Feed aggregator

As its name suggests, AdGuard is best known for its ad-blocker services. However, the organization has also expanded into other security and privacy services, including VPN and DNS services.

Its latest offer, still in beta at the time of writing, is AdGuard Mail, which provides security by offering email aliases and temporary email addresses – so you can keep your mail email addresses and services protected.

Aliases and temporary email addresses can be helpful in a wide variety of scenarios. You might want to sign up for a service or trial to acquire a discount code without signing up for spam, or you could just want to avoid subjecting your mail email address to the risk of phishing attacks or data breaches.

You may need temporary addresses for testing during software development, accessing a webinar or accessing services you don’t fully trust.

AdGuard Mail: Plans and pricing 

At the moment, AdGuard Mail is completely free – which instantly places this product ahead of many competitors.

Bear in mind that AdGuard says that Mail is free “for now”. Given that users have to pay for AdGuard’s other products, we’d expect AdGuard Mail to become a paid product once it leaves beta testing. Indeed, AdGuard’s FAQ says they plan to add paid features and customization options in the future.

Happily, AdGuard’s other products offer competitive pricing, so we’re not concerned about AdGuard Mail having extortionate pricing once it does leave beta.

For instance, the central AdGuard ad-blocking product costs $2.51/£1.99 per month if you pay annually, the VPN’s monthly costs are similar if you stick to an annual deal, and the DNS service has a basic free service.

AdGuard Mail: Features

AdGuard’s concentration on aliases and temporary email addresses gives users several privacy and security benefits.

By using an alias instead of your personal email address, you can avoid using anything identifiable if you want to send or receive messages. Instead, any emails sent to your aliases are then forwarded to their linked mailboxes, providing a layer of protection between you and the sender.

If you use temporary email addresses instead, you can avoid sharing your details and subscribing to any unwanted spam or services.

Ultimately, AdGuard’s aliases are ideal for ongoing communication without using your real addresses, and temporary emails are better for short-term activities.

This helps you avoid spam, phishing attacks, data breaches and privacy issues because you won’t have to use your own email address.

This approach differs from many other secure email providers, which give users their own, permanent email address, but AdGuard still promises robust security.

AdGuard cannot access your messages when using AdGuard Mail, and AdGuard uses secure SMTP connections whenever possible to protect your emails from unauthorized access.

The firm inspects email and website content before they’re loaded to check for any threats – and does so without retaining any information about the content. AdGuard’s thorough filtering protects you from fraudulent websites and websites that are known to distribute malware, and the firm’s filters are updated regularly – so you’re protected from the latest threats.

AdGuard’s reliance on aliases and temporary addresses protects your personal addresses, and that’s not the only area where AdGuard Mail impresses.

Once created, any emails forwarded from your alias are marked in your email client with a special header, so you can easily see AdGuard’s emails. Multiple aliases can be used for single email addresses, and multiple recipients can receive emails from single aliases.

Attachments are also supported for aliases, although temporary email addresses do not currently support attachments. Also consider that you can’t reply to emails forwarded by your aliases – to send replies, you will need to reveal your email address.

Ultimately, AdGuard’s method is simple and effective: use aliases to add a layer of protection so you can enjoy ongoing communication without compromising your email address – and use temporary emails to enjoy the same protection in short-term scenarios.

Of course, it must be noted that AdGuard Mail is markedly different from other secure email providers. This is a secure forwarding service rather than an actual email client, where you can create your own address and access a new, fully featured inbox.

That’s not necessarily bad, though, especially if you want to keep using your primary email address while adding extra protection. And if you combine AdGuard Mail with AdGuard’s other services, like its ad-blocking, VPN, or DNS, you can build a robust and versatile security package.

AdGuard Mail: Interface and in-use

(Image credit: AdGuard Mail)

AdGuard Mail excels thanks to its simplicity and versatility. It’s available as a desktop app for Windows and Mac, as an Android and iOS app, and it can also be accessed using a web interface.

If you want to create a temporary email address for one-time use, you can also just use AdGuard’s website to make and then copy a new address. Once you’ve used it to register for a service or input into a registration form, the reply will actually appear in a temporary inbox that’s right there on the same website. It’s a very clever service.

(Image credit: AdGuard Mail)

No matter what platform you use, AdGuard Mail is straightforward. Open the app for the first time, and it’ll guide you through the main features and launch a simple Wizard dialog that will help you create your first alias.

To create more, it’s just a matter of opening a panel, picking a random address and choosing its forwarding address. You can tag your aliases to make organization more manageable and add a description so you don’t forget its intended use.

(Image credit: AdGuard Mail)

The app includes an option for adding more recipients, a basic inbox for accessing emails sent to your temporary addresses, and a settings menu where you can choose Light or Dark modes, block senders and customize how the app functions on your system.

(Image credit: AdGuard Mail)AdGuard Mail: Support

Right now, the support options for AdGuard are basic – no surprise given its beta status. Most support queries can be answered by browsing the FAQ section, and users can email AdGuard’s support address to access help.

There’s also a web form where users can give feedback about AdGuard Mail, with options for suggesting features and reporting bugs.

AdGuard also maintains active Telegram, Reddit and GitHub communities if you’d like to talk to other service users or troubleshoot using these methods.

AdGuard Mail: The competition

AdGuard Mail has no shortage of competition when it comes to email aliases. Many secure email providers offer this as part of their broader service, like Mailbox.org, Soverin and several others.

Those are paid providers, though, and, at the moment, AdGuard Mail is free – and judging by AdGuard’s pricing elsewhere, it’ll still be a very affordable product in the future, too.

One of the only secure mail rivals that offers aliasing using a free account is Proton, which includes ten aliases in its free product alongside a new email address and 5GB of cloud storage. So, while you do have to maintain a whole new email account, it’s arguably a better deal.

If you just want email aliasing, consider Apple’s Hide My Email feature, Firefox Relay, or even DuckDuckGo Email Protection.

AdGuard Mail: Final verdict

There are plenty of other services beyond AdGuard Mail that offer email aliasing and temporary email addresses.

That said, AdGuard is currently free, it works very well for both aliasing and temporary emails, and it’s certainly worth using – even more if you’re already a keen user of other AdGuard products.

