TechRadar Reviews

Light spoilers follow for Lanterns episodes 1 to 7.

DC Studios probably didn't expect to have so much riding on Lanterns prior to its debut. But with Supergirl flopping at the box office and fans openly worrying about how much green they'd see in its Green Lantern TV show, DC and HBO executives have likely been sweating ahead of launch.

James Gunn, Peter Safran, Casey Bloys, and company can breathe a collective sigh of relief. While it stops short of being a TV masterpiece, Lanterns is the strongest DC Universe (DCU) entry yet — and, if future DC Studios movies and shows are this good, the cinematic franchise's brightest days may still lie ahead.

In brightest day, in blackest night...

Meet John Stewart and Hal Jordan, everyone (Image credit: John Johnson/HBO Max)

Spanning storylines in 2016 and 2026, Lanterns introduces us to Aaron Pierre's John Stewart and Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan. As of 2016, Jordan has spent 30 years keeping vigil as Earth's first Green Lantern.

But his tenure is nearing its end. That's because Stewart is selected to be Jordan's replacement by the Guardians of the Universe, a group of omnipresent superpowered extraterrestrials that founded the intergalactic space cop agency known as the Green Lanterns Corps. The group asks a reluctant Jordan to take the new recruit under his wing.

Lanterns suggests that the DC Universe's brightest days still lie ahead

Two months into Stewart's training, a mysterious high school murder draws the pair to Rushville, Nebraska. What starts out as a local investigation, though, soon unspools into a far-reaching, mass cosmic conspiracy that impacts both plotlines.

Sheriff Kerry Kane (left) helps and hinders Stewart and Jordan's own murder investigation (Image credit: HBO)

Naturally, the 2016 narrative directly influences events in 2026, with the latter particularly focusing on the consequences and repercussions of the duo's actions 10 years prior.

I'm not allowed to reveal how these dual timelines interact, or how the wider seasonal structure and time jump operate. What I can say, though, is that I was surprised by how the episodic format frames its dual storylines.

The 2026 storyline occasionally feels like Lanterns season 1.5

In fact, the 2026 storyline, which takes place in the DCU's present, occasionally feels like Lanterns season 1.5 — and that's my biggest critique. I haven't seen this season's eighth and final episode yet, so I still hold out hope that the finale will tie everything together seamlessly. Right now, though, the present-day plot feels like an overly drawn-out epilogue to the 2016 events and a foundational layer to the DC comic book show's already in-development second season.

Sometimes, Lanterns' tension-breaking jokes undermine its more serious moments (Image credit: John Johnson/HBO)

None of this means Lanterns is predictable. Sure, given its source material, its superhero flair and 'new weird' sci-fi sensibilities are expected. At its core, though, it's a grounded, rural crime drama — albeit with cosmic stakes — that unapologetically wears its True Detective influences on its sleeve.

Narrative curveballs, then, are par for the course, even if they're hurled with varying degrees of success. Indeed, while I decoded one of the 2016 storyline's biggest mysteries early on, I was completely blindsided by a game-changing plot twist that redefines its dual timeline structure. No spoilers, but it's a bold storytelling pivot guaranteed to upset Green Lantern fanatics and ignite debate among DC purists.

Lanterns' game-changing plot twist is... guaranteed to upset Green Lantern fanatics

Given the deliberately slow-burn nature of its unfolding story threads, the DCU Chapter One show's action largely takes a backseat to character work and its police procedural tendencies. Small-scale skirmishes and chase sequences, rather than constant spectacle, are largely the name of the game.

When Lanterns decides to go full throttle, though, it does so with aplomb. Again, I'm not at liberty to talk extensively about specific episodic events, but one entry completely usurps the space cop murder-mystery vibes for emotionally heavy, big-budget set-pieces — and the show is all the better for it.

Passing of the torch

Despite Hal Jordan's prominence in proceedings, Lanterns is very much John Stewart's story (Image credit: HBO)

Ultimately, Lanterns wouldn't be as blindingly brilliant without its talented co-leads — and Pierre and Chandler are certainly a match made in heaven.

Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler are a match made in heaven

Barely five minutes into episode 1, their utterly absorbing buddy cop relationship bears fruit, too.

