TechRadar Reviews

Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless: Two-minute review

The Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless is one of the company’s recent forays into the gaming market, with the brand leaning heavily on its reputation in the professional audio space as it boasts studio-grade sound quality for players.

The MMX 200 Wireless doesn’t exactly cut a slim figure; every aspect of its form is bulky, from the headband to the drivers and even the ear pads, which can get in the way when you lean back in your chair, due to their rounded shape. There’s also no way to fold the drivers away, so you’ll need a good amount of space to store it.

However, the thickness of the padding does elevate comfort levels. Both my ears and head remained comfortable for long sessions, despite the relative heaviness of the MMX 200 Wireless compared to some of the best wireless gaming headsets.

I did experience slight fatigue around the ears after several hours, though, and while the MMX 200 Wireless is generally conducive to glasses wearers, I noticed a slight ache from the arms of my frames being pressed into my head – although this wasn’t as egregious as I’ve experienced with other headsets.

The overall build quality is of a high standard, with the buttons, volume wheel and ports feeling solid yet easy to use. However, the mechanism for adjusting the height of the earcups lacks the same level of engineering.

In use, the MMX 200 Wireless renders sound with the high fidelity it claims. All frequencies are clear and balanced, and while some may find the low-end lacking somewhat, there’s still just enough punch. I did find that using the analog input offered marginally better sound quality, but not substantially. The Low Latency adapter also offers slightly improved response times as claimed; but, again, there isn’t much difference. Another win is Augmented mode, which achieves its aim of letting your voice and ambient noise come through clearly when you want it to.

The microphone, too, is of a high quality. Voices are clear with minimal distortion, although fidelity isn’t overly impressive. Superfluous noises are well blocked, though.

There are a few usability issues with the MMX 200 Wireless. First, connecting wirelessly via Bluetooth or the Low Latency adapter isn’t the most seamless experience, and I experienced issues with various devices failing to connect on my initial attempts. The button required to switch between Bluetooth and Low Latency modes also failed to register consistently, requiring firmer and slower presses than you might expect.

Connecting via USB-C from my PC also resulted in a constant, high-pitched whine, resembling that of electronic interference, which is obviously an annoyance. Thankfully, though, it’s quiet enough to be masked by game audio.

The claimed 35-hour battery life of the MMX 200 Wireless does seem to hold true, as I managed several days of varied use during my time with the headphones. Charging to full from empty takes somewhere under three hours, which is about average.

Although it may have other headsets beat for audio quality, and the multiple connectivity options and handy features work well for the most part, this is a fiercely competitive space, and the MMX 200 Wireless' various user interface and connectivity flaws mean rival models – such as the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro and the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro – offer a better gaming experience for a similar price or less.

(Image credit: Future) Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless: Price and availability

• $199 / £169 / AU$399
• Released September 28, 2023
• Black and gray variants available

The MMX 200 Wireless costs $199 / £169 / AU$399. It’s available now in two colors: black and gray. The detachable microphone and Low Latency adapter, as well as the USB-C to 3.5mm analog and USB-C to USB-A cables, are all included.

Whichever way you slice it, this is an expensive headset. The Razer BlackShark V2 Pro, one of the best wireless gaming headsets in our view, costs the same at $199 / £199 / AU$349, although it can be found for less. Despite being a few years old at this point, the BlackShark V2 Pro continues to impress with its excellent build and sound quality. It also features Razer’s spatial audio engine, THX, which really does add an extra layer of immersion.

If you’re only concerned about PC gaming and want to spend even less, the Corsair HS65 Surround may be a better choice. It’s our pick as the best PC gaming headset for those on a budget, thanks to its surround sound compatibility and lightweight construction. You can’t go wireless with it, though.

Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless: Specs

(Image credit: Future) Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless: Design and features

• Bulky design
• Circular cups not ergonomic
• Switchgear feels premium

Unlike other gaming headsets, the MMX 200 Wireless sports a moderate aesthetic, with the flashes of orange adorning the earcups being the only nods to its target market.

It isn't what you’d call discreet, though, because every part of the MMX 200 Wireless is large. The earpads are thick, which does at least make them comfortable for extended session; it prevents the inside of the drivers from pressing against the ear lobes – something I have experienced with numerous headsets and headphones, including the Beyerdynamic DT770s. Glasses-wearers should also find the MMX 200 Wireless comfortable, although I did notice a slight ache in my temples after a few hours of continuous use, caused by the pressure of the drivers. It’s still far better than I’ve experienced with other headsets, though.

Annoyingly, the circular shape of the drivers means they can press on the back of your chair when you rest back your head. I generally prefer oval-shaped drivers for this reason, usually finding them more comfortable overall. Also, they don’t rotate laterally, which makes stowing them away a chore. This also means the MMX 200 Wireless are a little cumbersome to hang off your neck, but it still isn’t what I’d call uncomfortable in this position.

While the headband padding is well cushioned, I would recommend moving the drivers a little further down than you typically might: I found that failing to do so caused the top of my head to ache. Admittedly, this is an issue I experience with many headphones, so others may not have the same experience.

The mechanism for adjusting the position of the drivers isn’t the most elegant or well made. The notches are overly stiff, and don’t feel the most seamless to operate. Also, the wires coming from the drivers are exposed, whereas they're generally hidden and protected on other premium gaming headsets.

(Image credit: Future)

The switches and ports on the MMX 200 Wireless are well made, however. All the buttons feel solid, being firm yet easy to operate. The USB-C and microphone ports are deeply recessed, offering an extra level of assurance that they won’t get damaged, although this is arguably a case of over-engineering. The included cables are also premium, with a thick rubberized casing and solid connections; but their lack of strain-relief could spell trouble in terms of longevity, making them more susceptible to fraying.

The detachable microphone is of a similarly high standard to the rest of the MMX 200 Wireless. The connection to the headset feels very secure thanks to that aforementioned recessing, and the infinitely bendy cable seems very durable yet easy to manipulate, making it a cinch to get in position and out of the way when desired. The cloth cover may be the only weak point in the headset's design, as it isn’t particularly thick nor cushioned; but it’s on par with other headset microphone cloths.

There are a few extra features on the MMX 200 Wireless. First, there’s Low Latency mode, accessible when using the included dongle, which can connect via USB-C or USB-A. This aims to cut the lag between audio and video, although microphone delay times will still apply.

There’s also an Augmented mode, designed to let ambient sound in more clearly, with the main benefit being a more natural perception of your own voice when speaking. This is achieved by holding the volume button for two seconds. However, the lack of any kind of audio cue means switching in and out of this mode is a little tricky, with testing it being the only way to tell.

There’s no real software for the MMX 200 Wireless, other than an updater tool that can be downloaded from Beyerdynamic’s website. It also tells you whether and how you're connected to your PC, but provides no other information, not even battery level, which is disappointing. Having a more in-depth tool would have helped to clarify the various modes and states of the MMX 200 Wireless, since it isn’t always obvious from the buttons, LEDs and audio cues alone.

(Image credit: Future) Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless: Performance

• Bluetooth connection clumsy
• High-quality audio
• Low Latency and Augmented modes

Getting started with the MMX 200 Wireless wasn’t the easiest of experiences. Connecting via Bluetooth to various devices took a couple of attempts each time. Pressing the Bluetooth button to switch between Bluetooth and Low Latency adapter modes was sometimes required to kick it into life, and the lack of voice-over stating the mode you’re in made things more difficult.

What’s more, pressing the connection button the correct amount of times to switch between the two modes didn’t always work – presses have to be very deliberate and spaced out in order for mode switching to work. In short, it’s far from being the most efficient process in practice.

Rather worryingly, when I first connected successfully to my PC, the volume was set to 100 by default and I couldn’t change it for the first 30 seconds or so. This could’ve been a quirk of my particular system, and indeed I didn’t experience the same issue when connecting to another PC (Windows 11 instead of 10 this time) or various consoles, but it’s worth mentioning all the same.

Pairing with an Android phone also proved unsuccessful initially. My Google Pixel 7a stated that an incorrect PIN or passkey was the reason for the failure, despite not asking for one (and the impossibility of typing with headset – you’ll be surprised to learn there’s no keyboard function on the MMX 200 Wireless). It did eventually pair with my device, though. I experienced a similar issue connecting to an Android tablet, so perhaps it’s an Android-related issue.

While it’s compatible with the PlayStation 5, you can’t connect via Bluetooth, although this is the case for even the best PS5 headsets. You can connect wirelessly via the Low Latency dongle, though, as well as via the 3.5mm analog jack on the DualSense. Both of these connections were instant and stable.

Connecting to my Nintendo Switch was also straightforward, requiring the lowest number of attempts to establish a connection. Beyerdynamic says that connecting to a Switch is only possible using the Low Latency dongle or the analog cable, but I was able to successfully connect via Bluetooth alone, much like the best Nintendo Switch headsets.

(Image credit: Future)

Once you're connected via Bluetooth, the sound is clear, with all frequencies being very well balanced; there are no muddy mids or harsh highs. There’s also enough power in bass frequencies to lend real impact to in-game music and effects, but it still lacks somewhat in this area compared to other regular headphones, even those made by Beyerdynamic. Still, compared to other gaming headsets, the MMX 200 Wireless performs admirably.

When connected via the analog cable, there does appear to be a slight increase in the presence of higher frequencies, resulting in a sound with a seemingly greater fidelity, although the difference is marginal. It’s much better suited to playing music than some other headsets, too, so if you plan on using the MMX 200 Wireless for various applications, it’s versatile enough to meet your expectations – exactly what you’d expect from a company famed for its attention to sonic detail.

Using the Low Latency adapter does indeed reduce lag, but the effect is only minimal, and I doubt the majority of gamers will ever notice it. Sound quality does seem slightly improved over Bluetooth as well, but again, not by much.

Augmented mode opens up the headset to outside ambience, with the benefit of making your own voice and ambient noises audible. I could even hear the clacking on my keyboard.

The microphone renders voices well, with minimal distortion, although the fidelity doesn't exactly beat that of other premium headsets. Its claim to block out ambient noises, such as typing, does appear to hold true according to my tests. However, it's a shame that the Low Latency mode doesn’t appear to have any effect on microphone inputs, since the inevitable delay between speaking and the sound reaching other players remains the same regardless of the mode you’re in.

The claimed battery life of 35 hours does seem to be accurate. I managed to get several days of use out of the MMX 200 Wireless between charges, and that involved using it with multiple devices, connecting to them in all wired and wireless modes. Charging performance is fairly average, with the headset getting back to full from empty in about two and a half to three hours. It’s a shame that there’s no easy way to tell how much battery life remains, though: the light guide around the volume wheel only indicates a few percentage increments, while the voice-over also doesn’t always give an exact figure, so it’s hard to determine remaining levels precisely.

Should you buy the Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless? Buy it if...

You want great sound
The MMX 200 Wireless offers great sound. It might not live up to the heights of Beyerdynamic’s other audio gear, but it’s still better than other gaming headsets.

You want to connect various ways
Multiple wired and wireless options are available, so it’s hard to imagine a device you wouldn’t be able to connect to.

Don't buy it if...

You want a low profile – in all senses
The MMX 200 Wireless is bulky and doesn’t fold away, making it hard to store; and others will definitely notice you wearing them. It's best kept indoors.

You want something easy to use
You can’t exactly plug and go with the MMX 200 Wireless. Initial setup proved a little tricky, and the lack of clear instructions, either in the manual or in the headset, made matters worse.

Also consider...

Razer BlackShark V2 Pro
The Razer BlackShark V2 Pro claims our top spot as the best wireless gaming headset. It offers great build quality and sound, and it features the brand’s THX spatial audio for a more immersive experience. It can also be found for less than the MMX 200 Wireless.

Read our Razer BlackShark V2 Pro review

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro
As our best PC gaming headset, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro features a Hi-Res certified GameDAC Gen 2 and has spatial audio capability. The wired version is more expensive than the MMX 200 Wireless, although it can be found for less.

Read our SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro review

How I tested the Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless

• Tested for one week
• Tested on multiple platforms and devices
• Plentiful gaming experience

I tested the MMX 200 Wireless for one week. During that time, I used it to game, chat, listen to music and watch video content.

I tested all its features and connection methods. I used it with numerous devices, including PCs (both Windows 10 and Windows 11), a PlayStation 5, a Nintendo Switch OLED, a OnePlus Pad Go tablet and a Google Pixel 7a.

I played both online and offline games, using voice chat in the latter case to test the microphone. I tried to spread my testing across a varied selection of titles, which included Sea of Thieves, Counter-Strike 2, Gran Turismo 7, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Hollowbody.

I have experience testing audio devices, including headphones and speakers, as well as other gaming peripherals, such as mice and keyboards. I also own a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770s, and have used them for audio production for several years. I have been an avid gamer for decades.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed October 2024.

Sony UPB-X700 review: One minute review

The Sony UBP-X700 is an affordable 4K Blu-ray player ($199 /£199 / AU$369 at the time of writing six years on from its release) that supports Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks. It also supports a wide range of media, including 3D Blu-ray discs, SACDs, DVDs and CDs and has Wi-Fi for streaming from apps such as Netflix and Prime Video.

Performance-wise, the Sony UBP-X700 is an all-around brilliant player. It doesn’t quite manage the jack-of-all-trades excellence of the Panasonic DP-UB820, but it delivers superb 4K images with punchy color, accurate and refined textures and contrast up there with the best 4K Blu-ray players, especially when fed Dolby Vision discs. Upscaling is generally effective – more on Blu-ray rather than on the lower-resolution DVD format - and while it does enhance certain colors and applies some artificial cleaning to film grain, the UBP-X700 still offers excellent image reproduction, especially compared to the Panasonic DP-UB154 – a solid, similarly priced player.

The UBP-X700 effectively handles Dolby Atmos soundtracks and has balanced and accurate sound reproduction. CD playback is also effective.

The UBP-X700’s interface is easy enough to navigate, although a little on the plain side. A good number of settings for video and audio are provided. Design-wise, the UBP-X700 is compact, making it ideal for smaller spaces, though its physical design is plain – an LED display with playback info would have been welcome – and its remote feels very dated.

It’s tough to argue against the value of the UBP-X700 as it’s an overall fantastic performer for an affordable price. Pairing this with one of the best TVs, particularly one of the best OLED TVs such as the Samsung S95D or LG C4, will lead to a match made in heaven.

The Sony UBP-X700's home page is a little on the plain side (Image credit: Future) Sony UBP-X700 review: Prices & release date

• Release date: January 2018
• Prices: $199 / £199 / AU$369

The Sony UBP-X700 is a mid-range model in Sony’s 4K Blu-ray player lineup, sitting below the Sony UBPX-800MKII. At the time of its release in 2018, the UPBX700 was priced at $249 / £249 / AU$399.

Several years on prices have dropped overall, with the UBP-X700 sitting at roughly $199 / £199 / AU$369 at the time of writing, though it has previously sold for as low as $149 / £149 / AU$225.

Sony UBP-X700 review: Specs

The Sony UBP-X700 offers a good number of connections, including dual HDMI and coaxial digital audio outputs (Image credit: Future) Sony UBP-X700 review: Features

• Dolby Vision HDR support
• Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support
• Built-in Wi-Fi and streaming capability

The Sony UBP-X700 supports 4K Blu-ray, regular Blu-ray, DVD and 3D disc playback. It also plays not only audio CDs but SACDs – a disc format the more premium Panasonic DP-UB820 and many other 4K Blu-ray players don’t support.

The UBP-X700 supports the Dolby Vision and HDR10 high dynamic range formats, but not HDR10+. For comparison, the cheaper Panasonic DP-UB150 supports HDR10+, but not Dolby Vision, while the pricier Panasonic DP-UB820 supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+.

For audio, the UPBX700 supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks (bitstream only) and can decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD soundtracks. There is also support for High-res audio file formats including ALAC, DSD and FLAC.

The UBP-X700 isn’t as well stocked with connections as more premium 4K Blu-ray players such as the DP-UB820, but has two HDMI ports – one for video and audio and one audio-only – as well as a coaxial digital audio output. There is also an Ethernet port and a front USB port. Built-in Wi-Fi allows access to streaming services including Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube, and there’s BBC iPlayer for UK customers.

In terms of performance, navigation was easy enough without any stutter or slowdown. A good number of settings are provided for both picture and sound, including a 4K upscaling setting with three different modes, a Digital Music Enhancer, audio dynamic range control and more.

One frustration I had involved the player’s Dolby Vision menu setting. With Dolby Vision turned on, the UBP-X700 indicated it was displaying Dolby Vision movies even when it wasn’t – even leaving it on when watching regular Blu-ray discs without HDR. I could see no obvious related picture issues, but it was still frustrating having to turn this on and off as there are some SDR-specific picture settings to improve quality which are locked when Dolby Vision HDR is activated. If you regularly switch between 4K and standard Blu-ray/DVDs, that’s something worth bearing in mind.

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

The Sony UBP-X700's color display is fantastic, filled with vibrancy as shown here on La La Land (Image credit: Future) Sony UBP-X700 review: Performance

• Short disc load time
• Bold, vibrant colors
• Effective 4K upscaling

The UBP-X700 demonstrated surprisingly short load time for a cheaper 4K Blu-ray player. Loading a disc into the disc tray to seeing the first logos on screen took roughly 30 seconds – some 5-10 seconds faster than the Panasonic DP-UB820 and nearly 30 seconds faster than the Panasonic DP-UB154.

For testing, the UBP-X700 was connected to a Panasonic MZ1500 OLED TV.

Starting with 4K Blu-rays, the UBP-X700 demonstrated excellent picture quality. In La La Land (HDR10 format) colors were bright and vibrant, with plenty of dynamic punch throughout. Colors with the Sony had a more vivid look than with the Panasonic UB820 and UB150, both of which had a more natural, subdued appearance. This isn’t to say colors were oversaturated on the UPBX700, but they definitely had a glossier look than on the Panasonic players.

I did notice during the ‘A Lovely Night’ scene in La La Land that the UBP-X700 favored a cooler color palette, accentuating the blues and purples of the night sky in the background. The colors were still accurate and crisp, but it’s worth noting.

Moving on to The Batman on 4K Blu-ray in Dolby Vision, the UBP-X700 demonstrated superb black levels and contrast, with the opening crime scene showcasing a great balance between the lights in the room and hallways and the darkened floors and walls. Shadow detail was also excellent, with details in clothing maintained even in the darkest shots.

Moving onto standard Blu-ray, I used the same scene from The Batman to test the effectiveness of the UBP-X700’s upscaling. Although it was not as good as the Panasonic UB820, the UPBX700 still did an impressive job. Textures were a touch softer and contrast wasn’t quite as good as you’d find on more premium players, but the Sony’s upscaling did improve the overall sharpness of the picture.

The UBP-X700 even did a decent upscaling job with a DVD of The Amazing Spider-Man, improving textures and colors. It was more effective here than the Panasonic UB154 but not as effective as the Panasonic UB820.

I also analyzed how much film grain the UBP-X700 left intact with older movies. Watching a Blu-ray of Thief, particularly shots at dawn in the opening, the UBP-X700 did maintain some grain but there was less present compared to the same scene played through the Panasonic UB820. I also found this to be the case when watching 4K Blu-rays of The Batman and La La Land. Film purists may want to make note of this.

For audio, I had no issue playing Dolby Atmos soundtracks through the UBP-X700. I also tested a CD in the UPB-X700 and found no issues with stutter or load times.

• Performance score: 4.5 / 5

The Sony UBP-X700 has short loading times of under 30 seconds from when the disc is inserted to first logos appearing on screen (Image credit: Future) Sony UBP-X700 review: Design

• Very light and compact
• No front LED display
• Old-school, cheap remote

The UBP-X700 is a lightweight and compact player compared to the wider and deeper Panasonic UB820 and UB154, making it more versatile for smaller spaces. It feels less premium and uses cheaper materials than players such as the UB820, but looks and feels sturdy enough for the price.

One thing to note is there is no front LED display to notify of timing while watching a movie, a feature found on the Panasonic UB820. Timing and other info can be shown on your TV by pressing the info button on the remote, however.

The UPBX700 features two HDMI ports and a coaxial digital audio output alongside an Ethernet and a front USB port. This is a respectable number of connections and while it doesn’t match up to more premium players, it’s more than found on the budget Panasonic UB154.

The small supplied remote feels a little dated and cheap. While I wasn’t expecting a premium remote, I found the smaller buttons to be a little more difficult to use compared to those found on Panasonic player remotes.

• Design score: 4 / 5

The Sony UBP-X700 has a small, cheap-feeling remote (Image credit: Future) Sony UBP-X700 review: Value

While the Sony UBP-X700 isn’t going to beat the workhorse-like Panasonic DP-UB820, it does offer great performance and a good number of features including Wi-Fi for streaming, which is a rare feature in an affordable player.

