TechRadar Reviews

Wix may be the biggest name in website building, but is it right for you? Our Wix review helps you get all the information you need to make an informed decision.

We’ve extensively tried and tested 140+ website builders and found that Wix consistently beats competitors in important areas including tools and features, ease of use, and price. In fact, Wix features heavily across all our buying guides and has maintained the #1 spot in our list of the best website builders for some time.

Wix is a fully-comprehensive website builder, offering everything from high-impact templates and an outstanding AI website builder to powerful business tools including ecommerce features and a booking platform.

There is a lot to cover in this Wix review. We signed up, built a host of test sites, and took an in-depth look at the templates, editor, features, ease of use, speed, security, SEO, apps, hosting, and more. But before we dive into the details, let’s get the TL;DR for those who just want the most important insights and information.

If you decide that Wix is the website builder for you, you can now save on your subscription with our list of the best Wix promo codes.

Wix review: Overview

Wix is the world’s most popular website builder, and by a very long way.

According to BuiltWith, Wix has a massive 33% share of the market, more than any other commercial website builder. It's closely followed by Squarespace at 26%, with GoDaddy and Weebly trailing further behind in 2025.

1. Wix - a top-notch website builder

Wix offers some powerful paid plans, starting from as little as $12 per month for the Light plan (on a three year plan), which gets you 2GB of storage space, a free domain, and the removal of Wix branding.View Deal

What’s the secret? Some website builders focus on newbies, others on experts and the most demanding sites, but Wix targets everyone. Whether you’re a first-timer looking to build a simple personal site, or a company launching a new web store, Wix has the tools and technology to help. We signed up and built a stack of test sites to find out more.

Wix is the world's most popular website builder, the power behind 46% of the market by the number of websites, more than the likes of Squarespace (17%), GoDaddy Website Builder (10%) and Weebly (5%) combined.

Getting started with Wix

Wix got our website project off to a very quick start by allowing us to choose from a huge library of 900+ templates. Whether you’re creating a food blog, an online CV, a pet store, a site for your restaurant, or wedding events business, there’s a template to suit.

We chose a Hotel template, and were immediately impressed. It was a very complete site, with pages showing the rooms, hotel amenities, our policies on hosting weddings and events, with slideshows, downloadable menu PDFs, a Live Chat button, and a Contact Us page with a map and a working Contact form.

Wix offers some stunning templates right off the shelf (Image credit: Wix)

All we had to do next was change the built-in photos and text for our own. If you already have the content you need, you could have most of the site up and running in an afternoon.

Although most templates come with a sensible default set of pages and features, you may well want to add others, and Wix has more options than we’ve seen with anyone else.

This starts with core features like photo galleries, video and music players, embeddable social media streams, buttons, maps, forms and more. But there’s so much more such as blogs, web stores, and forums.

Wix app market adds over 500 possible tools and feature to your website (Image credit: Wix)

If the standard tools don’t deliver what you need, the Wix App Market has 500+ extensions to add new website features and connect your sites to various platforms and services - that’s way more than anyone else.

As with the templates, although Wix has an array of features and apps, they’re not the best in every area. The sheer volume and number of options can make Wix more difficult to use, too. But we think it’s important to have that choice.

Blogs, ecommerce, and speed

If your website needs a blog, then the good news is Wix can add one to any template with a single click. We found it easy to create, organise, and manage posts.

The blogging system doesn’t have the power or flexibility of WordPress, but then neither does anything else. Although we noticed a few issues, they are minor (a post can’t have two authors, for instance). Overall, Wix has all the blogging power most personal and business users will need.

Wix offers simple, yet powerful ecommerce functionality. (Image credit: Wix)

It’s a similar story with ecommerce. Wix can’t fully compete with platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce, but that’s no surprise. Ecommerce is only one of the areas Wix covers, and it’s trying to create a service that anyone can use.

But let’s keep this in perspective. If you’re a newcomer, maybe a small or medium business looking to build a capable web store, Wix’s ease of use and lengthy feature list could make it the perfect partner.

Whatever your website or audience, performance is important. We built several test websites and used some of the best speed testing platforms around to see how they compared.

The results were reasonable. Wix adds lots of scripts and other files to its sites, and that means it’s not as fast as, say, a hand-tuned WordPress setup. But that’s no surprise - all website builders have the same issue. Wix delivered similar and very acceptable speeds to Squarespace in our tests, even with its most basic paid plan.

Value

You can get started with Wix for free, no credit card details required. The plan is very limited, with a tiny 500MB storage and bandwidth per month, but it’s enough to test the service.

Paid plans start at $17 a month, but you only get 2GB storage and there’s no ecommerce support. If you’re building a web store or need more features or speed, you’ll be spending $29+ a month on one of the higher plans. That’s a little above average, but it’s also very similar to Squarespace, and we think it’s fair value for what you get.

Wix example websites Image 1 of 6

(Image credit: Animal Music Studios)Image 2 of 6

(Image credit: Izzy Wheels)Image 3 of 6

(Image credit: Kode With Klossy)Image 4 of 6

(Image credit: Evolve Clothing Gallery)Image 5 of 6

(Image credit: Roee Ben Yehuda)Image 6 of 6

(Image credit: Mananalu)

In this review we’ll talk about Wix’s many features and what they can do, but if you’re in a hurry, the quickest way to understand the possibilities is to look at what others Wix users have created.

A website about your coding camps could easily be just dull blocks of text, but Kode With Klossy makes great use of Wix photos features, scrolling effects, and animations to create a modern and appealing site.

Evolve Clothing, Roee Ben Yahuda, and Izzy Wheels are professional ecommerce and portfolio sites which use eye-catching graphics, scrolls, and effects to grab and hold your attention.

Wix makes it very easy to use video on your site, and we’re talking about way more than just embedding some YouTube clip. Animal Music Studios produces award-winning music and sound design for ads and elsewhere for many of the world’s biggest brands, and its Wix site allows you to browse them all in an amazing video wall.

If you do nothing else, scroll down Mananalu and count all the handy features Wix allows you to use in ecommerce and other sites: shopping cart top right, video header, social media sharing buttons, Amazon shopping integration, a ‘Find a Store’ button which uses your current location, animations, easy newsletter subscriptions, and more.

Wix pricing and plans

Wix offers a range of plans for everyone from hobbyists to enterprise level businesses. (Image credit: Wix)

Wix's limited free plan inserts ads on your site, doesn’t support custom domains, and limits you to only 500MB storage and 1GB monthly bandwidth. It’s not for serious sites, but the free plan does give you an easy way to try Wix before you buy, and we think it’s a big plus for the service.

Lite drops the ads and bandwidth limits, and allows you to use your own domain. Storage is limited to 2GB, though, there’s no ecommerce or analytics, and there are assorted other restrictions and issues.

For example, you get one automatic monthly backup only (you can have up to three active manual backups); video streaming is limited to 30 minutes; and there’s no support for adding live chat to your site.

If you’re building a web store, a business or other demanding site, we think you’ll be better off with the Core or Business plans. These lift your storage limits to 50GB or 100GB, and add analytics, ecommerce, site chat, and more.

The Business Elite plan is aimed at serious users with big international sites, and although it’s significantly more expensive, when we dug into the detail, we could see why.

Opting for Business Elite gets you unlimited storage and video streaming time, for instance.

Wix Plan Options:

Plan

/mo (paid monthly)

/mo (paid annually)

/mo (paid every 2-years)

/mo (paid every 3-years)

Free

$0

$0

$0

$0

Lite

$24

$17

$14

$12

Core

$36

$29

$24

$21

Business

$43

$36

$29

$26

Business Elite

$172

$159

$121

$110

What do Wix users think?

To get a feel for how Wix users feel about the service, we’ve looked at how it scores on popular ratings sites around the world (and how it compares to some of it's top competitors).

Review Site

Wix

Squarespace

Jimdo

Trustpilot

4.6/5 (24,981+ reviews)

1.2/5 (1,494+ reviews)

4.5/5 (5,551+ reviews)

G2

4.2/5 (1,729+ reviews)

4.4/5 (1,089+ reviews)

3.9/5 (18+ reviews)

Capterra

4.4/5 (10,406+ reviews)

4.6/5 (3,328+ reviews)

3.8/5 (42+ reviews)

SoftwareAdvice

4.4/5 (10,406+ reviews)

4.6/5 (3,327+ reviews)

3.8/5 (42+ reviews)

GetApp

4.4/5 (10,400+ reviews)

4.6/5 (3,325+ reviews)

3.9/5 (40+ reviews)

Recent reviews often praised Wix for ease of use, its range of features, and specific incidents of great customer support from individual agents.

Although there are relatively few negative reviews, common themes include poor speeds when creating and editing the site (but not for site visitors), and problems solving complex support issues which can’t be handled in a single contact.

Put it all together and this is a good result for Wix. Its ratings are generally high, comparable to or better than the competition, and although negative reviews are always a concern, we don’t see any indication of major service problems.

Getting started with Wix

Get started quickly with Wix's help, or take your time with a more bespoke design (Image credit: Wix)

We clicked the ‘Design a Site’ box, and Wix offered us two choices: allow the service to build a site for us, or choose one of Wix’ many templates and customize it with the editor.

We chose the first ‘Build it for me’ option, and the service asked us a series of questions about our site and our business. What was our business name, email, physical address, or phone number? Did we have any social media links? What colors and fonts did we like? Did we have a logo?

(If you don’t have or want to share any of these details, leave those boxes blank and Wix won’t mention them on the site.)

Wix gives you options to pick from, helping tailor your site to your preferences (Image credit: Wix)

Next, Wix suggested three site layouts. We chose our favorite, and Wix asked which pages we needed: ‘Locations’, ‘Store Policies’, ‘FAQ’, ‘About Us’, and ‘Contact.’ Helpful scrolling thumbnails showed us what each page contained.

Pages chosen, we clicked Next, and Wix both created our site and put it online using a Wix subdomain (oursitename.wixsite.com/my-site-1.)

Our results weren’t bad at all, considering we’d told Wix little more than we were running an online shoe store. It chose a good quality ‘woman-putting-shoe-on’ picture for the top of the page, displayed more products (with neat animation effects) as we scrolled down the page, had a built-in store with product filters and a shopping cart, 12 product pages, and more.

Although you’ll want to customize the default copy to suit your needs, this is quicker and easier than you might think. Our sample site used this as its first paragraph, for instance:

‘At My Site, we are dedicated to carrying your favorite designers and showcasing their latest collections. We make sure to offer you outstanding value without compromising on quality. All online orders are inspected prior to shipment to ensure that your package arrives in perfect condition. Are you ready to find your next favorite pair of shoes?’

That may not work for everyone, but it’s a decent first attempt. If you’re happy with the text, add your own business name and it’s sorted in seconds. But even if you want something else, having good default text shows you the points you should probably make (‘favorite designers’, ‘latest collections’, ‘outstanding value’), and you can rephrase or expand those however you like.

We noticed one unexpected limit with Wix sites on all plans: you’re allowed a maximum of 100 static pages. That doesn’t include blog posts, product descriptions, and other dynamic pages, so it shouldn’t be an issue for the vast majority of sites. But if you know it might be a problem for you, Squarespace has a far more generous 1,000 static page limit, and we’ve seen WordPress handle 10,000 static pages successfully in the past.

Wix templates

Wix offers a huge range of stunning templates to pick from (Image credit: Wix)

Wix has a huge library of 900+ professionally-designed, clean, and modern website templates to explore, far more than we see elsewhere (Squarespace has 150+, Jimdo 100+.)

The templates aren’t all fully responsive. Wix generally does a good job of ensuring websites look just as good on mobile devices as desktops, but there can be occasional glitches. We didn’t have any notable issues with our test sites, though, and even if we did, the good news is that Wix now has very advanced editors which can produce fully responsive sites. (You can try them for free, too, but more on that later.)

A library of this size means there’s a very good change that you’ll find a template which suits your needs. When we chose the Food category at Squarespace, it showed us eight templates, with cryptic design names like ‘Lexington’ and ‘Hester’, giving us few clues about what they were for.

When we searched for ‘Food’ at Wix it gave us 70+ hits, with clearly labeled templates helping us find food blogs, food shops, online grocery stores, nutritionists, bakeries, cafes, catering companies, Italian/ vegetarian/ pizza/ fast food/ seafood/ burger and other restaurants, and more.

Once you have picked a template, you can use the easy editor to make it your own. (Image credit: Wix)

Many templates are sensibly set up with appropriate pages and content for their purpose. The Steak House Restaurant has gorgeous pics of juicy steaks, along with default menu and reservation pages, for instance, ready for you to customise with your own details. Meanwhile, the Musician site we chose had default links to our Tiktok, YouTube, BandCamp, SoundCloud, Apple Music, and other sites, along with placeholders for our latest music and video, and a Subscription form for visitors to join our mailing list.

Even if you can’t find a template which precisely suits your needs (you’re a musician but don’t have any videos, for instance), having this many pre-built templates gets you off to a quick start. You can then customise your favorite to deliver just what you want.

If the regular designs just don’t work for you, Wix also provides a bunch of blank templates. These have a range of layouts, but no images or industry-specific titles or text, so you’re free to start with a blank page and create whatever design you like.

Whatever you’re after, the good news is that Wix makes all its templates visible to everyone, without signing up. (Jimdo only displays template thumbnails until you sign up.) Visit the Wix Templates page and you can choose a template and browse it as a full website, exploring every page and feature to see if it’s right for you.

Wix website editor

The Wix editor is one of the easiest to use on the market (Image credit: Wix)

The standard Wix editor opens with a simple and beginner-friendly look which uses the vast majority of your screen space to display the current page, and keeps other clutter to a minimum.

The first editing steps are simple. We moved our mouse cursor around the page sections - headers, footers, image galleries, sliders - and, in most cases, a Quick Edit button appeared. That sounded promising, so we clicked it, and the Wix editor displayed a single sidebar with options to change titles, captions, images, and everything else in that section. It’s a great approach which makes it easy for anyone to begin editing a page, even if they’ve never used a website builder at all.

Select other elements and Wix gives you relevant options. Click a paragraph of text, for instance, and you can just start typing to add content; clicking a menu displays options to change how it works; and experienced users can right-click just about anything to access a host of advanced options.

Highly customisable

Wix offers great freedom in your design, but not so much that it is easy to mess up your site. (Image credit: Wix)

If the items on your page (text blocks, images, videos, maps, forms) don’t quite work for your needs, then the editor allows you to resize and reposition them as you like.

One significant feature of the Wix editor is that it allows you to precisely position objects wherever you like on the page, and resize them appropriately. That’s different to Squarespace and some other editors, where you can drop objects onto the page, but they snap to a grid: you can still place them approximately, but you don’t have as much creative freedom.

If you’re an experienced web designer, or you’re looking to achieve very specific goals or effects, the customization options in the Wix editor could be just what you need.

If you’re very much at the beginner end of the market - you’ll probably choose a template, replace the text and images but not much more - then the Wix Quick Edit feature also makes it relatively easy to use.

But if you’re an intermediate user, inexperienced but you’d like to try a few page and site tweaks, then the more guided approach of the Squarespace editor could make it easier to use.

Wix recently integrated AI into its website editor, making it easier than ever before to tailor your website to your needs. Users can interact directly with AI via conversational chat, in response to your questions or instructions the AI will help you edit templates, guiding you through key areas such as selecting color palettes and fonts by extracting colors from your logo to helping you experiment with various themes.

Developer features

Wix Studio offers advanced creative tools to all users. (Image credit: Wix)

If the standard Wix-generated pages don’t work for you, the service has advanced options which might help.

The standard editor has a Velo Dev Mode, which allows developers to add custom JavaScript code, or use an array of low-level APIs to reconfigure precisely how the service works.

As of January 2025, Wix Studio has now replaced Wix's Editor X as the platform's more advanced editor aimed at web design freelancers and agencies. It's designed specifically for agencies and professionals. You get advanced design tools without the complexity.

This isn't your typical website builder. Studio offers pixel-perfect control and responsive design by default. Every element automatically adapts to different screen sizes. No manual adjustments needed.

The collaboration features shine for team projects. Multiple designers can edit simultaneously. You see where colleagues are working in real-time. Comments and task assignments keep everyone organized.

Lots of website builders promise design freedom with efficiency, but Studio actually delivers. You can create custom breakpoints for precise responsive control. Drag-and-drop editing works alongside advanced CSS options. Even Figma designs import directly into Studio.

We found the AI integration especially impressive. Smart layout suggestions speed up initial designs. The AI creates custom wireframes based on your project goals. Content generation handles copy across multiple pages instantly.

Client management gets streamlined too. Custom branding removes Wix logos from your sites. Detailed reporting keeps clients informed about progress. Handoff tools make site transfers seamless.

Studio includes over 375 professional templates. Each one's industry-specific and fully responsive. So even with the advanced editor, you're not starting from scratch every time. Wix Studio is purchased separately from the website builder. There's no free plan, but paid subscriptions start at just $19/month with a 14-day money-back guarantee. You don't need a regular Wix subscription if you use Studio.

The flexibility that Wix Studio offers makes it one of the best website builders for agencies and freelancers.

Wix features and tools

Templates get your site off to a good start, but every quality website builder allows you to add a bunch of other features.

In a click or two, Wix can add text boxes, images, video and music players, social media bars, buttons, maps, menus and more. Plus the new AI features pack a ton of value.

AI marketing assistant

Wix's newest AI tool tackles one of business owners' biggest headaches. Meet Kleo, the AI marketing assistant that arrived in 2025.

You don't need advanced marketing expertise to start building your online presence. Kleo handles SEO, social media, email campaigns, and paid ads from one place. It's like having a marketing manager built into your dashboard.

The setup process is refreshingly simple. Tell Kleo about your business goals. The AI creates tailored marketing plans automatically. No guesswork required.

What sets Kleo apart from basic automation tools is that its suggestions are actually useful. Other website builders offer simple content generators. Kleo goes much deeper. It understands your brand voice and target audience.

The AI publishes social posts across multiple channels. It sends email campaigns when timing matters most. You can upgrade your social media and email plans to unlock even more publishing power.

We also found Kleo very consistent during our testing. It does not stray too far from your original voice and tone instructions. However, some assembly might be required to get the content to a publishable state.

Currently, Kleo works in English only. But, Wix plans to expand to other languages soon. The tool also comes free with all premium Wix plans, so no extra subscription is needed.

AI business assistant

Astro launched in April 2025 as Wix's first AI business assistant. Think of it as your digital business partner. Available 24/7 through a simple chat interface.

You'll find Astro in the top right of your dashboard. Click the blue "AI" button to start chatting. The assistant understands natural language perfectly. Just ask questions like you would a human colleague.

The range of tasks Astro handles is impressive. It monitors website traffic and analyzes sales trends. Need a performance report? Astro generates one instantly. Want to optimize your SEO settings? The assistant guides you through every step.

Content creation becomes effortless with Astro. The AI writes blog posts, social media content, and email campaigns. It maintains your brand voice across all platforms. Quality stays consistent whether you're writing one post or one hundred.

Business expansion gets simpler too. Astro helps you add new products to your store. It explores dropshipping opportunities that match your niche. The assistant even manages subscriptions and team permissions.

We liked Astro's proactive approach during testing. The AI doesn't just answer questions, it spots opportunities for growth and suggests relevant tools. This often leads to discovering features you didn't know existed.

Guy Sopher from Wix calls Astro "the largest collection of skills" they've ever built into one assistant. The AI learns continuously, adding new capabilities regularly.

Currently available in English for Wix and Wix Studio users. But, Wix has said that support for languages is coming soon. The assistant works on all Wix plan levels, including the free tier.

Simple forms are a great way to interact with your website users. (Image credit: Wix)

Image handling

Wix earned a thumbs up from us for its strong image support. Squarespace and most of the competition limit you to the usual JPEG, PNG and GIF formats, but Wix also supports the ultra-efficient WebP, saving bandwidth and improving speeds.

We found the very capable Wix image editor helped us prepare most photos without using external tools. We could adjust brightness, contrast, highlights, shadows and more just by dragging sliders; there are 27 filters, crop and resize features, and you can automatically enhance your images with a click.

Other website builders have decent photo editors, and some outperform Wix in one or two areas (Squarespace has more flexible image cropping, for instance.) But, overall, Wix has more adjustments and tweaks than anybody else, and also crams in some surprisingly advanced features.

A Cutout feature automatically identifies the subject of a photo and removes the background. Its success rate depends very much on your photo, but we had excellent results with most of the images we tried.

We loved the ability to add elements to your photos, too. This can be as simple as a text caption, but you can also choose overlay effects including image flares, shadows and reflections.

If you’re short on quality photos, Wix gives you access to free images from both its own library, and the excellent Unsplash. The image search engine isn’t always the best with complex searches (entering ‘traffic lights UK’ still got us photos with freeways and palm trees), but it’s more choice than we usually see elsewhere (Squarespace offers free images via Unsplash only), and we had no problem finding what we needed.

If you can’t quite find the right image, Wix also allows you to search Shutterstock and purchase individual images from only $2.99 each. There are some restrictions (you can use the image for free, but on Wix only), but that’s still a very good deal. Squarespace uses Getty for its premium photos, but it asks around $10 per image.

Wix forms and collections

Some Wix page elements have a huge amount of depth. Choose to add a Form, for instance, and Wix displays multiple templates for various form types. There are Contact forms, Order forms, Registration forms to collect visitor details, and others for applications, feedback, donations, subscriptions, waivers, and more.

That’s just the start. We chose a Contact Us form, clicked Settings and found all kinds of configuration tools.

Forms can change dynamically as users fill them in, for instance (ask an extra question if they choose a certain value.) When a user submits a forum, you can choose whether to display a message, a download link, redirect them to another URL, something else. Wix can save time, too, by automating common tasks: sending them a Thank You email, sending them a coupon, adding them to this or that contact list.

One big plus for Wix is that, because of its vast App Market (with many free options), it can add very major features which completely transform your site.

Squarespace doesn’t offer built-in support for adding live chat or web forums to its sites, for instance. Users can do it, but they must connect their Squarespace sites to third-party apps or services. That works, but it makes life more complicated if there are problems, because you must work with multiple support teams to sort them out.

Forums and groups can help you increase engagement and even offer new methods for generating profit. (Image credit: Wix)

Wix, meanwhile, can add live chat and all kinds of community features (forums, monetizable groups, areas where your visitors can share files or photos with each other) with built-in features and the company’s own apps. They’re much easier to add, and if they have any issues, Wix’ own support team should help you get everything working.

That’s important, because these larger features can extend your site in ways you may not even have thought about. You might sign up with Wix thinking you’ll get a simple site about your gardening company, for instance. But what if you added a forum, where you could offer gardening advice? Or a photo sharing area where customers could share before and after pics of your latest projects? There are all kinds of possibilities, even for the smallest of sites.

Wix ecommerce features

Wix is best known as an easy-to-use website builder for blogs, simple personal, and small business sites, but it also includes a very complete ecommerce platform that includes every web store feature you might need.

The service gets off to a great start with its huge choice of templates. When we searched for ‘online store’, Wix presented us with a list of 100 store types, making it easier to find a site which suited our needs.

There’s wide support for selling physical and digital products, services (appointments, classes, courses and more), as well as dropshipping (products shipped by a third party) and print-on-demand products (your designs, produced and shipped by a third party.)

Selling on other platforms such as Amazon is easy with Wix (Image credit: Wix)

Wix can handle multiple sales channels, and has support for selling on eBay, Amazon, Google, Instagram and TikTok, and physical stores, as well as your own web store.

Connect your store to Wix Payments and you can accept payments via credit card, Google Pay and Apple Pay. It’s easy to add PayPal, too, and support for 80+ other payment gateways allows you to handle crypto, bank transfers, ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes, and more.

Wix Payments charges a reasonable 2.9% fee + $0.30 per online credit card transaction in the US. (Beware, the figures vary widely depending on your customer’s region and payment method. The Wix Payment Processing Fees page has all the figures you need.)

This is similar to many top providers, although there are ways you can cut your costs. Shopify’s starter plan also asks 2.9% per transaction, for instance, but upgrading to the Shopify plan cuts that to 2.6%, and the Advanced plan charges 2.4%.

There’s a lot of work involved in setting up any substantial web store, but Wix does a better job than most of walking you through the process. A helpful wizard breaks this down to the key steps - setting up payments, adding products, defining your shipping rules and more - and there are some excellent help tools.

We particularly liked the tutorials. ‘How to’ guides are often lengthy documents, with lots of screenshots, where it’s hard to connect what you’re seeing to the real control panel. These tutorials aren’t separate documents; they work by explaining steps and animating the actual Wix dashboards, making it much easier to understand what’s going on and remember it for later.

The Wix App Market has a vast range of ecommerce tools to take your store even further. We found impressive apps to create and sell online courses, print barcodes and labels, manage inventory, handle accounting tasks, shipping, marketing, and more. If you’re interested, take a look at the Wix Ecommerce apps, see what’s available.

Wix doesn’t offer ecommerce support with the free or $17 a month Light plan. But signing up for the Core plan gets you the main ecommerce features, including support for selling up to 50,000 products, accepting payments, selling on social media and top online marketplaces, and more. It’s $29 a month on the annual plan, and only $19 if you’re willing to sign up for three years.

Upgrading adds valuable ecommerce extras, such as support for multiple currencies, adding customer reviews, and even creating a loyalty program.

This is fair value, especially at the lower end of the range. Shopify’s starter Basic plan is $29 a month billed annually, for instance; Squarespace offers basic ecommerce features with its $23 a month business plan, but that doesn’t include some of the advanced extras (selling subscriptions, abandoned cart recovery) that Wix bundles with all its ecommerce plans.

Overall, Wix gives you a lot for your cash, making it a decent choice for ecommerce newcomers or small existing sites. But if you’ve a busy existing store, BigCommerce or a good WooCommerce plan could also be worth a look.

Creating a Blog with Wix

Blogs are a great way to engage your audience and boost search engine rankings (Image credit: Wix)

Wix is a very capable blogging platform which makes it very simple for beginners to create their first blog, but also has a pile of advanced features for more demanding and experienced users.

Getting started is really easy. Just select Blog when Wix asks you which pages your new site should include, and it’ll add a blog section for you. (But if you forget, you can add a blog later in a couple of clicks).

A straightforward blog editor allows you to create new posts. This opens with a choice of standard templates for common post types (‘How to…’, ‘Ultimate Guide to…’, ‘Product Review…’, recipes and more. That doesn’t just save time, it helps the blog look more professional because you’re using a consistent format for each post type.

Alternatively, you’re able to create rich posts from scratch, with text, images, galleries, video, GIFs, downloadable files (a PDF you want to share, say), buttons, tables, lists and polls. Squarespace allows you to create blog posts with even more types of content, but, realistically, Wix likely has more than enough options for most people.

Wix AI is now integrated into the platform's blogging tools. You can turn to AI for tailored blog suggestions based on your website/business information. It can also help you by generating comprehensive blog outlines, delivering AI-generated images, and optimizing your content for search engine results.

Ecommerce options include the ability to display product descriptions, and you can allow readers to book services or make appointments directly from the page.

There are some really professional touches here. Hit ‘Publish’, say, and Wix doesn’t just put your post online. It also has templates allowing you to immediately promote your new post via an email campaign or social media post (Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and Linkedin are supported.)

A strong core set of blog and post management features include the ability to schedule your posts for a later date, and organise your posts with categories or tags to make them easier to find.

We had some issues with the fine details of Wix blogs. You can’t add multiple authors to a blog post, for instance, unlike Squarespace and WordPress.

It was a mixed story with some of the more advanced blog features, too.

We liked the Monetize feature, where you could put some posts behind a paywall and charge for access. But the Import tool, designed to import posts from an existing WordPress blog, didn’t work reliably for us. And a ‘Translate’ option to translate posts into 180+ languages sounds appealing, until you realise it charges per word, won’t translate everything, and has all kinds of usability issues (probably why it rates only 2 out of 5 stars on the App Market as we write.)

Overall (and as we expected), Wix can’t match WordPress for blogging ability. Squarespace is fractionally more powerful, too. But the differences are marginal, and Wix is still a very capable blogging platform with more than enough power for most people. (If blogging is a top priority, create a free Wix account and you can try before you buy.)

What video features does Wix have?

Video can add an element of depth and excitement to your website (Image credit: Wix)

Wix scores for its powerful built-in video features. You can upload videos up to 15GB into your own video library; there’s support for accessing video files stored in your Dropbox or Google Drive account; and you can embed videos directly from YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Dailymotion and Twitch.

If the standard Wix tools aren’t enough, the App Market has plenty more. We ran a few searches and quickly found apps to embed video content from Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram, and others.

Wix allows you to host up to 30 minutes of video, even on the free Wix plan. (Beware the 500MB free bandwidth limit, though: streaming services use around 700MB per hour, even with basic 480p footage.)

We were happy to see Wix offers significantly more video storage as you purchase higher plans, with the Business plan giving you 10 hours, and the Business Elite plan dropping all video limits. Squarespace only offers a basic 30 minutes storage on all its plans, and you need to purchase an add-on product to get more.