Now more than ever, employers are turning to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies in the workplace, largely due to employees showing interest in saying goodbye to their company-issued phones and leadership looking to increase security measures and cut costs. BYOD adoption rates are increasing year-over-year, with a recent survey finding 67 percent of companies had implemented BYOD policies, up from 51 percent the year prior.

Given the growing interest from organizations and employees looking to transition to the BYOD model, it is critical to understand why this switch is beneficial and the steps companies can take to set them up for success and ensure proper security and privacy measures are implemented.

Making the switch to BYOD: start with “why” & build A plan

Just like any other planning facet of a business, setting up a mobile communications strategy should be based on the company’s “why.” What are the primary reasons this workforce should (or shouldn’t) utilize a BYOD model? Is it productivity, security, better client interactions - or all of the above? Depending on, industry, category, and the size of the company, this “why” can take on many forms.

For instance, a company operating in a highly regulated industry, such as financial services or healthcare, will find it imperative to be able to capture calls and texts for compliance purposes. Another company may instead prioritize data privacy in its phone policy both for the company, itself, and its customers. Either way, having a strong mobile communications strategy, with a BYOD policy in place, is critical.

Companies on the other end of the BYOD spectrum, such as those that rely on a transient, 1099 workforce, will need a solution that allows them to assign business numbers to freelance or contract workers. For organizations looking to cut costs while increasing productivity, companies can look into options such as putting a second, dedicated business identity on employees’ phones to provide a distinct separation of work and personal communications.

No matter which of these examples might fit an organization's business model, it is important to determine the “why” upfront before making a decision on whether or not to utilize a BYOD model.

From there, before putting a BYOD policy into practice, companies should develop an implementation plan, starting with legal and human resources teams collaborating on a phone use policy. Among the many issues to be considered is whether employees will be compensated for the use of their personal phones, typically done in the form of a monthly stipend.

Encouraging employee adoption

While many employees have expressed interest in having a BYOD policy in place, some businesses are still facing difficulties getting their workforce to embrace employee adoption due to employee concerns surrounding data privacy, IT complexities, and execution roadblocks.

Implementing third-party software applications can address many of these concerns, but companies should be cautious of applications that enable secure communications on employee-owned devices. Rather, companies should try utilizing apps that make a distinct separation of work and personal communications. Employees are more likely to engage with a BYOD model if they know their personal data isn’t being monitored or recorded by their employer.

Other strategies for encouraging quick and compliant BYOD adoption:

• Emphasize the benefits of BYOD to employees in rollout communications. Nobody likes to carry a second phone and that alone can often be the driving force for staff engagement.
• If the BYOD policy leverages specific apps, make sure there is adequate training from the start. Additional follow-up training is also useful to assure continued use.
• Implement from the top down. When employees see that leadership is compliant with the new policy, it will encourage other employees to follow suit.

Laying the groundwork for real results

Understanding the “why” for implementing a BYOD policy, selecting an option that works for an organization’s specific needs, and properly encouraging employee adoption, will ultimately result in tangible benefits for both the employer and its employees.

Here are just some of the benefits businesses can realize by switching to a BYOD model:

1. Cost savings: Without the need to buy extra phones or manage another device plan, companies can greatly reduce their hardware and mobile service costs.
2. Convenience: Employees no longer have to carry two devices instead of one. Rather, they can keep work and personal communications separate on the same phone.
3. Security & compliance: Third party applications can offer enterprise-grade security features that support communication compliance (e.g., for financial or legal sectors) with automatic call and text recording, archiving, and monitoring.

In short, a BYOD model, combined with a third party application can give you the benefits of a second phone without the hassle or cost—especially appealing for professionals who need to stay compliant or businesses managing mobile fleets.

We've featured the best business tablet.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Monday, June 23 (game #1246).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

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

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

Quordle today (game #1247) - hint #1 - VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

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

Quordle today (game #1247) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

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

Quordle today (game #1247) - hint #3 - uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• Yes. Two of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1247) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

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

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

Quordle today (game #1247) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• Q

• S

• A

• F

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

Quordle today (game #1247) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1247, are…

• QUALM
• SQUIB
• AXIAL
• FLACK

Today's Quordle was a slightly trickier one for me, with my opening three guesses giving me only three letters for each part of the board.

I started with the top left, where I had three greens to go on in the format -AUL-; BAULK seemed a good option.

That was wrong, but it gave me a B for the top right and K for the bottom right, and that was enough for me to find FLACK and then SQUIB.

The Q in SQUIB then led to QUALM in top left, leaving just the bottom left – which by this stage could only be AXIAL. A tough bunch of words today, for sure.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1247) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1247, are…

• FRESH
• CLOVE
• USURP
• REIGN

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1246, Monday, 23 June: PIXEL, FJORD, STEAL, EXIST
• Quordle #1245, Sunday, 22 June: WREST, CRAZE, PAPAL, SCION
• Quordle #1244, Saturday, 21 June: BUDDY, GROUT, BEGIN, MADAM
• Quordle #1243, Friday, 20 June: BRAID, DULLY, HASTE, LURID
• Quordle #1242, Thursday, 19 June: BRUSH, ISLET, FRUIT, PRIVY
• Quordle #1241, Wednesday, 18 June: MEDIA, SHARK, GUPPY, MOURN
• Quordle #1240, Tuesday, 17 June: LEAPT, PRISM, ADMIN, WHINE
• Quordle #1239, Monday, 16 June: RETRY, SCALD, DINGO, FEIGN
• Quordle #1238, Sunday, 15 June: SHOCK, STEIN, BROIL, COVEN
• Quordle #1237, Saturday, 14 June: STICK, FERRY, THESE, IONIC
• Quordle #1236, Friday, 13 June: REPEL, LARGE, SNIDE, CARRY
• Quordle #1235, Thursday, 12 June: SCANT, BATCH, UNDER, PARSE
• Quordle #1234, Wednesday, 11 June: CRAVE, ROOST, ANGLE, FLOOD
• Quordle #1233, Tuesday, 10 June: DECRY, CHEEK, FILET, EASEL
• Quordle #1232, Monday, 9 June: DERBY, LEMON, WRITE, HOVEL
• Quordle #1231, Sunday, 8 June: REBAR, ALERT, PAYEE, FLUME
• Quordle #1230, Saturday, 7 June: FLUNK, ESTER, SPITE, CHEAP
• Quordle #1229, Friday, 6 June: ELUDE, KHAKI, VISTA, SMOKY
• Quordle #1228, Thursday, 5 June: CHIDE, RABBI, GUSTY, LANCE
• Quordle #1227, Wednesday, 4 June: BANAL, STOUT, SEDAN, HIPPO

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, June 23 (game #743).