At $199 / £199 / AU$369 – even dropping as low as $149 / £149 / AU$369 – the UBP-X700 is great value for money and while it lacks the full HDR support of the Panasonic DP-UB820, Dolby Vision is an excellent feature in a cheaper player.

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

Contrast in the Sony UBP-X700's picture is also very rich (Image credit: Future) Should you buy the Sony UBP-X700? Buy it if...

You want excellent picture quality: The Sony UBP-X700 produces excellent picture quality with any disc format, especially 4K Blu-rays with Dolby Vision.View Deal

You want streaming options: The Sony UBP-X700 supports Wi-Fi and comes pre-loaded with streaming apps such as Netflix if your TV doesn't support them.View Deal

You want bang for your buck: With everything it delivers, the Sony UBP-X700 is an excellent value 4K Blu-ray player.View Deal

Don't buy if it...

You regularly swap between different disc formats: An annoying setting means Dolby Vision needs to be turned on and off every time you switch from Dolby Vision-supported discs to unsupported ones. View Deal

You need HDR10+ support: While the Sony UBP-X700 does support Dolby Vision, it doesn't support HDR10+, a format supported by the Panasonic DP-UB820 along with Dolby Vision. View Deal

Also consider

Panasonic DP-UB820: The workhorse of the 4K Blu-ray player world, the Panasonic DP-UB820 covers all the HDR formats you need and delivers phenomenal picture quality, but is pricier than the Sony UBP-X700. If you can stretch your budget, the UB820 is worth the investment.
Read our full Panasonic DP-UB820 reviewView Deal

Panasonic DP-UB150/154 - Cheaper than the UBP-X700, the Panasonic DP-UB150/154 (name varies by region) is a capable 4K Blu-ray player that supports HDR10+. It doesn't support Dolby Vision and is lighter on features than the Sony UB-PX700, so only go for this if you're trying to save money.
Read our full Panasonic DP-UB154 reviewView Deal

Sony UBP-X800M2: The step-up model of the Sony UBP-X700, the UBP-X800M2 comes equipped with more features, somewhat improved picture quality and a sturdier design, but also a higher price. It's worth the upgrade if you can stretch your budget for the better performance. View Deal

The Sony UBP-X700's settings menu (Image credit: Future) How I tested the Sony UBP-X700

• Tested using a variety of discs formats including 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD
• Tested with Panasonic MZ1500 OLED TV

To test the Sony UBP-X700, I connected it to the Panasonic MZ1500 OLED TV, which supports Dolby Vision.

For picture quality testing, I primarily used reference scenes from 4K Blu-ray discs I use for testing TVs such as The Batman, La La Land, Top Gun: Maverick and more. I also used a Blu-ray version of Thief to test the UBP-X700's film grain accuracy.

I used standard Blu-rays and DVDs to test the UBP-X700's upscaling ability and a CD to test the UBP-X700's audio playback.

I also tested the UBP-X700's software by navigating through different menus, testing response times, and exploring the level of settings. I also streamed content via Netflix and BBC iPlayer to test the UBP-X700's streaming capabilities.

• First reviewed: October 2024
• Read TechRadar's Reviews Guarantee

Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4: two-minute review

The nifty-fifty lens is a staple in many a photographer's camera bag – a typically compact lens for portraiture that offers good control over depth of field to make your subjects stand out. It's the lens that I would recommend to beginner photographers having grown out of their kit lens and looking for a second lens to elevate the quality of their photos – and if they have a Nikon camera I would recommend the new Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.4.

Where mirrorless lenses can often be much pricier than DSLR equivalents – the classic 50mm f/1.8 lens for Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras is just about the cheapest lens you can buy at around $100 / £100 secondhand – Nikon is looking to buck this trend by creating affordable options for mirrorless, and the new Z 50mm f/1.4 is its cheapest Z-mount f/1.4 lens so far.

This isn't Nikon's first 50mm lens for its mirrorless cameras. It follows the optically-excellent Z 50mm f/1.8, which was one of Nikon's first lenses for its Z-mount, launched back in 2018, while there's also the 50mm f/1.2 pro lens with 'S' moniker, and the beastly 58mm f/0.95 Noctilux which costs a cool $9,000. However, the new Z 50mm f/1.4 is a stripped-back variation, with minimal external controls, a lightweight build, and offering decent rather than spectacular image quality.

(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

It's pretty much in the same mold as the Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.4 lens which I reviewed recently – the pair share practically the same size, weight, 62m filter size and design. One on hand I respect what Nikon is doing; where Canon launches the pro-grade RF 35mm f/1.4 for mirrorless which costs around $1,500 / £1,820 / AU$2,699, Nikon is launching a lens for enthusiast photographers for around a third of the price.

The downside, however, is that optical quality, while very sharp, is decent rather than outstanding, especially when it comes to bokeh. You're not getting buttery-smooth out-of-focus light balls, but a slightly 'fussy' bokeh instead. I pitted it against the F-mount Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S lens for DSLRs launched in 2008 (you can see the two lenses side by side, below) and the older lens has smoother bokeh.

However, bokeh is more circular in shape with the new Z-mount 50mm f/1.4, while its clarity wipes the floor with the F-mount 50mm f/1.4 G when shooting at f/1.4, which is what I suspect many photographers will be doing. In-focus detail is so much sharper at f/1.4, and even skin tones are more accurate – there can be a slight yellow-ish hue with the DSLR version of the lens.

That superior performance when shooting with the aperture wide-open is what you can expect with the best Nikon mirrorless cameras and lenses, while autofocus is snappier and more reliable too.

Nikon's new Z 50mm F1.4 lens alongside Nikon's F-mount 50mm f/1.4G lens with Nikon Z-mount to F-mount adaptor (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

My F-mount 50mm f/1.4G AF-S, which by the way is almost the same price as the Z 50mm f/1.4, has notoriously bad back-focusing issues when used with a DSLR – you think the focus is on the eyes of your subject, only for it to be on the ears. When you're shooting at f/1.4 with such shallow depth of field, it's noticeable. This issue is somewhat improved when the lens is used on a mirrorless camera via an adapter, but the mirrorless lens still has the edge.

With mirrorless cameras, such as the Nikon Z6 III for which the Z 50mm f/1.4 is a perfect fit, you get the latest subject-detection and eye-detection autofocus, which will nail sharp focus on the eyes. And it's this performance which makes a Nikon mirrorless camera with this new 50mm lens an easy recommendation, even if the icing on the cake would be slightly better bokeh.

Like the 35mm f/1.4, I expect the 50mm f/1.4 to prove popular, even if it's not one of Nikon's best lenses. If you're upgrading from existing DSLR gear, of the two, I would buy the 50mm lens before the 35mm.

Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4 specs Image 1 of 5

(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 5

(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 3 of 5

(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 4 of 5

(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 5 of 5

(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4: Design

• Small and simple
• Decent pairing with Nikon's smallest mirrorless cameras like the Z6 III
• Quick and quiet autofocus
• Maximum 0.17x magnification ratio for moderate close-up photography

The Z 50mm f/1.4 design is pretty much a copy-and-paste of the Z 35mm f/1.4, meaning it's a small and simple lens. The lenses are practically the same in size and weight, with the Z 50mm a hair's breadth longer at 88.5mm in length, and tipping the scales at 14.9oz / 420g – that's just 5g more than the 35mm lens.

Nikon's equivalent F-mount lens for DSLRs – the 50mm f/1.4G – is smaller and lighter still, but so far as Nikon Z-mount lenses go, this is one of the smaller ones.

I tested the lens with a Nikon Z6 III and the Nikon Z6 II, mid-sized cameras for which the Z 50mm f/1.4 is perfectly balanced, being compact in form. Unlike those cameras, however, the Z 50mm f/1.4 isn't officially weather-sealed, and so it's probably best to treat it with care. Sure, the occasional light shower is no problem, but sand, dust, and heavy downpours could eventually prove the lens' undoing.

There's not a single button or switch on the lens, and as someone who regularly switches between manual and autofocus, I've missed having a direct control on the lens. I'd love to know Nikon's reasoning for omitting a MF / AF switch – surely it can't be a cost-saving exercise.

The only exterior controls are a generously-sized focus ring, plus a customizable control ring. The latter can be set to various functions, one of which is as a click-less aperture ring, which is a particularly handy control for filmmaking.

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The minimum focus distance is 1.22ft / 0.37m, which results in a magnification ratio of 0.18x, which again is very similar to the Z 35mm lens. In real terms, you can easily fill the frame with close-up subjects like flowers, but this is no macro lens.

Autofocus is impressively quick and quiet. Pair this lens with the Z6 III, which boasts eye-detection autofocus and Nikon's best subject-detection autofocus performance, and you have a powerful tool for portraiture. Put simply, you can rely on this lens, mounted on one of Nikon's latest mirrorless cameras, to hit sharp focus where it matters most.

Autofocus is a refreshing and reliable experience when compared to shooting with my Nikon D800 and 50mm f/1.4 G AF-S lens, which I can't trust and; to be blunt, using it can be a little stressful, especially in pressure moments such as a portrait shoot or a wedding. I'm so glad that I upgraded from DSLR to mirrorless years ago, and it's lenses like the new Z 50mm f/1.4 that make the experience so enjoyable.

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(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4: Performance

• Very sharp detail
• Handy wide aperture for shallow depth of field and low-light scenes
• Bokeh quality is just 'good'

Autofocus is quick and reliable with one of Nikon's latest mirrorless cameras, like the Z6 III, which is an excellent foundation for portraiture photography. Knowing that you're getting sharp focus on the eyes is one less thing to worry about, helping you relax into portrait shoots. But what is optical quality like beyond accurate focusing? Overall, it's just decent rather than spectacular.

Detail is very sharp. If you're shooting with the aperture set anywhere between f/2 and f/8 you can expect tack-sharp detail across the entire frame for subjects within the field of focus. Even at f/1.4 detail is very sharp, and this lens wipes the floor with the F-mount DSLR equivalent, the 50mm f//1.4G, which is much softer at f/1.4.

The optical construction, as with most 50mm lenses, is relatively basic. There are nine aperture blades for a rounded aperture, and bokeh is nice and round at f/1.4, especially when compared to the bokeh produced by the F-mount 50mm f/1.4G, which is more cat's-eye in shape in the corners of the frame. However, if you stop down the Z-mount lens to f/2.8 you'll see the more octagonal-like shaping.

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Detail from the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4 is sharp at f/1.4, and bokeh rounded. With lens corrections active, aberrations are controlled better. Stop the aperture down and bokeh becomes less rounded (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 4

By comparison, the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S lens for DSLRs is much softer at f/1.4, while its bokeh is cats eye-shaped in the corners. Conversely to the Z-mount lens, stop down to f/2.8 and bokeh becomes more rounded. (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 3 of 4

The Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4 (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 4 of 4

The 50mm f/1.4G AF-S lens for DSLRs at f/1.4 (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

It's the bokeh quality that could be a deal-breaker for professional portrait photographers, for whom the Z 50mm f/1.2 is the better choice, provided you can afford it (it's almost five times the costs of the f/1.4 lens). For everyone else, bokeh quality is fine.

If you look closely at images with the f/1.4 lens, the edging of bokeh 'balls' is a little pronounced, rather than them having a nice smooth fall-off. Thankfully there's little sign of aberrations in those edges, which would otherwise be impossible to fix at the click of a button. Only in the most extreme scenarios, like backlit water droplets (see above), will you see pronounced aberrations.

Vignetting – which is the light fall-off in the corners of images – is pretty standard. At f/1.4 it's clear to see, while those darker corners significantly brighten at f/2, and the effect is all but gone by f/4. Below you can see the same image shot at f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4 and f/5.6, so you can compare bokeh, aberrations, and vignetting.

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Left: f/1.4 aperture and aberrations in bokeh Right: f/5.6 fussy bokeh less rounded in shape Note, all lens corrections are switched off (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 7

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f/5.6 (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4: sample images Image 1 of 9

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(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) Should you buy the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4? Buy it if...

You take a lot of portraits

There's a reason that wide-aperture 50mm lenses are popular for portraiture – you get a flattering perspective and shallow depth of field.

You want an affordable fast-aperture lens

This is Nikon's most affordable Z-mount lens with a f/1.4 maximum aperture.

You don't need the bells and whistles

Its stripped back design is best suited to those who are happy to let the camera take control, for instance mainly relying on autofocus.

Don't buy it if...

Bokeh matters most to you

Slightly fussy bokeh is the singular biggest disappointment in this low-cost portrait lens.

You like to take control over focusing

With no direct manual / autofocus switch, it's a time sink switching between the two through the camera.

You work in tough environments

No official weather sealing means you'll need to act with a degree of caution in inclement weather and tough environments.

How I tested the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4

• Regular use over one month
• Paired with the Nikon Z6 III and Nikon Z6 II
• Like-for-like tests with the F-mount Nikon 50mm f/1.4 for DSLRs

Nikon loaned me the Z 50mm f/1.4 for a whole month, and it was my primary lens during this period. I've taken it on early morning photo walks, made portraits, and used it in a wide range of stills and video scenarios. It has tackled some tough tasks, such as shooting close-up photos of water droplets into the light.

All in-camera lens corrections were turned off, and I took all photos in raw and JPEG format to compare the results un-corrected and the processed results. As always, I took several series of an identical image, working down the aperture range (in this case f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2, f/2.8, f/4 and f/5.6) to see how sharpness and bokeh compares at the various settings.

I also dug out my old F-mount 50mm f/1.4 lens, which I've previously used with a Nikon D800 DSLR, and took like-for-like photos with it alongside the Z 50mm f/1.4 on the Nikon Z6 III (via an adaptor for the F-mount lens). The resolution of the full-frame cameras used for this test was 24MP. I avoided using the camera in heavy rain, but felt comfortable using it in cold and moderately wet weather.

• First reviewed October 2024

MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED: Three-minute review

The MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED is easily one of the best gaming monitors I've ever used, although it's going to struggle against the best ultrawide monitors for just about all other tasks other than gaming and watching video content.

A clue as to why it's so good for the latter is in the name: OLED. The Samsung QD-OLED panel on this monitor is spectacular to look at, offering a snappy 0.03ms response time and 144Hz refresh at a 5120 x 1440p for ultrafast high-end gaming. The 1800R curve of the panel is also the perfect match for the 32:9 aspect ratio, so you don't lose detail in your peripheral vision.

What's more, at just $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,699, you're going to feel like you're getting a much more premium product for your money than its visuals might suggest.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 ultrawide, for example, offers slightly better specs, but comes with a price tag that's nearly 50% more, making the MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED appear something of a bargain.

However, look under the hood, though, and you'll spot where some compromises have been made.

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

For one, OLED panels are notorious for suffering burn-in, so if you didn't register and activate that copy of Windows you've been using, this monitor will have you found out, even if you eventually do give Microsoft the money it's due.

What's more, in order to prevent burn-in, you'll need to let the monitor run its OLED Care routine after about six hours or so. While you might be able to opt out when the monitor first notifies you that it's time to run the routine, you'll only be delaying the inevitable – and, when you least expect it, the monitor will go ahead and run the routine and you can't stop it (nor should you).

While this will extend the useful life of your monitor, this unpredictability will be a nightmare for, say, Final Fantasy XIV fans who are in the middle of a boss raid. That's because once the routine starts, the monitor effectively shuts off, and you have to wait anywhere from five to thirty minutes for the routine to complete.

Of course, this could also be a benefit, since it does force you to get up and maybe pet your cat or run to the store and get in some exercise; but it will be incredibly frustrating when it happens in the middle of something you'd rather not interrupt.

This isn't an MSI-exclusive problem, of course. All OLED monitors have to deal with such issues, but considering the investment here, it's best that you know what you're in for.

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

In terms of features, you do get a good number of ports, with the USB-C capable of 90W power delivery. There's also a USB hub built-in with a KVM feature, which is handy – although the USB-A ports are limited to USB 2.0.

Note that you don't get any speakers with this monitor, so you'll have to settle for discrete PC speakers or a PC gaming headset, which might be a nuisance for those without either.

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

With regards to the screen itself, the nature of the pixels in the Samsung QD-OLED panel the MSI MPG 491CQP uses also tend to make text and Windows UI elements a bit wonky around the edges. If you're planning to do a lot of non-gaming work on this monitor, then, your experience might not match the price you're paying.

However, let's be clear, this is a gaming monitor through and through – and it's here that the MSI MPG 491CQP really shines. Rated for 0.03ms pixel response and 144Hz max refresh, this monitor will look and feel incredibly fast compared to even the best LCD monitors, and because it's an OLED panel, you'll get fantastic HDR with pure black color and no perceptible screen glow to ruin a scene.

Its color gamut coverage is excellent, too, rated for 98% AdobeRGB, 99% DCI-P3, and 146% sRGB. So, whether you're working or gaming, you'll be on the receiving end of incredibly vibrant colors.

Of course, it's also important to recognize that a monitor such as this will require the best graphics card to really push frame rates high enough to take advantage of what the MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED has to offer.

Anything less than the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super or AMD RX 7900 GRE won't be able to keep up with the texture sizes required for its native resolution, and even entry-level 4K graphics cards such as the RTX 4070 Ti Super or AMD RX 7900 XT won't be able to push frame rates into the hundreds without seriously scaling back the graphics quality. If you want to get the most out of this monitor at 5120 x 1440p, you'll need an RTX 4080 or RX 7900 XTX to get there.

If you're covered on that front then the MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED monitor is a fantastic buy for gamers, so long as you can handle the quirks of using an OLED display. If not, there are plenty of IPS and mini-LED displays out there that will work for you, but you'll be hard-pressed to find any that look this good.

MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED: Price & Availability

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

The MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED is available now in the US, UK, and Australia, with a retail price of $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,699, respectively.

This is substantially cheaper than the competing Samsung Odyssey OLED G9, which at $1,599.99 in the US is roughly 45% more expensive.

However, since both monitors have been on the market for several months now, it should be possible to find the models at lower cost – which makes a direct price comparison a bit of a moving target right now, especially during major sales events like Black Friday.

MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED: Specs

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler) Should you buy the MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED?

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler) Buy the MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED if...

The MSI MPG 491CQP looks stunning with sharp contrast, speedy performance, and vivid colors.

While this monitor isn't cheap, for what you get, it's a bargain that offers premium performance at a more affordable price.

Don't buy it if...

If you're used to playing PC games on your day off for several hours or more, be prepared to have the fun interrupted by the very necessary OLED Care feature.

This monitor is a great value for its class, but this is still a premium item.

MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED: also consider

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 is the premier super-ultrawide OLED monitor, sporting a faster refresh and extra features, but for a more premium price.

Read the full Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 review

How I tested the MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED

I used the MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED for a few months, playing games, working on photo and video content, as well as productivity work.

Since this is a gaming monitor first and foremost, I made sure to play a variety of games, from competitive shooters such as Call of Duty: Warzone as well as more laid-back titles such as Satisfactory. I have a very high-end PC, so I was able to consistently push the monitor's full resolution at 144fps to really challenge the display's performance.

I've been reviewing computer hardware for nearly five years now with TechRadar, including dozens of monitors, so I know what makes for a great gaming display and what will likely disappoint most gamers. I do my best to leverage that knowledge to deliver the best assessment of any products I review.

• First reviewed October 2024

Xbox Series X Digital Edition: two-minute review

The Xbox Series X Digital Edition is one of the new additions to Microsoft’s current-gen console family, ditching the disc drive entirely in order to offer the gaming console at a lower, potentially more compelling price point.

There’s certainly strong appeal to this; for folks who want Microsoft’s most powerful current-generation console without needing to pay the biggest bucks, the Xbox Series X Digital Edition is a compelling option as it comes in $50 / £50 cheaper than the flagship Xbox Series X. And if you’re not at all fussed about owning physical copies of the best Xbox Series X games, then this all-digital console will be the one to go for.

It’s also an excellent choice if you like the appeal of Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s digital games-on-demand subscription service that lets you download hundreds of games at a monthly (or annual) fee. The less-powerful Xbox Series S console is great for Game Pass, too, but with this Series X model, you’ll be getting full-fledged current-gen gaming experiences with no graphical compromises.

Moreover, it’s a slick bit of kit from an aesthetic standpoint. I actually prefer the Robot White color scheme of the Digital Edition over the Carbon Black of the disc-drive console (not to mention the rather gaudy Galaxy Black of the new 2TB model). Of course, the aesthetic difference has no bearing on overall performance. And on that note, you’re getting an identical experience compared to the disc-drive model - and just like it and the Xbox Series S, this new all-digital console is impressively quiet during play.

