TechRadar Reviews

Despite its “home” branding, Vonage for Home remains a reliable and affordable VoIP service that appeals to both residential users and small business owners.

Originally designed to replace traditional home phone lines, Vonage for Home has evolved into a capable communication solution for freelancers, sole traders, and small businesses that want professional-grade call quality without hefty enterprise fees.

While the Vonage Business Cloud caters to larger organizations with complex CRM and collaboration integrations, Vonage for Home strikes an impressive balance between cost, simplicity, and robust telephony features.

Vonage for Home: Plans and pricing

(Image credit: Vonage)

Vonage for Home offers straightforward, contract-free pricing plans suitable for different calling needs.

The Vonage North America Plan typically ranges between $9.99 and $14.99 per month, offering unlimited calls to the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, along with competitive international per-minute rates.

For users who frequently make global calls, the Vonage World Prime Plan, priced around $19.99 per month, expands unlimited calling to more than 60 countries, including many landlines and select mobile numbers.

All plans come with over 20 standard calling features and access to the Vonage Extensions app, which lets users make and receive calls on smartphones using their home number.

Promotional deals often include free shipping, no activation fees, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Vonage requires a high-speed broadband internet connection, and emergency 911 calls are routed differently from traditional landlines, requiring users to provide their physical location for accurate emergency responses.

Vonage for Home: Basic features

(Image credit: Vonage for Home)

Despite being marketed for households, Vonage for Home includes an impressive feature suite that makes it a suitable option for small businesses.

Some of the most widely used tools include Voicemail Plus, which lets users access voicemail via phone, email, or an online dashboard, and Caller Display, which shows detailed caller information.

Other helpful features, such as Call Divert and Call Forwarding, allow incoming calls to be redirected to different numbers, while International Call Barring prevents unauthorized international dialing.

Additional capabilities like Do Not Disturb, Anonymous Call Blocking, and SimulRing — which makes multiple phones ring simultaneously to reduce missed opportunities — elevate Vonage for Home above basic VoIP services. These features empower small businesses to manage calls more effectively and maintain a professional image without investing in a high-cost commercial system.

Vonage for Home also includes several advanced capabilities useful for business owners and distributed teams. Three-Way Calling enables quick conferencing between multiple parties, ideal for small businesses adopting hybrid work models. Call Hunt and Ring Lists intelligently distribute incoming calls across multiple lines, ensuring no customer is left waiting. For organizations that still rely on fax, there is an option to add a dedicated fax line.

Although Vonage for Home does not include CRM integrations or the deep business analytics available in Vonage Business Cloud, it delivers the core reliability and control most small organizations need. This focus on simplicity ensures that essential communication functionality remains accessible to users without requiring complex IT infrastructure.

Vonage for Home: Installation and setup

(Image credit: Vonage for Home)

Setting up Vonage for Home is quick, simple, and user-friendly.

Users only need to activate their Vonage account, connect the Vonage Box to their router, and plug an existing phone into the device. No technician visits or special wiring are required, and users can transfer their existing numbers at no additional cost.

Once connected, users can immediately start making and receiving calls from landlines, softphones, or the mobile app. The Vonage Extensions mobile app also allows calls to be placed over Wi-Fi or mobile data, providing convenient access for remote workers and traveling professionals.

This easy plug-and-play setup and high portability make Vonage an excellent fit for modern hybrid and home-based work environments.

Vonage for Home: Security

Vonage employs several protective measures to secure communications and maintain user privacy.

All VoIP traffic is transported over encrypted connections and secure routing protocols, protecting against interception and unauthorized access. The company follows industry-standard data handling practices in line with U.S. privacy regulations, including the requirement for registered E911 address information to ensure emergency response accuracy.

While Vonage for Home may not be tailored for heavily regulated sectors such as healthcare or finance, its security framework is more than adequate for most small businesses and home-office users. The combination of encryption and dependable infrastructure provides peace of mind for those seeking affordable yet trustworthy communication services.

Vonage for Home: Support

Vonage provides around-the-clock customer support through multiple channels, including live chat, phone service, and a comprehensive online knowledge base. Its support portal features tutorials, setup videos, troubleshooting guides, and community forums that help users resolve issues quickly.

Customer feedback highlights the responsiveness of Vonage’s technical and customer care teams, especially during account activation and device setup. While the service does not include dedicated account management for small-business users, the available support resources are well-suited to the platform’s target market.

Vonage for Home: The competition

Vonage for Home faces competition from several top-rated VoIP providers that serve both individuals and small teams.

Services such as Zoom Phone, 8x8 X Series, RingCentral MVP, Aircall, and Dialpad each deliver unique benefits. Zoom is favored by businesses that frequently rely on video meetings, while 8x8 provides integrated team messaging across global locations.

RingCentral stands out for its CRM and workflow integrations; Aircall offers simplicity for customer support teams; and Dialpad leads with AI-driven features such as live call transcription and analytics.

Compared to these, Vonage for Home stands out for its low price point, robust feature set, and straightforward setup. It may lack some advanced analytics or app integrations, but its overall cost efficiency makes it particularly appealing to independent professionals and microbusinesses.

Vonage for Home: Final verdict

Don’t let the name fool you, Vonage for Home is a great VoIP option for small businesses. With its affordable rates, simple installation, and impressive list of features, SMBs across the UK and world will find a VoIP platform that ticks all the boxes. The free mobile apps and Vonage Extensions are also a nice bonus, allowing companies to take calls on the go, wherever they are.

Aircall provides a cloud-based VoIP phone system designed for sales, support, and customer management teams across small businesses to enterprises.

It emphasizes simplicity, integrations with over 100 tools, and features such as call routing and AI enhancements to support efficient communication.

This updated 2026 review covers its plans, features, usability, security, support, competitors, and overall value.

Aircall VoIP: Plans and pricing

Aircall structures pricing around three tiers—Essentials, Professional, and Custom—billed per license with a three-user minimum for the first two and 25 for Custom; annual plans start at $30/user/month for Essentials, $50 for Professional, and custom quotes for enterprises.

Essentials includes unlimited US/Canada calls, one number, basic IVR, call recording (up to 1 year), and 6 months of basic analytics, while Professional adds a power dialer, advanced analytics, voicemail drop, and deeper CRM integrations, such as Salesforce.

Custom offers unlimited analytics, SLAs, expanded international calling, and personalized onboarding. Add-ons such as AI summaries ($9/user/month) or Analytics+ ($15/user/month) apply across plans, and promotions include two free months with annual billing through January 2026.

Aircall VoIP: Features

(Image credit: Aircall)

Aircall supports desktop and mobile app calls with unlimited concurrent calls, IVR, call queuing, ring groups, and real-time routing based on time or skills.

Key tools include a power dialer, call recording with pause-and-resume, AI transcription and summaries, SMS/MMS, click-to-dial, after-call work, tags, and over 100 CRM integrations with HubSpot, Slack, and Pipedrive.

Conferencing limits to five participants without video, but analytics track volume, wait times, and performance; international calls and extra SMS incur fees beyond domestic bundles.

Aircall VoIP: Set up

Initial setup involves downloading the app, logging in, and configuring numbers, IVR, Teams, and integrations via the dashboard, often taking minutes and requiring minimal IT support.

Users port numbers or purchase new local/toll-free ones, set preferences, and sync contacts from Google or CRMs; mobile apps for iOS/Android enable on-the-go management.

A free trial allows testing before commitment, with guides for quick onboarding.

Aircall VoIP: Ease of use

(Image credit: Aircall)

The minimalist dashboard centralizes dialer, contacts, search, calls, and analytics, praised for its intuitiveness and minimal training needs.

Mobile and desktop interfaces reduce clutter, with features such as desktop notifications and speaker ringing that enhance accessibility for remote or hybrid teams.

Users report quick adaptation, straightforward call handling, and efficient workflows.

Aircall VoIP: Support

(Image credit: Aircall)

All tiers have access to a knowledge base, onboarding guides, live chat, chatbot, email, and phone (e.g., US: 888-240-6923). English support runs 24/5; French support runs 9 AM-6 PM CET.

Professional and Custom get dedicated managers and SLAs; website contact form aids quick resolutions.

Aircall VoIP: Security

(Image credit: Aircall)

Aircall secures all calls and data with strong encryption and AWS cloud protection. It’s SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and supports 2FA, SSO, role-based access, and spam blocking. Regular security tests, GDPR compliance, and multi-zone backups help guard against threats such as eavesdropping, DDoS, and vishing.

Data protection

Aircall also operates a vendor management program that is designed to protect sensitive information and complies with all relevant laws. The VoIP provider evaluates all new vendors to ensure they meet internal security and privacy standards. 

Integration security

For many  VoIP services, having a large number of integrations with third-party services is essential. For Aircall, this means having partnerships with big-name CRM players like Salesforce and HubSpot, as well as integrations with smaller players like transcription platform Jiminny and recruitment service Bullhorn. 

While the larger players are likely to already be adhering to the highest security standards, smaller third-party services are more of an unknown quantity. That’s why it’s reassuring that Aircall vets all its integrations before approval. 

Given that the number of cyberattacks targeting VoIP platforms have risen significantly recently as more companies resort to Internet-based communications following the boom of the hybrid working routine, Aircall’s security standards should provide businesses with a little more peace of mind.

Furthermore, Aircall regularly performs penetration testing and operates a generous bug bounty program to ensure that any vulnerabilities that are present are discovered and patched before the bad actors become aware of them.

Security expertise

In addition, Aircall runs a blog examining certain issues related to VoIP technology - including existing security issues. The company walks through some of the main attack vectors, including vishing, DDoS attacks, eavesdropping and phreaking. 

As well as cyberattacks, VoIP users will also be keen to ensure that they select a reliable VoIP service. Again, Aircall scores highly here, regularly backing up customer data and using AWS as a hosting provider to ensure a resilient service.

Aircall VoIP: The competition

Aircall competes with RingCentral, which starts at around $20/user/month and includes video support plus robust enterprise features; Nextiva, at $ 15+/user, offers a unified customer experience and high reliability.

Dialpad provides AI coaching from $15/user, while CloudTalk at $25/user adds custom reporting and more CRMs; options like Ooma or Phone.com suit tighter budgets but lack Aircall's extensiveness.

Aircall stands out for customizability and integrations in sales/support scenarios.

Aircall VoIP: Final verdict

Aircall suits SMBs and teams needing flexible, integrated VoIP with strong analytics and ease of use, despite higher pricing and add-on costs.

Its security, support, and call tools impress for customer-facing operations.

Intermedia Unite is a cloud-based Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platform designed to consolidate business telephony, team messaging, video conferencing, and file sharing into a centralized interface.

Engineered for hybrid work environments, the solution facilitates seamless collaboration across distributed teams by providing a consistent communication experience regardless of location. The platform is notably distinguished by its high reliability, offering a financially backed Service Level Agreement (SLA) that guarantees 99.999% uptime to ensure enterprise-grade continuity and minimize service disruptions.

Positioned primarily for small- to mid-sized businesses, the service offers tiered pricing structures starting at approximately $22.99 to $27.99 per user, per month. These plans are designed to replace fragmented legacy hardware with a scalable, cloud-powered infrastructure that reduces administrative overhead.

By integrating advanced features such as AI-driven meeting recaps and extensive CRM compatibility, Intermedia Unite serves as a comprehensive alternative to competitors like RingCentral and Nextiva, prioritizing service stability and ease of deployment for organizations transitioning to modern communication workflows.

Intermedia Unite: Plans and pricing

Intermedia Unite webpage (Image credit: Intermedia)

Intermedia Unite offers a clear, tiered structure with three primary plans: Teams at $22.99 per user/month, Pro at $27.99, and Enterprise at $32.99, all billed monthly, with custom pricing available for larger deployments. Each plan includes unlimited domestic and international calling to more than 33 countries, free business SMS, team chat, mobile and desktop apps, and one complimentary desk phone or device.

The For Teams Advanced plan caters to smaller organizations using Microsoft Teams, providing essentials like 10GB of storage and basic video meeting capabilities. The Pro plan builds on that foundation with an AI assistant, 50GB of storage, unlimited video meetings for up to 100 participants, and seamless CRM integrations — making it a strong choice for growing SMBs focused on collaboration. The Enterprise plan further expands capacity with enhanced storage, advanced integrations, and contact center functionality for high-volume operations.

Optional add-ons, such as additional phone numbers for $7.49 per month, provide added flexibility. Intermedia’s month-to-month pricing model means there are no long-term contracts or hidden fees — offering customers the transparency and predictability they value.

Intermedia Unite: Features

(Image credit: Intermedia)

At its core, Intermedia Unite delivers a robust telephony experience with advanced features such as professional-grade auto-attendants, call queues, hunt groups for up to 10 lines, call forwarding, parking, recording, and visual voicemail with built-in transcription.

Its video conferencing capabilities are equally strong—supporting unlimited, AI-enhanced meetings for up to 100 participants, complete with seamless screen sharing and one-click meeting launches directly from chat.

Collaboration is dynamic and intuitive. Team messaging includes real-time presence indicators, emojis, GIFs, @mentions, and secure file sharing or backup through SecuriSync, which supports up to 10GB of storage.

Envision analytics provides actionable insights into performance metrics, while native integrations with popular CRMs such as Zendesk, Zoho, SugarCRM, and Microsoft Teams — without additional licensing costs — ensure a connected workflow. Combined with spam protection, internal intercom functionality, customizable hold music, and compliance-ready data archiving, Intermedia Unite offers a comprehensive communications suite that balances powerful functionality with user-friendly collaboration.

Intermedia Unite: Setup

Getting started is simple.

Log in to the admin portal to provision users and port numbers, and to configure devices—typically completed within a few days, thanks to the dedicated concierge migration team. Download the desktop or mobile app, sign in with your email and password, grant microphone and contact permissions, and you’re ready to make calls through an intuitive drag-and-drop interface with no on-site IT support required.

Managing call routing is just as straightforward. Use calendar-based scheduling, set up hunt groups, or create multi-level auto-attendants with user-friendly menus. Number porting is smooth with minimal downtime, and Active Directory integration ensures new user setup is quick and seamless.

Intermedia Unite: Ease of use

Intermedia Unite excels in ease of use across its desktop, mobile, and web applications.

Users consistently praise the intuitive interfaces, with prominent keypads, straightforward contact displays, and easy navigation for messaging, video calls, and phone functions. The apps work seamlessly on multiple devices, allowing quick access without steep learning curves, and updates install with minimal disruption.

The admin portal simplifies management for IT teams and administrators. Key features appear on a single screen, with reporting, analytics, and call quality summaries accessible with a single click, reducing the need for extensive digging. Reviewers highlight clean, simple designs and self-setup capabilities using context help, making it suitable even for small businesses handling their own configurations.

Intermedia Unite: Security and privacy

(Image credit: Future)

Your data is fully protected with end-to-end security—encrypted in transit using TLS and at rest with AES-256. This applies across all communication channels, including calls, voicemails, recordings, chats, SMS, and file storage.

Intermedia’s platform meets major industry compliance standards, including HIPAA (with an available BAA), GDPR, SOC 2, FINRA, SOX, GLBA, CPNI, and Privacy Shield, making it ideal for organizations that manage sensitive or regulated information.

Advanced protection features, such as spam filtering, Do Not Disturb, and secure archiving, safeguard PHI and other confidential data from unauthorized exposure.

Intermedia further enforces strict access controls through comprehensive security policies, supported by SOC 3 audit reports available upon request, demonstrating the company’s commitment to transparency and trust across regulated industries.

Intermedia Unite: The competition

(Image credit: Nextiva)

In the UCaaS market, Intermedia Unite competes with several established platforms, each with distinct trade-offs:

RingCentral RingEX

Starts at $20/user/month (Core plan, annual) with plans up to $35/user/month (Ultra). It provides extensive hardware support like SIP paging adapters and desk phones, plus deep integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zendesk. However, the interface feels more complex for basic users, and premium add-ons like AI Receptionist or advanced analytics drive higher costs.

Nextiva

Offers a lower entry at $15/user/month (Core plan, likely annual). It excels with robust AI-powered call routing, voice analytics, and CX tools like unlimited dashboards in higher tiers. Video capabilities remain limited compared to rivals, and upselling occurs for secondary features like advanced integrations or international calling.

Zoom Phone

Pricing starts at $15/user/month for US/Canada Unlimited, which bundles well with Zoom Workplace at $18/user/month (Pro Plus). High user familiarity stems from its seamless video integration, making it easy for teams already in the Zoom ecosystem. It lacks the depth of telephony features, such as advanced PBX routing and flexible SMS options, found in dedicated solutions.

GoTo Connect

Pricing starts at $26/user/month (Phone System), optimized for contact centers with custom quoting for CX plans up to $80/user/month. Features include auto-attendant, call queuing, and free international calling to 50+ countries, plus integrations like MS Teams. The feature set often proves overly complex and costly for smaller SMBs due to add-ons and tiered unlocks.

The bottom line: While larger enterprises may prefer the scale of industry-leading RingCentral, Intermedia Unite distinguishes itself through all-in-one value and consistent reliability.

Intermedia Unite: Final verdict

In summary, Intermedia Unite stands out as a well-rounded UCaaS solution that merges enterprise-grade reliability with SMB-friendly simplicity. Its combination of 99.999% uptime, tiered affordability, and AI‑enhanced collaboration tools positions it as a strong contender for businesses seeking to modernize communications without adding IT complexity.

The platform’s seamless integrations, secure framework, and transparent pricing model underscore Intermedia’s commitment to providing flexible, scalable connectivity for today’s hybrid workforce.

For organizations balancing cost, performance, and ease of management, Intermedia Unite offers one of the most dependable and comprehensive unified communications experiences available.

DJI Romo P: two-minute review

On the face of it, it’s a perfectly logical step for a highly established drone manufacturer like DJI to venture into the smart-home world of automated floor cleaning. After all, the Chinese company’s drones have been boasting autonomous navigation since 2016 and successful robot vacuuming is much more about accurate navigation and successful obstacle avoidance than it is about raw suction power.

The Romo P marks an ambitious first step for DJI into the world of smart-home floor cleaning and I think the company’s tech bods have mostly hit the nail on the head. The Romo P’s key feature is its sophisticated navigation system combining dual fisheye cameras with solid-state LiDAR to enable precise obstacle detection — even for items as thin as 0.08 inches / 2mm. Believe me, this model truly impresses when it comes to avoiding obstacles of most sizes.

(Image credit: Future)

With a whopping 25,000Pa suction and extendable cleaning brushes and mops for edge coverage, the Romo P delivers flagship-level performance on hard floors and it’s not bad on carpet either; at least no worse than the majority. The ROMO P's self-cleaning dock is equally impressive, offering dust collection, automated mop washing and decently long maintenance intervals of ‘up to 200 days’ according to DJI.

Smart features like remote monitoring through the robot’s front camera, app control and voice assistant integration enhance convenience, although these have also introduced some privacy considerations which are typical of connected home devices.

Overall, I’d say that the Romo P is one of the most technologically advanced models I’ve seen to date. It vacuums hard floors exceedingly well, isn't bad on carpet and its navigation and obstacle avoidance is second to none. However, its dock’s dust bag is on the small side which isn’t great for pet owners and the air intake when emptying the robot’s bin could easily clog with pet hair if you don’t run enough cleaning schedules. Otherwise this is a brilliant opening salvo from DJI in an arena that it is already chock full of very competent autonomous robot cleaners.

DJI Romo P: price & availability

• List price £1,299 / €1,899
• Launch date April 2026
• Availability UK, Germany, Netherlands

The DJI Romo P has finally been launched to market in the UK, Germany and Netherlands. As of writing, the ROMO P model we are reviewing here is available to pre-order in the UK from DJI Retail at a price of £1,299, with dispatch from 15 April. However, it is also available to buy right now in Germany and the Netherlands for €1,899.

These figures put the Romo P firmly in the upper bracket of robot vacs, along with premium models from Roborock and Dreame. For instance, Roborock’s new, to-be-reviewed Saros 20 retails at £1,129 in the UK which is roughly in the same ball park as the Romo P. However, the Saros 20 is slim enough to venture under low furniture and mount thresholds up to 8.8cm, which the Romo P can’t compete with. But on the other hand, the Romo P’s navigation and obstacle avoidance is more impressive than the Saros 20 and much more suited to very cluttered households. Swings and roundabouts spring to mind.

According to research, the entire Romo series is currently rolling out region by region rather than globally all at once. Aside from China, we believe it’s set for a rollout in several European markets, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy.

As of April 2026, availability in the United States and Japan has not been officially confirmed or announced by DJI, so launch dates for those regions remain pending.

• Value score: 4/5

DJI Romo 3: specs

Robot dimensions (W x H)

14 x 3.8 inches. / 35.5 x 9.7cm

Cleaning dock dimensions (H x W x D)

17.7 x 15.8 x 17.3 inches / 45 x 40 x 44cm

Suction

25,000Pa

Cleaning dock bin size

2.5 quarts / 2.4 liters

Clean water tank size

3.7 quarts / 3.5 liters

Dirty water tank size

3.2 quarts / 3 liters

Navigation & obstacle avoidance

High-Performance Binocular Fisheye Vision Sensors and Dual-Transmitter Solid-State LiDARs

Carpet detection

Dynamic Cleaning for carpet pile up to 3cm

Threshold crossing

With optional ramp

Mopping functions

Mop lifting, 140˚F / 60˚C mop washing and hot-air drying

Robot noise level

59.2dB at five feet

DJI Romo P: design

• Unique transparent dock and bot
• A full banquet of navigational aids
• Not squat enough for low furnishings

I’m coming to this review as a big fan of DJI and have reviewed many of its drones and stabilised cameras over the past decade or so. Granted, the company’s first slew of Phantom drones never had any autonomous navigation systems on board aside from GPS receivers and downward-facing sensors but that all changed with the launch of the Phantom 4 in 2016, which was the first DJI drone to feature an advanced obstacle avoidance system and high-level autonomous navigation capabilities.

Well what a difference a decade makes because today’s fleet of DJI drones are so insanely adept at self navigation they can follow — and keep up with — a user through pretty dense woodland while avoiding all manner of obstacles in their path.

While I like to think I have my ear to the ground regarding all things DJI, I have to admit that I did not see this hybrid robot coming. And what a bot it has turned out to be. Yes, I’ve read the news about 7,000 or so DJI Romos around the world being accidentally accessed by an early adopter who just wanted to steer his Romo using his PlayStation controller. DJI is said to have fixed this glitch and we can only hope this never happens again.

But truth is, when you opt to have your home filled with smart gear, that’s a risk you take. For all I know my security cameras could be filming my every move and my smart virtual assistants could be listening in to every conversation. After all, we’ve all experienced those weird moments when we spot an advertisement in our social media feeds for a product we were privately discussing within earshot of our phones. Coincidence? Who knows. Welcome to the 21st century.

My editor sent me the flagship Romo P variant with a unique transparent frontage on the dock and the same on the robot’s top shell. However, there are another two Romo variants available: the Romo A with transparent robot top and white base station, and the Romo S which is all white and the cheapest of the bunch.

(Image credit: Future)

Looking at the paucity of specs on the range, all three variants have the same suction power (25,000Pa) and mechanical features, plus cleaning solution and dust box drying ability, but only the P model comes with a floor deodoriser and dust bag UV disinfection. In fact, the only difference between the Romo A and Romo S is that the A has a transparent robot appearance and the S is all white. Finalised pricing hasn't been announced yet but it looks like the Romo A’s transparent top could cost up to £200 (about $270 / AU$380) more, which seems a bit steep.

But I digress. I wasn’t sure what my final thoughts would be on unboxing the ROMO P but I certainly loved the notion of a transparent household product. However, I’ll admit that I was dreading my wife’s reaction on unveiling this machine and its dock in the lounge because she has such impeccable taste in design. Well my jaw hit the floor when she said she loved the look of the entire package. I do too, though, just to prove how subjective style is, my tech-obsessed brother thought it was pug ugly and said it reminded him of Apple’s coloured 1998 range of transparent iMac G3s.

I personally think the Romo P’s futuristic base station looks more like Roborock’s QRevo Curv series, which isn’t my favourite, it has to be said. However, I’m prepared to forgive the bulbous shape of this dock because I love seeing all the gorgeous transparency and, more crucially, the inner parts and workings of both the dock and the robot. To be more accurate, you can’t actually see any moving parts on the dock but you can see its smaller-than-average 2.4-liter dust bag exploding outwards against its clear Perspex-style cover when it’s emptying the contents of the robot’s much smaller dust receptacle. However, you can see some moving parts in the robot unit, most notably the spinning nubs that are attached to the robot’s two spinning mops.

I’ve tested many robot vacs over the years and have seen some pretty poorly built and designed bots moving around my home, but I have to say that the Romo P is easily one of the best built models I’ve ever come across. The plastics look unbreakable, and the fit and finish throughout is exemplary. But then I knew this would be the case because everything DJI turns its hands to is built to well above average standards.

Let’s take a look at both the Romo P robot and its base station in more detail.

Robot design

Unlike the majority of flagship models coming out of the Roborock and Dreame stables that boast a low operating height of just 3.1 inches / 7.98cm, the Romo P clocks in at 3.8 inches / 9.7cm so it won’t scuttle under very low furnishings. Its width, however, is the standard 13.8 inches / 35cm.

Like many hybrid bots these days, the Romo P both vacuums and mops using a split Roborock-style tangle-free roller for the vacuuming function and two spinning mops on the rear that appear to be a little more plush and a tad more absorbent than others I’ve seen. Also like most of it competitors, the right-hand mop articulates outwards by a few inches for cleaning around furniture legs, along skirting boards and, to some degree, in corners. However, unlike some high-end hybrids that either raise their mops on carpet or leave them behind in the dock when vacuuming, this bot’s mopping pads remain fixed in position though they at least raise up when on carpet.

The Romo P struggled to mount the edge of a thin rug during testing (Image credit: Future)

This model also comes with two front-mounted side-spinning brushes instead of just one, and that’s a massive bonus in my mind because, well, two brushes are obviously better than one. What’s more, one of the brushes extends by an inch or two to sweep debris in tight corners and along walls into the path of the robot’s suction.

And speaking of suction, the Romo P sports a whopping 25,000 Pascals of dust-grabbing oomph which is on par with the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Pro but still shy of the Dreame Matrix10’s 30,000Pa and Roborock’s soon-to-be launched Saros 20, which boasts a whopping 36,000Pa. Where will it end?

Where most of today’s flagship models are able to mount thresholds of between 0.6 inches / 2cm and 1.6 inches / 4cm in height, this one can only manage about 1.5cm at a pinch so perhaps avoid it if you have any protruding thresholds between your rooms.

I also noticed that it can’t scale the edge of a thin, loose rug. I have one such vintage rug on the hard floor in the lounge and the Romo P simply cannot get over the front lip where practically every other bot I’ve tested manages to eventually make it. I’m not sure if it has something do with the twin spinning brushes that are always flush with the floor or if the undercarriage is set low for better suction, but it means I have had to stick the rug’s leading edge down using some sticky rug tape.

The DJI Romo P has extraordinary obstacle detection (Image credit: Future)

When it comes to all-important navigation, this model is on another level. According to the spec sheet, all Romo models are equipped with ‘High-Performance Binocular Fisheye Vision Sensors and Dual-Transmitter Solid-State LiDARs’. DJI emphasises that its drone guidance tech has been adapted for use in this first fleet of robot vacs and I’m inclined to believe every word because, on my evidence, the Romo’s obstacle avoidance is insanely good.

Believe me, I’ve tested dozens upon dozens of robot vacs over the past six years or so and I can’t remember seeing any other model steering through a minefield of obstacles with such elegant precision, with hardly any pausing or spinning around, and with impressive pace, too. But more on this in our Performance chapter.

By the way, for those who like the idea of being able to watch the world through their robot’s camera, you can do just that with this model and, like others on the market, drive it around the house like an RC car. You can also operate it using various voice commands.

Score ref: 4/5

Dock design

As mentioned above, the transparent Romo P’s dock is reminiscent of Roborock’s Qrevo Curv range. I must say I’m rather smitten by it and, despite its sci-fi looks, it seems to magically meld into its surroundings — and that’s more that one can say for many other robot base stations.

As is the norm, this dock comes with the obligatory dust-emptying function from robot to the dock’s smaller-than-average 2.4-liter dust bag via a large 16mm waste port. It also boasts full autonomous mop cleaning using hot water at 140˚F / 60˚C (Roborock’s is nearer 212˚F / 100˚C) and hot air mop-drying. However, unlike Roborock and Dreame’s cleaning basins, which self-clean and come with removable trays for deeper cleaning, the Romo P’s has a fixed base which is much harder to clean by hand.

