Technology

If you're looking to score a fitness tracker or one of the best smartwatches for comparatively little cash, the Labor Day deals are an excellent time to do so. It's always worth searching for big names such as Garmin, Apple, Samsung, and Google Pixel in this space, but it's worth being open to up-and-coming challenger brands too.

Amazfit is one such brand, offering great fitness tech products while undercutting the big brands. Amazfit is the official timekeeper of Hyrox, and its Active 3 Premium smartwatch earned five stars in our official review.

With features that are usually only available in more expensive watches, the Amazfit Active 3 Premium looks good at full price, but is looking like an even better value for Labor Day. Right now on Amazon, you can get the Amazfit Active 3 Premium discounted from $169.99 down to $125.99, saving you 26%. Check out the deal in full below:

Today's best Amazfit Active 3 Premium deal

Active 3 Premium: was $169.99 now $125.99
Save 26% on the price of the already-excellent value Active 3. It's rare (read: almost unbelievable) to see full-color maps on a watch at this price, allowing you to follow a trail or guided run, but you also get loads of sports modes, up to 12 days of battery life (around a week in practice with regular use), a bright AMOLED screen, and GPS tracking. View Deal

The best thing about this is the Active 3 Premium's feature set, which is genuinely astounding for the price.

It offers full offline maps, a feature usually reserved for much more expensive watches. In Garmin's current range, for example, you don't get full-color maps until you hit the $749.99 price point of the Garmin Forerunner 970, with its cheaper 570 sibling missing out. Similarly, the metal bezels and case elements that make it feel and look premium, accurate workout tracking with multiple GPS network connectivity, and up to 12 days of battery life.

We said in our Amazfit Active 3 Premium review that it's a "good-looking, fully-featured fitness tracker" with performance that is "excellent across the board".

Shop more of today's best Labor Day sales

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $99
• Appliances: up to $1,200 at Samsung
• Best Buy: 60% off appliances, TVs, laptops & more
• Casper: up to 30% off mattresses
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• DreamCloud: up to 60% off mattresses, 66% off bundles
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lowe's: $1,000 off appliances, patio & tools
• Nectar: up to 50% off mattresses, deals from $349
• Saatva: up to $625 off luxury mattresses
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off 4K, QLED & OLED TVs
• Target: 45% off clothing, tech & furniture
• Walmart: 58% off back-to-school, furniture, & clothing

• Google has fixed a setup issue with the first-gen Chromecast device
• Owners have been complaining for months about their devices going missing from the Google Home app
• The update also fixes functionality issues

Have you been running into setup issues with your older Chromecast and Google Home devices? You’ll be happy to hear you’re not alone on this one — and even happier to know that Google has finally rolled out a fix.

These issues first arose when Google announced it would be ending support for its oldest Chromecast dongles back in May. From there, owners started reporting problems with setting up their devices after they started disappearing from the Google Home app on Android.

A Google Home app update made setting up Chromecast even more difficult which, understandably, sparked a lot of worry for those who are still using the first-gen Chromecast from over 10 years ago, convincing them that Google was officially pulling the plug on its OG streaming device. Similar issues then started cropping up for owners of the 2015 Chromecast model and Google Home Mini speaker, affecting functionality as well as the setup process.

At first, users were left to find their own workarounds and solutions, with many having to factory reset their devices, revert to older versions of the Google Home app, or even wipe their entire Home ecosystem to start afresh. Thankfully, Google has solved this, implying that these setup and functionality crashes were part of a software glitch.

The Google Nest Community account on Reddit replied to a series of frustrated posts with the following statement: ‘We've resolved an issue that was impacting the ability to set up some older Chromecast and Google Home devices. If you haven't already, factory reset your speaker or update your Google Home app to version 4.26 and try again’.

It hasn’t been the best time to be a first-gen Chromecast owner to say the least, but at least Google’s latest fix offers some reassurance that the company isn’t writing off its oldest streaming device yet — despite pulling the first Chromecast from shelves in early 2025. That said, Google isn’t the first tech giant to be accused of intentionally bricking older streaming devices to get users to upgrade.

Amazon received similar backlash when a user filed a lawsuit against the company, after reporting that two Fire TV sticks ran into severe performance issues just a few years after purchasing them. The user claimed that Amazon had been software tethering, while not disclosing the truth about the lifespan of its Fire TV stick streamers.

Now that Google has found a solution, hopefully it does the job at reviving your older Chromecast model. If the issues still persist, Google recommends reaching back out to the Nest community to let them know.

• Not a single agent scored the full 20 out of 20
• Claude for Chrome performed better than the ChatGPT Chrome Extension
• With performance varying by testing category, Decodo advises selecting an agent based on planned usage

New Decodo research has criticized AI agents for still not being able to conduct real-world browsing tasks autonomously, including tasks like form filling, completing transactions, having cross-tab awareness and handling third-party integrations.

In fact, the study analyzed 45 AI agents across 10 different capabilities and found that not a single one could achieve the maximum score of 20.

The testing is also said to have exposed discrepancies between what vendors and AI developers say their agents are capable of, and what they can actually deliver on.

Agentic AI isn't at the level of autonomous browsing, yet

Claude for Chrome was the highest-scoring agent, reaching 18 points – two below the theoretical maximum. Its OpenAI counterpart, the ChatGPT Chrome Extension, fell short with a 14-point score.

Decodo argues that agents most commonly fall behind on transactions – the lowest-scoring category with an average of 0.43 out of 2. The study found that, while they can often reach the checkout stage, they can't actually complete a purchase on behalf of the user.

Even if an agent is technically capable of making a purchase, the paper warns that it still might not have the best safeguards in place to keep sensitive information like credit card numbers safe.

Safeguards is a major theme in Decodo's work, with the research also calling out multi-step workflows for lacking sufficient safeguards. More than half of the agents capable of multi-step workflows lacked any documented safeguards before conducting irreversible actions.

While current agentic technology still doesn't deliver on its promises, one type may emerge as the winner. Decodo found several browser-native agents to score full marks for cross-tab awareness.

"Match the tool to the job, not to the longest feature list," Product Marketing Team Lead Gabriele Vitke explained, urging AI agent users to consider their own needs instead of buying into marketing.

• Belkin has launched two semi-solid-state power banks
• These have 5,000mAh and 10,000mAh capacities and are slimmer than standard power banks with those same capacities
• They should also last longer before wearing out

Semi-solid-state batteries are one of the biggest advancements we’ve seen in consumer battery tech in years — they’re denser than lithium-ion batteries, so they can sport a higher capacity without increasing the thickness, and they also degrade more slowly. In other words: they’re a major upgrade, and Belkin has just launched two power banks with this semi-solid-state tech, which we’ve already had an early look at during IFA 2026.

First, there's the Belkin UltraCharge Pro Slim Magnetic Power Bank with BoostSolid Cell, a power bank with a 5,000mAh capacity that’s just 8.8mm thick and is around the same length and width as a standard credit card. That thickness makes it up to 40% slimmer than comparable 5,000mAh power banks.

The UltraCharge Pro Slim sports Qi2-certified 15W magnetic wireless charging, 22.5W USB-C wired charging, pass-through charging so you can charge a phone and the power bank at the same time, and — thanks to its semi-solid-state construction — the ability to retain most of its capacity across 1,000 charging cycles.

There’s also the Belkin 10,000mAh UltraCharge Pro, which can deliver up to 60W of power, is able to charge multiple devices at once via dual USB-C ports and a USB-A port, and has a display that can show battery, temperature, and charging information.