Balancing humor and gravity in equal measure, Stewart and Jordan are unmistakeably two sides of the same courageous coin from their very first interaction. It's an opening exchange that instantly validates their perfect casting, and highlights the pair's natural, magnetic rapport that only deepens as the series progresses.

Hal Jordan isn't going to give up his ring without a fight (Image credit: DC Studios/HBO Max)

Their bond is only strengthened by their individual and collective complexities. Between Hal's unconventional mentorship, backstories that unexpectedly tie their pasts together, and a deep-seated yet unspoken mutual respect, the veiled hostility that punctuates their dynamic has an electrifying push-and-pull that you can't take your eyes off.

Stewart and Jordan's dynamic has an electrifying push-and-pull you can't take your eyes off

Green Lantern traditionalists might balk at certain character tweaks, such as the obsessive drive imbued in the DCU's Stewart.

For the most part, though, both actors capture the true essence of their characters — Pierre embodying the stoic, disciplined, and measured Stewart to a tee, while Chandler delivers a flawless portrayal of Jordan's brash, reckless, intentionally aggravating, and stubborn persona.

With these polar opposites both believing themselves uniquely worthy of wielding Earth's sole Green Lantern ring, their powder-keg rivalry heightens with every episode, which eventually erupts into a conflict that leaves their already fragile relationship irrevocably scarred. Suffice it to say, Lanterns' buddy cop bond is the best I've seen in a long, long time.

Are you afraid?

Kelly Macdonald's Kerry is a crucial component of Lanterns' dual storylines (Image credit: John Johnson/HBO Max)

Beyond its leads, Lanterns boasts an exceptionally strong ensemble. Kelly Macdonald is terrific as the HBO Max show's primary supporting character, Kerry Kane, Rushville's no-nonsense sheriff with a mysterious history of her own, who dovetails with Stewart and Chandler as part of a captivating triumvirate.

Beyond its leads, Lanterns boasts an exceptionally strong ensemble

Macdonald is far from the only standout. Garret Dillahunt is the subtle, creeping menace and intriguing ranch owner, Will Macon, whose wider antagonistic role isn't exactly subtle with regard to Lanterns' thematic exploration of white privilege, racial discrimination, and injustice.

Elsewhere, Poorna Jagannathan imbues the enigmatic Zoe with charm and complexity, and Laura Linney commands the screen as Lianna, aka one of the Guardians of the Universe.

Will Macon is a hard man to read for much of Lanterns' first season (Image credit: John Johnson/HBO Max)

Furthermore, J. Alphonse Nicholson and Jasmine Cephas Jonas shine as Stewart's parents — primarily during a flashback-heavy, Stewart family-focused episode, but also now and then during the 2026 plot. Special credit to Nathan Fillion's guest-starring role as the wonderfully obnoxious Guy Gardner, too, whose fiery interactions with Stewart are, like the latter's fraught dynamic with Jordan, worth the entry fee.

If there's a downside, it's that a few talents are disappointingly underused — namely, Jason Ritter's Billy Macon and, given his weight in Green Lantern mythology, Ulrich Thomsen's Sinestro. With the latter, though, the trajectory heading into this season's finale suggests the show might still set things right.

The mysterious Zoe has a big role to play in DC Studios' latest TV venture (Image credit: John Johnson/HBO Max)

Beyond the characters, Lanterns leans heavily into its source material's lore, thereby honoring DC's rich history rather than just skimming the best bits off the surface.

Refreshingly, its deep-cut fan-service doesn't come at the expense of accessibility. Indeed, with Stewart serving as the audience's entry point to the Green Lantern Corps and wider mythos surrounding this fictional institution, newcomers can easily grasp the cosmic mechanics without feeling lost.

Meanwhile, long-time fans have a treasure trove of Green Lantern Easter eggs and wider comic book references — a couple made it into Lanterns' initial teaser and Lanterns' first official trailer — to pore over. But regardless of your familiarity with this particular corner of the DC comic book universe, seeing Stewart and Jordan flex their creative muscles with the latter's power ring is pure joy, especially when they use it for the most basic tasks.

My verdict

Recency bias aside, Lanterns is unequivocally the finest DC Studios production so far. Driven by an absorbing, twist-filled narrative, anchored by heavyweight performances, and extremely faithful to its literary roots, this is prestige television nearly firing on all cylinders.