(Image credit: Future)

That being said, I think the Xbox Series X Digital Edition’s price tag still errs on the higher side, coming in at $449.99 / £429.99. While that does match the price of the PS5 Slim Digital Edition in the US, it’s £40 more expensive than Sony’s all-digital machine in the UK. On top of that, the Xbox Series X Digital Edition only comes with around 800GB of usable storage (roughly 200GB is claimed by the operating system) compared to the PS5 Slim’s approximate 850GB. That’s also more or less the same as what is usable in the Xbox Series X disc-drive console.

That isn’t anything new for this console generation’s 1TB machines; all of them have had to reserve space for the essential software needed for them to function. Without some extra storage capacity, however, the value proposition of the Xbox Series X Digital Edition isn’t massively fantastic when compared to the disc-drive model or even the 1TB Xbox Series S. Granted, the latter is a less powerful system, but it is a much cheaper digital option ($349.99 / £299.99) with the same amount of storage.

You will also likely want to avoid the Digital Edition if you don’t have particularly good download speeds via your internet service provider. The lack of a disc drive here means you aren’t able to rely on physical media, and thus won’t be able to install games offline so are fully dependent on a strong internet connection.

In summary, then, the Xbox Series X Digital Edition is great for folks after optimal graphical capabilities from the current crop of Xbox consoles at a reduced price - especially if you don’t mind the absence of a disc drive or want to fully embrace Xbox Game Pass. But if you feel you’d miss the option for physical games, it’s worth stumping up that extra $50 / £50 for the base console instead.

Xbox Series X Digital Edition: Price and availability

• $449.99 / £429.99 / AU$699
• That’s $50 / £50 cheaper than the disc-drive Xbox Series X
• Meanwhile, the 1TB Xbox Series S costs $349.99 / £299.99

The Xbox Series X Digital Edition retails at $449.99 / £429.99. It’s available to buy from the official Xbox online store, as well as plenty of big box retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Argos, and Currys.

Despite the lack of a disc drive, the Xbox Series X Digital Edition still finds itself towards the higher end of the Series X|S price spectrum. As mentioned above, the standard Xbox Series X costs $499.99 / £479.99 after a price hike in 2023. For further comparison, the 1TB version of the Xbox Series S comes in at $349.99 / £299.99, making the Xbox Series X Digital Edition the priciest discless option within the Series X|S ecosystem.

You are at the very least getting the full brunt of the Series X’s graphical chops here, so those wanting a cheaper option for that will find value here. But, if your main drive for owning a current-generation Xbox is to play a lot of games at a significantly lower price point, then that 1TB Xbox Series S model may be the one to go for here.

(Image credit: Future) Xbox Series X Digital Edition: Specs Xbox Series X Digital Edition: Design and features

• Robot White color scheme fits the Series X like a glove
• No disc drive, but otherwise identical in terms of appearance and features
• 3 USB-A ports as well as HDMI, power, ethernet, and another for storage expansion

The Xbox Series X Digital Edition maintains the striking cuboid design of the original model. In fact, if you’ve ever laid eyes on an original Xbox Series X, this new one is essentially that without the disc drive and in a slick Robot White color scheme. I’m quite a fan of this aesthetic change; not only does it distinguish the model from its Carbon Black counterpart, it’s also more in line with other all-digital models like the Xbox Series S (especially with the Carbon Black Xbox Series S being phased out and not available for purchase in Australia). I think it also looks quite nice contrasting against my black TV stand.

Everything else about the console is identical to the 2020 model. The lack of a disc drive means the front of the unit is without any indentations, save for the Xbox logo power button and a solitary USB port which are both in the same place. It's also worth noting that Microsoft hasn't opted to add any USB-C ports here like Sony has with the PS5 Slim Digital Edition. That certainly would've made connecting certain third-party controllers or headsets via wireless dongle much easier. Otherwise, the built-in vertical stand is also present, resting at the bottom of the console, with ventilation here as well as at the top of the unit.

The back side of the console is also the same as its disc-drive brethren. Ports for power, HDMI, ethernet cable, and a slot for storage expansion like the Seagate Xbox Storage Expansion Card or the WD Black C50 are here, as well as two more USB ports. There are also more ventilation holes back here, ensuring that the console runs cool and quiet throughout your play sessions.

(Image credit: Future)

The Xbox Series X Digital Edition is also the same in terms of dimensions and, according to the official Xbox website, weighs the same 9.8lbs (around 4.5kg) as the disc-drive model. However, this digital console should be ever so slightly lighter than that due to the absence of the disc drive. In the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t have any bearing on the overall bulkiness or form factor of the console; while certainly smarter and more compact than the unwieldy PS5 silhouette, you still won’t want to move your Xbox around too much given its size and weight.

Boxed contents for the console are very straightforward. As well as the console, you get a Robot White Xbox Wireless Controller - which I feel looks much nicer than the fairly bog-standard Carbon Black. The contrast of the black thumbsticks, d-pad, and face buttons pops out really nicely here on the Robot White controller. Otherwise, you’ve got a power lead and HDMI cable for hooking the console up to your TV. 

Unfortunately, there’s no inclusion of an Xbox Game Pass subscription, which I think would’ve been a welcome addition given the console’s all-digital nature, and with it largely being aimed at folks who’re looking to buy into the current Xbox generation at a lower price point.

Once you boot up the console and have it all set up, you’ll be greeted with the usual Windows 11-based Xbox dashboard. There are no changes here from other current-generation Xbox units which is to be expected.

(Image credit: Future) Xbox Series X Digital Edition: Performance

• Full fat Series X experience, including support for 4K and framerates up to 120fps on supported TVs 
• Impressively quiet performance while gaming 
• 800GB of usable storage space doesn’t go very far 

Thanks to teardown videos, we know that the Xbox Series X Digital Edition has slightly revised internal components, opting for a smaller motherboard, a different cooling system, and overall slightly lower wattage than the launch Series X. However, there are no notable shifts in performance here. The Digital Edition is not a PS5 Pro-style upgrade; you’re getting Xbox Series X performance albeit in all-digital form.

The Xbox Series X Digital Edition supports resolution up to 4K, though you will find that most games compromise on framerate in order to achieve this target. As a result, many of the best Xbox Series X games offer performance mode options, allowing you to opt for higher framerates at the cost of image quality. On that front, the Xbox Series X Digital Edition can target framerates of up to 120fps. 

There are even some games that offer performance modes targeting this. But do keep in mind that you’ll need a compatible gaming TV in order to make use of this. Just like the launch model, the Digital Edition also boosts performance for the best Xbox One games by default, so you’ll be getting the very best out of those older games too.

The Xbox Series X Digital Edition also has support for high dynamic range (HDR) and variable refresh rate (VRR). The former leverages the tech of compatible TVs (typically OLED and QLED models) to provide a much richer and crisper color palette. Meanwhile, VRR is able to smooth over games with rocky performance at 40fps or higher, creating a more stable play experience overall.

As with the base model, the Xbox Series X Digital Edition is phenomenally quiet during gaming. You’ll only ever hear the fans whirring on a fresh boot. I tested everything from lightweight indie games like Hollow Knight and Vampire Survivors all the way up to more demanding AAA releases like Lies of P and Forza Horizon 4. Unless you’re really listening out for it (even then you’d practically have to press your ear up against the console itself), you won’t hear a peep from your console during gameplay, downloads, or installs. 

(Image credit: Future)

The one thing in terms of overall performance that could be a dealbreaker for you is the amount of usable storage space available on the console. As mentioned, you’re getting around 800GB of usable space. It’s absolutely a 1TB SSD in the console, but roughly a fifth of that space has to be taken up by its operating system and essential software.

The reality is that you’re not gaining any more storage space by going all-digital; on versions of the console with a disc drive, physical games still need to be installed in order to be played. And even though it’s a cheaper console relative, that’s not by much. I would of course recommend investing in one of the best Xbox Series X hard drives and SSDs, but the $50 / £50 price drop in comparison to the base Series X console does not offset the high cost of those internal storage cards from Seagate or WD Black. 

You can of course opt for a cheaper external storage solution, but it’s worth noting that these will not be able to run Xbox Series X|S games or enhanced titles; you’ll strictly be limited to storing them here until you transfer them to the console’s main SSD.

If the Xbox Series X Digital Edition was slightly cheaper or offered a true 1TB after the essential installs, then I would feel much more comfortable recommending it. In summary, I feel that Microsoft could have done more especially with the console still costing well above $400 / £400.

On a better note, it’s worth noting that console setup is extremely simple and, if you have an existing Microsoft account, you can carry over your entire game library, save files (including cloud saves), subscriptions, and payment details if you’ve owned Xbox consoles prior. You don’t even need to have any previous consoles switched on simultaneously for this, and the whole process can be done via the Xbox app on your iOS or Android phone.

Should I buy the Xbox Series X Digital Edition?

(Image credit: Future) Buy it if...

You plan on getting Xbox Game Pass to play your games
The Xbox Series X Digital Edition is clearly tailor-made for Xbox’s game subscription service. The cheaper price of the console does somewhat offset the cost of your first couple of months with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, making the console a great choice for playing hundreds of games at a relatively lower monthly or annual fee.

You simply want an Xbox Series X for less
Not too fussed about the lack of a disc drive? The Xbox Series X Digital Edition, in this case, offers the best value for money by matching the original model on specs at $50 / £50 less.

You want full-fat Xbox Series X performance in digital form
This all-digital option does not compromise on graphical capability unlike the Xbox Series S. If you truly have no use for a disc drive then this is the option to go for.

Don't buy it if...

You want the option for physical games
Unlike the PS5 Slim Digital Edition, there’s no way to add a disc drive to your Xbox Series X Digital Edition after the fact. If you’d prefer to at least have the option to go physical, stick with the regular model.

You require plenty of storage for a large existing digital gaming library
800GB of usable storage is not a lot and is at odds with the focus on only being able to download games through Xbox Game Pass. You could invest in an internal storage card, but at that point, you’re paying close to the price of the 2TB Galaxy Black Xbox Series X which retails at $599.99 / £549.99. Cheaper USB external SSDs are another option, but these will only be able to store your games - not run them.

Your internet connection isn’t great
If you find you have lackluster download speeds, I’d suggest purchasing or sticking with the original Xbox Series X instead, so that you can at least install games via a physical, offline option. With a digital-only console, you’ll need decent speeds in order to download games in a reasonable amount of time, which can be a struggle for those larger 100GB+ titles.

Also consider...

The Xbox Series X Digital Edition isn’t your only option when it comes to current-generation Xbox consoles. You may also want to consider the following options.

Xbox Series X
The standard Xbox Series X model comes in a Carbon Black color scheme and matches the Digital Edition on specs. It’s $50 / £50 more expensive, but it does feature a built-in disc drive that would be better suited to players who prefer or rely on physical media.

For more information, check out our full Xbox Series X review.

Xbox Series S (1TB)
The 1TB variant of the Xbox Series S is exceptional value for money, coming in at $100 / £130 less than its Xbox Series X digital counterpart. That is largely because it’s the less powerful console, but it does share 120fps support, as well as support for HDR and VRR. It’s also a much smaller and lighter unit which will fit better if your gaming setup doesn’t have much real estate.

For more information, check out our full Xbox Series S review (note that this is for the 512GB original model, but specs and performance are identical otherwise).

How I reviewed the Xbox Series X Digital Edition

I tested the Xbox Series X Digital Edition over a period of a week and a half, pairing it with the included Robot White Xbox Wireless Controller and my LG CX OLED TV, which let me make use of features like 4K/120fps support as well as HDR and variable refresh rate.

I tested a variety of games from my existing Xbox library, including AAA hits like Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Thieves, and Elden Ring alongside indie favorites like Hollow Knight and Vampire Survivors. I also played backwards compatible titles including Ridge Racer 6, Sonic Unleashed, and Crimson Skies.

Overall, I found performance to be in step with the original Xbox Series X when comparing the two models directly, with no noticeable downgrades or improvements. Rest assured that if you’re opting for the Digital Edition, you’ll be getting a true Xbox Series X experience at a lower price point.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed October 2024.

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K & Intel Core Ultra 5 245K: One-minute review

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

I've had a couple of pre-briefings with Intel over the past couple of months about Intel Arrow Lake, so I can't say I'm surprised by the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and Intel Core Ultra 5 245K, but it doesn't mean enthusiasts are going to be any less disappointed with what we got in the end.

Both Core Ultra chips effectively match the performance of the chips they are replacing, and while I've been saying for a while now that we have to stop looking at performance as the only metric that matters, the efficiency gains offered by these chips are not substantial enough to really merit the investment if you're rocking a 13th-gen Intel chip or better.

The new chips do come with some architecture changes worthy of note, though, and they aren’t all useless for consumers. For starters, the chips come equipped with an NPU, the first Intel desktops to do so, and the new Intel Arc integrated GPU offers some improved graphics capabilities that will make a real difference for some AIO (all-in-one) PCs.

However, these are largely going to be unnecessary for just about any gamer or content creator out there since most desktops are going to have a discrete graphics card that will run AI circles around the NPU in these chips, and make the Intel Arc iGPU pretty much a non-factor in anything other than the most budget gaming PC from a couple of years ago.

For some folks, unfortunately, Intel Arrow Lake misses the target they wanted it to hit, and with strong competition from AMD’s Ryzen 9000-series, these aren't the best processors for gaming or content creation. But, Intel has to start somewhere as it shifts to a new platform, and it managed to produce a very different kind of chip over its predecessors without giving up too much on the performance front, which is no easy feat.

Ultimately, they're perfectly fine chips if you're buying them in a prebuilt PC or if you're coming in from 11th-gen Intel or older (or making the move from AMD), since you'll have to buy all-new kit anyway, so you might as well set yourself up for Nova Lake next year. But anyone with a Raptor Lake chip isn't going to see any real benefit from these, so they're better off waiting for Nova Lake in 2025 to make the jump.

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K & Intel Core Ultra 5 245K: Price & availability

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and Intel Core Ultra 5 245K are available now in the US, UK, and Australia, priced at $589 / £548.99 / AU$1,099 and $309 / £289.99 / AU$589, respectively.

While the prices for these two chips stay the same or come in slightly lower than their predecessors, which is good, there are a bunch of added costs to upgrade to these chips... which is bad. First, they require an LGA 1851 chipset, so you’re going to have to buy a new motherboard in order to use them. They also don’t support DDR4 RAM, so you’re likely going to have to buy new DDR5 RAM as well.

The LGA 1851 socket does take the same CPU coolers as an LGA 1700 socket, though, so if you have a 12th-gen or better processor, at least your cooler will fit.

Against AMD’s latest, the Core Ultra 9 285K is better priced than AMD’s flagship Ryzen 9 9950X, but more expensive than the Ryzen 9 9900X. The Core Ultra 5 245K is slightly more expensive than AMD’s competing Ryzen 5 9600X.

• Value: 3 / 5

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K & Intel Core Ultra 5 245K: Specs

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler) Intel Core Ultra 9 285K & Intel Core Ultra 5 245K: Chipset & features

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and Intel Core Ultra 5 245K are newly architected desktop processors, powered by the same Lion Cove P-cores and Skymont E-cores found in the Intel Meteor Lake chips released late last year for laptops.

Intel Arrow Lake is essentially Intel Meteor Lake for desktops, and so it also features the same Intel NPU 3 13 TOPS neural processor as Meteor Lake, and the same Intel Arc Alchemist integrated GPU with four Xe cores (including four ray tracing cores) as its laptop cousin.

The max clock speeds of the Core Ultra 9 285K and Core Ultra 5 245K are slightly lower on performance cores (though with a higher base frequency) and higher across the board on the efficiency cores over the Core i9-14900K and Core i5-14600K, respectively.

The maximum amount of RAM is unchanged at 192GB, though the Core Ultra chips do not support DDR4 RAM, but they can support faster DDR5 memory up to 6,400MT/s.

Other than that, the TDP of the two Core Ultra chips is essentially unchanged from the 14th-gen chips they’re replacing, but they do have a 5°C higher TjMax (Tjunction max, which is the maximum thermal junction temperature that a processor can hit before it lowers performance to prevent overheating), so the chips won’t start to throttle until they hit 105°C.

• Features: 3.5 / 5

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K & Intel Core Ultra 5 245K: Performance

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Well, we’ve finally come to the performance segment of the review, and I wish I had better news for you, but most of you will be disappointed.

Starting with synthetic performance, the Core Ultra 9 285K is a very mixed bag vis-a-vis the Core i9-14900K and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X.

In some tests like Geekbench 6.2, the Core Ultra 9 outperforms the 14900K in single-core performance by about 8%, only to lose out by about the same in Cinebench R23’s single-core benchmark. Meanwhile, in Cinebench R23’s multi-core performance, the Core Ultra 9 285K comes in about 12% faster than the 14900K and is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X.

The Core Ultra 5 245K, meanwhile, is effectively even with the Core i5-14600K, but fares much better in PCMark 10’s Home CPU benchmark, showing a roughly 14.5% performance boost over the 14600K and a 5.6% better showing than the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X.

In terms of average creative performance, the Core Ultra 9 285K does slightly better than the 14900K but slightly worse than the Ryzen 9 9950X — it’s substantially better than the Ryzen 9 9900X, on average, however.

The Core Ultra 5 245K, meanwhile does slightly worse, on average, than the Core i5-14600K, but comes out nearly 23% better on average than the Ryzen 5 9600X.

The gaming performance of the Core Ultra chips was easily the biggest disappointment, however, and is where these two chips really falter against Raptor Lake Refresh.

The Core Ultra 9 285K came in about 14% slower in gaming performance than the Core i9-14900K (though about 7-8% better than the Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X).

The Core Ultra 5 245K, meanwhile, came in about 9% slower than the i5-14600K, and only about 4% faster than the Ryzen 5 9600X.

Needless to say, if you’re looking for the best processor for gaming, you’ll want to look at the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D or wait to see what the upcoming AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D does later this year.

When all the scores are tabulated and the final averages calculated, the Core Ultra 9 285K shows slightly better multi-core performance, slightly lower single-core performance, slightly better creative performance, and much worse gaming performance against its predecessor.

The Core Ultra 5 245K is generally slower for just about everything compared to the Core i5-14600K, though it does have much better productivity performance, so this will make a great chip for affordable AIO PCs without discrete graphics.

The real disappointment with Arrow Lake, though, lies with its energy efficiency... or lack thereof. Most people don’t even need the performance of the Intel Core i9-14900K or even the Intel Core i5-14600K, so I’d be fine with lower performance if it meant that there was much less power draw, but the Core Ultra 9 285K and Core Ultra 5 245K max out at 90.5% and 93.3% of the power of their predecessors, respectively.

That’s still much too high, and at that point, you might as well just stick with Raptor Lake Refresh and undervolt the CPU.

Ultimately, given the significantly higher cost of making the switch to these processors from the LGA 1700 chips, the performance and efficiency just don’t make these compelling purchases on their own.

If you’re shopping for the best prebuilt gaming PC though, though, I won’t be too worried about picking between one with a 14th-gen chip or these new Core Ultras. You’re not going to notice the difference.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K & Intel Core Ultra 5 245K: Should you buy it? Buy the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K or Intel Core Ultra 5 245K if...

If you haven't made the leap to the latest Intel processors, you're going to have to buy all new stuff anyway, so you might as well go for these chips and future-proof your PC for Nova Lake next year.

While the efficiency gains on these two chips aren't huge, they are more efficient, which is definitely a good thing.View Deal

Don't buy them if...

Running these chips is going to require a new motherboard at least, and likely will require you to buy new RAM as well, making these chips a substantial investment.

While the performance of these chips is great in absolute terms, they aren't any better than their predecessors, though substantially worse for gaming.

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K & Intel Core Ultra 5 245K: Also Consider

The Intel Core i7-14700K is still my pick for the best processor for most people thanks to its strong performance and accessible pricing.

Read the full Intel Core i7-14700K review

If you're looking for the best processor for gaming, then this is the processor you need to buy, at least until its successor come out.

Read the full AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D review

How I tested the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and Intel Core Ultra 5 245K

When I test processors, I put them through a rigorous process that takes into account synthetic benchmarks, creative workloads, gaming performance, and more to arrive at my scores.

I use industry standard tools like Geekbench, Cinebench, and PCMark, as well as creative apps like Adobe Photoshop, Blender, and Handbrake.

For gaming, I use built-in benchmarks for CPU-intensive games like Total War: Warhammer III on low graphics settings at 1080p to better isolate a CPU's impact on the game's framerates.

Finally, I make sure to use the same system for common-socket processors, the fastest RAM and SSD, and the most powerful GPU and motherboards available to maintain consistency wherever possible to ensure that CPU scores are comparable.