The DJI Romo P's dust bag (above) is considerably smaller than that of the Roborock 3 (below), and will need emptying frequently. (Image credit: Future)

Unlike every other robot vac I’ve reviewed, the Romo doesn’t empty the contents of its own bin into the dock’s larger bin bag on completing a task. Instead, it starts to dry the robot’s undercarriage and dustbin area for a period of time, along with a blast of UV rays for disinfection purposes. This dust box drying sequence is to prevent moisture from any mopping sessions from mixing with the dry debris and causing caked-on muck on the robot’s undercarriage. Instead, the bin from subsequent clean-ups empties just before its next task. I think it’s a great method and possibly the way forward for all robot vacs. However, I really do think this model’s dust bag should have been bigger because mine is nearly a third full with pet hair after a week or use.

On the mopping front, the Romo P’s dock is also equipped with a sealed bottle of hard floor detergent and, unique to the P model, another sealed bottle of deodoriser which does make the floor smell rather fragrant. Since the bottles are sealed, you can’t fill them with third party solutions, which isn’t great it must be said.

Despite the unit’s transparency, I have seen no evidence of any dust forming on the inside of the Romo P’s dock casing or the robot, and that’s a very good thing because it shows how well sealed everything is. Hope it stays that way.

Score ref: 4/5

• Design score: 4.5/5

DJI Romo P: performance

• Impeccable obstacle avoidance
• Excellent hard floor cleaning
• The dock’s dust bag is on the small side

Navigation performance

DJI has made great claims about this hybrid floor-cleaning robot’s drone-sourced navigation credentials and so far I’ve been extremely impressed by its sure-footed and speedy navigation. Aside from getting stuck trying to climb over my thin vintage rug (now solved), the Romo P’s initial mapping run was extremely successful, even though the final map treated my whole open plan area as one giant room which I had to correct in the DJI Home app — no great shakes.

By comparison, the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Pro I tested recently divided the rooms pretty accurately while the Dreame Matrix10 Ultra miraculously mapped and named almost every room correctly, including the kitchen and living room. In DJI’s favour, I’m sure the ROMO’s mapping feature – and the app’s clean but overly-simple map presentation – could be improved with a few software tweaks.

Score ref: 4.5/5

Obstacle avoidance

Clearly quite a large chunk of DJI’s amazing drone navigation tech has been implemented here because I’ve never seen a robot vac negotiate obstacles as quickly and as accurately as the ROMA P. In fact, it’s almost human like in the way it dodges obstacles.

For my main test I programmed a kitchen vac session that entailed a short trip across the dinning area floor. I scattered more dog toys than ever before and complimented them with two really small aromatic oil bottles, two phone cables — one long, the other short — and two dreaded half-inch-high nylon dog chews that have caught out almost all previous robot vacs I’ve tested.

On test number one it shot out of its base and, with no faffing about, quickly started its way to the kitchen through 90% of the obstacles before stopping to think at the last hurdle. It then went the long way round under a dining room chair before arriving in the kitchen — and that was good enough for me. On its return, it had a few thinks at some of the obstacles but continued quickly on its way and proceeded to dock.

Test two — mind blown. This time it took a similar route but, instead of going the long way round under the chair, it made a bee-line straight for the kitchen, twisting and turning like a slalom skier on steroids. It literally dodged all obstacles as if it had learned the best route from its previous run. Its return run was equally successful.

What surprised me was the speed with which the ROMA P navigated a pretty complex assault course, and without knocking anything over. In fact, it was so fast I nearly missed catching it on video.

In a nutshell, I consider this model’s obstacle avoidance to be the best I’ve ever tested – for both accuracy and speed. A high-five to DJI’s clever little sausages for giving us such amazing results.

Score ref: 5/5

Vacuuming

From a day-to-day cleaning point of view, I’ve been exceedingly impressed with this model’s vacuuming performance, especially on hard floor. Also, the twin spinning brushes really make a difference in my opinion. Since their speed is varied during the cleaning process, they don’t scatter debris as much as models with just one side brush. I’ve also noticed that the extendable brush on the right is employed more frequently than other bots.

I should add that my tests have involved setting its suction to Max (there are three levels) and Turbo on carpet, selecting two passes from a choice of three, and opting for the Fine route setting which performs a checkerboard clean (you can also choose Fast and Standard). I always like to go above board on suction and route settings with robot vacs because they’re working in the background and this model’s amazing battery can certainly handle it.

I tested the Romo P's vacuuming with oats, muesli, rice, and crushed cornflakes FutureFutureFuture

For my hard floor zone test I used 0.21oz / 6g of flour plus some oats, muesli, rice, and loosely crushed cornflakes, amounting to 1.27oz / 36g in total. I then set up a zone clean in the kitchen and selected Max suction mode, plus two passes and the Fine route setting. The Romo P collected an impressive 1.2oz / 34g, leaving just 0.07oz / 2g (a pinch) of flour in the floor cracks. During this test I could also hear the suction motor increase in speed when its sensors encountered increased levels of detritus.

I then produced the same vacuum test on a carpeted rug but this time set the suction to Turbo since that is what I would always use on carpet. However, I forgot to set two passes in the app. I used the same set of ingredients, though this time it was 50g worth.

I performed the same test on a carpeted rugFutureFutureFuture

Despite setting only a single pass in Fine route mode, the Romo P collected a pretty decent 1.62oz / 46g. Decent because at least 0.11oz / 3g of missing dirt was the flour still remaining in the carpet. Flour is a notoriously obstreperous substance for robot vacs and I’ve always had some flour remaining on the carpet after a robot test which I then sweep up with a cordless vacuum cleaner. After all, no robot vac on earth can beat a human pushing a vacuum cleaner.

DJI makes great pains to explain that the ROMA is equipped with a ‘three-stage sound suppression system that filters up to 80% of noise during dust collection’ and I’m inclined to agree because this model is much quieter in operation than the vast majority other models I’ve tested over the years. I measured it at 59.2dB from five feet away and that’s a very decent figure.

Score ref: 4.5/5

Mopping performance

I’ve watched the Romo P do a number of general mopping runs in the kitchen and it has been no better or worse than the vast majority of high-end mopping bots. If you set a series of regular mopping schedules, it will keep on top of daily grime and light stains and leave the floor looking relatively shiny and clean. But don’t expect miracles from any of these robot mopping bots because you would be better served by using a little elbow grease with a simple mop and bucket or grabbing a dedicated cordless mopping machine and letting it do the hard work for you. This is because most mopping bots with spinning pads simply drag their mops over a dirty area and then smear the often unseen residue over the rest of the floor. And you only notice this hours later when you walk on a sticky floor.

I’m personally not a fan of robotic floor cleaners that also mop, and wish manufacturers would produce at least one high-end robot that vacuums only, with a dock that forgoes all the mop-cleaning malarky and smelly dirty water containers in favor of a whopping dust bag that I don’t have to change every two weeks. Please, someone do it!

I tested the Romo P's mopping function with tomato ketchup, soy sauce, and milkFutureThe robot cleaned every spill except for a particularly dense blob of ketchup, which it regarded as an obstacleFuture

Rant over, for my main kitchen mopping test I created a small zone and selected two passes, medium water flow, the Fine route for criss-cross cleaning, Degreasing mode, and re-mopping with clean water. This is way more than I would normally use on my engineered wood flooring because too much water is never a good thing for wooden floors.

I then squirted some tomato ketchup, soy sauce and milk on the floor, and set the Romo P on its way. I should add that I would never perform a test like this in the real world, mostly because robot vacs are designed for general day-to-day mopping of footfall marks and light stains and not for cleaning up liquid spills, despite what you might read or see on the internet.

I don't think the fact that the Romo P missed the largest puddle of ketchup was a problem; it meant there was no risk of it being dragged around my floorFutureI wouldn't recommend using the mopping function too regularly, particularly on thin laminate, as it can wear away the protective coatingFuture

Anyway, the Romo P duly went off to tackle the mess I created and, sure enough, it appeared to wipe up most of the mess. However it positively refused to tackle one dense section of tomato ketchup because it thought it was an obstacle. You might consider this a failure, but I consider it a success because, as mentioned directly above, I don’t want my robot getting overly filthy with smelly foodstuffs clinging to its undercarriage. Yes, this model will dry itself after its robust self-cleaning regime but you can bet there will still be residue remaining around the brush head area that will eventually go rancid and require reaching for a toothbrush to clean it. Some Roborocks get around this by lifting the whole brush section when mopping.

Before I leave this chapter — having successfully put you off using your robot to clean up liquid spills — I should add that regular mopping of wooden floors is not a great idea, especially if you have thin laminate flooring. Also, every cleaning session removes a little more of its floor protection coating and this may result in the floor losing its sheen. Well I’m here to the rescue with a shout-out to Bona and its tried-and-tested Wood Floor Polish, which genuinely helps restore tired wooden floors after too many mopping sessions.

Score ref: 4/5

Dock performance

I was considering giving the charging base / cleaning dock a very respectable 4.5 stars for functionality but I’ve dropped it to 4 because of one slightly annoying anomaly that has also affected some Roborocks I’ve reviewed.

Let me explain. When you have pets in the home — I have two labradors and a cat — you have to expect to live with a lot of loose hair floating about. It gets everywhere, even in areas you never thought possible. It’s a fact of nature — most dog breeds molt, especially in spring and autumn when old coats are discarded and new ones grow. This creates an awful lot of hair on a daily basis so to keep on top of it you need to set at least a bi-weekly schedule on your robot vac or the robot’s bin will get so packed with hair that the dock’s strong suction may fail to remove it properly.

The dock has an extra-large dust intake, but it's not infallibleFutureFutureFuture

In its favor, DJI has equipped this model’s dock with an extra large dust intake from the robot’s bin to the dock’s 2.4-liter dust bag. But even this was no match for the amount of Labrador and cat hair the robot had collected in my lounge.

I knew something was wrong when I didn’t hear a whoomp sound during emptying and, sure enough, it had failed to budge any of the matted hair from the robot’s bin. Instead, as my images illustrate, it got halfway out of the robot bin’s outlet before jamming. This has happened a few times with my Roborock Saros 10R and a couple of other models in the past, and I think it’s down to a lack of raw suction power in the base station.

FutureFuture

I now schedule my Saros 10R to perform much more regular runs around the home. And, of course, being a robot that never grumbles, it now goes out on a triweekly basis and I’ve had no problems since. To prove this, I set the Romo P to do another lounge clean a couple of days later and I have no more bin-emptying issues to report. With this model, regular scheduling is clearly key to keep on top of pet hair clogging.

Perhaps more concerning is the smaller size of the Romo P’s dust bag. I’ve only used the Romo for a week and the bag is already a third full. That means a bag change about every two weeks, so bear this in mind if you live with shedding pets.

Score ref: 4/5

Battery performance

It’s no surprise that the Romo’s battery holds such an exceptional charge. After all, I believe DJI incorporated its drone-battery knowledge into this model and any drone pilot will know how impressive DJI batteries are at keeping a surprisingly heavy craft aloft for up to 35 minutes at a time.

I set the Romo P off to clean the entire downstairs area and set the suction to Max and selected one pass and the Fine route for a checkerboard pattern, and it amounted to a cleaning area of 38 square metres which the bot completed in 1 hour 14 mins with 18% of battery remaining. That’ll do.

Score ref: 4.5/5

• Performance score: 4.5/5

DJI Romo P: app functionality

• Excellent layout
• Extremely comprehensive
• No detailed room furnishings

It took a few moments for me to get a handle on the DJI Home app but after using it for a while, I’m pleased to report that it’s almost everything a robot app should be, and not a million miles from the way the Roborock app is presented.

The Home app’s clean, polished and intuitive interface makes controlling the ROMO very straightforward and mostly enjoyable, whether it’s creating custom cleaning zones right on the home page, adding virtual walls and no-go zones or scheduling routines.

It’s incredibly comprehensive, too, allowing the user to customise cleaning routines, suction power, level of moisture on the mops and whether you want to vac and mop, vacuum only or mop only. I personally keep vacuuming and mopping separate from each other to prevent any cross contamination of moisture mixing with dry dust on the undercarriage of the robot. One of this app’s strengths is how clearly it presents its cleaning data – you can track its progress, view coverage history and receive timely maintenance reminders for filters, brushes and water tanks.

However, there is one area I’m not too enamoured of – its map presentation. I guess I’m used to Roborock’s maps which not only illustrate the shape of each room in sharp detail with designated colours for each room, but also the furnishings within it, including sofas, tables, cupboards, etc. DJI’s method is to keep things Scandinavian clean with rooms divided into blocks with just very faint outlines of the rooms’ shapes and no furnishings other than carpeted areas. I have found this tricky to read when selecting a specific zone I want cleaning, especially if it’s directly in front of a specific piece of furniture. With the Roborock app I can place a zone exactly where I need it but with this app there’s a lot more guess work. DJI will hopefully improve this area because everything else about the Home app is extremely intuitive, comprehensive and logically laid out for both beginners and tech nerds like me.

• App functionality score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the DJI Romo P?DJI Romo P: score card

Section

Notes

Score

Value for money

The DJI ROMO P is expensive to buy but, in its favour, it offers strong performance, a smorgasbord of intelligent features and reliable obstacle avoidance.

4/5

Design

The stylish-looking DJI ROMO P offers superb obstacle avoidance and a shedload of smart functions for impressively efficient cleaning. However, it could do with a couple of hardware tweaks.

4/5

Performance

With its extra strong suction, incredible obstacle avoidance, efficient cleaning methods and expert navigation, this bot rocks on all fronts.

4.5/5

App functionality

The DJI Home app is intuitive and extremely comprehensive, but there is a little room for improvement.

4.5/5

Average rating

4.5/5

Buy it if

You have a cluttered home

This bot boasts class-leading obstacle avoidance.

You want good performance

The ROMO P is an expert cleaner, especially on hard floors.

You love futuristic tech

This model will most certainly turn heads.

Don't buy it if

You have many thin loose rugs

The Romo P’s low ride height will cause issues on thin vintage-style rugs.

You have high thresholds

Unlike some flagship models, this one prefers a level floor space.

You have very low furnishings

At over 3.5 inches / 9cm in height, the ROMO P is too tall for low furniture.

How I tested the DJI Romo P

As per usual, I’ve had the ROMA P perform a regular set of schedules over the past week and watched how well it swept a room. I’ve been very impressed. I then set about performing a series of decisive suction tests, weighing the amount of detritus I laid down and then weighing the contents in the robot’s bin. This model has performed exceedingly well in on hard floor and well enough on carpet.

I also ran a few general mopping sequences at which it performed acceptably well, plus an over-the-top liquid spill test which was no worse than the competition but still not a patch on a mop and bucket.

However, the test that really blew me away was the ROMO P’s exquisite obstacle avoidance for which I give it full marks. With just a few small design and software tweaks, I think DJI’s next model could be up for a full five stars.

First reviewed April 2026.

Meze Audio Strada: Two-minute review

Visually, the Meze Audio Strada are more than a little reminiscent of the company’s much more expensive Liric II planar magnetic over-ear headphones. In terms of the most important technical aspects, they share quite a bit with the brand’s 109 Pro open-back model. But despite all this apparent cross-pollination, the closed-back, dynamic driver-toting Strada manage to be a distinct and individual proposition. And not only because they’re only available in a combination of ebony hardwood and a delightfully deep, slightly metallic green.

The materials that have been deployed — magnesium, PU leather and memory foam as well as that good-looking quantity of Macassar wood — feel luxurious and utterly fit for purpose. The standard of build and finish cannot be argued with. It’s even possible to overlook the rather unsophisticated ‘adjustment rod’ mechanism that alters the fit — although it is not possible to overlook the fact that even at their smallest adjustment these are quite large headphones. The smaller-headed music-lover can probably stop reading now.

Those listeners who aren’t physically swamped by the Strada, though, are in for a treat — a spacious, detailed and deliciously informative treat that only the best wired headphones can deliver. By the standards of the closed-back configuration these headphones sound large and airy, and create a well-defined and expansive soundstage. The have plenty of dynamic headroom, great neutrality where both tonality and frequency response are concerned, a proper facility with rhythmic expression thanks to excellent control over the deep and textured low frequencies they generate, and an overall sense of refinement and sophistication that is bound to satisfy a whole lot of customers.

In fact, if they didn’t play the ‘refinement’ card quite so strongly, even when dealing with the most unrefined music, they could conceivably snatch that extra half-a-star.

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)Meze Audio Strada review: Price & release date

• Released January 21, 2026
• Priced $799 / £799 / AUS1,499

The Meze Audio Strada (stylised to 'STRADA' in the company's marketing materials) are on sale now, and in the United States they sell for $799 per pair. They’re £799 in the United Kingdom, and AU$1,499 in Australia. Which means they have so very stiff competition, from both inside and outside their parent company, to overcome if they’re going to be a hit…

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)Meze Audio Strada review: Specs

Type

Closed-back wired over-ears

Drivers

50mm dynamic

Weight

332g

Cable length

2x 1.8m

Cable terminations

3.5mm to 3.5mm; 3.5mm to 4.4mm

Frequency response

5Hz - 30kHz frequency response

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)Meze Audio Strada review: Features

• 50mm dynamic drivers
• 5Hz - 30kHz frequency response
• 111dB sensitivity

There are very few pairs of passive headphones that have a long list of features, and the Meze Audio Strada are not among them. The one significant feature they do have, though, has quite obviously come in for an awful lot of attention.

The 50mm dynamic drivers Meze Audio has used here are derived from the drivers fitted to the company’s open-back 109 PRO model — but naturally it’s been finessed in order to suit its new closed-back environment.

So each driver features a ‘W’-shaped dome made from carbon fibre-reinforced cellulose composite — it’s a combination that offers light weight and durability, and is designed to reject most of the resonances that can cause audible distortion. The torus surrounding the dome is made of semicrystalline polymer that’s been beryllium-coated; the coating adds to the durability of the component, and because it adds stiffness without any knock-on effects where weight is concerned it doesn’t hamper transient response. The torus also features some grooves positioned at carefully calculated angles to further boost its effectiveness. And there’s a copper-zinc alloy stabiliser surrounding the membrane that absorbs unwanted vibrations and reduces distortion yet further.

This painstaking arrangement results in a frequency response, says Meze Audio, of 5Hz - 30kHz, which in real terms means ‘staggeringly deep’ to ‘inaudibly high’. The 4ohms impedance measurement is nothing to be alarmed by, but a sensitivity rating of 111dB (SPL/mW @ 1kHz) seems to suggest a fairly powerful DAC or digital audio player will be required to get the best out of these headphones.

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)Meze Audio Strada review: Sound quality

• Spacious, organised and detailed sound
• Seem comfortable with pretty much any style of music
• Could conceivably sound a little more demonstrative

If you’ve read the words ‘closed-back’ during the course of this review and have assumed the Strada are going to sound intimate, direct and quite, well, closed then I can’t really blame you — that’s how the vast majority of closed-back headphones sound, after all. But what’s most immediately striking about these Meze Audio is how open and spacious their presentation is. They can do ‘direct’ and ‘conspiratorial’, sure — a listen to a nice big FLAC file of Elliott Smith’s Between the Bars lets you know they can communicate on a very one-to-one basis. But switch up to Shabaka’s Ol’ Time African Gods as a 24bit/48kHz file and it quickly becomes apparent the Strada create a big, well-organised and airy soundstage on which pretty much any recording gets the space to stretch out and express itself.

Tonally, the Meze Audio are almost entirely neutral from the top of the frequency range to the bottom. There’s the tiniest suggestion of heat at the lowest frequencies, but it’s not even close to making you want to take your pullover off. And the frequency response they muster is similarly even-handed — though they dig very deep into the lowest frequencies, and have great shine and a polite amount of shine at the opposite end, they neither under- nor overstate any particular area of the range. And in between those two extremes, they communicate in the most unequivocal manner — listen again to that Elliott Smith tune and the eloquence of his voice in unarguable.

These headphones seem able to turn their hand to pretty much any type of music, too. They have the sort of dynamic reach to put huge distance between the quietest and the most intense passage of Bernstein’s rampage through Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, they are deft enough to tease out the harmonic over- and undertones that exist within the squeal and grind of The Stooges’ I Wanna Be Your Dog, they have the power and the facility with rhythmic expression to make the heavily sedated skank of Dr Alimantado’s Best Dressed Chicken in Town roll by in the most natural and convincing manner.

Really, about the only meaningful criticism I can level at the Strada is not so much about the nuts and bolts of music reproduction but more about attitude. There’s a slightly self-conscious sense of refinement to these Meze Audio headphones, a grown-up and unflappable character that’s very pleasant and welcome right until the moment that it isn’t. If there’s energy in a recording, the STRADA do more than just allude to it, but at the same time, they seem unwilling or unable to properly sink their teeth in. I get the impression they think this sort of behaviour is both juvenile and a bit beneath them — if they could sound a little more demonstrative when it’s absolutely crucial, they’d be holding all the cards.

• Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)Meze Audio Strada review: Design

• Macassar hardwood ear cups
• Magnesium frame
• PU leather ear pads attach magnetically

The Strada are, at a glance, a dead ringer for Meze Audio’s (much more expensive) Liric II over-ear model. The fact the pricier headphones use planar magnetic technology to produce sound, rather than the dynamic drivers that are fitted here, goes a long way to explaining the price difference — certainly there’s nothing about the way the Strada are designed, built or finished that suggests penny-pinching.

The magnesium frame contributes towards a very acceptable 300g weight (without cables attached), and the carefully considered hanger arrangement and clamping force also helps the comfort quotient. Or, at least, it does if you’re not one of the smaller-headed among us — the Strada, like almost every pair of Meze Audio headphones I’ve encountered, are large.

The rather prosaic ‘adjustment rod’ mechanism that alters the fit of the headphones allows the size to run from ‘quite large’ to ‘very large indeed’.

As well as being quite large, these headphones are quite wide — and the generous nature of the PU leather-covered memory foam earpads makes them larger still. Happily, the broad headband (which is covered on the outside with more PU leather) is much more judiciously padded on its fabric-covered inside, and the layout of the padding allows air to flow and prevents your head from warming up too quickly.

The outside of the ear cups are, just as with the Liric II, made from some handsome and actually quite tactile Macassar ebony hardwood. The lustre of the wood contrasts nicely with the colour of the frame — it’s a mildly metallic variation on British Racing Green, it’s applied by hand (all four coats of it) and it’s your only option when it comes to the colour of the Strada.

The headphones arrive in a fairly large, rigid EVA travel case, and there’s a little pouch inside containing two 1.8m lengths of braided Kevlar OFC cable. Each has two 3.5mm terminations at one end (both Strada earcups must be wired), and at the other end there’s either a single-ended 3.5mm connection or a 4.4mm Pentacon alternative. Plug in both ear cups, plug the other end of your preferred cable into your source of music, and away you go.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)Meze Audio Strada review: Value

• Aesthetically very similar to much pricier Meze Audio cans
• …and luckily, they sound very good too

If you’re judging purely on looks, it’s hard to argue against the value that’s on offer here — after all, the $799 / £799 Strada look very, very similar indeed to the $2,000 / £1899 Liric II. If you’re judging on engineering prowess and integrity of construction, it’s similarly tricky to suggest the Strada don’t represent value. And then when you consider the sound quality that these headphones are able to serve up, their case becomes even more watertight.

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)Should I buy the Meze Audio Strada?

Section

Notes

Score

Features

Two cable options in 1.8m, lovely build and finish

4.5/5

Sound quality

Detailed and beautifully accurate, just erring half a star over on 'refinement'

4.5/5

Design

The only issue here is, they're a touch large for some heads

4.5 / 5

Value

They look much more expensive than they are (similar to a lot of other Meze cans that actually are)

4.5/5

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)Buy them if...

You like things luxurious but not opulent
There’s more than a hint of ‘premium’ about the STRADA, but they don’t shout about it

You enjoy detailed, expansive sound
The amount of detail that available here is predictably excellent, the spacious sound delivered by a closed-back arrangement is altogether less predictable

You like green
Specifically quite dark, slightly metallic green that’s been flawlessly applied in multiple coats

Don't buy them if...

You like the more visceral aspects of music reproduction
Even at their most abandoned the Strada never sound less than refined

You’re one of those smaller-headed people
These are large headphones and you are unlikely to feel comfortable wearing them

You’re a fidget
Keep bumping the cable and it will keep transmitting noise into the headphonesView Deal

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)Meze Audio Strada review: Also consider

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)

If the closed-back configuration isn’t essential for you, then the Meze Audio 109 PRO are well worth considering — they have much of what makes the Strada so compelling, and they’re not green.

You can also consider the five-star Grado Hemp — great sound, interesting materials and a decent saving over the Strada, but hardly the last word in luxury.

If closed-back is your thing, though, then the Audio Technica ATH-W1000 (for a little less money than the Meze Audio) and the Audeze LCD-2 (for more-or-less the same price) should be on your radar.

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)How I tested the Meze Audio Strada

I use the cable with the 4.4mm termination to connect the Strada to an iBasso DX340 digital audio player, and also (although obviously not at the same time) to an iFi iDSD Diablo 2 headphone amp/DAC that’s hooked to an Apple MacBook Pro via USB-C. Additionally, I connect them to the 6.3mm headphones socket of an Eversolo DAC-Z10 pre-amp/DAC (using a 6.3mm adapter on the 3.5mm cable) — this way I get to hear music delivered by a Technics SL-1300G turntable, a Rega Apollo CD player, and an Arcam ST25 network streamer.

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)

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

AI-agnostic is how I'd describe myself. I can see how it might be useful in some fields, for certain tasks. But I'm no hype-man for artificial intelligence. I'm not sold on a lot of what AI tools can do (or claim to do). And I certainly don't think it's a replacement for human creativity, whether that's writing or designing. No, not even turning documents into slide decks.

So, it was with some trepidation and skepticism that I approached VistaPrint's recently unveiled AI logo maker

Now, right off the bat, I have to say, if you possess a degree of design nous, this isn't the service for you. I find it to be relatively basic overall - which is the idea.

This is for small businesses who understand the need for company branding, but lack the time and knowledge to spend hours tinkering in creative apps like Photoshop or Affinity.

You can check out the full service by clicking here (although I used the UK version here, it's an identical platform).

VistaPrint AI logo maker: Pricing & plans

The AI logo maker is free to use. To start, you get four free starter logos. Sign up for a VistaPrint account, and that increases from 4 to 64 free logo generations.

Where it will cost money is all the extras. You can have a professional designer tweak your AI-created logo or build one from scratch, you can print your logo on a range of promotional materials, from business cards to coffee mugs, or use it alongside the VistaPrint website builder.

You can also purchase additional AI credits with a subscription to VistaCreate for $10 / £10 a month. This unlocks a raft of extra features, including unlimited storage, access to design templates, and 100 monthly AI credits. You can see what's on offer here.

VistaPrint AI logo maker: Interface

(Image credit: VistaPrint // Future)

Navigating the VistaPrint AI logo maker is delightfully simple. I always thought Canva nailed an intuitive design interface, and even that feels cluttered compared to this one. It's sparse. It's minimalist. It's not going to overwhelm anyone, particularly first-timers and new designers.

On the AI logo maker home page, I found a text box requesting a business name. I typed it in, hit 'Let's Go'. And I'm off.

A nice touch here is the progress bar at the top. Despite only being three steps from prompt to output, it will still help put first-time users at ease. It tells users: This is not going to take a hundred years to produce a usable AI logo.

From here, I could add a business tagline to sit under the company name, and details about my business.

Next, I had to choose up to four logo styles I liked. This ranged from simple and minimalist designs to bold, colorful, and playful ones. It gives the AI an idea what sort of logo you're looking for.

(Image credit: VistaPrint // Future)

Finally, I was prompted to add a few more details about my ideal logo.

The platform suggests detailing colors, styles, imagery, icons that best represents your business. As a means to get started, there are also AI-produced starter topics, like 'Capture the brand personality of...' Just fill in the blanks.

What I'd recommend here is be as specific as possible, particularly if you have even the vaguest notion of what your logo should look like. I experimented with both a short and long answer, and the longer ones delivered superior results overall.

With these steps complete, VistaPrint will show you four logo options. You can then see more logo ideas (but that will eat up your credits), alter your original ideal logo description, or begin using AI to edit one specific logo.

So, in terms of the interface and figuring out what you need to do, it's incredibly simple. And it doesn't break any molds. If you've used a similar service before, you'll be in familiar territory here.

VistaPrint AI logo maker: In use

(Image credit: VistaPrint // Future)

In general, I found the tool very easy to use. It's all basic text-to-image prompting, so you'll want to be descriptive with how you describe what you want from your logo.

My first experiment was to replicate, as closely as possible, our TechRadar Pro logo. That way, I'd be able to compare the professionally designed logo with the AI's output. And this is where I ran into the first problem.

A problem for me, that is - but not for large businesses.

It turns out, VistaPrint recognized that TechRadar was a trademarked company. It wouldn't let me use that business name at all (I tried multiple times). Here's the message I received.

