand. These templates make it easier to design appealing marketing emails instead of doing that from scratch. The platform also gives you access to thousands of free high-quality stock images or you can create your own images with Canva (without leaving your Aweber account).

Aweber's drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to edit emails after selecting a template. You can also use it to design your own email template from scratch if you have the required skills. 

This platform lets you send personalized emails using different data collected from your customers. You can also send automated emails based on specific triggers, e.g., a welcome email to anyone who signs up for your subscriber list. 

The reports section of your Aweber account lets you monitor critical metrics about your marketing campaigns like deliverability, open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribe rate, etc.

Some more new features worth highlighting include the AI Subject Line Assistant (available on all paid plans), the AI Writing Assistant, the Newsletter Assistant, AWeber's Smart Designer tool, and a new Facebook Lead Ads integration.

(Image credit: AWeber)AWeber: Interface and use

Once you’ve completed the setup phase, AWeber makes it easy for you to find the key functions of the service: adding subscribers and creating emails.

Adding subscribers is an easy-to-follow, five-step process that begins by importing a file or copying and pasting your data, mapping that data to AWeber fields, confirming the opt-in message, adding tags, and then providing information about how the people came to be on your list.

Creating an email was a bit less intuitive, though. There are three options for creating emails: the drag-and-drop email builder, plain text message, and HTML editor. When choosing the drag-and-drop builder, we were presented with a blank canvas with a list of elements that could be added on the left and templates on the right.

The thumbnails for the templates are quite small, so to get a proper look at them, you have to apply them to your email. To start with, things didn’t seem to be working properly. Only part of the template seemed to be applied. It wasn’t until we unchecked a small box at the top that says “Keep My Message Content” that the whole template, including content and images, were applied. This is confusing and makes for a less than ideal user experience.

When you actually begin working on your own content, though, you’ll want to keep that box ticked.

AWeber: Support

AWeber has an impressive track record in support, having won several customer service awards in recent years. You can receive direct support either by live chat, which is available 24/7, by phone, which is available 8 AM to 8 PM ET, or by email.

For those wanting to learn themselves, there is a knowledge base with articles, a video tutorial library, live and on-demand webinars, and a certified experts program that connects you with experienced marketing and design professionals who can help you with copywriting, graphic design, or marketing strategy.

AWeber: Specs

Spec

Details

Email automations

3 on Lite; unlimited on Plus

AI tools

Subject Line Assistant on all paid plans

Ecommerce transaction fee

0.6% on Plus/Done For You; 1.0% on Lite

Support channels

24/7 chat, email, and phone on all plans

Template library

600+ pre-built email templates

Should I buy AWeber?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Core email tools are solid; automation depth remains limited on Lite

3.5/5

Performance

Stable infrastructure with decent deliverability, though below some rivals in independent testing

3.5/5

Design

600+ templates available, but the editor UX feels dated compared to newer platforms

3/5

Value

Reasonable entry price; costs compound quickly as subscriber counts grow

3/5

Buy it if

• You need 24/7 phone support. AWeber includes phone support on all plans, not just premium tiers. For solo operators and small teams without in-house technical help, that accessibility makes a genuine difference compared to competitors that restrict phone access to enterprise customers.
• You want a managed launch. The Done For You service sets up your email infrastructure, automations, and landing pages within a week, which is a rare offer in this space. It's particularly useful for businesses migrating from a different tool that don't want to rebuild everything from scratch.
• You're new to email marketing. AWeber's onboarding is beginner-friendly, and the platform backs it up with tutorials, live webinars, and a certified expert network for users who want guided support at every stage.

Don't buy it if

• Your automations need to branch. The Workflow builder handles basic trigger-based sequences well but doesn't support the complex conditional logic you'd get from tools like ActiveCampaign or Brevo. On the Lite plan, you're also capped at three workflows total.
• You're watching costs as your list grows. At 10,000 subscribers, you're looking at $100/month on Lite or $135/month on Plus (monthly billing). That's considerably more than some comparable alternatives at the same subscriber volume.

Also consider

• MailerLite: A cheaper alternative for creators and small businesses, with competitive pricing and a free plan supporting up to 1,000 subscribers. Its automation builder is more accessible for beginners, and the template designs feel more current than AWeber's.
• Mailchimp: Worth considering if you need a wider template library and strong third-party integrations. Note that Mailchimp's free plan now caps at 500 contacts, down from the 2,000 cited in the previous version of this review.
• Brevo: Formerly Sendinblue, Brevo is a stronger option if automation depth matters to you. It prices by email sends rather than subscriber count, which can work out cheaper for larger lists that you don't mail frequently.

AWeber: Final verdict

If having 24/7 support available is important to you, AWeber is worth considering as it does provide a high level of customer support. But it’s certainly not the cheapest option available, the user interface of its email builder isn’t as intuitive as it could be, and the design of its templates didn’t impress us much.

Having to manually keep on top of your unsubscribes to avoid being bumped up to more expensive plans is also not something busy business owners should be expected to do.

We've featured the best online marketing services.

ActiveCampaign was founded in 2003 by Jason VandeBoom as a consulting firm before pivoting to software. Today it serves over 180,000 businesses across more than 170 countries, and positions itself as a full-stack autonomous marketing platform rather than just an email marketing tool. Its 2022 acquisition of Postmark, a transactional email service, expanded its reach into triggered notifications, receipts, and system emails.

The platform went through significant restructuring in 2024, replacing its legacy Lite/Plus/Professional/Enterprise plan structure with Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise. CRM features that used to ship with core plans were moved into paid add-ons, which came as a surprise to many existing users at renewal. The bigger story of the past year has been Active Intelligence, launched in May 2025 — a system of AI agents that can write campaign emails, build multi-step automations, and interpret performance data from plain-language prompts.

There is one important billing change worth knowing about before you sign up. Since November 2025, ActiveCampaign accounts are now charged for every contact in their database, including unsubscribed and bounced contacts. Most email service providers only bill for active, marketable contacts, so this policy makes cost estimates less straightforward than the headline pricing suggests.

(Image credit: ActiveCampaign)My experience with ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign's onboarding has improved much recently. The platform asks you to define your goals early and recommends templates based on your business type, which reduces the initial overwhelm that used to affect new accounts.

Active Intelligence is the real headline addition, though. You can prompt it with something like "Build a three-email welcome series for new subscribers" and get a full automation draft with copy, timing, and branching logic within seconds. The output isn't always ready to publish, but it gives you a strong structural starting point.

However, the interface has a learning curve, particularly in the automation builder. The depth of available triggers, conditions, and actions is a genuine asset for experienced marketers but can feel excessive when you're starting out. I'd also note that the Starter plan's limits become obvious quickly: no landing pages, no generative AI, and no CRM functionality unless you upgrade or add on.

ActiveCampaign: Plans and pricing

Plan

Starting rate (billed monthly)

Starting rate (billed annually)

Contacts

Starter

$19/mo

$15/mo

1,000

Plus

$59/mo

$49/mo

1,000

Pro

$99/mo

$79/mo

1,000

Enterprise

$179/mo

$145/mo

1,000

There is no permanent free plan, but a 14-day trial is available on all tiers and is based on the Pro plan. New customers are also covered by a 30-day results guarantee: if you don't see results in your first month, you can request a full refund. Annual billing saves around 20% compared to paying month-to-month.

Beyond the base plan, costs can stack quickly.

CRM features like pipelines, deal management, and lead scoring are sold as separate add-ons (Pipelines or Sales Engagement) and aren't included in any core plan. SMS marketing is also an add-on, starting at around $16.83/month for 1,000 sends. Custom reporting and transactional email through Postmark are priced separately too.

Since November 2025, new accounts are billed for all contacts in their database, including unsubscribed and bounced contacts, which is a less common practice and can push costs higher than the starting rates imply.

(Image credit: ActiveCampaign)ActiveCampaign: Features

ActiveCampaign makes it easy to design emails by providing templates that users can choose from and edit to fit their tastes. The templates are designed by professionals, plus you can customize them using the platform's drag-and-drop editor. If you have good design skills, you can also use the drag-and-drop editor to design your own template from scratch.

You can use ActiveCampaign to send automated emails to your subscribers. For example, you can send welcome emails to every person who subscribes to your newsletter or schedule celebratory newsletters for events, holidays, and birthdays. You can even send targeted emails based on your contacts’ interaction with your website.

Moreover, you can create landing pages for your products with ActiveCampaign. The platform offers many templates to pick and choose from. Likewise, you can create signup forms and embed them on your website to gather more email addresses for your subscriber list. 

But the biggest update is the addition of Active Intelligence, which includes 34+ specialized AI agents for campaign creation, automation building, segmentation, and performance analysis. It's available across all plan tiers as of 2026.

(Image credit: ActiveCampaign)ActiveCampaign: Interface and use

For the many tools that ActiveCampaign includes, we find the software well-organized and easy to navigate.

When you create a campaign, then next you can filter and segment lists for inclusion of only contacts. Additionally, this platform incorporates one of the most versatile drag-and-drop email designers that we’ve encountered. With a significant amount of control over how every content element displays, you can then decide whether a block should be only for contacts that meet certain conditions.

For setting up a marketing automation, you can then have hundreds of templates from which to choose. We appreciate that the visual designer is intuitive while offering highly flexible triggers and responses. By way of example, it tooks me a few minutes to connect ActiveCampaign to Slack, then triggering a message when a contact tag is updated.

ActiveCampaign: Support

Help is available for ActiveCampaign by sending them a message through the portal or live chat. The hours of operation in the US are Monday to Thursday from 6 am - 11 pm, CST and Friday from 6 am - 5:30 pm, CST, which means no help on the weekend and holidays.

All accounts come with free migration if you’re switching over from another CRM or email marketing service. In addition, Professional users get access to one-on-one training sessions and Enterprise users receive free phone support that is lacking in the lower tiers. We would have liked to see some additional methods of support, however, like direct email and live chat for entry-level users.

The company also has a very robust online knowledgebase, complete with video tutorials and a community forum. We found the help articles to be detailed, along with plenty of webinars like “Accelerated Onboarding,” and “The Digital Study Hall.”

ActiveCampaign: Specs

Spec

Details

Active Intelligence agents

34+ AI agents; all plan tiers

Email send limit

10x contacts on Starter; 15x on Enterprise

App integrations

1,000+ including Salesforce, Shopify

Should I buy ActiveCampaign?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Deep automation and AI agents; CRM costs extra

4/5

Performance

Reliable delivery; contact-based scaling

4/5

Design

Organized interface; steeper learning curve than rivals

3.5/5

Value

Competitive at low contact counts; expensive as lists grow

3/5

Buy it if

• You need serious marketing automation. The visual automation builder and AI-assisted workflows are among the strongest available for small and midsized businesses, particularly if your customer journeys are multi-step or behavior-based.
• Your contact list is under 5,000. The Starter and Plus plans offer fair value at lower contact counts. Above 10,000 contacts, you're looking at $149/month and up for Starter alone, and costs rise steeply from there.
• You want AI to speed up campaign work. Active Intelligence can generate automations, draft campaign emails, and analyze performance data from conversational prompts. It's available on all plans, though the full set of capabilities sits behind Pro or Enterprise.

Don't buy it if

• You need a CRM without paying extra. Pipelines, deal management, and sales automation are not included in any base plan. If your workflow depends on a built-in CRM, budget for the add-on on top of your subscription.
• You're starting with a large or messy contact list. New accounts are now charged for all contacts, including inactive ones. A database with significant bounces or unsubscribes will cost more than the headline pricing suggests.
• You want a free plan to start. ActiveCampaign has no permanent free tier. Brevo and Mailchimp both offer functional free plans for basic email marketing if cost is the primary constraint.

Also consider

• Brevo (formerly Sendinblue): Offers a free plan with up to 300 emails per day and no contact limit, making it a stronger fit if you're on a tight budget or prefer simpler pricing.
• Mailchimp: More beginner-friendly, with a free tier for up to 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly sends. It lacks ActiveCampaign's automation depth but requires far less setup time.
• Klaviyo: Worth considering for ecommerce stores. Its Shopify and WooCommerce integrations and revenue attribution tracking outperform ActiveCampaign's, and it offers a free plan for up to 250 contacts.

ActiveCampaign: Final verdict

ActiveCampaign is a platform with plenty of grunt as it combines the best aspects of email marketing along with a CRM. We like the unique features including automated email scheduling, agentic AI, and SMS marketing, and also does a nice job with standard tools like marketing automation and email design.

We think that the biggest downside to this platform is the higher price. A Plus or Professional plan can cost hundreds of dollars per month for a comparatively small number of contacts.

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iContact has been in the email marketing software business since 2003, co-founded by Ryan Allis and Aaron Houghton while both were students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The platform was built with a focus on making email marketing accessible to small businesses, a mission it has preserved even through multiple ownership changes.

Vocus acquired it in February 2012 for $169 million; following a 2014 merger with Cision, the combined company sold iContact to j2 Global for $49 million in January 2019. It now operates under the J2 Martech Corp umbrella and serves thousands of customers worldwide, including Habitat for Humanity and NASA.

The platform has come a long way from its earlier days. iContact now offers Standard and Premium paid plans, with Premium adding AI writing tools, unlimited automations, and social posting. A 30-day free trial replaced the old permanent free tier, giving you full access to the platform before any billing begins.

For small businesses with lists under 50,000 contacts, iContact covers the basics well. The drag-and-drop editor is clean and deliverability is reliable. The catch is that Standard limits you to one user, one automation, and one landing page, so the full value only becomes clear once you move to Premium.

(Image credit: iContact)My experience with iContact

Setting up iContact was very simple. I found the onboarding short and straightforward. The drag-and-drop editor is definitely among the cleaner ones at this price point, with blocks that snap into place automatically and a live mobile preview built into the UI. Its built-in stock image library is a nice practical touch for small teams without dedicated design resources.

The Standard plan feels more limited in practice than it looks on paper. Working with a single automation and one landing page is manageable for a solo operator, but it constrains any business with campaign ambitions beyond a basic welcome sequence.

Deliverability held up well in my testing, with very few messages landing in spam folders. For email marketing specifically, inbox placement matters more than most interface features when it comes to actual campaign results.

The Premium plan's AI Content Assistant is modest at 20 transcriptions per month, but it's a practical addition for small teams drafting occasional campaigns rather than running high-volume content operations. The social posting feature is a convenient bonus, though it won't replace a dedicated social tool for businesses that post frequently.

iContact: Plans and pricing

Plan

Starting rate (billed monthly)

Starting rate (billed annually)

Subscriber count

Standard

$9/month

$7.67/month

Up to 500

Premium

$16/month

$13.58/month

Up to 500

Custom

Contact sales

Contact sales

50,000+

iContact offers a 30-day free trial before any billing begins. Standard scales from $9/month at 500 contacts to $350/month at 50,000 contacts billed monthly, or the equivalent of $7.67 to $297.50 per month billed annually. Premium runs from $16/month to $399/month billed monthly, or $13.58 to $339.17 per month billed yearly.

Standard is a single-user plan limited to 1 automation, 1 landing page, 2 contact lists, 1 segment, and 250 MB of storage. Premium removes most of those restrictions, adding unlimited users, automations, landing pages, lists, and segments, along with social posting, Subject Line AI, an AI Content Assistant (20 transcriptions/month), an email verification add-on, phone support, and 500 MB of storage.

For lists above 50,000 contacts, iContact's Custom plan offers enterprise-level sending capacity and dedicated support. But pricing requires a conversation with iContact's sales team.

(Image credit: iContact)iContact: Features

iContact's drag-and-drop editor makes designing very easy. The platform offers a collection of email templates that you can pick and customize to fit your brand using the drag-and-drop editor. Emails that you build using the editor are optimized for both desktop and mobile displays without any extra effort from you.

If you have some programming chops, you can even edit the underlying HTML to make your emails look better. Subscribers on the Advanced plan also have access to a drag-and-drop editor for creating landing pages.

iContact lets you use automation triggers to send emails to customers based on specific conditions. For example, you can send an automatic welcome email to every person that signs up for your subscriber list. You can personalize these automated emails by including the recipient's name to make them more likely to respond. 

Of course, you also need to be able to measure the performance of your campaigns. Fortunately, iContact provides analytical and reporting tools that monitor open rates, click-throughs, and bounce rates, among other things.

(Image credit: iContact)iContact: Interface and use

I found iContact’s email deliverability rate an improvement over most email marketing tools I’ve tried. Very few emails sent from this platform end up being sent to the abyss of the spam inbox.

Hundreds of licensed stock images are available to create a unique email for maximum impact, plus designing an email is straightforward with the drag-and-drop interface. However, the task is more challenging if you want to create an email from scratch instead of using a template.

iContact also has strong list management tools. It’s simple to create subsets of contact lists based on zip codes or signup dates. This platform also easily integrates with in excess of over 100 apps, including PayPal, Shopify, and Survey Monkey. 

iContact: Support

iContact features a wealth of content to assist you become a better email marketer. There are over 100 professionally created webinars, videos, and guides to optimizing your PR, email designs, and campaigns that can help both novices and experts alike.

The professional content available via a blog, podcast, and email lookbook are excellent quality too, for example the webinar on “Head & Heart of Marketing: Why Your Emails MUST Have These 10 Things.” We also found excellent video walkthroughs of the software and training videos on every aspect of the portal.

For technical support, FAQs explain every part of the software for those looking for self help. Free plan users only have email support and a support portal to initiate contact. But, paid plan users can access live chat and phone support for direct contact, and are available Monday to Friday 9am –7pm EST.

iContact: Specs

Email editor

Drag-and-drop, mobile-optimized

Automations

1 (Standard); unlimited (Premium)

AI writing tools

Subject line + content; Premium only

App integrations

100+; includes Shopify and PayPal

Sending limits

10x–12x contacts per month

Should I buy iContact?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Core tools are solid; AI and social restricted to Premium

3.5/5

Performance

Reliable deliverability and consistent inbox placement

4/5

Design

Clean, intuitive editor with built-in mobile preview

4/5

Value

Competitive entry price; Standard plan is quite limited

3.5/5

Buy it if

• You're a small business with a modest list. Standard starts at $9/month for 500 contacts, backed by a 30-day free trial that requires no credit card. For businesses just getting started with email marketing, it's a low-risk entry point with enough tools to run functional campaigns.
• You want a clean setup without a steep learning curve. The drag-and-drop editor is approachable even without prior experience, and iContact's help resources cover most early questions before you ever need to contact support.
• You need AI writing tools without adding a separate product. Premium includes Subject Line AI and an AI Content Assistant to draft copy faster, which saves time for small teams handling campaigns alongside other responsibilities.

Don't buy it if

• You need more than one person managing campaigns. Standard is strictly single-user. The moment you need shared account access, you're on Premium, which more than doubles the starting cost.
• You send frequently relative to your list size. Monthly sending limits of 10x contacts on Standard and 12x on Premium can be reached quickly by high-frequency senders, leading to overage charges on top of your subscription.
• You need advanced segmentation from the start. Standard restricts you to one segment and two contact lists. Businesses that want to target subscribers based on behavior or purchase history will hit those limits quickly.

Also consider

• Mailchimp: Worth considering for more sophisticated multi-step automation and deeper segmentation. Its free plan was cut significantly in January 2026 to just 250 contacts and 500 emails per month, making it impractical for most businesses. Paid plans start at $13/month (Essentials), with multi-step automation only unlocking on Standard at $20/month.
• Brevo (formerly Sendinblue): Prices by email volume rather than contact count, which makes it more cost-effective for businesses with larger lists that send infrequently. The free tier supports 300 emails per day with up to 100,000 contacts stored, with no time limit. Paid plans start at $9/month for 5,000 monthly sends and include SMS alongside email on most tiers.
• Constant Contact: Suits small businesses running event-driven campaigns or working in the nonprofit sector. The platform removed its permanent free plan in June 2025 and now offers a 14-day free trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. Paid plans start at $12/month for 500 contacts.

iContact: Final verdict

In summary, iContact offers a solid product, and is priced competitively. The excellent onboarding and comprehensive tutorials make it a solid choice for a small business starting out in email marketing, with tons of support articles, webinars, and blogs to support your ongoing growth. While some professional marketers might find the automation, segmentation, and metrics lack the detail required for large-scale, complex marketing plans, those with more modest goals are sure to be pleased with what iContact does better than most.

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MailerLite is an email marketing platform built for small businesses, creators, and freelancers who want professional results without a steep learning curve. It covers the essentials — newsletter campaigns, automation workflows, landing pages, sign-up forms, and pop-ups.

Since the last couple of years, the platform has added a ton of meaningful updates: an AI writing assistant, a Smart Sending feature that optimizes delivery times for individual subscribers, and an MCP server that lets you control MailerLite through AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT.

There's also been a push toward improving monetization. MailerLite now lets you sell digital products, run paid newsletter subscriptions, and offer bookings directly through the platform. These aren't the deepest implementations you'll find, but for small operators who want everything in one place, they reduce the need to stitch together separate tools. The free plan still gives you a workable starting point, though the subscriber limit has dropped from 1,000 to 500 in 2026.

• You can sign up for Mailerlite here.

My experience with MailerLite

MailerLite makes a solid first impression. Setup takes minutes, while the interface holds up well even as you start working with automations and segmentation. The drag-and-drop editor is one of the better ones we've tested at this price point. The AI writing assistant added in late 2023 is a useful drafting aid when you're stuck — it won't write campaigns for you, but it takes the edge off a blank page.

It mostly earns its reputation from making mid-tier features feel accessible. Automation workflows, A/B testing, and subscriber segmentation are all present without being buried. For a small business or solo creator, that combination is hard to argue with at these prices. The one structural caveat: Growing Business users max out at 50,000 subscribers, so larger lists move to Advanced or Enterprise territory.

There are more limitations worth flagging before you sign up. There's no built-in spam testing, so you'll need a third-party tool like Litmus if deliverability is critical to your workflow. The free plan's 500-subscriber cap is also more restrictive than several competitors, which may push new users toward a paid plan earlier than they'd expect. At least the 14-day trial of premium features gives you a fair window to evaluate before committing.