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

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

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

NYT Connections today (game #744) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SOLID
• POD
• CAST
• STUDIO
• PLANE
• STERN
• HULL
• FIRM
• TITLE
• LINE
• TOUGH
• SHELL
• HUSK
• DIRECTOR
• POINT
• RIGID

NYT Connections today (game #744) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Severe, behaviourally
• GREEN: Outer layer
• BLUE: Screen listings
• PURPLE: Geometric stages of being

Need more clues?

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

NYT Connections today (game #744) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: STRICT
• GREEN: BOTANICAL COVERINGS
• BLUE: SEEN IN OPENING CREDITS
• PURPLE: OBJECTS IN 0-, 1-, 2- AND 3-DIMENSIONAL SPACE

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

NYT Connections today (game #744) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #744, are…

• YELLOW: STRICT FIRM, RIGID, STERN, TOUGH
• GREEN: BOTANICAL COVERINGS HULL, HUSK, POD, SHELL
• BLUE: SEEN IN OPENING CREDITS CAST, DIRECTOR, STUDIO, TITLE
• PURPLE: OBJECTS IN 0-, 1-, 2- AND 3-DIMENSIONAL SPACE LINE, PLANE, POINT, SOLID

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 2 mistakes

Although I made a couple of mistakes here, this wasn't a particularly difficult Connections puzzle compared to some.

If you didn't know which color each group was in, you wouldn't necessarily be able to predict which would be yellow and which purple – none were really difficult.

So, how did I make two errors? Simply because the answers for yellow, STRICT, overlapped with a few words from other groups. The eventual solutions were FIRM, RIGID, STERN and TOUGH – but SOLID seemed like it could go with the first couple of those, while STERN and HULL could also have been part of a boat-based grouping.

Anyway, I got there in the end.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, June 23, game #743)

• YELLOW: KINDS OF JEANS BOYFRIEND, FLARE, MOM, SKINNY
• GREEN: FICTION CATEGORIES HISTORICAL, LITERARY, SPECULATIVE, YOUNG ADULT
• BLUE: WORDS IN HEMINGWAY TITLES BELL, FAREWELL, OLD MAN, SUN
• PURPLE: ___ GLASS GLASSWARE COCKTAIL, COLLINS, OLD FASHIONED, SHOT

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, June 23 (game #477).

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

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

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

NYT Strands today (game #478) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Healthful helpers

NYT Strands today (game #478) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• TIDE
• FAXES
• SEED
• PLUM
• CLAIM
• STOP

NYT Strands today (game #478) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 11 letters

NYT Strands today (game #478) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 4th column

Last side: bottom, 3rd column

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

NYT Strands today (game #478) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #478, are…

• FLAXSEED
• PROBIOTIC
• CALCIUM
• ZINC
• MAGNESIUM
• SPANGRAM: SUPPLEMENTS

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

This was a bit of a mixed bag, with the selection of SUPPLEMENTS combining vitamins, live microorganisms and seeds into a group that could be labelled 'Things that you get in foods you buy to make you more healthy'.

I don't generally take any supplements, mostly because I seem to be incapable of actually looking after myself health-wise. I know that CALCIUM is important for bones, and PROBIOTICS can help the gut, but I don't entirely know what MAGNESIUM, ZINC and FLAXSEED do.

Still, I didn't need to know that in order to solve today's Strands, which was rather simple once I'd found FLAXSEED in the top left of the grid.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, June 23, game #477)

• CHEAP
• TRICK
• TALKING
• HEADS
• SMASHING
• PUMPKINS
• SPANGRAM: ROCK GROUPS

What is NYT Strands?

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

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

• The iFFALCON Mural TVs are 55, 65 and 75-inch art gallery-style TVs
• 144Hz refresh rate, FreeSync Premium and low-latency game mode
• From $564.99 for the 55-inch model

If you're looking for an art gallery TV that's both cheaper and higher spec than Samsung's The Frame, TCL has just the thing for you. Its terribly named but attractively priced iFFALCON sub-brand includes a great deal on the Mural TV.

If you go for the 65-inch Mural, TV it's currently down to just $749; Samsung's The Frame is $1,499 for the same size. And the 55-inch is cheaper still: just $564.99.

There's also a 75-incher, and that's on sale too. The 75-inch Mural TV is currently down to just $1,129.00.

The Mural TVs aren't just cheaper than the standard The Frame TVs. They also come with specs that don't come as standard on The Frame, and which you'd need to buy the even pricier Frame Pro to get.

Like The Frame TV, the idea is that these will show artwork when you're not watching something – these include "classical masterpieces, generative art using its AI engine, or beloved personal photos".

(Image credit: iFFALCON)TCL iFFALCON Mural TVs: key features

The Mural TV range are 4K UHD QLED TVs that promise 93% DCI-P3 wide color gamut coverage, a 144Hz refresh rate for gaming, plus AMD FreeSync Premium variable refresh rate support.

There's support for all key HDR formats, including Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, HLG and HGIG.

On the audio side, there's support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X decoding. The operating system is Google TV, so you'll be covered for all major streaming services.

That's a lot of spec for not a lot of money, although to get the lowest prices you'll need to combine a money off coupon and a discount code too. Here are the appropriate Amazon links and codes:

• iFFALCON 55-inch Mural TV: use discount code QU6HI8WP
• iFFALCON 65-inch Mural TV: use discount code 2EZWGX84
• iFFALCON 75-inch Mural TV: use discount code QCDO2K3D

You might also like

• I've used a Samsung The Frame TV for years, and here's why The Frame Pro is a huge upgrade
• The best TV, chosen by our reviewers for all budgets
• The best OLED TVs for all budgets, as reviewed by our experts

Purism's phone, made almost entirely in the US, is similar to the Trump Organization's promise of a phone that might someday be manufactured domestically.

I compared two of CNET’s favorite VPNs. Clear distinctions between the two can help you choose the best option for your needs.

Looking for fast and reliable internet in Long Beach? CNET's experts have found the top ISPs in the area.

