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Updated: 56 min 38 sec ago

After a year of searching, I’ve finally found a rival for my favorite earbuds

Sat, 09/20/2025 - 16:30

Skullcandy Method 360: One minute review

As my editor at TechRadar well knows, I’ve spent the last year enamored with the Nothing Ear (a) as the best earbuds you can buy for a relatively affordable price, and nothing has come close to toppling these svelte and low-cost buds.

That’s all changed now though, because the Skullcandy Method 360 give their year-and-change older rivals a run for their money. And I see them being the new big buds that, going forward, I shall compare all contemporaries too.

These buds from American audio company Skullcandy are dead ringers for the brand’s cheap Dime Evo buds, coming in the same novel carry case, but I’ve already got to correct myself: these aren’t just from Skullcandy, but from another key player too.

In a big partnership, top audio dog Bose contributed to the sound of the Method 360, and it shows. These have the energy of Skullcandy buds but the audio precision of Bose ones, and the fantastic audio quality shows that the Method 360 benefits from the best of both worlds.

While Skullcandy boasts that the Method 360 have ‘Sound by Bose’, the design of the new buds also bears more than a passing resemblance to recent Bose earpieces too, especially with a gel fin around the buds to help them stick in your ear. Whether this was another case of the Bose helping hand or just a total coincidence, it’s welcome, with the Method 360 staying in the ear reliably even during workouts. They’re comfortable too, letting you listen for long bouts without your ears getting achy.

Design of the buds may be great, but the carry case itself provides problems: namely, that it’s absolutely huge. It’s a massive long tube which hides an inner shell that you slide out to retrieve the earbuds, and it’s far too big to easily fit in trouser pockets. According to promotional images Skullcandy sees you using the O-ring to strap the case to your bag, or perhaps your trousers, but the sheer size would make that about as unwieldy as walking about with a scabbard.

A few rough edges show their face in the feature set too: the app often failed to connect to the earbuds, even when they readily connected to my phone without issues, which was irritating when I wanted to change ANC mode. Plus, the voice announcer on the buds is both terrifyingly loud and surprisingly low-res, making me wonder if I’d accidentally been sent a pair of Method 360 which had been cursed by the Babadook.

Are these flaws enough to ruin the Skullcandy? Not by any means, they’re just minor gripes, and ones that give me something to write about to seem even-handed too. But they do little to counteract the real strengths of the Method 360: its reliable fit, its fantastic sound and its affordable nature.

Skullcandy Method 360 review: Specifications

Component

Value

Water resistant

IPX4

Battery life (quoted)

11 hours (earbuds), 29 hours (total)

Bluetooth type

Bluetooth 5.3

Weight

11g / Charging case: 77g

Driver

12mm

Skullcandy Method 360 review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

Announced in April '25
RRP $119 / £99 / AU$189
Priced against mid-range rivals

Skullcandy announced the Method 360 in April 2025 and put them on sale straight away afterwards.

The official price of the buds is $119 / £99 / AU$189, although they were cheaper for their first few weeks of existence thanks to introductory pricing. When considering their value, though, we’ll consider this official price.

At that price these can be considered mid-range buds, with the aforementioned Nothing Ear (a) costing more or less (depending on region) at $99 / £99 / AU$192. Their other big rival at that price is the WF-C710N which has an RRP exactly the same as the Skullcandy and we’ll get more into the differences in our comparison section below.

Skullcandy Method 360 review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

Huge case that's fiddly to insert buds into
Buds are comfortable and fit reliably
Range of color options

The worst part of the Skullcandy Method 360 is its case. It’s absolutely huge – you’ve got no chance of fitting this thing in your trouser pocket and it was even a squeeze fitting it into the folds of my jacket. It’s significantly bigger than the case of any other earbud I’ve tested recently, making it a pain for portability.

That’s a shame because it’s a bit more interesting-looking than your generic clamshell earbud case. It uses what Skullcandy calls ‘Clip It and Rip It’; this means that there’s an internal column holding the earbuds which you reveal by sliding it out of a protective tube. There’s an O-ring which lets you clip the case to a bag or, according to Skullcandy, trouser belt loop, which also makes it easy to do this sliding action.

It’s an interesting design which Skullcandy has used before, but two extra things beyond the size damn the case. Firstly, the charging port is on the bottom of the internal column so if you slide this column up, the charging port is hidden by the external case – it’s quite a procedure to keep charging while you remove the buds. Secondly, the buds only fit in their respective slots if you insert them at just the right angle, and it’s hard enough to tell which bud goes in which slot, let alone which angle to put them in at (there are a faint ‘L’ and ‘R’ to solve the first problem but it could be made more clear). These are the single most frustrating earbuds I’ve ever tested in terms of returning them to the case after use, and I constantly wasted time trying to rotate the buds to work out how to get them into their gap.

It’s not just me on this latter point: Skullcandy’s listing for the Method ANC has an FAQ question and one query is “How do I put my Method 360 ANC earbuds back in the case?” complete with a surprisingly in-depth 5-point answer. Skullcandy: if earbud users need to go through five steps to put an earbud in the case, perhaps there’s a better way of doing things. I also presented my much-smarter girlfriend with the buds and the case and she too found it akin to solving a Rubix cube.

Evidence of how easily-bendable the hook is. (Image credit: Future)

At least Skullcandy has done something I love in earbuds: offered multiple color options. As well as the standards of black and white there’s bright red, a sandy hue which Skullcandy calls ‘Primer’ and your grandma’s favorite option: leopard print.

Now onto the buds themselves: they seem to work as a medley of the two core types of in-ear buds with large bodies which stay in your ears with a silicon ridge, but they also have a slight, dumpy stem. Whatever color of case you fit, affects the buds too, though in the case of leopard print it’s just on one surface.

The buds weigh 11g so they’re among the heaviest earbuds I’ve tested, but in the grand scheme of things a couple of grams doesn’t make much difference on the ears. And that tells – not once in my testing did the buds fall out of my ears, even though I went on runs with them and took them to the gym. I’m going to point towards their fin as the reason for this, with the material of the tip also making them stay in my ear snug. In the box you get an array of sizes for both too.

Both buds have touch controls, activated if you tap the right spot on the body of the bud (if you look at the picture, it’s just below the slight ridge, around where the LED light is). This worked fine in picking up fingertips but I found it quite hard to reliably tap the correct spot when I wanted to pause music.

The buds both have an IPX4 rating making them protected against splashes of water, which essentially means they’re safe against sweat or a light drizzle of rain but nothing stronger (or wetter).

Design score: 3.5/5

Skullcandy Method 360 review: Features

(Image credit: Future)

Good on-bud battery life
ANC is strong, but not competition-beating
Skull-IQ app for extra features

With a case of its size, you’d expect the Skullcandy Method 360 to have a battery life longer than creation. And it’s definitely good, though set your expectations a little lower than ‘forever’.

According to Skullcandy, the bud battery life reaches 11 hours with ANC off or 9 hours with it turned on, with the case providing an extra 23 or 29 respectively. From my testing I’d say Skullcandy’s figures are, if anything, a touch conservative – either way those are respectable figures

You’re offered the two standard noise cancellation modes we often see: standard ANC and ‘Stay-Aware’, both with a slider letting you change intensity mode (before you ask the same question I did: higher intensity affects the strength of ANC, not of background noise allowed through).

Regardless of which option you pick, the ANC is strong and capable, and you’ll struggle to find better at this price point. It’s so effective, however, that Stay-Aware often failed to let through the kinds of loud nearby sounds that these ambient modes are designed to do. In fact I didn’t notice a huge difference between ANC and Stay-Aware most of the time.

You can download the Skull-IQ app on your phone or tablet to get extra features for the earbuds. Some of these are ability to toggle ANC and change what tapping the buds does, but there are a few more.

(Image credit: Future)

One of these is nigh-on mandatory at this point: an equalizer. You get several presets here but there’s also a five-band custom option. While that’s not as complex as we normally see in equalizers, I honestly don’t mind, as it’s a lot more simple for the average earbud user to get their head around.

Beyond that we’ve got features for low latency audio (useful for gaming), multipoint pairing to connect to multiple devices at once, the ability to use your earbud as a remote trigger for your smartphone camera and Spotify Tap, which lets you press and hold an earbud to instantly play from a certain Spotify playlist.

A few features I like to see are absent like Find My Earbuds, listening tests or earbud fit tests, but the features you do get work well… unlike the way you control them.

One thing that I’d love to see Skullcandy fix with the app is its reliability. A fair few times I’d boot it up while listening to music only to be told that the earbuds weren’t in use – one time this incorrect message was ironically covered up by my phone system’s own notification telling me the buds’ battery life. I’d have to either refresh the app, or give up on plans to change the EQ or noise cancellation.

On the topic of annoying features: the voice announcer, which tells you when the buds are connected when you put them in as well as when you change ANC modes, is both incredibly low-res and incredibly loud. Calm down please, announcer!

Features score: 4/5

Skullcandy Method 360 review: Sound performance

(Image credit: Future)

12mm drivers
Bose tuning pays off
Energetic sound with meaty bass

As I said in the introduction, Bose helped with the tuning of the Skullcandy Method 360 (though possibly not in lending the 12mm drivers, which are actually bigger than the ones we normally see Bose use in its earbuds).

This helping hand shows because the Method 360 are some of the best-sounding earbuds I’ve ever tested for their price. And, more obviously, they faintly resemble the tone of the Bose QuietComfort Buds from last year, in that music sounds rich, meaty and full (which I doubled down on by activating the bass booster EQ repeatedly through testing, though it’s far from necessary).

That’s not to say that the buds are just for bass-heads, as mids were just as energetic and electric as lower-frequency sounds. I found the audio profile perfect for punchy and fast-paced rock music which fits well with the Skullcandy branding. Treble could have been a little more glistening though and, while not audibly falling behind in the mix, it did lack a little zest when other parts of a song were going full-force.

If you like listening to high-velocity music, you’ll be glad to know that the Method 360 gets very loud, and I didn’t even test it at its top volume.

The Skullcandy also has a fairly pronounced sound stage, perhaps not as dramatic as the aforementioned Bose buds, but still great compared to many same-priced rivals. Instruments aren’t just panned left or right but to varying degrees around you, and audio was clear enough that I could hear the sound of fingers on guitar glissando or the type of drumstick a drummer would use.

Here’s where I’d discuss audio codecs or connection types but neither Skullcandy’s website nor the Skull-IQ app make any mention of them, so I’ve got to presume that high-res music isn’t supported.

Sound performance score: 4/5

Skullcandy Method 360 review: Value

(Image credit: Future)

The Skullcandy Method 360 are great value for money because in two big ways, they rival alternatives which you'd be spending twice the price on.

Both the sound quality and precision-designed fit feel like features you'd normally have to pay way more for. Yet here you go, finding them at a mid-range price. Good job!

Value score: 4/5

Skullcandy Method 360 review: scorecard

Read more about how we test

First reviewed: September 2025

Categories: Reviews

Terrified of damaging your Nintendo Switch 2? I reviewed this cheap screen protector, and it’s all you’ll need to put your worries at rest

Sat, 09/20/2025 - 09:00

Genki Aegis Shield: review

The Genki Aegis Shield has a pretty sublime namesake. In Ancient Greek mythology, Aegis sometimes refers to the shield of a deity, such as the thunder god, Zeus, or the goddess of wisdom, Athena. It is, then, a word that symbolizes protection of the highest order. And so, in comes the Genki Aegis Shield – a screen protector for the Nintendo Switch 2. Can it really offer divine levels of protection? I tested it to find out.

Out of the box, there was a lot going on. You get two screen protectors, an application frame, screen wipes, a microfiber cloth, and even a squeegee (great word, isn’t it). The application frame is pretty large compared to some others I’ve used, and it wasn’t the firmest around our Switch 2 – but it was still perfectly able to get the job done. There’s a lot of plastic here, with elements like a D-pad frame and play button etched into the application tool.

The application was fairly straightforward overall. The instructions weren’t as comprehensive as I’ve seen on other models, but the steps are accompanied by pictures to support your installation. I simply had to slot the frame onto the Nintendo Switch 2, pull a release tab out, swipe across the protector, and remove the frame.

(Image credit: Future)

After a bit of squeegee action, I was able to get all of the air bubbles out from under the Aegis Shield, ensuring a clean, well-aligned application.

At some angles, I could see a little bit of inconsistency on the left edge of the screen protector, but otherwise, the end result was fairly discreet. Of course, you may not encounter this minor hiccup, but it’s worth flagging.

(Image credit: Future)

Next came the damage test, and the Aegis Shield nailed it. I tried scraping a key across the protector, applying increasing pressure over time. But even when pressing pretty hard, the key glided across the surface with almost no resistance, and never left a single mark. Genki itself claims to have tested a drill on the screen, so this thing should be able to withstand all kinds of action.

Image 1 of 2

Before... (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2

...and after! (Image credit: Future)

One thing that I picked up on is that the Aegis Shield was pretty prone to picking up obvious fingerprint marks – even when I compared it to the DBrand Prism 2.0 screen protector for Switch 2. However, all it takes is a quick wipe with the microfiber cloth, and you can cast those pesky marks away.

Elsewhere, this is a strong performer. When playing Mario Kart World, the protector didn’t inhibit display clarity whatsoever. No parts of the Switch 2’s screen were obscured, foggy, or discolored, which was very pleasing indeed. When picking at the corners of the protector, it also remained comfortable in place, so it’s safe to say that it’s a secure pick.

(Image credit: Future)

And when you consider this model is only $19.99 / £17 / AU$35, it’s great value for money. It’s considerably cheaper than that DBrand model I referenced, and in the same ballpark as the impressive Belkin TemperedGlass screen protector that we tried out during batch testing.

Yes, the application frame may seem a little overkill. I could see a small inconsistency on one edge of the screen, and you will notice fingerprints fairly easily. But still, you get a clear display and plenty of toughness at a reasonable price. For that alone, this is a model worth checking out.

Genki Aegis Shield review: price & specs

Price

$19.99 / £17 / AU$35

Number of screen protectors

Material

Tempered glass

Application type

Drop-in-place frame

Additional items

Microfiber cloth, screen wipes, squeegee

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Genki Aegis Shield?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Ease of application

Instructions could be a touch clearer, but fairly straightforward, tiny inconsistency on the left edge of the screen post-application.

3.5/5

Design

Application tool is quite large, but easy enough to use, fingerprints picked up easily, but cleaning tools work well.

3.5/5

Toughness

Easily withstood key scraping, with no signs of scratching or wear.

5/5

Value

Despite a couple of quirks, you’re getting a tough, low-priced protector.

4.5/5

Buy it if...

You’re looking for reliable protection
After scraping the screen protector with a key, I didn’t see even a spec of damage. And believe me, I pressed pretty hard. Genki itself claims to have put the Aegis Shield through a drill test, so I think it’s safe to say you won’t have to worry all too much about scratches.

You’re on a budget
At just $19.99 / £17 / AU$35, the Aegis Shield is a great budget-friendly option. You get two screen protectors in the box and all the cleaning tools you could possibly need, so this model offers plenty of bang for your buck.

Don't buy it if...

You want the most seamless application possible
During testing, the application frame was a little larger and clunkier than some other models I’ve used. Meanwhile, the instructions are fairly easy to follow, but not the most detailed. So, if you want the most seamless application possible, the Aegis Shield may not quite hit the spot.

You’re looking for something fingerprint-proof
This screen protector picked up fingerprints a little easier than the DBrand Prism 2.0, for example, which may frustrate some. Having said that, there is a microfiber cloth included in the box if you ever need to give the surface a quick clean.

Genki Aegis Shield review: also consider

Belkin TemperedGlass Screen Protector for Nintendo Switch 2
During batch testing, we were really impressed with the Belkin TemperedGlass screen protector. There’s no chunky plastic mechanism, just a basic frame. On top of that, the instructions are easy to follow, the application feels smooth, and the end result looks great. It's even cheaper than the Aegis Shield too – what’s not to like?

How I tested the Genki Aegis Shield

(Image credit: Future)

Applied the screen protector using the written instructions
Tested its effect on display, fingerprint resistance, and how easy it is to damage
Tested by a lifelong gamer

For the Genki Aegis Shield, I used TechRadar's standardized process for testing Nintendo Switch 2 screen protectors. First off, we apply the screen protector using the included instructions. Then, we test the protector's impact on the console's display by assessing aspects like brightness and viewing angles.

After this, we test how the surface copes against fingerprints, before scratching the model with a set of keys and attempting to peel at the edges. Ultimately, all of this helps us to judge ease of application, durability, and general build quality.

But let's talk about my experience. I've tested more than a hundred products at TechRadar – everything from gaming accessories, such as the Hori Piranha Plant Camera for Nintendo Switch 2, through to other screen protectors, like the DBrand Prism 2.0.

On top of that, I'm a lifelong gamer with a massive love for Nintendo. I own a Switch 2 personally, and have reviewed a number of games for the platform, including Drag x Drive and Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army.

First reviewed: September 2025
Read more about how we test

Categories: Reviews

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition review: I tested this convertible business laptop and the pros far outweigh the cons

Sat, 09/20/2025 - 01:47

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition is a convertible two-in-one laptop well-suited to both business and creative tasks.

It’s a highly portable machine, measuring 0.31 in - 0.64 in x 12.31 in x 8.57in and with a starting weight of 2.97lb (1.35kg). As I’d expect from a true ThinkPad - even a 2-in-1 model - it’s robustly built and ideal for home and office working.

As an Aura Edition laptop, it’s an AI PC running on an Intel Core Ultra chip which, according to Lenovo “accelerates your AI experience” without being a drag on the battery. Whether that’s a plus or a minus in your book will vary. In my experience it was…fine. But I’m not the world’s biggest AI user anyway.

But as a self-confessed ThinkPad fan, I was excited to check out the overall feel and performance.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition: Price & availability

Prices for the laptop start from $1892 / £1820 (currently discounted from £2250 at time of review).

At that price, the US version of the machine comes loaded with Windows 11 Home running on the Intel Core Ultra 5 226V, 16GB RAM, and 512GB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 SSD.

In the UK, the base model runs W11 Home on the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V chip, 32GB RAM, and 512GB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen5 SSD.

You can also spec-up the machine with up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V vPro processor, 2TB SSD, and Windows 11 Pro operating system.

Either way, the base model 14in IPS touchscreen display panel has a resolution of 1920 x 1200, with Anti-Glare. It hits 100% sRGB, has a brightness of 500 nits, and a 60Hz refresh rate.

There are two other screen options, too - either the business-oriented display with its ePrivacy filter, which is otherwise identical to the base model. Or the more complex 2.8K OLED Low Blue Light display with HDR 500 True Black with 100% DCI-P3, 500 nits, VRR 30-120Hz, making it the better pick for creators.

The ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition is available from Lenovo US and Lenovo UK, as well as online retailers.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition: Design & features

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)Specs

As reviewed:

CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 258V
RAM: 32GB
GPU: Integrated Intel Arc 140V GPU (16GB)
Storage: 1TB
Display: 14in OLED
Brightness: 500 nits
Refresh rate: 30-120Hz
Color gamut: 100% DCI-P3
Ports & connectivity: 2x USB-A, 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4, 1x Nano SIM, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x audio jack, 1x Kensington Nano Security slot, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 7
Operating system: Windows 11 Pro

The look and feel of the X1 2-in-1 is distinctly ThinkPad - I found it robust in hand thanks to its aluminum chassis, which boasts MIL-STD-810H construction. Not exactly a true rugged laptop, then, but durable enough for the most hardened commuters. Besides the silvery accents, the main body is a stylish space grey that I thought looked professional without being boring.

The 14in screen has a thin bezel that sits behind the glass, with an elevated notch where the camera sits. The camera itself is 5MP, comes complete with physical privacy shutter, and supports Windows Hello for a passwordless sign-in.

Along the right-hand side is a USB-A and two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a Nano SIM slot. To the left, there’s another USB-A port, as well as HDMI 2.1 port, audio jack, a Kensington Nano Security slot, and a discrete power button that sits flush with the frame. In a world where laptop makers are gradually stripping back connectivity, I find this array generous enough, and I didn’t feel the immediate need to hook up a laptop docking station. Another bonus here is the support for Wi-Fi 7, perfect for future-proofing connectivity.

Now, I’m a big champion of ThinkPad laptops (I use the T14s on a daily basis, but I’ve been a fan since I first got my trusty old T431s). In my experience, they easily offer the best typing experience compared to other laptop brands. Alright, the new Lenovo models may lack the key travel of the older IBM ThinkPads (1.5mm vs 1.8mm), but even still, they’re a joy to use.

In this regard, I was a little wary of trying out X1 2-in-1 Gen 10, as some older X1 laptops had previously used a keyboard with a stubby 1.35mm travel depth. Lenovo has, thankfully, done away with that - here, you get the same 1.5mm backlit board you’ll find on the T-series ThinkPads. As such, using this for long writing sessions is a total breeze.

However, I spotted a few differences here compared to your more traditional business laptops. Of course, there’s the iconic red Trackpoint, but there’s also a fingerprint scanner for signing in without a password and beside it, a dedicated Microsoft Copilot button - clicking this unlocks the AI assistant, while granting easy access to all the usual Office apps.

Interestingly, Lenovo has switched the Fn and Ctrl keys around here, bringing it in line with most keyboards. Older ThinkPads place the Fn key to the left, rather than the right, and I have to change this using the Lenovo Vantage app.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition: Display

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)

My review model featured an OLED screen at 2880 x 1800 resolution with 60-120Hz refresh rate. Colors are vivid and bright, near-perfect in reproduction due to the 100% DCI-P3 gamut. For those looking for a general laptop for photo editing as well as productivity tasks, this is a pretty safe bet, I found.

The laptop operates in four ways - laptop, tablet, tent, and presentation mode, and all four work very well. I experienced no issues here at all, with the screen orientation changing swiftly and without lag when I switched from one configuration to the next. The movement feels sturdy and smooth, and pleasingly there’s no additional play to the 360-degree hinges.

What I didn’t like, however, was how reflective the screen was. Turn off the laptop and it’s like staring into a black mirror. That might not be a deal-breaker for some, but it certainly gave me pause and if you’re going to be using this outside or in direct sunlight, you’ll want to crank up the brightness to mitigate it as much as possible.

As a touchscreen device, this unit also included a stylus, which magnetically clamps to the right side of the screen. Using this in tablet mode was a total joy. Input was instant and the whole experience felt smooth.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition: Performance

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)

I experienced no issues when using the laptop - running Microsoft’s Office suite, browsing the internet, opening many, many, many, many tabs in Chrome, at this level, nothing seemed to slow down this machine.

Under heavier workloads, there is a tendency for the X1 to run a little warm, and there, I did experience some minor slowing. But even, the impact felt negligible and it’s unlikely to prove an issue for professionals using this for general business tasks.

For a convertible business laptop, then, I found it well-specced and impressively powerful enough for day-to-day operations. Ok, it won’t deliver the same performance you’ll find from a mobile workstation or gaming laptop, but that’s not what it’s been designed for.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition: Battery life

One of the stand-out areas with the X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition is the battery life. The machine is rocking a 57Whr battery, which is hardly massive, but acceptable. Don’t let that fool you, though, because battery life is surprisingly spectacular.

The device itself is rated for up to 20.2 hours when benchmarked using MobileMark 25, according to Lenovo. But this assumes minimal use. Streaming video playback should net up to 16.3 hours. For those using this laptop on the go, it’s positively perfect.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition: Final verdictImage 1 of 2

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)

Overall, I enjoyed my time with the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition - whether I was using it as a tablet or laptop.

It’s more than capable of handling the usual suite of business apps and software, and here, the laptop performs brilliantly. Everything feels smooth, responsive, and efficient, making it a good pick for those who prize productivity above all else.

True, it’s not the most powerful around, it’s expensive for what it is, and I’m still not a fan of the glossy screen, but all told, there’s little else to complain about.

Couple that durable design with a good port selection, excellent battery life, and a neat, multi-use design, and you have one of the best 2-in-1 laptops for professionals around.

Should I buy the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition?

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Design

Convertible, durable, and distinctly ThinkPad in style

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Performance

Perfect for office duties as well as lighter weight creative tasks

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Price

A steeper cost than I'd like, but par for the course with a business laptop

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Buy it if…

You want a business 2-in-1: As a convertible laptop, this works superbly well in all its configurations. I especially like the smooth efficiency when using it as a tablet alongside the Yoga Pen stylus.

Battery life is a concern: I found the longevity of the battery to be superb here, and if you’re working on the go or away from a mains outlet, it’s perfect.

Don’t buy it if…

You need absolute power: Yes, it’s a powerful little machine, but with these specs, it can’t measure up to the performance of the ThinkPad P-series. This is, after all, a business laptop first and foremost.

You’re on a budget: Arguably the biggest issue with this device is the cost - it’s a pricey number, as business machines tend to be.

For more productivity performance, we tested the best business computers and the best business tablets.

Categories: Reviews

If you thought belt-driven racing wheels were dead, the Thrustmaster T248R would like a word

Fri, 09/19/2025 - 19:00

Thrustmaster T248R: One-minute review

It’s not a new racing wheel you’re looking at here, but instead a revamped and thoughtfully tweaked 2025 edition of the existing Thrustmaster T248. The youthful maverick that is the T248R features many small but noticeable improvements, including a visual facelift, upgraded gear shift paddles, and a sharper digital display that offers genuinely useful readouts.

As for the tech powering your driving sensation, that’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s a downside that the T.HD wheelbase is built on a hybrid of gear and belt-driven feedback, which can’t compete with direct drive for smooth, fast, precise feedback.

And with the price of direct drive bundles tumbling down lately into price points not that much more than the price of this bundle, that’s definitely a major consideration for anyone hovering over the ‘add to cart’ button.

(Image credit: Future)

On the other hand, nobody does belt-driven feedback quite like Thrustmaster, so the driving sensation you actually get out of this wheel in your hands isn’t anything as old-fashioned as you might imagine.

It’s plenty powerful for the entry-level sim racer it’s designed for, outputting a peak 3.1Nm of torque, and there’s some subtlety to the feedback too, which doesn’t produce a detrimental amount of cogging (that grindy, stuttering feeling associated with older belt-driven feedback).

Down at your feet, the pedal base is everything you could ask for at this price. It stays where you put it, even on a carpeted floor; the three pedals are well-spaced apart from each other, and the brake has a satisfying amount of stamping force thanks to its stiff load cell.

It’s a wheel to be recommended, ultimately, but it’s a qualified recommendation. If the cheapest direct drive wheels like the Nacon Revosim or the Thrustmaster T598 are out of budget, or you simply don’t race enough to justify the extra outlay for the improved sensation, this bundle makes a lot of sense.

That’s even factoring in the great Logitech G923, a true titan of non-direct drive wheels at the sub-$300 mark. Logi’s wheel offers slightly better build quality, and its TrueForce feedback offers impressive detail, but those are marginal gains over this dependable and well-priced T248R.

(Image credit: Future)Thrustmaster T248R: Price and availability

List price: $349.99 / £249.99 (around AU$512)
Priced cheaper than outbound T248 and Logitech’s G923
It may be old tech, but it still offers great bang for buck

Price is a vital bit of context here. It’s true that direct drive (DD) is becoming much more affordable, with bundles like Nacon’s Revosim and the fantastic T598 from Thrustmaster’s own stable bringing high-quality DD sensation to the masses at a price point below $500. But this T248R’s pricing is so far below that $500 threshold that a belt and gear-driven bundle is still a worthwhile consideration.

That does mean the looks and finish quality do feature some obvious compromises compared to the G923. But with a crystal-clear digital display, nice tactile buttons, quiet shifters, and a high-quality set of pedals, there’s real value here. The build quality and driving experience are more than enough for casual racers and even more committed enthusiasts on a budget.

Thrustmaster T248R: Specs

Weight

12.6lb / 5.7kg

Peak torque

3.1Nm

Features

Digital display, load cell brake pedal, magnetic shifters, cushioned pleather wheel finish

Connection type

USB-A

Compatibility

PC, PS4, PS5

Software

My Thrustmaster

Thrustmaster T248R: Design and features

Well built, if a little plasticky
Pleather wheel feels great
Useful display

Thrustmaster has been making the T248 in its various iterations for long enough to know that its audience isn’t likely to be attaching it to a sim rig, so it’s sensibly built both the wheel and pedals to be used comfortably at a desktop. The pedal base is heavy and grippy, which is absolutely crucial for an enjoyable drive.

The last thing you want when you’re stamping on a load cell brake at 180mph in Assetto Corsa Competizione is to feel the whole base shift position or rotate, and happily, there’s next to none of that with this bundle, despite a relatively stiff load cell on the brake. The aluminium contact points on the pedals are a nice touch at this price, too.

Working our way up, the wheelbase and wheel itself show a few more concessions to the affordable price point. Primarily, all the plastic. Although it’s a definite upgrade versus the outgoing T248 (which will still be on sale in Xbox config, as this new T248R supports PC, PS4, and PS5 only, so is targeting the best PS5 racing wheel market), there is still a lot of quite light, flimsy plastic used on the face, inner wheel, and hub.

Thrustmaster’s done its best to disguise some of this with a carbon fiber-style weave effect, but realistically, it’s fooling no one. Personally, for this price, I can live with it, but it’s worth noting that the slightly pricier G923 does look and feel more substantial and somehow, well, more pro.

Buttons are laid out sensibly around the centre, and at the top there’s a digital display with a sharper resolution now, which can give you some really useful readouts and telemetry – a definite perk for the price.

The biggest weakness in the T248’s overall design comes in the desktop clamp. There’s no major issue here - it does its job in keeping the wheel fixed in position on your desk, but now with the same rigidity or assuredness as the G923, whose two tightening screws at either side of the wheelbase lock it tightly in position. Here, there’s just one central screw, and while it does keep out of the way of your legs, it’s not as secure a contact point as Logitech’s.

(Image credit: Future)Thrustmaster T248R: Performance

Plenty of power
A pleasing sensation considering the older tech
Buttons, shifters, and pedals all feel great while driving

How does it feel to drive a lap with this updated model?

