Technology

Looking for a massage gun but not sure which one to get? These are our top picks, based on cost, design, size and more.

The Anker Soundcore Select 2S proves you don't need to shell out big bucks for a powerful Bluetooth speaker.

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You don't have to wait to lock in your order for advanced tech like new chargers from Anker, a cute cat to keep your drink cool and more from CES 2025.

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted the company is losing money on its $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan.
• A significant price increase could make users question its affordability.
• OpenAI’s pricing strategy may push users toward competitors.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has shared on X that that the company is losing money on the $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan. He didn't elaborate on if or how OpenAI might address that issue, but raising the price seems like an obvious option. Will that drive people away from the premium service? More importantly, will that trickle down to a higher price tag for ChatGPT Plus, which is currently $20?

I've subscribed to ChatGPT Plus since it became available. I use it to experiment and test features for work, but I've also enjoyed playing with it in my own life to come up with dinner ideas, entertain children, and brainstorm gift ideas, among other tasks. Paying $20 a month for faster responses, better AI models, and early access to new features like the Sora AI video creator is a good deal.

ChatGPT Pro scales up those benefits enormously, with access to the o1 pro mode model, along with unlimited use of Sora and higher rate limits on API calls. If you’re a power user, a video content creator, or a software developer cranking out AI-driven projects, I'm sure the $200 a month might seem like a good deal, too.

Altman’s admission that Pro isn’t covering its costs raises a big red flag. If Pro users are pushing the limits of what OpenAI’s infrastructure can handle, and the company needs “more capital than it imagined,” where does that leave the rest of us? If Pro’s financial strain means OpenAI might bump up the price for Plus as well, I’ll have to reassess whether I’m getting enough bang for my buck.

insane thing: we are currently losing money on openai pro subscriptions!people use it much more than we expected.January 6, 2025

ChatGPT$$$

Altman’s comments also reminded me that it was rumored ChatGPT Plus would cost $42 per month before it came out. It’s a number that feels absurd now, but if OpenAI had gone that route, I probably wouldn’t have signed up, or at least not as readily. If Plus prices creep upwards to maybe $30, I might keep up my subscription, but I'd have to consider seriously if it's worth it. As much fun as Sora can be, I’m not editing blockbuster movies here.

Plus, it’s not like OpenAI’s competitors are sitting still. Google Gemini and other competitors are offering bundles of bonuses for subscribers to premium features, often linked to other products like Google One. And OpenAI isn’t exactly running on fumes. The company has raised billions in funding and expects to hit $11.6 billion in revenue this year. If it can’t make its products sustainable without constantly squeezing its subscribers, that suggests deeper issues.

One option sometimes floated is usage-based pricing, but that sounds like a logistical nightmare. Imagine being charged by the question or the word count when you use ChatGPT as an individual and not under a business account. Suddenly, you’re overthinking every query: “Do I really need to ask GPT for help with this?”

I’m sticking with ChatGPT Plus for now but keeping a finger over the metaphorical cancel button in case of major price increases. It's already annoying seeing the subscription prices rise unexpectedly for Netflix or Spotify, but I'd put up with more hassle to keep those services than I would ChatGPT Plus. I enjoy ChatGPT, but it's not $50 a month enjoyment.

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• Intrusions have been detected in Guam's power infrastructure
• The moves have all the markers of a Volt Typhoon campaign
• However not everyone in Guam is convinced of the threat

New reports have claimed notorious Chinese hacking group Volt Typhoon is targeting the critical infrastructure of small island nation Guam, looking to disrupt and sabotage services in the region.

The findings from Bloomberg say hackers are reportedly targeting the GPA (Guam Power Authority) in particular, in order to wreak havoc.

Guam is a small island with a population under 200,00, but is also home to a large US military base. The base takes up just over a third of the island, and provides a strategically significant foothold in the region - with geographical proximity to China undoubtedly a factor in its operations and vulnerability.

Everything, everywhere, all at once

The report uncovered incredibly discreet infiltration, so much so that detection was only made through small anomalies like irregular login patterns, with Volt Typhoon the top suspect.