Unusually, Wix also has direct support for live streaming, both from your mobile or a desktop (Windows, Mac or Linux.) Free Wix users have a 10 minute limit on a single stream, but upgrade to a premium plan and this jumps to three hours. You can even monetize your stream, with options to take payments for individual streams, to (on the higher plans) sell weekly, monthly, or annual subscription plans.

We noticed some issues. When we chose to ‘stream now’ from a mobile device, for instance, Wix could only point us to an iOS app; Android users are left out. Streaming from a desktop takes some work, too, requiring you to install and set up an encoder. And although the Support site does a fair job of walking you through the desktop process, it ignores mobile streaming entirely.

Still, most website builders offer far less video streaming support (and regular web hosts rarely allow it at all.) If you’ve big video plans for your website, Wix’s flexibility and range of tools make it well worth a look.

Wix app market

The app market helps you grow your site in the ways that matter most. (Image credit: Wix)

Wix has more built-in features than we can count (we know, we’ve tried), but they’re just the start of what it has to offer. The Wix App Market has 500+ apps which can add new design elements, integrate your site with marketing or sales platforms, connect to social media platforms and a whole lot more.

That’s way more than even the best of the competition. Squarespace only recommends 40+ extensions on its site, for instance (although there are plenty of others around, if you go looking.)

This doesn’t quite give you as much choice as you’d think. Although there are loads of apps here, most of them are for niche situations which only apply to relatively few users ( an app to offer extended warranties, say, or connect your Wix store to Simla.com’s CRM platform.)

We checked the number of ratings for various apps to get a feel for how many users they might have, and the results were a surprise. Although Wix has 200+ million users, we noticed that 59 out of the 86 ‘Store’ apps had less than 10 ratings (35 had none at all), and only four (including the built-in web store) had been rated more than 100 times.

If you happen to need one of these niche apps, though, you’ll be very happy they’re available, and there are plenty of other more generally useful examples around. We found some great social media apps to integrate feeds with your site, for instance, or automatically post on your social media site when you create a blog post or add a new product. There are a number of new AI chatbots you can use on the site, and a wide range of marketing, sales, and shipping integrations.

A few apps are entirely free, and most have limited free plans, but it’s likely you’ll have to pay to get their full benefits. Prices vary according to the vendor, but small apps might be just two or three dollars a month, and we noticed some gave us benefits you won’t see outside of Wix.

Sign up with the excellent 123FormBuilder from its own site, for example, and the cheapest standard ad-free plan is $24.99 a month. Sign up via Wix and you’ll find a Starter plan which is much simpler, but also ad-free, and priced at only $3.99 a month.

Overall, the Wix App Market is a big plus for the service, both because it has many ways to help you build your initial site, and it also gives you a lot of scope to grow later. If you’re at all interested in third-party apps or integrations, browse the App Market before you sign up, find out what could work for you.

SEO on Wix

SEO tools are essential if you want people to find your website (Image credit: Wix)

Building a great website isn’t just about stylish templates and quality design tools. The site should use core SEO (Search Engine Optimization) principles to automatically boost your Google ranking, as well as allowing experts to fine-tune everything for the best results.

Wix does a good job with the SEO basics. While we got on with creating pages and dragging and dropping content, Wix automatically took care of common SEO-related tasks such as managing an XML sitemap, creating a robots.txt file, adding default canonical and other tags, and boosting website speed (also important for SEO) by converting large images to the hyper-efficient WebP format and using its own CDN.

A new AI-powered tool SEO tool analyses your page content to understand search intent, then automatically comes up with the most relevant meta tags. That’s great news, whether you’re new to SEO or just want to save some time.

If the AI suggestions don’t work for you, there are plenty of low-level tweaks available. We were able to edit title tags, meta tags, descriptions, enable AMP for faster-loading pages on mobile devices, even create structured data markup to increase the chance of Google highlighting your site in its search results (for example, by displaying a snippet of your site content in the searcher’s results page.)

An SEO panel includes a host of tools and options allowing you to take more manual control of your site. The SEO Setup Checklist walks you through a personalized set of first steps; an issues lists warns you of problems, and a recommendations list offers useful advice.

If you need more, there are a handful of useful SEO tools in the Wix App Market, including a couple of decent options in Rabbit SEO and rankingCoach.

To get an understanding of how Wix handles SEO, we used SEO checkers seobility and SEO Site Checkup to analyse three Wix templates. Although this could only tell us about the default Wix SEO setup (it can’t account for what you might do later), we were interested to see how a Wix site might perform if you don’t make any SEO changes.

The tests delivered decent results overall, essentially scoring a B grade: not perfect, but no fundamental SEO problems, and there are plenty of tweaks you can make to improve results.

We did notice one more general issue, though, with all our SEO reports saying the site used a lot of CSS and JavaScript files, slowing it down and potentially affecting search engine rankings. That’s not unusual for website builders, though, and we found some used even more. Our Wix templates used 4 CSS files and 10 JavaScripts, for instance, but when we created a couple of Squarespace sites, they used 8 CSS and 14 JavaScript files.

Overall, Wix offers a strong set of SEO abilities which delivers reasonable baseline settings by default, and includes many more advanced options which experts can adjust to suit their needs. That makes the service one of the best small business website builders and a great option for start ups, although if you’ve complex needs, using WordPress gives you even more tools and control.

Wix security and safety

Good site security can give you and your visitors peace of mind (Image credit: Wix)

Having a secure website is vital to protect your visitors, your reputation, and your search engine rankings. But it’s also a technical topic, so we were happy to see Wix manages all the complicated bits for you.

The service automatically creates an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate for your site, allowing users to safely browse your pages with a secure encrypted connection.

Wix is compliant with PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards), the top industry standard to show a provider can securely protect credit card payments.

Wix doesn’t say much about protecting your site from malware. A support site page simply tells you to report a virus if you spot one, for instance, although Wix does claim to monitor the service 24/7 to ‘identify threats as they appear’ (and there’s built-in DDos protection, too.)

Even if something happens to your site, or perhaps you accidentally trash it yourself, the good news is that Wix automatically maintains a site history. You can easily go back in time to a previous version of the site whenever you like.

Account protection

2 step verification is considered an essential security process (Image credit: Wix)

Every quality website builder needs the best possible security to protect your account, website, and visitors from hackers, malware, bots ,and all the other threats out there.

Wix gets off to an excellent security start with its logon features. 2-step verification (also known as 2-factor authentication, or 2FA) prompts you to enter a code, as well as your username and password, before you can access your account.

Wix can send your 2FA code using email, SMS, and even an authenticator app for the most secure results.That’s a wider choice than we see with many providers. For example, Squarespace also supports 2-step verification by SMS and app, but not email; Hostinger supports app and email, but not SMS.

A Login History page displays account logins, locations, and dates. Even if someone could find a way to bypass the 2FA, their illicit login would show up here and raise the alarm.

If you’re building a business site, you might want to allow other colleagues to help you manage the process. You could share your username and password, but that’s horribly insecure. The Wix ‘Collaborator’ feature allows you to securely share access to your account by adding trusted users, each with their own roles. If one staff member works solely on the web store, for instance, you could allow them to manage store products but not change the site design.

Wix mobile apps

Wix's mobile app makes managing your website incredibly convenient (Image credit: Wix)

Running busy websites is a 24/7 business, but Wix, Squarespace and some of the other top website builders try to help by offering custom Android and iOS mobile apps with assorted site management tools.

Features include the ability to create blog posts, handy as a way to keep productive while you’re on the move.

You can respond to visitors via your site’s Live Chat, if you’ve enabled it, or post replies in your web forum.

The real value of the app, though, is its ability to manage your online business. You can check appointments made on the site, take payments, view the latest sales figures, and explore a bunch of other surprising extras. (If you’ve created an event and issued tickets, for instance, you can scan those tickets with the apps and check those visitors in.)

It’s not all good news. Despite the relatively high app ratings (4.7 for iOS, 4.3 for Android), recent reviews consistently report poor speeds, unreliable blog features, and a host of usability issues.

If you really need to edit your website while on the go, you might also be a little disappointed. Squarespace and Jimdo have apps with a fair amount of editing functionality, but Wix only allows you to tweak its most basic sites.

Overall, the Wix app delivered the functionality we think most people need, allowing them to chat to visitors and keep up-to-date with website stats. But it is a very complex tool with a lot of features, and if mobile functionality is important to you, we’d recommend you give it plenty of testing time before you buy.

Wix AI tools

Wix has plenty of tools to help you manually build a website yourself, but that’s not your only option. It also has AI-powered features which can handle many tasks for you.

Wix's AI website builder asks you a few basic questions and automatically creates a custom website complete with relevant content. It’s easy to use and is a great way to kickstart the website building process. However, like with all of the best AI website builders, the site will almost certainly need some editing in order to make it fit to represent your business online.

Wix's AI website builder starts with a short conversation between you and the AI assistant. It then uses the information you provide to produce a complete website. (Image credit: Wix)

The editor has more interesting features, including an ‘AI Creator’ tool to build custom common website sections: About, Welcome, Services, Contact, Team, Features, Promotions and Subscribe. An AI assistant can also be used within the editor to help customize elements such as theme colors and fonts.

Outside of website building tools, Wix also offers a host of other AI tools including a dedicated AI portfolio builder, AI text creator, AI powered image creation, editing, and enhancement tools, as well as image background and object removal features. Further to this, AI is integrated into the blogging feature on Wix, offering everything from ideation to outline and image creation.

Wix users that opt for a Google Workplace account will also gain access to Gemini for Workspace, helping them streamline workflows and boost efficiency via the power of AI.

Wix help and support

Wix provides a great level support - essential when you run into unavoidable issues (Image credit: Wix)

Wix help begins with the design of its dashboard and editor. Click a web page image, say, and buttons appear with clear captions for common tasks (Change Image, Edit Image.) There’s also a toolbar with small icons, but if you don’t recognise one, hovering your mouse over it gets you a quick description. Even if you’ve never used Wix before, it’s relatively easy to discover features and begin to use them.

A search box points you to the next level of support. Can’t see how to use PDF files on your site, for instance? We typed PDF in the search box, and Wix pointed us to Document Buttons (page elements which allow visitors to download documents), a couple of PDF-viewing apps, and useful support documents on how to upload and share PDFs and other files. Wix has so many features that we couldn’t always find what we needed, but the Search box always pointed us in the right direction.

There’s more detailed Wix help available in the content-packed web support center. Articles are organized into sensible categories (‘Getting started’, ‘Creating your site’, ‘Managing your business’, ‘Promoting your site’, and more), or you can search for whatever keywords you need.

We searched for ‘SEO’, and Wix returned 20 support articles. The top ‘Optimizing Your Site’s Content for SEO’ has a lot of useful information, and points to many related documents if you’d like to know more. It’s good, but we think Squarespace’s SEO Checklist is even better: longer, with extra details and more in-depth advice.

If you can’t find the answers you need - or you’re in a hurry, with a problem you need to fix right now - then you can contact the Wix support team 24/7.

Getting in touch with support is a little more complicated than we expected. When we hit the Contact button, we had to explain our issues to a chatbot first, which tried to refer us to various support site documents.

The bot also asked us if its advice had solved the problem, though, and when we clicked No, it offered us options to open a live chat session, or set up a callback with a support agent. (Yes, while GoDaddy expects you to work through a host of call options and then wait for ages, Wix will call you back, and often in under five minutes.)

That’s better than most of the competition. Squarespace doesn’t offer phone support at all, for instance. It does also have fast email and live chat support, so there’s plenty of help available, but if you like phone support then that’s a big Wix plus.

Is Wix right for you? Summary

Wix works best for home, small or medium business users who want an easy way to build a professional website with some very advanced features.

Whether you’re building a website about your hobby, your band or your business, for instance, Wix goes way beyond the basics. The 800+ template library gets you off to a stylish start, there are hugely configurable image galleries, live streaming support, multiple types of form, a comprehensive booking system, and all the ecommerce, sales, marketing and SEO tools to build a successful web store.

Don’t be intimidated by the length of the feature list, though: you don’t need to master all (or any) of these options right away. If you’re happy with a simple three page website with some text and photos, then that’s fine, start there. But if, in a couple of months, you want to allow visitors to subscribe to a mailing list, you can do that in minutes, no technical knowledge required.

This doesn’t mean Wix is right for everybody. If you feel you’ll never need more than the very simplest of websites, for instance, then there’s no point paying Wix for features you’ll never use. Hostinger website builder could give you everything you need for a fraction of the price.

And if you’re at the other end of the requirements spectrum, building the most demanding of high-traffic business-critical sites, Wix probably won’t give you the control or hosting power you need. Instead try Managed WordPress and our Best Dedicated Server Hosting guide, instead.

But if you’re anywhere in between those two extremes, Wix’s blend of power and ease of use makes it an excellent first choice. And if you’re unsure, sign up for the free plan (no payment details required) and browse the templates, editor, and feature list for yourself.

Wix review: FAQsHow do Wix prices compare?

Wix prices are very similar to Squarespace. Wix's entry level plan starts at $17/mo and Squarespace's just $1 cheaper at $16/mo. Both also have more powerful plans in the mid $20’s which can build very capable web stores.

We worked through the small print, and noticed some significant differences. Squarespace wins out on the $16 plan by offering unlimited storage (Wix only gives you 2GB); but Wix is better for the cheapest ecommerce plan as it doesn’t have a transaction fee (Squarespace charges you 3%, although it drops this on higher plans.)

The differences are more obvious if you’re looking for a high-end ecommerce plan. Wix’s high-end Business Elite is stuffed with ecommerce features, but it’s $159 a month. Squarespace’s high-end Ecommerce plan is less capable, but only $49 a month. And Shopify’s mid-range Shopify plan also can’t match Wix for features, but it’s only $105 a month, and it saves you money with cheaper US credit card fees (2.6% + $0.30 vs. 2.9% + $0.30 for Wix and Squarespace.)

Overall, Wix is at the higher end of the website builder price range, but we think it’s worth it. The mix of power and simplicity means Wix will help you build a better site and save you time, probably justifying any extra cost all on its own.

Note: If you’re looking for something significantly cheaper, take a look at the Hostinger Website Builder. It has only a fraction of the features of Wix, and it’s based on more limited shared hosting technology, but you can get an ecommerce-capable plan from $3.99 a month for the first four years - although it does climb to $13.99 after that.

You can also find great Squarespace promo codes that will make your Squarespace subscription much cheaper for an introductory period.

Does Wix include hosting?

Wix is an all-in-one service which helps you build your website, and hosts it for you on its own servers. You don’t have to pay for a separate hosting service.

This approach makes life much easier. Go shopping for hosting and you have to think about all kinds of technicalities, from whether there’s free SSL, to if there’s a speed-boosting CDN, and what hosting control panel do you get? With Wix, every site automatically gets SSL for security, a CDN for extra speed, and other hosting essentials, so you can focus 100% on building your site.

One issue is that, even if you register your custom domain with Wix and buy a premium plan, you don’t get email included. Wix offers a Business Email plan (which is Google Workspace), but it’s a paid extra, and costs from $6 a month.

There can be disadvantages for expert users, too. The lack of advanced hosting options keeps Wix simple, but it also means you can’t take full fine-tuned control of the hosting to suit your own needs.

You also have relatively limited upgrade options. If you’re using WordPress on shared hosting and need more speed, you can usually upgrade to faster VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting from just a few dollars a month. With Wix, all you can do to get more resources is to sign up for one of its more advanced ecommerce plans (even if you’ll never use any of the ecommerce features.)

Does Wix offer free domains?

Wix offers a free domain for one year with every Premium plan.

You don’t have to choose a domain name when you sign up, good news if you’ve not chosen one yet. When you buy a plan, Wix gives you a ‘1 Year Free Domain Voucher’, and you then have up to two months to redeem it.

Beware: the voucher isn’t valid for all domain extensions. You can use it for .com, .net, .org, .biz, some country-specific domains (.com.au, .co.uk, .com.br, .de, .nl) and more modern extensions such as .blog, .fitness and .shop. But you can’t use it to register .ai, .site, .tv and many other domains.

Check the Free Domain page on the official Wix support site for the full list.

What does Wix charge for domains?

Getting a free domain with your Wix plan sounds appealing, but remember, it’s only free for a year. It’s important to look at what you might pay for a domain long-term.

Wix doesn't spell out its domain costs up-front, so we tried purchasing a few sample sites to get an idea of its prices.

Our test .COM domain was available for $17.35, dropping to $16.35 if we paid for two years up-front, or $15.35 on the three-year plan.

Our test .NET and .CO.UK domains were a little cheaper at $14.95 on the one-year plan, $13.95 over two years, and $12.95 per year over three.

.SHOP domains always go for a premium price, and it's the same with Wix. Our domain was $45.95 for one year, $44.95 per year over two years, $43.95 over three.

Wix offers partial privacy protection for free, masking your name, address, phone number and email address in the WHOIS database. That's good news for individuals, and enough to help you avoid most domain-related spam. But if you're a business, or just want to be thorough, a Full Privacy Protection option also hides your country, state/ province and organization for an extra $9.90 a year.

These prices are more expensive than most, and there are big savings to be made if you get your domain elsewhere. Namecheap charged $10.28 for our .COM domain ($13.98 on renewal), only $6.98 for our .CO.UK ($7.48 on renewal) and only $1.78 for the first year of our .SHOP, then $30.98 afterwards. Full privacy protection is free forever with Namecheap, and you can lock in these savings by purchasing the domains for up to 10 years.

Our advice: take your free domain from Wix, but transfer it to a cheaper registrar towards the end of the year to get the best possible deal.

Does Wix include email?

Wix doesn’t include email as standard with its free or Premium plans. To get email with your domain, you must either buy one more Wix Business Email (aka Google Workspace) accounts at a cost of $6 a month, or use a third-party service from the best email hosting providers.

This isn’t just an issue for Wix. Squarespace doesn’t include free email, either, and although GoDaddy includes free professional email for year one, you’ll pay on renewal.

Does Wix have a money-back guarantee?

If you sign up with Wix and it doesn’t work out, you can cancel within 14 days and get your money back.

The good news is this applies both to monthly and annual subscriptions. Many hosts (including Squarespace) only refund annual plans.

There are some exclusions, but nothing we haven’t seen elsewhere. Wix won’t refund domain registrations or other third-party products, for instance, so be careful when choosing your perfect domain: there’s no changing your mind later.

What payment methods does Wix support?

Wix supports payments via card and PayPal.

Is Wix better than WordPress?

Wix makes it quicker and easier to build your first site than WordPress. Spend just one or two minutes answering some questions and Wix can create a very capable custom website for you, even including a working web store with a built-in shopping cart.

Signing up with Wix is also more convenient, because the service includes web hosting, and Wix will put the site online. Choose WordPress (we’re talking WordPress.org here, not the hosted WordPress service at WordPress.com) and you’ll have to choose the best web hosting service for you, then install WordPress yourself. That’s not difficult, even for newcomers, but it does take more time and effort.

WordPress wins out if you’re more interested in power and features. Wix includes hundreds of apps to add design, marketing, SEO and other tools, for instance, but WordPress offers tens of thousands of plugins which can handle just about any task you can imagine.

WordPress is also far more customisable, and you’re free to use whatever HTML, CSS or JavaScripts you need.

The bottom line: Wix is best for users looking for a quick and easy way to build a professional website or web store, without requiring any web design knowledge of experience.

But WordPress is best for more complex or demanding websites where you need the maximum control and configurability.

How fast is Wix?

The speed of a website varies according to all kinds of factors, from the type of hosting, to the number and size of the files used on each page, and exactly what the size is doing (downloading someone’s full Instagram feed will be much, much slower than displaying a couple of paragraphs of text.)

We can’t give you a definitive verdict on Wix performance, then, but what we can do is use some of the best web benchmarking tools to check the speed of various Wix templates, and report on the results.

Pingdom awarded our Wix sites a performance grade of B, with a score of 84. The site did well on five out of seven performance areas, but Pingdom rated it only a C for the number of HTTP requests (which means pages are slowed down by loading too many files), and a bottom-of-the-class F for not using gzip compression.

GTmetrix also found our site had some room for improvement, partly because its large number of files (675) and some marginally slower-than-usual stats (360ms time to first byte, 1.4s time to first byte, 2.8s time to interactive and 7.3s overall load time.) But the overall GTmetrix verdict was positive, with our site earning the best possible Performance Grade A, with a score of 91%.

Catchpoint essentially said our site wasn’t bad, but did have room for improvement. The details broadly matched our other tests, with GTmetrix reporting that the site was slow to connect and deliver the initial code, also suggesting this might be down to the number of files and scripts.

These results are broadly similar to what we’ve seen from Squarespace and the top competition. Wix doesn’t offer leading-edge server speeds, and (like all website builders) it’s weighed down a little by the sheer number of scripts and CSS files. But it’s more than powerful enough to handle some very large and feature-packed sites, and most users are unlikely to have significant performance problems.

Do big companies use Wix?

Some huge names use Wix - music video platform Vevo (26 billion views a month) is one of the best known - but they’re in a minority, and that’s no great surprise. If you’re in the Fortune 500, you’ll probably want maximum control over your website and hosting, and you’ll have no problem at all finding the funds and expertise to make that happen.

But, Wix is recognized everywhere as a great way to rapidly build amazing-looking websites, and it’s regularly used by some very big names to run their latest web projects.

Booking.com’s Sustainability subsite, for instance; the UN’s Human Rights and Digital Technology hub; TED’s leading-edge AI event site; Unicef’s Core Commitments For Children site ; Live Nation’s user support portal , even the PBS Kids store, are all powered by Wix.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Wix will be right for you, but it does show the service is widely trusted by some very expert users, and that’s a very positive sign.

What are the disadvantages of Wix?

If we leave out the limited free edition, the main disadvantage of using Wix is the lack of mobile-responsive templates. While Wix templates are mobile-friendly, you’ll have to work with the mobile view editor to make sure your site looks good across all devices.

Also, once you choose a template, you can’t simply go back and swap it for another one. No, with Wix you’ll have to start building your site from scratch.

Is selling on Wix worth it?

If you’re wondering whether Wix charges additional transaction fees, the answer is no. However, there’s a standard processing fee for using Wix Payments to process orders and it’s 2.9% of the transaction amount plus $0.30 for the USA. For UK citizens it’s 2.1% of the transaction amount plus £0.20. And if you want to check the processing fees for other countries, check the “Wix Payments Processing Fees” section on Wix’s official site.

So, is selling on Wix worth it? Yes, it probably is. Wix provides all essential (and some additional) e-commerce features and everything else an online store should have. It’s also powerful, superbly secure, and a scalable solution excellent for any e-commerce business.

Is Wix good for SEO?

Wix has a wide range of great SEO tools to help websites rank well in search engine results. Wix gives you the ability to customize your website’s meta tags, URL structure, canonical tags, structured data markup, robots.txt file and more.

Can you switch from Wix to WordPress?

There are two ways you can convert your Wix site to WordPress. The first way is by using an automated migration plugin and the second is by using the RSS feed to import all your posts then manually migrate your pages, images and other content on your website. Website owners who built on the New Wix Blog can use an automated migration plug-in by CMS2CMS.

Do Wix sites show up on Google?

Wix websites are search engine friendly, with Wix guaranteeing that all of your website content can be crawled and indexed by search engines (e.g. Google and Bing) whether you have a Premium site or not.

Is Wix payment secure?

Yes, Wix Payments are secure and complies with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).

Why is Wix so slow?

If you are experiencing a slow loading time on your website, this could be down to the images and media used. If you've chosen high-definition images and videos, it takes up a lot of space. The server first loads the image before loading the site, thus those high-quality images and videos will take more time to load.

Review information

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
Release date: July 11, 2025

To be frank, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 didn’t have a particularly tough job on its hands. Five years prior, the 1 + 2 remake landed during the Covid-19 pandemic and reminded us that the series was an absolute gem, actually, despite what Pro Skater 5 led us to believe in 2015, so all this remake had to do was match the quality of the last installment.

Even though development transferred from Vicarious Visions to Iron Galaxy, it’s safe to say they smashed it out of the park with a fantastic nostalgia hit, complete with all-new content, and I’m hooked all over again.

The start of a new era

(Image credit: Activision)

When I played Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 almost five years ago, I had goosebumps as I rolled down that first ramp in the Warehouse level, struggling to fathom that I was really experiencing this game that comprised so much of my childhood again, but this time looking a heck of a lot better.

That moment never came with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4, but that's not a slight. In fact, I'd argue it's a compliment, because those goosebumps were thanks to the novelty of playing those games again, whereas we're now fortunate enough for this to be a semi-regular release, provided we get a remake of Tony Hawk's Underground next, anyway.

Back in the day, some may argue the series peaked with the third game. Pro Skater 3 was the best version that was just all about performing sick combos, completing objectives such as the SKATE letters or impressing pro skaters for the sake of it, essentially making each level a skateboarding sandbox. Pro Skater 4 took these goals a tiny step further by giving them context. The SKATE letters need collecting because the janitor tasks you with tidying up, for example.

This has been removed from the remake, and while there was outrage initially, it turns out it was blown considerably out of proportion. Sure, the Pro Skater 4 levels in the remake lose a little bit of charm, no longer having NPCs to actually talk to, but it means the game retains its fast-paced flow better, and the whole package feels like a single game. Keeping that part would be a touch disjointing, going from the THPS 3 levels without those NPCs, to the THPS 4 levels with them, despite this being one game now.

Passing the torch

(Image credit: Activision)

Iron Galaxy has proved itself more than capable of handling the Tony Hawk series from here onwards, though, because once again, I've spent hours upon hours grinding through the levels, completing all of the goals, including the pro ones.

At the time of writing, THPS 3 is 100% complete, and I have just a few levels in 4 left to go, and frankly, it's been hard to put the controller down. Watching back footage of the original games shows just how impressive and fluid the remake feels now, and even though mechanics like skitching and acid drops didn't feature in the original THPS 3, the fact that both games are identical mechanically now is a huge positive.

Best bit

(Image credit: Activision)

There are a few new levels that weren't in the original games, and the last one, Pinball, is a delight to explore, with plenty of secrets and hidden areas.

The only complaint I have, and it may well be anecdotal, is that 3 + 4 feels slightly buggier than 1 + 2 did when I rinsed it for weeks on end five years back. I've glitched through the world a couple of times, got stuck bouncing on the ground where the game thinks my skater is in mid-air, but they're not, and every now and then it feels like my button inputs don't entirely register correctly.

I'd be remiss not to mention the soundtrack too because it's such an important component of any Tony Hawk game. It's safe to say the originals had a significant bearing on my music tastes throughout my entire life so far because these days, I love a mosh pit and some heavy metal or pop punk, but there aren't quite as many tracks retained from the prior soundtracks as I'd have liked.

That said, they have included some incredible, more modern bands, such as Turnstile, Idles, and 100 gecs. Huge shout out to Boys in the Better Land by Fontaines DC, too, which is such a perfect fit, and don't worry, folks; Motorhead's Ace of Spades hasn't gone anywhere.

Crowning a new king

(Image credit: Activision)

It's hard to argue that this isn't the best skateboarding game of all time, to be honest. The amount of content is staggering, and while some folks may prefer something more realistic like the Skate series - somewhere you can't perform The 900 into a revert, followed by 50+ more tricks all in the same combo. After all, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 is very much an arcade game; it's the Need For Speed to Skate's Gran Turismo.

Once you beat all the levels and complete every goal in both games, you unlock pro goals, which are essentially five even more difficult objectives to complete in each level. Beat all of these, and you get your hands on solo tour mode, which gives each individual skater a unique goal in each level depending on their skateboarding style.

Then you have speedrun mode, which allows you to set the highest score you can on different levels and enter leaderboards, along with create-a-park to either design your own level or play those made by the community. Oh, and there's multiplayer, which is endless fun in and of itself. Then there's a bunch of customization options and collectibles to find in each level, plus challenges, including two expert categories which will likely take you a long time to complete.

This is, quite frankly, a no-brainer to pick up if you've enjoyed a single Tony Hawk game in the past. It's one of the best video game remakes in recent memory, and even levels that have a completely different aesthetic now have been improved tenfold. If you haven't played one for many years, then it may be a somewhat steep learning curve, especially for the harder objectives. But it's not too tricky to pick up if you're happy chaining together some kickflips and bluntslides, rather than going for million-plus score combos.

Even the product placement, which usually feels incredibly on the nose, is so well integrated here, with brands such as Vans and Red Bull placed in natural-feeling spots. Although I don't think there's actually a Vans shop right on Trafalgar Square in London, but then again, I also don't think Trafalgar Square is full of quarter-pipes and ramps. Could be mistaken, though.

Should you play Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4?Play it if...

You played the original games 20+ years ago
This remake is so well done, even if you don't think you'll be as skilled as you used to be, experiencing these two games from so long ago remade in such clarity and with so many small enhancements is worth it alone.