(Image credit: VistaPrint // Future)

I tried this again with other big brands, like Google and Facebook, and got the same message. When I tried it with a random selection of Seattle cafes, however, it produced these without issue.

Fair enough. I altered my business name to TR Pro, and that went through with no issues.

When the platform served up four AI-generated logos based on my descriptions, I began tweaking the best version with more prompts.

Now, the AI output is pretty quick - around five to ten seconds at most. And edited logos are similarly quick.

In the main, the service understood what changes I wanted to make. When I wanted to turn the very angular typeface to a bolder, more rounded one, it tackled this with ease. When I changed the color of the 'TR' to our brand colors, pasting in the correct hex code, it was done.

(Image credit: VistaPrint // Future)

However, results are not completely perfect.

Any attempt to remove the color gradient into a single block color was ignored. Each time, the logo with reproduced with no identifiable change. I attempted this multiple times, and every time, the gradient remained.

The same thing occurred when I tried removing the outline around the word 'Pro'. Instead of taking it out, the AI simply turned it from grey to white, while the lines were still visible.

And it's worth pointing out, that each time you edit the existing logo, you're using up yet another AI credit. Even if, as with the example above, the AI doesn't deliver on your request.

That's why I recommend being as specific as possible the first time around, to reduce the amount of time and credits you'll spend getting the logo to match your vision.

(Image credit: VistaPrint // Future)

Outside of the radar icon, my original TR Pro logo lacked imagery. So, I decided to run a few more tests with more graphical logos.

First, I asked for a friendly, anthropomorphic coffee bean to help promote my fictional cafe Cosy Beans coffee & book shop. This was almost ridiculously easy for the AI to produce. A little generic, perhaps, but more than suitable for placing on promo materials and social media.

(Image credit: VistaPrint // Future)

Next, I created Stevie C's House of DJ - it's party time central. The logos produced here were colorful, visually appealing, and struck all the right notes as I requested.

Finally, I asked for a logo for my burger joint Meat Sax - tagline: Burgers. Booze. Bands.

I was a little more specific here, requesting a Pixar-style man, and a McDonalds-style carton of fries (replacing the fries with a handful of saxophones).

Once again, the computer said: No. I was asking for trademarked elements. I had to try again. I kept the Pixar reference, removed McDonalds from the description of changes, and that seemed fine.

(Image credit: VistaPrint // Future)

The carton of fries, while in a McDonalds red, was more like a wheelie bin of saxophones.

And while it had no issues with me asking for a Pixar-style cartoon figure, that wasn't what I got. The man munching on the burger was a standard figure. But then, I suppose no business using VistaPrint's AI logo maker wants to tangle with the lawyers of the Golden Arches or Disney, so it makes sense.

I then noticed these additional edits had stripped out the business name and tagline. Without specifying, I asked the service to re-add them to the new image. Instead of complying, it created a whole new business name and tag. Gone was Meat Sax - Burgers. Booze. Bands. In its place, was Melody Bites - Where food sings.

Overall, results were mostly hits, but with some noticeable misses.

VistaPrint AI logo maker: Export & download

If you thought the AI creation was straightforward, actually downloading your logo is child's play. Beneath your edited image is an option to download SVG, PNG, and PDF versions with a single click. These are all placed in a ZIP file. Considering this is free, I can't complain with that line-up.

You can also retrieve your logo from Account Dashboard. All projects are added here - including any you've uploaded (if you already have a logo) and all previous AI creations. You'll also be able to view the prompts used to create them. Very useful, especially if you're collaborating with colleagues.

It's here where you can also manage other aspects of your company brand kit, like brand colors, and look through VistaPrint's catalog of promotional products if you plan on printing this logo.

VistaPrint AI logo maker: Rights

Ok, you have a fresh new logo - but can you legally use it for your business?

This is one of the big concerns for businesses who need commercially safe AI-generated designs.

I asked VistaPrint's Patrick Llewellyn, Vice President, Digital and Design Services.

Here's what he told me:

"The AI generates designs based on a unique combination of a business name, industry, and style preferences, the experience is designed to produce a high degree of variety and distinction.

From a usage perspective, every user has the full right to use its finalized logo for its business, marketing, and social media. However, it is important to note that no intellectual property rights in the logo are transferred to the user.

This means that while you have the right to use your AI-generated logo, the logo can not be registered for exclusive trademark or copyright protection. To date, this is usually the case with all AI-generated imagery."

VistaPrint AI logo maker: Final verdict

(Image credit: VistaPrint // Future)

For a free service, there's not much to dislike about the VistaPrint AI logo maker. It won't be acceptable for professional designers, but then, that's not its intent.

It's fast, fun, and will be useful for small businesses looking for a quick way to produce an eye-catching - and most importantly usable - logo. The AI designs are fine for that sort of use.

I did run in to some quirks when trying to refine my original logo designs. I would've liked a little more control over this (or to have the AI actually 'hear', rather than just assuming it's delivered).

On top of that, you could quickly burn through AI credits with every edit you make if you're not specific enough. That's a curse for pretty much every AI logo maker I've tested out, it's not just VistaPrint.

But if you're relatively clear about what the logo should include - the style, the color, the imagery, and so on - and you're not trying to reinvent the wheel, then 64 credits feels like more than enough to get a good representation of your company in logo form.

Should I try the VistaPrint AI logo maker?

Buy it if…

✅ You're not a designer
The real selling-point here is the ability to generate well-designed logos through AI - all you need to do is give the service a few business details and a general vibe.

✅ You want to take your logo online and offline
Once you have the logo in your dashboard, VistaPrint makes it easy to add it to promo items like business cards (for a price, of course).

Don’t buy it if…

❌ You're a professional designer
If you have experience using professional design software, you'll likely be able to create something better suited to your business - it might not be as fast, but it will be yours.

❌ You want complete control over rights
While you're free to use the logos for your business, it's worth noting that you don't own the intellectual property rights, and like any AI-generated imagery, you can't trademark it.

My team and I have also tested and reviewed the best logo makers and the best free logo makers.

Boulies EP200: One year on

March 2026: It's been a little over a year since I first reviewed the Boulies EP200 (published February 18 2025) - and I thought it might be helpful to offer a few thoughts after a solid 12 months' using this office chair.

First, this is still my daily driver. Unless I'm testing out another model, this is the chair I use all-day at work, which I think speaks volumes. I haven't felt any fatigue when using it, although ten hours is about my limit before I need a break.

Comfort and support remain excellent. And it's more adjustable than I originally thought - not as much as a premium seat like the Herman Miller Embody, but certainly more than, say, the Boulies OP180 I have downstairs.

Build quality was an initial concern - especially at this price-point. However, so far, the adjustment mechanisms show no sign of wear, and neither does the plastic or the rubberized armrests. Crucially, the mesh seating remains tight with no noticeable sagging. For the price, what more could you ask for, really?

It's a firm sit. If you suffer back pains or aches, this is ideal - it may sound counter-intuitive, but a soft seat office chair is the worst choice for chronic lower back pain, since it won't support the lower back or spine. Alright, it's not up there with a chair like the Steelcase Leap, but for mild aches, where you need a good amount of support, I find it works well.

Overall, a year on, I still find the Boulies EP200 to be the archetypal office chair for most people. It's relatively cheap, not overly engineered or designed (in a good way), and suitable for long hours in the office and home office.

--

The original, unedited review continues below

Boulies EP200: 30-second review

Supremely comfortable. That was my first thought after assembling the Boulies EP200 office chair and sitting down for the first time. And after a month of constant use - for at least eight hours a day, sometimes more - this initial assessment still holds true.

This is a delightful mesh seat which feels at all times supportive, relaxed, and one of the best office chairs I’ve ever tested. I’ve long been a fan of mesh office chairs, which are a lot more breathable and far less sweaty than fabric and leather (or worse, so-called PU or faux leather) options you’ll often find on even the best gaming chairs. If you’re using your chair for long hours at a time, to my mind mesh is the way to go. On this score, the Boulies EP200 ably fits the bill.

My real concern was whether that mesh seat would suffer from a general sagging or whether it would be too firm - either can lead to discomfort and fatigue during the work day. I’m happy to report that it hits the Goldilocks spot, neither too hard nor too soft, but just right.

There are a handful of features lacking here, which you’ll find on higher-priced desk chairs. Notably, the lumbar support is fixed to one spot - although you can move it back and forth, it isn’t height-adjustable to accommodate for taller users (as a man of average height, this wasn’t an issue for me).

Nonetheless, it does boast decent lower back support, 3D armrests, a pleasant headrest, and overall, I had no real problems positioning these to make it as comfortable as possible for all-day use.

Boulies EP200: Price & availability

(Image credit: Boulies )

The Boulies EP200 Series retails for $300 via the Boulies.com website by clicking here.

In the UK, the chair is available for £280 from the Boulies.co.uk site which you can visit by clicking here.

Right now, only the black cold-cured foam version is available in the US, while the UK offers both gray and black models.

At the time of review, this chair is currently discounted to $200 / £190, which is more in-line with budget-price office chairs - and an excellent price for what’s on offer, I feel. You can also pick it up from Amazon.co.uk and other online retailers.

Boulies EP200: Specs

Mesh

Cold-cured foam

Price (RRP)

$Unavailable / £280

$300 / £280

Seat height

45 - 53cm

45.5 - 55.5cm

Seat depth

49 - 51cm

49 - 54cm

Seat width

45cm

49.5cm

Backrest height

70 - 78cm

70 - 78cm

Recommended user height

5’5” - 6’3”

5’7” - 6’3”

Max weight load

120kg / 265lbs

120kg / 265lbs

Material

Mesh

Foam

Warranty

2 years

2 years

Boulies EP200: Design

Close-up of the mesh weave on the Boulies EP200 (Image credit: Boulies )

The EP200 Series is available in black or gray, with the choice of a mesh or a cold-cured foam seat. Both models possess a tightly woven, single-piece mesh backrest. I selected the gray mesh variant for review, which I found unimposing in the home office.

Design-wise, it’s of the classic office chair look, not dissimilar to the likes of the Sihoo M57 (read our review here). Smart and professional, it won’t look out of place either in the home or in the office, and I have no complaints with its appearance. At 51cm, the backrest itself is relatively wide compared to some at this price-point, giving it more utility for those with a larger frame.

Around the back, it’s similarly unfussy, with a Y-shaped plastic support where, within the nub, you’ll find the adjustable lumbar support. The only sign of decoration comes from a silver piece of plastic stamped with the Boulies signature. This is a separate piece, fitted post-assembly, and entirely optional depending on your tastes.

Boulies EP200: AssemblyBoulies Boulies

Taking around twenty minutes from start to finish, constructing the Boulies EP200 is about as simple as any I’ve tried. Plug the wheels into the aluminum base, bolt the backrest to the seat, then affix the contoured headrest. Connect the armrests, add the gas lift to the base, and rest the chair on top. All par for the course when it comes to office chair assembly.

While the box is admittedly heavy, I had no issues hauling it upstairs into the office, and assembling the entire unit on my own. The included manual is straightforward and easy to follow, and if you have any experience piecing chairs together, you’ll have no trouble here whatsoever.

Boulies EP200: Comfort & adjustabilityBoulies Boulies Boulies Boulies

I was impressed with the comfort of this office chair - in fact, I’d find reasons to sit at my desk outside of work hours just to use it. I found the suspended mesh seat firm without being too hard, and supportive in all the right places.

As a chap of average height and build, I didn’t struggle with finding the sweet spot here. Like all gas-lift office chairs, you’ll find a lever beneath the seat to adjust the overall height. Pulling this lever outward unlocks the backrest so you can recline - just push back with your body weight until you find the appropriate angle, then lock it into place again. Easy stuff.

A second lever beside this is where you can control how far back the seat can go, and I found I had to have it moderately far forward in order to get into the lumbar support in the correct position. After making this adjustment, the foam lumbar support pushing through the mesh offered consistent lower back support.

I was expecting the unpadded armrests to be a bind, akin to resting one’s elbows on a slab of warm concrete. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find the foam, while relatively thin and somewhat hardened, provided an excellent balance between comfort and support - much like the rest of the chair, to be fair. As typical 3D armrests, these can be moved up and down, backwards and forwards, and outward and inward.

However, I would’ve liked to see a few more adjustability options. Specifically, the lumbar support, which can be repositioned on the horizontal plane by turning the screw cap, but not vertically, which would be useful for taller users. The headrest, too, can be moved up and down, but won’t shift forward, back, or angled in any way. Perhaps I’m being greedy, since for the price, I don’t consider these deal-breakers.

Boulies EP200: Final verdict

If you’re looking for a decent ergonomic office chair that won’t break the bank, there’s a lot to recommend about the Boulies EP200. It might not boast all the bells and whistles you’ll find on chairs twice the price, and it would’ve been nice to have a few extra adjustability points here and there. But for a modern, uncomplicated seat, I found it supremely comfortable and ultra-breathable even when used all day.

Should I buy the Boulies EP200 Series office chair?Boulies Boulies Boulies

Buy it if…

✅ You want an affordable ergonomic office chair: Considering the price, the Boulies EP200 is extremely comfortable, offering good all-round support,with most of the key features I’d like to see in an office chair.

✅ You demand all-day comfort: I used this chair for at least eight hours a day for a month during testing, and never once felt fatigue set in. If you’re planning on being at your desk for work, rest, or play, it’s an effective choice.

Don’t buy it if…

❌ You need more adjustments: While you can reposition plenty of parts of this chair, it lacks height adjustable lumbar support, 4D armrests, and an angled headrest. That may be a deal-breaker for some.

❌ You need a padded backrest: Both versions in the Boulies EP200 Series of office chairs feature a mesh backrest, and while I found it snug and comfortable, many prefer a cushioned option for additional comfort.

For more workspace essentials, we tested the best standing desks for the home and office.

Aqara Camera Hub G350: two-minute review

Owned by Shenzhen’s Lumi United Technology, and backed by Chinese mobile phone/EV giant Xiaomi, Aqara offers a wide range of AI-driven automation products including sensors, cameras and controllers. I’ve previously reviewed the Aqara G100, a versatile indoor/outdoor security camera which I was very impressed with. However, I was less impressed with the company’s battery-powered video doorbell, the Aqara G410 Doorbell Camera Hub, which not only looks big and clunky but isn’t waterproof — surely a failing for any doorbell camera?

The Aqara Camera Hub G350 under review here is very different. Finished in white, it is — unlike the company’s doorbell camera — very well designed. Though the removable bunny ears may not be everyone’s idea of great design, it is at least good fun and does feel like a piece of tech you wouldn’t be ashamed to put on a bookshelf or fireplace. However, it’s much more than a pretty face. It’s also a heck of a powerful and versatile home security camera.

(Image credit: Future)

Unlike most indoor cameras, the G350 features a motorized base which provides a 360-degree field of view with zero blind spots. This is paired with a dual lens setup that allows you to track a subject (human or animal) using the wide-angle lens or zoom in to an area of detail using the telephoto lens. A 9x hybrid zoom is provided which really does allow you to get close up to your subject with reasonable picture quality.

Like all security cameras these days, setup requires downloading an app (the Aqara Home app) and scanning a QR code from the back of the device. However, rather confusingly, this camera features three QR codes — two on the back for setting up the camera with the app and with third party Matter devices (it supports Matter 1.5) and one on the base for Apple HomeKit Secure Video. While you can use the Matter QR code for connecting to Apple devices, it will currently only connect as a bridge rather than a camera.

(Image credit: Future)

Importantly, if you are using Apple HomeKit Secure Video to control the Aqara camera via your iCloud subscription you will only be able to view footage with a maximum resolution of 1080p. You will also not be able to access many of the camera’s features including its pan and tilt options. Instead, if you want full functionality you will need to use the much more advanced Aqara app instead.

Like many security devices these days, the Aqara G350 is packed full of AI features. This includes sophisticated on-device detection that can identify different types of motion, from humans and pets to specific hand gestures for home automation. Particularly impressive is the AI sound detection, which can recognize and alert you to specific audio events such as a baby crying or a dog barking. This makes it an ideal choice for parents and pet owners who want more nuanced alerts rather than generic ‘noise detected’ pings.

(Image credit: Future, edited by Gemini)

While Aqara provides a monthly subscription option for storing video clips for up to 90 days and some advanced AI functionality (including AI video search — see below), the good news is you don’t have to pay a fee to use most of the device’s features, as you do with some manufacturers. Instead, you can store video clips on a MicroSD card of up to 512GB (not provided) and still use most of the product’s extensive feature list. For those worried about storing videos of loved ones in the cloud for cybersecurity reasons, investing in a MicroSD card is not only a cheaper option but a potentially more secure one too.

Aqara Camera Hub G350: subscription options

HomeGuardian One: £3.99 (about $5.40 / AU$7.60) per month, or £39.99 (about $54 / AU$76) per year for a single device. Includes: 90 days of video event history, person, animal, vehicle, package, and fire detection.

HomeGuardian Unlimited: £7.99 (about $11 / AU$15) per month, or £79.99 (about $110 / AU$150) per year. Same as above but also includes Premium AI Event Detection including AI Video Summary (one sentence summary of videos) and AI Video Search (enter keywords to search video). Support for unlimited cameras in one home.

Aqara Camera Hub G350: price and availability

• How much does it cost? $139.99 / £139.99 / AU$249
• When is it available? Since March 2026

Generally, security cameras are not expensive to buy. For example, EZVIZ now offers a 4K indoor camera with pan and tilt for under £50 (about $67 / AU$95) on Amazon in the UK, so £139 (about $190 / AU$270) does seem slightly pricey at first glance.

However, one key difference is that the Aqara offers a dual lens system, complete with 133° wide-angle lens and 43-degree telephoto lens for zooming in to areas of detail. Another is that it’s more than just a camera. It’s really a central hub for your smart home, supporting Matter 1.5, Zigbee 3.0 and Thread formats. It also works with all the major smart home ecosystems including Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home and Samsung SmartThings. This makes it a truly versatile piece of kit.

While this level of integration might not be essential for everyone, for those building a smart home system comprising different components such as window locks, lighting, switching and smart locks it is extremely useful.

• Value score: 3.5/5

Aqara Camera Hub G350: design

• Solidly built
• Playful design with removable bunny ears
• Can be mounted on the ceiling (with additional hardware)

When thinking about this camera’s design, it’s difficult to overlook the distinctive bunny costume (the ears of which are bigger than those of its predecessor, the Aqara Camera Hub G3). Yet focusing extensively on its removable plastic cover is to do the Aqara Camera Hub G350 a major disservice as it’s actually a very well-designed camera indeed.

Not only does it look good (with or without bunny ears) for placing in your home, it’s also solidly built. One feature I like is the privacy mode which physically moves the dual lenses, which look like open eyes, to the back of the device’s ‘head'. These are replaced with two sleeping eyes with the MicroSD card slot forming a mouth underneath. Again, it’s a bit of fun but it clearly shows the camera is asleep (privacy mode can be scheduled for certain hours of the day — for example when you know lots of family members are going to be in the room).

(Image credit: Future)

A small button on the front is usually illuminated blue during operation, but turns red to indicate it is recording while next to the two lenses is a microphone for two-way communication (a speaker can be found on the camera’s rear). A USB-C port can be found on the base, and a USB-C to USB-C cable is provided, but you will need a USB-C plug unless you use a different cable.

Finally, for those looking to mount the camera on a wall or ceiling, the camera features a standard ‘tripod-style’ threaded screw hole on the base. However, the actual bracket and mounting hardware (wall plugs etc) are sold separately for non-bookshelf installation.

• Design score: 5/5

Aqara Camera Hub G350: performance

• 4K image quality
• Overly complex menus
• Very useful

It’s really when it comes to performance that the Aqara justifies its higher-than-average price tag. During testing I used the camera in my home office, where I wrote most of this review, and in the kitchen/dining room where my dog Poppy was recovering from a serious operation.

The ability to track her every move automatically using the pan-and-tilt motor was invaluable. I could easily check that she wasn’t getting her stitches caught in the furniture, even when she wandered out the initial field of view. What’s more, using my phone to draw a box on the screen, I was able to zoom in on areas of the frame I wanted to focus more clearly on.

Future, edited by GeminiFuture, edited by GeminiFuture, edited by GeminiFuture, edited by Gemini

Thankfully, the 360-degree rotation is nearly silent, which isn’t so much of an issue when monitoring my dog, but could be if you are using the camera as a baby monitor and you don’t want to wake a sleeping child.

Whereas many manufacturers now put their most advanced features behind a subscription paywall, the vast majority of those on the Aqara G350 are free — at least for now. For example, you can set up the device to get alerts if it hears a baby crying or dog barking, or if you want it to distinguish between different types of motion such as a person or a pet. It’s even possible to add faces to the device’s face management system so that it recognizes certain people.

Future, edited by GeminiFuture, edited by GeminiFuture, edited by Gemini

However, you will have to pay a subscription fee if you want more advanced AI functionality such as AI Video Summary that provides a one sentence summary of videos and AI Video Search that enables the device to find certain clips — for example someone wearing a red T-shirt or with blond hair.

Finally, while I mostly used the Aqara app to view images in stunning 4K quality and navigate hundreds of different menu options (including the ability to change the look and feel of onscreen menus) I also connected the camera up to Apple HomeKit Secure Video. Here image quality was limited to the much lower 1080p and I wasn’t able to use the pan-and-tilt or zoom features which are really useful.

(Image credit: Future, edited by Gemini)

However, it was possible to save and record footage using my iCloud+ subscription rather than using a MicroSD or subscribing to Aqara’s Home Guardian service.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the Aqara Camera Hub G350?Aqara Camera Hub G350 score card

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

More expensive than many of its counterparts because you are paying for the device’s impressive dual-lens system and compatibility with various smart home ecosystems

3.5/5

Design

Much more than a camera in a bunny costume, the Aqara 350 is a solidly built unit which wouldn’t look out of place in any smart-looking smart home

5/5

Performance

The Aqara Camera Hub provides high quality images from its 4K wide angle and 2.5K telephoto lenses, as well as offering a wealth of useful AI features.

4.5/5

Overall

A versatile 360-degree camera that can be used either alone, or as a hub forming part of a complete smart home system. Combines great 4K performance with striking looks and advanced AI functionality.

4.5/5

Buy it if

You want to use as part of a smart home system

One of the world’s first Matter 1.5-certified cameras, the Aqara G350 is also compatible with all the major smart home ecosystems including Apple HomeKit.

You want to keep an eye on a child or pet

This dual lens 360° camera will track motion across a room and, thanks to AI, alerts can be set if a dog barks or a baby cries.

Don't buy it if

You are on a limited budget

Compared to other indoor cameras, the Aqara G350 is quite expensive. It also doesn’t include accessories such as USB-C plug and mounting bracket that some cameras provide.

You want a simple solution

Despite the cute design, there is nothing child-like about this camera. It is exceptionally advanced and the menus are quite complex to navigate.

Aqara Camera Hub G350: also consider

Aqara Camera Hub G350

Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Camera

Blink Mini 2K+

Eufy 4K S330 security camera

MP

Subscription price

From £3.99 a month

From £4.99 a month

From £2.50 a month

None

Viewing angle

360° pan

360° pan

138° horizontal

360° pan

Network connection

Wi-Fi (2.4GHz/5Hz)

Wi-Fi (2.4GHz)

Wi-Fi (2.4GHz)

Wi-Fi/4G

Audio

Two-way audio

Two-way audio

Two-way audio

Two-way audio

Video

3840 x 2160 (wide angle lens), 2560 x 14440 (telephoto)

1080p

2K video resolution (2560 x 1440 pixels)

4K video resolution

Power

Mains

Mains

Mains

Battery, solar

Hardware price

£139

£35

£39

£189 (with solar panel)

If you're not sure whether the Aqara Camera Hub G350 is right for you, here are two other options to think about.

Ring Pan and Tilt

A good pan and tilt camera for the money. However, it doesn’t offer motion tracking, and you will need to subscribe to Ring for even basic functionality such as accessing video recordings.

Read our full Ring Pan and Tilt reviewView Deal

Eufy 4K S330 security camera

An extremely innovative battery and solar-powered camera, the Eufy can be used with the supplied 4G Sim card to capture recordings — ideal for those who live in areas with poor Wi-Fi/broadband.

Read our full Eufy 4K security camera reviewView Deal

How I tested the Aqara Camera Hub G350

• I used the camera indoors in two locations
• I installed it myself
• The camera was connected to the Aqara app and Apple Home

Initially, I set the Aqara up in my office to get a feel for how it worked and how to use the pan and tilt functionality to focus on certain parts of the room. However, it soon became apparent that this camera really thrives in a busy environment where you can really put the motion tracking to the test.

So, I put it in the kitchen where it could track other family members as well as my dog who was recovering from an operation. This perhaps wasn’t as straightforward as I’d hoped as it required reinstalling to operate on a different Wi-Fi network, but that didn’t take too long.

After a while, other family members began to find the camera a little ‘big brother-y’ in the way it tracks you with its eyes as you move across the room (though it is exceptionally quiet). However, it was highly effective at monitoring the dog while everyone else was out during the day and I placed it in privacy mode during the evening when everyone was home.

For more info, check out how we test, review, and rate products at TechRadar.

Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub: one-minute review

The Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner is a cordless vacuum and mop in one. It effectively picks up dirt from bare floors as well as certain kinds of rugs. A single charge is probably enough to vacuum and mop an average-sized home, though you might need to refill the cleaner if you have a lot of carpets or rugs. It's lightweight, easy to use, and not too loud. A headlight really shines a light on dirt so you can be sure to get it all. However, it lacks some features that may be a dealbreaker for some.

It's great on bare floors and hard carpets and rugs. But the Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub is not intended for flimsy or fluffy carpets. It lacks a wand or hose of any kind, which means you can't use it on furniture. Also, don't expect any miracles in the stain-removal department.

For the day-to-day cleaning of a typical home with hard floors, either bare floors or dense rugs, the Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner excels. For specialty carpeted surfaces or deeply ingrained carpet stains, it may not be enough.

Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub: price and availability

• List price: $369.99 (about £280 / AU$540)
• Available on BISSELL's website and Walmart

As of this writing, the Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner is available on Bissell's own website and at Walmart. The price is the same at both places, $369.99 (about £280 / AU$537). It's fairly expensive for this type of cleaner but might be worthwhile if it fits your needs.

• Value score: 4/5

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub: specifications

Price

$369.99

Cleaning modes

Power Vac Mode, Power Mop Mode, Turbo Mode, Scrub Mode

Parts included

Docking station, handle, body, trial cleaner formulas

Self-cleaning?

Yes, you can run a Clean-Out Cycle

Cleaning method

Dirty tank must be disassembled and parts hand washed

Time to charge

Five hours

Run time

45 minutes

Weight

10.6 pounds

BISSELL CrossWave HydroScrub: design and features

• Cordless
• Wet and dry cleaning modes
• Cleans bare floors and rugs

The cordless Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner takes about five hours to charge fully, and then will clean for about 45 minutes on a single charge. Vacuum your floors and rugs with the PowerVac Mode, and then switch to Power Mop Mode for wet cleaning. A headlight comes on automatically as you clean, and makes it easier to find and clean any dirt.

It's relatively lightweight, weighing in at under 11 pounds. The front of the handle has three buttons: Power, Cleaning Mode button, and a Turbo Mode button for extra suction. The inside of the handle has a Scrub Mode trigger for extra scrubbing in mopping mode. On top of the handle, you'll find the Clean-Out Cycle button.

A lit display on the front of the body indicates which cleaning mode you're in and how much power you have left. This display informs you of any issues, such as clogs, an empty clean tank, or a stuck brush roll, among other things.

Karen Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / Future

The size and shape allow you to get close to walls and in corners to clean. There are no hoses or attachments that would allow you to clean sofas or other furniture.

The back of the unit houses the clean water tank. You fill it with warm tap water up to the water fill line, and then add cleaning formula to the formula fill line. This gives you the right concentration of cleaner to water. Empty out the dirty tank as needed; you'll have to disassemble all of the parts and give them a good clean by hand.

If you wish to run the Clean-Out Cycle, you need to empty the dirty tank first. Add cleaning solution up to the Clean-Out Cycle line on the clean water tank, then put the machine in the docking station and press the Clean-Out Cycle button. It takes just 45 seconds to clean out the machine. Then you'll need to clean out the dirty tank again.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub: performance

The Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner made quick work of food crumbs on my kitchen floor. I also threw down some salt and that was easily vacuumed up as well. I ran it over some dried-on mess in Power Mop Mode and that was easily cleaned up as well. I did need a few passes in the same spots, especially near walls. One odd thing I noticed was that the wheels got dirty very quickly, and there's no easy way to clean those.

