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A judge has put Paramount’s Warner Bros. Discovery deal on ice for now, pending an antitrust hearing later this month.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Dying Light and Psi-Ops join the PS Plus catalog in July.

Halloween might seem like a long way away, but it's never too early to start getting ready, and if you're anything like me, then you can't wait for the weather to start getting cooler, with crisp leaves underfoot and misty mornings. It seems the designers at IKEA agree, because they've already launched a whole set of Kustfyr Halloween decor so you can start preparing for spooky season now.

The new seasonal lights are particularly cute, and I defy anyone not to be charmed by the adorably spooky LED ghost table lamp with its arms raised mid-scare. Pair it with a set of ghostly battery-powered LED string lights for a full themed room.

It wouldn't be Halloween without pumpkins, and you can avoid the mess and hassle of carving a real gourd by picking up one of IKEA's fun pumpkin lamps. The globe-shaped LED pumpkin table lamp is a cute classic, while the matching battery-powered pendant lamp is safe to use outdoors, so you can hang it on your porch when it's time for trick-or-treating.

Want more creepy ways to decorate your home? Check out the full Kustfyr collection, which includes everything from plushies to plates.

Adorably spooky Halloween lights

IKEA Kustfyr Battery LED Table Lamp - Ghost

IKEA Kustfyr LED Table Lamp - Pumpkin

IKEA Kustfyr Battery Pendant Lamp - Pumpkin

IKEA Kustfyr Lantern for Pillar Candle - Black

IKEA Kustfyr Battery LED Table Decoration - Pumpkin

IKEA Kustfyr LED Lighting Chain With 32 Lights - Ghost

IKEA Kustfyr LED String Light With 12 Lights - Ghost

• NATO wants eight allies to share satellite power without surrendering national control
• HALO aims to connect military satellites for faster communications and missile tracking
• NATO says isolated satellite fleets remain vulnerable to jamming, cyberattacks, and destruction

NATO has confirmed plans to build a shared satellite constellation designed to strengthen military communications, surveillance and missile tracking across the alliance.

The initiative, dubbed HALO, was unveiled at the recent NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, brings together eight member nations under a single space framework.

Denmark, Canada, Finland, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey have all agreed to take part in this emerging space project.

NATO seeks a more resilient military space network

HALO, Hybrid Alliance Layered Operations in Space, is intended to link national satellite systems while allowing participating countries to retain ownership and control.

Officials say individual satellite constellations run independently by member countries remain vulnerable to cyberattacks, jamming and physical destruction during conflict.

NATO Deputy Secretary-General Radmila Šekerinska said such fragmented systems are also too slow to relay large volumes of data effectively.

"So this new model will be particularly helpful for high-speed communications, intelligence and missile tracking, overcoming the cost, the time and coverage limitations of single-nation satellite fleets," she added.

HALO is therefore intended to improve how allied space assets work together during military operations.

The project could also allow NATO members to combine national capabilities without creating a single satellite fleet controlled by one country.

“I’m really pleased to announce…HALO, opening a new chapter in allied space operations,” Šekerinska said.

Canada and other allies expand space commitments

The announcement came alongside several other space-related commitments made during the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara.

Canada became the 15th NATO member to join STARLIFT, a multinational initiative examining launch capabilities for quickly sending allied assets into orbit.

The programme seeks to develop access to launch services from spaceports across the alliance, potentially giving NATO members more options when deploying satellites at short notice.

The effort is separate from HALO but reflects the broader push to strengthen allied space infrastructure.

Spain also became the 19th country to join NATO’s Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space initiative, pledging to support coastal surveillance through imagery supplied by its Atlantic Constellation satellites.

Turkey, meanwhile, announced plans to develop two additional high-resolution satellites intended to expand regional space capabilities.

These separate commitments show how NATO members are pursuing both shared networks and national systems at the same time.

HALO remains at the exploratory stage, meaning the participating allies have not yet established a final constellation design, deployment schedule or confirmed satellite count.

Its success will depend on whether different national systems can share data securely while maintaining sovereign control.

The parents of Nolan Wells, who was found dead on Horn Island in Mississippi, will hold a funeral for the 18-year-old on Monday. Wells was with friends for the Fourth of July and did not return home.

(Image credit: Gerald Herbert)

A nation celebrates as Spain's World Cup champions come home to a hero's welcome.

• Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) struck a Russian Mi-28 attack helicopter in flight over the Belgorod region with a SkyFall Shrike 10 FPV drone, hitting the helicopter from above
• The attack, which saw a $400 drone strike and 'kill' a $19 million attack helicopter as per Skyfall, represents an impressive 47,500x exchange ratio
• The attack isn't isolated: Russia has lost over 20+ Mi-28s in similar attacks since the conflict began in 2022

The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to expand as the latter continues to leverage asymmetric warfare to hold its own against a rival with superior technology and manpower, even as the conflict heads into its fifth year.

Much of this is due to Ukraine's pivot to home-grown drone and bot manufacturing, which helps to counter heavy Russian weaponry such as tanks, helicopters, and APCs using cheap but effective drones and bots to hold the line.

It has also allowed several startups to join the fray, offering low-cost options, often funded by external partners and allies to bolster Ukraine's war effort, and SkyFall's Shrike 10 FPV drone is one of them.

An impressive achievement, albeit with disputed claims

The Shrike 10 FPV drone, which costs less than a mid-range smartphone, flew up alongside a Russian Mi-28 attack helicopter, climbed above it, and dove into its tail boom on the morning of the July 17, 2026, in Russia's Belgorod region.

The strike was carried out by operators of the 427th Separate Unmanned Systems Brigade "Rarog," and confirmed by Major Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (USF), who published the drone's own final-approach footage on Telegram with the terse caption that the "Night Hunter" had gone "into the ground."

Ukrainian firm SkyFall, whose FPY drone, the Shrike 10, was involved in the attack, stated that it was priced at under $400 per unit. The Mi-28, per the same company, costs $19 million.

While the headline is impressive, the math might not completely check out: other sources put the cost of the Mi-28 at approximately $15 million, while a recent deal with Germany (50,000 SkyFall-built FPV drones for Ukraine, fitted with autonomous targeting software from US firm Auterion in a €90 million (~$103 million) deal) could mean that some liberties may have been taken to get to the $400 figure, though the Shrike 10 that attacked the Mi-28 might be differently configured or on the lower end of the spectrum.

The instance, which sees Ukraine claiming a kill on what is a pricey part of the Russian arsenal, is partially unconfirmed, with independent observers pointing out that there is no aftermath video and that attack helicopters often survive and successfully land after such hits. To Ukraine's credit, a similar kill, however, was reported in 2025 by the Ukrainian armed forces with footage to confirm the crash that followed.

Irrespective of the sum, the fact that a drone that costs a ten-thousandth of an attack helicopter that has been retrofitted to hunt it can be a credible predator of the same is potentially alarming, not only for the Russians but for military planners across the world, even if the damage in question might be open to dispute.

