Feed aggregator

Since testing this modern, mid-range TV, I’m beginning to doubt whether every screen requires a soundbar by default.

Sprout Social has been around for a while now and, as a result, has become one of the go-to software options for anyone needing the best social media management or SEO tools. 

The package, spread across several paid tiers, comprises a heady blend of social tools and marries those to a potent analytics edge, which produces a great all-round package for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Anyone looking to take on social media channels for the first time, or to beef up their levels of participation, will find Sprout Social offers plenty. There’s a neat dashboard-style management setup, allowing for easy co-ordination, while the ability to lets multiple users access it means there’s appeal for larger organisations too.

• Sign up for a Sprout Social plan

While Sprout Social comes with a potent yet user-friendly array of social media management tools, the company has worked to still offer an affordable and good value option. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Sprout therefore continues to be a hit with many business owners, who might not necessarily warm to a competitor like Hootsuite or Buffer. 

Let's dive into our Sprout Social social media management review. 

• Best affiliate marketing software of 2024

(Image credit: Future)Sprout Social: Plans and Pricing

Plan

Starting rate (paid annually)

Starting rate (paid monthly)

Standard

$199/user/month

$249/user/month

Professional

$299/user/month

$399/user/month

Advanced

$399/user/month

$499/user/month

Enterprise

Custom pricing

Custom pricing

You can try Sprout Social for free using a 30-day trial, without the need for any credit card details, which is a great way to get to know the software. 

Following on from that, Sprout Social comes in three different packages, starting with the Standard edition, which currently costs $249 per user/per month when billed monthly. Alternatively, you can choose to pay for the Standard package on a $249 month-to-month basis.

Stepping up to the next package, the Professional edition is Sprout Social's most popular plan, currently available for $299 per user/per month and, again, billed annually. There is also the option to pay $399 month-to-month with this one, too.

Meanwhile, an Advanced edition costs $399 per user/per month billed annually. This has the option to pay $499 on a month-to-month basis if preferred. If you’re concerned about whether or not there will be enough benefits from the higher-end packages, requesting a demo is also possible, where a member of the Sprout Social team can talk you through the various features and functions.

Finally, there's an Enterprise tier, which is available for large organisations upon request. Sprout Social will tailor the app to your needs, and there is 24/5 support, plus a range of other features we'll get into below. 

• Best free project management software of 2024

(Image credit: Sprout Social )Sprout Social: AI features (New)

Sprout Social has invested heavily in AI over the past two years, consolidating its machine learning and automation capabilities under the Sprout AI brand. Rather than treating AI as a bolt-on feature, the company has embedded it across publishing, engagement, analytics, and customer care.

The most notable recent addition is Trellis, Sprout's agentic AI launched in Q4 2025. Think of it as an AI analyst that navigates the platform on your behalf, transforming large volumes of social data into business intelligence and surfacing actionable next steps.

Trellis is a meaningful step beyond basic AI-assisted suggestions and positions Sprout ahead of many competitors in terms of automation depth. You can also connect your Sprout data directly into ChatGPT, which opened up in Q4 2025 as well, for deeper content planning and research workflows.

On the content creation side, AI Assist lets you generate and refine social copy, write accurate alt-text for images, and automatically create subtitles for video posts in one click. The Optimal Send Times feature uses AI to identify the best windows to publish based on your audience's activity patterns. These tools are especially useful for teams managing multiple accounts across platforms, where manually optimising each post quickly becomes impractical.

Sprout AI also powers a smarter inbox experience. Sentiment analysis runs automatically across incoming messages, and AI-driven bot and spam filtering helps keep your engagement metrics clean by removing automated noise from your data. For brands using Sprout's Social Listening add-on, Smart Categories uses AI to surface the key themes driving conversations around your chosen topics .

Finally, the Influencer Marketing platform received a major AI overhaul in April 2025. The new version introduced natural language and topic-led creator discovery — replacing keyword-based search with a more intuitive approach that better reflects how social platforms actually surface content. A revamped Brand Fit Score and brand safety reporting also use AI to help you vet creators more quickly, reducing what used to be hours of manual research to a matter of minutes.