Karen Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / FutureKaren Freeman / Future

I vacuumed and then wet-cleaned three good-sized area rugs plus two carpeted bedroom on a single tank of cleaner and a single charge. I also attempted to clean a thin, flimsy, washable area rug and unsurprisingly that didn't work at all; it just got sucked up into the CrossWave HydroScrub.

It never gets particularly loud. My dog usually barks at vacuums because she hates the loud noise; she didn't bark at this one until I'd been using it for a while (and I got into her space.)

The pulling back motion on rugs feels a bit rough sometimes. Forward motion is consistently smooth. It took several passes to vacuum up a single hair on an area rug, but it did get up eventually.

Karen Freeman FutureKaren Freeman FutureKaren Freeman FutureKaren Freeman FutureKaren Freeman Future

My area rugs had actually been shampooed rather recently, but not the bedroom carpets. I didn't realize how dirty they were, but wow: the dirty tank was filthy after my cleaning session. I mean, really gross.

After wet cleaning, the rugs were slightly damp but not soaked. They dried pretty quickly after cleaning. I did have some old, set-in stains and those did not come up. It's worth noting that my rugs and carpets are all very dense; the Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner is not designed for plush or fluffy rugs.

I cleaned out the dirty tank after I was done with this cleaning session, and then I added more cleaner and ran the 45-second Clean-Out Cycle. Again, the dirty tank was filthy, so I cleaned it out again and then hand-washed all of the parts.

• Performance score: 4/5

Should you buy the Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub?Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub report card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

It's pretty pricey but worthwhile if it fits your needs

4/5

Design

A handy display on the front keeps you apprised

4.5/5

Performance

It performed well on bare floors and decently on dense rugs

4/5

Overall

Great for your daily cleanups

4/5

Buy it if

You have lots of bare floors and maybe a few rugs

I thought performance was best on bare floors. Though it did pull up a lot of dirt from my dense rugs and carpets, it struggled to vacuum up one long hair from a rug.

You have pets

This is designed for picking up pet hair and pet messes in a jiffy. The headlight makes fur detection easy.

You hate to drag power cords from room to room

It's cordless, and you can clean for 45 minutes before needing to return it to the docking station for a recharge.

Don't buy it if

You have high-pile carpets

This isn't the cleaning device for fluffy, high-pile carpets. It only works on bare floors and dense rugs.

You want to clean furniture

Some wet/dry vacs have hoses and wands to clean sofas and other furniture, but this one does not.

You're on a tight budget

There are much cheaper wet/dry vacs out there, even from Bissell.

Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub: also consider

If the Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner isn't exactly what you're looking for, you might consider the following:

Tineco Floor One S7 Pro

This one tops the list of our favorite wet-dry vacuums because it's simply great all around. It's self-propelling which makes it easy and even kind of fun to use.

Read our review of the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro

Tineco Floor ONE i5 Stretch Wet Dry Vacuum Cleaner

Quite a bit cheaper than some of the other options, this one does the job and lays flat when needed to get under furniture with ease.

Read more about the Tineco Floor ONE i5 Stretch Wet Dry Vacuum CleanerView Deal

How I tested the Bissell CrossWave HydroScrub

• I tested both wet and dry modes and Scrub Mode
• I ran a Clean-Out Cycle
• I took apart the dirty tank and washed all of the parts

I vacuumed up crumbs and food from my kitchen floor. I ran a mop cycle on some dried-up mess on the floor. I vacuumed several area rugs. I did a wet-cleaning cycle on three area rugs and two bedrooms. I attempted to clean some set-in stains on carpet. I ran a Clean-Out Cycle when I was done cleaning. I took apart the dirty tank and hand-washed all of the parts.

Read more about how we test.

AceMagic K1: 30-second review

The AceMagic K1 is a compact mini PC with a stylish silver metallic finish and ultra compact square form factor that should find a place easily enough in any desktop.

Lifting the K1 out of the packaging, despite its quality, the all-plastic body is immediately apparent, although it does have a decent weight for its size, and everything feels solid and well put together. At this price point, I didn’t expect a metal case, and the silver finish does a good job of initially fooling you that this is a premium styled model.

The port layout is split between front and rear. On the front, you get two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports running at 10 Gbps, a USB-C port for display and data, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The rear offers four USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports at 5 Gbps, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, and a single Gigabit Ethernet port. The rear ports sit just above the exhaust vent, which means some care is needed with cable management to avoid obstructing airflow through the machine.

Due to the small size, mounting the K1 on the back of your monitor utilising the VESA would be the best solution and also free up desk space. While there is a decent amount of ports, it’s a shame that aside from the USB-C on the front, there are no additional options on the rear, opting for older USB Type-A instead.

Inside the machine is an Intel Core i5-12600H; this CPU isn’t the latest Intel technology, but it has a proven track record and is a step above the Intel N150-equipped machines that still seem to be available.

In my review unit, it came equipped with a single 16GB DDR4 stick, which essentially means single-channel operation. This is worth mentioning as, through the test, I did find the GPU performance limiting, and a second matched 16GB module should improve memory bandwidth and GPU performance, and the 32GB dual-channel configuration is the better starting point if the budget allows.

Running Windows 11 Pro and then loading Microsoft Office applications, the K1 was fast and handling all Office programs was well within its abilities. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint all loaded and ran well, able to handle everyday work without issues. Through the test, I was able to lay out large PowerPoint presentations with embedded images and video, and all was easily handled by the machine.

Taking a look at some creative applications and Lightroom Classic took a little longer to open than I am used to on more powerful machines, but once loaded, it ran well enough for cataloguing and basic editing of files from the Canon EOS R5 C. Using Adobe Bridge showed the first real signs of the GPU starting to struggle, with noticeable lag rendering thumbnails from a folder of more than 500 images.

Another bigger point to note was the speed of the Wi-Fi connectivity. Connecting the machine through the Wi-Fi 6 connection to an Eero 6 router performed well, but when downloading games through Steam, it felt slightly slower than other Wi-Fi 6 devices I also have in the office. The wired RJ45 Ethernet was connected to the router, and speeds took a notable step up.

When video editing, I ran two 4K BenQ monitors via HDMI and DisplayPort, and added a third 1080p monitor via the front USB-C port, which the K1 again handled without issue, although every time the system was pushed, the fans kicked in, and the dual fans were noticeable, especially when editing video and gaming. While not quite up there with the machines in our best mini PC guide, it's a fair all-rounder that's ideal for everyday tasks at home and in the office.

ACEMagic K1: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? From £359 / $359
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Directly from Acemagic.com, and online retailers such as Amazon.com, and Amazon.co.uk

The K1 with either the Intel Core i5-12600H or a range of AMD Ryzen processors is available for $395 direct from Acemagic.com.

In the US, you can also get the model sporting an AMD Ryzen chip starts from $330 at Amazon.com, and comes in a range of configurations.

In the UK, I'm seeing a configuration with an AMD Ryzen processor, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and 512GB SSD for £330 at Amazon.co.uk.

The machine ships with Windows 11 Pro. A two-year warranty is included on purchases from the official store.

• Value: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)AceMagic K1: Specs

*as reviewed

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600H
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Memory: 16GB DDR4 3200MHz (2x SO-DIMM slots, up to 64GB)
Storage: 512GB M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 (2x M.2 slots, up to 4TB total)
Display output: HDMI 2.0 (4K@60Hz), DP 1.4b (4K@60Hz), USB-C (4K@60Hz) — triple 4K supported
Front ports: 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A (10Gbps), 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C, 1x 3.5mm audio jack, power button
Rear ports: 4x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A (5Gbps), 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DP 1.4b, 1x RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet, DC in
Wireless: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Dimensions: 128 x 128.2 x 41.3mm

AceMagic K1: Design

The K1 is a surprisingly compact square-format mini PC that measures in at just 128 x 128.2 x 41.3mm, one of the smallest that I’ve seen for a while. The exterior could initially be mistaken for high-quality brushed metal, but as soon as I lifted it from the box, the warmer, non-metal feel instantly highlighted the all-plastic construction. Still, for a few moments, the finish does give you the impression that it's a slightly higher-quality product than you might expect at this price.

On the front panel, there are two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports at 10Gbps, a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port that supports display output and data, and a 3.5mm audio jack alongside the power button. These front connection options are useful if you ever connect external SSDs, USB Keys or headphones and help you to avoid reaching around to the back of the machine, where port placement can be tight, especially on a machine like this.

The rear panel of the machine packs in a surprising amount of ports with four USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4b, and a single LAN port. The ports at the rear are close together, but there’s still just enough space to plug in all your accessories, and for a machine of this size, that volume of ports is handy. My only comment on the ports is that, like the older CPU, the bulk of ports here are the older USB Type-A, and in reality, an additional USB-C or two would definitely have been an advantage.

As I opened up the machine to look at the layout of the internal components, it was good to see the dual-fan exhaust design, with the large main fan mounted at the top. As I used the K1 to edit FHD video in DaVinci Resolve, the fans were quick to kick in, helping to keep things cool. For less intensive work, such as working with Word and Excel, the fans generally stayed quiet.

Checking over the machine and while using the computer for a good 6 hours, parts of the machine were warm to the touch.

As I went through the test, I did find that the specifications were a little limiting, especially the RAM and internal SSD. An upgrade is possible, but compared with the quick access of many Mini PCs to the internal components, here the process is altogether more involved.

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

To reach the RAM and second M.2 slot, for instance, the four rubber feet on the base need to be carefully lifted; they are held with double-sided adhesive to reveal the four mounting screws beneath. These four screws sit in deep recesses of the mini PC’s body, and to reach them, you need a longer cross-head screwdriver than I commonly use.

However, once inside, you then need to lift the motherboard and set it carefully to the side. If you want to completely disconnect the motherboard from the chassis then you can, otherwise I found carefully propping it up was a great was to save time. Once the chassis is moved aside and the motherboard lifted, you have access to the memory and SSD slots below.

The process is manageable with patience and some experience, but if you’re less confident, then you may prefer to order the higher-spec configuration from the outset with more RAM and storage.

• Design: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)AceMagic K1: Features

The list of features of the K1 does all seem a little dated, but this is a machine aimed at those who are looking for a solid, tried and tested specification that should run Windows and Microsoft Office apps without issue.

Therefore inside is an Intel Core i5-12600H, the 12-core hybrid configuration combines four cores running at up to 4.5GHz with eight cores handling background tasks, which means Windows 11 ran smoothly from the outset with the standard Microsoft Apps, however, while Microsoft application loaded quickly, Steam, the Adobe Suite and DaVinci Resolve took a good while to completely load, and some games wouldn’t load at all due to hardware requirements.

My review unit came pre-installed with 16GB of DDR4 at 3200MHz in a single SO-DIMM, running in single-channel mode. It is worth noting that single-channel memory halves the available memory bandwidth compared with a dual-channel pair (When you have two sticks installed), which will have an impact on the GPU performance.

Storage is just 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD running on PCIe 3.0 x4, and this is again fine for Windows and Microsoft Office applications, but a little limiting on space for more creative tasks and applications. What I did like is that there is a second M.2 slot available for additional storage, and if you want, you can install two 2TB sticks to bring the full internal storage up to 4TB.

The display setup is well captured, and while you can run triple 4K displays through the test, I settled on two 4K BenQ models. These displays are connected to the HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4b outputs on the rear, and then a third display can be connected to the USB-C on the front, which is never the neatest solution.

The port selection on both the front and back does offer plenty of scope with two 10Gbps USB-A ports and a USB-C port on the front, plus four 5Gbps USB-A ports on the rear. On connectivity, alongside the single LAN port that covers wired networking, there’s also Wi-Fi 6 with Bluetooth 5.2 that handles all wireless connectivity.

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

• Features: 4 / 5

AceMagic K1: PerformanceTest Scores

CrystalDiskMark Read: 3,468.16 MB/s
CrystalDiskMark Write: 2,582.68 MB/s
Geekbench CPU Single: 2,209
Geekbench CPU Multi: 6,190
Geekbench GPU: 10,012
PCMark Overall: 6,322
Cinebench CPU Single: 404
Cinebench CPU Multi: 2,148
3DMark Fire Strike Overall: 2,501
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics: 2,907
3DMark Fire Strike Physics: 20,390
3DMark Fire Strike Combined: 744
3DMark Time Spy Overall: 1,072
3DMark Time Spy Graphics: 941
3DMark Time Spy CPU: 5,230
3DMark Wild Life Overall: 5,697
3DMark Steel Nomad Overall: 563
Windows Experience Index: 8

Taking the small AceMagic K1 out of the packaging, the initial impressions are good with a decent weight and finish to the casing, with a premium metallic look despite being plastic.

Windows 11 Pro comes installed on the system, and the last part of the setup process, which involves entering your details and running the updates, is all that’s needed before you install your selection of applications.

Once everything is set up, Windows 11 Pro performs well, as do the Microsoft Office applications, really all well within the abilities that you would expect for a home office machine. Checking the PCMark overall score and sure enough, with a result of 6,322 and backed up by a Geekbench multi-core score of 6,190, all show that this is a machine that is perfectly tuned to everyday tasks and administration.

In Microsoft Office, the K1 was able to switch quickly between Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and loading up relatively large files and copying data from Excel to Word and embedding in PowerPoint all worked without issue. The only brief pause came when opening a large, image-heavy PowerPoint file, which took a moment to load before it seemed to settle, and editing became available.

As expected, web browsing in Edge and media streaming from YouTube and BBC iPlayer were all well handled, and while the Wi-Fi connection did feel slightly slower than other machines I also use on the network, streaming video ran well on the 4K monitor.

Pushing the demands on the system, I loaded Lightroom Classic, which did initially take a while to load, but once the application was ready, it worked well, handling RAW files from the Canon EOS R5 C and Hasselblad X2D II 100C for cataloguing, editing, and batch export without major issues.

Adobe Bridge was the first place where the GPU started to struggle, with a noticeable delay in rendering thumbnails when browsing a folder containing over 500 images. Photoshop handled general editing and multi-layer files without any real issues, although applying dodge-and-burn effects to larger landscape files did cause some stuttering.

In Premiere Pro, the limits of this machine really started to show with the 4K timeline rendering being particularly slow. I then cut the resolution to 1080, and the editing and export were much better. Taking that same footage over to CapCut, the machine was able to handle social media edits without issue.

An interesting point is that the SSD's read and write performance of 3,468 MB/s and 2,582 MB/s is solid for a PCIe 3.0 drive and does help with the speed of more demanding tasks, but while these transfer speeds were fast, some applications were slow to load.

Testing out the speed of the SSD and importing files from CFexpress cards, the speed was noticeably fast, although with only 512GB of storage, an external SSD would be a good idea, or a secondary 2TB internal SSD would be a good option.

To finish off the test, I tried out a few games, and again, the limitations of the machine's hardware really started to show as the Iris Xe GPU was put under pressure.

Titles with demanding graphics requirements, such as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, would not run at all, highlighting Vulcan incompatibility issues with the machine.

Dirt Rally, which is a far older game, ran at reduced settings and played smoothly enough to be enjoyable. The K1 is not a gaming machine, but lighter and older titles are within reach at low to medium settings.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)AceMagic K1: Final verdict

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

The AceMagic K1 is a decent entry-level mini PC that’s perfectly suited to administration work where Microsoft Office applications are going to be the main focus of use. While the machine can handle lightweight multimedia editing, the limitation with graphics holds it back.

However, around the body there are plenty of connectivity options enabling you to plug in not only your keyboard and mouse, but plenty of additional accessories such as external SSDs, USB Keys and control boards. It’s also good that you can connect up to 3 4K monitors, although in this test I connected two 4K on the HDMI and DP and a third 1080p monitor through the front USB-C.

Through the test, I did note that anything that required graphics, from loading the Adobe applications to gaming, took the machine a while to load. This may well have been solely down to the GPU, but could also be due to the single-channel RAM configuration. Having 32GB will give an obvious boost, but adding that additional stick will also provide more memory bandwidth.

While the specifications for RAM and SSD in my review sample were modest to say the least, there’s plenty of upgrade potential with the RAM option up to 64GB and the SSDs enabling up to 4TB of internal storage. If you did go down this route, then you would have to clone the OEM version of Windows from the smaller SSD to the new one.

If you need a compact, Windows 11 machine to run the full Office suite, some light multimedia work, and a two to three-monitor setup, on a budget, the K1 is a decent choice. It is a good, solid machine that looks great and will provide you with all the power you need for core apps and the Microsoft Office suite. If you need it to do anything more, I would look at a higher-spec machine.

Should I buy an AceMagic K1?

Value

Decent if dated CPU and plenty of connectivity options with the potential to upgrade as budget allows

3.5

Design

silver finish that gives a premium look and feel despite the plastic construction. The small size also makes it easy to position on or off the desktop.  

4

Features

Ability to connect up to three 4K monitors and plenty of USB ports, along with Wi-Fi 6, and plenty of upgrade options.

4

Performance

Good for Windows 11, Office, web, and light creative work, but anything more, and the GPU will struggle 

3.5

Overalls

A compact, no frills machine that will suit any office where administration and word are at the heart of day-to-day life.

4

Buy it if...

You want a budget home office machine
The Core i5-12600H handles Office, browsing, and light photo editing well, and the triple 4K display support makes it good for multi-monitor setups.

You like upgrade potential at an entry-level price
Dual M.2 and SO-DIMM slots enable plenty of upgrade options to 64GB and 4TB, as your budget allows

Don't buy it if...

You need serious GPU performance
The Iris Xe graphics struggled with 4K video, Photoshop, and many games. If GPU power matters, then look elsewhere.

Internal upgrades must be simple
Getting to the RAM and storage requires removing adhesive feet, a deep-recess screwdriver, and lifting the motherboard. If you don’t like DIY, then this won’t be for you.

For more desktops, we've reviewed the best business computers.

Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300: two-minute review

Eight years ago, and before my time as Cameras Editor, TechRadar called the Lumix ZS200 / TZ200 "the most advanced travel zoom camera" and gave it a near-perfect 4.5 / 5 rating in its review — and that discontinued model now has a surprise successor, the Lumix TZ300.

Like the 2018 original, the Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 packs a stabilized 24-360mm f/3.3-6.4 lens and large 1-inch sensor, shooting 20MP stills and 4K video — a tempting cocktail of quality and versatility, all in a truly pocketable body.

Despite the years, there's very little between the two cameras; in fact, I can tell you the key differences in a single sentence: the 2026 model gains USB-C charging, but loses a built-in viewfinder. That’s it.

It’s great to see the once-popular travel zoom compact readily available again — I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing the older model long before my TechRadar days — and it's now compliant with common charger EU laws thanks to its USB-C port, and ready to compete for a spot on my best compact cameras round-up. However, in a way the 2026 version is a pricier downgrade.

Will Panasonic's decision to strip the Lumix TZ300 back, without seemingly compensating with new features, come back to bite it?

The fact is, compact camera shipments are on the up again, and right now the Lumix TZ300 still has little competition, so Panasonic might just cash in anyway — I don’t think it needs to improve is flagship travel zoom compact to maximize sales, just make it available again, which is what it's done.

Here's the rear of the camera. On the old version, there was an EVF nestled into the top left above the screen, but here, just plastic (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

Removing the viewfinder no doubt cuts costs down (not that those savings are passed onto the consumer), and could be a reflection on how people tend to rely on screens more in 2026. For me, it doesn’t feel like a dealbreaker — the EVF in the original model wasn’t the best in any case.

What bothers me more is that the new version offfers no compensation — there’s just more plastic in place of where the viewfinder once was — and it feels dated in other areas. For example, in the absence of a viewfinder, I would have loved for Panasonic to install a tilt mechanism for the 3-inch rear display for easier viewing from awkward angles, but we again have a fixed screen.

Nor do we get Panasonic's latest features seen in other recent cameras, such as its improved autofocus and Real Time LUTs color profiles.

So what are we to make of the Lumix ZS300? There is seemingly enough of a compact camera resurgence to merit Panasonic bringing the range back to life, but not enough competition or consumer desire (or both) for Panasonic to feel it was worth producing a truly new and improved model — the quality was already there eight years ago to satisfy today’s demands.

The bottom line is that I’m happy to see the popular Lumix travel zoom return — I just wish for a little more camera.

Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 specsPanasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 specs:

Type:

Compact, travel zoom

Sensor:

1-inch CMOS

Displays:

3-inch fixed touchscreen with 1.84m dots, no viewfinder

Memory:

SD

Lens:

24-360mm equivalent, f/3.3-6.4 (15x optical zoom)

Battery:

Embedded rechargeable 1255mAh Enduro Lithium-Ion

Video:

4K 30p

Photo:

20MP

Dimensions:

4.4 x 2.6 x 1.8 inches / 111 x 66 x 46 mm

Weight:

0.75lbs / 337g with battery and SD memory card

(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300: Price and availability

• Announced in March 2026 and available from the start of May
• Costs $899 / £869 / AU$1,599
• Available in black or gray

The Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 is expected to hit stores in May 2026 and cost $899 / £869 / AU$1,599. It comes in two varieties — the gray version that Panasonic sent to me for this review, and an all-black version.

That price pits the Lumix TZ300 against the likes of the Canon PowerShot V1, which is a vlogging camera with a bigger sensor, superb autofocus and modern video skills, but a narrower standard zoom range. Given how much new tech is in Canon’s compact, it feels like better value (and there's rumored to be a travel-zoom version on the way which could rain on the Lumix parade).

The same money could also get you a small beginner mirrorless camera with kit lens, such as the excellent Fujifilm X-M5. Overall, the Lumix TZ300 feels like okay value at best.

• Price score: 3/5

Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300: Design

• Small and compact, with a foldaway / extending lens
• Finally, USB-C charging
• No viewfinder, detail-rich fixed 3-inch touchscreen

I’ll cover the core specs of the Lumix TZ300 in this review, but most of what you need to know about the camera’s design and performance has already been covered in our Lumix TZ200 review.

The Lumix TZ300 is still a tidily packaged camera that slips easily into a pocket, with a reassuring weightiness — it feels like a quality piece of kit.

There are rubberized front and thumb grips for a firm hold, and every control is nicely dampened but also responsive, as is the 3-inch touchscreen.

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

The lens folds neatly away when the camera is powered off, and extends smoothly as you move through the zoom range, either using the ring around the lens or the touchscreen — it’ll depend on which shooting mode you’re using.

It’s easy enough to set the camera to auto and let it take care of the settings based on the scene you're photographing, but there are also enough manual controls to satisfy discerning photographers, including manual exposure and auto ISO with the ability to set a minimum shutter speed (my go-to setup with my professional camera).

A pop-up flash is squeezed into the body, and is a handy feature for party portraits and creative low-light photography, especially since it’s possible to manually adjust its strength and swap between first and second curtain flash sync (the point at which the flash fires during exposure).

Future / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim Coleman

I really appreciated how slick the touchscreen function felt, and the detailed 1.84m-dot display itself, but a pronounced bump serves to highlight how its fixed design could have easily been upgraded to tilt without increasing the camera’s footprint.

Although the original viewfinder wasn’t the best in terms of the viewing experience, it was positioned smartly at the top-left, and felt easy to bring to the eye. I did miss having the option in the new version of the camera.

As mentioned, with the viewfinder having been removed I would have liked to see a tilt-screen upgrade to further assist viewing in bright light and at awkward angles; as it is, there's just plastic where the viewfinder was on the previous model.

Here's the same scene across the zoom range, starting with 24mmFuture / Tim ColemanThen 50mmFuture / Tim ColemanAnd 85mmFuture / Tim ColemanThis is 135mmFuture / Tim ColemanAnd 240mm, effectively a 10x zoom settingFuture / Tim ColemanAnd here's the maximum 15x zoom reachFuture / Tim Coleman

• Design score: 3.5/5

Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300: Performance

• Versatile 15x optical zoom and decent stabilization performance
• Decent photo quality, dated video specs
• On-the-go charging is handy for traveling

For such a versatile and small camera, the image quality from the Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 is surprisingly good. Naturally, you lose a little sharpness at the telephoto end of the zoom, but it’s still decent enough.

What you also lose as you zoom in is light sensitivity. That’s because the maximum aperture is reduced from f/3.3 at the 24mm wide-angle end to f/6.4 at the 360mm telephoto setting.

Long-exposure photography isn't well served — the minimum possible lens aperture is f/8, and there's no practical way to utilize an ND filter besides physically holding one in place in front of the lens.

Still, the 1-inch sensor knocks the socks off the much smaller one in Panasonic's other recent travel zoom compact, the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99, a camera that majors on versatility and value, less so on quality. For me, this new Lumix, like its predecessor, strikes the right balance between quality and versatility.

Future / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanHere I tired to react quickly to this scene, but start up time isn't the quickest and the lens cover got stuck in my haste. Future / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim Coleman

In addition to Panasonic’s usual color profiles, there are filter effects including cross process and toy camera. These effects have been around for years, and in an age of Real Time LUTS profile and flat LOG profiles for video recording, they feel a little dated.

And, if it wasn’t already obvious, none of Panasonic’s current Real Time LUTs or LOG profiles are present, which also means no access to customizable LUTs as you get with the Lumix S9 mirrorless camera.

There’s nothing new under the hood, which means we’re getting an old processor, limited continuous shooting speeds, and dated autofocus performance compared to other cameras at this price point.

The autofocus system did feel dated to me. Yes, subject tracking and face / eye detection was a thing back in 2018 and we still have it here, but Panasonic’s recent mirrorless cameras have much more responsive autofocus performance.

Is having similarly good autofocus too much to ask for in a compact camera? Maybe, but look at Canon, which has bestowed excellent autofocus features on its PowerShot V1.

A selection of the 23 creative filtersFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim ColemanFuture / Tim Coleman

There is a particularly versatile macro focusing mode, mind you. Close focusing is so effective, in fact, that you can effectively be touching your subject with the end of the lens and it’ll still be in sharp focus.

Battery life is decent enough without standing out. The 1,025mAh unit can capture up to 360 shots on a full charge according to its CIPA rating, which felt about right based on my use.

And on-the-go USB-C charging, a boon for traveling, is a big upgrade in the new Lumix TZ300 over its predecessor, which doesn’t offer it.

• Performance score: 3.5/5

Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300: testing scorecard Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Price

Considering this is the same camera as the 2018 model, but without a viewfinder, it feels a little pricey

3/5

Design

A 15x optical zoom and intuitive control layout, but no viewfinder and a fixed screen limit usability

3.5/5

Performance

The versatility to image quality mix is spot on if you need a good zoom, however video specs are dated

3.5/5

Should I buy the Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300?Buy it if...

You want a quality and versatile travel compact

A 15x zoom range, stabilized lens and large 1-inch sensor combine for decent quality 20MP stills across the zoom range. The Lumix TZ300 shines for those whose travel snaps often feature distant subjects.View Deal

You’d rather not use a phone

Using a dedicated camera for photography can be a gratifying and creative experience over relying in your smartphone.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You shoot a lot of video

Yes, the Lumix TZ300 shoots 4K video, but the specs are dated now, and you get more for your money from recent vlogging cameras such as the PowerShot V1.View Deal

You want the latest camera tech

If you didn’t already know it, the Lumix TZ300 is a refresh of an eight-year-old camera with no new features besides USB-C charging, meaning you’re getting the old processor, shooting speeds and autofocus performance.View Deal

Also consider Panasonic Lumix ZS99 / TZ99

If it’s the zoom range that appeals, then Panasonic’s own Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 goes even further and is a low-cost alternative. It has a greater 30x zoom range and similar handling, but its sensor is smaller and image quality is no match for the TZ300. You could also check out the Lumix FZ80D / FZ82D, which is similar in performance to the cheap Lumix ZS99 / TZ99, but is a bulkier bridge camera.

Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 review

Canon PowerShot V1

An altogether different kind of compact camera, the PowerShot V1 puts quality and performance first over zoom versatility. This has Canon’s latest autofocus system, better video recording specs and a larger sensor with faster lens. If you don’t need the zoom range of the Lumix TZ300, then this could be your best alternative. There are rumors that Canon could launch a travel zoom compact in the same mold of the PowerShot V1. If it did, with the latest tech and similar pricing, then it would better the Lumix TZ300 in virtually every metric.

Read my in-depth Canon PowerShot V1 review

How I tested the Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300

• I took the Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 traveling for a couple of weeks
• I tested all of its photo and video modes
• I checked battery life and USB-C charging

Panasonic loaned me a Lumix TZ300 for two weeks to complete my review. I was fortunate to be traveling in China during this period, and was therefore able to use it for the scenarios it’s designed for, taking video and photos of ancient towns, portraits, wide vistas and more.

I shot the same photo sequences spanning the zoom range of the lens, shoot photos in raw and JPEG format, and video in 4K and 1080p with the various frame rates.

For a lot of the test I was in changeable weather conditions at high altitudes. I kept track of battery life, counting how many photos I could take on a full charge, plus how long it took to recharge the camera.