MailerLite: Plans and pricing

Plan

Starting rate (billed monthly)

Starting rate (billed annually)

Subscriber count

Free

$0/month

$0/month

Up to 500

Growing Business

$10/month

$9/month

500-50,000

Advanced

$20/month

$18/month

500-500,000

Enterprise

Custom

Custom

100,000+

MailerLite has a free tier but with limited features. This tier supports a maximum of 12,000 monthly emails to 1,000 subscribers. It gives you access to basic features like a drag & drop email editor and email automation builder. You can also create sign-up forms and landing pages on this tier.

If you want more advanced features, you'll need a premium tier, and MailerLite offers three such tiers; Growing Business, Advanced, and Enterprise. The Growing Business plan costs $10 / £10 / AUD$15 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers and increases according to the number of subscribers. For example, 10,000 subscribers on this plan will cost $54 / £50 / AUD$79 per month and 50,000 subscribers will cost $239 / £210 / AUD$350 per month. This plan gives you access to sophisticated features like dynamic emails and auto-resend campaigns.

The Advanced plan costs $21 / £21 / AUD$30 per month for 1,000 subscribers and increases according to the number of subscribers. For example, 10,000 subscribers on this plan will run you $87 / £85 / AUD$125 per month and 50,000 subscribers will cost $289 / £270 / AUD$450 per month. This plan gives you a dedicated account manager, a dedicated IP address, and 24/7 live chat & email support among other features.

While the Advanced plan can be scaled up to 500,000 subscribers, businesses with over 100,000 subscribers can also opt for the Enterprise plan, which might offer better terms. You’ll have to contact MailerLite’s sales team for a custom quote.

MailerLite offers a 30-day free trial for each of its premium plans. You’ll also get a significant discount if you pay annually instead of monthly.

The MailerLite pricing tool shows how much the service will cost for your circumstances. (Image credit: MailerLite )MailerLite: Features

You can create email marketing campaigns with MailerLite using a drag-and-drop editor, rich text editor, or custom HTML editor. With a paid plan, you have access to 63 templates. They’re OK designs, but most of MailerLite’s competition offers more variety.

However, MailerLite goes beyond email newsletters with a robust set of tools for creating landing pages, forms, pop-ups, and even entire websites using a drag-and-drop editor. There are also strong campaign reports that can show you how many people have opened your emails based on their location.

You can optimize campaigns with A/B split testing, time zone delivery, personalization, and segmentation. We particularly like how easy it is to tweak and resend a campaign to people who didn’t open the email the first time. 

MailerLite has an intuitive drag-and-drop email editor. (Image credit: MailerLite )MailerLite: Interface and use

We found MailerLite particularly intuitive to use. Its simple interface and well-designed editors meant we spent less time learning the product and more time actually marketing. MailerLite is organized so that features like automation workflows, the landing page editor, and segmentation aren’t a distraction when you don’t need them.

However, in our testing, MailerLite performed rather poorly in deliverability, achieving around 80% deliverability with a 20% chance of being flagged as spam. In comparison, Sendinblue achieved a 95% deliverability rate.

MailerLite has a relatively powerful email marketing automation system. (Image credit: MailerLite )MailerLite: Support

MailerLite provides direct support through email and live chat. Free-tier users have access to email support from Monday to Friday. Users on the Growing Business plan have access to 24/7 email support, while users on the Advanced and Enterprise plan have access to 24/7 live chat and email support.

Apart from direct support, every user can access MailerLite’s official Knowledge Base, which contains a plethora of articles concerning all the platform's features. For example, you can find manuals on how to integrate MailerLite with third-party apps or how to create and send email campaigns. There's also something called the MailerLite Academy, which provides free online courses for users to learn about email marketing.

If you need help with your email marketing efforts, MailerLite has a directory of vetted experts that you can hire for a fee. 

MailerLite has context-sensitive help available on every page that can help with your current task. (Image credit: MailerLite )MailerLite: Specs

Spec

Details

AI writing assistant

Drafts copy in 30+ languages

MCP server

Connects to Claude, ChatGPT, others

Smart Sending

AI-optimized per-subscriber send times

Automation workflows

Multi-trigger, visual builder included

Monetization tools

Products, subscriptions, bookings built in

Should I buy MailerLite?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Solid core set with useful AI additions; automation depth lags behind ActiveCampaign

4/5

Performance

Deliverability has improved since 2023; but no native spam testing

3.5/5

Design

One of the cleanest editors in its price range; easy to pick up

4.5/5

Value

Competitive pricing and a usable free tier despite the tighter subscriber cap

4/5

Buy it if

• You're building a list on a budget. MailerLite's free plan and low starting prices make it one of the more cost-effective entry points for email marketing. Growing Business at $9/month (billed annually) gives you a workable toolkit without a large upfront commitment.
• You want to sell products without a separate platform. Digital product sales, paid newsletter subscriptions, and bookings are all built in. For creators who want a single tool rather than a cobbled-together stack, that's genuinely useful.
• You're new to email marketing. The interface is approachable, and the automation builder doesn't require much ramp-up time. MailerLite Academy also offers free courses if you want structured guidance from the start.

Don't buy it if

• You need a built-in CRM or deep sales automation. MailerLite is focused on email; it won't replace a proper CRM. ActiveCampaign or HubSpot are better options if sales pipeline management is part of the equation.
• Your list is approaching 50,000 and you're price-sensitive. Growing Business caps at 50K subscribers. Beyond that, you move to Advanced pricing, which is meaningfully higher. Use the pricing calculator on MailerLite's website before committing.
• Deliverability testing matters to your workflow. There's no built-in spam testing tool, and you can't preview emails as a specific subscriber before sending. You'll need to budget for a third-party tool like Litmus if that's a priority.

Also consider

• Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). Brevo charges by email volume rather than subscriber count, making it cheaper for large lists that send infrequently. It also includes SMS marketing and a basic CRM in the same platform.
• Mailchimp. More templates and deeper third-party integrations than MailerLite, though pricing climbs quickly as your list grows. A better fit if you need extensive e-commerce integrations or detailed audience analytics.
• Kit (formerly ConvertKit). Built for creators and newsletter operators. It offers stronger monetization and audience segmentation tools, though it costs more than MailerLite at comparable subscriber counts.

MailerLite: Final verdict

The developers of MailerLite have done a marvelous job of streamlining and simplifying marketing processes, making for a highly intuitive product that’s easy to use. Though professional marketers might find the reporting and automation tools lack a few of the more advanced features of tools like Infusionsoft, most small businesses, freelancers, bloggers, and beginners will find MailerLite has more than enough power and versatility for their email marketing campaigns.

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Wix Email Marketing is the built-in email tool for Wix website owners, accessible from the Marketing & SEO section of your dashboard. It launched as Wix ShoutOut in 2014, passed through a stint as part of the Wix Ascend Business Suite, and became a standalone product in 2023 after Ascend was discontinued. Now, it's a focused product that handles campaign creation, contact management, and basic automation.

The free plan lets you send up to 200 emails per month with Wix branding on all outgoing messages. Paid plans start at $10/month on annual billing (or cheaper with one of our Wix promo codes) and add more send volume, scheduling, AI-assisted copywriting, and the option to remove Wix's logo from your emails.

The platform won't replace a dedicated email marketing platform for a business with complex needs, but for anyone already building on Wix, the setup friction is minimal. Wix consistently ranks as our best website builder pick year after year, so this is an advantage worth considering. All paid plans also come with a 14-day money-back guarantee, which our previous review didn't mention.

(Image credit: Wix)My experience with Wix Email Marketing

Getting started is fast if you're already on Wix. The tool sits in your existing dashboard, pre-configured and ready to use without any separate account setup. The drag-and-drop editor is clean and familiar, with around 20 templates organized by campaign type: newsletters, promotions, and product announcements among others. Certain elements are tied to the template structure, so fully custom designs can feel constrained.

The AI copywriting feature, available on paid plans, generates subject lines and email body text from a short prompt. The output tends to be generic without specific business details, so it works better as a first draft than a finished result.

Automation is functional but limited: Wix configures triggers automatically based on your site type, so an ecommerce store gets order confirmations and cart abandonment flows, while a blog gets post notification emails. Building multi-step customer journeys or custom logic isn't supported.

Analytics gives you open rates, click rates, and delivery stats in real time, but there's no A/B testing, no heat maps, and no revenue attribution unless you're on the Advanced plan with a Wix Store. For a small business sending a few hundred emails per month, that coverage is usually adequate. Once you need to optimize campaigns using performance data, the reporting here won't give you much to work with.

Wix Email Marketing: Pricing & plans

Plan

Starting rate (billed monthly)

Starting rate (billed annually)

Monthly email limit

Free

$0

$0

200

Essentials

$12/month

$10/month

500

Core

$29/month

$24/month

5,000

Advanced

N/A

$49/month

1,000,000

As of 2026, Wix Email Marketing offers a free plan and three paid tiers that are separate from Wix website builder plans. The free plan covers 200 emails per month with the drag-and-drop editor and templates. All outgoing emails carry Wix branding, with no scheduling available on this tier. The Essentials plan ($10/month annually) removes branding, adds scheduling, and unlocks AI copywriting.

Core ($24/month annually) raises the monthly send limit to 5,000 and adds multiple sender addresses and shareable web campaign links. The Advanced plan, available only on annual billing at $49/month, raises the cap to one million emails per month.

All paid plans include a 14-day money-back guarantee on the initial paymen, and Wix prices by email volume rather than subscriber count, so a large contact list with infrequent sends won't push you to a higher tier. These email marketing plans are separate from Wix's website plans, so budget for both if you're building a full setup.

Wix Email Marketing: Features

Wix Email Marketing features an easy-to-use drag-and-drop email editor, much like its website builder. Users can pick from about 20 ready-made templates for different needs or start fresh. They can customize colors, fonts, and backgrounds to fit their brand. The platform includes AI tools to create catchy email text quickly. It also supports multimedia like videos, images, buttons, and product listings linked to your ecommerce site. All templates work well on both desktop and mobile, ensuring a consistent look.

The service allows for basic automation of triggered emails based on customer actions. Wix sets up relevant automations automatically based on your website features. For example, store owners get payment confirmation emails, while bloggers receive notifications about new posts. Analytics tools track delivery rates, open rates, and clicks in real time. This helps users see what content works best and improve future campaigns. The platform allows customer segmentation for focused messaging. However, advanced options are limited compared to specialized email marketing services. Business users can add company details, taglines, and logos to their emails for consistent branding.

(Image credit: Wix)Wix Email Marketing: Setup

Setting up Wix Email Marketing is easy, especially for existing users. You can find the tool in the Email Marketing section of the dashboard under Marketing & SEO. Start by choosing a pre-designed template or creating a campaign from scratch. The template library has options for promoting products, sending newsletters, or announcing special offers. The system guides you step-by-step with clear instructions and visuals, making it user-friendly for beginners.

The creation process is simple: first, design the email using the drag-and-drop editor. Then, select recipients either individually or by segments. You can preview and test the email if you want. Finally, publish and send or schedule the campaign.

A key feature for Wix owners is automatic contact collection. The system gathers contacts from your website, including ecommerce customers and form submissions, making it easier to build your email list. But the platform also suggests filtering out inactive contacts before sending campaigns to maintain good deliverability rates.

Wix Email Marketing: Support

Wix Email Marketing uses the same customer support system as Wix. There is no dedicated support for the email tool. All users can access the Help Center, which has detailed articles on using email features, from creating campaigns to maintaining lists. The Email Marketing page also has a thorough FAQ section. This section answers common questions about file types, sharing options, and usage rights.

For direct help, Wix provides 24/7 customer support for all paid plans. Users can submit tickets, request callbacks, or use chat support in over ten languages. Subscribers to the higher-tier Business Elite plan ($159/month) get priority support, faster response times, and a direct phone service hotline.

Wix Email Marketing: Specs

Drag-and-drop editor

Around 20 templates, mobile-ready

AI copywriting

Subject lines and email body copy

Automation triggers

Site type and action-based

Contact segmentation

Filter by behavior, location, and tags

Analytics

Open, click, and delivery rate tracking

Should I buy Wix Email Marketing?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Covers the basics well, but no A/B testing or complex automation

3.5/5

Performance

Reliable delivery with real-time campaign tracking

4/5

Design

Clean editor, good template variety, mobile-ready output

4/5

Value

Free plan is generous; paid pricing is fair for Wix users

4.5/5

Buy it if

• You're already building on Wix. The tool is embedded in your existing dashboard with no separate account or integration required. It's the simplest way to add email to a Wix site without managing another subscription.
• You're sending your first email campaigns. The guided setup and pre-configured automations mean you can get a campaign out the door quickly, even without any marketing background.
• Your list is large but your send frequency is low. Wix prices by email volume rather than contact count, so a big list you email infrequently won't push you to a higher tier.

Don't buy it if

• You need A/B testing or multi-step automation. Those features aren't available on any Wix Email Marketing plan, and working around the gaps is clunky.
• Your site isn't on Wix. This tool only works within the Wix ecosystem and can't connect to external websites or other platforms.
• Your list is growing fast. The jump from 500 emails on Essentials to 5,000 on Core comes with a significant price increase, with nothing in between for businesses at an awkward middle stage.

Also consider

• Mailchimp: A dedicated email platform with A/B testing, advanced segmentation, and deeper analytics. The free plan covers up to 500 contacts with 1,000 sends per month and works with any website platform.
• Brevo: A strong pick for businesses that need email, SMS, and transactional messaging under one roof. The free plan allows 300 emails per day with no contact limit, and it connects to Wix via the app marketplace.
• Omnisend: Built for ecommerce, with native support for cart abandonment, product review requests, and SMS campaigns alongside email. It integrates directly with Wix Stores through the Wix App Market.

Wix Email Marketing: Final verdict

Wix Email Marketing is an easy-to-use tool, helping cement Wix's position as one of the best small business website builders. Its biggest strengths include a simple interface, smooth integration with websites, and fair pricing.

Even free users can start email marketing campaigns with ease. AI content creation helps those who struggle to write engaging copy. Plus, automated setup processes make it friendly for marketing newbies. For existing site owners, it’s a great way to begin email marketing without a steep learning curve. The platform has enough features for basic promotional needs.

However, Wix Email Marketing has some drawbacks compared to dedicated services like Mailchimp or AWeber. Advanced users may find its automation options limited. Creating complex customer journeys or triggered campaigns can be a challenge. While customization meets basic needs, it lacks the depth seen in specialized platforms. The free plan is good for testing, but email limits on lower-tier paid plans could hinder growth. The jump from 500 emails on the Essentials plan to 5,000 on the Core plan is a big price jump for scaling.

All in all, Wix Email Marketing is best for small to medium-sized businesses already using Wix. It’s great for those who value ease of use and integration over advanced features. It works well for businesses starting their email marketing journey. However, companies with more complex needs or larger subscriber lists might find it lacking.

(Image credit: Wix)

Shark SilkiPro Straight review: two-minute review

The Shark SilkiPro Straight is a wet-to-dry hair straightener that combines a dryer fan, ceramic plates and three interchangeable combs in a single product. It launched in February 2026 and costs £249.99 in the UK and $249.99 in the US.

At this price, it's the most affordable entry in the growing wet-to-dry styler category. It's significantly cheaper than the GHD Duet Style at £379 / $429 and the Dyson Airstrait at £449.99 / $499.99, plus it's the only one of the three to include a range of attachments and accessories as standard.

It isn't the most intuitive styler. The grip takes some getting used to, and the location of the combs requires some deliberate – at times awkward – positioning. Working in small sections is non-negotiable if you want a consistent finish or you don't want to trap your hair and pull it out with each pass.

If you can get past this, though, the results are great. The SilkiPro consistently made my fine, mid-length, naturally curly hair look shiny and frizz-free when used in Wet mode. This mode is designed to dry and straighten your hair straight from the shower.

It's not the fastest entrant in our best hair dryer list, taking as long as 8.5 minutes for a standard styling session. As a result, it's unlikely to save you a lot of time compared to drying and straightening separately, but it is more convenient. Dry mode works well enough as a finishing step, but it's technically a glorified ceramic straightener, and a large, awkward, and clunky one at that.

The three interchangeable combs are where the SilkiPro really earns its crust, especially if you have curly or coily hair. The wide-tooth comb rough-dries and detangles from the roots on very wet hair; the gentle comb gives a softer, more natural straight; the precision comb delivers a sleek, flat finish. No competitor offers anything like this, and it feels like a feature designed with natural hair in mind, rather than an afterthought.

Elsewhere, the Shark SilkiPro's motion-sensing auto-pause, which cuts airflow after three seconds when you stop moving, is useful in theory but annoying in practice. It interrupts the rhythm, and the constant shift in noise levels as the airflow speeds up, slows down, and stops gets old quickly. At 70dB on high, it's obviously louder than a non-airflow straightener but quieter than a full-power hairdryer.

For fine or straight hair, there are simpler, cheaper tools that will do the same job as the Shark SilkiPro. However, for curly or coily hair where wet-to-dry styling genuinely changes the routine, it's a well-priced, well-equipped choice.

Shark SilkiPro: price & availability

• Price: £249.99 (UK) / $249.99 (US)
• Launch date: February 2026
• Availability: UK / US

At £249.99 in the UK and $249.99 in the US, the SilkiPro Straight is the most affordable entry in the growing wet-to-dry straightener market, by quite some margin.

It's sold directly from Shark as well as third-party retailers, including Amazon and Boots. It's currently available in two colors, called Plum Satin and Rose Petal in the UK, and Rose and Plum in the US. A Turquoise Wave model is also in the works.

Both the UK and US versions ship with the styler plus three attachments: a wide-tooth comb, gentle comb, and precision comb. The UK model also has a heat-resistant storage pouch in the box, but the US version doesn't.

At this price, the SilkiPro Straight is almost half the price of the Dyson Airstrait at £449.99 / $499.99, and more than £100 cheaper than the £379 / $429 GHD Duet Style, which are the most like-for-like 2-in-1 stylers to the Shark SilkiPro. All three take hair from wet to dry, but they go about it slightly differently.

The GHD Duet Style uses heated plates with airflow to deliver the glossiest finish of the three. The Dyson Airstrait has no plates and instead sends high-pressure air through narrow gaps to straighten the hair for a softer, more natural result.

The Shark uses the same plates-plus-airflow approach as GHD but undercuts both it and the Dyson on price. And it's the only one to include interchangeable combs.

The SilkiPro Straight does enough to justify its price, particularly for anyone with curly or coily hair who'd genuinely use the wet-to-dry features every day. If you already have fine or straight hair, you may not see the full value of all of its features – and a cheaper dryer and/or straightener will suffice – but you will appreciate the all-in-one design for a lower price than its rivals.

Viewed from above (pictured), the size difference between the wide-tooth comb and the two narrower smoothing combs shipped with the Shark SilkiPro Straight is clear (Image credit: Future)

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

Shark SilkiPro: specs

Model:

Shark SilkiPro Straight

Wattage:

1,000W

Weight (without cord, approx):

1.72lbs / 780g

Size (H x W x L, approx):

12.05 x 2.19 x 1.54in / 30.61 x 5.56 x 3.91cm

Airflow settings:

3

Temperature settings:

3

Extra modes:

Wet mode plate (212-248 F / 100-120C); Dry mode plate (320-428F / 160-220C);

Noise level

70dB average

Attachments:

Wide-Tooth Comb, Gentle Comb, Precision Comb, Pouch (UK only)

Cord length:

8ft / 2.4m

Shark SilkiPro review: design

• Larger and heavier than a regular flat iron
• Three interchangeable combs for different hair types
• Split controls for airflow and temperature

The gold power button and wet/dry mode toggle (pictured) sit at the base of the SilkiPro Straight, with the airflow and temperature buttons stacked above them on the lower body (Image credit: Future)

There's very little that's subtle about the Shark SilkiPro Straight, from the color to its shape and features.

The top of the body looks like a conventional flat iron with ceramic plates controlled by a hinge, but the chassis is noticeably wider to accommodate both the comb track that runs along the side and the air vents that direct airflow down through the plates.

The main part of the handle sits just below the hinge and just above a vented grille, and the control buttons are stacked along the side of the lower body into two rows.

Along the top row is where you select the SilkiPro's three airflow settings, cycling through them in order. Below this is the button to cycle through the three heat settings, and the wet/dry mode toggle sits at the bottom alongside the gold power button. On the opposite side of the arm is a lock switch that keeps the plate closed when being stored.

The specific temperatures of the plate's heat settings depend on whether you're in Wet or Dry mode.

• Wet mode: 212-248F / 100-120C
• Dry mode: 320-428F / 160-220C

In Wet mode, which is designed for use on hair that's at least 70% dry after rough-drying from the roots, the plates run between 212F / 100C and 248F / 120C.

Dry mode, which is used for finishing and touch-ups on already-dry hair, runs the plates much hotter – between 320F / 160C and 428F / 220C – and works like a conventional ceramic straightener.

The lilac faux-leather storage pouch (pictured) is included in the UK box and houses the SilkiPro Straight, as well as pockets for the three comb attachments (Image credit: Future)

Temperature

Wet Mode

Dry Mode

High

120C / 248F

220C / 428F

Medium

110C / 230F

190C / 374F

Low

100C / 212F

160C / 320F

The gold cool-touch strip (pictured) runs along the top of the SilkiPro Straight body, providing a safe place to grip during use (Image credit: Future)

I reviewed the Plum Satin model, which has a two-tone purple/lilac matte body with gold cool-touch strip, gold-toned ceramic plates, and a matching cord. It's a fun, if slightly cheap-looking, mix that stands out in a sea of traditionally white-and-black stylers, but won't suit everyone.

On first glance, I assumed the two-tone design was purely aesthetic, but it acts as a reference point when styling your hair to show which direction the air is flowing.

The gold lock switch (pictured) sits between the two arms of the SilkiPro Straight to keep the plates closed when not in use or when traveling (Image credit: Future)

The three combs – wide-tooth, gentle, and precision – clip into a track that runs along the back of the tool, locking in with an audible click. When attached, they sit flush to the styler, which not only keeps them close to the plates but doesn't add more to the chunkiness of the overall design. As they only sit on one side of the styler, you need to be very deliberate about how you hold and use the SilkiPro. This can take a lot of getting used to.