With each new processor I review, I retest previous processors I've reviewed in order to get updated scores for each, after installing the latest system and BIOS updates.

I've tested and retested two generations of processors more times than I can count over the last couple of years, so I am intimately familiar with how these chips perform, and my deep computer science and journalism background allows me to put all of this testing data into its proper context for consumers so they can make the right choice when shopping for a new processor.

• Originally reviewed October 2024

Noble FoKus Apollo: Two-minute review

Like the heavily memed girl in the Old El Paso advert, high-end audio company Noble wants to say something with its new FoKus Apollo over-ear headphones: “why not both?”.

The new Noble FoKus Apollo are the first headphones to combine two different types of audio technology under the same band: dynamic and planar magnetic drivers, which should give audiophiles cause for interest. They’re also Noble’s first headphones too, marking a shift from its high-end wireless earbuds and wired in-ear monitors.

To boil down tech jargon, planar magnetic drivers are the current trend in personal audio; fragile, expensive and fantastic-sounding, they’ve recently begun cropping up in some of the best headphones, and in (or on) audiophiles’ ears.

Dynamic drivers are the stalwarts that the planar magnets have been replacing: these are reliable, hardy and relatively inexpensive, but are old news to audio fans who have been queuing up to get planar magnetic devices (as proven by the FoKus Apollo appearing as out of stock in plenty of stores I checked).

(Image credit: Future)

Opposites come together in the Noble FoKus Apollo, and from a sound perspective it shows – in a good way. These headphones sound fantastic, with a detailed sound stage, high quality audio and lovely balance that provides an enticing neutral sound. I enjoyed using the Apollo so much for their audio chops that I started wearing them for movies, TV shows, meetings, games and just about anything else that requires my ears.

Sound is clearly the focus of the FoKus (I had to do that once, okay?) with the feature set otherwise pretty limited. The noise cancellation is sufficient to take the edge off annoying noises but I could still hear the rumble of buses or thump of heavy rain on windows more than with some other products I’ve tested, so they won't be joinging our guide to the best noise-cancelling headphones any time soon. And there’s no built-in microphone, although an attachable one comes in the Apollo’s box.

The box is pretty jam-packed actually, with Noble giving you a carry case and an assortment of cables, adaptors and extras. You can’t fault the company for offering value for your money.

The battery life of the FoKus Apollo is perhaps even more impressive than its audio chops, with 60 hours of ANC-on listening time or 80 hours of ANC-off playback doubling many other rivals on the market.

My personal low point during my testing of the Apollo was when someone commented how nerdy the headphones looked when worn – audiophiles might be used to this but they’re not a chic as other options on the market. However the low point for most people might be a bit earlier than that – at the checkout.

The Noble FoKus Apollo are extremely expensive headphones, outstripping plenty of rivals, and even with the value added by extra cables and tools in the box they’re impossible to justify for audiophiles on a budget.

If you think your purse or wallet can handle them, though, these are fantastic headphones that blow most of their rivals out of the water for sound quality alone.

Noble FoKus Apollo: Price and release date

(Image credit: Future)

• Released in September 2024
• Costs $649 / £589 / AU$999

The Noble FoKus Apollo are not a cheap pair of headphones by any means. You have to shell out $649 / £589 / AU$999 to pick up a pair, which makes these some decidedly premium cans.

You’re paying more for these headphones that best-in-class options like the Sony WH1000XM5s, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones or Bowers & Wilkins PX8, though a select few options do cost more.

It’s worth noting that the price includes extras like a carry case, 3.5mm cord, USB-C cable, several adaptors and a plug-in microphone, so Noble isn’t exactly ripping you off here.

Noble unveiled the FoKus Apollo in the back half of 2024; the headphones seem to be on sale in various regions around the world, either from Noble’s website or from third-party stores, though in some places they’re sold out.

Noble FoKus Apollo review: Specs Noble FoKus Apollo: Features

(Image credit: Future)

• Limited in-app feature set
• Midweight ANC
• Fantastic battery life

To use the Noble FoKus Apollo, you can download the Noble FoKus smartphone app – I say ‘can’ because I only downloaded it towards the end of my testing period, and it didn’t add anything to the experience. You can easily use the Apollo without it.

It does give me a handy shopping list of features to run through, though. First up there’s an equalizer, offering 10-band customization for people who know their way around an EQ tab, and six presets for those who don’t (which, to my ears, sounded very similar).

Next is ANC, which can be toggled between on, off or ambient mode. The Apollo’s noise cancellation is decent, but it’s far from industry-leading, so while it stripped away the majority of background sounds it did always leave a little background hum that other buds and headphones I’ve tested would remove. If background sound was a cheesecake, the Apollo would be skipping that crumbly biscuit base.

The app lets you toggle EQ, ANC, the tone switch for when you adjust settings on the headphones and… not a lot else. It’s a really barebones app, which doesn’t really justify its space on your phone since the EQ is the only feature which you can’t play with on the headphones themselves.

(Image credit: Future)

A lightweight feature set isn’t something to get too heartbroken about, as these are clearly headphones designed with an audio focus.

A ‘missing’ feature is the ability to take calls, as the FoKus Apollo don’t have a microphone built in (something I discovered the hard way: in a group meeting when I couldn’t figure out why people couldn’t hear me). A microphone comes in the box that you can connect to the headphone to mitigate this loss, but some might not like the fashion statement that this provides if worn in public.

Curiously, Noble’s product listing details seem to imply that there’s a microphone, but I conducted several tests in different apps (yes, with the microphone toggled) and the Apollo could only pick up audio if the external microphone was connected.

Thankfully the great battery life ensures that you can enjoy that audio for long periods of time: 80 hours, to be exact (though if you listen with ANC that drops to a still-impressive 60 hours). Given that 30 hours is considered the average lasting power by TechRadar’s staff, that’s a really fantastic figure.

• Features score: 3.5/5

Noble FoKus Apollo review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

• Comfortable pads but heavy build
• Loads of buttons and ports
• Divisive looks

The Noble FoKus Apollo look more refined than your average headphones: the comfy padded band, the shiny metal pads with soft leather pads, and thin bands connecting it all make them look as much like an art piece as some headphones. They're also a bit bulkier than many other headphones on the market.

This appearance covers up some flexibility issues though. While the cups can rotate around 180 degrees along the X axis (as in, they can face you or face away from you when on your head), they don’t move around much on the Y axis (as in, they can’t point down or up much, a move which is useful for catering to different head shapes). You also can’t fold up the cans, beyond the band length with some retractable space.

Premium materials ensure that the Apollo feels comfortable to wear, if your head ensures you’re not affected by the flexibility problems, though long periods of listening may bring aches because of the weight of the cans.

Each of the cans bears an orchestra of ports and buttons, which you’ll take a while getting used to. The left can has a microphone mute slider, a USB-C charging port and a 3.5mm jack (for the microphone), while the right can has an ANC toggle, another 3.5mm port, a volume rocker and a power button.

(Image credit: Future)

I couldn’t find information about an IP rating for the Apollo, so I’d recommend caution when using them in potentially-harmful watery environments. Saying that, they survived a pretty heavy rainstorm around my neck.

Due to the thin areas of band and the delicate internals, I always considered the Apollo to be quite fragile during testing, and treated them accordingly – I can’t say for sure whether these things are more susceptible to damage than alternatives, but I made sure to keep them in their case when possible just to be sure!

The one and only color for the FoKus Apollo is gray, as you can see in the image, which has areas of silver and black as well.

One thing I’d be remiss not to flag is the look of the Apollo when on one’s head – they look, for lack of a better word, a bit dweeby (something which was pointed out to me multiple times, making the descriptor 'divisive' feel apt). On all but the biggest heads the cans look huge too, so if you care about your looks and social standing, it’s something to bear in mind.

• Design score: 3/5

Noble FoKus Apollo review: Sound quality

(Image credit: Future)

• Expansive sound stage
• Mostly well balanced
• Performs wonderfully at high volumes

The Noble FoKus Apollo sound amazing. I know, I know, stop the presses: premium headphones that sound great. I’m sure you’re shocked.

As mentioned in the introduction, the Apollo combines a 14.5mm planar magnetic hybrid driver with a 40mm dynamic one, with the combination of both working in tandem to deliver beautifully balanced audio.

To me, the best part of the FoKus Apollo’s audio offering is the dramatic sound stage, spreading out instruments in a wide arch around you. Listening to songs, you could almost point to where each band member or quartet performer was around you, and the soundstage helps you pick out background instruments that you might not necessarily hear on cheaper headphones.

With such a fantastic sound stage, it’s almost a shame that Noble hasn’t included support for Dolby Atmos or other official surround-sound alternatives for movie and TV streaming, to help you enjoy videos as much as you can music.

(Image credit: Future)

Audio tuning is lovely and balanced in the Apollo. Treble is sparkling and sensibly handled while mids, often overlooked in headphones, keep their head above water in the mix with a pronounced sound. For the most part bass is just as strong but I did find it falling just a tad quiet in the mix on occasion; it’s not something that all listeners will mind but I’d imagine dedicated bass fans will feel it. It depended on the song too and some tweaking with the equalizer can mostly offset it.

Unlike many other sonically-impressive headphones and earbuds, I didn’t have any volume troubles with the FoKus Apollo. They can go louder than I cared to test and I didn’t hear any peaking or distorting when I was at the upper limit of my comfort.

Audio fans will enjoy the Apollo’s compatibility with a range of codecs that includes LDAC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD and SBC. Unlike with most other headphones, Noble’s app doesn’t let you change the settings for these various codecs though.

Wired audio purists will also enjoy the versatility that the Apollo offers: you can use it entirely as a pair of wired cans if you prefer. As mentioned before the box has a 3.5mm cable as well as adaptors for ¼-inch and 4.4mm jacks so you’re sorted for a range of devices.

• Sound quality: 5/5

Noble FoKus Apollo review: Value

(Image credit: Future)

• Prohibitively expensive for many buyers
• In-box peripherals and case add value

Do $649 / £589 / AU$999 headphones really present value for money? It’s hard to make the argument that they do because no matter how incredibly the sound quality is, you can still pick up great-sounding cans for a fifth of the price.

Noble does its best to tip the scales, to its credit. The inclusion of a hardy carry case and loads of useful extra cables and adaptors does ensure that you don’t need to spend a cent more on your audio purchase.

I can’t imagine headphones that sound this good costing less, but money-conscious buyers can easily save by settling on audio quality.

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the Noble FoKus Apollo? Buy them if…

You use multiple audio players
The range of supported codecs and in-box adaptors makes the Apollo wonderfully versatile for a range of audio devices and apps.

You need a long-lasting battery
Turn ANC off and you get 80 hours of listening time - that's over 3 days straight! It's a perfect companion for long journeys..

Don’t buy them if…

You're on a budget
In no universe are the FoKus Apollos budget headphones, so if you don't want to break the bank, look elsewhere.

Audio quality isn't your top feature
Audio quality isn't always the most important aspect of headphones, and if you won't notice the bells and whistles of the Apollo, you don't need to pay for it..

Noble FoKus Apollo review: Also consider

Bowers & Wilkins PX8 review
We gave 5 stars to these B&W cans in our review. They cost just a touch more than the Apollo, sound fantastic and have a similar build to the Noble – but they look more expensive.

See our full Bowers & Wilkins PX8 review

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
For less than the FoKus Apollo you can pick up these great-sounding headphones that have phenomenal ANC and a lightweight body. You'll make a small compromise on sound-quality, but if that's not your main priority they're a great alternative.

See our full Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones review

How I tested the Noble FoKus Apollo

(Image credit: Future)

• Tested for one month
• Tested at home and on various excursions

The Noble FoKus Apollo enjoyed a four-week testing period, enough to put them through their paces in some rigorous tests. I mainly used the headphones while connected to an Android phone over Bluetooth but I also tested them alongside an iPad and a Windows computer via Bluetooth and 3.5mm cables.

I tested the Apollo in a range of environments including my office, home, coffee shops, on buses and coaches, and also on walks around my neighborhood. As I mentioned before I mainly used them for audio streaming but used them on my iPad to stream basically the entire run of Shogun and a few movies.

I've been reviewing gadgets for TechRadar for five and a half years now, including having tested countless headphones and earbuds.

• First reviewed in October 2024

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Ninja Combi Multi-Cooker: two-minute review Product info

This model has slightly different names and product codes in different territories:

US: Ninja Combi All-in-One Multicooker, Oven, and Air Fryer SFP701B
UK: Ninja Combi 12-in-1 Multi-Cooker, Oven & Air Fryer SFP700UK

For this review, I tested the UK version. There are minor differences between different countries' models – see specs section for a comparison.

The Ninja Combi is a billed as an all-in-one multi-cooker that can be used like an oven, an air fryer, or even a stovetop (hob). In fact, it offers an intimidating range of modes beyond those, but the headline here is that it has a steam function, which can be used on its own or as part of any of three 'Combi' settings, which combine steaming (for moisture and tenderness) with another cooking mode. It's also designed to be able to cook complete meals – protein, carb, veggies – quickly, and all in one go.

It's sized like a tall microwave, with a sideways-opening door and two internal trays. Inside the cooking cavity, there are heating elements at the top and bottom, and a convection fan at the back to circulate the hot air.

In practice, figuring out sheer number of modes and which one to use for what can be intimidating. There are 12 different options on the UK version I tested, and even more if you're in the US. I suspect that once you've spent a bit of time using the Combi, it'll become clearer which mode suits what meal.

In my tests, the standalone modes all worked efficiently, with expected results. I was especially impressed with the air fryer mode, which got my veggie sausages hot all the way through and nicely browned in double-quick time. It took a little more trial and error to work out the more unusual Combi Meals mode, especially with regards to timings if you're straying away from the set menus in the provided meal booklet. The ability to add steam is unusual, but it does help keep things moist – although the Combi will emit a lot of steam in these modes, so you'll need to put it in a well-ventilated spot.

Aside from the complications that come with navigating all the modes, the Combi is very well designed and straightforward to use. The button controls require no explanation (the giant switch that you flip to shift from standard modes to ones with steam is unnecessary but kind of satisfying). The display offers up useful information, including letting you know when preheating is finished, and alerting you if you've forgotten to add the water tray for steam cooking. There are also some genuinely helpful touches, like how the inside light will come on in the final minute of cooking in some modes.

At $229.99 / £279.99, it's up there with the most expensive options in our best air fryer guide, but this does a lot more than just air fry. While it's not cheap, I actually think it's decent value for money (in the US at least), given the wide range of functions and high build quality. That's the short version; read on for my full Ninja Combi Multi-Cooker review.

Ninja Combi Multi-Cooker review: price & availability

• List price: $229.99 / £279.99
• Launched: April 2024
• Available: US / UK

The Ninja Combi launched in spring 2024, and is currently available in the US and the UK. You can buy direct from SharkNinja, or via various third party retailers.

At time of writing, in the US when you buy direct from Ninja the Combi comes bundled with accessories like a compatible baking pan, Dutch oven and cooking utensils. The list price is $229.99. In the UK, the list price is £279.99, with no accessories bundled in. That's noticeably more expensive than the US option.

Based on TechRadar's price bands, we'd consider anything over $250 / £200 to be a premium air fryer, but this is a slightly different prospect because it offers such a wide selection of functions on top of just air frying.

In the US I think it's really very good value for money, but it's less so in the UK. I'd probably recommend waiting for a discount if you're shopping in the UK – I've seen it drop to £249.99 in the process of writing this review, and I hope more discounts will be in the pipeline when this model gets a little older (the Black Friday sales can be an especially good time to shop for small appliances).

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Ninja Combi specs Ninja Combi Multi-Cooker review: design

• Cool, curvy shape, opens sideways via a chunky handle
• Space for two internal trays
• Large, intuitive button control panel, plus SmartSwitch

The Ninja Combi looks like kind of like a tiny, curvy oven with a control panel stuck to the front. The door opens sideways, and cooking trays slot into the cavity. You can fit two of these in at once. The cavity is, apparently, large enough to fit a 6lb chicken or a 10-inch pizza.

With the UK version I tested, there was a baking tray, crisper plate (with cutouts) and deep, ceramic-coated 'Combi Pan' included. It's not terribly clear what's included with the US version – the 'What you'll get list' just specifies a baking pan and Dutch oven with glass lid, but I'd expect there to be a crisper plate included too, because how are gonna air fry without one of those? These plates and pans are dishwasher-safe.

(Image credit: Future)

The control panel uses buttons rather than a touchscreen. There are separate up and down arrows for temperature, time and cooking function. There's also a general on switch, a start/stop button, and a lightbulb that enables you to illuminate the inside of the Combi when you want to check on progress. A small, illuminated LED display provides information.

Those are the less exciting controls. The cool bit is the SmartSwitch on the top right of the Combi. If it's pointing upwards, the appliance is in Combi Cooker mode, and if it's pointing sideways, it's in Air Fry / Hob mode. The position of the switch will determine which of the options on the main display panel are available for selection. As such, it's in no way necessary to the function of the cooker, but it is satisfyingly chunky and very flickable.

If the switch is up, you can select any of the Combi cooking modes; if the switch is sideways, you can select the regular cooking modes (Image credit: Future)

The exact modes offered by the Combi depends on your territory, but you can rest assured that both the US and UK versions have covered plenty of bases. Here's a run-down:

• 'Combi' modes: Combi Meals, Combi Crisp, Combi Bake, Steam, Rice/Pasta, Proof (Prove)
• 'Air fry' modes: Broil (Grill), Air Fry, Bake, Sear/Sauté, Slow Cook
• Extra US version modes: Toast, Pizza, and Sous Vide

If you use any of the 'Combi' modes, you need to add water to the deep Combi Cooker pan. This will create steam in the cooking chamber. If you use it in Steam, Rice/Pasta or Proof (Prove) modes, it'll keep the food moist and prevent it from drying out. On the Ninja website, it also states that this steaming function can also be used to safely and rapidly thaw frozen food – useful if your meal planning abilities, like mine, leave something to be desired. However, there's no dedicated Defrost mode.

If you use the Combi Multi-Cooker in any of the modes prefaced by 'Combi', the appliance will combine the steam function with another cooking mode, for results that are moist yet crispy. That's my understanding, anyway - it's surprisingly hard to make sense of.

The 'Air Fry' modes are more self-explanatory, although the name itself is baffling, because Ninja is just using it to mean 'modes that don't include steam'.

The Combi offers a wide range of cooking modes, accessed via the control panel (Image credit: Future)

My review model came with a recipe booklet that helped demystify things somewhat – if I hadn't have had that, I'd have been lost. This booklet is also downloadable online (via a QR code on a sticker on the Combi) along with videos and other information. Other appliances I've used add this kind of thing to an app, but I'm very happy not to have to download yet another thing to my phone to use the Combi.

The companion booklet is very useful, and there's also plenty of info available online (Image credit: SharkNinja)

On the UK model I tested, the temperature officially ranges from 120C to a generous 230C. It'll actually go lower for proving / proofing – it kicks in at an automatic 35C in that mode. You can set cooking durations up to a hour and 15 minutes, although if you're cooking above 200C, you can only cook for 30 minutes.

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Ninja Combi Multi-Cooker review: performance

• Combi modes require trial and error, but yield good results
• Air fry mode is excellent, and other 'standard' modes all work well
• Emits a lot of steam, and condensation tray can't be easily emptied

Let's start with a general look at how usable the Combi is. You can fit plenty of things inside, with the stacked trays making the most of the internal space. Ninja says it can cater a meal for eight, and while that seems a touch optimistic, I'd be confident cooking for four to six. It's not too noisy in use, although the bleeping did throw me off a bit. It'll sometimes emit what sounds to me like a 'you've done something wrong' bleep, but is actually an 'everything's fine' bleep.

The display is great for providing all the basic information you need. So when it's preheating, it'll say PRE, and when the cooking is all done, it'll say END. There's no guessing as to what's going on and no need to consult an app to check on progress. When you switch it off, it bids you BYE. It'll also tell you when it's time to add food, and if you try and launch a steam mode without the Combi Pan in its slot, it'll sense that and give you an error message.

You can switch the light on/off manually, can it'll come on automatically for the last minute of cooking (Image credit: Future)

I like the fact there's a light to see inside the cooking chamber, although its positioning means that if there are two trays in there, you'll only be able to see the top one. The light will switch on automatically when the door is open, and sometimes (I couldn't work out a pattern) for the last minute of cooking, too.

The control panel is self-explanatory and very easy to use. The most challenging bit of figuring out which setting you need. I also appreciate that you can reset the timer mid-cook, if you see that things are going to take longer than you'd initially predicted. The Combi will come up with suggested temperatures and times for each mode, and you can adjust up or down from there.