This is further corroborated by unverified sources claiming that the damage was 'minor' and did not affect either of the helicopter's two occupants at the time, thereby disputing much of SkyFall's claims beyond the drone's impact.

Russia's defense ministry, however, has not commented directly on the matter, and no open-source tracker such as Oryx has confirmed imagery of any wreckage either.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said the natiopn is producing 10 million drones a year while vying for a production target of 20 million drones in the future, much of it backed by foreign aid, indicating that the Russian Mi-28, which has 20+ confirmed visual losses since the conflict began, continues to be both, an attacker and defender against drones of all shapes and sizes

• China has enforced laws to clamp down on AI-generated persona apps
• The new rules say AI tools can no longer induce emotions and damage real-life connections
• Tech giants have shut down their services, leaving users going through a nationwide breakup

The Chinese government is introducing new regulations designed to clamp down on AI-generated romantic companions.

Issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and four other government departments, the regulations state that AI tools can no longer “excessively cater to users, induce emotional dependence or addiction, and damage users’ real interpersonal relationships,” while also banning virtual relationships with minors. This came into effect on July 15.

Chinese tech giants including ByteDance, Tencent, and Alibaba each have their own platforms (most famously ByteDance’s Doubao) that allow users to generate their own AI companions which are designed to express human-like emotions. In the wake of the new laws, companion chatbots must now undergo evaluation before they become publicly available, and allow the government to shut them down if they’re deemed unsafe.

According to The Wall Street Journal ($/£), these regulations could also apply to regular AI chatbots if they respond to human prompts with replies that may be deemed too emotional.

However, rather than complying with the new laws, tech giants have disabled some of their custom persona features altogether, leading to nationwide virtual breakups. So why are these government laws being issued now? To put it plainly, not enough babies are being born.

Users are opting for virtual romance over human connection

Over the last four consecutive years, China’s birth rates have decreased significantly, falling to a record-low number in 2025, as The Wall Street Journal also reports. It’s likely that the worries of declining birth rates are one of the catalysts behind the new regulations, and the Chinese government fears AI personas on services like Doubao are preventing users from forming real-life relationships and having children.

The crackdown on AI companionships has hit users like a ton of bricks, and now they’re starting to break their silence.

Speaking with Bloomberg ($/£), 19-year-old student Yan Yongqi spoke about her sudden heartbreak following the law enforcement action, which resulted in her losing her AI partner of over a year. “I really felt like I couldn’t go on living. Every day at home, I did nothing but cry,” she said, adding, “This is like being told the date of my lover’s death while leaving me completely powerless”.

On paper, it sounds like some kind of dystopian sci-fi story, but believe it or not, this is a growing issue in regions like China where AI services are being developed to mimic human compassion. It’s even getting to the point where users are creating AI versions of their ex-partners to help them move on from a breakup, but it’s not just an issue sweeping China.

Back in May, we spoke with a UK-based user who confessed to falling in love with ChatGPT after taking to the service as a means of therapy to help with mental health struggles. Despite the user’s self-awareness of the issue, we also spoke with therapist Amy Sutton, who shed light on the wider issues.

“Unfortunately, this feels like a failing of human services rather than an integral benefit of the technology itself,” she shared, later adding “AI companion apps are designed for maximum engagement – to keep users subscribed and enthralled,” she says. “ChatGPT was not designed to be a therapeutic intervention".

With that in mind, it’s a rather upsetting circumstance, and services such as therapy are becoming more financially unreachable for those who really need it. At the same time, there’s a level of duty and care that influential AI companies need to prioritize for users who think their services are the be-all and end-all of their needs.

The United States, Mexico, and Canada co-hosted the nearly six-week tournament. NPR's team of journalists who covered the World Cup reflects on the experience.

(Image credit: Franck Fife)

Though we likely won’t see it until next year, I’m predicting the pickle emoji will knock the eggplant emoji off its pedestal.

Don’t call it a comeback, The Guild aims to shine a light on how nerd culture has changed in 20 years.

• 13,750 Vera CPUs and 27,500 Rubin GPUs will drive compute at the Nvidia Vera Rubin AI factory
• The project will be the world’s first national AI infrastructure for physical AI
• By partnering with Noetra Corp, Nvidia is providing hardware to drive Japan’s FRONTia Project

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is supporting a partnership between Noetra Corp and Nvidia to provide the foundation for the its national artificial intelligence initiative, the FRONTia Project.

Noetra Corp – which comprises NEC, Sony, Honda, SoftBank Corp, and has backing from 44 other companies and organizations – won a tender on June 30 2026 to run FRONTia until 2030, with as much as ¥1 trillion (around $6.1 billion) expected to be invested in the project over the five years.

Japan sees FRONTia as providing the heart of its sovereign AI ecosystem for industry, providing compute power for the development of advanced multimodal foundation models that can be used to drive physical AI. Robotics across industry and healthcare can potentially benefit from this, along with the development of superior AI agents and digital twins.

What is the FRONTia Project?

Aiming to foster collaboration between global technology leaders and Japan’s manufacturing expertise, and leveraging real-world industrial data, the FRONTia Project (referring to the “Development of Multimodal Foundation Models with a View to AI Robotics and Physical AI” project) is described as “the core of the country’s physical AI ecosystem,” by Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.

“By fostering collaboration between Japan and leading global innovators — including NVIDIA — and leveraging Japan’s strengths, such as its onsite expertise and manufacturing technology infrastructure, we will build highly reliable multimodal foundation models and contribute to solving global social challenges.”

When constructed, the Nvidia Vera Rubin AI facility will provide Noetra’s multimodal foundation models to domestic model developers and enterprises. Nvidia’s own AI-related software models and libraries will also be available.

There has been some criticism of the FRONTia Project, however. Concerned parties have highlighted the lack of financial transparency from Noetra and the Japanese government, as well as the presence of Nvidia as partners, with the US company seen as a strategic rival. Meanwhile the massive energy costs associated with AI installations is once again considered an unnecessary problem to create.

“Japan invented modern manufacturing. Now, it is building the AI factories that will power the next industrial revolution,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia.

“NVIDIA is honored to partner with Japan and its industrial leaders to build the AI infrastructure that will power the country’s industries, its economy and a new generation of innovation.”

Is the world ready for physical AI?

AI’s impact on creative industries has been widely discussed, but its potential for beyond “generative” processes – such as in the physical space – have avoided scrutiny. To date, physical AI (the integration of AI with physical hardware such as robots, vehicles, or industrial machines) hasn’t been able to scale as quickly as generative AIs with ever-deepening LLMs.

Predicting the next word is a lot easier than, say, predicting shifting terrain for an autonomous machine, and without the delicate motor skills of a human, no process can be completely automated.

This is a problem for physical AI, and investing money in developing solutions such as the NVIDIA Vera Rubin AI factory will surely have a direct impact on the workforce. A successful physical AI project means more automation from robots, and fewer physical jobs.