Well, firstly, it’s pretty straightforward to get onto the track in the first place, since most games recognise this as either the older T248 or the TGT wheel. That means you’ve got default assignments for inputs across the wheel, and pretty good axis and force feedback values from the off. Every title I tried with this new model was recognised enough that all my mappings were done for me, and I didn’t need to calibrate the wheel axis by axis.

On the track, Thrustmaster’s unique hybrid of belt and gear-driven force feedback shows its merits. It does feel very different to direct drive – it’s nowhere near as smooth to rotate the wheel, for starters. But it’s also not coggy or rough in the way that older traditional belt-driven models (remember the MOMO Force?) used to be.

Instead, you’ve got a happy medium between smooth wheel actuation and rumbly feedback that feels about right for the price point. Does it offer the same variety of feedback types as Logitech’s TrueForce-enabled G29? It does not.

The Logi wheel conveys tarmac rumble a little better and gives a more convincing sense of weight to the vehicle you’re driving, but that doesn't really have a meaningful effect on lap times.

(Image credit: Future)

I noticed how well built the input buttons feel as I was driving, too. It’s common for the face buttons – translated from a traditional console controller and arranged around the wheel – to feel loose and flimsy on a lower-end wheel, but here they feel higher quality. You’re always sure that a button input was registered properly.

It’s a small tweak, but the magnetic paddle shifters have been lavished with some redesign attention to produce a smoother, quieter shift. I’d say more than that, it just feels nicer than it did to change gears on the older T248.

Speaking of, previously the digital display was monochrome and had a limited viewing angle, but it’s much sharper now and thus much more useful. You don’t have a dynamic rev counter, but you do have an RPM light that lets you know when it’s time to upshift. While on the main display, you might have your current lap deltas.

I’m a particular fan of the pedals, and they contribute a lot to the quality of the driving experience in this bundle. It’s great to have a load cell brake that can be adjusted for stiffness by swapping elastomers and springs in, and equally great to feel so planted when you exert a pedal input.

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Thrustmaster T248R?Buy it if…

You’re a desktop racer
This bundle is designed to be enjoyed at a desktop rather than fitted to a sim rig, so if that’s your intended use, you’ll enjoy the planted pedals and functional desk clamp

The G923 is out of budget
Logitech’s standard-setting belt-driven wheel offers slightly better feedback, but it’s also pricier. If you can live with that tradeoff, this is a great value alternative.

You race for fun
Seriously competitive racers will look for every advantage that technology can offer, starting with direct drive feedback. If you’re more about the experience than the lap times, though, going with this more modest bundle makes sense.

Don’t buy it if…

You’re looking for the newest tech available
Direct drive is becoming increasingly mainstream, not to mention affordable. This bundle doesn’t offer it. Worth keeping in mind.

You race on Xbox
This revamped ‘R’ version of the T248 supports PC, PS4, and PS5 only, with the older T248 continuing to support Xbox racers.

You’ve got sim racing aspirations
Long-term, if you’re dreaming of competing against the best in serious sim racing titles, racing with this older tech could hamper your competitiveness

Also consider

If the Thrustmaster T248R doesn’t hit your apex, try these similarly priced rivals.

Thrustmaster T248R

Logitech G923

Hori Apex

Price

$349.99 / £249.99 (around AU$512)

$299.99 / £299.99

$119.99 / £99.99

Weight

12.6lb / 5.7kg

4.96lbs / 2.3kg

3.09lbs / 1.4kg

Peak torque

3.1Nm

2.2Nm

N/A

Features

Digital display, load cell brake pedal, magnetic shifters, cushioned pleather wheel finish

TrueForce feedback, dial controls, rev display

Textured wheel grip, simple setup

Connection type

USB-A

Compatibility

PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC, or Xbox Series X/S, PC

PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC

Logitech G923
Five years since release, Logi’s mid-priced, belt-driven force feedback wheel is still the gold standard at this price range. It doesn’t have as much peak torque as the T248R, but its TrueForce feedback implementation offers more subtlety and immersion.

For more information, read our full Logitech G923 review

Hori Apex
Want to take the price-saving to the extreme? For considerably less than the T248R, Hori’s no-frills Apex wheel will do the job. No force feedback though, and just two – rather flimsy – pedals.

For more information, read our full Hori Apex review

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Thrustmaster T248R

Tested in F1 24, F1 25, Rennsport, ACC, and AC Evo
Two weeks with a desktop
A variety of FF strength settings tried

I loaded up my usual racing titles to test this updated T248R wheel, since I’m already familiar with how they feel with a variety of both belt-driven and direct drive wheels.

Happily, every title recognised the wheel to some degree and offered sensible default mappings and values.

There’s a range of different force feedback strength levels available here via Thrustmaster’s ‘BOOST’ tech, although in practice, that’s no different from adjusting the strength of any other wheel via the in-game settings or manufacturer app. Nevertheless, I adjusted to different strengths during testing.

Finally, and importantly, all testing was conducted at a desktop setup, since this bundle can’t easily be mounted onto a sim rig like my Playseat.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed September 2025

Categories: Reviews

The new Thrustmaster T98 racing wheel took me back to my childhood, and I couldn't wait to grow up

Fri, 09/19/2025 - 14:00

Thrustmaster T98: One-minute review

The Thrustmaster T98 is about as budget as a budget racing wheel and pedals can get, but that’s by design. This entry-level bundle includes everything a young racer needs to get started with a wheel, pedals, and mounting clamp, but does away with plenty of standard features in order to keep costs down.

Feeling more like a racing toy than a piece of sim racing gear, the T98 is made entirely of plastic but still carries an impressive overall build quality. The wheel itself has all the usual buttons and inputs, but the attached wheelbase offers no force feedback or even simple vibration. Instead, the T98’s wheel has a light, linear resistance from what Thrustmaster calls ‘bungee cord technology’ and will always spin back to centre when let go

The pedals are equally simple, just an accelerator and brake with a short travel distance and no real pushback. Remarkably, though, Thrustmaster has managed to include Hall effect sensors here, which almost feels out of place with the rest of the unit but is certainly a welcome addition.

I’ve hit the track in a few different games, and while racing with the Thrustmaster T98 is more fun than with the stock Xbox Wireless Controller, it’s a very superficial experience. The wheel feels floaty and disconnected from your digital car, making it surprisingly hard to achieve any real control, even with three sensitivity profiles to choose from.

It may be targeted at kids and the entry-level market, and I can see such an audience initially enjoying it, but I’d imagine most will quickly outgrow the T98 and soon be wanting a wheel that offers a little more.

(Image credit: Future)Thrustmaster T98: Price and availability

List price: $109.99 / £89.99 / AU$199.99
Available direct from Thrustmaster
Great value for money for an entry level wheel

You’re not going to find many full racing bundles much cheaper than the Thrustmaster T98, and that’s worthy of applause in itself.

It’s a refreshing change to see a genuine, modern, entry-level option around that $100 mark. Perhaps more importantly, it’s nice to see brands starting to fill in options at both ends of the market. Beyond the similarly priced Hori Racing Wheel Apex for PlayStation, the numbers quickly increase until you reach the genre staple Logitech G923 racing wheel.

What’s particularly pleasing is that the T98 is a complete set; there are no asterisks or sold separately disclaimers here. There’s even a desk clamp included, too; one box really is all you need to go from nothing to racing.

This makes shopping easy for parents, just make sure you get the right version, as there are separate Xbox and PlayStation variants with just a single letter differentiating the model names - GTS for Xbox and GTB for PlayStation.

Thrustmaster T98: Specs

Dimensions

10 x 9.6 x 9.8in / 255 x 245 x 250 mm

Weight

2.9 lbs / 1.3kg

Rotation

240 degrees

Force Feedback

Platform Compatibility

Xbox/PC or PlayStation/PC

Box Contents

T98 Ferrari 296, clamping system, T2PM pedal set, instruction manual, and warranty information

Thrustmaster T98: Design and features

Complete set with wheel, pedals, and table clamp
Three on-board driving profiles
H.E.A.R.T. Hall effect sensors in pedals

At this price point, it’s really no surprise that every part of the Thrustmaster T98 bundle is entirely made of plastic. Usually, I’d be critical of this; it’s not exactly the most premium material, but this isn’t a premium bit of kit, so it’s understandable. As far as plastic goes, it’s not bad, though.

Pulling it out of the box, I was immediately struck by just how solid the wheel and wheelbase both feel. There’s no flex or creakiness to either of them; they feel reassuringly sturdy. Thrustmaster’s experience in the genre really shows here, even if this is the closest thing to a toy it’s ever made.

The Thrustmaster T98’s 10” wheel is inspired by the one you’ll find in the Ferrari 296 GTS, and it’s not a bad recreation. The overall shape is sporty, and it’s comfortable enough to hold. There’s a little grip texturing embossed into the plastic on either side, which is a welcome addition, and a few faux carbon fibre accents to break things up.

The standard range of controller buttons is neatly spread across the face of the wheel, with a pair of clicky paddle shifters behind. I could easily reach all of them without adjusting my grip on the wheel, and it’s something I not only appreciated but have regularly not been able to do with more expensive options.

Admittedly, I have reasonably large hands, but they all felt close enough that I imagine smaller users would be able to reach them just as easily.

(Image credit: Future)

The Thrustmaster T98’s wheelbase is simple but stylish enough. It’s a compact little unit that takes its design cues from more ‘grown-up’ options, albeit with considerably less going on inside. The included desk clamp took a little fiddling to correctly line up, but eventually held things firmly in place.

With no force feedback and no vibration or rumble motor, it’s left to essentially a rubber band to impose any sort of resistance. It’s not uncommon for wheels to forego force feedback. Logitech’s Heavy Equipment Bundle will set you back nearly three times as much and offers the same experience, but that doesn’t make me miss it any less.

The pedals are the most basic part of the Thrustmaster T98 bundle, though funnily enough feature the most advanced technology. Both the accelerator and brake feel similar underfoot without much travel distance and an equally small amount of resistance. These are definitely designed with junior racers in mind. If you’re pressing it, you might as well floor it; there’s no real in-between.

That makes the inclusion of Thrustmaster’s H.E.A.R.T. Hall effect sensors in each pedal a little unusual. I’m not complaining, it’s great to see this kind of technology in a budget device, I’m just not sure anyone is going to see the benefit beyond some extra lifespan and no chance of stick - I mean, pedal - drift.

Speaking of which, there’s a good chance you’ll find the whole unit drifting across your floor because while there’s a generously sized heel plate with some texturing on top, the bottom of the pedal box is pretty slick.

There’s no spikey carpet gripper bar to keep things still, and while there are four tiny rubber pads, these didn’t achieve a lot when I tested on my laminate floor.

Thrustmaster T98: Performance

Impressive plug-and-play game compatibility
No force feedback or rumble
Bungee cord resistance has quirks and a learning curve

"It's not aimed at sim racers, it's aimed at kids, for first-time steering wheel users”. That’s what Thrustmaster product marketing manager Xavier Pieuchot told us when we got our first look at the T98 at Gamescom in August.

Well, I’m none of those things. I do quite a lot of sim racing, and my usual setup is worth north of $2,000. I know what the top end of the market is like, so I channeled my inner child when I played with the Thrustmaster T98.

Setup was a breeze, and actually an area the T98 performed better than a vast majority of considerably more expensive wheels I’ve tested in recent times.

I plugged in the single, pre-attached cable from the pedals to the wheelbase, and then the USB-C cable from the wheelbase to my Xbox Series X. That’s it. Done. Ready to race. The list of officially compatible games on the Thrustmaster website is surprisingly modest, but pretend-8-year-old Alex doesn’t read product listings, so my first stop was a game not on the list, Forza Motorsport.

Who needs compatibility lists anyway? The Thrustmaster T98 worked perfectly from the moment the game launched. Every button was pre-bound to what I’d have expected it to be, including the pedals, and without even considering an options menu, I was straight out on track and racing.

I can’t overstate how refreshing this was and how many times this hasn’t been the case with ‘premium’ options. It was the same story in almost any other game I tried; Forza Horizon 5, EA Sports WRC, Farming Simulator 25, and even older titles like Wreckfest, everything was fully button-mapped, and the wheel and pedals worked exactly how I’d hoped they would.

(Image credit: Future)

Unfortunately, the actual experience behind the wheel wasn’t quite as positive for either my experienced sim racing side or my childhood alter ego. I can overlook the lack of force feedback; that’s a nice-to-have feature, albeit a basic one, and I remind myself this is a $110 wheel after all. The problem is that while the Thrustmaster T98 was more of a giggle to play with than a controller, even the adult me found the learning curve and overall difficulty much harder than it should have been.

Thrustmaster calls the bungee resistance linear, though I experienced quite a wide physical deadzone before the cord grabbed. For hard corners and aggressive moves, this wasn’t a problem. The 240° max rotation can be a little limiting on some tracks, but I still had a good amount of fun. Across titles, though, it was the gentle, sweeping turns, small adjustments, and overtaking manoeuvres that proved surprisingly difficult.

I’d constantly need to turn the wheel further than I’d like to get the car to respond, and then quickly correct it back the other way when it inevitably went too far. More often than not, this caused me to lose control completely and end up against a wall, even down straights. It was a frustrating experience for me as a 33-year-old; I can’t imagine how much patience a 10-year-old might have before giving up and labelling it dumb and annoying.

There are three ‘driving support profiles’ built into the Thrustmaster T98 that adjust the sensitivity of the wheel. I did notice a clear difference between each setting, and it’s a nice idea to be able to dial down the sensitivity and, in theory, make things easier, though none of them managed to overcome the problem I mentioned before.

It’s also worth noting that these don’t change any physical characteristics of the wheel's behavior, just how your movements are translated into the game.

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Thrustmaster T98?Buy it if…

You’re playing a lot of racing games with a controller
It’s light on realism and not without its quirks, but once I’d gotten used to it, I found racing with the Thrustmaster T98 more fun than if I was just sitting there motionless with a controller.

This is the absolute maximum you can spend
This is about the cheapest racing wheel you’ll find from a major brand, particularly one with the expertise of Thrustmaster. If you can hold off a little longer, there are more features to be gained by spending a bit more.

Don’t buy it if…

You’ve used a racing wheel before
If you’ve been to a friend's house and tried a wheel for the first time, even a lower-end option like the Logitech G923, the Thrustmaster T98 is not going to give you the same kind of experience, and you’ll be left disappointed.

You’re looking for a realistic experience
No force feedback, no rumble, and (semi) linear bungee cord resistance make no effort to deliver an immersive or realistic driving feel. This is an arcade toy rather than a simulator.

Also consider

Not sure if the Thrustmaster T98 is your best option? There are plenty of other sim racing wheels available, though not too many at quite such a low price point.

Thrustmaster T98

Hori Racing Wheel Apex

Logitech G920

Price

$109.99 / £89.99

$119.99 / £99.99

$299.99 / £349.99

Dimensions

10 x 9.6 x 9.8in / 255 x 245 x 250 mm

11 x 10.8 x 11.3in / 280 x 275 x 286mm

10.6 x 10.2 x 10.9in / 270 x 260 x 278mm

Weight

2.9lbs / 1.3kg

3.09lbs / 1.4kg

4.96lbs / 2.25kg

Rotation

240 degrees

270 degrees

900 degrees

Force Feedback

Dual-motor

Hori Racing Wheel Apex
The Hori Racing Wheel Apex offers a similar overall package to the T98. It’s equally basic with no force feedback, though you do gain a companion app to fine-tune driving profiles.

For more information, check out our full Hori Racing Wheel Apex review.

Logitech G920
This has arguably been the entry-level racing wheel for years. The Logitech G920 is a considerable step up from the barebones T98, moving from toy racing wheel to sim racing wheel. It’ll set you back just over twice as much, but this is reflected in the experience with full force feedback and higher build quality.

For more information, check out our full Logitech G920 review.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Thrustmaster T98

I used the T98 on my Xbox Series X for a few days
Tested across a range of titles
Approached as a complete beginner

I swapped out some of the best Xbox racing wheels and used the Thrustmaster T98 as my primary racing wheel on Xbox Series X for a week. At this time, I reset my expectations, approaching this as a complete novice and casting my mind back to how I’d have felt about this as a child.

I tried a range of different games, including options both on and absent from the official compatibility list.

I jumped into each title blind, avoiding any configuration or settings menus. I aimed for the most plug-and-play experience possible, seeing how the T98 felt in each game out of the box. The only change I made was testing the three on-board driving profiles in each game, often switching multiple times during a single lap to feel the impact this had.

Throughout testing, I had the Thrustmaster T98 clamped to a coffee table with the pedals resting on the floor. Primarily, this was carpeted, though I also moved my setup into the hallway to test movement and feel on a hard, laminate floor.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed September 2025

Categories: Reviews

I spent a week playing EA Sports FC 26, and I’m baffled that EA has found new ways to make me care

Fri, 09/19/2025 - 11:00

Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Release date: Early Access: September 19, 2025 | Full release: September 26, 2025

Developer and publisher EA’s marquee sports franchise is in a strangely privileged position. For years, FIFA fans lambasted the developer for wheeling out what seemed like the same game in a fresh lick of paint, and while the newer EA Sports FC titles haven’t exactly rewritten the FIFA rulebook, they have felt like more complete, harder-to-criticize packages overall.

Why? Because a decade’s worth of minor tweaks is bound to add up to something great. As I wrote in my EA Sports FC 25 review this time last year, “it feels like we’ve reached a point where the overall FC experience is so good that it’s hard to chastise EA for making small improvements to an already excellent foundation,” and the latest entry in this long-running series, EA Sports FC 26, is shielded by the same safety blanket.

FC 26 is not a dramatically different offering from what’s come before, but it is an objectively better game than FC 25 in a few key ways.

There’s a brand new gameplay option for slower, more realism-focused offline play, a clever real-world integration for Career Mode, and meaningful player-requested changes for Ultimate Team (FUT) and Clubs. The graphics have never been better, and, of course, there’s the customary thrill of using up-to-date players, in up-to-date kits, at up-to-date clubs.

None of these upgrades are particularly flashy; they’re more under-the-surface than something you can advertise in a TV spot. But (I promise!) they do bring new, unexpected depth to EA’s tried-and-tested modes – particularly Career Mode, which feels closer to Football Manager than it’s ever been (complimentary).

Keeping it real

Cole Palmer in EA Sports FC 26 (Image credit: EA Sports)

If you pressed EA to tell you this year’s single biggest FC upgrade, it would probably say “the overhauled gameplay experience powered by feedback from the FC Community.” That sounds like marketing mumbo jumbo, but FC 26 genuinely does play better than FC 25 for a number of reasons.

There are fewer bounce-backs this year (read: matches feel less like a game of pinball), dribbling is more responsive, it’s easier to change direction, goalkeepers no longer parry the ball straight into your opponent’s lap (or rather, they do so less frequently), and, mercifully, headers are now scorable again.

These were the five most tangible gameplay improvements I noticed during my short time with FC 26 ahead of launch, though EA also says that tackles are cleaner, interceptions are more controlled, passes are quicker, and skills are easier to perform.

Some of the best players in EA Sports FC 26 (Image credit: EA Sports)

Players with high dribbling stats definitely feel more powerful in FC 26. The likes of Lamine Yamal, Cole Palmer, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are now just as fun to play with as they are to watch in real life, and while pace freaks like Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior will undoubtedly remain the weapon of choice for FUT loyalists, it’s nice that more of the world’s best players feel genuinely threatening in-game. There’s a new Gamechanger PlayStyle for flair finishers like Yamal, too, which feels like a cheat code when paired with existing dribble-focused PlayStyles like Technical+.

EA has also rolled a bundle of realism-focused tweaks into an entirely new gameplay preset called Authentic Gameplay. An optional mode in Kick-Off and Career Mode, Authentic is tuned for higher realism and true-to-life match speed; dribbling is slower, tackles are more violent, AI defenders are smarter, and rebounds, blocks, and bounces are more unpredictable. In other words, Authentic is a slower, harder, but (in my experience) more rewarding gameplay experience than Competitive, which is the faster-paced gameplay preset locked to online modes like FUT and Clubs.

Just look – look! – at Marc Cucurella's in-game hair in EA Sports FC 26 (Image credit: EA Sports / Future)

In Authentic, it’s much easier to keep hold of possession for long spells, and much harder to slip players in behind using L1. It’s also nigh-on impossible to burst away from defenders with pacey players, which – as in real life – encourages you to aim for space (I do expect EA to tweak the latter aspect in the coming weeks, though, as Mbappé should be able to leave Francesco Acerbi for dead, regardless of the game mode).

It’s true that previous FC games (and indeed previous FIFA games) featured a Simulation preset that, in theory, imposed similar realism-focused gameplay changes. But toggling this option always felt like spiking your players with horse tranquilizer. Yes, in FC 26, Authentic Gameplay feels slower than its Competitive counterpart, but it doesn’t throw the whole FC experience out of kilter. I like it a lot.

Board Expectations 2.0

The Manager Live Hub in EA Sports FC 26 (Image credit: EA Sports / Future)

Career Mode is the perfect place to give Authentic Gameplay a spin, and EA has sprinkled some great new features into its decades-old take on Football Manager.

The headline addition is Manager Live, which evolves last year’s Live Start Points mechanic into a series of full-blown, inspired-by-real-life challenges. Manager Live is essentially Manager Career, but you commit to fulfilling certain objectives or storylines in a given number of seasons. The catch? Each challenge imposes a unique set of feature restrictions and operating conditions, meaning it’s harder to cheese your way to victory by buying the best players or never rotating your squad.

For instance, one Manager Live challenge – Winning With Youth – tasks you with finishing at least eighth in any European league while only playing players under the age of 24 and not signing any players under the age of 21. Another – European Royalty – challenges you to win the UEFA Super Cup twice in three years with increased referee strictness and no ability to restart matches. These feats are harder to complete than they sound, and they force you to think more like a real-life manager under similar real-life pressures.

The Icon and Heroes selection in my edition of EA Sports FC 26 (Image credit: EA Sports / Future)

By completing Manager Live challenges, you can earn classic kits and, for the first time, the ability to play with Icon and Hero players in regular Manager Career. I haven’t yet had enough time with FC 26 to complete one of these multi-season challenges, but luckily, my Ultimate Edition version of the game included three Career-ready Icons straight out of the box (you best believe Fernando Torres went straight into my 2025 Chelsea side).

Other neat updates for regular Career Mode include Manager Market and Unexpected Events. The former gives managers their own Manager Profile and Job Security rating, and you can track which coaches are untouchable, under pressure, or seeking new opportunities throughout the season in a dedicated Manager Market menu. Previously, you’d have to hope and pray that your next role of choice would appear in the hard-to-find Vacancies tab, but now, you can track your dream managerial job and react accordingly.

The Manager Market interface in EA Sports FC 26 (Image credit: EA Sports / Future)

Unexpected Events are exactly what they sound like: random scenarios (positive or negative) that test your adaptability as a manager. Events like Abrupt Retirement, Urgent Family Leave, and Budget Malfunction bring new dynamism to long seasons, where previously, you’d only have the odd player injury or contract negotiation to contend with. Again, this is another small-but-welcome change.

No more rage quits?

Live Events are a new addition to Ultimate Team in EA Sports FC 26 (Image credit: EA Sports)

For FUT fans, those aforementioned gameplay tweaks will prove the most meaningful change (the improvements made to goalkeeper parries, in particular, should reduce the number of rage quits considerably). But EA has also reintroduced Tournaments under a new Live Events banner in FC 26, while Gauntlets force you to rotate your FUT squad in every round, encouraging you to build two competition-ready XIs. During my pre-launch testing, I only had one live Live Event available – the Early Access Elimination tournament – but three more were listed as ‘upcoming’ post-launch.

Other changes include the removal of Rivals qualifiers, the addition of a second tier of Weekend League, and – finally! – fairer consequences if your opponent disconnects from a match by any method: yes, you’ll be awarded the win if the score is a draw.

Best bit

(Image credit: EA Sports FC 26)

Hitting my first trivela assist with Lamine Yamal after beating three defenders using the Technical+ playstyle. These types of moments felt harder to pull off in previous games, but FC 26 actively encourages them.

Those Live Events now feature in Clubs, too, as does a new Archetypes system for developing your Pro, which encourages you to pick a specific style of play (Magician, Creator, Engine, and so on) and run with it. You can choose more than one Archetype (once you’ve unlocked more), but each Archetype progresses separately, so you’ll need to play multiple matches with each one to level them up.

Honestly, I’m not too sure about this new system. Previously, you were able to change your Pro build on the fly to suit the needs of any given position, or just to mix things up. In FC 26, you’ll be able to get really good at being one type of player, but then be forced back to square one if you join a squad that necessitates a position change.

I’m intrigued to see how longtime Clubs fans take to this new progression system – though any annoyances might be offset by the long-awaited ability to join multiple clubs in FC 26.

Should I play EA Sports FC 26?

Ronaldo Nazário in EA Sports FC 26 (Image credit: EA Sports) Play it if…

You want a more in-depth Career Mode experience
The Authentic Gameplay preset, coupled with the new Manager Live challenges, makes Career Mode the best it’s ever been.

You love FUT, but hate the rage it leads to
EA has taken strides to make FUT a less rage-inducing experience. Gameplay is more enjoyable, and disconnection consequences have been made fairer.

You want the best-looking football simulator
I say this every year, but EA Sports FC 26 is the best-looking football game EA has ever made. Just look at those hair physics.

Don’t play it if…

You’re looking for a dramatically different experience
EA Sports FC 26 brings meaningful tweaks to tried-and-tested modes, but you won’t find radical surface-level changes here.

Accessibility

The Accessibility menu in EA Sports FC 26 (Image credit: EA Sports / Future)

EA Sports FC 26 offers a comprehensive suite of accessibility options, including settings for subtitles, button remapping, color blindness, and increasing the size of the player indicator. It also introduces a dedicated High Contrast Mode for low-vision and cognitively disabled players. All of these accessibility options can be found in a dedicated Accessibility Settings tab. The game has six difficulty levels – Beginner, Amateur, Semi-Pro, Professional, World Class, Legendary, and Ultimate – and features support for 21 languages.

How I tested EA Sports FC 26

I played EA Sports FC 26 for five days ahead of its official release. During that time, I had access to all modes and features and was able to compete against real-world players who also had early access to the game (before the start of EA’s Early Access promotion).

I played on PS5, using a standard DualSense controller, on a Samsung QN95A Neo QLED 4K TV. I’ve played every EA Sports football title since FIFA 13, and also reviewed FIFA 22, FIFA 23, EA Sports FC 24, and EA Sports FC 25 for TechRadar Gaming.

First reviewed September 2025.

Categories: Reviews

Squarespace review 2025

Fri, 09/19/2025 - 01:54

Squarespace is a designer-friendly no-code platform with great aesthetics that consistently ranks among the best website builder platforms on the market. With its sleek templates and comprehensive feature set, Squarespace positions itself as an all-in-one solution for creating stylish and functional websites with minimal effort.

Over the years, Techradar has spent thousands of hours testing 140+ website builders, making our reviewers the leading experts in what makes a platform exceptional. Squarespace stands out to us for its award-winning templates, which can be modified down to the last pixel thanks to a powerful block-based editor.

Wix remains our top pick for the best website builder of 2025, thanks to a slightly higher number of features at a reduced price point. But, Squarespace's new Blueprint AI and Design Intelligence tools make it a close competitor that gives the former a good run for its money.

Squarespace: 2-minute review

Squarespace is a complete website builder, with everything you would expect from one of the best-known names in the industry. This includes a range of stunning website templates, a full AI website builder, ecommerce features including payment gateway integrations, marketing tools, analytics, and the ability to integrate with select 3rd party services.

The platform was originally built to serve the blogging space but is now capable of hosting practically any type of website from ecommerce stores to freelancer portfolios. Despite the platform's growth, it stays true to its roots by continuing to offer some of the more aesthetically pleasing website templates available.

Squarespace isn’t the cheapest website builder, but it is fairly priced when compared with competitors with similar features, tools, and ease of use. Its entry level plan starts at $16/mo with an annual plan, which is in the same ballpark as Wix ($17/mo) and Hostinger ($11.99/mo). Plus, you can take advantage of a 14-day free trial to test it out, although unlike Wix, it doesn’t offer a forever-free version.

Overall, Squarespace is a safe bet for those looking for an easy to use website builder with all the features most businesses will ever need.

What is Squarespace?

Squarespace is a website builder that helps you create professional websites without coding. It’s like a digital canvas where you can design your online presence. You can use pre-made templates and customize them to fit your vision. Whether you want a blog, portfolio, or online store, Squarespace has all the tools you need.

When you sign up, you can choose from over 180 designer-made templates or use their AI-powered Blueprint tool for a custom design. After that, you can easily add your content, change colors and fonts, and arrange elements with its drag-and-drop editor. Squarespace takes care of technical details like hosting and security, so you don’t have to stress about them.

What’s great about Squarespace for beginners is that everything is in one package. This includes domain registration, cloud hosting, design tools, and a CMS. The all-in-one approach saves you from juggling services from different providers, which can be overwhelming when starting out.

Recent updates

Squarespace 7.1 represents a fundamental shift in the platform's design philosophy, moving away from fixed template families to a highly flexible design system powered by Fluid Engine. This introduces a grid-based editing system that allows users to drag, drop, and layer content blocks with unprecedented freedom, essentially transforming every website into a custom design canvas with zero template limitations.

Design

The Fluid Engine editor enables independent mobile and desktop layout design, giving users granular control over how their content appears across different devices, a significant improvement from the previous version where mobile layouts were automatically generated.

Squarespace 7.1 introduces Auto Layouts that intelligently present content sets, gallery sections for cohesive image displays, and advanced visual effects like Block Pinning for split-scrolling and Text Highlights for emphasizing selected content.

Content management

We found the new page section functionality particularly impressive, as it allows users to divide content into distinct sections with unique design, layout, and styling options. This is a major improvement from 7.0's single content area limitation. They also added Saved Sections functionality in May 2025, enabling users to create reusable design components across multiple pages, speeding up the design workflow for both beginners and professionals.