Lots of the best secure email providers use their own platforms and clients, but Virtru is an enterprise-level product designed to integrate with your existing workflows – which means that, in theory, Virtru should seamlessly start protecting sensitive data in your organization.

Indeed, Virtru’s secure collaboration and email product is deeply integrated with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft SharePoint, and its Secure Share module integrates with Google Drive, Microsoft SharePoint, OneDrive, Zendesk, and Confluence.

Elsewhere, Virtru works with SaaS products from Salesforce, ServiceNow, Kustomer and more. Virtru’s own Data Security Platform delivers secure collaboration and sharing beyond those apps thanks to an agnostic platform.

In short, then, Virtru works with loads of apps and systems. And, as you may have guessed, this is an enterprise-level product that’s not suitable for individuals who need secure email.

Virtru: Plans and pricing 

Despite the service's complexity, Virtru’s products are divided into four tiers, which makes pricing a bit easier to understand.

The Starter package is ideal for smaller businesses that need email protection. It costs $119/£94 per month for a five-user package. With that offering, you get secure email for Gmail and Outlook, Virtru’s full slate of email and file protection abilities, administrator controls, and integration with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Basic support is also included.

The Business package, again for five users, costs $219/£174 per month. It includes everything in the Starter package and Virtru Secure Share, bulk decryption, integration with Google Workspace CSE and Google Vault, SSO compatibility, an audit log APU and custom branding for your business. You also get a 99.9% guaranteed uptime SLA.

(Image credit: Virtru)

If you're willing to pay extra, you can also add optional virtual private key stores and integrations with other third-party tools.

The next tier costs $399/£317 per month, again for five users. It includes everything in the Business package, as well as features designed for organizations that do business with US federal agencies.

It’s built to help ensure compliance with CMMC, DFARS 7012, and ITAR. It also includes FIPS 140-2 validated encryption.

It includes moderate FedRAMP ATO and a Virtru shared responsibility matrix for CMMC documentation. It also allows your organization to host private encryption keys. You also get deployment support, phone support and a dedicated customer success team. Premium support is also available as an optional extra.

The top package, Enterprise, uses custom pricing. It includes everything from the previous products alongside integration with Zendesk, Salesforce, and more SaaS systems. You can also add optional integrations with more systems and premium support.

It goes without saying that when you want to expand a package that includes support for five users, the price will rise accordingly.

Virtru: Features

Virtru is a far-reaching, complex product, but underneath it all you’ll find robust security credentials. Virtru’s systems use Trusted Data Format, or TDF, which is an open-source end-to-end encryption standard that protects your data at every stage of its lifecycle.

Underneath all of that, you’ll find AES 256-bit encryption, and it’s worth bearing in mind that encryption keys are not stored on Virtru’s servers – so you can control who has access to those, too.

This decentralized approach means you and your organization can maintain complete control over your data and its protection, and this zero-trust model ensures extra layers of security. Additionally, Virtru’s reliance on TDF means that you can embed policies and encryption directly into individual apps and objects across your organization’s workflows, which means you benefit from flexibility and full control.

Beyond the excellent underlying format, you can deploy attribute-based access control to enforce who can access your content dynamically.

Virtru’s underlying security prioritizes protection, control, and flexibility, and this ethos is evident in other features of its software suite.

Opt for its Google or Microsoft-integrated products, and you can secure your email and cloud storage data, encrypt meetings, safeguard documents, protect presentations and ensure data privacy.

Choose file-sharing integrations, and you can meet advanced compliance requirements, monitor and audit your data, give collaborators an effortless experience and, again, keep your data protected.

Virtru’s Data Protection Gateway protects emails and files before they leave your domain with inbound and outbound end-to-end encryption to ensure total protection for sensitive information, no matter the services involved.

Virtru’s Data Security Platform uses a zero-trust architecture and granular controls to ensure that your business has complete control over its data and who can access it.

Virtru: Interface and in-use

(Image credit: Virtru)

Virtru’s interface is a little different from many other secure email products – because this is a necessarily complex service that takes a different approach.

Instead of signing in to a web client, for instance, Virtru largely integrates with your existing software, with management handled by Virtru’s Control Center. In this regard, Virtru is excellent: its interfaces and management apps are attractive, well-designed and easy to navigate as long as you’ve got the requisite experience dealing with complex administrative tools.

Given Virtru’s high-end abilities, your organization should already have people who are well-versed in those apps.

(Image credit: Virtru)Virtru: Support

Varying levels of support are available with different Virtru products: at the lower levels, you get online help, and if you pay for the higher-end products, you can add phone support, a dedicated success team, premium options and deployment help to the package.

Those latter options are precisely the kind of support features we’d expect from a high-end enterprise product like Virtru.

In addition, Virtru’s website has an extensive knowledge base and basic live chat functionality.

Virtru: The competition

Virtru’s status as a high-end, enterprise-grade secure email and data product means it competes with similar products, such as Zoho’s suite of business apps. Indeed, Virtru even competes with Google and Microsoft, albeit with a greater focus on security and encryption.

In many ways, though, Virtru stands alone. Zoho is more focused on productivity across a wider variety of apps, and Google and Microsoft are designed to act as the underlying tools beneath Virtru. There isn’t much out there that offers the broad concentration on enterprise-level security and protection like Virtru.

Virtru: Final verdict

That leaves Virtru in a good position, especially with larger organizations – and that’s no surprise, because there’s lots to like about this product.

It’s packed with features and has excellent security credentials. The overall design of the Data Security Platform means that Virtru’s tools should integrate smoothly with virtually all of your systems.

Virtru can undoubtedly become expensive, but you get what you pay for – and if you’re a large business that wants to take data protection seriously, you should be considering Virtru.

What freedom means in the U.S. may be changing. For July 4, NPR wants to know: What does freedom mean to you?

(Image credit: Stu Forster)

Lots of the best secure email providers function by providing a web client or mobile app for you to use, but PreVeil is a bit different: as well as using PreVeil’s web client or Android and iOS apps, you can also send using your existing Outlook, Gmail or Apple Mail clients.

That immediately adds a huge amount of versatility to this app. If you move beyond that, you’ll find a secure email provider trusted by defense contractors, education institutions and legal organizations – so there’s some pedigree here.

PreVeil: Plans and pricing 

That sort of customer base and feature set makes it all the more amazing that PreVeil actually starts its offering with a free product.