You love an arcade sports game
Tony Hawk games are never about realism, so 3 + 4 is wacky and wonderful in the sense that you can combo 50+ tricks as if your skater has robotic legs that don't get tired, all while chasing a van around London's Trafalgar Square with a nearly-nude man with an elephant mask on in the back.

Don't play it if...

You didn't play the originals, or you don't have the time to learn the skillset
Getting really good at a Tony Hawk game is hard, and 3 + 4 is no different. You may get frustrated if you don't have the nostalgia aspect in your favour and you're struggling to beat some of the score goals.

Accessibility

You cannot remap the base controls, but you can choose which button combos individual tricks are applied to, and you can choose between wallplants being either a one or two-button press.

The camera can be inverted, lots of HUD options can be toggled, and if you're struggling, you can enable assists such as perfect balance on rails, manuals, and lip tricks, and you can turn off bails entirely.

How I reviewed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4

According to my in-game time played, I have sunk 13 hours and 30 minutes into Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 so far, all on a base PS5 with a DualSense controller. This was entirely in the fidelity graphics mode on a Samsung QN88C 55" TV and a Samsung HWMS650 soundbar.

I've entirely completed all of the THPS 3 content, and I'm around halfway through the levels in THPS 4, and while I've given multiplayer a spin, I haven't spent too much time in it. I have also played around with some custom-made levels, both playing community-made ones and making my own.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: Two-minute review

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 is a great flip phone that gives you the best of Samsung’s mobile might in a package that’s innovative and polished. To say it’s an improvement over past Galaxy Flip phones would be an understatement – this is the Flip I’ve been asking Samsung to make for years.

It’s not quite the best flip phone you can buy, but that’s because flip phones have gotten really good; and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 makes a perfect argument for why flip phones may be today’s best form factor.

Think about it, what’s better than a flip foldable? The Galaxy Z Flip 7 has a huge screen – the same 6.9 inches as the mighty Galaxy S25 Ultra – but it’s smaller and lighter in every way, even before you fold it in half. And instead of the Ultra’s questionable S Pen, the Flip 7 gives you a whole second screen to use. On top of that, it costs $200 / £200 / AU$550 less than an Ultra.

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Flip phones just make too much sense, so what’s stopping them from being more popular? First, there’s the durability question. The seventh generation of Samsung’s flip phones still can’t keep dust out, though it can handle being dunked in water thanks to its IP48 rating.

Second, there are sacrifices required to make a folding phone, and the cameras are a downgrade from other Galaxy phones. This year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 got a 200MP main camera, but the Flip 7 keeps its 50MP cameras on the back. There’s no zoom, only wide and ultra-wide. A 200MP sensor would have alleviated the disappointment of not having a 3x telephoto lens or better.

Finally, the battery takes a hit with the Galaxy Z Flip 7 – maybe too big of a hit. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 doesn’t last long enough. I think this is more of a Samsung problem than a flip phone problem, because the Moto Razr Ultra offers great battery life, though it is marginally thicker and heavier than the Flip 7.

A Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 (left) and Galaxy Z Flip 7 (right) with TechRadar on the cover displays (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

It’s impossible to avoid comparing the Flip 7 to the Motorola Razr Ultra / Razr 60 Ultra, which is its biggest competitor (for now, Apple?). Samsung should be thrashing the Razr, but Motorola has been consistently eating Samsung’s lunch in the flip phone café.

With the Flip 7, Samsung finally catches up to Motorola on the cover display. Its cover display doesn’t just fill the front of the phone, it features the thinnest bezels Samsung has ever used on a Galaxy phone screen.

The Flip 7 can also, albeit with some difficulty, use every app on the cover display. You can navigate with AllTrails maps, watch some TikTok, and play Vampire Survivors without opening the phone.

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Still, as Samsung takes a big leap forward, Motorola continues its slow and steady pace as the flip-phone frontrunner. Today’s Razr Ultra is faster than the Galaxy Flip 7 in every way. The processor is faster; games run faster; the screen refreshes faster; the battery even charges faster.

Does all of that speed matter? Yes, but some folks will appreciate Samsung’s deep feature set and customization options more than a bit of extra speed.

Samsung’s One UI 8 is a powerhouse, especially if you mix business and pleasure on your smartphone. The Flip 7 also ships with Android 16, and this is the first time Samsung foldable buyers haven’t had to wait for an upgrade to the latest version of Android.

Samsung promises seven years of major Android updates and security patches, more than any competitor except Google. It has a good track record of delivering on such promises, while many Motorola fans are still waiting for promised updates for past Razr phones.

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Is it time to consider a flip phone? Absolutely. As you’ve probably noticed, I’m a fan of flip foldables, and the Flip 7, with its versatile cover display, rock-solid design, and hefty set of features, offers more value than the sum of its parts.

In fact, I think most people would appreciate the Flip 7, with its unique benefits, more than other phones that don’t make the same sacrifices.

Ask yourself, does your phone need that tiny zoom camera? Wouldn’t you rather have a phone you can slap shut and slip in your front pocket? And I use the cover display on my Galaxy Z Flip 7 far more than I use the S Pen on my Galaxy S25 Ultra.

I’m rooting for flip phones – and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is an exceptional flip for serious smartphone users.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

• Starts at $1,099 / £1,049 / AU$1,799 for 256GB of storage
• The best color – Mint – is a Samsung online exclusive

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 starts at $1,099 / £1,049 / AU$1,799, which is the same price as last year’s Z Flip 6. The price seems reasonable to me, considering that you’re getting two displays for the price of one, plus glass that bends in half like a dang magic trick.

Galaxy Z Flip phones used to seem pricey, but the rest of the phone world has slowly crept up to meet Samsung, and now $1,099 / £1,049 / AU$1,799 actually seems fair, especially if you’re getting this phone from your carrier with a steep discount (most US carriers offer it for free with a new contract).

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 costs more than an iPhone 16 Pro (except in Australia, where it’s the same price), and less than an iPhone 16 Pro Max. It costs the same as a Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, or Samsung’s new and thin Galaxy S25 Edge.

The Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 (left) is more expensive than the Galaxy Z Flip 7 (right) (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Most importantly, the Flip 7 costs less than the new Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 in the US, where the Razr Ultra starts at $1,299. In the UK, the Razr 60 Ultra costs the same: £1,099. Motorola claims it has been outselling Samsung in flip phones, and its cheapest flip, the Razr 2023, is available for $349 in the US.

At launch, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 only comes in four colors, while last year’s Flip 6 was available in seven hues. Mint and Coralred are exciting (the former is a Samsung web store exclusive); Jetblack and Blue Shadow are more staid. I wish Samsung would try something unique with its materials and finish, but it likes to dress the entire product family in the same sweater for holiday portraits, so all the Galaxy phones look alike finish-wise.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 review: Specification

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

When Samsung admitted that the Galaxy Z Flip 7 would use its own Exynos 2500 processor instead of the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy found in every other flagship Galaxy phone this year, it was like a record scratch moment from a comedy show. Rumors suggest this could have been the CPU inside every Galaxy S25 phone, but Samsung changed its plans late in the game on those phones. Instead, this new Samsung chip debuts in the Galaxy Z Flip 7.

Samsung claims the Exynos 2500 is more powerful than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy that’s in last year’s Flip 6, and this lets the Flip 7 use Samsung DeX, a feature that was oddly omitted from last year’s Flip. I don’t buy it. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 had the same processor and the same RAM, and the Fold 6 could run DeX. Heck, even the Galaxy S24 FE with its mid-range Exynos 2400e chipset could run DeX. I’m calling shenanigans on this claim.

The display is bigger this year, up to 6.9 inches for the internal display from 6.7 inches last year, and the phone is 4mm wider to accommodate this. Otherwise, the specs are mostly unchanged from the Flip 6 – 12GB of RAM; a 50MP wide camera and a 12MP ultra-wide; Wi-Fi 7; Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back cover. The battery is larger this year, but maybe not as big as it needs to be.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 specs

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7

Dimensions (folded):

85.5 x 75.2 x 13.7mm

Dimensions (unfolded):

166.7 x 75.2 x 6.5mm

Weight:

188g

Main display:

6.9-inch LTPO AMOLED
1080 x 2520 pixels
1~120Hz adaptive refresh
2,600 nits peak brightness

Cover display::

4.1-inch Super AMOLED
948 x 1048 pixels

Chipset:

Samsung Exynos 2500 (3nm)

RAM:

12GB

Storage:

256GB / 512GB

OS:

Android 16 / One UI 8

Primary camera:

50MP f1.8

Ultrawide camera:

12MP f2.2

Selfie Camera:

10MP f2.2

Battery:

4,300mAh

Charging:

25W wired; 15W wireless

Colors:

Blue Shadow, Jetblack, Coralred, Mint

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 review: Design

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

• Big and beautiful cover display with ultra-slim bezels
• Nice colors, but design is a bit bland for a flip phone

After years of me complaining that the Galaxy Z Flip wasn’t using enough of its cover space for the front screen, Samsung finally listened (I’d like to think). The 4.1-inch screen on the front of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 takes up every possible inch – Samsung says it has the thinnest bezel ever on a Galaxy phone.

The Flip 7’s cover screen looks like the future of phone displays, and I’m excited for the internal screen to catch up, with a bezel this slim.

Otherwise, the phone is a standard 2025 Galaxy model. It has flat sides, with the power and volume buttons on the right. The power key acts as an effective fingerprint scanner, though it’s more recessed than the power button on other Galaxy phones, and it was hard to find in the dark.

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(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

My review sample is Blue Shadow, and the blue certainly has a nice depth to it, though I still wish the color had more pop – there’s not much room for color on a flip phone. Only one half of one side of the phone is actually blue; the rest is all display. Three quarters of the phone is a screen. Is that worrisome? Maybe it should be.

I’ve had the Galaxy Z Flip 7 a week and I’ve been using it extensively. I throw it into my bag with my car keys, and let it bang around with my cameras and other phones in my pockets.

I don’t have a case on it, but some friends at UAG are sending an armored case my way. It may be too late. My back glass – a Gorilla Glass Victus 2 panel – already has noticeable scuffs and scratches marring the shadowy blue. I don’t see any nicks on the screens, so that’s a plus, but I should have gotten that case before I started using this phone. Consider yourself advised.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: Displays

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

• Big inner display is super-bright and clear
• Cover screen is a showstopper – it’s the future of displays

I could rave about the new cover display again, but I’ll start with the impressive inner screen, because the Galaxy Z Flip 7 has been very satisfying to use thanks to this exceptionally bright and clear AMOLED. It was always a joy to open, even in bright outdoor light.

Don’t worry about the crease on the inner screen. It’s completely invisible when you’re using the phone, and it never bothered my fingers when I was swiping across the screen. After all these years it still feels like a magic trick to fold a piece of glass in half, and it still shocks friends who haven’t seen a flip foldable in person before.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7’s cover display is, as I’ve mentioned, also spectacular. The ultra-thin bezels make it seem to disappear, and you get plenty of room to work with apps and widgets on the 4.1-inch space. It’s a great improvement to the Flip line, and one I’ve been impatiently waiting to see.

• Displays score: 5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: Software

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

• The best flip for getting things done
• Maybe too focused on productivity, not enough on fun

If you want a smartphone you can tweak and customize to your heart’s content, get a Samsung phone. If you prefer something simpler, you can still grit your teeth and ignore most of the settings, the pop-up features, and the extra steps required to make things work.

How bad is Samsung’s software? Take the cover display, for example. On the Motorola Razr, when you’re using an app and you close the phone, the app shows up on the cover display. That’s simple and intuitive. On the Galaxy Z Flip 7? Not even close.

To use an app on the front screen, you have to find the setting to enable apps on the cover display. This isn’t in the Cover Display settings menu; it’s in a menu called Advanced Settings, and then Labs.

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Labs. Can you imagine a more frightening way to hide a crucial feature? Why not just call it Dungeon?

And once you find Labs, you’ve only gotten started. You can enable a few pre-selected apps to work on the cover display – Maps, Messages, Netflix – or you can download another widget called Multistar from the Samsung Galaxy App Store.

Multistar creates a home screen that lives on your cover display, and on that screen you can add any app on your phone. On the cover, you swipe to the Multistar screen and tap the app you want to open.

Multistar on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 cover display (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Unfortunately, you can’t set any of this up on the cover display itself. You can’t even add widgets to the cover display without opening the phone. It feels like Samsung is still getting the hang of this whole cover-display thing, but the Flip7 is its best effort yet.

This complex procedure exemplifies Samsung’s software ‘philosophy,’ if it has one. The phone has lots of features, and they all work… somehow. Finding those features and making them work can feel like an endless chore, and then features work in a way that seems slapped together and haphazard.

I don’t want to open an app twice, on two different home screens, after loading a specialized widget hidden under three layers of settings. I just want to open an app, close my flip phone, and see the same app on the cover. Easy peasy.

Aside from those issues, I have many questions about Samsung’s AI strategy. The company has a habit of talking up features that never materialize. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 was supposed to have a special version of Google Gemini that could talk to me live while the flip screen was half closed, but I haven’t been able to find a mode that works that way.

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Samsung’s Now Brief home screen widget and app is also a key selling point for its AI features, but it’s truly a useless bit of software. It never offers me more than the weather and the first few appointments on my company calendar, which are always people who scheduled a day off.

Samsung promised that this Now Brief and its Galaxy AI features would offer highly personalized information as the AI gets to know you through your Samsung devices and usage behavior. I carry multiple Samsung phones and wear a Galaxy Watch Ultra, and I’ve never seen anything personalized for my interests or habits.

• Software score: 3 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: Cameras

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

• Very good cameras with fun and useful features
• Samsung is clearly tuning its cameras for more realistic photos

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 has a good set of cameras that took photos I enjoyed sharing. Images taken with Samsung cameras usually pop with bright colors and a highly-sharpened look, but I’ve noticed on the last couple of phones (this one and the Galaxy S25 Edge) that Samsung has been toning down this artificial look for a more natural photography style, closer to what the iPhone produces. I’m all for it.

Don’t worry, Samsung fans, you still get photos that look great, especially if you opt for Samsung’s specialized modes.

Samsung’s Portrait mode is probably the best on any smartphone. It isolated my subject neatly and blurred the background for a gorgeous look. Samsung’s Food mode is by far the best camera phone mode for taking food photos – I reach for my Galaxy phone whenever I bake something tasty and I want to share it.

Samsung’s AI editing features are also the best I’ve used on any smartphone. When you cut an unwanted person or object out of your photo, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 does a perfect job of filling in the gaps. If there are floor boards or vertical blinds behind them, it fills these in seamlessly.

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Of course, the Galaxy Z Flip 7’s coolest camera trick is letting you use the cover display as your viewfinder for photos. You can take selfies at the full 50MP resolution when you point the main camera at yourself and use the cover display. You can also set the phone in an interesting position – way down low or hanging from up high – and then take shots with voice commands or by signaling the camera with a wave.

My only complaint is the lack of a real zoom lens. I have a kid who plays sports, and the digital zoom isn’t good enough to capture him on the field. If you take photos from far away often, you’ll miss the lack of real zoom. Maybe Samsung should try a zoom camera instead of an ultra-wide on the Flip 8.

• Cameras: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: Performance

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

• Performance is adequate, but not superlative
• Exynos is not going to win over any fans from Snapdragon

In my real-world tests, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 performed well. I used it for a variety of complex tasks, including running two apps with one at the top and the other at the bottom of the inner screen, and plugged the phone into my monitor for the full Samsung DeX treatment.

I like Samsung DeX because I have all of my work accounts for email, Slack, and Google Drive on my phone, so when I use my phone I don’t need to log in again, as I do when I use my laptop. I just plug my phone into my USB-C laptop dock and get a little bit of work done, then unplug and go. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 was great at this, and I’m happy to see DeX on the Flip 7 after missing it on last year’s Flip 6.

That said, in benchmark tests it’s clear that the Samsung Exynos 2500 lags behind the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, and it’s a shame that the Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Fold 7 run on different platforms.

In Future Labs tests, the Exynos 2500 did not beat the Galaxy S25’s Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy platform in a single test – not processor speed, graphics performance, web browsing, AI and machine learning tests, nor any other benchmark we run. In every way, the Exynos 2500 is inferior to the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

Worst of all may be the chip’s power consumption, which I’ll get to in the next section. Samsung isn’t doing itself any favors by ditching one of the best mobile platforms I’ve ever used – the Snapdragon 8 Elite – and I hope it doesn’t ever make the same mistake again.

• Performance: 3 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: Battery

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

• Battery life is unimpressive and charging should be faster
• Could the Exynos platform be to blame?

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 usually lasted a full day in my testing, unless I used it extensively for taking and editing photos or playing games. On camera testing days, I needed to charge up to keep it going until bed time.

It could have been worse, but I wonder if the cover display makes a difference. After all, there were plenty of times when I used the cover when I might have used the full screen on a normal phone, and the inner screen certainly draws more power than the half-sized cover display.

The reason I was pessimistic about the battery life was the Galaxy Z Flip 7’s poor showing in Future Labs battery testing. The Z Flip 7 has a battery that’s 300mAh larger than the cell in the Z Flip 6, but it only delivers about 90 minutes more runtime in our rundown tests.

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Compare that to the Motorola Razr Ultra, which uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. The Razr Ultra has a battery that’s 400mAh larger than the Galaxy Z Flip 7’s, but in our tests it lasted almost 6.5 hours longer than the Z Flip 7! The Z Flip 7 died in just under 12.5 hours in our lab tests, while the Razr Ultra lasted almost 19 hours.

I have to assume the Snapdragon is sipping power compared to Samsung’s Exynos chip, and that’s why the Razr Ultra lasts so much longer with only a slightly larger battery. Motorola’s displays are just as bright, and actually pack more pixels, which means they could draw more power. If it isn’t the display saving electricity, it must be the chipset.

• Battery: 3 / 5

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7?

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 score card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

Solid value considering you get two displays for the price of one, plus all of the technology Samsung packs inside. There are cheaper flip phones, but none that can do as much as the Flip 7.

4 / 5

Design

A nice design that will be familiar to Samsung fans. I still wish it were more exciting, and some scuffs during my review time left me more concerned about durability than before.

4 / 5

Display

Excellent displays inside and out. The inner display is bright and clear and a joy to use. The cover screen has the smallest bezels ever, and it's more useful than before.

5 / 5

Performance

The Flip 7 can do more than ever, but Samsung doesn’t make it easy. Expect hidden features, extra steps, and hacked-together solutions. Also, the AI features don’t seem fully baked.

3 / 5

Software

Nice cameras that tone down the saturation for a more realistic look. The best camera modes in the biz, including great portraits and appetizing food shots. Solid AI editing tools remove artifacts flawlessly. I wish it had zoom.

4 / 5

Cameras

Disappointing performance all round thanks to the Exynos 2500. I’m being extra harsh so Samsung doesn’t make this mistake again and use an inferior Exynos chip when the Snapdragon is obviously superior. This phone should be faster.

3 / 5

Battery

Battery life isn’t terrible, but it’s disappointing considering other phones have seen huge advancements thanks to new battery tech and more efficient (Snapdragon) platforms. It still lasts a full day, most of the time.

3 / 5

Buy it if...

You want more phone in your phone
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 lives up to the flip-phone promise, giving you more than the sum of its parts. It’s two devices in one.

You can find a great deal on this phone
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 is priced well, but Samsung phones see great discounts from wireless carriers and bonus offers for a good trade.

You want a flip but you’re a serious person
The Motorola Razr may be shiny and colorful, but it doesn’t have Samsung DeX or the full suite of software Samsung offers to get things done.

Don't buy it if...

You want simpler software
The Motorola Razr hews closer to Google’s Pixel version of Android, while Samsung’s One UI is feature-packed, but overcomplicated.View Deal

You don’t like the Samsung Galaxy look
The Flip 7 should have been a cooler-looking flip phone, but instead it looks like every other Galaxy, bent in half.View Deal

You hang out in very dusty places
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 has an impressive level of water resistance, but it can’t keep out dust smaller than a big piece of lint, so be careful.View Deal

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 review: Also consider

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Motorola Razr Ultra
The Razr Ultra is more expensive, but it beats the Z Flip 7 on almost every metric, including processor speed and battery life.

Read our in-depth Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 review

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus
It costs $100 / £50 / AU$100 less and blows the Z Flip 7 away for battery life and performance, plus it comes with a 3x telephoto zoom lens.

Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7

Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 / Razr 60 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus

Price

$1,099 / £1,049 / AU$1,799

$1,299 / £1,099

$999 / £999 / AU$1,699

Processor

Samsung Exynos 2500

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy

Cameras

50MP main; 12MP ultra-wide; 10MP selfie

50MP main; 50MP ultra-wide; 50MP selfie

50MP main; 12MP ultra-wide; 10MP telephoto (3x zoom); 12MP selfie

Future Labs Battery Test (HH:MM:SS)

12:24:30

18:57:12

18:46:04

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7

• Review test period: two weeks
• Testing included: everyday use, including web browsing, social media, photography, gaming, streaming video, and music playback
• Tools used: Geekbench 6, and Nit-brightness-testing system

I tested the Galaxy Z Flip 7 for two week before writing this review, using it as my primary work phone for that entire period. I tested the phone using a T-Mobile account provided by Samsung for my review period.

I used the phone extensively for communicating with colleagues, using apps including Slack, Google Meet, Airtable, Gmail and more. I played games including Vampire Survivor and Call of Duty Mobile, and I connected the phone to an Xbox Wireless Controller for games.

I used Android Auto with the Flip 7 in my car, a Kia EV6, for navigation, listening to music and audiobooks, and sending messages using voice input.

I connected the Flip 7 to my Galaxy Buds Pro 3 earbuds, Moto Buds Loop, a Galaxy Watch Ultra smartwatch, and Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses. I used the phone for fitness tracking, snore and sleep apnea detection with the Galaxy Watch Ultra, and other health and fitness activities.

Future Labs tests phones using a mix of third-party benchmark software and proprietary, real-world tests. We use Geekbench, CrossMark, JetStream, WebXPRT and Mobile XPRT, and 3DMark for performance testing. We test a phone's performance on video tasks using Adobe Premiere Rush. We also measure display color output and brightness.

For battery testing we perform proprietary tests that are the same for every phone, which enable us to determine how long it takes for the battery to run down.

First reviewed July 2025

Proton VPN Free is undoubtedly among the best free VPNs available. Offering a broad spectrum of compatibility across devices, impressive speeds, and unlimited bandwidth, it would be easy for anyone looking for a free VPN to get started using Proton VPN Free.

That said, its apps aren't the simplest, you're limited to only one connected device at a time, and you can't choose which of its five available locations you connect to. Plus, our testing found some concerning throttling indicators which could make Proton VPN Free one to avoid should you be looking for a free streaming VPN or torrenting VPN.

Features

Proton VPN Free does exactly what a VPN needs to do and little else. Included in the free plan is your VPN connection, a kill switch, all of Proton VPN's protocols, and the ability to customise your app icon, in case you find yourself in a region with VPN restrictions.

In our testing, we found no reason to be concerned about the kill switch. It was easy enough to set up, though it does require the VPN to be set as an 'always-on VPN' on Android devices.

Upgrading to a paid Proton VPN plan unlocks a plethora of further capabilities for the VPN.

For starters, NetShield, Proton VPN's ad, tracker, and malware blocking software. You can also access Proton VPN's Secure Core server network, which is its equivalent of multi-hop, use Proton for P2P downloading and file sharing, gain one-click access to Tor, split-tunnel your VPN traffic, and unlock Proton VPN's full suite of customization options.

These customisation options range from custom DNS to LAN connections, and even specific NAT types, plus you can set up specific profiles with tailored settings. Something to note is that while Proton VPN Free does allow you to create these fully customized profiles, you can only use them once you upgrade to a paid plan.

Features score: 4/10

Server Network

Proton VPN Free highlights one of the often overlooked benefits of paid VPNs, the ability to choose the server location you need, rather than simply being provided with one.

Proton VPN Free offers five server locations: the US, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, and Romania. However, you do not get to choose which of these servers you connect to; instead, you are auto-connected to the fastest server available to you, which, more often than not, is the closest.

While not a big concern, should your intention be to use Proton VPN Free merely to secure your online traffic, it does limit Proton VPN Free's capabilities as a streaming VPN. Plus, you're almost guaranteed to have speed limitations unless you're close to any of these locations.

Choosing Proton VPN's paid version drastically increases the offering. Upping the countries available to a whopping 117, and, more importantly, you gain the ability to choose the exact location you want to connect to.

Server network score: 5/10

Apps

Despite being free, Proton VPN Free offers a good selection of apps. Free plan users can access Proton VPN on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Chrome, Firefox, and Chromebook.

The biggest omissions from this list that you'd be able to access should you choose Proton VPN's paid plan are its smart TV apps. This includes compatibility on Apple TV, Android TV, and Fire TV Stick.

Proton VPN recently underwent a refresh of many of its apps, leading to a new, sleek design across platforms such as Windows, iOS, and Android. (Image credit: Future)

Generally, however, the spread of compatibility available is impressive. What's more, each of Proton VPN Free's apps closely resembles each other, and features that might be hidden on smaller screen devices, such as mobiles, are easily accessible should you be looking to use Proton VPN free on your tablet or computer.

You can also rest assured that you're not missing out on any features, depending on the device you choose, as, unlike some free VPNs, Proton VPN Free has the same features and protocols available to use across all of its apps.

Apps score: 8/10

Ease of use

Proton VPN across both its paid and free plans is not the simplest VPN to look at, though this doesn't make it trouble to use, even if beginners might need a touch more time.

What must be said, though, is that while Proton VPN Free isn't the simplest to look at, it is arguably the best free VPN to look at for sheer aesthetics. Its dark purple theme, partnered with a simple enough map interface, makes for extremely pleasant viewing, even if all you can do with the free plan is click the connect button before you set about your browsing elsewhere.

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(Image credit: Future)

Proton VPN Free on Android is now a sleek VPN to look at, even if not as simple as the likes of ExpressVPN, thanks to a recent UI revamp.

Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Future)

Using Proton VPN Free limits some features, anything you cannot access is indicated by either being greyed out, or by having the Proton logo with a plus symbol next to it.

Setting up Proton VPN Free is appreciably simple. Most notably, you're not instantly pushed to make a paid plan account from the outset, unlike many free VPNs. Instead, should you need to sign up, you simply create your account by clicking the button on the login menu, and after going through the steps and signing in, you're greeted with the usual home screen, and a bar telling you what you're missing out on by not having the paid plan. No hidden free plan signup, no trial you need to navigate, just quick access to the free service, and easy ways to upgrade should you choose to.

Once in, there are only two buttons you need to worry about: connect, which you're greeted with on the main screen, and your kill switch. As mentioned already, given the lack of server choice, the connect button does everything for you once clicked, connecting you to the fastest server in a matter of seconds. Your kill switch can be found quickly via the settings tab on mobile phones and tablets, or via the kill switch icon on computers.

Ease of use score: 8/10

Speed and performance

Proton VPN Free is, without doubt, one of the quickest free VPNs available. However, our latest testing revealed a couple of unfortunate issues you may wish to consider before jumping to your own conclusions.

Firstly, in terms of speeds, Proton VPN free achieved a maximum of 335 Mbps, which is by no means slow. These kinds of speeds would comfortably allow you to stream, game, or browse without any major issues. Our concern with this comes from the fact that our previous round of testing saw the free service achieve around 900 Mbps, which is a concerning drop-off.

What's more, testing on an Android device saw our speeds when connected to the VPN halve when compared to what we saw without a VPN connection using either WiFi or a mobile data connection. While this still saw us achieve speeds well over 100 Mbps, it's a notable amount of speed to lose, depending on the tasks you're aiming to achieve.

A final concern we found was that there was evidence of substantial throttling of speeds after a certain amount of data was used. In testing, after using 3-4GB of data, we saw our speeds drop to only around 5 Mbps, which, while fine for browsing or emails, would leave you struggling should you wish to stream or download on your VPN connection.

Given the lack of server choice, it's unlikely you'd choose Proton VPN Free for streaming anyway, but this should definitely come into consideration. Should you be looking for a fast and simple solution to day-to-day internet needs, Proton VPN Free is a seriously strong option.

Speed and performance score: 7/10

Unblocking

Testing Proton VPN's ability to unblock content isn't a simple feat because, as we've mentioned, you don't get to choose the location you connect to.

This means seeing the full scope of Proton VPN Free's capabilities isn't possible from one testing location, like we have. What we can say is we were flawlessly able to access Dutch streaming services, including Disney+, Netflix, and Prime Video.

Although we cannot guarantee the same levels of success in other regions, our testing of Proton VPN's paid plan suggests you should have equal levels of success. This is because the paid plan was able to comfortably unblock all the streaming services we tested in all 117 regions, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, 10Play, 9Now, and more.

Unblocking score: 5/10

Privacy and security

Despite not being able to access Proton's full suite of security features with Proton VPN Free, you have no reason to feel as though your data is at any risk, thanks to how the service has been set up.

