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Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Price & release date

• List price: $1,299.99 / £999.99
• Released March 2026

The Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal comes in at $1,299.99 / £999.99 — while it’s far from cheap, it’s pretty good value for what it offers. That being said, there are other robot vacuum cleaners with equally impressive features and better software at a similar price point.

Plus, you’ll need to maintain some parts of the vacuum; in particular, refills for the multi-floor cleaner ($13.99 / £14.99) and the odor-neutralizing puck ($9.99 – $14.99 / £7.99 – £15.99), as well as the usual replacement for things like side brushes and mop pads. Over time, these can add up, but you’ll scarcely find a robovac that doesn’t come with added costs at similar prices these days.

• Value: 4/5

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

Out of the box, you’ll find the vacuum, base, power chord, an anti-odor puck, one refill bottle of Shark’s multi-floor cleaner, two side brushes, plus the usual array of instructions and warranty documents.

The base stands at 17 x 18 x 14 inches / 43.2 x 45.7 x 35.6 cm, and comes in either black or white — mine was the latter, and I think it looks a lot more premium than the tackier black colorway. Enclosed in the lid of the base are the 2.74-litre / 96.65oz clean and 1.18-litre / 41.62oz waste water tanks, which lift out easily thanks to the retractable handles, as well as the bagless dirt compartment — I really appreciate that Shark opted for this so there’s one less thing to routinely replace.

(Image credit: Future)

You can remove the container with the press of a button situated on the side of the dock, and it’s also HEPA-filtered. There’s also a set of two filters you’ll need to clean every 1-2 months, depending on how often you use your robot vacuum, and a slot for one of Shark’s anti-odor pucks should dusty smells be an issue for you.

(Image credit: Future)

The vacuum itself is a fairly standard, rounded 2-in-1 robot vacuum, but a little tall and hefty at 5.35 inches / 13.6cm tall. The top houses its raised puck for LiDAR sensing, which works in tandem with the front of the device, where the cameras and other sensors, including a camera as well as LED and UV lights, to navigate your home and spot messes ripe for cleaning.

If you’d rather not use the app, you can use the four touch-sensitive buttons to activate mop and vacuum modes, send the vacuum home and connect to the Wi-Fi. A soft bumper surrounds the edges of the vacuum to prevent damage from any collisions, which are remarkably rare thanks to its top-tier obstacle avoidance, and you can remove its dust bin and mop plate from the rear of the device.

(Image credit: Future)

On the underside, you’ll find the wheels, brush bar, side brush, and a singular, flat mop pad. These aren’t my favorite type — a rondel will typically offer a deeper clean, better post-clean drying and less water waste. However, Shark has designed the robot vacuum to wiggle this mop pad to agitate dirt, which goes some of the ways to make up the difference.

Of note is that the vacuum seems to be a total dust magnet. I have mine placed beneath a desk, where I wouldn’t expect excessive levels of dust — however it’s constantly lined with a thick layer of the stuff.

• Design: 4/5

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Performance

Setup for the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal is pretty simple; using the app, you’ll connect the vacuum to your Wi-Fi, give it a name (I loved some of the suggestions like Clean Latifah), and after that, the robot vacuum will run its first mapping pass. Broadly, mine was accurate; my apartment has a slightly tricky layout for robot vacuums, including a half-tiled, half-carpeted kitchen-living room, and lots of doors to dodge.

After this first pass, the app will offer you a second mapping run, this time to detect flooring types. If you plan to regularly mop hard floors and have carpets or rugs to avoid, make sure to get this out of the way during setup; I couldn’t find any way to update this map after the fact.

FutureFutureFutureCleaning tests

I performed my standard pickup tests using oats, cornflour and brown rice to compare performance to other robot vacuums I’ve tested, and the results were a mixed bag. When setting the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal off for a standard, vacuum-only clean, I was immediately impressed as it zig-zagged across my floors, leaving them visibly refreshed — plus, it’s pretty quiet in action.

On hard floors, it excels thanks to a combination of its side brush, solid suction and the jet of air it blasts at hard-to-reach debris, ensuring floors are spick and span post-clean. On carpet, it’s slightly less impressive, especially in the edge cleaning department, but it still does a decent enough job. Its pickup of larger debris was very impressive on carpet, leaving little to nothing behind, but there was a small amount of powdery debris left behind on my medium-pile rugs — hair, however, is no problem, be it human or pet.

(Image credit: Future)

Next up, I tried a regular combination clean with vacuum and mopping, and that’s where my experience with the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal became a bit more mixed. The robot vacuum first fills its water tank at the base, proceeding to concurrently vacuum and mop your floors rather than splitting out the tasks. This helps to save time and battery; however, it does increase the risk of soggy carpets.

To avoid this, the robovac will lift its hind to keep the mop pad from drenching carpets — this reduces its effectiveness on carpets, though, as it crushes the side brush, and sometimes, while navigating, it will spin round and spit water across the floor, too. However, once it reaches hard floors, the results are pretty impressive; the mop pad agitates spills and stains with a back-and-forth scrubbing motion, and will reach into corners to make sure every spot is well-cleaned.

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal lifting its mop padFutureShark PowerDetect UV Reveal lifting its mop padFuture

It does use a lot of water, though, and especially if you’re cleaning up larger spills, that means the PowerDetect UV Reveal can leave a streaky mess in its wake. I noticed this even more so when there was lots of debris to vacuum up during the clean; the PowerDetect UV Reveal left a clump of soggy oats behind like an owl pellet as well as white streaky marks across the floor, but I wouldn’t typically recommend regularly using your robot vacuum to collect large volume spills anyway. I have especially reflective kitchen tiles, so I noticed this a lot; on my less shiny bathroom tiles, it wasn’t as much of a problem.

Powering up to a higher suction or mopping setting does result in a more thorough cleaning job, especially on carpets, but it’s worth noting that this seems to make the excess water usage more noticeable.

Some smeared oats, milady? I wouldn't advise using the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal, or indeed most robot vacuums that mop and vacuum concurrently, to clear up high volumes of debris. (Image credit: Future)Object detection and navigation

When the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal works, it really works, but I encountered a fair few bugs and limitations that do impact its overall effectiveness — for example, when doing a combination clean, it sometimes skips cleaning certain areas and rooms, or neglects to clean areas I’ve specifically asked it to.

Its LiDAR scanner makes accurate room maps, though they’ll be a bit odd-looking if you have lots of furniture at floor level. That’s unavoidable, to a degree, but I wish it had investigated those areas more closely to find the real edges of the walls; that way if furniture moves around your home, you wouldn’t need to remap.

Its object detection is incredible — perhaps too good, as the robot vacuum avoided my low-hanging (but not floor-length) curtains like the plague, giving wide berth to even the most inconsequential of obstacles. Generally, it’s not too much of a problem, but improved smarts would mean there’s slightly less preparation required pre-clean to ensure your entire floor gets cleaned properly. I was also massively impressed by the ease with which it lifted itself over and cleared thresholds, chair legs, and the like, leading to quicker cleans.

UV detection in action, as well as some rugs the vacuum fought (and defeated)FutureUV detection in action. FutureUV detection

After its standard cleaning cycles, the robovac will return to its base, but the cleaning isn’t over quite yet. It’ll issue an ominous warning once it’s refreshed itself: "I detected stains. I'm heading back out to aggressively attack them."

Here’s where the magic of the PowerDetect UV Reveal is really on show; as it cleans, it flares a blue UV light, with which you can see for yourself the stubborn and sometimes invisible stains on your floor, which it will then return to after a standard cleaning run. It was pretty cringe-inducing to watch it navigate areas I hadn’t cleaned recently and see just how much grime was there.

(Image credit: Future)Dock

After the job’s complete, it’ll return for a final time to the base and begin the mop pad maintenance process quietly in the background with just a low humming noise, washing it with hot water before drying it to reduce contamination. In my testing, the robovac lived up to its estimated 3-hour battery life; a 45-minute clean on standard settings dropped the battery by 25%. A full recharge takes roughly 4 hours, and the vacuum won’t perform new tasks when at less than 20%.

• Performance: 4/5

The first of these three screenshots shows my completed floor map; as you can see from the very odd shapes, the LiDAR scanner can be quite assumptive with obstacles and won't investigate around the sides to find where the wall truly starts and ends. The second and third screenshots show two seperate occasions where I asked the robot vacuum to clean specific rooms and it elected to clean a completely different one. (Image credit: Future)Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Software and app

The app is quite restrictive when it comes to home and schedule customization; you can only have one map, so multi-floor cleaning isn’t possible, no-go zones are always rectangular and you can only create two schedules per day.

I also noticed that the robot vacuum would often get confused when it initiated a clean, forging straight to the corner of my living room and spinning there for a good few minutes before figuring out its path to the hallway. On closer inspection, this happened most frequently when I sent it to clean somewhere other than its home room; for some reason, it wanted to head straight through my wall instead of around and through the doorway.

I couldn’t find a quiet mode, either, meaning if you ever wanted to use the vacuum at night or when little ones are sleeping, they might awaken to an ominous threat from your robovac.

These issues, among other software quirks, make for the primary complaint I have surrounding the Shark PowerDetect UV reveal; its app and on-board smarts hold back an otherwise high-performance robot vacuum.

• Software: 2.5/5

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: SpecsSpecs

Wattage (robot):

65W

Robot diameter:

13.2 inches / 34cm

Robot height:

4 inches / 10.2cm

Cleaning path width:

Not specified

Dock dimensions (H x W x D):

17 x 18 x 14 inches / 43.2 x 45.7 x 35.6 cm

Dock cord:

3.9ft / 1.2m

Weight (robot + dock):

26.9 lbs / 12.21 kg

Should I buy Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal?

Section

Notes

Score

Software and app

There are lots of features I’d expect as standard in a robot vacuum, especially at this list price, that Shark just hasn’t added. That and the litany of odd bugs drop the overall score significantly.

2.5/5

Performance

Great for vacuuming carpets, and while the mop pad is a bit of a hazard, with UV sensing in tow it offers a truly deep clean.

4/5

Design

Neutral, bag-less and easy to maintain, the only thing I could ask for would be a slightly more premium feel in its black colorway. Plus, it’s a dust-magnet.

4.5/5

Value

Given its innovative features and thorough cleaning, it’s sitting pretty at its list price compared to the competition, but loses points for the in-app experience.

4/5

Buy it if…

You value well sanitized floors
With its UV detection, the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal offers peace of mind and broadly great results, especially in the mopping department… if you can handle slow-drying floors.

You have pets
Again, the UV detection comes in clutch here for invisible pet messes, but it’s also a deft hand at hair collection.

You have a large home
With its great battery life and efficiency, the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal is unlikely to run out of juice before finishing the job even in larger homes.

Don’t buy it if…

You have lots of wooden floors or shiny tiles

While it’ll clean these floor types within an inch of their life, the residual water and cleaning solution could warp or damage wooden floors and leave streaky marks on particularly reflective ones.

You have lots of carpet
Don’t get me wrong, this is an accomplished vacuum for carpets, but if you want to do combination cleans, you might end up with a few soggy spots left in its wake.

You want to vacuum multiple floors — or other smart features

I liken the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal to a power washer in the hands of a caveman; it’s only as good as the software allows it to be, and with frustrations like single-floor mapping, ignored instructions and

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Also consider

Eufy X10 Pro Omni

Another two-in-one robovac with excellent cleaning on all floor types, plus strong mapping and navigation.

Read our full Eufy X10 Pro Omni review

Roborock Qrevo Curv

A robot vacuum and mop that delivers superb suction and great wet floor cleaning. It's the best robovac we've tested to date.

See our full Roborock Qrevo Curv review

How I tested the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal

I tested the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal for two weeks in my home, completing my standardised pickup, edge cleaning and mopping tests in addition to simulating tests for features like UV detection. I used the app, making a map of my home and testing various features like scheduling and room-by-room cleaning tasks, closely observing the vacuum when in use to note any navigation or performance issues during testing.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed June 2026

Spending $5 on a good take-out coffee adds up over time, which is why single-serve coffee machines are a quick and easy way to give you your morning pick-me-up for a lot less.