The GPA is the island's only power utility, but the US Navy is its biggest customer, consuming 20% of the power it generated in 2023.

Critical infrastructure on the island is mostly run by private companies, so investigating and dealing with intrusions isn't always straight forward.

Not everyone on the island is convinced of the threat either, with the Chief Technical Officer for around 40 of Guam's government agencies, Frank Lujan, denying having seen any evidence of compromise, calling it the 'illusion of Volt Typhoon'.

In early 2024, Jen Easterly, Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) told congress that Chinese hackers are evolving their attacks on US infrastructure - in order to enable ‘destructive attacks’ on US citizens in the event of a major conflict.

This is ‘not theoretical’, Easterly says, and Chinese threat actors such as Volt Typhoon are building the capacity to cut off telecommunications, disrupt pipelines, pollute water facilities, and cripple transportation - all to incite ‘societal chaos’ and endanger American lives. The aim of these attacks would be to take down ‘everything, everywhere, all at once.’

China has always vehemently denied these claims, calling them baseless, and even going so far as to accuse Volt Typhoon of being a CIA asset.

This isn’t the first campaign by Volt Typhoon uncovered recently, with reports early in 2024 confirming the group had compromised the networks of US critical infrastructure and had maintained access for at least five years, in a huge cyber espionage campaign.

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• Balanced armatures, dynamic drivers and AI translation
• $99.99, available in the US from May 2025
• USB-C Auracast transmitter for $19.99, also in May

EarFun has announced a new version of its Air Pro 4 earbuds: the EarFun Air Pro 4+. They're very slightly more expensive than the current model, but if their AI features are as good as EarFun says, they could be well worth the upgrade – and they're still considerably cheaper than some of their big-name rivals.

The Air Pro 4+ aren't the only new products EarFun are unveiling this CES. In addition to multiple new headphones there's also a brand new Auracast wireless transmitter that can stream to your headphones from pretty much anything.

(Image credit: EarFun) EarFun Air Pro 4+ and Auracast dongle: key features, price and availability

The Air Pro 4+ are based around a Qualcomm SoC with aptX Lossless and QuietSmart 3.0 active noise cancelling plus a six-microphone noise-cancelling system for phone calls.

The earbuds come with AI-powered language translation which EarFun says makes them "ideal for global travelers and professionals", although as we haven't used the feature yet, we'll have to take EarFun's word for that.

The earbuds boast balanced armatures with 10mm composite dynamic drivers. Battery life is a promised 54 hours of total play time with fast charging, and the Bluetooth has multipoint pairing and a low-latency mode for video and gaming.

The price is a bit higher than the Air Pro 4, but we're still in affordable-earbud territory: when the Air Pro 4+ launch in May 2025 they'll be available on Amazon for $99.99 (about £79 / AU$159).

When we reviewed the EarFun Air Pro 4 we liked their low price and battery life, but we felt they were a little overcomplicated and presented far too many configuration options. Hopefully the 4+ will be a little more focused.

EarFun's other really interesting announcement is the EarFun UD100, which is an Auracast USB dongle with a price tag of just $19.99 (about £16 / AU$32). It connects to USB-C to transmit your PC, tablet or phone's audio output via Auracast over Bluetooth 5.4 to as many compatible devices as you want. Other supported codecs include aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX LL, SBC and LC3, and it's capable of transmitting at up to 96kHz/24-bit with 20ms latency – a very useful little addition, potentially.

The UD100 will be available in the US in May 2025.

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TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2025 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!

• Philips has announced its first smart lock compatible with Matter
• It also revealed a smart lock with both palm recognition and video
• Both locks will be available to buy in the second half of 2025

CES 2025

We’re covering all of the latest CES news from the show as it happens. Stick with us for the big stories on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok for the latest from the CES show floor!

Philips has launched a pair of new smart locks at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, including one compatible with the Matter smart home standard, meaning it should work seamlessly with your existing smart home devices including hubs and lights.

There are lots of excellent smart locks already on the market but, at the moment, relatively few support Matter, which could be a problem if you want to mix and match devices from different brands. The Philips 4000 Series Matter-Compatible Smart Deadbolt avoids that problem and, according to Philips, it'll play nicely with Apple HomeKit, Google Nest, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings, to name just a few.