This power bank also supports pass-through charging, and while it’s understandably thicker than the 5,000mAh power bank above, Belkin claims it’s still 27% smaller than standard 45W 10,000mAh power banks.

Incredibly slim with excellent build qualityTechRadarTechRadarTechRadar

Harry Padoan (Senior Writer, Reviews) went hands-on with both of these new power banks and said, “Belkin's new UltraCharge power banks look pretty impressive — largely due to their incredibly slim build, which makes them highly practical for juicing up your devices on the go. That's especially true for the Slim Magnetic Power Bank 5K, which boasts solid Qi2-certified wireless charging as well as 22.5W wired charging.”

Padoan added that “the larger Power Bank 10K is a bit thicker, but it packs in a handy display and a solid 60W maximum power output, which will be more than enough power to fast-charge many modern handsets. The build quality across both models also seems excellent, and there are Black and Sand options, depending on what you prefer.”

While these are among the first Belkin products to feature semi-solid-state technology, we have already seen it in some power banks from other brands, such as the Kuxia S3. But it’s nice to see a big brand like Belkin embracing this innovation.

If you like the sound of Belkin’s new offerings, you’ll be able to grab the 5,000mAh power bank for £59.99 (around $80 / AU$110) and the 10,000mAh one for £69.99 (roughly $95 / AU$130) from Belkin’s own site, Amazon, and other selected retailers worldwide, starting this month.

HTC’s Vive Eagle do a lot of what Meta’s glasses do, cameras included. But the extra battery boost might be a sign of where Meta and others head.

• California lawmakers have approved a plug-in solar bill
• All that's required now is the Governor's signature
• These kits could save you up to $450 a year on electricity

Adding plug-in solar power to your home's energy mix is about to become legal in California: lawmakers in the state have now passed a bill approving the use of plug-in (or balcony) panels, so it's now ready to be signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Senate Bill 868 (the Plug and Play Solar Act) was first proposed at the start of the year, and permits plug-in solar kits up to 1,200 watts to be connected to a standard outlet. A simple online registration form is all that's required in terms of paperwork.

If you're new to the tech, it enables residents to benefit from solar energy without the expensive installation costs or planning permission processes associated with rooftop solar. You just put these kits on a balcony, on a wall, or in a backyard, and plug them in.

Any electricity generated by the sunshine and your new plug-in kit gets offset against what your home is currently demanding in terms of electricity. Official figures suggest savings could be up to $450 per year.

More to come

Plug-in solar is particular beneficial for renters (Image credit: Getty Images / Astrid860)

Utah was the first US state to legalize plug-in solar, in 2025, and since then eight other states have followed. New York State, like California, is waiting for a Governor signature, while proposals are pending in another seven states.

The change in law is particularly helpful for those renting a property, as it means solar is an option without any permanent changes to the place of residence. When you move, you can just pack up the solar panel kit and take it with you.

Retailers are still playing catch up though. There's a scarcity of kits being sold at big stores, but dedicated start-ups are filling the gap: for example, Bright Saver is selling plug-in solar panels starting at under $300, though a $29 yearly subscription is also required.

Plug-in solar has already proved a huge success in Europe, especially in Germany, and the technology just became legal in the UK as well. Expect more states to follow Utah and California in the coming months and years.

• Microsoft is rolling out a new security feature for Windows 11
• Memory integrity provides stronger defenses for a crucial part of the operating system, and it's being automatically enabled
• Some gamers say the feature hampers gaming frame rates considerably, and they're not happy

Windows 11 is getting its security bolstered with a feature that's being automatically enabled, but which comes at a cost that some PC gamers don't want to pay — and this is proving quite the controversy on social media.

The Verge reports that Microsoft has announced that it's rolling out the enablement of memory integrity protection across eligible Windows 11 PCs, and that this is because "security works best when protection is built in, not bolted on".

Microsoft explains: "More devices will soon receive stronger protection by default, with no additional setup required. Windows quality updates will begin enabling memory integrity protection on eligible devices.

"If not already enabled, these updates will also enable VBS [Virtualization Based Security], helping make additional security capabilities available and reflecting our commitment to making Windows secure by design and secure by default."

The idea is to tighten security for Windows 11's kernel-mode drivers, a core aspect of the OS with direct access to the system's hardware, and there can be no argument that this additional protection gives host PCs tougher defenses and makes them more difficult to exploit. So why the controversy? Let's dive into the pros and cons of what's going on here.

Analysis: a divisive move — but we can't ignore that the threat landscape is changing

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In Microsoft's view, this is a no-brainer: stronger security is being rolled out to Windows 11 devices, or at least those which are eligible (older PCs may not be). However, PCs configured via group policy not to use memory integrity, or machines where it's been disabled before, won't have the feature forced on them.

Other supported PCs will get memory integrity (and VBS, because it's required for memory integrity) turned on automatically by Windows 11, and this is where some gamers are up in arms. VBS has a long history of being a thorn in the side for gamers, with the feature being linked to frame rate losses.

How much of a headwind does this cause for PC games? Well, therein lies a big part of the issue, because it's difficult to pin that down exactly, and as ever, it's bound to vary depending on your PC's exact hardware and system configuration.

Some gamers observe frame rate hits of approaching 10%, while others say the impact isn't noticeable at all. There's a lot of back-and-forth on Reddit arguing about the extent of any slowdown, and here's a typical exchange:

One Redditor notes: "HVCI [memory integrity] is a great security feature, and the performance impact on newer platforms (to which this automatic switch will apply) is negligible."

Another replies: "It ain't negligible. 9800x3d, 5080, ddr5 6000 cl28 and my 1% lows get wrecked with this feature on. Way smoother disabled."

This isn't just about frames per second performance for some gamers, then, as there are also accusations of it affecting the lowest troughs (bottom 1%) that the frame rate hits (meaning the game suffers more stuttering at times and generally feels jerkier).

As the first comment points out, though, the likelihood should be that a more modern PC won't feel much of a hit (if anything). The gaming rigs that might see more of a spanner in the frame rate works are those which are older, but still modern enough to get the auto-enablement of memory integrity. In other words, a collection of PCs which are on the outer fringes of that compatibility limit (older machines, but not too old to avoid the feature rollout).

Of course, even those PC owners can always turn off memory integrity. The major beef for some is that they remember that Microsoft got into trouble for automatically switching on VBS in the past in a quiet, under-the-radar manner — and the question now will be whether gamers realize that this feature has been enabled alongside memory integrity.

In all honesty, when I saw what Microsoft was doing here and fired up Reddit to test the temperature of the reactions, I was expecting nothing short of a flamethrower being turned on the software giant. However, the feedback is split quite evenly between the haters — or those who disapprove at least — and users who are applauding Microsoft for this deployment.

(Image credit: Getty Images/Focus Pixel Art)

Here are a couple of further examples from either side of the fence: "Apparently a controversial opinion, but systems that are for everyone should be failsafe, and that includes the most secure option being the default. There should be an option to disable security to get higher performance, but most secure should be the default."

Juxtaposed with this: "Already have memory integrity turned off as this 'feature' already hits gaming, I've used Windows without memory integrity for decades I think I'll be ok."

I must admit I'm inclined to agree with Microsoft's decision here — providing that when it happens, Windows 11 is clear on informing the user, so they can reverse the change if they aren't happy with it.

I think part of what Microsoft is doing here is keeping one eye on the future in terms of the difference AI might make to the security of Windows 11 PCs.