Sprout Social: Basic features

As you’d expect from a Standard package, the entry-level edition is more of a slimline edition of the software. Nevertheless, it does come with a decent array of tools aimed at users with lesser social media management needs than bigger businesses. 

Starting off, the Standard edition bundles in five social profiles, an all-in-one social inbox, the ability to publish, schedule, draft, and queue posts, and a social content calendar, to keep everyone on the same page. 

Users can also carry out review management, monitor profiles, keywords, and locations, as well as deploying social CRM tools. Reporting offers up group, profile, and post-level options, plus there’s the ability to deliver paid promotion tools to boost Facebook posts. 

Sprout also offers handy iOS and Android apps for working on the go. 

Sprout Social: Professional features

You’ll really want to invest in Sprout Social's popular Professional edition to benefit from more power tools. While this does involve additional costs, the set of features covers an awful lot of bases. Look out for unlimited social profiles, plus everything that comes packed into Standard. 

On top of that there is competitive reporting for Instagram, Facebook, and X, incoming and outgoing message content tagging, as well as custom workflows for multiple approvers. More advantageously, there’s scheduling for optimal send times and the benefit of response rate and time analysis reports. 

Crucially, Pro users get trend analysis for X keywords and hashtags, and the benefit of paid social reporting for Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn. Also useful for larger concerns is the helpdesk, CRM, and Social Commerce integration capabilities.

For most companies, Professional offers the perfect blend of features and price, and compares favourably to its rivals across the market. 

(Image credit: Sprout Social)Sprout Social: Advanced features

Finally, larger business frequently have the need for even more power tools, which can often be a needless requirement for smaller companies. 

Social Sprout’s Advanced package features add a lot more muscle to the software, especially for companies with a major push going on with their social media management needs. The Advanced package comes with everything in the Professional edition, and then adds on the likes of Message Spike Alerts for increased message activity email and push notification alerts when traffic is high.

There’s a digital asset and content library, and chatbots with automation tools. Advanced users can also work with saved and suggested replies, make use of an inbox rule builder for automated actions, and enjoy automated link tracking. X surveys to define CSAT or NPS come bundled good measure.

• Best free office software of 2024

(Image credit: Sprout Social)Sprout Social: Analytics and reporting

By the same token, the reporting aspect of Sprout Social is as impressive as ever. 

Users can create detailed insights into social media campaigns, get a handle on what works and what doesn’t, as well as producing shareable information that should work a treat in the board room. Naturally, it’s easy to export reports in popular file formats, including CSV and PDF.

Sprout Social has always been handy with its chunky analytics tools and this is an aspect that has become stronger in recent years. The higher-end bundles pack in lots of advanced features for helping combine analytics with lead generation and suchlike, adding value. 

In fact, sales and marketing teams should find it invaluable, while a feature like the Chatbot tool should help improve efficiency too by allowing administrators to build an assistant to help customer needs.

• Best content marketing tool of 2024

(Image credit: Sprout Social)Sprout Social: User Interface

Sprout Social has been in existence for quite a while now and has therefore evolved into a great on-the-go tool for anyone needing to manage their social media out in the field. 

Sprout Social offers iOS and Android mobile apps, both of which have been nicely produced and include more than enough functionality for most needs, even on the Basic edition. Considering its impressive feature set, Sprout Social is still fairly straightforward to setup and configure.

Even in its desktop incarnation, you’ll find Sprout Social to be fairly logical with its layout, especially considering all of the tools that come contained within. There are quick access menu options to commonly used tools like Messages, Tasks, Feeds, and Publishing, helping to improve the overall workflow. 

Similarly, you can get to those vital reporting tools with relative ease too. There are practical considerations too, with a settings area that lets you configure language settings and suchlike for users in other geographical territories.

• Best ecommerce hosting of 2024

(Image credit: Sprout Social)Sprout Social: Support

Anyone getting to grips with Sprout Social for the first time will find a whole host of great content at the online help center, including tips, tricks, and tutorials covering every aspect of the software, along with more advanced tools for helping to get the best from Sprout Social. 

If you need to get in touch there is a phone support number, the option to submit a request online or you can simply reach out via social media. The enterprise tier also includes 24/5 dedicated support, for any enquiries or help. 

While some rivals do go a little further when it comes to support, Sprout Social offers most of the things needed to make sense of the software and get the most out of your online social media presence. 