Ecommerce

For ecommerce users, 7.1 delivers substantial improvements in selling capabilities and product management. The platform now supports up to 10,000 products per page (compared to 200 in version 7.0) and 250 variants per product (up from 100), while introducing nested category navigation and optimized mobile scrolling for longer product descriptions. Product waitlists, previously available only on specific templates, are now accessible across all websites.

However, it's worth noting that Squarespace recently implemented Products V2 with a mandatory migration deadline of August 30, 2025, requiring users with custom code targeting product pages to update their implementations to maintain functionality.

Support

Security and support options have been strengthened through Squarespace's dedicated security team implementing enhanced technical and organizational measures updated in January 2025. The platform maintains a risk-based security approach with continuous monitoring, red team exercises, and threat modeling for new system developments, ensuring robust protection for both company and customer assets.

Integration capabilities have also evolved, though 7.1 maintains Squarespace's philosophy of relying primarily on native tools rather than extensive third-party integrations, which some users find limiting compared to competitors but ensures better stability and support.

Partner program

The platform's recent major update arrived in September 2025 with the launch of Squarespace for Pros, unveiled during Circle Day 2025. This professional-grade experience introduces Finish Layer Design Tools with interactive block animations, customizable transforms (opacity, rotation, offset), and the ability to import external fonts for complete brand consistency.

It also includes integrated practice management for project oversight and client collaboration, plus expanded Circle partner program benefits representing Squarespace's most significant investment to date in supporting professional designers and agencies. However, you should be aware that upgrading from classic editor sections to Fluid Engine is irreversible and may break custom CSS implementations.

Note: Upgrading to the 7.1 version of Squarespace is entirely optional for now. While new users get introduced to Squarespace 7.1 by default, existing website owners can choose to keep the legacy version of the website builder, along with all its existing features and support.

Features

Squarespace provides a wide range of features for different website needs. (Image credit: Squarespace)

Squarespace has always offered some of the best website templates on the market, making it a firm favourite amongst creatives such as artists and photographers. Anyone looking for a stunning website should seriously consider Squarespace.

Owain Williams, Website Builder Editor

Squarespace provides a wide range of features for different website needs. At the heart of the platform is a powerful drag-and-drop editor with a smart grid system. This helps keep your design elements aligned. You’ll also find over 180 professionally designed templates. These templates are great starting points for creating stunning websites. They feature a modern, minimalist design with plenty of white space and room for photos.

If you want to sell online, Squarespace offers strong ecommerce tools in its Business plans. You can sell physical and digital products, offer subscriptions, and create discounts. It even helps with abandoned cart recovery emails and social media sales. The platform supports various payment methods, such as PayPal, Stripe, and Square, and includes automatic tax calculations. However, these ecommerce features come at a higher price compared to some competitors.

In 2023, Squarespace introduced Blueprint AI, which streamlines website creation. This AI system guides users through five simple steps to create a personalized website. It also generates content with its AI text generator. We found this feature helpful for beginners facing the "blank page" anxiety. Still, the AI-generated templates seem basic compared to Squarespace's professionally designed options.

The platform has specialized tools like Acuity Scheduling for booking appointments, available for $16 a month. It also offers portfolio collections for showcasing work and various blocks to enhance user experience, like search and archive functions. While Squarespace includes many built-in features, it mainly relies on its own tools. This limits extensive third-party integrations in most areas. Squarespace’s pricing ranges from $16 to $52 per month (billed annually). Although it's a premium price, the quality of design and features usually justify the investment for users.

Tools

Over the years, Squarespace has stacked on a bunch of different tools and add-ons to make its website builder more lucrative. (Image credit: Squarespace)

Over the years, Squarespace has stacked on a bunch of different tools and add-ons to make its website builder more lucrative. This includes everything from SEO features to help you optimize your content strategy to AI tools for assistive design suggestions.

Blogging

Squarespace is well known for being one of the best blogging sites around. So, if you’re into blogging, you’ll be glad to hear that Squarespace provides a full set of blogging features such as built-in blog pages, a comment section, and content promotion tools. However, if you’re making a blog as a means of making money, Squarespace shouldn’t be your first choice. First off, to get hold of ecommerce features, you’ll have to purchase the “Business” plan or up, and it will set you back $23 per month (if you subscribe for a year) or $36 for one month.

Ecommerce

The Business plan (and up) will also let you integrate a shopping cart into your website with ease, as well as sell physical products, digital downloads, online services, and subscriptions. However, if we take the 3% transaction fee on sales and the plan’s initial price tag into account, this solution doesn’t seem particularly pocket-friendly.

Also, Squarespace isn’t as strong as some of its competitor (like Shopify) when it comes to shipping and payment options – for instance, manual payments isn’t an option and you can’t sell in multiple currencies.

SEO and marketing

Squarespace also offers superb Search Engine Optimization (SEO) features, which will help you get your site in front of your core audience. There are multiple options for social media marketing, email marketing, and custom post designs. Not only are these tools powerful, but they are easy to use - this makes it one of the best small business website builders on the market.

AI tools

Although Squarespace’s AI offering isn’t quite as advanced as some competitors such as Wix and Hostinger, it does offer a host of helpful AI-powered tools that will make creating your website a breeze.

The list starts with the option to use AI to get your initial website set up. If you select this option Squarespace will ask you a few questions such as the name of your site, which sections and pages you want on your website, which colors and fonts you want to use, and then use your answers to build your site.

Like with most AI website builders, the results are a little generic and will need some editing. Luckily, Squarespace also offers some AI tools to help you do this. For example, you can use an AI copywriter to help you complete your site's written content. A similar tool can be used to create product descriptions, which can be a lifesaver for large online stores.

Finally, Squarespace also offers AI-powered branding and email marketing tools, helping you make the right impression and getting you in front of the right people.

Integrations

Squarespace doesn’t take too kindly to third-party tools – while there’s a decent variety of versatile tools it’s not up to scratch – so, you might feel like you’re stuck with Squarespace's ecosystem.

Website editor

We should also talk about Squarespace’s up-to-date, drag-and-drop editor called Fluid Engine, a superior version to their old editor. As soon as you add an element or change something on the template you’re using, it will become visible straight away. It also offers a decent level of customization choices, so you can adjust your template to suit your needs and desires.

The only major drawback is that you can’t place elements (such as images or text) wherever you want them to be - you can position them in pre-built places bounded by grid lines. Also, while you’ll be prompted to save your site after each change, you won’t enjoy the convince of the autosave functionality.

Ease of use

Of all the website builders we have tested, Squarespace ranks as one of the easiest to use. (Image credit: Squarespace)

Of all the website builders we have tested, Squarespace ranks as one of the easiest to use. Its drag-and-drop editor balances simplicity and functionality. This makes it great for beginners but still offers depth for experienced users. The clean, minimalist interface removes clutter. It shows only the tools you need, like the option to add a new section, which appears when you hover over an existing section.

Getting started with Squarespace is easy. During onboarding, you answer a few questions about your website's purpose and goals. This helps the platform tailor its recommendations to your needs. The 14-day free trial lets you explore without rushing into a paid plan. We liked that no credit card is needed to start the trial, allowing risk-free experimentation.

Squarespace emphasizes user experience (UX) principles, evident in how the platform works and the sites it creates. The editor uses a smart grid system to align elements. This helps beginners create visually balanced pages. Real-time previews show how your changes affect your site, making the design process dynamic. However, some users notice lag or unresponsiveness with larger, content-heavy websites.

The platform includes accessibility features through its All in One Accessibility Widget. This makes your website more usable for people with various disabilities, including visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive impairments. Yet while customization is simple, Squarespace has limits. Once you pick a template, you can't switch to another without rebuilding your site. And some advanced customizations need CSS or JavaScript knowledge, which is only available on higher-tier plans.

Pricing

With Squarespace, you can choose between four all-in-one plans ranging from $16 to $52 per month. (Image credit: Squarespace)

Plan

Monthly cost (paid monthly)

Monthly cost (paid annually)

Personal

$25

$16

Business

$36

$23

Commerce (Basic)

$40

$28

Commerce (Advanced)

$72

$52

The site builder’s price tag is on par with similar all-in-one solutions on the market and it provides plenty of bang for the buck. However, if you only wanted a pocket-friendly site builder without other components of Squarespace, we’re sorry to say you won’t find this here.

If you’re in for an all-in-one solution, you can choose between four plans ranging from $16 to $52 per month, if you opt for an annual billing option, that is. If you choose a one-month-only option, the price will spike significantly.

While Squarespace doesn’t offer a forever-free edition of its site builder, there is a 14-day free trial with all four plans and no credit card details are required. It is also worth mentioning that you can often save on your subscription by using Squarespace promo codes and/or signing up for a longer period of time.

As for payment methods, Squarespace accepts all major credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, and American Express included), JCB, Diners Club (in USD only), and SEPA direct debit (in EUR only). As you already suspect, you can’t pay via PayPal or Bitcoin (BTC).

For a more detailed review the plans available on Squarespace you can read our full Squarespace pricing guide.

Integrations

Squarespace takes a curated approach to integrations, offering built-in connectivity to carefully selected platforms rather than an open marketplace of third-party apps. The platform provides what it calls "Connected Services," which are seamlessly integrated into the core Squarespace experience.

This includes essential tools for payment processing (Stripe, PayPal, Square), shipping carriers (FedEx, UPS, USPS), social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo), and marketing services (Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Facebook Pixel). We find that this approach ensures reliable performance and support, though it may feel limiting compared to platforms that offer thousands of third-party integrations.

But for automation enthusiasts, Squarespace also supports Zapier integration, which opens up connectivity to over 1,000 additional 3rd-party apps and services. Through Zapier, users can create automated workflows (called "Zaps") that trigger when specific events occur on their Squarespace site, such as new form submissions, newsletter signups, or product purchases. Common automation scenarios include adding new form submissions to Google Sheets, creating CRM entries in Salesforce or HubSpot, sending notifications to Slack, or adding contacts to email marketing platforms like ConvertKit.

Finally, Squarespace offers API access for developers looking to build custom integrations, though this requires technical expertise. API key generation is possible through the platform's developer settings. It uses OAuth 2.0 authentication and provides REST endpoints for managing content, products, orders, and inventory.

Developers can access endpoints for site-level configurations, e-commerce functionality, and content management, enabling custom solutions for businesses with specific integration needs. This is useful for connecting Squarespace to enterprise systems like ERPs, CRMs, or custom fulfillment services that aren't available through the standard integrations.

Security

Squarespace websites are all kept on secure with SSL certificates, two-factor authentication (2FA), and protection against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. (Image credit: Squarespace)

Squarespace websites are all kept on secure with SSL certificates, two-factor authentication (2FA), protection against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and a login activity panel. While the activity log won’t protect your site by itself, it’ll help you discover if any logins were made from suspicious or unknown devices.

Squarespace’s security staff is monitoring all Squarespace sites round-the-clock for threats and vulnerabilities to make sure your site is properly protected. Still, if you discover a vulnerability, you can report it to the security staff and they’ll conduct their investigation on it.

Customer support

You can seek assistance from Squarespace’s support staff via live chat, email, and X (Twitter). (Image credit: Squarespace)

If you get stuck somewhere during your Squarespace journey, you can seek assistance from their support staff via live chat, email, and X (Twitter). Sadly, phone support isn’t available.

Live chat is available Monday to Friday, 4 AM to 8 PM, ET, and once you contact the staff, someone will get back to you in a matter of minutes. In contrast, email support is available 24/7, but the response time can sometimes be sluggish.

As for self-service, you can visit the Help Center which contains a well-supplied knowledge base, video guides, and an avidly active community forum you can conveniently browse by topics.

Alternatives

As we noted earlier, Wix is an awesome alternative for those who want to build their site on a tight budget or entirely free — it even offers a forever-free edition of its site builder for personal use. Plus, it’s super simple to use, packed with features, and provides automatic backups.

If you’re searching for a cheap yet endlessly customizable site builder, WordPress is the solution of choice. Since it’s an open-sourced software, it has thousands of themes, templates, plugins, how-to guides, and a committed community that can lend you a helping hand. While it’s not as beginner-friendly as Squarespace or Wix, it makes up for it with a fabulous level of flexibility and freedom.

Finally, Shopify is built for ecommerce from the ground up, so if an ecommerce solution is what you’re looking for, it might be the best choice. Squarespace offers all essential ecommerce features, but it’s still better suited for a professional site or a blog.

How we tested Squarespace

To test the Squarespace website builder, we started by setting up an account. We then got hands-on with the tools and features available when building a website on the platform. This included exploring the various available website templates, SEO and marketing tools, and testing the drag-and-drop website editor.

We also reviewed the available plans, comparing their pricing and what they include. Finally, we researched what level of help and support is available to users and how the platform protects users’ websites from security threats.

You can learn more about how we test website builders with our full guide.

Summary

Squarespace is a splendid, simple-to-use site builder with terrific templates and it gets better each time a new version crops up. Hitting high marks in all major areas, Squarespace site builder qualifies as an amazing all-arounder in the market, and it’s also fit for small and mid-sized online stores.

Their website builder comes packed with tools and features such as email marketing, an SSL certificate, and options for mobile responsive templates - giving you everything you need to launch and grow your website in one convenient space.

However, Squarespace keeps its users on a short leash with a low level of customization and the inability to switch between templates without starting from scratch. Also, the lack of auto-save features makes it less convenient than some of its competitors.

Squarespace: FAQsDoes Squarespace have a free plan?

No, unlike some other website builders, Squarespace doesn’t have a free plan. However, it does offer a free 14-day trial. This offers you the opportunity to test out the platform to make sure it is the right one for you.

Does Squarespace charge a transaction fee on sales?

It depends on the plan you pick.

The Business plan ($23/mo paid annually) is the cheapest plan which offers the full range of ecommerce functionality but charges a 3% transaction fee for physical products and services sold via the site. Both the Commerce plans (Basic ($27/mo paid annually) and Advanced ($49/mo paid annually)) charge a 0% transaction fee.

So, at just $4 extra a month, most ecommerce businesses would benefit from investing in the Commerce plan. But you will need to do the math to decide which one works best for you.

Can I get a discount on a Squarespace plan?

Yes, we keep track of all the latest Squarespace voucher codes.

Is Squarespace better than Wix?

Well, it depends on what you’re looking for in a site builder. Wix offers more templates overall, but the ones you’ll get with Squarespace look better. Also, Wix has a forever-free edition, while with Squarespace you can make use of a 14-day free trial, and that’s about it.

Both site builders are easy to use, offer robust ecommerce features, and provide superb value for money. However, Wix is cheaper while Squarespace has more additional tools for growing your site.

Is Squarespace good for beginners?

Yes, Squarespace is one of the best site builders for beginners. Its intuitive, drag-and-drop editor is backed by simple-to-follow guides in case you get stuck. And if that doesn’t do the trick, you can rely on rather responsive customer support staff.

What are the downsides of using Squarespace?

The primary drawbacks of using Squarespace are the shortage of customization capabilities, the absence of auto-save features, and the lack of phone support. Also, there are cheaper options around and some of them offer a free edition of their site builders too.

Categories: Reviews

Midnight Murder Club is a lot of fun – but only if you can convince your friends to join in

Thu, 09/18/2025 - 17:00

Midnight Murder Club is a bite-sized first-person shooter with a unique premise that makes it worth trying out.

Set in a pitch black mansion, this PS5 exclusive (well, console exclusive) challenges you to track other players using only the light from a small torch and audio cues like muffled footsteps, the creaking sound of doors opening, and overheard conversations through proximity chat.

Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PC, PS5
Release date: August 14, 2025

When you have a full match of six players all using their microphones, the atmosphere is absolutely electric. There’s serious tension as you creep around, which always gives way to pure chaos once the shooting starts. If you’re looking for something to try on your next night of gaming with friends, then you can certainly do much worse for the modest $9.99 / £8.99 asking price. There’s even a ‘Guest Pass’ feature that lets your buddies join in completely for free, which is appreciated.

Unfortunately, the experience falls apart when you don’t have a dedicated group. Finding online matches is almost impossible thanks to a tiny pool of players just a few weeks after launch, and the few offline modes, while a decent starter course, won’t keep you entertained for long.

Lights out

(Image credit: Sony)

Midnight Murder Club offers a total of five player-versus-player (PvP) game modes, and while they follow the same general format, a few unique mechanics keep each one interesting.

The main mode is called Wildcards and features three teams of two players vying for the most kills. At the start of the match, every player selects a titular wildcard from a deck, each one boasting a unique effect. This ranges from simple bonuses like faster reload speeds and more effective flashlights to whackier options like a card that turns every gunshot into a loud jazz trumpet toot or another that gives everyone massive heads.

The chosen wildcards affect all players, leading to some enjoyably bonkers combinations. More cards are unlocked with each completed match, too, giving you at least a small reason to keep coming back for more.

Best bit

(Image credit: Sony)

Nothing quite compares to the satisfaction of nailing a foe using nothing but sound. Hearing footsteps and taking a risky shot only for it to instantly pay off is fantastic every time.

The other modes on offer are a standard free-for-all and team deathmatch, and more exciting ‘Thief in the Night’ and ‘Headhunters’, which see you clamoring to collect valuable skull fragments or destroying evil totems, respectively.

You start off each game armed with a basic revolver that has unlimited ammunition in most modes, but vending machines littered around the map give you access to more powerful machine guns and deadly traps like falling chandeliers. Getting gear from vendors doesn't cost money, but rather produces a huge amount of light and noise - forcing you to weigh up whether the gear on offer is worth exposing your position.

Your flashlight presents much the same risk-versus-reward proposition. Levels are completely pitch black without it on, so it's necessary to navigate unless you want to spend most of your time running into walls. Beams of light make it easy to track your location, though, and if you blindly shoot where one is coming from, more often than not, you'll bag an easy elimination.

Dead silence

(Image credit: Sony)

Voice chat is a key part of Midnight Murder Club, and coordinating with your team is almost vital for success. It relies on a proximity chat system, where your DualSense Wireless Controller or PS5 headset is constantly broadcasting your voice to nearby players - whether friend or foe.

Turning off your flashlight and following the sound of other players’ voices for a sneak melee attack is a constant source of devilish satisfaction - particularly when you get to hear their panicked screams as you strike.

Although proximity chat can be a lot of fun, its inclusion does present some risks when you're playing with strangers. I was particularly impressed to see an ‘Auto Scramble’ feature that automatically distorts the voices of anyone who's not on your team.

You can still decipher general emotions, but individual words are impossible to make out - an innovative and practical addition that I'd love to see in other online games.

(Image credit: Sony)

Unfortunately, there are few opportunities to use this as the online matchmaking situation is dire. I’ve been trying to find matches every day for weeks, and it’s borderline impossible to find a full lobby.

To make matters worse, players frequently drop out of matches, and the peer-to-peer hosting means that massive lag spikes are common.

There are some single-player options here, like the ability to play Wildcards against bots or mow down computer-controlled enemies in the stages of the usually two-player Graveyard Shift mode, but they’re very limited, and you really need a large group of friends to make the most of it.

Although there is cross-platform support, players who try the game on PC will have to log in with a PlayStation account in addition to a Steam one. Given this is a PlayStation published game, this does make some sense, but it’s still incredibly annoying in a game that would otherwise be easy to pick up and play.

A few of the friends I had lined up to join me didn’t already have access to PlayStation accounts and weren't willing to fork their email addresses over to Sony for what might be a single night of gaming, so they ended up wanting to play something else. When finding matches is already so difficult, this seems a bit like the developers shooting themselves in the foot.

All of this leaves Midnight Murder Club difficult to wholeheartedly recommend. It can be a fantastic time, provided you’re able to find a full lobby - which is almost impossible if you’re not playing with friends. It’s only really worth picking up if you have a group of five buddies eager to squad up.

Should I play Midnight Murder Club?Play it if…

You want something to play with up to five friends
If you’re searching for a game to play with a group of up to five friends, then Midnight Murder Club is worth a look. It’s a lot of fun if you’re able to fill a room.

You’re after a new party game
Likewise, if you regularly play games with a group and want a nice change of pace from your usual favorites, the low asking price of Midnight Murder Club will be tempting.

You want to try every PlayStation exclusive
Midnight Murder Club is a PlayStation console exclusive, so it’s a must-have if you’re keen to try every unique experience that Sony’s system has to offer.

Don’t play it if…

Your friends won’t make a PlayStation account
The requirement for a PlayStation account on PC is frustrating, especially when your friends aren’t keen to make one.

You want to play solo
As a multiplayer focused game, Midnight Murder Club is of limited value if you intend to play alone.

Accessibility features

There are a few accessibility features in Midnight Murder Club.

You can customize the colors of in-game teams to make them easier to see and invert your camera controls. Most button inputs can also be tweaked on PS5, allowing you to rebind them as needed.

(Image credit: Sony)How I reviewed Midnight Murder Club

I played Midnight Murder Club for almost four hours on PS5 using the DualSense Wireless Controller and a pair of Final VR500 gaming earbuds.

In that time, I played a variety of matches online and explored all of its single-player modes. For communication, I relied on the microphone built into the controller.

First reviewed August 2025

Categories: Reviews

Dying Light: The Beast dials up the horror and keeps the parkouring, zombie-bashing action – and it's a blast

Thu, 09/18/2025 - 11:00

Alright, I'm just gonna get straight to the point: did you love the first two Dying Light games? You did? Okay, I'll save you some time - you're definitely going to enjoy Techland's latest instalment in its survival zombie game series, Dying Light: The Beast.

Review info

Platform reviewed: PC
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Release date: September 18, 2025

There's enough to set The Beast apart from its predecessors, even if it follows the same broad gameplay template and stars returning leading man Kyle Crane, protagonist of the original game and its expansion, The Following.

Things didn't go so great for Kyle the first time around; in the (now canon) ending of The Following, he ended up betrayed, infected, captured, and used as an unwilling test subject. The viral outbreak has gone worldwide, and 90% of the global population is dead or infected.

More than a full in-universe decade later, he breaks out of a mysterious laboratory, and we’re off to the races once again: time to bash some skulls with improvised melee weapons and parkour your way across the rooftops like a bloodlusted Sébastien Foucan. Dying Light: The Beast isn't overly concerned with being serious or grounded; we're here for a little bit of the ol’ ultraviolence, and boy, is it fun.

Worlds apart

The setting might be calmer, but the infected certainly aren't. (Image credit: Techland)

Considering that Dying Light: The Beast was purportedly originally planned as extra downloadable content (DLC) to Dying Light 2, it sure as hell has a good amount of content in it. Instead of the more urban settings of the first two games, The Beast takes place in the cozy woodland resort town of Castor Woods, nestled in a valley in an alpine landscape.

Well, I say ‘cozy’ - it's not exactly a pleasant place to be by the time Kyle breaks loose. Hordes of poor infected souls roam the cobbled streets and forest underbrush, deadly mutant variants stalk the night, and a rogue paramilitary group commanded by a villainous oligarch is attempting to seize control of the region. So far, so Dying Light.

Castor Woods is the perfect divergence from Harran and Villedor, the city settings of the first two games. (Image credit: Techland)

But the shift to a more rural setting proves to be exactly the injection of freshness this series needed. The map isn't particularly large, but it's big enough to make navigating on foot take a while, and the focus on urban verticality is lessened here. Yes, there are still pylons and watchtowers for Kyle to clamber up, but also more wide-open spaces, divided by trees and thick bushes that make ambushes a constant threat to the unwary explorer. The woodland environments are also beautiful, as is the primary settlement, the Old Town, crumbling in its majesty as nature begins to reclaim it.

Parkour is still alive and well in The Beast. The Old Town is a fantastically dense environment, full of telephone poles and open windows that form a perfect obstacle course when you're running for your life from an angry Volatile.

But even beyond the built-up areas, there are branches to swing on and rocky cliff faces to climb, and the grappling hook makes a welcome return too, helping you more rapidly circumnavigate your hostile surroundings. Sadly, the glider from Dying Light 2: Stay Human doesn't make an appearance, but that's understandable given the less vertical nature of this locale.

Night falls

Keep an eye on the time: once night falls, you'll need to be extra cautious or seek shelter. (Image credit: Techland)

There's another significant factor that differentiates The Beast’s setting from the first two games, though it doesn't become apparent until after sunset. In the first two games, you were never that far from a light source, be it a trashcan fire or the headlights of an abandoned vehicle (or simply bright moonlight). Here, when it gets dark, it gets dark.

When the sun goes down, getting around without using your trusty flashlight is night-impossible - though of course, using it runs the risk of attracting powerful, dangerous zombies called Volatiles, who retain their mechanics from the previous titles. Alerting one immediately triggers a chase, at which point your best option is to sprint full-pelt back to the protective UV lights of the nearest safehouse; Volatiles are fast, aggressive, and very hard to kill without some serious weapon upgrades.

Best Bit

(Image credit: Techland)

The first sunset you see is truly beautiful - but any series fan will already know the terrors that nightfall heralds.

This oppressive darkness, combined with the visceral gore and bleak yet beautiful Alpine ambience, makes The Beast feel a lot more horror-adjacent than previous entries into the series. It's a welcome shift in tone - not a full swerve into horror since Kyle remains an absolute murder machine, but definitely a darker vibe that I greatly enjoyed as a lifelong lover of the genre.

Narratively, it's fine. The story is a fairly by-the-numbers adventure, with no huge twists that weren't so obvious a blind man could see them a mile off. The characters are a rogue’s gallery of familiar tropes - the no-nonsense sheriff, the bespectacled physics geek, the sage old black dude, the cartoonishly evil Baron - and the dialogue is… well, the voice acting is decent, at least.

I don't mind the predictability of it all, though; the main plot has a schlocky, B-movie feel that is actually fairly endearing. The Beast isn't interested in telling a fantastically deep and thought-provoking tale; at the end of the day, every cutscene is just a vehicle to deliver Kyle and his huge biceps to the next group of infected or soldiers he has to brutalize.

Old dog, new tricks

Yes, that is an infected soldier bouncing off my front bumper in almost slapstick fashion. Running over zombies is fun! (Image credit: Techland)

Speaking of vehicles, you can drive cars in this one! The lack of vehicles in the second game always seemed odd to me, considering that the first game’s DLC, The Following (which also first explored the idea of a more rural setting), dipped its toe in those waters with the drivable buggy.

In The Beast, you can find abandoned forest ranger cars strewn across the wilderness, which serve as the most effective way to get from A to B outside the more densely-packed areas of Castor Woods. There's no fast travel here - and I'll be honest, the map is a little too large for this omission to go unnoticed. Although mowing down hordes of the infected never stops being fun, trekking back and forth from the major safehouses to turn in completed quests and sell off your accumulated loot quickly becomes a chore.

The vehicles, along with the frequent climbing sections and heavier focus on gunfights with human enemies that began in Dying Light: Stay Human, give The Beast a distinct whiff of Far Cry. I'm not complaining, to be clear; I love that series, and the gunplay and stealth elements on offer here work reasonably well.

Every weapon has unique takedown animations, most of which are quite spectacularly gory. (Image credit: Techland)

Really, the combat as a whole is a definite highlight of The Beast: from crunchy melee combat with improvised weapons like hammers and fire axes, to tense stealthy takedowns with Kyle’s trusty bow and arrows, it all feels good. The gore is spectacular - bones crack, limbs are sliced off, heads fly from shoulders in showers of blood. Stunning a group of weak Biters with Kyle’s UV flashlight before unleashing a sweeping heavy attack with a two-handed axe that knocks them all to the ground at once feels great.

There's a wide range of melee weapons on offer, both craftable and lying around the environment, and while these weapons do degrade with use, they can be repaired multiple times before breaking and will generally last you a long time. Ranged weapons don't degrade, meaning that you only ever need one grenade launcher or sniper rifle; any extras can be broken down for parts.

The crafting system remains largely as it was in previous games; nothing overly complex, just gather parts and break down unneeded gear, then put it together to make something great at killing stuff. Weapons must be crafted at workbenches in safe zones, but consumables and other single-use gear (like gas grenades or incendiary arrows) can be crafted from the inventory screen or quick-select menu at any time. I was particularly fond of the explosive throwing knives, which stick into enemies before turning them into a fine red mist a few seconds later.

Feeling beastly

Unleashing the beast turns Kyle into a savage zombie-killing monster, but characters hint that there may be some... side effects. (Image credit: Techland)

Another new addition is right there in the title: Kyle’s years of being an unethical bioscience guinea pig have unlocked his weird virus powers, letting him tap into ‘Beast Mode’ (yes, it's really called that) for a short time after dealing or taking enough damage.

In Beast Mode, you regenerate health constantly, take reduced damage, and forsake your usual arsenal for some meaty infected fists that absolutely demolish all but the strongest foes in seconds. It's fun, and the game usually auto-spawns a handful of fast-moving zombies whenever you activate it, amping up the intensity of any fight where you decide to use it. Progressing the narrative and defeating certain infected boss enemies grants skill points, which can be spent to gain extra abilities in Beast Mode, like jumping further or barrelling through enemies while sprinting. There's also a regular skill tree that accumulates points as you level up, which lets you unlock stuff like new parkour-related attacks and weapon crafting blueprints.

Taking down particularly beefy 'Chimeras' will earn you points to upgrade your Beast Mode powers. (Image credit: Techland)

The enemies you face in The Beast are a mostly familiar selection for anyone who has played a game with zombies in it before. You’ve got your garden variety Biters, which are slow and weak but dangerous in large numbers, then the faster but more fragile Virals, the armored zombies, zombies who jump, zombies who spit acid for ranged attacks, bloated zombies who explode - you know, typical zombie shooter fare.

There are glimpses of more inspired designs here and there (I really like the returning ‘Goon’ enemy type, a hulking brute with a chunk of concrete and rebar gruesomely fused to its arm), but for the most part, the enemy design is fairly run-of-the-mill.

If I have one significant criticism of the enemies, it’s that they’re a bit too eager with the grapple mechanic. Let an infected get too close, and they’ll grab you, dealing a bit of damage and prompting a quick-time event to shove them away.