I keep hearing about how AI is already driving new threats and exploits, and so the kernel defenses that are being brought into play here may not have been quite as necessary in the past — as the last Reddit post I highlighted indicates — but they may be very much needed before too long. AI is accelerating the development of new threats considerably, and making it easier for anyone to becoming a peddler of malware, so Microsoft likely feels the pressure to act.

Visiting Hisense's booth at IFA is always good for some future-gazing technology — the company often shows off product concepts that it's aiming to actually launch, but often only in China. So obviously, I like to go, find the best ones, and then write articles like this to persuade the company to release them more widely.

And here we are, in one of these articles, because I just saw the world's first micro-LED 3D TV (according to Hisense), and I thought it looked incredible.

The reason why is super-simple: micro-LED's giant brightness levels. Hisense's system uses active-shutter glasses, meaning that the TV shows alternating frames that should be seen by your left and right eyes, and you wear glasses that literally close off the vision of each eye, so that only the correct eye sees the correct frame on the TV.

But these lenses reduce the brightness even when the lens is 'open', and having only half the time to see each frame per eye also reduces perceived brightness, since less light reaches you.

(Image credit: Future)

This is the same technique used in the better examples of the old 3D TVs, but it meant that 3D always looked a bit dull.

But that doesn't matter if the TV is ridiculously bright to start with. Hisense's micro-LED model is capable of 10,000 nits of peak brightness, which means that when you're watching through the glasses, the 'dimmed' version of the video still looks like just a normal TV among the best TVs available today.

Colors look super-rich in 3D, and the 3D is super-sharp and detailed because you're getting native 4K resolution because of the active-shutter tech, and the crispness of the 3D effect is super-impressive. In the video I watched, there was no ghosting or stuttering of the image.

The motion looked really smooth and true to what you want from a TV, especially when combined with colors that actually feel rich and like you're getting HDR.

The amount of depth was really impressive, as well — the foreground truly looked like it was jutting out of the screen towards me, and the background felt like there was some real distance to it.

Hisense says that the TV will be able to convert from 2D to 3D in real-time with anything you watch, using a powerful AI-based system, with all the processing handled on the TV itself.

(Image credit: Future)

Of course, I'm more interested in breaking out my still-saved 3D Blu-rays of the movies I genuinely loved watching in the format, which were truly filmed with it in mind: Hugo, Pacific Rim, Gravity. I have never watched Avatar at home, because I know it would be a way weaker experience — but I'd watch it on this TV.

And while the dimming problem is the main issue with 3D glasses, I know that for many people the glasses themselves are the problem, and this TV won't solve that.

But man, if I were speccing out a high-end home theater setup (Hisense said the TV would cost over $200,00), I'd absolutely want this in it.

Thinking of buying a new TV?

Try our TV size and model finder! You tell it how far you sit from your TV, we'll tell you what size to buy based on viewing angle advice from image quality experts, and we'll recommend our three top TVs at that size for different prices.

The RockAqua P1 made its splashdown at IFA 2026 in Berlin, and we saw it first.

DJI Osmo 360 II: two-minute review

Just a year after launching its debut 360 camera, the Osmo 360, DJI has delivered a sequel that addresses pretty much every complaint I had with the original — without asking you to pay through the nose for the privilege.

The Osmo 360 II looks and feels almost identical to its predecessor: same dimensions, same weight, same general shape. But DJI has used that 12-month gap wisely, fixing the two biggest issues I had with the original Osmo 360 in one swift update.

First, the lenses. They're now built with a tougher optical coating, and — far more importantly — they're user-replaceable if you crack or scratch one. For anyone using this camera to capture action sports, that alone might be worth the modest price increase.

Second, DJI's approach to underwater shooting has changed. The waterproof rating hasn't budged from 10m, but where DJI once actively discouraged submersion with the original Osmo 360, it now positions the Osmo 360 II as a viable sub-aqua option for snorkelers and scuba divers.

(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

On the imaging side, the headline feature is native 8K video at 60fps — a first for any 360 camera, edging out even the freshly-launched Insta360 X6 (which tops out at 8K/50fps). Dynamic range, slow motion, timelapse resolution and SuperNight low-light performance have all improved too, though the underlying sensor appears to be physically the same as before, suggesting these are largely processing-driven gains rather than a major hardware leap.

Performance is solid across the board: battery life is roughly on par with the original, storage remains a generous 105GB built-in, and DJI's Mimo and Studio apps are dependable if unspectacular.

Is this a transformative upgrade? Not quite — image quality is a slight rather than dramatic step forward. But DJI has plugged the gaps that mattered, kept what already worked, and done it all while keeping this camera's price significantly below that of the Insta360 X6.

Against the GoPro Max 2, the Osmo 360 II's low-light performance is a clear win too. Right now, my instinct is that there's very little to separate the Osmo 360 II and the X6 on image quality alone — I'll be testing the two head-to-head in more depth soon to see which comes out on top overall — but as an all-rounder at this price, the Osmo 360 II is a seriously compelling 360 camera.

DJI Osmo 360 II specsDJI Osmo 360 II specs

Type:

360 camera

Sensor:

1.1-inch x 2

Max aperture:

f/1.9

Max video resolution:

8K / 60fps

Max photo resolution:

120MP

Storage:

105GB internal + microSD card slot

Screen:

2-inch OLED

Connectivity:

USB-C 3.0, Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 6

Dimensions:

2.4 x 1.4 x 3.2 inches / 61 x 36.3 x 81mm

Weight:

6.5oz / 183g

DJI Osmo 360 II: Price and availability

• Launches on September 15 2026, roughly a year after the original DJI Osmo 360
• Standard Combo costs £509 / AU$921, up from the original's £409.99 / AU$759
• The Adventure Combo (£639 / AU$1,096) throws in useful extras

The DJI Osmo 360 II arrives around 13 months after its predecessor, and it's more expensive: the Standard Combo will set you back £509 / AU$921, compared with £409.99 / AU$759 for the original Osmo 360 at launch. That's a pretty big jump, but it doesn't stop the Osmo 360 II being significantly more affordable than its biggest rival.

That rival is the Insta360 X6, which starts at £619.99 / AU$1,049.99 for its own Standard bundle. Not that the Osmo 360 II is the budget option in this category, though: the GoPro Max 2, now available for as little as £269.99 / AU$849.95, undercuts DJI comfortably if outright affordability is your main concern.

If you can stretch to it, the pricier Adventure Combo (£639 / AU$1,096) is worth consideration. It throws in two extra batteries (three in total), a charging case that holds three batteries at once, plus a 1.2m selfie stick — accessories that anyone shooting for extended periods will likely want anyway, and which would cost more bought separately.

As with several other recent DJI launches, the Osmo 360 II won't be arriving in the US for now, with the company's application for regulatory authorization still pending. American buyers will need to look elsewhere (or import through a third party) in the meantime.

• Price score: 4.5/5

DJI Osmo 360 II: Design

• Same 61 x 36.3 x 81mm dimensions and 183g weight as the original
• Lenses are now tougher and user-replaceable if damaged
• Still 10m waterproof case-free, but DJI now encourages underwater use

Hold the Osmo 360 II next to its predecessor and there's very little physical difference. DJI has kept the same 61 x 36.3 x 81mm body and 183g weight, and the overall silhouette — a squat, screen-fronted block with two bulging lenses, one on either side — is unchanged. The screen, connectivity options and mounting hardware, including the 1/4-inch tripod thread and DJI's own magnetic quick-release mount, all carry over unaltered from the original too.