First and foremost, Proton VPN is constantly proving that it not only doesn't store your data, but also that it has no vulnerabilities that may put your online privacy at risk. An independent audit by Securitum in July 2024 marked the third consecutive year of Proton annually proving its claims, and, while at the time of writing, we're yet to see an audit in 2025, we expect this to continue.

When using Proton VPN Free, you can use any of its various secure VPN protocols, including OpenVPN, WireGuard, and its proprietary Stealth protocol. Both WireGuard and OpenVPN have long been common in the VPN industry, and both have been proven countless times to be secure and reliable protocols. WireGuard uses its traditional ChaCha20 encryption with Proton VPN, while Proton VPN's OpenVPN deployment uses AES-256, another impressively secure encryption method.

Stealth, Proton VPN's proprietary protocol, is an obfuscated version of WireGuard that runs over TLS. This makes your browsing data look like normal encrypted browsing data to anyone who might analyze your traffic to spot VPN usage. For most, this is a bonus that won't be entirely necessary, but should you be tackling enterprise rule-based firewalls or DPI-based firewalls, this protocol may prove to have better luck.

Key things missing from Proton VPN Free include Proton VPN's equivalent of multihop, called Secure Core, as well as its NetShield ad, malware, and tracking blocker, and any kind of split tunneling. While missing out on split-tunelling and multihop is unfortunate, we'd usually recommend running an external ad and malware blocker alongside a VPN anyway, so NetShield doesn't prove as big a loss.

Privacy and security score: 8/10

Track record

Given Proton's wide suite of security tools and claims to be a privacy-first company, it gets great attention when put under scrutiny. Luckily, for the most part, it has proven to be flawless. An instance in 2019 where Proton Mail was forced to log a climate activist's IP after a law enforcement request proves to be the only mark on an otherwise problem-free record across its product range.

It should, however, be remembered that Swiss law works differently for VPN providers. VPN providers cannot be compelled to carry out bulk surveillance by either Swiss or foreign law enforcement. This makes Proton VPN much less vulnerable to requests that might put privacy at risk. At an individual account level, Proton VPN does need to comply with legally valid cases brought by the Swiss court, even if made by foreign entities. However, Switzerland has no ties to the EU, US, or NATO intelligence sharing pacts, and often doesn't recognize requests from countries with a poor judicial reputation.

Track record score: 9/10

Customer Support

Proton VPN's customer support options are more limited than most, especially on its free plan.

Should you encounter any issues while using the free plan, you can either use its support site to browse articles that may help you fix your issue, or you can use a contact email address to get some form of support from a human, depending on your issue.

In practice, Proton VPN's support articles are impressively helpful, and there's more than enough of them to cover most issues you face, and while it can be slow to contact a human via email, it's at least a viable alternative should you run into any issues not covered.

The biggest omission for Proton VPN Free customers is no live support functionalities. Even paid Proton VPN customers aren't quite able to access 24/7 support, but the lack of any kind of live chat does mean beginners could be left in the cold if struggling to find the support they need early on in their time using a VPN.

Customer support score: 7/10

Pricing and plans

Proton VPN Free does lack a fair amount compared to what a paid Proton VPN plan can offer, but that doesn't mean it isn't a supremely capable free VPN, depending on your needs.

By choosing to upgrade to Proton VPN's paid option, you can access:

• 12,000 servers across 117 countries – plus the ability to choose which server you connect to!
• Servers capable of speeds up to 10 Gbps with VPN Accelerator
• Netshield ad, malware, and tracker blocking
• Secure Core (multihop) connections
• P2P downloading and file sharing
• 10 simultaneous connections
• The Tor network within your regular browser
• Split tunneling
• VPN Profiles
• Advanced VPN customisation settings

Given Proton VPN starts from $3.59 per month, that is a lot to include in that cost. While it's not as cheap as Surfshark or NordVPN, its paid plan also proved to be capable of speeds which matched the very fastest VPNs throughout, and it also proved flawless at unblocking streaming services.

So, while Proton VPN Free is a great free VPN choice to secure your day-to-day online activities, upgrading to a paid plan could prove to be extremely beneficial depending on what you want to achieve with your VPN.

Pricing and plans score: 9/10

Should you use Proton VPN Free?

If you are looking for a free VPN to protect you while you’re out and about, working overseas, or on holiday, and you’re worried about privacy when you’re connected to public Wi-Fi or someone else’s network, Proton VPN Free is without doubt a good choice for you.

While it doesn’t have much in the way of extra features, you can install it on your device, connect to the VPN, and then pretty much forget all about it. With speeds that will comfortably handle most tasks, an easy-enough interface, and a simple setup process, it's a breeze to get connected in a matter of minutes without being pressed into upgrading to its paid option.

Overall score: 70/100

Alternatives

NordVPN – from $3.39 per month
The best VPN overall
NordVPN ranks as our best VPN overall, making it a superb alternative to any VPN, especially a free one such as Proton VPN Free. Comparing NordVPN to Proton VPN's paid plan, you get more countries, even if only one, equally impressive speeds, clocking in over 950 Mbps, and a whole host of features, including Threat Protection Pro and Meshnet, all for a price cheaper than Proton VPN. View Deal

Surfshark – from $2.19 per month
The best cheap VPN (and also the fastest)
Surfshark is not only the best cheap VPN out there, at only $1.99 per month for two years, but it's also the fastest VPN we tested. Add to that impressive features such as Alternative ID, Surfshark Search, and Antivirus, and you can find yourself a complete security package for a matter of dollars with little difficulty.View Deal

ExpressVPN - from $4.99 per month
A beginner-friendly VPN package
ExpressVPN is without doubt one of the most secure VPN providers. It’s a more expensive VPN than almost any other VPN provider, but in return, you access a high-speed server network that spans 148 locations in 105 countries. Plus, it offers one of the easiest interfaces we've tested, across almost any device you can think of, even if you only get 8 simultaneous connections to use at once.View Deal

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

NordVPN is currently the best VPN we’ve tested. It has long been known for its features, high speeds, and extensive server network, and our tests not only proved that this is true, but arguably truer than ever.

Despite this, NordVPN isn't perfect. It’s not the best cheap VPN we test, its apps could use some TLC on platforms like Fire Stick, and, although it's not NordVPN's main purpose, its antivirus and antimalware tools could be improved significantly. So, let’s dive into why all that still doesn’t stop NordVPN from ranking as the top VPN provider currently available.

Features

While NordVPN’s vast feature array isn’t instantly apparent when loading it up on any device, it doesn't mean the tools aren't there. Clicking through the left-hand panel on computers, both MacOS and Windows, or tapping along the bottom of your Android or iOS phone reveals the breadth of offerings NordVPN provides.

For a start, if you want to add an extra layer of protection to your standard VPN connection, NordVPN offers both Double VPN, which acts as NordVPN’s multihop solution, and Onion over VPN, which combines your NordVPN connection with the Tor network for improved online anonymity.

Onion over VPN proved to be the more temperamental of the two in testing. Still, given its immense security, this is understandable. We found the Netherlands-based entry point was a more effective way to access the network without massively impacting speeds than the alternative in Switzerland. In fact, the route was only slightly slower than a standard NordVPN connection.

Double VPN was more reliable with only minimal load time delays, regardless of which server we connected to.

One of NordVPN’s biggest selling points outside the core VPN product is Threat Protection Pro, an additional security suite available on Plus plans and above. Included in this is malicious and phishing domain blocking, ad and tracker blocking, malware and vulnerability scanning, scam and fraud alerts, and URL cleaning – and there are even more tools listed in the fine print.

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NordVPN's Threat Protection Pro is one of the VPN's key features, adding to its value. With a wide array of tools to keep you secure while searching, downloading, and streaming online. (Image credit: Future)

In daily use, we found it to be reasonably effective, though it did, somewhat humerously, try and block certain assets and links from loading on competitor VPN sites.

Outside of this, while it thankfully didn’t find any risks on our test machines, it did a good job of tracking any files we downloaded and scanning links to ensure safety, though the tool as a whole did seem to use a tad more processing capacity on our Windows 11 desktop machine than we’d have liked.

Meshnet is the final unique tool in NordVPN’s arsenal. By creating a secure local area network (LAN), Meshnet enables easy, secure access to other devices added to the network from wherever you are. This means you can retrieve and share files or images, and even play games with friends, with up to 60 devices able to connect at a time.

In testing, Meshnet proved simple to set up, especially since it can be downloaded for free on any compatible device, and we were able to use it quickly to transfer images and files between our Windows testing desktop, an iPad, and an Android phone.

Features score: 10/10

Server network

NordVPN’s server network is broad, but not massively superior to its closest competition. It currently boasts over 7,000 servers across 118 countries, which puts it comfortably among the best VPNs in terms of country coverage.

Despite this, it falls short in certain regions like the Middle East and Africa. Here, Proton VPN's coverage is more extensive despite spanning fewer countries overall – even if only by one at the time of writing.

As with most VPNs, NordVPN doesn’t have servers in high-censorship regions such as Russia and China, so we can’t dock points for that.

Server network score: 9/10

Apps

NordVPN’s apps are among the best available, though that doesn’t mean they’re flawless. In terms of coverage, NordVPN is available across everything from major platforms such as Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android to smaller platforms such as Fire TV Stick and Apple TV.

You can also access NordVPN directly in your browser with extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.

Across the majority of platforms, NordVPN's apps are well-designed and intuitive. We found that layout to be simple enough for any beginner to understand without feeling overwhelmed, although they're not as straightforward as ExpressVPN's apps.

Plus, as we will detail later, many apps share similar user experiences, allowing for easy transitions between devices.

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The NordVPN home screen on Windows presents everything you need in a layout simple enough for most people to use without issue. Image 2 of 3

Threat Protection Pro can be accessed via the main menu or the side panel, and gives you instant access to the various tools at your disposal. Image 3 of 3

NordVPN's settings menu is both clear and informative, giving you the information you need to quickly find the setting you want to adjust.

The biggest letdown for NordVPN is its Linux client. NordVPN for Linux still lacks a GUI, meaning you’re left using command lines to use the VPN rather than experiencing the much simpler systems accessible elsewhere.

Alongside this, depending on your generation of Fire Stick, you may encounter a more rudimentary version of NordVPN, which, while entirely functional and effective, looks nowhere near as clean.

NordVPN’s latest improvement to its apps came to its Firefox extension. We were pleased to see the update give the extension a complete overhaul, adding extra features, such as location spoofing, to its functionality, as well as improving overall security.

Despite this, you’ll likely find, as we did, that the experience is still a tad slower than you’d get across mobile or desktop devices.

Apps score: 8/10

Ease of use

As mentioned, NordVPN’s apps are simple enough, though they're not our top choice for VPN newbies.

On our Windows 11 test desktop, we found the setup process impressively simple, thanks to NordVPN’s setup wizard. This was, usefully, replicated on macOS.

Once loaded, NordVPN greets you with several key features: the VPN, Threat Protection, and Meshnet. Navigating to other features is done via the icons on the left-hand side of the app, and we had no difficulty checking out the kill switch, split tunneling, and VPN protocols.

Mobile presents a similarly balanced experience; setup is as simple as downloading NordVPN from the respective app store and either signing in or signing up. The majority of what you see will directly correlate with the experience on a computer, be that Windows or Mac, with a quick connect option and the option to scroll through specific servers.

However, Meshnet is presented in a much smaller fashion among the server list, and Threat Protection doesn’t appear at all on your initial menu.

Accessing NordVPN features on mobile is as simple as clicking through the buttons at the bottom of the screen. (Image credit: NordVPN)

NordVPN's browser extension experience mirrored the experience we had when testing its mobile apps: quick to connect, reactive, and clutter-free.

Plus, despite missing out on some features, as we’ve already mentioned, it works similarly enough to mobile that we had no issues switching between platforms without feeling confused.

Using NordVPN on your TV, be that via the TV app store or a Fire Stick, Apple TV, or similar device, presents a slightly different layout. Opting for something simpler and closer to that of ExpressVPN, which is a definite win, and we found it to be impressively effective and easy to navigate, even when finding features outside the basic VPN.

We encountered some stumbling blocks when using the older Fire Stick interface, which, perhaps understandably, presents a more convoluted interface than its more modern counterparts.

Ease of use score: 8/10

Speed and performance

NordVPN has long been among the fastest VPNs we’ve tested, and our latest round proved no different. Using NordLynx, NordVPN’s WireGuard-based VPN protocol, we comfortably achieved speeds over 950 Mbps throughout our testing.

These speeds remained consistent even when we connected to servers across Europe and the US on our test machine. It’s a big win, especially since other top providers struggled to maintain their speed over longer distances.

OpenVPN speeds were much slower across the board during our most recent round of testing. NordVPN achieved just 173 Mbps, which is less than half the OpenVPN speeds that Surfshark recorded. Still, NordVPN's performance puts it at the upper end of the 100-200 Mbps range we saw from most providers.

How we perform speed tests

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

We test from two different virtual PCs, one in the UK and one in the US. We’re expecting big things out of NordVPN, as both of these servers have a 1 Gbs connection. You can find out more in our VPN testing methodology.

What’s more, during our afternoon OpenVPN testing session, we saw some interesting increases in latency, which at times crept up to around 100 ms.

This isn't hugely impactful to day-to-day browsing, but you'll want to stick with the WireGuard protocol for any online gaming or torrenting. Still, despite the latency concerns, we had no issue with buffering or low-quality pictures when conducting our streaming tests.

Our main concerns stemmed from NordVPN's consistency. While the provider frequently tops our speed rankings, we saw drops in performance between 200-500 Mbps when trialing the service in the morning.

During the evening, we noticed jitter spikes, which, while mostly harmless, may cause concern to gamers. If that's the case, ExpressVPN may be a better option, as we recorded much less jitter when testing its performance.

Speed and performance score: 9/10

Unblocking

Putting NordVPN to the test in unblocking scenarios was, as ever, successful. We used NordVPN with Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, 10Play, 9Now, iPlayer, and Channel 4. We even stretched our testing across Netflix libraries in the US, Japan, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

NordVPN performed flawlessly across all our tests. Regardless of the device we used, including our Windows 11 test desktop, Fire Stick, iOS, and Android, we had no issues accessing any streaming services, nor did we encounter any sudden VPN detection warnings. Full marks there, then.

Plus, as we’ve already mentioned, NordVPN’s speeds were superb. This meant we never encountered slow loading times or buffering, even when connecting across different countries.

Unfortunately, NordVPN only offers a handful of server locations that are P2P-friendly. Plus, while speeds are impressive, the lack of port forwarding capability means you can't make the most of any torrents you're seeding. If that's a problem, it's worth checking out Proton VPN.

Unblocking score: 10/10

Privacy and Security

NordVPN’s security capabilities are built from the ground up. It supports two protocols, OpenVPN and NordLynx, NordVPN’s proprietary protocol built on WireGuard.

OpenVPN is the industry standard for a high-security connection, while WireGuard, and specifically NordLynx, is built for speed and usability with mobile devices, but is also impressively secure.

The encryption methods partnered with these protocols are AES-256 on OpenVPN and ChaCha20 on NordLynx. Against current technologies, these methods are some of the most trustworthy and secure available.

If you're worried about quantum computing, NordVPN is already on the case. Post-quantum encryption was introduced to the NordLynx protocol in September 2024, and NordVPN continues to secure itself further in preparation.

Alongside its secure protocols and encryption methods, NordVPN employs a strict no-logs policy, meaning no browsing data is logged by its servers.

This policy was most recently audited by Deloitte at the end of 2024, and the results, as always, were positive. Deloitte did not find any issues or concerns. As NordVPN's fifth overall no-logs audit, the provider is clearly committed to transparency, proving that you can trust it not to keep logs.

What’s more, being headquartered in Panama means NordVPN isn't subject to data retention laws, meaning it wouldn’t have any data to hand over should it face an unavoidable warrant.

Threat Protection Pro offers one of the best VPN antivirus soltutions currently, despite some issues. (Image credit: Future)

Within NordVPN itself are several additional security features. Firstly, the provider offers a kill switch and DNS leak protection. Thankfully, finding the killswitch takes a matter of seconds within the apps, and should you have any concerns surrounding DNS leaks, you can use NordVPN’s free DNS Leak Checker to settle doubts.

We’ve mentioned NordVPN’s Onion Over and Double VPN capabilities already, and, while our testing environment isn’t exactly the environment they’re intended for, we were successful in using both connections to access data in a timely manner.

Threat Protection and Threat Protection Pro are the final security functions NordVPN has up its sleeve. Both aim to provide the same added layer of protection; however, standard Threat Protection works via DNS blocking and requires a VPN connection, while Threat Protection Pro is a standalone system with more advanced capabilities.

This differentiation manifested in testing, as Threat Protection only managed to block 24% of malware links and 34% of phishing links, whereas Pro blocked 79% of malware links and 87% of phishing links.

In practice, we’d always recommend you use a dedicated antivirus software alongside anything a VPN provides, but either way, Threat Protection Pro’s results are a solid foundation to build upon.

As mentioned already, when we put it to the test, we were pleasantly surprised with how it performed, despite a couple of interesting site block attempts and an unusually high demand on our processing power. It was simple to set up and forget about.

Privacy and security score: 10/10

Track record

NordVPN’s track record is nearly flawless. Its most recent misstep came in 2018 when it was discovered that one of its Finnish servers was compromised through an undisclosed remote access management system.

Despite being left by the data centre providers rather than NordVPN, it prompted a complete overhaul of how NordVPN approached security.

Since this overhaul, no further issues have occurred, with NordVPN continuing to invest in improving the core service, server network, and security. As already mentioned, NordVPN has undergone numerous security and no-logs audits, both before and since the incident.

This, therefore, serves as strong evidence of the work NordVPN has put in and provides reassurance that no such issue might recur.

Track record score: 8/10

Customer support

NordVPN offers a whole host of ways to get in touch if you run into roadblocks. The first port of call is typically the 24/7 live chat manned by an AI chatbot.

This live chat was useful to a degree, but is only really capable of directing you to relevant support articles or escalating your case to a human support agent.

The limitations of the chatbot were apparent during testing while trying to troubleshoot issues we encountered with our connection, but thankfully, human support agents were quick to identify and resolve the problem.

Should you require a different avenue of support, NordVPN also offers an email ticketing system, though, as you’d expect, replies tend to be slower.

If you'd rather do your own problem-solving, you can sprawl through a wide array of support articles, video guides, and FAQs, all of which we found pretty helpful throughout testing, to find the answers you need.

Customer support score: 9/10

Pricing and plansNordVPN pricing

- 1-month plans: $12.99/month (Basic) $13.99/month (Plus) $14.99/month (Complete – US-only) £12.09/month (Ultimate – non-US) $17.99/Prime (US-only)

- 12-month plans: $4.99/month (Basic) $5.99/month (Plus) $6.99/month (Complete – US-only) £6.69/month (Ultimate – non-US) $8.99/Prime (US-only)

- 24-month plans: $3.09/month (Basic) $3.99/month (Plus) $4.99/month (Complete – US-only) £5.09/month (Ultimate – non-US) $6.99/Prime (US-only)

NordVPN is one of the best cheap VPNs available, though it doesn’t quite beat Surfshark when it comes to value for money.

Plans start from $3.09/month, but as with most VPNs, the cheapest plans are billed upfront, so you'll pay $83.43 immediately. This does include three months free as a bonus right now, however. If you’re in the UK, this deal is £2.39/month, or £64.53 upfront.

The issue NordVPN's plan have is that they vary by country – an issue shared by ExpressVPN. If you're in the US (or elsewhere in the world), your plan options differ from those available in the UK.

So, in the US, the best subscription you can buy is the NordVPN Prime plan, costing $6.99/month ($188.73 upfront). Whereas in the UK, your best choice is the Ultimate plan, costing £5.09/month (£137.43 upfront).

The difference between these plans is that while the Prime plan in the US gives you everything NordVPN offers, plus the full NordProtect suite, the Ultimate plan gives you Cyber insurance covering scam loss and ID theft.

Luckily, its best-value plan, the Plus plan, is available on any side of the pond. Costing $3.99/month ($107.73 upfront) in the US and £3.19/month (£86.13 upfront) in the UK, which includes all of NordVPN’s VPN features, Threat Protection Pro, and NordPass with data breach scanning. So if you’re looking for the best subscription to start your NordVPN journey with, this is the one we’d recommend.

Pricing and plans score: 8/10

Should you use NordVPN?

Yes, you should use NordVPN. It ranks as our best VPN for a reason - it doesn’t have any major weak points that dent its armour or give us reason to be concerned about its security or capabilities. Its speeds are superb, its unblocking capabilities are flawless, and it’s got a full suite of airtight security measures.

That said, in some specific circumstances, you might look elsewhere. Want the absolute best speeds out there? Check out Surfshark. Want security that no one comes close to matching? Look for ExpressVPN. Want server coverage in underserved locations? Proton VPN is your bet.

What makes NordVPN special, however, is that if we couldn’t recommend these providers, for whatever reason, NordVPN would provide a near-identical experience that, to most, would leave you wondering what the difference truly is.

Overall score 89/100

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NordVPN FAQsIs there a NordVPN free trial?

No, currently NordVPN doesn’t offer a free trial. Instead, you can take advantage of a 30-day money-back guarantee should you want to give NordVPN a trial before committing to it long term.

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Yes, NordVPN is currently the best VPN for streaming. In our testing, it successfully unblocked services, including Netflix (In the UK, US, Australia, Canada, Japan), Prime Video, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, 9Now, 10Play, and more.

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Light spoilers follow for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

It's not an exaggeration to say The Fantastic Four have been represented poorly on the big screen. 20th Century Fox's two attempts to launch live-action franchises starring Marvel's First Family in the early and mid-2000s were at best average, and at worst utterly abysmal.

A well-made film that captures the spirit of the iconic quartet's comic-book adventures is long overdue, then – and The Fantastic Four: First Steps duly delivers. It falls short of being, well, fantastic but, considering what's come before it's easily the eponymous team's best live-action adventure to date.

Space oddity

First Steps is set in a '60s-inspired universe that's full of space-age wonder and optimism (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Set in a parallel universe – one designated Earth-828 – to Earth-616, i.e., the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), First Steps reintroduces audiences to the titular team. For those who don't know, the individuals who comprise this group are Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach).

The only heroes who exist in this retro-futuristic alternate dimension, these superpowered scientists-cum-celebrities have not only created a utopia built upon ground-breaking technological advancements, but also keep their planet safe from those who wish to destroy it.

First Steps is arguably the most accessible Marvel Studios project since 2008's Iron Man movie

That's until Galactus (Ralph Ineson), an immortal, world-consuming cosmic entity, and his surfboard-riding lieutenant The Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) come calling, anyway. With the duo marking the group's planet for death unless they hand over Reed and Sue's newborn son Franklin for reasons I won't spoil, The Fantastic Four face their biggest obstacle yet as they try to stop a seemingly unstoppable space god from tearing their family – and their world – apart.

First Steps isn't your typical origins story for the iconic quartet (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Thanks to the rich, vibrant, and fully independent alternate dimension that Marvel's new-look Fantastic Four inhabits, you don't need to do any MCU homework before you watch First Steps.

Sure, there are Easter eggs and references to the group's various villains in the comics. Those include Doctor Doom, who wasn't considered for First Steps' main villain before Galactus, and who'll be played by returning MCU superstar Robert Downey Jr in Avengers: Doomsday. Still, given that it's devoid of ties to the increasingly complex MCU, First Steps is the most accessible Marvel project – for first-time viewers or fans who've fallen off the cinematic juggernaut's bandwagon – since 2008's Iron Man movie.

But this isn't your typical origins story. With two prior film adaptations covering the team's backstory, First Steps takes a leaf out of Tom Holland's debut as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, and his standalone MCU film trilogy, by introducing heroes who already possess their cosmic radiation-sourced superpowers. As we learn, Richards and company have been operating as superheroes for four years by the time the film begins.

First Steps' opening act is one of the most tonally jarring I can remember in any movie

Its breezy opening takes a similar approach to another of 2025's most exciting new movies and fellow superhero film in James Gunn's Superman.

Like the most recent entry of a long-running comic book series you've just picked up off the shelf, both films drop you right into the thick of things and expect you to figure things out as you absorb their story. It's a refreshing change of pace for a Marvel project and its DC Universe (DCU) counterpart, and helps to quickly establish these pre-existing universes without prolonging their first acts with another superfluous re-tread of the characters' origins.

First Steps' plot spans one whole year, with Franklin's (center) growth helping to show the passage of time (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

That doesn't mean this movie's first 30 minutes aren't without fault. In fact, its opening act is one of the most tonally jarring I can remember in any movie.

The Marvel Phase 6 flick is all too keen to flit between melodrama, comedy, and the occasional splash of horror between scenes, and sometimes within the same sequence. These narrative jolts make for an emotionally polarizing first act and detract from the grave, existential threat posed by the omnipotent and seemingly unkillable space tyrant (i.e., Galactus) at crucial moments.

Imagine how Avengers: Infinity War's incredibly shocking ending would have been emotionally undercut if one of the surviving heroes made an unnecessary joke amid the heart-shattering silence that follows. That's what First Steps does all too often in its first act, and its narrative suffers as a result.

Heavy lies the crown

First Steps only offers a taste of its space horror vibes through its antagonists (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Thankfully, The Fantastic Four's latest big-screen reboot becomes a much stronger movie once its opening act ends.

Part of that is down to the lack of hard cuts between scenes, which aid the natural flow of its unfolding story. However, the film's narrative improvement also owes much to a greater focus being placed on the four primary members of The Fantastic Four: First Steps' cast, and the unwavering bond that exists between them.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps' narrative improvement owes much to a greater focus being placed on its four primary cast members

Much was made of the hirings of Pascal, Kirby, Quinn, and Moss-Bachrach when Marvel confirmed they would be playing The Fantastic Four in February 2024, with some observers questioning whether they were the right fit and/or if they'd gel as a collective.

First Steps proves those naysayers wrong. Arguably the movie's biggest strength, their chemistry is on point from the outset, with quips and witty insults aplenty, as is their collective resolve amid individual and group disagreements, highlighting the easy rapport that exists between both the actors and the characters they portray.

Galactus is one of the most terrifying villains Marvel has even put in an MCU movie (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Moss-Bachrach does a great job of capturing Grimm's long-standing position as the heart and soul of the team, and Pascal is similarly stellar as the group's incredibly intelligent yet oft-times emotionally awkward de-factor leader.

I wish there were more scenes showcasing their collective camaraderie, and quieter moments between each pairing

However, the Storms are the real standouts. Kirby and Quinn steal the show as the superpowered siblings who, throughout The Fantastic Four's early comic-book runs, were simply depicted as the team's tokenistic female/damsel in distress and stereotypical cocksure ladies' main.

In recent years, though, the pair have undergone much-needed character evolutions in numerous Fantastic Four comic-book runs, and I was pleased to see these modern-day portrayals translated from page to screen. Indeed, Sue is positioned as the group's strongest member from emotional and superpower perspectives. Meanwhile, Johnny is a fully-formed, three-dimensional character with his own intellectual intuition, which ties into a intriguing subplot that makes full use of his multifaceted persona.

If there's a criticism I can level at First Steps from a cast viewpoint, I wish there were more scenes showcasing their collective camaraderie, and quieter moments between each pairing.

Some scenes used in TV spots or one of its three main teasers, including First Steps' official trailer and the final trailer Marvel released for its new Fantastic Four movie, are absent from the final cut. Given the movie's sub-two hour runtime, though, there was certainly scope for their inclusion, and I wouldn't have scoffed at seeing more humorous, heartfelt, and dramatically heavy interactions that would have further sold me on these all-important dynamics.

Julia Garner does a good job of demonstrating the nuances of The Silver Surfer's emotional conflict (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

The same is true of the film's villains. I've been eager to see Ineson's take on Galactus since his hiring last May, and Garner's version of the Big Bad's Herald following her casting a month earlier, especially given the Shakespearean-tragedy elements that define their antagonistic sensibilities.

Sadly, both characters are underused. Garner gets more to do than Ineson and, after looming large as a terrifying off-screen presence for much of the film, the latter's humanoid monstrosity gets his moment in First Steps' intense final act. Nevertheless, the pair weren't lying when they told me they never filmed a single scene together for First Steps, which is abundantly clear in the final edit. Their characters aren't given the requisite screen time to really dig into their motivations, nor does the flick lean into the cosmic horror they could have delivered individually and collectively.

My verdict

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is an entertaining, distinct, and at times emotional Marvel film that MCU diehards and newcomers will equally enjoy. Still, while I applaud its brave storytelling and unique selling points, it could have benefitted from some narrative refinement to enhance its primary themes and multi-genre formula.

Those frustrations aside, this is still the most authentic representation of the superteam outside of Marvel literature. Considering what's come before, it wasn't a particularly high bar to clear, but I commend director Matt Shakman and company for giving us a Fantastic Four film that won't make me shudder at the thought of rewatching it. For that reason alone, it's not a small step forward, but rather a giant leap in the right direction for Marvel's First Family on the silver screen.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps launches in theaters on Thursday, July 24 (UK) and Friday, July 25 (internationally). The group's three other film adaptations are available now on Disney+.