Now that it's Amazon Prime Day, the idea of me returning to the best coffee machines is rather tempting, especially after seeing this offer on the Keurig K-Mini Mate machine for $89.99 down from $109.99.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

One of the best parts about the Keurig K-Mini Mate is that you can pretend to be the barista you've always wanted to be by just the push of a button, and impress your friends with your 'skills' in the process. However, just as it is with every coffee pod machine, restocking pods is an additional cost.

But Prime Day isn't just about scoring a cheap coffee machine, it's one of the best times for you existing coffee machine owners to stock up on your favorite brands and flavors.

Today's best Keurig K-Mini Mate deal

Keurig's smallest coffee maker is mighty for its compact size, and doesn't compromise quality of flavor for a budget-friendly coffee machine. $20 may not seem like the biggest saving, but it's the lowest price we've it hit in recent months. View Deal

This works out to around 75c per single-serve, and gives you a wide variety of medium roast brews from known brands including Lavazza and Krispie Kreme. Just one of these would last you two months if you have no more than one coffee per day - or a little bit less if you require more caffeine for your daily fix. View Deal

If you're one for a sweet-flavored coffee, this variety pack covers all the groundwork from vanilla and peanut butter, to butter crunch and maple syrup, but that's just the beginning. This variety pack equals to roughly 42c per serve, so cheaper than Keurig's own selection, but do you get less pods. View Deal

For 50c per serve, you'll be inundated with pods from The Original Donut Shop, bringing diner-style coffee right your kitchen. Though it's not a variety pack and is single-flavor only, it's a great way to stock up on standard pods for when you need a break from the sweeter flavors. View Deal

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

In a product crossover nobody expected, the Philippines-based brand Goojodoq has launched a 2-in-1 DJI Pocket-style vlogging camera with a fan, which costs around $25 / £20.

It's a device that I seriously need right now, and I can thank filmmaker Philip Bloom for bringing it to my attention. Not for its camera skills, mind you, but for its cooling properties — it's super hot in the UK as I write. Like, scorching hot.

As a fan, the device looks decent enough; a 100-speed brushless motor, 2,500mAh battery for a run time between 2-10 hours, plus USB-C charging.

I can't seriously recommend the device as a camera, however. Details are sparse, but it looks like there's Full HD 30p video recording, micro SD storage, a gimbal with 180-degree rotation, plus a 1.3-inch display.

And you can only laugh at the idea of using both camera and fan at the same time. Can you imagine it? Lights... camera... hummmmm.

Still, it's not like it's a pricey product, with the Philippine Peso pricing conversion working out at around $25 / £20.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

If you're looking for a proper compact vlogging camera, I recommend you check out the DJI Osmo Pocket 3. It has recently been updated with the Pocket 4, but the older model is equally good in many regards, and it now costs much less in the Prime Day sales. I've included the best Pocket 3 deals below.

And if you're on the lookout for a decent quality fan, we're covering the best ways to stay cool in our beat the heat live blog. For all other deals, check out our Amazon Prime Day coverage.

Today's best DJI Osmo Pocket 3 deal

The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 was recently replaced by the Osmo Pocket 4, but the latest model isn't currently available in the US, and we don't know if / when it will be. The Pocket 3 is now available for a record-low price of $378 in a base package, while other bundles with various accessories can be found via the same link.

Price check: $378 at AdoramaView Deal

Following the DJI ban, Xtra appeared, offering effectively the same quality product, for less. The Muse has similar specs to the Pocket 3, and can now be purchased for a record low $329 in a standard bundle.View Deal

There's a reason that the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is a best-selling vlogging camera: its winning combination of gimbal-stabilized 4K video, compact design, ease of use, swivel monitor and pro audio mic pairing. That's everything a content creator on the go needs. Yes, there's the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 in the picture now, but it costs much more and is just an iterative update. Fork out a little extra, and you can get the Creator Combo for £372 which includes a DJI Mic and other accessories. View Deal

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: sign up for a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire TV, Ring & Blink from £24.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: AirPods Pro 3 for a record-low price
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja, Tefal & Sage
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from under £10
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Headphones: up to 50% off
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £125
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Eufy & Roborock
• Wearables: Garmin & Huawei from £36.99

• The Coalition studio creative director Matt Searcy says Active Reload is an "iconic" part of the Gears of War series
• He explains that the team moved the mechanic to the middle of the screen in E-Day because "it feels better"
• Searcy adds that players can learn Active Reload "much more easily" when it's placed there

Gears of War: E-Day is set to bring back the series' iconic Active Reload mechanic, but The Coalition has made some design changes.

Speaking in an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Summer Game Fest 2026, studio creative director Matt Searcy discussed new features that have been built with Unreal Engine 5, such as larger environments, like an entire city, a jump button, improved animations, and a rebuilt cover system and traversal mechanics that feel "smoother than they've ever felt before."

"All those cover mechanics are there; they just feel smoother than they've ever felt before," he said, "and then around that we just gave little new ways for you to interact with the environment, for you to traverse, options for you to take new flanking routes, just to open up our maps a little bit more. It's made for some pretty amazing additions to the gameplay, but also the world."

Searcy also touched on Active Reload, a feature almost like a mini-game, which allows players to manually reload their held weapon rather than wait for the magazine to run out of ammo.

In E-Day, the mechanic has been moved from the top of the screen to the middle by default, which Searcy said works better.

"So active reload is a huge part of Gears," Searcy said. "[It's] an iconic feature. We've moved it by default to the middle of the screen. It feels better [from] what we've played; we've tested it as part of your shooting experience."

The creative director confirmed that players can move Active Reload back to its original place at the top of the screen, but notes that there are some extra "cool" details with natural reload and other additional reload mechanics.

"Every single shell is being reloaded," he said, "so some of the weapons have additional reload mechanics." For example, players can interrupt the reload and keep playing with two or three shells if they're halfway through and then "use them really quick to like get out of danger," or they can wait until the end to get their Active Reload bonus.

He added that players will noticeably use the mechanic "telemetry-wise" and use it way more than they did when it was at the top of the screen "because you can learn it much more easily [when] it's in your face."

Gears of War: E-Day is scheduled to launch on October 6 exclusively for Xbox Series X and Series S.

Matt Searcy told TechRadar Gaming that he believes making the game an Xbox exclusive was the best decision — something not all Xbox Game Studios teams are aligned on.

Identity theft is the number one crime in America, and when it comes to Prime Day sales the crooks are always looking to entice you with too-good-to-be-true deals to steal your financial info, ruin your credit score, and steal your identity.

But right now, LifeLock total is just $29.17/mo (was $34.99/mo) at LifeLock for the first year. When it comes to identity theft protection, there is a reason LifeLock is rated so highly in my guide. In the event your identity is stolen, LifeLock Total can provide up to $1,000,000 in reimbursement for both identity restoration and stolen funds, making it the ideal choice for professionals with multiple financial accounts, investments, or properties.

LifeLock Total also includes a credit lock and 3 Bureau score monitoring & reporting, 401(k) and investment account alerts, stolen wallet protection, automatic data broker removal and dark web monitoring, alongside 24/7 priority customer phone support.

• See all LifeLock deals

Today's top LifeLock deal

LifeLock Total protects your credit and accounts, monitors the internet and social media for any hints of credential theft, and can helps secure your accounts if they are breached. Even if your identity is stolen, you'll have LifeLock experts on hand to get your life back on track. Prices are for first year only.View Deal

LifeLock Total is the pinnacle of identity theft protection, including everything needed to prevent fraud, and restore your life back to normal in the event your identity is stolen.

Your accounts (Credit, Checking, Savings, 401K, Investment) are covered by LifeLock's monitoring services, which will notify you of any suspicious activity or unauthorized transactions and withdrawals. You will also receive annual credit reports from 3 Bureaus, and a monthly report from 1 Bureau to keep you informed on changes to your financials.

I particularly like how LifeLock Total keeps tabs on your home title or property records and provides notification for any fraudulent attempts to change or transfer your property deeds.

LifeLock's automatic data broker removal scans over 30 of the most prolific data brokers every 90 days to submit data removal notices on your behalf to make sure your sensitive information isn't sold to advertisers from their sites. The dark web is also monitored for traces of your credentials, with notifications of any weak or leaked credentials.

Your social media accounts are also protected, with LifeLock monitoring for suspicious activity and account takeovers, helping to preventing account theft and fraud. You will also be sent alerts when a registered sex offender moves into your neighborhood.

LifeLock Total also 100% guarantees identity restoration in the event of identity theft, with a reimbursement of up to twelve months of your subscription payment if your identity isn't restored to good standing. In case you aren't fully satisfied, LifeLock also offer a 60-day money back guarantee.

• Take a look at our full guide to the best identity theft protection

As a gaming gadget reviewer, there's a roster of gaming gear I rely on literally every day. So if you're looking for some recommendations for products to upgrade your gaming setup this Prime Day, I've got plenty of tips for you!

• View the full Amazon Prime Day sale

You might not be surprised to hear this but I'm a serious gaming nerd. As I write this, I have at least six gaming devices within 10 feet of me and more hidden away upstairs. I use at least one or two of these consoles every day — and that's totally ignoring my favorite accessories. So here's just a handful of the gadgets I currently couldn't game without.

Currently, my personal fave accessory in my home setup is the wonderfully engineered ASUS ROG Raikiri II controller. You can buy the ASUS ROG Raikiri II at Amazon for $143.99 (was $189.99) — that's an epic bargain in my eyes.

When it comes to consoles, I'd definitely recommend the superb performance and graphical fidelity of the Xbox Series X Digital Edition, which you can currently get at Amazon for $574.99 (was $649.99).

The Nintendo Switch 2 is also well worth it, particularly before its price hike this September — and you can net yourself the Choose Your Game Bundle at Amazon for $499, which allows you to get it with a digital download of Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, or Pokémon Pokopia into the bargain.

But while it's not purely a gaming device, my biggest tip this sale might be the fact you can grab the TCL QM8K 65-inch at Amazon for $997.99 (was $1,499.99). Given it's both seriously vibrant and crammed with great gaming features, that's a seriously good discount.

Based in the UK? Don't worry! I've dug up the best equivalent UK deals and prices I could find for all of these items below. And if you want the drop on other top price reductions out there, I've got a pro-tip for you — check out our Amazon Prime Day UK deals roundup for the hottest bargains.

Not gonna lie: I legit love my ASUS ROG Raikiri II. As you can see from my 4.5 star review, I'm a big fan of its TMR thumbsticks and triggers and its low-latency 2.4GHz wireless connectivity. My only criticism is how much it costs but, thanks to this ace deal, you can save yourself a huge $46.

UK price: £199 at AmazonView Deal

With the Nintendo Switch 2's price rising in September, I'd heartily recommend you grab yours soon. And with this great bundle, you can get it with a digital copy of either Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, or Pokémon Pokopia for at least $20 less than any of the equivalent physical game bundles.

UK price (non-bundle): now £369.95 at Amazon (was £395.99)View Deal

Offering as great a performance as my mid-range gaming rig in a much smaller space, the Xbox Series X serves up stunning graphics and super smooth performance. And honestly, unless you're wedded to physical media, the Digital Edition is by far the best deal.

UK price: now £436 at Amazon (was £449.99)View Deal

While the Xbox is a good console, to me, what makes it great is Xbox Game Pass. On the Ultimate tier, I've currently got access to over 400 games, all for far less than what I'd usually spend on games a month. While we're not yet seeing any discounts this Prime Day, this is a very decent price for a truly enormous amount of content.

UK price: £16.99 / month at AmazonView Deal

Not only does my TCL QM8K (AKA the C8K in the UK) offer a vibrant, gorgeous picture, but I also love its gaming features like 4K at 144Hz, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, ALLM and Dolby Vision gaming. While it fell to $897.99 last Black Friday, if you can't wait till November to upgrade your TV, this is still a total bargain.