Swapping between the combs is easy, although Shark stressed you shouldn't change combs immediately after using Dry mode, as the hot plates may burn your hands.

The wide-tooth comb attachment (pictured) is designed for use on very wet hair to rough-dry roots and detangle thick, curly, or coily hair before straightening (Image credit: Future)

In terms of weight, at 1.72lbs / 780g, the SilkiPro is heavier than a standard flat iron, and you can feel it, particularly during longer styling sessions.

The swivel cord helps reduce wrist strain, and the cool-touch gold strip gives you a reliable place to grip, but with such a small handle and a top-heavy design, it's not the most comfortable styler to maneuver.

• Design score: 3.5 out of 5

Shark SilkiPro review: performance

• Delivers smooth, frizz-free results quickly
• Auto-pause airflow can be annoying
• Dry mode doesn't offer more than a conventional flat iron

Although it looks simple enough, the SilkiPro Straight isn't the most intuitive styler to use.

Its larger size and the specific location of the combs and airflow mean the grip and positioning don't come naturally. You also have to work in small sections to make sure you not only get a consistent finish, but also don't trap hair outside of the plates. Once you've mastered all that, it's a great styler, if a little slow and awkward at times.

In Wet mode, the mix of airflow and plates does a good job of drying and straightening at the same time, with impressive results on my naturally curly hair. Even without a comb attached. It gave me shiny, sleek and frizz-free hair every time, but having to meticulously move around your head in small sections means it's not a quick job.

During my tests, it took as much as 8.5 minutes to dry my entire head of fine, mid-length hair on the fastest airflow and heat setting. For comparison, most dryers I've tested average around five minutes.

The precision comb attachment (pictured) clips into the track along the side of the SilkiPro Straight and is designed for a sleek, flat finish with maximum control (Image credit: Future)

The wide-tooth comb is the best place to start on very wet hair, rough-drying the roots while stretching and detangling before you begin straightening. Switching to the gentle or precision comb for the straightening pass creates a clean finish.

In addition to angling the airflow so it blasts up at the roots, and thus adds volume, you can also use the SilkiPro like a standard dryer. Without any hair inside, close the plates to activate the air, and angle the flow at your roots or anywhere you want to quickly blast away water.

Dry mode works well as a finishing step for smoothing flyaways, but at that point, it's effectively just a regular straightener – albeit a larger, less comfortable one.

A built-in HeatSense sensor reads the plate temperature 1,000 times per second and automatically adjusts the heat based on how much moisture remains in the hair, applying less heat when it's wetter and more as it dries.

Shark goes quite hard on the benefit of its motion-sensing auto-pause feature, which cuts airflow after three seconds when you stop moving it. In theory, this sounds great. In practice, it's annoying. Pausing to clip away a finished section is enough to trigger the auto-pause, and the interrupted rhythm gets old quickly. Not to mention the constant change in noise levels between the motor sound when the plates are open, the airflow noise when the plates are closed, and the constant on and off of the auto-pause.

Speaking of which, noise is reasonable for a tool with a built-in fan. It's obviously louder than a straightener that doesn't have an airflow option – averaging at 70dB – but it's quieter than most hairdryers, even at full power.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

How I tested the Shark SilkiPro review

I tested the Shark SilkiPro Straight over four weeks, using it as my go-to styling tool on both wash days and when I wanted to style second-day hair.

I tried all three combs across a range of scenarios, starting with the wide-tooth comb on freshly washed hair to rough-dry and detangle from the roots; moving to the gentle comb for straightening, and finishing with the precision comb on dry mode to lock in the style.

I tested the 2-in-1 styler on damp hair at varying levels of dryness to get a sense of how the heat-sensing plates worked, and paid particular attention to how the results compared to my usual two-step routine of hairdryer followed by straighteners. I also tested it on dry hair in ry mode alone, using it as I would a standalone flat iron.

Throughout, I noted how easy it was to use, noise levels using the DecibelX app, and the finish and hold.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed April 2026

Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II: One-minute review

Hot on the heels of the Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S II, Nikon has delivered its second mark II lens for its Z-mount mirrorless cameras — and the Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II is another 5-star success.

The pro telephoto zoom builds on the original Z 70-200mm by being much lighter (and a fraction smaller), featuring a totally removable Arca-Swiss compatible tripod collar, and offering better close-focusing skills and a new optical design which improves image quality in various ways, especially bokeh.

I found the pricier Sony 50-150mm F2 GM a more exciting telephoto zoom to test, but there's no such lens for Nikon cameras yet; and, overall, it's hard to find fault with Nikon's latest stellar 70-200mm f/2.8. While it easily joins the ranks of essential Nikon lenses there is a big jump in price — it costs $3,199 / £2,999 / AU$5,399, where its predecessor cost around $2,600 / £2,600 / AU$5,100 at launch, and that lens is now available for less.

The Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II alongside the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 G ED VR II designed for Nikon's F-mount DSLRs. They're essentially the same size, but the new mirrorless lens is much lighter (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

Is the new lens worth the extra? For me, yes. My own 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II for Nikon DSLRs was my most-used lens for weddings and portraiture work, and it has paid for itself time and again over its years of heavy use.

When I made the switch from DSLR to mirrorless, I continued using that lens via an adapter, such is its quality and versatility for paid work, until the day I could consider upgrading to its Z-mount successor.

The Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S was enticing, but I didn't see enough of an upgrade over my DSLR lens to make it worth splashing out. The mark II version, with its new optical design and lightweight body, is the upgrade I've been wanting all along, especially for long shoot days.

Nikon has squeezed every bit of quality in can into a lightweight successor to what was already a stellar telephoto zoom, and I expect many pro Nikon photographers to buy, and rely on it for years to come.

Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II: Price and availability

• Costs $3,199 / £2,999 / AU$5,399
• Two tripod collars and a lens hood included

At $3,199 / £2,999 / AU$5,399, the mark II version costs a lot more than the current price of the original, which is now available for around $2,397 / £2,379 at leading retailers, or closer to $2,100 / £2,100 / AU$4,000 secondhand.

I think the weight savings and improved optical design with better close-focusing are worth the extra outlay, and Nikon lenses often receive healthy price cuts soon after launch, too — for example, the 24-70mm f/2.8 mark II briefly saw a 10% saving, so the 70-200mm's pricing might become a moot point soon enough.

In the box, Nikon includes the (removable) tripod collar, a foot-less collar, plus a lens hood which features a sliding door for easy access to attached filters and adjustments a breeze; the lens accepts 77mm threaded filters.

Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II: specsNikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II specs

Type:

Telephoto zoom

Mount:

Nikon Z

Sensor:

Full-frame

Focal length:

70-200mm

Max aperture:

f/2.8

Minimum focus:

0.38m (70mm) / 0.8m (200mm),

Max reproduction

0.3x at 70mm / 0.25x at 200mm

Filter size:

77mm

Dimensions:

3.6 x 8.2 inches / 90 x 208mm

Weight:

2.2lbs / 998g (or 2.6lbs / 1,180g with the tripod collar attached)

Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II: design

• The lightest 70-200mm f/2.8 lens available, weighing just 2.2lbs / 998g
• Tripod collar is fully removable, and you'll save 182g of weight when you don't need it
• Multiple function buttons and a customizable control ring, but no display

Future / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim Coleman

Size-wise, the 70-200mm mark II measures up similarly to Nikon's previous offerings. It's slightly smaller than the mark I for Z-mount, but slightly bigger than the version for DSLRs (see my photo comparison above). However, there is a big weight saving.

The Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II weighs 2.2lbs / 998g, or 2.6lbs / 1,180g with the tripod collar attached — the latter for me is more often how I would set a lens like this up even without using a tripod, because the collar provides an easy hold of the lens between shots. Even factoring in the tripod collar, that's over 25% lighter than other Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses (the mark I weighs 1,360g without collar and 1,440g with it, while the DLSR version is a fraction heavier again), and the lightest lens of its kind for any lens mount.

The tripod foot is now Arca-Swiss compatible, which is probably the most popular tripod-plate type. Don't need the tripod collar? There's a 182g weight saving to be gained by removing it, and Nikon also supplies a lighter foot-less collar that can go in its place. For shoots when you know you won't be using a tripod, that's a decent weight reduction that will be appreciated over long hours lugging around gear (although, as I said, I prefer keeping the tripod collar attached).

I like holding the a large lens like a 70-200mm f/2.8 by its tripod collarFuture / Tim ColemanBut you can also swap it out for a foot-less collar, thus shedding some weight and bulk.Future / Tim Coleman

One chief reason for the weight saving is the new optical design. Nikon has done away with three lens elements: the mark II has 18 elements in 16 groups, while the mark I has 21 elements in 18 groups.

With a simpler optical design, you might expect a compromise in terms of image quality, but the opposite is true — I'll talk more about image quality in the performance section below. There are also 11 aperture blades, versus nine blades in the other two 70-200mm lenses, and inevitably, the additional blades will form a more rounded diaphragm for pleasant and smoother bokeh — again more on this below.

Close focusing has been improved too — it's 0.38m at 70mm and 0.8m at 200mm, delivering a 0.3x maximum magnification at 70mm, compared to 0.2x in the mark I. For a telephoto zoom such as this, those are impressive close-focusing skills — not quite in the realm of macro photography, but easily versatile enough to capture little details sharply, such as wedding rings.

Future / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim Coleman

As for build quality, the lens is exactly what you would hope for from a pro optic: it's rugged and weather-resistant, equipped with lightning fast autofocus motors, and packed with a suite of external controls, including clicked aperture control and a customizable control ring.

The supplied lens hood now features a door which slides open for easy access to threaded filters — that's a handy addition for circular polarizer and variable ND filter users, because these (often essential) filters require rotating to adjust strength and you would otherwise have to remove the lens hood to access them.

The only thing that's arguably missing is a digital display for the lens settings, nor are there focus-distance markings, meaning you'll need to check the camera's displays if you need such information. The former could be helpful, but it would add weight to the lens.

Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II: Performance

• Practically no lens distortions at any focal length or aperture setting
• Dreamy circular bokeh, especially at 200mm
• Speedy and practically silent autofocus

The 70-200mm mark II is ideal for wildlife photography (of confident subjects)...Future / Tim Coleman...close up photography...Future / Tim Coleman...and portraiture.Future / Tim ColemanIt's even effective for street photography...Future / Tim Coleman...and landscape photographyFuture / Tim Coleman

I've tried the lens at every key focal length and aperture setting, and I've struggled to find a single optical weakness; it's pin sharp even at f/2.8, and lens distortions are extremely well controlled.

Take the scene below, with dappled background light. It's a testing scenario for any lens, but chromatic aberration, flare, ghosting and vignetting are all well controlled, even with the aperture set to f/2.8 — the widest aperture, which is typically where lens distortions are most obvious.

Bokeh is dreamy too, especially with the lens set to 200mm. It's more defined (read: smaller) at 70mm — that's to be expected at a wider focal length. Only an even wider maximum aperture at 70mm, say f/2, would make bokeh a similar size to what we get at 200mm. Ultimately, the more you zoom in, the bigger bokeh gets. You can see below how bokeh changes at the wide and telephoto settings as I reduce aperture from f/2.8 to f/4, f/5.6, f/8 and f/11.

200mm f/2.8Future / Tim Coleman200mm f/4Future / Tim Coleman200mm f/5.6Future / Tim Coleman200mm f/8Future / Tim Coleman200mm f/11Future / Tim Coleman70mm f/2.8Future / Tim Coleman70mm f/4Future / Tim Coleman70mm f/5.6Future / Tim Coleman70mm f/8Future / Tim Coleman70mm f/11Future / Tim Coleman

I've really appreciated the improved maximum magnification which now goes up to 0.3x, if you make the most of the lens' 0.38m minimum focus distance at 70mm, or up to 0.25x at 200mm. I'm often wanting to photograph little details, and the mark II lens is more versatile than the previous-generation lens for such tasks.

It's also a supremely fast lens for autofocusing — the exotically named Silky Swift VCM (voice coil motors) make light work of the moving 18 lens elements precisely for accurate, lightning quick and practically silent autofocus. Nikon says it's up to 3.5x faster than the previous 70-200mm lens and 50% quieter, plus focus tracking while zooming is 40% more effective.

The lens provides 6-stop vibration reduction image stabilization, which pairs effectively with sensor-based stabilization in pro mirrorless cameras such as the Nikon Z8 (which I paired with the lens for this test). For example, I've been able to get sharp handheld shots at 200mm using shutter speeds as slow as 1/4 sec (though not every time).

Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II sample imagesFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanShould you buy the Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II?Buy it if...

You want the very best and lightest Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8
There's enough reason to upgrade to the mark II from the DSLR equivalent (adapted on mirrorless) or the mark I — it's notably lighter, more versatile, and optically superior.

You regularly shoot weddings and events
For long shoot days, especially event photography, Nikon's 70-200mm mark II feels like an essential for the kit bag.

Don't buy it if...

You don't mind the extra weight of the mark I and cheaper alternatives
The weight saving is a key upgrade, so if you don't consider the mark I too heavy, you might as well stick with it.

You mainly shoot portraiture
Events, weddings, and sports / widlife with a 2x teleconverter are where the 70-200mm f/2.8 mark II excels. If you need a bokeh king for portraits, then a faster-aperture prime, like Nikon's 85mm f/1.2, is the way to go.

How I tested the Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II

(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

• Nikon loaned me a sample unit for four weeks, and I used it with the Nikon Z8
• I've taken identical photos at 70mm and 200mm, adjusting only aperture throughout the sequence to compare image quality
• I've shot street photography, portraits, landscapes, closeups and more

I was fortunate to get a long review period with the 70-200mm lens, and to be able to use it with Nikon's pro Z8 mirrorless camera. During this time, I had a week-long trip to China where I was able to use the gear in wide-ranging scenarios; at night for street photography, taking portraits and so on.

When I test lenses, I make sure all in-camera lens corrections are turned off. I shoot in RAW & JPEG format and compare files between uncorrected raws and processed JPEGs, which allows me to check for lens distortions, such as vignetting and chromatic aberration.

By taking a sequence of identically composed images at the wide and telephoto settings of the lens, beginning at f/2.8 and cycling through the aperture range in full stops, I can see which settings are best for quality, plus how bokeh looks and changes at various apertures.

First reviewed April 2026

beehiiv launched in 2021, founded by former Morning Brew engineers who built the platform around what actually drives newsletter growth: cross-promotion, referrals, and monetization without fees. That origin story shows up clearly in the product. If you've been looking for a beehiiv review, you might also want to weigh it against Substack or Kit — two platforms with very different philosophies on how (and how much) to charge creators.

We've been reviewing email marketing software at TechRadar since 2012, covering platforms like Mailchimp, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, and more. What distinguishes beehiiv in that group is the combination of a newsletter publishing environment, a web presence builder, and a monetization layer that most ESPs simply don't offer.

My experience with beehiiv

(Image credit: beehiiv)

Getting started on beehiiv is fast. You can be publishing within minutes of signing up, with no credit card required on the free plan. The onboarding flow asks you about your newsletter topic and helps you configure a basic website, which is a nice touch that sets expectations early: beehiiv treats your newsletter as a publication, not just an email blast.

For solo creators, especially, the value is hard to argue with at the free tier. You get a custom domain, unlimited email sends, campaign analytics, and a podcast channel, all before paying anything. The caveat is that key monetization features, including the ad network and paid subscriptions, require upgrading to Scale.

beehiiv review: Features

(Image credit: beehiiv)

beehiiv's feature set is clearly built around newsletter publishers rather than email marketers. You get subscriber segmentation, an audience referral program, Boosts (a cross-promotion network where you earn per new subscriber from recommendations), and an in-platform ad network that starts matching you with advertisers once you hit around 1,000 subscribers. These features work together as a growth engine rather than a checklist of add-ons.

The platform added AI writing assistance, a website builder with custom webpages, polls, and surveys. The Max plan goes further with dynamic content and audio newsletters. One area where beehiiv trails traditional ESPs is automation: triggers are fairly basic, and complex behavioral sequences are harder to build here than in something like ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo. Third-party integrations also rely heavily on Zapier rather than native connectors, which adds friction and cost for anyone running a more complex tech stack.

The 0% take rate on paid subscriptions is the headline differentiator. Substack takes 10% of every subscription; beehiiv takes nothing beyond Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee. For a newsletter with 500 paying subscribers at $10 a month, that works out to $600/month more in the creator's pocket.

beehiiv review: User experience

beehiiv's writing environment is built more like a blog CMS than a typical email builder. There's no conventional drag-and-drop layout editor, so if you're accustomed to Mailchimp's block-based design tools, the experience will feel stripped down. What you do get is a clean, distraction-free writing interface that makes publishing fast, though not visually flexible.

Navigation across the dashboard is logical, and the analytics surface is more detailed than most: you can track opens, clicks, subscriber growth, revenue, and verified click rates (which filter out bot activity) from one place. The 3D analytics feature, available on Scale and above, adds a useful multi-dimensional view of audience engagement. New users from a content background tend to adapt quickly; those migrating from traditional marketing platforms may need a short adjustment period.

beehiiv review: Customer support

Support quality depends on your plan. Free (Launch) users get access to an AI assistant and documentation, but no direct human support. Scale users unlock human support via email, along with access to a Slack community. Max subscribers receive priority support with faster response times, and Enterprise customers get a dedicated account manager.

Several user reviews note that when support is available, the team responds with real platform knowledge rather than generic troubleshooting scripts, which is worth noting. The absence of live chat or phone support across all paid tiers is a limitation if you run a time-sensitive publication and hit a sending issue before a big send.

beehiiv pricing and plans

Plan

Monthly price (billed monthly)

Monthly price (billed annually)

Subscribers

Free

$0

$0

2500

Scale

From $49

From $43

1000 to 100,000

Max

From $109

From $96

1000 to 100,000

The free plan covers real ground for early-stage newsletters, offering custom domains, campaign analytics, and the recommendation network. Upgrading to Scale unlocks the ad network, Boosts, paid subscriptions, automations, and human support. The jump from $0 to $49 is the sticking point: there's no intermediate tier for creators who've outgrown 2,500 free subscribers but aren't yet ready to monetize seriously.

Max adds white-labeling (removing beehiiv branding), audio newsletters, a sponsorship storefront, up to 10 publications, and unlimited team seats. Both Scale and Max use subscriber-based pricing, so your monthly cost rises as your list grows toward the 100,000-subscriber cap. All plans include unlimited email sends, which compares favorably to volume-based pricing at competing platforms.

beehiiv review: Specs

Spec

Details

Free plan subscriber limit

Up to 2,500 subscribers

Paid plan pricing model

Subscriber-based; scales from ~1,000 to 100,000

Platform take rate on subscriptions

0% (Stripe fees apply)

Email sends

Unlimited on all plans

Ad network access

Scale plan and above

Branding removal

Max plan only

Should I buy beehiiv?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Strong growth and monetization tools; automations are basic

4/5

Performance

Reliable delivery, verified click tracking, detailed analytics

4.5/5

Design

Clean interface, but email editor lacks layout flexibility

3.5/5

Value

0% take rate and unlimited sends make the price defensible

4.5/5

Buy it if…

• You want to monetize without fees. beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscription revenue, compared to Substack's 10%. At even modest subscriber counts, that difference adds up quickly.
• Newsletter growth is your primary goal. The Boosts network, referral program, and cross-promotion tools are purpose-built for audience building in ways that generic email platforms aren't.
• You need a publication hub, not just an ESP. beehiiv combines email delivery, a hosted website, archive pages, and podcast support, giving creators one place for everything.

Don't buy it if…

• You need sophisticated automation. Behavioral email sequences, advanced segmentation triggers, and CRM-style flows are better served by platforms like ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo.
• You rely on deep third-party integrations. Native connectors are limited; you'll need Zapier for most external tools, which adds cost and complexity.
• You're on a tight budget below $49/month. There's no mid-tier plan between free and Scale, so creators who've outgrown 2,500 subscribers but aren't yet earning from their list will feel the jump.

Also consider

• Substack: A simpler entry point for writers who want built-in discovery and don't mind the 10% revenue cut. It's worth considering if you prefer a reading-app-style ecosystem over a standalone publication.
• Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Offers more mature automation and landing page tools, making it a better fit for creators who sell digital products through complex email funnels.
• Ghost: An open-source alternative with no platform fees and strong CMS features, though it requires more technical setup and self-hosting or a paid Ghost Pro subscription.

How I tested beehiiv

• Signed up for a free account and walked through onboarding, newsletter creation, website setup, and the analytics dashboard hands-on.
• Reviewed the full feature comparison across Launch, Scale, Max, and Enterprise plans using beehiiv's official pricing page.
• Assessed third-party reviews and user reports from G2, EmailToolTester, and creator case studies to evaluate real-world performance.

I tested beehiiv by setting up a publication from scratch, publishing test sends, and walking through the monetization features available at each tier. Pricing and feature details were verified directly against beehiiv's official pricing page at beehiiv.com/pricing. I also cross-referenced competitor pricing to evaluate the platform's relative value, particularly around Substack's 10% take rate versus beehiiv's 0%.

Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2): two-minute review

Between the boom in generative AI technology and the ability of manufacturers to produce smaller-than-ever hardware components, accessories as light as glasses frames can house impressive computing power these days, and leading that particular charge has been Meta, with its stylish and capable Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, made in collaboration with EssilorLuxottica (the parent company of Ray-Ban and Oakley), set the current standard for the many lesser-known brands competing for space in the burgeoning market.

That being said, the competition may well catch up before long — the changes between the first- and second-gen glasses are only iterative, and Meta’s focus is more than likely on the Meta Ray-Ban Displays rather than on these comparatively ‘dumb’ smart glasses.

So, what better way to test them than by taking them on the road? I took my pair of second-gen Ray-Ban Metas on vacation to Rome, Italy and used them as both my main camera and my tour guide to find out how useful they are in real-life environments.

Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) review: price and availability

• Starts at $379 / £379 / AU$689

The Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) start at $379 / £379 / AU$599 in all their various styles — that’s $80 / £80 / AU$150 more than the first-generation glasses. That’s a relatively small price increase (especially given current market conditions) for a decent upgrade to battery life and camera specs — and you can easily swap out your existing lenses into the Gen 2 if you already own the first generation and really want those benefits.