PreVeil’s free account gives you 5GB of encrypted data storage, end-to-end email and file encryption, integration with Outlook, Gmail and File Explorer and mobile device access, so it’s a well-rounded offering if you need secure email and cloud storage.

The Individual plan costs $25/£20 per month, which is immediately more expensive than most of the other individual plans you’ll find on the market – but, in PreVeil’s defense, that package comes with a mammoth 5TB of data storage. That’s more than you’ll find anywhere else. You can also provide free accounts to third parties using this product.

(Image credit: PreVeil)

The Business product costs $30/£24 per user per month but the feature set accelerates. The Business tier meets compliance requirements for HIPAA, FERPA, SOC 2, GLB, FTC and IRS standards, and you can use an admin console, system logs, admin protection and data loss prevention.

Each user in the business product gets a massive 10TB of storage, too, and you get priority support and a dedicated customer success team.

If you work for a government organization or in the defense industry, PreVeil has a product that meets compliance requirements for DFARS 7012, CMMC, and ITAR and is FIPS 140-2 validated.

In this final tier, you get FedRAMP Moderate Equivalent, all data is stored in the AWS GovCloud, and you enjoy a Compliance Accelerator with pre-filled forms – and access to compliance experts.

If you’d like to access that final tier, you’ll need to contact PreVeil for a quote. SMEs can also use PreVeil Pass, a CMMC compliance solution that costs $415 per month for three users and includes encrypted email, pre-filled CMMC documentation, and specialist support.

PreVeil: Features

PreVeil operates using Zero Knowledge encryption with end-to-end ability, which means that all information associated with your emails is only encrypted and decrypted on user devices – so PreVeil can never see or access the contents of your messages. Underneath it all, you’ll find robust AES-256 used for symmetric encryption and elliptic curve P-256 used for asymmetric keys.

Passwords aren’t used with PreVeil, either. Instead, account access is managed by secret encryption keys that are only stored on user devices. Levels of encryption are used to “wrap” those keys to prevent unauthorized access. Your key remains stored on your device, so login is simple and secure.

To encrypt your emails and files, PreVeil deploys a symmetric system with varying keys used with Public Key Infrastructure technology. PreVeil doesn’t use any PGP system, though, which may be worth bearing in mind if you want to work with people who use PGP-based encryption.

Approval Groups cryptographically distribute trust to predetermined groups of users to avoid individuals compromising entire networks, and Trusted Communities allow organizations to safelist domains and email addresses.

We’ve got no qualms about PreVeil’s security, and the service remains impressive elsewhere. Its ability to work with email clients and free Android and iOS apps means that you can access your encrypted emails from anywhere – a boon when using PreVeil’s services in mission-critical business and government scenarios.

It’s not just about email, either, because PreVeil includes secure cloud storage that deploys the same level of encryption as email.

Administrators can manage users, devices and approved groups of users, define rules across their organizations and record the actions of users with tamper-proof logging.

PreVeil: Interface and in-use

(Image credit: PreVeil)

If you use PreVeil’s web browser or mobile apps, you’ll benefit from a straightforward, simple, and well-designed experience. Navigation is down the left, and your inbox is right in the middle.

A pop-up window makes composing emails easy, although there’s no option here to switch to a three-pane email management interface. Indeed, many other products offer a wider range of configuration settings in general. PreVeil is easy to use but not overwhelmed with tweaks and options.

(Image credit: PreVeil)

If you want to use PreVeil with your existing email client, you’ll need to go through a cryptographic setup process. Once that’s done, PreVeil adds a Secure Messages folder to your email app or interface, and a toggle at the bottom of your composition window allows you to activate or remove PreVeil encryption from your messages.

So, while PreVeil may not have as many settings as some rivals, it’s easy to use, whether you use the web client or your existing email app.

PreVeil: Support

Support tickets with PreVeil are filed over email, and there’s a huge knowledge base with loads of information on configuring and using the product.

The support ticket itself is comprehensive. You can provide a phone number to give PreVeil another option for contacting you, and they also have the facility to launch Zoom meetings to provide live assistance.

Certain customers at upper tiers also get priority support, phone support, and onboarding sessions, and PreVeil can provide webinars and training sessions.

PreVeil: The competition

PreVeil’s status as a certified provider for defense, government, and enterprise ensures that the service competes with some major players.

Hushmail, for instance, offers plans designed around the compliances required by legal and medical firms, so both services are worth investigating if you work in those industries. Zoho, too, offers HIPAA compliance. PreVeil goes further than both with military and government accreditations, though.

If you need to explore those accreditations and compare PreVeil to a key rival, check out Virtru. Both aim at the defense industries alongside healthcare and education, and they share many of the same accreditations.

PreVeil: Final verdict

PreVeil might not be the only secure email provider to deliver such a high level of security, compliance and encryption – we’re looking at you, Virtru – but it’s undoubtedly one of the best.

PreVeil's encryption and security are rock solid, and despite the level of power offered, they are very easy to use and, in most cases, very easy to set up.

PreVeil’s ability to work with existing email clients alongside its own interfaces and apps adds versatility.

It might be a little pricier than some secure email providers, but PreVeil justifies the cost with excellent design and security, especially for sensitive data in mission-critical scenarios.

Most of the best secure email providers offer users a new email address, client, and service to start from scratch, but most can be daunting, too, with loads of technical language that non-experts may not understand - and a wealth of tricky, intimidating options to select while setting up and configuring the client.

That’s not the case with Soverin. This secure email provider still aims to provide robust encryption but with a more accessible and straightforward approach than many rivals.

That makes it a potential winner for anyone who wants secure email without delving too much into the technical side of security.

Soverin: Plans and pricing 

Soverin’s pricing structure isn’t divided into rigid tiers. Instead, this product uses a more personalized system that enables you to build a package based on your needs.

The minimum cost of €39/$40/£32 per year immediately undercuts many other secure email providers. For that money, you get one mailbox that uses your existing domain and 25GB of space, which is a generous amount of capacity – lots of other services only provide 5GB or 10GB.

If you want to buy a new domain to set up a new, secure address, that costs extra, with .NL and .EU domains costing €13/$13/£11, .COM and .NET sitting at €18/$19/£15, and .ORG topping the list at €23/$24/£19.