• Prototype drone spins its entire body up to 25 times per second to blur itself into near-invisibility
• Phantom Twist's single motor spins the whole airframe in one direction and its propeller in the other
• AI design pipeline tested 20,000 possible layouts to find the optimal configuration

Drones have a visibility problem. Whether they're filming guests at a wedding or hunting for candid shots of nesting birds, the moment a drone is noticed, it can change the behavior of whatever it's observing — wildlife scatters, people act differently, and you end up with iffy results.

A team of engineers at Illinois' Northwestern University may have found a way around that, and it has nothing to do with camouflage. Their prototype drone, dubbed "Phantom Twist," doesn't try to look like its surroundings. Instead, it spins itself into a blur so fast that the human eye simply can't keep up.

The drone rotates up to 25 times per second — well beyond what the eye can resolve into a distinct shape. The drone doesn't disappear outright, but becomes what the researchers describe as a faint, semi-transparent smudge that blends into the sky or landscape behind it. It's not invisibility in the sci-fi sense, but according to the team it's about ten times harder to spot than a conventional quadcopter.

You spin me right round

The trick lies in the design itself. A typical quadcopter has four rotors spinning while its main body stays completely still, which is exactly why you can still pick it out against the sky — the frame doesn't move, so your eye locks onto it. Phantom Twist ditches that setup entirely. It runs on a single motor and single propeller, with the propeller spinning one way and the rest of the drone's body spinning the opposite way. There's no stationary part left for your eye to latch onto.

Building something that flies stably while spinning that fast isn't a simple engineering job, though, so the team leaned on AI to do the heavy lifting. The process started with around 20,000 computer-generated drone layouts, each one checked for steady flight. From there, optimization algorithms repeatedly shuffled the position of the drone's key components — motor, propeller, circuit board, battery and counterweights — so they'd never overlap visually as the whole thing spun.

Every candidate design was then simulated spinning against 100 real-world photo backgrounds and scored using a model built to approximate human vision, with the 500 lowest-scoring designs pushed through further rounds of optimization before the final version was built.

The result spreads its components out at different heights and angles, so when it's in motion, everything blurs into a soft haze. It's clever stuff, and a reminder of how much of what we "see" comes down to how our eyes process motion over time rather than snapping a perfect still image.

Now you see me: the Phantom Twist in all its ghostly glory (Image credit: Michael Rubenstein/Northwestern University)

It's worth being clear about what Phantom Twist is and isn't, though. This is a university research prototype, not a product with a release date or price tag, and it's still some way from ready for real-world deployment.

The propeller is audible even if the body isn't very visible. There's also no camera or imaging payload on the current build, which raises an obvious question for its stated wildlife-monitoring and infrastructure-inspection ambitions. It feels like a drone spinning 25 times a second would need some serious image stabilization or de-rotation trickery before it could shoot anything usable. The team hasn't detailed how (or whether) they plan to solve that yet.

There's an inevitable privacy angle to any drone that's harder to see, too, and it's not hard to imagine less charitable uses for the same principle down the line. For now, though, this remains a lab experiment funded by the National Science Foundation, aimed squarely at reducing wildlife disturbance rather than sneaking up on anyone — and there's no indication the spinning-body approach is heading toward consumer hardware anytime soon.

• 70.8% of evening instant repliers were promoted in the last two years
• Promotion is 1.3x more likely for instant replies than those who wait until next morning
• Millennials get the biggest rewards for fast replies in research published by workforce solutions company Careerminds UK

Achieving a work-life balance by disconnecting from work on an evening may be good for your peace of mind and family life, but it might just cause you to miss out on a promotion, a new report has claimed.

Research conducted for Careerminds UK found replying to that late evening message from your manager before you hit the sack can increase your chances of a desirable new role.

Its report found 7 in 10 (70.8%) respondents who admitted to being “instant repliers” got a promotion in the last two years, far more than the cohort that opted for an approach of “let me live my life for a few hours.”

Millennial men message more

Elsewhere, the research is split, with Millennials far more likely to get promoted for evening communication than Gen Xers. This report emerges just months after the British government’s plans for a “Right to Switch Off” was put on hold.

Careerminds’ research found that, essentially, “The slower the reply, the lower the promotion rate.” Replying to out of hours messages immediately is a 70.8% promotion rate; replying within the hour drops the rate to 68.2%, while replying next morning is 55.1%.

There is a gender split, too, with 79.0% of those quick responders in the last two years listed as men, compared with 60.8% marked as women.

Also of interest is the generational difference. The research shows 86.0% of millennials with a fast response for responding to messages out of contracted hours were promoted, compared with 47.2% of Gen X employees (44 to 59). Gen Z employees gained promotion at a rate of 81.2%.

Interestingly, the quick-response-for-promotion effect doesn’t seem to have any significant advantage for entry level or director suite roles. Instead, it appears to be focused around the middle of an organization’s hierarchy.

What happened to the “Right to Switch Off”?

Intended as a workplace reform to feature in the British government’s Employment Rights Bill, the Right to Switch Off was supported by unions, employees, and even business leaders. However, when the bill was announced, this key aspect was omitted, relegated to the government’s “Next Steps” document.

Unfortunately, subsequent reports indicated that the policy would be scrapped, with a government source telling The Sunday Times that the policy was “dead.” The reasoning? Reducing economic pressure on businesses including “unnecessary barriers” in order to make “Britain the best country in the world in which to do business.”

For comparison, Ireland has had a similar rule for employees to ignore out-of-hours work messages since 2021, and France introduced the right to disconnect in 2017.

With the UK welcoming a new Prime Minister as of July 20, 2026, potentially with different priorities, it remains to be seen whether the Right to Switch Off can be switched back on.

Paramount's owners were hoping they'd be firmly in control of rival Warner Bros. Discovery by the end of this week. Monday's temporary restraining order puts that plan on hold.

(Image credit: SOPA Images/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett)

• Netflix announced it bought AI firm InterPositive for $587 million
• It acquired the company back in March
• Though the partnership claims to support human creativity, it's still ringing alarm bells for subscribers

Netflix is taking another huge step into its investment in AI — now the streaming platform has completed its $587 million acquisition of startup company InterPositive, the Ben Affleck-owned enterprise that offers AI-powered filmmaking services.

The streaming giant first announced its acquisition of InterPositive back in March, when Bloomberg predicted that Netflix could pay up to $600 million. The company’s recent Form 10-Q report confirms this, and it also reveals that Netflix paid the sum in cash.

Affleck launched InterPositive back in 2022, providing filmmakers with tools to create their own AI model using production dailies to fine-tune post-production work including visual effects, mixing, and relighting shots.

Despite its AI-focus, Affleck has been vocal about his aims to protect human artistry, saying he wanted to “preserve what makes human storytelling human, which is judgement” and to “protect the power of human creativity” at the time of the company’s inception. That said, the acquisition is certainly a bold move from Netflix given how much criticism its investments in AI has garnered.