• Best graphic design software of 2024

(Image credit: Sprout Social)Sprout Social: The competition

Social media management tools are reasonably plentiful and, if you’re working to a tight or non-existent budget, some of them can be had for free. 

Small business owners might struggle to justify the cost implications of the beefier editions of Sprout Social. With that in mind, heading for something like the basic edition of Hootsuite might make more sense, but there’s also the likes of Buffer, HubSpot, Zoho Social, and Circleboom to ponder over too.

All of the different services have their own pros and cons – especially depending on your specific social media needs – and checking out a variety of cheaper (or free) tiers, plus free trials, is likely the best way to definitively find the best. 

• Read more on how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar.

(Image credit: Sprout Social)Sprout Social: Final verdict

If your organisation has advanced social media management needs then Sprout Social offers plenty of appeal, including the ability to ramp up your efforts even more than that with the additional premium solutions. However, all of those extra features and functions add to the price tag, which for smaller businesses can soon make a Professional package seem like a sizeable investment.

Nevertheless, if you’ve got any kind of serious inclination to boost your standing in social media circles, and enjoy the data produced by Sprout Social, you’ll find this is a package that rarely disappoints. Even the Standard edition offers up a surprisingly potent dashboard of delights, via an interface that’s a joy to use, especially if you’re making full use of the iOS and Android apps. 

As we've said throughout the review, Sprout Social is far from an upstart in the space and so you can trust the company to maintain its product, offer quality support, and generally provide one of the best social media management tools in 2026. 

• Sign up to Sprout Social.

Neo may not have the name recognition of the real major players in this space, like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or Proton Mail, but it is nevertheless making a concerted effort to join them as one of the best email hosting services around. 

Attempting to set itself apart from its competitors, Neo has set its sights on the small business market. This is an email provider that is geared towards entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses. And what it does, it does well. If you are a small business, this is an email hosting platform that ticks a lot of boxes.

Neo comes with a good range of features, including appointment scheduling, email templates, and read receipts, and is available at an affordable price. It’s a great option if you want a custom email address, flexible cloud storage and the possibility of exploring whether some of those AI tools making headlines are really as important to business success as they claim to be.

It must be said, Neo isn’t perfect. We’ve found that the support on offer isn’t the most responsive and if you're a large enterprise you might require some of the advanced functionality that you find offered by some of the larger players out there. 

However, if you’re a small business on the lookout for a reliable, affordable email solution, then it’s certainly worth giving Neo a go. The email and marketing services on offer could help take your brand to the next level. 

Neo: Plans and pricing

Plan

Starting rate (paid annually)

Starting rate (paid monthly)

Business Starter

$2.49/mailbox/mo

$3.11/mailbox/mo

Business Standard

$4.99/mailbox/mo

$6.24/mailbox/mo

Business Max

$9.99/mailbox/mo

$12.49/mailbox/mo

Neo subscribers can choose from three plans: Starter, Standard, and Max. The Starter plan is priced at $2.49 per mailbox, per month when billed annually — a step up from its original launch pricing, but still highly competitive compared to most business email providers. The Standard plan comes in at $4.99, while the Max plan sits at $9.99 per mailbox, per month on an annual subscription.

One area where Neo still stands out is its billing flexibility. You can choose monthly, yearly, two-year, or four-year subscription terms, with longer commitments unlocking lower rates. This is fairly unusual in the email hosting market, and it's a nice option to have if you're confident in sticking with Neo for the long haul.

It's also worth noting that if you need more than 50 mailboxes, you'll need to contact Neo's sales team directly for custom pricing. That's standard practice for business software at this scale, but if you're already managing 50+ mailboxes, you may want to weigh up whether a platform built for larger enterprises might be a better fit.

AI tools

Neo has been quietly building out its AI capabilities and by now they're a meaningful part of what the platform offers, particularly on the Max plan. The headline feature is Smart Write, an AI email writer powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT API. You give it a prompt, pick a tone and length, and it produces a ready-to-send draft in seconds. You can also use it to reply to incoming emails with the "Reply with Smart Write" option, which automatically pulls in the context of the email you're responding to.