And I say "nearly" because a few minor missteps, which I've already covered, mean it falls just shy of absolute perfection. Even so, Lanterns is a shining example of a comic book adaptation done right — and a much-needed beacon of hope for the DCU at the end of what's been its most challenging period to date.

Lanterns launches with a one-episode premiere on August 16/17, with new episodes airing weekly. Ahead of launch, find out everything we know so far about Lanterns.

Corsair HS35 v3: One-minute reivew

The Corsair HS35 v3 wireless gaming headset is an underdog in the mid-range category. It doesn't feature a huge number of flourishes to help set it above its competitors, but instead hones in on what really matters: audio quality and microphone performance.

It delivers crystal clear audio no matter what you're using it for, whether that's gaming, calls, or getting some tunes in while you work. There's no software to fiddle around with, and barely any buttons to get used to. If you need something that's good to go as soon as it's out of the box, this headset definitely suits.

Comfort is also clearly key with the Corsair HS35 v3. Between the floating headband design, the soft, cushioned earcups, and the lightweight design, at no point did I have to readjust the headset, my glasses, or take a break from wearing it. Again, for a mid-range headset, it feels surprisingly high-quality.

Although I appreciate its simplicity, there are definitely a few things that are bound to put a competitive gamer off, and most of that comes through its lack of customisation. It's great that the headset is good to go as soon as it's out of the box, rather than having to worry about downloading any more software, but if you want to make the most of its full audio capabilities, the lack of these features might be make-or-break.

(Image credit: Future)Corsair HS35 v3: Price and Availability

• Priced at $79.99/£69.99/$124.99AU
• Available via Corsair and major retailers
• White and black versions available

The Corsair HS35 v3 will set you back a reasonable $79.99 / £69.99 / AU$124.99, so it's by no means a premium headset. But it's certainly not a budget pick either. Fortunately, it manages to justify its price through the quality of its audio and microphone, making it a worthy option for anyone looking to upgrade their current setup, or looking to stray from the typical features of a wireless gaming headset.

In fact, the only reason the headset isn't more expensive is probably due to its lack of additional software, and the fact that there are no typical flourishes you'd usually find on a gaming headset like an input switch button, a microphone that tucks away on the headset itself, or a separate mic mute button. Despite these "missing" features, though, the core expectation of the headset, providing high-quality sound during gaming, is definitely met.

Corsair HS35 v3: Specs

Corsair HS35 v3

Price

$79.99 / £69.99 / AU$124.99

Weight

8.8oz / 250g

Compatability

PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Mobile

Connection type

Wireless 2.4GHz / Bluetooth 5.2 / USB Wired

Battery

30 hours

Software

None

(Image credit: Future)Corsair HS35 v3: Design and features

• Incredibly lightweight design
• Doesn't look as bulky as other gaming headsets
• Sleek, all-black design

Straight out of the box, the Corsair HS35 v3 doesn't look too dissimilar to the vast majority of wireless gaming headsets available. Its entirely black design is sleek, with subtle Corsair logos in a black gloss on each ear cup, alongside branding in white across the top of the headband. This is definitely my preferred style, rather than having any RGB flair for the sake of it, just because it feels like something you can use for everything, rather than having to swap out your rather garish gaming headset when you want to listen to music or attend a meeting.

In fact, there aren't any flourishes at all on the Corsair HS35 v3. Aside from the incredibly subtle branding, the only thing that offers a pop of colour is two yellow bands that connect the ear cups to the headband. The rest of the headset maintains the stylish black appearance, and it's certainly better for it. If I didn't spend so much time tethered to my PC or console, I'd definitely be content in taking this headset out on a commute rather than a pair of earphones. It's definitely one of the simpler headsets I've ever used. Not only in terms of design, but also how simple its layout is.

One thing that immediately stood out was the lack of wheels or dials to control your volume. I didn't realise how much of a make-or-break this was to me, but as it turns out, I actually like being able to tune my audio volume to the decibel. The Corsair HS35 v3 exchanges the wheel I know and love in favour of a little toggle/lever which takes your audio up or down two at a time. It's such a small frustration, but it definitely felt like I had less control over exactly how I wanted my audio to be. Especially after using the Razer Blackshark V3 for so long, alongside other similarly priced headsets such as the JBL Quantum 360X wireless.