You'll also pay $30 / £30 / AU$40 or $80 / £80 / AU$90 extra for Polarized or Transitions lenses, respectively. I went for standard shaded lenses, and I wished for transitions countless times during my testing; they’re a must-have if you plan to use these indoors at any point without looking like you’re nursing a hangover.

Ray-Ban Meta 1st gen vs. 2nd gen specs

Specs

Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 1)

Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2)

Camera

12MP ultra-wide

12MP ultra-wide

Photo Resolution

3024 x 4032 pixels

3024 x 4032 pixels

Video Resolution

1080p at 30fps

1200p at 60fps

1440p at 30fps

3K at 30fps

Microphones

5-microphone array

5-microphone array

Storage

32GB

32GB

Audio

Two open-ear speakers

Two open-ear speakers

Weight

49.2g

52g

Processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1

Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1

Compatibility

iOS; Android

iOS; Android

Battery (Glasses)

Up to 4 hours of moderate use

Up to 8 hours of moderate use

Battery (Charging case)

Up to 32 additional hours of charge

Up to 48 additional hours of charge

Water Resistance

IPX4 (splash resistant)

IPX4 (splash resistant)

Designs

Wayfarer, Skyler and Headliner

Wayfarer, Skyler and Headliner

Lenses

Prescription (-6.0 to +4.0), Transition and Polarized

Prescription (-6.0 to +4.0), Transition and Polarized

While these are still surprisingly affordable, the price is beginning to creep up towards “wait, do I really need these?” territory; in a world where we can now purchase a $599 / £599 / AU$899 MacBook Neo, the ‘cool’ factor can only go so far to inspire new customers to invest in an otherwise niche category.

All frame designs are priced the same, and you can choose from six color options across the Wayfarer and Headliner frames, or seven in Skyler. Plus, two new designs have also recently been released for prescription wearers: Blayzer and Scriber. There are two model sizes too, although exclusively for the Wayfarer style; one for larger and one for smaller heads. Certain frames also offer the option of a low nose-bridge model.

• Value: 4/5

(Image credit: Future)Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) review: design

• Broadly the same as first-gen glasses
• Slightly heavier
• Still IPX4 splash-resistant

Little has changed outwardlythat the eye can see between the first and second-generation Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. The case is the same, they’re available in the same styles with the same lenses (Prescription (-6.0 to +4.0), Transition and Polarized) – in fact, all that’s noticeably changed here is the weight, which goes up 2.8g, from the 49.2g of the first-generation to 52g, likely on account of the larger battery and improved camera hardware.

There’s some disappointment in this sameness. For example, these still only have an IPX4 rating, so they’re splash-resistant but not splash-proof — and something that’s worn on your head, which is the first place to get wet in a sudden downpour, should have the best possible protection here.

I don’t love how the Wayfarers look on me, which did kind of ruin my holiday shots. I went for the Wayfarers as they’re a more unisex design, and I could share them around with my colleagues, but the boxy shape and thick frames make me look like Carl Fredricksen from Up. Broadly speaking, I think at least one of the three styles will suit most people (I’m more of a Skylar girl, myself), but even Meta can’t entirely escape the fact that these glasses need to be decently boxy in order to squeeze in all that tech.

(Image credit: Future)

The fit is still super-comfortable, though, and that 2.8g weight increase hasn’t made the glasses unwearable — though first-timers may find them a little heavy on the nose bridge. On the upper-left corner when you’re wearing the glasses / looking at the glasses from the front, as on the first-gen, is the 12MP camera lens, and on the upper-right is the indicator light that lets passers-by know you’re filming or taking a photo. The placement here bothers me — most smart glasses clearly weren’t made with women in mind, because if you have bangs as I do, you’ll find a great many shots get interrupted by your hair.

Also as on the first-gen specs, the shutter button is on the top of the right arm, and the invisible touchpad is on the outer side of the arm, which lets you control things like music and Meta AI. On the left arm is the power switch.

From afar, these features are discreet enough to be almost invisible, and that continues right the way through to the embedded mics and speakers. In fact, the only way you can tell these are smart glasses at all is from the camera lens and the light — I’ll let you decide whether that’s a good thing, or a menace to society.

• Design: 5/5

Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) review: Performance

• AI is broadly reliable
• 12MP camera is still limiting, but decent
• Battery boost is much appreciated

I took the Ray-Ban Meta (2nd generation) smart glasses on vacation with me to Rome, Italy, hoping the beautiful and historic city would offer lots of opportunities for that neat little 12MP camera to capture some great first-person perspectives as I explored the landmarks.

I didn’t necessarily want to like the process — I’m deeply concerned by the privacy implications of guerrilla video and photo capture — but I can’t think of a better way to really capture a moment than to record pretty much the exact perspective you had when you experienced it. Plus, with news in late 2025 about new targeted ads using Meta AI conversations and alarming reports about footage captured on the glasses, including intimate moments, being viewed by contractors, the privacy-conscious may well want to keep all Meta products at arm’s length.

That aside, the quality of photos and videos captured by the Ray-Ban Meta (2nd generation) will naturally pale in comparison to the main camera on any flagship smartphone from the past few years. It’s only a 12MP camera, after all. Still, I think there’s something quite rustic and charming about the photos and videos taken by the Ray-Ban Meta, especially if you work around its limitations.

As you can see, framing a shot was harder than anticipatedFutureFuture

You’re limited to vertical shots, and framing your shots is tough, given there’s no display or preview. Shooting at night will garner middling results, and colors can also often be a little diluted, but broadly speaking the results are great for capturing the moment.

You’ll need to put some thought into what video settings suit the action, too: 1080p at 30fps is a little better stabilized, but naturally less detailed and well-balanced, than 3K HDR videos. You can see examples of this in our Ray-Ban Meta (gen 2) video review.

The most noteworthy upgrade for me is to the battery. With double the on-device battery and a solid 16-hour boost to the case charge compared to the first-gen, these can comfortably last you through a whole weekend away, or you could get by with a few quick charges if you’re travelling for a week or two. That’s a huge win while only adding a few grams to the weight.

Inside the glasses’ arms are two open-ear speakers, through which you can hear Meta AI’s responses and music; these are louder, bassier, and have less sound leakage compared to the first model, according to Meta. I’d say that all tracks — the quality here is pretty great, though there’s still a good amount of leakage. I still wouldn’t personally wear these while sitting next to a stranger and listening to tunes full blast, but if you’re lying on a beach or on a walk, they’ll work a treat.

Shot taken on the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2FutureSame shot on iPhone 15 ProFuture

Speaking of Meta AI, the assistant is pretty handy to have around, and has seen some improvements since we reviewed those original specs back in 2024. Broadly, the AI suite works as expected, including newer features; I tried using Live Translation to quickly unpack what someone was saying, and while it’s not super-accurate or snappy, it gets you by when you’re abroad and you’ve been neglecting your Duolingo sessions.

When I visited the Colosseum, Meta AI served as my stand-in tour guide, telling me about the different landmarks I was looking at, and chatting up a storm about Ancient Rome. However, I did experience some hallucination; I asked if the massive structure had ever been used for anything beyond entertainment, and Meta AI told me all about its past as a housing complex.

I pressed for more information – including when this happened, and all of a sudden it said that had never been the case. Such issues were infrequent, but it does show why you should generally take AI-generated information with a pinch of salt.

The worst part of the AI suite is, unfortunately, the app you have to use to pair your Ray-Ban Meta. The Meta AI app is brimming with AI slop, and I hate that there’s no one-touch button to get straight to your media if you’re a Ray-Ban user. Every time I accidentally open the Vibes feed, I shudder.

• Performance: 4/5

Should I buy the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2)?

Attribute

Comment

Score

Design

Comfortable and stylish thanks to Ray-Ban's ocular know-how, though camera placement can still be bothersome.

5/5

Performance

A boost to audio and battery makes for a well-rounded set of smart specs, though there's still room for improvement.

4/5

Value

Still sit comfortably within the value range for smart glasses at this calibre, but a $/£80 price increase might spell trouble for future lenses.

4/5

Buy them if…

You’ve never owned a pair of smart glasses

These are the industry-standard smart glasses; while imperfect, they offer a really well-balanced range of features, great design and reliable software. That’s far from the case with most smart glasses we’ve tested.

You’ve got ambitions in content creation

Being linked to Meta’s suite of social platforms has its benefits, with some great content-creation tools on offer here.

You want a good-looking pair of smart specs

Benefitting from Ray-Ban’s design know-how, these are far and away some of the best-looking and ergonomic glasses available today.

Don’t buy them if…

You’ve got a pair of first-gen Ray-Ban Meta glasses

Unless you’re really desperate for more battery life, there’s not enough innovation between the first- and second-gen glasses to justify the expense. Unless you’ve got money to burn, I’d wait for a more distinctive upgrade, or hold out for the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses instead.

You’re privacy-conscious

Meta isn't known as a paragon of privacy, and smart glasses are a bit of a minefield in that department. You’re wearing a camera on your face everywhere you go, after all.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) review

I used the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) for a month, including during a trip to Rome, Italy, wearing them on any day where it was bright enough to use sunglasses. I filmed and shot photos indoors and outdoors, day and night to see how well the 12MP camera could capture the action.

I made sure to try all of their AI features, testing their battery and performance over longer periods to assess comfort, usability and battery life.

I ran the Meta AI app from my iPhone 15 Pro.

• First reviewed: April 2026

Founded in Athens in 2012, Moosend has grown into a platform used by over 100,000 businesses worldwide.

A few things make it stand out: contact-based pricing (rather than per-send billing), 32 automation triggers available on every paid plan, and consistent praise for live chat support that actually responds quickly. Importantly, it's one of the few platforms where automation and reporting are included from the base tier, rather than held back for higher plans.

We've been reviewing business software at TechRadar Pro since 2012, with new email marketing tools evaluated every year. This Moosend review draws on hands-on testing, platform walkthroughs, and analysis of several hundred verified user reviews to give you an honest picture of what the platform gets right and where it falls short.

My experience with Moosend

Getting started takes less time than most comparable tools. An onboarding checklist walks you through importing contacts, setting up your sending domain, and creating your first campaign, with live chat accessible throughout. For a platform at this price, the initial setup is notably friction-free.

That said, the editor has some rough edges. A few interface elements appear greyed out until you hover over them, and the campaign editor works slightly differently from the automation email editor, so habits from one don't always carry over to the other. Neither issue slows you down significantly, but they're worth knowing upfront.

Moosend review: Features

(Image credit: Moosend)

At this price point, Moosend's feature set is hard to fault for small business use. All paid plans include unlimited email sends, a drag-and-drop editor with 130+ templates, an AI writer for copy and subject lines, landing pages, subscription forms, and an SMTP server. Nothing is locked behind a higher tier just to drive upgrades.

The automation builder is where Moosend earns its reputation. It offers 32 triggers, 30+ filter criteria, and 11 action types, which is more than most platforms at similar pricing. Eighteen pre-built "recipes" cover common journeys, including welcome sequences, cart abandonment, birthday campaigns, and re-engagement flows, so you don't need to build from scratch. There's also a Perfect Timing feature that uses subscriber behavior to estimate the best send time per contact.

Reporting covers click maps, geolocation, device breakdowns, and revenue attribution. You can share reports with teammates via a no-login link. One gap worth noting: you can't filter out bot clicks or Apple Mail Privacy Protection opens, which matters if you need clean engagement data for deliverability analysis or compliance.

Moosend claims a 98% deliverability rate and supports SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configuration with clear documentation. The integration catalog runs to around 80 native connections, covering WooCommerce, Shopify, Salesforce, and Zapier, among others, though you'll need Zapier for anything outside the mainstream stack.

Moosend review: User experience

(Image credit: Moosend)

The interface is clean and sensibly organized. Campaigns, Automation, Audience, and Growth tools sit clearly in the left-hand navigation, and most everyday tasks are reachable in two or three clicks. The platform is available in seven languages, and the drag-and-drop editor responds quickly without the lag you sometimes get from browser-based builders.

There are a few quirks that surface over time. The "More" tab in the navigation functions as a catch-all for miscellaneous settings, which can make finding less-used features a guessing game. The editor occasionally behaves unpredictably when rearranging content blocks. These are minor annoyances rather than fundamental problems, but they do add up in a busy workflow.

Moosend review: Customer support

Live chat is Moosend's most consistent strength in support. Users report typical response times of five to thirty minutes, with agents working through issues rather than redirecting to help articles. Chat transcripts get sent to your inbox automatically, which is a useful touch for keeping records.

The knowledge base is organized across 13 categories — covering campaigns, automation, integrations, deliverability, and billing — with video tutorials alongside written articles. The main limitation is availability: support runs Monday to Friday only, and there's no phone option on any plan. If you run into an urgent issue over a weekend, you're working from documentation alone. Dedicated account managers are reserved for Moosend+ and Enterprise customers.

Moosend pricing and plans

Plan

Contacts

Monthly price (paid monthly)

Monthly price (paid annually)

Pro

500

$9

$7

Moosend+

Custom

Custom

Custom

Enterprise

Custom

Custom

Custom

Moosend+ and Enterprise are custom-priced plans that add optional add-ons, including transactional emails, dedicated IPs, SSO & SAML, and an account manager.

Moosend charges by subscriber count, which works in your favor if you send frequently. At 5,000 contacts, you're looking at $48/month on monthly billing or $38/month on annual. The full Pro feature set (automation, landing pages, forms, analytics, AI writer) is available from the starting price without needing to upgrade. There's a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.

The important caveat is transactional email. Order confirmations, password resets, and shipping notifications aren't included on the Pro plan and require either the Moosend+ custom plan with the transactional email add-on or an Enterprise package. If your business depends on transactional messaging, this affects your total cost significantly and should be confirmed before signing up.

Moosend review: Specs

Spec

Details

Email templates

130+ pre-built, fully customizable

Automation triggers

32 available on all paid plans

Deliverability rate

98% (as claimed by Moosend)

Native integrations

~80 connections

Security

GDPR and ISO-27001 compliant

Should I buy Moosend?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Strong automation and reporting for the price

4.5/5

Performance

98% deliverability; real-time analytics

4/5

Design

Clean interface with some editor inconsistencies

3.5/5

Value

Among the most affordable at this feature level

4.5/5

Buy it if…

• You need automation on a tight budget. Moosend's Pro plan includes 32 triggers, pre-built recipes, and unlimited sends from $7/month on annual billing. You're not gated from automation features until a higher tier.
• You're launching standard email journeys fast. The 18 pre-built recipes cover welcome series, cart abandonment, and re-engagement without requiring you to map out logic from scratch. You can have a functional automation live within an hour of signing up.
• Responsive support matters to your team. Live chat agents typically respond within thirty minutes during business hours, and the quality of help is consistently rated above average across user review platforms.

Don't buy it if…

• Your business relies on transactional email. Order confirmations, account alerts, and similar triggered messages aren't included on the Pro plan. Adding them requires a custom Moosend+ or Enterprise package, which changes the cost calculation meaningfully.
• You need a wide integration catalog out of the box. ~80 native connections, which cover the major tools but leave gaps for anything outside the mainstream stack. If you rely on niche CRMs or platforms, expect to build bridges through Zapier.
• You need support outside business hours. Moosend's chat and email support runs Monday to Friday. Weekend outages or time-sensitive campaigns that hit problems after hours will leave you relying on documentation rather than live help.

Also consider

• Brevo: Worth a look if you need transactional email, SMS, or WhatsApp included without a custom plan. It also offers a free tier and supports multi-channel campaigns that Moosend doesn't cover.
• MailerLite: Occupies a similar price range but includes a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers. It's a better fit for newsletter publishers and content creators who don't need advanced automation depth.
• Mailchimp: Leads on integrations and name recognition, though its free tier was scaled back to 250 contacts in late 2025. It makes sense if integration breadth is a higher priority than low pricing.

How I tested Moosend

• Created a fresh trial account and completed the full onboarding process, including contact import, domain authentication setup, and first campaign creation.
• Built and tested automation workflows using both pre-built recipes and custom trigger logic, and reviewed the reporting dashboard using a live test send.
• Analyzed verified user reviews from a range of sources to cross-reference my testing observations with real-world user experience at scale.

Our testing process focused on the tasks a typical SMB marketing team would handle week to week: building campaigns, setting up automations, managing a contact list, and checking deliverability configuration. I also contacted the live chat support team directly during standard business hours and reviewed the knowledge base for coverage depth and ease of navigation.

DJI Mic Mini 2: one-minute review

The DJI Mic Mini 2 is DJI's second-generation entry-level wireless microphone system, replacing the late 2024-released Mic Mini, which we previously rated as the best small wireless mic.

The headline new feature is a set of interchangeable magnetic front covers for the transmitter units, available in colors ranging from white and black to a vivid magenta. Beyond the colorways, the other notable addition over the original Mic Mini is a trio of voice tone presets — Standard, Rich, and Bright — designed to let users subtly shape their vocal recordings.

Everything else will be instantly familiar to anyone who owns the original Mic Mini: the same compact and lightweight transmitter and receiver form factor, the same 24-bit 48kHz audio quality, the same maximum range of 400m with the standard receiver (or 300m with the mobile receiver), and the same claimed battery life of 11.5 hours for the transmitter and 10.5 hours for the receiver, extendable to 48 hours total using the charging case. Two-level active noise canceling is included, and the system is compatible with DJI's OsmoAudio ecosystem, meaning it connects wirelessly without a receiver to devices like the Osmo Action 6 and Osmo 360.

In my testing, audio quality proved crisp and clear, and the active noise canceling did a solid job of taming ambient noise. The voice tone presets, however, were a different story: the differences between Standard, Rich and Bright were so subtle in practice as to be barely worth mentioning, let alone factoring into a buying decision.

That verdict could stand in for the Mic Mini 2 as a whole, really. For buyers new to the world of wireless mics, it's an excellent option: lightweight, affordable, versatile, and easy to use. But for anyone coming from the original Mic Mini, the interchangeable covers and voice presets aren't a compelling reason to upgrade.

Also worth noting: DJI has confirmed that a Mic Mini 2S is coming this summer, bringing with it internal storage for solo recording and support for up to four transmitters simultaneously. If those features matter to you, it's worth sitting tight for now.

The Mic Mini 2 is a fine product sold at a great price. It just happens to be a product that DJI has already announced it will meaningfully improve in a matter of months – which makes it a harder sell than it might otherwise be.

The Mic Mini 2's front panels can be easily removed and replaced, with some beautifully colorful options available. (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)DJI Mic Mini 2: price and release date

• Priced from £49 / AU$89
• Sold in two bundles – but transmitters not available separately
• Available now (except in the USA)

The DJI Mic Mini 2 was released worldwide on April 28 2026 – although, as with all recent DJI products, it will not officially launch in the USA. Not yet, anyway.

DJI offers the Mic Mini 2 in two bundles: the DJI Mic Mini 2 (2 TX + 1 RX + Charging Case) package costs £89 / AU$149 and includes two transmitters, a receiver, a charging case, two windscreens, two white magnetic front covers, two black magnetic front covers, two magnetic clips, two magnets, a carrying pouch, a USB-C mobile phone adapter, a 3.5mm audio cable, a USB-C charging cable and a box of multi-color magnetic front covers (see below).

The pricier of the two kits includes all of the above, plus a soft zip-up carrying pouch. (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

Also available is the DJI Mic Mini 2 (1 TX + 1 Mobile RX + Charging Case) bundle, which includes a single transmitter, a mobile receiver, a small charging case, one windscreen, one black magnetic cover, one white magnetic cover, one magnetic clip, one magnet, one USB-C charging cable and a carrying pouch. It's priced at just £49 / AU$89.

Unlike the original Mic Mini, DJI doesn't appear to be selling Mic Mini 2 transmitters (mics) solo – at least not at launch. That's a shame – for some buyers using the Osmo Audio system or linking the transmitter directly to their phone via Bluetooth, a receiver and charging case may not be necessary.

However, the overall pricing seems much cheaper than the original Mini, which at launch cost £145 / AU$245 for the complete kit and £49 / AU$69 for individual TX units. So in terms of value, I think the Mic Mini 2 has a lot going for it.

DJI Mic Mini: specs

Dimensions

TX: 28.6 x 28 x 13.5mm / RX: 46.5 x 29.6 x 19.3mm / Mobile RX: 39.3 x 27.3 x 9mm

Weight

TX: 11g (without clip or magnet) / RX: 17.8g / Mobile RX: 6.5g

Range

With standard RX: up to 400m / with mobile RX: up to 300m

Connectivity

RX: USB-C / Lightning, 3.5mm jack

Bluetooth

Yes

Battery

11.5 hours (transmitter), 10.5 hours (receiver), up to 48 hours with fully charged case

Noise cancelling

Two-level

The standard receiver, or RX, looks quite awkward when attached to a smartphone. Thankfully, a sleeker made-for-mobile version is also available. (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)DJI Mic Mini 2: Design

• Transmitters support swappable front panels
• Clip or magnetic attachment
• Receiver offers manual audio gain, but no monitoring

If we're talking transmitters (also known as the TX units), the Mic Mini 2 looks a lot more like the full-size Mic 3 than it does the original Mic Mini. There's one key difference though: the Mini 2 supports swappable magnetic front covers, which can be prised off with a fingernail and replaced with another of a different color.

The DJI Mic Mini 2 (2 TX + 1 RX + Charging Case) bundle I was sent to review features a whole range of covers, from staid white and black to eye-popping magenta. These might come across a little gimmicky on paper, but they're harmless and fun – even if I can't really think of too many practical reasons why you'd need them (DJI markets them for outfit matching).

The main Mic Mini 2 bundle includes a wide selection of front covers. (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

Besides the covers, the TX can be fitted with a clip-on furry windshield for outdoor use, as well as two other magnetic accessories for mounting: a small clip for attaching it to collars, caps and lapels, and a single (but sufficiently strong) magnet for clipping it directly to thinner fabrics. The clip's direction can be selected when attaching it, which is handy.

There's also an indicator light and a couple of buttons for powering on/off and pairing the TX with different devices, but other than that, the TX is pretty simple. It doesn't feature on-board storage and, with no USB-C port, can only be recharged in the charging case.