Review information

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2
Release date: July 24, 2025

To beef up its Nintendo Switch 2 first-party library, Nintendo has been bringing enhanced versions of Nintendo Switch games to its new console, both as standalone releases or with an additional upgrade price. While it started strong with Switch 2 editions of two of the greatest games of all time, Super Mario Party Jamboree is a trickier proposition.

This isn't the same as a remaster like Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, which integrated new features into the existing game, but more of an expansion bundled with the base game like Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, and at a higher price. Sure, you can play the base game in 4K or on a nicer 1080p display in handheld mode, but you don't really notice a big visual bump, while the Switch 1 version had no performance issues that this Switch 2 Edition has improved.

All the same content, including the single-player Party Planner Trek, the motion-based modes, and the online-based modes, are still there, and if you're upgrading, all your save data and unlocked rewards and content carry over. But you're not going to experience any material differences from the original game I covered in my previous review. For instance, DK hasn't had a Donkey Kong Bananza-style facelift, while Switch 2 functions like the camera doesn't feature either. All the new Switch 2-exclusive content you'll find exclusively in Jamboree TV, so without further ado, let's get to that.

Mouse trap

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Jamboree TV revamps the Mario Party model into a game show setting, featuring the annoying talking flower from Super Mario Bros. Wonder, though you can thankfully also mute him. But rather than just picking Mario and pals as contestants, if you have a compatible camera attached to your console, you can also put your own faces on screen as a circle besides your character, though for privacy reasons, you won't be able to capture any screenshots or video when using this feature.

Once your contestants (and/or yourselves) are up on stage, you get to choose between four modes: Mario Party, Carnival Coaster, Bowser Live, and Free Play, the latter where you can play any of the minigames but is presented rather barebones compared to the same option in the base game's Minigame Bay.

Mario Party lets you play the core board game with all seven boards from the base game, but with some new exclusive twists. Aside from the standard party rules, this introduces two new rules.

While Tag-Team lets you play as a 2v2 instead of the usual free-for-all, Frenzy is a welcome option for those strapped for time, condensing a game down to just five turns but throwing in all the perks and high stakes of the last five turns of a normal game, so you start with more coins and a star, more to spend but more to lose. Of course, the option to save the game and continue from where you left off in another session is still possible.

Best bit

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Bowser as a game show host in Bowser Live is a pretty fun turn for the Mushroom Kingdom's resident baddie, and the Switch 2's camera and microphone functions do a decent job of immersing you in that. It's just a shame it's so short-lived.

While camera play won't make a huge difference on gameplay (although having everyone see your mug when you've had a star snatched from you is going to be more priceless than just selecting an emote) the 14 new mouse-based minigames are a decent addition. They're all creatively varied, not just basic point-and-click or drag-and-drop affairs, but sometimes also incorporate gyro controls, while also requiring team coordination.

But given you've also got 73 other minigames in Mario Party mode, you might only encounter a mouse minigame a handful of times, and there's no way to change a setting for more mouse minigames. You can, however, turn off mouse minigames, which you'll have to if pairing the original Switch Joy-Con as extra controllers, but that annoyingly also turns off motion-based minigames.

It's for that reason that there's the mouse-only Carnival Coaster. In this co-op mode, you ride a rollercoaster-slash-shooting gallery with five different themed routes to choose from, and have to try and get to the end before time runs out. You can gain precious seconds by aiming the mouse to shoot enemies that pop up during the ride, as well as completing randomly selected mouse minigames. These minigames adopt co-op rules rather than battling another team, while you're awarded more bonus time based on how well you do.

Make some noise

(Image credit: Nintendo)

If it sounds like the biggest addition to Jamboree TV is mouse controls, you'd be right because the Bowser Live mode feels half-baked, even though it should be a bigger deal. For this game show within a game show, two teams or two battle to win the Koopa king's approval in either camera or microphone-based minigames. The camera is a literally bigger deal because rather than just capturing your heads, it captures each person's whole body so that you're fully transported into the scene and tasked with doing pretty silly things like balancing goombas on your head or hitting coins from a question block as fast as you can.

Meanwhile, microphone minigames takes advantage of the Switch 2 Camera as you use either your voice of handclaps, and it's incredible how well the microphone picks up both even when you're standing or sitting several feet away, so you don't have to yell, even if that's what you're encouraged to do in Bowser Chicken, where you shout to propel a car forward to score points, but not before reaching Bowser at the end. But since the microphone doesn't pick up who's shouting, that allows some underhanded shenanigans like having another team shout just when you thought you stopped your car at just the right spot.

Yet for all the snazzy presentation and wild atmosphere of this mode, Nintendo only thought to include three minigames for each, and they're all incredibly short. So, in a format where you have just two rounds before a final round that's basically determined by which team can make the most noise, the novelty wears off very quickly. It feels like a lack of confidence, perhaps owing to the fact that the camera is also not going to be a peripheral that everyone has. But then it also means it's definitely not worth investing in one if you're expecting to make better use of it in this game.

One other feature that I wasn't able to test pre-launch was GameShare, a cool feature that allows you to share a multiplayer game with other Switch owners even if they don't own the game. However, from the information provided, its support for Super Mario Party Jamboree - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition only works locally and only lets you play a single board, Mega Wiggler's Tree Party, and none of the modes from Jamboree TV. It makes you wonder what even the point is of including the feature when it's so limited, especially when Mario Party boards play perfectly fine on a single console.

Should you play Super Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV?Play it if...

You want more fun ways to play with your Joy-Con mouse controls
Mouse-based minigames make up the lion's share of the new minigames in Jamboree TV, which are more creatively varied than mere point-and-click that work in co-op as well as versus modes. With Mario and pals, it's also more charming than the mouse minigames in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour.

Don't play it if...

You don't care for multiplayer games
There's little fun to be had playing a party game solo, especially as Jamboree TV contains no rewards or unlockables like the base game. If you don't already own the Switch 1 version, you're also looking at an eye-watering cost for a casual party game.

Accessibility

While there are no set accessibility settings, Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV allows you to adjust the difficulty of CPU, message speed, as well as whether or not to include a tutorial before the start of each minigame. Jamboree TV minigames requiring a camera, motion, or mouse do not have alternate controls, but for microphone minigames, you can also clap your hands instead of using your voice. Content in the base game remains unchanged, so there are no alternate controls to the Motion Island modes.

How I reviewed Super Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV

I played Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV for about 8 hours on Nintendo Switch 2, including several local multiplayer sessions, but was unable to test online or GameShare as per Nintendo's pre-launch guidelines.

I previously reviewed Super Mario Party Jamboree on Switch, so I was able to make comparisons between the original version and the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. As there are no meaningful changes in the base game, my time was primarily spent on Jamboree TV.

I played primarily in docked mode on an LG C2 OLED TV. I mostly played with a single Joy-Con in horizontal and vertical, button, motion and mouse-based configurations, and also used the official Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, except for when capturing screenshots.

Jackery is a mainstay of the power back-up industry being one of the original companies to offer such quality devices and products. I remember seeing their adverts some several years ago before the big boom of power stations.

So, I tested out the Jackery Explorer 3000 v2, packing in a 3072Wh of capacity with a combined max output of 3600W continuous load. Having tested plenty of the best portable power stations, it's notable that few offer one with nearly as much capacity without the use of add on batteries or output as this one.

Image 4 (Image credit: Future)Jackery Explorer 3000 V2: Unboxing

The Explorer 3000 v2 came in a non-descript brown cardboard box, opening it gave way to a satin printed box in the Jackery orange tone, on the side were some nice handles in order to lift the inner box out.

Placing it on the table came with a heavy thud, the Explorer 3000 is certainly weighty, but about the same as other lesser capacity power stations. Removing the Explorer 3000 isn’t hard, open the box, get the manual and power cable out the way, top protective lid off then just lift the Explorer 3000 out. Only the Explorer 3000, manual and AC power cable are provided.

(Image credit: Future)Jackery Explorer 3000 v2: First impressions

Switching it on for the first time shows that the Explorer 3000 had 28% charge, a typical charge amount I would expect for the product as the battery chemistry of LiFePO4 prefers around 30% for long term storage.

IMAGE 5 (Image credit: Future)

Size wise, measuring in at 16.38 x 12.80 x 12.01in and weighing in at 59.5lb. I compared its size to the Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 if that was on your shortlist and whilst it is bigger in size, the Jackery Explorer 3000 v2 does come with extra capacity and output so needs somewhere to store all of that.

There are two large handles on either side for carrying it like a milk crate. It can be carried by one hand on one of the handles but some may find this difficult to do.

(Image credit: Future)

The front of the power station is the main part with all the important functions, it has:

3 x UK AC outlets capable of delivering 230V at 50Hz in a Pure Sine Wave at 13Amps max, with a total power output of 3600W across all three sockets and can with stand sudden surge demands of up to 7200W for short periods of time.

2 x USB-A ports with 18W max on each

2 x USB-C ports with 100W max on each

1 x Cigarette Lighter Port at 12V with a max load of 10Amps

The left, top, bottom and backside haven’t got much and are bare, save for the back side having the product label.

On the right side is the “input side” with the following:

1 x AC input via the common IEC C13/14 power socket, able to accept 220v to 240v in coming AC at a max of 10A

2 x DC input via an 8020 DC plug which is able to support 16 volts to 60 volts at a max of 12A on a single port with a maximum over all of 1000W input on both barrels.

One disappointment is that the Explorer 3000 v2 all of the sockets have no covers or any ingress protection.

(Image credit: Future)

The front also has the main screen status screen which can be used by the user for a glance at what’s going on. The center of the screen is dominated by the percentage of remaining battery life with a circle around it that shows if it is in use.

On the left of the screen is input and the right is output displaying the number of watts in coming or outgoing respectively on either AC or DC. There are other status symbols which only illuminate when is use such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and so on.

(Image credit: Future)Jackery Explorer 3000 V2: In use

I used the Explorer 3000 v2 on a few tasks through the house to see how it would fair and if any of these everyday household appliances would stress the battery. I ran an air fryer, induction hob, hair dryer and even an air heater, all separately of course and the Explorer 3000 powered on without a hitch. Each one using not much of the 3kWh of battery storage.

Trying to push it further, I brought out my large 3HP Air compressor, plugged that in and gave it a whirl, that managed a max draw around 2250W. I was able to spray paint my entire shed in the day using only about 30% of the battery bringing it down from 100% to 70%.

Charging the power station can be tricky, assuming you have a normal electricity tariff at 20 cents per kWh, this means that charging the Explorer 3000 from 0 to 100% would cost you around a $1.05.

The Explorer 3000 v2 supports charge from Solar Panels, ideally you would use one of Jackery’s SolarSaga line of panels but their biggest one only output at around 200W, but you will need at least 2 or more as charging this on a single SolarSaga 200W will take approximately 22 hours assuming clear sunny sky and constantly repositioning the panels. Connecting up to four additional SolarSaga 200W panels will in essence reduce the number of hours needed to charge but a splitter is required.

One notable negative is that Jackery opted to use a DC8020 Connector and socket, so if you had spare solar panels or the rigid or foldable kind, you would need to source either an MC4 or XT60/90 connector to DC8020 adapter.

Charging via the AC cable is as simple as plugging it in, the Explorer 3000 detects power, turns its self on and starts charging at full speed unless you otherwise specify a lower charge speed or schedule it.

Somehow Jackery managed to essentially fit a DC to AC inverter capable of out putting 3600W in the space of a milk crate. In comparison, most inverters installed permanently in homes for solar power are of the 3.6kWh type with few being more than 4, 5 or even 6. Most homes, even larger 3-bedroom houses in the UK, draw around 250 to 300W on idle these days, imagine the savings if you ran a house on this during the day and charge it during the night on the right tariff.

Jackery Explorer 3000 V2: App

Once set up the unit, I delved into the app. A quick app download, registration and I was in. Adding the battery to the app was a simple and quick affair.

On the home screen you are greeted by your Jackery products, on this occasion the Explorer 3000 v2 and state of charge.

Tapping on the battery led me to the main status screen of the battery showing is state of charge, inputs, outputs, Wi-Fi signal strength, temperature and some basic controls.

Tapping on the cog on the top right led to more in depth controls and settings and through this the product specifications.

Using the app, I did find it a bit laggy. I would click on an icon to switch on say USB charging and about 5 seconds later the icon lit up and my phone acknowledge charge. I found I had to click back forth to see that it had done what I asked of it.

But to be honest, you will seldom be using the app, you would set up the battery the way you like it and just use it.

(Image credit: Future)Jackery Explorer 3000 v2: Final verdict

The Explorer 3000 v2 is another solid product by Jackery improving on the Explorer 2000 battery I recently reviewed.

Whilst most people will think of these products as camping or recreation products, like in my last review ill refer back to the power outages of Spain and Portugal earlier this year.

Perhaps having one of these at home isn’t a bad idea after all. An old saying comes to mind “I’d rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it”.

High output and high storage mean that this is superb for most home uses in an emergency or using off peak charging to use during the day.

For more power solutions, we reviewed the best UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply).

Minecraft Hosting Pro is a well-established Minecraft server hosting provider with that rare thing -- a free plan to try out its services. It's one of the best Minecraft server hosting providers around with some great features and good reliability. I've taken a deeper look at what it provides and how well it works, so you know if it's the Minecraft hosting service for you.

I've looked at the price, the level of service, the features, and simply how comfortable it feels to use. In no time, you'll get an informed outlook on what to sign up for. Minecraft Hosting Pro offers servers scattered across the world so it should suit many people's needs. It has all the essentials like extensive support, DDoS protection, and much more.

What is Minecraft Hosting Pro?

Minecraft Hosting Pro is a hosting service designed specifically for Minecraft servers. It allows you to host your own Minecraft servers, providing you with the necessary infrastructure to run the game smoothly and efficiently. 

Minecraft Hosting Pro takes care of all the technical aspects of server hosting, including server setup, maintenance, and updates, so that you can focus on enjoying the game. With Minecraft Hosting Pro, you can create your own virtual worlds, invite friends to play, and customize your gaming experience to your liking. 

(Image credit: Minecraft Hosting Pro)Features

Minecraft Hosting Pro offers a wide range of features to ensure the best experience for gamers. The first of these is DDoS protection, which helps keep your server online even when it's under attack. Also, the instant setup feature ensures that your server will be up and running in a matter of seconds, although free game plans may be temporarily unavailable during peak weeks.

Minecraft Hosting Pro also boasts 24/7 ultra-low latency, which means that your server will have a 99.9% availability rate and will be monitored by server status. With free subdomains and domains available, it's easy to connect to your server without using any ports.

Another feature is the automatic backups that are available daily and manually for seven days, with the ability to create and restore your data to any backup point in your control panel. The dedicated support team is also available to answer all your requests, and you can contact them by opening a ticket via email.

Minecraft Hosting Pro also offers unmetered storage, which means that you can enjoy unrestricted access to disk space without worrying about your map or file size. The company also uses bare-metal hosting to ensure that resources are not lost and that high performance is maintained from hardware. All machines are always used under 60% charge, with enough available power for peak usage, and the company is fully transparent about its back office.

The one-click setup feature ensures that you can get direct access to all Minecraft server versions, plugins, mods, and modpacks. With web FTP and client options, file access, uploading, and editing of configuration files is fast and easy. The low latency server design, testing, and assembly using the latest AMD Ryzens CPU with high clock speed and NVMe hard drives ensure high TPS and lag-free servers. You can choose between 1 core to start your Minecraft server or up to 6 cores for highly populated or modded servers. 

(Image credit: Minecraft Hosting Pro)Server management 

Minecraft Hosting Pro offers server management to ensure that your Minecraft server runs smoothly. The company has data centers located in Europe, North America, and Australia, which ensures low latency for global locations. With an average uptime of 99.9%, you can be assured that your server will be online and accessible to players.

The company has servers located in Buffalo, New York (ny.mchost.pro), Los Angeles (la.mchost.pro), Dallas, Texas (da.mchost.pro), and Miami, Florida (ny.mchost.pro) in North America. In Europe, it has a server located in Paris, France (eu.mchost.pro), and in Australia, the company has a server located in Sydney (au.mchost.pro).

(Image credit: Minecraft Hosting Pro)Interface in-use 

The interface in use for Minecraft Hosting Pro is designed to be user-friendly and straightforward, allowing you to manage your server with ease. Upon logging into your control panel, you will be able to launch commands on your server and check the server activity in real-time through the console. The console allows you to interact directly with the server via specific commands for the version, plugins, and mods installed.

You can access the live console via the control panel and you can as well use the console with your mobile device. The control panel offers several other features, including the ability to monitor the server status, CPU, and memory usage. You can also manage, upload, and download server files through the web FTP without the need for an FTP client. The online file manager offers direct file access to edit your server settings, making it easy to customize your server.

Minecraft Hosting Pro offers a one-click installer that allows you to install multiple versions of Minecraft, including modpacks, with ease. You can also manage player whitelists, operators, and bans through the control panel, providing you with complete control over your server.

(Image credit: Minecraft Hosting Pro)Pricing  

Minecraft Hosting Pro offers a range of pricing plans to suit the needs of different users, from those looking for a basic free plan to those running large communities with extensive mods/plugins. The seven different plans provide varying levels of features, resources, and pricing, ensuring that users can find a plan that fits their specific requirements.

The free plan is a great option if you want to test the service without any charges. It comes with 1 core of the CPU Ryzen 3900X, 3072 MB RAM, unlimited SSD NVMe storage, 1 GBit/s network, and is suitable for up to 4 players. This plan is ideal for small private servers or those who want to try the service before committing to a paid plan.

The Iron plan starts at $6.75/month and is perfect for those who want a more advanced plan with additional resources. It comes with all the features in the free plan, 2 cores of the CPU Ryzen 3900X, and unlimited players. This plan is a good fit for small to medium-sized servers.

The Prime plan, which starts at $9/month, is suitable for medium-sized servers with additional resources. It includes all the features of the iron plan plus 4096 MB RAM, 3 cores of the CPU Ryzen 3900X, and unlimited players.

The Ultron plan is perfect for anyone looking for high performance and power. It starts at $13.5/month and includes all the features in the prime plan plus 6144 MB RAM, 3 cores of the CPU Ryzen 3900X, and unlimited players. This plan is suitable for larger servers with heavy usage and lots of plugins/mods.

The Lara plan is designed for medium-sized servers and starts at $18/month. It comes with all the features in the ultron plan, plus 4 cores of the CPU Ryzen 3900X, 8192 MB RAM, and unlimited players. This plan provides users with additional resources to run their server smoothly.

The Orion plan, which starts at $22/month, is suitable for large servers running vanilla PaperMC/Spigot. It includes all the features in the lara plan plus unlimited players and 14336 MB RAM. This plan is designed for heavy usage and can handle a large number of plugins/mods.

The Thanos plan is the most advanced plan and starts at $36/month. It comes with all the features in the orion plan plus 20480MB RAM, and unlimited players. This plan is recommended for larger community servers that require a lot of resources to run smoothly.

(Image credit: Minecraft Hosting Pro)Support

Minecraft Hosting Pro offers email support as the primary mode of communication with its support team. However, the lack of a live chat or phone support system can be a concern for users who require immediate assistance or those who prefer a more convenient mode of communication.

The email support offered by Minecraft Hosting Pro is available 24/7, and its support team is responsive and knowledgeable. When you send an email on issues related to server setup, installation, and configuration, the support team will respond within 48 hours. During our test, we sent an email regarding the cancellation of our subscription plan and we got a response within a few hours after submitting our inquiry.

While email support can be sufficient for anyone who is not in a hurry to get their issues resolved, it may not be ideal for those who need immediate assistance. The lack of phone support or live chat feature can also be a disadvantage for users who prefer to have a more personal touch when it comes to customer support.

It's worth noting that Minecraft Hosting Pro does not have a knowledge base or a FAQ section on its website. This means that you may have to rely solely on the support team for any questions or issues you may encounter. While this may not be a big concern for experienced users, it can be a challenge for beginners who need more guidance and support.

Overall, while Minecraft Hosting Pro's email support is said to be helpful and responsive, the lack of other modes of communication and a knowledge base can be a disadvantage for users who require immediate assistance or more comprehensive support.

Alternatives to Minecraft Hosting Pro 

Apex Minecraft Hosting is a popular alternative to Minecraft Hosting Pro. It offers reliable and high-performance servers with a variety of hosting plans to choose from. Its customer support team is available 24/7 to assist you with any issues you may have. Apex Minecraft Hosting also provides a user-friendly control panel that allows you to manage your server settings and files easily.

Shockbyte is another alternative to Minecraft Hosting Pro that is well-known for providing affordable Minecraft hosting services. It offers multiple data centers located across the globe, which means that players from all over the world can enjoy low latency and fast server speeds. Shockbyte also provides you with a control panel that enables you to easily manage your Minecraft server settings and files.

BisectHosting is a popular Minecraft hosting provider that offers reliable servers at affordable prices. BisectHosting offers a variety of hosting plans that are suitable for both small and large Minecraft servers. Its offers 24/7 customer support to its subscribers.

Nodecraft is another alternative to Minecraft Hosting Pro offering a wide range of hosting plans to choose from, including modded Minecraft servers. It provides you with a powerful control panel that enables you to easily manage your server settings and files. Nodecraft also offers 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, and email with servers located in multiple data centers across the globe, ensuring fast server speeds and low latency for players.

Is Minecraft Hosting Pro right for you? 

If you are someone who is looking for a reliable and cost-effective Minecraft server hosting service, then Minecraft Hosting Pro may be a good option for you. The service provides a free plan that allows you to test the service before committing to a paid plan, which is a great way to ensure that the service meets your requirements.

However, if you require real-time support through live chat or phone, then Minecraft Hosting Pro may not be the best option for you, as the service only offers support via email. This can be a challenge for users who need urgent help or have technical issues that need immediate attention.

• View or buy at Dreame US / Dreame UK

Dreame AirStyle Pro: two-minute review

The Dreame AirStyle Pro is a multistyler that can operate as a dryer, or to create smooth, curly or bouncy styles using the various attachments supplied in the box. On paper, it looks like one for TechRadar's best hair styler roundup, but when I actually put it through its paces, a couple of design flaws quickly revealed themselves – and they're annoying enough to make this styler difficult to recommend.

The first is that the maximum temperature just isn't hot enough. I have collarbone-length, wavy hair that isn't overly thick, yet I wasn't able to use the Dreame AirStyle to dry it – it just took far too long. I also found that the styles created using the Dreame (in particular, the curls) lacked staying power. I'm as concerned about heat damage as the next person, but you do need some heat for these kinds of tools to be useful.

The second issue is that the attachments don't clip on securely enough. They twist on, but there's no 'click' at the end of that motion, which means they have a tendency to twist off again as you're using them to style.

It's a shame because, as I've said, the Dreame AirStyle Pro shows plenty of promise. The attachments are varied and well designed, and include those all-important auto-wrap curl barrels that position this styler as an Airwrap alternative. It's also stylishly designed and comfortable to use, with controls that are well positioned.

Price-wise, it isn't cheap, but it's far more affordable than Dyson's Airwrap i.d., and in line with rival products. While the Dreame AirStyle Pro's issues might not be insurmountable – you could rope in one of the best hair dryers for the start of the styling process, and take extra care not to dislodge the attachments when styling – there's no real reason to choose it over a tool such as the Shark FlexStyle, which comes in at a similar price and doesn't suffer the Dreame AirStyle Pro's issues.

That's the short version; read on for my full Dreame AirStyle Pro review.

Dreame AirStyle Pro review: price & availability

• List price: $399.99 / £299 / AU$599
• Available: US / UK / Australia
• Launched: May 2025

The Dreame AirStyle Pro is available worldwide, with a list price of $399.99 / £299 / AU$599. However, at time of writing, it was reduced in all territories to $279.99 / £269 / AU$399. Such widespread discounts suggest you won't often find it at full price.

By comparison, the Dyson Airwrap i.d. costs $599.99 / £479.99, while the Shark FlexStyle comes in at $279.99 / £269.99. While Dyson's styler delivers a step up in quality and features, it looks like Dreame is looking to position itself more directly as a competitor to Shark. (There are cheaper Dyson Airwrap dupes, but if you want one with the auto-wrap curl barrels, it will typically fall into a similar price bracket.)

While the AirStyle Pro looks good, feels high quality, and comes with a solid range of accessories, there are a couple of flaws at a functional level (a top temperature that's far too cool, and attachments that don't clip on securely) that make it difficult to recommend over the similarly priced Shark version.

There's a clear jump up in quality and functionality with the Dyson i.d., but I appreciate that not everyone is looking to splash that amount of cash on a styling tool (I compare all three in a bit more depth in this article, if you're interested).

• Value for money score: 3 out of 5

Dreame AirStyle Pro specs

Weight (styler only, no cord):

0.6lbs / 0.3kg

Dimensions (styler only):

1.8 x 1.8 x 10.2in / 4.5 x 4.5 x 26cm

Cord:

9.2ft / 2.8m

Temperatures: 

2 (50C and 80C) + cool shot (room temperature)

Speeds:

3 (50m/s, 55m/s, 60m/s)

Wattage:

1,300W

Attachments:

Fast dryer, flyaway attachment, 32mm auto-wrap barrels (L+R), hard smoothing brush, soft smoothing brush, round volumizing brush

Dreame AirStyle Pro review: design

• Tubular dryer with six styling attachments and storage box
• Attachments twist on, but aren't secure enough
• Stylish, premium design with leather-look finish

The Dreame AirStyle Pro has a similar look to most modern multistylers: it comprises a tube-shaped dryer onto which different attachments are clipped.

At the end of the barrel that you hold it are the controls. Two press buttons (with indicator lights) let you toggle though two temperatures and three windspeeds. Slightly unusually, the "cool shot" isn't a separate button, but included as an extension of the on/off slider.

(Image credit: Future)

At the base is a removable filter cage, covering a stainless steel mesh filter that traps any fine hair and particles and keeps them out of the motor. Dreame provides a cleaner brush to help with maintenance. The cable is 9.2ft / 2.8m.

(Image credit: Future)

If you want to use the AirStyle Pro as just a dryer, you clip on the fast dryer attachment. This widens the airflow to 90-degrees to the dryer.

Aside from that, the key attachments are the 32mm auto-wrap curl barrels. Used on slightly damp hair, they attract the strands around the barrel, shaping them into curls as they dry. The idea being that this damp to dry styling is far better for your hair than using traditional hot tongs.

If you want to switch from clockwise to anticlockwise curls then you'll need to swap over the barrels. Currently, the only styler of this kind that can achieve two directions of curl on one barrel is the Dyson Airwrap; all the cheaper alternatives require a manual swap-over.

(Image credit: Future)

Elsewhere, there's an impressive range of attachments. Alongside the fast dryer and auto-wrap barrels (L+R), you get a flyaway attachment, hard smoothing brush, soft smoothing brush, and round volumizing brush.

To attach a tool to the dryer section, you line up spots on the base of the attachments, then twist to clip them on. Most examples of this kind of styler have a release switch around the back, but there isn't one here – you simply twist in terms of opposite direction to take off the attachment. Unfortunately, this setup isn't that secure, and in my time with the tool I often experienced attachments becoming loose mid-styling.

• Design score: 3.5 out of 5

Dreame AirStyle Pro review: performance

• Not hot enough to be used as a hair dryer
• Controls are well positioned and easy to use
• Attachments work well, but lack of heat limits performance

I started by using the Dreame AirStyle Pro with the fast dryer attachment – and I immediately ran into problems. While the windspeed felt decent, it just wasn't getting hot enough to dry hair, even on the higher of the two temperatures. (For context, I have collarbone-length hair that I'd towel-dried from wet, so it wasn't soaking.) After several long minutes of ineffectually waving the AirStyle over my head, I gave up and switched to a dedicated hair dryer.

(Image credit: Future)

I wondered if my review model was faulty, but a closer look at the specs revealed this wasn't the case. The AirStyle's two heat options are 122ºF / 50ºC and 176ºF / 80ºC. In comparison, the Airwrap has a low heat setting of 140ºF / 60ºC and a high heat setting of 194ºF / 90ºC.

That cooler temperature might be better for your hair, but for anyone other than those with super-fine hair, the AirStyle Pro will prove ineffective and you'll need to have a separate hair dryer on hand for this part of the styling process.

(Image credit: Future)

I then tried out the auto-wrap curlers. They worked well, effectively pulling around the barrels and holding it there as it finished drying. In this part, they were similar to the Airwrap (although the Airwrap has some extra features to make the process more straightforward). As a general rule, auto-wrapped curls don't last as long as those created using hot tongs, but I found the curls created with the AirStyle Pro dropped especially quickly – again, I think this is something to do with the lower temperatures used.

(Image credit: Future)

On the plus side, the styler is comfortable to hold and balanced in weight. The buttons are well positioned, making them easy to find mid-styling and difficult to press accidentally.