• First reviewed April 2026

8849 Tank X: 2-minute review

For those unfamiliar with 8849, this is a sub-brand of Unihertz, and it takes its name from the height of Mount Everest in metres. Well, other than plate tectonics is pushing the mountain up, and rocks and ice fall off, so at the time of writing, it is 8,848.86 metres to be correct.

Oddly, the Tank series on 8849 has styling and functionality similar to the Unihertz Tank series, so perhaps the Unihertz brand will go away at some point.

The target demographic of the Tank X is those who need a go-anywhere design that packs plenty of battery capacity, are probably travelling to remote locations where they will want a camping light and to capture high-quality images and video.

A flagship product from 8849, the Tank X was launched in February 2026 at an early bird price of $549.99, against an RRP of $1,049.99. At that higher price, it will face serious scrutiny, but even at launch pricing, it is one of the more expensive rugged smartphones available.

The justification for that cost is a combination of headline features that most competitors simply cannot match. These include a built-in 1080p DLP projector rated at 220 lumens with laser autofocus, a 64MP night vision camera with four dedicated infrared LEDs, and a 17,600mAh dual-cell battery paired with 120W fast charging.

The MediaTek Dimensity 8200, built on a 4nm process, is a genuine step up from the mid-range chips used in most rugged phones at this price. Combined with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, the Tank X has the hardware to handle demanding tasks.

The downside to the kitchen-sink approach to feature selection seen here is that at 750g, this is one of the heaviest rugged phones around, and not something that anyone travelling on foot would choose to include in their backpacks.

That bulk is a deliberate engineering choice, since a smaller device wouldn’t be able to mount the dedicated FPC connections for the projector, flashlight, camping lamp, sensors, and antenna array. The absence of wireless charging is also intentional, with 8849 prioritising a field lantern over Qi coils.

Durability credentials include IP68 and IP69K waterproofing, along with MIL-STD-810H certification, which covers immersion, high-pressure water jets, shock, vibration, and temperature extremes. The device runs Android 15, which is current but not cutting-edge, and 8849 hasn’t mentioned if it will see an Android 16 upgrade.

The inclusion of features like a projector always takes this device into niche areas, since this isn’t a capability that everyone needs on their Smartphone. And because of that, I won’t be including it in our list of the best rugged phones. But that’s not to say it isn’t perfect for somebody.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)8849 Tank X: price and availability

• How much does it cost? $550/£460 (early-bird)
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? You can get it directly from 8849 or via many online retailers such as Amazon.

Many phone makers like to make the launch of a new phone something special, probably because in the first month or so, it's likely they will see the largest number of sales.

The aggressive pitch of the 8849 Tank X is an early bird price from the makers of $549.99 (£460.46), which is almost half the $1,049.99 RRP. Call me cynical, but I feel it is unlikely the makers will sell any at the RRP, but the early bird price is attractive considering the specification of the Tank X.

The Amazon.com price is $629.99 with a coupon if you want next-day delivery.

To put that in perspective, the last phone I reviewed with a projector was the Ulefone Armor 34 Pro, a phone that cost $550/£519 when launched. It offered a bigger 25500 battery, a 150-lumen projector, and the current official price is $699.

However, Unihertz has the competitively priced Tank 2 Pro that can be bought for $479.99 direct from the maker, but only $412.59 on Amazon.com. And what makes that doubly interesting is that Unihertz is behind the 8849 sub-brand, so it's competing with itself with these products.

The Tank 2 Pro has more battery capacity, only 12GB of RAM, an older Helio G99 SoC, and is only 4G. But if it’s the projector that you want, this is the cheaper way to get that functionality.

There aren’t many phones with projectors, and the one in this design is higher quality than most, so the asking price seems realistic.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• Value score: 4/5

8849 Tank X: Specs

Item

Spec

CPU:

MediaTek Dimensity 8200, Octa-core (4nm)

GPU:

Mali-G610 MC6

NPU:

MediaTek NPU 580

RAM:

16GB

Storage:

512GB

Screen:

6.78-inch FHD+ LCD, 120Hz adaptive refresh, 750 nits peak

Resolution:

1080 x 2460 pixels

SIM:

2x Nano SIM + TF (one shared position)

Weight:

750 grams

Dimensions:

180.5 x 91.8 x 31.9mm

Rugged Spec:

IP68, IP69K, MIL-STD-810H

Rear cameras:

50MP Primary Camera + 64MP Nightvision + 8MP telephoto

Front camera:

50MP

Networking:

5G bands, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3

Projector:

DLP, 1920 x 1080, 220 lumens, laser autofocus, throw 0.5m to 3m (1.6 to 10ft)

Torch/Lamp:

1,200 lumens; emergency warning lights

OS:

Android 15

Battery:

17600 mAh (120W wired, 5W reverse charge)

Colours:

Black

Oukitel WP61 Plus: design

• A blunt instrument
• Odd button arrangement
• No wireless charging

The Tank X is a substantial piece of hardware. At 31.9mm thick, it is approaching the depth of a small portable battery pack, and at 750 grams, it is heavier than many 13-inch laptops. Carrying it in a trouser pocket is impractical; a jacket chest pocket or belt holster is the more realistic option for field use. Personally, I think it's best mounted on a vehicle.

The chassis uses a half-board, double-sided internal layout to house its unusual combination of components. The projector occupies the upper rear section of the body, with a dedicated lens housing visible on the back panel. The 1,200-lumen camping light and emergency warning lights are also rear-mounted, along with the triple camera array.

Where the Tank X goes slightly off the well-worn path, it’s the button layout, which is odd for those who have used many Android phones. The right side has only the power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader, a choice that’s not ideal for left-handed people.

On the left are two tiny volume buttons, and why they’re so small, I’ve no idea, and then two customisable push-to-talk buttons. The SIM tray isn’t on either side; instead, it gets relegated to the top edge alongside the projector and an infrared emitter.

Why this phone ended up with such a non-standard button layout seems inexplicable, given how big it is and the large amounts of unused space on the sides.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Build quality is reinforced throughout with corner protection and a textured rear panel. IP68 and IP69K ratings mean the device tolerates water immersion to the 1,8M depth for up to 30 minutes and high-pressure wash conditions. MIL-STD-810H certification covers a broad set of environmental tests, making the Tank X suitable for deployment in demanding field environments ranging from construction sites to remote expeditions.

Although, and this is something I’ve not seen before, owners are not recommended to operate the buttons underwater. And, you are warned that “In daily use, exposure to seawater, swimming pool water, soapy water, hot water, or other liquids may reduce protective performance”.

The absence of wireless charging is worth noting for buyers accustomed to Qi pads. It is an intentional trade-off: 8849 replaced the Qi coil with the field lantern hardware, reasoning that users in the environments this device targets are more likely to have a USB-C cable than a charging mat.

The USB port is 2.0 spec, which means that getting files off the Tank X is substantially quicker over Wi-Fi than with a cable.

One aspect of the design I admired more was that the 6.78-inch LCD Punch-Hole Display is both bright, at up to 750 nits, and the colours are well saturated. This panel also has a small border to the physical front edge of the phone, which makes it seem even bigger than it is.

As a design, the priority for those making the Tank X was to stuff all the technology inside and protect it from the environment, which they achieved. However, there is almost nothing about this phone that is elegant or refined; it's more like a brick that’s had its sharpest edges filed down.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Design score: 3.5/5

8849 Tank X: hardware

• MediaTek Dimensity 8200
• 17,600 mAh battery
• 1080p 220 Lumen Projector

The last phone I reviewed that used the MediaTek MT6896 (Dimensity 8200) was the Oukitel WP210 (read it here), and then I remarked that this SoC is a solid choice for those seeking a capable and efficient SoC in the mid-range smartphone market.

Built around an octa-core CPU, combining high-performance Cortex-A78 cores with energy-efficient Cortex-A55 cores, and a Mali-G610 MP6 GPU for enhanced graphics capabilities.

What’s great about this SoC is that it's extremely well-balanced in terms of processing power and graphics capabilities, and it supports high-end camera sensors and 5G comms.

There are more powerful chips available, like some of the Samsung options, and the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon designs, but you don’t typically see them in rugged phones.

In this context, the Dimensity 8200 has 16GB of LPDDR5 memory to work with, and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, along with up to 2TB on an optional TF card. That’s plenty of RAM and space for most use cases.

Before we get to the headline feature, it’s worth talking about the battery in this phone, and how it seems slightly smaller than I’d have expected. While 17600 mAh isn’t a small battery, a phone that weighs 750g or more, like the Ulefone Armour 33 Pro, for example, would normally have 20000 mAh or more battery capacity.

In fact, the Ulefone Armor 33 Pro has 25500 mAh, or 7,900 mAh more than the Tank X. And that phone isn’t special, the Blackview Oscal Tank 1 has 20000 mAh of capacity, but is only 640g.

But as we’ll discover in the performance section, thanks to the power efficiency of the Dimensity 8200, the Tank X can make its reduced capacity go as far as, or farther than, phones with larger batteries.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Clearly, the culprit in making this phone 750g and reducing the space for extra battery capacity is the built-in projector.

The DLP projector is the defining feature of the Tank X and the one most likely to determine whether this device is relevant to any individual buyer. It can output at 1920 x 1080 with a claimed brightness of 220 lumens and uses laser autofocus for rapid alignment.

The throw range is approximately 0.5 to 3 metres (1.6 to 10 feet), allowing image sizes from small desk-surface projections to something approaching a practical portable screen.

I’ve seen other phone makers put projectors in their devices and claim all sorts of things, but this is the first one I’ve seen that could practically deliver most of what was claimed.

I should say that a home or office use projector might be rated at three times as bright, but then that’s physically much larger and requires mains power. But it should not be compared to a standalone projector with an equivalent lumen rating; the lens size and thermal constraints of a phone-integrated DLP mean the effective perceived brightness will be lower than that of a dedicated unit.

For a phone, however, it is the most capable projection system currently available in a handheld device, beating the 720p, 100-lumen units found in earlier 8849 and competing products. The 220 lumens offered here is genuinely usable in a darkened tent or unlit room, something I found quite shocking.

The one-touch projection feature allows rapid deployment without navigating menus, which is important for professional presentations and field briefings. 8849 claims the projector operates without excessive battery drain, but that’s something I’ll talk about in the performance section.

• Hardware score: 4/5

Oukitel WP61 Plus: cameras

• 50MP, 64MP and 8MP on the rear
• 50MP on the front
• Four cameras in total

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The 8849 Tank X has four cameras:

Rear camera: 50 MP Sony IMX766, 64MP Omnivision OV64B1B Sensor (Night Vision), 8 MP HiSilicon HI847 Telephoto with 3x optical zoom and AF
Front camera: 50MP Hi5022Q Fixed Focus

The camera layout of the Tank X is unusual, and probably a little bit ground-breaking.

Although it doesn’t have a Samsung 108MP sensor, this is easily one of the most capable camera setups I’ve found on any rugged phone tested to date. The primary rear sensor is a 50MP Sony IMX766, the same component used in several mainstream flagship handsets from the past two years. It is a strong choice for a device targeting serious outdoor photography and documentation work.

But ironically, it isn’t the sensor with the most elements. That’s the 64MP Omnivision OV64B1B, a night vision camera that is supported by four infrared LEDs and, crucially, retains autofocus capability in IR mode.

Fixed-focus night vision cameras, which are common on competing rugged phones, struggle with anything but stationary subjects at predictable distances. The Tank X's AF capability in infrared mode is a meaningful operational advantage for field surveillance, wildlife observation, and low-light navigation.

And rounding out what is already an impressive rear camera cluster is an 8MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and autofocus. The dual-LED flash system uses two colour-temperature LEDs at 1.5A maximum output, supplementing the IR LEDs for mixed-lighting situations. The front camera is a 50MP sensor, which is exceptionally high resolution for video calls and documentation selfies.

When I first ran the camera app, I was disappointed that it presented me with 1X and 3.4X options, but you can easily slide all the way from 1X to 20X, although it gets rather grainy over 10X. Being able to frame images without having to move is great, and the results, especially from the Sony IMX766 and Omnivision OV64B1B, are generally excellent.

If there is a weakness here, it's how bare the screen is for special modes.

It offers you Timelapse, QR-code, Mono, Super resolution and an editing mode. There is a PRO control set, but what happened to sports mode, or Panoramic?

Thankfully, there is no dumb AI mode where it puts hats or animal features on people, but a more fleshed-out photo application would be ideal.

One of the best things about this phone is the restraint of the Android 15 installation, as it leaves the AI to Gemini, and avoids all the cash-grab chatbots that other brands (Blackview, looking at you) have smeared onto their devices.

Overall, it could have more features in the photo app, but the camera offering here is exceptionally strong for a rugged phone.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)8849 Tank X Camera samplesMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark Pickavance

• Camera score: 4/5

8849 Tank X: performance

• Modern and efficient SoC
• GPU issues with OpenGL 3.1 and Vulkan 1.3
• Great battery life

Phone

8849 Tank X

Blackview Oscal Tank 1

SoC

MediaTek Dimensity 8200

MediaTek Dimensity 7050

GPU

Mali-G610 MC6

Mali‑G68 MC4

NPU

MediaTek NPU 580

MediaTek NPU 550

Memory

16GB/512GB

12GB/256GB

Weight

750g

640g

Battery

17600

20000

Geekbench

Single

1260

920

Multi

3939

2466

OpenCL

4056

2471

Vulkan

4517

3036

PCMark

3.0 Score

15637

11684

Battery

32h 48m

33h 57m

Charge 30

%

11

13

Passmark

Score

17045

6861

CPU

8623

5285

3DMark

Slingshot OGL

Maxed Out

5293

Slingshot Ex. OGL

Maxed Out

4150

Slingshot Ex. Vulkan

Maxed Out

3940

Wildlife

6343

2232

Nomad Lite

632

266

If it wasn’t for the projector, this phone would probably weigh around 650g, and have at least 20000 mAh of battery, so I thought it best to compare it with one that has almost exactly that spec. I should also mention that the typical price of the Blackview Oscal Tank 1 is only $285, although it doesn’t have a projector and has less memory and storage.

What these numbers are a good representation of is how much better the newer MediaTek 4nm SoCs are over their older 6nm models.

This gives the Tank X more processing power, more GPU performance, and it's singularly more power efficient. In fact, the CPU-GPU combination is so potent that it maxed out most 3DMark tests, except for Wildlife and Steel Nomad Lite.

One note about the battery consumption is that while it didn’t last as long by roughly an hour, the Tank X has roughly 88% of the capacity, and the test stopped with 20% of the battery capacity left. Had it used that final fifth of the battery, it would have exceeded Tank 1 by at least three to four hours, I estimate.

If given the choice between these two phones, it comes down to how much eight is too much and whether your budget goes far enough to have the superior features of the Tank X.

I almost forgot to mention the projector, which has both good and bad aspects. The bad first is that the fan needed to keep it cool is loud, and you will need to turn up the volume to be able to hear whatever content you are watching. I estimated that it was in the 55-60 dB range, which isn’t something easily ignored.

To see the impact on battery performance, I ran a YouTube video for 30 minutes and recorded the battery consumption before and after. Projecting 30 minutes of video used up 11% of the available battery, suggesting you might get through the first Lord of the Rings movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, but I suspect not the extended edition.

Therefore, you can watch a whole movie with a fully charged battery, as long as you choose the right one.

• Performance score: 4/5

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)8849 Tank X: Final verdict

Putting all the good things that 8849 put into the Tank X to one side for a moment, the elephant in this room is disguised as a phone or the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, depending on taste.

This isn’t a phone anyone would carry casually, unless they’re related to the late Andre the Giant.

That said, if you can put up with something as big and heavy that it could be mistaken for a useful part of house construction, then there is plenty to like here.

The screen on the Tank X is bright and large, with an excellent colour gamut. The camera cluster goes way beyond what most rugged phones offer, and you can take exceptional photos and video with it. This device also has the first truly practical 1080p projector I’ve seen on a phone, and that’s an exclusive feature.

As for price, the early-bird pricing is good, but I couldn’t see many of these being sold at a price greater than $1000 RRP.

It’s time to create a feature matrix and see how many boxes it ticks, because the Tank X might not be for everyone, but it could be for you.

Should I buy a 8849 Tank X?8849 Tank X Score Card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

Reasonable cost for an exceptional feature set on early-bird price

4/5

Design

Heavy and thick, with an odd button layout

3.5/5

Hardware

Modern 4nm SoC, plenty of RAM and storage, and a projector

4/5

Camera

Best camera cluster in a rugged phone

4/5

Performance

Powerful, yet power efficient, though the projector is noisy

4/5

Overall

Good price, excellent feature set, but is it practical?

4/5

Buy it if...

You need a phone for outdoors
The water and dust resistance on the TANK X make it robust enough for extreme weather conditions and even being immersed. But it is exceptionally heavy and unsuitable for small hands.

You need extended battery life
Few smartphones can match a 17,600 mAh battery and power-efficient SoC for sheer staying power. However, avoid using the projector for long periods if you want to keep using it.

Don't buy it if...

You need a daily driver
The large frame is not practical for everyday pocket carry. If you need a rugged phone for general daily use rather than field deployment, a more compact option would serve better.

You are working with a budget
Unless you must have a phone with a projector, there are cheap options with equally powerful platforms for less. View Deal

Also Consider

Ulefone Armour Mini 20 Pro
A practical, 5G rugged design with an inbuilt camping light, night vision camera, but with less battery than the Tank X, and fewer features. This makes the phone easily pocketable and usable like a normal phone.

Read our full Ulefone Armor Mini 20 Pro review

Blackview Xplore 2 Satellite
Offers satellite communications via Skylo, the more powerful Dimensity 8300 SoC, and a 20,000mAh battery with 120W fast charging. Lacks the projector or the cameras of the Tank X, but it's better in other respects.

Read our full Blackview Xplore 2 Satellite review View Deal

For more ruggedized devices, we've reviewed the best rugged tablets, the best rugged laptops, and the best rugged hard drives

Garmin Approach S50: One-minute review

Sitting in the mid-range of the brand’s golf watch range, the Garmin Approach S50 is an excellent course companion. It includes all of the brand’s suite of excellent golfing features, as well as just the right amount of extra health and fitness, and everyday functionality to offer a golf-first, near-complete package.

It’s the golfing pedigree that shines the brightest, of course, and it puts those features into action brilliantly as a course companion. It enhanced my time and game on the course with its accurate yardages, automatic shot tracking and score logging, golf course and hole graphics, and the excellent PlaysLike feature — which factors in elevation and weather — is brilliant.

The design and build are of excellent quality, too, with the S50 having more of a lifestyle-friendly design and form than others in the Approach range. Combine this with some very friendly day-to-day functionality and a host of fitness and health features that are excellent to use, and the package becomes even clearer.

I still reserve a strong dislike for Garmin’s own proprietary charging method, which only gets more intense when combined with a super short charging cable, but this is a wider problem shared by the S50, not unique to it. Elsewhere, it’s easy to use on-screen, and its battery life is strong, offering more than two rounds of golf’s worth of juice before needing to even consider charging.

All in, however, the S50 could really give some more premium devices a scare with its overall offering, and for those who are put off by the higher-end Garmin Approach S70’s hefty price tag, this could be the perfect solution and new golf course companion.

Garmin Approach S50

Price

Starts at $399.99 / £349.99 / AU$729

Dimensions

1.69 x 1.69 x 0.44in / 43 x 43 x 11.4mm

Weight

1.02oz/29g

Bezel/case

Aluminium

Display

390 x 390px; 1.2in / 30.4mm; AMOLED

GPS

GPS + GLONASS + Galileo

Battery life

Smartwatch mode: Up to 10 days; GPS only: Up to 15 hours

Connection

Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi

Water resistant?

Yes, 5 ATM

Garmin Approach S50: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future / Rob Dwiar )

• List prices of $399.99 / £349.99 / AU$729
• Mid-range in Garmin’s lineup
• Good value for money

Coming in right in the middle between the high-end Approach S70 watch and the budget, entry-level Approach S12, the Garmin Approach S50 is targeting the middle ground of its golf watch lineup. And does so successfully from a price and value perspective.

The balance of features on offer, its overall performance, and everything that getting into the Garmin Golf ecosystem gives you, all on an AMOLED watch with the brand’s best on-course elements — while still coming in considerably less than the S70 is excellent. In fact, I’d wager that the S50 might have the S70 worried from a value perspective, as only a couple of compromises could get you down to the S50 from the S70 and save you a bunch of cash.

The S50 is joined in the middle of the Garmin golf watch pack by the S44, released at the same time late last year. This offers a much leaner mid-range experience, without being a totally entry-level device. With the S50 being less than $100 / £100 / AU$180 more than the more streamlined-for-golf S44, but still $250 / £150 / AU$370 less than the S70 (42mm), it really does feel like it’s hit the sweet spot.

A small wrinkle for me on price was that I found the default strap to be really sub-par and swapped it out for another from Garmin; this naturally increases the overall cost of the S50, but the freedom to change straps and pick an alternative for one you like is welcome.

• Value score: 4.5/5

Garmin Approach S50: Design and screen

(Image credit: Future / Rob Dwiar )

• 1.2in / 30.4mm AMOLED screen
• Two-button control system is an acquired taste
• Lightweight and robust build but default strap is lame

Broadly speaking, the S50 is the same size as its Approach siblings, and that comes from being built around a 1.2” / 30.4mm display, with no other size options. There’s no chunky bezel here either, and in fact, the S50’s display edge isn’t raised like the S70. As a result, the S50 is much more reminiscent of an everyday smartwatch like the more recent Samsung Galaxy models.

Two compact buttons positioned on the right-hand side, and the easily removable watch strap system on all Garmin watches, round out the design to create a compact and tidy build that can look like a lifestyle watch and is robust to boot.

The screen is lovely and clear. And while it can’t hold a candle to the MARQ Golfer (Gen 2)’s domed screen, which I loved, the S50’s display works well here. Fairways and course maps are a vibrant green on the wrist, figures are crisp and clear at a glance, and even though I don’t like Garmin’s font at all, health features, settings, and menus are all clear and easily readable.

I do far prefer the three-button control on the S70 and MARQ Golfer (Gen 2) for ease of navigation and input, with the latter devices providing more easy ways to navigate systems and menus to get to where you need to be. Of course, given time it soon becomes easy to use and intuitive.

The biggest design gripes I have are with the default strap, which I found, despite its comfort, very fiddly to use every time, and the inelegant Garmin charging solution with a short cable and the port on the back of the watch.

• Design score: 4/5

Garmin Approach S50: Features

(Image credit: Future / Rob Dwiar )

• Includes all Garmin’s golf features, including PlaysLike
• Has extensive fitness and health features
• Battery life is good, and as stated

The Garmin Approach S50 includes all the (non-subscription-based) golf features that set the best Garmin watches apart, and that includes the excellent PlaysLike feature - Garmin’s own tool which will factor in weather and elevation difference between your location and the target to give you accurate, ‘real’ yardages, not just those based on straight lines on a 2D map.

In fact, positioning itself as the cheapest watch in the range that offers this feature is a very helpful way of identifying itself to golfers who are looking for the best features, but not anything outrageous price-wise. On the course, I found all the yardages to be excellently accurate and well presented on the crystal clear AMOLED color screen, and features like the AutoShot tech, swing temp meter, and green view (and more) were typically superb to use.

Away from golf, there’s a host of Garmin’s usual, and excellent, health and fitness trackers, which are super for the active golfer looking to monitor their wellness off the course. This sets it apart from the rest of the cheaper watches in the Approach range, and these include features such as sleep tracking, body battery, stress, and more, all of which perform as expected.

As far as daily watch features go, the S50 is perfectly functional and has been a solid if unspectacular companion for messaging, music control, and other daily use.

I found the battery life to be as Garmin described, too, going days and days in normal smartwatch mode before needing to charge, and easily getting two rounds in before having to think about charging it up when using it mainly for golf.

• Features score: 5/5

Garmin Approach S50: Performance

(Image credit: Future / Rob Dwiar )

• Wonderful on-course performance
• Easy to use, accurate, and game-improving
• Perfectly functional as a daily smartwatch

As expected, the Approach S50 is a joy on the course, and offers exactly the top-level of performance I’d expect from a Garmin golf watch. The features are super, the courses are presented clearly, the yardages are accurate, and the full suite of features that includes the PlaysLike distance element is all fantastic.

Switching between the PlaysLike yardage of a hole and the on-paper yardage of a hole, and navigating courses clearly through the watch’s crisp screen, is a joy. You’ll get all the accuracy you’d expect, which can then be elevated even more with a Garmin Golf Subscription, should you wish.

The health and fitness features are also fantastic (typical Garmin), and perform with accuracy, ease of interaction, and help to ensure the watch offers something away from, or complementary to, the course.

There are a few Garmin-isms that I continue to dislike personally, that the S50 features such as the font and the way it displays the original messages from WhatsApp chats by default rather than the latest (Garmin has announced that there is better WhatsApp integration now available for some of its devices — but not its golf watches, at least yet, anyway). Battery life holds up as promised, and I found it to reflect Garmin’s own description pretty much like for like, but the very short cable combined with Garmin’s inelegant solution of where you attach the charger (on the back of the watch, which then has to lie face down, at least initially) makes for a couple more small frustrations.

The aforementioned two-button control system takes a bit of getting used to, especially if you’re coming from a different control setup, but give it enough time, and it’ll become second nature. Until I switched straps, however, I would also argue that the default one hindered the watch’s performance personally, as it detracted from using it and wearing it somewhat.

• Performance score: 4/5

Garmin Approach S50: Scorecard

Category

Comment

Score

Price

Offering robust value for money in the mid-range of Garmin golf watches, the S50 encapsulates the best of the golfing elements and combines them with a solid suite of fitness tracking features to offer a good value package.

4.5/5

Design and screen

The default strap is not one I’m a fan of or enjoy, and some Garmin design-isms remain, which hold the design score back a point. The screen, however, is excellent as usual, and the buttons are easy to use and intuitive.

4/5

Features

Combining excellent golf features from Garmin, including the PlaysLike element, with Garmin’s usual brilliance in fitness and health features, and the usual robustness in being an everyday device, the feature-set is a strong proposition on the S50.

5/5

Performance

Featuring all the Garmin golf feature greatness that you’d expect, the S50 is a brilliant watch on the course and a joy to use to improve one’s game and rounds. It’s supported by strong but unspectacular daily smartwatch performance to offer a full package.

4/5

Total

If you’re looking for a great Garmin golf watch that features everything you could want from the brand’s esteemed lineup of golf features, then this is a superb watch. There are not many detractors here, and the price point means the value proposition is robust, too.

4.5/5

Garmin Approach S50: Should I buy?Buy it if...

You want a really good value mid-range golf watch

If you’re on the hunt for a mid-range golf watch that channels all that Garmin does brilliantly in the field, then the S50 is hard to beat.

You simply have to have Garmin’s PlaysLike feature

The Approach S50 is the cheapest Garmin golf watch, which will still bag you the excellent PlaysLike feature.

Don’t buy it if…

You want a premium device and experience

If you want a watch that will be all-singing and dancing, then you might need to consider investing more into a watch and go for something even more flashy, like the Garmin Approach S70 or even the MARQ Golfer (Gen 2).

You’re looking for an entry-level golf watch

Alternatively, if you’re looking to rein in the spending on your golf watch and are happy to consider something even more restrained or don’t fancy loads of bells and whistles, then you can save money with something like the Garmin Approach S12 or Shot Scope G6.

Also consider

Garmin Approach S50

Garmin Approach S70

Shot Scope G6

Price

Starts at $399.99 / £349.99 / AU$729

$649.99/$699.99 / £549.99/£599.99 / AU$1,099/$AU$1,199

$179.99 / £179.99 (around AU$370)

Dimensions

1.69 x 1.69 x 0.44in / 43 x 43 x 11.4mm

1.8 x 1.8 x 0.5in/47 x 47 x 13.4mm / 1.7 x 1.7 x 0.5in/42 x 42 x 12.6mm

1.7 x 1.7 x 0.39in/44 x 44 x 10mm

Weight

1.02oz/29g

2oz/56g / 1.6oz/44g

1.48oz / 42g

Case/bezel

Aluminium

Ceramic

Brushed steel

Display

390 x 390px; 1.2in / 30.4mm; AMOLED

454 x 454px / 390 x 390px; 1.2in/32mm / 1.4in/35.4mm; AMOLED

176 x 176px; Daylight readable MIP

GPS

GPS + GLONASS + Galileo

GPS+GLONASS+Galileo

GPS L1, Galileo E1, Glonass L1

Battery life

Smartwatch mode: Up to 10 days; GPS only: Up to 15 hours

Smartwatch mode: Up to 16 days/up to 10 days; GPS mode: up to 20 hours/up to 15 hours

GPS Mode: 2+ rounds of golf / Watch Mode: 4 days

Connection

Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi

Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi

Bluetooth 5

Water resistant?