(Image credit: Future)

In fact, the ear cups are surprisingly bare. Alongside the aforementioned toggle, you've got the power button, alongside the USB-C port on the left ear cup. On the right, you've got absolutely nothing. There's not even a separate mic mute button; you just push in the volume toggle. It's great for someone like me who always takes an embarrassingly long time to get used to the layout of a new headset; this definitely felt like a blessing in disguise. As a result, the headset feels incredibly straightforward to set up and use. Though this does feel like you're sacrificing some of the customisation you'd usually get.

Additional software which helps you to customise your listening profiles, like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro, definitely feels like a more premium add-on. Since the Corsair HS35 v3 is a mid-range headset, it's not surprising that it doesn't boast the same features. But if you're looking to replace your headset for a slightly cheaper model, this lack of complete control and customisation definitely might put buyers off.

(Image credit: Future)Corsair HS35 v3: Performance

• 30-hour battery life
• Comfortable for long sessions due to floating headband
• Fantastic audio quality

I've been using the Razer Blackshark V3 for well over a year now, so "downgrading" to a more reasonably priced headset definitely raised some concerns about overall audio quality. However, the Corsair HS35 v3 delivers clear audio with no issues, and even though it's by no means a premium headset, it still boasts impressive audio quality. When gaming, you can pick up on all the more subtle sound effects, be that enemy footsteps or audio cues in horror games like The Outlast Trials.

The only time the audio feels low quality is when you switch the headset on, and the muffled, not-quite-human "power on, toggle connected" line plays. Aside from that, it's really easy to block out external noise to focus on your game, which is especially impressive given the headset isn't noise-cancelling in any way. Which, is actually a feature I found with the JBL Quantum 360X too, the design itself feels noise cancelling rather than the actual hardware.

This is massively helped by the 30-hour battery life of the set, which I pushed to its absolute limit in my testing. For several weeks, I used this headset for everything in my daily life: meetings, gaming, and listening to music in between. And it's safe to say that the 30-hour battery life really does help to keep you immersed in whatever you're playing, or locked in on whatever you're working on.

(Image credit: Future)

It also only takes three hours to fully charge. Sure, that's not the rapid 15-minute charge for two hours of play that the Razer Blackshark V3 offers, but for the price you're paying, it's definitely worth it. Plus, the cable provided with the headset is long enough for you to still be able to continue playing without feeling constrained by the cable. A nice design touch is that the interior of the USB and USB-C is the same yellow colour as the bands linking the earcups to the headband too, but that'll probably go unnoticed to the average gamer.

It's also an incredibly comfortable headset to wear for long sessions. The lightweight frame and cushioned earcups feel much looser without ever feeling like it'll slip off your head, rather than the usual firm padding and pleather-esque material we're used to seeing in slightly cheaper headsets like the Turtle Beach Stealth 500.

The microphone quality is where this headset really shines, though. Nothing about the mic when you pull it out of the box screams premium quality. It's got no foam muffler or pop filter, so I expected the audio quality to be pretty lackluster. But when testing across Google Meet and Discord, the audio is genuinely astounding for a mid-range headset. It's crystal clear and picks up incredibly quiet talking without any of the annoying background noises like chewing, breathing, or keyboard clicks. It never peaks when speaking loudly either, which is a huge plus.

(Image credit: Future)Should you buy the Corsair HS35 v3?Buy it if...

You prioritise comfort over customisation
The Corsair HS35 v3 is one of the most comfortable headsets I've ever used, which is incredibly high praise. If you prefer something that's comfortable over something you can get into the nuts and bolts of to create a more niche listening experience, then the Corsair HS35 v3 definitely prioritises this.

You need a headset primarily for meetings or calls
There are no faults with the Corsair HS35 v3 when gaming, but the audio quality of the microphone is definitely wasted if you're not using it for calls. Even if you're just playing games with proximity chat, like R.E.P.O or Big Walk, you'll still be making the most of the biggest selling point of the set.

Don't buy it if...

