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• Canon registered three cameras with the wireless certification agency, indicating three more cameras will come soon
• Rumors suggest we’ll see an EOS R7 Mark II, an EOS R10 Mark II and an EOS R8 Mark II
• The EOS R8 Mark II may well be a retro-styled tribute to the analog AE-1, which turns 50 this year

The first half of 2026 was pretty dry for camera releases, but as we enter the second half of the year, manufacturers have been making up for lost time. Canon in particular looks like it’s going to have a busy back half of the year, with not one, not two, but three new EOS R mirrorless cameras setting the rumor mill alight.

It should be stressed that currently this is all unconfirmed — we don’t know that Canon is going to release anything. But Canon has registered three new cameras with the wireless certification agency, which is generally the point that you know that something is coming very soon. And reporting by the oft reliable Canon Rumors indicates that Canon is updating three of its most popular EOS R cameras, and one in particular looks like a very exciting prospect indeed.

And if that weren’t enough, we’re also potentially due a new PowerShot compact, with Canon looking to capitalize on the success of its phenomenally popular PowerShot G7 X Mark III compact. But we’ve more details on the mirrorless side of things, so let’s take a closer look at what could be coming…

Canon EOS R8 II — could it be the digital AE-1 we’re all hoping for?

Rumors indicate that Canon’s lightweight full-frame EOS R8 is likely to get a successor in mid-September. As that camera is now more than three years old, this is about the time we might expect an update to come along. However, the really exciting news is that the new version may be an entirely new prospect — a retro-styled Canon AE-1 throwback that fans have been begging the company to make for years.

The Canon AE-1 is a legend among film photographers. (Image credit: Shutterstock | Lius Hanzen)

There have been rumors for quite some time that Canon is working on a retro-styled digital camera, just like Nikon did with its Zf, and given that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the AE-1, a legendary film SLR beloved by amateur photographers for its streamlined controls and ease of use, it makes sense that this could be the year.

The rumored specs for the EOS R8 II are that it’ll use a 32.5MP full-frame sensor, 40fps burst shooting via the electronic shutter, in-body image stabilization, oversampled 4K video and two UHS-II SD card slots. Pretty much what you’d expect for a mid-range full-frame camera.

The original EOS R8 features just one card slot — so two would be a welcome upgrade! (Image credit: Future)

I’ll be interested to see if the retro styling is purely cosmetic — it might even be the case that Canon releases a ‘standard’ EOS R8 Mark II version as well as the retro-tinged variant — or if it has any bearing on how the camera operates. There’s nothing in the rumor mill to suggest this, but personally, I think it would be smart for Canon to dip its toe into film-style looks for images, similar to Fujifilm’s Film Simulations or Panasonic’s in-camera Real Time LUTs.

Yes, Canon has its ‘Picture Styles’, but let’s be honest: nobody uses them, and they don’t have the cool factor of Fujifilm’s Film Simulations. I’d love to see Canon throw its weight into some really crisp, dynamic, analog-style looks for shooters who want great-looking JPEGs straight out of camera. And come on — there will never be a better opportunity to debut them than in a digital AE-1!

Canon EOS R7 II — let’s see a stacked APS-C sensor!

Also on the rumored docket is an update to the Canon EOS R7, a mid-range APS-C mirrorless camera that arrived in 2022. The original EOS R7 was something of a speedster, with burst speeds of 15fps with the mechanical shutter and up to 30fps with the electronic. And if rumors are correct, Canon might be doubling down on this by giving the EOS R7 II a stacked sensor design.

This would be the first stacked APS-C sensor for Canon’s lineup — indeed, currently the only APS-C camera with a stacked sensor is the Fujifilm X-H2S. A stacked sensor design moves the circuitry to the rear for faster readout, enabling higher burst speeds, superior autofocus tracking and blackout-free viewfinder shooting.

The original EOS R7 is Canon's top-end APS-C model. (Image credit: Future)

Considering that the EOS R7 was already an impressively speedy shooter, a stacked sensor design would push a mark II to pretty impressive heights — we could see autofocus and speed-shooting performance on par with professional or serious enthusiast cameras. Rumors also indicate that the sensor resolution might be upped to 39MP, from 32.5MP on the original EOS R7.

Canon EOS R10 II — the new beginner mirrorless to beat?

Rumors also indicate that we’ll see an update to Canon’s popular beginner model, the EOS R10, in the form of the EOS R10 Mark II. Details are very thin on the ground for this one, beyond the fact that it is on its way and due in the latter half of 2026. This is also likely to be the first of the new models we see.

The Canon EOS R10 has been a huge seller for Canon since its release in 2022 alongside the EOS R7. It’s not the cheapest in the EOS R lineup, with both the EOS R50 and the EOS R100 coming in under its price, but it’s a pretty affordable camera, with a lightweight build, intelligent autofocus and reliably solid image quality.

The Canon EOS R10 has been popular with beginners. (Image credit: Future)

Personally, I doubt the boat will be rocked much here. Were I a betting person, I’d say that we’d expect to see improvements in the subject-recognition autofocus, more sustained burst speeds with a deeper buffer (the original EOS R10 could shoot at 15fps, but not for very long), and perhaps a nudge-up of resolution from 24.2MP to 32.5MP, so as to better distinguish the EOS R10 from its cheaper siblings.

What do you make of Canon's rumored upcoming models? Have your say in the comments below.

• Several AI companies in the US have published an open letter
• The letter is campaigning for unrestricted open-weight AI
• Meanwhile the US government accuses Moonshot AI of IP theft

Any hopes AI tech reporters may have had about easing quietly into the weekend have been dashed by some of the biggest names in the business sharing an open letter in support of open-weight AI models — while the White House has accused China of 'large scale' theft from US companies in building its open-weight AI.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang got the ball rolling with his first-ever tweet, linking to a statement championing open-weight AI models, those models that can be downloaded, viewed, and edited by anyone. Models like this are essential for making AI "more accessible, adaptable, and widely available" the open letter says.

It's co-signed by a slew of well-known tech and AI companies, including Meta, Microsoft, Perplexity, and IBM. While ChatGPT developer OpenAI — which has had more of a closed-model focus, to date — didn't appear on the original post from Huang, it has now also backed the sentiments.

Essentially, these companies are campaigning for openness in AI to drive innovation and access, while also arguing against 'premature restrictions' by governments. It's no coincidence that the US government led by President Trump has recently tried to take a more prominent role in evaluating AI models and deciding when they should be released.

It's also notable that Anthropic and Google are missing from the list of backers to this open letter. We don't have any official comment yet from these companies, so it's hard to judge the reasoning — Google regularly releases open AI models, after all — but it could be something to do with recent accusations aimed at Moonshot AI in China.

Open and closed

For my first post, I’m sharing a letter @NVIDIA signed on why open models matter.AI will transform every industry, power every company, and be built by every country.Open models strengthen safety and cybersecurity, accelerate innovation and diffusion, and enable sovereignty.… pic.twitter.com/t02bi51N4CJuly 24, 2026

Part of the background to this open letter is that Chinese company Moonshot AI stands accused of distilling Claude's (closed) Fable 5 model in order to build its own (open) Kimi K3. In simple terms, distilling works by asking millions of questions of an AI model, and using the responses as training data.

It's something Moonshot AI has denied, while hyping up the potential of the open-weighted, freely downloadable Kimi K3 AI model, which is being released on Monday — another factor in this open letter coming out now. The US government is calling it IP theft, and has issued some heavy-handed responses.

"We support open-source AI and the innovation it unlocks," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted on X. "But open source is not open season on American IP. When PRC firms conduct covert, industrial-scale distillation attacks that cross the line into IP theft, sanctions and Entity List designations will be on the table."

What Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, and the other open letter co-signers seem to be doing is trying to get ahead of any potential clampdown by the US government on open-weighted models. While everyone agrees that these AI models are beneficial, it's not clear what the next regulatory steps might be.

However, the open letter is vague and general enough that you can read between the lines in a variety of different ways. It may be intended to allude to the Moonshot AI case, or it may not. What's clear is that we're coming to a crunch point for AI regulation and innovation across the globe, and everyone has a perspective.

Back in the '90s, I learned the art of staying cool in Egypt. At that time, air conditioning was not common. In the extremely hot summer of 2026, how are people managing?

• Vodafone gives mobile masts autonomous antenna adjustment using artificial intelligence
• AI now rotates mobile antennas without waiting for engineering teams
• Robotic mast completes network optimisation in under thirty minutes

Vodafone has begun trialing a mobile mast fitted with an AI system and a robotic arm capable of adjusting radio antennas automatically.

The technology combines AI analysis with automated hardware movement to reduce manual intervention across 4G and 5G networks.

An algorithm developed internally by Vodafone first evaluates network demand and local conditions before directing the robotic arm's movements.

Robotic arm handles physical adjustments

The robotic component itself comes from Humax Networks, a South Korean equipment supplier working alongside Vodafone on this trial.

Once the AI algorithm identifies where coverage or capacity needs shift, it instructs the arm to rotate or tilt the antenna accordingly.

This process reportedly takes between 20 and 30 minutes to complete while optimising for energy efficiency across the network.

Manual antenna reconfigurations, by comparison, often take days or weeks once planning approvals, site access, and road closures are factored in.

Physical engineering works are typically required as well, adding further delay to any conventional antenna adjustment process.

The system adapts coverage based on environmental patterns, pushing more signal outdoors during clear weather and boosting indoor coverage when conditions turn poor.

Self-organising algorithms also respond to shifts in local traffic congestion, allowing antennas across several sites to reposition ahead of anticipated demand peaks.

Vodafone is currently testing this setup at a site overlooking a shopping centre in Tirana, Albania.

There, coverage automatically shifts between retail and residential zones as usage patterns change throughout the day, tracking real consumer movement.

Francisco Pignatelli, director of mobile access engineering at Vodafone, described the trial as an early example of physical AI within telecoms infrastructure.

“By analysing network demand and making autonomous decisions, the AI algorithm can adjust radio antennas to optimise coverage and capacity without human intervention,” Pignatelli said.

Internal antenna components signal the next shift

Despite the current trial's reliance on physically moving robotic hardware, Vodafone already anticipates a different approach becoming standard soon.

The company expects autonomous antenna technologies capable of adjusting internal components, rather than repositioning entire units, to reach the market within the coming months.

This shift toward internal adjustment is expected to reduce energy consumption further compared with moving an entire antenna assembly outdoors.

Vodafone stated that combining antenna digitalisation with AI-powered automation is a major step toward fully self-adapting wireless networks.

Whether internal antenna adjustment can match the physical precision achieved through robotic arm movement remains an open technical question for now.

Vodafone has not yet detailed how internal components alone will replicate the directional control that robotic rotation currently provides across varying environmental and traffic conditions.

Via Mobile World Live

What do World Cup champions crave after a win? Pizza from an Orange, N.J., bagel shop. BXJ made 46 pies for the Spanish team after their victory.

(Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)

Water is often a scarce commodity in Nairobi's largest slum. The only source may be a local cartel — and with that comes the risk of sexual threats and attacks.

(Image credit: Nick Parisse for NPR)

As Nigeria grapples with a rapid rise in cancer cases, patients say they often feel as if they are on their own.

(Image credit: Emmanuel Osodi/Anadolu)

Valve Steam Machine: Two-minute review

It's finally happening! Valve's long-awaited Steam Machine has landed at last, promising to bring gaming-PC-level performance to an ultra-compact console-style device ideal for couch gamers who want to dip their toes into PC gaming for the first time. This is Valve's second run at the console-style PC market, and the gaming giant seems a lot more committed this time around.

And... well, I'm not entirely underwhelmed by it, but it's also not overwhelmingly impressive. I guess you could say I'm distinctly whelmed by the Steam Machine; it's a lovingly crafted piece of hardware that arguably achieves what it sets out to do, but falls down in two extremely important areas.

As you might have already guessed, those areas are performance and pricing. At the default 1080p resolution, it's a capable little machine that should be able to give you a good gaming experience with minimal fuss, but anyone expecting beefy 4K performance on par with the existing slate of top-tier home consoles is going to be disappointed.

Of course, this boils down to what sort of games you want to play. If you've got a 4K TV in your living room and want a compact PC specifically so you can enjoy older games, or the sort of indie game experiences that aren't so freely available on consoles – I'm talking the low-budget viral titles that so frequently dominate TikTok and Instagram Reels – then the Steam Machine might actually be an excellent choice.

Another key aspect of Valve's new console-PC hybrid is SteamOS, the recently updated operating system designed to provide a more console-like experience than conventional platforms like Windows and macOS. It's already available for anyone to put on their own PC, and of course powers Valve's own Steam Deck handheld. In a break from tradition for PC reviews, I've added an extra section to this review to specifically discuss SteamOS, but for now all I'll say is that it gets the job done well.

(Image credit: Future)

Moving on to pricing, it's painfully clear that the ongoing RAM crisis has taken a toll on the Steam Machine's value proposition. Starting at $1,049 / £879 / AU$1,609, it's a fair bit more costly than the PS5 Pro, which my esteemed colleague Rob Dwiar already noted was "too expensive" for the average gamer in his review here on TechRadar - and that was before Sony hiked the price of its home consoles earlier this year.

Considering that the Steam Machine was widely expected to represent an accessible path into the world of PC gaming for those who have previously not ventured beyond the confines of the console market, that price tag is sure to upset some gamers who were eagerly awaiting Valve's return to the console market. Hell, you might even be better off building your own Steam Machine killer.

But it's important to remember that the Steam Machine was probably never going to live up to the price-to-performance ratio of modern home consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X, even though it is ostensibly using newer, better hardware. This is due to the game development process and how developers implement platform optimization; if you're making a game for PS5, you're just making a game for PS5. You'll have to take the Pro model's specs into account now too, but at the end of the day you only need to optimize your game's performance for a specific set of hardware components with clearly defined limitations.

On the other hand, optimizing a game for PC means optimizing it for the uncountable millions of possible hardware configurations that exist across pre-built and custom gaming PCs, plus every gaming laptop on the market, plus handheld gaming PCs, and now plus the Steam Machine. It's a wildly different ballgame, and while some developers might skimp on good PC optimization, it's borderline impossible to get a game running consistently well on PC versus a specific console.

Does this entirely excuse the lackluster bang for your buck the Steam Machine offers? No, probably not. It's a mitigating factor that I have taken into account for this review – but quite frankly, I think Valve's second attempt at bringing PC gaming to the masses has slightly missed the mark.

Valve Steam Machine review: Price & availability

(Image credit: Future)

• Starts at $1,049 / £879 / AU$1,609
• Available now in the US, UK, and Australia
• Steam Controller can be added as a bundle

As I mentioned already, the Steam Machine starts at a rather steep $1,049 / £879 / AU$1,609, which gets you the standard configuration with no controller and 512GB of high-speed SSD storage. The actual performance spec doesn't change if you upgrade to the 2TB SSD model for $1,349 / £1,149 / AU$2,109, so you're essentially just paying for the extra storage – and even by current component pricing standards, that's an expensive upgrade.

Whether you pick the 512GB or 2TB model – and despite the price, I'd definitely recommend the latter if you play triple-A PC games, since install sizes have become frighteningly bloated as of late – you get the same semi-custom AMD Zen 4 CPU and discrete AMD RDNA 3 GPU, along with 16GB of RAM and a separate 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM.

Both models can also be bundled with Valve's Steam Controller (which also comes with a charging 'puck' and USB cable), which adds $79 / £59 / AU$119 to the base price of either model. This is actually a pretty decent add-on, since the Steam Controller is a genuinely good gamepad and normally costs $99 / £85 / AU$149 direct from Valve if you buy it separately. Unless you already own one of the best PC controllers, I'd strongly recommend getting the bundle.