Now, this should be relatively easy to avoid, but the devs seem to love hiding Biters behind doorframes and corners to ambush and damage you immediately with no chance of avoiding it. Even sometimes in direct combat, I encountered infected who could seemingly slip past a melee attack mid-swing to interrupt it with the grapple QTE, or grapple me immediately as soon as I escaped from a different enemy grapple. I think there’s a reasonable argument that it’s supposed to be punishing - it can be a death sentence if you’re reckless and allow yourself to be surrounded by a swarm of enemies - but more often than not, it just felt like an annoying roadblock to the otherwise enjoyable melee combat.

Guns out

I quickly became very fond of setting enemies on fire, with arrows, flamethrowers, and Molotov cocktails. (Image credit: Techland)

Thankfully, the overall gameplay challenge feels good outside of my grapple-related woes. I switched between all three different difficulty levels during my playthrough, and found that the highest difficulty provided a stiff challenge perfect for the most masochistic player, while the lowest had me feeling almost immediately overpowered. I played most of the game on medium difficulty, where death was never too far away, but I died more times to misjudged parkour jumps than enemy attacks.

Much like the previous Dying Light games, melee is consistently reliable, while ranged weapons are something of a mixed bag. Early guns are completely feeble against infected enemies, who can shrug off multiple pistol or SMG headshots, and the bow is similarly underpowered until you unlock a skill that lets you deal bonus damage on well-timed shots. But later on, you get access to more powerful weapons like the grenade launcher and the crossbow, which can trivialise many encounters - assuming you can keep them stocked with ammo, which is scarce.

There's a modest selection of wearable items to track down, with a transmog system so you can always keep Kyle looking his best. (Image credit: Techland)

Although the game doesn’t make you fight human enemies too often, small squads of mercenaries and bandits can be found lurking around Castor Woods, and there are several large-scale gunfights that take place over the course of the main campaign.

These dips into conventional cover-shooter gameplay certainly feel a bit less engaging than facing savage zombie hordes, but thankfully they don’t outstay their welcome - the infected might eat bullets like nobody’s business, but a single headshot is enough to take down most human opponents, so most fights are over quickly provided you have the ammo to spare (which you usually will, because the game is quite generous with placing supplies before large scripted battles).

Squishing bugs

The Beast isn't quite the prettiest game I've ever played, but it's up there - sometimes I simply had to stop and admire the scenery. (Image credit: Techland)

Playing through the main campaign (with a bit of time spent exploring and completing side-quests) took me just shy of 22 hours, but this was by no means an exhaustive playthrough: I could easily sink another 20 hours into The Beast to complete everything.

There’s a good amount of safehouses to unlock and secrets to uncover, and while the list of sidequests is perhaps a little sparse, they’re more fleshed out than simple fetch quests - you’ll be hunting a particularly dangerous infected in the woods, or clearing out a series of power substations across the map to help a band of survivors.

In terms of performance on PC, I was able to get a good framerate at 1440p Medium settings with my RTX 5070 desktop, and 1080p Low on an RTX 4060 gaming laptop. DLSS resolution upscaling is helpful at higher resolutions, but I found that Nvidia’s frame-generation was rather wonky, creating too much blur in busy scenes to make the improved framerate worth it.

The roof is fully intact, and yet it appears this safehouse has sprung a magical leak. (Image credit: Techland)

There’s also a small amount of visual and physics jank here, which I remember being present in the other Dying Light games; think loot items occasionally falling through the floor or Kyle’s hand distorting weirdly while trying to climb the side of a building. At one point, I found it raining inside one half of an abandoned diner (pictured above). It’s nothing game-breaking and rarely actually intrusive, but I do hope that some early patches help remedy these issues, because otherwise the game runs fine for the most part.

It did occur to me about halfway through my playthrough that The Beast might be coasting on players' foreknowledge from the previous games - I personally didn't have any issues with un- or under-explained mechanics, but I would note that a completely fresh player might struggle a bit to understand certain elements of the game, since the tutorials here are pretty bare-bones and have a tendency to either over- or under-explain specific gameplay elements.

Overall, I had a blast with Dying Light: The Beast. It’s not reinventing the wheel: Techland has a solid formula that mixes traditional open-world action sandbox elements with a solid parkour-based movement system and high enemy density, so it’s understandable that The Beast wouldn’t be too much of a deviation from the norm. Still, the new setting is a breath of fresh air, and it still feels fantastic to dropkick a zombie off a roof.

The dynamic weather is surprisingly a highlight of the setting, with heavy rain and wind adding excellently to the immersion. (Image credit: Techland)Should you play Dying Light: the Beast?Play it if...

You love melee combat
Slicing, dicing, punching, and crunching - Dying Light has always had ultra-violent and ultra-satisfying melee gameplay, and The Beast is no exception.

You like open-world exploration
No Ubisoft towers to vomit icons over your map here, no fast travel, just you and the open greenlands of Castor Woods. There are plenty of unmarked secrets for completionists to uncover, too.

You’re a fan of the series
It might sound obvious, but if you enjoyed the previous games, you're bound to have a good time with this one. What are you waiting for - go unleash the beast!

Don't play it if...

You want in-depth roleplaying
Although there's a fairly robust crafting system here, you can largely ignore all the various tiny '+3% to melee damage at night' stat boosts from buildcrafting and still get the full experience. Baldur's Gate, this ain't.

You’re afraid of the dark
The Beast leans a little further into horror than its predecessors, which is great for the game's overall atmosphere - but it also makes nightfall even more terrifying than before.

Accessibility

On the topic of accessibility, we've got the usual suite of options I've come to expect in any major game: motion sickness reduction, directional audio indicators, and colorblind presets are all present and accounted for, and the subtitles can be customized as well.

How I reviewed Dying Light: The Beast

I spent a while tinkering with the various gameplay, graphical, and accessibility settings in order to get a complete feel for the game, as well as playing through the main campaign at a reasonably fast pace. Of course, I also spent some time checking out the side-quests and just exploring the world, while also being sure to use every new piece of gear I encountered (in case any of them were extremely under- or over-powered - the grenade launcher definitely falls into the latter category).

I played the majority of the game on my gaming PC, with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and Nvidia RTX 5070, using an Asus ROG Strix Scope RX II keyboard and Logitech G502 Lightspeed mouse or a Hyperx Clutch controller. Audio was a combination of the HyperX Cloud Flight S headset and the SteelSeries Arena 9 speakers.

To see how the game would perform on different hardware, I also loaded it up on my RTX 4060 gaming laptop to test out performance on a lower-spec system.

First reviewed September 2025

Categories: Reviews

Rippling IT IAM solution review

Thu, 09/18/2025 - 09:13

You probably know Rippling for its workforce, human resource management, and payroll functions. Rippling is your single source of truth when it comes to backend employee management.

From onboarding, remuneration, and off-boarding to day-to-day management like time and attendance, scheduling, and benefits management – there’s a lot you can do with Rippling.

However, it also has a very robust IT security suite, offering features like identity and access management and comprehensive device management.

This review will focus on Rippling’s identity and access management solution, which offers features like Single Sign On (SSO), Multi Factor Authentication (MFA), password management, and role-based user provisioning and access controls.

Rippling IT IAM: Pricing

Rippling is a unified solution for your entire workforce's needs, including various suites such as global payroll, time and attendance, benefits management, scheduling, recruiting, and so on. Each of their featured suites has a different pricing model, for which you will be required to contact their support team.

We did a bit of digging and found that their identity and access management solution, which offers features like SSO, MFA, role-based access policy, and automated provisioning and deprovisioning, starts at $8/user/month. That’s it – there are no different pricing tiers. You get everything for your identity access management needs in a single plan.

Besides this, if you also want to include device management and inventory management, it will cost you an extra $8/user/month for each of these features.

Although the pricing isn’t displayed on the website directly, I still found the structure to be pretty simple and straightforward. You don’t have to juggle between various pricing tiers or add specific features one by one as you require; in a-la-carte pricing followed by other providers, such as Okta and JumpCloud.

Rippling IT IAM: Features

Rippling makes it very easy to create and manage user groups based on predefined attributes such as job title, department, location, and so on, known as Supergroups.

Instead of having to manually add or remove employees from these groups, Rippling does it automatically based on these attributes. Whenever an attribute is updated, the group is also updated without any manual intervention.

Rippling focuses a lot on role-based permissions, which automate a large chunk of the approval hierarchy, ensuring that admins can focus on more critical tasks. For example, you can set which employee gets admin access based on their attributes, such as department, team, membership, location, and so on.

You can also define the type of data they access and the subset of the organisation these permissions will apply to. Whenever a permission profile is updated, all matching users' access is adjusted automatically in real time.

Rippling also acts as a comprehensive outbound SSO provider. This means that you can log into Rippling using your Single Sign On (SSO) password and simply click on the app you want to log on the dashboard. There is no need to add additional passwords for individual apps when you use Rippling as an identity provider.

(Image credit: Rippling)

Rippling integrates with 600+ apps for all your SSO needs. Plus, if you do not find an app in the library, you can set up a custom integration with apps that support SAML for SSO and SCIM for user provisioning.

RPass is Rippling’s native, built-in password manager that suggests and remembers strong passwords across your organisation.

What I like the most is that it goes beyond the capabilities of a traditional password manager by integrating behavioural monitoring. For example, if the manager finds a suspicious login from an unknown geographic location, it will block the login attempt, even if the password is correct.

RPass can also be used to share passwords to SuperGroups instead of individual employee-based credentials.

Rippling IT IAM: Interface and in-use

Rippling has done a good job when it comes to interface and in-use experience – the dashboard is quite modern with a minimal design and easy-to-navigate modules. The widgets are fully customizable, and you’ll find various shortcuts that help you launch common tasks quickly.

(Image credit: Rippling)

Onboarding and offboarding can be fully automated, thanks to Supergroups. The Rippling support team will also help you with a quick and smooth initial deployment and implementation. The mobile interface is also pretty slick, allowing admins to manage day-to-day operations on the go.

That said, there is a bit of a learning curve involved with the platform, especially if you’re using multiple modules apart from the IAM suite.

Rippling IT IAM: Support

Just like pricing, there is no upfront clarity on the level of support you can expect with Rippling. However, as per my discussions with the sales team, the platform offers 24/7 customer support through two channels.

Firstly, you can either raise a support ticket on your Rippling dashboard. Alternatively, you can also get support via phone call. I was pretty impressed by the response time, which is actually less than a minute.

Rippling is also one of the few providers that openly advertise their Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), which sits at around 92%.

Plus, more than 45% of the cases are resolved by the first response itself, requiring no further clarifications. And, only 21.34% of the live chat requests are asked to convert into a call, which means that around 78% of the queries are solved on the chat itself without any additional support.

Besides this, there are a lot of online resources such as blogs, webinars, and troubleshooting guides. That’s also a dedicated Help Centre where you can find answers to commonly asked questions.

Overall, I found support to be very comprehensive, with quick response times and high query resolution accuracy.

Rippling IT IAM: Security

Rippling is very conservative when it comes to security and data protection, with various certificates such as SOC1 Type 1, SOC2 Type 2, and SOC3. The certification ensures adherence to the basic trust principles of confidentiality, security, and availability.

Besides this, Rippling is also ISO 27001 and ISO 27018 certified. It is also one of the few providers that holds the ISO 42001 certification.

While the first two certifications ensure that Rippling follows adequate practices to protect private and sensitive data from unauthorized access, the 42001 certification ensures that the platform has an active and robust management system in place to ensure that its AI systems are ethical and safe without any risk of bias or misuse.

Rippling also conducts regular internal and external penetration testing and has an active bug bounty program to find any security vulnerabilities in its infrastructure. Active threat monitoring includes the use of tools such as Web App Firewall (WAF) and Runtime App Self Protection (RASP) to quickly locate and eliminate any threats.

WAF monitors and filters all incoming traffic to protect the platform from threats such as SQL injection, DDoS attacks, and malicious HTTP requests.

On the other hand, RASP is built into the application itself and monitors its behaviour to protect against zero-day vulnerabilities, insider misuse, and malicious API behaviours.

Overall, I found Rippling’s security infrastructure to be pretty robust, and they have gone the extra mile to incorporate additional measures beyond what is required by law.

Rippling IT IAM: Competition

Rippling is a robust identity access solution. However, not everyone’s needs are the same. If it doesn’t align with what you’re looking for, here are a couple of options you can look at.

Okta is one of the best identity tools when it comes to setting up automatic workflows. It features 90+ templates and 140+ pre-configured triggers that lets you design workflows as per your needs. Plus, the platform integrates with 7,000+ apps for all your MFA and SSO needs. Okta also features FastPass, which facilitates password-less biometric-based authentication.

Plus, its Identity Threat Protection features continuously monitor all your live sessions and immediately flag any suspicious behaviours. It is also a bit less expensive than Rippling, with starter plans priced at $6/user/month.

If you only have limited needs and do not need the full suite of identity access management solutions, you can go with OneLogin, which features an affordable à la carte pricing model. Features like MFA, SSO, and Active Directory start at just $2/user/month each. It also has more than 6000+ third-party applications.

OneLogin employs Vigilance AI, its proprietary threat detection engine, to assign a risk score to each login attempt and decide whether additional authentication is required or not.

Rippling IT IAM: Final verdict

Rippling's IT identity access management solution offers essential features such as multi-factor authentication and single sign-on on along with comprehensive password management and access controls.

Admin can form Supergroups based on predefined attributes, such as employee location, department, and job title. Application access and security controls can then be aligned with these groups without having to individually assign them.

What I like the most is that Rippling integrates with more than 600+ third-party apps so that you can provision your SSO needs across multiple applications. And for those that you do not find on the integration list, you can set up a custom Integration with the help of SAML and SCIM.

Rippling’s support is one of the best I have seen across the industry, with a response time of less than one minute and a customer satisfaction score of 92%.

Although the pricing is not fully transparent, you can expect the plans to start from $8/user/month, which is more expensive than the likes of Okta and JumpCloud. Even at this higher price point, you do not get as many features as Okta.

That said, Rippling is just not an IAM solution but offers a wide range of services such as payroll, recruitment, and comprehensive human resource management.

So if you already use Rippling for those purposes, it makes sense to go with the IAM solution too, since it syncs seamlessly with existing HR profiles.

Categories: Reviews

Don't sleep on Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree; it's an inventive and lively roguelite worth trying

Thu, 09/18/2025 - 09:00

On the surface, Bandai Namco’s roguelite game Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree may look like a mystical take on the classic roguelite formula emerging in the wake of Hades’ huge success. And, with Hades 2’s arrival looming, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree could easily go unnoticed, but it absolutely shouldn’t; there’s a lot to like in this dual-character adventure.

Review info

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
Release date: September 19, 2025

You play as Towa, the child of a god and the eternal guardian of Shinju village in a far-off mystical land. The forces of evil Magatsu are on the rise, and thus eight allies from Towa’s village and beyond joined forces to help her defeat the evil and purify the land.

From its lucious, sprawling levels to its dynamic characters and enemies, it ticks a lot of boxes at first glance, but what stands out among an increasingly crowded genre is its teamfighting mechanic. Two guardians from your party at a time will take on the roles of Tsuguri, the main damage dealer, and Kagura, the spell caster, with a great variety of combinations and playstyles to tinker with.

Just as enjoyable as playing these combinations is learning about the relationships between those characters, and seeing how they progress during short rests along the way. Throughout the game, tender moments and the passage of time tinge the vibrant world with an air of wistfulness; it’s very welcome, though there are often moments of extensive dialogue that can interrupt the pace of grinding through runs.

It’s awkward in places, yes, and sometimes the control system for the Kagura feels like an afterthought, but I’ve found it hard to put down – and a welcome excuse to play on my Nintendo Switch 2 in handheld mode.

Stark beginnings

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Your journey begins with a short tutorial level, in which you play with Rekka as Tsuguri with Towa as Kaguri to learn the ropes. You primarily control the Tsuguri, switching between two swords with different movesets as their durability decreases and amping up the combinations by dashing, slashing, and landing Fatal Blows when your mana maxes out.

The Kagura trails behind and can trigger two spells to support your main damage dealer. Each character has two elemental attributes (water, fire, fighting, earth, lightning), and you can unlock different spells ranging from AoE to automatic projectiles. You can also control this character, but with a console controller that involves using the right trigger along with the left while also trying to land hits, so it’s only really something you’ll want to do in a pinch or for specific combos.

Worth noting is that there is an optional co-op mode where a second player can control the Kagura; however, the tether still applies, and it’s really quite a limited play experience. It would have been cool if they could have somehow transferred the weapon switching ability or Fatal Blow to the Kagura, so there’s a bit more to do.

With the tutorial out of the way, you learn that Towa’s godly gifts allow her to mess with the flow of time to revive companions, but at a terrible cost. When Magatsu pushes back against Towa, her allies are whisked off into some sort of purgatory where they must endlessly fight against Magatsu’s forces. Meanwhile, Shinju village continues to evolve and grow, and Towa, severed from her companions, must instruct their movements from across dimensions while continuing to protect the townsfolk.

(Image credit: Future)

Certainly, in the early levels, there’s a learning curve to lugging around your Kagura and learning which guardians pair best with each other’s movesets. For example, I quickly learned that some guardians like Koro and Akazu didn’t really gel with me as Tsuguris, but both made excellent Kaguras to my favorite frontliners like Nishiki, the buff koi man, and Bampuku, the giant furball puppy.

Once you’ve started to get the hang of the controls, it’s great fun, although it took me a while to get past the annoyance of the tethered Kagura constantly taking huge hits from powerful enemies. Weapon switching on top of all of the other attacks in the game is perhaps one thing too many for my brain to handle when I’m not totally locked in, and I often found myself letting my weapons durability drain completely and just button-mashing through weaker enemies – however it feels great when you make the effort and execute a killer combo.

That’s only the start of the fun; there’s a lot of configurability and some really fun pairups, and as the game progresses these only amplify in ridiculousness, landing combos in the hundreds as you mash through waves of enemies. You can switch out your weapons, customize buffs, increase skill stats and choose different spells for each of your eight guardians, but the game keeps this relatively high level of customization balanced by sharing unlocked content across all characters.

Those who we protect

(Image credit: Future)

While most of the action in the early game takes place with the banished guardians in another dimension, the village serves as the main hub between runs. As Towa, you use this area to level up your party and loadout, but also to check in with the townspeople and keep their spirits high.

There are various shopfronts and tradespeople around the village; you can exchange ores and resources from your travels at the emporium with the grumpy stooge Kafuu, or head to the Eureka Tower to purchase and equip inscriptions for the Kagura staff to boost your champion’s base stats. At the Dojo, you unlock skill points to tweak each champion’s abilities, while the shrine offers boons that effect the odds and effects during each run. As the game progresses, the village grows with more tradespeople, and you can upgrade buildings for more perks

There’s even a fun blacksmithing minigame, in which you select a sword design, build materials and buffs and can bolster these further by scoring highly in each stage of smithing. It’s very Cooking Mama-esque, but instead the feedback comes from a burly blacksmith who barks encouragement at you.

Best bit

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Relatively early in the game, you encounter one of my favorite minibosses: a giant octopus with whopping great big tentacles that’ll slam on you as you dash around the deck. Oh, and there are live explosives, for some reason, and the octopus head will gnash down onto you if you’re too slow. Beautiful chaos, wonderfully rendered.

This, and a slightly rootless fishing game that earns you points redeemable with the bird-like Kei shopkeeper, are the main interactive features that give the hub an almost cozy game-esque softness, but it’s the cast of lively NPCs and shopkeepers who breathe life and love into the village.

Through their loving (and sometimes love-hate) relationships with Towa, the guardian that has protected them for generations, you gain a sense of the stakes for the main characters; there’s a lot to lose and a lot to protect in their hometown, and they’ll go to any and all ends to do it.

Any and all ends, in this case, might just involve self-sacrifice, as the guardians learn that each time they defeat a powerful Magatsu-hi, the bosses at the end of each run, the Kagura in that pair must sacrifice themselves to restore Towa’s mana and protect the village. None of them know what that might mean, or whether they will escape purgatory through their sacrifice, but each commits to the cause.

Each time a Towa absorbs the mana generated back in the village following a successful run, time moves forward, and the village can develop once more. New faces appear, and familiar friends fade; the passage of time is treated with an air of melancholy that undercuts the otherwise vivacious aesthetics of the game, and it makes for an excellent hook.

The rocky road to Magatsu

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Practically speaking, the party sacrifice mechanic has a big impact; once their mana is absorbed, the Kagura won’t appear in camp, so you have to think long and hard about which pairings you want to save and which are good enough to run with but not too good to lose. Later in the game, this is further augmented; the fun is in adapting to this yourself, so look elsewhere if you want spoilers.

The core mechanics of each run are pretty similar to the likes of Hades: fight a room full of enemies, grab your reward, and then choose between different gates that hint at the next room’s rewards. Each run is split into different terrains with their unique enemies, traps, and layouts, and generally, each terrain will contain seven rooms, including mini-boss fights to offer a little more challenge along the way.

The waves of enemies are great fun throughout the game, with some inventive designs and a lot of variety across the board. I particularly liked the flamethrowing giant eyeballs and the kamikaze snails; there’s plenty here to keep you on your toes. Combat is rewarding and varied enough, and though farming can be somewhat of a slog, the scaling is decent, and there’s always a good amount to do.

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(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 3

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(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Most often, you’ll be choosing between Graces as your reward for a battle well fought - collecting and upgrading these will boost stats and unlock abilities for the course of the run. These are cards from different elemental decks offering different effects that can make or break your matchup, so learning how to optimize these helps blast through the baddies.

Otherwise, some gates at the end of levels lead on to resources, or else timed battles and other challenging mini-bosses with decent payouts. However, you’ll also encounter friendly faces of the shopkeeper and food stall, too, where you can spend the in-level magamutsu currency for ores and Graces or to receive buffs for the next few levels. Hot springs can also be found along the way for health regeneration, and there are usually two campsites along the way where your heroes can take a slightly longer rest.

In these quiet moments, each pairing has different conversations and relationships that unfold over a series of short rests. Tender moments of openness, the resurfacing of long-buried hatchets, and even philosophical debate weave a wonderful picture of the main cast, and I found myself becoming attached to each party member through listening to their interactions – even those I initially couldn’t relate to, like the impetuous Shigin and carefree Origami.

Plus, the more you play a pairing, the further you’ll see their conversations develop. I particularly enjoyed the brother-sister duo of Bampuku and Mutsumi, whose misunderstanding of each other’s love language causes some unrest that gradually eases through conversations over the campfire, but even more obscure pairings like the Academic Akazu and devout Nishiki bear unexpectedly heartwarming fruit.

A home worth fighting for

(Image credit: Future)

These moments of reflection, however, do feel at odds with the game, and that’s a running thread throughout my whole experience with Towa. Roguelite as a genre doesn’t just imply fast pace; it demands it, and I don’t always want my focus to be pulled out of high-octane combat to listen to idle chitchat.

You’re rewarded for listening, not just with resources, but with depth and worldbuilding, much the same as the progressive interactions that crop up in the village as your journey continues. Of course, you can choose to avoid these or just fast-track through the dialogue, but I find it hard to skip through because it’s so charming – and that’s not a problem I often have with games! It’s obvious a lot of care went into the richness of the narrative, so I find myself at an impasse when it comes to maintaining the energy to play sometimes.

The game does compensate for this with progressive feature unlocks and twists, but ultimately, I did find myself needing to break from the game a little more than usual because I kept losing my flow. However, I couldn’t put it down for long.

Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree envelops you in its rich world, abloom with color and light as well as the gorgeous OST from Hitoshi Sakimoto of FFXII and Final Fantasy Tactics fame, and its grip is as strong as the poisonous tendrils of Magutsu’s miasma. You have to work around its quirks and give it a little room to breathe, but patience is rewarded for those who play with their heart.

Should I play Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree?Play it if…

You want to try something that breaks the mold

With its unique dual-character matchups, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is an inventive take on the genre that makes for a challenging but fun balancing act.

You enjoy story-led roguelites

The narrative takes precedence in a way that might be slightly jarring to those who like the fast-paced action of rogue games, but it's delightful if you do enjoy a good story.

Don’t play it if…

You struggle with button blindness

There are a lot of mechanics to consider and a lot of different controls, and that's not for everyone. I found independently controlling the Kagura challenging, personally, and weapon switching often slipped my mind.

Accessibility

Within the settings, you can change the difficulty to story-led mode, which weakens the enemies and allows you to focus more on the storyline. All dialogue has voiceovers with lively acting as well as subtitles, and there are nine supported languages - English, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain), Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean.

How I reviewed Towa and the Guardians of the Scared Tree

I played Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree for 30+ hours, making my way through most of the main storyline. I tried both story-led and regular difficulty levels to measure accessibility for players at different skill levels, and played in both handheld and docked modes on my Nintendo Switch 2.

I love roguelikes and roguelites, so I compared my experience to popular titles like Hades, The Binding of Isaac, and Dead Cells. I considered factors like the art direction, pacing, and complexity within the pairings.

First reviewed September 2025

Categories: Reviews

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is one of the best racing games in years

Thu, 09/18/2025 - 08:00

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a racing game that has finally given Nintendo’s Mario Kart franchise a run for its money. While I certainly enjoyed Mario Kart World on Nintendo Switch 2, the rather empty open world and questionable approach to track design left me wanting more.

Review information

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC
Release date: September 25, 2025 (Early Access on September 22)

Sonic Team’s Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds feels like a direct shot across the bow, squarely aimed at the good ship Nintendo. Full cross-platform play is supported, and a dizzying amount of modes and content at launch have kept me busy long after clearing every Grand Prix event.

What impresses me the most about CrossWorlds is that it isn’t content to simply be a great kart racer; it innovates, too. The titular CrossWorlds mechanic is brilliant, lending unpredictability to every race by transporting players to a completely different track for the second lap. Meanwhile, the superb gadget system offers countless ways to tweak how your vehicle behaves.

In today’s day and age, the game offers an incredible day one package stuffed to the gills with things to do; not to mention a boatload of items to unlock from vehicle parts and music tracks to higher speed classes and even the odd alternate character skin. CrossWorlds does, of course, have a comprehensive downloadable content (DLC) roadmap, but what’s here from the get-go is already very impressive.

Speed of sound

(Image credit: Sega / Bandai Namco)

There’s no dedicated story mode in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, which is probably for the best given the interminably dull one that was featured in 2019’s Team Sonic Racing. Instead, developer Sonic Team has focused its efforts on more worthwhile aspects. The game boasts 24 race courses and a further 15 accessible via Travel Rings, for a grand total of 39 tracks.

It also has an impressively large character roster that has most of what you’d probably want from a kart racer. The usual suspects are all here, but I’m also happy to see less-represented characters like Blaze, Silver, Jet, Wave, and Storm all make the cut, too. Some deeper cuts would’ve been nice to see, like those from the beloved IDW Comics series, but what’s at launch in terms of roster is incredibly solid.

Grand Prix is your main single-player mode, featuring eight cups (with even more to come via future DLC) of four races each. The final race here is a bit of a cop-out, simply being a lap of each of the cup’s main three courses. But track variety remains impressive. You’ll find plenty of circuits inspired by beloved Sonic locales - such as Sonic Adventure 2’s Metal Harbor and Radical Highway, Sonic Unleashed’s Apotos, and Sonic Frontiers’ Kronos Island.

Courses unique to Travel Rings also impress, and these are a bit more gimmick-focused. Magma Planet is largely flight-based, having you gliding through perilous sections filled with giant lava worms. Holoska is an icy world where your vehicle will transform into a boat to speed through waterlogged caves. Meanwhile, Steampunk City offers plenty of routes through its winding industrial highrises.

Oh yes, I should also mention that Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed‘s signature gameplay mechanic returns here. Tracks in CrossWorlds are cleverly designed around land, water, and air travel. Most tracks will also change up significantly on the final lap, opening up new routes for your transforming vehicle to take advantage of, while also sprinkling in new hazards and a few extra boost pads for good measure.

Grab those golden rings, those things’ll make your engine sing

(Image credit: Sega)

Track design - not to mention the amount on offer - is a big win in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. But that’d all fall apart if the racing itself wasn’t any good.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has some of the most fun, polished, and fast-feeling racing I’ve ever played in a racer of its kind. Drifting is especially fantastic and has a bit of a Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled feel to it, in that max-level drifts give you significantly more speed. And snaking - the act of chaining together smaller drifts in a straight line for consistently high speed - is absolutely something you can do here. So you can be sure there’ll be a pretty lofty skill ceiling when you hop online.

Vehicles are governed by five stats: speed, acceleration, handling, power, and boost. Your choice of character has an effect on overall stats, while also having a primary specialty in one of those five categories.

I’ve found that pretty much any approach is viable here; having an acceleration-based character like Tails on a boost-focused Extreme Gear board can help you stay swift and recover quickly when hit by items. Meanwhile, a heavy like Zavok or Eggman brings power to throw their weight around and hit hard with items, but slotting them in a handling-oriented machine can offset some of their unwieldiness.

Best bit

(Image credit: Sega)

Finding a singular best part of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a challenge, because the overall package feels so complete. But of course, the meat of the game is its racing, which is impressively fast. Drifting is exceptionally satisfying, and the gadget system provides tons of ways to tweak your playstyle - from giving you stat boosts and items at race start, to fundamentally changing how your vehicle behaves.

During races and time trials, collecting rings scattered around the course will increase your top speed, but you’ll lose some if you collide with walls, other racers, and stage hazards, or when you get hit by items.

Speaking of, items are another area where CrossWorlds has vastly improved over other Sonic Racing titles. There’s a good amount of them, too, from boxing gloves that home in on racers ahead of you, all the way to the hilarious monster truck. Others include defensive items like a tornado that breaks incoming projectiles, sawblades that temporarily cut an opponent’s car in half, and a large magnet that latches onto vehicles, influencing their direction of travel.

To put it simply, races in CrossWorlds can be hilariously chaotic. But very rarely were there instances where I lost a race because of these items. Items are balanced so that catching up to the pack is a breeze. And sure, there’s occasionally an element of Mario Kart-esque luck involved, the odd spot of final stretch shenanigans, but there’s nothing as outwardly powerful as the race-ruining Blue Shell here.