UK price: £1,199 at Amazon

What I love about the Beyerdynamic MMX 150 is how versatile it is, with sound presets letting you tailor the audio to different genres while its fantastically spatial sound is great for detecting enemies in shooters. With this $50 discount, I heartily recommend checking it out.

UK price: now £139 at Selfridges & Co (was £159)View Deal

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

• Star Wars: Galactic Racer will feature a combination of vehicle parts "in the trillions"
• Creative Director Kieran Crimmins says the game has "unbelievable depth"
• He adds, "There may not be an arcade racer with that much depth in it ever made"

Fuse Games has revealed that Star Wars: Galactic Racer has a combination of moving parts that is "in the trillions."

Speaking in an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Summer Game Fest (SGF), Fuse Games co-founder and CEO Matt Webster and Creative Director Kieran Crimmins shared how the studio designed a Star Wars racing game with a narrative that balanced what fans are already familiar with while also adding to the universe in a meaningful way.

Webster touched on the accessible planets where the races will take place, such as iconic planets like Tatooine, and others like Lantaana and Jakku, as well as the game's "runs-based" campaign structure and vehicle customization with over 300 parts.

That's a lot of options which will certainly offer a lot of player freedom, but according to Crimmins, the game at large goes beyond that. The creative director said that he spoke to one of the game's designers at SGF and asked how many combinations of moving parts there are in the game, and he was told, "It's in the trillions."

"I can't really calculate it at that point, because the amount of mechanical depth we've got in both the parts, the racer styles, the abilities, the upgrades, and then the different environmental effects that are on the planets, is an unbelievable depth."

"We've never had that much depth in a game we've made," he added. "I would argue there may not be an arcade racer with that much depth in it ever made. This might not be the biggest one possible, and that's something we really wanted to give back to the genre."

Coming back to how the team balanced the new and old of Star Wars, Crimmins explained that it wants people who are familiar with the franchise to have those "touch points," but it also looked at it from "more of a fantasy fulfillment point of view."

"It's like when we watch the movies, we watch the TV shows, or we play the games," he said. "What are the vehicle fantasies that are represented in this universe, which there are a lot of, and then, how do we get the right word, the right worlds, the right parts, the right vehicles? So that we can give as many of those different fantasies as possible."

One of those new vehicles is the skim speeder, which offers fast mobility and is something the Fuse Games knew needed to do a "knife-edge" turn in races.

"We made a vehicle that was able to do that and give, what I feel is a very authentic Star Wars experience, but it is a completely new vehicle, so something new to the Star Wars canon."

Star Wars: Galactic Racer launches on October 6 for PS5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

• Fuse Games CEO Matt Webster confirms Star Wars: Galactic Racer has a runs-based structure in the campaign
• Webster says "consequential decision-making" is built within the campaign
• Creative Director Kieran Crimmins says that when the team prototyped the system, "it felt right" for Galactic Racer

Star Wars: Galactic Racer will feature a runs-based structure within the campaign, which Fuse Games has said will involve "consequential decision-making."

That's according to Fuse Games co-founder and CEO Matt Webster, who told TechRadar Gaming during an interview at Summer Game Fest 2026 (SGF) that while he and the team love arcade racing games, "you can't make one really in the same way as you did all those years ago," because game genres have adapted and evolved.

Webster said the team wanted to bring something fresh to Galactic Racer, and the runs-based structures, which "are built for replayability and racing thrives on replayability," and in other games, the "meta" is car collection. So instead, the team shook things up by bringing back "consequential decision making and consequence back into the experience."

Creative Director Kieran Crimmins added that "consequence" was the "key" for Galactic Racer, saying, "We want every decision to matter, every upgrade to matter, every vehicle to matter, every race to matter, and like the runs-based structure allows us to do that, like we've never done in an arcade racing before."

"Not only have you got to keep on top of the curve with your build and your skill and your track knowledge, but also you get to reset every time," Crimmins continued.

In other arcade racers, the developer explained, cars can be upgraded to max level, but then players will realize they haven't experienced 99% of the other systems. And while they can always be revisited, the runs-based structure "allows you to do that with consequence."

"It gives you a reason to try all those different builds, a reason to experiment, and also a reward if you get your synergies right, you get your build right, and you get your knowledge right," Crimmins said.

"Then that's what actually wins the game, so it was incredibly compelling to us to have a structure that not only changed the way that you play, but changed the way that you play that was advantageous for the feelings that you get in a racing game, and like anything, the way we made it is we prototyped it and it felt right.

"This is an innovation we think we can bring to the genre."

During the interview, Crimmins also revealed that the game will feature a combination of moving parts that are "in the trillions," across racer styles, the abilities, the upgrades, and then the different environmental effects that are on the planets.

"It's an unbelievable depth," the creative director said.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer arrives on October 6 for PS5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

If you're looking to get into the world of audiophile-grade sound, or want to upgrade your gear, then now could be the perfect time. And that's because Amazon Prime Day is finally upon us, and we've spotted a bunch of amazing deals on head-fi, with some mega bargains on IEMs, headphones, and music streamers.

• View the full Amazon Prime Day sale

I've got the rundown on some awesome offers from the likes of Astell & Kern, its affordable sub-brand, Activo, Meze, and Sennheiser, with big discounts, bundles, and more available.

As someone who's been testing audio gear for years, and has tested IEMs and headphones from all of these brands — including the featured Activo Volcano and Sennheiser IE 200 — I have to say that these deals are seriously tempting, even for me. So, whatever you do, don't miss out on some of this high-quality, yet low-priced audio gear!

Prime Day sale – quick links

• Shop Amazon's Prime Day headphones deals

Excellent Prime Day head-fi deals

Activo Volcano

Activo P1 player + custom-fit case + Activo Volcano earphones

Activo P1 player + custom-fit case + Activo Q1 earphones

Astell & Kern KANN ULTRA High Resolution Audio Player

Astell & Kern SP3000T High Resolution Audio Player

Astell&Kern CA1000T Desktop Audio System

Meze Audio 105 AER Open-Back Over-Ear Dynamic Headphones

Sennheiser HD 550 Open-Back Audiophile Headphones

Sennheiser IE 200

More Amazon Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: sign up for a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire TV, Ring & Blink from £21.99
• Apple: AirPods Pro 3 for a record-low price
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja, Tefal & Sage
• Essentials: household goods from under £10
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £125
• TVs: from £129.99

Insta360 Luna Ultra: One-minute review

Despite being Insta360’s first vlogging camera with multiple Insta360 firsts, the Luna Ultra, overall, feels like a polished and bold product. Its triple chipset ably supports powerful features — especially the gimbal-stabilized 8K 30p video with 10-bit color depth and 4K 120p slow motion video recording, Log color profile, autonomous subject tracking autofocus and 32-bit float audio.

With dual 20mm f/1.8 and 60mm f/2.0 lenses, each with its own sensor, you truly are getting two cameras in one. And having enjoyed the Luna's ultra-wide and impressive 3x telephoto versatility for a month, it will be hard for me to go back to a single-lens compact vlogging camera.

The detachable remote module — which features the two-inch OLED touchscreen, main camera controls and built-in microphone — has, understandably, won many admirers. It's such a clever and well-implemented design feature that truly enhances the user experience, especially for solo vlogging.

Here the module has been removed. It has a 20m transmission range and when removed it functions just as if it's attached to the camera (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

Initially I had a few minor niggles navigating various camera settings, and it certainly paid dividends to spend time customizing the Luna Ultra to the way I like to shoot. It's also notably bulkier than DJI's Pocket 4 vlogging cameras, and pricier than single-lens alternatives.

Despite its infancy in this space, Insta360 has to its credit already produced crucial supporting accessories — including tripod and battery grips, plus the Insta360 Mic Pro wireless mic for top quality audio — meaning you can stick within the Insta360 ecosystem and enjoying the best possible user experience and compatibility, including full Bluetooth support.

Yes, DJI has been in the compact vlogging camera space for much longer and has refined its Pocket series with every iteration, but the Luna Ultra enters with a bang and is an impressive alternative.

Two lenses in one device, with an additional zoom — an approach familiar to smartphone users (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Insta360 Luna Ultra: price and release date

• Full release on June 12 2026
• Available in black or white with prices starting at $769.99 / £649 / AU$1,229.99
• Multiple bundles to choose from, including the Creator Bundle

The Titanium Gold version comes with a matching auto lens cap (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

"We're not going to compete on price" is what Insta360's co-founder Max Richter told me at a pre-launch event for the Luna Ultra, the company's first vlogging camera and DJI Osmo Pocket series rival.

And the Luna Ultra is much pricier than previous Pocket cameras. However, those were single-lens models and, like DJI's most recent Pockets, the single-lens Pocket 4 and dual-lens Pocket 4P, the Luna comes in two varieties: the single-lens Pro and the dual-lens Ultra.

Prices for the Ultra start at $769.99 / £649 / AU$1,229.99. That’s a fair whack more than the latest single-lens models, but you are truly getting two cameras in one device.

Insta360 sent me the Creator Bundle to review, which includes multiple extras such as the Mic Pro transmitter and battery grip and costs $969.99 / £829 / AU$1,549.99. I expect the dual-lens Osmo Pocket 4P to cost less than the Luna Ultra, but it won't be available in the US because of the DJI ban.

Both Luna models are available in black or white versions, and in a further variety of bundles that cater for various use cases; Standard, Essential, Endurance, VLOG, POV and Creator.

• Price score: 4/5

Insta360 Luna Ultra specsInsta360 Luna Ultra Specs:

Type:

Compact video camera

Lenses

20mm f/1.8 and 60mm f/2.0

Sensors:

1-inch and 1/1.3-inch

Video:

8K up to 30p / 4K up to 120p / FHD up to 240p

Photo:

9MP JPEG & RAW / 37MP UltraPhoto mode / panorama

LCD:

2-inch OLED, detachable

Memory:

47GB internal, 1x micro SD (up to 1TB)

Battery

1,550mAh, rated up to 4 hours of 1080p

Dimensions

2.1×6.7×1.5in / 52.4×169.9×38.5mm

Weight:

8.2 oz / 233g (black)
8.3oz / 235g (white)

Insta360 Luna Ultra: design

• First compact vlogging camera to land with dual lenses, ahead of the Pocket 4P
• Similar design cues to the DJI Pocket series (but a little larger), with stick-like form factor and camera supported by a three-axis gimbal
• Unique detachable controller which includes a two-inch OLED screen and built-in mic

The chunky protective caseFuture / Tim ColemanThe wind guard attached to camera's mic pickupsFuture / Tim ColemanThe dual-lenses tuck away vertically when the camera is turned off.Future / Tim ColemanOne way to power up the camera is rotating the screen, but there's also a power buttonFuture / Tim ColemanHorizontal video is available in 8K, 4K and 1080pFuture / Tim ColemanThe profile of the camera — the lowest part is pronounced to accommodate the detachable moduleFuture / Tim ColemanOn the right side is a micro SD card slot, behind a fiddly rubber coverFuture / Tim Coleman

The Luna Ultra’s form factor is familiar — it's a bit like the compact, stick-like design of DJI’s Pocket series. DJI isn’t happy about it, by the way; it has filed a lawsuit accusing Insta360 of patent violations (which Insta360 has responded to with a countersuit).

However, there are some key design differences. Lunas are slightly larger than Pocket models. Not majorly so, but the difference is clear when you hold them side by side as I did (albeit the dual-lens Ultra alongside the single-lens Pocket 4).

In practice, I didn’t really feel that the Luna’s extra weight and size negatively affected its handling — it’s easy in the hand for on-the-go vlogging. If you want the absolute smallest option, however, DJI is your best best. Even the dual-lens Pocket 4P is smaller.

There’s a good reason why the Luna cameras are bigger, and that’s for a super clever and unique feature: a detachable remote control, which is a module that packs the camera's main controls and rotatable two-inch OLED screen. Simply squeeze the red buttons on either side of the Luna, and the module pulls away from the body.