Prior to its 10-Q report, Netflix released a shareholder newsletter which admitted to using AI ‘on '300 movies and shows' in 2026, such as the docuseries The American Experiment. Co-CEO of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, went into further detail on this, stating that these AI tools helped produce accompanying visual elements “twice as fast and at half the cost of previous options,” according to Variety.

As you can imagine, this hasn’t settled well with loyal Netflix subscribers who are tired of the platform canceling shows and instead prioritizing AI tools. Since the acquisition sum was revealed, Reddit has been flooded with concerns over what this could mean for future Netflix productions and the creative teams behind them.

Comment from r/Futurology

One user on Reddit noted that despite the rapid improvements of AI tools, post-production and visual effects departments remain major employers in the entertainment industry. The same user states that business transactions like this are “literally just a mass layoff”, adding, “We do not want this. Humans are artists”.

Netflix’s half-a-billion-dollar acquisition of InterPositive is the icing on the cake of what could spell a decaying trust from its subscribers, and it makes me even more concerned about the artistic value and production ethics of the company’s future movies and shows.

Right now, Netflix is not in my good books, and I’ve been quite vocal about its rash decisions to chase AI and social media-like content. The company recently announced plans to expand its range of content, bringing videos from popular online outlets to the platform — when we already have YouTube for that.

Additionally, Netflix’s prioritization of tacky reality shows over quality drama titles is another topic that’s being discussed, mainly surrounding its upcoming Wonka-themed show. This project also has a huge AI element, as the company has used technology to recreate the voice of Gene Wilder from the original 1971 movie, another distasteful move in my eyes.

It appears that Netflix isn’t doing a good job of keeping subscribers hooked with its growing involvement in AI and ignorance of the survival of its original titles. Is the best streaming service digging its own grave?

• The US government is using 'eminent domain' to force landowners to sell property to make way for new data center infrastructure
• Power companies are turning to the government as a last resort for acquiring land needed for power transmission projects
• Americans are not happy with the mass buildout of new AI data centers

It’s no secret that there is a big divide between AI companies looking to expand capacity and the general public who don’t want a data center constructed in their back yard, particularly in the US.

Recent polling has put that number up to as many as 7 in 10 Americans who are opposed to data center construction, with environmental concerns and reductions in quality of life cited as the biggest reasons.

But AI companies and energy firms alike are reportedly turning to ‘eminent domain’ - the government’s ability to seize the private property of landholders without the need for the owner’s consent.

Government seizing private property

Eminent domain has typically been reserved for critical infrastructure projects including power and transport, alongside government projects and public utilities.

Eminent domain was also famously used to seize land for the construction of the Minuteman nuclear missile deterrent across the United States during the Cold War.

Drawing on a similar patriotic tone expressed during the construction of silos in the 1960s, President Donald Trump has said that the development of AI technologies is crucial to the national security and economic security of the US, and therefore capacity must be expanded.

As data centers require enormous amounts of electricity in order to function, they require dedicated power lines and infrastructure connections. In order to construct this infrastructure, power companies approach local landowners and offer to buy the land upon which the power lines will be built. However, if the landowners say no, the power companies can call on the government to use its power of eminent domain.

The Fifth Amendment of the US constitution requires the government to provide the landowner with “just compensation,” generally based on fair market value for similar property in the local area.

Data centers accounted for roughly 10-20% of US electricity consumption in 2024, with that number having risen significantly since then. Some data centers under construction will use more power than some US cities, such as Meta’s Hyperion campus in Louisiana which is expected to consume three times the power consumed by the city of New Orleans.

Some states have been more prolific in their use of eminent domain, with residents in Georgia being forced to sell property to the Georgia Power transmission project - a capacity expansion that will primarily benefit data centers. Other landowners in Maryland have begun erecting signs on their property that state, “No eminent domain for corporate gain.”

The opposition to data centers is fast becoming a people versus the government issue, with many complaining that AI companies are becoming extremely wealthy without providing any benefit for the average working class American - something that Senator Bernie Sanders hopes to remediate with an AI sovereign wealth fund that would force AI companies to offer up 50% of their stock to be used to fund projects that benefit Americans.

Via Fortune

Sony PS-LX3BT: Two-minute review

The Sony PS-LX3BT is one of the first new turntables to leave Sony’s R&D department in years. It comes some time after the launch of the Sony PS-LX310BT, one of what TechRadar rightfully deems to be the best turntables for beginners — and has big shoes to fill, accordingly.

And fill them it sort-of does, at least in the most literal of senses. It shares a lot of physical attributes, aims for the same sleek aesthetic, and seeks to corner the same, well, corner of the market with user-friendly interfaces and a no-nonsense approach to playing records. It’s a shame it doesn’t quite stick the landing.

Price is the major sticking point for me — its launch price far overshot similarly specced, and better-featured, turntables in the same market. This was the backdrop against which certain bugbears became serious missteps — from a stylus that Sony insists you need to replace through them, to a cheap-feeling body that feels like it’s come from a device a third of the price.

These things overshadow the PS-LX3BT’s capable performance with audio, via its decent on-board preamp and its star-of-the-show press-and-play Bluetooth connectivity. It could be good — it is good, by some metrics — but not for where it’s asking to sit.

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Price & release date

• Unveiled February 2, 2026
• Priced $399.99 / £299 / AU$469

The Sony PS-LX3BT is a fully automatic, Bluetooth-enabled plug-and-play turntable, with an eye cocked squarely at the upper limits of the entry level. At its launch price of $399 / £299 / AU$469, it’s not what I would call cheap; in fact, it’s undercut by a fair few near-equivalent competitors — most compelling of which is the Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT.

Then, there's this turntable's own sibling (they actually launched together), the Sony PS-LX5BT which is pricier but adds a more delicate stylus pressure of 2.0g ± 0.5g, a thicker and more premium rubber mat, a tweaked circuit design engineered to suppress unwanted vibration, a dedicated gold-plated audio jack out port (something not present here) with a cable in the box, plus a slightly more high-end, all-black finish.

Most other competitors in the market, though, do not have ‘Sony’ tastefully emblazoned on the chassis. Sony is a tried-and-tested household brand for AV tech, be it TVs, games consoles, CD players or integrated hi-fi systems.

Hence, the brand is likely better-trusted by new or returning vinyl enthusiasts to deliver something intuitive, fuss-free and of a minimum quality. Is this trust well-founded? The 2019 Sony PS-LX310BT was a huge success, but it was also a lot cheaper (depending on where you lived), having launched at $199 / £200 / AU$399. So, you can see the issue…

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Specs

Dimensions

430 mm x 117 mm x 366 mm

Motor

Belt drive

Platter

Die-cast aluminum

Phono preamp

Yes

USB

No

Bluetooth

4.2

Speeds

33 1/3, 45 RPM

Stylus

Moving magnet

Extras

USB-C power adapter, 45 adapter

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Features

• Fully automatic operation
• AptX Adaptive Bluetooth output
• Built-in phono preamp and gain control

The Sony PS-LX3BT is an automatic turntable; this means it can be operated entirely by the array of buttons and switches adorning its anthracite-hued surface. Simply select the size and speed of your record, then use the buttons at the front to control the placement or removal of the tonearm. The platter’s rotation is triggered by moving the tonearm past a certain point, so even if you want to use the PS-LX3BT manually (by virtue of the silver finger-rest protruding from where the headshell would be) you literally only have to lift a finger to play a record.