It's also worth noting that pre-orders for the Steam Machine sold out almost immediately, so if you want to get your hands on one, you'll have to sign up for the waitlist directly through Steam.

• Value: 2.5 / 5

Valve Steam Deck review: Specs

Base spec

Max spec (review config)

Price

$1,049 / £879 / AU$1,609

$1,349 / £1,149 / AU$2,109

CPU

Semi-custom AMD Zen 4, 6C / 12T

Semi-custom AMD Zen 4, 6C / 12T

Graphics

Semi-Custom AMD RDNA3, 28CUs, 8GB GDDR6 VRAM

Semi-Custom AMD RDNA3, 28CUs, 8GB GDDR6 VRAM

RAM

16GB DDR5

16GB DDR5

Storage

512GB NVMe SSD

2TB NVMe SSD

Ports and Connectivity

4x USB-A, 1x USB-C, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x microSD card reader, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet; Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3

4x USB-A, 1x USB-C, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x microSD card reader, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet; Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3

Weight

5.73lbs / 2.60kg

5.73lbs / ​2.60kg

Dimensions

5.98 x 6.38 x 6.14 inches / 15.2 x 16.2 x 15.6 cm

5.98 x 6.38 x 6.14 inches / 15.2 x 16.2 x 15.6 cm

Valve Steam Machine review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

• Compact, cubic design
• Tidy internals and front lightbar
• Somewhat limited port selection compared to most PCs

For a product that I found a little disappointing overall, I have to say that I have very little to criticize when it comes to the physical design of the Steam Machine.

Simply put, it looks great. The whole unit is a neat black cube of matte metal measuring roughly six inches along each edge and weighing a little under six pounds, with a thin indentation near the base on the front side, inside which nestles a bright LED lightbar. Beneath this, there's a power button with an additional LED (which stays illuminated while the Steam Machine is in sleep mode) along with two USB-A ports and a microSD card slot for easily adding extra storage. The cube sits atop four small rubber feet, which feel quite durable.

The 17-LED lightbar is more than just a simple power indicator, which I quite like. If your Steam Machine is downloading a game, it 'fills' from left to right to indicate the download's progress, and you can customize it with extra colors and functions in SteamOS too.

(Image credit: Future)

It's significantly smaller than any current-gen home console and the vast majority of pre-built gaming PCs, and certainly a lot smaller than any custom desktop PC the average system-builder could assemble - you'd need to be seriously confident with graphics card disassembly and custom cooling to even get close to something this small.

In fact, it's immediately reminiscent of the Nintendo GameCube I treasured in my teenage years, though I promise I haven't let nostalgia cloud my opinion here. The closest you're likely to get to this sort of compact gaming PC now is probably the Asus ROG NUC that I personally reviewed last year - and while that offers far superior performance, it's also so eye-wateringly expensive that it makes the Steam Machine look cheap.

The front panel is removable and can be easily swapped out with magnetic faceplates. If you spring for the 2TB model, you get two of these included: a red felt fabric one and a rather nice wood-effect one that matches my TV stand perfectly... it looks right at home there, actually. Wink wink, nudge nudge, Valve.

The power supply is (somehow) built into the breathtakingly compact chassis, meaning there's no chunky adapter brick here either - just a regular cable with a two-pin power connector. This is included in the box, along with an HDMI cable (though the rear I/O also features a DisplayPort 1.4 output, which may be preferable if you're connecting it to a desktop monitor rather than a TV).

(Image credit: Future)

That rear I/O is where you'll find the rest of the ports: the aforementioned HDMI and DisplayPort, along with an RJ-45 Ethernet port, two USB-As, and one USB-C. I'll confess that as a fan of physical connectivity, I find this port selection a little lacking, but it's realistically going to be plenty for the target audience of the Steam Machine. It might be less than a fully-fledged desktop PC, but it's comparable to any modern home console. Wireless connectivity uses Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 – I would've liked to see Wi-Fi 7 here, but it's not a dealbreaker.

The internals are very tidy, with a large air intake grille behind the magnetic faceplate behind which sits the mainboard. A single large upright fan draws air through and out of the rear exhaust. This is (surprisingly) an upgradable system, though it's more along the lines of a gaming laptop than the average desktop PC; you can swap out the M.2 SSD and the RAM, but that's it.

(Image credit: Future)

Lastly, I'll briefly touch on the new Steam Controller. We reviewed it separately here, so I won't go into too much detail, but it's certainly good (if overpriced, like the Steam Machine itself). Pairing the pad and the 'puck' that doubles as a wireless transmitter and charging dock is a seamless process, and the controller itself feels good to use in games. The lack of an audio jack, as seen on other mainline console controllers, is a bit of a shame, however.

I have to admit that I really, genuinely love the design of the Steam Machine. My only real criticism here (and the only thing stopping me from giving it a perfect score in this section) is that it only has one single USB-C port, and it's on the rear. This is a minor gripe, though; for the most part, this is a very well-designed piece of hardware.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

Valve Steam Machine review: Performance

(Image credit: Future)

• Strong gaming performance at 1080p
• Cracks start to show at 1440p; falls apart completely at 4K
• Runs quietly and doesn't get too hot

Valve Steam Machine benchmarks

Civilization VII: (1080p, AMD FSR 1 + MSAA Balanced, High): 114fps; (1080p, High): 107fps; (4K, AMD FSR 1 + MSAA Balanced, High): 56fps; (4K, High): 50fps
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: (1080p, Highest): 131fps; (1080p, Low): 182fps; (4K, Highest): 47fps; (4K, Low): 91fps
Total War: Warhammer III: Mirrors of Madness: (1080p, Ultra): 58fps; (1080p, Low): 110fps; (4K, Ultra): 24fps; (4K, Low): 35fps
Cyberpunk 2077: (1080p, Ray Tracing: Ultra, Balanced upscaling): 33fps; (1080p, Ultra): 71fps; (1080p, Low): 114fps; (4K, Ray Tracing: Ultra, Balanced upscaling): 10fps; (4K, Ultra): 17fps; (4K, Low): 38fps
Marvel Rivals: (1080p, Balanced upscaling, Ultra): 57ps; (1080p, Low): 82fps; (4K, Balanced upscaling, Ultra): 22ps; (4K, Low): 24fps

No resolution upscaling or frame generation modes are used unless otherwise specified.

Benchmarking the Steam Machine was... interesting, to say the least. I had hoped to mostly stick to our usual suite of tests used for benchmarking the best gaming PCs and best gaming laptops, but the vast majority of those systems are running on Windows 10 or 11. SteamOS, while a very solid platform these days, simply doesn't have the same degree of flexibility as Microsoft's flagship operating system.

For starters, the Steam Machine locks itself to a maximum framerate based on the refresh rate of the monitor it's connected to, which meant I had to seek out a different high-refresh-rate display to get accurate results. Notably, the Steam Deck does something similar with its built-in 60/90Hz screen, so I suspect that this is a SteamOS quirk rather than any hardware-imposed limitation, but I wasn't able to find any way to disable it.

Then I got to the compatibility issues. Half the tests we usually run (most pertinently Geekbench and 3DMark) simply can't be installed and run natively in SteamOS's default Big Picture Mode, so I had to cut down my testing selection fairly significantly. To compensate (and to provide a better idea of how well the Steam Machine can actually handle gaming), I expanded my gaming tests to include more graphical configurations than usual.

Furthermore, you have to dig into the settings of SteamOS itself to uncap the resolution, which is set to FHD 1080p by default. Eagle-eyed gamers clocked prior to the Steam Machine's release that Valve had quietly lowered expectations by adjusting the language used in the product's store page from "4K gaming at 60 FPS" to "Up to 4K gaming with FSR", crushing hopes that it would be a true competitor to the likes of the PS5 Pro. Clearly, 1080p is the ideal target, which will no doubt be a disappointment for some potential customers.

(Image credit: Future)

Anyway, let's talk about the actual performance. At 1080p with graphical settings maxed out, the Steam Machine can handle almost anything you throw at it; the discrete semi-custom AMD RDNA 3 GPU inside this little black box was able to crack 60fps in most games I tested at FHD resolution (sometimes requiring the use of AMD's FSR upscaling tech, though this had virtually zero impact on visual fidelity), with the exception of titles that use ray tracing.

With ray tracing turned off, you'll be fine; turn it on, and you can expect framerates to tank even if you also switch on FSR. Cyberpunk 2077 looked and played great at 1080p Ultra settings with no upscaling, but switching to the Ray Tracing Ultra preset (with AMD FSR 3 set to Balanced) saw my average framerate drop to a little over 30 in the built-in benchmark, while actual in-game performance was even choppier.

Annoyingly, some games don't seem to properly support the most recent version of FSR on SteamOS; while I've been able to use it in games like Civilization VII and Shadow of the Tomb Raider while testing Windows-based gaming laptops and PCs, FSR 3 was conspicuously absent from the settings menu of both games on the Steam Machine - Civilization would only let me select FSR 1, while Shadow had no upscaling options available at all.

(Image credit: Future)

Once I started to crank things up to 1440p and 4K resolution, though, the cracks started to show. Older titles (and 2D games, like my current obsession, Slay the Spire 2) largely run fine at higher resolutions - but unfortunately, I could probably say the same about any home console and plenty of cheaper desktop PCs.

Modern triple-A games start to struggle a little at 1440p, but remain playable provided you're willing to tone down the settings a bit. I've only included the full suite of 1080p and 4K results in the results box above, but to give you a few quick examples: Cyberpunk 2077 remained playable with an average framerate of 68fps at 1440p Ultra with FSR 3 set to balanced (no ray tracing), while Total War: Warhammer III dropped to 45fps at Ultra - but could be salvaged to a stable 63fps with the Medium graphical preset.

At 4K, don't expect to be playing the latest hit games at high framerates; at least, not without some very significant graphical tweaks. The now eight-year-old Shadow of the Tomb Raider was the only game I tested that made it above 60fps at 4K resolution, and that was with the graphical settings turned down significantly.

As for more demanding titles, just don't bother. Total War: Warhammer III barely made it above a 30fps average at Low settings, with frequent drops into sub-30 territory, while Cyberpunk 2077 gave abysmal benchmarking at anything above the lowest possible graphical settings, even with FSR upscaling turned on, and struggled heavily to maintain a consistent framerate during actual gameplay. Turning on FSR frame generation did technically give a stable 30fps at 4K Ultra, but with the added issue of some visual tearing and artifacting, especially during busy scenes.

(Image credit: Future)

I also experienced a small number of crashes during my testing process, specifically in Total War: Warhammer III and Marathon. It's possible that these were merely down to game instability rather than any specific fault with the Steam Machine or SteamOS (I've personally had Marathon crash at least once on my Windows 10 gaming desktop), so I won't mark it down for this, but I've opted to include it for the sake of comprehensiveness.

Lastly, I'd like to briefly discuss the thermal performance of the Steam Machine, which is a shining beacon amidst the otherwise fairly underwhelming overall performance. The large cooling fan at the rear of this little cube was whisper-quiet throughout all my testing, and the casing barely got more than a little warm. Whatever thermal wizardry Valve pulled off here, it clearly works.

• Performance: 3 / 5

Valve Steam Machine review: SteamOS

• SteamOS 3 is a very solid operating system
• Accessible for newcomers, but still packs advanced features
• Optional Linux desktop mode

A bonus section appears! Yes, I'm going to take a moment here to discuss SteamOS, since it's arguably the linchpin of the Steam Machine's whole 'console rival' mission statement. Does it really make PC gaming more accessible? I'm pleased to say yes, it certainly does.

An Arch Linux-based operating system, SteamOS is now in its third main iteration, and it's improved greatly from its humble beginnings as the full-screen version of the Steam desktop app. It's easy to set up and offers a pleasingly straightforward interface that even a gaming rookie should be able to navigate, while also packing the full suite of settings found in the Windows desktop version of Steam.

One nifty feature is the optional Linux desktop mode. It's quite effective, if basic, letting you install Linux-compatible programs like LibreOffice and the Firefox browser. It's neat, but it's a feature that will likely only be used by a small subset of buyers since it doesn't really offer anything for pure gaming users.

(Image credit: Future)

Naturally, you can connect a keyboard and mouse as well as a controller, which is useful for games where typing is necessary, but it turned out to be even more vital. I wasn't actually able to complete the SteamOS setup without first connecting a mouse to select the system language, and when playing some other games after my initial benchmarking process, I found that I couldn't complete the initial setup for Forza Horizon 5 using just the Steam Controller, which was annoying.

As effective as SteamOS is, compatibility issues are an inevitability when dealing with a Linux-based system. While the vast majority of games on Steam are fully compatible, there will be specific outliers, and there are plenty of non-gaming programs that aren't available. And of course, you can't play games from other storefronts like Epic and GOG, unless you decide to go the whole hog and install Windows 11 on it instead - which is an option!

Should I buy the Valve Steam Machine?Valve Steam Machine: Scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

The Steam Machine is an expensive product for the specs and experience it offers, to the point where it struggles to compete with mainstream home consoles.

2.5 / 5

Design

A durable, high-quality chassis with an impressively compact design. The port selection is decent for a console-style device, and the swappable faceplates add a bit of visual flair.

4.5 / 5

Performance

1080p performance is great, but triple-A games start to struggle at 1440p and 4K. Considering the price, the gaming quality is decidedly lackluster, and you may encounter some compatibility issues with SteamOS.

3 / 5

Total Score

I really want to love the Steam Machine, and it arguably achieves its goal of competing with living room consoles, but the asking price is just a bit too high for what it offers.

3.33 / 5

Buy the Valve Steam Machine if…

You want living-room PC gaming
The compact design and straightforward functionality of the Steam Machine make it great for a couch gaming setup.

You're looking to make the jump to PC gaming
Want to ditch your PS5 in the wake of Sony's new digital-only game policy? The Steam Machine offers a very accessible way to enter the PC gaming space without the complexities of PC-building.

Don't buy it if…

You're on a budget
While you could easily spend a lot more on a compact gaming PC, the price of the Steam Machine is unfortunately a little too high to be appealing.

You want to play games from multiple storefronts
The best experience you'll get here is by sticking with SteamOS, but that will lock you out of playing games from other storefronts like Epic and Prime Gaming.View Deal

Valve Steam Machine review: Also consider

Alienware Aurora
It's a bit more expensive than the Steam Machine, but if you want a pre-built gaming PC that can comfortably tackle 1440p and potentially even 4K gaming, the more affordable configurations of the Alienware Aurora are a solid choice. Read our full Alienware Aurora review.

Asus ROG NUC
If money is no object, the latest Asus ROG NUC gaming PC is unquestionably the one to pick if you want a compact system for a living-room gaming setup. This NUC probably has the best performance-to-size ratio of any gaming PC on the market right now. Read our full Asus ROG NUC review.

How I tested the Valve Steam Machine

(Image credit: Future)

• Ran multiple PC game benchmarks
• Connected to my TV to use for 'couch gaming'
• 8+ years of experience reviewing dozens of laptops and PCs

My review process for the Steam Machine was a little different from how I'd usually approach a gaming PC or laptop review, due largely to SteamOS's Big Picture Mode not supporting our non-gaming tests.

Still, I ran the Machine through all the usual gaming tests, then took it downstairs to my living room and set it up on my TV stand to use it for some good old-fashioned couch gaming. As someone who was raised on Nintendo consoles but made the jump to PC gaming in my teens, I was keen to get the full intended experience out of the Steam Machine.