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

The module has a 20m transmission range and operates exactly the same way as if it’s on the camera, with the touch display offering a remote view, and the main camera controls on hand, including gimbal, zoom and record. Transmission range is impacted by the surroundings — I found the feed froze inside 15 meters when other people passed in front of me in a busy urban space — but I could see it happening on the screen in my hand and could rectify the situation.

What’s really neat is that the module has a built-in microphone, so you can easily check your frame and present to the camera. It’s certainly better than using the on-camera mic, though a wireless mic such as Insta360’s own Mic Pro with its customizable E Ink display is an even better pick for audiophiles. The camera has direct Bluetooth support for this mic and Insta360’s Mic Air. The video below gives an idea of what the module is like to use remotely.

I really appreciated how much easier it was to frame my shots with the controller module in hand. There’s also smart subject tracking and autofocus (more on this in the performance section), meaning the camera can track you as you move around, within the gimbal’s range, keeping you or your subject centered in the frame. Controlling the Luna using the module and tracking is like having your own cameraperson filming you, provided you can find a secure surface to rest the camera on or a support to fix it to.

On that note, the Luna Ultra can stand freely on flat surfaces, while the battery grip, which extends battery life plus the physical height of the camera, features tiny flip-out tripod feet for extra stability.

The battery grip is larger than the regular tripod grip and extends the battery life of the camera, which was already impressive being rated at up to four hours of 1080p filming. Not bad for a 1,550mAh unit that can be recharged to 80% in just 23 minutes.

At first I had a few niggles with the handling of the Luna Ultra from how it comes straight from the box. Beyond finding it physically clunkier than the Pocket 4, I needed to change various settings to taste, such as its behavior when rotating the two-inch touchscreen.

Overall, however, I can't find much fault with the Luna Ultra's design, which is seriously impressive for a first generation product.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Insta360 Luna Ultra: Performance

• Triple chipset, with 4nm and AI chips ensures smooth operation
• Smart subject tracking and autofocus, but it's not perfect
• Can get a little warm when using the most powerful features

The Luna Ultra is equipped with a triple chipset, comprising powerful 4nm and AI chips. As such, I never really experienced any performance issues, even shooting a lot of 8K video (though never for more than 10 minutes at a time).

The camera does get a little warm when using power-hungry features such as 8K video, and I did see a lag when switching from the 12x zoom back to 1x using the stepped zoom control on the touchscreen. However, those were my only issues.

In addition to regular 8K video, the Luna Ultra has a range of shooting modes, including; Slow Motion up to 240fps (in Full HD), Timelapse, TimeShift and Barrel Roll. I've included some slow motion clips in a sample video below.

Both Luna cameras accept a micro SD card up to 1TB, and include 47GB internal storage — less than DJI’s Osmo Pocket 4 / 4P, which have more than double the capacity. I shot plenty of video clips and photos directly onto the internal memory, and still had plenty of space left over — the maximum 120Mbps bitrates of video files are fairly low and don't take up too much memory.

And there’s plenty more for audiophiles, namely a decent wind guard for the camera’s internal four-mic array, plus 32-bit float audio. This pro-level setting avoids clipping, and is ideal for unpredictable and noisy environments, but for simpler audio edits, the 24-bit setting is probably your best bet.

The quality of the detachable module's built-in mic impressed me, though for the clearest pickup it's pretty fussy about how close you hold it and the angle it's pointed in.

Subject tracking is impressively sticky, though I did find that it switches to a new subject a little more easily than the DJI Pocket 4. In one situation, I was walking with the camera tracking me when other people came between me and the camera and tracking stopped.

In another scenario as I held a product up to the camera for it to focus on, the camera focused back on my face in the background all too keenly when I came back into view. In such a scenario, I think DJI's tracking performs better.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Insta360 Luna Ultra: Image and video quality

• Dual 20mm f/1.8 (1-inch sensor) and 60mm f/2.0 (1/1.3-inch sensor) cameras are effectively like having a decent zoom
• 8K 30p and 4K 120p video with color grading-friendly I-Log profile — a first for Insta360
• 9MP photos are decent enough, especially in RAW format, and can be upped to 37MP in UltraPhoto mode

(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

The Luna Ultra ups the ante in this camera category with 8K video — double the resolution of the Osmo Pocket 4, which shoots in 4K. It’ll shoot 8K up to 30fps, complete with Dolby Vision (aka HDR) and I-Log color profile.

This is the first Insta360 camera with Log, a flat color profile that pros like to use to maximize the color grading potential and for the most dynamic range possible from their camera, which in this case is up to 14 stops.

DJI has billed the Pocket 4P as having 17 stops dynamic range with its new D-Log2 profile — I look forward to comparing the footage of both cameras to see which is better once I have my hands on the Pocket. 4P.

Insta360 thinks its night mode is superior to DJI, with its PureVideo mode boosting dynamic range in 4K 60p videos. That’s another comparison test I’m looking forward to conducting. From the shots I've taken at night in this mode, detail looks impressively sharp, though of course no match for the quality of daytime footage.

Insta360’s Leica partnership goes beyond the Luna’s Leica-branded lenses and into various Leica color profiles. If you like the simplicity of attractive color profiles with no need for color correction, then the Luna has some great alternatives to Log.

I was impressed with the 3x telephoto camera — provided the subject isn't too far away, it's possible to throw depth of field for punchy portraits. I'm talking upper body shots with notable shallow depth of field.

The zoom of that lens can be further extended with a 6x 'lossless' zoom, a term that suggests you shouldn't notice a drop in image quality — I certainly didn't. I can't say the same for the 12x digital zoom setting, which looks a little more pixelated on close inspection. Still, that 12x zoom is a handy addition should you really need to zoom closer.

Honestly, having enjoyed the variety of two lenses in such a small camera, and how impressive the quality of the telephoto camera is (the sensor is bigger than the main sensor in most smartphones), I know I'll struggle if I have to go back to a single-lens compact vlogging camera.

Video is, of course, the primary use for the Luna Ultra, but it shoots decent-quality 9MP photos too, in JPEG and RAW format, albeit with just eight-bit color depth. I've included a couple of scenarios below, taking JPEG and RAW (DNG format) photos simultaneously at night and in daylight, with the 1x and 3x lenses.

I haven't edited the RAWs so you can see the kind of processing that takes place for JPEGs. All the photos are 9MP, but there is also an UltraPhoto mode which quadruples resolution to 37MP.

Insta360 Luna Ultra photo galleryAn unedited RAW DNG file. Note the vignetting (dark corners) and muted colorsFuture / Tim ColemanThe standard color profile, JPEG format. This gives an idea of the kind of camera corrections that take place during JPEG processingFuture / Tim ColemanAnother example. Interestingly, the RAW files use a lower ISO value than JPEGs when shooting. in RAW+JPEG simultaneously. Future / Tim ColemanThe previous RAW image was ISO 180, this JPEG is ISO 360. All of the four dragon photo were taken with the 1x ultra-wide camera.Future / Tim ColemanAgain, a RAW file. There's more detail in this photo than the corresponding JPEG, and I haven't even played with exposure corrections or shadow / highlight recoveryFuture / Tim ColemanI tried the 'Fresh' color profile here, which is bright and airy. The intensity for any color profile can be adjustedFuture / Tim ColemanThe RAW DNG format again and, like the previous portraits, taken with the 3x telephoto camera.Future / Tim ColemanThe corresponding JPEG to the previous imageFuture / Tim Coleman

• Image and video quality score: 5/5

Insta360 Luna Ultra: testing scorecardInsta360 Luna Ultra

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Price

Considering you get two cameras in one, a detachable touchscreen module and high-end video features, the Luna Ultra is decent value, but it does cost a lot more than single-lens alternatives and DJI almost always costs less

4/5

Design

Slightly clunkier than the rival Osmo Pocket 4 / 4P, but the detachable control is well implemented and seriously useful

4.5/5

Performance

Triple chipset ably supports high-end features, subject tracking works well and gimbal performance is decent

4.5/5

Image and video quality

Twin camera versatility for different shots, sharp 8K footage, I Log and Leica color profiles. You'll struggle to find better image quality in this camera format, though I haven't directly compared footage with the Osmo Pocket 4P yet

5/5

Should I buy the Insta360 Luna Ultra?Buy it if...

You want a versatile compact vlogging camera
Dual lenses are a revelation for this camera format. You're no longer restricted to ultra-wide shots, but dynamic portraiture and b-roll details are entirely possible.

You're a solo vlogger
The detachable remote with two-inch touchscreen, camera controls and built-in mic aid solo vlogging, in terms of the range of shots you can easily get, especially with subject tracking on board.

Don't buy it if...

You want the smallest possible vlogging camera
The Luna Ultra is clunkier than the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 / 4P. Not hugely so, but DJI's cameras are even more pocketable.

You don't need two lenses
For me, having used the Luna Ultra, it's now hard to go back to a single-lens compact vlogging camera, but if you don't need that second telephoto camera, the single-lens Pocket 4 / Luna Pro alternatives cost much less.

Insta360 Luna Ultra: also consider

DJI Osmo Pocket 4 / 4P

At the time of writing, I've only reviewed the single-lens DJI Osmo Pocket 4 which isn't a fair comparison especially with the dual-lens Pocket 4P on the horizon and the direct rival to the Luna Ultra. However, if you'd like to know how the cameras compare, check out my Luna Ultra vs Pocket 4 article.

Read our in-depth DJI Osmo Pocket 4 review

Fujifilm X-M5

If we're going on price, there beginner mirrorless cameras enter the picture, and for me the Fujifilm X-M5 is the best-equipped hybrid for the money. It has a bigger APS-C sensor, shoots 6K video recording (with Full HD vertical vlogging mode) and 26MP photos and it's a stunning camera. The drawback is that there's no in-body stabilization, so you'll probably want an additional gimbal to smooth out on-the-go clips.

Read our in-depth Fujifilm X-M5 review

How I tested the Insta360 Luna UltraFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim Coleman

• Insta360 supplied me with the Luna Ultra Creator Bundle, which includes 2x grips, Mic Pro transmitter, soft carry case and more
• I tested the camera regularly for a month shooting day and night, mainly focusing on video content. I've tried the monitor in various configurations
• I was testing the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 simultaneously, and could draw comparisons

I had early access to the Luna Ultra Creator Bundle ahead of its launch, and tested the kit out over the following weeks before writing this review. During this review period, I also had the single-lens DJI Osmo Pocket 4, meaning I was able to make comparisons.

The camera shoots decent still photos with RAW format editing flexibility, but my main focus video performance. I've shot horizontal and vertical vlogging-style videos in the various resolutions and frame rates available in each format, and experimented with various color profiles.

I've made sure to try out all of the accessories supplied to me and the various configurations of the detachable monitor. I've checked the camera and detachable monitor's audio quality, and how easily and reliable it pairs with an Insta360 Mic Pro wireless mic.

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

Insta360 Luna Ultra: One-minute review

Despite being Insta360’s first vlogging camera with multiple Insta360 firsts, the Luna Ultra, overall, feels like a polished and bold product. Its triple chipset ably supports powerful features — especially the gimbal-stabilized 8K 30p video with 10-bit color depth and 4K 120p slow motion video recording, Log color profile, autonomous subject tracking autofocus and 32-bit float audio.

With dual 20mm f/1.8 and 60mm f/2.0 lenses, each with its own sensor, you truly are getting two cameras in one. And having enjoyed the Luna's ultra-wide and impressive 3x telephoto versatility for a month, it will be hard for me to go back to a single-lens compact vlogging camera.

The detachable remote module — which features the two-inch OLED touchscreen, main camera controls and built-in microphone — has, understandably, won many admirers. It's such a clever and well-implemented design feature that truly enhances the user experience, especially for solo vlogging.