Under the hood

(Image credit: Sega)

Another element that really brings races alive in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is the gadget system, perhaps the game’s biggest innovation. Gadgets offer you a way to tweak your playstyle beyond your vehicle’s stats, and there’s a metric ton of them. You start with a gadget plate with a single slot, but you’ll get a total of six slots unlocked gradually by completing race events.

Gadgets offer a wide range of stat boosts and modifiers during gameplay. There are simple ones, like giving you marginal stat increases, allowing you to carry more rings, or letting you start a race with a specific item.

However, many more interesting gadgets are available. One speeds up the time it takes to perform an air trick, for example, letting you chain more together for a bigger speed boost upon landing. Another causes your car to spin whilst drifting for a more aggressive playstyle, while another still adds a fourth level to your drift gauge.

You can have multiple gadget loadouts, but you’re only able to equip one per race. Furthermore, certain gadgets can’t be used during time trial events, such as one where you start with a boost item.

It’s a rich, deep gameplay system that offers tons in the way of player expression. As well as online, AI opponents appear to also have their own gadget loadouts during races, making things that much more unpredictable during single-player content.

A mountain of unlocks

(Image credit: Sega)

Something that I found extremely impressive with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is just the sheer number of things to unlock. Not only that, but unlockables are spread throughout the various modes of the game, giving you great incentive to check everything out.

In Grand Prix, you can unlock higher speed classes and even a mirror track mode, as well as additional gadgets. Over in Race Park (a collection of race modes and custom race options for single and multiplayer), you can race against special teams and unlock their vehicles upon beating them three times.

In Time Trial, getting an ‘A’ rank on three different tracks (including Travel Ring CrossWorld tracks) unlocks a selection of music from throughout the Sonic series. Expect to unlock songs from Sonic Frontiers, Sonic Mania, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, Sonic Lost World, and more here, for use in the game’s Jukebox mode (more on that soon, actually).

Ancillary unlockables include alternate skins for certain characters, decals for use in machine customization, and titles for your online profile by clearing specific challenges. There really is a dizzying amount of things to unlock that should keep players coming back for hours on end.

Once you’ve got some decals and machine parts under your belt, then you’ll probably want to try your hand at making your very own custom vehicle. And the options available here are certainly plentiful.

Making your own vehicle or Extreme Gear board is a moreish endeavor. You can mix and match the front and rear appearance of the vehicle, apply color schemes, and decals for a more personalized touch. Vehicle paint also comes in a variety of types, including metallic, pearlescent, and candy variants.

A few rough patches

(Image credit: Sega)

I really don’t have much to complain about with the overall package here. The game’s price point is on the steeper side for those used to Sonic games often coming in at less than full retail price. And that’s a bit of a downer, and may make the game a bit of a hard sell in and of itself. You certainly get what you pay for here with a mountain of content, but waiting for a sale isn’t a bad idea, either.

Otherwise, a couple of side modes are pretty underwhelming. You’ll eventually unlock a ‘friendship’ system that lets you spend tokens earned from races on character-specific titles and decals. But there’s no unique dialogue here, and it just feels like a last-minute addition to dump tokens into things to get some fairly inconsequential unlocks.

However, the Jukebox mode is the biggest letdown for me. I do love having loads of Sonic music to unlock and listen to, and these tracks can be assigned to races, which is nice. Unfortunately, you’re unable to set music on a per-track basis. Instead, you’ll assign a playlist to the three laps you’ll race on.

On top of that, the selection is entirely random. So you’ll more often than not end up with something unfitting like Infinite’s theme from Sonic Forces playing over a relatively innocent track like Colorful Mall or Chao Park.

I sincerely hope Sonic Team patches in a way to choose songs for individual courses in the future. CrossWorlds’ own soundtrack is really good, though some songs can be a little overbearing with harsh synths and obnoxious final lap chanting spoiling things a bit. So having a way to swap out songs on a per-track basis would be extremely welcome.

Should I play Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds?Play it if...

You’ve had your fill of Mario Kart World
If you’ve grown tired of Mario Kart World’s weary open world, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a stunningly fast alternative with plenty of modes, unlockables, and cross-platform online play.

You want a racing game that'll last you a long time
Post-launch content seems plentiful, but there’s already so much to do at launch that it might make your head spin. Loads of Grand Prix, time trials, and custom Race Park events offer hours upon hours of things to do without even needing to jump online with others.

You like deep customization
Machine customization and gadgets are both incredibly deep and allow you to show off your personality and play style in-game. The simple act of jumping into customization to spin up a whole new ride is extremely enjoyable.View Deal

Don't play it if...

You’re wary of the price tag
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a relatively expensive title for the wider Sonic series, being at full price for the base game and even more for its deluxe edition. I think it’s definitely worth the plunge, but I wouldn’t blame folks for wanting to wait a bit longer for a sale.

Accessibility

There aren’t a ton of accessibility options in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, but what’s here is welcome. The main gameplay options come in the form of a steering assist that prevents you from veering off-course, as well as an auto-accelerate setting and trick assist for if you don’t want to be flicking the stick constantly in midair. An ‘original’ camera setting also exists that reduces the motion offered by the ‘dynamic’ camera mode.

How I reviewed Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

I played Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds for around 15 hours for this review. I played the game on PlayStation 5 with a DualSense Wireless Controller, on an LG CX OLED TV.

I completed every Grand Prix cup on Sonic Speed, and some on the higher Super Sonic Speed class, as well as the unlockable mirror mode that inverts circuits. I also spent plenty of time customizing vehicles, unlocking stuff like car parts, music, and decals, too.

First reviewed September 2025

Categories: Reviews

I tested a top Nintendo Switch 2 screen protector – now my console feels bulletproof

Thu, 09/18/2025 - 05:00

DBrand Prism 2.0 for Nintendo Switch 2: review

Picture this. You’re going ham on your foes in Donkey Kong Bananza, smashing your way through every last one of them until BAM – oh no… you’ve dropped your precious Nintendo Switch 2. Now, this could be a huge problem for your console’s display – that is, unless you’ve got a trusty screen protector like the DBrand Prism 2.0 for Nintendo Switch 2.

Yep, this hardy screen protector is sure to keep your Switch 2 safe, thanks to its tempered glass construction, scratchproof surface, and precise fit.

I batch tested this model alongside a range of competitors, and it was one of the best performers, without a doubt. You fit the screen protector using a well-sized, fully recyclable drop-in-place frame that’s easy to use and comes with simple, yet detailed instructions. Just place the frame on, pull the release tab, press down on the protector, and you’re good to go.

(Image credit: Future)

Of course, there were quite a few air bubbles after application, but a squeegee was included in the box to banish every last one of them to the shadow realm.

After a bit of squeegeeing action, the final look of the screen protector was excellent from all angles. When playing Mario Kart World, there was no sign of distorting, warping, blurring, dust… You name it.

(Image credit: Future)

I even tried covering the screen with fingerprints, and was delighted to see that the Prism 2.0 barely picked them up. They were slightly visible in bright light, but nowhere near as prominent as they appeared on the Genki Aegis Shield, for instance.

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How fingerprints appear on the Prism 2.0... (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Future)

On top of that, this is a highly durable model. I tried using keys to scrape the surface, and it didn’t matter if I pressed pretty hard – there wasn’t even a spec of damage to be seen. DBrand itself has used a sharp knife against the protector, and claims that it ranks at 7 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness.

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Before... (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2

...and after (Image credit: Future)

But that’s not all. In addition to all of this, you get a second screen protector, screen wipes, and a microfiber cloth (to clean your screen before applying the Prism 2.0). That’s a pretty comprehensive package, right?

Having said that, this model does come at quite a cost. Via DBrand’s website, you can purchase it for $34.95 (about £26 / AU$53). That’s a fair bit more than rivals we tested, like the $19.99 / £17 / AU$35 Genki Aegis Shield and Belkin’s even cheaper TemperedGlass Screen Protector for Nintendo Switch 2.

Still, if you want the easiest application, phenomenal durability, and a discreet in-use appearance, the DBrand Prism 2.0 is a fantastic option. Yes, it’s a touch pricey, but I found it more seamless to fit than some rivals, and the finished result looked great. With that in mind, it’s very easy to recommend.

DBrand Prism 2.0 for Nintendo Switch 2: price & specs

Price

$34.95 (about £26 / AU$53)

Number of screen protectors

Material

Tempered glass

Application type

Drop-in-place frame

Additional items

Microfiber cloth, screen wipes, squeegee

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the DBrand Prism 2.0 for Nintendo Switch 2?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Ease of application

The application frame is very easy to use, well-sized, and comes with clear instructions.

5/5

Design

Frame isn’t overly large, the protector resistant to fingerprints and cleaning tools work very well.

4.5/5

Toughness

Dealt with key scratching without a hitch, rated 7 on Mohs scale.

5/5

Value

Quite expensive compared to rivals, but plenty of quality on display.

4/5

Buy it if...

You want something that’s super easy to apply
This screen protector was the easiest to apply out of all the models I batch tested. The application frame isn’t oversized or complex to use, air bubbles were super easy to remove, and the edges looked clean, too.

You want top-tier protection and display quality
During durability testing, the DBrand Prism 2.0 performed very well, with not a shred of damage to be seen. On top of that, the screen protector doesn’t taint the Switch 2’s display whatsoever. I didn’t notice any distortion, blurring, or rainbow effects when playing Mario Kart World.

Don't buy it if...

You’re on a budget
At $34.95 (about £26 / AU$53), the DBrand Prism 2.0 for Nintendo Switch 2 is hardly the cheapest model out there. The aforementioned Genki Aegis Shield, for example, costs $19.99 / £17 / AU$35, and you still get two protectors, cleaning tools, and an application frame. Yes, I found DBrand’s alternative to be higher quality overall, but if you’re on a budget, the Aegis Shield should definitely suffice.

You want to protect your Joy-Con 2 controllers
If you want protection for your Switch 2 console as well as your Joy-Con 2 controllers, DBrand has a different proposition that might suit you a little better. Yes, the Killswitch case will keep your console and Joy-Cons protected, and you can even get it with two screen protectors if you’d prefer.

DBrand Prism 2.0 for Nintendo Switch 2: also consider

Belkin TemperedGlass Screen Protector for Nintendo Switch 2
When we batch tested a range of models, we were particularly impressed with the Belkin TemperedGlass screen protector. It doesn’t have a fancy drop-in place contraption – just a basic frame. But with easy-to-follow instructions and a seamless application process, the end result looks great regardless. It's cheaper than this DBrand model, so it's an easy recommendation for those on a budget. Read our full Belkin TemperedGlass Screen Protector for Nintendo Switch 2.

How I tested the DBrand Prism 2.0 for Nintendo Switch 2

(Image credit: Future)

Applied the screen protector using the written instructions
Tested its effect on display, fingerprint resistance, and how easy it is to damage
Tested by a lifelong gamer

I followed our standardized process for testing Nintendo Switch 2 screen protectors here at TechRadar. Firstly, we apply the screen protector using the included instructions, then we test impact on the console's display by assessing aspects like brightness and viewing angles.

After this, we test how the surface copes against fingerprints, before scratching the model with a set of keys and attempting to peel at the edges. All of this helps us to judge ease of application, durability, and general build quality.

When it comes to experience, I've tested more than a hundred products at TechRadar, including everything from flagship headphones, like the Sony WH-1000XM6, through to gaming accessories, such as the Hori Piranha Plant Camera for Nintendo Switch 2. In addition, I'm a lifelong gamer, with a massive love for Nintendo. I own a Switch 2 personally, and have reviewed games for the platform, such as Drag x Drive and Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army.

First reviewed: September 2025
Read more about how we test

Categories: Reviews

One handy feature means these AKG headphones just became my go-to for gaming and movies, not just music

Wed, 09/17/2025 - 15:30

AKG N9: Two minute review

As someone who tests headphones for an income, I've got a roster of "X headphones" for specific tasks. I've got my best headphones for music, my running headphones, a gaming headset, a pair of the best earbuds when it's too hot for headphones, and a set-up for movies and TV shows too.

The new AKG N9 from Samsung's sub-brand's sub-brand, AKG, didn't slot into this line-up as much as they replaced half of them, and it's largely down to one handy feature which we also saw in their contemporary earbuds equivalent, the AKG N5.

I'm not going to do that clickbait headline thing of alluding to a feature and then dancing around the topic, only specifying it 20 paragraphs in: this feature is a dongle which comes build into the AKG N9, and if you plug it into any USB-C slot, it overrides that device's audio output into the N9.

Borrowing a partner's laptop for a quick video call? Dongle it. Don't want to play games out loud for fear of annoying a flatmate? Dongle it. Really can't be bothered to set up Bluetooth on every device you own? Dongle it. That's not to mention that this dongle has a higher quality connection than Bluetooth, affording higher-quality music and entertainment.

Within days of me realising the potential of this dongle, I'd begun using the N9 for a range of tasks that I usually afford to bespoke speakers or headphones; I was watching movies from my iPad, playing video games on my PC and taking calls on my girlfriend's tablet. And now you can take a break from reading the word 'dongle' for a bit.

A handy way to instantly and temporarily connect to any device is a killer feature, but it's not the only one the AKG N9 offer. The AKG Headphones app is full of extras like dynamic EQ, spatial audio, L-R panning and a hearing test to create you a bespoke audio profile.

There's also a battery life that stretches up to a staggering 100 hours if you listen on Bluetooth with noise cancellation off, but lasts for over a day even if you turn on all its power-hungry features.

Of course, I wouldn't be commending headphones like these if they sounded bad; they don't, with AKG's staple neutral audio mix delivering detailed music and an expansive sound stage.

I'm not used to writing so many positives in an introduction, so it feels weird to keep going, but one more thing: the AKG N9 are some of the best-designed headphones I've ever tested. Not only do they look premium but lots of the features are smartly incorporated into the design, with the dongle nestled in a little nook in one cup and volume being controlled by easily twisting one side of the cans. AKG clearly treats design as an important part of the headphone-making process, instead of an afterthought to hold a few drivers and buttons together, and it's appreciated.

Unless you're Sir Mix-a-Lot, you probably don't like big "but..."s, and unfortunately the AKG N9 have a major one: the price. There's no two ways about it: these are premium headphones and many buyers' budgets won't come close to reaching them. That said, they're expensive, but they're not four-figure-cost expensive like many of the true best headphones are, so perhaps sales will bring them within reach if you're interested.

Since I have to list three 'cons': I also feel like the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) could have been a little bit more robust, as it doesn't compare with top dogs on the market right now. Plus, you can't fold up the headphones for increased portability, which made transporting them in my bag a risky proposition.AK

AKG N9 review: Specifications

Component

Value

Water resistant

Battery life (quoted)

100 hours (ANC off) 55 hours (ANC on)

Bluetooth type

Bluetooth 5.3

Weight

281g

Driver

40mm

AKG N9 review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

Announced in October 2024
Priced at $399 / £299 / AU$499
Expensive... but competitive to rivals

After making their debut in October 2024, the AKG N9 went on sale that same month. They’ve been on sale for roughly a year, by the time of this review.

The AKG N9 don’t come cheap. They’ll set you back $399 / £299 / AU$499, which firmly cements them as premium cans that you need to consider carefully before you buy.

They cost more than some of our favorite rivals including the iconic Sony WH-1000XM4 and Cambridge Audio Melomania P100, but then again, they undercut (to a decent extent) the B&W Px8, Dali IO-8, the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra.

I should point out that a year on shelves seemingly hasn’t affected the headphones’ usual price (outside of sales)... except in Australia, where they were easy to find for as little as AU$309 which is an absolute steal.

AKG N9 review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

Premium-looking sleek cans
Features incorporated into design
Doesn't fold down and no IP rating

On the surface, the AKG N9 might look like any old pair of headphones, but there are a few refinements and polishes that go a long way in making these look both premium and feel ultra-functional.

I’m talking about the soft fabric of the headband (either leather or a close imitator), the comfortable earpads, the sparkling sheen of the speaker covers, svelte fashion of the headband connectors. It all comes together to make it obvious to onlookers just how much you paid for these cans. They come in either white or black.

The headphones weigh 281g so despite some option extras that we’ll get to, they’re on the lighter side of things, and I found them comfortable to wear for long music bouts and entire movies. There’s no IP rating, as far as I can tell, but they felt sturdy enough that I wasn’t worried wearing them out and about.

I also had no qualms in wearing them for long periods of time, as they're comfortable and lightweight.

Evidence of how easily-bendable the hook is. (Image credit: Future)

The headband connectors are extendable by about two inches each, letting you change your headphones’ size. One thing to note is that the headband can’t be folded, so you can’t reduce the size of the N9 to fit in a bag. Instead they can be transported in a rather large carry case that comes included in the price.

As with all the best headphones, each cup provides some useful controls. On the right side we’ve got a slider which lets you turn on the headphones as well as put them into Bluetooth pairing mode, as well as a pause/play button and USB-C charging port – and, in one of my favorite implementations of a volume rocker, the entire headphone cover can be rotated clockwise or anticlockwise to change the volume. This was incredibly easy to use, to save me fiddling with small buttons on the headphone.

The left cup has a 3.5mm headphone jack and a toggle for Ambient Aware noise cancellation, and I thought that was it at the beginning of my testing… until I realized that you can partially slide the headphone cover off to reveal a USB-C dongle underneath. Some may be annoyed that they’re carrying the extra weight of this dongle on the head but it’s only a few grams, and these are still nice and lightweight headphones.

Design score: 4.5/5

AKG N9 review: Features

(Image credit: Future)

Hugely long battery life
App brings loads of features
Useful dongle connector

The dongle is one of my favorite features of the AKG N9; you can plug it into any device with a USB-C port to instantly (and, vitally, temporarily) connect to said device without having to go through the laborious pairing method.

I used this to connect to my iPad, my laptop and my PC at various times in order to quickly watch a video, take a call or do some work, and it’s incredibly convenient – in fact, for a while during testing the N9 became my go-to gaming headset. One thing to note is that once during testing the connected device still played music out of its speakers instead of using the N9, and I never really worked out why – like the N5, it worked 90% of the time, but there were a few teething problems.

Another thing I absolutely love is the battery life of the AKG N9, which if you play your cards right lasts for an entire 100 hours. ‘Playing your cards right’ involves listening via Bluetooth with ANC turned off and if you want ANC on, that figure drops by 45 hours; likewise using the dongle cuts about 15% of your listening time over Bluetooth.

(Image credit: Future)

However AKG’s lowest battery expectation, specifically talk time over the dongle, is still 30 hours, which beats quite a few competitors. So the battery life is great whatever you do, and it’s fantastic that people who need a lot of listening time on one charge have the option of dialling down the features to get that fantastic figure.

Let’s touch on that active noise cancellation, which so dramatically affects the battery life. AKG has given the N9 a range of ANC modes: Ambient Aware which cuts out ambient background sound but allows in important nearby ones, TalkThru which does the same but just for voices, and a standard ANC mode which has extra modes for Adaptive ANC which changes the noise cancellation strength depending on your surroundings and Auto Compensation which does the same based on how you’re wearing the N9.

It’s a pretty overwhelming array of options for non-audiophiles but it does let you get into the nitty-gritty of what you can and can’t hear. However even at its strongest tier the ANC is only good, never great, and quite a few rivals are better for removing background sound.

Those aren’t the only overwhelming options in the feature set, because the AKG Headphones App has an absolutely huge roster of perks, including the ability to balance your sound to the left or right, change how voices sound on calls and play with a 10-band equalizer.

As in the AKG N5, the app lets you choose between listening to high-res audio, or enabling a few other features including spatial audio, dynamic EQ for low volumes and Personi-Fi. This latter is a hearing test that provides you with a custom audio mix.

Features score: 5/5

AKG N9 review: Sound performance

(Image credit: Future)

40mm drivers
Balanced sound profile
Textured audio in high-res mode

The AKG N9 pack 40mm dynamic drivers with what the company calls “liquid crystal polymer diaphragms” which are designed to improve the detail and clarity across the board.

It works because the N9 have a beautifully balanced sound profile, which doesn’t dominate your mix with too much treble or overblown bass (though it also gives you a nice springboard to use the equalizer to change this if you like a wonky sound mix).

Instead you’re getting a detailed glimpse across the bow of an entire orchestra or band, full of texture and detail. You can hear the scoop of a bass guitar string, the strike of fingers on piano keys – I almost felt like I could tell which guitar strings were being strummed during chords.

There’s an audible sound spread too, and I noticed mids in several songs holding a distinct space that many rival cans lose. It’s an effect that makes these just as great for movies and gaming as for music, and I went so far as to use these headphones instead of my gaming headset during the testing period.

At times I did feel like songs lacked a an extra ounce of energy, with the bass in particular missing a touch of momentum, but these aren’t huge issues – I’m only nit-picking here to justify the score below not being a full 5 out of 5.

Sound performance score: 4/5

AKG N9: Value

(Image credit: Future)

If you’ve read the price section already, you’ll know that the AKG N9 have an uphill battle in proving themselves in the value department (and if you didn’t read that section, they cost $399 / £299 / AU$499).

Basically no headphones costing that much present a real value proposition, not when you can get great alternatives for a third of the price, but for what it’s worth the AKG N9s come closer than most.

The inclusion of the dongle, the useful cup controls, the range of features and high-quality audio all come together to make it clear that AKG is giving you some value for money… just not as much as if you’d paid a lot less money.

I will say, though, that these are primed for deals in Black Friday and Amazon Prime Days. So if you don't think you can afford them, it could be waiting to see how low the price goes.

Value score: 4/5

AKG N9 review: scorecard

Read more about how we test

First reviewed: September 2025

Categories: Reviews

Oxylabs Review: Pros & Cons, Features, Ratings, Pricing and more

Wed, 09/17/2025 - 14:17

In 2015, the proxy software market growth was in full swing, so Oxylabs came into being to answer the need for IPs in different locations. It was born in Lithuania and has developed to have more than 175 million IPs in 195 countries (that’s practically the whole world), with the US, the UK, and Germany becoming home to its largest networks.

Through Oxylabs, users can gain access to residential, mobile, datacenter (regular and dedicated), and ISP proxies, as well as a web scraping API and comprehensive datasets (all scraped ethically from publicly available sources) required for various businesses.

On top of that, it supports the SOCKS5 protocol, making its proxies ideal for threat intelligence and cybersecurity, as well as the web unblocker for real-estate scraping and travel fare aggregation.

With this in mind, Oxylabs has a separate tier that targets businesses that need proxy services for their operations. Say you want to scrape data from e-commerce sites - you can do this with the provider’s proxy servers and a price comparison app.

Thanks to its cooperation with renowned data centers and the cyber insurance service, if you suffer damage due to a lapse in the proxy network, clients can feel safe and well taken care of by a capable proxy service platform.

Oxylabs: Plans and Pricing

Oxylabs’ pricing structure depends on the type and bandwidth of IPs on offer.

Residential has two plans: Regular and Enterprise.

The Regular option comes in the pay-as-you-go, no-commitment variant that starts at $4/GB and offers up to 50GB of traffic per month, as well as Micro at $3.87/GB for 13GB of traffic, Starter at $3.75/GB for 40GB of traffic, and Advanced at $3.49/GB for 86GB of traffic.

As for the Enterprise option, it includes Premium ($3.01/GB for 133 GB of traffic), Venture ($2.75/GB for 318 GB of traffic, plus a dedicated account manager to boot), Corporate ($2/GB for 1TB of traffic), and Custom + (starting at $2,500/month for over 2 TB of traffic) tiers.

ISP proxies start at $16 monthly for 10 IPs (i.e. $1.60 per IP). The higher the number of chosen IPs, the lower their unit cost. For example, 100 IPs cost $130/month ($1.30 per IP), 1,000 will set you back by $1,150/month (that’s $1.15 per IP), and if you need more than 1,000 IPs, you can contact Oxylabs’ sales team for a tailored quote.

Mobile proxies (4G, 5G, or LTE rotating IPs) have a similar price structure as their residential counterparts.

Hence, there are two tiers - Regular and Enterprise. The former charges $5.4/GB under the pay-as-you-go variant (1GB of traffic and up to 50GB available top-ups), $4.92/GB for the Micro option (12GB + up to 12GB top-ups), $4.74/GB for Starter (38 GB + 38 GB top-ups), and $4.5/GB for Advanced (80GB + up to 80 GB top-ups).

Enterprise pricing for mobile proxies ranges from $3.9/GB under the Premium pack (123GB + up to 123 GB available top-ups) to $3.6/GB under Venture (292 GB + up to 292 GB top-ups) to $3/GB for Corporate (600 GB + up to 600 GB top-ups). Need more? You can get it starting at $3,000/month for over 1TB of traffic, custom top-up options, and a dedicated account manager - an option also available with Venture and Corporate.

For datacenter IPs, you can choose regular or dedicated proxies.

If you want regular datacenter IPs, the choice of payment is yours - pay per IP or GB. The IP-based pricing (with unlimited bandwidth) ranges from the free tier for 5 IPs (no credit card required) through $12 per month for 10 IPs to $750 monthly for 1,000 IPs. On the other hand, bandwidth pricing starts at $50 per month for 77GB and ends at $2,200 for 5TB (no extra IP cost). If your needs surpass these packages, you can arrange for a custom deal.

Should you require IPs from a dedicated proxy server instead of a shared one, Oxylabs offers plans ranging from $6.75 per month for 3 IPs to $3,600 monthly for 3,000 IPs (unlimited bandwidth, with fair usage, which is up to 100 concurrent sessions and a a monthly data threshold of 100 GB per IP), with custom options available if your needs exceed 3,000 IPs.

The platform also has web scraping APIs on offer - regular and enterprise options - the former offering a non-committal free trial for up to 2,000 results, and paid options ranging from $49/month for up to 98,000 results to $249/month for up to 622,500 results. The latter starts at $499/month for up to 1.35 million results and ends at $2,000/month for up to 8 million results, with custom options starting at $10,000/month.

Finally, the web unblocker feature, an AI-powered proxy solution for block-free web scraping at scale, also offers regular and enterprise pricing alongside a 7-day trial. The regular pricing starts at $75/month for 8 GB of traffic and ends at $660/month for 88 GB of traffic. Enterprise options start at $900/month for 128 GB of traffic and a dedicated account manager, ending at $3,500 for 700 GB of traffic and a higher rate limit, with custom options available starting at $5,000/month.

All the packages (Regular and Enterprise) have a 10% discount if you sign up for the yearly subscription. Oxylabs accepts payment cards, wire transfers (both in US dollars and euros), AliPay, and PayPal.

Oxylabs: Features

A user’s journey with Oxylabs begins with registration. You can sign up with your email address or an existing Google account. After signing up, you’ll be redirected to a dashboard where you can access all features. Whether residential proxies, mobile proxies, a web unblocker, or a scraping API, this intuitive dashboard makes it easy to find what you want.

(Image credit: Oxylabs)

Let’s dive deeper into the features Oxylabs offers:

Residential proxies

Residential proxies are real IP addresses offered by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). They’re tied to real devices in physical locations, allowing you to bypass geo-restrictions for different purposes.

For example, price comparison sites need to scrape localized data from different websites to offer good deals to users. However, retailers are often against price scraping and use geo-restrictions to prevent their sites from being scraped.

A residential proxy lets price comparison sites bypass these geo-restrictions and harvest the required data. Because the residential proxy is tied to a legitimate device, the price comparison site operator can visit a website like any normal user.

Retailers also often have different prices for different locations. Residential proxies let price comparison providers visit localized versions of a retail website. Oxylabs provides access to over 175 million residential IPs across 195 countries, including over 10 million in the US, more than 5 million in China, 3.5 million+ in Germany, and roughly the same amount in the UK.

You can precisely target IPs by country, city, state, ZIP code, and even geographical coordinates, making it easy to get localized data. Oxylabs' developer-friendly documentation and integrations make integrating these IPs into your app as smooth as possible.

Oxylabs’ IPs are legitimately sourced, which is important in a proxy sector that constantly grapples with illegitimately acquired IP addresses that expose customers to risks. It gets its residential IPs from consenting device owners who agree to join the network in exchange for a benefit, e.g., a VPN service.

ISP Proxies

Residential proxies are reliable for many use cases, but they have limitations regarding large-scale data scraping. Usage restrictions, such as bandwidth limits and available time per day, make them unsuitable for scraping massive amounts of data.

Oxylabs mitigates this situation by providing proxies leased directly from ISPs like British Telecom, Comcast, Lumen, Orange, and Frontier. You can request a shared ISP proxy (shared by up to 3 users) or a dedicated proxy, which is more expensive.

Oxylabs provides ISP proxies for enterprises with unlimited duration sessions or dynamic IP rotation. These ISP proxies are well-suited for heavy traffic loads, such as mass data scraping, app testing, and ad verification. The tradeoff is their high cost, starting at $1.60 monthly per shared IP.

Mobile proxies

Oxylabs provides access to a massive mobile proxy pool with 20 million+ addresses in 140 or so countries. You can filter these IPs by country, state, city, and coordinates to find precisely what you want. Its largest proxy pools are available in the US, Germany, France, Canada, the UK, and Mexico.

Mobile proxy servers act like mobile devices, enabling users to bypass geo-restrictions and general website blocks. For example, many websites use CAPTCHA to prevent web scraping bots from accessing their data. But with Oxylabs, you can use real mobile IP addresses to bypass CAPTCHA and scrape the needed data.

A mobile proxy is also an excellent tool for ad verification. Companies use them to monitor whether their ads are displayed to real traffic rather than bots. Likewise, businesses can combine Oxylabs’ mobile proxy service and scraping API to gather and respond to real-time reviews.

Data center proxies

Oxylabs offers datacenter proxies that aren't sourced from ISPs. Instead, they come from secondary cloud service providers, offering anonymity and private IP authentication.

(Image credit: Oxylabs)

Datacenter proxies are high-speed and perform well, making them a great option for massive data scraping. You can buy them in bulk for a cost-effective sum, starting at $1.20 monthly per IP (a pack of 10 IPs), compared to $4/GB for Oxylabs’ residential proxies and $5.4/GB for mobile proxies.