In addition to our usual game tests, I played a bunch of other games over a full weekend spent rigorously testing (read: having lots of fun with) the Steam Machine. These included Marathon, Warframe, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and the frighteningly addictive Slay the Spire 2.

I've been testing and reviewing computer hardware for almost a decade, and I've been a gamer for much longer than that. Before joining the TechRadar team, I worked at the PC-building hobbyist magazine Maximum PC, so you can trust that I'm putting every ounce of knowledge and experience at my disposal into bringing you high-quality, insightful, and non-biased reviews.

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

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Get a 3GB eSIM with IPVanish: $2.19 per month
IPVanish is only one of two recommended VPNs that come with a free eSIM. ExpressVPN is the other one. But the deal is far better with IPV's. For $2.19 per month, the Essential plan includes use of a 3GB eSIM for 30 days. With ExpressVPN, it's around twice the price, and you only get 3 days of usage. Try IPV's Advanced plan if you want to up the data to 5GB.
Try out IPVanish with a 30-day money-back guarantee.View Deal

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You can read more about IPVanish and Secure Browser here. Have a great vacation and happy travels!

Valve Steam Machine: Two-minute review

It's finally happening! Valve's long-awaited Steam Machine has landed at last, promising to bring gaming-PC-level performance to an ultra-compact console-style device ideal for couch gamers who want to dip their toes into PC gaming for the first time. This is Valve's second run at the console-style PC market, and the gaming giant seems a lot more committed this time around.

And... well, I'm not entirely underwhelmed by it, but it's also not overwhelmingly impressive. I guess you could say I'm distinctly whelmed by the Steam Machine; it's a lovingly crafted piece of hardware that arguably achieves what it sets out to do, but falls down in two extremely important areas.

As you might have already guessed, those areas are performance and pricing. At the default 1080p resolution, it's a capable little machine that should be able to give you a good gaming experience with minimal fuss, but anyone expecting beefy 4K performance on par with the existing slate of top-tier home consoles is going to be disappointed.

Of course, this boils down to what sort of games you want to play. If you've got a 4K TV in your living room and want a compact PC specifically so you can enjoy older games, or the sort of indie game experiences that aren't so freely available on consoles – I'm talking the low-budget viral titles that so frequently dominate TikTok and Instagram Reels – then the Steam Machine might actually be an excellent choice.

Another key aspect of Valve's new console-PC hybrid is SteamOS, the recently updated operating system designed to provide a more console-like experience than conventional platforms like Windows and macOS. It's already available for anyone to put on their own PC, and of course powers Valve's own Steam Deck handheld. In a break from tradition for PC reviews, I've added an extra section to this review to specifically discuss SteamOS, but for now all I'll say is that it gets the job done well.

(Image credit: Future)

Moving on to pricing, it's painfully clear that the ongoing RAM crisis has taken a toll on the Steam Machine's value proposition. Starting at $1,049 / £879 / AU$1,609, it's a fair bit more costly than the PS5 Pro, which my esteemed colleague Rob Dwiar already noted was "too expensive" for the average gamer in his review here on TechRadar - and that was before Sony hiked the price of its home consoles earlier this year.

Considering that the Steam Machine was widely expected to represent an accessible path into the world of PC gaming for those who have previously not ventured beyond the confines of the console market, that price tag is sure to upset some gamers who were eagerly awaiting Valve's return to the console market. Hell, you might even be better off building your own Steam Machine killer.

But it's important to remember that the Steam Machine was probably never going to live up to the price-to-performance ratio of modern home consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X, even though it is ostensibly using newer, better hardware. This is due to the game development process and how developers implement platform optimization; if you're making a game for PS5, you're just making a game for PS5. You'll have to take the Pro model's specs into account now too, but at the end of the day you only need to optimize your game's performance for a specific set of hardware components with clearly defined limitations.

On the other hand, optimizing a game for PC means optimizing it for the uncountable millions of possible hardware configurations that exist across pre-built and custom gaming PCs, plus every gaming laptop on the market, plus handheld gaming PCs, and now plus the Steam Machine. It's a wildly different ballgame, and while some developers might skimp on good PC optimization, it's borderline impossible to get a game running consistently well on PC versus a specific console.

Does this entirely excuse the lackluster bang for your buck the Steam Machine offers? No, probably not. It's a mitigating factor that I have taken into account for this review – but quite frankly, I think Valve's second attempt at bringing PC gaming to the masses has slightly missed the mark.

Valve Steam Machine review: Price & availability

(Image credit: Future)

• Starts at $1,049 / £879 / AU$1,609
• Available now in the US, UK, and Australia
• Steam Controller can be added as a bundle

As I mentioned already, the Steam Machine starts at a rather steep $1,049 / £879 / AU$1,609, which gets you the standard configuration with no controller and 512GB of high-speed SSD storage. The actual performance spec doesn't change if you upgrade to the 2TB SSD model for $1,349 / £1,149 / AU$2,109, so you're essentially just paying for the extra storage – and even by current component pricing standards, that's an expensive upgrade.

Whether you pick the 512GB or 2TB model – and despite the price, I'd definitely recommend the latter if you play triple-A PC games, since install sizes have become frighteningly bloated as of late – you get the same semi-custom AMD Zen 4 CPU and discrete AMD RDNA 3 GPU, along with 16GB of RAM and a separate 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM.

Both models can also be bundled with Valve's Steam Controller (which also comes with a charging 'puck' and USB cable), which adds $79 / £59 / AU$119 to the base price of either model. This is actually a pretty decent add-on, since the Steam Controller is a genuinely good gamepad and normally costs $99 / £85 / AU$149 direct from Valve if you buy it separately. Unless you already own one of the best PC controllers, I'd strongly recommend getting the bundle.

It's also worth noting that pre-orders for the Steam Machine sold out almost immediately, so if you want to get your hands on one, you'll have to sign up for the waitlist directly through Steam.

• Value: 2.5 / 5

Valve Steam Deck review: Specs

Base spec

Max spec (review config)

Price

$1,049 / £879 / AU$1,609

$1,349 / £1,149 / AU$2,109

CPU

Semi-custom AMD Zen 4, 6C / 12T

Semi-custom AMD Zen 4, 6C / 12T

Graphics

Semi-Custom AMD RDNA3, 28CUs, 8GB GDDR6 VRAM

Semi-Custom AMD RDNA3, 28CUs, 8GB GDDR6 VRAM

RAM

16GB DDR5

16GB DDR5

Storage

512GB NVMe SSD

2TB NVMe SSD

Ports and Connectivity

4x USB-A, 1x USB-C, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x microSD card reader, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet; Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3

4x USB-A, 1x USB-C, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x microSD card reader, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet; Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3

Weight

5.73lbs / 2.60kg

5.73lbs / ​2.60kg

Dimensions

5.98 x 6.38 x 6.14 inches / 15.2 x 16.2 x 15.6 cm

5.98 x 6.38 x 6.14 inches / 15.2 x 16.2 x 15.6 cm

Valve Steam Machine review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

• Compact, cubic design
• Tidy internals and front lightbar
• Somewhat limited port selection compared to most PCs

For a product that I found a little disappointing overall, I have to say that I have very little to criticize when it comes to the physical design of the Steam Machine.

Simply put, it looks great. The whole unit is a neat black cube of matte metal measuring roughly six inches along each edge and weighing a little under six pounds, with a thin indentation near the base on the front side, inside which nestles a bright LED lightbar. Beneath this, there's a power button with an additional LED (which stays illuminated while the Steam Machine is in sleep mode) along with two USB-A ports and a microSD card slot for easily adding extra storage. The cube sits atop four small rubber feet, which feel quite durable.

The 17-LED lightbar is more than just a simple power indicator, which I quite like. If your Steam Machine is downloading a game, it 'fills' from left to right to indicate the download's progress, and you can customize it with extra colors and functions in SteamOS too.

(Image credit: Future)

It's significantly smaller than any current-gen home console and the vast majority of pre-built gaming PCs, and certainly a lot smaller than any custom desktop PC the average system-builder could assemble - you'd need to be seriously confident with graphics card disassembly and custom cooling to even get close to something this small.

In fact, it's immediately reminiscent of the Nintendo GameCube I treasured in my teenage years, though I promise I haven't let nostalgia cloud my opinion here. The closest you're likely to get to this sort of compact gaming PC now is probably the Asus ROG NUC that I personally reviewed last year - and while that offers far superior performance, it's also so eye-wateringly expensive that it makes the Steam Machine look cheap.

The front panel is removable and can be easily swapped out with magnetic faceplates. If you spring for the 2TB model, you get two of these included: a red felt fabric one and a rather nice wood-effect one that matches my TV stand perfectly... it looks right at home there, actually. Wink wink, nudge nudge, Valve.

The power supply is (somehow) built into the breathtakingly compact chassis, meaning there's no chunky adapter brick here either - just a regular cable with a two-pin power connector. This is included in the box, along with an HDMI cable (though the rear I/O also features a DisplayPort 1.4 output, which may be preferable if you're connecting it to a desktop monitor rather than a TV).

(Image credit: Future)

That rear I/O is where you'll find the rest of the ports: the aforementioned HDMI and DisplayPort, along with an RJ-45 Ethernet port, two USB-As, and one USB-C. I'll confess that as a fan of physical connectivity, I find this port selection a little lacking, but it's realistically going to be plenty for the target audience of the Steam Machine. It might be less than a fully-fledged desktop PC, but it's comparable to any modern home console. Wireless connectivity uses Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 – I would've liked to see Wi-Fi 7 here, but it's not a dealbreaker.

The internals are very tidy, with a large air intake grille behind the magnetic faceplate behind which sits the mainboard. A single large upright fan draws air through and out of the rear exhaust. This is (surprisingly) an upgradable system, though it's more along the lines of a gaming laptop than the average desktop PC; you can swap out the M.2 SSD and the RAM, but that's it.

(Image credit: Future)

Lastly, I'll briefly touch on the new Steam Controller. We reviewed it separately here, so I won't go into too much detail, but it's certainly good (if overpriced, like the Steam Machine itself). Pairing the pad and the 'puck' that doubles as a wireless transmitter and charging dock is a seamless process, and the controller itself feels good to use in games. The lack of an audio jack, as seen on other mainline console controllers, is a bit of a shame, however.

I have to admit that I really, genuinely love the design of the Steam Machine. My only real criticism here (and the only thing stopping me from giving it a perfect score in this section) is that it only has one single USB-C port, and it's on the rear. This is a minor gripe, though; for the most part, this is a very well-designed piece of hardware.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

Valve Steam Machine review: Performance

(Image credit: Future)

• Strong gaming performance at 1080p
• Cracks start to show at 1440p; falls apart completely at 4K
• Runs quietly and doesn't get too hot

Valve Steam Machine benchmarks

Civilization VII: (1080p, AMD FSR 1 + MSAA Balanced, High): 114fps; (1080p, High): 107fps; (4K, AMD FSR 1 + MSAA Balanced, High): 56fps; (4K, High): 50fps
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: (1080p, Highest): 131fps; (1080p, Low): 182fps; (4K, Highest): 47fps; (4K, Low): 91fps
Total War: Warhammer III: Mirrors of Madness: (1080p, Ultra): 58fps; (1080p, Low): 110fps; (4K, Ultra): 24fps; (4K, Low): 35fps
Cyberpunk 2077: (1080p, Ray Tracing: Ultra, Balanced upscaling): 33fps; (1080p, Ultra): 71fps; (1080p, Low): 114fps; (4K, Ray Tracing: Ultra, Balanced upscaling): 10fps; (4K, Ultra): 17fps; (4K, Low): 38fps
Marvel Rivals: (1080p, Balanced upscaling, Ultra): 57ps; (1080p, Low): 82fps; (4K, Balanced upscaling, Ultra): 22ps; (4K, Low): 24fps

No resolution upscaling or frame generation modes are used unless otherwise specified.

Benchmarking the Steam Machine was... interesting, to say the least. I had hoped to mostly stick to our usual suite of tests used for benchmarking the best gaming PCs and best gaming laptops, but the vast majority of those systems are running on Windows 10 or 11. SteamOS, while a very solid platform these days, simply doesn't have the same degree of flexibility as Microsoft's flagship operating system.

For starters, the Steam Machine locks itself to a maximum framerate based on the refresh rate of the monitor it's connected to, which meant I had to seek out a different high-refresh-rate display to get accurate results. Notably, the Steam Deck does something similar with its built-in 60/90Hz screen, so I suspect that this is a SteamOS quirk rather than any hardware-imposed limitation, but I wasn't able to find any way to disable it.

Then I got to the compatibility issues. Half the tests we usually run (most pertinently Geekbench and 3DMark) simply can't be installed and run natively in SteamOS's default Big Picture Mode, so I had to cut down my testing selection fairly significantly. To compensate (and to provide a better idea of how well the Steam Machine can actually handle gaming), I expanded my gaming tests to include more graphical configurations than usual.

Furthermore, you have to dig into the settings of SteamOS itself to uncap the resolution, which is set to FHD 1080p by default. Eagle-eyed gamers clocked prior to the Steam Machine's release that Valve had quietly lowered expectations by adjusting the language used in the product's store page from "4K gaming at 60 FPS" to "Up to 4K gaming with FSR", crushing hopes that it would be a true competitor to the likes of the PS5 Pro. Clearly, 1080p is the ideal target, which will no doubt be a disappointment for some potential customers.

(Image credit: Future)

Anyway, let's talk about the actual performance. At 1080p with graphical settings maxed out, the Steam Machine can handle almost anything you throw at it; the discrete semi-custom AMD RDNA 3 GPU inside this little black box was able to crack 60fps in most games I tested at FHD resolution (sometimes requiring the use of AMD's FSR upscaling tech, though this had virtually zero impact on visual fidelity), with the exception of titles that use ray tracing.

With ray tracing turned off, you'll be fine; turn it on, and you can expect framerates to tank even if you also switch on FSR. Cyberpunk 2077 looked and played great at 1080p Ultra settings with no upscaling, but switching to the Ray Tracing Ultra preset (with AMD FSR 3 set to Balanced) saw my average framerate drop to a little over 30 in the built-in benchmark, while actual in-game performance was even choppier.

Annoyingly, some games don't seem to properly support the most recent version of FSR on SteamOS; while I've been able to use it in games like Civilization VII and Shadow of the Tomb Raider while testing Windows-based gaming laptops and PCs, FSR 3 was conspicuously absent from the settings menu of both games on the Steam Machine - Civilization would only let me select FSR 1, while Shadow had no upscaling options available at all.

(Image credit: Future)

Once I started to crank things up to 1440p and 4K resolution, though, the cracks started to show. Older titles (and 2D games, like my current obsession, Slay the Spire 2) largely run fine at higher resolutions - but unfortunately, I could probably say the same about any home console and plenty of cheaper desktop PCs.

Modern triple-A games start to struggle a little at 1440p, but remain playable provided you're willing to tone down the settings a bit. I've only included the full suite of 1080p and 4K results in the results box above, but to give you a few quick examples: Cyberpunk 2077 remained playable with an average framerate of 68fps at 1440p Ultra with FSR 3 set to balanced (no ray tracing), while Total War: Warhammer III dropped to 45fps at Ultra - but could be salvaged to a stable 63fps with the Medium graphical preset.

At 4K, don't expect to be playing the latest hit games at high framerates; at least, not without some very significant graphical tweaks. The now eight-year-old Shadow of the Tomb Raider was the only game I tested that made it above 60fps at 4K resolution, and that was with the graphical settings turned down significantly.