You like tailoring your audio profiles to your gaming preferences
Between the lack of a volume scroll wheel and no software to help you create custom audio settings, for an extreme gamer it might seem like there's a lot of customisation missing for a mid-range price tag. It's not a complete bust, as there are still so many positives for the headset, but I can still see why this would put a competitive gamer off.

Also consider...

Still not sold on the Corsair HS35 v3 Wireless headset? Here's how it compares to two similar wireless gaming headsets.

Corsair HS35 v3 Wireless headset

Turtle Beach Stealth 500

JBL Quantum 360X wireless headset

Price

$79.99 / £69.99 / AU$124.99

$79.99 / £79.99 / AU$139

$64.95 / £63.99

Weight

8.8oz / 250g

8.22oz / 233g

8.9oz / 253g

Compatibility

PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Mobile

PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Mobile

PC, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch

Connection type

Wireless 2.4GHz / Bluetooth 5.2 / USB Wired

Wireless 2.4GHz / Bluetooth 5.2 / Wired (3.5mm)

Wireless 2.4GHz / Bluetooth 5.2 / Wired

Battery

30 hours

40 hours

22 hours

Software

None

Swarm II

JBL QuantumENGINE

Turtle Beach Stealth 500
The Turtle Beach Stealth 500 is a decent wireless headset available at a similar price point, and despite its shorter battery life, it's still got a few impressive features such as powerful spatial audio and variable mic monitoring. With the addition of the Swarm II software, you've also got the wiggle room for a more personal listening experience, unlike the Corsair HS35 v3.

For more information, check out our full Turtle Beach Stealth 500 review

Also consider the JBL Quantum 360X wireless headset
If you're after a headset which feels more specialised for gaming, the JBL Quantum 360X might be just that. Not only does it have a more gamer-esque appearance courtesy of its black and green design, but it also blocks out background noise thanks to its ear cup design, and has a pretty decent sound profile considering its mid-range price tag. You also have the option to alter your audio with the JBL QuantumENGINE software, too.

For more information, check out our full JBL Quantum 360X review

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Corsair HS35 v3

• Tested across six weeks
• Used for PC and PlayStation gaming
• Used for Discord and Google Meet calls

I tested the Corsair HS35 v3 wireless headset across the course of six weeks, abandoning my beloved Razer Blackshark V3. Throughout that time, I used the HS35 v3 for all my daily duties, whether that was jumping in and out of meetings, listening to music throughout the day, or hopping on Discord with my friends in the evening. The long battery life meant I never had to worry about my headset switching off mid-session, and the mic quality guaranteed my audio would never cut out.

When gaming, I also made sure to test the headset in games where in-game chat is essential, like Big Walk and Content Warning. I also played several hours of The Outlast Trials with friends to test the full depth of the headset's capabilities, and even the quietest footsteps and audio cues came through clearly.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed August 2026.

VPN Super Unlimited has amassed various forms of attention. Be it the experienced lineup of executives, the boom of popularity in Australia, or the reasonable price tag, there are several understandable reasons why.

That said, there's clear room for improvement. We've put it through our rigorous processes involving proprietary testing and everyday use and it raises some concerns.

Barebones feature sets, missing security functionalities, and limited privacy policies raise the biggest alarm bells. That said, what it does have, seems to work very well for such a cheap provider. Read on to see just why it might be the VPN for you, or why you should steer clear for now.

Pricing and plans

Unlike a growing cohort of VPNs that have introduced multiple subscription tiers with varying feature levels, VPN Super Unlimited keeps things simple.

There’s just one subscription tier available, meaning your only decision involves choosing between billing durations: a one-month plan ($8.79), a six-month plan ($5.59/month billed as $33.55), and a one-year plan ($4.79/month billed as $57.50).

(Image credit: VPN Super Unlimited)

Depending on which plan you select, you’ll receive a complimentary eSIM offering progressively larger data allowances: 1GB for monthly subscribers, 3GB for six-month, or 5GB for annual subscribers.

VPN Super Unlimited’s one-month plan substantially undercuts most competitors. For comparison, NordVPN charges $14.99 and Surfshark $16.45 for the same duration – a difference approaching double the cost.

However, the annual pricing strategy reveals a more complicated picture. The yearly rate of approximately $57.50 puts it directly alongside these established providers despite offering considerably less functionality overall, making the price harder to justify.