Smart Write supports multiple languages and handles everything from cold outreach to client negotiations. If the first draft isn't quite right, you can hit "Give me another option" for a fresh take.

However, it's worth knowing that the tool operates under a fair usage policy. You get 75 words per input prompt and Smart Reply autofills up to 1,000 words of context from the email you're replying to. Privacy-wise, OpenAI only accesses the specific content you share with Smart Write, and does not use it for model training.

On the Standard and Max plans, you'll also get access to a built-in Grammar & Spell Check feature, which gives your outgoing emails an extra layer of polish without needing a third-party tool. It's a small addition, but useful for day-to-day correspondence.

Beyond email, Neo has rolled out an AI-powered website builder under its AI Site product. The tool generates a ready-to-launch one-page website from a short text prompt, and you can refine it using an AI copy assist feature. Higher-tier site plans unlock more generations and access to the latest AI models. It's not a replacement for a dedicated website builder, but for small businesses that need a quick professional web presence alongside their email, it's a practical bonus.

Features

(Image credit: Neo)

As with all business email providers, the features that you receive depend heavily on the subscription you’ve signed up for. Let’s start by taking a look at the email storage on offer. With the Starter plan, you receive 15GB of mailbox storage, which matches the free 15GB that comes with a personal Gmail account. We did find that this amount of space filled up quickly, so if you’re a small business with big aspirations, you might find this somewhat lacking. If that is the case, you’ll probably want to look at the 50GB you get with the Standard plan or even the 100GB enjoyed by Max customers. 

In terms of the other features that Neo offers, there’s plenty on show. Subscribers to all three payment plans will receive access to Android and iOS mobile apps, a built-in calendar, and the ability to access their Neo inbox via a third-party mail platform. 

Some more advanced functionality is provided on the Standard plan, including a priority inbox and unlimited read receipts. But the really high-level stuff requires you to be signed up for the Max plan. For instance, customers here get a plethora of powerful business suite tools, such as access to campaign mode (great for email marketing), appointment booking, and the AI Smart Write feature. 

Support

Here’s an area where Neo could do better. While there is a help center, which comes with a host of useful articles and guides like help getting started and a general FAQ, it’s when you try to contact Neo directly that things become a little more tricky. 

There is a link that allows you to create a support ticket but getting a response can take a long time. This is a shame, because for small businesses especially, any issue could cause significant reputational damage that ends up sending customers elsewhere. 

Security

Neo’s security credentials are solid and this is clearly something that the platform takes very seriously. The platform offers data encryption both at rest and in transit with 256-bit ciphers, two-factor authentication, advanced antivirus and antispam functionality, and is hosted on Amazon Web Services, which should give users a little extra peace of mind. 

Neo is also fully GDPR compliant and allows users to include a digital signature with their message to add extra authenticity whenever they are sending an email. 

The competition

Although you might think that email is a bit old-fashioned, it remains essential to the business world. Sure, most successful organizations may have adopted an omnichannel strategy these days, meaning they can contact customers via WhatsApp or a social media platform, but email remains crucial.

In terms of email providers targeting the small business market, Neo has to compete with the likes of Zoho Mail, IONOS, and a growing array of others.  Neo fares pretty well in terms of price and does offer users a free .co.site domain, but for advanced functionality or more response support, you might be better off going with more established players. In fact, Neo's affordability is a massive strength when compared to its rivals - especially for smaller players where budgets may be a bit tighter.

(Image credit: Neo)Final verdict

Neo is a very decent email provider - especially given that it hasn’t been around the longest. If you too are just starting out and don’t require some of the more advanced features you get with larger vendors, then be sure to check Neo out. This is an email hosting platform that really shines when it's used within the small business market - it's here where we think it truly excels. 

If you have expectations of scaling your business rapidly, you might find that you outgrow Neo, but until then, this platform is likely to have everything you need at a very reasonable price. 

We've featured the best email hosting services.

Nano Banana 2 image prompts that showcase its powerful enhancements

The company's new flagship smart ring stores more data, too. But that doesn't really help Americans.

Ratio Four: one-minute review

The Ratio Four is a drip-coffee machine focused on smaller batches. That means it fulfils a valuable niche in the market, meaning it’s perfect for anyone who’s only likely to want a few cups of coffee at a time.