The standard receiver (or RX) looks identical to the original Mic Mini's to my eyes. It suffers from the same drawback, too: with no on-board LCD display, there's no way to monitor levels on the hardware. Still, I suppose that's what the more pro-friendly Mic 3 is for – the Mic Mini 2 is the affordable option, and cuts must be made somewhere. The receiver does have a clip for attaching to clothing, which can also slide onto a camera cold shoe, plus a USB-C adapter for plugging into smartphones (there's a Lightning adapter too, which I used with my iPhone 13, but it's an optional extra rather than included in the box). There's also a 3.5mm jack, dial for adjusting audio levels and power and pairing buttons.

Future | Sam KieldsenTransmitters include just two buttons: one for pairing and another for power.Future | Sam KieldsenThe receiver (RX) unit appears to be exactly the same as the original Mic Mini's.Future | Sam KieldsenThe receiver fits on the cold/hot shoes of most cameras.Future | Sam KieldsenA soft carrying pouch is included in both bundles.Future | Sam Kieldsen

Additionally, the new DJI Mic Mini 2 (1 TX + 1 Mobile RX + Charging Case) bundle comes with a mini receiver unit designed only for attaching to a mobile phone (as with the standard RX, this appears to be the same mobile RX that was available as an accessory for the original Mic Mini). I didn't test this myself (check out our experience with the receiver via the link above) but it's much lighter, smaller and more streamlined than the standard RX, and won't look as awkward when plugged into your handset.

DJI Mic Mini 2: Performance

• 11.5 hours battery life (transmitter), 10.5 hours battery life (receiver)
• Up to 400m range
• Two-level noise reduction and three voice tone presets

The Mic Mini 2 offers 24-bit 48kHz quality audio, just like the original Mic Mini. It's similar in other ways, too: there's a maximum range of 400m between TX and RX; the claimed battery life is the same (11.5 hours for a TX, 10.5 hours for the receiver and a total of 48 hours with the charging case); and there are two levels of active noise cancelling included. Both generations also feature automatic volume limiting to avoid clipping.

And, like the first Mic Mini, it also works seamlessly with OsmoAudio ecosystem products like the DJI Osmo Action 6 and Osmo 360 cameras and Osmo Mobile 8 smartphone stabilizer.

In fact, aside from the changeable covers, the only major difference I could find between this second-gen Mini and the first is the addition of three voice tone presets – Standard, Rich and Bright – which are designed to slightly tweak how vocal recordings sound. In practice, I found the differences between the three settings to be negligible, so I would say that owners of the original Mic Mini have no compelling reason to update to the new model.

The charging case has room for two transmitters, a receiver and clips, magnets, windshields and a 3.5mm audio cable. (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

Newcomers looking for a cheap wireless microphone option that performs well will be very happy with what's on offer here, though. I found the Mic Mini 2's quality to be crisp and clear, and a noticeable step up from the built-in mics found in smartphones, vlogging cameras and mirrorless cameras, and the mounting and connectivity options and general ease of use make it a joy to live with. The two-level active noise cancelling works well enough too – I tested it with a fan running in my office and, while it could still be heard whirring away even on the strongest noise cancelling setting, it was reduced enough to prevent it becoming an issue.

Interestingly, DJI tells me that a Mic Mini 2S is coming later in 2026, offering some real upgrades over the original Mic Mini. The Mini 2S's TX units will have internal storage space to support solo recording, and users will be able to connect up to four transmitters to a single receiver. It's launching this summer.

Should I buy the DJI Mic Mini 2?Buy it if…

You want a cheap mic for multiple devices
Compatible with mirrorless cameras, smartphones and DJI's whole OsmoAudio ecosystem, the Mic Mini 2 is wonderfully versatile for such an affordable microphone.

You want something lightweight and discreet
The DJI Mic 3 isn't large or heavy by any means, but the Mic Mini 2 is even more compact and lightweight – so if size matters, it's worth considering.

Don’t buy it if…

You already own the original Mic Mini
The lack of major upgrades between the first- and second-gen Mic Mini models mean owners of the original Mic Mini should stick with what they've got.

You want 32-bit float or on-board recording
With no internal storage, the Mic Mini 2 doesn't support internal recording or higher quality 32-bit float format audio. However, the upcoming Mini 2S will allow for the former.

DJI Mic Mini 2: also consider

DJI Mic 3

The current gold standard for small wireless mics, DJI's flagship is barely bigger than the Mic Mini 2 but offers better audio quality, more adaptable noise cancelling and pro-friendly features like timecode, built-in storage and support for up to four transmitters.

Read our DJI Mic 3 review

Boya Mini

It's limited to 16-bit and lacks a 3.5mm connection for mirrorless cameras, but if you just need a useable, reliable wireless mic for boosting your smartphone videos, the Boya Mini fits the bill perfectly – and costs next to nothing.

Read our Boya Mini review

(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)How I tested the DJI Mic Mini 2

• Several days of testing indoors and outdoors
• Connected to iPhone 13, DJI Osmo Action 6 and Panasonic Lumix GH6
• Tested with Bluetooth, OsmoAudio and RX

I've not had a huge amount of time to spend with the Mic Mini 2, but in the several days since my sample arrived I've managed to test it both indoors in quiet conditions and outside amongst traffic and wind noise. I've also paired with my iPhone 13, a DJI Osmo Action 6 action camera and my Panasonic Lumix GH6 mirrorless camera, testing it with and without the receiver unit involved.

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

Benchmark Email has carved out a clear niche: email marketing for people who don't want to spend an afternoon figuring out their email marketing platform.

Built by St. Louis-based Polaris Software, the platform recently launched a redesigned interface that trims away complexity in favor of a cleaner workflow. The free plan stands out in particular, offering the full drag-and-drop builder, AI writing tools, and real-time reporting without any feature restrictions, which is rare at this price point.

Our Benchmark Email review draws on hands-on testing of the 2026 platform across signup, campaign building, list management, and support.

My experience with Benchmark Email

Signing up took me about two minutes. The dashboard felt uncluttered, with the campaign creation flow turning out to be one of the more pleasant we've tested. You just pick a template, customize it in the drag-and-drop editor, set your audience, and schedule. There's no hidden complexity once you click past the first screen.

The AI tools save real time. Smart Text can rephrase, expand, or tighten your copy on command, and Smart Images generates visuals from a text prompt. Free accounts get 25 AI credits to start. That said, the platform runs out of road quickly for advanced users. Behavioral triggers, automated sequences, and A/B testing aren't available on any plan at the time of my review.

Benchmark Email review: Features

(Image credit: Benchmark)

Benchmark Email keeps its feature set tight. The email editor comes with over 120 pre-designed templates and supports custom fields, merge tags, and flexible grid layouts. Contact management covers tags, custom fields, and segmentation by engagement or interest, which is enough to send reasonably targeted campaigns without needing a dedicated CRM. The reporting dashboard tracks opens, clicks, and bounces per campaign, with 30, 60, and 90-day trend views.

There are a few caveats worth knowing before you commit. There's no marketing automation on any plan: no welcome sequences, no drip campaigns, no behavioral triggers. There's also no A/B testing, no landing pages, and no native integrations on the free tier. Competing platforms like Mailchimp and Brevo offer at least basic automation even at lower price points, so this is a meaningful gap across the whole product, not just the free tier.

Every plan, including the free one, gets the same full feature set within its limits. There's no stripped-down editor or pay-walled reporting. For a small business owner sending a monthly newsletter to a few hundred subscribers, the platform delivers what it promises.

Benchmark Email review: User experience

(Image credit: Benchmark)

The new interface is clean and intuitive. Contacts, campaigns, reports, and support all sit within one or two clicks from the main dashboard. The Contact Activity section is particularly useful, showing each subscriber's recent engagement with your campaigns at a glance. New users should be able to send their first campaign within 30 minutes of signing up.

A few UX issues persist. Adding contacts manually is more cumbersome than it needs to be, especially compared to tools like Constant Contact that make list building feel effortless. Template customization has limits too; if you want a design that diverges significantly from the included layouts, you'll need HTML knowledge. The platform's mobile experience has also drawn criticism from users, with some reporting that certain screens require awkward device rotation to navigate.

Benchmark Email review: Customer support

Benchmark Email's support is one of its strongest selling points. The platform offers live chat, email, and phone support across all plans. Based on my experience and other user reviews, the team is responsive and helpful. Live agents are available during normal business hours on the new platform, with email and help docs covering after hours.

Benchmark Email also doesn't put paid users ahead of free users in the support queue. Both tiers reach the same team and help resources, which is less common than you'd expect among platforms with a free plan. There's a detailed knowledge base with step-by-step guides, video walkthroughs, and animated how-tos. User feedback is broadly positive, though a handful of reviews flag language barriers and difficulty reaching agents during off-peak hours.

Benchmark Email pricing and plans

Plan

Monthly cost

Contacts

Emails per month

Users

Free

$0

Up to 500

2500

1

Pro

From $19 to $499

1000 to 100,000

From 10,000

10

Enterprise

Custom

100,000+

Custom

Custom

The free plan is actually useful rather than a limited preview. You get the full editor, AI tools, reporting, and real support without paying anything — the only real limits are the 500-contact cap and 2,500 monthly sends. When your list grows past 500, the Pro plan starts at $19/month for 1,000 contacts, which is a reasonable jump and makes upgrading less disruptive than it might seem.

Additional users on paid plans cost $15 per month each, with a maximum of 10 users per account. Benchmark Email doesn't use opaque credit systems or hide features behind tier upgrades, so pricing stays predictable as your contact count grows. Annual billing discounts are available but not prominently advertised on the pricing page.

Benchmark Email review: Specs

Spec

Details

Free plan

Yes; up to 500 contacts and 2,500 email sends per month max

Additional users

More seats at $15/month per user

Automation features

None available

A/B testing

Not supported

AI features

Smart Text and Smart Images

Should I buy Benchmark Email?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Covers the basics well; no automation or A/B testing

3/5

Performance

Clean editor, reliable deliverability, no major complaints

4/5

Design

Polished, approachable interface with recent redesign

4/5

Value

Free plan is unusually strong; paid tiers scale quickly

3.5/5

Buy it if…

• You want a no-fuss email marketing tool. Benchmark Email is built around simplicity, and the interface makes it easy to go from signup to first campaign without a manual.
• You're on a tight budget. The free plan covers 500 contacts and 2,500 sends per month with the full editor and AI tools, which is more than most free tiers offer.
• Good support matters to you. Unlike many platforms, Benchmark Email doesn't reserve better support for higher-paying users. Free and paid accounts reach the same team.

Don't buy it if…

• You need automation. Benchmark Email has no triggered sequences or automated workflows on any plan. Platforms like Mailchimp or Brevo offer this even on their entry tiers.
• You run A/B tests. There's no split testing available, which limits how much you can optimize subject lines, send times, or content over time.
• Your list sits between 500 and 1,000 contacts. There's no paid tier between the free plan and the 1,000-contact Pro plan, so you'll need to upgrade to $19/month even if your list is only slightly over the free limit.

Also consider...

• Mailchimp: includes basic automation and A/B testing even on the free plan, though its interface is more complex and paid tiers are pricier.
• Brevo: offers email and SMS marketing with automation and transactional email on lower-cost plans, making it a stronger option for scaling teams.
• Constant Contact: a solid alternative for small businesses that want more list-building tools and event marketing features beyond basic newsletters.

How I tested Benchmark Email

• Signed up for a free account and built a campaign from scratch using the drag-and-drop editor and an existing template.
• Tested contact management by importing a sample list, applying tags, and creating a segment based on engagement data.
• Contacted support via live chat to evaluate response time, agent knowledge, and the quality of the help documentation.

Testing covered the full signup-to-send workflow on the free plan, including email design, contact segmentation, and reporting. I also reviewed user feedback across three top review platforms to cross-check my hands-on observations against a broader range of use cases. Pricing was verified against Benchmark Email's official pricing page and their published blog documentation.

Global warming and climate change are issues that won’t go away any time soon. While the topic has been explored plenty of times through the lens of video games, Aphelion separates itself by intertwining humanity’s search for a new home into a personal, heart-wrenching love story.

Review info

Platform reviewed: Xbox Series S
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Release date: April 28, 2026

While some of its gameplay mechanics feel like an afterthought, the deep relationship between its two protagonists kept me invested until the end.

Aphelion takes place in the 2060s, when climate change has completely decimated Earth, forcing humanity to find a new home amongst the stars. Two astronauts, Ariane and Thomas, are sent on the first manned mission to the frozen planet of Persephone to make sure that it’s suitable for life.

Their ship malfunctions, causing a crash and separating them. Along the way they hope to reunite with each other while uncovering Persephone’s secrets, but soon learn that they may not be alone after all.

Planet of ice

(Image credit: Don't Nod)

The mysteries surrounding Persephone and its environments are intriguing enough to make me want to understand more about the icy planet. I enjoyed scouring every corner to see which collectibles I could find to absorb the lore. Aphelion’s story has a personal touch as we get to see glimpses of Ariane and Thomas’s relationship. Ariane trained her whole life for this mission, often neglecting Thomas and focusing on her work.

However, as the elements start wearing her down, she becomes more vulnerable, pining for him and won’t give up until she sees them reunited. On the other hand, Thomas is ultimately supportive of Ariane’s life choices, and underneath that beneath her icy exterior is someone who just wants to be understood and loved. Getting to grips with this emotional core through each dialogue sequence is what makes Aphelion compelling.

Despite the unrelenting cold, Persephone is a gorgeous planet to traverse. The light reflecting off ice sheets provides a sense of hope that juxtaposes the perilous situation that Ariane and Thomas find themselves in. There are a few areas on the planet where the ice has melted, giving way to earthy tones and rocky terrain that help diversify the environments.

Persephone’s electromagnetic waves are particularly prevalent and really help the atmosphere. They also work as clever in-game objective markers to guide players on where to go. The waves themselves are colorful, reminiscent of the real-life Northern Lights, and add a splash of visual variety in a game otherwise filled with crisp white ice.

Aphelion’s performance on console is stellar too. Playing on Xbox Series S, I didn’t experience any crashes or any debilitating setbacks that could’ve hindered this journey.

Surviving the unknown

(Image credit: Don't Nod)

Throughout Aphelion, you play as both Ariane and Thomas, both with distinctly different playstyles and mechanics. Ariane’s gameplay consists of climbing across the environment, incredibly similar to how it feels in Uncharted.

That aside, Ariane’s segments have a surprising amount of variety, like scanning electromagnetic waves to open up new platforms. The game has chase sequences, sliding down mountains, and at one point, dodging lightning strikes amidst a snowstorm. For a game without any combat at all, these moments are just as tense and engaging.

With all the climbing Ariane does, Aphelion’s collision physics can get a bit wonky. Sometimes, when she makes contact with a ledge, she might just miss even though it feels like she definitely shouldn’t have, leading to a ragdoll-style death. It's funny at first, but it can become frustrating over time.

Best bit

(Image credit: Don't Nod)

Given its similarities to Uncharted, I went into Aphelion expecting some combat. In the end, though, I'm glad it's not there, as it keeps the focus on the central pair's brilliantly written relationship.

When Thomas was separated from Ariane, his suit and body were punctured by a pole. His injuries prevent him from traversing and climbing freely as Ariane can, so Thomas’s main gameplay gimmick involves traveling between different tanks to refill his suit’s dropping oxygen levels.

His segments also feature their own investigative segments, but those just boil down to reading a few documents to figure out a passcode or two. Unfortunately, Thomas’s gameplay mechanics aren’t nearly as fleshed out as Ariane’s, and this results in his chapters being rather boring compared to hers.

As Ariane and Thomas try to survive on Persephone, they’re both hunted down by a hostile entity called the Nemesis. Its inclusion not only makes the story more interesting, but it also gives them both a proper villain to face in an otherwise desolate world.

Its inclusion not only makes the story more interesting, but it also gives them both a proper villain to face in an otherwise desolate world.

When Thomas was separated from Ariane, separated from Ariane, his suit and body were punctured by a pole. His injuries prevent him from traversing and climbing freely as Ariane can, so Thomas’s main gameplay gimmick involves traveling between different tanks to refill his suit’s dropping oxygen levels.

His segments also feature their own investigative segments, but those just boil down to reading a few documents to figure out a passcode or two. Unfortunately, Thomas’s gameplay mechanics aren’t nearly as fleshed out as Ariane’s, and this results in his chapters being rather boring compared to hers.

As Ariane and Thomas try to survive on Persephone, they’re both hunted down by a hostile entity called the Nemesis. Its inclusion not only makes the story more interesting, but it also gives them both a proper villain to face in an otherwise desolate world.

(Image credit: Don't Nod)

With no weapons to defend herself, Ariane has to outmaneuver the foe in stealth sequences to reach her next objective.

Disappointingly, these sequences are almost exclusively tied to Ariane, and Thomas mainly interacts with the Nemesis in cutscenes, further reducing the gameplay variety between the two characters. Plus, the stealth sequences themselves aren’t very challenging, lessening their tension and impact.

Still, Aphelion is simultaneously riveting and isolating outside of these weak spots. The pacing is sublime; the game only takes about eight to 10 hours to complete, and each chapter doesn’t overstay its welcome. Ariane and Thomas demonstrate that even when people are physically apart, absence only makes the heart grow fonder.

Should I play Aphelion?Play it if...

You like themes of romance, sci-fi, and humanity’s hubris
Aphelion’s story is an emotional roller coaster that touches on personal topics that are also wrapped up in an exciting adventure about finding humanity’s next home.

You like exploration and stealth
The frozen planet Persephone is an intriguing place filled with interesting lore. The stealth gameplay and climbing mechanics fit well within the context of the story.

Don't play it if...

You’re looking for combat
Aphelion doesn’t have any combat, so those who are expecting that coming in should look elsewhere.

Accessibility features

,Aphelion has accessibility features such as subtitles and the ability to adjust their size, add backgrounds to them, and display the names of those speaking. There’s also closed captioning, color blindness mode for the three major dichromacy types (protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia). You can also reduce camera shake.

There are gameplay adjustment options too. You can toggle on automatic catch so that Ariane doesn’t miss ledges when she climbs. You can highlight ledges too, making the ones that are climbable more distinct against the environment.

On Thomas’s side, you can toggle infinite oxygen, ensuring that he won’t die if his tank runs out.

How I reviewed Aphelion

I played Aphelion for 9 hours on Xbox Series S using the standard Xbox Wireless Controller. In that time I completed the game and searched for as many collectibles as I could before heading back into Chapter Select to find the ones I was missing.

Chapter Select provides useful info about the number of ice sculptures, audio files, and text logs you’ve yet to find. There are no alternate difficulty levels to try.

First reviewed April 2026

Acer has a track record for doing things a bit differently. The new Acer ProCreator PE320QXT PC monitor is no exception. This 32-inch beast has something no other 6K panel we've yet seen can match, namely full touchscreen functionality.

Of course, the 6K native resolution is pretty special all on its own, even if in this case 6K means 6,016 by 3,384 pixels and thus slightly fewer than the likes of the LG UltraFine 6K Evo 32U990A, which clocks in at 6,144 by 3,456 pixels. Nevertheless, you still get an epic pixel density of 219 DPI. That's far higher than the circa 140 DPI typical of the best 4K monitors in the 32-inch form, and even the 163 DPI of 27-inch 4K models.

6K resolution and touchscreen support aside, the specifications are largely in line with expectations for the IPS panel technology used here by Acer. Long story short, the pros and cons of IPS are all present and accounted for, including good viewing angles and colour accuracy, but limited contrast and HDR capability compared to OLED technology and likewise mediocre pixel response.

Given there are no currently available 6K OLED displays, this monitor therefore poses mostly the same conundrum as competing 6K LCD monitors. If you want the pixel density of 6K, you can only currently have that courtesy of IPS rather than OLED panel tech. The exception is that touchscreen twist.

Acer ProCreator PE320QXT: Design and featuresAcer // FutureAcer // FutureAcer // Future

• Sturdy hinge for touch input
• Big, ugly bezels
• Good connectivity

Specs

Panel size: 32-inch

Panel type: IPS

Resolution: 6,016 x 3,384

Brightness: 400 nits SDR, 600 nits HDR

Contrast: 1,500:1

Pixel response: 4ms GtG

Refresh rate: 60Hz

Color coverage: 99% DCI-P3

HDR: VESA DisplayHDR 600

Vesa: 100mm x 100mm

Connectivity: DisplayPort 1.4 x1, HDMI 2.1 x1, 1x USB-C with 90W PD, 2, USB-A

The touchscreen functionality of Acer ProCreatorPE320QXT has fairly extensive implications for ergonomics, and it's not all good news. For starters, the bezels are fairly chunky, giving it a slightly dated appearance.

Then there's the stand and hinge. One the one hand, it's engineered to support tilting the display across a wide range from vertical to nearly flat to accommodate the touch functionality and, in that regard, it provides good stability. On the other, the hinge only allows for minimal height adjustment when viewing the display normally, and no swivel or pivot into portrait mode.

Then there's the plastic screen cover which lends the panel a glossy finish. That could be problematic in terms of reflectivity for any creative pros who prefer matte anti-glare coatings.

As for connectivity, the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT has you pretty well covered. Along with the usual DisplayPort and HDMI interfaces, there's USB-C with 90W of power delivery, plus a two-port USB-A hub.

It's worth noting that the preferred method of connectivity is USB-C, as that streamlines support for the touchscreen capabilities via a single cable. That said, it is possible to use the supplied USB-A to USB-B cable to connect the display to devices that lack USB-C in order to enable the touch interface.

Speaking of which, the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT comes bundled with an input stylus, though the panel's capacitive touch interface can also be used with old fashioned finger prods and swipes. Finally, on the features front, is the 8MP webcam with an integrated mic array.

Acer ProCreator PE320QXT: PerformanceAcer // FutureAcer // FutureAcer // Future

• Strong color coverage in DCI-P3
• Punchy 6K visuals but lots of light bleed
• Integrated webcam

Ostensibly, touch input is this monitor's defining feature. But the 6K resolution is also pretty special. Notably, most other 6K monitors currently available use an LG-sourced IPS Black panel. However, as the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT's very slightly lower resolution implies, there's something slightly different going on here.