As for more demanding titles, just don't bother. Total War: Warhammer III barely made it above a 30fps average at Low settings, with frequent drops into sub-30 territory, while Cyberpunk 2077 gave abysmal benchmarking at anything above the lowest possible graphical settings, even with FSR upscaling turned on, and struggled heavily to maintain a consistent framerate during actual gameplay. Turning on FSR frame generation did technically give a stable 30fps at 4K Ultra, but with the added issue of some visual tearing and artifacting, especially during busy scenes.

(Image credit: Future)

I also experienced a small number of crashes during my testing process, specifically in Total War: Warhammer III and Marathon. It's possible that these were merely down to game instability rather than any specific fault with the Steam Machine or SteamOS (I've personally had Marathon crash at least once on my Windows 10 gaming desktop), so I won't mark it down for this, but I've opted to include it for the sake of comprehensiveness.

Lastly, I'd like to briefly discuss the thermal performance of the Steam Machine, which is a shining beacon amidst the otherwise fairly underwhelming overall performance. The large cooling fan at the rear of this little cube was whisper-quiet throughout all my testing, and the casing barely got more than a little warm. Whatever thermal wizardry Valve pulled off here, it clearly works.

• Performance: 3 / 5

Valve Steam Machine review: SteamOS

• SteamOS 3 is a very solid operating system
• Accessible for newcomers, but still packs advanced features
• Optional Linux desktop mode

A bonus section appears! Yes, I'm going to take a moment here to discuss SteamOS, since it's arguably the linchpin of the Steam Machine's whole 'console rival' mission statement. Does it really make PC gaming more accessible? I'm pleased to say yes, it certainly does.

An Arch Linux-based operating system, SteamOS is now in its third main iteration, and it's improved greatly from its humble beginnings as the full-screen version of the Steam desktop app. It's easy to set up and offers a pleasingly straightforward interface that even a gaming rookie should be able to navigate, while also packing the full suite of settings found in the Windows desktop version of Steam.

One nifty feature is the optional Linux desktop mode. It's quite effective, if basic, letting you install Linux-compatible programs like LibreOffice and the Firefox browser. It's neat, but it's a feature that will likely only be used by a small subset of buyers since it doesn't really offer anything for pure gaming users.

(Image credit: Future)

Naturally, you can connect a keyboard and mouse as well as a controller, which is useful for games where typing is necessary, but it turned out to be even more vital. I wasn't actually able to complete the SteamOS setup without first connecting a mouse to select the system language, and when playing some other games after my initial benchmarking process, I found that I couldn't complete the initial setup for Forza Horizon 5 using just the Steam Controller, which was annoying.

As effective as SteamOS is, compatibility issues are an inevitability when dealing with a Linux-based system. While the vast majority of games on Steam are fully compatible, there will be specific outliers, and there are plenty of non-gaming programs that aren't available. And of course, you can't play games from other storefronts like Epic and GOG, unless you decide to go the whole hog and install Windows 11 on it instead - which is an option!

Should I buy the Valve Steam Machine?Valve Steam Machine: Scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

The Steam Machine is an expensive product for the specs and experience it offers, to the point where it struggles to compete with mainstream home consoles.

2.5 / 5

Design

A durable, high-quality chassis with an impressively compact design. The port selection is decent for a console-style device, and the swappable faceplates add a bit of visual flair.

4.5 / 5

Performance

1080p performance is great, but triple-A games start to struggle at 1440p and 4K. Considering the price, the gaming quality is decidedly lackluster, and you may encounter some compatibility issues with SteamOS.

3 / 5

Total Score

I really want to love the Steam Machine, and it arguably achieves its goal of competing with living room consoles, but the asking price is just a bit too high for what it offers.

3.33 / 5

Buy the Valve Steam Machine if…

You want living-room PC gaming
The compact design and straightforward functionality of the Steam Machine make it great for a couch gaming setup.

You're looking to make the jump to PC gaming
Want to ditch your PS5 in the wake of Sony's new digital-only game policy? The Steam Machine offers a very accessible way to enter the PC gaming space without the complexities of PC-building.

Don't buy it if…

You're on a budget
While you could easily spend a lot more on a compact gaming PC, the price of the Steam Machine is unfortunately a little too high to be appealing.

You want to play games from multiple storefronts
The best experience you'll get here is by sticking with SteamOS, but that will lock you out of playing games from other storefronts like Epic and Prime Gaming.View Deal

Valve Steam Machine review: Also consider

Alienware Aurora
It's a bit more expensive than the Steam Machine, but if you want a pre-built gaming PC that can comfortably tackle 1440p and potentially even 4K gaming, the more affordable configurations of the Alienware Aurora are a solid choice. Read our full Alienware Aurora review.

Asus ROG NUC
If money is no object, the latest Asus ROG NUC gaming PC is unquestionably the one to pick if you want a compact system for a living-room gaming setup. This NUC probably has the best performance-to-size ratio of any gaming PC on the market right now. Read our full Asus ROG NUC review.

How I tested the Valve Steam Machine

(Image credit: Future)

• Ran multiple PC game benchmarks
• Connected to my TV to use for 'couch gaming'
• 8+ years of experience reviewing dozens of laptops and PCs

My review process for the Steam Machine was a little different from how I'd usually approach a gaming PC or laptop review, due largely to SteamOS's Big Picture Mode not supporting our non-gaming tests.

Still, I ran the Machine through all the usual gaming tests, then took it downstairs to my living room and set it up on my TV stand to use it for some good old-fashioned couch gaming. As someone who was raised on Nintendo consoles but made the jump to PC gaming in my teens, I was keen to get the full intended experience out of the Steam Machine.

In addition to our usual game tests, I played a bunch of other games over a full weekend spent rigorously testing (read: having lots of fun with) the Steam Machine. These included Marathon, Warframe, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and the frighteningly addictive Slay the Spire 2.

I've been testing and reviewing computer hardware for almost a decade, and I've been a gamer for much longer than that. Before joining the TechRadar team, I worked at the PC-building hobbyist magazine Maximum PC, so you can trust that I'm putting every ounce of knowledge and experience at my disposal into bringing you high-quality, insightful, and non-biased reviews.

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

Nothing Ear (3a): Two-minute review

Sometimes, reviews are written with a heavy heart, and this is exactly that. I've championed Nothing's affordable "(a)" earbuds for well over two years — with the updated pink set for 2026 appearing to be right up my strasse. But all is not as it first appears.

The issues don't concern their cost. Like before, they come in at just under $100 and are therefore a candidate for our best budget earbuds guide.

Bizarrely, for the review star rating, I also have very few bones to pick with audio quality, which is still best pals with LDAC and now with Bluetooth 6.0 for a stronger connection. I recommend you tweak the sound profile from the box, mind — it's overly bassy by default — but that's hardly unheard of for earbuds at this level, and it can be rectified with a little effort.

It would have been lovely if Nothing had allowed its special sonic tests (for personalised EQ profile curation done by Nothing's software, rather than you tweaking sliders or blobs yourself) to be made available here, but the company has clearly decided that its three-minute hearing test is flagship only — although there is a new "Advanced" 8-band EQ tab with "Q factor" (more on this later).

What of the comfort levels and overall build quality? Here you get everything you'd expect of Nothing: rock-solid, colorful, and with just a couple of new flourishes to enjoy. Battery life has taken a knock, but that might possibly be down to having to work a bigger driver.

So what's the main problem? Actually there are two: Call Recording and Audio Snapshot (sometimes referred to as Audio Capture in Nothing's extensive marketing). Nobody asked for these features and, honestly, they're not the USP I wanted — even as a journalist who interviews people regularly.

None of the best noise-cancelling earbuds we recommend come with these features, but that's hardly a problem in itself. Such tech exists in the world, obviously; I point you to the Viaim RecDot, for example. But the Viaim's buds publicise their raison d'etre; there's a visible "record" button on the case, a light for in-person meetings, and a business-class $249.99 / £185 price tag. That's not the case with Nothing's version, where a surreptitious squeeze of the stem kicks off audio capture of your current call (or whatsapp voice note) in a set of buds that otherwise seem to scream "I'm a bit of fun!"

As with the RecDot, Nothing offers tech to transcribe your recordings (and not just on its own phones, either) — to a point. You get three months of its Pro Transcription service for free, with 120 minutes to use each month. And after the trial? Nothing tells me official pricing hasn't yet been finalised, but will be decided in August. If it was hard to recommend such a package before, it's even harder now when one doesn't know how much it will cost.

I can't help but feel that Nothing has taken a wrong turn here. I'd much rather have seen fan-favorite features such as personalised sound profiles and/or wireless charging rather than in-call recording. Some TechRadar team members have suggested I make like Elsa and just Let It Go, but in a year when consumer tech already feels uncomfortably intrusive (Meta, I'm looking at you with those smart glasses), adding call and voice note recording feels like a step too far. It's important to question where these features are taking us.

At $99 / £99, the price is definitely right. I'm just not sure the feature set is…

FutureFutureFutureNothing Ear (3a) review: Price & release date

• Released on July 7, 2026
• Priced $99 / £99 / around AU$192, same as the 2024 Ear (a)

The Nothing Ear (3a) cost the same as their predecessor, priced at $99 / £99.

Although the name might suggest otherwise, these are the direct successors to the excellent, five-star Nothing Ear (a) from 2024 – there was never a Nothing Ear (1a) or Nothing Ear (2a). They also slot nicely alongside the still-current but more expensive Nothing Ear (3), with the shared 3 denoting that they're part of the same generation.

The Ear (a) are some of the best budget earbuds I've ever had the pleasure of testing, and I'd looked forward to their update ever since word was out that it was coming.

Key rivals to the Nothing Ear (3a) include the Apple AirPods 4, which offer gesture control alongside a few other iPhone-exclusive features, or, for a little less, the five-star Cambridge Audio Melomania A100. If you're tempted by open earbuds instead, the Huawei FreeArc or even clip-style SoundPEATS Clip1 can both be picked up for less than the Nothing Ear (3a) right now, making them excellent-value alternatives.

Nothing Ear (a) on the left, Ear (2) on the right. Yes, there are key differences (Image credit: Future)Nothing Ear (3a) review: Specs

Drivers

12mm custom driver

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Battery life

Up to 6 hours (ANC off); up to 4.5 hours (ANC on); up to 25 hours with case (ANC off) or up to 18 hours (ANC on)

Weight

4.53g per earbud

Connectivity

Bluetooth 6.0 with LDAC, USB-C

Frequency range

20Hz – 40kHz

Waterproofing

IP54

Other features

Wideband Active Noise Cancellation up to 45dB, 3 MEMs mics per earbuds with AI ENC, Nothing X App support, Custom 8-band EQ, Find My Earbuds, Low Lag mode, auto-off, Dual Connection, extra ear-tip, Audio Snapshot and in-call recording

Hello, yellow! (Image credit: Future)Nothing Ear (3a) review: Features

• Bluetooth 6.0 (15m range) with LDAC support
• Improved ANC (cancellation up to 45 dB, effective to 5 kHz)
• Pinch stems for Call Recording/Audio Snapshot, no Nothing phone required

It would be easy to say, "Look, you don't like the cutesy branding of Nothing's new 'Audio Snapshot' offering? Don't use it — there's still plenty to like for $99!" but let's dig in to see why the take is not so simple.

Firstly, we should get granular on what Audio Snapshot and Call Recording do, and what they cannot do. I mentioned above that as a journalist, I regularly record interviews, often over Zoom, Google Meet or even Microsoft Teams. When set up as an interview, my subjects usually take it as a given that I will be recording — and where I reside in the UK, it is legal to record calls, even without consent from the other party. I still always ask.

In the US, however, the laws on recording phone calls are different, varying from state to state. For calls crossing state lines, the stricter 'two party consent' law (as per the Federal Wiretap Act) applies, where both parties on a call must consent to a recording.

So what is Nothing doing about it? In its reviewers' guide, the company says it "aligns with internationally recognised privacy standards ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and EN 18031". To this end, during setup, the Nothing X app also displays a short tutorial reminding users to obtain permission before recording calls — as shown below.

Interestingly, on a traditional phone call made in the UK, the "prompt" Nothing promises will be played to everyone on the call is a simple beep. On Google Meet, a female voice announces "This call will be recorded in 3, 2, 1", presumably so anyone not OK with that can scream "Oh no you don't!". From smartphone to smartphone, there's no vocal.

Thanks to the Nothing Ear (3a)'s 32MB of onboard storage, you can start recording with just a pinch of the stems, storing up to two hours of audio on the earbuds themselves. You can also record and transcribe voice notes from apps such as Instagram or WhatsApp — and from August, Nothing says it will add summaries of call recordings, speaker identification and the ability to create calendar reminders based on what was discussed.

Nothing (app screen grabs by Future) Nothing (app screen grabs by Future)

What these earbuds can't do is record conversations that take place around you, or indeed your own voice. So, thankfully, there's no scope for eavesdropping around the water cooler.

However, my thoughts on this are clear— I'm not wholly OK with it. It puts the onus on buyers to adhere to laws, and opens the door for flouting rules of consent. I tried muting my mics to see whether the beep could be silenced, but it still plays for the person on the other end of the call to signal that recording has begun. Nevertheless, I think I've made my concerns around this feature clear.

Elsewhere, you get Bluetooth v6.0 and LDAC support for hi-res audio (the Sony-developed codec that lets you stream high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth at up to 990kbps, if your device supports it and the file is up to scratch). While the predecessor did also include the latter, it remains a valuable inclusion here.

There's also onboard spatial audio, albeit of the "static" variety rather than head-tracked spatial audio that keeps the sound anchored to your source device as you move your head. It adds a little extra depth and height to the presentation, but for me, the effect is decidedly light-touch compared to what you get from pricier earbuds.

Note that you don't get the Ear (3)'s splendid personalized hearing tests, or the useful "walkie-talkie" Super Mic. That said, there's in-ear detection (to pause music when you remove the buds and resume it when they're in), a low-lag toggle for gaming, seamless pairing, multipoint to two devices, an ear-tip fit test and a Find My Earbuds feature, which emits a rattlesnake-style sound from whichever bud you're trying to locate, to help you find it.

Nothing's Transparency mode is decent. It's a little warm, but it still delivers a more three-dimensional presentation than many buds at this level. I could hear the placement of the TV, voices in my home and a dog outside, rather than all of these sounds appearing tinny, omnipresent and seemingly on top of one another.

When deploying ANC (rather than "Transparency" or "Off"), you can once again select from High, Mid, Low, and Adaptive noise-nixing profiles. High is decent: Nothing tells me performance is up to 45dB (effective to 5 kHz), which equates to a 17.1% improvement compared to the Ear (a), thanks to a software upgrade and improved architecture regarding where the mic sits.

The issue in 2026 is the existence of the AirPods Pro 3 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2). Although it would be unfair to compare like for like, owing to the chasm in pricing, you can get better if you're willing to pay for it. That said, the ANC here is no slouch, giving a fairly clean, largely uninterrupted and issue-free neutral background for my music.

If you have a Nothing Phone, the Nothing X app and the ChatGPT app, then you can once again you can also access ChatGPT access via the Ear (3a)'s stem; simply squeeze and talk.

The new EQ tab is now an eight-band offering (up from three in the older buds), as well as the more basic audio splodge Nothing made its own — and which I rather like since it reminds me of Nura True Pro's visual depictions, rather than a mixing desk. You also get five presets in the Advanced tab, and four in the Simple tab — but you can create your custom EQ using whichever system you prefer.