I especially like the way the cool shot is activated. It's at the top of the on/off slider, so you can easily locate the raised button by feel alone, and since it's spring-loaded, it pings back when you let go.

(Image credit: Future)

Over the course of my review period, I tested out all the other attachments. Broadly, I felt they were well designed and did what they were meant to do. However, as mentioned, they don't attach securely – they simply twist on and off, with no clipping involved.

This proved an issue when doing anything that involved twisting the tool, and when creating curls using the round volumizing brush, I found it became loose and fell off on more than one occasion.

The hard smoothing brush and soft smoothing brush both feature prongs that can pivot slightly – I'm not sure of their purpose – and they worked well in practice. In fact, the two are virtually identical, except the latter has bobbles on the end of the prongs, so I'm not sure I needed both.

• Performance score: 2.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Dreame AirStyle Pro?

Attribute

Notes

Rating

Value

Not cheap but relatively affordable. In line with other similarly designed tools that perform better.

3 / 5

Design

Looks stylish and is comfortable to use. Attachments are varied and well designed, except for the fact they don't clip on securely.

3.5 / 5

Performance

Maximum temperature too cool for effective drying, and means curls drop quickly. Attachments can also fall off in use.

2.5 / 5

Buy it if...

You have very fine hair
Those with fine or short hair may find the AirStyle Pro's cooler temperatures in hair dryer mode perfect for their hair type.

You want an stylish tool
With its tasteful tan, faux-leather finish, this is one of the most stylish hair tools I've tested.

You're worried about heat damage
The Dreame AirStyle Pro gets far less hot than rival stylers I've tested, so if you have heat-damaged hair and don't trust yourself to stick to lower temperatures, it might be a good pick.

Don't buy it if...

You have thicker or longer hair
The AirStyle Pro's lower temperatures likely won't cut it to dry and style thicker or longer hair.

You have tangle-prone hair
I found the attachments here didn't clip on very securely, so those with denser or more tangle-prone hair might find themselves losing tools while they try to style.

Dreame Airstyle Pro (reviewed)

Dyson Airwrap i.d.

Shark FlexStyle

Weight (styler only, no cord):

0.6lbs / 0.3kg

1.4lbs / 0.6kg XXCHECK

1.5 lbs / 0.7kg

Styler dimensions (L x W):

10.2 x 1.8in / 26 x 4.5cm

10.7 x 1.9in / 27.2 x 4.8cm

11.3 x 1.7in / 28.7 x 4.4cm

Cord:

9.2ft / 2.8m

8.5 ft / 2.7m

8ft / 2.4m

Temperatures: 

2 + cool shot

2 + cool shot

3 + cool shot

Speeds:

3

3

3

Wattage:

1,300W

1,300W

1,400W (US), 1,600W (UK)

List price:

$399.99 / £299 / AU$599

$599.99 / £479.99 / AU$849

$279.99 / £269.99 / AU$499.99

Dyson Airwrap i.d.

The Airwrap i.d. is king in this category, both in terms of price and features. This multistyler comes with a switch that launches an automated wrap > curl > cool shot sequence, for maximum ease. It can also do clockwise and anticlockwise curls on the same barrel.

Read my full Dyson Airwrap i.d. review

Shark FlexStyle

The FlexStyle is a very similar proposition to the AirStyle in that it isn't as good as the original AirWrap, but it's a solid alternative if you don't want to spend megabucks. It looks slightly less stylish than the AirStyle but is all-round a more effective tool in my opinion.

Read my full Shark FlexStyle review

How I tested the Dreame Airstyle Pro

I used the AirStyle Pro as my main styling tool for a week. During this time I used it to dry my hair, and tested all the different attachments, paying particular attention to the auto-wrap curlers. I compared the styling results to what I managed to achieve with other similar stylers I've tested – including the Dyson Airwrap i.d. and Shark FlexStyle. I also assessed how easy the styler was to use and the effectiveness of its design and features.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed July 2025

GG Servers promises to provide a reliable and high-performing game server. As is customary, I've focused on its Minecraft offerings to see if it can compete with the best Minecraft server hosting but it also supports other games.

The service provides a user-friendly control panel, robust infrastructure, and its near essential list of supported games.

I tested GG Servers, exploring its key features, pricing options, performance, and overall value. Whether you are a seasoned gamer or just getting started in the world of online gaming, my GG Servers review will provide you with all the information you need to make an informed decision about your game server hosting needs. 

What is GG Servers? 

GG Servers is a web hosting service that specializes in providing high-quality and reliable game servers for online gamers. It offers a wide variety of hosting plans that are tailored to meet the specific needs of different games and gamers. GG Servers' servers are optimized for performance and reliability, ensuring that gamers have a smooth and uninterrupted gaming experience. 

(Image credit: GG Servers)Features

GG Servers offers a comprehensive set of features that make it a good choice if you're looking for one of the best Minecraft server hosting services on the market. One of the standout features is the free DDoS protection that comes with all services, ensuring that your server remains online and accessible at all times. This is a crucial feature for any online service, as DDoS attacks can be extremely disruptive and damaging.

Another key feature of GG Servers is the use of NVMe SSD storage, which is standard across all services. Premium services take this a step further with unmetered usage of NVMe SSD storage, providing lightning-fast access to your server files and data. The powerful processors used by GG Servers are also notable, with CPUs that excel in single-core performance. Standard services offer up to 4 GHz, while premium services go up to 5 GHz, ensuring that your server can handle even the most demanding workloads.

GG Servers also offers a global network of server locations, allowing you to choose the one that provides the best ping and performance for your needs. The ping.ggs.gg tool makes it easy to test your ping in all locations, and the Minecraft server itself includes a compass in the lobby server where you can choose your preferred location and test your ping on it.

In addition to these core features, GG Servers also provides a free subdomain, 1-click modpack and plugin installs, and a powerful and easy-to-use Multicraft panel. This panel allows you to manage all of your Minecraft servers with ease, providing full FTP file access and access to your console and chat. Also, the unmetered SSD and NVMe storage, as well as full FTP and MySQL database access, make GG Servers an ideal choice for anyone looking for a reliable and feature-rich Minecraft server hosting solution.

(Image credit: GG Servers)Server management 

Server management is a crucial aspect of any online service, including Minecraft servers. With so many different options available, it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to managing your server. Thankfully, GG Servers offers a range of powerful tools and features that make server management easy and efficient.

One of the key considerations when it comes to server management is uptime. After all, if your server is down, your players won't be able to access it. GG Servers boasts an impressive overall uptime of 99.9121%, which is well above the industry average. This high level of uptime is achieved through a combination of automated DDoS protection, powerful processors, and reliable SSD and NVMe storage.

Another important factor to consider when managing your server is location. GG Servers has a global network of server locations, with servers located in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. This ensures that you can choose a location that provides the best possible ping and performance for your players, no matter where they are located.

In North America, GG Servers has servers located in Virginia, Canada, and Oregon. These servers are all equipped with the latest hardware and software, providing lightning-fast access to your Minecraft world. In Europe, GG Servers has servers located in Frankfurt, London, Roubaix, and Finland. These servers are ideal for players located in Europe and nearby regions, with low latency and high performance. Also, in Asia, GG Servers has servers located in Singapore, which are ideal for players in Southeast Asia and nearby regions. And in Oceania, GG Servers has servers located in Australia, providing fast and reliable access to your Minecraft world for players in Australia and New Zealand.

(Image credit: GG Servers)Interface in-use 

The interface of GG Servers is highly intuitive and user-friendly, making it easy for even beginners to manage their Minecraft servers. The highly customized version of the Multicraft control panel is accessible from the server panel, which is the main landing page for your account. From here, you can easily navigate to your servers, profiles, open tickets, and log out.

The server panel is designed to give you easy access to all of the features and tools you need to manage your server. This includes full FTP file access, which allows you to easily upload and manage files on your server. You can also access your console and chat directly from the control panel, giving you complete control over your Minecraft world.

One of the best things about the interface on GG Servers is that it is highly customizable. You can change the appearance of your panel, choosing from a range of different themes and colors. You can also customize your files, console, installers, and tools, making it easy to create a panel that is tailored to your specific needs.

In addition to the highly customizable interface, GG Servers also offers a range of 1-click modpack and plugin installs. This makes it easy to add new features and functionality to your Minecraft server with just a few clicks. 

(Image credit: GG Servers)Pricing 

GG Servers offers a wide range of hosting plans to suit every need and budget. All of its plans come with a range of features, including unmetered SSD storage, anti-DDoS protection, and powerful processors.

Its pricing starts with the Stone plan, which offers 1024 MB of RAM, 12 player slots, and unmetered SSD storage, starting at $3.00/month. The Coal plan comes with all the features in the Stone plan, with the addition of 2048 MB of RAM, 24 player slots, and starts at $6.00/month.

The Iron plan offers 3072 MB of RAM, 36 player slots, and all the features in the Stone and Coal plans, starting at $9.00/month. The Gold plan comes with 4096 MB of RAM, 48 player slots, and all the features in the Stone, Coal, and Iron plans, starting at $12.00/month.

If you need even more power, the Lapis plan offers 5120 MB of RAM, 60 player slots, and all the features in the Stone, Coal, Iron, and Gold plans, starting at $15.00/month. The Redstone plan offers 6144 MB of RAM, 72 player slots, and starts at $18.00/month.

The Diamond plan comes with 8192 MB of RAM, 96 player slots, and starts at $24.00/month. The Emerald plan offers 12288 MB of RAM, 144 player slots, and starts at $36.00/month. If you need the ultimate in server power, the Amethyst plan offers 16384 MB of RAM, unlimited player slots, and starts at $48.00/month.

GG Servers also offers the Beacon plan, which comes with 32768 MB of RAM, unlimited player slots, and starts at $96.00/month. This plan is designed for those who need the highest levels of performance and reliability for their Minecraft servers.

Support

GG Servers provides 24/7 customer support to ensure that its users receive the necessary assistance whenever they need it. The company offers live chat, ticket, and email support for its customers to reach out and ask for help. 

Additionally, GG Servers has a vast collection of over 200 articles in its database that cover a wide range of topics related to game server hosting, making it a valuable resource for users who need more information. For security purposes, GG Servers offers pin support to its users for verification.  

Alternatives to GG Servers 

Hostinger is a web hosting company that also offers game server hosting services. It provides servers for popular games such as Minecraft, Counter-Strike, and Team Fortress 2, with features like DDoS protection, automatic backups, and easy server management through a custom control panel. Another option for game server hosting is Apex Hosting, a company that focuses on Minecraft server hosting. Apex offers a range of plans to fit different needs and budgets, including modpacks and custom server setups. Apex Hosting also has a user-friendly control panel, 24/7 support, and a community forum for customers to share knowledge and resources.

GameServers.com is a veteran in the game server hosting industry, having provided services since 2004. It offers servers for over 200 games, including popular titles like Rust, ARK: Survival Evolved, and DayZ. GameServers.com provides features such as DDoS protection, custom control panels, and global server locations to cater to different player bases. If you're looking for a more niche game server hosting provider, Nitrous Networks might be a good fit. It specializes in hosting servers for games like Garry's Mod, Team Fortress 2, and Conan Exiles, with plans that include easy setup, automatic mod installation, and custom configuration options. Nitrous Networks also has a ticket-based support system and an extensive knowledge base for troubleshooting.

Shockbyte is a game server hosting provider that offers servers for Minecraft, Terraria, and Valheim. Its plans come with features like unlimited slots, DDoS protection, and a free subdomain. Shockbyte also has a user-friendly control panel, live chat support, and a 100% uptime guarantee to ensure that players have a smooth gaming experience.

Is GG Servers right for you? 

Whether GG Servers is the right choice for you depends on your specific needs and preferences. One of the advantages of the service is that it provides powerful and secure game server hosting, with features such as DDoS protection and a variety of server locations. Additionally, GG Servers use powerful server hardware, which can improve the performance and stability of your server.

Another advantage of GG Servers is their good server availability, which ensures that your game server is accessible and online for your players. However, it is worth noting that its unlimited databases feature is only available in premium packages, which may be a disadvantage for users who require more databases.

Furthermore, its unlimited slots feature is only included in the unlimited plans, which may limit the scalability of your server if you choose a lower-tier plan. However, you should weigh the advantages and disadvantages of GG Servers against your specific requirements to determine whether they are the right game server hosting provider for you.

Nodecraft is a relatively new company which focuses on providing a friendly gamer aesthetic to all your hosting needs. It's already one of the best Minecraft server hosting providers thanks to offering some unique features compared to the competition.

I've focused on Minecraft here but Nodecraft also provides support for many other games like Rust, Valheim, and Enshrouded. Nodecraft has quickly gained a reputation for providing reliable and user-friendly server hosting solutions. 

Here's a deeper look at what makes Nodecraft stand out among a growing crowd of game server hosting. It's not perfect but it's worth checking out.

(Image credit: Nodecraft)Nodecraft features 

One of the standout features of Nodecraft is its backup system. With this system, you can create an exact copy of your server's files, including player data, configurations, and maps. This allows you to test new configurations without risking your current setup. In addition, Nodecraft's backup system allows you to instantly load a previous backup if something goes wrong with your server. This can be a real lifesaver for gamers and developers who want to ensure that their game server is always running smoothly.

Nodecraft's real-time console is another standout feature. The console provides direct access to logs, admin commands, and other useful utilities. Kicking players, assigning admins, and monitoring performance can all be accomplished right in your browser. What sets Nodecraft's console apart is that it is directly streamed from the server to your browser within milliseconds. Behind the scenes, NodePanel scans this output for events such as player joins, server crashes, and other useful information to provide you with a real-time glance at what is going on in your server.

Security is a top priority for Nodecraft, and the company has created a system that allows you to generate a new login for each FTP session. This information is easily hidden from the overview for added security and privacy. This feature ensures that your files are as safe as possible while still allowing you to manage them efficiently.

Nodecraft's web-based file manager streams files from your server directly to your browser. You can edit, upload, and manage files without the need for downloading or using confusing software. This feature makes it easy for you to manage your files.

With NodePanel, all of your services exist with one singular login. Access everything under one account, directly at Nodecraft. No separate logins, no additional subdomains, and no hassle. This feature makes it easy for you to manage your accounts and services without having to remember multiple logins and passwords.

Nodecraft's servers are built with game server performance in mind. The company uses an Intel Xeon E-2174G or equivalent processor with a speed of 3.8+ GHz. Additionally, each server has 64GB ECC RAM for high-speed performance and stability. 

Nodecraft uses enterprise-grade solid-state drives (SSDs) to power all customer game servers, ensuring lightning-fast performance. Also, Nodecraft's DDoS protection and high-performance network are built to withstand attacks and ensure that your game server is always up and running. Nodecraft's entire infrastructure is built on top of a Linux ecosystem which ensures that your game server runs smoothly and efficiently.

(Image credit: Nodecraft)Server management 

Server management is a crucial aspect of game server hosting, as it directly impacts the player experience. Nodecraft offers a wide range of server locations, spread across North America, South America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. This ensures that players can enjoy low-latency, high-performance gaming experiences, regardless of where they're located in the world. In North America, Nodecraft has server locations in Washington, California, Colorado, Texas, Chicago, Atlanta, Florida, Canada, and Washington, D.C. 

This extensive coverage ensures that players on the continent can find a server location that's closest to them, thereby reducing latency with improved game performance. Moving to South America, Nodecraft has a server location in São Paulo, Brazil. This location offers gamers in the region access to a low-latency server that is optimized for high-performance gaming. In Europe, Nodecraft has server locations in Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Romania. This coverage ensures that players in the region can access servers that are closest to their location and as such, minimize latency and offer improved game performance.

Also, in the Asia-Pacific region, Nodecraft has server locations in Israel, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. With server locations spread across the region, players can expect low-latency gaming experiences. Having server locations in multiple regions is a critical feature for any game server hosting provider, as it ensures that players can enjoy optimal gaming experiences. 

(Image credit: Nodecraft)Interface in-use 

The Nodecraft control panel provides a user-friendly interface for managing your game servers. The Interactive GUI has been designed to make it easy for anyone, regardless of their technical knowledge, to modify server settings with ease. The panel is intuitive and visually appealing, with a clean and simple layout that allows you to quickly navigate through the different sections. This interface can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, making it convenient for you to manage your servers on the go.

The Nodecraft Interactive GUI provides a wide range of options that allow you to customize your game server to your liking. For instance, you can use the interface to change the server's game settings, such as difficulty level, game mode, and more. You can also upload mods, maps, and plugins with ease through the built-in file manager. Additionally, the panel allows you to monitor server performance metrics like CPU and memory usage, so you can optimize your server for better performance.

If you prefer to modify server settings manually, Nodecraft also offers access to all of the server's game files. This means you can use an FTP client to connect to your server and edit configuration files directly. Advanced users who prefer to use command line tools like SSH can do so as well. Nodecraft provides a wide range of tools to cater to different user preferences and technical abilities. Overall, the Nodecraft control panel is user-friendly for managing game servers, however, it may be overwhelming for beginners.  

(Image credit: Nodecraft)Pricing 

Nodecraft offers four different pricing plans to fit a variety of needs and budgets. The first plan is the most basic plan, which starts at $9.98 per month. This plan includes 3 save and swap servers, 2GB of RAM, 10GB of SSD storage, 20GB of cloud backups, unlimited player slots, automation and tasks, one-click installer, free subdomain and dedicated IP, and DDoS Guard protection. The most popular plan is the second pricing option, starting at $19.98 per month. This plan offers 3 save and swap servers, 4GB of RAM, 20GB of SSD storage, 40GB of cloud backups, and all the other features included in the Nano plan.

The third pricing plan starts at $29.98 per month. This plan offers 5 save and swap servers, 6GB of RAM, 30GB of SSD storage, 60GB of cloud backups, and all the other features included in the first two plans. From there, you can create your own server if you need more. All of these plans come with the option to add additional resources for an additional fee, including more RAM, SSD storage, and cloud backups. Nodecraft also offers a 7-day money-back guarantee, so if you're not satisfied with the service within the first week, you can cancel and receive a full refund.

(Image credit: Nodecraft)Customer support

Nodecraft offers a variety of support options to assist its customers with issues or questions they may have. One of the easiest and most convenient options is their live chat feature, which is available on their website 24/7. While testing this out, I was connected with a support representative and receive real-time assistance with a question I had about setup. If you prefer to speak with someone directly, Nodecraft offers phone support during its support hours of 12:30 AM - 09:00 AM. For less urgent matters, customers can also send an email to support@nodecraft.com. Nodecraft's support team aims to respond to all emails within 24 hours, although response times may vary depending on the volume of inquiries.

In addition to these support options, Nodecraft also offers an extensive knowledge base that contains helpful articles and guides on a variety of topics, such as server setup, game configuration, and troubleshooting common issues. You can browse the knowledge base to find answers to your questions or learn more about the features and capabilities of Nodecraft's platform.

Alternatives to Nodecraft 

Shockbyte offers affordable Minecraft server hosting with instant setup, a user-friendly control panel, and 24/7 customer support. It has servers in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Singapore. Shockbyte offers plans starting at $15/month for a server with 1GB of RAM.

Apex Hosting is a Minecraft server hosting provider that offers a wide range of plans to fit different needs and budgets. Apex has servers located in North America, Europe, and Asia and offers features such as DDoS protection, and automatic backups.

GameServers is a Minecraft server hosting company that provides reliable and affordable game server hosting for a variety of games, including popular titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, and Garry's Mod. GameServers offer a range of plans with various features and benefits to suit different needs and budgets.

GTXGaming offers Minecraft server hosting services for a range of popular games, such as Garry's Mod, ARK: Survival Evolved, and Conan Exiles. It has servers located in multiple regions for low-latency gameplay, and its control panel allows for easy server customization and management. It also offers 24/7 customer support.

BisectHosting is a popular Minecraft server hosting provider that offers affordable and reliable hosting for a variety of games, including Minecraft, Ark: Survival Evolved, and Rust. BisectHosting offers a user-friendly control panel and 24/7 customer support. Pricing starts at $7.99/month for a server with 1GB of RAM.

Is Nodecraft right for you? 

Nodecraft may be right for you if you prioritize DDoS protection, low latency, 99.9% uptime, and data centers around the world. Its excellent support through calls, emails, and live chat, as well as a free trial and money-back guarantee, can also be appealing. However, if you prefer a user-friendly control panel, note that Nodecraft's built-in control panel may be difficult to understand at first.

BisectHosting has been around since 2011 as a child company of Venture Node LLC and was registered in Ohio. The company focuses on providing the best Minecraft server hosting but also covers several other games including Rust, Terraria, 7 Days to Die, Valheim, ARK: Survival Evolved and many more.

Relatively unusually for a game hosting provider, BisectHosting also provides other web hosting services such as shared hosting, VPSand dedicated server hostingto those who want to launch their own website.

BisectHosting’s main website is a good example of a user-friendly approach done right, where you’ll be able to find everything you need within a reach of a click or two. It has 20 server locations around the world with the majority in Europe and USA, but others scattered across the globe. Bear in mind that some of these are only accessible for those signing up to a Premium plan.

With strong claims of being the ultimate destination for seemingly everything, I dived into BisectHosting to see how well it works as a Minecraft server provider, looking at its pricing, how easy it is to use, and more.

There are many Minecraft pricing plans. (Image credit: BisectHosting)BisectHosting plans and pricing

For those interested in Minecraft server hosting only, BisectHosting offers forty packages in total (a half of which are “Budget” while the other half belongs to “Premium” ones), which is such a considerable amount of choices that we were struck with analysis paralysis straight away.

Even the budget-friendly ones are chock-full of features that are fundamental in Minecraft, including custom JAR support, full FTP access, free MySQL, a free subdomain, free DDoS protection and more. The most affordable “Budget” plan will cost you mere $5.98 per month and provide 2GB of RAM and support for up to 12 slots, in addition to everything mentioned above.  

Apart from Minecraft, there are fitting packages for other popular multiplayer games including: Terraria, Valheim, ARK: Survival Evolved, Left 4 Dead 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, 7 Days to Die, Rust, Counter Strike: Source, Arma 3, Garry's Mod and Team Fortress 2.

Besides gaming-focused hosting, BisectHosting offers a few options for those looking to host a website (or several of them) which include shared hosting (that start at $2.99 per month), VPS (from $4 a month) and dedicated server hosting solutions (from $109 a month).

All hosting packages (with the exception of dedicated ones) come with 3-day money-back guarantee. Although it is far below the industry’s standard, at least there is one being actually offered.

As for payment methods, BisectHosting currently accepts credit cards, PayPal, and Paysafecard.

You can manage your Minecraft server from BisectHosting's modified control panel (Image credit: BisectHosting)Ease of use

One thing BisectHosting provides all of its users with is an abundance of choice, with something being offered to suit most tastes. Whether you want hosting for a small multiplayer community or a large one, BisectHosting should get you covered with its unlimited slots.

Those who are on the lookout for Minecraft server hosting services can select from Bedrock (mobile) and Java (original) edition, with more pre-designed packages being provided for Java. Whichever you opt for, the following step is to select a plan and check all of its details, such as data center location, billing cycle and add-ons.

If you aren’t hell bent on saving a few bucks, you could go with the most pocket-friendly out of the “Premium” packages, since they come with all features you could wish for without the need to pay extra for each of them. The most noteworthy are: unlimited slots, NVMe SSD space, dedicated IP, daily backups, Sponge installation and modpack updates and installations. Of course, all of “Budget” server features are included in this one as well.  

Creating an account with BisectHosting will require you to provide a number of personal details (although nothing out of the ordinary) and since instant setup is one of their key features, your server will be ready to use in the blink of an eye.

All server hosting plans come with a highly modified version of MultiCraft as your control panel, and which variation you’ll get depends on whether you chose a plan from the “Budget” or “Premium” section. Both control panels share the same easy-to-use functionality and will enable fast navigation for Java and Bedrock users alike. Even if you haven't used any version of MultiCraft before, with its user-friendly interface you should be able to swiftly find ways to customize your server by installing modpacks, plugins, server JARs and much more.

We used GTmetrix to measure the uptime and response time of our BisectHosting server (Image credit: GTmetrix)Speed and experience

In order to fulfil its goal and become one of the best Minecraft server providers out there, BisectHosting should present us with close to perfect performance, even more so since they claim that NVMe or SSDs are used exclusively to run all of their game servers. After testing the speed of BisectHosting’s main website by utilizing GTmetrix as our tool we got somewhat expected and highly satisfactory results. All vital web metrics related to speed performance were well above the average, resulting in near-perfect an A (99%)

Although BisectHosting offers no uptime guarantee, according to the results we got after monitoring it for a month (via UptimeRobot) it should be close to 100%. No major oscillations were recorded in response time and not a single second of downtime on top of everything. Admittedly, one month of perfect performance doesn’t have to be indicative of a whole year, but it sure seems like a good start. 

Support

As reported by a large number of their users (and supported by our own first-hand experience) BisectHosting’s customer support team is one of their major selling points. Not only they are at your disposal around-the-clock, but the persons in charge are responsive, resourceful and very respectful in their approach to customers. This “dream team” can be reached via support ticket and live chat.

You can find answers to common problems in BisectHosting's knowledgebase (Image credit: BisectHosting)

If you want to be more self-sufficient, you’ll find a major source of information in BisectHosting’s knowledgebase. It currently contains 139 articles in total which are split into ten corresponding categories (Billing Panel, Domain Management, Game Servers, Minecraft Java/Bedrock Servers and so forth). As far as we can see, most of these articles are easy-to-follow and often supplemented with pictures or video tutorials from BisectHosting’s official YouTube channel.

We should give a special mention to their YouTube channel as well, since it is only less than a year old and, yet, it is overflowing with how-to videos which seem to be coming out on a weekly basis.

The competition

When placed side by side, Shockbyte and BisectHosting seem quite similar in terms of pricing, features and support, but there are small differences that might be decisive for some users. Shockbyte is more famous for its overall performance (which means high response time, low latency and lag improbabilities), while BisectHosting’s technical team is doing a better job with support for unlimited domains, SSL certificates and backups.

Both Apex Hosting and BisectHosting offer servers of all sizes with a myriad of additional options. However, the cheapest Minecraft server hosting option with Apex Hosting will cost you $4.49 per month (and for the first month only, after which it will rise to $5.99), while with BisectHosting it’s merely $2.99 per month. On the other hand, with Apex Hosting you’ll get a somewhat longer money-back guarantee.

Besides game server hosting, BisectHosting provides a shared web hosting option with a few attractive features and pricing that is a match for Bluehost’s. The cheapest plans with both hosts come at quite an attractive price, which is $2.95 per month with Bluehost and $2.99 with BisectHosting. However, with Bluehost’s plan you’ll get free domain registration, a free SSL certificate and CDN, which is hard to beat.

HostGator is a great alternative both to Bluehost and BisectHosting for all those looking for a simple-to-use yet feature-packed hosting service equally fit for individual users and small businesses. As expected, even with its cheapest plan, HostGator provides users with a wide array of beginner-friendly and useful features (free domain registration, one-click installs, a free SSL certificate, free domain and website transfer, free MySQL and script transfer, and a generous 45-day money back guarantee), so it might be a better choice.  

Final verdict

On the question if BisectHosting is likely to make your gaming dreams come alive, we would have to say “yes, probably”. It offers a great diversity with its Minecraft packages, a full set of favorable features, prompt and proficient customer support and all at a pocket-friendly price.

Its web hosting packages are, however, another matter and leave out some of the beginner-friendly bonuses we are accustomed to see with other providers. Newcomers who would like to get some of those benefits are better off with fan-favorites such as HostGator, Hostinger or Bluehost.

Apex Hosting is a US-based company which launched in 2013. Its goal according to the site is to "deliver the highest level of customer support to our Minecraft server hosting clients". It makes sense then to see it feature prominently in our look at the best Minecraft server hosting. Registered in Florida, USA, its main office is situated in Sarasota with data centres across 18 locations around the world .

These include six locations in the USA (Portland, Las Vegas, San Jose, Dallas, Vint Hill and Miami), and one each in the following countries: Canada (Montreal), Brazil (Sao Paulo), the UK (London), France (Gravelines), Poland (Warsaw), Germany (Frankfurt), Israel (Tel Aviv), Russia (Moscow), China (Hong Kong), Singapore (Singapore), Australia (Sydney) and Turkey (Istanbul).

While its website isn't the most visually appealing of sites, Apex Hosting knows what counts for users. Below, you'll find exactly how I found the service with most of the things available within a few clicks.

Apex Hosting offers a wide variety of plans to suit your Minecraft server hosting needs (Image credit: Apex Hosting)Apex Hosting plans and pricing

Apex Hosting offers 14 Minecraft packages with the most budget-friendly plan starting at $5.99 for the first month (renewing at $7.99). For the price, you get 2GB RAM which Apex explains is good for basic servers and some modpacks.

To be able to confidently enjoy all modpacks imaginable, opt for the 8GB RAM package which costs $20.99 for the first month recurring at $27.99. In all cases, there’s a discount for committing to paying quarterly but this is still a little pricier than some game server alternatives.