Rather than leaving your brew stewing for hours over a heating element, it allows you to quickly whip up a small batch of coffee on demand and not waste as much as with some traditional drip machines. While it may not be optimum for offices or big families, it’s great for couples or coffee fans that are flying solo.

And its smaller capacity has an extra benefit: its footprint takes up far less space on your counter than many of the best coffee machines. Instead it cuts a sleek figure on your counter, with its clamp-shaped form and smoky-colored glass carafe looking right at home in any kitchen. The only exception for me is its water tank. While I understand that helps it keep its size down, I’m not biggest fan of the way it’s hooked up to the machine with an umbilical cord pipe – I much prefer the built-in tanks of the more premium Ratio Six and Ratio Eight.

Using the Ratio Four couldn’t be easier. Once I’d filled the water tank, all I had to do was slip a compatible filter into the filter basket, grind my beans to a medium-coarse grind and pour them in. Pressing the single button on the front first runs a bloom cycle to pre-wet and stir up the grounds – a step many traditional drip machines skip – then the Ratio Four gets to work running water through your grounds to fill the carafe with sweet Costa Rican crude.

So how did my coffee turn out? Once I found the optimum grind for the Ratio Four, it made very solid coffee – it wasn’t too bitter and there was at least a hint of some of those volatile flavors that make speciality coffees so fantastic. But I wouldn’t say it packed the rich bouquet I associate with wonderfully extracted coffee and I’ve definitely experienced pour-over and pressure extracted coffees that expressed more character out of similar beans.

That doesn’t mean the Ratio Four isn’t worth it though. Pour-over coffee requires developing the knack for it, while many of the best espresso machines require you to spend much more and spend a lot of time cleaning. When you need a couple of cups of tasty coffee in mere minutes, the Ratio Four is definitely worth your time.

(Image credit: Future)Ratio Four review: price and availability

• Launched November 2024
• Retails for $279

Launched in November 2024, the Ratio Four is available now. It retails for a list price of $279 (around £205) – unfortunately, unlike its larger stablemates the Ratio Six and Ratio Eight, it’s not currently available in the UK. So those based on that side of the pond might have to content yourself with drip machines like the Sage Luxe Brewer Thermal or Ninja DualBrew Pro instead.

While the black version featured here isn’t currently available on Amazon, the white colorway is and looks just as classy. For that price, you’re getting pretty much everything you need included – such as the carafe and filter basket – but the one exception is compatible Ratio or Melitta filters so I’d absolutely recommend you grab some at the same time if you’re going to purchase the Ratio Four.

(Image credit: Future)Ratio Four review: specs

Type

Automatic drip machine

Dimensions (W x H x D)

10.6 x 7.5 x 11.5 inches / 26.9 x 19.1 x 29.2cm

Weight

24.18lbs / 10.97kg

Water reservoir capacity

20.3 ounces / 0.6l

(Image credit: Future)Ratio Four review: design

• Sleek, attractive styling
• Perfect for just one or two cups
• Water tank looks less elegant

For some reason, not every brand seems to have gotten the memo about coffee maker design. Some manufacturers seem to think that just because an appliance is bulky, that means it has to be squat and utilitarian. Fortunately, Ratio is way ahead of the crowd here: all of its drip coffee machines are gorgeous and the Four is no exception.

Despite measuring in at 10.6 x 7.5 x 11.5 inches / 26.9 x 19.1 x 29.2cm, this coffee maker looks pretty sleek to my eye. Both its matt black finish and bracket-shaped form meant it cut a bold silhouette in my kitchen and stood out among all the chrome and squat boxes of my other appliances.

As the smallest product in Ratio’s range, the Four’s water tank only contains 20.3oz / 0.6l, which is approximately enough for two full mugs. There aren’t a whole lot of drip machines that cater to this size, so it makes it a great choice for individuals or couples. However, that does mean that if you want to brew enough for family brunch or your coworkers’ coffee order, you’ll probably want to size up.

(Image credit: Future)

The water tank is the one area I’d dock this machine some style points – the discrete reservoir and hose hookup here looks a little goofy to me, like it's connected to the device with an umbilical cord. Personally, I prefer the built in tanks of the more premium options.