In fact, Acer has opted for the competing AU Optronics panel. It's essentially the same type technology as the LG IPS Black item found in the LG UltraFine 6K Evo 32U990A. But because AU Optronics tends to price its products more aggressively, monitor models with this panel as opposed to the LG alternative are typically a fair bit cheaper.

Other than the resolution, the main difference is slightly lower static contrast, coming in at 1,500:1 versus the LG's 2,000:1. In practice, you'd be hard pushed to notice the difference. In neither case is contrast a strong point, especially compared with an OLED panel. Thanks to the HDR 600 certification, there is plenty of punch on offer, but also plenty of light bleed.

In part, that's thanks to the fact that this monitor lacks proper full-array local dimming. But if light bleed is something all displays of this type suffer from, there's one flaw that's very specific to the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT. As a consequence of the touch input layer in the panel, there's a very slight degradation of the image quality.

It's most noticeable on close inspection of fonts and texts, lending them a very slightly jagged appearance. How much of a problem this is — and, indeed, if you even notice it — is ultimately a subjective matter. However, given high pixel density and the crisp visuals that implies are core to the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT's appeal, this flaw is definitely worth noting.

As for the touch functionality itself, well, it's accurate and responsive enough, albeit the 60Hz refresh rate means that there's more latency than touch displays with 120Hz and higher refresh rates. That said, driving a 6K monitor at very high refresh rates poses bandwidth issues and likely explains the 60Hz spec. We also had issues with USB-C connectivity with our review unit which made using the touch interface with a Mac impossible. Hopefully, Acer will release a firmware to iron out USB-C connectivity issues.

All that said, color accuracy is definitely a strong point with the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT particularly well calibrated in DCI-P3 mode when connected to Apple Mac computers. For what it's worth, the HDR mode is well calibrated, too, though without full-array local dimming, this monitor's HDR capabilities are ultimately pretty notional.

As for the integrated webcam, it has good basic image quality that's superior to most laptop webcams and also offers a physical shutter for reliable security. However, its optics result in a very wide field of view. It does offer an autoframing feature which crops in pretty effectively. However, that comes at quite a loss of image quality.

Acer ProCreator PE320QXT: Final verdictAcer // FutureAcer // FutureAcer // Future

We've seen displays based on LG's 6K technology before. But Acer has opted for an alternative panel from AU Optronics that allows a lower price point. That's particularly impressive given that the Acer ProCreator PE320QXT includes full touchscreen functionality.

The snag is that the touch interface comes with some compromises. Firstly, the ergonomics aren't great for normal use, thanks to limited height adjustability and added panel reflectivity. The big bezels make the display look a little clunky and dated, too.

The touch layer in the panel also very slightly impacts image quality, which is a pity given that one of the key attractions here is ultra-crisp image quality from the 6K resolution and ultra-high pixel density.

We also had issues with the monitor's USB-C interface which we'd like to see addressed before this monitor can be recommended without a major caveat. In other regards, this is an impressive display with good connectivity and factory calibration.

Moreover, if you want the combination of 6K and touch support, this Acer represents one heck of a deal. But, ultimately, we'd probably rather see Acer offer this panel without touch support and with a conventional chassis and stand but at an even lower price. Now that would really be something.

Acer // FutureAcer // FutureAcer // FutureAcer // FutureAcer // FutureAcer // FutureAcer // Future

For more displays, we've reviewed the best business monitors and the best 5K and 8K monitors.

Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra: 2-minute review

I’ve reviewed several Ulefone Armor Pads over the years, and they often seem to be repackaged rugged phones with big batteries but poor cameras.

However, the Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra is a rugged tablet that defies an easy categorisation. It is not trying to be a slimline productivity device or a premium consumer slate. It is something far more specific: a field-ready workhorse for professionals who need serious capability in seriously hostile conditions.

Start with the headline feature. The Armor Pad 5 Ultra includes an integrated DLP projector delivering 200 lumens, with smart autofocus and auto distance detection. The projector supports a throw distance of 106 to 213 centimetres and can display content at up to 80 inches. That is a genuinely useful tool for engineers projecting blueprints on site, or field teams running presentations without dragging additional equipment into the field.

The rest of the hardware is equally serious. A 24,200 mAh battery supports 120W fast charging and is rated for up to 1,662 hours of standby time. The Dimensity 7400X drives 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, expandable to 2TB via a microSD. The camera array includes a 64MP Sony IMX682 primary shooter and a 64MP OmniVision night vision sensor, plus a 32MP front camera. Dual camping lights with 754 LEDs deliver 1,000 lumens, alongside dual red-blue warning lights. The IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD-810H certifications round out an impressive durability story.

The weight, however, demands an honest conversation. As with any of the best rugged tablets I've tried, it's heavy. The Armor Pad 5 Ultra is 27.8mm thick and weighs 3.5lb / 1.6 kg. That is roughly three times the weight of a standard iPad. Carrying it for extended periods in the field will be fatiguing for most users, and one-handed use is largely out of the question. The built-in handle stand helps somewhat, but it cannot disguise the sheer mass.

The device targets outdoor professionals and field workers who need equipment that can handle extreme conditions and double as a portable workstation. Construction site managers, emergency responders, utility engineers, and night-survey teams will find genuine utility here. For anyone else, the weight alone makes this a hard sell. This is not a general-purpose tablet. It is a specialist tool that happens to run Android.

If this hardware has the features you want, and there aren’t any others that have this exact mix, then you might well consider it to be one of the best tablet choices.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra: price and availability

• How much does it cost? $800/£592/€683
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? You can get it directly from Ulefone or via many online retailers such as Amazon.

Often, hardware like this tablet is cheaper from Amazon or other online retailers, but in this case, the best price for it is directly from the makers.

UK readers can get the Armour Pad 5 Ultra direct from Ulefone for £591.22, where the next-day delivery price from Amazon.co.uk is £719.89, or £128.67 more.

What’s slightly curious is that the price on the site isn’t any different for US customers, so you might as well order it from Amazon.com.

For those in the EU, the price is €682.55 from Ulefone, and €799.99 via Amazon.fr, which is probably replicated in Germany and other EU nations.

The Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Pro is the natural comparison point: it shares the same chipset, RAM, storage, battery, and camera system but omits the projector and reduces the lighting complement, coming in at $499.

If the projector is not required, the Pro offers all the core functionality at a lower cost. The Oukitel WP30 Pro and Doogee T30 Ultra sit in adjacent territory for rugged tablets with large batteries, though neither matches the Armor Pad 5 Ultra's projector or lighting specification. Enterprise alternatives from Panasonic or Getac with similar MIL-STD credentials start at significantly higher prices.

At this time, the Ulefone Armour Pad 5 Ultra has created a unique tier to itself, making it an exceptional value for money.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• Value score: 4.5/5

Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra: Specs

Item

Spec

CPU:

MediaTek Dimensity 7400X (4nm), octa-core up to 2.6GHz

GPU:

ARM Mali-G615 MC2

NPU:

MediaTek NPU 655

RAM:

12GB LPDDR5

Storage:

512GB UFS 3.1 + dedicated microSD slot (up to 2TB)

Screen:

11.0-inch IPS LCD, 90Hz, 10-bit colour, 600 nits peak brightness

Resolution:

1200 x 1920 (FHD+) pixels

SIM:

2x Nano SIM + TF

Weight:

1600 grams

Dimensions:

269.7 x 179.5 x 27.8mm

Rugged Spec:

IP68, IP69K, MIL-STD-810H (1.5m drop rated)

Rear cameras:

64MP Sony IMX682 (primary) + 64MP OmniVision OV64B (night vision, 4x IR LEDs)

Front camera:

32MP Samsung ISOCELL GD1

Networking:

5G, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, FM radio, USB-C (OTG), 3.5mm headphone jack

Projector:

DLP, 200 lumens, 960 x 540, autofocus, 100% offset, 26° upward throw, up to 80-inch image

Torch/Lamp:

Dual 1000-lumen LED floodlights (377 LEDs per side, warm/white); dual warning lights with sound simulation

OS:

Android 15

Biometrics:

Side-mounted fingerprint sensor

Battery:

17600 mAh (120W wired, 5W reverse charge)

Colours:

Black

Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra: design

• Two-handed game
• Elegant kickstand
• Built to take abuse

Rugged tablets tend to be large and heavy, and the Armor Pad 5 Ultra makes no pretence otherwise. Measuring 269.7 x 179.5 x 27.8mm and weighing a substantial 3.5lb, makes it roughly triple the mass of a standard consumer tablet.

That is the unavoidable consequence of fitting a 24,200mAh battery, a projector module, dual floodlight arrays, a cooling fan, and a reinforced chassis into a single device.

The construction follows Ulefone's established rugged formula: polycarbonate and aluminium combined with rubberised impact zones at the corners and edges. The chassis carries both IP68 and IP69K certification, meaning it can handle submersion to 1.5 metres for 30 minutes and withstand high-pressure water jets.

The MIL-STD-810H rating covers 1.5-metre drop resistance onto hard surfaces. Both the USB-C port and the 3.5mm headphone jack are sealed with waterproof plugs, which must be properly fitted before any exposure to water.

I wish it didn't have a big rubber plug over the USB-C port, but it does cover a 3.5mm audio jack alongside the USB.

The attachable carry handle is a practical addition that sets this apart from most rugged tablets. It folds flat against the rear when not in use and doubles as a kickstand, propping the tablet at a useful angle for video playback or to position the projector correctly when the device is laid flat. The uSmart accessory port is present on the chassis, maintaining compatibility with Ulefone's range of endoscopes and microscopes.

The back side houses the two rear cameras alongside the IR LED array for night vision, the projector lens at the top edge, and the dual LED light panels on each side. The warning lights, which can simulate fire, ambulance, and police car audio alongside their visual output, sit alongside these.

The overall layout is purposeful and dense rather than elegant, which is entirely appropriate for what this device is trying to be.

If anything, there are too many buttons, which isn't something I normally say about rugged devices.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The 11-inch IPS panel runs at FHD+ resolution of 1200 x 1920 pixels with a 90Hz refresh rate. The 10-bit color depth is a specification more commonly associated with premium consumer tablets, and it allows the display to render a significantly wider range of tones than the 8-bit panels found on most budget-tier rugged hardware.

Peak brightness of 600 nits is moderate rather than exceptional by 2026 standards, and outdoor legibility in bright direct sunlight will depend on where that peak is achievable in practice.

The 90Hz refresh rate keeps scrolling and navigation feeling fluid, which matters more than it might seem on a working device used to read documents, navigate maps, or monitor data streams throughout a shift.

Corning Gorilla Glass 3 provides screen protection. As noted in my RugKing 5 Pro review, it is not the latest generation, but it is well-proven against incidental tool and key contact in the field.

Overall, the main vibe of this device is that it would take some serious abuse to put it out of action. The quality of construction seems at odds with the single year of warranty that Ulefone offers on this hardware, which seems implausibly short.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Design score: 3.5/5

Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra: hardware

• MediaTek Dimensity 7400X
• 200 Lumen Projector
• 24,200mAh battery

The MediaTek Dimensity 7400X is a genuine step up from the Unisoc chips found in Ulefone's more affordable devices, and it changes the tablet's character into something much more suitable for local data processing.

Built on a 4nm process and capable of clocking up to 2.6GHz, it is a current-generation mid-range chip that can handle video editing, heavier applications, and more demanding multitasking without the hesitation that defines budget silicon.

The 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM is generous, and Ulefone's dynamic RAM expansion feature can add up to a further 32GB of virtual RAM from the storage pool if needed, though the practical benefit of this is dependent on each use case. The 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage is fast for this class of device, and the microSD slot is dedicated, so there is no compromise between expansion and dual-SIM operation.

The built-in active cooling fan is an unusual inclusion in a tablet. Ulefone's stated rationale is sustained performance under load, which is relevant for a device expected to run demanding field applications continuously over a working day. Whether it meaningfully extends sustained performance or simply provides peace of mind is worth checking under extended load testing.

The DLP projector is the specification that distinguishes the Armor Pad 5 Ultra from the Armor Pad 5 Pro and from virtually every other rugged tablet currently available. It produces 200 lumens of output at a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels.

The throw design uses 100% offset with a 26-degree upward angle, which means the device can sit flat on a surface and project upwards onto a wall or screen without the image being obscured by the tablet itself.

At 200 lumens, this will work well in controlled indoor environments with reduced ambient light and adequately in shaded outdoor settings, but it will struggle against bright daylight. The autofocus and automatic distance detection are welcome practical features that remove the fiddly manual adjustment that made earlier portable projectors frustrating to use quickly in the field. Ulefone states a maximum image size of 80 inches at appropriate throw distances, but I’d strongly suggest that’s only a possibility in complete darkness.

The throw distance range of 1,063mm to 2,134mm gives a workable bracket for most indoor use cases. The 1.2:1 throw ratio is relatively tight, meaning the device does not need to be positioned very far from the surface to produce a useful image size. This makes it practical in confined spaces such as service vans, site offices, and meeting rooms without projection screens.

The one issue with the DLP projector is that it requires proper cooling to operate, and the fan noise can be easily distracting in a quiet location at night. Given the amount of heat that DLP projectors generate and the power they consume, there isn’t any easy fix for that.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The dual LED floodlights are rated at 1,000 lumens per side, with each panel containing 377 LED beads. Both warm and white colour temperatures are available, which is a thoughtful detail for environments where colour rendering matters, such as inspection work or even a photography setup.

At a combined 2,000 lumens when both sides are active, this is a genuinely powerful lighting tool that could replace a dedicated work light in many field situations. However, if you attach the stand, which most people will do, these panels are partly obscured, something that clearly the designer regretted when they realised this mistake.

The 24,200mAh battery could be the largest fitted to any Ulefone product so far and is more than double the capacity of a mainstream consumer tablet. The practical consequence is multi-day use without charging for most workloads, with Ulefone quoting 1662 hours standby (69.25 days), 109 hours take time and the same in video playback.

Big batteries are wonderful, but often they can take an inordinate amount of time to recharge. Therefore, the 120W wired fast charging is the most significant battery specification after capacity. At this rate, topping up even a cell this size becomes a manageable overnight or rest-period task rather than an all-day affair.

The 10W reverse charging allows the tablet to act as a power bank for other devices, but as each transfer costs efficiency, this isn’t as useful as it might seem.

Overall, the hardware in this tablet is great, and while a few things might have been better, like a projector that could handle 1080p video natively, it's mostly well chosen from a technical standpoint.

• Hardware score: 4.5/5

Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra: cameras

• 50MP, 64MP on the rear
• 32MP on the front
• Three cameras in total

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra has three cameras:

Rear camera: 50MP Sony IMX682, 64MP Omnivision OV64B1B Sensor (Night Vision)
Front camera: 32MP Samsung ISOCELL GD1

The camera specification on the Armor Pad 5 Ultra is unusually strong for a rugged tablet making it equally ideal for adventure photography or site surveys.

The primary rear sensor is a 64MP Sony IMX682, a proven performer in mid-range smartphones that delivers sharp, well-resolved images in good light. The secondary rear camera is a 64MP OmniVision OV64B configured for infrared night vision, paired with four IR LEDs rather than the two found on the RugKing 5 Pro phone. The front camera is a 32MP Samsung ISOCELL GD1, a stalwart of mobile phone use that is perfectly suitable for selfie images and video.

Video recording reaches 4K at 30fps with gyro-EIS stabilisation, which puts it ahead of the RugKing 5 Pro phone and is a credible option for site documentation, inspection recording, and field reporting at resolutions that can be edited and used professionally.

The infrared night vision camera is most usefully thought of as an inspection tool rather than a photography feature. Four IR LEDs provide greater illumination at a distance, which should reduce the hotspot problem that sometimes affects two-LED implementations.

The example images give an accurate impression of how sharp these sensors can be, and the dependable colour balance they offer.

Also, and I rarely forget to mention this point, this is one of the few tablets I’ve ever seen with Widevine L1 encryption, enabling streaming services to be seen on the screen in at least 1080p, connection allowing. Well done, Ulefone.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra Camera samplesMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark Pickavance

• Camera score: 4/5

Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra: Performance

• Modern and efficient SoC
• Great battery life

Tablet

UleFone Armor Pad 5 Ultra

SoC

MediaTek Dimensity 7400X

Mem

12GB/512GB

Geekbench

Single

1047

Multi

2900

OpenCL

3022

Vulkan

3046

PCMark

3.0 Score

12199

Battery

28h 27 min (39% left)

Charge 30

%

5%

Passmark

Score

13661

CPU

6788

3DMark

Slingshot OGL

6578

Slingshot Ex. OGL

5477

Slingshot Ex. Vulkan

5156

Wildlife

3555

Normally, I’d present the numbers of the review machine against a prior tablet in this instance, but I chose not to here.

That’s because no other tablet I’ve tested could get anywhere near these numbers, including some of the previous Ulefone Pad series. For example, the Ulefone Armor Pad 3 Pro scored only 296 and 1358 on the Geekbench single and multithreaded tests, which is a fraction of what this tablet offers.

Equally, GPU power is a magnitude better with the Pad 3 Pro, managing only 647 points on WildLife, or 18%. I’m sure there are Android tablets available that could go toe-to-toe with the Pad 5 Ultra, but I’ve yet to see them.

Another area this design excels in is battery life, even if I had some issues with getting PCMark to completely exhaust the battery without crashing. That’s not a problem specific to this tablet; it seems to happen with many tablets and phones, where something happens in the background that trips up the PCMark tool.

After running it a number of times, the best result I got was that it ran for 28 hours and 27 minutes, but there was still 39% of the battery capacity left. That result indicates that the total running time of the test using all the battery would be around 46 hours or more, which is substantial.

Using the provided 120W charger, it can recover about 27% of capacity in 30 minutes. That puts the total recovery from empty at between two and three hours. There is no wireless option, and given the battery's size, that’s probably not a bad thing.

Overall, the performance of the UleFone Armor Pad 5 Ultra is top-notch, and dramatically better than most rugged Android tablets.

• Performance score: 4/5

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra: Final verdict

The Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra is the kind of product that takes a while to get your head around. On one level, it is a rugged tablet with IP68 and IP69K certification, MIL-STD-810H drop resistance, a 24,200mAh battery, and a chassis that has been built to take punishment in environments where consumer electronics would simply not survive.

Yet there is another side to it, something stranger and more interesting, because it also contains a DLP projector, dual 1000-lumen LED floodlights, dual warning lights with sound simulation, a built-in cooling fan, an infrared night vision camera, and a handle stand.

Throw all that in, minus the kitchen sink, and it is, in short, a field workstation in a single device.

The hardware underneath is more competitive than that of previous Ulefone tablets. The MediaTek Dimensity 7400X is a genuine mid-range 5G chip built on a 4nm process, and paired with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The 11-inch display runs at 90Hz with 10-bit colour depth. The better cameras are from Sony and Samsung rather than the house-brand sensors found on cheaper rugged devices.

While it is not cheap for a rugged tablet, the combination of features has no obvious direct equivalent at anywhere near this price. It’s good to see Ulefone pushing the boundaries of the technologies we are used to seeing in this sector, and I can only hope it encourages other brands to be less reticent about SoC and feature choices.

Should I buy a Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra?Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra Score Card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

Unique feature set demands premium price

4.5/5

Design

Heavy and thick, with an odd button layout

3.5/5

Hardware

Modern 4nm SoC, plenty of RAM and storage, and a projector

4/5

Camera

Good sensor selection and L1 Encryption

4/5

Performance

Powerful, power efficient and excellent battery life

4.5/5

Overall

No cheap or light, but good for most things

4.5/5

Buy it if...

You need this feature set
If you need a field device that combines a rugged tablet with a projector and professional-grade lighting, then there is nothing else at this price doing all three. Just don’t pick this if you have a pre-existing wrist problem.

You work in low light or complete darkness.
Four IR LEDs and a 64MP night vision sensor give this genuine utility as an inspection and documentation tool after dark.

Don't buy it if...

Weight and portability are priorities
At 1,600g with a 27.8mm profile, this is field equipment rather than a portable tablet. Ideally, it should be mounted on a vehicle, because nobody would want to add this to their pack.

Long-term software support is a priority
Ulefone's update commitments are not formally stated, which is a risk over a multi-year device lifecycle. Will it get Android 16? Given Ulefone's past history in this respect, it seems unlikely.View Deal

Also Consider

Oukitel Industry RT10

Another design using the same Dimensity 7400X SoC, with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. What it lacks is the projector, but it is lighter and therefore easier to carry.

The downside of this design is that it only supports 33W charging, so recharging the 25000 mAh battery takes a long time. And, the cameras aren’t as good as those on the Pad 5 Ultra.

At about $680 direct from Oukitel, the cost is also similar.

Read our Oukitel Industry RT10 review

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

Valve Steam Controller (2026) one-minute review

Valve’s back in the hardware game, but no, this is not the much-hoped-for Steam Deck 2, but instead a new version of the Steam Controller that’s been refreshed and refined for modern gamers.

The original Steam Controller, was a unique gamepad when it launched back in 2015, but while it was an ambitious departure from standard dual-stick controllers (instead having a single thumb stick, and two large touchpads), it never really shook off the novelty factor (the novelty being that Valve, primarily a games and software company, was now making hardware), and its unique design seemed to put off a lot of people. Low sales resulted in Valve pulling the plug in 2019.

That wasn’t the end of Valve’s hardware ambitions, however, and since then it’s had some big hits, including the Valve Index VR headset and the brilliant Steam Deck, which essentially kicked off a new category of devices: the handheld gaming PC.

(Image credit: Future)

So, when Valve announced a new and improved Steam Controller, alongside a revamped Steam Machine console-like device (the original was another worthy failure) and VR headset, my hype was high, as I hoped that Valve’s more recent hardware successes would positively influence the new Steam Controller. Now that the gamepad is in my hands, I’m pleased to say that’s exactly what’s happened.

The most noticeable difference between the Valve Steam Controller (2026) and its predecessor is that the design is more conventional, with it now coming with two analog thumbsticks, which are located below the face buttons. This makes it much easier to get to grips with if you’re used to other gamepads (especially the PlayStation 5’s DualSense, as, like the Valve Steam Controller (2026), the thumbsticks are horizontally aligned, unlike the Xbox controller.