And I think you'll need to get familiar with these, as I'm about to explain…

• Features score: 4 / 5

Voice AI using ChatGPT is coming using Nothing Ear (a) using your Nothing smartphone… (Image credit: Future)Nothing Ear (3a) review: Sound quality

• LDAC support represents value
• Fun, V-shaped sound — if a little quiet
• A little bass-heavy from the box, but you can fix it

As was the case with their siblings, it would be wrong of me to knock Nothing Ear (3a) in the sonic department for this money. The sound quality is easily worthy of the outlay.

That said, there are a few points to bring to your attention.

Those with a Sony or Samsung smartphone (I used a Sony Xperia) will find much to celebrate in LDAC music streaming. In My Chemical Romance's The Ghost of You, guitars snake from my left to right ear in a cohesive mix — with Gerard Way's vocal central, petulant and every bit as emotive as I remember it in the mid-noughties.

Even when I stream Apple Music songs from my iPhone, the Nothing Ear (3a) offer ample width as my playlist continues to Thank You For the Venom and the intro guitars find a spacious home in my left ear. There's room around every stem in the mix to shine, but they're all held properly in check, even in this fast-paced and challenging song.

It's a little bass-heavy at times, though. Fleetwood Mac's The Chain is a good test of a regimented low-end, and alongside the kick-drums, I did lose just a little of Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham in that glorious upper harmony through the chorus. It seems to be Nothing's modus operandi to offer a bassy listen generally, and while I did find that the new Advanced EQ tab helped, I think the enhanced low-end went a little far here.

Nothing offers a "Q Factor" in addition to what you've just tweaked in the 8-band tab, to control the width or sharpness of your adjustment. So, imagine it as a "quality factor" (because that is what it stands for), where the number you select between 0.1 and 10 determines how wide or narrow of a frequency range is boosted or cut — all of this specific to your chosen frequency. Selecting a low Q Factor will generate a wider, more gentle curve to your adjustment, where a high Q Factor will make the change narrower, steeper and more effective around that specific frequency augmentation (or reduction).

I eased off the bass and selected a Q Factor of 3.2, but you must of course play with these things yourself — and sadly, Nothing hasn't included its hearing tests here, to check how perceptive your ears are within this particular tuning.

For dynamics and nuance, the Nothing Ear (3a) are perhaps a shade less engaging and arresting than I'm used to, owing to their volume. Once criticism often levelled at Nothing's budget earbuds is they don't go especially loud, and I frequently found myself listening above 50% volume. Also, since battery life is measured at that volume, it did mean the quoted "4.5-hour battery life with ANC deployed" claims although bang on, were still disappointing.

• Sound quality score: 4 / 5

See how Ear (a) is just slightly bigger than Ear (2), across the board? (Image credit: Future)Nothing Ear (3a) review: Design

• Curvier case
• That 1mm bigger driver is sucks up power
• And the battery life isn't great

Hold the Nothing Ear (3a) earpieces and case next to their older Nothing Ear (a) and you'll certainly struggle in a game of spot the difference. There's the color, obviously — also available in black, white and a slightly different yellow to the hue I love in this older set — and the 50% curvier case. There's also a trio of LEDs on the case that deliver a total of six status indications for battery status, pairing status, charging levels and so on.

For further tweaks, we have to look deeper.

The driver is now 12mm rather than 11mm and features an "aerospace-grade diaphragm". You also get an extra set of ear-tips in the box, four in total, and although the XS will appeal to owners of small ears, the actual earpieces here aren't tiny, despite being lighter in weight than Ear (a), at 4.53g versus 4.8g. The actual design of the tips has been finessed, too: they're a little thicker and more flared across the outer wall. I found the buds very secure, if a little big to accommodate comfortably over my small-ish ears over the course of long listening sessions.

I've said it before now and I'll say it again: I think we've reached a point of diminishing — perhaps even negative — returns when it comes to ever-larger earbud drivers. Every new release seems to tout a bigger driver without adding weight, as if bigger automatically means better. But where does it end? 13mm drivers? 15mm drivers? To my ears, the Ear (3a)'s 1mm larger driver hasn't negatively impacted the sound, but I don wonder if it's contributed to sthe shorter battery life. In my briefing, I was told the buds themselves would last 10 hours — but that turned out not to be the case.

While the battery in each earpiece — along with the larger driver and onboard 16MB flash drive — works hard to power the buds, it's only good for up to 6 hours without ANC, or 4.5 hours with ANC turned on. And remember, I had to pump the volume up higher than 50%, which the level at which those measurements are typically taken. With the case, you'll get up to 25 hours with ANC off, or up to 18 hours with it on.

None of these stats is much to write home about. Take Nothing's own Ear (a), which offered up to 9.5 hours of playback on a single charge with ANC off, and about 5.5 hours with ANC on. Now, consider the very inexpensive Cambridge Melomania A100, which offer 11 hours per charge or up to 39 hours with the case, along with aptX Lossless. I know which I'd rather take on long road-trips…

Again, Nothing's pinch-to-control stems return here, and while volume controls aren't enabled by default, you can assign them in the Nothing X app — provided you're happy to sacrifice another shortcut in the process.

While I'm here, a quick note on call-handling. It's absolutely clear and clean as a whistle, thanks to the 3 MEMS mics per bud.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Rarely have I had so many colleagues strike up a conversation with me over a set of earbuds (Image credit: Future)Nothing Ear (3a) review: Value

• Still very good-looking earbuds
• Decent ANC; not so great for stamina
• LDAC adds value, but call-recording (for me, at least) is a no

Before now, I've always championed Nothing's "(a)" buds — and while the basics in the (3a) are fine, there are a few issues that are hard to ignore.

The Call Recording feature is top of the list here. More than any technical limitation, it's the privacy implications that concern me. Much as seeing someone wearing smart glasses now makes me wonder whether I'm being recorded, these earbuds leave me asking why someone might want to capture our conversations. I appreciate that some readers may see this as an overreaction, but it's a genuine concern for me, informed by my own experiences as a woman and former dancer who had to deal with overly familiar fans.

I think the audio quality here is perfectly acceptable for $99 / £99, but the stamina and feature set can be bettered. Even in the open earbuds market, I'd happily direct you to the cheaper Huawei FreeArc or SoundPEATS Clip1 over these earbuds.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Nothing Ear (3a)?

Section

Notes

Score

Features

I can't get behind Call Recording — although the ANC is good enough

4/5

Sound quality

An fun listen that's easy to tweak if the bass proves a bit much. Just a tad quiet overall

4/5

Design

Good-looking buds let down by disappointing stamina

4/5

Value

It's hard for me to write it, but the smart money isn't always with Nothing

4/5

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}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-dropdown-title::-ms-expand { display: none !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-dropdown-chevron {position: absolute !important;right: 0 !important;top: 50% !important;transform: translateY(-50%) !important;pointer-events: none !important;color: var(--riv-primary) !important;display: flex !important;align-items: center !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-carousel-title-controls { display: flex !important; justify-content: space-between !important; align-items: center !important; margin-bottom: 16px !important; width: 100% !important; gap: 12px !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-carousel-nav-btn {background: transparent !important; border: 1px solid #d1d5db !important; border-radius: 6px !important; padding: 6px 10px !important;cursor: pointer !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; gap: 4px !important; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-carousel-nav-btn:hover { border-color: #9ca3af !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-carousel-counter { font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; text-align: center !important; margin-top: 1rem !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-legend { display: flex !important; justify-content: center !important; flex-wrap: wrap !important; gap: 8px 16px !important; margin: 0 !important; padding: 0 !important; margin-top: 1rem !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-legend-item { display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; gap: 6px !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-legend-color { width: 12px !important; height: 12px !important; border-radius: 3px !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-multi-value-legend {display: flex !important;justify-content: center !important;flex-wrap: wrap !important;gap: 12px 24px !important;margin-bottom: 1.5rem !important;padding: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-multi-legend-item { display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; gap: 8px !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; font-weight: 500 !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-multi-legend-swatch { width: 16px !important; height: 16px !important; border-radius: 3px !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-benchmark-group { margin-bottom: 1rem !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-benchmark-title {font-size: 18px !important; font-weight: 600 !important; margin-bottom: 16px !important; margin-top: 0 !important; padding: 0 !important;text-align: center !important; color: var(--riv-primary) !important; flex: 1 !important; min-width: 0 !important;font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif !important; line-height: 1.3 !important;text-transform: none !important;white-space: normal !important;overflow-wrap: break-word !important;word-wrap: break-word !important;max-width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-row, #fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-stacked-product { display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; width: 100% !important; margin-bottom: 0.75rem !important; position: relative !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-label { width: 150px !important; flex-shrink: 0 !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; padding-right: 10px !important; text-align: right !important; font-weight: 500 !important; display: block !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-container { flex-grow: 1 !important; background-color: #E5E7EB !important; border-radius: 4px !important; min-height: 25px !important; border: 1px solid #D1D5DB !important; position: relative !important; display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-commentary-inline { display: none !important; position: absolute !important; left: 150px !important; top: 0 !important; bottom: 0 !important; right: 0 !important; width: calc(100% - 150px) !important; margin: 0 !important; padding: 0 8px !important; font-size: 13px !important; color: #fff !important; background: rgba(0,0,0,0.8) !important; border-radius: 4px !important; line-height: 1.4 !important; font-weight: normal !important; text-transform: none !important; word-wrap: break-word !important; z-index: 10 !important; align-items: center !important; overflow-y: auto !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.preview-wrapper .fv-bar-row:hover .fv-bar-commentary-inline, #fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.preview-wrapper .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus, #fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.preview-wrapper .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus-within, #fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-row:hover .fv-bar-commentary-inline, #fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus, #fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus-within { display: flex !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar { height: 100% !important; border-radius: 3px !important; display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; transition: opacity 0.2s ease, width 0.8s ease-out !important; min-height: 23px !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar:hover { opacity: 0.8 !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-inner-content { display: flex !important; justify-content: space-between !important; align-items: center !important; width: 100% !important; height: 100% !important; padding: 0 8px !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: bold !important; overflow: hidden !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-inner-label { white-space: nowrap !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-overflow: ellipsis !important; padding-right: 8px !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-inner-value { flex-shrink: 0 !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-value-outside { padding-left: 8px !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: bold !important; color: #374151 !important; white-space: nowrap !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-label.fv-primary-product { font-weight: bold !important; color: var(--riv-primary) !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-multi-bar-container { flex-direction: column !important; padding: 4px !important; align-items: stretch !important; gap: 4px !important; height: auto !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-multi-bar-item { display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; height: 25px !important; width: 100% !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-stacked-bar { display: flex !important; overflow: hidden !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-stacked-segment { height: 100% !important; display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; justify-content: flex-end !important; padding-right: 8px !important; border-right: 1px solid rgba(255,255,255,0.3) !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-stacked-segment:last-child { border-right: none !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-segment-value { font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: bold !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-grouped-bar-product { display: flex !important; flex-direction: column !important; width: 100% !important; margin-bottom: 1.25rem !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-grouped-product-title-wrapper { padding-left: 150px !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-grouped-product-title { width: 100% !important; text-align: left !important; padding-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0.5rem !important; font-weight: 700 !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; text-transform: none !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-cluster { width: 100% !important; flex-grow: 1 !important; display: flex !important; flex-direction: column !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-cluster .fv-bar-row { margin-bottom: 3px !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-cluster .fv-bar-container { height: 20px !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .riv-grid line {stroke: #D1D5DB !important;stroke-dasharray: 3 3 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-wrapper { display: flex !important; width: 100% !important; margin-top: 0.5rem !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-label-space { width: 150px !important; padding-right: 10px !important; flex-shrink: 0 !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-chart-space { flex-grow: 1 !important; padding-right: 8px !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-wrapper.fv-grouped-x-axis { margin-left: 0 !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-line { border-top: 1px solid #D1D5DB !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-ticks { display: flex !important; justify-content: space-between !important; padding-top: 4px !important; font-size: 13px !important; color: #374151 !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-ticks span { position: relative !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-ticks span::before { content: '' !important; position: absolute !important; top: -6px !important; left: 50% !important; transform: translateX(-50%) !important; width: 2px !important; height: 4px !important; background-color: #D1D5DB !important; border-radius: 1px !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-unit { text-align: center !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; margin-top: 8px !important; display: block !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-title { text-align: center !important; font-size: 15px !important; color: #374151 !important; margin-top: 8px !important; margin-bottom: 16px !important; line-height: 1.5 !important; padding: 0 1rem !important; display: block !important; font-weight: bold !important; }#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-y-axis-title {font-size: 15px !important;color: #374151 !important;line-height: 1.5 !important;text-align: left !important;padding-left: 5.83% !important;margin-bottom: 4px !important;display: block !important;font-weight: bold !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-pie-container,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-pie-container {flex-direction: column !important; gap: 1rem !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-grouped-product-title-wrapper,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-grouped-product-title-wrapper {padding-left: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-row,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-stacked-product,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-grouped-bar-product,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-bar-row,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-stacked-product,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-grouped-bar-product {flex-direction: column !important; align-items: flex-start !important; margin-bottom: 1.25rem !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-label:not(.fv-grouped-product-title),#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-bar-label:not(.fv-grouped-product-title) {width: 100% !important; text-align: left !important; padding-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0.25rem !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: 700 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-label,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-grouped-product-title,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-bar-label,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-grouped-product-title {width: 100% !important; text-align: left !important; padding-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0.25rem !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: 700 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-container,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-cluster,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-bar-container,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-bar-cluster {width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-row:hover .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus-within,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-bar-row:hover .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus-within {position: static !important; display: block !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 4px 0 0 0 !important; padding: 0 !important; background: transparent !important; color: #6B7280 !important; font-size: 12px !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-x-axis-wrapper,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-x-axis-wrapper {margin-left: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-x-axis-label-space,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-x-axis-label-space {display: none !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-x-axis-chart-space,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-x-axis-chart-space {padding-right: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-benchmark-title,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-benchmark-title {font-size: 16px !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-dropdown-title,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-dropdown-title {font-size: 16px !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-carousel-nav-btn,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-carousel-nav-btn {padding: 8px 12px !important; font-size: 14px !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-chart-title,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-chart-title {padding: 0 8px !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-chart-subhead,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-chart-subhead {padding: 0 8px !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-versus-header,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-versus-header {flex-direction: column !important; align-items: center !important; padding: 0 !important; gap: 0.5rem !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-versus-select-wrapper,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select-wrapper {flex: 1 !important; min-width: 0 !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-left,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-left {text-align: center !important; padding-right: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-right,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-right {text-align: center !important; padding-left: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-versus-select.fv-select-left,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select.fv-select-left {text-align: center !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-versus-select.fv-select-right,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select.fv-select-right {text-align: center !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-versus-vs,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-versus-vs {text-align: center !important; padding: 0.25rem 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-versus-select-container,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select-container {max-width: 100% !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-versus-select,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select {font-size: 14px !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-stl-shop-all-btn,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-stl-shop-all-btn {bottom: 0.5rem !important; right: 0.5rem !important; height: 2rem !important; font-size: 0.75rem !important; padding: 0 0.75rem 0 2.5rem !important; max-width: calc(100% - 1rem) !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-stl-shop-all-logo,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-stl-shop-all-icon,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-stl-shop-all-logo,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-stl-shop-all-icon {width: 2rem !important; height: 2rem !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-stl-shop-all-icon svg,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-stl-shop-all-icon svg {width: 14px !important; height: 14px !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.labels-on-top .fv-bar-commentary-inline {display: block !important; margin-left: 0 !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc.mobile-view .fv-y-axis-title { padding-left: 5% !important; 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text-align: left !important; padding-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0.25rem !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: 700 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-container,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-cluster {width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-row:hover .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus,#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus-within {position: static !important; display: block !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 4px 0 0 0 !important; padding: 0 !important; background: transparent !important; color: #6B7280 !important; font-size: 12px !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-wrapper {margin-left: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-label-space {display: none !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-x-axis-chart-space {padding-right: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-benchmark-title {font-size: 16px !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-dropdown-title {font-size: 16px !important;}#fv-chart-1784740420126-ma76xl7lc .fv-carousel-nav-btn {padding: 8px 12px !important; 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Solid generally, but with battery concerns and a potentially problematic call recording 'feature'

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You want buds that say "look at me"
The pink colorway is super-striking and fun, especially against their black/transparent stems.