Oxylabs provides shared and dedicated datacenter IPs, the latter of which is more expensive. Shared IPs have unlimited bandwidth, while the bandwidth for dedicated IPs varies by your chosen plan. For both types, you can connect to your proxy servers via the HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5 protocols.

Web Unblocker

Oxylabs offers a Web Unblocker that specializes in bypassing anti-bot systems. Many websites use sophisticated systems to prevent scraper bots, but Oxylabs enables you to bypass these systems and scrape the data you require.

It uses dynamic fingerprinting to simulate human-like browsing, with the same headers, cookies, and JavaScript rendering of a web browser. You’ll use a proxy, but the websites think it’s a legitimate user, and it serves the required content without hassles.

The Web Unblocker also uses machine learning techniques to select and rotate proxies, deciding what works best on a specific site. If your scraping request fails, the Web Unblocker automatically rotates proxies to send another request. This process occurs until the request is finally fulfilled.

Scraping APIs

Data scraping is a common use case of residential, ISP, mobile, and datacenter proxies. Companies use them to scrape data manually, a process that gets cumbersome when dealing with massive amounts of data. But Oxylabs solves this problem by offering APIs to automate data scraping.

You’ll select the type of data you want to scrape (text, images, prices, ads, social media likes, etc.) and choose your target website. Then, the API goes to work, scraping the data while you focus on other tasks. You’ll be alerted once your data scraping task is complete. Oxylabs offers distinct APIs for scraping search engines, e-commerce, or other public websites.

(Image credit: Oxylabs)

Other scraping solutions currently offered by Oxylabs include its unblocking browser, which is a ‘maintenance-free and anti-bot-ready headless browser,’ OxyCopilot, an AI-powered assistant for generating web scraping and parsing requests, video data API, and an AI studio with a smart crawler, scraper, browser agent mimicking human behavior when navigating, web search interpreter, and a website mapping tool.

Oxylabs: Ease of Use

Oxylabs offers an intuitive interface that’s easy to navigate. All features are neatly arranged on the dashboard, with the menu on the left and the viewing pane beside it. The interface sports a white background, purple and black text, and contrasting colours that look visually appealing.

This platform put considerable effort into its proxy integrations, making them easy to understand and deploy. If user friendliness were the only criterion for this review, Oxylabs would get a perfect score.

Oxylabs: Customer Support

Oxylabs provides 24/7 support for customers. You can start a live chat with a support agent or send an email and expect a response within 24 hours. Oxylabs’ support team was active and highly willing to solve inquiries during our test.

Customers can also access complementary support resources, primarily extensive documentation for its features. On Oxylabs’ website, you can find detailed guides and user manuals for all types of proxies, making them easier to configure.

There’s a ‘Scraping Experts’ section on Oxylabs featuring web scraping video tutorials. This section provides valuable knowledge from the Beginner to Advanced levels, teaching the ins and outs of website scraping with Oxylabs’ proxies. It is continuously updated with new videos and includes on-demand Q&A sessions to learn directly from scraping experts.

However, we noticed a drawback. There is no telephone support for customers, which is an inconvenience when paying for an expensive tool.

Oxylabs: The Competition

The proxy software industry is very competitive, with no shortage of rivals to Oxylabs. The main competitors we’d like to highlight are Bright Data, Decodo (formerly Smartproxy), and SOAX.

Bright Data is excellent for residential, mobile, and datacenter proxies. It also offers web scraping APIs like Oxylabs. The difference is that Bright Data offers more customizability and is a costlier solution.

Decodo is another reliable proxy server provider, with its datacenter proxies supporting the SOCKS5 protocol just like Oxylabs. However, Oxylabs has a larger IP pool of 175 million+ proxy addresses.

SOAX provides a massive proxy IP pool as well, and it has web scraping APIs and a Web Unblocker like Oxylabs. However, it outshines Oxylabs in terms of user-friendliness and customizability.

Oxylabs: Final verdict

All things considered, Oxylabs’ reputation as one of the best proxy providers in the industry is well deserved. Not only does it offer a 175 million-strong pool of proxy IP addresses for data scraping and other business tasks, but it also throws in a bunch of useful tools for good measure. This includes a sophisticated web scraping API, unblocking capabilities, an AI assistant, a video data API, and an AI studio.

As such, it’s not just great for individual users with demanding proxy requirements, but also for any business looking for a proxy provider that can serve its needs at scale. That said, it might be a bit expensive, especially if you’re a high-level user. Still, all the advanced features listed above certainly justify the price mark.

We've also highlighted the best proxy and best VPN

Categories: Reviews

The Casabrews CM5418 is a small but mighty espresso machine for the casual coffee lover

Wed, 09/17/2025 - 10:00

Casabrews CM5418: one-minute review

For many folks attempting to recreate the cafe experience at home, the absolute best of the best espresso machines just aren’t a practical choice.

Not only do luxury options come with a pretty crushing price tag, they also tend to be larger and offer fewer beginner-friendly modifications. Although, you could argue that this is by design; those who approach espresso as a deeply-involved hobby won’t mind trading off some extra counter space and time in exchange for perfectly dialled-in shots. Meanwhile, if your goal is a consistently pretty tasty output with very few bells and whistles, something like the Casabrews CM5418 really hits the mark.

At just $139.99 / £149.99, the CM5418 is a seriously budget-friendly espresso machine, even when compared to the rest of Casabrews’ already low-cost lineup. There are a few areas where cut corners feel like an obvious downgrade: mainly in the feel of the portafilter and the accessories the machine comes with. However, it performs consistently with the aid of its double-walled baskets, continually producing well-extracted espresso with noticeable crema that the majority of coffee enjoyers would be pleased with.

It may be worth investing in a couple of upgrades if you want to be able to pull espresso that wows, but in the meantime, you can enjoy perfectly pleasant americanos, lattes, and more from the CM5418 as is.

(Image credit: Future)Casabrews CM5418: price and availability

List price: $139.99 / £149.99 (price varies depending on color variants)
Available in the US and UK
Discounts available on Casabrews' website

When it comes to espresso machines that are kind to your wallet, the price of the Casabrews CM5418 is close to as good as it gets.

In the US, you can purchase the Casabrews CM5418 for $139.99 at the Casabrews site and on Amazon. Though it’s worth noting that the MSRP for colored versions is a little higher, at $169.99. The Casabrews site has regular coupon codes and sales, so you may be able to score this machine for even cheaper.

Casabrews ships to the UK as well, but all the prices are listed in US dollars. Alternatively, you can pick up the CM5418 from Amazon UK. Unfortunately, the full color range isn’t available on Amazon UK, but this won’t be an issue if you had your heart set on a silver or black version.

Value score: 5/5

(Image credit: Future)Casabrews CM5418: specifications

Type

Semi-automatic espresso machine

Drink options

2 (single and double espresso)

Pump pressure

20 bar

Water tank capacity

34oz / 1 liter

Steam wand

Yes, manual

Side (H x W x D)

12.28 x 5.47 x 11.97 inches / 31.19 x 13.89 x 30.14cm

Weight

8.6lb / 3.9kg

(Image credit: Future)Casabrews CM5418: design

Small-scale, charming design
Available in seven colors
Cheap-feeling portafilter and disappointing accessories

The Casabrews CM5418 is a compact little espresso machine that’d be right at home in small kitchens, office spaces, or even on the road in a campervan. With it coming in at under six inches wide, you really shouldn’t have any difficulty finding a home for it, even in living areas that are tight on space. What’s more, it’s exceptionally light too. So even if you do decide to store in the cupboard between uses, you’ll only have to shift 8.6lbs in and out each time.

I’d prefer to keep my machine out of the counter though, and not just for convenience’s sake; the CM5418 actually looks rather cute. The pressure gauge on the front face is not only a very practical clue of how well your espresso is extracting but also adds some visual interest to a machine lacking a LCD screen. Though this is actually inline with my own preferences, to be honest: I found the four simple, tactile buttons on the CM5418 to be far more satisfying to use than the digital displays or touchscreens found on some expensive espresso machines.

(Image credit: Future)

If you fancy jazzing up your coffee station a bit, there’s a decently wide range of color options to choose from: silver, black, beige, sapphire blue, baby blue, pastel green, and pink. This is a win for anyone who’s a sucker for color coordination, but you will end up paying a $30 premium for any color other than silver. Such is the cost of beauty, I guess.

True to its lower price point, the CM5418’s build doesn’t feel composed of particular high-end materials. But, in my time testing it, I never found the slight compromise on component quality to be much of an issue. That is, with the exception of the machine’s 51mm portafilter.

Not only is the portafilter handle made from a hard plastic that really doesn’t feel especially pleasant in the hand, but the mechanism for securing the basket into it is a little unwieldy too. The standard method involves having a spring clip to maintain tension when the basket is pushed into the portafilter, but the CM5418 baskets have a notch that has to be threaded into a gap in the portafilter’s lip instead. As a result, the basket wobbles and clacks around noisily when the portafilter is moved, and it’s not difficult to disturb your puck preparation with this instability. I didn’t have any problems with the basket outright falling out of the portafilter during my tests, but it’s not hard to imagine that the looseness of the threads could occasionally lead to you accidentally sending your basket flying into your knock box.

(Image credit: Future)

The CM5418 comes with a one shot basket and a two shot basket, both of which are pressurized. Casabrews’ decision to not include a non-pressurized basket says a lot about how beginner-friendly this machine is supposed to be. Instead of relying on the resistance of water traveling through your coffee puck, the extra wall in a pressurized basket does the heavy lifting when it comes to regulating extraction pressure and creating the appearance of crema. As a result, less precision is needed for a consistent output and you can even get away with using preground coffee. However, the trade off is that you just won’t achieve the same peak in flavor.

If you do find that you’d prefer to use a non-pressurized basket with your CM5418, you’re in a bit of a pickle. Not only does the machine have a relatively uncommon grouphead size of 51mm but as mentioned before, the portafilter doesn’t use a spring clip. Not even on the Casabrews website is there an option to buy single-walled baskets that are compatible with the CM5418’s stock portafilter. So, if you want to make this change, you’ll have to purchase a whole new portafilter.

Even if you don’t opt for a single-walled upgrade, there are some accessories you’ll want to pick up that aren’t covered by what you get in-box. For example, the CM5418 doesn’t come with a stainless steel jug to steam your milk in. So, if you’re going to try your hand at lattes, that’s worth chucking in your basket. A plastic tamp-scoop is included that’s extremely lightweight, and the scoop end makes it difficult to position your hand for proper tamping. It’s fine in a pinch, but definitely not ideal. For the price, these are less ‘deal breakers’ and more annoying yet understandable cut corners.

(Image credit: Future)

Design score: 3.5/5

Casabrews CM5418: performance

Quick heat-up time and simple operation
Consistent espresso output
Impressive steam wand

As with most entry/mid level espresso machines, the CM5418’s water is heated using a thermoblock rather than a traditional boiler. The main benefit of a thermoblock heating system (other than cutting down cost) is just how speedy it makes the preheating process. As a matter of fact, the CM5418 is ready to go in about 40 seconds. While this isn’t quite as fast as the 5-second heat up time promised from the CM5418 Pro, it’s still far from anything that would disrupt your morning routine. After all, 40 seconds isn’t the kind of wait that would get in the way of your coffee-making flow; it's like the perfect amount of time to grab your favorite mug and weigh out your beans.

Thanks to the double-walled baskets, pulling a tasty shot of espresso with the CM5418 is a lot more foolproof than it would otherwise be. Of course, the beans you choose still matter – as does your grind size, extraction time, and dosage – but pressurized baskets help to crank the difficulty meter down a bit. You’re still aiming for that bullseye although the area of the bullseye is just that bit bigger. So, while I still dealt with some fussing adjusting my grind for the best extraction, it didn’t take too much effort to get to something tasty.

(Image credit: Future)

For the majority of my test shots, I used Mask of the Mire from Dark Arts Coffee. These beans yielded espresso which was nutty and sweet, if lacking in complexity just a bit. Though it’s not hard to imagine that my shots could fare better with some slight upgrades to the machine, what I had was consistently great for the basis of an americano or a milk drink …despite being a tad boring on its own.

Even right out of the box, the steam wand had a fluid range of motion that made it easy to position it at the right point in my milk jug. It’s operated by a knob on the side of the machine and responds quickly to activation, meaning you can get straight into aerating your milk without much fuss. Some other budget espresso machines like the (non Arte) DeLonghi Dedica have what’s called a panarello wand, which is best suited to making fluffy, dry cappuccino foam, but majorly falls down when it comes to creating microfoam. Meanwhile, the CM5418 has no trouble delivering velvety milk well suited to a flat white.

As mentioned before, the water (and subsequently, the steam) is heated with a thermoblock and while this makes the process faster, it does mean that pulling espresso and steaming milk can’t be done at the same time. Switching between modes takes mere seconds. So, this is really only a problem if you anticipate making multiple milk-based drinks in a row.

4.5/5

(Image credit: Future)Should you buy the Casabrews CM5418?Casabrews CM5418 score card

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

Espresso machines don't get much more affordable than this.

5/5

Design

Small, charming design in a choice of colors, but accessories feel cheap.

3.5/5

Performance

Quick to heat up, easy to use, and more consistent than many of the budget espresso machines we;ve tested.

4.5/5

Buy it if

You’re looking for an espresso machine under $150

Putting together a coffee setup can get pricey really quick, and if you’re trying to keep costs low, it’s worth splurging most of your budget on a good grinder.

You tend to follow the same espresso recipe daily

The CM5418’s single-walled baskets and lack of temperature controls make it a little more difficult to finetune your recipe to get the very most out of a new bag of beans. If you’re a creature of habit who doesn’t experiment too much with their coffee, this shouldn’t be a problem.

You’re a fan of milk-based drinks

The CM5418 has a steam wand that does a superb job at whipping up steamed milk, foam, or microfoam. If you’re not the type to drink your espresso straight, this machine is a winner.

Don't buy it if

Your budget for an espresso machine is $250+

If you can afford to drop hundreds of dollars on an espresso machine, it’s worth considering more high-end options than the CM5418. It’s an impressive performer at its price range, but it would definitely get blown out of the water by luxury models.

You want a bean-to-cup machine

After you pick up a CM5418 (or any espresso machine for that matter), a great grinder should be the next thing on your shopping list. Though if you’d prefer to save yourself the hassle, you can always opt for a bean-to-cup machine instead.

Casabrews CM5418: also consider

If you’re unsure of whether the Casabrews CM5418 is the right espresso machine for you, it’s worth checking out these alternatives:

Breville / Sage Bambino

The Breville Bambino (or Sage Bambino, as it’s known in the UK) is a definite jump-up in price from the CM5418, but it’s still good value. This machine heats up lightning fast and is a good fit for those beginning their journey with coffee as a full-blown hobby.

Read our full Breville / Sage Bambino review

De'Longhi Dedica Style EC685

Our reigning champion in the arena of the best budget espresso machines, the DeLonghi Dedica Style EC685 is another fun-sized espresso machine that’s well-suited for beginners. It’s just a tad more expensive than the Casabrews CM5418 and less suited for producing microfoam, but it comes from a much more established brand (making upgrades and repairs an easier process).

Read our full De'Longhi Dedica Style EC685 review

How I tested the Casabrews CM5418

(Image credit: Future)

I tested the Casabrews CM5418 over a period of four weeks, using it regularly to make black and milk-based espresso drinks.

During my tests, I alternated between using light, dark, and omni-roasted fresh espresso beans bought from specialty coffee roasters. All beans were ground using the Baratza Encore ESP, with the grind size adjusted a number of times to achieve the optimal result.

The steam wand was tested with fresh, full-fat dairy milk, semi-skimmed milk, and oat milk. After each steam, I made sure to purge and clean the wand to keep it operational. For more details, see how we test, review, and rate products at TechRadar.

First reviewed September 2025

Categories: Reviews

The Apple iPhone Air is the sexiest iPhone I’ve ever tested – it's really a new kind of Pro

Wed, 09/17/2025 - 07:00

Apple iPhone Air: Two-Minute Review

The iPhone Air is, to a degree, exactly what we were expecting: Apple’s thinnest iPhone ever, measuring just 5.64mm. It feels light, balanced, and durable thanks to a grade 5 titanium frame and Ceramic Shield glass. In the hand it’s sleek and refined – I’ve been using my Sky Blue unit for a week now and it’s still turning heads.

The 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display is excellent: it’s an always-on display that supports ProMotion, HDR, and brightness up to 3,000 nits. It’s slightly bigger than the iPhone 17’s screen, which gives apps, text, and videos more room to breathe, and it looks great whether I’m scrolling TikTok, watching HDR movies, or just browsing outside on a sunny day.

iOS 26 feels tailor made for the Air, with its new Liquid Glass design that looks striking and complements the physical build. Messages now support custom backgrounds, typing indicators, and polls, while the Phone app and Visual Intelligence get useful upgrades. And while Siri’s full AI overhaul isn’t here yet, Apple Intelligence features are starting to appear.

The biggest trade-off comes with the camera setup: there’s just a single 48-megapixel lens on the rear of the phone. It produces sharp, natural-looking photos and impressive portraits, but you’ll miss the flexibility of a telephoto or ultrawide if you’re used to them. The selfie camera is excellent, though, with Apple’s Center Stage smarts for automatic wide and ultrawide framing, and Dual Capture is genuinely fun.

Performance from the A19 Pro is snappy and smooth, and it capably handled everything I threw at it, though the phone does get warm during fast charging or heavy gaming. Battery life is decent but not class-leading: enough for a workday, usually six to eight hours of use, with my best stretch hitting around 10 hours away from the charger. Power users may want to invest in the $99 / £99.00 / AU$159 MagSafe Battery Pack, which matches the phone’s slim profile and adds about 65% more life, but it’s an added cost.

The iPhone Air isn’t the best iPhone for photography or endurance, but as a design statement, it’s a gem. It feels like the most exciting iPhone Apple has released in years, and while it costs more than the iPhone 17 with fewer cameras and shorter battery life, it delivers value in other key areas.

Apple iPhone Air: Price and Availability

Apple unveiled the iPhone Air at its September 9, 2025, ‘Awe Dropping’ event alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, AirPods Pro 3, and three new Apple Watches. The Air, though, stands out with its entirely new design, and is a whole new category of iPhone.

It starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 for 256GB of storage, or you can bump that up to 512GB for $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,199, or 1TB for $1,399 / £1,399 / AU$2,599. The iPhone Air is an eSIM-only device worldwide and comes in four colors: Sky Blue, Light Gold, Cloud White, and Space Black. I’ve been testing a 1TB iPhone Air in Sky Blue.

Apple will officially launch the iPhone Air on September 19, 2025, but it’s up for pre-order now from the company’s online store, authorized retailers, and carriers.

Apple iPhone Air: Specs

iPhone Air

iPhone 17

iPhone 17 Pro

iPhone 17 Pro Max

Weight:

165g

177g

206g

233g

Display:

6.5-inch OLED

6.3-inch OLED

6.9-inch OLED

Resolution:

2736 x 1260

2622 x 1206

2868 x 1320

Refresh rate:

120Hz

Peak brightness:

3,000 nits

Chipset:

A19 Pro

A19

A19 Pro

Rear cameras:

48MP wide (26mm, ƒ/1.6)

48MP wide (26mm, ƒ/1.6), 48MP ultra-wide (13 mm, ƒ/2.2)

48MP wide (24mm, ƒ/1.78), 48MP ultra-wide (13 mm, ƒ/2.2), 48MP telephoto (8x optical zoom)

Front camera:

18MP (ƒ/1.9)

Storage:

256GB, 512GB, 1TB

256GB, 512GB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB

Colors:

Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold, Sky Blue

Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, Lavender

Silver, Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue

Apple iPhone Air: Design

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

The freshest look that Apple has delivered in years
Unbelievably thin and light
Feels great in the hand with proper ergonomics

If you were following the Apple rumor cycle, we were all expecting an ultra-thin iPhone to be released – one that would potentially go thinner than the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, be more stunning than the iPhone X, and offer a truly refreshed look and feel for the iPhone. The launch event’s ‘Awe Dropping’ tagline set the bar high – and the iPhone Air cleared it with room to spare.

It’s not the first ultra-thin phone – the Galaxy S25 Edge measures in at 5.8 millimeters – but it still feels as stunning, sleek, and sexy in my hand right now after living with it for a week as it did during my brief hands-on session following the launch event. It feels as exciting as the iPhone X, in that it might give us the playbook for the modern iPhone going forward – or at least show us one half of the purportedly incoming foldable iPhone.

The photos released by Apple, and even those shot by me for this review, only do it partial justice. The iPhone Air is the best representation yet of Apple’s vision for an iPhone that’s just glass. It weighs in at just 5.82 ounces, or 165 grams, fully justifying the ‘Air’ moniker. Much like the iPhone 17 or even a Pro Max, it feels balanced – not too top-heavy, not too bottom-heavy. It’s Goldilocks ergonomics.

I don’t know if I’d quite call it awe-dropping, but the thinness is the part that gets people excited. At its thinnest, the iPhone Air is 5.64 millimeters, or 0.22 inches, and the ‘plateau’ (Apple’s new term for the camera bump) only juts out a bit more. I was instantly wowed, and over the course of a week (well, eight days now), I’ve really become accustomed to this look and feel for an iPhone.

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

While conducting some testing over the week, I showed it to my brother and sister-in-law, who were both visibly impressed when holding it. They asked about durability and were a little stunned at the overall feel. Then came the questions about battery life and the camera – both of which I’ll address below – and whether the USB-C port was thinner.

On that last point – it’s still a regular USB-C port, but to fit it in this frame and get it this small, Apple’s design team started by 3D-printing a custom one. And given how thin this phone had to be, Apple went back to grade five titanium for the shell and sides of the device. To further enhance the looks, it has a polished finish. My Sky Blue review handset is different from the MacBook Air and iPad Air colors of the same name – it’s a bit lighter and pastel-like. I really like it, and the Air also comes in Light Gold, Space Black, and Cloud White.

While the innermost layer of the iPhone Air sandwich is made of that strong titanium, which can bend slightly under pressure but is designed to spring back, it’s topped and bottomed with glass and glass ceramic; specifically Ceramic Shield 2 on the front and Ceramic Shield on the back. The rear, like the iPhone 17, is mostly frosted matte glass, while the top bump gets the glossy finish.

Apple says the Air is three times more scratch-resistant on the front – though I’ve still been careful sliding this in and out of my front or rear jeans pockets – and the back is four times more crack-resistant.

I actually did drop it on concrete paving stones, and the iPhone Air came out completely unscathed. My dog Rosie pulled me suddenly, I dropped the Air, and it hit the ground on the top-left corner and then landed screen-down, single camera-up. Not even a scratch. Rosie was off the hook.

That incident, along with our Editor at Large Lance Ulanoff’s bend test and his fumble with the iPhone Air, gives some credence to Apple’s durability promises. Apple says the iPhone Air is more durable than any model before this and on par with the rest of the 17 lineup. In a test behind closed doors at Apple Park, I saw an iPhone Air put through the wringer, receiving a simulated force of 130 pounds, and bending and then springing back with no visible stress marks left.

It also has the same IP68 rating for resistance to dust and water as the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max – it survived a light drizzle shortly after I unboxed it at Apple Park. The weather’s been wet in my home state of Jersey, and the Air has shown no issues when being used in rain or surviving a dunk test.

Even given the extreme thinness here, you still get the usual buttons you’d expect on an iPhone. Camera Control (still not a button) has been redesigned to live on the right-hand side, and it’s slightly thinner but about the same length as on other iPhones. The power/sleep button sits slightly higher on this side, with the Action Button, volume up, and volume down on the left. The main mono speaker lives at the top with some microphones, and there are two other microphones either side of the USB-C port on the bottom.

This design does, as mentioned, only leave room for a single camera, and likely a smaller battery inside, but Apple has also dropped the SIM card slot worldwide and opted for eSIM to save some space.

The iPhone Air is stunning, attracts a lot of admiring glances, and feels like the biggest refresh in iPhone design we’ve seen in a while. Yes, it’s the same key parts, just compressed; but in use it feels like the perfect showcase for iOS 26. If you’re after Apple’s best design this year, I think it’s clearly the iPhone Air – but there's a lot more to this iPhone than just looks.

Design score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone Air: Display

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

At 6.5 inches the front is virtually all screen
It’s on a par with the displays on the Pro and Pro Max

For $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 it would be a little mean of Apple not to include ProMotion or always-on functionality here, and the iPhone Air supports both. As a whole, the screen here is basically in line with those of the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, or 17 Pro Max.

The front of the iPhone Air is nearly all glass, except for a thin black bezel that turns into the sloped polished side. It’s a 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with a resolution of 2376 x 1260, which works out to 460 pixels per inch. It tops out at 3,000 nits of brightness when needed, supports the Wide Color P3 gamut and HDR, and features an anti-reflective coating. It also has the same Dynamic Island as the rest of the iPhone 17 line.

In daily use, the display is really the main appeal here – on paper, it’s 0.2 inches bigger diagonally than the iPhone 17 or 17 Pro, but it feels a bit more expansive. It offers more lines of text, or a slightly expanded view when viewing a webpage. Games or movies feel a little more like an event, and it offers a broad canvas for iOS 26. Lay two of these phones side by side and I think you’d have some idea of what Apple is planning to bring us with its long-rumored folding iPhone – and it would look mightily impressive, but we’re not quite there yet. And it’s still smaller than the Pro Max.

Colors looked punchy and vibrant, text was inky black and crisp, and it was a great display for daily use. I found that it got bright enough to battle the bright sunshine of California, the late summer sunshine of New Jersey and New York, as well as bright artificial lighting. I liked scrolling TikTok and Instagram Reels, or watching a video on it, mainly thanks to the super-smooth ProMotion display.

And iOS 26, with its Liquid Glass makeover, looks fantastic here.

Display score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone Air: Software and Apple Intelligence

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

Liquid Glass runs well here and feels purpose-built for the design
iOS 26 brings with it some really smart features

I have a feeling that the design team at Apple knew the Air was on the roadmap when designing Liquid Glass.

iOS 26 is running on the iPhone Air out of the box, and as on any iPhone, announces itself with a ‘Hello’ on the first boot. You’ll get a sense of the new translucent, glass-like nature of the software pretty quickly. It’s mostly visible in how notifications refract over your wallpaper or up top, with whatever is behind the element. I especially like the way the bottom menu bars look with this, although legibility can be an issue at times, depending on what’s behind the element. You’ll also notice a difference if you use light mode or dark mode.

The redesign is only a portion of iOS 26, as Apple’s latest OS introduces a number of new features. I’m keen to put many of the new parts of Messages to the test with my friends and various group chats. With the latter, you’ll now get typing indicators, and you can set a custom background for any Message group or individual. This will, I have a feeling, be an especially tough test for legibility with the Liquid Glass components. You also have the option to add polls in group messages, which is a fun way to decide on activities or maybe pick a restaurant.

The Phone app is entirely new, though you can switch back, placing your favorites up top and below that is a combined list of outgoing and incoming calls, missed calls, and even voicemails. It can be a lot to process at first, but after months on the beta I’m more or less used to it, although I have switched back to the original setup occasionally, as the new one makes voicemails a little harder to track down. You can also use Live Translation during calls, which can be helpful for international travel, and I especially like the wait-on-hold feature.

Visual Intelligence, which is engaged with a long press of Camera Control, is a bit smarter here, and can now identify events to add to your calendar and integrate with apps that add support with the API. However, we’re still waiting on the full AI-powered Siri, and many of the new Apple Intelligence features aren’t front and center here.

You can check out our full guide to iOS 26 here, as there’s a lot more to dig into.

Software score: 4 / 5

Apple iPhone Air: Camera

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

Single-lens 48MP Fusion camera on the rear
You can get some impressive shots, especially portraits
Front-facing camera is 18MP with Center Stage

This is where the compromises necessitated by the iPhone Air’s unfeasibly thin design begin: the iPhone Air only features a single, 48-megapixel Fusion camera on the back. It can shoot at 1x, a sensor crop in 2x, or a maximum digital 10x, but the quality falls off noticeably with the latter.

I’ll cut to the chase here – if you’re after the iPhone with the best cameras, or even just some variety for shooting, this is probably not it.

I was impressed with some of the shots I took, particularly the one taken from 36,000 feet out an airplane window in the gallery below – the Air captured a surprising amount of detail around the engine, wing, and even the clouds, and what appears to be a mountain in the distance. The night mode worked very well when capturing my Bernedoodle, the aforementioned Rosie, and I’m especially impressed with the Portrait mode here, and the work going on behind the scenes to deliver the right bokeh effect in the right spot.

Still, as someone who used a 16 Pro Max before this, I miss the telephoto camera, even if that wasn’t a Super Res Zoom like on a Galaxy or a Pixel; 2x isn’t a lot. The iPhone Air also doesn’t have an ultra-wide or a macro camera. If anything, it’s made me think about the types of shots I’d want to capture with a phone, and if an ultra-wide or zoom is a deal breaker for you, you’ll want to look at the 17 or the 17 Pro duo.

The 48MP Fusion camera here can capture photos at a full 48 megapixels or, by default, a 24-megapixel photo that saves space by combining a 12-megapixel shot and a 48-megapixel shot. It normally does a pretty good job of preserving colors and details, and is something that Apple’s been doing for several generations of iPhone.

The main lens here does an admirable job, and I’m quite happy with some of the images I got – particularly in portrait mode, with the camera keeping colors within a realistic range and not skewing warmer or cooler, as well as capturing plenty of the finer details.

In some cases, photos looked a bit washed out – for instance, landscapes on particularly sunny days, as when I took test shots at a botanical garden (although I was able to capture a sunflower quite nicely, other fauna, and even orange fish below a less-than-crystal-clear pond). Mostly, though, the camera can capture those more vibrant moments, such as a shot of Yankee Stadium or the sunset from a plane window.

Without a true telephoto or an ultrawide, you’re able to take more creative control to capture unique shots. You can see a full gallery of test images – standard photos at 1x or 2x, and some digital zoom ones, as well as Portraits at 1x or 2x – below.