The most expensive option offers 32GB RAM for $77.99 for the first month, increasing to $103.99. All plans offer unlimited player slots, dedicated live chat support, full DDoS protection, automated backups, a free subdomain, one-click pack installers, and unlimited storage.

Another option is to sign up for the Ex Series which has 16GB RAM but also a more powerful server with the Ryzen 9 5900X 4.8GHz, NVMe SSDs, free premium support, and a free dedicated IP.

Although there is no free trial, Apex Hosting provides a 7-day money-back guarantee, which is always handy to have.  As for payment methods, Apex Hosting accepts credit/debit cards, and PayPal.

Ease of use

With so many Minecraft server plans, it's pretty easy to figure out what will work best for you. They all offer unlimited player slots but you will be somewhat limited by the RAM available to you. Fortunately, users have the flexibility to change their chosen plan at any time, so if one plan doesn’t fit your bill, there is probably another one that will. However, if neither of them work for you, don’t forget about their money-back guarantee.

After choosing your server, you’ll have to configure some details about it (billing cycle, your Minecraft username, server version and optional subdomain) and decide if you want to include a few add-ons for extra cash (plugin installations, permissions setup, dedicated IP or premium support). Oddly, there are only two options in regard to the billing cycle (monthly and quarterly) with a saving of 10% when you commit to quarterly. After this, you’ll have to provide your personal information, pick out a payment method, create a password and proceed to checkout.

This is Apex Hosting's customized Multicraft control panel (Image credit: Apex Hosting)

Since Apex Hosting utilizes a customized version of easy-to-use Multicraft as its control panel, keeping your server running and managing all of its aspects should become a straightforward experience in no time. In addition to that, video guides are found only a click away, as is one-click modpack installer, all of which is sure to make things even easier.

Another noteworthy feature that is included with every package is automated backups, which will ensure the safety of your Minecraft world.

We used GTmetrix to test the uptime and response time of our Apex Hosting server (Image credit: GTmetrix)Speed and experience

While boasting (and rightfully so) about hosting over 200,000 Minecraft servers and having the best support in the whole industry (which should be put under question), Apex Hosting brings up  their dedicated hardware features such as “high clock speed” CPUs and the use of SSDs. This should indicate high TPS and lag-free servers for all of their customers. To check out the speed of their servers we tested the performance of their main website with GTmetrix as our tool. The results we got were pretty promising, with all the vital web metrics being above the average and rated with a conclusive grade of an A (100%).

Apex Hosting promises a 99.9% uptime and, as reported by UptimeRobot, it is very likely that you’ll be able to uphold it. We monitored Apex Hosting’s main website for more than a month and were presented with a report showing an impeccable 100% of uptime, which came as a welcome surprise. Not a second of downtime was recorded and while there were several oscillations in response time, they should have no substantial impact on the overall performance.

Support

Although we were rather skeptical about Apex Hosting’s claims to have “the best support in the industry” we decided to give them a chance to prove us wrong. Their customer support is available 24/7 through tickets and live chat, which they seem to take great pride in. From our perspective, chat seems well-organized and functions as a one-stop-solution for most of the problems one might encounter along the way. A support agent we got in touch with responded within five minutes and provided us with everything we wanted to know in a very kind way. If you are using some of the same social platforms they are active on, you can try to reach them there as well.

You can find answers to common web hosting and Minecraft server-related questions in Apex Hosting's knowledgebase (Image credit: Apex Hosting)

If you prefer finding solutions on your own, Apex Hosting’s knowledgebase should probably be your first stop, although their YouTube channel shouldn’t be overlooked since it offers a decent number of easy-to-follow video guides.

The competition

Both Shockbyte and Apex Hosting tend to get high on the majority of “best Minecraft host” lists, and rightfully so. While Shockbyte has more server options in general, a longer list of features and all at a budget-friendly price, Apex Hosting is stronger in terms of customer support.

BisectHosting is another provider determined to make a Minecraft server hosting experience as easy as possible, much like Apex Hosting does. However, BisectHosting is slightly stronger in terms of package options, features and included add-ons, while Apex Hosting provides superior support to its customers. Additionally the daily backups you’ll get with Apex Hosting are a great bonus.

Another difference between the two is the availability of web hosting options (shared hosting, VPS and dedicated server hosting) you have with BisectHosting, but not with Apex Hosting, since it’s focusing on Minecraft. Another web hosting alternative and quite a popular one, would be Bluehost, since in addition to attractive pricing, it provides a full range of hosting services capable of responding to most needs.

Another good (and beginner-friendly) choice for those looking to launch their own website would be HostGator. Besides everything one would expect from a well-known host, they offer their own easy-to-use website builder with all of their shared hosting plans (even the cheapest one) and a 45-day money-back guarantee with “no questions asked”.

Final verdict

There are several reasons behind Apex Hosting’s growing popularity among Minecraft fans, including a variety of server options and total control over it. When we add fast and lag-free performance, backups and DDoS protection, simple-to-use control panel and first-class support to the deal, it’s really hard to say “no” to Apex Hosting.

Although the money-back guarantee is valid for only seven days and might not seem particularly generous, it is actually a bit longer than what is found with some of the company's Minecraft-focused competitors. For a usual 30-day one, you can try out Hostinger, which is one of top web hosting providers out there, with and without Minecraft.

However, if you are on the lookout for a reputable and reliable host for your website and don’t even know how you ended up here in the first place, don’t miss out on checking Bluehost and HostGator.

The Dabbsson DBS1000 Pro portable power station provides 2000W of inverter power in a compact footprint. The base unit features a 1000Wh battery that can be expanded to 5kWh with additional packs. The unit has four fans and is quiet enough to work in an office environment. It supports a handy UPS mode, where the AC output switches from the grid to the battery in under 15ms, ensuring uninterrupted office work.

It has all the bells and whistles that the competition offers: a super-fast charger, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support, and a sleek mobile app for remote operation. With the addition of a battery pack, the inverter's output power increases to 2400W, a feature not found in similar products. The DBS1000 comes with a powerful front flashlight to help in roadside emergencies and supports three types of charging.

Dabbsson DBS1000: Price and Availability

The Dabbson DBS1000 carries an MSRP of $899 and is on special for $541 for a limited time. The 2kWh battery expansion, which usually costs $1499, is available at a reduced price of $1099 also for a limited time. Other product variants include two DBS1000s with a parallel connector box that increases the output inverter power and battery capacity. This combination is discounted to $1700 from an MSRP of $2549.

(Image credit: Future)Dabbsson DBS1000: Design

The Dabbsson DBS1000 ships with one AC cord and two DC cables for car and solar charging. A user manual and a warranty card complete the package. The unit is compact, measuring 43 cm x 25 cm x 25 cm, which translates to a volume of just under 28 liters. Two large handles on either side of the case help carry the 16kg unit around effortlessly. The top surface is clear of obstructions and can act as a small table, making it ideal for resting electronic devices such as tablets and phones.

Specifications

Battery chemistry: LiFePO4

Battery capacity: 1024Wh

Number of charge cycles: Over 4000 before 20% drop

AC output power: 2000W, surge 4000W

Number of AC outlets: 4

Number of USB sockets: 3 Type A, 3 Type C

Number of 12V sockets: 1 XT60, 1 Cigar lighter, 2 DC 5521

Number of extra battery ports: 2, total of 5120Whr

AC inverter efficiency: 90%

Number of power inputs: 3

Fastest charge time: 1 hour

Additional features: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, flashlight

Weight: 16kg

The user interface features a large LCD on the front panel. The high-contrast display is easily visible from a distance of a few meters. The remaining battery capacity, input and output power consumption, and warnings such as low battery are displayed clearly. User interaction is straightforward through push buttons located near the output sections, which illuminate when activated.

The DBS1000 features four AC power sockets that can supply over 2000W with a 4000W surge capacity. The unit also allows the power limit to exceed 2000W for longer durations through the P-Boost mode when not charging. The P-Boost mode is compatible only with resistive devices, such as electrical heaters, as the AC output voltage can vary depending on the available thermal margin.

The Dabbsson station provides nine low-voltage DC outputs. Six USB ports, organized as three Type-A and three Type-C ports, give the user multiple options to charge devices, such as smartphones and laptops. Two Type-Cs support up to 100W in PD mode, while two Type-As can fast charge at 18W. The remaining three DC outputs are all 12V, consisting of a 120W cigar outlet and two DC5521, each supporting 50W. The DC and AC outputs have a combined power budget of 2200W.

Dabbsson DBS1000: In Use

A short press on the power button activates the unit. The LCD shows status information, including battery capacity and whether any protection features have been triggered. The display will turn off after five minutes if the station remains unused to conserve power, and it will resume operation when a load is connected. To turn off the unit, a long press on the power button is required.

The DBS1000 has a fast AC charger that supports input power of up to 1200W. DC charging through solar panels, with a similar power rating, is also available. Considering the unit’s 90% efficiency, the station will fully charge the 1000Wh battery in under one hour. The power station can accept a DC voltage of up to 60V at a maximum of 25A, representing six 200W solar cells arranged in a 3-series x 2-parallel configuration.

Any abnormal behavior triggers a self-protection mechanism that turns off the input and output ports. For example, the input current can remain above 20A for an extended period, triggering the overload protection. The app shows a pop-up explaining the issue. The user can then decide to continue charging by clearing the fault.

Dabbsson's mobile app is available on both Android and iOS platforms. Once installed, the next step is to enable pairing by pressing the IOT button on the station. The DBS1000 should be detected automatically and added to the app homepage. The optional firmware update may appear as a single step during the initial setup. The final step is to enable Wi-Fi, which allows for full remote access to the unit.

(Image credit: Future)Dabbsson DBS1000: The competition

The DBS1000 has plenty of competition. The Jackery Solar Generator 1000 possesses features similar to those of the DBS1000. With a 1000Wh battery capacity and a comparable number of output sockets, the Jackery 1000 lacks a mobile app and is non-expandable. It also cannot sustain the same output power as the DBS1000. Finally, the Dabbsson station is less expensive than Jackery’s offering, with a price tag of $999 compared to $1899 for the Jackery.

Dabbsson DBS1000: Final Verdict

The Dabbsson DBS1000 sets the bar high in terms of inverter power and battery capacity, all within a small footprint, and at a reasonable price. For a little less than $1000, the unit offers a 2000W AC inverter that can easily reach 4000W for short durations on a 1 kWh battery capacity. Having a way to increase battery capacity with extra modules is also a great option.

The unit offers multiple charging options, including solar or car DC input, an AC socket, and an additional battery port. The DBS1000 features include a UPS mode, fast charging, Wi-Fi, and an emergency light, making it an ideal companion for the road.

Buy the DBS1000 if you want a low-cost compact power station with an option to expand the battery capacity.

We've listed the best Uninterruptible Power Supply.

Developer Leenzee’s Wuchang: Fallen Feathers surprised me in the most pleasant of ways. Going into the soulslike action role-playing game (RPG) for review, I was expecting a competent game that would ultimately struggle to stand out in the space, similar to a Lords of the Fallen or Mortal Shell. What I found instead was a deeply and constantly compelling action game that I consider to be the best soulslike game since 2023’s exceptional Lies of P.

Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Release date: July 24, 2025

A dark take on the Ming Dynasty era of Chinese history, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers tells a shockingly grim tale, replete with themes of cyclical violence, abduction, forced marriage, and no shortage of grotesque body horror.

All this sets the backdrop to what is an incredibly refreshing soulslike experience. The game has that classic, Dark Souls-style level design, offering plenty to explore and multiple areas you can branch off into at any given time. Combat also has shades of Bloodborne, greatly rewarding evasion over blocking, and featuring a relatively careful selection of weapons that all pack their own unique skills.

Add in the fact that you can respec your skill tree limitlessly and for free, and you also have a game that encourages you to mix up your style frequently. Some levels and bosses, for example, are best countered with specific weapons, skills, status afflictions, and so on. Whenever I got stuck on a particularly demanding boss fight, I usually found that a few tweaks to the skill tree could make a world of difference.

Difficulty-wise, it’s not the hardest soulslike ever, and if you’ve cut your teeth on rock-hard titles like Lies of P, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, or Nioh 2, you’ll be well-prepared for the horrors in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. That’s not to say it’s a cakewalk, though.

A handful of bosses will certainly stop you in your tracks, and levels will typically have one or two key hazards to be aware of. Sometimes Wuchang takes this a little too far; two different flavors of poison swamp in a row is a bit much, one level is littered with landmines that are needlessly difficult to spot, and the final area (without spoiling anything, of course) is an exercise in pure unbridled frustration to the point where I actually needed to get up and go out for a walk before I realized the temptation to hurl my DualSense into orbit.

Even still, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is one of those rare instances where, after rolling credits, I immediately wanted to play through it again. And thanks to the game supporting New Game Plus at launch, it’s easy to dive right back in, chasing down its multiple endings with all your gear, skills, and levels intact.

Hope is the thing with feathers

(Image credit: 505 Games)

You play as the titular Wuchang, a formidable pirate warrior who, at the start of the game, has been struck with a bout of amnesia. Unfortunately, that’s the least of her worries, as she’s also been afflicted with a disease known as the Feathering - an excruciatingly painful malady that drives people to madness, beasthood, and things even worse than that.

Wuchang is a special case, as she’s able to harness Feathering to bolster her combat prowess. In gameplay, this primarily comes in two forms - Skyborn Might and the Madness gauge. I’ve been over both in my original Wuchang: Fallen Feathers hands-on, but I’ll explain further why they’re now some of my all-time favorite soulslike mechanics.

Skyborn Might is a combat resource you can accrue in several ways, up to a maximum of five stacks. The main method of building it up is to perform a ‘shimmer,’ which is essentially a well-timed dodge that completely negates damage. The game’s five weapon types - longswords, axes, spears, one-handed swords, and dual blades - also all have their own ways of building Skyborn Might once you unlock them in the skill tree (more on that later).

Best bit

(Image credit: 505 Games)

I was constantly impressed by the level design in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. There’s plenty to explore in each level, shortcuts are handled smartly, and there’s occasionally multiple major areas you can branch off into if you’re struggling to make progress and fancy a change of scenery. In that sense, it reminds me somewhat of how the original Dark Souls handled its level design back in 2011.

Longswords, for example, grant a charge upon hitting an enemy with the second attack in the light attack combo string. One-handed swords can build it automatically over time. Spears, meanwhile, have their own resource that can be converted into multiple Skyborn Might stacks if played effectively.

So, what is Skyborn Might for? It has two main uses. Your weapon comes equipped with two skills - one signature skill unique to that weapon, and another known as a Discipline, which you can unlock on the skill tree. Discipline skills can be applied to any weapon in their respective family, and each weapon type has around three or four skills you can unlock, not dissimilar to the Nioh series’ unlockable moves.

If you’re running a magic-focused build, Skyborn Might is also used to cast spells. This is an approach that I really love. Wuchang has no separate magic bar that you need to keep on top of, a la Dark Souls 3 or Elden Ring. Instead, you’ll need to decide how to best spend your Skyborn Might charges; do you go all-in on the offensive with your weapon skills, or hang back with spells? It’s an elegant system that rewards a careful balance of offense and defense.

Going berserk

(Image credit: 505 Games)

The Madness gauge, meanwhile, is decidedly more complex. Madness builds up when you die or kill humanoid enemies, and decreases when killing enemies afflicted with Feathering. There are thresholds at 50% and 90%, at which point Wuchang’s eyes glow red, and you can make use of Madness-related abilities unlocked via the skill tree. To get to these thresholds, you can also make use of certain items that boost the amount of Madness you have.

It’s a risk/reward system, though. If you reach full Madness, you’ll both deal and take more damage. And if you die while fully maddened, a dangerous demon will manifest where you last dropped your level-up currency (called Red Mercury in this game).

During my initial preview, I felt this mechanic could get frustrating and tiresome. After all, introducing another powerful enemy to an already-frustrating section is bound to go south, right? What I didn’t know back then is that the demon attacks indiscriminately, meaning it can be used to your advantage to distract or take down powerful foes.

(Image credit: Leenzee Games)

I now think this is an ingenious inclusion; while the demon doesn’t spawn in boss fights, if you’re stuck on a particularly tough area or elite enemy, it can lend an involuntary helping hand and grant you much-needed room to breathe. Killing the demon will also reset your Madness to zero, so there’s still a choice in whether you want to engage it or not, depending on the type of play style you’re going for.

Madness initially seems like something you wouldn’t want to deal with, but when managed right, it becomes a powerful tool and a certified ace up Wuchang’s sleeve. Like many things in the game, it’s all about balance. Madness can be risky, but the power it grants Wuchang shouldn’t be ignored, especially for the game’s more challenging encounters.

Dressed for the occasion

(Image credit: Leenzee Games)

There are plenty of ways to make Wuchang more capable throughout your playthrough, which is where the skill tree comes in. Leveling up in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is a bit different than your average soulslike. You still get currency for leveling and buying items upon defeating enemies, but you’ll instead convert that currency into Red Mercury Essence, which are effectively skill points.

The skill tree in Wuchang is pretty sizable and divided into six main branches - one for each weapon type, and another for ancillary features like improving healing flask potency and unlocking powerful Madness-related buffs. The skill tree is still dotted with upgrades for your main stats (including health, stamina, weapon, and magic attack power), but you’ll also spend your points on new abilities, ability modifiers, and bone needle items, which can be used to temporarily add a status element to your weapon.

It seems a bit intimidating at first, but remember, you can reset skill points whenever you desire by resting at a shrine (this game’s equivalent of bonfires or sites of grace - effectively, checkpoints). Resetting is completely free, and you can choose to either refund all skill points or just a few to put somewhere else.

(Image credit: 505 Games)

What this means, then, is that you are strongly encouraged to mix up your skill point distribution from time to time, and Wuchang’s level and boss design back this up. Some bosses, for example, can be made much easier by unlocking the longsword’s Deflect discipline, which can parry weapon-based attacks. Deflect is powerful, but it’s not universal, and won’t work against spells or enemies that attack with, say, their hands.

Wuchang also places great importance on status effects and being able to resist them. In most soulslikes, status effects can be a mild annoyance, but Wuchang often expects you to have an answer to them. One area, for example, is set on a chilly mountain, and Wuchang will gradually accrue Frostbite while here. To combat this and other status effects, you can ingest status-fighting items or pieces of armor made with those resistances in mind.

The game can occasionally lean into this a bit too much for my liking, though. Having two flavors of ‘poison swamp’ style areas back to back is certainly a choice. Moreover, one very annoying enemy type builds up Despair when in view, instantly killing Wuchang should it fill up. Then there’s the game’s final area, which may as well be the final boss of all poison swamps, complemented by relentlessly hostile enemies with massive pools of health.

No spoilers, of course, but this one area was a bit of a black mark on the whole experience for me, and its massive size definitely made it outstay its welcome as I found myself begging and pleading for it all to be over.

An exceptional soulslike experience

(Image credit: 505 Games)

Even with that final area almost making me want to commit to the life of a hermit, it did not completely spoil what has been one of my favorite gaming experiences of the year. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is an expertly crafted soulslike with some of the subgenre’s most impressive level design. It’s so rare for these types of games to instill the same wonder that makes FromSoftware’s output so special, but I was always so curious to see what Wuchang had in store around each and every corner.

Areas are also punctuated by some truly incredible boss fights. There’s a good variety here, too, from nimble humanoid warriors to hulking monstrosities. These encounters are where Wuchang’s phenomenal soundtrack shines, too. One boss later in the game really caught me off guard with a blistering metal track that nonetheless felt perfectly in place given the boss’s appearance and context.

If you swear by soulslikes as one of your favorite kinds of gaming experiences, then Wuchang: Fallen Feathers might just land on your personal game of the year list, because it’s certainly found a place on mine.

Should I play Wuchang: Fallen Feathers?

(Image credit: Leenzee Games)Play it if…

You want old-school Souls-inspired level design
Wuchang’s areas are impressively broad, with critical paths that aren’t always obvious. That means you’ll be doing plenty of organic exploration, and you might just find yourself wandering into new areas entirely.

You’re after something new from the subgenre
The game has plenty of ideas all its own, most of which are incredibly compelling. The Skyborn Might and Madness systems do wonders for Wuchang’s combat, and you’ll need to master both to overcome the game’s more challenging boss fights.

Don’t play it if…

Status effects really annoy you
Wuchang does not shy away from throwing status afflictions at you at any given chance. The abundance of poison swamps, frostbitten climes, despair-inducing hallways, and corrupted caves will definitely test your patience.

You hate keeping track of NPC questlines
There are a lot of side quests in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, most of which are tied to the game’s many side characters. Sometimes these characters can be quite difficult to find, and if you end up beating an area or boss too early, you risk these quests abruptly coming to an end until your next playthrough.

Accessibility

Dedicated accessibility settings for audio and visuals are unfortunately minimal in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers at launch, including the lack of colorblind options. You can choose to display the game’s control scheme on-screen, and you can fully remap controls to your liking in the settings menu. But there isn’t anything noteworthy beyond that.

How I reviewed Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

I played Wuchang: Fallen Feathers from start to finish on PlayStation 5, with my first playthrough clocking in at just shy of 36 hours. That included defeating the vast majority of the game’s bosses (both mandatory and optional), thorough exploration of each area, and the completion of most side quests. I’m now well into my second playthrough on New Game Plus, which carries over your levels, skill tree progress, and equipment.

I played primarily with the DualSense Wireless Controller on an LG CX OLED TV, occasionally hooking up my RIG 900 Max HS gaming headset to experience the game’s fantastic music and ambient sound design.

First reviewed July 2025

Review information

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
Release date: June 5, 2025

Namco’s Ridge Racer is my favorite racing game series of all time. A stellar blend of arcade drifting, superb visuals, and vibes-driven soundtracks have made it a legendary racing franchise, particularly with entries like Ridge Racer Type 4 for the original PlayStation, and Ridge Racer 6 on Xbox 360 - both of which remain my favorites in the series to this day.

It’s a franchise that has been long-dormant to my chagrin, with the last mainline entry - Ridge Racer Unbounded - coming from FlatOut and Wreckfest developer Bugbear Entertainment in 2012. And honestly, the less said about that game, the better.

Now, developer Hamster has injected some life into the series once again, with a fantastic port of the original Ridge Racer for Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer is a package featuring the 1993 arcade version of the game, with a handful of modes and plenty of settings for customizing your experience.

It is very light in the content department, though. You’re not getting anything like Type 4’s 300+ cars or Ridge Racer 7’s tremendous campaign. As you might expect for an arcade racer of its time, you’re getting one track, a single car, and a half-dozen music tracks. If that relative lack of content is an issue, you might want to give Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer a miss.

That’s not to say that there aren't at least a few things to do. The track varies and extends based on your selected difficulty, as well as the car’s top speed. The ‘Original’ mode packs in plenty of customizable options to tailor your experience, and chasing online leaderboard times is a moreish endeavor. For $16.99 / £14.99, there’s a good amount on offer for the low cost of entry.

Slide through the curves

(Image credit: Hamster Co.)

Ridge Racer is perhaps the arcade racing game in its purest form. Similar to peers like Daytona USA, you’re tasked with completing a number of laps, while doing your best to pass other cars and hit checkpoints within the time limit, thus granting you a time extension - valuable seconds needed to continue the race.

Ridge Racer comes in four flavors of difficulty, each changing things up quite significantly. Novice offers a simplified course layout over two laps. Intermediate is the same course extended to three laps with a higher top speed. Advanced includes the full course layout, while Time Trial (shortened to T.T. in-game) pits you against a single driver on the full course with an even higher top speed.

Even though there’s just one track, it’s a visual treat even today, and it’s impressive just how much variety is packed into a single circuit. The full course takes you through a city, beachside resort, construction site, countryside, and more over just a couple of minutes. Lovely environmental touches like planes flying overhead and the time of day gradually shifting make for an atmospheric racing experience, too. Blasting through it all at around 220km/h is a real treat, especially once you’ve nailed down the drifting and handling.

Drifting, in particular, is definitely the pioneering gameplay feature of the Ridge Racer series, and that started as early as this first entry. The trick is to let go of the throttle and feather the brakes while turning, thus whipping your car around tight corners without losing much speed.

Nailing it here feels incredibly satisfying, especially when the game punishes you with quite severe speed loss if you hit a wall or another driver. Drifting would be refined in future entries, but it's impressive how good of a job Namco did in this first outing.

Drift into the lead

(Image credit: Hamster Co.)

So what other modes are on offer in Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer? If you want to challenge the online leaderboards, there are a few ways to do so. Hi Score Mode is a true-to-arcade experience where you must achieve the best race time you can on a single credit.

Caravan Mode has you racing for five minutes straight, with your score recorded in distance traveled. In both Hi Score and Caravan, you’re also able to choose your difficulty, each of which has its own leaderboard. Finally, Time Attack Mode is a gauntlet that has you setting times in each of the game’s four difficulties consecutively.

Best bit

(Image credit: Hamster Co.)

Chasing down faster times in the game’s various online leaderboards is a shockingly addictive experience. This is where most of the replay value lies, too, especially as there’s just a single track to race on that evolves depending on the difficulty you select.

There’s a good amount to do, then, if you’re a high score chaser, and plenty of varied ways to go about it. What you might notice, though, is that outside of Original Mode, track position doesn’t really matter. It’s all about going as fast as you can, setting the fastest times, or going as much distance as you possibly can.

Original Mode is the most malleable of the bunch. It’s the most casual of the modes, offering save states, and is the only mode that actually pauses when you hit the pause button. You’ll also have the option of playing Japanese or English ‘SD’ or ‘DX’ ROMs, with the only major difference being DX’s addition of a clutch button, mimicking the arcade cabinet releases.

There are plenty of settings, too. Full button layout customization is offered, as well as various display settings, including wallpapers for the 4:3 resolution, screen layout with the option for widescreen, and various CRT filters (though I much preferred to play without these for cleaner image quality).

You can also choose from six distinct music tracks before loading into a race. Ridge Racer is known for routinely having some of the best soundtracks to grace the genre, though I can’t say that’s the case in this first entry.

The rave-inspired music ranges from tolerable to borderline insufferable, and had me pining for the pristine blend of funk, house, and UK garage found in Ridge Racer Type 4. Though special mention does have to be given to Speedster - Track 5 - which houses an iconic sample that's also used in the Jet Set Radio soundtrack. That's plus points in my book.

Ridge Racer also has the dishonor of featuring what is perhaps the series’ most irritating announcer. Delivering lines with the overly charismatic cadence of an American game show host, you’ll hear “hey, somebody’s right on your tail!” countless times during a single race.

Should you play Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer?Play it if...

You want an authentic arcade racer experience
Ridge Racer was arguably the breakout arcade racer of its day, and while it lacks the wealth of content enjoyed by its many sequels, there’s a purity here that’s hard to find in contemporary racing games.

You love the thrill of online leaderboards
Chasing the best times possible in Ridge Racer is where most of its fun lies. The game is perfect for quick pick-up-and-play sessions, especially on the Switch 2’s handheld mode.

Don't play it if...

You were expecting more content
As mentioned, a single track and car is a far cry from what future Ridge Racer games would offer. I’m seriously hoping for a full-fledged series compilation release in the future, because this original game is definitely the series in its most basic form.

Accessibility

There aren’t really any contemporary accessibility options in Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer. Being able to adjust screen and button layouts depending on your preferences is nice, but there’s not a whole lot beyond that.

How I reviewed Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer

I’ve clocked in four hours of playtime in Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer so far. That’s more than enough to experience each of its modes many times over, and most of that time was spent climbing the online leaderboards for each mode.

I played the game on Nintendo Switch 2, using the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller to play in docked mode. Though the vast majority of my playtime was spent in handheld mode, usually on lunch breaks or just before settling in for the night.

For many, much of our day-to-day life is now handled online, including financial management, shopping, family connections, work collaboration, and more. While digital technology offers numerous advantages, it also poses multiple security risks that threaten users both financially and personally.

Today's cybercriminals are constantly refining their tactics, deploying increasingly sophisticated attacks, including phishing scams, data breaches, and ransomware threats. These menacing strategies aim not only at financial theft but also often target our most sensitive data, leading to a cascade of complications that can significantly disrupt our lives.

This is where a dedicated identity theft protection service, like NordProtect, becomes invaluable. Acting as a real-time shield against potential threats, it provides proactive monitoring that continually watches over your personal information around the clock.

Picture receiving rapid alerts at the first hint of suspicious activity; this timely response can make all the difference in mitigating damage before it spirals out of control.

But it doesn't end there. Comprehensive recovery assistance provided by these services ensures that if the worst does happen, you're not navigating the aftermath alone. Specialists work with you to recover compromised accounts, restore your credit, and rebuild your digital identity, guiding you through each step with expertise and support.

NordProtect: Something new

Nord Security, the company behind the popular NordVPN, first introduced NordProtect in late 2023. At the time, it was only offered as part of NordVPN’s Prime plan in the U.S. In early 2025, however, the company expanded its availability, and NordProtect became available as a standalone product.