You have a Sony or Samsung phone
LDAC support for $99 / £99? That's good stuff.

You want to record your phone calls
These buds do offer the option to record and transcribe up to 2 hours of audio from calls, songs or voice notes — and you don't need a Nothing source device to do it.

Don't buy them if...

You want extra-special spatial audio
Nothing adds its "static" spatial audio profile here, for a slightly more immersive sound profile to your music. For me, though, it's a little bit lightweight.

You have bijou ears
This design just about works for my smaller ears with the small ear-tips (there's even an XS option included now), but if your concha or ear-well is particularly diminutive, then you may still find these earpieces a little big.

The idea of covert surveillance bothers you
As a journalist, I have no issue with recording when everyone has consented. My concern is Nothing's playful marketing if in-call recording as a lifestyle feature, despite the obvious privacy implications.View Deal

Nothing Ear (3a) review: Also consider

Nothing Ear (3a)

Cambridge Audio Melomania A100

Huawei FreeArc

Price

$99 / £99 / Approx. AU$192

$149 / £119 / AU$TBC (but around AU$249) at launch, discounted now

£99 (roughly $130, AU$200) but discounted now

Drivers

12m custom

10mm Neodymium dynamic

17mm x 12mm (open earbuds)

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Yes

No

Quoted battery life

Buds: 6 hrs (without ANC) or 4.5 hrs with ANC; Total with case: 18 hrs with ANC (or 25 hrs without ANC)

11 hours per charge; up to 39 hours with the case

7 hours (earbuds), 23 hours (total)

Weight

4.53g

4.7g

8.9g

Connectivity

Bluetooth 6.0, LDAC, USB-C (no wireless charging)

Bluetooth 5.4 with LDAC and aptX Lossless

Bluetooth 5.2

Frequency range

20 Hz – 40 kHz

Not stated

Not stated

Waterproofing

Yes, IP54

Yes, IPX5

Yes, IP57

Other features

Audio Snapshot and Call Recording; auto-off, static spatial audio, ChatGPT with a Nothing Phone

7-band EQ, ANC, DynamEQ for optimised tuning, wireless charging, 3 mics per bud

Huawei AI Life app, 10-band EQ, audio presets, find your earbuds

Huawei FreeArc
Up for taking a punt on affordable and great-sounding open earbuds? The FreeArc are available at a generous discount right now — but in all honesty, we loved them even at full price.
Read more on this in our full Huawei FreeArc review

Cambridge Audio Melomania A100
These June 2025-release earbuds didn't get the fanfare they deserved, unless you count our glowing five-star review, of course. They don't look as flamboyant — but oh, do they sound good, and the ANC is great too. Did I mention they've been discounted recently? Highly recommended for their current price.
Learn more in our in-depth Cambridge Melomania A100 review

How I tested the Nothing Ear (3a)

USB-C for juicing up, but there's no wireless charging (Image credit: Future)

• Tested for two weeks, listened against the Ear (a), Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2), Technics EAH-AZ100 and AirPods 4
• Listened in the office, walking along a beach, on a train into London, into Central London and at home
• Listened to Tidal Masters, Apple Music Lossless tracks and Spotify on an iPhone 15 Pro, MacBook Pro and Sony Xperia smartphone

The Nothing Ear (3a) became my primary musical companions for well over two weeks — after a 48-hour run-in period.

They accompanied me to work (walking brusquely to our Paddington office and on the London Underground to various press events) and even walking on a beach at sunset.

To assess comfort levels, ANC and battery life claims, I followed TechRadar's meticulous methodology testing and found much of note — including slightly disappointing stamina.

To check the audio quality across the frequencies, I listened for several hours to my own reference playlists on Apple Music and Tidal, alongside TechRadar's reference tracks, plus podcasts and movies. Additionally, I wore them to watch YouTube tutorials from my MacBook Pro.

I’ve been testing audio products for well over seven years, full-time. As a dancer, aerialist and musical theater performer in another life, sound quality, fit, and user experience have always been a priority for me, but having heard how wonderful ANC can be when done well, I know what I'm listening to here, too.

Read more about how we test earbuds at TechRadar

• First reviewed: July 2026

Nothing Ear (3a): Two-minute review

Sometimes, reviews are written with a heavy heart, and this is exactly that. I've championed Nothing's affordable "(a)" earbuds for well over two years — with the updated pink set for 2026 appearing to be right up my strasse. But all is not as it first appears.

The issues don't concern their cost. Like before, they come in at just under $100 and are therefore a candidate for our best budget earbuds guide.

Bizarrely, for the review star rating, I also have very few bones to pick with audio quality, which is still best pals with LDAC and now with Bluetooth 6.0 for a stronger connection. I recommend you tweak the sound profile from the box, mind — it's overly bassy by default — but that's hardly unheard of for earbuds at this level, and it can be rectified with a little effort.

It would have been lovely if Nothing had allowed its special sonic tests (for personalised EQ profile curation done by Nothing's software, rather than you tweaking sliders or blobs yourself) to be made available here, but the company has clearly decided that its three-minute hearing test is flagship only — although there is a new "Advanced" 8-band EQ tab with "Q factor" (more on this later).

What of the comfort levels and overall build quality? Here you get everything you'd expect of Nothing: rock-solid, colorful, and with just a couple of new flourishes to enjoy. Battery life has taken a knock, but that might possibly be down to having to work a bigger driver.

So what's the main problem? Actually there are two: Call Recording and Audio Snapshot (sometimes referred to as Audio Capture in Nothing's extensive marketing). Nobody asked for these features and, honestly, they're not the USP I wanted — even as a journalist who interviews people regularly.

None of the best noise-cancelling earbuds we recommend come with these features, but that's hardly a problem in itself. Such tech exists in the world, obviously; I point you to the Viaim RecDot, for example. But the Viaim's buds publicise their raison d'etre; there's a visible "record" button on the case, a light for in-person meetings, and a business-class $249.99 / £185 price tag. That's not the case with Nothing's version, where a surreptitious squeeze of the stem kicks off audio capture of your current call (or whatsapp voice note) in a set of buds that otherwise seem to scream "I'm a bit of fun!"

As with the RecDot, Nothing offers tech to transcribe your recordings (and not just on its own phones, either) — to a point. You get three months of its Pro Transcription service for free, with 120 minutes to use each month. And after the trial? Nothing tells me official pricing hasn't yet been finalised, but will be decided in August. If it was hard to recommend such a package before, it's even harder now when one doesn't know how much it will cost.

I can't help but feel that Nothing has taken a wrong turn here. I'd much rather have seen fan-favorite features such as personalised sound profiles and/or wireless charging rather than in-call recording. Some TechRadar team members have suggested I make like Elsa and just Let It Go, but in a year when consumer tech already feels uncomfortably intrusive (Meta, I'm looking at you with those smart glasses), adding call and voice note recording feels like a step too far. It's important to question where these features are taking us.

At $99 / £99, the price is definitely right. I'm just not sure the feature set is…

FutureFutureFutureNothing Ear (3a) review: Price & release date

• Released on July 7, 2026
• Priced $99 / £99 / around AU$192, same as the 2024 Ear (a)

The Nothing Ear (3a) cost the same as their predecessor, priced at $99 / £99.

Although the name might suggest otherwise, these are the direct successors to the excellent, five-star Nothing Ear (a) from 2024 – there was never a Nothing Ear (1a) or Nothing Ear (2a). They also slot nicely alongside the still-current but more expensive Nothing Ear (3), with the shared 3 denoting that they're part of the same generation.

The Ear (a) are some of the best budget earbuds I've ever had the pleasure of testing, and I'd looked forward to their update ever since word was out that it was coming.

Key rivals to the Nothing Ear (3a) include the Apple AirPods 4, which offer gesture control alongside a few other iPhone-exclusive features, or, for a little less, the five-star Cambridge Audio Melomania A100. If you're tempted by open earbuds instead, the Huawei FreeArc or even clip-style SoundPEATS Clip1 can both be picked up for less than the Nothing Ear (3a) right now, making them excellent-value alternatives.

Nothing Ear (a) on the left, Ear (2) on the right. Yes, there are key differences (Image credit: Future)Nothing Ear (3a) review: Specs

Drivers

12mm custom driver

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Battery life

Up to 6 hours (ANC off); up to 4.5 hours (ANC on); up to 25 hours with case (ANC off) or up to 18 hours (ANC on)

Weight

4.53g per earbud

Connectivity

Bluetooth 6.0 with LDAC, USB-C

Frequency range

20Hz – 40kHz

Waterproofing

IP54

Other features

Wideband Active Noise Cancellation up to 45dB, 3 MEMs mics per earbuds with AI ENC, Nothing X App support, Custom 8-band EQ, Find My Earbuds, Low Lag mode, auto-off, Dual Connection, extra ear-tip, Audio Snapshot and in-call recording

Hello, yellow! (Image credit: Future)Nothing Ear (3a) review: Features

• Bluetooth 6.0 (15m range) with LDAC support
• Improved ANC (cancellation up to 45 dB, effective to 5 kHz)
• Pinch stems for Call Recording/Audio Snapshot, no Nothing phone required

It would be easy to say, "Look, you don't like the cutesy branding of Nothing's new 'Audio Snapshot' offering? Don't use it — there's still plenty to like for $99!" but let's dig in to see why the take is not so simple.

Firstly, we should get granular on what Audio Snapshot and Call Recording do, and what they cannot do. I mentioned above that as a journalist, I regularly record interviews, often over Zoom, Google Meet or even Microsoft Teams. When set up as an interview, my subjects usually take it as a given that I will be recording — and where I reside in the UK, it is legal to record calls, even without consent from the other party. I still always ask.

In the US, however, the laws on recording phone calls are different, varying from state to state. For calls crossing state lines, the stricter 'two party consent' law (as per the Federal Wiretap Act) applies, where both parties on a call must consent to a recording.

So what is Nothing doing about it? In its reviewers' guide, the company says it "aligns with internationally recognised privacy standards ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and EN 18031". To this end, during setup, the Nothing X app also displays a short tutorial reminding users to obtain permission before recording calls — as shown below.

Interestingly, on a traditional phone call made in the UK, the "prompt" Nothing promises will be played to everyone on the call is a simple beep. On Google Meet, a female voice announces "This call will be recorded in 3, 2, 1", presumably so anyone not OK with that can scream "Oh no you don't!". From smartphone to smartphone, there's no vocal.

Thanks to the Nothing Ear (3a)'s 32MB of onboard storage, you can start recording with just a pinch of the stems, storing up to two hours of audio on the earbuds themselves. You can also record and transcribe voice notes from apps such as Instagram or WhatsApp — and from August, Nothing says it will add summaries of call recordings, speaker identification and the ability to create calendar reminders based on what was discussed.

Nothing (app screen grabs by Future) Nothing (app screen grabs by Future)

What these earbuds can't do is record conversations that take place around you, or indeed your own voice. So, thankfully, there's no scope for eavesdropping around the water cooler.

However, my thoughts on this are clear— I'm not wholly OK with it. It puts the onus on buyers to adhere to laws, and opens the door for flouting rules of consent. I tried muting my mics to see whether the beep could be silenced, but it still plays for the person on the other end of the call to signal that recording has begun. Nevertheless, I think I've made my concerns around this feature clear.

Elsewhere, you get Bluetooth v6.0 and LDAC support for hi-res audio (the Sony-developed codec that lets you stream high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth at up to 990kbps, if your device supports it and the file is up to scratch). While the predecessor did also include the latter, it remains a valuable inclusion here.

There's also onboard spatial audio, albeit of the "static" variety rather than head-tracked spatial audio that keeps the sound anchored to your source device as you move your head. It adds a little extra depth and height to the presentation, but for me, the effect is decidedly light-touch compared to what you get from pricier earbuds.

Note that you don't get the Ear (3)'s splendid personalized hearing tests, or the useful "walkie-talkie" Super Mic. That said, there's in-ear detection (to pause music when you remove the buds and resume it when they're in), a low-lag toggle for gaming, seamless pairing, multipoint to two devices, an ear-tip fit test and a Find My Earbuds feature, which emits a rattlesnake-style sound from whichever bud you're trying to locate, to help you find it.

Nothing's Transparency mode is decent. It's a little warm, but it still delivers a more three-dimensional presentation than many buds at this level. I could hear the placement of the TV, voices in my home and a dog outside, rather than all of these sounds appearing tinny, omnipresent and seemingly on top of one another.

When deploying ANC (rather than "Transparency" or "Off"), you can once again select from High, Mid, Low, and Adaptive noise-nixing profiles. High is decent: Nothing tells me performance is up to 45dB (effective to 5 kHz), which equates to a 17.1% improvement compared to the Ear (a), thanks to a software upgrade and improved architecture regarding where the mic sits.

The issue in 2026 is the existence of the AirPods Pro 3 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2). Although it would be unfair to compare like for like, owing to the chasm in pricing, you can get better if you're willing to pay for it. That said, the ANC here is no slouch, giving a fairly clean, largely uninterrupted and issue-free neutral background for my music.

If you have a Nothing Phone, the Nothing X app and the ChatGPT app, then you can once again you can also access ChatGPT access via the Ear (3a)'s stem; simply squeeze and talk.

The new EQ tab is now an eight-band offering (up from three in the older buds), as well as the more basic audio splodge Nothing made its own — and which I rather like since it reminds me of Nura True Pro's visual depictions, rather than a mixing desk. You also get five presets in the Advanced tab, and four in the Simple tab — but you can create your custom EQ using whichever system you prefer.

And I think you'll need to get familiar with these, as I'm about to explain…

• Features score: 4 / 5

Voice AI using ChatGPT is coming using Nothing Ear (a) using your Nothing smartphone… (Image credit: Future)Nothing Ear (3a) review: Sound quality

• LDAC support represents value
• Fun, V-shaped sound — if a little quiet
• A little bass-heavy from the box, but you can fix it

As was the case with their siblings, it would be wrong of me to knock Nothing Ear (3a) in the sonic department for this money. The sound quality is easily worthy of the outlay.

That said, there are a few points to bring to your attention.

Those with a Sony or Samsung smartphone (I used a Sony Xperia) will find much to celebrate in LDAC music streaming. In My Chemical Romance's The Ghost of You, guitars snake from my left to right ear in a cohesive mix — with Gerard Way's vocal central, petulant and every bit as emotive as I remember it in the mid-noughties.

Even when I stream Apple Music songs from my iPhone, the Nothing Ear (3a) offer ample width as my playlist continues to Thank You For the Venom and the intro guitars find a spacious home in my left ear. There's room around every stem in the mix to shine, but they're all held properly in check, even in this fast-paced and challenging song.