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

A new feature that takes advantage of the 18-megapixel Center Stage camera on the front and the rear camera is Dual Capture. It’s not a brand-new idea, and essentially this lets you record with the front camera and rear camera at the same time, with stabilization applied. I think it’s a lot of fun, especially for sports events, where you could capture both the on-field action and the reaction of you and your friends, and I imagine it would be a blast at concerts – I could record myself belting out Born to Run along with the Boss – but also for parents with young children.

The 18-megapixel selfie camera uses a larger image sensor than on previous iPhones, and it’s actually super helpful. Essentially, it can automatically adjust a wide or ultra-wide view so you can easily fit everyone into your selfie or video, and with the tap of a button you can rotate between vertical and horizontal without needing to physically rotate your phone. It also delivers a serious, high-quality selfie.

I’ll include some video samples below – the 48MP camera isn’t a slouch here, and performs on a par with the standard iPhone 17. The end result is either up to 1080p HD at up to 60 frames per second, or 4K at up to 60fps.

Camera score: 4 / 5

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(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)Apple iPhone Air: Performance

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

The iPhone Air feels responsive and fast, even with more intense workflows
A19 Pro chip should keep it running smoothly for years
Can get warm on the camera bump with gaming and other more intensive tasks

Powering the iPhone Air is Apple’s A19 Pro chip, which is a step up from the iPhone 17’s A19, and a slightly less powerful version of the A19 Pro in the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, without the extra cooling technology. The A19 Pro here is a 6-core CPU with two performance and four efficiency cores, a 5-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine.

It’s a good lick faster than the A18 Pro or A18 found in the iPhone 16 Pro Max or 16, especially with various elements of iOS 26 – including spatializing a wallpaper – and in everyday use. Compared to the standard iPhone 17, I’d say performance is about neck and neck. The A19 Pro is arguably being used here to help regulate performance temperature.

I did notice the iPhone Air heating up during the first few days while it was still indexing and charging – especially from 0% to about 50% – before cooling as it slowed near 80%. It also warms up when multitasking with demanding apps at times.

For example, if I’m on a call and launch a game like Asphalt 9, the area around the camera housing on the rear can get noticeably warm, though it cools quickly as performance regulates. The heat doesn’t spread below the Apple logo, and a case, like Apple’s Bumper or Clear option, helps keep it from your fingertips.

Keep in mind that basically all the components do live in the plateau – including the silicon – so it makes sense that the area does heat up. When it comes to non-gaming tasks, though, the iPhone Air handles everything well, and delivers strong performance while keeping cool. That was the case with my daily workflow consisting of calls – audio and FaceTime – as well as Mail, Gmail, Slack, Safari, Chrome, Edits, Capcut, the Camera, and other apps. Even with creating a Genmoji or using Image Playground or another facet of Apple intelligence, the iPhone Air didn’t get especially warm.

In terms of quantitative testing, the iPhone Air scored slightly higher than the iPhone 17 on GeekBench 6.5, at 3,723 on single-core and 9,665 on multi-core. That’s in line with smartphones at this price range, though, as we noted in our Galaxy S25 Edge review, that phone has a thermal solution for keeping things cool.

Performance score: 4 / 5

Apple iPhone Air: Battery

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

It can deliver all-day battery for some, but more likely will last a full workday
You’ll likely need to recharge it during the day
While costly, the MagSafe Battery is a sound investment

We can only guess at the iPhone Air’s battery size for now, as Apple doesn’t officially release those numbers. It’s clear, though, that the company has squeezed as large a cell as possible inside this ultra-slim smartphone.

Instead of capacity, Apple provides viewing estimates: up to 27 hours of downloaded video playback and 22 hours of streaming. With the $99 MagSafe Battery attached, those numbers rise to 40 and 35 hours, respectively – about a 65% boost.

In my experience, the iPhone Air generally lasts through a workday – six to eight hours depending on use. That’s behind the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, but it still meets Apple’s “all-day” standard. On one test, I took it off a charger at 7:30am and it lasted until 5:50pm, or 10 hours and 20 minutes. At best, I recorded six hours and 35 minutes of active screen time; on average, I got around four hours and 45 minutes.

During my first few fast charges, the top of the camera plateau and the area beneath it did get warm, mostly between 0% and 50%, before cooling down. This isn’t unusual for fast charging and reflects the component layout.

Power users will likely need to recharge by the time they get home. Apple’s slim MagSafe Battery nearly matches the Air’s profile, adding only a bit more thickness than the camera bump. It recharges intelligently throughout the day, manages heat well, and uses pocket detection to optimize charging times. Optional, yes – but it complements the iPhone Air experience nicely.

Battery score: 4 / 5

Apple iPhone Air: Should you buy?iPhone Air Score card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Design

The iPhone Air is Apple’s most exciting refresh in years.

5 / 5

Display

The iPhone Air’s 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED is punchy, sharp, and smooth with ProMotion and Always-On functionality.

5 / 5

Software

iOS 26 feels tailor-made for the iPhone Air.

4 / 5

Camera

The iPhone Air relies on a single 48MP lens that delivers sharp, natural photos and impressive portraits, but lacks the versatility found on other models.

4 / 5

Performance

The iPhone Air feels fast and smooth in daily use, though it can warm up under sustained heavy gaming.

4 / 5

Battery

The iPhone Air should last a workday, but heavy users will need to recharge.

4 / 5

Value

At $999, the iPhone Air feels like a new kind of Pro – trading camera and battery versatility for design.

4 / 5

Buy it if...

If you want the thinnest, lightest iPhone ever

At just 5.64 milimeters thick and 165 grams light, it’s the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever, and feels great in the hand.

If you want a gorgeous, large display

If you don’t want to pay the tax of a Pro Max or a screen that big, the iPhone Air’s 6.5-inch screen is great, and it feels like an all-screen device

If you’re ready for an iPhone that feels unlike the rest

Looks are subjective, but if you want the boldest-looking iPhone in years, this might be the one to get

Don’t buy it if...

You want the longest battery life

Depending on usage, the iPhone Air can struggle to make it through a full day, so those looking for a lasting performance will want to look elsewhere

You want the best cameras in an iPhone

With just a single lens, those who want a versatile set of lenses will need to look at the Pro or Pro Max

You want maximum performance

With an extra core and more thermals, the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max offer unmatched performance for extreme workflows

Apple iPhone Air: How I tested

I’ve been covering smartphones for years — including iPhones since the iPhone 8 lineup — and my first personal iPhone was the 3GS. For this review, I set up the iPhone Air in Sky Blue, moving my number over from an iPhone 16 Pro Max via eSIM and starting fresh.

Over more than a week of testing, I put the Air through everyday use: calls, streaming music, gaming, watching TV and movies, capturing photos, and running my usual suite of work apps. I measured performance using both real-world applications and benchmarks, such as GeekBench 6.5, paying close attention to how it handled multitasking and more demanding workloads. For battery life, I tracked how quickly it drained during different tasks and also ran a standardized assessment.

On the camera side, I pushed the single 48MP rear lens through its paces — testing 1x, 2x crop, Portrait, and Night modes, plus video recording up to 4K at 60fps. I also spent time with the new 18MP selfie camera, trying both portraits and group shots, and had fun with Dual Capture for video.

To get a clearer sense of how it stacks up, I compared the results directly with the iPhone 17, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, Google Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro, and Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra.

First reviewed September 2025.

Categories: Reviews

After a week with the iPhone 17, I'm convinced it's the best-value iPhone ever

Wed, 09/17/2025 - 07:00

Apple iPhone 17: Two-Minute Review

In my hands-on preview of the iPhone 17, I said it could be the best standard iPhone in years, and after a week of using Apple’s latest base model for photos, calls, work, and everything else, I can confidently confirm: this is the best standard iPhone in many years.

At $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, with double the starting storage and a laundry list of upgrades, Apple’s never made a better-value iPhone – especially compared to the 16e.

The 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display is the star of the show. It’s punchy, sharp, and now buttery smooth thanks to ProMotion, plus you get Always-On functionality that’s actually useful day to day. Pair that with Apple’s new A19 chip, and the iPhone 17 feels plenty fast enough for most everyday tasks – whether you’re gaming, scrolling TikTok, or multitasking with video running in the corner.

The design doesn’t rewrite the rulebook, but it doesn’t need to. It’s still instantly recognizable as an iPhone, with a slightly bigger build, fresh colors like Sage Green, and with Camera Control and the Action Button on the sides. The phone feels comfortable in the hand and balanced, just like you’d expect. I can, however, see some folks missing the Ultra Marine or Pink Colors from the iPhone 16 lineup.

The base iPhone’s cameras have been given a serious improvement, too: both the main and ultra-wide are now 48MP, which means sharper, more color-accurate shots with less edge distortion. I really liked the new front-facing Center Stage camera as well, since it means no more selfie Tetris when you’re trying to fit in a group. And Dual Capture, which lets you record with the front and rear cameras at the same time, is one of those features that’s actually fun at a concert or ballgame.

Battery life? Solid. I consistently made it through a full day with the iPhone 17, even with the Always-On display turned on and some heavier workflows. And when it’s time to plug in, the new 40W fast charging gets you back up quickly – about 50% in 20 minutes and 80% in under an hour.

Put it all together, and the iPhone 17 feels like the iPhone most people should buy. It’s fast, fun, reliable, and continues to beat the all-important drum of delivering some Pro-level features without the Pro-level price.

If you have an iPhone 16 or iPhone 15, you probably don’t need to upgrade to the iPhone 17 unless you want a better rear camera (which only applies to iPhone 15 owners or those with a 16 who swear by the ultra-wide lens) or desperately need a Pro-level display. But if you have an iPhone 14 or older, this is the year to make the jump.

Apple iPhone 17: Price and availability

$799 / £799 / AU$1,399 starting price
256GB starting storage

Apple’s iPhone 17 was announced during the company’s ‘Awe Dropping’ event on September 9, 2025, alongside the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. It’s up for preorder right now and officially launches on September 19, 2025 – that’s also the date when the earliest online orders will arrive.

The iPhone 17 starts with double the starting storage of its predecessor – 256GB – , thankfully, keeps the same starting price of $799 / £799 / AU$1,399. It jumps to $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 for 512GB of storage. Apple’s offering the iPhone 17 in Sage Green, Mist Blue, Lavender, Black, or White.

Apple iPhone 17: Specs

Here are the key specs of the iPhone 17, as well as how they compare to the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup (including the iPhone 17 Air):

iPhone 17

iPhone Air

iPhone 17 Pro

iPhone 17 Pro Max

Weight:

177g

165g

206g

233g

Display:

6.3-inch OLED

6.5-inch OLED

6.3-inch OLED

6.9-inch OLED

Resolution:

2622 x 1206

2736 x 1260

2622 x 1206

2868 x 1320

Refresh rate:

120Hz

Peak brightness:

3,000 nits

Chipset:

A19

A19 Pro

Rear cameras:

48MP wide (26mm, ƒ/1.6), 48MP ultra-wide (13 mm, ƒ/2.2)

48MP wide (26mm, ƒ/1.6)

48MP wide (24mm, ƒ/1.78), 48MP ultra-wide (13 mm, ƒ/2.2), 48MP telephoto (8x optical zoom)

Front camera:

18MP (ƒ/1.9)

Storage:

256GB, 512GB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB

Colors:

Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, Lavender

Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold, Sky Blue

Silver, Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue

Apple iPhone 17: Design

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

No true redesign; it’s similar to the iPhone 17
Color range is fun
More durable year over year

Yeah, the iPhone Air is strikingly thin, and the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max look pretty different, but Apple’s staying the course with the iPhone 17 – and it makes a lot of sense.

As the entry-level model in the 2025 lineup, it feels instantly recognizable as an iPhone and looks right at home when compared to the previous iPhone 16 (or the 15 or 14 before that).

The iPhone 17 keeps largely the same dimensions, with only slight growth compared to the iPhone 16 – it’s 149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95mm versus 146.7 x 71.6 x 7.8mm. So, it’s ever so slightly thicker and seven grams heavier year over year, but I doubt you’ll notice this in daily use.

Over the past week, I’ve been using the iPhone 17 – alongside the Air, which is a story for another day – and it feels every bit like a modern iPhone. While I thought the colors were a little lacking in pop during my hands-on, the Sage Green model I’ve been testing has certainly grown on me. It lacks the vibrancy of last year’s Ultra Marine iPhone 16, but I especially like how it shifts from a lighter to a darker hue as the light hits it. The 17 also comes in Mist Blue, Lavender, White, or Black, should this Sage hue not be to your taste.

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

It’s also got the same color finish as the previous generation – it’s mostly a frosted back that gives a pastel-like effect, while the sides of the 17 are a matte, lighter version of the shade. It all comes together quite nicely, and the camera bump on the back – which houses the 48MP main and 48MP ultra-wide cameras – is slightly raised with a glossy, darker shade of Sage.

The left side is still home to the Action Button, which is infinitely customizable, as well as the volume up and volume down buttons. The right is where you’ll find the power/sleep button, as well as the “don’t call it a button” Camera Control cut-out. The USB-C port is on the bottom and offers one way to recharge the iPhone 17, while there’s also a MagSafe ring on the back for wireless charging.

The iPhone 17 still feels every bit like the modern iPhone we’ve come to expect and is very comfortable to use in the hand, with Apple appropriately balancing the device internally. It’s not a radical makeover, but one of the biggest changes is staring you in the face – at least when the phone’s screen is on.

Design score: 4 / 5

Apple iPhone 17: Display

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

Finally, a 120Hz display
It’s an Always-On screen
Excellent visuals and more scratch-resistant

I think the Steve Jobs Theater gave out its loudest applause in some time when it was announced that ProMotion and Always-On functionality were arriving on the iPhone 17, and it’s probably the standout feature from my time with the device so far.

Not just as someone coming from the iPhone 16 Pro Max with an Always-On display, but also as someone who’s looking at the price – $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 – and the sea of other 120Hz-capable phones available. Either way, Apple’s provided a solution to one of the biggest qualms with the previous entry-level iPhones.

Yes, the iPhone 17’s 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display now supports ProMotion, meaning it delivers a buttery-smooth experience for scrolling, swiping, gaming, streaming, and even general navigation, as it will adjust on the fly from 1Hz all the way up to 120Hz depending on what you’re doing. The iPhone 16, 15, and 14 before it were all locked at 60Hz, which wasn’t a big deal if you weren’t coming from a 120Hz device, but this is a really nice upgrade.

There’s also a slight display size upgrade. iPhone 17’s screen is 0.2 inches bigger than the iPhone 16’s, which is the same increase awarded to the iPhone 16 Pro versus the iPhone 15 Pro. This means the iPhone 17’s display stretches much closer to the edges.

Paired with the A19 processor and the excellent vibrancy and richness of the Super Retina XDR screen, it all feels more responsive and instantaneous – whether that’s navigating the Liquid Glass world of iOS 26, playing a AAA game, or swiping through photos. I even enjoyed watching films and TV episodes on the iPhone 17; everything looked great with excellent color reproduction and smooth visuals.

The Dynamic Island is still at the top, and I especially enjoyed seeing apps like Flighty and United take it over with important travel details, the Yankees score via the Sports app, and deliveries for coffee from Uber Eats or DoorDash while writing this review. More and more apps are supporting this functionality, and I hope it’s a trend that continues. I’ll dive into the selfie camera improvements below, but they’re pretty massive and, more importantly, pure fun.

Last but not least, the other trickle-down feature – Always-On functionality. This might be more useful day in, day out than ProMotion. Just like the Pro iPhones and even the Apple Watches, the iPhone 17’s display will still show the time, your widgets (if you have them set), and notifications even when the display is not in use. This comes in seriously handy for a quick glance to see the weather, the time, or the notifications piling up.

The iPhone 17’s display story is really about the sum of its parts. ProMotion, Always-On, and a slightly larger screen make for a great experience, and there’s a serious amount of value to be found through this display alone. Oh, and it’s also coated in Ceramic Shield 2, which makes it three times as scratch-resistant as the screen on the iPhone 16 – that’s a win, especially if you're prone to dropping your iPhone.

Display score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone 17: Software and Apple Intelligence

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

iOS 26 is a feature-filled upgrade

iOS 26 is officially out for the masses, and it should come as no surprise that it’s installed and running on the iPhone 17 right out of the box. It’s one of my favorite software refreshes from Apple in quite some time, with Liquid Glass at the center of it.

You’ll notice it immediately from the moment you power up the iPhone 17, with a translucent “Hello” appearing in various languages – a nice taste of the experience to come. Liquid Glass is all about clear, see-through interpretations of menus and components that stack on top of each other. This design language freshens things up and pairs nicely with the actual build of the iPhone 17. My favorite part, though, is how it handles menus: they layer instead of blocking the OS behind them.

There’s also an abundance of customization, especially with the tinting or color picking of app icons and the Lock Screen. You can choose the typeface and clock size, as well as spatialize photos to have them tilt as you move your iPhone.

Design aside, some core apps have been significantly updated. Phone is completely redone, with a main screen that now houses favorites up top, followed by calls made, received, missed, and even voicemails in a list below. It’s simpler once you get the hang of it, but the bigger win here is Call Screening and Translation during phone calls.

The former has been a major time-saver, screening unknown callers and presenting a typed-out transcript before you decide to pick up. As someone who’s had to call an airline or wait on hold with Amazon, the “hold for you” functionality is also quite nice.

While you can use Camera Control to take a photo, I prefer the long hold to scan something – to visually search it, add a date to my calendar, or identify an item. That’s part of the Visual Intelligence upgrade, and we should see more apps start to integrate with this feature. Think snapping a photo of a jacket and then using it to find the same one online.

There are plenty of other features in iOS 26, and you should check out our guide for the full list. Other software standouts on the iPhone 17 include typing indicators in group messages and the auto-transition functionality in Music. Hey, I even figured out a way to transition from a Bruce Springsteen classic to Olivia Rodrigo – talk about a skill.

Software score: 4 / 5

Apple iPhone 17: Camera

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

Two excellent cameras
The upgraded ultra-wide lens is a major improvement
Dual Capture is a fun new mode

While at a glance the two-camera setup on the iPhone 17 looks pretty similar to that of the iPhone 16, the former has been given a significant upgrade. It’s still a 48MP main camera, but that’s now paired with a 48MP ultra-wide camera, both of which are “Fusion” in Apple’s mind. The latter is upgraded from a 12MP camera on the iPhone 16, and the results deliver less warp in the corners, along with shots that are more color-accurate and richer in detail.

You can take an image or start recording video with the Camera Control or the touch interface, which is redesigned as part of iOS 26. As a whole, the iPhone 17 is a sharp shooter, and I’ve been really liking the overall image quality from both cameras. You can technically shoot at 0.5x, 1x, and 2x with digital zoom up to 10x. Results will vary with that last option, though.

With the 1x lens, you can shoot at either the full 48MP or let Apple’s “Photonic Engine” work some Fusion magic to shoot at a 24MP default size that bins every four pixels into one. The goal here is to preserve storage space – though starting storage is up to 256GB from 128GB – and still deliver excellent-looking images rich with detail and accurate colors. I think it largely succeeds here, and since the ultra-wide lens is now 48MP as well, you’ll have the same binning option, which really shines.

Not only do ultra-wide shots pack in more detail with less warping at the edges, but I find them to be more accurate in terms of what you’re capturing and the associated colors. As in years past, Apple tends to skew more toward reality with less over-saturation and a slightly cooler image. You can adjust this with Photographic Styles, Apple’s version of filters, which actually impact how the camera captures a shot.

You can see samples shot from the rear cameras below – including ultra-wide shots, main shots at 1x, digital crops at 2x, and Macro mode. The latter really lets you capture a unique angle or view of an object – especially flowers. It’s also something I missed on the iPhone Air.

As I noted in the iPhone 16 review, the iPhone 17’s main camera does a nice job of applying a bokeh effect to almost any shot with either the 24MP or 48MP output. It can enhance the overall impact of a shot, but this year I also noticed that it extends to Night mode shots, which might indicate an update to the overall processing.

My favorite camera upgrade with the iPhone 17 is on the front: the new Center Stage camera, which jumps from 12 to 18MP with a larger square sensor. That’s paired with software and algorithms to let it stretch and even rotate from a vertical to horizontal shot, depending on how many people you want to get in the photo.

This change eliminates the game of Tetris for group selfies, and it’s quick at recognizing what needs to be done. The quality is also much improved over the previous generation, and this update comes across every new iPhone – the Air, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max included. It’s more fun, useful, and less of a gimmick than the slofie (slow-motion selfie).

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

The other new feature of the iPhone 17’s camera is Dual Capture, which allows you to record video with the front and rear cameras – anywhere from 0.5x to 10x digital zoom – and end up with a single file. This isn’t an entirely new idea, but Apple is baking the function directly into the Camera app. It was a lot of fun to use at a baseball game – the Savannah Bananas at Yankee Stadium, if you’re interested – but I can also see the feature being a blast at concerts, when you’re belting out a song (“Born to Run,” anyone?). And it will likely be fun for families, especially with little ones.

So, while we still don’t have a Google Pixel super-zoom equivalent or a true telephoto here, the iPhone 17’s cameras can shoot among the best. You’re left with high-quality photos that don’t skew out of reality, and even though there’s no “Add Me” or “Camera Coach,” you have several capture modes to pick from and the right tools to get a great shot.

Camera score: 4.5 / 5

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(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)Apple iPhone 17: Performance

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

A19 chip is plenty, plenty fast
Not a major boost over the iPhone 16, but a big improvement over older iPhones

The iPhone 17 is the debut product for a new chip from Apple, the A19. This, of course, succeeds the A18 found in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. It’s not a Pro chip in name according to Apple, though it does power some previously Pro-only features and really makes the iPhone 17 responsive even with a battering of tasks thrown at it.

Apple’s A19 chip is made up of a six-core CPU – split between two performance cores and four efficiency cores – a five-core GPU with accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine. It’s also a 3nm chip paired with a new display engine, which makes ProMotion and Always-On a reality here.

The iPhone 17 offers great performance and screams value when you also consider that, for the same starting price as the iPhone 16, the internal storage is doubled to 256GB. That's not something you'll get from similarly priced rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Google Pixel 10.

You’ll have plenty of room to store photos with this beefier capacity – even 48MP captures – as well as apps, music, files, and other odds and ends. But the real appeal here is that the iPhone 17 feels fast, fluid, and responsive with pretty much any task. It also doesn’t heat up nearly as much as previous generations when using Apple Intelligence features like Visual Intelligence or Image Playground.

When taking a quick flight in Real Flight Simulator, I found the phoneresponsive even at maximum graphics and with a picture-in-picture video running. Other games, including Mini Metro, Asphalt 9, Disney Speedstorm, and Disney Dreamlight Valley, also ran well on the iPhone 17.

My core applications for personal use and work – like Slack, Gmail, Calendar, Google Meet, Instagram, TikTok, Music, Spotify, Google Drive, and many others – all ran without a hitch, and I didn’t find myself needing to close out of apps in the app drawer, even after extended use. In comparison to the A19 Pro found in the iPhone Air, these two devices were mostly on par in terms of performance. Exports could finish a little faster on Apple’s new super-slim model, likely thanks to the extra GPU core, but I didn’t find myself missing any beats on the iPhone 17.

My qualitative daily experience with the iPhone 17 also matched up with benchmarking done by the Future PLC team. The iPhone 17 scored 3,701 single-core and 9,460 multi-core on GeekBench 6.5, compared to the iPhone 16’s 3,301 single-core and 8,033 multi-core. It’s a solid improvement generation over generation, then, and present-day performance or the future is not a concern on the iPhone 17.

Performance score: 4.5 / 5

Apple iPhone 17: Battery

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

Like the iPhone 16, the 17 can last all day
It now supports up to 40W fast charging when wired

Apple still isn’t sharing the battery size inside the iPhone 17 – it rarely does so for most of its products – so we’ll need to wait for a proper teardown to see the exact lithium-ion cell inside. Apple instead promises all-day battery life and a downloaded video playback time of up to 30 hours – a six-hour improvement over the iPhone 16. For streamed video, the iPhone 17 can supposedly last for up to 27 hours – a nine-hour improvement. So, maybe the extra thickness inside the phone is for a larger battery, or the A19 is just much more efficient.

Either way, it can be a little hard to translate those playback estimates into everyday use, but after a week of testing, it’s fair to say that the iPhone 17 lasted all day on a consistent basis, even with the Always-On display turned on. I managed to last from early morning to evening, even with several FaceTimes and two video exports, without needing to plug it in. That’s not quite iPhone 16 Plus battery level, though it seems as though the 17 Pro Max is succeeding that device as the battery champ.

When it is time to plug in the iPhone 17, Apple’s upped the spec; the phone now supports up to 40W fast charging. With a 40W fast charger, you can hit around 50% from zero in about 20 minutes – based on a few tests – and 80% in less than an hour.

If you’re planning to be on the road constantly shooting images, playing some games, or draining the battery with heavy workflows, you might find that you need to recharge after eight or nine hours. I did encounter that, but the faster recharge times helped mitigate this. There is, however, no official MagSafe Battery Pack for this iPhone model.

And hey, you do still get the USB-C to USB-C cable in the box. I did find that with fast charging, the iPhone 17 does get hot – not to the point of burning your fingers, but it does become warm during the initial ramp-up, then cools down as it approaches 80%.

Battery score: 4 / 5

Apple iPhone 17: Should you buy?iPhone 17 score card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Design

A similar design to the 16, with new colors and a more durable build.

4 / 5

Display

Finally, a 120Hz Always-On screen.

5 / 5

Camera

New capture modes, plus the addition of a 48MP ultra-wide lens next to the 48MP main, make the iPhone 17’s camera setup plenty versatile.

4.5 / 5

Software

iOS 26 brings a lot of new features, and the iPhone 17 lets you use them all.

4 / 5

Performance

The A19 chip is plenty fast for now and should last well into the future.

4.5 / 5

Battery

It can still last all day, but no major improvement.

4 / 5

Value

Same price as the 16 but with double the storage and more features.

5 / 5

Buy it if...

You have an older iPhone
If you’re rocking an iPhone 14 or older, you’ll likely see the most benefits from upgrading to an iPhone 17 – including better cameras on the front and back, a much-improved display, longer battery life, and better day-in, day-out performance.View Deal

You want Pro features without the tax
The iPhone 17 is the first entry-level iPhone to get both a ProMotion and an Always-On display. Let’s hope Apple keeps trickling down these features.View Deal

Don’t buy it if...

You want the best iPhone possible
If you want the best screen, the best cameras, or the longest-lasting iPhone, you’ll want to look at the iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro Max.View Deal

You want the best-looking iPhone
This is subjective, but while the iPhone 17 looks good, the iPhone Air is stunning, sexy, and sleek.View Deal

You want the most cutting-edge AI features
Apple Intelligence is still rounding itself out, but if you’re after a phone with an AI option for most things, consider the Google Pixel 10 or Pixel 10 Pro.View Deal

Apple iPhone 17: How I tested

I’ve been reviewing phones for years, including iPhones since the iPhone 8 lineup. To complete this review, I used the iPhone 17 in Sage Green for over a week.

During that time, I tested every part of the phone – making calls, streaming music, playing games, watching shows and movies, snapping photos, and working across my usual apps. For performance, I ran both qualitative and quantitative tests, including GeekBench 6.5, and noted how the phone handled heavier tasks like gaming or multitasking. For battery life, I tracked percentage drop across a full day of use and ran a standardized test.

For the cameras, I shot extensively with the 48MP main and new 48MP ultra-wide lenses, testing 0.5x, 1x, and 2x crop, as well as Portrait, Night mode, and Macro shots. I also tried the upgraded 18MP selfie camera and Dual Capture video. To put results in context, I compared them with shots from the iPhone Air, the entire iPhone 16 lineup, Google Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

First reviewed September 2025.

Categories: Reviews

The DJI Mini 5 Pro is the most impressive sub-250g drone I've tested – trust me, it's definitely worth upgrading for

Wed, 09/17/2025 - 07:00

DJI Mini 5 Pro: one-minute review

When I tracked the seemingly constant flow of DJI Mini 5 Pro rumors ahead of its official unveil, which included exciting speculation about its sensor and safety feature upgrades, I had one question in mind: 'will it still be under 250g?'

I've now had my hands-on the latest flagship mini drone and can happily say that DJI has done it, by a whisker. The 249.9g Mini 5 Pro is officially a C0 category drone and it features a 1-inch sensor (much larger than the Mini 4 Pro's), versatile camera and class-leading safety features, now with LiDAR.

If anything, the Mini 5 Pro reads like a shrunk down DJI Air 3S. They both feature a main camera with 1-inch sensor, 4K video up to 120fps, DJI's D Log M color profiles and 14EV dynamic range.

They also both utilize omnidirectional object sensing and front-facing LiDAR for class-leading low-light flight safety features, including the superb return to home (RTH) function. Plus there's the neat 360° ActiveTrack, which keeps your subject in the center of the frame – DJI has refined this mode in the Mini 5 Pro and it performs really well.

The Mini 5 Pro's camera is super versatile, too – it sits on a 3-axis gimbal for smooth footage even in moderate wind and offers a 225 degree range of roll rotation; the upshot is that you can switch from horizontal to vertical recording at the push of a button.

Despite featuring a large 1-inch sensor and LiDAR sensing, the Mini 5 Pro still officially weighs less than 250g. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

I've only had a few days with the Mini 5 Pro so far, but I've used DJI's other mini drones extensively and can make quick judgements on just how good it really is. Honestly, it's hard to find fault.

I own the Mini 4K, DJI's cheaper entry-level drone. There are a few shared features but if you're a first time buyer, I think it's worth forking out extra for the Mini 5 Pro instead – it's a big upgrade, even over its predecessor, the Mini 4 Pro.

There's also a case for the Mini 5 Pro over the Air 3S. Sure, the weightier all-rounder has dual cameras, longer flight times and higher wind resistance, but the Mini 5 Pro now shares a lot of the same tech.