Here the module has been removed. It has a 20m transmission range and when removed it functions just as if it's attached to the camera (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

Initially I had a few minor niggles navigating various camera settings, and it certainly paid dividends to spend time customizing the Luna Ultra to the way I like to shoot. It's also notably bulkier than DJI's Pocket 4 vlogging cameras, and pricier than single-lens alternatives.

Despite its infancy in this space, Insta360 has to its credit already produced crucial supporting accessories — including tripod and battery grips, plus the Insta360 Mic Pro wireless mic for top quality audio — meaning you can stick within the Insta360 ecosystem and enjoying the best possible user experience and compatibility, including full Bluetooth support.

Yes, DJI has been in the compact vlogging camera space for much longer and has refined its Pocket series with every iteration, but the Luna Ultra enters with a bang and is an impressive alternative.

Two lenses in one device, with an additional zoom — an approach familiar to smartphone users (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Insta360 Luna Ultra: price and release date

• Full release on June 12 2026
• Available in black or white with prices starting at $769.99 / £649 / AU$1,229.99
• Multiple bundles to choose from, including the Creator Bundle

The Titanium Gold version comes with a matching auto lens cap (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

"We're not going to compete on price" is what Insta360's co-founder Max Richter told me at a pre-launch event for the Luna Ultra, the company's first vlogging camera and DJI Osmo Pocket series rival.

And the Luna Ultra is much pricier than previous Pocket cameras. However, those were single-lens models and, like DJI's most recent Pockets, the single-lens Pocket 4 and dual-lens Pocket 4P, the Luna comes in two varieties: the single-lens Pro and the dual-lens Ultra.

Prices for the Ultra start at $769.99 / £649 / AU$1,229.99. That’s a fair whack more than the latest single-lens models, but you are truly getting two cameras in one device.

Insta360 sent me the Creator Bundle to review, which includes multiple extras such as the Mic Pro transmitter and battery grip and costs $969.99 / £829 / AU$1,549.99. I expect the dual-lens Osmo Pocket 4P to cost less than the Luna Ultra, but it won't be available in the US because of the DJI ban.

Both Luna models are available in black or white versions, and in a further variety of bundles that cater for various use cases; Standard, Essential, Endurance, VLOG, POV and Creator.

• Price score: 4/5

Insta360 Luna Ultra specsInsta360 Luna Ultra Specs:

Type:

Compact video camera

Lenses

20mm f/1.8 and 60mm f/2.0

Sensors:

1-inch and 1/1.3-inch

Video:

8K up to 30p / 4K up to 120p / FHD up to 240p

Photo:

9MP JPEG & RAW / 37MP UltraPhoto mode / panorama

LCD:

2-inch OLED, detachable

Memory:

47GB internal, 1x micro SD (up to 1TB)

Battery

1,550mAh, rated up to 4 hours of 1080p

Dimensions

2.1×6.7×1.5in / 52.4×169.9×38.5mm

Weight:

8.2 oz / 233g (black)
8.3oz / 235g (white)

Insta360 Luna Ultra: design

• First compact vlogging camera to land with dual lenses, ahead of the Pocket 4P
• Similar design cues to the DJI Pocket series (but a little larger), with stick-like form factor and camera supported by a three-axis gimbal
• Unique detachable controller which includes a two-inch OLED screen and built-in mic

The chunky protective caseFuture / Tim ColemanThe wind guard attached to camera's mic pickupsFuture / Tim ColemanThe dual-lenses tuck away vertically when the camera is turned off.Future / Tim ColemanOne way to power up the camera is rotating the screen, but there's also a power buttonFuture / Tim ColemanHorizontal video is available in 8K, 4K and 1080pFuture / Tim ColemanThe profile of the camera — the lowest part is pronounced to accommodate the detachable moduleFuture / Tim ColemanOn the right side is a micro SD card slot, behind a fiddly rubber coverFuture / Tim Coleman

The Luna Ultra’s form factor is familiar — it's a bit like the compact, stick-like design of DJI’s Pocket series. DJI isn’t happy about it, by the way; it has filed a lawsuit accusing Insta360 of patent violations (which Insta360 has responded to with a countersuit).

However, there are some key design differences. Lunas are slightly larger than Pocket models. Not majorly so, but the difference is clear when you hold them side by side as I did (albeit the dual-lens Ultra alongside the single-lens Pocket 4).

In practice, I didn’t really feel that the Luna’s extra weight and size negatively affected its handling — it’s easy in the hand for on-the-go vlogging. If you want the absolute smallest option, however, DJI is your best best. Even the dual-lens Pocket 4P is smaller.

There’s a good reason why the Luna cameras are bigger, and that’s for a super clever and unique feature: a detachable remote control, which is a module that packs the camera's main controls and rotatable two-inch OLED screen. Simply squeeze the red buttons on either side of the Luna, and the module pulls away from the body.

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

The module has a 20m transmission range and operates exactly the same way as if it’s on the camera, with the touch display offering a remote view, and the main camera controls on hand, including gimbal, zoom and record. Transmission range is impacted by the surroundings — I found the feed froze inside 15 meters when other people passed in front of me in a busy urban space — but I could see it happening on the screen in my hand and could rectify the situation.

What’s really neat is that the module has a built-in microphone, so you can easily check your frame and present to the camera. It’s certainly better than using the on-camera mic, though a wireless mic such as Insta360’s own Mic Pro with its customizable E Ink display is an even better pick for audiophiles. The camera has direct Bluetooth support for this mic and Insta360’s Mic Air. The video below gives an idea of what the module is like to use remotely.

I really appreciated how much easier it was to frame my shots with the controller module in hand. There’s also smart subject tracking and autofocus (more on this in the performance section), meaning the camera can track you as you move around, within the gimbal’s range, keeping you or your subject centered in the frame. Controlling the Luna using the module and tracking is like having your own cameraperson filming you, provided you can find a secure surface to rest the camera on or a support to fix it to.

On that note, the Luna Ultra can stand freely on flat surfaces, while the battery grip, which extends battery life plus the physical height of the camera, features tiny flip-out tripod feet for extra stability.

The battery grip is larger than the regular tripod grip and extends the battery life of the camera, which was already impressive being rated at up to four hours of 1080p filming. Not bad for a 1,550mAh unit that can be recharged to 80% in just 23 minutes.

At first I had a few niggles with the handling of the Luna Ultra from how it comes straight from the box. Beyond finding it physically clunkier than the Pocket 4, I needed to change various settings to taste, such as its behavior when rotating the two-inch touchscreen.

Overall, however, I can't find much fault with the Luna Ultra's design, which is seriously impressive for a first generation product.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Insta360 Luna Ultra: Performance

• Triple chipset, with 4nm and AI chips ensures smooth operation
• Smart subject tracking and autofocus, but it's not perfect
• Can get a little warm when using the most powerful features

The Luna Ultra is equipped with a triple chipset, comprising powerful 4nm and AI chips. As such, I never really experienced any performance issues, even shooting a lot of 8K video (though never for more than 10 minutes at a time).

The camera does get a little warm when using power-hungry features such as 8K video, and I did see a lag when switching from the 12x zoom back to 1x using the stepped zoom control on the touchscreen. However, those were my only issues.

In addition to regular 8K video, the Luna Ultra has a range of shooting modes, including; Slow Motion up to 240fps (in Full HD), Timelapse, TimeShift and Barrel Roll. I've included some slow motion clips in a sample video below.

Both Luna cameras accept a micro SD card up to 1TB, and include 47GB internal storage — less than DJI’s Osmo Pocket 4 / 4P, which have more than double the capacity. I shot plenty of video clips and photos directly onto the internal memory, and still had plenty of space left over — the maximum 120Mbps bitrates of video files are fairly low and don't take up too much memory.

And there’s plenty more for audiophiles, namely a decent wind guard for the camera’s internal four-mic array, plus 32-bit float audio. This pro-level setting avoids clipping, and is ideal for unpredictable and noisy environments, but for simpler audio edits, the 24-bit setting is probably your best bet.

The quality of the detachable module's built-in mic impressed me, though for the clearest pickup it's pretty fussy about how close you hold it and the angle it's pointed in.

Subject tracking is impressively sticky, though I did find that it switches to a new subject a little more easily than the DJI Pocket 4. In one situation, I was walking with the camera tracking me when other people came between me and the camera and tracking stopped.

In another scenario as I held a product up to the camera for it to focus on, the camera focused back on my face in the background all too keenly when I came back into view. In such a scenario, I think DJI's tracking performs better.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Insta360 Luna Ultra: Image and video quality

• Dual 20mm f/1.8 (1-inch sensor) and 60mm f/2.0 (1/1.3-inch sensor) cameras are effectively like having a decent zoom
• 8K 30p and 4K 120p video with color grading-friendly I-Log profile — a first for Insta360
• 9MP photos are decent enough, especially in RAW format, and can be upped to 37MP in UltraPhoto mode

(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

The Luna Ultra ups the ante in this camera category with 8K video — double the resolution of the Osmo Pocket 4, which shoots in 4K. It’ll shoot 8K up to 30fps, complete with Dolby Vision (aka HDR) and I-Log color profile.

This is the first Insta360 camera with Log, a flat color profile that pros like to use to maximize the color grading potential and for the most dynamic range possible from their camera, which in this case is up to 14 stops.

DJI has billed the Pocket 4P as having 17 stops dynamic range with its new D-Log2 profile — I look forward to comparing the footage of both cameras to see which is better once I have my hands on the Pocket. 4P.

Insta360 thinks its night mode is superior to DJI, with its PureVideo mode boosting dynamic range in 4K 60p videos. That’s another comparison test I’m looking forward to conducting. From the shots I've taken at night in this mode, detail looks impressively sharp, though of course no match for the quality of daytime footage.

Insta360’s Leica partnership goes beyond the Luna’s Leica-branded lenses and into various Leica color profiles. If you like the simplicity of attractive color profiles with no need for color correction, then the Luna has some great alternatives to Log.

I was impressed with the 3x telephoto camera — provided the subject isn't too far away, it's possible to throw depth of field for punchy portraits. I'm talking upper body shots with notable shallow depth of field.

The zoom of that lens can be further extended with a 6x 'lossless' zoom, a term that suggests you shouldn't notice a drop in image quality — I certainly didn't. I can't say the same for the 12x digital zoom setting, which looks a little more pixelated on close inspection. Still, that 12x zoom is a handy addition should you really need to zoom closer.

Honestly, having enjoyed the variety of two lenses in such a small camera, and how impressive the quality of the telephoto camera is (the sensor is bigger than the main sensor in most smartphones), I know I'll struggle if I have to go back to a single-lens compact vlogging camera.

Video is, of course, the primary use for the Luna Ultra, but it shoots decent-quality 9MP photos too, in JPEG and RAW format, albeit with just eight-bit color depth. I've included a couple of scenarios below, taking JPEG and RAW (DNG format) photos simultaneously at night and in daylight, with the 1x and 3x lenses.

I haven't edited the RAWs so you can see the kind of processing that takes place for JPEGs. All the photos are 9MP, but there is also an UltraPhoto mode which quadruples resolution to 37MP.