NordProtect: Plans and pricing

NordProtect offers three primary subscription levels: Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The first is the basic plan and includes features like dark web monitoring, credit monitoring (TransUnion), VantageScore 3.0 credit score, credit freeze assistance, identity theft recovery ($1M), cyber extortion protection ($50K), online fraud coverage ($10K), cyber attack coverage ($10K), malware breach alerts, and criminal records monitoring.

The mid-priced Gold plan includes all the features of the Silver plan, plus the NordVPN service and Threat Protection Pro. The premium Platinum plan is the most comprehensive, offering all the features of Silver and Gold, along with NordVPN, Threat Protection Pro, and a personal data removal service (Incogni).

You can purchase a subscription on a monthly, yearly, or two-year basis. There are discounts available on annual and two-year plans for the first year, and all plans come with a 30-day unconditional guarantee.

(Image credit: Future)

At the time of this writing, two-year subscriptions will save 63% off the regular price, with Silver costing $132 for the first 24 months, Gold at $204, and Platinum at $288. One-year packages are available with a 50% discount, priced at $90 for Silver, $126 for Gold, and $168 for Platinum. There’s no discount when paying for the NordProtect service on a monthly basis. For this, you’ll pay $15.49 for Silver, $21.49 for Gold, and $28.49 for Platinum.

Please note that prices for the year- and two-year plans revert to the regular price after the completion of the first term.

For this review, I opened a Platinum subscription.

NordProtect: Key features and offerings

NordProtect delivers a complete  suite of security  features that protect  personal information and enable  recovery from security  breaches with exact precision. The service delivers three core security components that monitor activity continuously and provide immediate alerts, together with financial protection, which form an integrated defense system for total identity security.

The NordProtect dark web monitoring service operates 24/7 to provide you with exceptional protection. The service  scans continuously through illegal online  marketplaces as well  as forums and  underground communities to detect  any leaked personal  data, such as email addresses, phone numbers, and  Social Security numbers.  You would receive immediate notifications when your information is compromised through this service, allowing you to react promptly and reduce potential security threats.

(Image credit: Future)

The credit monitoring service of NordProtect works in conjunction with TransUnion to provide you with financial protection features. This feature detects financial identity threats, including unauthorized account inquiries and new accounts opened using your personal information. The system provides detailed monthly reports on VantageScore 3.0 credit scores, as well as immediate alerts about potential fraudulent activities, helping you maintain continuous awareness of your financial situation.

The core strength of NordProtect is its outstanding identity theft recovery support system. When identity theft occurs, you are protected by up to $1 million in insurance coverage for such incidents. This coverage extends to eligible expenses, including legal fees, lost wages due to identity theft, and mental health counseling costs. The identity restoration process is supported by dedicated case managers who provide personalized assistance throughout your recovery journey. The service guides you in freezing your credit and helps you navigate the complex task of restoring your credit score.

The identity protection service NordProtect stands out because it includes both cyber extortion protection and online fraud coverage as exclusive features. The cyber extortion protection provides up to  $50,000 for expert assistance  and possible ransom  payments that occur when  cybercriminals threaten to reveal or erase  personal data.

NordProtect: Interface and in use

After extensive testing and hands-on experience with NordProtect, I found it to be remarkably user-friendly and intuitive. The primary access point is through a web-based dashboard within your Nord Account, which I appreciated for its centralized design. It allows for easy management and monitoring of various identity protection features, viewing alerts, and customizing settings—all without the need to download a separate application.

Being able to access NordProtect directly from a web browser significantly enhances its convenience. Additionally, I discovered that if you’re already a NordVPN Prime subscriber, you can seamlessly integrate these features into your existing Nord Account, which is a bonus.

During my testing across different devices and operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, I was impressed by the broad compatibility. This flexibility ensures that I can manage my identity protection effortlessly, regardless of whether I'm using my desktop or mobile device. Overall, my thorough evaluation confirms that NordProtect offers a solid solution for identity management.

The main drawback of NordProtect’s interface design stems from the separate methods users need to access NordVPN and Incogni. The NordVPN service is available with both Gold and Platinum subscriptions, whereas Incogni is only accessible through the Platinum plan. These software  solutions operate independently and use different  access methods. For example, users need to download the NordVPN app on their devices to access the service. The back-and-forth process between these services might create confusion for some users.

(Image credit: Future)

For some,  using Incogni could complicate things further. Nord Threat Protection Pro, which is part of NordVPN, and Incogni operate as separate services from Nord Security. They provide distinct yet supportive solutions for online privacy and security. Nord Threat Protection Pro provides real-time  protection against immediate online  threats. The digital  shield protects your browsing experience  by blocking malware , phishing sites  , ads, and trackers  regardless of VPN  status. The system exists to prevent dangerous content from ever reaching your system.

Incogni specializes in proactive data removal from data broker databases. Through automated  contact with brokers,  Incogni removes your personal  data, including names  , addresses, phone numbers, and financial records. Incogni operates  as a system that  tracks your data while sending periodic  deletion requests to minimize  your digital presence and protect you  from spam, scams , and identity theft. 

The bottom line: Nord Threat Protection Pro stops new threats from entering, but Incogni removes existing data exposure, creating a comprehensive protection system when used together.

NordProtect: Support

Nord offers comprehensive customer support primarily through its robust online Help Center, which features extensive FAQs, tutorials, and troubleshooting guides covering various topics, including account management, billing, connectivity, and app usage. For more personalized assistance, customers can readily access 24/7 live chat support, which is recommended for urgent issues due to its typically quick response times.

Alternatively, for more complex inquiries or when immediate assistance isn't critical, customers can opt for email support, with responses usually provided within a few hours. These support channels are often accessible directly through Nord's websites and even within their applications, ensuring convenient access for users. While traditional phone support or call centers are not typically offered, Nord's combination of self-help resources and direct messaging options aims to provide thorough and accessible support for its diverse customer base.

NordProtect: The competition

In the competitive landscape of identity theft protection, NordProtect faces several established rivals.

Aura stands out as a strong competitor, often lauded for its comprehensive catch-all service, which provides extensive identity monitoring, including home and auto titles, financial accounts, and criminal records. Aura also frequently bundles additional cybersecurity perks, such as a VPN, password manager, and antivirus.

LifeLock by Norton is another major player, known for its strong identity theft insurance, often offering up to $3 million in coverage across personal expense reimbursements, stolen funds, and legal fees. While NordProtect focuses on TransUnion for credit monitoring, LifeLock offers three-bureau credit monitoring in its higher-tier plans, providing a broader view of credit activity.

Identity Guard is a direct competitor that offers in-depth monitoring and credit tracking, with its top-tier plans including three-bureau credit monitoring.

IDShield distinguishes itself by providing up to $3 million in identity theft insurance and assigning licensed private investigators to identity theft cases, as well as monitoring court and public records.

Lastly, IdentityForce offers a good balance of features, including a personal identity safety score and a customized action plan, and provides up to $2 million in identity theft insurance.

While NordProtect is a newer entrant backed by a strong cybersecurity reputation and often bundled with other Nord Security products, its competitors frequently offer more extensive multi-bureau credit monitoring and, in some cases, broader family plan options. credit monitoring and, in some cases, broader family plan options.

NordProtect: Final verdict

NordProtect, launched by Nord Security in late 2023, has evolved from being part of NordVPN’s Prime plan to a standalone identity theft protection service available since early 2025. It offers Silver, Gold, and Platinum subscription tiers, with monthly, yearly, and two-year payment options, as well as discounts for annual and biennial plans during the initial term. All plans are backed by a 30-day unconditional guarantee.

The service provides a comprehensive suite of security features, including 24/7 dark web monitoring, credit monitoring in partnership with TransUnion, and identity theft recovery support, which includes up to $1 million in insurance coverage. Notably, NordProtect also provides cyber extortion protection (up to $50,000) and online fraud coverage.

Users primarily access NordProtect through a web-based dashboard within their Nord Account, which is user-friendly and compatible across various devices and operating systems. While centralized access is convenient, a minor point of friction arises from the separate access methods required for bundled services, such as NordVPN (included in Gold and Platinum plans) and Incogni (exclusive to Platinum). Nord Threat Protection Pro, available with Gold and Platinum, complements Incogni (Platinum only) by preventing new threats and addressing existing data exposure.

NordProtect provides comprehensive customer support through an online Help Center, 24/7 live chat, and email. However, traditional phone support or call centers are not typically provided.

In the competitive identity theft protection market, NordProtect competes with established players, including Aura, LifeLock by Norton, Identity Guard, IDShield, and IdentityForce. While NordProtect leverages Nord Security's strong cybersecurity reputation, some competitors offer more extensive multi-bureau credit monitoring and a wider range of family plan options. Overall, NordProtect stands as a robust solution for identity management, offering strong protective and recovery capabilities.

Denon AH-C500W: Two-minute review

It’s something of a cliche among tech writers and audio fans to refer to any stem earbuds as a ‘cheap AirPods alternative’, before heaping upon it praise for being just as passable a pair of headphones as Apple’s are, or superior in some arbitrary way. I was almost ready to trot out that same, somewhat tired comparison with the new Denon AH-C500W to be perfectly honest. That was until I realised it was actually incorrect.

Not the part about them being AirPods rivals – you’ve seen the picture at the top of this review, even AirPods’ mom wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between her child and the Denon. And not about them being cheaper either; the AH-C500W do undercut Apple’s options.

No, I’m talking about the new Denon earbuds being superior. The Denon don’t have any unique selling point to beat the AirPods, no untouchable audio quality to keep them competitive, and a price that isn’t actually that cheap, in the grand scheme of things. If you’ve got an Android phone and so can’t use AirPods to anywhere near their full potential, here’s Denon, but if not they’re harder to recommend – and that's coming from me, an AirPods naysayer.

If you’ve not heard of Denon (not to be confused with Danone of yogurt fame), it's a celebrated Japanese audio company mainly focused on larger speakers, soundbars and AV set-ups, but also selling choice premium headphones and earbuds too. In this gilded array the AH-C500W are the odd duck, coming at a much more affordable price point than basically everything else on Denon’s website.

A blast from the past, the C500W use an open-fit ear design. No, not the fully open earbuds that’ve been launching left, right and center throughout 2025, but like AirPods: they sit in your ear but without any tip to wedge it in there. Instead, you cross your fingers and pray to whomever you believe in that they don’t fall out. In my testing the Denon never actually did, but they’d often move around in my outer ear slightly, which would affect music quality – and when I tried to fix it, the oversensitive touch controls would think I’d pressed ‘pause’ and stop my music. Not very handy.

Audio quality is actually fair, at least when you’re at home, but step outdoors into the noisy world and the lack of any kind of noise cancellation will have an audible effect on your listening. Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) isn’t mandatory in earbuds, but open designs block virtually no noise, and I found myself wishing for ear tips to offer some relief from background noise.

Something else missing from the Denon AH-C500W is an app… that does anything truly meaningful. That is to say there is an app, but its only functions are to turn off touch controls or adjust your listening using the most barebones EQ I’ve ever seen.

If there’s anything resoundingly positive to be said for the Denon, it’s the design. AirPods comparisons aside these are sleek-looking, lightweight when in your ear and easy to tote around thanks to the tiny carry case. The latter in particular was a source of joy when going out with the earbuds – sometimes I test buds with huge containers that are a pain to put in my pocket, but not the Denons.

Denon AH-C500W review: Price and release date

(Image credit: Future)

• Unveiled and released in April 2025
• Costs $99 / £99 (roughly AU$209)
• Already available cheaper

The Denon AH-C500W earbuds were announced in April 2025 and went on sale shortly afterwards. They were joined in this release by the AH-C840NCW, a slightly more expensive alternative which comes with ear tips and noise cancellation.

When announced, the buds were given the price of $99 / £99 (roughly AU$209) but three months later at the time of writing this review, the UK price is already down by £10 on Denon’s official website (and not via a sale, but as the default price) so you can pick them up for below RRP very easily.

I’ll save you clicking over to its review; the also-devoid-of-ANC Apple AirPods 4 cost $129 / £129 / AU$219 so they’re only slightly more expensive. That’s not the only competitor at this price point though and the splendid Nothing Ear (a), the Skullcandy Method 360 and Sony WF-C710N all match the Denon (in at least one country each, although in some others they're a hair pricier).

While the Denon AH-C500W are cheaper than the AirPods 4, it wouldn’t be right to refer to them as ‘cheap’ earbuds, and they’d need to cost at least 30% less to be considered budget alternatives.

Denon AH-C500W review: Specs

Drivers

12mm

Active noise cancellation

No

Battery life (ANC off)

7 hours (buds) 25 hours (case)

Weight

4.5g (buds) 50g (case)

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.3

Waterproofing

IPX4

Denon AH-C500W review: Features

(Image credit: Future)

• 7-hour battery life, 25 with case
• No noise cancellation of any kind
• App has few features

Pick up the Denon AH-C500W if you think the AirPods 4’s 5-hour battery life is awful – the Denon doesn’t do an awful lot better, but at least it’s not so noticeably below the class-leaders.

According to Denon’s stats – which I’d back, from my experience – the earbuds will last for 7 hours on a full battery. That’s roughly in line with industry standards, but remember that anything that’s average is worse than literally half of all other options. The charging case brings the full figure up to 24 hours which isn’t amazing either, and actually falls short of Apple, possibly because Denon opted to add wireless charging support instead of a bigger battery.

In the ‘Features’ section of our reviews, we generally talk about earbuds’ noise cancellation. The C500W doesn’t have any, something I bring up just in case anyone skipped the introduction to this review (no judgement, I sometimes do the same thing). If you use these, expect to hear what’s going on around you.

For the vast majority of my testing time, I used the Denon without a tie-in app, finding that searching ‘Denon’ in the Play Store brought up an AVR remote, and the buds work just fine without an app. Towards the end of the review period I realised that had I simply scrolled down I would have discovered that there actually is an app, called Denon Headphones, which I missed below myriad other apps from the company.

(Image credit: Future)

Downloading the app didn’t actually make much of a difference to my user experience though, and that’s because it doesn’t really add too many perks and features.

Nowhere is that exemplified more than in the equalizer, a feature which many would argue is all but necessary in earbuds these days. It’s the most barebones music customizer I’ve seen, offering a 5-band EQ and no presents, and I needed to slide each band to its extreme to hear even a noticeable difference.

Beyond that you’ve got a way to turn off and on touch controls, and to change some of the triggers (but not all of them), monitor which devices are connected to the buds and turn on LE Audio. Regarding the middle point, the buds offer Multi-point connection so you can use the Denon alongside two phones, tablets or computers at once, which is useful and becoming an industry standard now. Also, they're Auracast ready, another (hopefully) soon-to-be industry standard perk.

The AH-C500W do have one feature I really liked though. There’s wearer detection which you can customize by bud, so you can set up music to pause if you remove, say, the left earbud but not the right one, or only if you remove both buds. As someone who likes the idea of auto-pausing music but finds it annoying that songs stop if I remove one bud just to readjust it or as a polite gesture, this was a wonderful fix.

• Features score: 3.5/5

Denon AH-C500W review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

• Light, compact case and buds
• Unreliable fit due to lack of tip
• Black or white color options

I loved how small the Denon AH-C500W case is, definitely one of the teeniest carry cases I’ve seen in the wireless earbuds realm. It measures 58 x 48 x 28mm, and weighs 50g.

In a rare diversion from the AirPods playbook it’s a short and wide pebble-style case that opens to reveal the whole bud, not just the top, and I find this kind of design makes it easier to remove the bud. The only feature of note is a USB-C charging port on the back.

You can pick up the Denon in either white or black, and both the buds and case come in your chosen hue.

The earbuds weigh 4.5g and they’re dead ringers for AirPods, from their open design which means they hang (relatively) loose in your ear, to the stem which dangles down from your ear, and even down to the fact that the bud is angled slightly along your cheek.

(Image credit: Future)

Copying is largely accepted in the tech world, but I wish Denon had copied from another design playbook than the AirPods’, because the AH-C500W carries over all of the design's shortcomings. With that comment I’m largely looking at the open design, which means the body of the bud is wedged in your ear without a silicon tip or sports loop to keep it in place. A replaceable ear tip can offer some insulation from outside sound and keep an earbud from jostling around in your ear. The lack of it also means that the Denon is susceptible to sound leakage (both from outside to the listener, and from the buds to people nearby) and doesn’t sit particularly still in your ear.

The latter point isn’t horrible, and I’ve tested earbuds (even tip-bearing ones) that are worse, but almost every time I took the C500W for a walk I’d find myself fiddling with them to ensure they were sitting in my ear right – and after 10 minutes of walking they’d have shifted, and I’d have to repeat this process all over again.

The Denon have a touch control that you can press several times or hold for different controls, and the lack of a visual or touch indicator as to where this haptic button is means that you have to get used to the design yourself. And do you remember me saying I had to constantly fiddle with the earbuds in the last paragraph? Yeah – good luck doing so without accidentally pressing the enigmatic ‘pause’ button.

The buds have an IPX4 resistance to water, which makes them sweat-proof but not ready to survive jets of water.

• Design score: 3.5/5

Denon AH-C500W review: Sound quality

• Sole 12mm driver
• Detailed sound, if you can even hear it
• Lots of distortion in certain genres

(Image credit: Future)

The Denon pack 12mm drivers and 2 microphones each. A more intriguing feature present is called Masimo Adaptive Acoustic Technology or Masimo AAT, which Denon previously used in some other of its wireless earbuds. This is mentioned only on Denon’s website right at the bottom, and not in its app or marketing materials, so it’s hard to know what it actually does. Masimo’s own website suggests that it’s a listening test to create a personal listening profile, but no such feature is present in the app.

The audio quality of the AH-C500W is mixed, but that’s a mix of highs and lows. There’s a lot of quality and detail in music – you can hear the timbre and individual strings of a guitar strum, the bowing of a violin – but then there’s also quite a bit of peaking on instruments like hi-hats, acoustic guitars and percussions.

Your mileage with the buds will vary dramatically based on what kind of music you listen to. Certain genres will feed you a cacophony of hisses and hums, with instruments that the Denon distorts too easily, but when listening to other genres I could go for multiple songs without hearing an issue, and while enjoying top-quality music.

The sound profile of the buds is largely neutral, though there’s a more emphatic and pronounced bass than I was expecting given the form factor. That form factor is, at the end of the day, the biggest issue with the AH-C500W’s music quality. However songs sound in a vacuum (or at home), they sound a lot worse when outside noise is leaking in, or when your buds are constantly slipping in your ear to change position.

• Sound quality: 3.5/5

Denon AH-C500W review: Value

(Image credit: Future)

• Not amazing value by default
• Wait for sales to pick up

When I first saw the Denon AH-C500W – and indeed, for the fortnight of testing before I started writing this review – I thought the buds cost about half as much as they actually do.

That’s because I made an assumption based on the feature set, sound quality and design, comparing it to similar traits in other buds on the market, and I presumed that these would cost about £50 / $70 / AU$100. The fact that they actually cost a lot more probably tells you all you need to about their value as a proposition in a hugely congested market.

If you can find them discounted further, the AH-C500W might be worth buying – you don’t have to wait for them to get as low as my presumed price – but at the original retail price, my verdict is that they don’t offer great value for money.

• Value: 3/5

Should I buy the Denon AH-C500W?

(Image credit: Future)Denon AH-C500W score card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

Passable battery life but not many other features to talk about.

3/5

Design

The buds are lovely and lightweight, though they're just not secure in your ear.

3.5/5

Sound quality

Sound is textured and detailed but it peaks often, and that's only when you can hear it in the first place.

3.5/5

Value

You're not getting amazing bang for your buck when you consider other budget options.

3/5

Buy them if…

You have an Android phone
Apple users can buy AirPods which are better for you, but Android owners need alternatives like the Denon.

You only listen in one spot
Bobbing up and down while you walk risks dislodging the Denons, but if you're only ever going to listen while seated at your desk, you'll appreciate the music quality.

You want a slender carry case
I've seen some monster charging cases in my time, ones that'll weigh your trouser pockets like rocks. Not here though.View Deal

Don’t buy them if…

You're not sold on the open design
I found the lack of ear tips infuriating, both for allowing in sound and for letting the buds wobble and move so much..

You need noise cancellation
Very few earbuds nowadays outside of true budget options lack active noise cancellation – just AirPods 4 (and even they have an ANC version nowadays).

Denon AH-C500W review: Also consider

Denon AH-C500W

Nothing Ear (a)

Sony WF-C710N

Denon AH-C840NCW

Drivers

12mm

11mm

5mm

12mm

Active noise cancellation

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Battery life

7 hours (buds) 25 hours (case)

5.5 hours (buds); 24.5 hours (case)

12 hours (buds) 30 hours total (with case)

10 hours (buds) 35 hours (case)

Weight

4.5g (buds) 50g (case)

4.8g (buds); 40g (case)

5.2g (buds); 38g (case)

5.1g (buds) 54g (case)

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.3

Bluetooth 5.3

Bluetooth 5.3

Bluetooth 5.3

Waterproofing

IPX4

IP54

IPX4

IPX4

Nothing Ear (a)
Released at the same price as the Denons, these buds may have a worse battery life but they have a solid feature set, energetic sound and reliable design. There's a reason we gave them a five-star review.

See our full Nothing Ear (a) review

Denon AH-C840NCW
The AH-C500W's contemporary may cost a little more, but it fixes all of the problems of the cheaper buds. The battery life is better, there's noise cancellation and the buds have tips to stick into your ear well. Our review is incoming – watch this space!

How I tested the Denon AH-C500W

• Tested for at least three weeks
• Tested at home, in the office and on walks

I used the Denon AH-C500W for at least three weeks before writing this review, and possibly for a month (I didn't keep track religiously). I tested them alongside their contemporary siblings, the AH-C840NCW.

The buds were paired with my Android smartphone for testing and I used them on apps like Spotify, YouTube, Netflix and certain games during the testing period. Spotify was the main one though. Testing was done at home, around my neighborhood and at the gym.

I've been reviewing audio products for TechRadar for years now, including products made by many of Denon's rivals.

• First reviewed in July 2025

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Boulies EP200: 30-second review

If I asked you to draw a picture of an office chair, I strongly suspect you'd show me something that looked a lot like the Boulies OP300.

To me, it's professional seating well-suited for professional spaces. Now, I’m a big fan of the company’s EP200 office chair (you can read my review here). One of my main issues with it, though, is the limited availability outside the UK. Thankfully, that’s not an issue with the OP300 office chair, which is readily available in both the UK and the US.

With that in mind, I was keen to try out the OP300 - formerly, and briefly, known as the EP300. For what it’s worth, the EP series are for those using an office chair for around six hours a day, while the OP range are aimed at professional settings, gaming, and those using the chair for over eight hours a day. I’m not sure I fully agree with this division. I use the EP200 for at least eight hours a day without fatigue or discomfort. But maybe that’s besides the point.

It’s a smart, all-black ergonomic seat that looks professional and feels comfortable, with plenty of adjustments to find the sweet spot. I spent the last two months trying it out to see how it compares to the best office chairs around.

Boulies OP300: Price & availability

(Image credit: Boulies // Future)

The Boulies OP300 is priced at $370 / £290 - although at the time of review, it’s on sale for $300 / £260 via the Boulies website in the US (click here) and the UK (click here). I’m also seeing it on Amazon.co.uk, under its original name, for the same cost.

I’d suggest the price is about right for what you get here, putting it roughly on par with the likes of the FlexiSpot OC3 and Branch Task Chair as a mid-range professional seating option.

Boulies OP300: Specs

Price (RRP)

$370 / £290

Seat height

19.5 - 23in / 49.5 - 58.5cm

Seat depth

18.1 - 20.3in / 46 - 51.5cm

Seat width

20.7in / 52.5cm

Backrest height

20 - 21.6in / 51 - 55cm

Recommended user height

5’5” - 6’3”

Max weight load

120kg / 265lbs

Material

Back: Mesh / Padded mesh
Seat: Padded foam

Warranty

2 years

Boulies OP300: DesignImage 1 of 3

(Image credit: Boulies // Future)Image 2 of 3

(Image credit: Boulies // Future)Image 3 of 3

(Image credit: Boulies // Future)

There’s something distinctly functional about the design of the OP300 - and that’s no bad thing. It’s a traditional office chair design that will suit every office environment. One look and you can imagine it parked under a hundred desks in an open-plan office just as easily as in the home office.

The chair itself is available with either a mesh or padded mesh backrest (reviewed here) and a cushioned foam seat. Whichever you choose, this is an office chair Henry Ford would understand - like the Model T, you can choose any color you want, “so long as it is black.” And, again, I don’t consider that a drawback for the types of settings this chair is designed for. In fact, I’d argue that this uniformity is exactly what you’d want in the workplace.

The backrest width isn’t quite as wide as the EP200 (approximately 20in vs 19in), but wide enough - and more importantly, supportive enough - to comfortably fit most body types. As is the seat itself, for that matter, which I think it a nice touch. Around the back is a sturdy Y-shape support where backrest height adjustments can be made and that, again, to my eye, looks functional rather than unnecessarily over-designed.

In use, the casters rolled nicely across both wooden flooring and textured carpeting, and while sitting, it didn’t creak or feel unstable. While the plastic is thin in places (notably on that Y-support), it doesn’t feel cheap or prone to break under use.

Boulies OP300: Assembly

Firstly, it’s worth noting that when disassembled in the box, it’s heavy - I'd strongly recommend having two people carry this to its destination. How my delivery guy managed alone to get this from his van to my door is a testament to his strength and sheer tyranny of will. Once in position, it’s an easy one-person job.

I had no issues putting this chair together, taking me around fifteen to twenty minutes to complete the entire procedure. Instructions were clear to follow. Even if you haven’t assembled an office chair before, it all makes sense and is pretty intuitive anyway.

Boulies OP300: Comfort & adjustabilityImage 1 of 3

(Image credit: Boulies // Future)Image 2 of 3

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(Image credit: Boulies // Future)

I have no problems with the amount of comfort delivered here - like the EP200, the broad seat itself feels at once firm and supportive, even with its foamy cushioning.

Now, that may be a deal-breaker for some who prefer to sink into an office chair like it’s a well-loved couch, but I rather prefer this, and it kept me productive (and less sluggish) throughout my use. Although, saying that, the backrest, which reclines between 85 and 113 degrees, felt soft and breathable, and I found it all too easy to snuggle into it.

Having a lot of adjustability is, I feel, critical for any ergonomic chair worth its salt. So, I was pleased to find loads of options to tweak the seat and find that comfortable sweet spot.

First, you can modify the seat depth to make sure you're firmly ensconced with your back against the rest. The armrests move in three directions - up, down, back and forth, and swivel in and out to suit your seating style. And the headrest can be lightly angled and adjusted up or down. So, those are the basic boxes all ticked.

Beneath the seat to the right (as you’re sitting in it) are three levers to alter the chair’s height and angle, and to lock the recline into place. On the left is the lever for adjusting seat depth. These are all operated by flipping the levers up or down, which I really liked. There’s no need to fiddle here, no pushing and pulling and flipping up or swivelling around three times and performing an awkward rain-dance to get the chair into your chosen position. It’s just simple and effective.

In fact, the only area where the chair isn’t adjustable is the lumbar support. It’s fixed into position. I would’ve liked to see more flexibility here, but I can’t say it’s especially noticeable in use.

Given the backrest can be adjusted between five levels depending on your height, and is already contoured, at no point did I find fatigue setting in or that my lower back wasn’t adequately supported while sitting down during the working day.

Boulies OP300: Final verdictImage 1 of 3

(Image credit: Boulies // Future)Image 2 of 3

(Image credit: Boulies // Future)Image 3 of 3

(Image credit: Boulies // Future)

One of the reasons I like Boulies office chairs is that they’re generally good all-rounders - and the OP300 is no exception. I’ve used this seat for working, gaming, chilling out, and, when family were over, even eating dinner at my downstairs desk.

With its classic silhouette and all-black materials, the design isn’t especially flashy - quite the opposite, in fact. But to my mind, that makes it ideal, where it won’t dominate the office or home office landscape.

At all times, the OP300 felt comfortable and supportive, which are really the two criteria any good office chair should meet.

Should I buy the Boulies OP300 office chair?

Buy it if…

✅ You want a comfortable, adjustable office chair: I used this chair for hours and hours at a time and felt none of the discomfort I get from cheaper office chairs. I especially like the simple adjustment mechanics.

✅ You want a traditional office chair that won’t break the bank: For what’s on offer, the Boulies OP300 is well-priced. Neither too cheap, nor too expensive, but about right.

Don’t buy it if…

❌ You need adjustable or dynamic lumbar support: While the backrest is height-adjustable, the lumbar support is fixed into place, which some may not like.

❌ You need an office chair with serious style: I can’t emphasise enough how ‘professional’ the stylings of the OP300 are. In terms of design, it’s about as classic an office chair gets.

For more workspace essentials, we tested the best standing desks for the home and office.