Future | Sam KieldsenFuture | Sam KieldsenFuture | Sam KieldsenFuture | Sam KieldsenFuture | Sam KieldsenFuture | Sam Kieldsen

The main changes here are on the lenses themselves. DJI says the Osmo 360 II's lenses use a tougher optical coating that better resists scratches, and if you do manage to crack or damage one, it's now a user-replaceable part via DJI's own lens replacement kit (£35 / AU$50 — and if you prefer, there's also the option of taking or sending it to an authorized repair spot to get someone else to fix it). It sounds like a modest tweak on paper, but it's the biggest change DJI has made this generation from a peace-of-mind perspective, particularly for anyone shooting the kind of high-impact action footage where dinging the lenses is a real risk.

DJI hasn't increased the Osmo 360 II's case-free waterproof rating, which remains at 10m (half of the 20m offered by the Insta360 X6). What has changed is the company's own confidence in the camera underwater: where DJI previously discouraged underwater capture on the original Osmo 360, it now positions the Osmo 360 II as a viable option for snorkelers and scuba divers working within that 10m limit.

• Design score: 4.5/5

DJI Osmo 360 II: Performance

• Battery capacity increased slightly, and format stays interchangeable across the Osmo range
• DJI's claimed 100 minutes of 8K/30fps recording held up in testing
• Extended 8K/60fps recording can cause overheating

DJI has nudged the Osmo 360 II's battery capacity up from 1950mAh to 2150mAh, but real-world battery life is roughly on a par with the original. The batteries themselves remain interchangeable across both Osmo 360 generations and recent Osmo Action-series cameras, so anyone already invested in DJI's action camera ecosystem can use batteries across their various devices.

DJI claims you get 100 minutes of continuous 8K/30fps recording on a full charge. In my testing, I used 25% of the battery to capture 25 minutes of 8K/30fps footage, which backs up DJI's figure almost exactly.

(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

Push the Osmo 360 II to its most demanding setting, 8K at 60fps, and a warning prompt appears letting you know that overheating is a possibility. How long you actually get before that happens depends on ambient conditions, with airflow and temperature both playing a part, but in my testing indoors at room temperature, with no fan or breeze to help cool the camera, it lasted around 19 minutes before shutting itself down to cool off. If you're planning extended 8K/60fps sessions, especially somewhere warm, it's worth considering that limitation.

Storage carries over unchanged from the original Osmo 360, with a generous 105GB of usable built-in space, plus a microSD card slot if you need more.

The new Insta360 X6 next to the even newer DJI Osmo 360 II. (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

Already own a DJI Mic? There's a good chance it'll connect wirelessly to the Osmo 360 II for 24-bit audio, as part of DJI's OsmoAudio ecosystem. If you don't, the camera's four built-in microphones do a decent job of capturing usable sound on their own.

Editing and reframing your 360 footage means going through one of DJI's two companion apps: the mobile DJI Mimo app, or desktop-based DJI Studio. I tested both, and found them solid and dependable overall, if not spectacular. Mimo's AI-assisted auto-editing tools left me distinctly unimpressed, so if you were hoping to shoot all day and wake up to a finished edit, temper your expectations — but for anyone willing to manually cut, reframe and tweak their own clips, both apps get the job done without drama. DJI Studio stood out in particular for its excellent subject tracking and the impressive 64x slow-motion mode, which uses interpolation to smooth out footage.

• Performance score: 4/5

DJI Osmo 360 II: Image quality

• First 360 camera offering native 8K/60fps video recording
• SuperNight low-light mode now runs at up to 60fps
• 120MP still photos with HDR

The Osmo 360 II is the first 360 camera on the market to offer native 8K video at 60fps — even the just-released Insta360 X6 tops out at 8K/50fps. That's not the only imaging upgrade either: DJI has added a stop of extra dynamic range, bumped slow-motion up to 4K/240fps (from 4K/100fps), pushed timelapse resolution to 16K/30fps (from 4K/30fps), and introduced HDR support for the 120MP photo mode. Edit your footage in DJI Studio and you can also access up to 64x slow-motion via frame interpolation.

Then there's SuperNight 2.0, DJI's low-light shooting mode. I wasn't blown away by the original Osmo 360's version of SuperNight — it was decent, no more — but here the results look significantly cleaner and sharper, and you can now record at up to 60fps rather than being capped at 30fps. There is one catch: you still can't shoot in D-Log M with SuperNight 2.0 active, so you're restricted to the standard color profile (Adaptive Tone remains available, however).

Interestingly, the image sensor itself appears to be physically identical to the one in the original Osmo 360, which suggests that all of the above gains have come via processing and software refinement rather than new hardware. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean these image quality improvements are evolutionary rather than the product of some new imaging leap.

All the usual 360-camera fundamentals — stabilization, stitching, selfie stick removal and flare handling — are brilliantly handled here. It's a slick camera that can capture good-looking footage while requiring very little effort from the user.

Taken as a whole, image quality is excellent, if perhaps not a huge leap over the original — more a slight but real improvement on what was already a very good setup built around a large, capable sensor. For the sample video embedded in this review, I shot footage using the default Standard color profile, D-Log M (graded afterward using DJI's own LUT plus some manual color tweaks), and SuperNight 2.0, all recorded at 10-bit. Everything was reframed in DJI Studio on my Mac, then edited in DaVinci Resolve.

Video is, understandably, still noticeably sharper, more detailed and more impactful in daylight, but shoot with a bit of care and it's absolutely possible to capture excellent after-dark footage too.

Photos are perfectly fine too, though I've never considered still photography much of a draw on a 360 camera personally — it feels like a secondary feature here rather than a primary selling point.

Future | Sam KieldsenFuture | Sam Kieldsen

• Image quality score: 5/5

DJI Osmo 360 II: testing scorecard DJI Osmo 360 II

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Price

Pricier than the original Osmo 360, but significantly cheaper than the Insta360 X6.

4.5/5

Design

Same body as before, but user-replaceable lenses and newfound underwater confidence are big wins.

4.5/5

Performance

Solid battery life and storage, dependable apps, but 8K/60fps can trigger overheating.

4/5

Image quality

First native 8K/60fps 360 camera, with better dynamic range and a much-improved SuperNight 2.0.

5/5

Should I buy the DJI Osmo 360 II?Buy it if...

You want flagship features without flagship pricing
The Osmo 360 II undercuts the Insta360 X6 by over £100 while offering the first native 8K/60fps 360 video on the market, plus meaningfully improved SuperNight low-light performance.View Deal

You like peace of mind when shooting action sports
Cheap, user-replaceable lenses mean a cracked or scratched lens is no longer catastrophic — a direct answer to one of the biggest weaknesses of the original Osmo 360.View Deal

You regularly shoot in low light
SuperNight 2.0's jump to 60fps and its cleaner results make this a far stronger nighttime shooter than the GoPro Max 2, which stumbles noticeably once the sun goes down.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You're on a tight budget
If price is your primary concern, the cheaper (if lower-spec) GoPro Max 2 undercuts the Osmo 360 II comfortably, especially now that it's available at discounted pricing.View Deal

You're based in the US
The Osmo 360 II isn't launching stateside for now, with DJI's regulatory authorization still pending — so US buyers are out of luck unless they're willing to import.View Deal

Also consider

If money is no object and you want the sharpest, cleanest 360 footage around in any light, the Insta360 X6 remains the camera to beat — it's just going to cost you considerably more than the Osmo 360 II.