The company says it will also be particularly easy to set up and pair, which should make it more appealing if you've been intimidated by the prospect of replacing your lock until now.

Contactless entry

(Image credit: Philips)

Philips also took the opportunity to show off its new 5000 Series Video Palm Recognition Smart Lock, which can recognize the unique pattern of blood vessels in your hand (something that's virtually impossible to fake) and capture video footage of visitors so you don't need to buy an extra video doorbell.

The original 5000 Series lock launched last year - the company's first lock with contactless palm-scanning - but the new model also offers 1080p HD video, so you can decide whether or not to open the door when someone approaches.

Wi-Fi is built in so, unlike some smart locks, the new 5000 Series doesn't require an extra hub. Instead, everything can be operated through the Philips Home Access App and, just like the original 5000 Series, the new iteration accepts voice commands via Alexa or Google Assistant.

Prices are yet to be announced, but both locks will be available to buy in the second half of 2025. We're hoping to put them to the test to see whether they earn a place in our roundup of the best smart locks.

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At CES 2025, chipmaker AMD reveals its all-new gaming processors, including the Ryzen 9 99950X3D. Watch a recap of the big event in 7 minutes.

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AMD is helping to usher in the second generation of PC gaming handhelds in 2025 with the announcement of the AMD Ryzen Z2 series of processors, designed to provide more performance and better efficiency for PC gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, and Lenovo Legion Go.

Coming in three different tiers, the AMD Ryzen Z2 processors will include the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, AMD Ryzen Z2, and AMD Ryzen Z2 Go. The Ryzen Z2 Extreme will feature eight cores and 16 threads, a 5.0GHz boost clock, 24MB cache, 16 RDNA 3.5 GPU cores, and a 15W-35W power envelope.

The Ryzen Z2 will also feature eight cores and 16 threads, but with a slightly higher 5.1GHz boost clock, the same 24MB cache, but 12 RDNA 3.5 GPU cores rather than 16, and a slightly smaller 15W-30W power envelope.

The new Ryzen Z2 Go (which had no equivalent with the Ryzen Z1 series), will have four cores and eight threads, a 4.3GHz boost clock, and 10MB cache, but the same 12 GPU cores and 15W-30W power envelope as the Ryzen Z2.

As the chips won’t sell on their own, there’s no hard release date, as that’ll depend on the release dates for the individual handhelds, but handhelds featuring the new chips should be available starting in Q1 2025.

Adding fuel to an already red-hot PC gaming handheld market

Following the launch of the Steam Deck in 2022, the PC gaming handheld market has exploded over the past two years, with nearly every major gaming PC manufacturer producing their own PC gaming handheld.

With few exceptions, these have all run on the AMD Ryzen Z1 series processors, so it’s natural that about two years after the launch of the Asus ROG Ally, the second PC gaming handheld after the Steam Deck, the AMD Ryzen Z-series SoCs would get a refresh with some new architecture and design.

And while the Ryzen Z1 has essentially had the entire market to itself, Intel’s strong showing with the MSI Claw 8 AI+, the first handheld to feature an Intel Lunar Lake SoC, has definitely injected a good deal more competition into this space.

We haven’t been able to test the new chis yet, so we can’t say yet whether the new chips are worth an upgrade, but given the popularity of these handhelds, it’s good to see AMD not just commit itself to further Z-series development, but even expanding it into a lower ‘budget’ specced tier which will hopefully help bring the cost of future PC gaming handhelds down into a more affordable place.

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The EliteBook Ultra G1i looks particularly compelling, and we also get our first glimpse at HP's new OmniDesk PCs.

The Nitro Blaze 8 and 11 show Acer's staying committed to the portable PC game space, and there's a new folding mobile game controller too.

Some familiar laptop models are being retired with new consumer and business lines taking their place.

The latest silicon from Intel and AMD will power Acer's laptops and desktops coming later in 2025, including the eco-friendly Aspire Vero 16.