Condensation will build up when the Combi is preparing to use any of the 'Combi' cooking modes (Image credit: Future)

In steam cooking modes, the Combi takes a few minutes to get the steam going before it starts cooking. During this time, dashes appear on the display, and the Combi emits a very quiet grumbling. Initially it can seem like nothing is happening, but after a while condensation will start to appear on the inside of the glass door. Once it's nice and steamy, the actual cooking will kick in (noticeably noisier than heat-up, but not overly loud in general) and the timer will start.

It's worth flagging that in any of the modes that include steaming (and a few of the others, too) the Combi emits a lot of steam from a vent on the right of the machine - far more than I get with my regular air fryer. You will want to make sure it's positioned somewhere well-ventilated, or near an extractor fan. Ninja is clearly aware of this because it's addressed in the troubleshooting section of the guide booklet, where it makes it clear it's normal and expected.

(Image credit: Future)

The steam that doesn't escape condenses on the inside of the viewing window. Ninja has added a little channel where water can collect, so your worktop doesn't end up soaked. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to empty it. After every few uses, I'd have to dip a dry cloth in, let it soak up some liquid, carefully wring it out, then repeat until dry. Not ideal.

This channel quickly fills up with condensed water, and there's no way to easily empty it (Image credit: Future) Combi cooking modes

One of the USPs here is the ability to 'combi' cook. There are three dedicated Combi modes, and it's not immediately clear what the difference is between them. These are the 'best for' suggestions for each, as per Ninja's accompanying recipe booklet:

• Combi Meals: cooking proteins, grains / pasta and vegetables at the same time
• Combi Crisp: whole roasts, fresh/frozen proteins, vegetables, crusty breads
• Combi Bake: homemade batters, boxed mixes, soft-baked breads, delicate baked goods

I think the Meals option is when you're cooking different elements at the same time, the Crisp is for things you want to turn out crispy, and the Bake is for when you want things to turn out soft.

I started by testing the Combi Meals mode. Broadly, the process is: your carb (rice or pasta) goes in the Combi Pan with water, your protein goes on the Bake Tray, which slots in above. In the final 6-7 minutes of cooking, you can add any veggies you want to steam into the Combi Pan alongside the carb.

In the recipe booklet, there are suggestions like salmon with brown rice and steamed broccoli, or tomato pasta with meatballs. I decided to make brown rice, veggie meatballs, steamed courgette and leek, and roasted tomatoes.

Your rice or pasta goes in the bottom tray with water, while your protein goes on the top tray (Image credit: Future)

I was at a bit of a loss as to how long to cook it for or at what temperature. There is a guide in the recipe booklet, but I needed to adjust both the quantities and rice type (they specify 'easy cook'; I only had regular). The booklet suggests setting the cooking time based on the protein, that clearly wasn't going to work here.

In the end, the balls and tomatoes ended up cooking way quicker than the rice, and I had to take that tray out and extend the rice cooking time. I also had to add more water as the rice had dried out.

Vegetables to be steamed are added later in the cooking process (Image credit: Future)

All of this to say, figuring out combination meal timings is tricky, and I suspect will take some trial and error. It's more straightforward with something like the Ninja Double Stack air fryer, where you can set different temperatures and durations for each drawer, and leave the appliance to figure out when to switch each one on so they're done at the same time. But that's a regular air fryer, so you'd be sacrificing the steaming possibilities.

Timing mishaps aside, I was pretty impressed with the results of the Combi Meals setting. The veggie balls ended up evenly browned and crispy on the outside, and the tomatoes roasted up nicely. The rice and veggies were tender and slightly crispy on top. I guess if you want to avoid any crispiness, you want to just use the steam mode.

Other functions

During my review period, I also tested out the Combi's other functions, and I didn't have any issues with any of them. I used the bake function for a range of heating-up tasks, and it performed reliably well. I'd like to give a special shout-out to the dedicated Air Fry mode, too. With other multi-cookers I've tested, this function has been a let-down (leading me to suspect that 'air fry' has just been added to the list because it's a buzz-word in cooking right now, rather than it being something the appliance has been designed for). That was not the case with the Combi.

(Image credit: Future)

It took my veggie sausages from frozen to cooked at least as quickly as my dedicated air fryer – despite the fact that the cooking cavity here is larger. They were hot through and browned evenly on the outside. I'd have no qualms recommending this model to someone for whom air frying was a particular priority.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Ninja Combi Multi-Cooker? Buy it if...

You regularly make meat + veg + carb meals
The Combi function is designed for you to be able to check off these three elements all in one appliance, rather than having to crack out, say, a hob, grill, and steamer.

You want to be able to steam food
The point of difference here compared to an air fryer or big oven is that there's a dedicated steam function, which is great for vegetables.

You've had your eye on an air fryer but are short on space
The Combi's air fryer mode is excellent, so if you've been lusting after one of those but don't have the space to justify a single-function appliance, it could be a great choice. The wide range of functions, including proof/prove, grill/broil, steam, and slow cook let you explore different cooking styles, without compromising on the essentials.

Don't buy it if...

Your kitchen lacks ventilation
In any of the Combi cooking modes, the Combi emits quite a lot of steam. It really needs to go near a window, or at least an extractor fan.

You want minimal effort
Cooking different food types at once does require a bit of figuring out. A dual-basket air fryer, which lets you cook foods at different temperatures and will sync up the timings for you, is less fiddly.

Ninja Combi Multi-Cooker review: also consider

Not sure if the Ninja Combi Multi-Cooker is right for you? Here are a couple of alternatives to consider.

Samsung Combi Smart Microwave oven
This multi-cooker adds microwave functionality to the list, and boasts a sleek, minimalist look. There's smart control via a companion app, and the option to instruct it via voice assistant too. However, it's nowhere near as efficient at air frying as the Ninja Combi, and while the capacity is technically larger, you don't have shelves to maximize use of the space. It's also UK-only.

Read our full Samsung Combi Smart Microwave Oven review

Ninja Double Stack
It's a dedicated air fryer so you won't get the wide range of cooking style options, but the Double Stack is arguably better suited to cooking two things at once. You can set individual temperatures and cooking durations for each drawer, and use the sync function so the machine will work out timings so both are ready simultaneously.

Read our full Ninja Double Stack reviewView Deal

How I tested the Ninja Combi Multi-Cooker

• I used it regularly for around a week
• I tried out the various different cooking mode options
• I compared the results to my dedicated air fryer and oven

I used the Ninja Combi Multi-Cooker regularly for a week before writing up this review, testing it on everything from bread, to ready-made pie, to veggie sausages. I assessed the results in terms of texture, evenness of cooking, and browning (if relevant). I also compared the results and timings to what I'd expect using my usual method of cooking, be that a dedicated air fryer, oven, or stovetop.

To test the 'Combi' functions, I used the Combi to cook variations of the kinds of meals suggested in the companion booklet – i.e. those that feature a rice/pasta, vegetable, and protein component. I judged how well it cooked each of those individual elements, and if the steam function made a difference to the texture of the results.

I also considered how straightforward and intuitive the controls were, if there were any features I felt were confusing or missing, as well as maintenance aspects such as how easy it was to clean.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed October 2024

Push Two minute review

After an entire year as my fitness companion, PUSH Workout & Gym Tracker has become an indispensable part of my training regime. PUSH is the brainchild of fitness influencer and YouTuber Joe Delaney, and is designed to do one thing extremely well. It’s an app made to help you build muscle as quickly as possible, using AI-powered workout routines, strict exercise tracking, and measured progressive overload.

The first thing you notice about PUSH is its sleek and well-built interface. Workout and fitness apps can often be a cacophony of bright colors, images, text, and numbers everywhere, but not so with PUSH. You can tell that real effort has gone into the user interface and the experience of using the app. The fonts, menus, and icons are all well-thought-out, spacious yet comprehensive. There are just a few colors set against the white background, a traffic-light system helps signal progress, PBs, and plateaus at just a glance.

When using PUSH for the first time, you’ll be asked to generate a workout plan. Plans are flexible, but range between three and six sessions a week. You also get to pick your preferred split (gym lingo for your sequence of training sessions), choosing between either "full-body" sessions or "push-pull-legs". The latter is more familiar to most gymgoers, but the former is the most optimal split, with muscles grouped together to minimize crossover fatigue.

You’ll also be asked about your sleep and stress levels, training experience, and muscles to focus, before finally the level of equipment available to you. You can even substitute certain exercises from your plan before you start, and over time the app will make recommendations if you generate new plans, so as increasing or decreasing your workout frequency. The plan generation software is really simple and easy to use, so you always feel like you get the right program for you.

Once you’ve got your program, it’s time to get started. You can view upcoming workouts and scroll between days to see what’s on the agenda, giving you a nice overview of how the week is panning out. You’ll probably be surprised to find a pretty diverse mix of exercises over the course of your week. You’ll often find yourself training legs, back, shoulders, chest, arms, core, and more on the same day or together in ways you might not expect, but it’s all part of the optimization process at the heart of PUSH. A bit unfamiliar at first, I’ve definitely felt the benefits of switching up my training routine and spreading the load more evenly across different muscle groups.

(Image credit: Future / PUSH )

Workouts are broken down into phases, so you’ll start with a strength phase of high-weight, low-reps, with three or more minutes of rest. Then you move on to stabilized compounds like lateral pulldowns, before ending with a pump phase of lower weight, higher reps, and reduced rest. For each exercise, you’ll get very clearly marked target weights and reps, and you simply tick the box by tapping on it with your thumb to mark off a set and start your rep timer. You can manually adjust the entries if you fall short of your target reps, or you lift more weight than listed in the app.

Over time, the AI will track your progress, and it'll eventually suggest a new weight or an increased number of reps. This will become clearer over time as you use the app, but it’s highly motivating and gives you an amazing sense of progress. If you stall, it’ll recommend a "plateau breaker" exercise, or you can attempt the exercise again. You can also switch out exercises on the fly during workouts, too.

The app presents progress over your last seven days, highlighting muscles that are likely growing or stalling, which can help you refocus your efforts as you exercise. Each exercise is accompanied by a helpful animated guide video, although beginners might find the lack of instructions a bit daunting.

There are a couple of quirks to using PUSH. I don’t love that there’s no volume control for the rest timer. It’s tied to the volume of your music (at least on iPhone), so the louder your music or podcast, the louder the beep at the end of your rest period. The AI also isn’t infallible; recently I plateaued at a 100kg bench press, and the AI suggested I try a plateau breaker of 1002.5 kg, instead of 102.5kg.

It feels unfair to mark the app down for only serving one purpose, however, prospective users should be aware that PUSH is only tailored towards building muscle mass in the gym. You won’t find any Pilates, mobility, cardio, or any other discipline here: this is purely strength-based. The only other possible drawback is the price: at $89.99 / £89.99 / AU$144.99 , the yearly subscription is a big commitment, and some people might find the monthly cost too much to stomach compared to the price of, say, Apple Fitness Plus or Fitbod.

Generally, however, the app has been a joy to use in the 12 months that I’ve been a customer and is well worth the financial investment. And there’s more to come, creator Delaney has teased changes coming to the app on his Instagram, so there’s never been a better time to get on board with what is undoubtedly one of the best fitness apps on the market.

Push: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

The Push app is available globally on Apple’s App Store for iPhone and the Google Play Store for Android. There’s a brief free trial available, after which you’ll pay $89.99/£89.99/$AU$144.99 a year or $15.49/£14.99/AU$23.49 a month to use it.

Push: Specifications

(Image credit: Future / PUSH) Push: Scorecard Push: Should I buy?

(Image credit: Future) Buy if it...

You want to build muscle in the gym

This is one of the purest fitness apps on the market for building muscle mass.

You want a structured workout tracker with progressive overload

PUSH excels at tracking your workout progress and keeping you focused during sessions.

Don't buy it if...

You want a free or cheap workout app

PUSH is more expensive than other options on the market.

You want a fitness app for anything other than muscle-building

PUSH does not include any other type of exercise or nutrition guidance.

Also consider

Fitbod

A pocket personal trainer with huge range of exercises that caters to all skill levels.

Read our full Fitbod review

Apple Fitness Plus

Slightly cheaper, Apple Fitness Plus features a more diverse array of content with a focus on guided video classes, with disciplines including Pilates, Kickboxing, Yoga, and more.

How I tested

I’ve paid to use PUSH for one year, and have used it six times a week every week for the last 12 months. I’ve generated multiple fresh plans to follow, and have used its features over the course of an entire year by performing a daily workout with the help of the app. All of my testing was done on an iPhone 15 Pro Max or iPhone 16 Pro Max.

First reviewed: OCtober 2024

Logitech POP Icon Keys: Two-minute review

(Image credit: Future / Alex Blake)

Most keyboards tend to be fairly sedate affairs – even the most brightly lit RGB-infused board typically comes with plain black keys – and those that sport interesting designs are often constrained to the costly realms of enthusiast DIY builders. The Logitech POP Icon Keys breaks that trend. It boasts a range of beautiful designs that will turn heads and catch the eye; if you’re tired of uninspired keyboards limiting your choices, it’s definitely worth a look.

In terms of typing feel, there are no mechanical switches here, but you still get a speedy, comfortable experience. The slightly dished keys are easy to find by touch and they’re mostly quiet, although the space bar can be annoyingly loud and rattly.

There are a few other notable drawbacks. You can’t adjust the typing angle as the included stand is fixed in place, andit also has some issues with ghosting, where keys aren’t always registered when you’re pressing several at once.

If you don’t mind those issues, though, the POP Icon Keys is fairly priced at $49.99 (£49.99 or $99.95 AUD) and, with its bold and bright looks, brings something a little different to the table.

Logitech POP Icon Keys: Price & availability

• How much does it cost? $49.99 / £49.99 / $99.95 AUD
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The Logitech POP Icon Keys costs $49.99 (£49.99 or $99.95 AUD). That feels very reasonable considering its unique looks and handy features. The POP Icon Keys is available at the Logitech official website or from third-party retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy.

Logitech POP Icon Keys: Design Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: Future / Alex Blake)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Future / Alex Blake)

Let’s be honest: a keyboard can look as pretty as a picture, but the way it feels will trump appearance any day of the week. So, what’s it like to actually use the POP Icon Keys?

More often than not, it’s a positive experience. The low-profile keycaps are concave and slightly textured, which makes them easy to feel by touch. The keys don’t use mechanical switches, but they’re comfortable to use and slightly soft on the way down, albeit without any hint of sponginess.

This keyboard is designed for the workplace, and that means you get a quiet typing experience – for the most part. While the majority of its keys are quietly audible without being distracting, the space bar is noticeably loud and slightly rattly. In terms of sound, it’s the only egregious part of this keyboard, but it’s worth noting.

When it comes to appearances, Logitech has knocked it out of the park. My review unit came in the “off white and orange” colorway, and it looks absolutely gorgeous. The orange legends stand out pleasingly well against the white keycaps, with the action buttons (I’ll come back to those in the Performance section) contrasting well with the surrounding keys. It’s a well thought out color scheme that will look great on your desk. Logitech also offers a few other color options, all of which look attractive.

Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: Future / Alex Blake)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Future / Alex Blake)

The downside of the design is that the key legends are simply printed onto the keycaps. This means that they will start to rub off over time, especially if you use the POP Icon Keys a lot. It probably won’t happen right away, but it’s something to consider. The printed legends also mean there’s no backlighting, which makes the board a little harder to use in a dark room.

Unfortunately, you can’t adjust the typing angle. Logitech has put a bar on the underside of the keyboard that acts as a stand, but there’s no way to raise or lower it. The default angle is fairly comfortable, but I’d have liked to have been able to raise it a bit higher.

Logitech has used a compact layout for the POP Icon Keys, with the arrow keys smushed under the Enter button instead of off to the side. Finding the Home and End keys in their new location takes a little getting used to (my regular keyboard has a tenkeyless layout), but it’s otherwise a good way to save space on your desk.

I know it’s not designed for gaming, but it’s worth pointing out that the POP Icon Keys isn’t great here. The Option/Start and Command/Alt keys are very close together -- in fact, the former is positioned where you might normally expect to find the latter -- so you can end up accidentally opening the Start menu during games. You should disable this key in software before you start gaming (unfortunately, you can’t do this in Options+ so you will need a different app).

Logitech POP Icon Keys: Performance

(Image credit: Future / Alex Blake)

The Logi Options+ companion app gives you tons of control over setting up shortcuts and macros and then binding them to the keyboard’s buttons. You can assign shortcuts to the Home, End, Page Up and Page Down keys (known as the “action keys”), as well as the brightness controls and F4 to F12 in the function row. These shortcuts can be used to control system settings or launch combinations of actions, and there are even app-specific controls that will do different things depending on which app you’re using. It’s all very well done and pretty powerful.

The POP Icon Keys can switch between three different devices, and doing so is fast and simple thanks to the dedicated buttons in the function row. It works with Windows, macOS, iPadOS, iOS and Android. Helpfully, the keys are printed with legends for both Windows and macOS.

Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: Logitech)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Logitech)

As for connectivity, you can hook the board up to your computer using Bluetooth. There’s no wired option or wired charging – it’s batteries only. Speaking of which, the POP Icon Keys uses two AAA batteries to keep it juiced up. These are included with the keyboard, and Logitech says you’ll get three years of life out of them.

After doing some testing, it became apparent that the keyboard has a few issues with ghosting. When holding down, say, four keys on one side of the keyboard, pressing buttons on the other side sometimes would not register. It’s probably fairly unlikely that you’ll be pressing any five keys at once, but ideally you want what’s called “n-key rollover,” which means you can press any number of keys at once and they’ll all register. Clearly that’s not the case here.

Should you buy the Logitech POP Icon Keys?

(Image credit: Future / Alex Blake) Buy the Logitech POP Icon Keys if…

You want an eye-catching keyboard

Logitech has several attractive designs for the POP Icon Keys, and any one of them will look great on your desk.View Deal

You value long battery life

Instead of an internal rechargeable battery, the POP Icon Keys uses alkaline cells instead. That gives it extra-long battery life without needing to plug it in.View Deal

You like customizable buttons

Many of this device’s keys are customizable in the Logi Options+ app, giving you extra controls that can be tailored to your needs.View Deal

Don’t buy it if…

Ergonomics are important to you

The POP Icon Keys’ typing angle cannot be adjusted and felt a little low to me. If you don’t like it, there’s not a lot you can do to change it.View Deal

You’re a gamer

Let’s be honest, this is not a gaming keyboard, and you won’t find any gaming-specific features here.View Deal

You want n-key rollover

In my testing, I noticed some keys wouldn’t register when several others were pressed at the same time. If that’s a problem for you, look for keyboards that feature n-key rollover.View Deal

Logitech POP Icon Keys: Also consider

Razer Huntsman Mini

The Razer Huntsman Mini is definitely a more gaming-oriented keyboard, with its excellent optical switches and extra features like Razer’s Snap Tap. It’s also our pick for the best mini keyboard. You can pick one up for $69.99 (£119.99 or $219.95 AUD) on Razer’s website.

Read our full Razer Huntsman Mini reviewView Deal

Yunzii AL71

The Yunzii AL71 is another compact keyboard that’s wowed us. It lacks the POP Icon Keys’ programmable buttons, but in return you get a solid build, tons of customizability, and mechanical switches that make for a superb typing experience.

Read our full Yunzii AL71 reviewView Deal

How I tested the Logitech POP Icon Keys

I tested the Logitech POP Icon Keys by using it to type articles, play games and browse the internet. I tried it on both Windows and macOS and used its Logi Options+ app to create shortcuts and assign them to different keys.

First reviewed October 2024

Tribit StormBox 2: two-minute review

The Tribit StormBox 2 is a cheap, hard-wearing Bluetooth speaker that's designed to deliver 360-degree sound for not much cash. The next-generation upgrade from 2018’s StormBox, it’s a pocket-sized portable speaker that sports unassuming looks and extreme levels of volume and battery life.

The Tribit StormBox 2 very much colors inside of the lines when it comes to design. It apes the near-cylindrical form factor of many of its rivals in the portable speaker space, even echoing the drop-resistant end caps and rubberized buttons that you’ll find on many speakers at the more affordable end of the market. Fortunately, this does make it rugged enough for use in the great outdoors; it will see off drops and dings, while its IPX7 water-resistance means it survived a minute-long dunking in the TechRadar testing tank without any ill effects.

Given its position at the cheaper end of the market, naturally it's missing some features that you’ll find on some of the best Bluetooth speakers. The StormBox 2 doesn’t offer Wi-Fi connectivity, nor less-lossy codecs such as LDAC or ALAC, which means you won't get audiophile-grade sound here.