Read our full Insta360 X6 reviewView Deal

GoPro's comeback 360 camera is significantly cheaper than the Osmo 360 II and delivers excellent daylight image quality, but its low-light performance can't compete, and its own replaceable lenses haven't been engineered for the same low-light or dynamic range gains DJI has made here.

Read our full GoPro Max 2 reviewView Deal

How I tested the DJI Osmo 360 II

• I tested the DJI Osmo 360 II Adventure Combo ahead of its official release
• I shot video across a long weekend trip to northeast England, plus my hometown
• I used the included 1.2m selfie stick and a car mount, in daylight and at night

(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

I was sent a DJI Osmo 360 II Adventure Combo a few days ahead of its official release for testing. I put the camera through its paces on a long weekend trip to the northeast of England, as well as around my Kent coast hometown, mounting it on the included 1.2m selfie stick for on-foot shooting and attaching it to my car for vehicle-mounted footage. I tested it across a range of lighting conditions, from strong daylight to full nighttime darkness, and also shot a handful of 120MP stills alongside my video testing. I also tested both DJI's desktop and mobile companion apps, using them to reframe footage and photos.

• First reviewed September 2026

• 22% expect their policy to offer full coverage, 10% expect it to fall short
• Data breaches and reputational damage are major concerns
• Companies should look at finances before considering operational recovery readiness

New research from Cohesity has revealed that many UK businesses could be significantly overestimating the protection they get from cyber insurance policies, with just one in five (22%) British CEOs believing their policy would cover both the additional costs and lost revenue that an attack could lead to.

A third expect it would cover the additional costs only, another third believe their policy is only sufficient for lost revenue, and a further one in 10 did not expect it to cover either of the two categories.

The report's conclusion is that cyber insurance in its current state for many UK businesses is only enough to transfer some of the financial risk – but not enough to restore systems, data or operations.

Cyber insurance policies don't provide enough cover

According to the study of 100 CEOs from large enterprises, businesses expect a cyberattack to reduce their revenue by an average of around 15%, but many businesses lack a detailed understanding of how much an attack could actually end up costing them. As many as one in five (21%) haven't even conducted business impact modelling.

Among CEOs' biggest fears are data breaches (49%), brand and reputational damage (38%), high recovery costs (36%), revenue loss (34%) and production downtime (30%). They're all either financial concerns or incidents that could lead to financial loss, and yet it's clear that policies are unlikely to offer enough cover.

With many totally unaware of the potential impacts and the extent of their policy's cover, Cohesity urges businesses to start off with calculating financial exposure and understanding what their policy covers.

After that, they can go on to prove that critical systems can actually be recovered, because without an insurance payout, this would likely not be possible.

"Organisations must be able to identify the systems and data needed to keep the business operating, assigning clear responsibility for recovery decisions and regularly testing whether critical services can be restored securely," UK&I VP Fraser Hutchison explained.

The Munbyn RW403B remains one of the best shipping label printers we've ever tested, and it's the one our senior printer editor regularly recommends if you're running an ecommerce store or a small business. And currently, Munbyn's Bluetooth thermal label printer is down to $80 (was $120) at Amazon.

During our own testing, we found it easy to use, impressively quick to print, and actually fun to use. It delivered excellent results across a range of labels, postage notes, barcodes, and stickers with support for sizes from 1.57 to 4.25 inches wide.

The RW403B offered us a dedicated way to print 4 x 6-inch shipping labels without having to buy ink or toner. It connects over Bluetooth and works with Android and iPhone devices, as well as Windows PCs, Macs and Chromebooks. In the UK, the Munbyn RW403B is now £70 (was £95) at Amazon.

RW403B Bluetooth Thermal Label Printer: was $119.99 now $79.99
This compact thermal printer offers Bluetooth connectivity, 1.57 to 4.25-inch label support, 4 x 6-inch shipping labels, monochrome output, DAC auto-calibration, 0.1mm text legibility, 60dB operation and broad device compatibility.

In the UK: now £70 (was £95)View Deal

Why we recommend it

Munbyn says its DAC technology automatically calibrates the printer to reduce label misalignment, while the 0.1mm font legibility should keep small text and barcodes clear. It's also rated at 60dB, which makes it better suited to a home office or shared workspace where a noisy printer could quickly become irritating.

In his 4.5-star review, our senior printer editor Jim said: "it’s easy to set up and operate," and "the robust design feels like it’s built to last and the print quality is better than most label printers."

He went on to explain, "After your initial outlay, there’s no ink cost to think about and thermal labels can be bought inexpensively."

Scroll the gallery below for more images taken during our testing.

Munbyn // FutureMunbyn // FutureMunbyn // FutureMunbyn // FutureMunbyn // FutureMunbyn // FuturePrice context & historical value

At $79.99, you're saving $40 against the usual $119.99 price, which works out to a solid 33% discount. It has been cheaper in the past, but not hugely. We've seen it as low as $76, which is just $4 less than the current price.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Munbyn Thermal Label Printer if...

You're regularly packing and shipping orders and want to streamline the process. Bluetooth connectivity means you can print from any device. It's absolutely ideal for small business and ecommerce use.

❌ Skip the Munbyn Thermal Label Printer if...

You need colorful labels, graphics or branding. This is a monochrome thermal printer designed primarily for practical labels, so you'll need a different printing technology if presentation and full-color output are required.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

This is a specialized printer and while its maximum 4.25-inch print width is ideal for shipping labels and similar jobs, but it can't handle regular letter-size documents.

It's also worth considering how often you'll actually print labels. The convenience is easy to justify for a small business or frequent online seller, but occasional users may be perfectly happy continuing to output shipping labels on an ordinary printer.

• Shop all label printers at Amazon

Roborock’s new lineup at IFA 2026 is all about improving navigation and hands-free maintenance. I’ll be the judge.

AI tools can automate large-scale tasks at a fraction of the usual cost, which makes them a great option for solo or small business setups.

If you can't invest in a sizeable employee headcount just yet, you can now limit your hires to key roles or just have a few contractors while everything else runs automatically. It's not a replacement for an actual large-scale enterprise operation, but it's a good enough solution to get your feet in and expand more thoughtfully.

So, here are 7 accessible AI platforms that I'd personally use if I were launching a new business in 2026.

Do you need AI to run a business in 2026?

No, not strictly. People built profitable small businesses before AI came along, and obviously, plenty still do. What's changed is the cost of not using AI relative to competitors who can automate the bulk of their work to move faster and scale up.

AI works best as a way to reclaim time on repetitive tasks, not as a replacement for anything that requires judgment. A chatbot can draft your customer email, a task manager can organize your daily workflows, a text generator can come up with marketing drafts. It won't replace your judgment in client relationships, but it will take some load off your back.

Businesses that get the most value pick two or three tools that solve a specific problem. Rather than bolting on every AI tool you can find, start with whatever's eating the most hours in your week, and build out from there. Here are my personal picks.

7 useful AI tools for solopreneurs and small businesses

I've picked one standout per category so you're not choosing between five near-identical products. There's plenty of competition in each space, but the ones recommended here are specific to smaller operations and priced accordingly.

Writing: Jasper

Jasper remains one of the most capable AI writing platforms for small teams that need consistent output across blog posts, ad copy, and social content. It works from your brand voice and past content, so drafts sound less generic than what you'd get from a bare chatbot prompt.

Jasper's Creator plan starts at $59 a seat per month when billed annually, or $69 monthly, with a Business tier that adds more seats and workflow features.