By their very nature, drip coffee machines are far simpler affairs than espresso machines, so you won’t get a whole lot in terms of accessories here. But you will of course get everything you need – the packaged carafe is nicely made, with its darkened, heat-proof glass of the carafe gives it a smoky, sophisticated look. And it comes with its own filter basket, although you can swap in your Hario V60, Kalita Wave or Origami basket if you prefer.

Beyond this, you’re on your own. So to get the right coarseness of grind – pre-ground is unlikely to give you either the freshness or precision you’ll need here – you’ll want to pick up a coffee grinder. It’s also worth getting some compatible, flat-bottom filter papers: Ratio sells its own but the Ratio Four is also compatible with Melitta filters if those are more convenient for you.

• Design score: 4.5/5

FutureFutureFutureRatio Four review: performance

• Quick to use and clean
• Easier than pour over to get consistent results
• Flavor is good but not top tier

If you’re looking at automatic drip-coffee machines, your biggest priorities are likely to be speed and convenience. And I’m happy to say that the Ratio Four offers both of these things in spades.

Larger drip-coffee machines can sometimes take between 5 and 10 minutes to brew but, thanks to the Ratio Four’s smaller batch-sizes, it often takes far less than this. While the first brew I did took around 1 minute 52 to bloom and 5 minutes 16 for the total pour, once the boiler had warmed up, this time shrank considerably. My final brew took 1 minute 29 to bloom and 4 minutes 28 for its total pour time, so pretty much bang on what I’d expect.

So how easy is it to use? All told, I felt the process was pretty straightforward. Once you’ve ground your beans, you just insert a compatible filter, fill it up and top up the tank, then you’re good to go. Press its single button and it’ll automatically bloom and brew your coffee. Compared to the more finicky process I’ve come to expect from pour over or my espresso machine, using the Ratio Four is a breeze.

And it achieves decent results… as long as you’re willing to experiment a little with dialing in the right grind. While you’ll be broadly fine with a medium-coarse grind – somewhere between sand and sea salt in texture – I found brewing a few test batches allowed me to really zero in on the right grind for the machine and filters I was using.

(Image credit: Future)

Case in point, for my first batch I set TechRadar’s Mazzer Philos testing grinder to 100 (on a scale of 0 - 140). While the initial bloom of the grounds seemed to go well, the resultant pour looked a little weak to my eye – something I confirmed when I tasted it. Honestly, it was insipid, tasting indistinguishable from a stewed french press. Back to the grindstone then.

This is where I went down a bit of a rabbit hole. I brewed about eight more batches, dialing the grind down 60 microns at a time, producing more flavorful brews each time. I did eventually hit a sweet spot of richness and acidity but this came at a finer grind than I expected and didn’t quite produce the flavor-forward caffeine hit I was looking for. Don’t get me wrong: it makes for a tasty cup of joe but I honestly feel like pour-over or an espresso machine would have extracted more of those mouth-watering floral flavor notes I was hoping for.

But barring a little grind calibration, I have to hand it to the Ratio Four for being incredibly easy to use. And it’s similarly easy to clean. All I had to do was bang out the used filter and grounds into the bin, wash up the filter, carafe and water tank, wipe down the shower and it was good to go again. Compared to espresso machines, with their milk-encrusted steam wands and silt-clogged portafilters, it’s much easier to get the Ratio Four looking spotless.

All in all, the Ratio Four makes good coffee while being simple to operate. It probably ekes a little bit more flavor out of your grind than a standard drip coffee and it’s cheaper and far easier to use than the best espresso machines – although it can’t reach the same heights of flavor either.

• Performance score: 3.5/5

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Ratio Four?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

Few coffee machines at this price are going to make a better brew. But many pour-over setups are a fair bit cheaper and more expensive espresso machines will likely give you better results.

4/5

Design

Stylish and sleek, although the separate water tank looks a little silly. A perfect size if you just want two cups of coffee, although this means it might be less good for families or workplaces.

4.5/5

Performance

Incredibly easy to use and clean afterwards. After you’ve properly calibrated your grind, it can produce tasty coffee – but if flavor is your biggest priority, you may find other setups more rewarding.