Valve hasn’t completely dropped its innovative ambitions, however, with the Valve Steam Controller (2026) still coming with two touchpads, though smaller, square, and located beneath the thumbsticks. If you’ve used the Steam Deck, then the look and feel of these touchpads will seem familiar, though on the new Steam Controller, they are angled inwards slightly, which does make them more comfortable to use with your thumbs.

The Valve Steam Controller (2026) comes with four additional buttons on the back, and these can all be easily configured via the Steam software. Connecting the controller to a PC is easy, with the Steam Controller Puck – a plug-and-play dongle with a pre-paired low-latency connection.

(Image credit: Future)

Place the Valve Steam Controller (2026) on top of the Puck (which connects via magnets), and the Steam Controller will charge, as well as pair with the PC (and you can use more than one Steam Controller with the same Puck).

You can also unplug the Puck and use the cable to directly connect the Steam Controller to the PC via USB-C, and you can also use Bluetooth, though for anyone who has used Bluetooth on a Windows 11 PC to connect a controller, you’ll understand that that’s probably a method you’ll want to avoid at all costs.

Valve Steam Controller (2026) review: Price & release date

• How much is it? $99 / £85
• When is it out? Goes on sale May 4, 2026

The Valve Steam Controller (2026) goes on sale on May 4, 2026, for $99 / £85 (around AU$140), and you won’t be able to buy it from a bricks and mortar store – as with other Valve products, you’ll need to buy it through Steam, Valve’s online storefront. The good news is that if you’re a PC gamer, you’ll already likely have Steam installed for buying and playing games.

Despite this, the Valve Steam Controller (2026) can be used with games you’ve purchased outside of Steam, and while Valve recommends you add the non-Steam games to Steam for the best experience, I found it worked fine when playing games from the rival Epic Games Store without adding them to Steam first, though the Steam Controller acted more like a generic gamepad.

Price-wise, the Valve Steam Controller (2026) is one of the more expensive gamepads out there. It’s almost twice the price of the 8BitDo Ultimate 2, which is currently our top pick as the best PC controller, and the Sony DualSense Wireless Controller, which I currently use on my gaming PC, both of which cost around $60/£50.

However, it’s a fair bit cheaper than many other gamepads aimed at pro gamers, such as the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro, which sells for $199.99 / £199.99, and the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, which costs $179.99 / £159.99.

So, this is a mid-range price for the Valve Steam Controller (2026), and while it is pricey, it does feel about right, as it offers more features than budget gamepads, but not the extreme customization that more expensive gamepads offer. One thing to note is that I didn’t have a chance to try the Valve Steam Controller (2026) with a console. Valve claims it’s not compatible, though you might be able to get basic functionality if you connect via Bluetooth. However, if you’re looking for a gamepad that you can use on both a PC and a console, then you’d be better off looking elsewhere.

• Price: 3.5/5

Valve Steam Controller (2026) review: Specs

Compatibility

PC, Mac, iOS / Android

Connectivity

Steam Controller Puck, USB, Bluetooth

Battery life

35+ hours

Inputs

TMR magnetic thumbsticks, grip sense, ABXY buttons, D-pad, L/R triggers, L/R bumpers, View button, Menu button, Steam button, QAM buttons, four remappable grip buttons, 2x haptic trackpads

Haptics

HD haptics

Additional features

Steam Controller Puck charging

Valve Steam Controller (2026) review: Design and features

• Much more conventional design than original
• Two TMR thumbsticks
• Gyroscope and touchpads also included

Valve has overhauled the design of its new Steam Controller, and to be brutally honest, that’s a very good thing. While I admired Valve trying to do something different with the original Steam Controller, it wasn’t a design I was particularly keen on. It had two large trackpads where thumbsticks usually are placed, which were supposed to make playing games in genres such as RTS (Real Time Strategy), which work best with a mouse and keyboard, easier on a gamepad.

This desire to appeal to PC gamers at the expense of a more conventional console-like gamepad ended up pleasing practically no one, and the original Steam Controller was discontinued a few years later.

The Valve Steam Controller (2026), on the other hand, has a much more conventional design, and while it doesn’t feel like a bold reinvention of the gamepad, there are still some unique features and innovations to be found.

(Image credit: Future)

Unlike the original, the Valve Steam Controller (2026) features two thumbsticks, horizontally aligned and placed beneath the D-Pad and face buttons. The placement of these thumbsticks feels comfortable and natural, and anyone used to gamepads with aligned thumbsticks, such as the DualSense, should be able to get to grips with the Valve Steam Controller (2026) pretty easily.

The new thumbsticks are no slouches, either, thanks to tunnelling magneto-resistance (TMR) technology, which is the tech of choice for most premium gamepads. This uses small magnets to measure even the smallest of movements, which improves precision, and excels in genres such as shooters and racing games, where even the smallest of movements need to be accurately recorded and reflected in-game.

Because the TMR thumbsticks of the Valve Steam Controller (2026) don’t depend on physical contact within the gamepad, unlike traditional thumbsticks, there’s less risk of damage or performance degradation over time, and it should mean the Valve Steam Controller (2026) isn’t at risk of the dreaded stick drift issues that have plagued many a gamepad.

The inclusion of the D-Pad is also noteworthy. Despite being found on pretty much every gamepad ever made, the original Steam Controller did not include one (the idea was that the left-hand touchpad would work). This was another design decision that made the original model unpopular, so the return of a physical D-Pad is very welcome.

(Image credit: Future)

The Valve Steam Controller (2026) doesn’t completely ditch the innovations, however, as it still comes with two touch pads. This time, however, they are smaller and square, and placed at the bottom of the controller’s face. The touchpads are visually similar to the ones found on the Steam Deck, though they are angled to make using them with your thumbs more comfortable.

The touchpads offer haptic feedback, which makes using them feel responsive and natural, with subtle vibrations that let you know when they are touched.

The rest of the face of the Valve Steam Controller (2026) is home to four face buttons (in ABXY layout, which the original Steam Controller, Steam Deck, and Xbox controllers all use. There’s also a Steam Button in the middle, identifiable by the Steam logo. Pressing this turns the controller on, and pressing it again launches Steam in Big Picture Mode, which is a full-screen interface that makes finding and booting up games via a gamepad much easier (and looks good if you’ve got your PC hooked up to a TV, as I do).

(Image credit: Future)

On the left, there’s also a Back button, while on the left a Menu/Start button. Between the two touchpads is a Quick Settings button as well. You also get the regular bumpers and triggers on each side of the top of the Valve Steam Controller (2026), and on the back, there are four additional buttons (two on each of the grips) that can be assigned to in-game functions. The placement of these buttons makes it easy to reach them while holding the Valve Steam Controller (2026) – maybe a bit too easy, as I tapped them a few times by mistake while playing some games (especially during hectic moments).

The back is also home to a magnetic port that lets you quickly connect the Valve Steam Controller (2026) to the Puck, which connects to a PC and is used to both charge the controller and act as a low-latency wireless dongle. It’s small and unobtrusive, and it’s a nice way of incorporating charging and connecting the controller, and with the lengthy included USB cable, you can position it to ensure a reliable wireless connection.

The Valve Steam Controller (2026) also has gyroscopes, so physically moving the controller around can control the onscreen action. While it’s a bit of a niche feature, there are plenty of games, especially from Sony, which, like Valve, see the value in including gyroscopes in their game controllers. I’m currently playing through The Last of Us Part 2 on PC (taking my time as I am a massive wimp), and swapped out the DualSense for the Valve Steam Controller (2026), and was still able to use immersive gestures such as shaking the controller when my flashlight’s battery begins to die. On that note, the touchpads of the Valve Steam Controller (2026) are an excellent alternative to the DualSense’s touchpad, which means the Valve Steam Controller (2026) is an excellent controller for people, like me, who play a lot of PlayStation games on PC (which makes the rumors that Sony is cutting back on porting its games to PC particularly disappointing).

(Image credit: Future)

One thing that’s missing, however, is an audio jack on the controller. Rival controllers often include one, allowing you to plug wired headphones and hear game audio without having to trail a long cable to your PC or console. I, like many PC gamers, have a wireless headset for when I want to keep the noise down when gaming, so this isn’t a massive issue for me, but it might be disappointing for some, especially due to the price.

Overall, the design of the Valve Steam Controller (2026) is a big improvement over the original, with a more conventional feel that’s widely used for a reason: it’s comfortable. That doesn’t mean it’s completely without innovative flourishes, with the dual touch pads and additional buttons on the back. However, it does lack the customization of more expensive professional gamepads.

It feels light and comfortable to hold, and it seems Valve has taken a lot of what it learnt from the original controller, as well as the Steam Deck (which can feel big and bulky in-hand), and applied it to the Steam Controller (2026).

• Design: 4/5

(Image credit: Future)Valve Steam Controller (2026) review: Performance

As you’d expect from a product made by Valve, the Steam Controller (2026) works brilliantly when playing games on Steam. The company had clearly been prepping for the launch of the Valve Steam Controller (2026) for a while, as most major games I played already had controller profiles set up for it. This means that most games can be played with the Valve Steam Controller (2026) and make use of its additional features, such as the gyroscope, out of the box without needing to tweak any settings.

It also means that on-screen prompts will display the correct button – this is particularly important for QTE (Quick Time Events), where you need to hit the right button at the right time. When playing The Last Of Us Part 2, for example, the button prompts that were for my PlayStation controller were replaced with the corresponding buttons on the Valve Steam Controller (2026), such as replacing the triangle symbol with Y for interacting with objects.

These profiles are also highly customizable, so you can tweak the plentiful buttons, trackpads, and gyroscopic controls to your liking, and you can share these profiles with other users. For games that don’t have a Valve Steam Controller (2026) controller, I am sure that will soon change once it’s in more people's hands, and many games have a Steam Deck profile, which maps very well onto the Valve Steam Controller (2026).

Playing Portal 2, which is a Valve game, has excellent integration with the new Steam Controller (2026); the controller felt fast and responsive. Turning on gyroscopic controls allowed me to control the camera by tilting the controller, and the default settings were very accurate, to the point where I needed to turn it down a notch, as it was picking up the slightest movement or tremor of my hands. This was easy to do thanks to Valve’s robust customization options for the Steam Controller. The haptic rumble within the controller lets you know when the gyroscope is being used, and you can toggle it on and off with a press of the touchpad or button, or holding down a button – all of which can be easily customized.

(Image credit: Future)

While I’m more interested in gyroscopic controls for immersive interactions (such as the aforementioned shaking the controller to fix a flickering flashlight in The Last of Us Part 2), it’s a great feature to have and works well. For people who mainly use a mouse and keyboard to control games, the Valve Steam Controller (2026) offers a way to play games on a gamepad with a level of precision that you often only get when using a mouse to control aiming.

The touchpads can also be used to mimic mouse/touchpad controls, and their placement on the Valve Steam Controller (2026) is easy and comfortable to use. I’d never play a first-person shooter (FPS) game using a keyboard and laptop touchpad, but the touchpads on the Valve Steam Controller (2026) are within easy reach of my thumbs, so I can choose to use either the thumbstick or touchpad, depending on the game. With the original Steam Controller, you didn’t have this choice.

The touchpads also feel responsive, and the haptic feedback on each pad gives you a clear idea of what you’re controlling and the actions you’re performing. One thing I like is that when either touchpad is not needed in a game, the touchpad locks in place, so you know it can’t be used (and also means if you brush or touch it while gaming, it won’t mess up your game).

The touchpads, as with the gyroscopic controls, are designed to allow you to play games in genres that don’t usually work well with gamepads, and while I would probably still use a mouse and keyboard for playing RTS (real-time strategy) games, I found the Valve Steam Controller (2026) and its touchpads worked well with management sims like Planet Coaster 2. The touchpads also work well when on the Windows 11 desktop, with the left-hand touchpad controlling scrolling up and down, while the right-hand touchpad moves the mouse cursor.

For anyone who has tried playing PC games on a non-traditional setup, such as from the couch and playing on a TV, you’ll know that even with console-like interfaces such as Steam Big Picture Mode, Windows 11 has an annoying habit of throwing up a dialogue box or menu that can’t be selected with a standard gamepad, meaning you have to switch to a mouse and keyboard, just to get rid of the pop-up. With the Valve Steam Controller (2026), you don’t need to do that.

(Image credit: Future)

The TMR thumbsticks feel great, and with the Puck keeping wireless latency down, the Valve Steam Controller (2026) offers a brilliant gaming experience that’s responsive and accurate, even if you’re using it as a generic gamepad without the additional features. For PC gamers looking to enjoy a more console-like experience, it’s a fantastic peripheral that bridges the gaps between keyboard and mouse and a gamepad. Using it for games like Crimson Desert worked brilliantly, with the touchpads giving me a mouse-like control when aiming, along with no perceptible lag when getting into frantic fights. While the rumble never blew me away as it does with compatible games and the DualSense (which needs to connect to a PC via a cable for the full experience), it still worked well and added another level of immersion.

Valve also promises a battery life of over 35 hours, and during my time playing with the Valve Steam Controller (2026) with a whole manner of games and using the gyroscopic controls, touchpads, and with rumble turned on, I didn’t experience the gamepad running out of battery. To be fair, the magnetic charging Puck is so convenient that I ended up placing the controller on it after most play sessions, which helped keep the battery topped up.

• Performance: 4.5/5

Should I buy Valve Steam Controller (2026)?Valve Steam Controller (2026) scorecard

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

This controller comes with loads of additional features that will especially appeal to PC gamers.

4/5

Performance

Solid and dependable, with minimal latency, long battery life and responsive and reliable TMR thumbsticks.

4.5/5

Design

A big improvement over the original, with the new touchpads placed in convenient locations, and plenty of additional buttons. You can’t swap out switches or thumbsticks like you can with some pro gamepads.

4/5

Value

At $99 / £85, this is a pricey controller, but the price feels justified thanks to the features it includes.

3.5/5

Buy it if…

You have a PC hooked up to your TV
The Valve Steam Controller (2026) is perfect for playing PC games from your couch on a big screen – even genres like RTS and management sims.

You buy most of your games on Steam
The Steam integration is excellent, which means you’ll get the most out of this controller if your library of PC games is mainly on Steam.

You play a lot of PlayStation games on PC
I was pleasantly surprised how well the Valve Steam Controller (2026) works with PC PlayStation games, as the gyroscopic controls and touchpads offer immersive ways to control the games that you’d usually need a DualSense controller for.

Don’t buy it if…

You only play on consoles
Unlike a lot of other gamepads, the Valve Steam Controller (2026) is PC-only, so you’re better off buying a fully-supported controller for your consoles.

You want a basic, budget controller
The Valve Steam Controller (2026) is not a budget controller, and while it’s not ridiculously expensive, if you’re not going to be using the additional features, you can save your money by getting a more basic gamepad.

Also consider

Valve Steam Controller (2026)

8BitDo Ultimate 2

GameSir Tarantula Pro

Price

$99 / £85

$59.99 / £49.99

$69.99 / £69.99

Compatibility

PC, Mac, iOS / Android

PC, Android

PC, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS

Connectivity

Steam Controller Puck, USB, Bluetooth

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

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

Battery life

35+ hours

10-15 hours

Around 12 hours

8BitDo Ultimate 2
This brilliant wireless controller comes with TMR thumbsticks, RGB lighting, and a convenient charging dock. Like the Valve Steam Controller (2026), it’s not compatible with consoles (a Switch 2-compatible model is available however), and its lifespan is a lot lower.

Read our full 8BitDo Ultimate 2 review

hasGameSir Tarantula Pro
This is a fantastic alternative that had an excellent build quality, as well as offering the ability to switch the face button layout between Xbox and Switch buttons.

Read our full GameSir Tarantula Pro reviewView Deal

How I tested the Valve Steam Controller (2026)

• Played several games over multiple gaming sessions
• Tested over the course of several days
• Games include The Last of Us 2, Crimson Desert, Planet Coaster 2

During my time testing the Valve Steam Controller (2026), I played numerous games from different genres to get an idea of how the gamepad performs, including games that I would usually only use a mouse and keyboard for.

While most of the games I tested were on Steam, I also tested out Hitman: World of Assassination on Epic Games Store to see how it would work with non-Steam games. I’ve been reviewing PC gaming peripherals for almost two decades, and have been an avid gamer for over 30 years on both consoles and PCs.

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

EarFun Clip 2: Two minute review

The Earfun Clip 2 buds are the latest entry in the wave of clip-style options among the best open earbuds. They're Earfun's second go at this form factor after the original Earfun Clip, following the brand's OpenJump ear hook design.

And the big pitch of the Earfun Clip 2 is price, because they cost $79 / £69 / AU$120 at launch. With early discounts already appearing on the Earfun website, they undercut much of the competition.

Now, that budget positioning does come through in places. The plastic build feels a little cheap in the hand. The sound profile, though energetic and punchy for workouts, has some limitations at volume that I'll get to, which means you’ll want to tweak the EQ.

There are some notable features here that I really rated, including an impressive 11 hours of battery life, Hi-Res Audio and LDAC support, multipoint connectivity, and a smart AI translation tool, which could just be a nice-to-have for some or genuinely useful for others. For cheap open-ears, there’s a lot here.

(Image credit: Future)

Open-ear designs are a bit of a gamble when it comes to comfort. Do you go with a neckband, ear hooks, or clip-on? Well, I’m firmly in the clip-on camp, and I found the Clip 2 buds mostly secure, light, comfortable and easy to forget about once they're in. I did notice some slight slippage, but only on sweaty runs when I pushed their grip to the limit.

However, after a lot of time testing audio gear, I've learned that ears are subjective little things. Some people love the clip-on feel and others find it irritating. That subjectivity runs through the whole experience here, from fit to sound to whether you mind the build quality at this price.

Overall, the Earfun Clip 2 aren't trying to compete with similarly style buds, like the Bose Ultra Open or the Shokz OpenDots One, on refinement. Instead, they’re asking: hey, do you want a decent pair of open earbuds without spending very much?

If the fit works for you and you're willing to play with the settings, the answer could well be yes — I've tested a load of clip-style buds, and these are the cheapest option I'd happily tell people to buy.

EarFun Clip 2 review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

• Price at launch: $79.99 / £69.99 (about AU$120)
• Launched April 2026
• Already discounted at launch

The Earfun Clip 2 buds launched at $79.99 / £69.99 (about AU$120), but there's already an early bird discount on the Earfun website bringing them down to $55.99 / £49.99, which probably tells you what price you can expect to see them fall to in any sales events.

The headline here is they significantly undercut much of the competition. The two clip-on open earbuds we'd most readily recommend right now are the Shokz OpenDots One at $199 / £179 / AU$339 and the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds at $299 / £299 / AU$449.95.

The Earfun Clip 2 cost less than half of the Shokz and roughly a quarter of the Bose. Even the Edifier LolliClip, which does pack in extras such as noise cancellation, heart rate and blood oxygen tracking, come in at $129.99.

Which means that if you've been curious about the clip-on design but reluctant to spend big on an experiment, the Earfun Clip 2 make a very compelling entry point on price alone.

That said, they're not the only budget option in this increasingly crowded space. For example, the Soundpeats Clip1 are currently our top pick for open buds in a clip-on design for under $100 costing only $69.99 / £74.99 / AU$79.99 and we gave them a solid 4 out of 5 star rating.

What’s more, the JLab Flex Open earbuds come in at $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$129.95. We haven't reviewed those, so can't speak to quality, but it's worth knowing that cheap clip-on open earbuds exist beyond the Earfun. Granted, not all of them will be worth your time and money, and as we'll get to, the Clip 2 do pack in some great features to back up that low price.

EarFun Clip 2 review: Specifications

Driver

12mm dual-magnetic titanium composite driver

Water resistance

IP55

Battery life

11 hours (buds), 40 hours (total)

Connectivity

Bluetooth 6.0

Weight

5.5g (buds)

EarFun Clip 2 review: Features

(Image credit: Future)

• 11 hours battery life (40 hours with the case)
• AI translation across 100+ languages
• Solid app to tweak settings

The Earfun Clip 2 buds were easy to set up: just open the case and they connect, with Google Fast Pair support speeding things along if you’ve got an Android phone. Multipoint connectivity worked reliably throughout testing too. I spent a full working day moving between my laptop and phone across cafes and a coworking space, and the switch took under five seconds each time.

Battery life is a strong point. With LDAC off, you get up to 11 hours from the buds and 40 hours total with the charging case, and during testing I got close to 10 hours, which tracks enough for me. Switch LDAC on and that drops to six hours (22 hours in total), which is still reasonable. The case supports wireless charging, and the buds fully recharge inside it in about an hour.

For context, the Bose Ultra Open manage 7.5 hours (27 total), the Shokz OpenDots One offer 10 hours (40 hours in total), and the similarly-priced Soundpeats Clip1, offer eight hours from the buds (32 hours in total). so the Clip 2 hold their own against pricier rivals.

The standout feature here is AI translation, covering more than 100 languages. There are two modes: face to face, which translates in chunks after each person speaks, and real-time, which handles continuous one-way speech with a slight delay. Both worked well in my testing.

AI translation is appearing in other earbuds too, but finding it in a pair this affordable and in an open design feels like genuine added value.

(Image credit: Future)

There's Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification and LDAC support too, which is rare at this price, though the drivers and open design don't fully capitalize on that extra bandwidth.

The Earfun app is clean and easy to navigate. The 10-band custom EQ works well, alongside presets like bass boost, treble boost, vocal enhancement and genre options like rock, pop and classical. As we'll get to, I needed to tweak the EQ to get the most from the Clip 2, so this was welcome.

You'll also find a game mode for reduced latency, a theater mode that widens the soundstage, and a privacy mode that drops volume and reduces sound leakage.

Other extras include hearing health settings with volume limits and left/right balance, auto-shutdown timers, and a 'find my earbuds' function that worked reliably every time for me.

Connectivity was solid around the house, though I noticed occasional brief drops in the left earbud when I was walking through the city, where there could be more interference. They reconnected within a second or two, but it’s worth noting, since not all earbuds have this issue in the city when I use them.