Additional mailboxes cost €10/$10/£ each, and if you want to add an extra 25GB block of storage, it’ll cost you €29/$30/£24 every time.

There’s a thirty-day money-back guarantee, and the service doesn’t need personal information when you sign up – although you can’t pay with cryptocurrencies or cash, as you can with other secure email providers.

Soverin: Features

Soverin offers full encryption to emails sent and received through their servers, which is an excellent start for any secure email service. Soverin strips IP addresses from emails – something that not every secure email provider actually does – and supports two-factor authentication through its own web client.

Outbound SMTP servers check and honor TLSA records, and inbound servers benefit from published TLSA records.

Soverin uses DKIM/DMARC by default and, deploys SRS and ARC for email forwarding, and is fully compliant with a broad range of laws and standards, like GDPR, AVG, SPF, SSL, DANE and more.

Third-party services independently verify Soverin’s encryption: it scores a 100% confidence rating on CheckTLS.com and an A+ from SSL Labs. Soverin also scores 5/5 in the EU’s MESCA email test.

It’s worth noting that while Soverin always uses encrypted connections with OpenPGP used throughout, they don’t control security used outside of the Soverin ecosystem. If you want this level of security, you’ll need to use your own OpenPGP connection using a service like Mailvelope.

There’s no tracking, no advertising, and no chance for Soverin to see the contents of your mailbox.

Elsewhere, lots of features prove Soverin’s versatility. Thanks to IMAP and POP3 support, it works with any mobile or desktop email client, and you can use your own domain. A unified platform with full user control can be built and provided, mail can be imported from external services, and domain management is available, too. The platform also has its own spam filter and 24-hour monitoring and alerting for suspicious activity.

If you’re buying Soverin for an organization you can customize the product with custom colors, menus and your logos, you’ve got complete control over the number of mailboxes and aliases you use alongside custom domains, and the web client has integrated calendar, contact and task functionality.

Soverin’s servers are hosted in three data centers in the Netherlands, where secure infrastructure and disc encryption protect physical hardware. Hosting providers are selected based on Soverin’s strict privacy requirements. No customer information is shared with third-party organizations.

Soverin: Interface and in-use

(Image credit: Soverin)

Because Soverin works by encrypting your existing account, a little setup is required to get things started. You’ve got to verify that you’re the owner of your domain by adding text records to your DNS, MX and SPF settings.

Once that’s done, you can access Soverin’s mailbox. This attractive and straightforward mail client mimics the three-panel design so often seen elsewhere, making it easy to use for anyone familiar with online email.

(Image credit: Soverin)

At the window's top-right are icons that allow you to switch to your calendar, contacts, and to-do list. In the settings menu, you’ll find all of the key options you need for configuration, but it must be said that many other services give you more granular control over functionality – Soverin’s settings menu is not complicated or intimidating, but you will have more options elsewhere.

Soverin: Support

To access Soverin’s support, you can email them – it’s that simple. The company intends to respond to messages quickly and maintains a service status page on its website.

Elsewhere, the Help section includes guides on setting up your service and customizing key functionality. The guides are well-written and have straightforward explanations that should be easy to follow, even for beginners. There’s also a good FAQ section.

That’s it for support, though. There’s no live chat and no phone support here, which is the kind of thing you’ll find from larger organizations, and lots of other email products offer more depth in their online FAQ and help sections, too.

Soverin: The competition

Soverin’s status as an accessible and affordable secure email provider sees it competing with some big names, including Tuta and Posteo.

All three services are similar, with good security functionality and rock-solid core email client experiences.

Soverin offers more storage than Posteo, but Posteo is even cheaper than Soverin – and it’s not like Soverin is particularly expensive. Tuta, meanwhile, has exceptional security and it also has mobile apps, but customer support is not great.

If you’d like more functionality, including Office tools, VPNs and cloud storage, then it’s worth considering products like Proton and Mailbox.org – and even Zoho if you want a complete business solution. But they’re far more complex and potentially much more expensive, too.

Zoho Mail: Final verdict

Soverin is an effective secure email option, with robust security procedures, straightforward design and flexible, affordable pricing – so if you want a no-nonsense secure email product, it’s worth consideration.

That said, products from larger organizations will offer more support functionality, which is essential for businesses, and the lack of in-depth support won’t sate technical users and people who want more control over their emails.

• International critics of Russia and academics have received phishing emails
• Slow rapport building with fake US State Department teams
• Victims are tricked into sharing Google app-specific passwords

Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has shared details of a new threat actor tracked as UNC6293, believed to be a Russian state-sponsored group, targeting prominent academics and critics of the country.

Victims have reportedly been receiving phishing emails using spoofed '@state.gov' addresses in the CC field to build credibility, but instead of being hit with immediate malicious payloads, the attackers are using social engineering tactics to build rapports with their targets.

Google's researchers uncovered the slow-paced nature attackers used to build rapports with their victims, often sending them personalized emails and inviting them to private conversations or meetings.

Academics and critics are being targeted by Russia

In one screenshot shared by Google's threat intelligence team, Keir Giles, a prominent British researcher on Russia, received a fake US Department of State email believed to be part of the UNC6293 campaign.

"Several of my email accounts have been targeted with a sophisticated account takeover that involved impersonating the US State Department," Giles shared on LinkedIn.

In the attack email, victims receive a benign PDF attachment designed to look like an invitation to securely access a (fake) Department of State cloud environment. It's this website that ultimately gives the attackers, which Google believes could be linked to APT29 (aka Cozy Bear, Nobelium), access to a user's Gmail account.

Victims are guided to create an app-specific password (ASP) at account.google.com, and then share that 16-character ASP with the attackers.

"ASPs are randomly generated 16-character passcodes that allow third-party applications to access your Google Account, intended for applications and devices that do not support features like 2-step verification (2SV)," Google explained.

Google highlights users can create or revoke ASPs at any time, and a pop-up on its site even advises users that ASPs "aren't recommended and are unnecessary in most cases."

More importantly, though, is that while attacks come in all different flavors, social engineering and phishing remain highly effective vectors – and yet they're typically comparably easy to detect, with a bit of prior understanding and training.

The standard advice, then, remains – avoid clicking on attachments from email addresses you're unfamiliar with, and certainly never share account credentials with unknown individuals.

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The DeLorean and more commemorative items will arrive at this year's San Diego Comic-Con event.