Insta360 Luna Ultra photo galleryAn unedited RAW DNG file. Note the vignetting (dark corners) and muted colorsFuture / Tim ColemanThe standard color profile, JPEG format. This gives an idea of the kind of camera corrections that take place during JPEG processingFuture / Tim ColemanAnother example. Interestingly, the RAW files use a lower ISO value than JPEGs when shooting. in RAW+JPEG simultaneously. Future / Tim ColemanThe previous RAW image was ISO 180, this JPEG is ISO 360. All of the four dragon photo were taken with the 1x ultra-wide camera.Future / Tim ColemanAgain, a RAW file. There's more detail in this photo than the corresponding JPEG, and I haven't even played with exposure corrections or shadow / highlight recoveryFuture / Tim ColemanI tried the 'Fresh' color profile here, which is bright and airy. The intensity for any color profile can be adjustedFuture / Tim ColemanThe RAW DNG format again and, like the previous portraits, taken with the 3x telephoto camera.Future / Tim ColemanThe corresponding JPEG to the previous imageFuture / Tim Coleman

• Image and video quality score: 5/5

Insta360 Luna Ultra: testing scorecardInsta360 Luna Ultra

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Price

Considering you get two cameras in one, a detachable touchscreen module and high-end video features, the Luna Ultra is decent value, but it does cost a lot more than single-lens alternatives and DJI almost always costs less

4/5

Design

Slightly clunkier than the rival Osmo Pocket 4 / 4P, but the detachable control is well implemented and seriously useful

4.5/5

Performance

Triple chipset ably supports high-end features, subject tracking works well and gimbal performance is decent

4.5/5

Image and video quality

Twin camera versatility for different shots, sharp 8K footage, I Log and Leica color profiles. You'll struggle to find better image quality in this camera format, though I haven't directly compared footage with the Osmo Pocket 4P yet

5/5

Should I buy the Insta360 Luna Ultra?Buy it if...

You want a versatile compact vlogging camera
Dual lenses are a revelation for this camera format. You're no longer restricted to ultra-wide shots, but dynamic portraiture and b-roll details are entirely possible.

You're a solo vlogger
The detachable remote with two-inch touchscreen, camera controls and built-in mic aid solo vlogging, in terms of the range of shots you can easily get, especially with subject tracking on board.

Don't buy it if...

You want the smallest possible vlogging camera
The Luna Ultra is clunkier than the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 / 4P. Not hugely so, but DJI's cameras are even more pocketable.

You don't need two lenses
For me, having used the Luna Ultra, it's now hard to go back to a single-lens compact vlogging camera, but if you don't need that second telephoto camera, the single-lens Pocket 4 / Luna Pro alternatives cost much less.

Insta360 Luna Ultra: also consider

DJI Osmo Pocket 4 / 4P

At the time of writing, I've only reviewed the single-lens DJI Osmo Pocket 4 which isn't a fair comparison especially with the dual-lens Pocket 4P on the horizon and the direct rival to the Luna Ultra. However, if you'd like to know how the cameras compare, check out my Luna Ultra vs Pocket 4 article.

Read our in-depth DJI Osmo Pocket 4 review

Fujifilm X-M5

If we're going on price, there beginner mirrorless cameras enter the picture, and for me the Fujifilm X-M5 is the best-equipped hybrid for the money. It has a bigger APS-C sensor, shoots 6K video recording (with Full HD vertical vlogging mode) and 26MP photos and it's a stunning camera. The drawback is that there's no in-body stabilization, so you'll probably want an additional gimbal to smooth out on-the-go clips.

Read our in-depth Fujifilm X-M5 review

How I tested the Insta360 Luna UltraFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim Coleman

• Insta360 supplied me with the Luna Ultra Creator Bundle, which includes 2x grips, Mic Pro transmitter, soft carry case and more
• I tested the camera regularly for a month shooting day and night, mainly focusing on video content. I've tried the monitor in various configurations
• I was testing the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 simultaneously, and could draw comparisons

I had early access to the Luna Ultra Creator Bundle ahead of its launch, and tested the kit out over the following weeks before writing this review. During this review period, I also had the single-lens DJI Osmo Pocket 4, meaning I was able to make comparisons.

The camera shoots decent still photos with RAW format editing flexibility, but my main focus video performance. I've shot horizontal and vertical vlogging-style videos in the various resolutions and frame rates available in each format, and experimented with various color profiles.

I've made sure to try out all of the accessories supplied to me and the various configurations of the detachable monitor. I've checked the camera and detachable monitor's audio quality, and how easily and reliable it pairs with an Insta360 Mic Pro wireless mic.

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

For a long time, security teams have been dealing with the same problem: a constant stream of security alerts, but not enough context.

Missing details like user behavior, asset importance, or related activity, means there’s a heavy reliance on analysts to work out what actually matters.

This doesn’t just slow teams down; it puts real pressure on teams and limits how much they can realistically review or understand.

Agentic AI changes this dynamic.

Instead of looking at alerts in isolation, these systems can piece activity together, understand what’s happening in context, and in some cases take action on their own.

Often, issues are resolved before they ever need to be escalated. That removes a lot of the manual effort that’s shaped security operations for years.

But while a clear improvement, it doesn’t remove risk—it shifts it.

As systems improve, scrutiny declines

A useful comparison is aviation. As systems become more reliable, people naturally step back. Not because they’re careless, but because constantly double-checking something that’s almost always right starts to feel unnecessary. Over time, trust stops being something you actively think about and becomes something you assume.

The same thing is starting to happen in cybersecurity. As these systems prove themselves, teams spend less time questioning individual decisions. The environment feels calmer, and the lack of issues reinforces that sense of control. The real risk isn’t frequent failure, it’s that when something does go wrong, it’s less likely to be challenged.

Alert fatigue comes from having to pay attention to too much, too quickly. What follows is something different: a gradual drop in attention, where growing confidence in the system weakens the instinct to double-check.

A model built on two interdependent layers

The structure of security operations starts to shift as well. Instead of everything hinging on human decision-making, you end up with two connected layers. People set the intent – defining policy, access and boundaries – while agents interpret it and act on it, often much faster than any person could.

Both layers can be influenced. Traditional attacks aimed at people don’t go away, but there’s now another surface to think about: the data, prompts, and workflows that shape agent behavior. If those inputs are manipulated, the system can still produce actions that look valid, because they follow its internal logic.

At the same time, the distance between decision and execution increases. Human operators aren’t as involved in the moment an action happens, which makes it harder to spot when something isn’t quite right. In practice, each layer ends up relying on the other for validation.

When that assumption holds, the system works efficiently. When that works, everything runs smoothly. When it doesn’t, the gap between them can be hard to see in real time.

How risk scales in an agentic environment

Risk doesn’t just increase in this kind of environment, it spreads differently. Each agent has its own identity, permissions, and decision-making logic, and they’re often connected. Actions taken in one part of the system can trigger responses elsewhere, creating chains of automated behavior.

That means a single bad input or flawed decision doesn’t stay contained. It can move quickly across systems without anyone stepping in. The issue isn’t just speed, it’s how connected everything is. Small mistakes can have much bigger consequences because they’re carried through multiple layers of automation.

Why identity and access need to change

How agents are set up today adds another layer of risk. In many cases, they’re treated as extensions of the user, with the same credentials and access. It’s convenient, but it also widens the blast radius if something goes wrong.

A more resilient approach is to treat agents as their own entities. Give them distinct identities, limit what they can do to specific tasks, and make sure their actions can be tracked and reversed if needed, without affecting everything else.

It’s less about efficiency and more about putting the right foundations in place for systems that are increasingly acting on their own.

Maintaining control as reliance increases

One of the trickier aspects is that failure doesn’t always look like failure. Fewer alerts and faster resolutions can make it feel like risk has gone down, when in reality oversight may just be less active.

Staying in control comes down to how these systems are designed and used. High-impact actions still need some form of verification, even if most routine work doesn’t. It also matters that teams can see not just what an agent did, but how it arrived there—what inputs it used and how it interpreted them.

The ability to step in is just as important. If stopping or overriding an automated process is slow or awkward, it probably won’t happen in time when something goes wrong. That kind of intervention needs to be simple enough to use under pressure.

More broadly, the role of the security professional shifts. It’s not just about spotting obvious problems anymore, but recognizing when something that looks fine might still need a second look.

A quieter, more concentrated risk

Agentic AI will do a lot to reduce alert fatigue, which has weighed on security teams for years. The trade-off is that risk becomes less visible and more concentrated in the space between what people intend and what machines actually do.

In systems that work correctly most of the time, the real challenge isn’t constant failure. It’s what happens when something does go wrong and whether the usual signals that would catch it are still there.

We've reviewed, rated, and ranked the best firewall software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to 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/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

Under the Radar is our way of highlighting great games that might have passed you by. Through a regular mix of news stories and features, we'll cover everything from high-quality indie gems to AAA experiences or ports that were buried by busy release schedules.

The only requirement is that we think whatever we’re writing about is truly interesting and worthy of your attention, so buckle up because things might well get weird…

Scream or Skip, that is the question. With so much horror out there to watch and play, our senior entertainment writer Lucy Buglass is here to help you decide what's worth your time.

Lucy is a long-time lover of the horror genre and has covered everything from the biggest new releases to hidden indie gems. Each month, she'll review a range of titles across cinema, television, and gaming, picking out titles that have caught her eye — for better or for worse. Feeling brave? Scroll on to see what frights await you.

There is a growing tendency to frame advances in artificial intelligence through the lens of breakthroughs: new models, new architectures, new capabilities.

Innovation is often measured by what is invented, and how quickly.

But in some domains, this framing misses the point entirely.

Financial crime is no longer a collection of isolated incidents, it has evolved into an organized, adaptive, and increasingly industrialized system.

Criminal networks operate across geographies, leverage automation, and continuously refine their methods: they test, iterate, and scale, just as any high-performing organisation would.

In such an environment, the question is not whether an AI system is innovative. It is whether it can operate at the same level of organisation, speed, and adaptability as the threats it is designed to counter.

When Innovation Meets Reality

Most AI breakthroughs do not survive contact with real-world systems.

In controlled environments, models perform well. Data is structured, assumptions hold, and evaluation metrics are stable. But reality introduces a different set of constraints: incomplete information, shifting behaviors, latency requirements, regulatory oversight, and adversarial actors actively attempting to exploit weaknesses.

Financial and state systems, in particular those related to fraud and risk, represent one of the most demanding environments for AI. Decisions must be made in milliseconds, errors carry direct financial and reputational consequences, and the underlying patterns are constantly evolving. Not randomly, but intentionally.

Fraud is not a static problem. It is an adaptive one.

This is where many innovations fail. Not because the underlying ideas are flawed, but because they are not designed to operate under sustained pressure or with the necessary agility to adapt.

The Complexity of the Problem

The industrialization of frauds changes the nature of the response required.

It is no longer sufficient to detect known patterns or react to past incidents. Systems must identify behaviors that have not been seen before, anticipate emerging tactics, and operate continuously across multiple channels and geographies.

This requires more than isolated innovation. It requires systems that can learn, adapt, and scale, not once, but continuously. And behind those systems, it requires something even more fundamental: a culture capable of producing and sustaining that level of performance over time.

The way of the patent

Innovation that exists only on paper has limited impact. Innovation that survives deployment, that continues to perform as conditions change, is what ultimately defines effectiveness. In financial crime prevention, the gap between these two is critical.

In recent years, the financial sector has significantly increased its investment in AI and machine learning, with a sharp rise in patent activity across the industry. From large banks to specialized technology providers, there is a growing recognition that intellectual property can capture and formalize advances in detection, decisioning, and risk management.

According to recent data, AI-related patent filing in the financial sector grew by over 250% in the past five years: from big banks to small startups working in the space, there is a clear interest in adding the value of patents to the business.

But patents, in this context, should not be understood as an end in themselves.

They are not simply indicators of inventive capacity. They are signals of something more structural: the ability to repeatedly transform ideas into capabilities that operate reliably in real-world systems.

Strong ideas

If you obtain one patent, it suggests a strong idea. If you obtain ten, it suggests a strong team. If you obtain one hundred, it suggests a strong culture.

A culture in which ideas are not only generated, but challenged, tested, refined, and integrated into systems that must function under real-world constraints.

This distinction becomes tangible when looking at what such innovation enables in practice.

It allows financial institutions to analyze behavior across extended time horizons in real time, not only evaluating a transaction in isolation, but understanding how it relates to patterns built over weeks or months. It enables a shift from static rule-based detection to continuous behavioral modelling, improving both the precision of anomaly detection and the speed of response.

In environments where decisions must be made in milliseconds, these capabilities are not incremental improvements. They determine whether institutions can intervene while fraudulent activity is unfolding, rather than reacting after the fact.

Some of these approaches are already being deployed at scale within large financial institutions, enabling significantly faster decision execution and more robust behavioral insight across complex transaction environments.