It's not the cheapest writing tool on the market, but the output usually needs less editing than lower-cost alternatives, which matters when you don't have a copywriter on staff. If you're only writing the occasional caption or product description, a general chatbot might cover it, but Jasper earns its keep once content becomes a weekly commitment.

Customer support: Tidio

Tidio is built with small teams in mind rather than enterprise support desks, pairing live chat with an AI agent called Lyro that reads your website and builds its own knowledge base automatically. That means you're not stuck writing scripts or training a bot from scratch before it can answer real customer questions.

Tidio's free plan covers 50 handled conversations a month, which is enough to test whether it fits your support volume before paying anything. Paid plans start at $59 a month for higher conversation limits, and Lyro AI costs another $39/month for 50 automated conversations. Setup is straightforward enough that most owners can have it live on their site within an hour.

Bookkeeping: QuickBooks Solopreneur

QuickBooks built a stripped-down tier specifically for people running side gigs or one-person operations who need to separate business and personal spending without a full accounting course. Intuit's AI features categorize transactions, flag anomalies, and estimate quarterly taxes as you go.

Pricing ranges from free to $20 a month for the Lite tier, which adds unlimited invoicing and automated sales tax tracking. It won't replace an accountant once your finances get complicated, but it's a sensible starting point for keeping records clean from day one.

Just don't skip a real bookkeeper once revenue climbs past a side-gig level. AI categorization still makes mistakes that a professional would catch.

Task management: Motion

Motion combines your calendar, task list, and meeting bookings into one AI-managed system that automatically reshuffles your day when priorities shift or meetings run long. It's built for people juggling client work and admin without an assistant to protect their time.

The AI Workplace plan starts at $29 a month. That said, users are split on how intuitive the interface feels at first, so it's worth running the free trial before committing to annual billing. It's most useful if your calendar gets disrupted often, since the automatic rescheduling does the negotiating you'd otherwise do by hand.

Design: Canva

Canva's Magic Studio bundles AI image generation, background removal, and one-click resizing into the same editor most small business owners already know from making social posts and flyers. You can generate a product photo, clean it up, and reformat it for five different platforms without leaving the tab.

Canva Pro costs $18 a month or $180 a year and unlocks the full range of Magic tools, on top of the platform's existing template library.

For businesses without a design budget, it's usually the fastest way to look professional without hiring anyone. It's worth pairing with a proper brand kit setup early, so every asset stays consistent as more people touch your Canva account.

Email marketing: Mailchimp

Mailchimp pairs its email and automation tools with AI content generation that drafts subject lines, full campaigns, and basic segmentation based on your past sends.

The Standard plan, which unlocks the generative AI tools, starts at $11.95 a month for up to 6,000 monthly email sends. The free tier still exists but was cut back sharply in January 2026, so budget for a paid plan if email is core to how you reach customers.

It's a reasonable fit if you're already sending newsletters or promotional emails and want to speed up the drafting stage. But remember to treat the AI drafts as a starting point rather than the finished send, since generic subject lines still underperform ones written with your actual audience in mind.

Workflow automation: Zapier

Zapier connects the other tools in your stack so information moves between them without you copying and pasting. Its newer AI Agents feature goes a step further, letting you describe a workflow in plain language and have it monitor for triggers and act automatically.

The Professional plan starts at $19.99 a month when billed annually, unlocking multi-step workflows and AI-assisted automations. If you've ever manually moved a new customer's details from a form into your CRM and email list, this is the category that fixes it. The free tier is usable for simple two-step automations, so it's a reasonable place to test whether automation actually saves you time before paying for it.

Things you should be aware of

Every tool above collects your data to function, and it's worth reading what happens to it before you upload customer details or draft sensitive documents. Some vendors also train future models on your inputs unless you actively opt out in account settings, which isn't always apparent right away. Check the privacy or data policy page for each tool rather than assuming the default options are safe.

Another thing to keep in mind is that costs can also creep up faster than expected. Several established AI platforms bill per resolution, per credit, or per task rather than charging a flat monthly fee. Usage-based pricing looks cheap right up until it doesn't, so set a spending alert where the platform allows it. Also review your invoice against your actual usage, at least for the first couple of months.

The final problem is accuracy and liability. AI-generated content, whether it's a customer support answer, a bookkeeping category, or an email to a client, can be confidently wrong, and you're the one who has to answer for it if it is. Treat it as a first draft that needs a human check before it reaches a customer, a regulator, or your tax return, especially anywhere money, legal terms, or compliance are involved.

From AI intimate companions to a smartphone for your dog, here’s what raised our eyebrows the most at this year’s IFA.

• Vodafone TV is launching in October as a set top box and service
• It will come with access to Freely, Netflix, and HBO, plus Android TV apps
• Users will also be able to stream hundreds of cloud games

Vodafone is moving beyond mobile and broadband services to offer a TV streaming service and box called Vodafone TV, which gives you access to Freely — a free streaming service with over 70 live channels and thousands of hours of on-demand content.

Beyond the big free names like the BBC and Channel 4, Vodafone TV also comes with subscriptions to Netflix Standard with ads and HBO Max Standard with ads, which makes it something of a rival to Sky, as you can get similar subscriptions as part of that company’s Sky Ultimate TV package.

The Vodafone TV hub also runs Android TV, so it includes access to near-endless apps and games on the Google Play Store, including dedicated apps for most streaming services, meaning you’re not limited to what Vodafone itself bundles in.

It's a cloud gaming console too

Vodafone TV is compatible with the Pleio gamepad (Image credit: Future)

And speaking of games, Vodafone TV also comes with access to over 300 cloud games, which you can play using a Bluetooth controller or a smartphone.

You’ll also be able to rent and buy films through Vodafone Box Office, and a companion app will allow you to start watching something at home and then continue elsewhere via the app.

As for the hardware, the Vodafone TV hub has 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and support for 4K, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos. Vodafone hasn’t yet revealed the pricing, but has said that its Vodafone TV box and service will be available from October to mobile and broadband customers, so we should find out more then.

Vodafone TV launches alongside a new Vodafone mobile plan called SuperMobile, which will supposedly deliver up to 4x faster speeds than Vodafone’s standard plans, and guarantee minimum speeds of 15Mbps at all times.

"Vodafone's double launch is a bid to be your 'everything' provider — one company for your mobile, broadband, telly and streaming, all on a single bill," Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at Uswitch, told TechRadar in a statement.

"Vodafone TV is all about content convenience: streaming subscriptions, live channels and bills brought together in one place, with a companion app to take it on the move. And as the only UK mobile network to bundle TV with a mobile plan, Vodafone has opened this up to millions of households who don't take its broadband.

"But one roof doesn’t mean one option. Do the maths before signing up; remember add-ons can rise mid-contract alongside everything else, and only pay for certainty or convenience you'll actually use."

We'll be testing out Vodafone TV for ourselves over the coming weeks, so stay tuned for our verdict on its value-for-money proposition.

We've always been fans of Sony's high-end noise-cancelling headphones here at TechRadar, so today's excellent price cut on the Sony WH-1000XM5 in the Amazon Labor Day sale is an easy recommendation.

Right now, you can pick up these headphones for just $198 (was $399) at the retailer, which is a match for the previous record-low price. They've only dropped to $198 on one previous occasion back in late June, so this is a fantastic deal all around.

It's a good opportunity to snag a decent pair of noise-cancelling headphones for work, commuting, or even college — although anyone will appreciate just how good these headphones are. Although they've recently been superseded by a sixth-generation model, the Sony WH-1000XM5 are still among the best headphones you can buy right now.