Yes, 10 ATM

Yes, 5 ATM

Not stated

Garmin Approach S70

If you’re looking to get the absolute most out of your Garmin golf watch purchase and experience — but without spending the huge price of admission the MARQ Golfer requires — then the Approach S70 is the watch to go for.

Read our full Garmin Approach S70 review

ShotScope G6

If you want to keep the budget down and want to laser in on golfing prowess and focus, then ShotScope’s G6 is a brilliant GPS-only watch.

Read our full Shot Scope G6 review

How I tested

I tested the Garmin Approach S50 on the course and off it for several months, playing multiple rounds at my home course in Somerset and a few elsewhere in the UK. I also regularly used it as my daily smartwatch, testing a whole host of its features from fitness and health to messaging.

I compared the Garmin Approach S50 to my TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 Golf Edition, and the Garmin MARG 2 Golfer as well as the more affordable ShotScope G6 GPS watch, while also l,ooking back to my time with the Approach S70 for comparison.

First reviewed November 2025-March 2026

GEEKOM A5 Pro: 30-second review

The Geekom A5 Pro at 112.4 x 112.4 x 37mm is one of the smaller Mini PCs that I’ve looked at; however, removing it from the box, the all-aluminium casing gives it an instantly premium look and feel. The finish is exceptional, and it’s a good, solid machine that will be equally at home in the office or used as a portable machine in the field, for events or any situation where a PC is required. The design is decidedly premium, and unlike some of the more plastic Mini PC options, there’s an overall feeling of quality and style that would make this a perfect option for offices as well as stylish studios.

If you do want to hide the machine away, then there are the usual VESA bracket options so it can be secured to the back of a compatible monitor or stand, although it's worth noting that the SD card reader on the side would then become harder to reach.

One of the features that I like about this machine is the port layout, which, as ever, is split between the front and rear. The front features two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports and a 3.5mm audio combo, and on the side is an SD card reader. Around the back, there are two more USB Type-A ports, one 3.2 Gen 2 and the other USB 2.0.

There are also two USB 3.2 Type-C ports, dual HDMI 2.0 ports, and the 2.5GbE LAN port. That LAN port is a step up from Gigabit Ethernet that I usually see on machines of this size and price, and when connected to the UGREEN NAS, it delivered faster file transfer rates for archiving images and footage.

Powering the machine is an AMD Ryzen 5 7430U, which is paired with 16GB of DDR4. The 16GB is split between two channels, 8GB in each, and this helps ensure that the dual-channel potential is utilised, which is something that has limited other Mini PCs that offer the same RAM but in a single channel, which proves to be far slower. This dual-channel configuration did provide a boost in performance over similar machines, with applications loading faster, especially with Lightroom and Photoshop.

As I pushed the system with the creative apps, the cooling system IceBlast 2.0 kicked in. For a small machine, the noise was kept to a minimum and far lower than I would have expected. For most of the test, it was effectively silent, and even under extended office use, writing this review, the fan noise was hardly noticeable.

One of the additions that I always like to see is an SD card reader on the side. This just makes downloading images and videos that much faster, without needing to locate a card reader. Transferring 90GB of data from an SD card took around 9 minutes and 30 seconds, which is a reasonable speed.

Another feature that highlights its use in the office is the ability for quad display output, and this can be done through the dual HDMI and dual USB-C. I was only able to test with two 4K BenQ monitors running via HDMI or USB-C, but the machine was powerful enough to cope.

While this machine's GPU is limited, especially for gaming or mid-level creative work, for office use, the small machine packs plenty of power - expect to see it included in our guide to the best mini PCs soon.

GEEKOM A5 Pro: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? $499/£499 RRP
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Directly from Geekom and Amazon.com

The Geekom A5 Pro is available from Geekom in the US for $569 and via Geekom UK for £518.

You can save an extra 7% when you use our exclusive code TECHA5PRO

This mini PC is also available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

• Value: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)GEEKOM A5 Pro: Specs

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7430U
GPU: AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics
Memory: 16GB DDR4 SODIMM(Max 64GB)
Storage: 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 ×4 NVMe SSD (up to 2 TB) and M.2 2242 SATAIII SSD, (up to 1 TB)
Display output: 2x HDMI 2.0 (4K@60Hz), 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
Front Ports: 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10Gbps), 3.5mm audio jack
Rear ports: USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10Gbps), USB 2.0 Type-A, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2x HDMI 2.0, 2.5GbE RJ45, DC in
Wireless: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Kensington lock: Yes
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Dimensions: 112.4 x 112.4 x 37mm
In the box: A5 Pro Mini PC, VESA mount, 65W power adapter, HDMI cable, user guide
Warranty: 3 years

GEEKOM A5 Pro: Design

The Geekom A5 Pro is one of the smallest mini PCs I have tested, yet while closely packed, the ports, both front and back, are well laid out. The all-aluminium alloy chassis gives it a real premium feel and means that if you want this as a portable machine, that build quality should stand up. The machine feels solid and well-made, with a minimalistic quality that will appeal to many.

When it comes to the size, as already mentioned, it is small at 112.4 x 112.4 x 37mm, just larger than your palm-sized, so if you want, it’s more than small enough to be attached behind a monitor on a VESA bracket or slipped into a bag for location use.

The included VESA mount makes monitor mounting easy; however, as it is so small, it will equally take up very little space on a desk. One practical issue with VESA mounting is that if it is hidden behind a monitor, reaching the SD card reader on the side may be an issue. If you are planning to use the card reader, placing it on your desk will be a better idea, especially as it takes up so little room.

When it comes to connectivity, there are a surprising number of options considering the small size. On the front, there are two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports and an audio jack, while on the side, there’s the SD card reader.

Round at the rear, there's the rest of the connections: dual HDMI 2.0 ports for monitors, dual USB-C ports with DisplayPort support, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and a USB 2.0 port, and the 2.5GbE LAN port. The rear port density is well balanced considering the size, and the fact that it has a 2.5GbE LAN over the more usual Gigabit Ethernet is good to see.

As this is such a small machine, decent cooling is essential, and here the IceBlast 2.0 cooling system is in place. This uses dual copper heatpipes and a large fan with side intake and rear output so that plenty of cool air is drawn through the system.

In practice, even under load, I found that the machine remained exceptionally quiet, which is good if you’re using this as an everyday office machine for general work and light creative use. Even when pushing the GPU harder with Lightroom catalogues or video timelines, the fan remained relatively subdued. Just checking the heat of the chassis, and it remained cool to the touch throughout the test.

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

While this is in no doubt due to the cooling system, the fact that the chip's 20W TDP means that the entire system will be running cooler than many higher-powered mini PCs.

Through the test, I took a look at the upgrade root for RAM and SSD, and the internal access is notably easier than that of some competitors. Removing four screws from the base lifts the cover, revealing both SO-DIMM and M.2 slots, all accessible without too much issue.

The primary M.2 2280 slot takes NVMe drives up to 2TB, and the secondary M.2 2242 SATA slot adds up to 1TB more, enabling a potential 3TB of internal storage. Upgrading RAM to up to 64GB is equally straightforward.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)GEEKOM A5 Pro: Features

Taking a look at the features, aside from the computing components, the small size has to lead the field. The fact that you have such a small machine in a solid aluminium chassis does make this Mini PC instantly appealing. Although from the outset, the lack of a powerful GPU means that while this is a good, powerful PC for office-based work, for creative and gaming, its feature set and performance are limited.

At the heart of the machine is an AMD Ryzen 5 7430U featuring a 6-core, 12-thread chip based on Zen 3 architecture with a 20W TDP, boosting to 4.3GHz. Essentially, this processor is focused on efficiency rather than performance.

What makes a difference to this machine compared with others that I have looked at that also use this processor is the RAM configuration. The 16GB arrives as two 8GB sticks in dual-channel mode, which delivers a noticeably better experience than single-channel alternatives that I have used.

Storage technology is on the older side, with a PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD in the primary slot. There is a second slot for storage, although this is an M.2 2242 SATAIII SSD, so it is still relatively fast and will take a module up to 1TB. It’s also worth noting that PCIe 4.0 is increasingly common at this price point, and the absence of a Gen 4 drive is a disappointment, even if the Gen 3 speeds are unlikely to cause an issue for office work.

On the side of the machine is the SD card reader, which will appeal to creative users. Transferring image files from an SD card is quick, and having the reader built in without needing an external adapter or hub is convenient and keeps additional accessories off the worksurface.

Networking is also a step up from most machines of this type, with a 2.5GbE LAN port on the rear. During the test, I connected this to the UGREEN NAS via a wired router, and transfer rates were noticeably faster than with Gigabit connections.

While quad-display output is supported via dual HDMI 2.0 and dual USB-C with DisplayPort, during this test, I was limited to two 4K monitors.

Connectivity was also solid for the most part, with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 handling wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi performance was consistent at close range but sensitive to line-of-sight distance to the router, with occasional signal drops when the machine was farther from the Eero network.

The Kensington security slot is a useful inclusion for anyone deploying this machine in a shared office or workspace environment. At this price, it is not a common feature, and its inclusion reinforces the professional positioning Geekom aims for with the A5 Pro.

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

• Features: 4 / 5

GEEKOM A5 Pro: PerformanceBenchmark scores

Benchmark Results:
CrystalDiskMark Read: 6994.18 MB/s
CrystalDiskMark Write: 6188.09 MB/s
Geekbench CPU Multi: 12,600
Geekbench CPU Single: 2,382
Geekbench GPU: 30,577
PCMark Overall: 7,536
Cinebench CPU Multi: 12,133
Cinebench CPU Single: 1,700
3DMark Fire Strike Overall: 3,091
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics: 3,376
3DMark Fire Strike Physics: 15,071
3DMark Fire Strike Combined: 1,094
3DMark Time Spy Overall: N/A
3DMark Time Spy Graphics: N/A
3DMark Time Spy CPU: N/A
Wild Life Overall: 6,834
Steel Nomad Overall: 188
Windows Experience Overall: 8.0

Getting into the performance and the use of this machine was almost instantly apparent. For office-based work, Microsoft Office and all its applications, browsing the internet and light creative work in CapCut, this machine excelled. However, as soon as I started to place demands on the GPU, the machine's speed started to struggle.

Checking the benchmark results highlighted the strengths of the machine and the PCMark overall score of 5,933, the Geekbench multi-core of 6,903, and the WEI score of 8.0, all of which highlighted that the A5 Pro is a very capable home office machine.

Over other very similar machines that I have tested, the dual-channel RAM configuration has recently given this machine the edge when it comes to performance, although there are still slowdowns. Switching between Lightroom Classic and Photoshop was notably faster, although there’s still quite a wait for many applications to load.

Where this machine is most at home is when running Microsoft Office, and with all applications, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, the A5 Pro was able to handle everything from large documents to image-heavy presentations without issue.

This is where the Ryzen 5 7430U and the Zen 3 architecture work well and provide fast and reliable performance. Web browsing, media streaming, and general Windows use are where this machine's strengths definitely lie.

Switching the type of work to light creative, the A5 Pro continues to perform well, although the 1TB SSD capacity is slightly limiting.

Lightroom Classic opened and catalogued files from the Canon EOS R5 C without issues, and basic editing and batch export were manageable once the application had loaded, which can take a while. Photoshop handled basic editing as well as complex multi-layer files at a reasonable speed, although I did find that as I built up complex focus layer stacks, which created larger files, there was a notable slowdown as the Vega 8 graphics started to work harder. Adobe Bridge showed the GPU limits more clearly, with thumbnail rendering becoming especially slow.

Again, referring back to the benchmarks, the Geekbench GPU score of 13,683 and Fire Strike Graphics of 3,376 show the Vega 8 limitations. 1080p video editing is possible, but 4K starts to challenge the system. In Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, 4K timeline work slowed considerably once effects and colour grading were applied. At 1080p, both applications were more manageable, and in a lighter editor like CapCut, the machine handled social media editing well. This is a machine that you can use for some creative work, but it should be seen first as an office machine rather than creative.

As ever, to really push the system, I loaded a series of games, and this is where the machine really hit its limits. Demanding titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would not run, and Hogwarts Legacy was equally beyond the hardware. Older, less demanding titles ran at low settings, which is about as much as the Vega 8 can handle.

Under sustained load, the IceBlast 2.0 cooling system performed well. Even when the machine was working hard, the fan noise remained relatively low, considerably quieter than that of machines running higher-TDP processors in similarly sized chassis. The 20W limit means there is less heat to manage, and the dual copper heatpipe system seemed to keep the machine in check.

The 20W TDP is both an advantage if low power systems are essential to you, especially out in the field or as part of Van Life; however, it's also the machine's limitation. The power consumption is exceptionally low, and through the test, I was able to run the machine from a compact power station for a full day, making it a great portable option for location work or van life setups.

The trade-off for this low power draw is the performance, especially under GPU-intensive creative and gaming workloads. If you are looking for a machine for productivity, this machine is a great choice. If you need a machine for more demanding creative use, then look for a higher-powered machine.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)GEEKOM A5 Pro: Final verdict

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

The Geekom A5 Pro is a well-balanced and genuinely impressive home and office mini PC that just about justifies its price.

The all-aluminium build, dual-channel RAM, 2.5GbE networking, SD card reader, quiet operation, and three-year warranty all come together as a well-balanced offering that just takes the edge over similar machines that I have looked at recently. It essentially runs everything that most offices will need, including Microsoft Office and some creative apps.

The PCIe 3.0 SSD and the Vega 8 GPU do feel like older technologies and do limit the machine's performance, but these aren’t really an issue for the intended market.

If your daily work stays within Office, browsing, and light photo or video editing, the A5 Pro is more than sufficient for your needs. If 4K video editing or GPU-intensive creative work is part of your day-to-day tasks, then the 20W chip will leave you frustrated. If you’re a home-office professional, small-business owner, or content creator who needs a capable secondary machine, this is a good choice at a reasonable cost.

Should I buy the GEEKOM A5 Pro?

Value

Aluminium build, dual-channel RAM, 2.5GbE, SD card reader, and a three-year warranty just make this a reasonable value.

3.5

Design

A well built machines at this size and price, with the all-aluminium chassis and compact form factor being genuinely impressive.

4.5

Features

2.5GbE, SD card reader, quad display support, easy internal access, and VESA mount included mean that there’s plenty on offer

4

Performance

Excellent for productivity and light creative work; however, the 20W Vega 8 GPU reaches its limit quickly with 4K video or gaming

3.5

Overall

A premium-feeling, practically well-equipped home office mini PC that runs quietly, although a little pricy

3.5

Buy it if...

You need an Office Machine.

The A5 Pro handles everything the home office demands quietly and without fuss. The premium aluminium build, dual-channel RAM, and connectivity options make it a compact and well-equipped machine for the size and price.

You want to plenty of connection options.

With 2.5GbE, dual HDMI, dual USB-C with DisplayPort, six USB ports, an SD card reader, and a VESA mount all in the box, the A5 Pro provides plenty for most desktop set-ups.

Don't buy it if...

You need 4K video editing.

The Vega 8 GPU and 20W TDP mean 4K timeline work in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve becomes slow once timelines build and effects are applied.

You plan to VESA-mount it and use the SD card reader.

The SD card reader sits on the side, which makes it easily accessible on the desk but harder to reach once the machine is mounted behind a monitor.

For more productivity machines, we've reviewed the best business laptops around.

Philips Hue Omniglow: one-minute review

(Image credit: Future)Specifications

Length: 3m (also 5m and 10m in some markets)

Brightness: up to 2,700 lumens at 6,500K (3m)

Colors: white, warm white, and multicolor

The Philips Hue Omniglow is the best Hue lightstrip yet. It's a classier kind of LED strip: where other models have visible LEDs, the Omniglow delivers seamless color gradients and smoothly moving light effects. The results are very impressive and the Hue app makes it easy to select, edit or create scenes either solo or as part of a wider Hue setup. If you've already got a Hue system you can add it in seconds and then include it in your scenes and automations. As with other Hue lights you'll need a Philips Hue Bridge or Bridge Pro to access advanced features such as custom scenes and smart home integration.

The Omniglow is easy to install and set up, although if you're mounting it up high you might curse the short power cable. The only real downside is the length: you can shorten the Omniglow but not extend it, and longer versions are not widely available in the UK or US. While European customers can choose between 3m, 5m and 10m models, the US and UK are currently limited to the 3m model only.

Philips Hue Omniglow: price and availability

• On sale from November 2025
• $139.99 / £119.99 / AU$279.99 (3m)

The Philips Hue Omniglow was announced in September 2025 and went on sale in November 2025. There are three sizes, but only the 3m model is available everywhere. That has a recommended price tag of $139.99 / £119.99 / €139.99 / AU$279.99.

Europe and Australia also get a longer 5m version, which costs €199.99 / AU$399. And in Europe there's a 10m version with a price tag of $349.99. The same 10m version was listed with a UK price of £349.99 but at the time of writing it's showing as as "not currently available" on the Philips website.

Philips Hue Omniglow: design

Even close-up you can't see the individual LEDs:' colors, and gradients are super-smooth (Image credit: Future)

• RGB, warm white and cool white
• Seamless color and gradients
• Cuttable but not extendable

The Omniglow is a RGBWWIC design, which means it combines RGB, warm white, cool white and independent control in a single light source. Unlike other Hue lightstrips you can't see the individual LEDs; it's designed to deliver seamless whites, colors and gradients, which it does very well. That makes it look much more classy than lesser lightstrips.

The strip is 17mm wide and 8.5mm high and consists of multiple 12.5cm sections, each of which has 6 LEDs that can be individually controlled – so you can get twinkly lights and motion effects as well as solid color and gradients.

This lightstrip can be cut shorter at pre-defined 12.5cm spaces but any bit you remove can't be re-used or replaced later. Unlike previous Hue lightstrips the Omniglow can't be (officially) extended with additional sections, although inevitably some Hue fans have come up with warranty-voiding DIY solutions.

There are double-sided adhesive strips along the full length of the Omniglow, but you may want to use something more permanent if you're putting the strip in a place where it'll have to battle gravity; in my experience the adhesive that comes with Hue strips tends to be rather weak, and this lightstrip is quite heavy. The power supply is also very short, with just over 1m between the plug socket and the beginning of your lightstrip, and you're going to want to support the weight of the power brick.

Design score: 4/5

Hue Omniglow review: features

If you have a Hue Bridge/Pro you get full access to customization and smart home automation (Image credit: Future)

• Three-stage gradients
• Moving and flickering lights
• Great integration with other Hue lights

The Omniglow delivers the promised seamless gradients, and it also brings a feature across from the Festivia string lights in the form of moving lights. That enables you to pick a moving scene such as a fireplace, candle glow or looped color change, and you can tweak those scenes in the Hue app to adjust their speed or intensity. It's very smooth and very impressive.

The app offers very basic control via Bluetooth but for access to advanced features such as syncing and smart home integration you'll need a Hue Bridge or Hue Bridge Pro. That gives you the full range of customization, per-light settings and the ability to create your own custom moving gradients and flickering effects.

Features score: 5/5

Philips Hue Omniglow: performance

• Up to 2,700 lumens
• Seamless color
• Beautifully smooth transitions

If you're familiar with Hue lightstrips the first thing you'll notice about the Omniglow is how bright it is. It's much brighter than standard Hue lightstrips, delivering up to 2,700 lumens of brightness compared to the 1,700 lumens of a Hue Solo of the same length.

If you can get the 5m or 10m models they are more powerful still, putting out up to 4,500 lumens. That means the Omniglow isn't just a decorative lightstrip. You can also use it to illuminate spaces such as stairs or feature walls.

Performance score: 5/5

Philips Hue Omniglow: should you buy it?

Design

Gorgeous lighting but it's not extendable and the power cable is very short

4/5

Features

Everything you'd expect from a Hue strip plus motion and flicker effects (Bridge/Pro required)

5/5

Performance

Brilliantly bright, super smooth and the colors are fantastic

5/5

Value

Quite expensive compared to other lightstrips

4/5

Buy it if

You want something classy
The seamless color and gradients here elevate the Omniglow above lesser lightstrips, which look rather cheap by comparisonView Deal

You like to move it, move it
The combination of motion and seamless color works really well with twinkling or looping scenesView Deal

Don't buy it if

You're on a budget
Other Hue lightstrips are much cheaper than the Omniglow. Their LEDs are visible but they're still very effective and fun.View Deal

You need long lengths
You can't extend this Omniglow strip and the 5m and 10m models are not widely available outside Europe.View Deal

It's for your TV
The Omniglow isn't designed for TVs. Cheaper lightstrips are a better solution for TV ambience.View Deal

Philips Hue Omniglow: also consider

There are multiple lightstrips for Hue, some of them much more affordable – so for example the Hue Gradient Lightstrip is much cheaper. Govee is the main rival in this space with very affordable products including the bendable, cuttable COB Strip Light Pro, the very cheap RGBIC LED Strip and several rope light models.

How I tested the Philips Hue Omniglow

I've been all-in on Hue lights for more than a decade, and my home currently features a mix of smart lights including two Hue gradient lightstrips, various Hue bulbs, a Hue motion sensor and Hue Festavia string lights, all controlled via the Hue app, Apple Home and Siri. I added the Omniglow to my living room setup and Hue Bridge and used it as both decorative lighting and functional lighting, controlling it alongside my existing lights and scenes.

First reviewed March 2026

Razer Huntsman Signature Edition: Two-minute review

Razer has been all about anniversary products in 2026, with special edition variants of some of its most beloved devices with different physical touches, limited quantities and price tags you could wince at – the Razer Huntsman Signature Edition is the latest entry.

Underneath, it's a Huntsman V3 Pro TKL, which is one of the best gaming keyboards you can purchase with the green brand's second-gen analog optical switches, an 8000Hz polling rate and more goodies that have kept it competitive among a sea of newer, Hall effect and TMR-powered keyboards. It's been out for a couple of years by this point, though.

The Huntsman Signature Edition isn't going to do much to move the needle in Razer's favor, though, and arrives as more of a vanity project than a serious release - it is limited to 1337 pieces (get it, that's leet). After all, with the $500 price tag this keyboard comes with, you could nab both a high-power gaming keyboard and then sink the rest of the funds into a top enthusiast-grade product with more customisation than you could shake a stick at.

(Image credit: Future)

The fact is, though, that I like what's here. This Huntsman is built like a tank, and I'm a fan of all the little extras it comes with, such as its mirrored surfaces, the large leather-bound box, and the decent array of accessories on show. Gaming performance is also strong with its optical switches, 8000Hz polling rate, and more besides that keep inputs fast and responsive, plus there are extras such as analog capabilities for controller-like inputs and extensive software customisation to boot, so users can tinker until their hearts are content.

I just wince at that price tag, especially with competition such as the Corsair K70 Pro TKL and SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless Gen 3 offering similar features for half the cost.

Razer Huntsman Signature Edition: Price & release date

• $499.99/£499.99/AU$799.99
• Available only from Razer directly
• Top-end of the market

The Razer Huntsman Signature Edition is only available to purchase from Razer's website, and costs $499.99/£499.99/AU$799.99, putting it right at the top end of the gaming keyboard market. It's also limited to 1337 pieces, so you'll need to have been quick on the button to snag one when it went on sale on February 22, 2026.

For the price, you get the keyboard itself alongside accessories including a keycap puller, a special-edition Razer keycap, swappable macOS command keycaps, a braided USB-C/USB-A cable and a leather sound-dampening mat. That all comes in a hefty leather-bound box with the Razer logo.

(Image credit: Future)

You can get premium gaming keyboards with a similar feature set for much less than the asking price, including the Corsair K70 Pro TKL and SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless Gen 3. The keyboard this is based on, the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL, is also much more affordable, and provides an identical core experience to the Huntsman Signature Edition.

• Price score: 2/5

Razer Huntsman Signature Edition: Design and features

• Sturdy machined aluminum frame
• Lovely attention to detail
• Feature-rich software

Razer has certainly attempted to make the Huntsman Signature Edition look and feel like a $500/£500 keyboard. It carries this premium and understated look that we've seen brands move towards more generally, and it looks fantastic, with a black machined aluminum chassis with touches of gray on the volume roller and macro buttons in the top-right corner.

One of the key upgrades over the standard Huntsman V3 Pro TKL that turns this into a 'Signature Edition' is the decision to CNC-mill the entire chassis in 6063 aluminum, giving it this wonderful heft and thickness. It certainly means this keyboard isn't going to go anywhere when it's put down on your desk.

The rear side and underside of the Huntsman Signature Edition have been PVD surface-treated and hand-polished to achieve a mirror-like finish, giving the keyboard an extra extravagant feel. Granted, you won't be able to see it while you use it, but it shows a keen eye for detail on Razer's side.

(Image credit: Future)

I'm also a fan of the fact that this keyboard opts for a closed housing over the more common open, skeletal-feeling frames that are a lot more common on gaming-grade keyboards. It gives this product more of an enthusiast's feel, and also helps prevent ingress of dust or unwanted crud between the switches.

The lovely fit and finish of the Huntsman Signature Edition also extends to its textured PBT keycaps that feel great under finger. Razer also bundles a special Razer accent keycap in the box alongside ones for the bottom row for macOS functions, and a keycap puller so you can change them out if you wish. The lack of a wristrest for more optimal ergonomics is a bit of a shame, though, as some rivals come with one, including Razer's own Huntsman V3 Pro TKL.

(Image credit: Future)

The TKL (or tenkeyless) layout on offer is convenient and doesn't sacrifice much on overall functionality for the gains in desk space, only chopping off the number pad. You otherwise get a nav cluster with arrow keys, a feature-rich function row, and the usual alphanumeric set. Unlike other, more drastic space-saving layouts, it's easy to use.

In spite of not having an OLED screen, unlike rivals from other manufacturers, the Huntsman Signature Edition has some functions baked into its function row, including backlighting brightness, macro recording, and global adjustment of the actuation and reset points of the optical analog keyswitches. The tactile dial in the top right corner controls system volume by default.

(Image credit: Future)

Software control is handled by Razer Synapse, as with the brand's other peripherals, and the experience is familiar. It's a versatile piece of kit, offering means of controlling the actuation and reset points of switches individually, plus dealing with things such as analog, SOCD and rapid trigger functionality for the switches, and configuring the sharp RGB lighting

If you don't want to deal with sorting actuation and reset points on a per-key basis, then you can also select from a range of presets based on game genre, such as FPS or Racing, to optimise the keyboard's settings in one fell swoop.

• Design and features score: 4/5

Razer Huntsman Signature Edition: Specs

Layout:

TKL

Switch:

Razer Analog Optical Gen 2

Programmable keys:

Yes

Dimensions:

14.3 x 5.48 x 1.54 inches / 363 x 139 x 39mm

RGB or backlighting:

Yes (customisable)

Razer Huntsman Signature Edition: Performance

• Very potent optical switches
• Rapid trigger and analog settings for lots of configuration
• Solely wired connectivity, although with 8000Hz polling rate

The internals of the Huntsman Signature Edition haven't changed much from the V3 Pro TKL model, meaning it comes with the same switches – that's the brand's own Analog Optical Switches Gen-2 – which actuate with light gates for immense precision and bring handy extras such as rapid trigger for instant inputs and analog powers for controller-like progressive keypresses.

In a general sense, these optical switches are snappy under finger with a linear keypress, while a 40g weighting keeps them light enough for serious gaming. The switches aren't lubricated, unlike their Hall effect brethren, but feel smooth enough by default that I enjoyed using them for both gaming and general work. In addition, thanks to a stack of sound-dampening material inside the keyboard, the acoustics are excellent with no case rattle or ping.

(Image credit: Future)

Sometimes non-standard switches such as these can tend to feel quite hollow and lifeless under finger, but I didn't necessarily feel that way about them during general use for work, writing articles and such for hours on end.

The lack of traditional mechanisms also lends them to being immensely configurable, with the actuation and reset point able to be set anywhere along the travel from 0.1mm to 4mm. This allows for brisk inputs where you'd only need to essentially breathe on the switch before it actuates, before it instantly resets.

This is rapid trigger in action, and it can be very useful in quick draw scenarios in FPS titles. I use Counter-Strike 2 as proving grounds for any gaming keyboard I test, and with the Huntsman Signature Edition, I chose to bind the WASD and weapon selection keys as rapid triggers, which meant movement takes much less effort than a traditional keyboard, and things felt especially responsive.

(Image credit: Future)

However, this is only one side of these switches, as they are also analog switches, too – and are a newer version of the ones you'll find in the Razer Huntsman V2 Analog to boot. This means they can offer controller-like inputs with a more progressive scale, which is handy because you can now use a keyboard in titles where you may normally use a controller.

Razer makes it easy to map inputs in its software, and using the default 'Racing' preset in the Synapse software, it maps the WASD keys to left analog stick movement and right and left triggers. I tested it in both BeamNG Drive and in Forza Horizon 5 in races and freeroam, and it felt responsive.