Automatic turntable mechanisms are not so new, and this mechanical design doesn’t sound especially new either, with some familiar clunks and whirrs I know from my old Rotel system. What is, at least slightly newer, though, is Bluetooth connectivity, which the PS-LX3BT quite proudly has. More specifically, there’s aptX Adaptive Bluetooth transmission, for low-latency, high-resolution streaming from the turntable to your Bluetooth receiver of choice and accessed via a suavely flush button in the front-left corner of the chassis face.

On top of this Bluetooth connectivity, the LX3BT has connections the old-fashioned way, via a hard-wired stereo RCA cable out from the back. It’s an odd choice to use a permanently attached cable instead of a port – and at that, given the audience for this thing, I’m surprised there isn’t a 3.5mm Aux out either.

Still, that RCA cable feeds a built-in and switchable phono preamp, which means you can plug your turntable in most any amplifier without needing an extra gain stage. On top of that, there’s a gain switch that lets you boost or attenuate your turntable’s output by 4dB. Surprising in a different way; thoughtful, even.

The LX3BT has, like many other entry-level turntables of its ilk, a completely built-in cartridge arrangement with a replaceable stylus element. The stylus part here looks strikingly like one of Audio-Technica’s AT-3600 series, but is “designed specifically for this turntable”, according to Sony’s website FAQ. With a bit of sleuthing, the stylus does appear to be Audio-Technica’s AT3600LAX, a conical stylus with a carbon-fiber cantilever – though Sony’s specs point to a slightly heftier 3.5g tracking force. (Incidentally, my own tracking-force measurements of the tonearm put its exertion at a, for me, troublingly high 3.7g.)

Crucially, this thin layer of proprietariness creates an uneasy route to self-replacement, or indeed upgrade. Sony would prefer you go through its dealers or customer service department for a like-for-like stylus replacement, indicating that “other styluses are not supported”. Built-in cartridges and replaceable styli can be clever entry-level phenomena, and can be executed transparently well, but here, in this manner, it trends a little too close to being anti-consumer for my liking. Minus thoughtfulness points.

• Features score: 3 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Sound quality

• Warm, clear sound from stylus
• Faultless Bluetooth transmission
• Clean, clear built-in preamp

For all the grumblings I’ve leveled at the Sony PS-LX3BT thus far, I will contend that it actually does sound good. That definitely-not-an-AT-3600L-in-a-moustache cartridge presents a perfectly reasonable quality of sound — great, even, for its place in the market.

True to the marketing copy, the LX3BT sounds warm, the general color of its cartridge being a little on the soft side with some noticeable roll-off towards the upper reaches. Future Islands’ As Long As You Are sounds no less rich for this character, all big, warbly synths and croon-adjacent missives throughout. It's an enjoyable listen.

Testing the 7-inch functionality of the automatic mechanism, I chucked on early-80s groover Emergency (Dial 999) by Loose Ends (a DJ-set staple, and an undeniable bop besides — fight me). It ended up being a great conduit by which to recognize the strengths of the PS-LX3BT’s built-in phono preamp. Often in budget turntables, these can be brittle or a little saturating; this one is clear and full, rendering those snappy standout snares and breakout vocal refrains in gratifying detail.

The whole outfit seems to benefit guitars and vocals over anything, though everything sounds, to some extent, present and fulsome; Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Risky, featuring Iggy Pop, is a sparse arrangement benefited by Iggy’s game attempt at a Let’s Dance-era Bowie impression — his voice is a raspy little joy all the time, but rendered to some good effect here.

Unobtrusively good sound quality notwithstanding, the aptX Adaptive Bluetooth connectivity is arguably the star of the show. It’s fast to connect to, and, with regards to fidelity, sounds indistinguishable from its analog alternative. I had a whale of a time in the kitchen listening to Mitski’s Nothing’s About To Happen To Me, in all its full and heartbreaking glory, fuss-free.

• Sound quality score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Design

• Cheap-feeling construction
• Easy to set up
• One-touch Bluetooth

Pulling the PS-LX3BT out of the box, I found the chassis to be quite light. Surprisingly light, even. Putting it together, it became clear that almost every element was some form of plastic — besides occasional aspects, and the die-cast aluminum platter. It’s not a reassuring weight, though the turntable is undeniably stable on its feet.

I’m more disappointed by the perceivable cheapness of the construction on display here. A series of design decisions were made that preferred cost to user experience, leading to a pretty nasty-feeling finish on the chassis shell, a flimsy tonearm rest clasp that doesn’t actually clasp, and a spring-assisted tonearm that inspires little confidence.

At least the LX3BT is an easy thing to set up — as easy as seating the platter belt, plugging in a power adapter and delivering the hardwired stereo RCA cable to your amp or speaker of choice. It couldn’t be more plug-and-play, nor more foolproof to use via its clearly labeled buttons and knobs.

Again, the best bit of the Sony PS-LX3BT seems to be its Bluetooth. Where many other devices struggle unduly with one-touch connectivity, connecting this turntable to my portable speaker was the easiest time of my life; a single button press, a modicum of patient waiting with speaker held (camply) in-hand, and it was paired.

This aptX Adaptive connectivity can be utilized simultaneously to the PS-LX3BT’s analog outputs, too. This means dual-zone listening; I got to enjoy hi-res Mitski in the kitchen while my wife bopped along in the living room, too. And, again, it sounded great! A positive side-effect design decision, that pitches the Sony LX3BT well for casual home listening.

• Design score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Value

• Great-sounding entry-level turntable…
• …that’s fundamentally overpriced
• And doesn’t allow self-replacement of stylus

To be completely frank, I find it difficult to square the price of this against its own quality, let alone the standards set by other turntable brands. It’s the top end of the entry level, and yet it has the same unfriendly design principles as the cheap-and-cheerful, ten-a-penny budget turntables it’s meant to outclass.

The caveat is that it does, ultimately, deliver on its core purposes. It’s an automatic turntable, and it does indeed automate much of the turntable-playing process — for the most part successfully, too. It’s a Bluetooth-enabled turntable, and its Bluetooth just works, which is something you can’t say for some other devices. And through it all, it sounds pretty darn decent.

But these are all things that turntables a third cheaper can offer. You deserve so much more for $400 / £300 than a brand logo; if you let it, that same amount of investment could buy you a solid turntable that delivers better quality sound, and gives you the keys to the kingdom vis-a-vis calibration and repairs too.