Ironheart will bring down the curtain on Marvel Phase 5 in the very near future, and, with the Dominique Thorne-starring TV show set to launch on Disney+ in less than 72 hours, you'll want to know when you can watch it.

Below, I'll reveal the release date and launch time for its three-episode premiere in numerous countries (NB: if your nation isn't listed below, you can use one of the following dates and/or times to determine when you can stream it).

There's also a full release schedule at the end of this article, which confirms when its final three chapters will air. So, engage your thrusters and let's dive in.

What is the release date for Ironheart on Disney+?

Ironheart will launch with a three-episode premiere (Image credit: Marvel Studios/Disney+)

Ironheart will make its debut on one of the world's best streaming services on Tuesday, June 24 in the US, and Wednesday, June 25 in the UK and Australia.

Don't worry if you don't reside in any of those countries, though. The next Marvel TV Original will also air on Disney+ across the globe, so read on to find out what its launch date is in other nations via the list below:

• US – Tuesday, June 24
• Canada – Tuesday, June 24
• Brazil – Tuesday, June 24
• UK – Wednesday, June 25
• India – Wednesday, June 25
• Singapore – Wednesday, June 25
• Japan – Wednesday, June 25
• Australia – Wednesday, June 25
• New Zealand – Wednesday, June 25

What is the launch time for Ironheart episodes 1 to 3?

You don't need to be a chaos-magic wielder like Parker Robbins to find out when Ironheart will premiere in your country (Image credit: Marvel Studios/Disney+)

Unlike most Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) TV shows, which have debuted with two-episode premieres, the first three chapters of Ironheart will be released on launch day. That unique release format was confirmed at the end of Ironheart's first trailer, and reiterated by Marvel when it revealed Ironheart's full episodic release schedule on social media.

So, what time will Ironheart's first three entries arrive on the dates outlined in the previous section? Read on for more details:

• US – 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• Canada – 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• Brazil – 10pm BRT
• UK – 2am BST
• India – 6:30am IST
• Singapore – 9am SGT
• Japan – 10am JST
• Australia – 11am AEST
• New Zealand – 1pm NZST

What is the release date for Ironheart episodes 4 to 6?

Ironheart's final three episodes will be released on the same daye (Image credit: Marvel Studios/Disney+)

As I've outlined in my dedicated Ironheart guide, episodes 4, 5, and 6 will be released simultaneously one week after its first three chapters have premiered. Here's a full rundown of when they'll air in the nations I've included in this guide:

• US – Tuesday, July 1
• Canada – Tuesday, July 1
• Brazil – Tuesday, July 1
• UK – Wednesday, July 2
• India – Wednesday, July 2
• Singapore – Wednesday, July 2
• Japan – Wednesday, July 2
• Australia – Wednesday, July 2
• New Zealand – Wednesday, July 2

For more information on Ironheart, check out the articles linked below. Be sure to check in with TechRadar over the next few days, too, for our review and other exclusive coverage.

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Israel says it struck multiple sites across Tehran, including the Fordo nuclear site hit by the U.S. days earlier and a prison known for jailing regime opponents.

(Image credit: Alexander Kazakov)

You're going to be walking a lot so you might as well put your best foot forward.

This is Hideo Kojima's most relaxing game yet.

Despite my love for all things fast-paced and wild, action-adventure PS5 game Death Stranding 2: On the Beach had me falling in love with the serene.

There’s a magical quality to just strolling around in the Australian wilds as you make your way from station to station delivering parcels, and while you can speed the game up with all manner of gadgets, I found myself leaving it alone so I could take in the world that developer Kojima Productions has created.

Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5
Release date: June 26, 2025

The trailers for Death Stranding 2 flaunted a ton of action-packed moments, leading me to believe we’d be in for a far more conventional action game after the somewhat divisive reaction to its predecessor. However, I’m happy to say that, while, yes the action is much better, the core of the game is still about parcel delivery and exploration. Kojima Productions hasn’t lost sight of what made the original game shine in order to appeal to a broader audience.

Don’t be so serious

(Image credit: Kojima Productions)

Death Stranding 2 once again follows Sam, a legendary deliveryman, who is now living a secluded life with baby Lou right after the events of the original game. And while the United Cities of America (UCA) – which Sam linked up in the original – is now content with automatic delivery robots, Fragile, an ally from Sam’s past manages to track him down and pull him back out for one final job – to link up Mexico into the Chiral Network - effectively a massive internet connection bringing these disparate areas together.

Joining up Mexico opens up a portal to Australia, which in turn has Sam take on another gig there as a member of the crew aboard a floating ship called the DHV Magellan. The crew hopes to open more portals and eventually connect the world and remedy the apocalyptic Death Stranding event, which tore the world apart in the first place.

Without the need to introduce the character, Death Stranding 2 is a very introspective and personal story for Sam, and as a result, it feels like it can go long stretches without any significant plot development happening.

It makes up for it with a far more character-driven approach, bolstered by what is probably the best acting performance I’ve seen from Norman Reedus across any medium. Interpersonal relationships and character studies carry the game before leading into an extremely Hideo Kojima third act full of wild events and tons of exposition that reaches Metal Gear Solid levels of bombast and absolutely nails the landing.

(Image credit: Kojima Productions)

And while I wouldn’t call the original Death Stranding supporting cast bad by any means, Death Stranding 2’s newcomers are on another level. Sam’s main crew aboard the DHV Magellan ship includes Fragile returning, with new arrivals like Tarman, Tomorrow, Rainy, and Dollman making up the ranks.

Dollman in particular works akin to God of War’s Mimir, being strapped to Sam’s hip on his trails and providing expository dialogue and the like. I was afraid that this type of companion would interfere with the isolation that defined the original game, but he quickly became one of my favourite characters and a heartfelt one at that – despite being a doll modelled after a Turkish film director.

Meanwhile, the relationship between Fragile, Tomorrow, and Rainy was always a highlight whenever it was on screen, with the latter having one of the most engaging side plots in the game.

On the villain front, Higgs returns from the original with a lust for revenge that pushes that character to the next level. Then there’s Neil, who takes on the role that Mads Mikkelsen’s Cliff had in the first game of a character who appears in flashbacks and otherworld scenes. And after Kojima featured the character so heavily in trailers, I was a touch disappointed with how sparingly he was used. But in the end, it landed that I found myself in tears over a character whom I’d barely seen – thanks in large part to the incredible performance by Luca Marinelli.