• Acer launches the Nitro Blaze 11 starting at $1,099 (around £1,000 / AU$1,740)
• It will utilize AMD's Ryzen 8840HS Processor with 8 cores and 16 threads
• Uses a huge 10.95-inch 1600p 120Hz screen

Acer is set to breathe new life into the handheld gaming PC scene with the Nitro Blaze 11 - which will feature AMD's Ryzen 8840HS processor, using the Radeon 780M integrated GPU packed with 12 RDNA 3 cores, starting at $1,099 (around £1,000 / AU$1,740).

With a huge 10.95-inch 1600p 120Hz display, the Nitro Blaze 11 will compete with the likes of Asus' ROG Ally and more notably the Lenovo Legion Go. The Legion Go is well known for its 8.8-inch screen, a large display size for a handheld - now, the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 takes it a step further with a bigger screen and detachable controllers similar to the Legion Go or Nintendo Switch.

Thanks to the 8-core Ryzen AI Processor, players will be able to enjoy games at higher frame rates using AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (potentially FSR 4, once that gets revealed). Acer's new device also promises fast-charging capabilities, allowing you to dive back into action in no time via a USB 4 Type C port. This will come in handy considering the 55Wh battery - smaller than some competitors, and a potential point of concern given the comparatively massive display.

It doesn't stop there, as the Blaze 11 comes with up to 2TB of Gen 4 NVMe storage, alongside a front video camera for calls and streaming - this will be ideal for Discord users and content creators, also pushing the device's capabilities towards work usage.

Launching alongside the Nitro Blaze 11 is the Nitro Blaze 8, with the same processor, and a smaller 8.8-inch 144Hz screen starting at $899 / around £800 / AU$1,590.

That is one massive handheld indeed... (Image credit: Acer) Is an 11-inch screen too big for a handheld gaming PC? Is it too expensive?

Considering the Lenovo Legion Go's 8.8-inch 1600p display, the 10.95-inch screen (at the same resolution) from Acer's Nitro Blaze 11 is set to blow it out of the water. As I've stated previously, besides the Steam Deck OLED, the Lenovo Legion Go was the best handheld gaming PC looking purely at display quality and size.

While we wait for Lenovo's successor to the Legion Go (rumored to feature an OLED screen), I believe Acer has undoubtedly taken the lead in this department. Acknowledging this, an 11-inch display surely has to be the limit as far as handheld gaming PCs go. Any bigger and you're effectively breaking into the territory of laptop screen sizes. After all, 13-inch laptops are commonplace, and the Blaze 11 certainly looks a bit comically oversized in Acer's promo shots.

The only concern here is whether the Ryzen 8840HS processor will be able to handle the 1600p resolution - the same issue was present with the Legion Go, with downscaling to 1200p or lower a necessity for great performance in most games with the Z1 Extreme chip found in Lenovo's handheld.

While I might be happy to see such a massive display for a handheld device, the price is certainly not something to boast about - $1,099 for a handheld gaming PC will likely make many potential buyers wonder why they shouldn't just opt for a gaming laptop desktop PC instead. Personally, I'm just hoping the performance and battery life live up to the price tag.

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AMD announced its latest RDNA 4 graphics cards at CES 2025 this week, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and AMD Radeon RX 9070, both targeting the midrange graphics card segment, as was widely expected.

There isn’t much that we know about the two new cards yet, other than the new numbering scheme is intended to make it easier to compare AMD’s Radeon cards against the competition, namely Nvidia.

Under this new numbering scheme, the Radeon RX XX70 cards are now meant to compete against Nvidia’s XX70 cards, with the Radeon RX 9070 XT going up against the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and the RX 9070 going up against the RTX 5070. AMD has also teased a later launch for Radeon RX 9060 cards, which would then go up against the Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060.

Things get a bit more complicated when comparing these new cards against their predecessors, with AMD indicating that the RX 9070 series is replacing everything from the AMD RX 7900 XT to the RX 7800 XT, while the RX 9060 series is roughly replacing the RX 7700 XT and RX 7600 XT (the RX 7600 would presumably be replaced by a lower tier than these two).

It hasn’t said whether or not there will be any RX 9080 or RX 9090 cards, but given all of the talk about AMD conceding the premium enthusiast segment to Nvidia this generation, the 9070 and 9060 series cards are likely to be the only cards we get this go around.