There's no active noise cancellation here, and you're not getting heart-rate sensors or a personalized hearing test, or anything like that — and that's absolutely fine, given the price.

• Features score: 4/5

EarFun Clip 2 review: Sound quality

(Image credit: Future)

• Punchy bass for open earbuds
• Treble turns a little harsh and fatiguing at high volumes
• Mid-range can get buried

As you'd expect from the open design, you can still hear your surroundings with the Clip 2, whether that’s conversations, alarm or traffic. Not as much as buds that sit further from your ear, such as a bone conduction pair, but enough for situational awareness.

That said, don't mistake open-ear for transparent. You're still listening to something, and I found myself distracted enough by the audio that I wasn't hearing everything around me, even with my ear canal relatively free.

As with any open earbuds, you're trading fidelity for that awareness of your surroundings here. The question isn't whether the Earfun Clip 2 sound as good as in-ears (they don't). It's whether they make the most of the form factor at this price.

At lower volumes, the answer is yes. There's separation, a sense of space, and a brightness that keeps things lively without feeling thin. Listening to Tame Impala's Dracula at a comfortable level, the bass came through with some presence, which is not always the case in open earbuds.

Budget open options like the Huawei FreeArc, our current top pick at this end of the market, have never really satisfied fully on the low end. The Clip 2 have noticeably more punch.

However, push the volume and things can start to unravel depending on what you’re listening to. Treble takes over, cymbals and hi-hats become sharp, vocals and guitars turn brittle, and the midrange almost gets buried underneath.

I put on Death From Above 1979's Turn It Out, a track I've listened to hundreds of times, and at first the crashing drums and heavy low end landed brilliantly. But the moment guitars and vocals came in, it became harsh enough that I didn't want to keep listening. That's a problem when it's one of your favorite tracks.

So there’s a bit of tension with the Clip 2. These are earbuds mostly designed for outdoor use, like running, walking and commuting — ie, environments where you might really need to push the volume to hear them. But they sound their best when kept a little lower.

Now, I’m happy to report that the custom EQ helps a little. A treble reduction preset warmed things up, and pulling back the highs further with the 10-band EQ created a smoother, flatter listen. But even with adjustments, that midrange muddiness didn't fully clear up.

Podcasts sounded decent, with enough vocal clarity to follow speech comfortably. That same treble harshness crept in at higher volumes here, though in noisier environments the extra edge actually helped voices cut through in busy environments.

As you’d expect from open buds, there was some detectable sound leakage, but not that much. Unless you're listening at volume in a very quiet office or train carriage, I'd say you'll be fine.

They're not a great-sounding pair of earbuds in the grand scheme of things. But for the form factor and the price, they are more capable than much of the competition, as long as you don’t need to pump up the volume too often.

• Sound quality score: 3.5/5

EarFun Clip 2 review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

• Clip-on design that's surprisingly secure
• Comfortable for long sessions, though fit is subjective
• Plastic build feels budget compared to rivals

The Earfun Clip 2 use a clip-on design that hooks over the cartilage at the side of your ear. The chunkier rectangular section housing the controls and battery then rests behind the ear and the spherical driver unit sits in your concha. Each bud weighs just 5.5g, and a Ni-Ti (nickel-titanium) alloy frame helps the clip hold its shape over time.

After reviewing plenty of open earbuds, I've come to accept that fit preferences are deeply personal. Some people swear by hooks behind the ears, others prefer neckband-style fits.

For me, the clip-on is actually my favorite form factor, partly because I have thick hair and sometimes wear glasses, both of which can make hooks and neckbands less comfortable and secure. But your experience may really differ, all of our ears are unique after all!

That said, the first day or two I spent convinced they were about to fall off. They didn't, and once I'd stopped second-guessing them, I found the Clip 2 surprisingly secure and comfortable for long listening sessions.

The only time they shifted around to the point I wanted to take them off was during sprint intervals in a sweaty HIIT session, and I'd expect that from most earbuds.

(Image credit: Future)

There's IP55 dust and water resistance, so they'll handle sweat, rain and the odd splash without any trouble, just don't submerge them. Combined with the (mostly) secure fit and light weight, they make a solid workout companion.

Looks-wise, I've always found the clip-on design quite cool, like something out of Star Trek. But the Clip 2 are simple, black and plastic, and some might find them a little cheap-looking compared to shinier rivals with more colour options, like the Bose Ultra Open or the Shokz OpenDots One.

Controls are handled by a physical button on the back of each bud rather than touch surfaces, which I preferred. It's easy to find by feel when you're moving, responsive enough that I never had to fumble, and you can customize single, double-, triple- and long-press actions in the app.

The charging case tells a similar story to the buds themselves. It’s pill-shaped, black, plastic, but with a solid hinge and matte finish that make it look plain and purposeful if I’m being polite, a bit cheap if I’m not.

• Design score: 4/5

EarFun Clip 2 review: Value

(Image credit: Future)

For the price, the Earfun Clip 2 deliver, and they’re the clip-on open earbuds I'll be recommending if anyone needs a budget pick.

The value here is strongest when you look up the price ladder. The Shokz OpenDots One offer a similar experience for more than double the price. The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds do justify their premium with noticeably better sound, but they cost almost five times as much.

This means that if you're curious about the clip-on design and don't want to gamble serious money on finding out whether it suits your ears, the Earfun make that experiment much easier to stomach.

Yes, the price shows at times. The plastic build feels budget, and the sound has limitations at higher volumes that the pricier rivals handle better. But you're not buying these expecting premium. You're buying them because you want open earbuds with a clip-on fit, decent bass and a whole shopping list of useful features without spending much. On all of those terms, they deliver.

• Value score: 4.5/5

Should I buy the Earfun Clip 2?Earfun Clip 2 scorecard

Features

Lots here for the price, multipoint, very good battery life and, of course, AI translation.

4/5

Sound

For open ears, they are good, with volume, energy and some bass. But the mix can feel a little muddy, and they get worse as you go loud.

3.5/5

Design

Comfortable, light and secure open-ear design. Won't suit everyone, though, and can feel a bit cheap.

4/5

Value

Cheaper than rivals. Great features, decent sound, good fit. Good value, especially in this form factor.

4/5

(Image credit: Future)Buy them if...

You’re on a budget
Open earbuds have always asked you to take a gamble on an unfamiliar design, sometimes at a high price. The Clip 2 made that gamble seem less risky, they’re seriously good value for money.

You wear glasses or have thick hair
I’ve tested a fair few open earbuds at this point and the clip-on design is hands-down the best fit for me. These win for wearability.

You want good features
Translation, multi-point connectivity and LDAC high-res audio at this price point is a strong hand. You're not being asked to compromise much to save money here.

Don't buy them if...

You want the last word in audio
They punch above their weight, and for open buds at this price their audio is good. But there are issues, which means if you’re chasing excellent sound, you won’t find it here.

You’re not sure about the clip-on fit
With so few opportunities to try earbuds before buying, it's a leap of faith. For me, comfort here was excellent, but fit is subjective and the design is distinctive enough that it won't suit everyone.

You don’t really need open
Open buds are a solid option these days, but if you don’t need ambient awareness then a conventional pair will still win on sound, and often comfort and features too.

Earfun Clip 2 review: Also consider

Earfun Clip 2

Shokz OpenFit 2+

Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

Soundcore Aeroclip

Water resistant

IP55

IP55

IPX4

IPX4

Battery life

11 hours (earbuds), 40 hours (total)

11 hours (earbuds), 48 hours (total)

7.5 hours (earbuds), 48 hours (total)

8 hours (earbuds), 24 hours (total)

Bluetooth type

Bluetooth 6.0

Bluetooth 5.4

Bluetooth 5.3

Bluetooth 5.4

Weight

11g / Charging case: 49.6g

9.4g / Charging case: 56g

6g / Charging case: 43g

6g / Charging case: 42g

Driver

12mm

17.3mm

12mm

12mm

Shokz OpenFit 2+

Worth considering if you want an open fit, but like the idea of an ear hook design rather than a clip-on one. Sound quality is good, but they’re more expensive and it really does come down to personal preference on the fit. Worth flagging here that the ear hook design has never worked well for me, which I chalk up to having thick hair and wearing glasses sometimes.

Read our full Shokz OpenFit 2+ review

Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

If you want better sound in the same clip-on design and can very comfortably stretch your budget, these are the ones to go for. They’re Bose so, as you might expect, they offer a step up in terms of sound and build. But they’re only really worth paying considerably more for if you genuinely need an upgrade, because the Earfun Clip 2 get the job done.

Read our full Bose Ultra Open Earbuds review

Soundcore AeroClip

A solid alternative if something about the Clip 2 just doesn’t appeal. They are more expensive, though deals are common. The fit is equally secure and comfortable and a choice of colors, especially the gold, might sway some. Worth noting though they’re not rated as highly for water and dust resistance, so less ideal if workouts are your priority.

Read our full Anker Soundcore AeroClip review

How I tested the Earfun Clip 2

(Image credit: Future)

I tested the Earfun Clip 2 for two weeks to write this review. I mostly had them paired with my iPhone 16 Pro, but also used them with my MacBook to test the multipoint connectivity.

I used them mostly to listen to music and podcasts while I was working out of the house or exercising. But I also tried listening to TV shows and movies with them to see how the different modes sounded.

I’ve been testing and writing about tech for nearly 15 years. I’ve reviewed wearables, health tech and smart home products. But I’ve recently been focusing on fitness audio and open earbuds, especially headphones and buds on the more affordable end of the spectrum.

I’m especially interested in how tech actually feels to use day to day, rather than how it performs against a spec sheet.

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

Campaigner has been in the email marketing business since 1999, slowly building up to a platform that goes well beyond basic broadcast sending.

The platform covers email automation, SMS marketing, advanced segmentation, and ecommerce integrations for Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. Two things consistently set it apart from simpler tools: multi-channel automation that combines email and text in the same sequences, and advanced add-ons that offer enhanced security and analytics.

TechRadar Pro has been reviewing business software since 2012, with our contributors covering email marketing platforms from Mailchimp to ActiveCampaign year after year. This Campaigner review draws on hands-on testing alongside analysis of its 2026 pricing, features, and support structure to help you decide whether it fits your needs.

My experience with Campaigner

(Image credit: Campaigner)

Signing up is quick, though you'll need to provide credit card details to start the 30-day free trial. That's a slight friction point, especially when many competitors let you explore without payment details upfront. Once inside, the drag-and-drop email editor is approachable, with a wide range of templates to start from and a full HTML editor for those who want more control over the code.

The platform performs well on core tasks, but where we'd push back is on the add-on model. Features you might expect to be included, like Reputation Defender for list health monitoring, cost extra on top of your base subscription. For teams budgeting carefully, those additions can push the effective monthly cost well beyond the advertised price.

Campaigner review: Features

Campaigner's feature set splits clearly between its two self-serve plans.The Essentials plan covers the basics: drag-and-drop editor, pre-built templates, one-time and recurring campaigns, A/B testing, autoresponders, and standard reporting. It's a workable setup for teams running straightforward campaigns without complex automation needs.

On the Advanced plan, the feature set gets much more interesting. You get automation workflows covering simple straight-line sequences and complex multi-path journeys, alongside advanced segmentation, dynamic content, conditional triggers, and purchase behavior tracking for ecommerce stores.

The segmentation tools let you build dynamic segments that update automatically based on subscriber activity, and you can layer in custom fields and purchase history for more targeted sends. SMS can run within the same workflows as email on bundle plans, keeping multi-channel campaigns manageable in one place.

Reputation Defender, the platform's proprietary list health tool, is not included in either plan by default. It's an optional add-on priced at 20% of your monthly plan cost. For high-volume senders where deliverability is critical, that's a feature you'll likely want — but it's not free, and the pricing scales up as your contact list grows.

Campaigner review: User experience

The interface has a clear structure and good design. A visual, drag-and-drop workflow builder makes it accessible for marketers who haven't built automation sequences before. The email editor is solid, gives you enough control over layout without overwhelming you, and the template library covers most standard use cases.

The overall design does feel a little dated, though. Some admin screens don't scale cleanly on modern displays, while day-to-day navigation can feel slower than more modern platforms. There's no dedicated mobile app either, so campaign monitoring on the go is limited to what your mobile browser can manage, a noticeable gap for teams that work across devices.

Campaigner review: Customer support

Support is available via email and live chat on all plans, with phone access also available during operational hours. For routine queries, response quality is reasonable, though some users report slower turnaround on technical issues, particularly where it has to do with deliverability and integration setup.

The Custom plan adds a dedicated account manager and deliverability consulting, which is worth knowing about if you're running at a serious scale. For Essentials and Advanced users, email and chat should cover most day-to-day needs, but you won't get proactive account support unless you negotiate that separately.

Campaigner pricing and plans

Plan

Cost (starting at)

Contacts

Cost (top end)

Contacts

Essentials

$14/mo

1000

$409/mo

100,000

Advanced

$35/mo

1000

$649/mo

100,000

Custom

Contact sales

Contact sales

Contact sales

Contact sales

Both plans are priced by contact count, with a slider on the pricing page letting you see the exact cost at your list size. Automation workflows, advanced segmentation, and ecommerce integrations are exclusive to the Advanced plan, which stays competitive at smaller list sizes. At larger volumes of 50,000 contacts to 100,000, the Advanced plan starts to overlap in cost with more feature-complete platforms.

Reputation Defender is an optional add-on available on all plans, priced at an additional 20% of your monthly subscription. A 30-day free trial is available, though it requires a credit card to start. There's no permanent free plan.

Campaigner review: Specs

Spec

Details

Free plan

No; 30-day trial only

Number of contacts

1,000 - 100,000

Automation workflows

Advanced plan only

SMS marketing

Requires separate subscription

Ecommerce integrations

Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce

Optional add-ons

Reputation Defender, AI Insight Builder

Should I buy Campaigner?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Advanced plan is strong, but key tools cost extra

3.5/5

Performance

Good deliverability options, UI can feel sluggish

3.5/5

Design

Functional but dated, no mobile app

2.5/5

Value

Competitive base pricing, add-ons inflate real cost

3.5/5

Buy it if…

• You want automation without a high entry price. The Advanced plan starts at $35/mo for 1,000 contacts, which makes multi-step workflow automation accessible to smaller teams that don't need to manage huge lists.
• You run an ecommerce store on Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce. The native integrations pull in purchase behavior, abandoned cart triggers, and back-in-stock data without requiring third-party connectors.
• You're running email and SMS together. Bundle plans let you manage both channels in the same automation sequences, which can simplify your stack if you're currently using separate tools.

Don't buy it if…

• You expect deliverability tools to be included. Reputation Defender, Campaigner's list health feature, costs an extra 20% on top of your plan. That's a meaningful addition if deliverability is a priority for your campaigns.
• You want a modern, polished interface. The UI has a legacy feel that slows down day-to-day work, and the absence of a mobile app adds friction for teams managing campaigns outside the office.
• You're growing a large list quickly. At 50,000 contacts and above, the Advanced plan runs $398/mo or more, at which point you're in the same pricing territory as platforms with more modern tooling.

Also consider

ActiveCampaign. If automation depth is your priority, ActiveCampaign includes sophisticated workflow building with a more modern interface at a similar price point for mid-size lists.

Klaviyo. For ecommerce businesses on Shopify, Klaviyo's native integrations and predictive analytics go deeper than Campaigner's, with automation accessible early in the pricing ladder.

Mailchimp. A more accessible starting point for smaller teams, Mailchimp includes basic automation across most paid plans and offers a cleaner interface — though its pricing also climbs at scale.

How I tested Campaigner

(Image credit: Campaigner)

• Signed up for the 30-day free trial and built test campaigns using the drag-and-drop editor and template library, covering standard broadcasts and autoresponder sequences.
• Reviewed the workflow builder, segmentation tools, and ecommerce integration options hands-on, and cross-referenced feature availability across all pricing tiers against official Campaigner documentation.
• Assessed support quality, tested the reporting dashboard, and compared feature depth and pricing against competing platforms at equivalent contact tiers.

Testing involved setting up representative campaigns, including a recurring email sequence and a segmented broadcast, to evaluate the editor experience, preview rendering across devices, and the analytics interface. Pricing details were verified directly against Campaigner's official pricing page, including contact-tier pricing from the interactive slider.

Adobe Illustrator began development in 1985, with its initial release coming out in 1987. 39 years in an eternity in computing terms, and it’s amazing this venerable piece of software is still the ruling king when it comes to design, illustrations and vector-based work.

We've long championed it as one of the best graphic design software apps around - but now I'm taking a look at some of the new features that are being introduced with the latest version, Adobe Illustrator 2026 (I explored version 30.3).

Adobe Illustrator: Pricing & plans

• Subscription-only but the price befits its status as the king of the hill
• Cheaper alternatives available like Canva’s Affinity
• But they lack all the features and integration with other Adobe software

Adobe Illustrator is a professional app, and as such, is part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud Pro subscription. As has been the case for years now, you can’t purchase the software, you can only rent it.

Creative Cloud Pro includes over twenty high end software packages, including Photoshop, InDesign, and of course, Illustrator, and will cost you $35 a month for the first three months on an annual subscription (after that deal, the price reverts to $70 a month for the remainder of your agreement).

If that’s too much for you, you can subscribe to Illustrator on its own for $23 a month. Students and educational institutions can also get it or the entire suite at a steep discount.

Be aware though that every time you use generative AI, you’ll be spending credits. You get a set number every month with your plan, but also have the option of purchasing more separately, either as a one-off, or as part of another subscription.

OK, time to take a look at some of the new features that caught my eye in Adobe Illustrator’s new release.

Adobe Illustrator: Features

(Image credit: Adobe // Future)

• Loads of new features added
• I especially like those focused on interface improvements like color artboards
• Great tools for refining your designs including snapping to tangents

Let’s start with some simple improvements to do with Artboards. Up to now, if you needed them to have colored backgrounds, you’d have to create a rectangle, apply a color to it and use that as your backdrop, which, although doable, was cumbersome.

Now, finally, you can apply different colors to each of your Artboards, right from the Properties panel, through its Fill dropdown menu. By default, it’s set to transparent, but you can also choose either black or white, and if that’s not enough, selecting ‘Custom’ gains you access to a virtually unlimited gamut of colors.

Right-clicking on the canvas offers some handy options to manage your document’s artboards. You’re able to rename, duplicate, or delete them, or even create new ones with ease. There’s also the option to lock a selected artboard, but sadly no option to unlock it - to do that you need to go to Window > Artboards, and click on its lock icon from the popup window. So, I guess 'cumbersome' hasn’t completely gone away.

(Image credit: Adobe // Future)

But it’s still an improvement. And speaking of improvements, the classic Eyedropper tool has been enhanced, and I found it works more reliably than before. A single click, for instance, will now properly copy the color and stroke of a selected object (you can extract more of course, but that depends on what you selected in the Eyedropper options).

There’s also shift-clicking. Press and hold the shift key, and you’ll get a large circle around the eyedropper cursor. The bottom half represents the current color, while the top half is the color it’ll change to once you click.

A color picker that works as advertised and has added functionality, I can work with that.

(Image credit: Adobe // Future)

This leads us to some subtle additions you probably never knew you needed, like how the end of a straight line now snaps to a circle’s tangent, or how one line snaps perpendicularly to another. Those are on by default and will make precise designs much easier.

And speaking of much easier, how about gradients with fewer banding - or no banding at all, even? Depending on how close you get to a gradient, you’ll start to notice lines along it as the one color changes to another. This latest version of Illustrator introduces two options to dissipate those lines, creating a much smoother gradient.

(Image credit: Adobe // Future)

The first one is via a new menu in the gradient Properties called “Method”. By default, it’s set to ‘Classic’, but change it to ‘Perceptual’, and it should look more like it would in real life - at least that’s the intention. The change can be quite subtle depending on the complexity of your gradient, and in my experience, it ranged from no discernible change, to a pleasing improvement.

The second option is a ‘Dither’ tick box. This one works in either ‘Method’, and when toggled, it adds a mesh of subtle imperfections to the gradient to conceal any banding, and I found the results to be very effective.

Adobe Illustrator: AI tools

(Image credit: Adobe // Future)

• Introduces impressive AI-based tools to expand your creation’s horizons

But why do all the hard work when you can let a complex algorithm do it all for you, right? Right? Well… not quite, but Adobe Illustrator now comes with some interesting “AI” tools to broaden your digital creations, like Generative Expand.

Triggering the tool will give you handles which you then drag beyond the confines of your original creation. This will create pink borders, making it clear where Illustrator needs to apply itself. When you’re ready (and you have enough credits), click on ‘Generate’ and the machine will get to work.

It should only take a few seconds but I found the end results, like Generative Expand on Photoshop, to be impressive - and I don’t particularly like AI! The results weren’t perfect, mind, but it should be much easier to manually refine the output as opposed to creating all that expanded area yourself.

(Image credit: Adobe // Future)

Another complex algorithm feature I was impressed by is Turntable. It’s designed to turn a 2D vector graphic into a 3D one. Your results may vary, and the tool itself warns you if it thinks the image you’ve selected might not yield good results. That warning may, or may not be correct - sometimes the only way to know for sure is to spend your credits and try it out.

The objects I experimented with, varied in their success. The globe was… interesting, but then again Illustrator did warn me it might not work as expected, so kudos for the warning. The butterfly was mostly flawless, and the horse’s head (a sketch of a head, not a Godfather triggering nightmare) was perfect.

So yes, your mileage may vary, but when it works great, it’s eye opening (but not in A Clockwork Orange way). Once done, you’re able to rotate your now-3D object 360 degrees using a slider. To the right of it are Up and Down arrows; these allow you to see your design from above or below by a maximum of 30 degrees either way.

All in all, Illustrator keeps getting refined with each update. The improvements are most welcome, and the new features will certainly please a lot of artists. There’s something here for everyone which is always a positive thing.

Should I buy?

(Image credit: Adobe // Future)

Buy it if...
You need a powerful vector-based illustration system with a steady stream of improvements and new features to make the expensive subscription worthwhile

Don't buy it if...
You’re not a fan of the increasing incursion of AI into the software, or despite all its features, the asking price is just too much for you.

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