Highlight features for the Sony WH-1000XM5 include rich and detailed sound, superb active noise cancellation, and a comfortable fit that's perfect for all-day use. At the time of release, we thought they were pricey, but today's discount at Amazon definitely addresses that particular issue.

Sony WH-1000XM5 record-low price at Amazon

WH-1000XM5: was $398 now $198
Quite simply, the best in Sony's class-leading wireless over-ear lineup. The older XM4 headphones were outstanding, the XM3 cans before it were excellent, and it'll come as little surprise to know that Sony's XM5 proposition is also incredibly hard to beat — especially with a whopping $150 off. They don't fold up like the XM4, but, as a quick glance at our Sony WH-100XM5 review proves, there's not much else to pick fault with. View Deal

• See more: check out all of today's Labor Day deals at Amazon

When we originally reviewed these headphones, we awarded them a full five out of five stars, calling them "the best headphones in the world thanks to their class-leading noise-cancelling features and well-balanced audio.” Even though a few years have passed, they're still exceptional in terms of performance — and much cheaper than the newer sixth-generation model.

The only real reason to get the newer headphones, in my opinion, is if you're desperate for a folding mechanism. The M5 (unlike the M6 and M4) don't have folding hinges on the headband, which is an annoying oversight that means they're a little less portable overall. If you can live with that, however, there's very little reason to skip today's discount over at Amazon.

Herman Miller is iconic in the world of ergonomic office furniture, and its range of pioneering desk chairs and desks have consistently impressed us during testing. And that includes the Jarvis Bamboo standing desk, currently down to the $994 (was $1325) in Herman Miller's big Fall sale.

This premium desk has some of the highest build quality of any we've reviewed, with all the features a professional requires from a sit-stand model. As befitting an executive-grade desk, this model, with its 25% discount, features a broad 48x27-inch desktop, black frame, a three-stage height range with programmable presets, and powered grommet. In the UK, a smaller Jarvis Bamboo is down to £645 (was £860) at Herman Miller.

• US: Save 25% in the Herman Miller Fall sale
• UK: See the full Herman Miller sale

Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk: was $1325 now $993.75
The Jarvis combines a 27 x 48-inch bamboo top, three-stage steel frame, 350-pound capacity, programmable OLED handset, four height presets, powered grommet, 1.5-inch-per-second adjustment, sub-50dB operation and seven-year frame warranty.

In the UK: now £645 (was £860)View Deal

Why we recommend it

The Jarvis has earned a strong reputation for its build quality and stability. Its powder-coated steel frame supports a bamboo desktop with a German-made, wear-resistant UV-cured topcoat. The motors can raise or lower it at up to 1.5 inches per second.

In his 4.5-star review, our expert Collin called it “a solid all-around offering with an impressive lifting capacity.” He went on to say: “This standing desk is excellent for those in small spaces or large open offices, who can customize it according to your needs.”

For more top-performing office furniture, see our guide to the best standing desks we've tested.

Also consider

The Jarvis Bamboo Contour adds an ergonomic extra to this excellent desk, with a curved front edge for a more comfortable sit.

In the UK: now £608 (was £810)View Deal

Price context & historical value

At $993.75, you're saving $331.25 against the $1,325 original price, which works out to exactly 25% off. That's a substantial saving on a desk that rarely makes any attempt to compete with the hundreds of more affordable standing alternatives. That said, we have seen it cheaper elsewhere, with the price as low as $881 at other retailers.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk if...

You want a premium standing desk that can handle a substantial setup. Its 350-pound capacity gives you plenty of scope for multiple monitors and other hardware, while four programmable height presets make switching between preferred positions quick and easy.

❌ Skip the Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk if...

You rarely change position once you've settled down to work. The Jarvis's electric adjustment is a major part of what you're paying for, so a high-quality fixed desk could make more sense if you know you'll spend virtually the entire day sitting.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

Even after the huge discount, this is still a nearly $1000 desk, and there are plenty of electric standing desks available for a fraction of that. You're essentially paying a premium for the materials, lifting capacity, finish and overall quality rather than simply gaining the ability to work standing up.

The warranty also varies by component. The desktop is covered for five years and the frame, motors, mechanical and electrical components for seven years, but the powered grommet and surge protector are only covered for one year.

• Shop all Herman Miller standing desks

In banking and utilities, regulators define certain systems as essential. An essential system is one whose failure would cause intolerable harm to customers, markets, or public safety. A payment platform in a clearing bank or a SCADA network in a power distributor, for example, carries the highest governance obligations: continuous monitoring, validated change control, and demonstrable resilience.

The policy environment – the accumulated rules across firewalls, cloud controls, and microsegmentation – determines which of those systems can reach each other, which connections are blocked, and which exceptions still apply. Collectively, these rules form the security policy control plane: the governance layer that translates business intent into access decisions across distributed enforcement points.

A misconfigured segmentation rule during a cloud migration can sever a payment service from its settlement platform; a temporary rule granting broad access from a development subnet into production can stay in place months after go-live because no one owns the removal.

Every firewall rule, segmentation policy, and access decision directly affects operational risk, and when the policy environment fails, the critical services it governs fail with it.

That makes the policy environment critical infrastructure in its own right.

Still governed like housekeeping

Despite this, many regulated organizations still manage their policy environments as operational tasks. Rules are added through change requests, and the accumulated result is rarely examined against what was intended. Ownership disperses as leaders change roles, and the reason why a specific rule came into being in the first place can only be found in a change ticket, if anywhere at all.

A CISO who would never accept a payment platform running without continuous monitoring or documented dependencies may accept both being absent from the policy environment that determines whether the platform is reachable. We can think of this as infrastructure-grade consequence with housekeeping-grade governance.

In banking, a policy failure that severs connectivity between settlement systems would constitute the disruption of an important business service. The FCA would take an interest in such a failure, since the loss of such a service could lead to intolerable harm.

In healthcare or energy, the consequences are different but the mechanism is the same: a misconfiguration that permits access from a corporate network into clinical systems in an NHS trust, or into operational technology in a power distributor, creates exposure at the level of essential service delivery. These are not hypothetical risks but the operational consequences of treating critical infrastructure governance as a simple housekeeping task.

Regulatory expectations point the same way

UK regulatory expectations increasingly support the same conclusion: the security policies governing access to important services must be managed with infrastructure-grade discipline. The FCA's operational resilience regime requires regulated firms to identify important business services and demonstrate, on an ongoing basis, that the supporting infrastructure remains within defined impact tolerances.

Ofgem assesses operators of essential services against the NCSC's Cyber Assessment Framework, asking whether defined security outcomes are being achieved on a sustained basis. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, expected to become law later this year, will extend similar obligations to data centers, managed service providers, and critical suppliers.

These frameworks are not prescriptive – none of them specifies which firewall rules an organization should have or how its segmentation policies should be configured. What they require is proof: that what the policy environment permits is what was intended, and that the organization can demonstrate this on an ongoing basis rather than reconstruct the evidence for each assessment.

Why the estate cannot meet that standard

Most policy environments were never built to meet that standard. In fact, most policy environments were never consciously or deliberately built at all. Instead, policy tends to accumulate as a by-product of delivery. Every project and migration adds rules, and almost none take any away.

Over time, the policy surface – the full body of rules and access decisions across enforcement layers – grows larger than the group of people who understand it, and the estate reaches a point where it can be operated but not explained.

Across regulated industries like banking, energy, and healthcare, that was sustainable under earlier regulatory regimes: periodic assessment, control-based audit, compliance frameworks that asked whether controls existed rather than whether they were effective. But this is no longer enough. The new standard requires continuous evidence that access is intentional.