I’ll keep coming

(Image credit: Kojima Productions)

Death Stranding 2 isn’t some massive overhaul, despite what the action-packed trailers may have you believe. The core of the game is still about traversal and parcel delivery. And honestly, outside of new gear and structures to try, it’s not all that different (not that it needs to be).

The biggest shake-up is with the day and night cycle and weather systems, which can cause earthquakes, sandstorms, and whiteouts, which are cool for sure, but never made too much of an impact on my deliveries. The Strand system – which has other players' buildings and gear appear in your world to drive home that feeling of connection – returns, and it’s still one of the best implementations of asynchronous multiplayer found in a game.

Death Stranding 2 retains one of the original game’s best features, where the licensed soundtrack kicks in and the camera pulls back, really bringing home just how vast the world is that Sam has to traverse, leading to some euphoric moments where you’re treated to a mixture of a gorgeous vista and a beautiful tune. W

hile there are a ton of artists this time, alongside composer Ludwig Forsell, Woodkid takes on the main musical role this time, with his music being as prominent to this game as Low Roar was to the original. Both these vocal tracks and the score are gorgeous, ranking among the best soundtracks in recent memory, with the synth-heavy moments and the ambient vocal tracks.

This time around, you do get an upgrade that allows you to listen to any of the songs when roaming the world, with the game cutting you off when it wants to do these moments, although I elected not to use it to make those musical moments that much more impactful.

Once, there was an explosion

(Image credit: Kojima Productions)

This time around, the gunplay feels far better than it did in the original Death Stranding, and the expanded roster of weapons gives you a lot to play with. There are still enemy encampments scattered around the map, which allows for a Metal Gear Solid 5-style approach where you can scout out areas and take your own approach to them, although the enemy AI isn’t quite as in-depth.

Meanwhile, the boss fights – which were a hindrance at best in the original – are much improved. While Sam still fights giant goop monsters, his expanded kit and their altered movesets make battles far more engaging, while the mech bosses are a solid change of pace, even if they do boil down to “shoot the glowy bit.”

On a technical level, Death Stranding 2 may be the best-looking game I’ve ever seen, even in performance mode. The opening scene in the mountains is genuinely breathtaking. The textures on the ground, the snow-topped mountains, the weather, the character models, and even the sky regularly had me in awe in a way you don’t really get in an era where graphical fidelity has started to plateau.

Best bit

(Image credit: Kojima Productions)

Death Stranding 2’s opening scene is one of the most striking openings in recent memory, in which you take a stroll with baby Lou across a mountain range to get back to your home, all while taking in some of the most gorgeous environments I’ve seen in a game.

We all knew what the Decima engine was capable of thanks to the Horizon series, but this takes it to the next level. And having played the game across both PlayStation 5 Pro and the PlayStation 5 Slim, it looks incredible and has a solid frame rate throughout. There is also a resolution mode available, but I found the graphical benefits negligible compared to having the higher frame rate available on the performance mode.

While my time with Death Stranding 2 was mostly glitch-free, I did have various audio issues, including multiple moments where the scheduled music tracks didn’t kick in. This also happened during the final boss, where the battle was happening in complete silence, prompting a restart.

Death Stranding 2 is what a sequel should be. It meaningfully builds on the ideas found in the original while not losing sight of what made it so great in the first place. Kojima Productions is never a studio to play it safe, and doubling down on the brilliant traversal and asynchronous multiplayer focus is exactly the right move.

(Image credit: Kojima Productions)Should you play Death Stranding 2: On the Beach?Play it if...

You enjoy playing unusual and unique games
Death Stranding 2 is filled to the brim with Hideo Kojima’s signature bizarre moments, characters, and world-building, while not sacrificing interesting gameplay. While not a massive departure from its predecessor, it has a weirdness you rarely get from a AAA release.

You want to make the most of your PS5 Pro
While it still looks gorgeous on the original PS5, Death Stranding 2 is one of the most jaw-dropping games I’ve ever played on a graphical front, even in performance mode. While still running at a solid 60fps.

You love great acting in games
While the goo monsters and talking dolls of Death Stranding 2’s world are undoubtedly silly, every lead actor brings their A game, with excellent performances from Norman Reedus, Shioli Kutsuna, Lea Seydoux, Troy Baker, and, yes, even, Jonathan Roumie – who voices the aforementioned talking doll.

Don't play it if...

You don’t like convoluted plots
There’s a lot to the world of Death Stranding, so much so that it includes an in-game glossary where players can read about the various people, phenomena, and terms introduced in the world. And while my past with Hideo Kojima games has conditioned me to extreme worldbuilding, it can definitely get a bit nonsensical if you’re not up to date on your lore.

You didn't gel with Death Stranding
While Death Stranding 2’s larger scope and enhanced combat are sure to bring in some new fans, at its core, it’s still a game about traversing the world and making deliveries. So if you were really against that the first time around, don’t expect to change your mind this time.

Accessibility

Compared to PlayStation Studios’ usually stellar track record of accessibility options, Death Stranding 2 is a bit basic when it comes to accessibility, sadly.

Sprinting and aiming structures to build that can be changed from holding a button to a toggle, while the soothing Lou action can be changed from motion controls to using the left stick, plus you have the ability to change your camera controls and speed.

There are no colorblindness options, and subtitles lack the option for backgrounds, text size, or font color available. Plus, you cannot remap the controls at all. There are four difficulty options (Story, Casual, Normal, and Brutal), but the game isn’t exactly clear about what changes across these modes.

(Image credit: Kojima Productions)How I reviewed Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

I played 40 hours of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on Normal difficulty. During this time, I completed the main story, as well as the sub-mission deliveries, as well as a few standard deliveries when I wanted to buff up specific outposts. I connected all but two preppers to the Chiral Network before finishing the game, and went back for them after the fact.

I also went back and played some of the original Death Stranding, which I had played to completion twice before, for comparison’s sake.

I played the majority of Death Stranding 2 on a PS5 Pro on a Samsung Q60D TV and a Samsung HW-T450 soundbar. I also played on a PS5 Slim on a Samsung Odyssey G5 gaming monitor with a PlayStation Pulse 3D Headset.

First reviewed June 2025