There is a little bit of a learning curve in mastering the power of those analog inputs if you’re used to the more standard on/off nature of mechanical keyswitches, but it is seriously clever, and one of the most underrated features on these switches.

Razer provides its own flavour of SOCD tech with the Huntsman Signature Edition, known here as Snap Tap. This allows you to activate one key while holding down the other for especially quick actions. In this instance, it works based on the most recent one pressed; for instance, if mapped to the A and D keys, it can allow for unnaturally quick side-to-side movement. It's very clever, although not something you'll probably use too much in online games, given Valve wields the ban hammer for anyone who uses it in online Counter-Strike 2 games.

(Image credit: Future)

The software controls also open up the power of dual actuation, where you can set two inputs to different parts of a switch's travel, such as pushing it down slightly to walk, before going all the way down to run, or crouch. It's a handy addition for FPS games, although is as far as these switches go. Rival devices offer even more versatility, such as four inputs per key, and other derivatives of the SOCD (Snap Tap) tech, if you wanted even more functionality.

Connectivity with the Huntsman Signature Edition is strictly wired, with no Bluetooth or 2.4GHz wireless choices available. Over this wired connection, you also get an 8000Hz polling rate for more frequent reporting of inputs than more 'standard' gaming keyboards, which can lead to more responsive inputs. This isn't necessarily something that mere mortals can feel, although for the pros, where every millisecond counts, it's a useful addition.

• Performance score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Razer Huntsman Signature Edition?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

The Huntsman Signature Edition costs a lot as a limited edition, ultra-premium gaming keyboard, and sits above a lot of the competition for similar features.

2/5

Design and features

The Signature Edition boosts its fit and finish with a milled aluminium case, plenty of heft and a premium feel. The lack of a wristrest in the scope of accessories is a sore miss, though.

4/5

Performance

The Huntsman Signature Edition is a very responsive gaming keyboard with its smooth, optical switches that support rapid trigger and analog inputs. It is lacking more advanced customisation and wireless connectivity, though.

4/5

Overall rating

The Huntsman Signature Edition is a stylish and powerful gaming keyboard with some very versatile switches and handy software, plus immense build quality and handy extras to make this a top-tier product. An obscene price tag stops this from being a wholehearted recommendation, though.

4/5

Buy it if…

You want an ultra-premium gaming keyboard
The Huntsman Signature Edition's price tag means it isn't for the faint-hearted, but if you've been after a keyboard that screams premium and luxury in virtually every way, this does it.

You want very versatile switches
The second-gen analog optical switches that this keyboard comes with offer a lot in the way of speed and precision, plus the fact that they have rapid trigger and analog powers make this is a very clever keyboard.

Don’t buy it if…

You're on a budget
The Huntsman Signature Edition's main downfall is the hideous price tag that puts it above and beyond many other rival devices, and plenty of other pared-back mechanical keyboards that will be much kinder to your wallet.

You want some more advanced customisation
While the switches here can do rapid trigger and analog, rival devices can provide even more customisation, such as dynamic keystroke and mod tap to get even more out of the switches.

Razer Huntsman Signature Edition: Also consider

SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless Gen 3
This SteelSeries choice mirrors the Huntsman Signature Edition in a lot of ways, with beefy switches (albeit with no analog powers), but fast rapid trigger inputs plus extensive software customisation and wireless connectivity. It's also much less expensive. Read our SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless review.View Deal

Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%
This BlackWidow choice trades some of its gaming power for mechanical versatility with hot-swappable Gen-3 Tactile switches and such, although it retains the classic Razer styling, comes with a wristrest and offers wireless connectivity. Again, it is also cheaper than the Huntsman Signature Edition by some margin. Read our Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% review.View Deal

How I tested the Razer Huntsman Signature Edition

• Tested for around two weeks
• Used for gaming and productivity across Windows and macOS
• A decade of experience as a journalist and mechanical keyboard hobbyist

I tested the Huntsman Signature Edition for around two weeks, using it as my main keyboard for work and play during this time with both Windows and macOS.

I played various games, including Counter-Strike 2 and Forza Horizon 5, to best gauge its optical switches for speed, precision, and the benefit of its analog powers. I also made sure to use Razer's Synapse software to test every facet of the keyboard.

I've been a journalist for the best part of a decade, and have reviewed plenty of keyboards in that time from brands big and small. I'm also a mechanical keyboard enthusiast, so I have a keen eye for peripherals, and have been involved with the hobby before it hit the mainstream.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: March 2026

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus: Two-minute review

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus is exactly what I expected it to be: a solid mid-tier Android smartphone that does enough to be great but doesn’t quite make it to excellence.

Powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset for Galaxy, the S26 Plus topped even the most premium competitors on performance. Jumping into games like Destiny Rising on the highest graphics is a breeze, and you can genuinely expect to enjoy performance that's largely comparable to the best gaming phones on Samsung's latest flagship middle child.

The S26 Plus' 6.7-inch display is just as bright and colorful as the S26 Ultra's, highlighting all of the gorgeous colors in my favorite media content. Its premium svelte design is stunning in certain colorways, too, and the near bezel-less face makes for an immersive viewing experience.

The battery life is decent, but not the best. I got a full day’s use out of the phone's 4,900mAh cell, needing to charge it toward the end of the night. The 45W fast charging makes the process pretty seamless, though. But the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and some of its competitors offer longer battery life.

(Image credit: Future/Rami Tabari)

Then there’s the cameras, which are solid overall, but should’ve gotten a boost, especially considering that the S26 Plus received a $100 / £100 / AU$150 price bump over the Galaxy S25 Plus, bringing its tag to $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,849.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus is a great Android phone, but it’s not the best. If you’re looking for something that’s exactly this size, then the S26 Plus will serve you well, but if you don’t mind going up or down a size, you might find a better deal elsewhere. Again, that doesn’t remove all the great qualities that the Galaxy S26 Plus has to offer; it just means that its competitors do it better, albeit at varying prices.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus review: price and availability

(Image credit: Future/Rami Tabari)

• From $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,849
• Launched on March 11, 2026

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus launched on March 11, 2026 in a prismatic spray, offering six different colorways and two variants of storage. You can purchase it directly from Samsung or any of the company’s retail partners.

At its starting price — $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,849 — you can get the Galaxy S26 Plus with 256GB of storage. That’s a $100 / £100 / AU$150 price hike compared with its predecessor. Bumping up to 512GB will cost you $1,299 / £1,279 / AU$2,149. That’s an $180 / £179 / AU$1,849 increase.

In other words, Samsung’s larger 6.7-inch phone is becoming less affordable, and that’s pretty frustrating if you’re someone who needs it. The iPhone Air is just a wee bit smaller (6.5 inches), but it costs less ($999 / £999 / AU$1,799). The iPhone 17 Pro Max sizes up to 6.9 inches and starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149, while the Pixel 10 Pro XL sits at 6.8 inches for $1,199 / £1,199 / AU $1,999.

So, yes, the price hike is frustrating, but the Galaxy S26 Plus sits in this weird niche space between price and size in relation to its premium competitors, so there’s still some solid value here.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus review: specsSamsung Galaxy S26 Plus specs

Dimensions:

158.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 mm

Weight:

190g

Display:

6.7-inch AMOLED (3,120 x 1,440) up to 120Hz

Chipset:

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy

RAM:

12GB

Storage:

256GB, 512GB

OS:

Android 16

Primary camera:

50MP main (f/1.8)

Ultra-wide camera:

12MP ultrawide (f/2.2)

Telephoto camera:

10MP 3x telephoto (f/2.4)

Front Camera:

12MP selfie (f/2.2)

Battery:

4,900mAh

Charging:

45W wired, 25W wireless

Colors:

Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, Black, White (Online only: Silver Shadow, Pink Gold)

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus review: design

(Image credit: Future/Rami Tabari)

• Mostly the same as the Galaxy S25 Plus
• Gorgeous colors
• Cameras are elevated

For better or worse, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus looks pretty much the same as its predecessor (and its predecessors before that). It’s the exact same size and weight as the S25 Plus, at 158.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 millimeters and 190g. I’m not mad about this, though. Its thin build and round corners still give that svelte premium feel. The Galaxy S26 Plus also comes in a variety of colors.

Our review unit came in White, which is boring — sorry, not sorry. There’s Black and Silver Shadow, which fall in the same “meh” camp, but the more precious colors are Pink Gold, Sky Blue, and Cobalt Violet (my favorite). Tech products that offer more than shades of gray are a solid win.

The biggest design difference between the Galaxy S26 Plus and its predecessor is the appearance of its cameras. Now, the phone's rear module is slightly elevated on a platform. Apart from that, everything else is the same. The power and volume buttons are on the right, there are microphones on the top edge, and the bottom holds room for the USB-C port, SIM slot, speaker, and microphone.

(Image credit: Future/Rami Tabari)

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus still features Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for protection against drops and scratches, but the S26 Ultra features Gorilla Glass Armor 2, which prioritizes reducing reflections as well as durability.

However, just like the S26 Ultra, the Plus is rated for IP68 water and dust protection. That means the device is completely dust-tight and can withstand immersions in water beyond one meter (up to three). I wouldn’t go testing this in the bathtub, though. But if you happen to drop it, the S26 Plus should be fine.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus still looks great. It would be nice for Samsung to get more experimental with its design, but the Galaxy lineup still cleans up nicely.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus review: display

(Image credit: Future/Rami Tabari)

• 6.7-inch AMOLED
• 3120 x 1440 resolution
• 120Hz refresh rate
• 2600-nit peak brightness

If you’re looking for a stunningly bright floating piece of glass on which to watch all your favorite content, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus’ 6.7-inch AMOLED delivers just that.

With a near bezel-less screen and a peak brightness of 2600 nits, its 3,120 x 1,440 resolution display makes everything in the background practically fade away (fun fact: the phone actually defaults to 2,340 x 1,080 to save battery). The cutout for the selfie camera is always going to be mildly distracting, but it's pretty tiny.

In Destiny Rising, the ethereal valley that leads to Haven popped against the gorgeous blues and pinks on the horizon. While it’s not necessarily a gaming phone by trade, the Galaxy S26 Plus put in the work to make the world of Destiny look good.

With the S26 Plus’ adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, the navigation experience felt super smooth, and it also allows games to climb up to 120fps (although Destiny hovered around 60fps).

The S26 Plus’ screen is just as good as the Ultra’s, with one exception — the Privacy Display on the latter phone, which adjusts the screen so people around you can’t see what you see. You won’t get this extra layer of privacy on the middle child in Samsung’s lineup. I wouldn’t necessarily weep over it, though. There are privacy screen protectors that can accomplish the same thing.

• Display score: 4.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus review: cameras

(Image credit: Future/Rami Tabari)

• 50MP main (f/1.8)
• 12MP ultra-wide (f/2.2)
• 10MP 3x telephoto (f/2.4)
• 12MP selfie-cam
• Up to 8K/30fps video

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus’ camera suite is effectively unchanged from the previous generation. On the rear, you get a 50MP main, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP 3x telephoto camera, while the front sports a 12MP selfie camera.

I took a lovely trip to the park and put the Galaxy S26 Plus’ cameras to work. One common occurrence I noticed while taking photos is that the ultra-wide camera captured slightly bolder colors, and it’s most noticeable when looking at the sky. Meanwhile, the other rear cameras captured more flat images. They don’t lack color per se. It seems like it would be a more natural representation, but the images captured by the 50MP main and 10MP 3x telephoto cameras were just faintly duller than real life.

However, when it came to clarity, all of the rear cameras excelled at capturing highly detailed images. It’s easy to get high-resolution photos, but it’s another thing when a camera sensor can focus on exactly what you need it to, providing both a sharp and clear image. Naturally, the 10MP 3x telephoto lens was better at this than the rest, capturing the individual notches in the wood of a gazebo from far away.

I’m also impressed by the S26 Ultra's digital zoom, which can go up to 30x. You’ll rarely be using it all the way turned up, but there are several shots where I needed to crank past 3x to get a full image of something. Despite using a digital zoom, images like the birdhouse (as you'll see below) looked great. Although you’re losing a decent amount of detail the further you zoom in.

However, a really cool image I captured was around dusk, when there was still some blue in the sky, but the moon was out. The standard lens couldn’t capture any detail because of the surrounding light, but zooming in 30x allowed the camera to focus on the moon. The S26 Plus is not winning any awards in astronomy photography, but being able to capture the craters on the moon was cool.

Overall, then, the S26 Plus' camera array is solid as is, but the biggest issue it’s facing is the tech itself. The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is close in price, and it sports a 48MP ultra-wide camera and a telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom. For that aforementioned price hike, we should’ve had at least some upgrade to the camera array, but we’re stuck with the same hardware as last year’s model. Hopefully, this’ll change in the future (without another price hike).

• Camera score: 3.5 / 5

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(Image credit: Future/Rami Tabari)

• Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset is fiercely competitive
• Overall punchy performance

Like its siblings, the Galaxy S26 Plus is outfitted with a Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 8 Elite 5 chip that's specifically designed for Galaxy phones. Whatever Qualcomm and Samsung cooked up is supposedly meant to work better overall for the system. Well, running the standard Geekbench overall performance test proved that it outpaced its predecessor. It also beat the scores of Apple’s A19 Pro.

Getting into the crunchy numbers won’t tell you the real story, though. I played around with the S26 Plus for a week, and it reflected my inputs with incredible speed. I navigated through games, responded to emails, and voice chatted with friends with no noticeable slowdown.

I jumped into Destiny Rising in performance mode, and the game ran at a smooth 60fps. It kept up with my wild spray-and-pray tactics as I tore through the opening area. I didn’t see any screen tearing, and despite not being branded a gaming phone, the S26 Plus didn't suffer any performance drops.

However, I did notice that under a little pressure, it does get warm near the cameras. It’s not dramatic, but something to keep in mind if you’re out in the sun using your phone. I’ve had smartphones overheat on me at the beach, for instance.

Overall, even as the middle child of the Galaxy lineup, the S26 Plus is highly competitive with the best out there.

• Performance score: 5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus review: software

(Image credit: Future/Rami Tabari)

• AI everywhere
• More personal suggestions
• Unreliable generative AI features

The Galaxy S26 Plus ships with Android 16 dressed up in Samsung’s One UI 8.5 suit. Of course, it’s packed with a bunch of AI features that you may not ever use, many of which are facilitated by Samsung’s Galaxy AI as well as Perplexity, Bixby, and Google Gemini. It’s very much a “choose your Pokémon” situation.

Despite my reservations with AI, one of my favorite features is the automatic call screening, which Pixel phones have been doing for years now. But it’s nice not having to answer marketers or scammers on a Galaxy phone.

There is a new Galaxy AI feature called Now Nudge. It’s designed to constantly read what’s on your screen and suggest relevant actions, like creating a calendar event or sharing photos. It’ll also recall information, like saved contacts or location details.

Then there’s Now Brief, located at the bottom of the lock screen. Opening it will give you the weather, your calendar for the day, and whatever bleak news update is going on in the world. These features were useful for sure, but I don’t think you’re missing anything by not using them.

You’ve also got generative AI tools like Photo Assist and Creative Studio. I’m not a fan of generative AI tools, but for personal use, these are fine. The former is helpful for editing photos. I tried using it to change my hair color, and it worked well, except the original quality of the image became fuzzy. I tried recreating my epic goth D&D character in Creative Studio, but apparently, using “goth” was inappropriate. Then I tried creating a “fantasy warrior,” and it showed me a fantasy setting instead. Then I asked it to simply create a “woman and her dog” — it only made the dog. Creative Studio isn’t averse to creating people because one of the default prompts is to create a wedding couple. For my testing, however, it was incredibly unreliable.

Google is rolling out its Agentic features for Gemini. These will allow your smartphone to do more background tasks. For example, you could ask Gemini to call you an Uber, and all you need to do is review its work and accept. It’s great in theory, but it’s still under development. With more apps to follow, we'll get a better picture of its utility in Gemini in the future.

If you don’t want to use Google Gemini, you can use Bixby instead, which can accomplish similar tasks thanks to its being directly connected to Perplexity AI.

There are a lot of features packed into the Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus. Well, I’d argue too many. And it’s unlikely one person will use them all. You could argue that Samsung is covering all its bases, but if you’re not big on AI to begin with, it can get overwhelming.

• Software score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus review: battery life

(Image credit: Future/Rami Tabari)

• 4,900mAh battery
• 45W fast charging
• No magnets

Despite its smaller battery, the Galaxy S26 Plus managed to last me quite a while throughout the week before needing to charge. With very limited use, I got over two days out of it. When it came to focused use, it lasted the whole day before I had to plug it in. In both use cases, the S26 Plus was set to max resolution and refresh rate.

The S26 Plus also charges remarkably fast. It features 45W charging, and it took only an hour to fully charge with Super Fast Charging 2.0. It does come with 25W wireless charging, but the back isn’t magnetic, so you’d need to get a case to make use of magnetic charging accessories.

While the S26 Plus served my purposes, it’s not the most long-lasting smartphone out there. The S26 Ultra comes with a battery that’s larger by just 100mAh, but despite the small difference, it lasted longer in my testing than the S26 Ultra by quite a few hours.

Regardless, thanks to the efficiency of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset, the Galaxy S26 Plus will get you through the day before you need to charge it at night. Well, keep in mind the intensity of use. If you’re burning through Destiny Rising, then you’ll be burning through your battery.

• Battery score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus?Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Design

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus’ design hasn’t changed at all, but I’m not mad about it. It’s still a svelte piece of machinery with an array of gorgeous colors.

4.5 / 5

Display

This is exactly the kind of colorful and bright display you want in a 6.7-inch smartphone. With its near bezel-less screen, it’s like looking at a floating image.

4.5 / 5

Performance

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Gen 8 Elite 5 chip for Galaxy phones is an absolute beast and lets the Galaxy S26 Plus crush its more premium competition.

5 / 5

Camera

It’s tough to harshly judge the Galaxy S26 Plus’ camera array since it’s pretty solid in a vacuum, but the tech is behind the competition right now, so you can do better.

3.5 / 5

Battery

The Galaxy S26 Plus’ 4,900mAh battery will last you through most of the day with more focused use, but it’s still not as long-lasting as other smartphones.

4 / 5

Software

The Galaxy S26 Plus may be flooded with AI, but you can’t say it doesn’t have features. If you’re willing to use them, they can be useful.

4 / 5

Value

Even with the price hike, the Galaxy S26 Plus still offers decent value. But I’m still not happy about it.

4 / 5

Buy it if...

You want a quality mid-sized Android phone
One of Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus’ greatest strengths is its size. It sits somewhere between lower- and higher-end premium phones, making it great for someone looking for that goldilocks size of 6.7 inches. It’s also got the high-end performance to battle its more premium competitors.

You want a large phone with a pretty display
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus isn’t the largest phone out there, but it’s still packed with a hella gorgeous display, boasting a peak brightness of 2,600 nits.

You just like Samsung
Samsung makes some sleek products, and if you’re already a fan of the design language, which hasn’t changed for better or worse, then the Galaxy S26 Plus is a no brainer. Its size sits at a comfortable medium. You’ll also get the utility of being able to connect to other Samsung products.

Don't buy it if...

You’re looking for a budget phone
Especially considering the price hike, the middle child of the Galaxy S26 lineup is not very affordable. If you’re on a budget, I’d look elsewhere, to something like the Google Pixel 10a.

You want more out of your cameras
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus’ camera array is solid, but there are phones with better camera specs out there, like the S26 Ultra, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and Pixel 10 Pro XL. Just beware you’ll be paying more for it.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus review: also consider

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus is a strong mid-tier smartphone, but you could get more elsewhere if you're willing to pay a bit extra.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The Samsung S26 Ultra is by far Samsung's best Galaxy S phone yet, and while it doesn't reinvent the iconic Android handset, it moves its design, power, AI, and creative capabilities in a positive direction and without raising the price. People will be talking about the Privacy display and Super Steady video for some time to come. Sure, there might be too many AI options on board, but overall, the S26 Ultra is a winner and easily one of the best smartphones of the year.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review

Apple iPhone Air

The iPhone Air is Apple’s boldest design refresh in years — it’s almost impossibly thin at 5.64mm, yet still sturdy thanks to the use of titanium and Ceramic Shield. Its 6.5-inch ProMotion display and iOS 26’s Liquid Glass makeover feel purpose-built for this form factor — even after a week of use, this still feels like Apple’s most exciting design refresh in years. Battery life is solid if not class-leading, and the single 48MP camera limits flexibility, but for those who value design and portability above all else, it’s sexy and stunning — and maybe a new kind of Pro.

Read our full Apple iPhone Air review

Google Pixel 9 Pro XL

The Pixel 9 Pro XL is just a bigger Pixel 9 Pro, but that's good enough. It doesn't have exclusive camera features or extra RAM for a boost; it's just got a bigger display and a bigger battery. That means the Pixel 9 Pro is an even better pick this year, but it also means that you can choose your Pixel based on the size you like, not the features you need.

Read our full Google Pixel 9 Pro XL review

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus

• Review test period = 1 week
• Testing included = Everyday usage, including web browsing, social media, photography, gaming, streaming video, music playback
• Tools used = Geekbench 6

First reviewed: April 2026

Dreame Miracle Pro: two-minute review

The Dreame Miracle Pro is a premium dryer that does a lot more than just dry your hair. Alongside six modes — Cool, Scalp, Essence, Comfort, Quick Dry, AI Smart — it comes with a built-in essence mister, a ring of red and near-infrared light therapy around the barrel, and a distance sensor that automatically adjusts heat and airflow depending on how close the dryer is to your head.

All of these features are designed to protect your scalp, improve the health of your hair, and add a level of customization that's rare on rival models. As a result, it's one of the most feature-packed hair dryers on the market, at any price.

During my tests, the main drying performance was strong. Using Comfort mode on high speed, my mid-length, fine hair went from wet to dry in around under five minutes with a smooth, frizz-free finish. Quick Dry mode got there faster, but the result wasn't quite as polished. Not bad, just not as smooth as on Comfort mode. The essence mister – activated in Essence mode for the final minute or two of a drying session – left my hair noticeably softer and smelling great. It's one of those features that sounds gimmicky until you've used it and seen how great it is.

The distance-sensing heat adjustment works well for rough drying but responds slower than I'd like and the constant change in sound as it switches between each speed just ends up being irritating. For more precise and less annoying styling one of the fixed modes tends to give more predictable results. The red and near-infrared light therapy ring is harder to evaluate in the short term, because any real benefit to scalp health takes months to show up, but it's a nice addition. It's also worth noting that fitting an attachment blocks most of the light, so getting the full benefit requires using the dryer without a nozzle.

At $399.99 / £399, the Miracle Pro sits at the same price point as the best hair dryers on the market. If you want a dryer that treats hair health as seriously as drying speed, it makes a compelling case. Keep reading to learn more in my Dreame Miracle Pro review.

Dreame Miracle Pro: price & availability

• List price: $399.99 / £399
• Availability: US / UK
• Launch: 2025

The Dreame Miracle Pro is available directly from Dreame and from Best Buy in the US. In the UK, it's stocked at Dreame's own site and Boots.

At $399.99 / £399 (about AU$560), the Miracle Pro sits towards the top end of the price scale. That's approaching the same price bracket as the $549.99 / £399.99 / AU$749 Dyson Supersonic Nural which, for a brand that has historically positioned itself as a more accessible alternative to its luxury rival, is a notable shift.

The Miracle Pro's drying performance is strong, but strong drying alone doesn't justify $400. What you're really paying for is the smart heat regulation, a built-in essence mister and the red light ring. There isn't another dryer on the market that offers this combination of features, making it stand out.

The Miracle Pro comes in a faux-leather storage case complete with a diffuser (pictured right), two styling nozzles (bottom left and bottom centre), an anti-frizz attachment (top center) and Dreame Boca Essence (top left) (Image credit: Future)

The essence capsule ships with one 30ml bottle of Dreame's own Boca formula, and replacing the essence will be an ongoing cost. It's not currently possible to buy the Boca essence on its own but the cartridge is refillable so you can spend as much or as little as you want on an alternative essence.

Four attachments are included in the box — a styling nozzle, smoothing nozzle, anti-frizz nozzle and diffuser. This is generous (albeit an expectation at this price) and compares well to the Nural, which ships with five attachments. The Miracle Pro also comes in a velvet-lined gift box, which adds to the premium feel.

At this price, the most obvious comparison is the Dyson Supersonic Nural, which is the benchmark for premium hair dryers and the closest rival in terms of smart heat technology. The L'Oreal AirLight Pro, at $475, is also worth considering if light-based technology appeals — it uses infrared rather than red light therapy, with the focus on faster drying rather than scalp health, and comes with an app for precise heat and airflow controls. In the UK, the GHD Speed at £299 is a strong alternative if pure drying performance is the priority — its halo airflow tech keeps the barrel cool to the touch and delivers super fast results, though it doesn't attempt any of the Miracle Pro's more advanced, smart features.

Whether it's good value for money or not is that it's complicated. If the scalp light and essence mist appeal to you, and you'd use them consistently, you will be able to justify the price. If you're only really after the fastest, most powerful dryer, you can spend less on the likes of the GHD Speed to get there.

• Value score: 3.5 / 5

Dreame Miracle Pro: specs

Model:

Dreame Miracle Pro

Wattage:

1,600W

Weight (without cord, approx):

0.9lbs / 420g

Size (H x W x L, approx):

10.4 x 3.4 x 3.2in / 26.3 x 8.6 x 8.2cm

Airflow settings:

2

Temperature settings:

6

Extra modes:

Auto-pause (gravity sensor), attachment recognition

Noise level:

64dB average

Cord length:

9.2ft / 2.8m

Dreame Miracle Pro review: design

• Faux-leather handle and matte gold finish
• Six modes, illuminated display, four magnetic attachments
• Red light and essence mister built into the barrel

For the price, you get the Miracle Pro dryer, four attachments — a styling nozzle, smoothing nozzle, anti-frizz nozzle and diffuser — and a bottle of Boca essence (pictured) (Image credit: Future)

There was a time when a tall, rather than wide, hair dryer was rare, but the ubiquity of Dyson's Supersonic shape has not only made the design more common, it also makes all rivals look high-end by association.

The Miracle Pro has the same barrel-over-handle shape as most has added a couple of features to make it look noticeably different. The handle is covered in textured faux leather, the barrel and attachments come in a matte gold, and the whole thing arrives in a velvet-lined box.

It's a bold look that won't suit everyone but it does feel genuinely premium. In testing, the leather grip felt solid and comfortable — even if it left my hand feeling clammy after long periods — but it's unclear yet how well it will hold up to daily use over many months.

The front barrel (pictured) has a built-in slot for the essence cartridge. When Essence mode is enable, the airflow diffuses the essence gently onto the hair (Image credit: Future)

At 0.9lb / 420g, it's light for a dryer with this much going on inside, and it's well balanced. Most of the weight sits in the handle, which makes it easy to move around your head without your wrist getting tired. The filter sits at the bottom of the handle and is a feature I generally dislike in hair dryers because it's easy to block with your hand mid-drying. However, Dreame has made the handle long enough on the Miracle Pro to prevent this happening, and without throwing the balance out of sync in the process.

The barrel is on the smaller side, which is useful for getting close to the roots and working around the hairline. Yet this is a slightly moot point because the built-in AI Smart mode uses a distance sensor to automatically adjust the heat and airflow depending on how close the dryer is to your head anyway.

The controls include a sliding switch on the handle to turn the Miracle Pro on and off and flip between the two speed settings – High (72 m/s) and Low (50 m/s) (Image credit: Future)

The controls are simple enough. A sliding switch on the handle turns the Miracle Pro on and off and flips between the two speed settings — High (72 m/s) and Low (50 m/s.)

While two speeds are fewer than most rivals — the Dyson Supersonic Nural offers three, for example — it's the default on Dreame dryers and has never proved a problem for my mid-length, thin hair. Thicker or natural hair styles may need more options but, on the Pro particularly, the range of modes and the way AI Smart mode adjusts airflow in real time means you're unlikely to feel the gap.

A single button on the handle cycles through the Pro's six modes — Smart, Essence, Cool, Comfort, Quick Dry, or Scalp.

A single button on the handle cycles through the Pro's six modes – Smart, Essence, Cool, Comfort, Quick Dry, or Scalp (pictured) – and the selected mode appears on the display on the rear of the dryer (Image credit: Future)

The six modes cover a good range.

• Cool: 86 F / 30 C
• Scalp: 100 F / 38 C
• Essence: 122 F / 50 C
• Comfort: 140 F / 60 C
• Quick Dry: 176 F / 80 C
• AI Smart: Adjusts in real time based on distance from scalp

Cool runs at 86 F / 30 C and is mainly for finishing. Scalp mode sits at 100 F / 38 C and is intended for anyone with a sensitive scalp. Essence mode runs at 122 F / 50 C, which is warm enough to activate the mist, but not so hot it defeats the point.