Despite this, I was pleasantly surprised by the Tribit’s performance. Playing Black Eye by Allie X, the speaker did a great job of representing her vocals and those synthy stings, while that saw-toothed bassline delivers plenty of teeth. Given its frequency range only stretches as low as 70Hz though, it does lose a little presence in its low end – and, like many cheaper speakers, the treble can on occasion sound a little bit bright and overdriven.

On the plus side, like its less-rugged sibling, the Tribit XSound Plus 2, the StormBox 2 has some solid audio profiles that will let you polish the sound it produces and compensate for some of these weaknesses. XBass, in particular, gives everything much more oomph in the low end; I found myself increasingly just leaving it on as standard. And if you really want to get into the nitty gritty, the Tribit app offers a full nine-band EQ to allow you to tweak its sound to suit your favorite genres.

There are more features where that came from, too. One of the most noteworthy is its pairing options: you can link two StormBox 2s together, either to boost volume in party mode or to create a stereo pair, which offers decent separation and a convincing soundstage.

But perhaps the StormBox 2’s most impressive party trick is its battery life. Its stated 24-hour battery life makes the lasting power of Bluetooth speakers such as the JBL Flip 6 look ephemeral by comparison. And at lower volumes, at the 50% I regularly listened at, for example, I actually found it lasted far longer, stretching to as long as a preposterous 30 hours. This speaker has serious playing power.

Is it the best-sounding speaker on the market? Hardly. It displays some definite unevenness in the bass and treble, and the audio it produces isn’t the most detailed or expressive you’ll hear. But for its super-low price, it sounds far better than it has any right to – and the battery life alone makes it a solid investment. So, ultimately, if you’re looking to get change for $100 / £100 / AU$150, this will absolutely be your best option. If your budget can stretch further, there are far finer speakers available on our guide to the best bluetooth speakers.

(Image credit: Future) Tribit StormBox 2 review: price & release date

• Released on May 31, 2024
• Retails for $67.99 / £60 / AU$129

The Tribit StormBox 2 is available now, having been released on May 31, 2024. It currently retails for the bargain price of $67.99 / £60 / AU$129 – which is cheap, even for a budget Bluetooth speaker. This is roughly comparable to the much smaller JBL Clip 5, which only has 7W of amplification compared to the StormBox 2’s 34W, so in theory you’re getting much more oomph for a very similar spend.

When it comes to purchase options, you’re limited: there aren’t any color variations on offer, so what you see here is what you get. Fortunately, what you get is very generous, considering the price you’ll pay.

Tribit StormBox 2 review: specs

(Image credit: Future) Tribit StormBox 2 review: features

• Flexible sound profile and EQ options
• No Wi-Fi or less lossy codecs
• Insane 24+ hours battery life

The Tribit StormBox 2 possesses two 48mm full-range drivers that rock a combined power of 34W. While the 70HZ – 20KHz frequency range these drivers deliver isn’t exactly going to give you gut-punching sub bass, it’s still decent enough for such a compact unit. In addition, it's also capable of 360-degree sound – something you’ll be thankful for any time you’re listening to it in big groups.

Want even more room-filling sound? You’re in luck: you can chain several StormBox 2s together. Hit the TWS button on your connected StormBox 2 and then press the same button on a compatible Tribit speaker and they’ll form a stereo pair. Alternatively, for those more worried about achieving window-rattling volume, you can press the TWS button again and they’ll switch to a mono Party mode.

It's possible to augment the sound in other ways as well. Not only can its XBass button switch on the Tribit’s bass-boosting audio profile, but if you fire up the app, you can access four other sound modes: Audiobook, Classical, Rock and Jazz. However, those looking for granular control over their music will get the most use out of its nine-band EQ – this both lets you tweak the sound balance to your heart’s content and create your own custom profiles, something that quite a few more expensive models still lack.

Given the price, it will hardly be news that the StormBox 2 doesn’t pack the fancier features of premium Bluetooth speakers such as the Sonos Roam 2. While its connection utilizes Bluetooth 5.3, you’re out of luck for Wi-Fi connectivity or higher-res codecs such as LDAC or ALAC. And if you’re looking for the auto-tuning smarts that some high-end speakers offer, forget it: you’re never going to find it in a speaker this cheap.

Where the StormBox 2 does shine over almost any other speaker, however, is its battery life; it makes the Energizer Bunny look like a bone-idle clock-watcher. Tribit estimates the speaker will last you up to 24 hours of solid listening time. Wanting to put this to the test, I ran it for six hours at 50% volume, during which it lost less than 20% of its battery. At that rate, you could potentially eke out up to 30 hours use out of it, which is just ludicrous – even my most epic, 22-hour-long playlist wouldn’t come close to tuckering out this speaker.

• Features score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future) Tribit StormBox 2 review: sound quality

• Lush mids and rich bass – but only in XBass mode
• Premium speakers offer more precision and clearer soundstage
• Capable of eardrum-perforating volume

For its price, the Tribit StormBox 2 offers impressive sound. Firing up St. Thomas by Sonny Rollins, I was instantly struck by how crisp and immediate the toms sounded. The richly timbred sax soars above everything, while beneath it you can still hear the piano line nice and clear, something not all speakers could have delivered so well. All in all, I have little to complain about when it comes to the middle of the mix.

As is often the case with budget Bluetooth speakers, though, the StormBox 2 does occasionally trip over itself at the high end. Sometimes, the bite of the guitars in Fleetwood Mac’s Go Your Own Way sounded a little over-keen to me, like the treble was a bit overdriven and the speaker wasn’t quite able to bring out enough of their bass tones to soften them.

This hypothesis was borne out when probing the lower frequencies the speaker could manage. Playing something with a bit of low-end heft, such as Nobody But You by George Fitzgerald, the StormBox does an admirable job of communicating the low-mids. However, when you compare it to the dynamic punch of bassier speakers such as the JBL Flip 6, everything feels a little looser in the lowest frequencies. It’s just a little too soft to have any impact, like being hit by a cotton-candy cannonball.

Fortunately, there is a way to take care of this. Flicking on XBass mode helped mitigate some of that wooliness. The kick just has a bit more punch, while the bassline resonates much more, giving the whole sound more glue, even while preserving delicate elements such as that piano line. Even though it’s lacking those under 70Hz sub tones, XBass really helps to give things more conviction and I found myself just leaving it on by default.

When putting its pairing options to the test, I was pleasantly surprised by how convincing a stereo field two linked StormBox 2’s created. Listening to my go-to stereo testing track, Manchild by Eels, there was no appreciable lag between each unit and the separation was precise. The samples were appropriately separated on each side of the mix, while the harmonizing of E’s vocals washed over me from either ear, creating a gorgeous layered effect. Not bad for $135.98 / £120 / AU$258, all in.

Despite this, comparing the whole sound to a five-star speaker such as the Sonos Roam 2, the difference between their two audio profiles was pretty clear to me. While the Tribit is undeniably punchier – at least with XBass mode on, anyway – the Sonos is far more discriminating, giving each element in the mix greater separation and breathing room. Naturally, you’d expect better poise from the Roam 2’s less lossy audio codecs, but it's worth considering the capability of a more premium speaker.

However, what the StormBox 2 lacks in finesse it more than makes up for in terms of sheer volume. For the vast majority of contexts, I found 50% volume was high enough to flood the room with confident, 360-degree sound. Cranking up the volume as high as 80% did finally start to show some ragged edges and limiting, but this was also past the level where the loudness had started to hurt my ears. In the vast majority of scenarios, this speaker is plenty loud enough without sacrificing too much in terms of quality.

• Sound score: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future) Tribit StormBox 2 review: design

• Not the most exciting design
• Strap isn’t that usable
• Rugged build and IPX7 waterproofing

When it comes to its looks, the Tribit StormBox 2 hardly reinvents the wheel. It’s the kind of cylindrical-ish unit with drivers either end that’s almost so familiar at this point to be a design cliche. It also features three rubberised buttons on its face – a circular play / pause and a giant volume plus and minus combo. There are no vibrant color options on offer here, either. To paraphrase the industrialist and automotive pioneer Henry Ford: "look, it comes in black – like it or lump it".

But not every speaker has to be an aesthetic revolution. And the StormBox 2 is pleasing enough: the fabric that wraps around its core feels hard-wearing yet pleasant to the touch. Thanks to its 2.72-inch (69mm) depth, it sits comfortably enough in your grip, while a weight of just 1.54lbs (699g) means it’s easy enough to carry around wherever you go. Its strap is a bit of a misstep, though: you can’t easily unclip it, making it hard to loop it through a belt loop or bag strap, so you’re purely reliant on your meathooks here.

The Tribit is also suitably rugged. Thanks to its sturdy build and rigid end-caps, it should survive knocks and falls without anything more than cosmetic damage. On top of this, its IPX7 rating protects it from a plunge in up to 1m for up to 30 minutes. To test this out, I sprayed some water over it and allowed it to dry before powering it up again. I also gave it a thorough baptizing in TechRadar’s testing tank, first letting it merrily bob along on the surface before fully submerging it for a minute. I’m pleased to say that it bounced back from both of these dousings with zero damage, coming out of it sounding as responsive as ever, which puts it up there with many of the best waterproof speakers.

• Design score: 3 / 5

(Image credit: Future) Tribit StormBox 2 review: value

• Cheaper than any similar sounding rivals
• Not a match for more premium speakers

When doing a side-by-side comparison, the Tribit StormBox 2 obviously isn’t going to beat more expensive speakers such as the Roam 2 or even the JBL Flip 6. You can’t expect the kind of precision and quality that pricier components and less lossy codecs can deliver.

However, what the StormBox 2 does for its price is seriously impressive. With its speakers, Tribit is helping to redefine what you can expect from the bargain end of the market. If the biggest thing you care about is getting as much value as you can squeeze out $67.99 / £60 / AU$129, this is the speaker you should choose. If you’re wanting thumping bass or audiophile-grade sound, you’ll have to spend a bit more to get it.

• Value score: 5/5

(Image credit: Future) Should you buy the Tribit StormBox 2? Buy it if…

You want the best sound you can get for the least cash
Few speakers at this price offer audio that's actually worth the investment. But the Tribit offers confident, loud and sufficiently detailed sound that's deeply impressive for such a low price.

You want highly customizable sound
With five preset sound profiles and a nine-band EQ that allows you to create your own custom profiles, the StormBox 2 is a great option for anyone who's constantly looking to tinker with the balance of their music.View Deal

Don’t buy it if…

You want audiophile-pleasing audio
In light of its cheap price and the lack of codecs such as LDAC or aptX HD on offer, this speaker doesn’t offer top-tier resolution. Anyone who doesn’t want to compromise on sound quality should be looking to invest in a higher-end speaker.View Deal

You’re after a speaker that makes a statement
The StormBox 2 offers neither a hugely distinctive dynamic sound signature nor eye-catching, vibrant design. If you want a Bluetooth speaker that draws comment, this may not be the one for you.View Deal

Tribit StormBox 2 review: also consider

Sonos Roam 2
Costing $179 / £179 / AU$299, the Sonos Roam 2 is more than double the price of the Tribit StormBox 2. But in return for that price, it offers a whole lot. Connectivity comes with Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi, and it can integrate with Sonos’s multiroom speaker system for seamless playback, while offering crisp and detailed audio. It also offers IP67 ingress protection, meaning it can see off grit and submersion in water, making it great for listening poolside or trips to the beach. Read our full Sonos Roam 2 review.View Deal

JBL Flip 6
At the more affordable end of the market, the JBL Flip 6 has a good 50% price increase over the StormBox 2, at $109 / £99 / AU$169. But in return, you get more dynamic, bubbling bass and more adventurous looks, with the speaker coming in a range of colorways from salmon pink to camo. And, again, its IP67 ingress protection makes it a hardier companion for use in the great outdoors, seeing off dust and soakings with ease. Read our full JBL Flip 6 review.View Deal

Tribit StormBox 2 review: how I tested

• Tested the device over two weeks using multiple sources
• Compared it the Sonos Roam 2 and JBL Flip 6
• Used specific benchmarking tests to assess battery and waterproofing

I tested the Tribit StormBox 2 over the course of two weeks. I listened to the TechRadar testing playlist and tracks in a variety of different genres to make sure I’d built up an accurate picture of its sonic profile. In addition, I used multiple sources, including Spotify and Apple Music. I compared it side by side with other class-leading Bluetooth speakers, including the Sonos Roam 2 and JBL Flip 6.

To test its battery, I ran the speaker for six hours at 50% volume to see how much it declined, before dividing this by the amount the battery had decreased to get its overall playing time. To test the waterproofing, I sprayed the speaker with water, dried it out and tested its functionality again, as well as fully submerging the speaker in 12 inches (30cm) of water and doing the same.

I have over 10 years of experience reviewing and writing about tech products and have tested many Bluetooth speakers, as well as other audio equipment, during that time. I’ve also spent many years producing audio and music, which has given me a lot of first-hand experience at assessing the performance of audio products.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed: October 2024

This review first appeared in issue 361 of PC Pro.

GoTo Resolve has a laser-sharp focus on remote support access security, and it now augments this with endpoint protection services. These include antivirus and patch management, while the Resolve “GoPilot” streamlines support sessions with AI-powered assistance.

This cloud-hosted service is available in four plans, with the Remote Access edition providing unattended support and starting at £18 for unlimited users and 25 devices. The Remote Support plan enables attended access for on-demand support and is priced per agent.

The Standard plan we review combines unattended and attended access, adds remote execution services and enables endpoint protection, GoPilot and custom script alerts. The Premium edition adds Windows and application update management.

Client support is good and Resolve provides plenty of remote support tools (Image credit: Future)

The basic plans interact with existing anti-malware solutions such as Windows Defender and provide status and threat updates. The endpoint protection add-on has a yearly cost of £17 per device and uses the BitDefender engine for enhanced threat detection and self-healing scripts to clean up detected malware.

To access unattended systems technicians create a personal signature key of at least eight characters and, for added security, GoTo doesn’t store them in the cloud. You can set Resolve to ask for this every time a technician accesses a sensitive task such as deploying the unattended agent, but if this becomes tedious you can set it to request it once a day or week.

Resolve’s unattended access differs from others as it loads a background service linked to the technician’s key. During deployment from the technician portal, you can download the Windows and macOS file or share a web link that is also used to retrieve the Android app.

Once authorized by the technician, each one appears in the portal’s Devices view and for our Windows 10/11 hosts, it confirmed the Firewall and Defender services were operational. The portal’s dashboard provides status charts for endpoint protection along with tables of the top alerts and an overview of all support tickets.

Selecting a device provides details of the CPU, memory, and OS and BIOS versions. The performance monitor tab displays real-time graphs of CPU, memory, network interface and disk utilization. A menu puts all support tools at the technician’s fingertips, with options to run unattended remote control, terminal sessions, a file manager, Registry editor and more.

A dashboard shows the endpoint protection status (Image credit: Future)

Unattended remote control presents the device’s screen in a central window, and you can have active sessions to multiple devices and swap between them on the sidebar. Each interface provides a ribbon menu for chat, file transfer, note taking, screen sharing or blanking and rebooting.

Starting an on-demand session generates a unique nine-digit access code along with options to copy the web link and send the invitation via email. End users are presented with personal details of the technician for authenticity and asked to download the Resolve runtime app, after which the session starts and the technician is presented with the same screen and toolbar as for unattended access.

AI comes into play when you use GoPilot as it can assist diagnosis with lists of suggestions based on your queries, help with session notes and provide guidance when creating remote execution scripts using PowerShell and JavaScript. Enable Helpline on your Resolve customer portal and GoPilot can walk users through troubleshooting steps without involving a technician.

GoTo Resolve Standard takes remote support to the next level, combining tough access security measures with endpoint protection services. Add-ons such as camera sharing plus Android and iOS mobile support cost extra, but it provides a wealth of valuable support tools and Resolve’s slick AI-based services can help accelerate problem resolution.

We list the best identity management software.

This review first appeared in issue 361 of PC Pro.

You know that AI is everywhere when it sneaks its way into a rugged laptop. With the S510, Getac is jumping ahead of rivals such as Dell and Panasonic by not only offering Intel’s Core Ultra chips but complementing them with optional GeForce GTX 1650 graphics.

This five-year-old chip still packs acceleration beyond integrated graphics, but not much beyond: the S510’s 3,394 in 3DMark Time Spy is on a par with laptops using Intel’s Arc graphics. However, any apps that take advantage of Nvidia’s CUDA platform will be significantly faster.

The NPU built into the Core Ultra 7 165U vPro is modest, to the point where Intel doesn’t even specify its standalone TOPS rating, merely “up to 34 TOPS” for the processor as a whole. It’s hard to see this as a key selling point for this laptop, but there will be occasions where it will reduce the load on the CPU.

More importantly, Intel’s recent chip ensures this is one of the fastest rugged laptops around, with its 8,533 in Geekbench 6 multicore a fraction faster than the 8,227 returned by the Panasonic Toughbook 55 MK3. That’s despite the 55 MK3 having a Core i7-1370P with six P-cores, compared to two in the Ultra 7 155U. The Toughbook struck back in Cinebench R23, though, with a 10,319 result compared to 6,456.

The recent Intel chip makes the S510 one of the fastest rugged laptops around (Image credit: Future)

The S510’s literal big advantage over the Toughbook is its 15.6in display, compared to 14in for its rival, although they share the same 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. It covers a modest 55% of the sRGB gamut, but colors still look respectable and its whites are strong. It’s also readable in all light conditions. Pumped up to its 1,093cd/m2 maximum, and with a matte finish, I found it easy to read under bright sunlight.

An IP53 rating means the S510 can work in rainy conditions, but don’t take the it on a Saharan holiday.

That’s despite a bumper-packed chassis and ports protected by thick covers. You can see the full list of ports that came with my review sample in the specifications listing, but more importantly it’s customizable via modular units. If you need extra storage rather than a second battery, a removable drive is yet another option.

By including two 75Wh units, however, the S510 lasted for 15 hours under light use and almost 20 hours when playing back video. Those results aren’t as remarkable as they used to be thanks to Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, but these batteries can be hot-swapped.

(Image credit: Future)

As is the norm for rugged laptops, Getac builds a carry handle into the design for easy portability, and it’s also light at 2.4kg. It’s bulky, though, stretching 39mm from top to bottom, while Getac’s keyboard designers could make more use of the 375mm width. Still, this is a keyboard built for resilience rather than touch typing, and the touchpad is a good size at 107 x 60mm. Physical mouse buttons sit below, which makes sense for gloved hands.

A built-in handle makes the S510 easy to transport (Image credit: Future)

Two programmable buttons above the keyboard can be configured using the G-Manager app. This also gives you control over power profiles and lets you tune the touchscreen for gloves or rainy conditions.

The resilient keyboard and rugged finish are well suited to tough environments (Image credit: Future)

The S510 is pretty up to date when it comes to Wi-Fi standards, with 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 on offer, while the 1080p webcam is capable. There’s a slide-over privacy cover, too. Add an aggressive pair of speakers, built for volume in extreme environments rather than quality, and Getac ticks all the most important boxes.

If you don’t need the GeForce graphics then you can save a considerable amount of money, with prices starting at £1,885 exc VAT for a Core Ultra 5 125U, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. So long as an IP53 rating meets your needs, this is a top-quality and fast rugged laptop for demanding outdoor workers.

Check out the best business laptops.

This review first appeared in issue 361 of PC Pro.

Dell has recently updated many of its Latitude business laptops with Intel’s Core Ultra chips, and this is our first chance to look at one in the flesh. If you haven’t checked out Latitudes for a while you might be struck by the dark grey matte chassis, a striking design that’s a welcome move away from the light grey metal finish so common on business laptops.

Duck if one is thrown at you, however, as it’s one dense, heavy machine. That’s partly due to the robustness of the aluminum chassis, but also because convertibles are always meatier due to the hinge mechanism and the extra support this requires.

The laptop offers all the versatility of a convertible together with a superb screen (Image credit: Future)

While you can customize the CPU (Ultra 5 135U or Ultra 7 165U), RAM (16GB, 32GB, 64GB) and storage (256GB, 512GB, 1TB), every version ships with the same screen. It’s a 14in 2,560 x 1,600 IPS panel with a quoted peak of 500cd/m2, though I measured 489cd/m2. It covers 95% of the sRGB colour space with an average Delta E of 0.46, so near-perfect accuracy. With excellent whites, you couldn’t ask for more in a business laptop.

The keyboard is cut from the same cloth as the Dell XPS 13, with a pleasant feel to the keys. Again, though, I didn’t enjoy the off-center typing position. Then we come to the touchpad. Not only is it gigantic, at 135mm wide and 90mm tall, but if you take part in a Teams or Zoom call then four buttons appear at the top. These allow you to mute your mic, switch off the camera, jump to the chat function and share your screen.