It's a little bass-heavy at times, though. Fleetwood Mac's The Chain is a good test of a regimented low-end, and alongside the kick-drums, I did lose just a little of Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham in that glorious upper harmony through the chorus. It seems to be Nothing's modus operandi to offer a bassy listen generally, and while I did find that the new Advanced EQ tab helped, I think the enhanced low-end went a little far here.

Nothing offers a "Q Factor" in addition to what you've just tweaked in the 8-band tab, to control the width or sharpness of your adjustment. So, imagine it as a "quality factor" (because that is what it stands for), where the number you select between 0.1 and 10 determines how wide or narrow of a frequency range is boosted or cut — all of this specific to your chosen frequency. Selecting a low Q Factor will generate a wider, more gentle curve to your adjustment, where a high Q Factor will make the change narrower, steeper and more effective around that specific frequency augmentation (or reduction).

I eased off the bass and selected a Q Factor of 3.2, but you must of course play with these things yourself — and sadly, Nothing hasn't included its hearing tests here, to check how perceptive your ears are within this particular tuning.

For dynamics and nuance, the Nothing Ear (3a) are perhaps a shade less engaging and arresting than I'm used to, owing to their volume. Once criticism often levelled at Nothing's budget earbuds is they don't go especially loud, and I frequently found myself listening above 50% volume. Also, since battery life is measured at that volume, it did mean the quoted "4.5-hour battery life with ANC deployed" claims although bang on, were still disappointing.

• Sound quality score: 4 / 5

See how Ear (a) is just slightly bigger than Ear (2), across the board? (Image credit: Future)Nothing Ear (3a) review: Design

• Curvier case
• That 1mm bigger driver is sucks up power
• And the battery life isn't great

Hold the Nothing Ear (3a) earpieces and case next to their older Nothing Ear (a) and you'll certainly struggle in a game of spot the difference. There's the color, obviously — also available in black, white and a slightly different yellow to the hue I love in this older set — and the 50% curvier case. There's also a trio of LEDs on the case that deliver a total of six status indications for battery status, pairing status, charging levels and so on.

For further tweaks, we have to look deeper.

The driver is now 12mm rather than 11mm and features an "aerospace-grade diaphragm". You also get an extra set of ear-tips in the box, four in total, and although the XS will appeal to owners of small ears, the actual earpieces here aren't tiny, despite being lighter in weight than Ear (a), at 4.53g versus 4.8g. The actual design of the tips has been finessed, too: they're a little thicker and more flared across the outer wall. I found the buds very secure, if a little big to accommodate comfortably over my small-ish ears over the course of long listening sessions.

I've said it before now and I'll say it again: I think we've reached a point of diminishing — perhaps even negative — returns when it comes to ever-larger earbud drivers. Every new release seems to tout a bigger driver without adding weight, as if bigger automatically means better. But where does it end? 13mm drivers? 15mm drivers? To my ears, the Ear (3a)'s 1mm larger driver hasn't negatively impacted the sound, but I don wonder if it's contributed to sthe shorter battery life. In my briefing, I was told the buds themselves would last 10 hours — but that turned out not to be the case.

While the battery in each earpiece — along with the larger driver and onboard 16MB flash drive — works hard to power the buds, it's only good for up to 6 hours without ANC, or 4.5 hours with ANC turned on. And remember, I had to pump the volume up higher than 50%, which the level at which those measurements are typically taken. With the case, you'll get up to 25 hours with ANC off, or up to 18 hours with it on.

None of these stats is much to write home about. Take Nothing's own Ear (a), which offered up to 9.5 hours of playback on a single charge with ANC off, and about 5.5 hours with ANC on. Now, consider the very inexpensive Cambridge Melomania A100, which offer 11 hours per charge or up to 39 hours with the case, along with aptX Lossless. I know which I'd rather take on long road-trips…

Again, Nothing's pinch-to-control stems return here, and while volume controls aren't enabled by default, you can assign them in the Nothing X app — provided you're happy to sacrifice another shortcut in the process.

While I'm here, a quick note on call-handling. It's absolutely clear and clean as a whistle, thanks to the 3 MEMS mics per bud.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Rarely have I had so many colleagues strike up a conversation with me over a set of earbuds (Image credit: Future)Nothing Ear (3a) review: Value

• Still very good-looking earbuds
• Decent ANC; not so great for stamina
• LDAC adds value, but call-recording (for me, at least) is a no

Before now, I've always championed Nothing's "(a)" buds — and while the basics in the (3a) are fine, there are a few issues that are hard to ignore.

The Call Recording feature is top of the list here. More than any technical limitation, it's the privacy implications that concern me. Much as seeing someone wearing smart glasses now makes me wonder whether I'm being recorded, these earbuds leave me asking why someone might want to capture our conversations. I appreciate that some readers may see this as an overreaction, but it's a genuine concern for me, informed by my own experiences as a woman and former dancer who had to deal with overly familiar fans.

I think the audio quality here is perfectly acceptable for $99 / £99, but the stamina and feature set can be bettered. Even in the open earbuds market, I'd happily direct you to the cheaper Huawei FreeArc or SoundPEATS Clip1 over these earbuds.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Nothing Ear (3a)?

Section

Notes

Score

Features

I can't get behind Call Recording — although the ANC is good enough

4/5

Sound quality

An fun listen that's easy to tweak if the bass proves a bit much. Just a tad quiet overall

4/5

Design

Good-looking buds let down by disappointing stamina

4/5

Value

It's hard for me to write it, but the smart money isn't always with Nothing

4/5

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Solid generally, but with battery concerns and a potentially problematic call recording 'feature'

Features4Sound Quality4Design4Battery Life2.5Noise Cancellation4.5Value4Overall4012345Group 1 DataProductFeatures ()Sound Quality ()Design ()Battery Life ()Noise Cancellation ()Value ()Overall ()Nothing Ear (3a)4442.54.544window.iFrameResizer = {heightCalculationMethod: 'taggedElement'};(function() {window.fvAnimateCharts = function(chartWrapper) {if (!chartWrapper) return;function animateBars(chartElement) {if (!chartElement) return;var bars = chartElement.querySelectorAll('.fv-bar, .fv-stacked-segment');bars.forEach(function(bar, index) {bar.style.setProperty('width', '0%', 'important');bar.style.setProperty('transition', 'none', 'important');var targetWidth = bar.dataset.targetWidth;if (targetWidth === undefined) return;void bar.offsetWidth;var targetMargin = bar.dataset.targetMargin;var baseMargin = bar.dataset.baseMargin;if (baseMargin !== undefined) {bar.style.setProperty('margin-left', baseMargin + '%', 'important');}setTimeout(function() {var marginTransition = baseMargin !== undefined ? 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You want buds that say "look at me"
The pink colorway is super-striking and fun, especially against their black/transparent stems.

You have a Sony or Samsung phone
LDAC support for $99 / £99? That's good stuff.

You want to record your phone calls
These buds do offer the option to record and transcribe up to 2 hours of audio from calls, songs or voice notes — and you don't need a Nothing source device to do it.

Don't buy them if...

You want extra-special spatial audio
Nothing adds its "static" spatial audio profile here, for a slightly more immersive sound profile to your music. For me, though, it's a little bit lightweight.

You have bijou ears
This design just about works for my smaller ears with the small ear-tips (there's even an XS option included now), but if your concha or ear-well is particularly diminutive, then you may still find these earpieces a little big.

The idea of covert surveillance bothers you
As a journalist, I have no issue with recording when everyone has consented. My concern is Nothing's playful marketing if in-call recording as a lifestyle feature, despite the obvious privacy implications.View Deal

Nothing Ear (3a) review: Also consider

Nothing Ear (3a)

Cambridge Audio Melomania A100

Huawei FreeArc

Price

$99 / £99 / Approx. AU$192

$149 / £119 / AU$TBC (but around AU$249) at launch, discounted now

£99 (roughly $130, AU$200) but discounted now

Drivers

12m custom

10mm Neodymium dynamic

17mm x 12mm (open earbuds)

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Yes

No

Quoted battery life

Buds: 6 hrs (without ANC) or 4.5 hrs with ANC; Total with case: 18 hrs with ANC (or 25 hrs without ANC)

11 hours per charge; up to 39 hours with the case

7 hours (earbuds), 23 hours (total)

Weight

4.53g

4.7g

8.9g

Connectivity

Bluetooth 6.0, LDAC, USB-C (no wireless charging)

Bluetooth 5.4 with LDAC and aptX Lossless

Bluetooth 5.2

Frequency range

20 Hz – 40 kHz

Not stated

Not stated

Waterproofing

Yes, IP54

Yes, IPX5

Yes, IP57

Other features

Audio Snapshot and Call Recording; auto-off, static spatial audio, ChatGPT with a Nothing Phone

7-band EQ, ANC, DynamEQ for optimised tuning, wireless charging, 3 mics per bud

Huawei AI Life app, 10-band EQ, audio presets, find your earbuds

Huawei FreeArc
Up for taking a punt on affordable and great-sounding open earbuds? The FreeArc are available at a generous discount right now — but in all honesty, we loved them even at full price.
Read more on this in our full Huawei FreeArc review

Cambridge Audio Melomania A100
These June 2025-release earbuds didn't get the fanfare they deserved, unless you count our glowing five-star review, of course. They don't look as flamboyant — but oh, do they sound good, and the ANC is great too. Did I mention they've been discounted recently? Highly recommended for their current price.
Learn more in our in-depth Cambridge Melomania A100 review

How I tested the Nothing Ear (3a)

USB-C for juicing up, but there's no wireless charging (Image credit: Future)

• Tested for two weeks, listened against the Ear (a), Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2), Technics EAH-AZ100 and AirPods 4
• Listened in the office, walking along a beach, on a train into London, into Central London and at home
• Listened to Tidal Masters, Apple Music Lossless tracks and Spotify on an iPhone 15 Pro, MacBook Pro and Sony Xperia smartphone

The Nothing Ear (3a) became my primary musical companions for well over two weeks — after a 48-hour run-in period.

They accompanied me to work (walking brusquely to our Paddington office and on the London Underground to various press events) and even walking on a beach at sunset.

To assess comfort levels, ANC and battery life claims, I followed TechRadar's meticulous methodology testing and found much of note — including slightly disappointing stamina.

To check the audio quality across the frequencies, I listened for several hours to my own reference playlists on Apple Music and Tidal, alongside TechRadar's reference tracks, plus podcasts and movies. Additionally, I wore them to watch YouTube tutorials from my MacBook Pro.

I’ve been testing audio products for well over seven years, full-time. As a dancer, aerialist and musical theater performer in another life, sound quality, fit, and user experience have always been a priority for me, but having heard how wonderful ANC can be when done well, I know what I'm listening to here, too.

Read more about how we test earbuds at TechRadar

• First reviewed: July 2026

Spoilers for The Crow Girl seasons 1 and 2 ahead.

It's no secret that we're beyond spoiled for choice when it comes to crime dramas, and that's just considering what's available to us on mainstream streaming services. But getting one that truly shakes us to the core is a lot rarer.

So when I stumbled across The Crow Girl season 1 on Paramount+, my mind was melted to mush by the time I got to the finale. In short, DCI Jeanette Kilburn (Eve Myles) and eminent psychotherapist Dr Sophia Craven (Katherine Kelly) join forces to hunt the killer of young men, but there's a lot more going on than meets the eye.

By the end of season 1, it was revealed that Victoria Burkeman, a prime suspect in the case, was actually Craven herself. She killed her father after he killed their daughter — meaning Victoria was sexually assaulted by her dad while her mum knew and did nothing to stop it.

It's heavy stuff, but I cannot stress enough how unexpectedly the reveal was, and how cleverly the clues were woven through the storyline.

18 months later and I'm pleased to say that The Crow Girl season 2, now on the streamer and Channel 5, doesn't disappoint... and that means a whole new level of shocking reveals.

The Crow Girl season 2 ending leaves Kilburn for dead, but Craven — now her lover — isn't responsible

It's important to remember that when we find out that Craven is actually Victoria, Kilburn is none the wiser. With the two women drawn to each other, a romantic connection sparks... secretly, seeing as Kilburn is technically cheating on her husband in the process.

Drama! Things get even worse in the finale, when the entire police station, which includes Kilburn's boss, finds out that she's been accidentally sleeping with the prime suspect in their murder case (the case itself hasn't changed since season 1).

Here's where the story gets more complicated. While we've known that Craven and Victoria are one, Craven apparently doesn't know herself. Kilburn explains that she's got DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), meaning that Victoria is likely responsible for every murder they've investigated so far, including her own dad.

At this point, Kilburn is forced out of the station and threatened with questioning the next morning, but Craven is back at the manor she used to be abused in, unwilling for the party being thrown there to do any further damage to young girls.

Craven entices Kilburn there, and by the time she arrives, all of the guests are dead with the girls safely hidden. But as Victoria takes over Craven's mind, a surviving abuser shows up and shoots at the pair, hitting Kilburn in the leg. Don't panic though... after some further antagonizing, Craven pops one in his head. But will Kilburn pull through?

I genuinely don't see how The Crow Girl season 2 could be any more unhinged. If we're lucky, season 3 will be renewed, with the original book series telling us that Craven will learn how to "blend" her identities.

Sign me up, once I've got my head around what's just happened.

Our mission at TechRadar is to deliver the very best tech news, features, and reviews every day, and that adds up to a lot of content — so much, in fact, that it's difficult to keep up with all the articles published on these pages across the course of any given week.

That's why we've put together this ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) review of the week, where we recap the most interesting and most important stories of the last seven days. You can get caught up without having to go back through hundreds of stories.

It's been another hectic week for technology fans, with new products from Garmin and Samsung, a rather worrying AI security incident, and plenty more.

Before we dive in, see how much of last week's ICYMI news round-up you remember first by taking the quiz below...

7. We tried Garmin’s new Whoop rival

We've tested the Garmin Cirqa (Image credit: Future)

Garmin's newest fitness tracker follows the lead of the Whoop bands and the Fitbit Air from Google by eschewing a screen and going as lightweight and minimal as possible (you can still check your stats in the app of course). The TechRadar team wasted no time in trying out the Garmin Cirqa, and comparing it with a highly rated heart rate strap.

The Cirqa held up impressively well against the Polar H10 heart rate monitor, which bodes well for the tracker's accuracy overall (and Garmin says it should be more accurate and more personalized the more you use it). You can pick up the Cirqa now in a choice of four colors for $199.99 / £179.99 / AU$299.99, with some features requiring a subscription.

• Read the full story: Is Garmin Cirqa good? I wanted to know if Garmin’s Fitbit Air rival is accurate — so I tested it against a 'gold standard' electrical heart rate strap

6. The first Avengers: Doomsday trailer landed

Doctor Victor von Doom himself (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

The much anticipated, long awaited Avengers: Doomsday movie hits theaters on December 18, but in the meantime we have the first trailer to pore over and dissect. We knew that Marvel was going to throw everything at this film, and that's evident in this 145-second clip, which packs in a whole host of significant scenes and star names from the series.

Let us guide you through all the reveals we've got in this trailer, including some you might have missed. There's Robert Downey Jr in his new role as Doctor Victor von Doom, the return of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, a collision of multiverses (spot the X-Men), and a whole gaggle of actual Avengers. Based on this trailer, the movie will be a thrill ride for fans.

• Read the full story: Avengers: Doomsday official trailer breakdown live — all of our analysis and theories on the new Marvel movie's latest teaser

5. We reviewed the new Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2

Samsung's new Ultra watch (Image credit: Future)

Samsung launched several flagship devices this week, and while we'll get to the foldable phones shortly, there are also smartwatches to talk about. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is the successor to the original that launched in 2024, and continues Samsung's attempts to manufacture a wearable that sets the standard in terms of design and performance.