The six-month option stands out as genuinely uncommon among major VPN providers. Most push binary choices – premium monthly rates or annual discounts only. This middle-ground flexibility bridges the gap between short-term commitment and a meaningful discount.

A free tier exists but carries significant limitations requiring careful consideration. You don’t need to sign up to connect to its servers. However, the service runs on ads.

During testing, my desktop experience (macOS) remained ad-free, but iOS suffered from aggressively intrusive full-screen video pop-ups nearly every time I opened the app or connected to a server. Static banner clutter occasionally appeared beneath the connection interface.

VPN Super requests consent to share personal data with over 300 third-party vendors. Collectible information includes current IP addresses, device identifiers, and browsing history unless specifically toggled off during initial setup – which I strongly recommend you do.

This VPN allows up to 10 devices under its premium subscription, but the restriction is based on registered devices, not simultaneous connections. Once your slot count fills, you’re blocked from adding more until you visit the website to manually remove existing entries – a clunky workaround most competitors have moved beyond.

Most concerning is the platform lock-in baked into the purchase model. Subscriptions bought through Google Play only activate Premium access on Android devices linked to that same Google account. This means buying through an app store effectively traps you in that ecosystem, preventing you from freely mixing devices.

The website advertises a standard 30-day money-back guarantee, which is standard nowadays, though CyberGhost distinguishes itself with 45 days of coverage. Somewhat concerning is VPN Super Unlimited’s abbreviated Terms of Service document, which does not refer to refund procedures or billing processes – a notable omission for purchase protection.

Anonymous payment methods also fail to materialize. Unlike NordVPN, Proton VPN, or Mullvad, which accept cryptocurrency or cash transactions, VPN Super Unlimited limits purchases to credit card, PayPal, and Google Pay.

Features: What can VPN Super Unlimited do?

Available on Google Play since 2020 and iOS since 2022, Super Unlimited brings significant industry credibility with over 100 million Android downloads. It enjoys strong ratings on both Google and the Apple App Store – though these likely come predominantly from free users rather than subscribers.

The executive roster includes a former Rakuten CTO as CEO, an ex-Dropbox CFO as chairman, and an Electronic Arts co-founder on the board – a lineup reflecting deep experience scaling tech products at major firms.

Yet this high-level experience makes certain shortcomings all the more puzzling. Consider the planned support for V2Ray, an open-source VPN protocol for bypassing censorship.

Announced in July 2025, a year later only a support page remains to show for it – there’s no sign of integration within any of the apps. Curiously, however, it continues to appear advertised on the website’s feature page.

(Image credit: VPN Super Unlimited)

Some combination of WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 is offered in the apps. For optimal speeds, WireGuard is the best choice.

What’s notably absent, however, is a native kill switch in the Windows and Mac apps. This is a significant oversight, given that a kill switch is a key security feature that cuts internet traffic if the VPN connection drops – protecting your IP address from exposure.

Most major paid VPNs now include this functionality across all major platforms. By comparison, VPN Super Unlimited’s mobile apps do offer “Always-on VPN” options.

Additional feature gaps exist across VPN Super Unlimited’s apps. Split tunneling is a welcome addition on Android, letting you choose which apps bypass the VPN connection. But this functionality is unavailable on iOS, Windows, or Mac.

Aside from a recent eSIM addition, VPN Super Unlimited remains light on features. There are no ad or tracker blockers or Double VPN servers, never mind antivirus software or a password manager, found in some of the best VPN services today.

Server Network and Locations

VPN Super Unlimited is inconsistent in reporting its server network size. The homepage claims 210+ cities across 55+ countries, yet the dedicated server list page states just 100+ locations.

Our testing counted 97 actual locations – the latter figure being far more accurate. While networks can fluctuate at short notice, claiming twice the number is misleading.

Even so, 97 locations remain respectable, rivaling smaller providers like Mullvad. Overall coverage spans 61 countries, putting it on par with PrivateVPN and VyprVPN. If you primarily need servers in the US (33 locations) or Europe (34 locations), VPN Super Unlimited offers plenty of choices. South America is fairly well represented as well, with five locations.

Asia includes servers across 17 locations. Though these cover most major countries, selection lags behind some similarly-sized competitors.