That's enough comparing for now. For me it's already simple – the DJI Mini 5 Pro is the best sub-250g drone and once my in-depth review is complete it will find its rightful place in my best drones and best beginner drones guides.

The ND filter kit with its ND 8, ND 16 and ND 32 filters, and the charging hub and two batteries behind it, plus the RC 2 controller. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)DJI Mini 5 Pro: price and release date

Standard bundle costs £679 / AU$1,119
Two Fly More Combo kits available: with screen or screen-less controller
No US pricing or availability at launch

Despite improved features including the larger 1-inch sensor and LiDAR, the Mini 5 Pro essentially costs the same as the Mini 4 Pro, which is two years old and which costs £10 more in the UK. Put simply, the latest model is excellent value.

The base DJI Mini 5 Pro package costs £679 / AU$1,1119. However, I would almost always go for the Fly More Combo instead (I'll explain later), which adds a charging hub and two additional batteries to the bundle.

There are two Fly More Combo bundles to choose from: one with the screen-less DJI RC-N3 controller for £869 / AU$1,419 (you'll need to connect and use your phone's display, loaded with DJI's app, for this controller), or one with the fancier DJI RC 2 controller for £979 / AU$1,699.

I've got bad news if you're in the US – there's no Mini 5 Pro pricing or availability at launch. I expect various independent retailers to get stock at some point, but pricing is an unknown.

(Image credit: Tim Coleman)DJI Mini 5 Pro: specsDJI Mini 5 Pro specs

Camera:

50MP 1-inch CMOS sensor

Video resolution:

Frame rates:

4K up to 120fps, Slow motion Full HD up to 240fps

Video transmission range:

04+ for 20km (FCC), 10km (CE/SRRC/MIC)

Flight modes:

Cine, Normal, Sport. 360° ActiveTrack. QuickShots (Dronie, Helix, Rocket, Circle and Boomerang)

Battery:

2,788mAh / up to 36 minutes flight time.

Charger type:

USB-C / Battery Charging Hub

Weight:

8.81oz / 249.9g

Dimensions:

157×95×68 mm (folded), 255×181×91 mm (unfolded)

DJI Mini 5 Pro: Design

Weighs 249.9g
Omnidirectional object sensing and front-facing LiDAR
3-axis gimbal with 225 degree roll rotation range

DJI has one non-negotiable with its mini series of drones – keep the body under 250g. This latest iteration has pushed this mission to the max: the Mini 5 Pro weighs 249.9g. Technically, the takeoff weight can vary ±4g (depending on the batch you get, says DJI), so yours could be 254g. However, the Mini 5 Pro is officially classed a C0 (sub-250g) drone in Europe, so such discrepancies are a moot point.

In addition to the larger 1-inch sensor, which I'll get onto in the next section, the Mini 5 Pro adds front-facing LiDAR to omnidirectional object sensing. The latter is already a class-leading safety feature, and one you won't find in cheaper models such as DJI's own Mini 4K.

Personally, I think paying extra for object sensing is worth it – it's a miracle that my own Mini 4K is still functional after multiple collisions with tree branches and the like.

Now, with the addition of LiDAR, the Mini 5 Pro should sense better than the Mini 4 Pro in low light. That's not something I've specifically tested in this drone, yet, but the Air 3S has this feature and you feel you can push that drone harder than the Air 3 it replaced.

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The camera unit impresses, too. As before, it sits on a 3-axis gimbal which smooths out your live view during flight and any recorded video. The gimbal has a versatile 225-degree range of roll rotation, enabling you to switch between horizontal and vertical capture.

I was testing the Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo RC 2 kit, which includes the controller with a screen. On the underside of the controller is a button that switches the camera between horizontal orientation (typically for long-form content) and vertical (for quick social cuts like TikTok and YouTube Shorts) with a single click.

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I had the luxury of the RC2 controller for my review. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 2

And the set of ND filters, which feels like a must-have accessory. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

I also had the Mini 5 Pro with the dedicated set of three ND filters. Depending on the frame rates you choose, and the weather, you'll likely need to use one to balance exposure for video.

For example, if it's sunny and you're shooting 4K 30fps, you'll probably need an ND to avoid blowing out highlights. The practical downside is that the filters are set strengths, rather than variable (ND8, ND16 and ND32), so once you're in the air you've made your bed.

(Image credit: Tim Coleman)DJI Mini 5 Pro: Performance

1-inch sensor delivers best-in-class image quality
Effective 360° ActiveTrack subject tracking
2,788mAh battery for up to 36 minute flight time (less in reality)

The Mini 5 Pro shoots the best quality video I've seen in a sub-250g drone. It features a single camera which utilizes a 1-inch sensor for 4K 60fps video with 10-bit color depth, or slow motion recording up to 120fps, which can be upped to 240fps if you drop resolution to 1080p.

You can choose between various color profiles – a good-to-go standard look or DJI's D Log M, which needs grading. The latter gives you the most dynamic range to work with – DJI says up to 14EV – meaning you'll likely capture more tonal detail as a reward for your efforts in the editing suite.

When I compare video quality to that of the much cheaper Mini 4K drone, the 4K resolution is about where the comparison ends – the Mini 5 Pro's video quality is much better.

The camera unit is special: a 1-inch sensor, 3-axis gimbal with versatile range which covers vertical shooting (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

DJI says that its 360° ActiveTrack feature has been improved. I haven't tested the Mini 5 Pro against the Mini 4 Pro, so can't vouch for this, but I have used the feature for this test and it performs really well.

I threw on my running shoes and hit the trails in my local woodland, tracked by the Mini 5 Pro, and it was able to navigate overhanging branches with ease while keeping me in the center of the frame.

Return to home (RTH) is another essential drone feature and it performed flawlessly for my Mini 5 Pro flights. This included tricky tests such as retracing its flight path through tree cover over a small lake.

As usual, DJI's range of QuickShots are present and include Boomerang and Helix. These automated flight moves can make for super-dynamic clips when used smartly.

The Mini 5 Pro is supplied with a 2,788mAh DJI Intelligent Flight Battery, which delivers flight times up to 36 minutes. The reality will almost always be less, especially when you factor in wind or the various battery-hungry features.

During moderately breezy conditions and shooting 4K 60fps video and making use of functions such as 360° ActiveTrack, I was getting more like 20 minutes in the air.

Such flight time limits are why I typically prefer the pricier Fly More Combo bundles – they are the most cost effective way to get a couple of extra batteries and effectively triple the fun.

DJI also sells an Intelligent Flight Battery Plus – the 4,680mAh unit extends flight times by around 30% versus the standard unit, but it's weightier and tips the Mini 5 Pro into the next weight category up, which comes with restrictions; legally, you need to get your region's equivalent of a competency certificate.

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Straight out of camera JPEG (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 3

The main camera's complete view (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 3 of 3

The same scene with the 3x digital zoom employed (Image credit: Tim Coleman)DJI Mini 5 Pro: also consider

DJI Mini 4K

At the opposite end of DJI's Mini series is the Mini 4K, which costs significantly less than the Mini 5 Pro – around 1/3 the price. It too shoots 4K video, is equipped with QuickShots flight moves, has decent battery life and weighs less than 250g. However, you lose out on the higher frame rates, DJI's Log color profiles, object sensing and active subject tracking. Still, its flight performance is largely the same.

See my DJI Mini 4K reviewView Deal

DJI Air 3S

If you're happy to level up from the DJI's Mini series of drones with the weightier Air 3S, for which restrictions apply, then you'll get an all-round better experience once airborne. The Air 3S has better battery life and wind resistance, plus a second telephoto camera. However, its main camera is the same as the Mini 5 Pro's, as is the 4K video skills with D Log M color profile and 14EV dynamic range. The Air 3S is also pricier, although not by a whole lot.

See our DJI Air 3S reviewView Deal

(Image credit: Tim Coleman)How I tested the DJI Mini 5 Pro

DJI loaned me the DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo (RC 2)
I had it for a few days before its launch for this first impressions review, and beyond to complete an in-depth review
I've piloted the drone with the RC 2 controller in sunny conditions with moderate wind and tested its tracking capabilities

I had the DJI Mini 5 Pro for a few days before its unveiling, and was able to take it out for a few flights. The conditions were generally sunny or overcast, with moderate wind which provided a stern test for the Mini 5 Pro's stability.

I've controlled the drone with the RC 2 controller which features a screen. I've taken multiple 4K 60fps videos in vertical and horizontal aspects, flicked between the cine, normal and sport flight modes and tested the 360° ActiveTrack through woodland and more.

I've shot video using both standard color profiles and DJI's D Log M color profile and graded the footage. During bright conditions I've used the ND 8 filter to balance exposure. I've also taken still images in RAW and JPEG, plus utilized the 3x digital zoom.

First reviewed: September 2025
Read more about how we test

Categories: Reviews

The Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max is the best iPhone I've ever tested and I love it – even in Cosmic Orange

Wed, 09/17/2025 - 07:00

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max: Two-minute review

If you're looking different in your iPhone shopping journey, the iPhone 17 Pro Max (and smaller iPhone 17 Pro) has you covered. It's not just that fetching Cosmic Orange, the unexpected hue hit of Apple's 'Awe Dropping' event; Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max features a fresh design with new materials, and a broad and bold product-spanning camera plateau that adds a distinctive flair to what had become a somewhat tired design.

Inside, the changes are no less significant, from the powerful A19 Pro chip to the new vapor-chamber supported heat-management system, which enable enough performance to support every peak and valley of your experience.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

If you're fixated on cameras (as I am), the iPhone 17 Pro Max (and 17 Pro) will not disappoint. There are now finally three 48MP lenses that support a wide range of shooting styles. Perhaps the most notable of the three is the new 48MP 4x optical zoom lens that also offers access to a sensor-crop 8x zoom, which, thanks to selecting the. center pixels from the large sensor and an upgraded image pipeline, delivers some truly eye-popping photos.

This is also an upgrade that makes a canny swap of titanium for aluminum, a seeming downgrade but one with some significant benefits, like the ability to apply that amazing new anodized orange finish and the ability to better distribute and dissipate heat.

Finally, there's the price – it's the one thing you hope doesn't get an upgrade, and I'm happy to report that Apple somehow held the line here, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max still starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149. It's never been a cheap smartphone, but then this one is for the Pros, and I think they will be very happy. I know I am.

As for why you might buy the iPhone 17 Pro Max over the iPhone 17 Pro, that comes down to screen size, battery life potential, and the option to get up to 2TB of storage; otherwise, these iPhones are identical.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review: Price and availability

Starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149
Pre-orders opened on September 12, shipping from September 19

The iPhone 17 Pro Max was announced at Apple's 'Awe Dropping' event on September 9. Pre-orders began on September 12, and the phone arrives in stores and starts shipping on September 19.

The iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,199/ £1,199 / AU$2,149 for the model with 256GB of storage, with that price rising to $1,399 / £1,399 / AU$2,599 for 512GB of storage, $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,999 for 1TB of storage, and $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,799 for 2TB of storage. The latter configuration represents the largest storage capacity of any iPhone ever.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Apple is likely getting undue credit for not raising the price of the base model iPhone 17 Pro Max (I'm happy they didn't, but it's not like they lowered the price). Component prices and supply-chain issues relating to the geopolitical stage are surely putting pressure on the company (and it's under continual pressure from the US to start building the iPhone in the country). Somehow, though, Apple has held the line, and the base iPhone 17 Pro Max (and 17 Pro) still starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149 for the 256GB model.

The only difference in pricing comes into play when you stretch to the phone's new upper tier of 2TB, which is only available with the Pro Max model. That sends the price up to almost $2,000. It boggles the mind that we now consider paying almost two grand for a pocket-sized device to be rational. On the other hand, this is a true pro-level smartphone that, based on my tests, is probably ready for pro photography and videography tasks – and when you put it like that, it might seem like a bargain.

Storage

US price

UK price

AU price

256GB

$1,199

£1,199

AU$2,149

512GB

$1,399

£1,399

AU$2,599

1TB

$1,599

£1,599

AU$2,999

2TB

$1,999

£1,999

AU$3,799

Value score: 4 / 5

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review: Specs

iPhone 17

iPhone 17 Air

iPhone 17 Pro

iPhone 17 Pro Max

Weight:

177g

165g

206g

233g

Display:

6.3-inch OLED

6.5-inch OLED

6.3-inch OLED

6.9-inch OLED

Resolution:

2622 x 1206

2736 x 1260

2622 x 1206

2868 x 1320

Refresh rate:

120Hz

Peak brightness:

3,000 nits

Chipset:

A19

A19 Pro

Rear cameras:

48MP wide (26mm, f/1.6), 48MP ultra-wide (13mm, f/2.2)

48MP wide (26mm, f/1.6)

48MP wide (24mm, f/1.78), 48MP ultra-wide (13mm, f/2.2), 48MP telephoto (8x optical zoom)

Front camera:

18MP (f/1.9)

18MP (ƒ/1.9)

18MP (f/1.9)

Storage:

256GB, 512GB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB

Colors:

Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, Lavender

Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold, Sky Blue

Silver, Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review: Design

A fresh, possibly divisive look
New materials pay dividends in colors and performance
Still familiar in most of the best ways

I saw enough leaks in the run-up to the iPhone 17 line launch to have a pretty good idea of what was coming; and, to be honest, I was preparing to hate the iPhone 17 Pro Max redesign and colors. Yet, here I am now, quite pleased with the giant plateau (it's too big to call it a 'bump') and, yes, loving Cosmic Orange.

In many ways, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is still undoubtedly part of the long lineage of iPhones before it. There are, though, just enough new touches here to add up to what I am comfortable calling a redesign.

Starting with the back, there's the now nearly full-width plateau that's both a bold design touch but also a practical measure, in that underneath there's now more space for upgraded components like the refreshed tetraprism (think 'periscope') that supports a new, longer telephoto lens.

Most (but not all) previous iPhone backs featured just one material, usually metal or glass. The iPhone 17 Pro Max is a spiffy mix of the two: metal and glass, or rather a large rectangular Ceramic Shield cutout, with the rest a unibody chassis literally carved out of aluminum.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Instead of a titanium band surrounding a frame, components, and the front and back glass, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's back cascades seamlessly to the sides, and even curves just a bit around the front to meet the Ceramic Shield 2 screen covers, which reportedly will better protect it from scratches (we'll see). It all has an incredibly unified feel, and because Apple has radically cut down on edges, the phone feel very comfortable to hold.

When it comes to dimensions and weight, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is slightly larger and heavier that the 16 Pro Max, but I challenge anyone to notice the differences, which can be measured in fractions. The iPhone 17 Pro Max is 163mm tall by 78mm long by 8.75mm thick, and weighs 233 grams. By contrast, the 16 Pro Max was 163 x 77.6 x 8.25mm and weighed 227g.

This year there are no new buttons to contend with. Along one edge we have the long power and Siri button, and below it, Camera Control. Opposite them is the Action Button, and below that a pair of volume buttons.

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(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

There are small differences along the shorter edges. On top, an antenna cutout is now visible, and on the bottom, the pair of speaker grilles appear larger (yes, this phone can provide very loud and clear sound).

If you want to lie the phone flat, you'll have to place it screen-down. Even though the back plateau is nearly the full width of the phone, the tri-camera array still bumps out even further, and between this and the wide metal bump, this phone lies on its back at a slightly more extreme angle than the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

The switch from titanium to aluminum provides not only some useful heat-management and energy efficiency benefits, it's also opened the door for anodized color options (the material and design upgrades did not impact the IP68 rating, and, yes, I ran the phone under water to no ill effect).

I don't know where Apple got the idea for Cosmic Orange, but I actually love it. It's bold without being garish. There's also Silver (a blah throwback) and the very deep and inky Deep Blue. Apple sort of explained its color choices to me, and even the loss of black, but I think this is just Apple mixing things up and, possibly, giving a nod to all the pro-level folks who buy this phone for creative pursuits. Orange is a color that will get you noticed.

Design score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review: Display

Excellent Super Retina XDR display
It's brighter than ever
A new anit-reflective coating

iOS 26's Liquid Glass interface might lead you to assume there's been some radical display overhaul; so much glow, shiny, and artificial transparency. However, that would be mostly wrong. The platform update does change the look, but it's all still working with the same materials.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max's expansive 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR OLED is largely the same as last year's, featuring a resolution of 2868 x 1320 pixels for a density of 460ppi. The ProMotion technology still automatically ranges from 1Hz to 120Hz, and it's 'always-on', which means that even when you're in bed you can make out the time and have glanceable notifications.

It's not, though, exactly the same screen. This display now ranges up to 3,000 nits – that's 1,000 more than the last model. In my side-by-side tests, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is more visible in direct sunlight. This effect is assisted by a new reflective coating, meaning the light bouncing off the screen is also less noticeable. These are nice, and not necessarily insignificant, upgrades.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

With a narrow bezel (no change from last year), the Super Retina display comes preciously close to meeting that orange metal, with a vast expanse of color and entertainment interrupted only by the pill-shaped Dynamic Island.

Made up of the new Center Stage Camera and Face ID sensors, it remains a useful space for live information, but it's also sometimes a black blob cutout in games, videos, and photos. I find the information it provides useful, so I do not mind it much, but I was also hoping for a redesign that might have shrunk the thing by 50%. This is a minor quibble, and I'm sure that, like me, you probably won't notice or be bothered by it very much (and that, also like me, you'll appreciate the info updates).

These photos do not do the brightness capabilities justice, but the max 3000 nit iPhone 17 Pro Max is on the left, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max (2000 nits) is on the right. (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Otherwise, photos, videos, games, websites, productivity tools, and whatever you view on the display look fantastic. It's a butter-smooth screen when it needs to be, and thanks to the wide color and 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, images pop and blacks are as inky and dark as you would hope they'd be.

Display score: 4.5 / 5

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review: Cameras

Apple's best camera array ever
Photos and videos are impressive
Center Stage camera changes selfies forever
This is the telephoto you've been waiting for
Redesigned camera app will confuse and frustrate some

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Apple's redesigned Plateau is not just an aesthetic choice; it's a practical one. Underneath that now larger, raised platform is a lot of technology, including a new tetraprism to support Apple's longest and highest resolution telephoto lens ever. It's simply one highlight of a stellar iPhone 17 Pro Max camera system.

There are a total of four cameras, with Apple calling the rear trio 'Fusion Cameras':

Main: 48MP f/1.78
Ultra-wide: 48MP f/2.2
Telephoto: 48MP (4x optical) f/2.8
Selfie camera: 18MP

Those specs only tell half the story. In general, you're not shooting at the full-frame 48MP resolution, or rather, you might be using all 48 million pixels to produce a high-quality 24MP (the default for the main camera) or even 12MP to produce an 8x optical-quality sensor crop (on the telephoto camera). The ultra-wide will, by default, shoot 12MP macro photos.

In virtually every instance, this is a case where less is more (or fewer pixels add up to more). Apple uses all that pixel information and its remarkable image pipeline to deliver fantastic photos with true-life colors and exquisite detail.

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A telephoto shot (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Image 2 of 2

A main camera shot (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

I spent an inordinate amount of time shooting with the 4x and 8x zoom lenses, capturing still lifes and long-distance shots. I think the flower photos I captured from a few feet away are just as impressive as the New York City skyline pictures I snapped through the window from an airplane aisle seat. Those latter are notable not only for the detail but for the speed of the lens, which somehow managed to not blur the entire shot.

Shot at 8x zoom through the window from an aisle seat (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Since 8x is equivalent, according to Apple, to a 200mm lens, the camera app helps you with a small viewfinder on top of the main one to see where in the 4x frame you're looking; it's a helpful feature for keeping the context of the frame. By the way, the optical image stabilization does a good job of holding the telephoto frame steady.

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(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Night photography is better than ever. When I wanted to capture an image of the Twin Tower lights that NYC lights once a year on 9-11, I needed the iPhone 17 Pro Max's 8x optical quality zoom and, naturally, the image pipeline behind it to get the shot. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, which maxes out at 5x optical zoom but with just 12MP, just couldn't manage it.

There's also been a generational leap in portrait-mode photography, where I noticed visible improvements in some of the most challenging aspects of a portrait shot, like flyaway whips of hair and glasses frames. These are photos worthy of display.

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My niece, her husband and all their dogs. Look at how it captured all of them (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Image 2 of 3

Does anything look better than dogs in portrait mode? (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Image 3 of 3

My dad. Note the excellent work on the hair and glasses. (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

The selfie or TrueDepth camera is now the 18MP Center Stage Camera, and brings what might be the biggest overhaul to selfie photography since, well, the introduction of selfie cameras.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

When I set up to take a group shot with my son and father, the iPhone 17 Pro Max automatically widened the frame. Normally, I would try to awkwardly hold the phone in landscape mode, but now there's a software button I select, which instantly rotates the frame 90 degrees into landscape mode. Yes, it's a game-changer.

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If you take a portrait-mode photo and want to switch the focus, it only takes a tap (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

If you don't know who's in focus on your portrait-mode shot, you can easily tap to bring someone or something else into focus. Plus, any photo can now be turned into a spatial scene, which turns the image into a stereoscopic wonder. I tried this with some selfie images in which someone was visibly seated behind me, and the results were very good.

Apple still doesn't support 8K video, but I also don't think anyone should care, since most of us are not watching 8K content (although perhaps it matters to some pros who want the editing possibilities offered by a much larger frame).

In any case, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's video capture capabilities remain excellent, with the ability to capture 4K at up to 120fps.

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(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

The Center Stage Camera uses its larger and now square sensor to keep selfie video steady, even if you're moving around. I ran around to give it a challenge, and the phone still managed to smooth out most of the bumps.

One of the quirkiest new features is Dual Capture. As the name suggests, this slightly hidden feature lets you use the front and back cameras simultaneously. The rear camera provides the main action, and you appear as a live picture-in-picture window that you can drag anywhere on the screen during filming. It's fun, even if the utility is not immediately obvious. I actually had some fun using it at a wedding, but I do wish that I could edit the two streams separately post-filming.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

I'm not a pro videographer, but I was curious to try out the new Genlock feature, which is supposed to keep multiple video streams synchronized. I was able to connect an iPhone 17 Pro and the 17 Pro Max, both running a new version of Final Cut Camera, to an iPad Pro running the iPadOS 26 public beta and Final Cut Pro. The iPad app let me tap one button to simultaneously launch recording in both phones, and the resulting combined stream ended up on the iPad.

After my first try resulted in two videos that were not in perfect sync, I gave it a second shot, and made sure to check that both phones were recording audio. This worked, and now I could edit each stream while not losing the synchronization to make a pretty cool multi-cam video.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

The Camera app, by the way, is among the many redesigns you'll find in iOS 26, and I'm not sure I love it. It hides some of the camera options like Pano and Portrait, though you only have to touch the Photo button and slide it to find them again. The options button is now a tiny grid icon in the upper right-hand side that's easy to miss. We'll all learn these new controls, but we may grumble about them for a little while.

That aside, this is undoubtedly Apple's best camera array yet, offering unprecedented versatility for the iPhone line and producing stellar image quality across a range of styles.

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Telephoto (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Camera score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review: Software and Apple Intelligence

iOS 26 is so glassy
Apple Intelligence has some minor updates
Net positive updates across the board

Few things contribute to the new look and feel of the iPhone 17 lineup as much as iOS 26. Liquid glass adds a translucent sheen to almost every aspect of the platform, and mostly it's gorgeous. Apple has done an excellent job of programming pixels to look like glass.

Sometimes, though, the transparency is overdone, and I struggled to make out some interface elements. Think of it this way: when you can see through one element to view another, it can occasionally increase the overall clutter and make some things visually confusing. For example, when you swipe down on the screen to access global search, the search box still faintly shows what's behind it, which makes what's on top of it – what you're typing – a little harder to read. It's a small issue that Apple could easily address in the next iOS update.

In some cases, though, like the new first-party app icons, Control Center, and dock, iOS 26 is a welcome update that gives everything a little polish without throwing out the most recognizable elements.

Apple Intelligence gets a few updates, like Live Translation and the ability for images captured through Visual Intelligence to be transformed into calendar entries. I played a bit with Genmoji and Image Playground to experience those upgrades, but they're mostly minor, and I still await the fully-featured Siri that Apple has promised.

Software score: 4.5 / 5

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review: Performance

A19 Pro raises the bar, again
12GB leaves headroom for future Apple Intelligence performance improvements
The new heat management system is a winner

The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max might represent the most radical redesign of the iPhone in terms of internal components we've seen in quite some time.

In a way, Apple's external changes (replacing titanium with aluminum) are directly connected to those updates.

Let's start, though, with the A19 Pro chip, which is now supported by 12GB of RAM. It's a formidable combo, and in our benchmarks it raised the bar for single and multi-core Geekbench scores while also boosting things like frame rates in games.

The A19 features a 6-core CPU and GPUs. On the GPU side, each core features its own Neural accelerator.

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(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

It's a system that ably handles 4K video editing and AAA game play with equal aplomb. In games like Destiny Rising, reflections and atmospherics, like fog and smoke, match what you might see on a console.

What's more remarkable, though, is that as you do all this, the phone remains relatively cool, and even if it gets a bit warmer in general, there's no one identifiable hot spot. That's down to the new heat management system, which includes a long and narrow vapor chamber that sits on top of the A19 Pro, which is placed near the center of the iPhone 17 Pro Max's body. As the A19 Pro heats up, the water inside the vapor chamber absorbs the heat, vaporizing the water, which then condenses on the other end of the chamber. The process repeats continuously to manage and transfer the heat out across the chassis and to the more heat-efficient aluminum frame.

It's that kind of heat management that helps the phone maintain a high level of performance and, in my estimation, positively impacts battery life.

Performance score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review: Battery

Better battery life than ever
Qi 2 support
Spend for the faster adapter

Apple combines that power and efficiency with a larger battery to provide, potentially, multi-day battery life.

Now, in my experience, I went over 30 hours (it's rated for 39 hours) before I needed to charge the phone. However, I think it's too early to make a final assessment on battery life. I know my phone is busy copying 30,000 emails, updating photo libraries, and more background tasks relating to initial setup.

In truth, I don't think I'll fully understand typical battery life for another month. In the meantime, I can tell you that battery life appears good, if not better, than the last generation, and your mileage may vary.

Expect Q2 wireless charging, which, if you have a Qi2 charger, will be faster. The wired charging is faster, too, but remember you'll need to buy your own higher-wattage wall charger (a $39 40W-to-60W adaptive charger) to achieve those charge speeds. In my experience, I was able to charge the phone to 50% in just 20 minutes. Too bad this adapter (and not just the USB-C charge cable) isn't included in the package.

In the communication space, this is, in the US, an eSIM-only phone that supports dual-SIMs and makes transferring phone numbers across devices a snap. There's more good news, like WiFi 7 support, Bluetooth 6, and Emergency Satellite communication, which, at the time of this writing, is still free.

Battery score: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max?Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max score card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

More power, fresh design and better camera while holding the line on price.

4 / 5

Design

New look, materials, and color while still undeniably iPhone.

5 / 5

Display

Apple holds the line on its display technology but enhances it just enough with a brighter and more resilient screen.

4.5 / 5

Software

iOS 26 brings Liquid Glass to virtually every corner of the iPhone with mostly positive results. We could do with some less translucency in a few spots. Apple Intelligence improves but we await the full-boat Siri experience.

4.5 / 5

Camera

Three fantastic cameras produce eye-popping images across a range of shooting styles. Happiness is the new 4x/8x zoom lens.

5 / 5

Performance

Apple's A19 Pro chip is fast and effective in every scenario. It may be especially adept at local AI operations. The new heat management system helps keep the system relatively cool to the touch.

5 / 5

Battery

Anecdotal battery tests provided 30-hours plus of battery but lab tests are lower.

4.5 / 5

Buy it if...

You want the best iPhone
There's no question that this is the best iPhone Apple has ever produced and while the iPhone 17 Pro is essentially the same phone, this is the one that offers the biggest screen and best battery life.

You want pro-level photography
Apple may not always beat competitors on the pure megapixel front but this phone produces some of the bets photos I have ever seen from a smartphone.

Don't buy it if...

You were looking for a more affordable iPhone
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is no more expensive than its predecessor but that doesn't make it cheap. If you want the same performance for less, check out the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

You want the ultimate in AI
Apple Intelligence is a decent start in the AI space, but it pales in comparison to Google Gemini (found on Pixel phones) and GalaxyAI (and Gemini) on Samsung Galaxy AI.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review: Also consider

Apple's latest flagship iPhone not exciting you? Here are three alternatives from the Android frontier.

Google Pixel 10 Pro
The Pixel 10 Pro is a fantastic addition to the Pixel line, with useful new features like magnetic charging and AI tools that are helpful and not overbearing. There is still room for improvement, particularly in terms of performance and battery life, but this is one of the best smartphones you can buy, aside from the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
For powerful versatility a surprisingly thin and light frame, nothing beats the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. It has excellent cameras, two screens, and powerful AI features. It's also considerably more expensive that the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Samsung's ultimate Android phone is a welcome mixure of design and power that, yes, still brings the titanium. Ther'es also that 200MP sensor, something the iPhone 17 Pro Max still doesn't boast.

How I tested the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max

Review test period: I received the phone on September 9 and tested it through September 16.
Testing included: everyday use, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback, and testing Apple Intelligence
Tools used: Geekbench 6, Geekbench AI, 3DMark

I tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max (and iPhone 17 Pro) alongside my iPhone 16 Pro Max. I took it with me everywhere and tried to use it as I would my own phone.

I've been testing smartphones for over 20 years, and I've been writing about the iPhone since it launched. I've also been tracking and writing about AI since the dawn of consumer-grade experiences more than a decade ago, and I've been covering technology for 39 years.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed September 2025

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Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is one of the best racing games in years

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One handy feature means these AKG headphones just became my go-to for gaming and movies, not just music

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The Casabrews CM5418 is a small but mighty espresso machine for the casual coffee lover

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The DJI Mini 5 Pro is the most impressive sub-250g drone I've tested – trust me, it's definitely worth upgrading for

The Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max is the best iPhone I've ever tested and I love it – even in Cosmic Orange

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