The keyboard has a pleasant feel, but is slightly off-centre (Image credit: Future)

I expected Dell to go all out on the webcam, too, but it’s a typical 1080p unit and doesn’t capture the level of detail you’ll find on the best offerings. Where Dell wins is for the granular control over audio in the Dell Optimizer app, including the option to remove background noise. This app is also where you can enable advanced security features such as presence detection, while fingerprint and face recognition are both on offer, too.

During benchmarking, I activated Ultra Performance in Dell’s software to give the system’s Core Ultra 7 165U every opportunity. Two small fans keep the CPU cool, but even in this supercharged mode I rarely heard any noise. The exceptions were during extended tests such as Cinebench 2024, with the multicore section particularly strenuous. A score of 460 highlights that the 165U is built for efficiency rather than outright speed – as highlighted by its incredible battery life for an Intel laptop – but in day-to-day use, you’ll have no issues with this laptop’s performance. It should do sterling service for years.

(Image credit: Future)

The first three of these are covered by the Dell ProSupport warranty that comes as standard, but this Latitude laptop is built with maintenance in mind. Standard crosshead screws keep the base secure, and the owner’s manual provides a detailed guide on how to replace components, from the WAN antenna module to the speakers that sit either side of the keyboard. And those speakers are excellent, delivering a quality I’d expect from a consumer laptop rather than a business machine.

Some businesses may be similarly surprised by a laptop that only offers USB-C ports, with two on the left and a third on the right. Aside from a 3.5mm combo jack and security lock, that’s your lot. Dell provides a tiny USB-C to USB-A dongle, and it’s just about small enough to stay in a port permanently, but there’s plenty of space for other ports on this 16.3mm-thick chassis so it’s an oddly restrictive choice.

Perhaps Dell is looking to the future rather than the past, recognizing that in five years USB-C ports will be the default, and that certainly reflects the progressive feel of the Latitude 9450 as a whole. Ports and price aside, I can’t find anything to fault in this high-quality convertible.

Check out our laptop buying guides.

This review first appeared in issue 361 of PC Pro.

Armari has been producing some of the best workstations in the UK market for decades and, together with Scan, is often the first to send us the latest technology. The Magnetar M64T7-AW1650G4 isn’t the only system this month to sport one of the recently released non-Pro AMD Ryzen Threadrippers, but it’s the only one to opt for the 64-core iteration.

The Threadripper 7980X has a base 3.2GHz clock across its 64 cores (with 128 threads) and a maximum boost of 5.1GHz. The most obvious difference between the two variants of the Threadripper is that the Pro version supports eight-channel memory, and the non-Pro variant has a quad-channel controller, so will have lower RAM bandwidth. However, the Pro also has 128 PCI Express 5 lanes whereas the non-Pro only offers 48, plus 24 PCI Express 4 lanes. So the Pro will support a greater number of fast peripherals, such as networking and GPUs. Unless you need the memory and peripheral bandwidth, the non-Pro is much cheaper and therefore more cost-effective.

The Armari gave us some of the highest test results we’ve ever seen (Image credit: Future)

Armari has taken advantage of the quad memory channels by providing four 32GB DDR5 DIMMs running at 5,600MHz, for a total of 128GB. This will be enough for now, although several manufacturers this month have provided a lot more. The Asus Pro WS TRX50 Sage WiFi motherboard supports up to 1TB of memory.

Although the vanilla Threadripper is cheaper than the equivalent Pro, it’s still expensive, so Armari has been more conservative about its graphics acceleration choice. Instead of the range-topping AMD Radeon Pro W7900, the GPU is the W7800 that sits one rung below. This has 4,480 Stream processors instead of 6,144, and 32GB of GDDR6 frame buffer instead of 48GB, with 576GB/sec of bandwidth instead of 864GB/sec.

Also, while there are two storage drives in this system, Armari hasn’t supplied a smaller, faster one for the operating system and applications alongside a larger, slower one for media. Instead, there are two 2TB Crucial T700 M.2 NVMe devices operating at PCI Express 5 speeds. These have been combined using the motherboard’s built-in array capability into a single 4TB RAID0 device. This configuration delivers a staggering 16,134MB/sec of sustained reading and 22,655MB/sec writing (as measured by CrystalDiskMark 8).

One of Armari’s unique features is that it designs its own chassis and cooling solutions, although not for all its systems. The Magnetar M64T7-AW1650G4 sports the latest iteration of Armari’s M60G4 case, which now has some unique airflow tunnelling but most significantly has custom liquid cooling warrantied to deliver 700W for AMD’s Precision Boost Overdrive. Armari systems come with the latter enabled to obtain the maximum possible performance while remaining entirely reliable and stable. The chassis also has side-accessible easy-swap caddies for adding up to three 2.5/3.5in drives and another with a U.2 connection that supports SAS or up to three PCI Express 4 NVMe drives. The 1,650W PSU should be more than capable of supplying a fully stocked system without missing a beat, however.

Armari’s M60G4 case provides custom water cooling (Image credit: Future)

With that 64-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper CPU, the Armari was sure to dominate in most of the processor-focused benchmarks. The overall PC Pro media benchmark score of 949 is the highest we’ve seen, and although the image-editing result of 281 isn’t top of the pack, 869 in video encoding and 1,224 in multitasking trounce the competition. Likewise, 6,294 in Cinebench 2024 multi-CPU rendering was more than three times faster than any of the £4,500 systems this month, and 80% quicker than anything else. It dispatched the Blender Gooseberry render in 89 seconds on CPU, way ahead of anything we’ve seen before. The Adobe Media Encoder OpenCL-enhanced render took only 105 seconds.

The GPU, however, is merely great rather than dominant. SPECviewperf 2020 results include 185 in 3dsmax-07 and 817 in maya-06, 139 in catia-06, 221 in creo-03, 601 in snx-04 and 455 in solidworks-07, showing 3D animation and engineering workloads will be dealt with easily. But the W7900 is significantly faster in all areas. GPU rendering and AI inference is similarly good but beaten by a few competitors.

Overall, though, this is another incredible system from Armari, and a worthy Labs Winner.

Check out the best business computers.

This review first appeared in issue 361 of PC Pro.

Last year, Intel stopped developing its popular NUC mini PCs, signing an agreement with Asus that it would “manufacture, sell and support the Next Unit of Compute (NUC) 10th to 13th generation systems product line, and to develop future NUC systems designs”. I assumed that meant Asus would have the monopoly on the NUC name, but not so: MSI has entered the fray with its Cubi NUC line, and assures me that more will follow in the coming months.

You can buy the Cubi NUC 1M as a barebones system, with the Core 3 100U version costing £349 inc VAT. Core 5 120U and Core 7 150U versions are available for £449 and £519 respectively (prices from scan.co.uk). Or you can buy Cubi NUCs as complete systems, supplied with RAM, SSDs and Windows 11 Pro. Here, I test the top-end version, with a Core 7 150U, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.

The Cubi NUC 1M is a great mini PC provided that all-out power isn’t a priority (Image credit: Future)

Arguably, this is a 14th gen NUC as Intel released the 150U earlier this year. However, Intel seems intent on adopting more confusing names for its chips with every release, and the 150U actually has much more in common with the 13th generation Core i5-1335U than the new Core Ultra line. It still uses the Raptor Lake architecture, includes two P-cores and eight E-cores, and there’s no NPU for local AI tasks.

Like all U series chips, the 150U is designed for maximum efficiency rather than all-out speed. When I pushed it to extremes, the Cubi’s fan kept at a low-pitched but audible hum, but its power consumption peaked at 61W (it’s 15W when idle). That compares to 101W from the Geekom A8 Mini PC (see issue 359, p62) when I tested it with an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS.

While the Core 7 150U holds its own in single-core tasks, outperforming the Ryzen 9 8945HS in Geekbench 6 with a score of 2,635 versus 2,561, there’s a gulf in benchmarks that test all cores. In Geekbench, the Geekom A8’s 13,237 return is light years away from the MSI’s 8,651, and the gap grew in Cinebench R23 with 16,615 against 6,342.

(Image credit: Future)

The gulf in performance continued into gaming, as illustrated by the Geekom’s return of 3,215 in 3DMark Time Spy, almost twice the MSI’s 1,711, and where the Ryzen’s 780M graphics proved good enough for 35fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider (at 1080p High settings) the MSI could only rustle up 22fps.

So, if all-out speed is your priority, the Cubi NUC is not your best choice. However, few people need such power, especially in businesses where MSI is certainly targeting this mini PC. For instance, it includes two 2.5GbE ports, one of which can be used for out-of-band management, while those IT directors who need to show they’re making environmental strides will appreciate that 43% of the plastics are PCR. MSI takes renewables seriously, too, with 92% of its factory’s power coming from renewable sources.

I also asked MSI about its customer support. You’ll be buying from a reseller rather than direct from MSI, but for businesses its approach is to have a ready supply of buffer stock so that faulty units can be swapped out and then fixed at MSI’s recently established UK service center. It’s hardly Dell next-business-day on-site support, but there is a plan.

The Cubi’s impressive range of connectivity includes two 2.5GbE ports (Image credit: Future)

The Cubi should be of particular appeal to any business wanting to mount mini PCs on a monitor. If you buy a compatible MSI display then its power switch can also switch on the PC, but otherwise MSI supplies an external power switch that sits at the end of a cable and means users don’t need to reach round the back. You can even power the Cubi via USB-C, with up to 100W of power, massively simplifying cable management. There are two USB-C ports here, both supporting Thunderbolt 4, and when you add Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, four USB-A ports, a microSD card reader and two HDMI 2.1 ports it’s hard to think of something that isn’t included.

Those looking for a home entertainment system will be pleased to discover those HDMI ports support CEC (so universal remotes will work), and there are plenty of ways to extend storage. A second M.2 socket sits empty, albeit M.2 2242 rather than 2280, and you can mount a 2.5in SSD externally via four screw slots on its bottom. Or plug fast external storage into the USB-C ports.

As ever with NUC designs, the big advantage of the Cubi is its ability to squeeze into any situation. Here, you could use the Cubi for digital signage (the Core 3 version will be fine for such tasks), in schools, in businesses and in homes. It isn’t the fastest mini PC around, nor the smallest, but for versatility it’s an absolute winner.

We've rated the best business computers.

Antennas Direct ClearStream Max-V Pro: Two-minute review

The Antennas Direct CleaStream Max-V Pro is about as powerful an indoor antenna as you can buy. Antenna gain matters for receiving more distant or lower-power broadcast TV stations, and that gain comes from multiple, large elements like those employed in the ClearStream Max-V Pro. Compared to the best indoor TV antennas, this is quite large at about 32 x 17 x 4 inches and is billed by Antennas Direct as an “indoor/outdoor” design, with both a wall-mount bracket and mast-mount hardware included. (No mast is included, but the company has several options available on its website.)

The Antennas Direct ClearStream Max-V Pro uses two double-loop UHF elements (the figure-8 shaped things) and a VHF element (the straight horizontal rod) to maximize signal-pulling abilities. All of this must be assembled out of the box, fixed to a central pod that holds a short output-cable “whip” terminated with a standard F-connector. Using supplied longer and shorter screws and plastic stand-offs, this requires only a screwdriver and should be doable by even the un-mechanically minded in 15 minutes or so, though the supplied instructions could be a lot clearer and more detailed.

The payoff, however, is the performance. The ClearStream Max-V Pro pulled in more stations from my semi-rural test location than any other indoor antenna I’ve tried – and that was without a signal amplifier, as none is included in the package. But remember, location and, especially, elevation is everything for antenna performance. My spot is about 700 feet above sea level, with clear line-of-sight to a variety of transmitters to the east, south, and southwest at distances ranging from 17 miles to more than 75 – a very nearly ideal location.

The basic ClearStream Max V-Pro package includes hardware for wall mounting (Image credit: Future)

While temporarily set in a second-story window facing southeast, the ClearStream Max-V Pro received 13 main-channel carriers, spanning that full range of distances, for a total of 48 main- and sub-channels combined. And this was with no signal amplifier. When I re-scanned with a ClearStream’s18 dB “Jolt-USB” amp in line ($25, or in a bundle with the antenna, mast, and other extras for $199), these totals went up to 15 and 64 respectively – close to the results delivered by the attic-mounted full-sized, multi-element outdoor-type antenna that normally serves this location.

Of course, the price for this performance is size and bulk, in an antenna that stretches the definition of “indoor” a bit: despite its less-angular, all-black design, the Max-V Pro is going to dominate any wall upon which it’s mounted. (The fact that the supplied wall-mount bracket is plain, unfinished metal doesn’t sweeten the deal much.) And then there’s the actual price: the Max-V Pro is two to three times the cost of typical indoor antennas.

That said, this is an antenna that will bring in nearly as many stations as possible in a far-suburban or fringe/rural location, especially if located higher up in an attic or roof/mast-mount setup. In such installations, an RF signal amplifier to maximize reception and overcome the losses from longer cabling should certainly be considered (ClearStream offers a bundle that adds a short mast, signal amplifier, and splitter for $50 more on its website).

The ClearStream Max-V Pro uses two double-loop UHF elements (the figure-8 shaped things) and a VHF element (the straight horizontal rod) to maximize signal-pulling (Image credit: Future) Antennas Direct ClearStream Max-V Pro: Price and release date

• First available: March 2023
• Price: $159.99 ($199.99 with mast and RF amplifier)

The Antennas Direct ClearStream Max-V Pro commands a premium price but delivers premium performance, especially when combined with the optional RF amplifier. If you're looking for a less expensive but similarly powerful option specifically for an indoor installation, check out the Antop HD Smart Bar AT-500SBS.

(Image credit: Future) Should you buy the Antennas Direct ClearStream Max-V Pro? Buy it if...

You live in a fringe/suburban or semi-rural location: The ClearStream Max-V Pro offers maximum signal-pulling ability, especially when combined with the optional RF amplifier.

You want an indoor/outdoor antenna: The Max-V Pro is designed to be mounted both indoors and outdoors, though an outdoor installation will require paying extra for the optional hardware package.

Don't buy it if...

You’re on a tight budget: The Max-V Pro’s excellent performance comes at a cost, with even the base package priced considerably higher than other indoor antennas.

You don’t want to see your antenna: This is a large, somewhat bulky and imposing antenna that will be hard to conceal in an indoor location unless you install it in an attic.

Antennas Direct ClearStream Max-V Pro review: Also consider

Antop HD Smart Bar AT-500SBS
This antenna provides nearly the same performance as the ClearStream Max-V Pro but at a lower price. It's specifically designed for indoor installation and, like the ClearStream Max-V Pro, is large and bulky.

Read our full Antop HD Smart Bar AT-500SBS review

Winegard FlatWave Amped Pro TH-3000
This indoor antenna has a more discreet design than the ClearStream Max-V Pro and provides very good performance over a 60-mile range. At around $110, it's not cheap, but a useful installation app enhances its value.

Read our full Winegard FlatWave Amped Pro TH-3000 review

(Image credit: Future) How I tested the Antennas Direct ClearStream Max-V Pro

• Tested at semi-rural location
• Compared with powerful "reference" antenna

I test indoor TV antennas at a semi-rural, hilltop location with good elevation and a clear line-of-sight over nearly 360 degrees to TV transmitters ranging from about 15 to about 70 miles. This testing environment gives me the ability to evaluate models catering to a full spectrum of indoor antenna needs.

For the testing process, I first place the antenna high up in a south-facing window and run the tuning process on a TV with an ATSC 3.0 “next-gen TV” tuner. I then record the number of carriers tuned, along with the total number of sub-channels. A powerful inside-the-attic rooftop-type antenna at the same location is also used as a reference for comparison.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed October 2024

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro: one-minute review

The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro, the brand's new flagship wearable, promises a longer battery life among other enhanced features over its previous incarnation, the TicWatch Pro 5. 

The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro is a well-engineered device with a robust feel, yet it’s light and relatively slender for a fitness-focused watch. The screen glass is dense and feels tough enough to withstand the rigors of more extreme activities, while the display is clear and renders the UI very well. It’s responsive to gestures, but unfortunately, contact still registers through various materials, so accidental swipes when brushed against clothes and the like are possible.

Aesthetically, the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro is no standout, but it’s discreet enough to be worn on any occasion. The included straps are durable, but as someone who prefers nylon over rubber, I didn’t find them to be the most comfortable, and the loop failed to keep the excess slack in place consistently. 

Running Google’s Wear OS, the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro is a fast performer, for the most part, thanks to the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip. I did experience the occasional stutter and instances where apps and various functions didn’t work as intended, but nothing that drastically derailed the overall experience. 

The Mobvoi Health Android app is great for tracking your workouts and physical data, with a clear layout, stable performance, and plentiful features and functionality. As you would expect, there’s a miscellany of health and fitness apps available on the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro right out of the box. Some of these work better than others: the measurements for steps and distance covered appear quite accurate, while those for activity, blood oxygen and anaerobic exercise seem to miss the mark. 

All the performance and functionality of the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro comes at a cost. While there are certainly more expensive fitness wearables out there, there are also cheaper models, including the Fitbit Inspire 3 and the Apple Watch SE 2, that offer the same levels of performance and functionality (or close to them).

(Image credit: Future) Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro review: specs

(Image credit: Future) Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro review: price & availability

• $349 / £329 / about AU$504
• Available in Slate or Obsidian colorways
• Costs more than some Apple Watch models

The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro costs $349 / £329 / about AU$504 and is available in two color schemes: Slate, which is a pale shade of green, and Obsidian. 

The Enduro is priced the same as its predecessor, the TicWatch Pro 5, which is still available to buy. However, it has a few more enhancements, including a battery with a longer life and fast charging, a new ultra-low-power display, and new biometric measurement tools. 

It’s cheaper than some dedicated fitness wearables, such as the Garmin Forerunner 265, but considerably more than other popular smartwatches, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and the Apple Watch SE. These both offer similar fitness credentials to the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro, although they lack ECG features and blood oxygen sensors.

If you’re only buying a wearable for health and fitness purposes, the Fitbit Luxe is our pick as the best fitness tracker around, or the Fitbit Inspire 3 if you’re after the best cheap fitness tracker.

• Value score: 2/5

(Image credit: Future) Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro review: design

• Solid build
• Anonymous looks
• Sleek interface

In line with other Mobvoi TicWatch models, the Pro 5 Enduro sports a round face with a thick chassis that’s not too bulky. As someone with small wrists, it didn’t feel oversized, although it isn’t as sleek as some wearables on the market, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 or the Apple Watch. 

As for the build quality, the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro feels very well put together, with a sturdy yet lightweight construction, and a rugged strap that feels secure and durable. However, I found it too thick to be breathable, generating quite a lot of sweat during physical activity, which makes for an uncomfortable sensation. This is an issue I usually have with most rubberized straps; I much prefer nylon.

Mobvoi does sell replacement straps, and there are plenty of compatible third-party ones out there. The TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro utilizes pins common on many standard watches to secure each end in place, with sliding bolts that allow you to install new straps without needing any tools. 

The loop has a nodule that’s supposed to fit into the empty strap holes to secure it in place, but this didn’t work for me: at least once or twice a day, the strap would escape the loop, which is especially inconvenient during exercise.

What’s more impressive on the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro is the switches. The swivel on the crown is smooth and offers good haptic feedback, which is noticeable without being intrusive. Presses are also pleasingly tactile and the same goes for the side button above. This can be customized to perform various actions and functions, such as setting it as a shortcut for opening apps of your choosing. All these factors combine to make it easy to operate the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro.

The interface itself is sleek and minimal. Menus are easy to navigate, for the most part, and the UI is laid out clearly. There are also a generous amount of watch faces to choose from, with varying degrees of information displayed that can be customized further in the Mobvoi Health app. The included TimeShow app offers even more face designs, but requires a paid subscription.

There is a variety of display settings that can only be controlled when the main watch face appears, such as when you tilt the watch towards you. The AMOLED display is clear and bright, making it easy to view in all but the sunniest of conditions. The default ultra-low-power display, however, is hard to see no matter what the ambient lighting is like, regardless of what backlight setting you choose.

• Design score: 3.5/5

(Image credit: Future) Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro review: Features

• Accurate GPS
• Plenty of fitness functions
• Good customization options

Setting up the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro was simple enough, requiring the Mobvoi Health app to get going. You’ll also need to create an account (or sign in with your Google account) to save your workouts and other health data. 