Here, it is worth my acknowledging that, in the intervening weeks since the LX3BT’s launch, there seems to have been a post-launch price-adjustment of sorts; many outlets are offering it at $348 / £250, or even slightly less. This makes the turntable a much more palatable prospect investment-wise, but I do think my criticisms stand — and that other turntables have met the moment a little better.

• Value score: 2.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Should I buy the Sony PS-LX3BT?Sony PS-LX3BT scorecard

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

AptX Adaptive Bluetooth and a fully automatic mechanism let down by an opaque approach to stylus and stylus replacement

3 / 5

Sound quality

Warm, full sound; a clear preamp and unobtrusive Bluetooth connection make for clear and easy listening

4 / 5

Design

A quintessential Sony design, sleek and minimal — but cheap in-hand, in a number of places

3 / 5

Value

A hard turntable to recommend at its launch price — cheaper and better-specced competitors exist

2.5 / 5

Buy it if…

You want simple, and your needs are simple
As far as turntables go, this is as foolproof as it gets. It has a hardwired RCA output for connection to conventional hi-fis, aptX Adaptive for Bluetooth connectivity to anywhere in your home, and automatic mechanisms for play at the press of a button.

You want an austere-looking turntable
The executive colour scheme is a good friend to minimalist living-room aesthetics — if you want something that blends in, this is it.

Don’t buy it if…

You’re buying for the long term
The Sony PS-LX3BT is a closed device, with a proprietary built-in cartridge and no adjustability or upgradeability whatsoever. If and when your hi-fi needs exceed the entry-level capabilities of this turntable, you’ll have to buy something else anyway.

You’re looking for the best bang-for-buck
It’s an unfortunate truth, but there are better turntables out there that cost less than the Sony PS-LX3BT, while possessing almost exactly the same features — and a little more repairability, too.

Sony PS-LX3BT review: Also consider

Sony PS-LX3BT

Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT

FiiO TT13

Dimensions

430 x 117 x 366 mm

110 x 400 x 330mm

114 x 450 x 350mm

Motor

Belt drive

Belt drive

Belt drive

Platter

Die-cast aluminum

Die-cast aluminum

Die-cast aluminum

Phono preamp

Yes, switchable

Yes, switchable

Yes

USB

No

No

No

Bluetooth

SBC / aptX / aptX Adaptive

SBC / aptX / aptX Adaptive

SBC / aptX / aptX LL / aptX HD

Speeds

33 1/3, 45 RPM

33 1/3, 45 RPM

33 1/3, 45 RPM

Stylus

Moving magnet

Audio-Technica AT-VM95C

Audio-Technica AT3600LA

Extras

Dust cover, 45 adapter

Dust cover, felt mat, 45 adapter, 1m RCA cable

Dust cover, remote control, RCA cable

Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT
For my money, the question that the Sony PS-LX3BT is trying to answer has already been asked and answered by the Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT. It's another automatic, aptX Adaptive Bluetooth-connectible turntable aimed at the entry level, but which comes in much cheaper and at a much higher quality of design and build. Get this one!
Read our Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT review here.

FiiO TT13
If sleekness is the name of your game, the FiiO TT13 has it in spades. This is another decent fully automatic turntable, with a replaceable AT-3600LA stylus and a phono preamp (though, unlike with the Sony or Audio-Technica, you can’t toggle this one off). It’s also got pretty lights!
Read our FiiO TT13 review here.

How I tested the Sony PS-LX3BT

• Tested for 4 weeks
• Used as a part of a living-room hi-fi system
• Tested with a Cambridge hi-fi amplifier and Dali Sonik 1 bookshelf speakers

The Sony PS-LX3BT spent a month or so atop my living-room hi-fi stack, as my primary means of listening to records. As such, its output was treated by a Cambridge Audio A2 integrated amplifier, which itself fed a pair of Dali Sonik 1 bookshelf speakers.

Bluetooth connectivity was tested with my trusty kitchen speaker, a Soundcore Motion 300. For testing, I listened to a wide variety of favored records across genres, to get a comprehensive feel for the LX3BT’s performance.

• Read TechRadar's Reviews Guarantee
• First reviewed: July 2026

Sony PS-LX3BT: Two-minute review

The Sony PS-LX3BT is one of the first new turntables to leave Sony’s R&D department in years. It comes some time after the launch of the Sony PS-LX310BT, one of what TechRadar rightfully deems to be the best turntables for beginners — and has big shoes to fill, accordingly.

And fill them it sort-of does, at least in the most literal of senses. It shares a lot of physical attributes, aims for the same sleek aesthetic, and seeks to corner the same, well, corner of the market with user-friendly interfaces and a no-nonsense approach to playing records. It’s a shame it doesn’t quite stick the landing.

Price is the major sticking point for me — its launch price far overshot similarly specced, and better-featured, turntables in the same market. This was the backdrop against which certain bugbears became serious missteps — from a stylus that Sony insists you need to replace through them, to a cheap-feeling body that feels like it’s come from a device a third of the price.

These things overshadow the PS-LX3BT’s capable performance with audio, via its decent on-board preamp and its star-of-the-show press-and-play Bluetooth connectivity. It could be good — it is good, by some metrics — but not for where it’s asking to sit.

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Price & release date

• Unveiled February 2, 2026
• Priced $399.99 / £299 / AU$469

The Sony PS-LX3BT is a fully automatic, Bluetooth-enabled plug-and-play turntable, with an eye cocked squarely at the upper limits of the entry level. At its launch price of $399 / £299 / AU$469, it’s not what I would call cheap; in fact, it’s undercut by a fair few near-equivalent competitors — most compelling of which is the Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT.

Then, there's this turntable's own sibling (they actually launched together), the Sony PS-LX5BT which is pricier but adds a more delicate stylus pressure of 2.0g ± 0.5g, a thicker and more premium rubber mat, a tweaked circuit design engineered to suppress unwanted vibration, a dedicated gold-plated audio jack out port (something not present here) with a cable in the box, plus a slightly more high-end, all-black finish.

Most other competitors in the market, though, do not have ‘Sony’ tastefully emblazoned on the chassis. Sony is a tried-and-tested household brand for AV tech, be it TVs, games consoles, CD players or integrated hi-fi systems.

Hence, the brand is likely better-trusted by new or returning vinyl enthusiasts to deliver something intuitive, fuss-free and of a minimum quality. Is this trust well-founded? The 2019 Sony PS-LX310BT was a huge success, but it was also a lot cheaper (depending on where you lived), having launched at $199 / £200 / AU$399. So, you can see the issue…

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Specs

Dimensions

430 mm x 117 mm x 366 mm

Motor

Belt drive

Platter

Die-cast aluminum

Phono preamp

Yes

USB

No

Bluetooth

4.2

Speeds

33 1/3, 45 RPM

Stylus

Moving magnet

Extras

USB-C power adapter, 45 adapter

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Features

• Fully automatic operation
• AptX Adaptive Bluetooth output
• Built-in phono preamp and gain control

The Sony PS-LX3BT is an automatic turntable; this means it can be operated entirely by the array of buttons and switches adorning its anthracite-hued surface. Simply select the size and speed of your record, then use the buttons at the front to control the placement or removal of the tonearm. The platter’s rotation is triggered by moving the tonearm past a certain point, so even if you want to use the PS-LX3BT manually (by virtue of the silver finger-rest protruding from where the headshell would be) you literally only have to lift a finger to play a record.