Coverage becomes sparser elsewhere. Africa receives just two locations - a notable limitation. Similarly, Australia gets only one (Sydney), which is surprising when many paid VPNs offer at least three Australian locations.

This makes VPN Super Unlimited’s rise in popularity in Australia following the country’s new age verification measures all the more puzzling, although not too surprising given its free tier.

As for VPN Super Unlimited’s free plan, it provides access to 18 countries, including nearly two dozen US cities, far exceeding offerings from most competing free VPNs.

Tests confirm servers are hosted in or near their claimed locations, which is reassuring. More unexpectedly, the Russian server appears to be hosted in Moscow itself. This is increasingly uncommon in today’s regulatory environment, given Russia’s strict data retention requirements and tightened VPN regulations.

Privacy & Security

VPN Super Unlimited provides scant information about its security features - it doesn’t even specify the encryption employed. Given that WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols are offered, the service likely uses ChaCha20 and 256-bit AES encryption, which represent industry-standard security.

More concerning is a significant security flaw discovered during Windows app testing. When our researcher simulated a connection drop, the app did reconnect automatically - but not before exposing users to a brief window for potential IP leaks, with no alert indicating the drop had occurred.

A VPN’s value ultimately hinges on its no-logs policy. VPN Super Unlimited states it doesn’t “inspect or record the contents of what you are browsing, viewing, or doing,” noting that since it collects no information related to your browsing activities, it has nothing of significance to provide even if compelled.

The concern, however, is that unlike most major VPN providers such as ExpressVPN, VPN Super Unlimited has undergone no independent audits to substantiate these claims. That said, there are no publicly reported data breaches or major security incidents associated with it.

The service does automatically collect certain information during use: your IP address (VPN Super Unlimited says this is not stored long-term) and approximate location, app usage patterns, and anonymized usage data.

For free-tier users, additional considerations apply – the version includes ads, and unless opted out, advertisers may collect your device/mobile advertising identifiers alongside your IP address.

As for the privacy policy itself, it’s lengthy and not particularly accessible. However, it is thorough, including coverage of regional rights – a rare plus compared to some competitors’ offerings. Overall, there are no major red flags to be found.

Speed & performance

VPN Super Unlimited proved challenging to test under ideal conditions: the app refused to log in on our data center cloud PC, preventing standard server-location speed testing. We pivoted to 5G home broadband Windows laptop testing instead.

Despite these constraints, the results were encouraging. Against a baseline connection of 135 Mbps, VPN Super Unlimited delivered 118.5 Mbps via UK-to-UK connections and 120 Mbps over UK-US routes - retaining approximately 87.8% of original speeds.

This performance exceeded FastestVPN and held its ground impressively against Mullvad, one of the fastest VPNs in our benchmark tests. Long-distance routes told a different story. Speeds became noticeably less consistent across greater geographic distances, suggesting network capacity strain during peak usage times.

For casual streaming or light browsing, performance remains adequate, though bandwidth-intensive tasks or cross-continent connections may encounter more variance depending on where you connect.

Streaming unblocking

VPNs often struggle with streaming unblocking, yet VPN Super Unlimited excelled here despite lacking dedicated streaming servers. It seamlessly accessed multiple major platforms right out of the gate.

Tested libraries included various Netflix, Disney+, and DAZN regional catalogs, alongside Prime Video and YouTube. Country-specific services also proved reliable – BBC iPlayer, ITVX, and 9Now all streamed without issue.

Nearly everything worked on the first attempt. The UK’s Channel 4 required switching servers once before connecting successfully.

However, two Australian broadcasters posed persistent problems: 7 Plus returned a MEDIA_ERR_ENCRYPTED error we couldn’t bypass, while Channel 10 threw a login error. Both streams functioned properly on competing VPNs during our tests, pointing toward a limitation on VPN Super Unlimited’s end.

A few notable failures round out the picture: Prime Video and YouTube (US), YouTube and Channel 5 (UK), plus TVNZ+ remained inaccessible. Performance isn’t flawless - but very few VPNs achieve perfection when tackling geo-blocking restrictions head-on.