At time of writing, the app had a poor rating among users on the Play Store, scoring a meager 1.9 from 3,000 reviews, but during my time with it, I struggled to find much to criticize. It has a clear layout and a good set of customization options, with plenty of health data available for you to dig into. I didn’t experience any performance issues with it either. My only real complaint is that you can’t adjust the same number of settings as you can on the watch itself.

Once set up, the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro recommends apps to install, including those that are already present on your phone. Even though I checked the boxes for this during my setup, they failed to install as the Wi-Fi took a while to establish a connection. Thankfully, the Play Store app on the watch has the same list, enabling you to install your phone apps whenever you wish. 

There are numerous Mobvoi apps related to fitness, which can seem overwhelming at first. The main one is TicHealth, which tracks metrics such as your steps and calories burned, as well as your heart rate, sleep and blood oxygen. Many of these require an initial measurement to get set up, which can be done via the new one-tap measurement app and takes only 90 seconds to complete its assessment.

Another key app is TicExercise, which can track your workouts. It offers a myriad of activities to track, from walking and yoga to Tai Chi and Motocross, and includes individual exercises in addition to overall routines. 

As a fully-fledged Wear OS watch, the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro can run popular third-party apps downloaded from the Google Play Store, including Strava, Spotify, Audible, Microsoft Outlook, and WhatsApp, as well as Google’s own suite of apps, including Maps, Docs, and Keep. Although the selection is a far cry from what’s available on mobile devices, it’s still enough to make having a Wear OS smartwatch useful. 

• Features score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future) Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro review: performance

• Lots of data available
• Inconsistent measurements
• Average battery life

Although many of the aforementioned TicWatch apps are effective for giving a general overview of your stats, they’re far from perfect. While the heart rate monitor seemed reasonably accurate, I found the sleep and blood oxygen measurements inconsistent. The latter was particularly dubious, ranging from 100% to 91% after taking numerous readings (bearing in mind that below 94% indicates insufficient oxygen supply). Naturally, Mobvoi does issue a disclaimer that the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro cannot be used for medical purposes.

It also gives some tips for improving your blood oxygen that verge on the eccentric, including recommendations to eat liver and fungus for their plentiful iron stores, as well as informing you that oxygen cylinders are used to increase oxygen saturation.

As for sleep tracking, there were times when it seemed to get the hours spot on, and know how many quality hours of sleep I got. However, there were also times when it grossly underestimated the amount of sleep, such as when it said I only got 3 hours and 15 minutes. Admittedly, this was a fitful night, but I certainly got more hours than this. 

Activity monitoring was also inaccurate in its assessments, telling me on more than one occasion that I had been active for three hours from 9am to 12pm, despite the fact I was sitting at my desk the whole time. It also gave me a prompt to get more steps in to meet my daily target, straight after going for a 10-minute dog walk. And it failed to notice my three-minute run to catch a train, not even registering my elevated heart rate. Admittedly, this could be explained by how loose I had the strap at that moment – a consequence of the discomfort it caused me.

Despite the TicExercise app having a wide variety of exercises available for tracking, in practice, they didn’t offer the tailor-made experience I was hoping for. When using the weightlifting option for one of my workouts, the only data it offered was duration, calories burnt, and heart rate. It also broke down my workout time into warm-up, fat-burning, cardio, anaerobic and danger zone phases. 

I found this breakdown quite inaccurate, since it said I spent most of the time in warm-up, a minimal amount in cardio, and none in the anaerobic state – essentially the opposite of how my actual workout went. I’m not an athlete by any stretch, but I certainly exerted my muscles during the workout, far beyond what the watch impertinently thought was a “warm-up”, and I certainly did more anaerobic than aerobic work.

(Image credit: Future)

For my outdoor run, it seemed much more accurate with its account of my pace, max speed, and time spent in a cardio-intensive state – although strangely it did seem to think that for five of my 18 minutes spent running, I was in an anaerobic state. It also split my times per kilometer covered, and offered average and maximum readings of my heart rate, pace, cadence, and stride length. It provided a very detailed route map too, showing exactly where I had been, along with a reading of the elevation gain, so the GPS certainly functions well, and I found it established a signal fairly quickly too. Clearly, TicExercise is at its best when assessing aerobic rather than anaerobic activity.

In terms of general use, the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro is responsive, with swipes being smooth, fast, and easy to perform. Functions and apps are quick to run too, and overall the Wear OS integrates nicely with Android devices, receiving push notifications and messages promptly – even when there’s no Wear OS app equivalent (Slack was a case in point here). There’s a good degree of cross-platform functionality as well, including the ability to easily control media playback from your smartphone on the watch.

There are a few minor usability issues, such as the watch failing to wake up when I brought my arm up, particularly when lying down at night, and coming on when I didn't want it to. Gestures occasionally failed to register, and some apps failed to open on the first tap. Notification and media playback symbols can also obscure the battery level indicator on some watch face designs. Overall, though, my experience with the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro wasn’t ruined by these niggles and minor bugs.

Third-party apps perform well on the whole. However, Spotify – an app many are likely to use during their workouts – did give me a few issues, ranging from playback and UI failures to Bluetooth headphones disconnecting unbidden. Whether the blame lies with the Spotify app or the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro is hard to determine, but it’s an issue worth mentioning.

Mobvoi claims that the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro battery lasts up to 90 hours, 10 hours more than the Pro 5. During my tests, however, I was getting substantially less than this. Over the course of 12 hours, I went from full to 70% with minimal use. The upshot is that I was getting closer to three days of use out of the TicWatch rather than four. On the positive side, charging is quick, thanks to its fast charging capability.

You can turn on essential mode to extend the battery life to up to 45 days, but you can’t access any of the other features beyond what’s shown on the ultra-low-power display. Since you can’t access the settings or control the watch from your phone in this mode, to return to normal you have to restart by holding the side button, which takes longer than it should. It feels as if the mode switching could’ve been implemented better than this.

• Performance score: 3/5

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro: Scorecard Should I buy the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro? Buy it if...

You do aerobic exercise
The TicWatch is at its most accurate when counting steps and tracking distance, with useful pace and route tracking functionality, thanks to the excellent GPS.

You have an Android phone
As a Wear OS device, the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro integrates superbly with Androids. Some of your favorite apps are also available from the Play Store.

Don't buy it if...

You do anaerobic activity
While runs can be tracked comprehensively, resistance training tracking isn’t at the same level.

You’re on a budget
With an asking price of $349 / £329 / about AU$504, it's more expensive than most Fitbit and even some Apple Watch models, and these may be better options depending on what you want from a smartwatch.

You have an iPhone
The TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro doesn’t work with Apple’s smartphones, so you’ll need to go for a Fitbit, Apple Watch or other compatible wearable if you want cross-device support.

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro review: also consider

Apple Watch SE
Apple still reigns supreme in the smartwatch space, and for good reason. Although it’s not strictly billed as a fitness watch, there are plenty of apps for the Apple Watch SE, both first and third-party, that can add that capability. And at $249, it’s cheaper than the TicWatch. You will, of course, need an iPhone to get going with it, though, and beware: there’s no ECG or blood oxygen sensor. Read our full Apple Watch SE review

Fitbit Luxe
Fitbit was one of the first to kickstart the fitness wearables trend, and it’s still going strong with various models. In our Fitbit Luxe review, we said it’s one of the company’s best models. Note, however, that there have been a number of controversial changes to Fitbit services of late, including the axing of much-loved features, casting doubts over its longevity.

How I tested the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro

• Tested for one week
• All features and first-party apps used
• Regularly active

I tested the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro for a week, wearing it every day and some nights. During that time I went about my normal routine, which included working at a desk, walking and exercising. I did a mixture of resistance training and cardio work, both indoors on a treadmill and out in the wild.

I also used as many of the available functions and apps the watch had to offer as possible, including all the preinstalled health and fitness apps, as well as other third-party apps.

I partake in physical activities, such as walking and resistance training, between two to three times a week, with some cardio thrown in when I can. I also commute to work, which can vary from taking public transport – including 10-minute walks either side – or walking the whole two miles each way to the office and back.

HP Envy x360 14-fc009na - 30-second review

(Image credit: Future / Mike Moore)

With AI tools now becoming a common sight in businesses everywhere, it's clear adoption is coming on fast.

However, it's one thing having this incredibly powerful new era of technology as purely software, but another getting it integrated into your everyday hardware.

If you're looking for a solid workplace companion, the HP Envy x360 14-fc009na should tick all your boxes. Offering a bright display, lightweight build and all-day battery life, it manages to handle everything we threw at it - and although not quite the indispensable business tool it promises to be soon, having the opportunity to utilize Copilot via a dedicated key is a welcome touch.

The HP Envy x360 14-fc009na looks to help users, primarily freelancers and creators, take a step forward in this AI age with an integrated Microsoft Copilot button, putting the Windows AI tool front and center - but how does it stand up as an everyday working device?

HP Envy x360 14-fc009na - Price & availability

The base-level HP Envy x360 14-fc009na (Intel Core Ultra 5 125U/512GB SSD) is available from HP's UK website for £999 although we're currently seeing a reduced price offer of £911.98, saving £87.02.

If you're able to push the boat out a little more, confusingly, there is the option of an Intel Core Ultra 7 155U/1TB SSD edition for the same price - £999.

The device doesn't appear to be available on HP's US website - instead, there's the similarly-specced HP Envy x360 14-fc0097nr, which also features the Intel Core Ultra 7, 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM, for $1,199.99.

HP Envy x360 14-fc009na - Design & build

(Image credit: Future / Mike Moore)

As noted, the big selling point of this device is regarding its software - which we'll get on to shortly, as the build of the HP Envy x360 14-fc009na definitely deserves some attention.

From the outside, it's a pretty standard business laptop, with its dark grey metallic build making it seem like so many other devices out there today.

However as with HP's other 360 brand offerings, flexibility is the biggest surprise here, with the HP Envy x360 14-fc009na able to fold back its display into a tablet form factor.

This is perfect for portability, especially when moving between meetings or appointments (I used it when dashing between sessions at a busy conference) - with the ability to quickly annotate or make notes using the touchscreen a very welcome option.

The screen itself is a very handy 14in display available in your choice of 2K (1920x1080) or 3K (2880x1880) which performs brilliantly no matter what lighting situation you're in. We would prefer slightly less thick bezels, but on the top of the display, this does house the very capable integrated 5MP webcam, which was well-suited for the range of video conferencing meetings we attended.

The keyboard is a little small for our personal tastes, and due to the Copilot key, some others have been shuffled around - we kept hitting the # key, which has been shifted to above Caps Lock, presumably for heavy social media users. But this does mean there is a huge scrollpad, which was incredibly useful in environments such as busy offices and press rooms.

Outside of that, there isn't much that's too exciting or different about the HP Envy x360 14-fc009na to be honest - it's a beautifully-designed sleek and slight device, with its slimline design (just 1.69cm tall when closed) making it ideal to slip into a rucksack or laptop bag with ease - especially when it weighs in at just 1.39kg.

The material itself features a sandblasted anodized finish which is pleasingly tactile, but does lend itself to picking up small scuffs and scratches along the way.

HP Envy x360 14-fc009na - Features

The HP Envy x360 14-fc009na sports Windows 11 Home as a default, which is perhaps expected now, but as mentioned, the big addition here is the integrated Microsoft Copilot key.

Supplanting the Windows key (which is shifted over to the left of the space bar), the Copilot key is a quick way to access Microsoft's AI platform, instantly launching a question window.

Although as mentioned elsewhere, we aren't the biggest users of Copilot just yet, but having the technology literally at your fingertips is incredibly handy, and something we did grow used to.

(Image credit: Future)

The HP Envy x360 14-fc009na does come with some connectivity options, although possibly not as many as you may like if you are working in a creative field. Included are two USB Type-A ports, along with a single HDMI, USB-C, Thunderbolt port each - which was OK for us, connecting to a wireless mouse and keyboard along with external monitor, but some users may crave more connectivity.

Battery life was another big selling point, with USB-C charging meaning we could top up with a phone charger if we ever forgot the (somewhat chunky) bundled charger, with HP's proprietary Fast Charge feature helping us get up to power nice and quick.

Elsewhere, we'd like to give a special shout-out to the built-in camera privacy shutter, which saved us embarrassment on more than one occasion, and the mic mute key - ideal for us video conferencing veterans.

HP Envy x360 14-fc009na - Final verdict

(Image credit: Future / Mike Moore)

If you're looking for a solid mid-range work laptop that is as happy in the boardroom as on the conference floor, the HP Envy x360 14-fc009na is ideal for you. A great blend of power, portability and style, its all-day battery life is perfect for workers on the go.

If you're looking for a super-powered AI laptop that can handle intense tasks such as video editing or rendering, it's worth spending more for something a bit more powerful, but for everyone else, the HP Envy x360 14-fc009na is a great addition to your working life.

Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner: One-minute review

It should be very easy to work out whether the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner is the add-on for you. If the idea of additional leg support when you kick back in your Secretlab gaming chair to watch a movie or even sneak in a quick nap in between competitive games isn’t appealing enough to justify the hefty $199 / £159 price tag, then stop reading now because I doubt that there’s anything that I can say to change your mind.

If that prospect does sound up your street, though, then the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner is well worth your consideration. This useful accessory adds dedicated leg support to any Secretlab Titan Evo or Secretlab Classics Series chair, many of which rank among some of the best gaming chairs, bringing all the comfort of a traditional recliner to a considerably more compact format that would fit under any of the best gaming desks. It’s incredibly easy to install too, securely locking to the bottom of your chair in a matter of minutes.

The overall build quality and design are also up to the high standards that you would expect from a Secretlab product. Its plush exterior is soft and cozy and the company’s excellent PlushCell Memory Foam is used to good effect, providing the perfect level of support without ever feeling overly firm or stiff. The recliner can be freely adjusted to a range of angles via a conveniently placed lever, making it well-suited to a number of sitting positions, and can be smartly tucked away underneath the bottom of the chair when not in use.

The many metal elements of its construction do make the accessory very heavy, though, which makes it considerably more difficult to roll your chair around when it’s fitted. This seems like an almost unavoidable limitation given the choice of material and is definitely preferable to a more flimsy plastic design, but is still worth bearing in mind if you need to frequently move your chair from place to place. Otherwise, the experience of using the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner is hard to fault if you have the cash to splash and want to invest in some serious comfort.

The recliner's roughly 20 inch wide soft cushion (Image credit: Future) Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner: Price and availability

• $199 / £159 version coming soon
• Limited Founder’s Edition costs $249 / £199
• Available via Secretlab

The Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner that I tested will be available in early 2025 and will cost $199 / £159. If you don’t want to wait, you can pick up the limited Founder’s Edition which is on sale right now via the Secretlab website. This costs $249 / £199 and features an added layer of cooling gel in addition to a special quilted pattern and Founder’s Edition metal tag.

The idea of a limited edition for die-hard Secretlab fans is quite appealing, but it’s frustrating that it comes in at a higher price when the other model isn’t available yet. Rather than being a cool bonus for early adopters, this seems designed to push these upgrades on shoppers who might not want to spring out for them given the choice.

Launching both at the same time, with the Founder’s Edition offered as a pricier limited edition alternative, would have been a much more consumer-friendly move.

Specs Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner: Design and aesthetics

• Sleek black look
• Matches most colorways
• Durable materials

The Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner comes in a sleek black design that compliments many of the existing Secretlab Titan Evo colorways. I tested the accessory with the already fantastic looking bright Plush Pink Secretlab Titan Evo and found that it fitted the overall design perfectly, matching the black accents of the side of the chair and the black magnetic neck pillow.

There are two gold details on the recliner: a Secretlab logo and a tag that’s labeled with the product name. They’re just small enough not to be intrusive and the gold color adds to the premium look. The same is true of the subtle pattern on the recliner’s cushion, which features two stitched grooves for some added texture.

Cushion aside, the majority of the rest of the recliner, which hangs just underneath the seat of the chair, is constructed from a durable feeling metal. For movement, it has a pneumatic gas spring that provides up to 80 degrees of motion. This is controlled via an easy-to-reach plastic lever that neatly slots next to the chair’s existing height adjustment controls.

The recliner attached to a chair and viewed from the side (Image credit: Future) Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner: Comfort and adjustability

• Very spacious and pleasantly soft
• Range of supported seating positions
• Can withstand lots of force

It’s hard to fault the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner in terms of raw comfort. It’s spacious, soft, and provides a good level of support for your legs. Images of a number of suggested positions are included alongside the instruction manual, each geared towards different activities.

For everyday work or playing in an upright position, the cushion can be positioned at a slight angle. I found the sensation of having something pressed up against the back of my legs a little disconcerting for the first few hours, but it was easy to appreciate the added support once I got used to it. If you’d rather sit upright with nothing touching your legs at all, you can always lock the recliner out of reach by pushing it backward with the adjustment lever raised - a very convenient feature.

As you begin to recline the backrest you should set the recliner to increasingly greater angles, taking pressure away from your lower back and leading to a more natural body position. It’s great if you want to kick back and watch a movie on your PC display or just need to change up the feel of your seat while you take a break and browse social media on your phone.

With the recliner set all the way out to the full 80 degrees and the backrest fully reclined, your Secretlab chair becomes the perfect vehicle for relaxation. It’s comfortable enough for a nap and is perfect if you really want to stretch out and give yourself a bit of a rest after a long day or particularly intense gaming sessions.

That being said, users who frequently recline their chairs to this position are the ones who will notice the biggest benefits here. I do it quite often, so I really appreciated the addition of the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner. If that’s not you, then it’s safe to say that you’re better off just sticking to your existing chair on its own.

On a final note, there’s no need to be concerned about any potential issues if you use an XL chair. The accessory is fully compatible with them and should provide more than enough space for most legs. The mechanism it uses is also extremely high quality and durable. Throughout my testing, I repeatedly pushed down on it with as much force as I could muster and it didn’t budge an inch.

The accessory's adjustment lever (left) (Image credit: Future) Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner: Assembly

• No tools required
• Incredibly quick setup
• Impressively easy

No tools are required to install the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner. A large and clear set of instructions is included in the box, which have you fitting some small rubber clips to underside of your chair and then sliding the recliner on to them and pulling a lever to fasten it all in place.

The manufacturer states that everything can be installed in just three minutes, so I timed myself to see how this claim would stack up. Although I expected to exceed that estimate, I actually managed to complete the process in just 65 seconds. This didn’t include getting the product out of the box, which I had done a few hours earlier, but I can’t imagine that taking more than about a minute to accomplish.

It’s incredible to see such a substantial and mechanically complex addition installed so quickly and easily, so hats off to Secretlab. The process was so smooth that I would even go so far as to say that it partly justifies the high price tag.

Although it’s not required in any way, a spare chair assembly toolkit with an allen key and magnetic screwdriver tool is still included too, which could be handy if you want to adjust the armrests or tighten up any screws before getting the add-on in place. Top marks across the board.

Preparing the chair for installation. (Image credit: Future) Should I buy the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner? Buy it if...

You want a high-end accessory
If you love luxury and will only settle for the very best, then the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner is a great addition to your setup. It’s pricey, but feels incredibly premium.

You love a cheeky nap
Users who recline their chairs all the way are going to benefit the most from the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner. If you want to catch some Zs in between matches or after a long day at work, then this is a great choice too.

Don't buy it if...

You can make do without
This accessory really doesn’t come cheap, so unless you’re completely sold on the concept you’re probably better off without it. If you still really want to pick up an official add-on for your chair, consider the two cheaper options highlighted below.

Also consider...

For some other ways to customize your Secretlab chair, take a look at these two official accessories.

Secretlab Skins
These chair sleeves allow you to customize the look of your Secretlab Titan Evo with ease. They’re pretty pricey for a bit of cloth, but still come in cheaper than shelling out for a whole new model in your desired color.

For more information, check out our full Secretlab Skins review

Secretlab PlushCell Memory Foam Armrest Top
If you want to add some extra comfort to your chair without breaking the bank, the Secretlab PlushCell Memory Foam Armrest Top is a great choice. It adds some pleasant extra padding to each of the armrests.

For more information on this accessory, see the section in our full Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 review

The recliner's gold tag. (Image credit: Future) How I tested the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner

• Tested with a Secretlab Titan Evo 2022
• Tested for over two weeks
• Compared to other hands-on testing

I tested the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner for over two weeks with a Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 provided by the manufacturer. During that time I made sure to use the chair and accessory daily, assessing its overall performance and the level of comfort that it provided.

I carefully compared my experience to my hands-on testing with some of the most comfortable gaming chairs plus other models including the Razer Iskur V2 and Herman Miller Sayl Gaming Chair in addition to the feeling of sitting on the Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 on its own.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed October 2024.