Automatic turntable mechanisms are not so new, and this mechanical design doesn’t sound especially new either, with some familiar clunks and whirrs I know from my old Rotel system. What is, at least slightly newer, though, is Bluetooth connectivity, which the PS-LX3BT quite proudly has. More specifically, there’s aptX Adaptive Bluetooth transmission, for low-latency, high-resolution streaming from the turntable to your Bluetooth receiver of choice and accessed via a suavely flush button in the front-left corner of the chassis face.

On top of this Bluetooth connectivity, the LX3BT has connections the old-fashioned way, via a hard-wired stereo RCA cable out from the back. It’s an odd choice to use a permanently attached cable instead of a port – and at that, given the audience for this thing, I’m surprised there isn’t a 3.5mm Aux out either.

Still, that RCA cable feeds a built-in and switchable phono preamp, which means you can plug your turntable in most any amplifier without needing an extra gain stage. On top of that, there’s a gain switch that lets you boost or attenuate your turntable’s output by 4dB. Surprising in a different way; thoughtful, even.

The LX3BT has, like many other entry-level turntables of its ilk, a completely built-in cartridge arrangement with a replaceable stylus element. The stylus part here looks strikingly like one of Audio-Technica’s AT-3600 series, but is “designed specifically for this turntable”, according to Sony’s website FAQ. With a bit of sleuthing, the stylus does appear to be Audio-Technica’s AT3600LAX, a conical stylus with a carbon-fiber cantilever – though Sony’s specs point to a slightly heftier 3.5g tracking force. (Incidentally, my own tracking-force measurements of the tonearm put its exertion at a, for me, troublingly high 3.7g.)

Crucially, this thin layer of proprietariness creates an uneasy route to self-replacement, or indeed upgrade. Sony would prefer you go through its dealers or customer service department for a like-for-like stylus replacement, indicating that “other styluses are not supported”. Built-in cartridges and replaceable styli can be clever entry-level phenomena, and can be executed transparently well, but here, in this manner, it trends a little too close to being anti-consumer for my liking. Minus thoughtfulness points.

• Features score: 3 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Sound quality

• Warm, clear sound from stylus
• Faultless Bluetooth transmission
• Clean, clear built-in preamp

For all the grumblings I’ve leveled at the Sony PS-LX3BT thus far, I will contend that it actually does sound good. That definitely-not-an-AT-3600L-in-a-moustache cartridge presents a perfectly reasonable quality of sound — great, even, for its place in the market.

True to the marketing copy, the LX3BT sounds warm, the general color of its cartridge being a little on the soft side with some noticeable roll-off towards the upper reaches. Future Islands’ As Long As You Are sounds no less rich for this character, all big, warbly synths and croon-adjacent missives throughout. It's an enjoyable listen.

Testing the 7-inch functionality of the automatic mechanism, I chucked on early-80s groover Emergency (Dial 999) by Loose Ends (a DJ-set staple, and an undeniable bop besides — fight me). It ended up being a great conduit by which to recognize the strengths of the PS-LX3BT’s built-in phono preamp. Often in budget turntables, these can be brittle or a little saturating; this one is clear and full, rendering those snappy standout snares and breakout vocal refrains in gratifying detail.

The whole outfit seems to benefit guitars and vocals over anything, though everything sounds, to some extent, present and fulsome; Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Risky, featuring Iggy Pop, is a sparse arrangement benefited by Iggy’s game attempt at a Let’s Dance-era Bowie impression — his voice is a raspy little joy all the time, but rendered to some good effect here.

Unobtrusively good sound quality notwithstanding, the aptX Adaptive Bluetooth connectivity is arguably the star of the show. It’s fast to connect to, and, with regards to fidelity, sounds indistinguishable from its analog alternative. I had a whale of a time in the kitchen listening to Mitski’s Nothing’s About To Happen To Me, in all its full and heartbreaking glory, fuss-free.

• Sound quality score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Design

• Cheap-feeling construction
• Easy to set up
• One-touch Bluetooth

Pulling the PS-LX3BT out of the box, I found the chassis to be quite light. Surprisingly light, even. Putting it together, it became clear that almost every element was some form of plastic — besides occasional aspects, and the die-cast aluminum platter. It’s not a reassuring weight, though the turntable is undeniably stable on its feet.

I’m more disappointed by the perceivable cheapness of the construction on display here. A series of design decisions were made that preferred cost to user experience, leading to a pretty nasty-feeling finish on the chassis shell, a flimsy tonearm rest clasp that doesn’t actually clasp, and a spring-assisted tonearm that inspires little confidence.

At least the LX3BT is an easy thing to set up — as easy as seating the platter belt, plugging in a power adapter and delivering the hardwired stereo RCA cable to your amp or speaker of choice. It couldn’t be more plug-and-play, nor more foolproof to use via its clearly labeled buttons and knobs.

Again, the best bit of the Sony PS-LX3BT seems to be its Bluetooth. Where many other devices struggle unduly with one-touch connectivity, connecting this turntable to my portable speaker was the easiest time of my life; a single button press, a modicum of patient waiting with speaker held (camply) in-hand, and it was paired.

This aptX Adaptive connectivity can be utilized simultaneously to the PS-LX3BT’s analog outputs, too. This means dual-zone listening; I got to enjoy hi-res Mitski in the kitchen while my wife bopped along in the living room, too. And, again, it sounded great! A positive side-effect design decision, that pitches the Sony LX3BT well for casual home listening.

• Design score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sony PS-LX3BT review: Value

• Great-sounding entry-level turntable…
• …that’s fundamentally overpriced
• And doesn’t allow self-replacement of stylus

To be completely frank, I find it difficult to square the price of this against its own quality, let alone the standards set by other turntable brands. It’s the top end of the entry level, and yet it has the same unfriendly design principles as the cheap-and-cheerful, ten-a-penny budget turntables it’s meant to outclass.

The caveat is that it does, ultimately, deliver on its core purposes. It’s an automatic turntable, and it does indeed automate much of the turntable-playing process — for the most part successfully, too. It’s a Bluetooth-enabled turntable, and its Bluetooth just works, which is something you can’t say for some other devices. And through it all, it sounds pretty darn decent.

But these are all things that turntables a third cheaper can offer. You deserve so much more for $400 / £300 than a brand logo; if you let it, that same amount of investment could buy you a solid turntable that delivers better quality sound, and gives you the keys to the kingdom vis-a-vis calibration and repairs too.