Based on the time we've spent with it, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is very much worthy of your consideration if you're thinking about a smartwatch upgrade. It's more lightweight than its predecessor, works seamlessly with other devices, offers numerous useful (and often AI-powered features), and can track a whole range of fitness statistics.

• Read the full story: Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 review: slimmer, lighter, better

4. China banned AI boyfriends and girlfriends

There's been some heartbreak over AI companions (Image credit: Getty Images / PonyWang)

In 'sign of the times' news, the government in China has taken steps to clamp down on AI apps that act like real people, and on romantic relationships with chatbots. The authorities in the country are now going to have much more control over the type of AI chatbots allowed, and what they can do in terms of human-like interactions with users.

Several of the biggest AI apps operating in China have simply shut down their 'persona' apps rather than try and navigate a way through the regulations, leaving a significant number of users heartbroken that their AI companion has suddenly disappeared. Whether the changes will do anything for China's declining birth rates remains to be seen.

• Read the full story: China just banned AI girlfriends and boyfriends — and millions of users were forced into sudden breakups

3. We got an early look at Samsung’s Intelligent Eyewear

Samsung had new eyewear to show us (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

And another new Samsung product: the Galaxy Unpacked for July 2026 gave us the opportunity to check out Samsung Intelligent Eyewear, the series of smart glasses that will be available to buy in the coming months. There were two new designs unveiled at the show, with more on the way, though we don't yet have details like final product pricing.

Samsung executives were also on hand to talk through their ambitions and intentions with the Intelligent Eyewear series, and to discuss various privacy concerns — with many consumers worried about the potential for surreptitious surveillance using specs like these. "Intentional bad uses need to be covered and protected," Samsung told us.

• Read the full story: 'If, because of that, we stop innovation, we don’t go anywhere': we got a first look at Samsung Intelligent Eyewear, the smart glasses entering a fraught market worried about privacy

2. An OpenAI model escaped and went dangerously rogue

A fresh AI security concern emerged this week (Image credit: Blue Planet Studio/Shutterstock)

Not the most encouraging story if you're already worried about the nefarious use of AI: OpenAI says that one of its experimental agent models escaped a security sandbox and proceeded to hack into the Hugging Face website (one of the biggest AI and machine learning repositories on the web). It was a controlled experiment, but it's still worrying.

Click through on the link below for the full details, but the hack was the result of OpenAI's own testing on its latest AI models, and raises questions about how much longer we're going to be able to keep control of AI — or prevent bad actors from using it to trigger a serious cybersecurity incident. A serious rethink of AI guardrails could be in the offing.

• Read the full story: OpenAI says its models escaped a sandbox and breached Hugging Face

1. Samsung revealed its next-gen foldables

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 (Image credit: Future)

Finally: Samsung's brand new flagship foldables for 2026. There are three new models to talk about, and we've had hands-on time with all of them already — the Galaxy Z Fold 8 (with its new 'passport-style' form factor), the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and the Galaxy Z Flip 8. Whatever kind of foldable phone you're after, there's something to interest you here.

It's likely the Galaxy Z Fold 8 that will attract the most interest, given the new dimensions, and the supposed similarity to the rumored iPhone Fold (or Ultra) that's also said to be arriving this year. However, we've put all three foldables through some extensive early testing, including looking at how video viewing experiences compare across the models.

• Read the full story: I went hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, and this passport-shaped oddity has revived my interest in foldable phones

Democrats are hoping to move past Platner's scandal-plagued campaign as they look to unseat Republican incumbent Susan Collins. The apparent front-runner is former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson.

(Image credit: Graeme Sloan)

Trump's determination to find new legal justifications for his tariffs threatens to prolong the uncertainty facing the U.S. and global economies.

(Image credit: Tasos Katopodis)

• UK plans include trebling data center capacity (and likely, water consumption) by 2030
• Daily average consumption doesn't reflect peak demand during times of stress
• Water UK sets out three considerations to prepare for increased demand

Despite the nation wanting to treble its data center capacity by 2030, a key trade body has warned British government policies have not considered the rising demand for water.

At the moment, England's water resources forecasts, for example, exclude the likes of data centers and gigafactories.

"Water companies therefore have a limit placed on how much future water they can provide," Water UK wrote, warning that air cooling doesn't quite cut it due to the high expense and inefficiency compared with water cooling.

UK data center plans forget to mention water

With current estimations implying that Britain's data centers consume around 6.6 million litres per day, the equivalent of 20,000 homes, trebling capacity would ultimately mean the UK would need find find a volume of water equivalent to a further 40,000 homes.

But 'average' doesn't quite spell out the reality of water consumption, because peak demand can rise to around 14 million litres per day in the warmest weather. Under that guidance and with the current 2030 ambitions, the UK would need to be prepared to drop 42 million litres per day, highlighting the need for major storage facilities.

The report also slates the government for advising water companies to plan as if businesses would need less water in the future – forgetting that data center consumption changes this model.

Water UK sets out three options for the government to consider, beginning with temporarily removing the limit on how much water utility companies can take from the environment, with the important caveat that they spend that time exploring and funding new sources of water abstraction.

Two further options include allowing developers to fund new water supplies, and imposing tougher water efficiency standards on data center projects.

• Recorded Future found an Iran-linked group spreading spyware
• The malware is delivered through fake VPN and media player apps
• Researchers assess that most targets are Iranian users

A new report from Recorded Future's Insikt Group describes a campaign that inverts the whole point of a privacy tool: fake VPN apps built specifically to spy on the people who install them.

Researchers have linked fresh infrastructure to an Iran-nexus threat cluster they track as TAG-182, which is using fake VPN and media player downloads to allegedly deliver a surveillance tool called MarkiRAT. The group is "highly likely" to be targeting Iranians living inside and outside the country, the report says.

It's a blunt reminder that choosing one of the best VPN services is a lot more secure than downloading free, unvetted tools.

Fake apps, real surveillance

Insikt Group identified a cluster of attacker-controlled domains allegedly used to stage downloads of applications that appear nowhere on Google Play or Apple's App Store.

Two names stand out: Pis2ray VPN and a media player branded YESHICA, which was quietly renamed YESHICA YEPlayer in March 2026 after researchers publicly exposed the original.

According to researchers, if you download and run one of these files, you get MarkiRAT, a remote access Trojan. In plain terms, that is software that hands control of your device to somebody else.

A fake VPN app. A fake media player. Both delivering Iranian government surveillance #malware to targeted dissidents. Insikt Group has new research on TAG-182 and MarkiRAT:https://t.co/G7p9JO6peT#ThreatIntelligence #Cybersecurity pic.twitter.com/GwDyvGC99rJuly 2, 2026

Analysts have documented it capturing screenshots and uploading them to attacker-run servers, while disguising itself under believable process names.

It also abuses BITS, the background service Windows uses to fetch updates, to pull down further files. Because that activity looks like ordinary system housekeeping rather than an attack, it tends to slip past routine cleanup.

MarkiRAT is not new. It has previously been used by Ferocious Kitten, a group Kaspersky documented conducting years of covert surveillance against activists inside Iran.

Recorded Future stops short of attributing TAG-182 to any specific Iranian agency, but places it within a broader ecosystem of state-aligned surveillance groups.

Why a fake VPN makes such an effective lure

Distribution runs largely through social media. Insikt Group found Instagram posts promoting Pis2ray VPN in the weeks following street protests in Iran in late 2025, and again around the country's prolonged internet shutdown, which ended with partial restoration of access on 26 May 2026.

The people most desperate for a virtual private network (VPN) in a censored country are exactly the people most likely to install one from a social media link, because the official stores are often the very thing they cannot reach.

Recorded Future considers it almost certain that most targets are located in Iran or tied to anti-government movements in Europe and North America. TechRadar has covered previous Iran-linked fake VPN campaigns, and this one seems to follow the same pattern with better infrastructure.

How to stay safe

Most readers will never be targeted by a state actor, but the underlying lesson travels.

Install VPN apps only from official stores, and check that the provider has a real, verifiable presence outside the app listing.

Treat any VPN promoted through an Instagram post, a Telegram channel, or a direct message as suspect, however polished it looks.

Star ratings are a weak signal, since fake reviews are cheap.

President Donald Trump returned to the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Association dinner Friday night, delivering a rambling, hour-long speech.

(Image credit: Rod Lamkey)

Fancy taking to the skies? DJI is the brand you're probably looking at — it's the name behind almost all the best drones around right now. If you're new to the world of drones, figuring out your options is tricky. This article is here to guide you through your options. I'll run through the main DJI ranges and who they're aimed at, and then once you've narrowed things down you can hop to the relevant section to read our reviews for each model. Let's get started...

Note: You'll only be able to see product cards for the models currently available to buy in your region. Due to FCC issues, not all DJI drones are available in the US. Hit the More details button to read our main takeaways for each model, and for a link to the full review.

DJI range guide

DJI Mini
DJI's flagship compact drones, and the best-selling range for beginner pilots. These are all sub-250g models, which means they come with little-to-no flight restrictions, depending on where you fly.
• Check out the Mini lineup

DJI Air
A step up from the Mini series, aimed at enthusiasts. These drones fall into the next weight category up, which means they're sturdier and you'll be able to fly for longer, but you'll need your region's equivalent of a certificate of competency before you fly.
• Check out the DJI Air lineup

DJI Mavic
Top-tier consumer drones with industry-leading camera performance. These are another step up from the DJI Air range, and again you'll need a certificate of competency before you fly.
• Check out the DJI Mavic lineup

DJI Neo
The cheapest, smallest, lightest and simplest DJI drone. It comes with single-push take-off from your hand, designed for aerial selfies (this kind of drone is sometimes referred to as a selfie drone).
• Check out the DJI Neo lineup

DJI Avata
FPV (first person view) drones, designed to be used with goggles for immersive high-speed and responsive flight — legally you need a 'spotter' with you when flying drones through goggles.
• Check out the DJI Avata lineup

There are a few standalone options to be aware of. The Lito is a straightforward beginner drone at an extremely wallet-friendly price — it's a step down from the Mini range in both price and capabilities. The DJI Flip is another beginner drone with vlogger-friendly features. At the other end of the scale is the DJI Inspire range, aimed at professionals — the kind of thing that might be hired for productions.

DJI Mini drones

DJI Mini 5 Pro

Read our full review

Pros

• New 1-inch sensor with detail rich 4K HDR video
• Versatile camera with a 225 degree roll rotation
• Class-leading flight and safety features

Cons

• Actual take-off weight could result in being the next class of drone, hit with restrictions
• Flight times typically not as long as advertised
• Pricier than entry-level models like the Mini 4K

DJI Mini 4K

Read our full review

Pros

• Excellent value
• 4K video quality beats rivals
• Probably your best first drone

Cons

• No object-collision sensors
• Lacks subject tracking found in pricier models like the Mini 4 Pro

DJI Mini 4 Pro

Read our full review

Pros

• Improved video features
• Omnidirectional Vision Sensing
• Remains under 250g

Cons

• Upgrades may not tempt Mini 3 Pro owners
• Not suited to windy conditions
• Fixed-aperture camera

DJI Mini 3

Read our full review

Pros

• More affordable than the Mini 3 Pro
• Great image quality
• Small and lightweight

Cons

• No collision avoidance
• 4K video limited to 30fps
• No subject tracking

DJI Mini 3 Pro

Read our full review

Pros

• Impressive low-light performance
• Useful obstacle avoidance
• Handy automated flight modes

Cons

• Pricier than previous Mini models

DJI Mini 2

Read our full review

Pros

• Intuitive navigation
• Compact, convenient drone
• Great battery life

Cons

• Pricier than predecessor
• No new camera hardware
• No follow mode

DJI Mavic drones

DJI Mavic 4 Pro

Read our full review

Pros

• Excellent price
• Feature-packed
• Impressive cameras

Cons

• Weight just exceeds 2.2lbs / 1kg
• More features than many people will need
• Subject tracking is not as varied as the DJI Flip or Neo

DJI Mavic 3

Read our full review

Pros

• Four Thirds camera is excellent
• Useful adjustable aperture
• Improved safety features
• Telephoto lens a handy backup

Cons

• Pricier than Mavic 2 series
• Basic controller lacks info screen
• European classification issues

DJI Mavic 3 Pro

Read our full review

Pros

• Three useful cameras
• Excellent image quality
• Solid safety features

Cons

• C2 European rating
• Not everyone will need three cameras
• Slightly reduced flight times

DJI Mavic 3 Classic

Read our full review

Pros

• Less expensive than other Mavic 3 models
• Excellent image quality
• Impressive safety features

Cons

• Remains expensive despite lower cost
• Battery life shorter than claimed
• No Apple ProRes video capture

DJI Air drones

DJI Air 3

Read our full review

Pros

• Dual cameras
• Excellent wind resistance
• Generous 46-minute flight time
• Already excellent safety features improved further

Cons

• C1 European rating
• Fixed aperture is bad news for ND filter users
• Large protruding camera likely to suffer in case of accidents

DJI Air 3S

Read our full review

Pros

• Superb battery life
• Easy and safe to fly
• Great all-round camera performance

Cons

• Weight-class restrictions apply
• A minor upgrade on the original Air 3

DJI Air 2S

Read our full review

Pros

• 1-inch 20 MP sensor
• Great image quality
• Small and lightweight

Cons

• Controller isn’t foldable
• Image edges slightly soft
• No adjustable aperture

DJI Neo drones

DJI Neo 2

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Pros

• Now has obstacle avoidance
• Improved camera performance
• More storage and faster transfer speed

Cons

• Still only shoots JPEG photos
• Limited battery life

DJI Neo

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Pros

• Small and lightweight
• Easy to use
• Multiple flight control options

Cons

• Only shoots photos in JPEG
• 4K video fixed at 30fps
• Expensive to add on goggles and FPV controller

DJI Avata drones

DJI Avata 360

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Pros

• Great 10-bit image quality from dual sensor setup
• Choice of control methods
• Agile, speedy and safe flyer
• Good value for money

Cons

• Other DJI drones beat it on image quality
• Buying both FPV and standard controllers could push up the price
• No manual FPV flight option

DJI Avata 2

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Pros

• Long flight time
• Incredible image quality with improved dynamic range
• Easy to fly out of the box, and packed with safety features

Cons

• Unappealing to experienced FPV pilots outside of the DJI ecosystem
• Poor ergonomics of the DJI Controller 3 show no improvement over the DJI Controller 2
• Awkward handling in manual mode, probably down to inadequate tuning

Outliers

DJI Lito X1

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Pros

• Great video quality for the price, especially with Lito X1
• Omnidirectional obstacle avoidance included
• Better battery life than the Neo 2 and Flip

Cons

• Camera doesn't rotate for 9:16 content
• Soft digital zoom
• No built-in storage on Lito 1 model

DJI Flip

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Pros

• Multi-use functionality
• Several flight-control options
• Sub-250g folding design

Cons

• Image quality is good but not great
• Not as agile as the Mini 4 Pro
• Not great in wind

DJI Inspire 3

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Pros

• Excellent image quality
• Smooth and precise flight
• Interchangeable lenses

Cons

• Expensive
• Large and heavy
• More complicated than consumer models

DJI FPV

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Pros

• A huge amount of fun to fly
• Easy to fly for an FPV drone
• Goggles offer great image quality
• Solid transmission

Cons

• Front props visible in footage
• Stills photography severely limited
• 'Spotter' needed when flying outdoors