3.5/5

Buy it if…

You want pour-over style coffee without the hassle
With its bloom cycle and the way its shower agitates the grind, the Ratio Four gets you much closer to pour-over quality without you needing to spend ages honing your technique.

You’re tired of boxy kitchen appliances
As with all of Ratio’s coffee machines, this cuts a gorgeous silhouette. The umbilically connected water tank aside, this stylish machine will look seriously classy on your counter.

Don't buy it if…

You want the best possible tasting coffee
While the Ratio Four provides a tasty brew, I don’t think it can quite hit the heights of an exquisitely executed espresso or perfect pour over. So if you want truly exceptional coffee, I think it’s worth the extra expense or practice.

You want coffee for your whole house or office
The Ratio Four’s whole niche is that it provides small-batch drip coffee. That’s fantastic for individuals or couples but, naturally, if you want to serve more people, a bigger drip machine will suit you better.

Ratio Four review: also consider

Breville Luxe Brewer Thermal
Breville’s machine is everything a drip-coffee machine should be. It’s simple to use, has a well-designed interface and produces great-tasting coffee. But it has a few tricks up its sleeve as well: it’s both able to keep your java warm for hours without stewing it and produce authentic cold brew with far less mess. Read our full Breville Luxe Brewer Thermal review.

Ninja DualBrew Pro
This chimera of a device combines two easy-brew coffee-making methods in one handy gadget. Not only can it create a batch of drip coffee anywhere from 4oz to 55oz but its included K-cup adapter means you can also use pods to fire out a quick espresso instead. It can’t quite rival a dedicated espresso machine but it sure makes up for that in convenience. Read our full Ninja DualBrew Pro review.

How I tested the Ratio Four

• Tested it over a week
• Made around 8 - 10 batches of coffee
• Have several decades of experience making coffee

I tested the Ratio Four over the course of a week. As it’s exclusive to the US and I’m testing in the UK, I used a voltage transformer to step down our 240V mains power to 120V. I exclusively used fresh roasted beans ground right before brewing to ensure as much of the delicate flavor profile was preserved as possible.

When it came to testing, I brewed around 8 - 10 batches of coffee at a range of grinds from coarse to medium, covering a much wider range of grinds than would usually be used for drip coffee. I followed the exact grounds to water ratio suggested by the manufacturer. I created multiple batches one after another, then made sure to compare the results to see how variations in the grind affected the finished results.

In terms of my experience, I’ve been drinking coffee on a daily basis for over two decades. My go-to brew methods are espresso using my Breville Bambino and cold-brew extracted at room temperature over 18 hours then filtered through a fine mesh. However, I’ve used an enormous array of coffee making devices over the years, from the Aeropress to a stove-top moka pot.

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

Ford has started making the 'frunk', or front trunk, a paid-for option on its 2026 Mustang Mach-E. And it isn't going down well.

The Ratio Four drip-coffee machine offers solid, small-batch brews with absolutely minimal hassle –it's great for couples or coffee fans that are flying solo.

As a long-time PC user, I grew increasingly frustrated with Windows 11, so switched to macOS, and the M4 Mac mini couldn’t come at a better time.

A pair of reading glasses can help reduce eye strain and boost your reading pleasure. Here are our favorite places to get yours.

The feature is available to both free users and Premium subscribers. Wuthering Heights is reaching the heights on both the US and UK charts.

From season 4 arrives on April 19 – here's everything we know so far, including the sci-fi horror show's confirmed release date, cast, plot rumors, news and more.

I test coffee makers for a living, and these are my top-rated espresso machines for small kitchens.

LG Display has been awarded '100% dimming consistency' by a third-party assessor to show that OLEDs are more consistent than LCD

Disneyland Resort President Thomas Mazloum said the parks are being simplified from trip planning to departure, aiming to make visits smoother now, even as major new attractions are built.

Spectrum is the largest internet provider in the US after the acquisition.

Powered by the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395, the MS-S1 Max is built for intensive multitasking and demanding professional workloads.

The world's most important mobile show kicks off on Monday and will show off wild phone concepts along with new devices launching later this year.

It's the perfect time to start spring cleaning and brighten up your cooking space with these bargain storage and lighting options.

The company refused to grant the Department of Defense permission to use it for mass domestic surveillance or for fully autonomous weapons systems.