Here, it is worth my acknowledging that, in the intervening weeks since the LX3BT’s launch, there seems to have been a post-launch price-adjustment of sorts; many outlets are offering it at $348 / £250, or even slightly less. This makes the turntable a much more palatable prospect investment-wise, but I do think my criticisms stand — and that other turntables have met the moment a little better.

• Value score: 2.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Should I buy the Sony PS-LX3BT?Sony PS-LX3BT scorecard

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

AptX Adaptive Bluetooth and a fully automatic mechanism let down by an opaque approach to stylus and stylus replacement

3 / 5

Sound quality

Warm, full sound; a clear preamp and unobtrusive Bluetooth connection make for clear and easy listening

4 / 5

Design

A quintessential Sony design, sleek and minimal — but cheap in-hand, in a number of places

3 / 5

Value

A hard turntable to recommend at its launch price — cheaper and better-specced competitors exist

2.5 / 5

Buy it if…

You want simple, and your needs are simple
As far as turntables go, this is as foolproof as it gets. It has a hardwired RCA output for connection to conventional hi-fis, aptX Adaptive for Bluetooth connectivity to anywhere in your home, and automatic mechanisms for play at the press of a button.

You want an austere-looking turntable
The executive colour scheme is a good friend to minimalist living-room aesthetics — if you want something that blends in, this is it.

Don’t buy it if…

You’re buying for the long term
The Sony PS-LX3BT is a closed device, with a proprietary built-in cartridge and no adjustability or upgradeability whatsoever. If and when your hi-fi needs exceed the entry-level capabilities of this turntable, you’ll have to buy something else anyway.

You’re looking for the best bang-for-buck
It’s an unfortunate truth, but there are better turntables out there that cost less than the Sony PS-LX3BT, while possessing almost exactly the same features — and a little more repairability, too.

Sony PS-LX3BT review: Also consider

Sony PS-LX3BT

Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT

FiiO TT13

Dimensions

430 x 117 x 366 mm

110 x 400 x 330mm

114 x 450 x 350mm

Motor

Belt drive

Belt drive

Belt drive

Platter

Die-cast aluminum

Die-cast aluminum

Die-cast aluminum

Phono preamp

Yes, switchable

Yes, switchable

Yes

USB

No

No

No

Bluetooth

SBC / aptX / aptX Adaptive

SBC / aptX / aptX Adaptive

SBC / aptX / aptX LL / aptX HD

Speeds

33 1/3, 45 RPM

33 1/3, 45 RPM

33 1/3, 45 RPM

Stylus

Moving magnet

Audio-Technica AT-VM95C

Audio-Technica AT3600LA

Extras

Dust cover, 45 adapter

Dust cover, felt mat, 45 adapter, 1m RCA cable

Dust cover, remote control, RCA cable

Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT
For my money, the question that the Sony PS-LX3BT is trying to answer has already been asked and answered by the Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT. It's another automatic, aptX Adaptive Bluetooth-connectible turntable aimed at the entry level, but which comes in much cheaper and at a much higher quality of design and build. Get this one!
Read our Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT review here.

FiiO TT13
If sleekness is the name of your game, the FiiO TT13 has it in spades. This is another decent fully automatic turntable, with a replaceable AT-3600LA stylus and a phono preamp (though, unlike with the Sony or Audio-Technica, you can’t toggle this one off). It’s also got pretty lights!
Read our FiiO TT13 review here.

How I tested the Sony PS-LX3BT

• Tested for 4 weeks
• Used as a part of a living-room hi-fi system
• Tested with a Cambridge hi-fi amplifier and Dali Sonik 1 bookshelf speakers

The Sony PS-LX3BT spent a month or so atop my living-room hi-fi stack, as my primary means of listening to records. As such, its output was treated by a Cambridge Audio A2 integrated amplifier, which itself fed a pair of Dali Sonik 1 bookshelf speakers.

Bluetooth connectivity was tested with my trusty kitchen speaker, a Soundcore Motion 300. For testing, I listened to a wide variety of favored records across genres, to get a comprehensive feel for the LX3BT’s performance.

• Read TechRadar's Reviews Guarantee
• First reviewed: July 2026

• Ofcom is now implementing its proposal to use more 6GHz spectrum for Wi-Fi and mobile broadband
• The upper band of 6GHz will be used for better performance in both cases, though it'll be Wi-Fi only to start with
• 6G mobile will be part of the recipe in the 2030s, and both Wi-Fi and 6G will be able to share the same frequency band thanks to Automated Frequency Coordination tech, which is likened to air traffic control

Ofcom is aiming to boost Wi-Fi speeds in the UK, and eventually mobile data too, by opening more of the 6GHz spectrum to facilitate this improved connectivity.

Thus far, only the lower band of the 6GHz spectrum has been used, but following a previous consultation, Ofcom just greenlit the use of the upper band, from 6425Mhz to 7125MHz. The idea is that Wi-Fi will get priority access to the bottom 160MHz slice of this upper band (6425 to 6585MHz), with "non-prioritised access" to the rest (6585 to 7125MHz).

The idea is that the bigger chunk of the spectrum will be shared between Wi-Fi and mobile broadband, with the latter getting priority — although mobile won't happen until the 2030s. For now, only the Wi-Fi spectrum is being expanded in the UK. As Ofcom puts it: "This approach allows earlier use of the band by Wi-Fi while preserving the ability of mobile network operators (MNOs) to introduce mobile services in the future."

Notably this is the first time that both mobile and Wi-Fi services will be allowed share the same frequency band, and this is facilitated by a technology known as AFC or Automated Frequency Coordination.

As Ofcom explains, this hasn't been possible before because of the risk of crossed signals and interference therein, but AFC — which is effectively like an 'air traffic control' system for wireless signals — means that bands can now be shared in this way.

David Willis, Group Director for Spectrum at Ofcom, commented: "Everybody in the UK wants faster Wi-Fi and better mobile performance. Our decision today will allow mobile and Wi-Fi services to share the airwaves in the future, helping make this need a reality."

Note that a router must support Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7 to tap the 6GHz spectrum, and of course the devices you wish to use on the wireless network must as well.

Analysis: a flexible solution

(Image credit: Unsplash)

So, this move is bringing in more bandwidth, and therefore more breathing room, for wireless signals in the UK, starting with Wi-Fi and paving the way for next-gen 6G mobile connections down the road.

The end result will be faster performance and a greater capacity in dense environments where a lot of devices are trying to grab bandwidth, such as apartment blocks, offices, or stadiums. Ofcom notes that in the latter cases: "Outdoor and higher power use is also permitted, but only where devices operate under the control of an Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) system."

The sharing approach using AFC makes sense in terms of giving both Wi-Fi users and mobile network operators a slice of the pie, and it lends a good deal of flexibility to the implementation. In remote or rural areas, for example, where 6G isn't deployed, the entire higher part of the spectrum will always be available for Wi-Fi usage.

Of course, the proof will be in the pudding with the rollout in busier areas, and how AFC actually works in signal-dense environments.