As 140 F / 60 C, Comfort is the most practical everyday setting, and Quick Dry goes up to 176 F / 80 C for when you need speed. AI Smart mode works across all of these, using a distance sensor to adjust the heat and airflow depending on how close the dryer is to your head, and every time you switch the dryer on, it starts in AI Smart mode by default.

A small screen on the rear of the barrel shows which mode you're in and this is much easier to read than the tiny color-coded LED ring on the Dreame Gleam, for instance.

The same sensor used by the AI Smart mode also feeds into the auto-pause feature, which recognizes when you've put the dryer down and dials back the heat and airflow automatically. It's a sensible safety feature, to avoid items on your desk being blown around every time you place it down, but I found it really irritating. The constant changes in noise as you pick it up and put it down was not an enjoyable sensory experience.

Around the front of the barrel is a ring of red lights (pictured) that Dreame calls "dual red light therapy" and is designed to stimulate scalp circulation and boost hair health over time (Image credit: Future)

Around the front of the barrel is a ring of red lights that cover two wavelengths at 633nm and 1064nm. Dreame calls it "dual red light therapy," although the 1064nm wavelength is technically near-infrared.

The idea is that red light/infrared light stimulates scalp circulation during drying to support hair strength over time. It's visible in use but not distracting, and worth knowing that fitting an attachment blocks most of it so if scalp health is the main draw, you'll want to spend some time using the dryer without a nozzle attached.

Speaking of nozzles, Pro ships with four magnetic attachments by default:

• Styling nozzle: Directed airflow for sectioning and precise blow-drying
• Smoothing nozzle: Concentrated airflow for a smooth finish
• Anti-frizz nozzle: Neutralizes static and smooths frizzy hair
• Diffuser: Distributes airflow evenly for curls and volume

Each one clicks on and off easily, and the dryer recognizes which one is attached, automatically recalling your last-used settings for that specific nozzle.

It's a small touch but it means you're not manually resetting your preferences every time you switch between drying and diffusing, for example. The filter at the base of the handle is magnetic too, so it pulls off easily for cleaning.

• Design score: 5 out of 5

Dreame Miracle Pro review: performance

• Fast drying, smooth results
• Essence mister is a genuine highlight
• Red light benefits hard to assess short-term

The Miracle Pro is a strong everyday dryer. Using it most mornings on my long, fine hair, I found the Comfort mode on High speed to be the best setting for a regular wash-day routine. My hair went from wet to dry in just under five minutes, with a smooth, frizz-free finish that I'd normally need a separate serum to achieve.

Quick Dry mode gets there faster, in under three minutes, but the result is noticeably less polished. Scalp mode is the gentlest option and while it adds time to the overall dry, the finish is noticeably softer.

Essence mode – which activates the built-in mister – is the feature I didn't expect to care about and ended up using every time. It runs at a moderate heat and is designed to be used for the last couple of minutes of your routine, rather than the full session.

Switching into it at the end left my hair noticeably softer, smooth and smelling great. It's a small thing that adds up over time and was a genuine highlight for me.

The essence cartridge (pictured) is small and simple, designed to slot conspicuously into the barrel (Image credit: Future)

AI Smart mode is the headline feature, and it largely delivers. The dryer adjusts heat and airflow as you move it closer to and further from your head, which takes some getting used to. There's a slight lag between changing your distance and feeling the adjustment, which the Dyson Supersonic Nural handles more quickly, and you'll notice the airflow change before you notice the temperature shift.

In practice, this works well for rough drying where you're moving quickly and not thinking too hard about distance. For precision styling, I tended to switch to a fixed mode where the output was more predictable. Plus, like with the constant changes in noise with the auto-pause feature, the fluctuations soon became irritating.

You remove the cartridge by pressing the front until it clicks and pops out (pictured) (Image credit: Future)

The red light therapy ring is harder to evaluate over a relatively short period. Dreame's claims – improved scalp circulation and stronger hair over time – are plausible, but any real difference would take months to show up. What I can say is that using the dryer without an attachment, which is required for the red light to reach the scalp unobstructed, feels slightly counterintuitive mid-routine.

Noise-wise, the Miracle Pro is genuinely quiet for its power output. Dreame claims 56.6 dB but it's not clear if that's just the lowest reading – on Cool – or an average. In my tests, the average readings for each of the modes were:

• Cool: 58 dB
• Scalp: 60 dB
• Essence: 62 dB
• Comfort (low speed): 63 dB
• Comfort (high speed): 68 dB
• Quick Dry (low speed): 65 dB
• Quick Dry (high speed): 72 dB

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

How I tested the Dreame Miracle Pro

I used the Dreame Miracle Pro as my main hair dryer for four weeks, replacing my usual dryer for daily morning use on my mid-length hair.

I worked through each of the six modes, both speed settings and the attachments systematically in the first week, then settled into more natural everyday use to get a realistic sense of how it performs over time.

I timed dry sessions across the different modes and speeds, and tracked decibels using the DecibelX app. I also compared the results to other dryers I've tested at similar and higher price points.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed March 2026

Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 review: one-minute review

The Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 is a large-scale drawing tablet that — as the name implies — is designed firmly with the experienced artist in mind. However, I’d argue that if you’re an enthusiastic amateur who's looking to create art on a much larger scale, then it’s attractively priced enough to be worth considering, too.

It’s safe to say that the Kamvas Pro 24 is a bit of a beast — I’m tempted to call it "big" but the word "hulking" keeps coming to mind. At its size, you’re unlikely to be moving it around much, but its huge 4K 24-inch screen does deliver a huge art board to sketch on, even if its 185ppi pixel density doesn’t quite hit the microscopic precision of some of the smaller-screened tablets I’ve tested. Meanwhile, its built-in legs allow you to prop it up at an ergonomic angle, although I’d love it if it had a few discrete height settings.

Performance is impressive, too. Thanks to its expansive color gamut, the Huion Kamvas Pro shows off any artwork with the same level of vibrancy seen on many of the best drawing tablets. Not only does it avoid any trace of parallax or jitter, it’s capable of extreme tilt angles, plus its pressure sensitivity appears super accurate, even if I’d argue its 16K pressure levels don’t offer any palpable improvement over 8K. In addition, its driver software allows you to tweak a significant range of options, from pressure curves to assigning shortcuts to those concentric dials on its remote.

Huion’s styluses are also decent, although I wouldn’t say they stand out over and above their nearest rivals. I found both the Slim Pen PW600S and chunkier Pen PW600 comfortable to use over long drawing sessions, although neither displayed the same pitch-perfect balance as those offered by the XP-Pen. They do offer eraser shortcuts on their tips, though — as a perennial bumbler, the ability to quickly nix my mistakes is one of my must-have features.

Looking at the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 as a complete package then, it's easy to recommend. What you lose in portability compared to smaller options, you gain in that epic sketching space. It’s capable of impressive precision and its color gamut means every hue positively glows on its screen. Moreover, its $1,399 / £1,299 / AU$1,999 price is competitive, coming in cheaper than rival Xencelabs' slate, although marginally more expensive than its nearest XP-Pen equivalent. All told, I think you’re unlikely to be disappointed with this purchase.

(Image credit: Future)Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 review: price and availability

• Launched on October 17, 2025
• List price of $1,399 / £1,299 / AU$1,999

Having launched on October 17, 2025, the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 is available now, for $1,399 / £1,299 / AU$1,999. To put that in a wider context, that’s cheaper than the Xencelabs Pen Display 24 — reduced from a list price of $1,899 / £1,850 (around $2,725) to $1,749 / £1,699 (around AU$2,725), but more than the XP-Pen Artist Pro 24 (Gen2) 4K, which has dropped down from a list price of $1,299.99 / £1,199 / AU$1,899.99 to $1,039.99 / £1,079 / AU$1,424.99. As such, the Huion slate sits firmly in the middle of the pack of the largest tablets for price.

But what does that spend net you? In addition to the tablet itself, you get the Huion Keydial Remote, all the cabling you could require (including HDMI and USB-C / USB connections), both the Pen PW600 and Slim Pen PW600S styluses, and a pen box. There’s no case or bag included, while its stand is built in. Unusually, though, it also includes a G1 Colorimeter for calibration, which is a nice touch for professional artists and designers.

(Image credit: Future)Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 review: specs

Dimensions

23.2 x 14.3 x 0.9 inches / 589.2 x 364 x 22.7mm

Active drawing area

20.70 x 11.65 inches / 525.89 x 295.81mm

Weight

14.04 lbs / 6.37kg

Display resolution

3840 x 2160 pixels

Pressure levels

16,384

Compatibility

Windows 10 or later; macOS 10.12 or later; Android 6.0 or later; Linux (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS)

(Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 review: Design

• Huge 24-inch 4K screen
• Good range of accessories
• Lower 185ppi pixel density than some smaller slates

The first thing you’re likely to notice about the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 is its size. As the name suggests, its screen is a colossal 24 inches — very few drawing tablets exceed this size, apart from Wacom’s colossal Cintiq Pro 27. And while I’ve previously stated that I prefer 16-inch models for the flexibility and portability of their size, the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 has gone a long way towards convincing me that I might have been wrong.

Having such an enormous canvas provides the freedom to hone fine details while still being able to see them in the context of the wider piece. However, since it offers a 4K resolution, the Kamvas Pro 24's pixel density of 185ppi is actually lower than some drawing tablets — it falls shy of the Xencelabs Pen Display 16’s 275ppi, for example. That’s the price you pay for all that extra screen estate, though.

And while we're back to its size, I have to say that I didn’t notice the Huion’s extra bulk as much as I’d thought I would. Part of this is because it requires a more permanent workstation setup than some of its immediate rivals. Although I loved using Xencelab’s drawing tablet while kicking back on the couch, it was abundantly clear from the off that trying to do the same with the Huion model might lead to crush syndrome. Once set up as a workstation, though, the Kavas Pro 24 feels like the beating heart of your sketching setup.

This is definitely helped by the Kamvas Pro 24’s ergonomic design. Rather than needing a separate stand, its built-in feet will see it prop up at a comfortable angle of 20 degrees — although I can’t help but think that a couple of different height settings, so users could select the perfect angle for themselves, would have been better. Case in point: although it has a nice thick inch-wide bezel upon which to rest your wrist while you sketch, I didn’t often use it as the angle didn’t always feel the most natural for me.

(Image credit: Future)

Elsewhere, the rest of the sketching experience feels pretty great. The screen is made of Huion’s lightly etched Canvas Glass 3.0, and while on a personal level I'd prefer a bit more bite like some paper-like displays exhibit, it’s neither too slippery nor prone to catching as some other drawing tablets out there. And when you’re using the felt nibs, in particular, there’s definitely some tactile feedback as it glides across the screen.

Speaking of, not only does the Huion come with two styluses, one streamlined and one pro, its bundle is crammed with accessories. In addition to a wallet that includes 11 spare nibs, it also comes with all of the cabling you could need — USB-C-to-USB-C or HDMI cable — and, remarkably, the Huion G1 Colorimeter for calibrating the tablet. There’s no case included, although I suppose that’s understandable since this isn't really a very luggable device.

Given this is the kind of tablet that will be permanently stationed on a desk, I didn’t find the cable setup at all onerous. Most of the time, you’ll need just a USB-C hookup for your laptop and a power cable. Plugging in an HDMI cable for screen recording or using the shortcut remote wired will add to this — but, for the most part, your cable flow will be a basic two-lane road rather than a massive interchange.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 review: performance

• Bold, accurate color
• Zero parallax or jitter
• 16K pressure levels offer little benefit over 8K

So how does the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 perform? Honestly, pretty smoothly. Drawing on it felt natural. Shaping arcs with a flick of my wrist was incredibly fluid, making the spiraling nautilus shell I was sketching far easier to shape, without having to spend time tidying up and correcting mistakes — my own personal achilles heel when drawing freehand.

But it isn't only with line drawings that the device excels. Once I moved on to coloring in my sketch with orange and peach inks, it became clear that the Huion also offers impressive color performance. Its color gamut includes 99% sRGB, 99% AdobeRGB, 98% DCI-P3 and 98% Display P3 coverage, narrowly edging out tablets such as the Xencelabs Pen Display 16, and meaning it’s capable of rendering your artwork in sumptuous, vibrant hues.

Obviously, basic issues such as parallax or jitter would be a deal-breaker given the Huion's cost, but I’m pleased to report it suffered neither: the brush always seemed to sit precisely below the stylus nib, while any lines drawn were impressively stable, even at high speeds. There was a bit of lag on occasion when I was laying down a lot of ink at speed — but, to be honest, I blame my aged MacBook Pro here rather than the tablet itself.

While carrying out these line tests, it quickly became clear that the packaged stylus is capable of some extreme drawing angles. According to Huion, this tops out at 60 degrees, but I wasn’t actually able to find an angle at which it stops recording an input. Basically, as soon as I could tilt the stylus enough for the nib to touch the screen, it was able to record the result, which means you’ll be able to sketch no matter the slant at which you’re holding the pen.

(Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)

On paper, the stylus’s pressure sensitivity sounds similarly superlative, as it’s capable of 16K pressure levels. However, in practice, you’re unlikely to feel the benefit of this over the 8K what other tablets offer — it’s too granular for the human hand to detect. This was largely borne out in my tests. The curves I was capable of drawing didn’t show any smoother gradation of pressure, and while testing sensitivity out in the Huion driver software, I found it hard to maintain a specific pressure level consistently enough for the difference to be beneficial even if it were detectable.

Naturally, the driver software also allows you to customize the pressure sensitivity to more accurately imitate the responsiveness of different mediums. Not only can you choose from five preset pressure curves, but you can also create your own to tailor how quickly the stylus responds. This allowed me to replicate everything from a rock-hard H pencil to a nice, fluid marker.

You can also use the driver software to customize the shortcuts on Huion’s fantastic Keydial Remote. Not only do its keys offer an array of handy shortcuts — whether that’s a keyboard key combo, text input, mouse clicks or tool specific functions — but it also features two concentric dials. Being able to set canvas zoom or brush size to one dial and canvas rotation or brush rotation to the other delivered a really fluid way to interact with the canvas, without having to switch up the tools I was using.

The shortcut buttons on both styluses are more standard: the Pen PW600 has three and the Slim Pen PW600S has two. The options on offer are incredibly helpful, particularly if you’re willing to look up a few of your drawing software’s keyboard shortcut combos. For example, I set them to control Photoshop brush pickup and clean settings, allowing me to quickly alter the mix of pigment on my brush at the tap of a button.

• Performance score: 5 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 review: stylus

• Comfortable and responsive
• Not quite as well balanced as the XP-Pen model
• Include eraser shortcuts

As I’ve mentioned above, the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 comes with two styluses — one chunky and pro, the other slim and refined — but whichever you use, you’ll find it pleasingly ergonomic. Both feel comfortable and natural in use, even across long sketching sessions for hours at a time. As is an issue with most styluses, I did occasionally knock their shortcut buttons accidentally; but that’s easy to avoid, if you’re careful with your grip.

Really my only criticism of Huion’s styluses is that they don't quite measure up to XP-Pen’s X3 Pro Slim Stylus and X3 Pro Roller Stylus. When I tested the XP-Pen Artist Pro 19 Gen 2, I raved about the exquisite balance of its styluses — since the fulcrum sits right on top of your fingers, it's easy to keep them in perfect equilibrium as you pivot and rotate them. By comparison, the balance of Huion’s styluses sits much further back.

Having said that, Huion’s styluses trump XP-Pen’s in a more practical manner: their inclusion of an eraser. And while I found these had a tendency to mark the screen on the Huion Kamvas Pro 19, my frantic rubbing out doesn’t seem to have defaced the Kamvas Pro 24’s display so far.

• Stylus score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)Should I buy the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

Decent value, sitting in the middle of the pack of the mid-range drawing displays. Comes with almost every accessory you could need, plus a colorimeter.

4 / 5

Design

A huge 24-inch beast whose 4K screen deliver a whole load of sketching space. Some more height settings for its legs would be nice, though.

4.5 / 5

Performance

Very responsive sketching, without parallax or jitter. Vibrant colors, huge tilt angles and (slightly OTT) 16 pressure levels. Fantastic shortcut remote.

5 / 5

Stylus

Super comfortable to use. Not quite as ergonomically well balanced as XP-Pen’s devices, but the Huion's styluses come with erasers.

4 / 5

Buy it if…

You want a huge amount of drawing space
At 24 inches, the display here is huge, giving you a massive artboard to sketch on. While you can get bigger — the 27-inch XP-Pen Artist Pro 27 (Gen 2), for example — you’ll have to spend a fair amount more.

You’re after an awesome shortcut remote
With its concentric twin dials, the Huion Keydial Remote offers even more ways to flexibly interact with the canvas. It’s the best I’ve tested to date.

Don’t buy it if…

You want to take it elsewhere
This drawing tablet offers up both vast proportions and top performance — but portable it certainly isn't. At 6.37kg, it won't be accompanying you on your commute.

You’re after the biggest bargain
The Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 is great value, but you can get smaller slates for less. And even if you must have a screen this expansive, the XP-Pen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K costs less money.

Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 review: also consider

Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3

Xencelabs Pen Display 24

XP-Pen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K

Dimensions

23.2 x 14.3 x 0.9 inches / 589.2 x 364 x 22.7mm

24.4 x 15.3 x 1.4 inches / 619.8 x 388.6 x 3 5.6mm

25.1 x 16 x 1.7 inches / 638 x 408 x 44mm

Active drawing area

20.70 x 11.65 inches / 525.89 x 295.81mm

20.75 x 11.7 inches / 527.1 x 297.2mm

16.1 x 9.1 inches / 409 x 230mm

Weight

14.04lbs / 6.37kg

14.55lbs / 6kg

16.1 lbs / 7.3kg

Display resolution

3840 x 2160 pixels

3840 x 2160 pixels

3840 x 2160 pixels

Pressure levels

16,384

8,192

16,384

Compatibility

Windows 10 or later; macOS 10.12 or later; Android 6.0 or later; Linux (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS)

PC: Windows 7 or later Mac: OS X 10.11 or later (latest update) Linux: Ubuntu 14.04 or above, Debian 9.5, CentOS 7.0 or above, RedHat 7.0 or above

Windows 7 or later; macOS 10.13 or later; Android USB3.1 DP1.2; Chrome OS 88 or later; Linux

Xencelabs Pen Display 24
The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 offers a gorgeous 4K display, showing off bold, vibrant colors. However, it’s the drawing experience that will really stick with you, feeling precise while offering just enough bite to its textured glass to deliver a realistic drawing experience. It’s also comfortable and super ergonomic to use, thanks to its decent wrist-rest. Read our full Xencelabs Pen Display 24 review.

XP-Pen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K
The XP-Pen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K boasts many of the same strengths as the Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3, including a huge 24-inch 4K display, broad color gamut. and built-in stand. But perhaps the most compelling factor is that price — at its reduced price of $1,039.99 / £1,079 / AU$1,424.99, it’s considerably cheaper than the Huion, making it a super-tempting option. Read our full XP-Pen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K review.

(Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)How I tested the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3

• Tested it over the course of several weeks
• Used it for line drawing, blending colors and touching up images
• Tried out all of the core accessories and driver software

I used the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Gen 3 for several weeks, for doing line sketches, blending oil paint brushes, and touching up images in Photoshop. In addition, I also carried out a range of line tests to gauge the accuracy of the styluses and how they responded to pressure.

In terms of specifics, I put all of the tablet’s accessories through their paces while creating artwork, including both styluses and the Keydial Remote. To test the driver software, I tweaked pressure curves and programmed various shortcuts for the styluses and remote to see how well they functioned in a real-world environment.

I have been testing gadgets, including a range of mid-market drawing slates, at TechRadar for several years now. I’ve been creating art as an amateur for several decades, both digitally and using acrylic and canvas, which gives me the first-hand experience required to be able to assess what artists look for in drawing tablets such as these.

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

Rokid AI Glasses Style: two-minute review

At first glance the Rokid AI Glasses Style should be nothing but a slam dunk.

Officially starting at $379 (around £285) but discounted to $299 (around £225) at Rokid’s own store, these glasses are cheaper (assuming you get the lower price) than Meta’s Ray-Bans, while boasting specs on-par or ahead of its rival.

These AI glasses run ChatGPT 5 for insightful answers to your questions (provided you have an internet connection), a solid 12MP camera for first-person shots, real-time translation over 12 languages — including English, Japanese, German, French, Korean and Chinese — and a promised 12-hour long battery life. In our tests they lasted a fair few hours, but regular calls, taking photos and video, AI use and music will drain the battery more quickly (my experience was closer to around five to six hours of charge per session).

The only slight let down was audio. It’s fine but you won’t get a song’s true flavor through these as notes are lost — especially in the bass department. That said, this is true of other smart glasses of this kind, though I do feel some brands have a slight edge (i.e. Meta).

However, the initial price isn’t what it seems.

For a start, it doesn’t include a charging case — that’s an extra $99 fee, unlike its rival, which includes the charging case for free and it’s a real game changer. Additionally, while it’s not uncommon for premium lenses to incur an added charge, especially prescription lenses, the price of Rokid’s glasses doesn’t even include basic clear lenses.

They’ll set you back an additional $59, shaded cost $89, polarized are $109, and my recommended option photochromic transition lenses (more on that below) also cost $109 — and that’s also not included the added cost of any coatings you might want to add to reduce blue light or reflections.

Plus, while I’m being negative, I’ll mention that Rokid’s frames also look and feel cheap. You could confuse them for the 3D specs you get given before a movie. As much a fashion accessory as a useful gadget, the design of smart glasses is crucial — something rivals like Meta has realized with Ray-Ban and Oakley designs, and Google with its Warby Parker and Gentle Monster collaborations.

All that’s to say that while Rokid’s AI Glasses Style make a strong opening impression, the feeling you’re being nickel and dimed, coupled with the lackluster look, left me disappointed.

Rokid AI Glasses Style review: price and availability

You can pick up the Rokid AI Glasses in the US (they also ship to Canada, the UK, and EU) from Rokid's own store for $379 (around £285), though they’re seemingly always on sale for $299 (around £225). This price doesn't tell you the full story however.

(Image credit: Future / Hamish Hector)

Firstly, lenses cost extra, and I'm not just talking about prescription lenses. Clear lenses are $59, shaded lenses are $89, while polarized options will set you back $109, and photochromic lenses that can swap between clear and shaded are $109 too.

My advice with smart glasses is always pay more for photochromic lenses. That way you can use the glasses in clear, sunny, and cloudy weather — as well as indoors. You don’t want your smart specs to only be usable sometimes.

There's additional costs for various additional coatings like anti-glare, and then you'll also need to pay more for a charging case if you want one — it sets you back $99.

Rokid is one of those brands that seems to run frequent deals, which keeps these specs from getting too out of hand financially, but what initially seem to be budget-friendly specs can still quickly spiral into the mid-range or beyond territory. At which point some of their deficiencies — especially in the design category — feel less than excusable.

• Value: 3/5

(Image credit: Future / Hamish Hector)Rokid AI Glasses Style review: design

At a distance, Rokid AI Glasses Style follow the Wayfarer style that many smart specs adopt — not simply Meta’s Ray-Bans. But, ironically when you consider their name, upon closer inspection they miss the mark style-wise, while their core rival oozes cool.

The black plastic frame and flat lenses adopted by Rokid’s specs remind me of movie theatre 3D glasses, not a premium fashion accessory you’d be proud to be caught wearing in public.

I also don’t love that there isn’t a physical power off switch on the glasses’ frame. When I, say, go to the bathroom while wearing my smart glasses, knowing I have physically toggled them off puts my mind at ease that I am indeed conducting my business in private. Without this switch, I have to trust the Rokid glasses aren’t watching — and while I know Rokid will say the specs aren't spying, I still feel uncomfortable.

Rokid’s specs also get a knock points-wise when it comes to the lack of charging case. Unless you pay extra that is.

This case is super handy for recharging your smart specs on the go. On a day out, there are plenty of easy opportunities to recharge your frames with a case — say when you pause for a coffee or lunch — to make them feel like genuinely all-day companions. You could find a socket and use the USB-C charging cable, but that’s significantly less convenient.

Speaking of battery life, while Rokid promises 12 hours of use per charge, my experience using them for regularly calling people, taking photos, asking the AI questions, and playing music saw them last for around half that — about five to six hours.

That’s still not bad in fairness. And as I’ve noted with smart glasses in the past, at least when they do run out of charge, you still have a handy pair of shades.

Before talking about lenses, I will give one definitely positive design comment: the nose pads help to improve the comfort and secure fit of these specs. I wish my Ray-Bans had something similar — I have a large pair and in the summer when my face is covered in a mixture of sweat and sun cream, I constantly have to readjust where they sit on my face. With these Rokid glasses, I could leave them in place for a whole day.

(Image credit: Future / Hamish Hector)

They were comfortable to wear the entire time too.

Now, rounding the design section off: a comment on lenses. I was sent a shaded pair of Rokid AI Glasses Style to test, and in the UK Winter / early Spring these things are next to useless. It’s too dark outside to wear sunglasses, and you can’t really wear them indoors either — unless you’re in the minority of folks who wear sunglasses all-year round.

If you’re getting a pair, get completely clear or — ideally — photochromic lenses that morph between clear and shaded in harsh sunlight. That'll mean you have specs you can use in any conditions.

• Design: 2.5/5

Rokid AI Glasses Style review: Performance

If the Rokid AI Glasses struggle in terms of design and price, performance is where they solidly hit the mark.

Rokid’s AI assistant is powered by ChatGPT 5, which I found meant the specs were able to provide useful, insightful info on a range of topics — they even helped me find a new restaurant to try in Brighton’s Lanes after I asked for food recommendations. As someone who regularly uses my smart glasses as a tourist, they were more than capable of being your personal guide in both familiar and unfamiliar places.

I can’t speak for the full quality of their translation abilities, though tests at trade shows have proven they have a solid grasp of Chinese, and the 12-long list of supported languages — which includes English, as well as essential European and Asian languages — does put them ahead of some key rivals (read: Meta’s specs).

The microphones pick up clear audio and AI commands even in windier conditions, making voice notes is super easy, and navigation through the Rokid App is handy when it works properly — it sometimes misheard me and wanted to send me to Nottingham train station rather than my nearest one.

All of these tools can be activated hands-free using voice commands, but you can find recordings, photos, and additional information like a route map in the Hi Rokid app.

(Image credit: Future / Hamish Hector)

Speaking of photos, the Rokid AI glasses’ camera is, in a word, fine. The 12MP snapper is a little better for video, but it can be handy for snapping a quick first-person shot — especially if you haven’t got the hands to take your phone out of your pocket.

The audio is also fine. The bass lacks oomph, tracks feel noticeably emptier than they would with headphones and, at medium to louder volumes, there’s noticeable sound leakage if people are near you. But for casual tunes while you explore a city, these specs will serve you fine with open-ear audio that won’t take you out of the moment you’re in.

• Performance: 4.5/5

Should I buy the Rokid AI Glasses Style?

Attribute

Comment

Score

Design

Comfortable for longer stretches with a decent battery life, these shades are let down by an ugly design and lack of a physical power switch.

2.5/5

Performance

The camera and audio could be better, but the AI tools were all super handy. I could seriously see these as being an essential travel companion on my next vacation, given ChatGPT’s knowledge and the specs’ useful translation tools.

4.5/5

Value

While they initially seem relatively affordable, these smart glasses can quickly have their price rack-up, with lens and charging case costs making them mid-range rather than budget champions.

3/5

Buy them if…

You want to travel
With useful AI, a first-person camera view, and an impressive selection of languages they can translate, these specs should be a solid travel buddy.

You hate Meta
A big plus for some will be these specs aren’t tied into the Meta ecosystem like its Ray-Bans and Oakleys.

You love ChatGPT
The Rokid AI is powered by ChatGPT 5 — a very capable AI assistant that answered all of my queries well.

Don’t buy them if…

You want budget excellence
While the Rokid specs may seem quite affordable, costs can rack up quickly with additional add-ons like lenses and the charging cases.

You’re a fashion icon
Despite having style in the name, these smart glasses don’t exactly ooze it.

You want great open-ear audio
Like many other smart specs, these glasses don’t boast great open-ear audio. It’s fine, but dedicated open earbuds will be far more useful for you.

How I tested the Rokid AI Glasses Style

I used the Rokid AI Glasses Style for a month, wearing them on days it was bright enough to use sunglasses and not look too odd in late Winter / early Spring. I also did some at-home testing where I didn’t mind how silly I looked.

I made sure to try all of their features, and took them on a couple of day trips to test their abilities over longer stretches of time to judge their comfort and battery life.

I ran the Hi Rokid app from my trusty Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7.

• First reviewed: April 2026