From this perspective, patents are not about invention alone. They are about building the conditions under which innovation can endure and translate into systems that perform under pressure.

From Invention to System Performance

For an idea to matter in this context, it must pass through several layers of validation. It must be new. It must not be obvious. And it must be useful, not in theory, but in the systems that institutions rely on every day. This last dimension is often overlooked.

Usefulness, in a real-world financial system, means the ability to operate reliably at scale, under constraints, and in the presence of adversarial behavior. It means integrating into complex infrastructures, supporting decision-making in real time, and remaining robust as both legitimate usage and criminal tactics evolve.

In other words, innovation is not defined by invention. It is defined by sustained system performance.

Matching the Scale of the Threat

The industrialisation of financial crime introduces a structural asymmetry. On one side, highly organised networks operate with speed, coordination, and adaptability.

On the other hand, defensive systems have historically been fragmented, reactive, and constrained by legacy architectures. Closing this gap is not a matter of incremental improvement. It requires a shift in how systems are designed, built, and evolved.

The level of innovation required is defined by the level of organisation of the threat.

And as that threat continues to industrialize, the systems designed to counter it must do the same.

Beyond Breakthroughs

This does not diminish the importance of research. On the contrary, it reinforces it. Breakthroughs are necessary, but they are not sufficient.

What ultimately matters is the ability to translate those breakthroughs into systems that function reliably in the real world, systems that can operate continuously, adapt dynamically, and maintain performance under pressure.

In financial crime prevention, this is not an abstract challenge. It is an operational reality. And it is one that will define the effectiveness of institutions, the resilience of financial systems, and, ultimately, the level of trust those systems can sustain.

Better understand cybersecurity with the best online courses.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to 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/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

• Meta paused its internal Model Capability Initiative (MCI) after an employee flagged exposure of sensitive data from mouse movement and activity tracking
• Program allegedly collected prompts, private conversations, performance data, and even tax/medical info in unencrypted form
• Meta says no improper access confirmed but is investigating; some employees still see the program running during the pause

Meta is pausing an employee-tracking program after one of the employees flagged it as exposing sensitive data.

The company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, was apparently running an internal program that was tracking employee mouse movements and digital activity. Called Model Capability Initiative (MCI), this program allegedly started in April with the goal of training Meta’s AI models through employee behavior recordings.

According to a memo released on launch, the purpose of the program was to improve the company’s AI models in areas where they struggled to replicate how humans interacted with computers, such as picking from a dropdown menu, or using different keyboard shortcuts.

Personal tax and medical information exposed?

"This is where all Meta employees can help our models get better simply by doing their daily work," the memo said at the time.

Reuters reported that an employee filed a high-priority security incident report (SEV) over the program’s exposure of employee data, including "full ​prompts and transcriptions, private ​conversations, people & performance ⁠data, DSS sensitivity ratings (1-4)." The same publication also said the program was collecting “more information than initially described” and stored it in unencrypted form.

"I have accessed both personal tax and medical information through ⁠my ​work computer, as have many thousands of employees,” the employee allegedly said. “​We were told this data would be protected and only used for valid business purposes after aggressive ​filtering."

Now, Meta confirmed pausing the program to investigate these claims.

"We have carefully designed this program ​with privacy safeguards and while we have no indication at this time that ​any data was improperly accessed by Meta employees, we're pausing it while we investigate," company spokesperson Tracy Clayton was cited saying. The company did not say for how long the program will be paused but stressed that it would take time to stop it for everyone, so some employees might still see it running.

As of Monday afternoon, the program was still running for some people, Reuters confirmed.

Via Reuters

At a time when SSD prices are surging, you can grab the 990 Pro 2TB SSD for just $370 (was $640) at Amazon, a 42% discount as part of Prime Day.

There's no denying that the Samsung 990 Pro is an exquisite internal SSD - we loved it so much we awarded it the full 5 stars in our review, and found it offered some of the fastest read/write performance of any PCIe 4.0 SSD we tested.

• Shop all internal SSDs at Amazon

There aren't many SSDs that manage to score full marks across the board during our testing, but the 990 Pro achieved just that.

Our review called it "an absolutely stellar M.2 SSD for both professional users and gamers," and still maintain that if you're building a new PC (or upgrading your old one), this SSD should be at the top of your wishlist.

It's capable of hitting up to 7450 MB/s read speeds and write speeds up to 6900 MB/s, making it a top choice for content creation, gaming, and complex workloads. With a $270 discount, it's an unmissable deal.

Today's best Prime Day Samsung SSD deal

The Samsung 990 Pro SSD is still one of the best PCIe 4.0 SSD around - especially at an unbeatable price like this. In our review, we hailed it as "an absolutely stellar M.2 SSD for both professional users and gamers." View Deal

There aren't many internal SSDs that get top marks in our testing, but the Samsung 990 Pro is one of them. We praised this high-performance solid-state drive in our review, where it proved to save large files quickly.

In fact, we said at the time: "This is easily one of the fastest SSDs we've ever tested, so you can expect top-tier file operation performance."

It's especially ideal for creative professionals and gamers, loading files fast and coming close to maxing out its PCIe 4.0 channels,

Ultimately, this runs like a premium SSD and we still think it's worth every penny - especially at this discount price.

The 1TB and 4TB models are also discounted in the sale. But honestly, it's cheaper to buy two 2TB SSDs than the 4TB one - and if you bought two 1TB versions, it'd cost you $110 more than the single 2TB SSD. That's where you get the best bang for your buck.

Also consider: More 2TB SSD deals

The SN850X is a perennial favorite - it's one of the fastest and most reliable internal SSDs around, with read speeds reaching up to 7300MB/s. A very good alternative to the Samsung 990 Pro if you want to save some dough.View Deal

The 9100 Pro boasts a PCIe 5.0 interface, and is billed as being the best for AI, heavy workloads, and gaming. With read speeds up to 14,700MB/s, this is one for the workstation. In our review, we said, "Samsung's first true PCIe 5.0 drive is the best there is." It also comes with a free NordVPN Basic product key. View Deal

This internal SSD with a PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe interface is built for laptops and desktop PCs. It features read speeds up to 7100MB/s and write speeds of 6700MB/s. View Deal

I love board games. Be it a classic hit like Catan, a hilarious party game like Poetry for Neanderthals, or a 1v1 strategy game like Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth — or anything in-between — I’m excited to give it a whirl.

And for Prime Day, Amazon has made many of my favorites super cheap. So I’ve gathered up a collection of my favorites you won’t want to miss — especially as several are part of limited time Lightning Deals, so once they’re gone, they’re gone.

• View the full Amazon Prime Day sale

If you want a more classic board game vibe, but something still accessible (read: no more difficult than Monopoly, and a lot more fun) then can I suggest Ticket to Ride or Catan? They're icons of the board game world for a reason.

Carcassonne and Splendor are solid pickups too in that category, and I've found are a little bit more approachable for non-gamers. There's not as many options to disrupt your opponents massively making the competitiveness less sharp.

For larger groups and parties Poetry for Neanderthals, Codenames, and Herd Mentality are perfect. Play them sober, play them tipsy, play them as a drinking game (remember: drink responsibly), whichever you choose will be a blast.

Prime Day sale – quick links

• All of Amazon Prime Day's board game deals

My favorite board game Prime Day deals

Asmodee Catan (6th Edition)

Asmodee Ticket to Ride

Asmodee Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth

Big Potato Games Herd Mentality

Big Potato Games Sounds Fishy

CGE Codenames (2nd Edition)

Asmodee Splendor

ExplodingKittens Poetry for Neanderthals

Z-Man Games Carcassonne

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

Apple AirPods Max 2

Despite their largely unchanged looks since the 2020 original, Apple's March 2026 cans are thoroughly deserving of the AirPods Max 2 moniker. Why? Quick answer: the new H2 chip and its computational wizardry. Slightly longer answer: the punchier sound, even better ANC and the new perks (Live Translation, Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Head Gesture control and the Camera Remote feature, for starters) all of which work seamlessly. Provided you've got a recent iPhone — an iPhone 15 Pro or newer — these extra Apple Intelligence features really make for an excellent, fuss-free music and call-handling experience that does what you want and does it with minimal button pushing.

Pros

• Even better ANC
• Live Translation that's easier to use than on Apple's buds
• Adaptive Audio for meatier, punchier sound
• Head-tracked Spatial Audio feels more accurate and crisp

Cons

• Poor battery life, comparatively
• Flimsy case remains
• Still very iOS-only
• No wireless hi-res codec support still

Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2

The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 are a formidable and sonically delightful pair of over-ear noise-cancelling headphones. They combine the best design elements of the original Px8 (and indeed the slightly older Px7 S3), while levelling up the sonic capabilities even more — and honestly, there's a hard-to-quantify pride of ownership one feels when wearing them. With a slightly lighter build than the inaugural set (yes, despite the extra metallic design accents and flourishes), decent ANC, hi-res Bluetooth codec support, the addition of a (somewhat divisive) 'True Immersion' profile and an excellent companion app, there’s so much to love about these headphones. That is, provided you can afford them… 

Pros

• Open, detailed and vaultingly dynamic sound
• Great standard of build and finish
• Very good control options and hi-res codec support

Cons

• Can be bettered for noise-cancellation and 'immersive' profiles
• Nappa leather won't please vegans
• Priced according to their talent – ie. really quite high

You're here to see which flagship noise-cancelling headphones are best, and I get it. One way to deduce which is the better buy might traditionally be newness, right? Not so easy here. One set of headphones here has a September 2025 release, one boasts a newer March 2026 launch date — but that's far from the whole story.

You see, on looks alone, the AirPods Max 2 could be a 2020 release, despite actually being the newer set of cans. Why? Oh, because the build looks exactly the same as the first-generation set, despite hiding newer H2 chips under the hood and upgraded amplification. Meanwhile, the B&W Px8 S2 has all the physical trappings of a generational upgrade as well as the sonic upticks to back it up.

When whittling down the best noise cancelling headphones of 2026 (or just the best over-ear headphones you can buy today) it will come as no surprise to learn that both of the products — and indeed manufacturers — in the title of this versus are in the picture for the win. Both firms are, make no mistake, excellent at what they do. And although one gained a five-star review and one a half-star off that, there's very little in it.

The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 launched on September 24, 2026, whereas the Apple AirPods Max 2 landed on March 16, 2026. But weirdly, the newer set are seeing a huge $150 Prime Day discount if you live in the US. Hurrah!

What a deal! These are the new new March 2026 edition, with the H2 chip and all of the upticks in performance that brings. And though many might have predicted an Apple-style $50 saving (yawn), this $150-off steal is crazy! Nobody had this on their bingo card for Prime Day. OK, the deal is only on the 'Starlight' finish, but for this money that shouldn't be an issue — it's a perfectly lovely finish. Let me be abundantly clear: the noise cancellation here is absolutely fantastic — and I know, because I reviewed them… View Deal

I tested them both, so I'm well placed to put these sets of high-end, flagship wireless cans side-by-side (someone's got to, right?) to discover which pair will ultimately get you better sound-per-pound value.

It's actually not as easy as it sounds. Human beings all seem to prioritize different things — your other half wants to watch movies on their iPad; your colleague is an avid gamer; you just want glorious silence to be able to get some shut-eye on long-haul flights.

I've spent countless hours listening to some of my favorite albums, podcasts and movies on these headphones in order to compare features, noise cancellation, call-handling, extra perks, and elements of the design and build quality (both physical and in terms of software) that you ought to be aware of. Either set of headphones is a top buy, our reviews will state as much — that's not why you're here. You want make the best choice for you, between these two top dogs. So let's get to it!