The FCA's findings after a year of operational resilience self-assessments illustrate what this looks like in practice. Where regulated firms reported few or no outstanding vulnerabilities in the infrastructure supporting their important business services, the FCA often deemed the evidence too thin to determine whether there really were no vulnerabilities – or whether the vulnerabilities just hadn't been identified.

The lesson applies directly to security policy governance: an organization cannot credibly claim access-related vulnerabilities are controlled without evidence of what its policies permit, how they were tested, and whether weaknesses were remediated.

What infrastructure-grade governance requires

Too often, the response is to reach for more visibility and more documentation. But documentation will only ever capture a point in time; it cannot provide the continuous assurance regulators are coming to expect.

A CISO in a regulated firm needs more than a record of what the policy environment was configured to permit. Configuration and effective access are not the same thing. Security teams need to understand how rules, routes, objects, and enforcement layers interact to determine what can actually communicate.

Meeting the standard means reconciling the two: showing that what the environment permits in practice is still what it was intended to permit, and being able to show it without notice.

We separate where policy intent is defined from where it is enforced. Intent is held and maintained centrally, while enforcement remains distributed across firewalls, cloud controls, and microsegmentation in hybrid, multi-cloud, and multi-vendor environments.

Validation runs continuously against that intent rather than at review points: proposed changes are tested against policy before they reach production, and effective access is assessed on an ongoing basis for unnecessary exposure, inconsistency between enforcement layers, and divergence from business intent. What was permitted and what changed is retained as evidence.

The same CISO who would never accept a payment platform running without continuous monitoring, validated change control, and documented dependencies has to apply that standard to the policy environment that determines whether the platform is reachable.

The FCA, the NCSC's Cyber Assessment Framework, and the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill all point towards the same underlying question: can this organization demonstrate, continuously, that the infrastructure supporting its critical services is governed to the standard those services demand?

Answering it means knowing (and actually knowing – not assuming, not reconstructing at audit) what the policy environment permits at any given moment, and whether what it permits is what was intended.

We've featured the best antivirus software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

In banking and utilities, regulators define certain systems as essential. An essential system is one whose failure would cause intolerable harm to customers, markets, or public safety. A payment platform in a clearing bank or a SCADA network in a power distributor, for example, carries the highest governance obligations: continuous monitoring, validated change control, and demonstrable resilience.

The policy environment – the accumulated rules across firewalls, cloud controls, and microsegmentation – determines which of those systems can reach each other, which connections are blocked, and which exceptions still apply. Collectively, these rules form the security policy control plane: the governance layer that translates business intent into access decisions across distributed enforcement points.

A misconfigured segmentation rule during a cloud migration can sever a payment service from its settlement platform; a temporary rule granting broad access from a development subnet into production can stay in place months after go-live because no one owns the removal.

Every firewall rule, segmentation policy, and access decision directly affects operational risk, and when the policy environment fails, the critical services it governs fail with it.

That makes the policy environment critical infrastructure in its own right.

Still governed like housekeeping

Despite this, many regulated organizations still manage their policy environments as operational tasks. Rules are added through change requests, and the accumulated result is rarely examined against what was intended. Ownership disperses as leaders change roles, and the reason why a specific rule came into being in the first place can only be found in a change ticket, if anywhere at all.

A CISO who would never accept a payment platform running without continuous monitoring or documented dependencies may accept both being absent from the policy environment that determines whether the platform is reachable. We can think of this as infrastructure-grade consequence with housekeeping-grade governance.

In banking, a policy failure that severs connectivity between settlement systems would constitute the disruption of an important business service. The FCA would take an interest in such a failure, since the loss of such a service could lead to intolerable harm.

In healthcare or energy, the consequences are different but the mechanism is the same: a misconfiguration that permits access from a corporate network into clinical systems in an NHS trust, or into operational technology in a power distributor, creates exposure at the level of essential service delivery. These are not hypothetical risks but the operational consequences of treating critical infrastructure governance as a simple housekeeping task.

Regulatory expectations point the same way

UK regulatory expectations increasingly support the same conclusion: the security policies governing access to important services must be managed with infrastructure-grade discipline. The FCA's operational resilience regime requires regulated firms to identify important business services and demonstrate, on an ongoing basis, that the supporting infrastructure remains within defined impact tolerances.

Ofgem assesses operators of essential services against the NCSC's Cyber Assessment Framework, asking whether defined security outcomes are being achieved on a sustained basis. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, expected to become law later this year, will extend similar obligations to data centers, managed service providers, and critical suppliers.

These frameworks are not prescriptive – none of them specifies which firewall rules an organization should have or how its segmentation policies should be configured. What they require is proof: that what the policy environment permits is what was intended, and that the organization can demonstrate this on an ongoing basis rather than reconstruct the evidence for each assessment.

Why the estate cannot meet that standard

Most policy environments were never built to meet that standard. In fact, most policy environments were never consciously or deliberately built at all. Instead, policy tends to accumulate as a by-product of delivery. Every project and migration adds rules, and almost none take any away.

Over time, the policy surface – the full body of rules and access decisions across enforcement layers – grows larger than the group of people who understand it, and the estate reaches a point where it can be operated but not explained.

Across regulated industries like banking, energy, and healthcare, that was sustainable under earlier regulatory regimes: periodic assessment, control-based audit, compliance frameworks that asked whether controls existed rather than whether they were effective. But this is no longer enough. The new standard requires continuous evidence that access is intentional.

The FCA's findings after a year of operational resilience self-assessments illustrate what this looks like in practice. Where regulated firms reported few or no outstanding vulnerabilities in the infrastructure supporting their important business services, the FCA often deemed the evidence too thin to determine whether there really were no vulnerabilities – or whether the vulnerabilities just hadn't been identified.

The lesson applies directly to security policy governance: an organization cannot credibly claim access-related vulnerabilities are controlled without evidence of what its policies permit, how they were tested, and whether weaknesses were remediated.

What infrastructure-grade governance requires

Too often, the response is to reach for more visibility and more documentation. But documentation will only ever capture a point in time; it cannot provide the continuous assurance regulators are coming to expect.

A CISO in a regulated firm needs more than a record of what the policy environment was configured to permit. Configuration and effective access are not the same thing. Security teams need to understand how rules, routes, objects, and enforcement layers interact to determine what can actually communicate.

Meeting the standard means reconciling the two: showing that what the environment permits in practice is still what it was intended to permit, and being able to show it without notice.

We separate where policy intent is defined from where it is enforced. Intent is held and maintained centrally, while enforcement remains distributed across firewalls, cloud controls, and microsegmentation in hybrid, multi-cloud, and multi-vendor environments.

Validation runs continuously against that intent rather than at review points: proposed changes are tested against policy before they reach production, and effective access is assessed on an ongoing basis for unnecessary exposure, inconsistency between enforcement layers, and divergence from business intent. What was permitted and what changed is retained as evidence.

The same CISO who would never accept a payment platform running without continuous monitoring, validated change control, and documented dependencies has to apply that standard to the policy environment that determines whether the platform is reachable.

The FCA, the NCSC's Cyber Assessment Framework, and the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill all point towards the same underlying question: can this organization demonstrate, continuously, that the infrastructure supporting its critical services is governed to the standard those services demand?

Answering it means knowing (and actually knowing – not assuming, not reconstructing at audit) what the policy environment permits at any given moment, and whether what it permits is what was intended.

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