No price or firm release date has been given, only that we should expect the new Radeon cards in Q1 2025.

Is abandoning the enthusiast segment a smart move for AMD?

AMD’s apparent decision to cede the enthusiast segment to focus on the midrange and upper-budget segments has been telegraphed by AMD for a while now, and it appears that this is in fact what AMD has planned.

Personally, I think it’s a great move on AMD’s part. If you’ve got a grand to spend on a graphics card, you’re all but certain to go for an Nvidia GPU. But the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE currently sits atop our best graphics card list for a reason. The RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 are ideal for 4K gaming, but according to Valve’s Steam Hardware Survey, the vast, vast majority of gamers out there are gaming at 1080p, with 1440p gaming being the area with the most growth. 4K gamers, meanwhile, make up less than 5% of gamers out there.

Which makes a lot of sense. Gaming at 4K is extremely expensive for increasingly marginal benefit. As TechRadar’s components editor, believe me, I’ve extensively tested all of the best 4K graphics cards over and over again, and I can hardly tell the difference between 1440p and 4K in terms of visual sharpness, but I can sure tell the difference in terms of framerate, and unless you have a 120Hz or better gaming monitor, you’ll never get to see the much faster 1440p framerate that a 4K graphics card like the RTX 4080 (or AMD RX 7900 XTX, for that matter) can give you.

The only people who can really benefit from a 4K graphics card at this point are people with a hell of a lot of money to spend on building the best gaming PC possible with a high-end gaming monitor. That’s a very narrow market, and if you’re that kind of gamer, you’re just going to splurge on a premium Nvidia card.

AMD’s apparent acknowledgment of this gives it a great opportunity to market its otherwise fantastic graphics cards to the vast majority of gamers, especially those whose goodwill has been burned by Nvidia’s increasingly high prices.

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AMD announced its latest X3D chips at CES 2025, the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D, further expanding its 3D V-Cache lineup in its Ryzen 9000-series processors.

The two new chips, which replace the current Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Ryzen 9 7900X3D processors released in early 2023, are a major step up from the only other Ryzen 9000-series X3D chip, the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D. Unlike the 8-core/16-thread 9800X3D, the 9900X3D and 9950X3D chips will feature 12-core/24-threads and 16-cores/32-threads, respectively.

The flagship 9950X3D will feature a 5.7GHz Boost clock and a massive 144MB L3 cache on a 170W TDP. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D, meanwhile, will feature a 5.5GHz Boost clock and a 140MB L3 cache on a much lower 120W TDP.

While the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the current gaming processor champ, the two newer chips aren’t strictly targeted for gamers like the 9800X3D. The 9950X3D, especially, is being pushed as a creative processor on par with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and Intel Core i9-14900K.

Whether the new chips strike that balance properly remains to be seen, but given how much better the gaming performance of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D was than the higher tier Ryzen 9 7900X3D and Ryzen 9 7950X3D, it’s entirely possible that these latest chips will likewise fall short of the 9800X3D’s gaming prowess while succeeding in other areas like video editing.

A treat for gamers, or a boon for creators?

AMD’s latest chips were widely anticipated for a CES 2025 announcement, so today’s news isn’t much of a surprise, just as comparing these two chips against the current crop of processors is inevitable.

With Intel’s major stumbles with the Intel Core Ultra 200-series desktop processors as well as the lackluster reception of the AMD Ryzen 9000 non-X3D processors, AMD has managed to score the only real win for this processor generation with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.

Following up on that chip is going to be tough, and so expectations are naturally pretty high for these new processors. I personally wouldn’t bet on them being better gaming processors than the 9800X3D, but AMD is claiming a roughly 13% better performance over its predecessor for the 9950X3D, and a roughly 10% better performance in creative workloads for the 9950X3D versus the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K.

It looks, then, like the 9950X3D chip will indeed be a more creative-focused chip, and it remains to be seen how much the additional 3D V-Cache helps differentiate the 9950X3D versus the Ryzen 9 9950X, and whether any improved performance is worth the ultimately higher price.

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