Apple AirPods Max 2 vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: price & availability

As mentioned above, the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 are the older of the two in a 'tale of the tape' style side-by-side, but only by six months. The B&W cans arrived in September of last year (2025) while the AirPods Max 2 arrived in March 2026. That said, on looks alone you'd never be able to tell that the Max 2 are newer, because their actual design (read: looks, save for one or two new finishes) hasn't changed since the original 2020-issue set. And that is a fact which left some fans disappointed…

And they're like heavyweight boxers in terms of desirability as well as talent and fame: the B&W option will set you back a not-insignificant $799 / £629 (approx. AU$1,299) while the AirPods Max 2 cost $549 / £499 / AU$999.

You don't need me to tell you that the AirPods Max 2 are the cheaper of the two here (and isn't that an unusual position for Apple to find itself in?), but you also don't need me to tell you that we really do have to go much deeper into the features, comfort, sound quality, ANC efficacy and overall user experience to see where the real value is. So come on then!

(Image credit: Future)Apple AirPods Max 2 vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: specs

Apple AirPods Max 2

Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2

Price

$549 / £499 AU$999

$799 / £629 / AU$1,299

Drivers

Apple-designed dynamic driver with new 'custom high dynamic range amplifier'

2 x 40mm dynamic full-range carbon cone

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Yes

Battery life

Up to 20 hours (with ANC enabled)

5 mins of charging nets 1.5 hours of listening

30 hours (ANC on)

Weight

386.2g

310g

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.3 (H2 chip) Lossless with USB-C

5.3 with SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless compatibility, USB-C audio

Waterproofing

None

None

Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen): features

Apple's cans are newer, so let's kick off with them. The inclusion of newer H2 chips — yes, there's actually one in each ear cup — add a swathe of new features, with one big caveat: you need an Apple iPhone that's either the iPhone 15 Pro or newer to get at most of them.

Provided your source device is one of those though, new features abound, including Adaptive Audio (the Transparency mode can adjust itself to block some unnecessary sounds, and there's an optional slider to tweak just how 'adaptive' you want it to get), Conversation Awareness (so the over-ears can automatically lower the volume of your music and filter external sounds should you start talking to someone, then put everything back again once you stop chatting), plus Loud Sound Reduction and Personalized Volume to help protect your hearing but keep the sonic profile how you like it.

There's also Live Translation, which is for me the star of that Apple-Intelligence-and-iPhone ecosystem. I thoroughly enjoyed using it here over Apple's AirPods Pro 3, because it's so much easier to access via a long press of AirPods Max's on-ear Listening Mode button.

Elsewhere, Head Gesture support means you can nod to accept a call or check a message, shake your head to dismiss a message or decline a call, or nod to Siri silently. You don't have to perform these actions violently either. Also, the new Camera Remote feature means you can now take snaps on your iPhone camera using AirPods Max 2's Digital Crown, and despite not being much of a photographer, I used that more than I thought I would.

Apple's new Voice Isolation software also improves your call quality when it's loud or windy around you — and thanks to some extra processing power afforded by that H2 chip, you get much better voice capture from the headphones' three mics for voice pickup (two are shared with the ANC system, and one is an additional dedicated microphone) in the nine-mic total. If it's a fight over which set of cans takes calls better, I'd hand it to Apple.

Of course I left the best for last: Apple says that the active noise cancellation is "up to 1.5x more effective than the previous generation" and when Tim Cook's behemoth boasts, it's best to listen. The noise-nixing here is honestly next-level — and I mean near-silent, cocooning, calming and enveloping. It's like stillness as a backdrop to your music. If that's what you need, these headphones win over the B&W buy, hands down.

Switching to the competing set in this particular bout, as we said in our Px8 S2 review, "When it comes to active noise-cancellation, Bowers & Wilkins must — just like every other brand — accept it’s competing for second place". And in this particular battle against AirPods Max 2, B&W hasn't won. The ANC is good, don't get me wrong, but it's not as good as Apple's.

(Image credit: Future)

Now, let's focus on the B&W option. Ever noticed how elite audiophile-adjacent headphones tend not to be, er… overburdened by features? B&W hasn't changed the game here. That said, ‘elite’ is still great way to describe the Px8 S2 and while the feature-set here is 100% business, there is one relatively recent addition, in the form of a dedicated "True Immersion" spatial audio mode. It was listed as "coming following a software update" when the Px8 S2 launched, and it's here now. It's designed to widen the soundstage, but instead of of relying on traditional 3D head-tracking, the feature is meant to create a concert or club-like soundstage akin to attending live gigs.

Bowers & Wilkins has designed and implemented built-in digital processing to expand the spatial footprint of standard stereo tracks but, as you'd expect when your fanbase largely consists of audiophiles, user feedback is highly mixed. Yes, these immersive side-sauces can sound unnatural or over-processed, but for me that's not an issue with the Px8 S2. I find the bass response decent and that 'concert atmosphere' idea has largely been achieved, but then again, this isn't B&W's forte. These are headphones one buys for a wire-free experience during critical listening, and so I think you'll keep it switched off most of the time.

The Px8 S2 are compatible with SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless codecs — and you won't find any aptX support in Apple's cans. That said, I prefer Apple's head-tracked Spatial Audio when it comes to immersive soundstages.

Wired listening can happen using the USB-C slot on one ear cup with either option — but while B&W supplies USB-C to USB-C, and USB-C to 3.5mm cables in the lovely semi-hard travel case, Apple only offers the former (and only gives you a minimal 'headphone bra' to carry the cans in, so be careful not to lose the cable!)

Battery life is one bone of contention: 30 hours in the B&W with ANC deployed, and a 15-minute jolt of juice will get you up to another seven hours' playback. That drops to just 20 hours max (with ANC enabled) with the AirPods Max 2, where 5 minutes of charging nets 1.5 hours of listening. In 2026, this can easily be beaten and is one area Apple really does need to improve. That said, for the aforementioned features — and that excellent ANC performance — Apple edges it here.

(Image credit: Future)

Oh, one other thing: the companion apps. Bowers & Wilkins' solution is far better here especially if you don't own an iPhone, offering to round up your music streaming services as well as catering to the cans and providing a thoroughly comprehensive, intuitive experience. In direct comparison, Apple's solution (that fits into your iPhone's pull-down general and settings menus; there is no official AirPods app for Android) feels a tad bare-bones, but then again, it is intuitive — once you've downloaded those language modules you'll need for translation…

• Features winner: Apple AirPods Max 2

(Image credit: Future)Apple AirPods Max 2 vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: sound quality

Ready for the indicator to swing back the other way, if only ever-so-slightly? You're probably way ahead of me, but Bowers & Wilkins makes some of the best-sounding wireless headphones within the mass production consumer space, and the Px8 S2 are no exception.

The company deployed the amplification and DSP engine from its (also very good) Px7 S3 headphones here, but the bespoke tuning — plus a stiffer and more pricey driver chassis and upgraded motor system and voice coil — has ensured that the Px8 S2 do sound significantly better than their well-regarded (and, ahem, more affordable) siblings. Our review explains this succinctly: "Where out-and-out sound quality is concerned, it’s hard to lay a glove on the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2… where they really excel, they leave their nominal competition gasping."

(Image credit: Future)

How do the Apple AirPods Max 2 compare for sound? It depends on how you like to listen — because while there's no higher-resolution codec support, for oomph and head-tracked audio within Apple Music suite, I still find them hard to beat. But for critical, neutral, integrated listening? They're still playing second fiddle to Bowers & Wilkins.

Apple hasn't divulged the drivers under the hood, but did specify a new 'custom high dynamic range amplifier' which I truly believe has made for a punchier and more dynamically nuanced listen than in the first-generation set — yes, probably owing to the new H2 chips.

The head-tracked Spatial Audio support is not a new feature with this iteration, but it is so beautifully implemented here thanks to the new software that, as I said in my review, "you'll find yourself whipping them off to check there's no mini speaker under your chin or squirreled away at the back of the room".

It's a closer-run thing than I'd expected — and again, it depends on your source material and whether you want a more three-dimensional presentation — but I can't hand the sound accolade to any product other than the B&W Px8 S2.

• Sound quality winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2

(Image credit: Future)Apple AirPods Max 2 vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: design

Honestly, the sense of pride in ownership I feel wearing the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 over my ears (or even around my neck, with the metallic accents catching the light) remains unmatched. Wearing them is like being a member of a very select group — the audiophile who knows where the best sound is and wasn't scared of spending the cash.

You've got to give B&W the nod where looks are concerned. Over-ear headphones can look pretty generic, but somehow the Px8 S2 feel like an Aston Martin: luxurious yet demure, elite yet understated. They're available in 'Onyx Black', 'Warm Stone', 'Pearl Blue', Midnight Blue' and a special 'McLaren Edition' finish; all are quite splendid.

The arms and headband feature a recess that allows a portion of the cable to be exposed (a nod to the company’s very first headphones, the P5, which launched back in 2010) and at 310g, the Px8 S2 are actually just a fraction lighter and slimmer than the headphones they replace. Honestly, I can't find anything to pick fault with — except that the real leather won't appeal to vegans.

(Image credit: Future)

Do I get that same true pride in ownership with Apple's newest cans? Not quite, in all honesty — but that doesn't mean it's a clear win for the B&W in this instance. How to score this category then? If you like dashing good looks, it's got to be the B&W, but if you want supreme comfort and a design that helps promote a truly cocooned feel — with lovely on-ear controls — it's Apple, for me.

They're heavier than the Px8 S2, at 386.2g, but they don't feel it. Because here's the thing with AirPods Max 2: nothing about the design has been changed, because it doesn't need to be. The huge ear cups, the meshy headband with its silent yokes, the mic placement? It was all so-designed because Apple threw out the rule book and just wanted to make the best ever headphones. So while we can argue the toss over how they look, I maintain that for comfort, they knock everything else out the park.

I also love the Digital Crown, which can handle playback and volume. OK, the case is odd and Apple hasn't offered a proper one, which many users are crying out for. But I still reach for the AirPods Max 2 most days for the way they feel and the quiet, seemingly protected sonic spaces they take me to after a long day. So I can't simply give the B&W the nod, you see…

• Design winner: it's a tie

(Image credit: Future)Apple AirPods Max 2 vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: value

Value is always a very difficult category to judge, partly because the competition at these levels is so stiff. For less than the MRSP of both of the options here, $449 / £399 / AU$699 buys you the Sony WH-1000XM6 or the Bose QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen), and both sets of cans feature in our best headphones buying guide — indeed, one set even won TR's Best Wireless Headphones of the Year Award.

But that's not really what 'value' means, is it — especially when we're talking sound-per-pound value? And the price of each option does vary here, by over $200 / £120. It's a horses for courses thing. For me, the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 sound so very good that they're worth the extra outlay over the other products mentioned above — but I prioritize sound quality when listening to music and always have done. Additionally, I have several music streaming services at my disposal (all the better to test things with, my dear) and the Bowers & Wilkins 'Music' app gets them all together so I can quickly stream whatever I need.

That said, those who own an iPhone and want the best ANC-plus-comfort they can possibly find at this level need to look to Apple — and the extra features (Live Translation, Gesture Control, Personalised Spatial Audio, Conversation Awareness) all add value, if you're iOS-ensconced. If I were jumping on a flight now, I'd pick the Apple over-ears. If I were in my comfy listening chair at home, it's the B&W. But it's hard to put a price on arriving from the 2am flight having actually slept because your cans are that good at noise-nixing, right?

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)Apple AirPods Max 2 vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: verdict

It's tough, but I promised I'd give my verdict, so for me it's the Apple AirPods Max 2 by a very small margin. I love the excellent ANC; I love the head-tracked Spatial Audio; I love the comfort; I love the call-handling and I love the bubble of silence I seem to enter when wearing them. Also, I love a tasty discount, and we're seeing a very good one, not long after their launch…

But there's a very compelling argument to be made for spending more and getting more detailed audio in a stunning (newer) build quality — and let's not forget that the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 won our most recent Headphones of the Year Editor's Choice Award. So this isn't the end of the discussion — far from it in fact.

What are your thoughts, gentle reader? Which of the two is your winner? Let me know in the comments — let's make this a friendly group discussion.