P2P and Torrenting

As for torrenting, we successfully downloaded a test torrent via VPN Super’s Edinburgh location – it worked without issue. This is promising, given that the provider’s support pages do not refer to P2P, while the website ambiguously mentions access to “P2P networks.”

However, significant caveats remain. Beyond the lack of clear information, there are no dedicated P2P servers optimized for file sharing. More critically, VPN Super Unlimited doesn’t offer port forwarding – an important consideration for serious torrent users.

Without port forwarding, your client can’t accept incoming connections from other peers, which typically slows download speeds and hampers efficient seeding. For casual downloading only, this limitation matters less; for regular heavy-duty torrenting, it’s a notable drawback.

Usability & Accessibility

VPN Super Unlimited is available for Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS - downloadable directly from app stores and straightforward to install within minutes. Just be careful: several similarly named VPN apps exist on both platforms.

It doesn’t help either that VPN Super Unlimited operates under two different developer entities on Android and iOS. It’s listed in the Google Play and Apple App Store as “VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy. It’s just that for Android, you’ll want to make sure it’s from VPN Super Inc, whereas on iOS, the company behind it is Mobile Jump Pte Ltd.

However, significant gaps exist elsewhere. There’s no native Linux app, no support for Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV, and no browser extensions. Router compatibility is also absent - a notable omission that may prove limiting for whole-home network protection.

Make no mistake: VPN Super Unlimited’s apps are super simple – and super limited. The conventional interface centers on a convenient quick-connect button and an expandable location menu. Users can scroll through available servers, though there’s neither a search function nor the ability to favorite frequently used locations.

(Image credit: Future)

A “Recents” tab helps locate previously-connected servers. You can also see each server location’s latency and sort servers by speed – useful for when you need optimal speed for streaming or torrenting.

(Image credit: Future)

Feature parity, unfortunately, varies considerably across platforms. Both Android and iOS support OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols, though only the Android app offers split tunneling. Windows supports WireGuard and OpenVPN, while Mac is limited to OpenVPN alone - neither includes split tunneling either.

The settings menus are similarly sparse. iOS and Mac offer just “Always-on VPN”; Android adds split tunneling; and Windows provides five options (most of which offer only marginal utility).

Whereas the Windows app can automatically connect on launch, the Mac, Android, and iOS apps have no such option.

A further tablet consideration: apps lock to portrait mode without rotating to landscape. This wastes larger screen real estate on larger displays.

Website accessibility scored 71% via AccessibilityChecker - excellent relative to most VPN competitors tested. Some structural issues remain, however, which could hinder screen reader comprehension across sections.

More disappointing was Windows app keyboard navigation: technically functional, yet lacking visible focus indicators, which significantly reduces usability for keyboard-only users.

In-app help varies by platform. Mobile and macOS versions include built-ins covering connection troubleshooting, billing, and FAQs - with screenshots included for key steps.

(Image credit: Future)

Windows lacks this integration; instead, a link redirects to the external support site. While helpful, these web-based guides are less detailed and text-only.

Customer support exists but operates slowly via email only, sometimes taking several days to get a response. Live chat isn’t offered, which is a limitation compared to industry standards.

Verdict

VPN Super Unlimited suits mobile-first users prioritizing streaming on a budget. The annual plan ($57.50) is competitive, with solid speed plus reliable unblocking of Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Disney+.

However, desktop users should avoid it. Having no kill switch on Windows and Mac creates genuine IP leak risks if connections drop. Multi-platform households face similar hurdles with missing Linux, Fire TV, and Apple TV apps and an absence of router support or browser extensions, limiting flexibility. Split tunneling is Android-only while V2Ray remains unimplemented a year post-announcement.

For true cross-platform support, consider Private Internet Access instead. It delivers broader device coverage - including Linux and Fire TV apps - maintains audited no-logs privacy verified by third parties, and ensures consistent security features like kill switches across all platforms. These differences matter when you need reliability beyond budget-conscious streaming.

Starting as a spinoff of a renowned VPN service called Hola more than a decade ago, Bright Data is among the best providers of proxy services on the market right now. The platform commands a massive ecosystem featuring 400+ million monthly rotating residential IPs and 1.3+ million static ISP and datacenter proxies each, spanning 195 countries.

Lately, the service has notably been pushing beyond “mere” proxy rotation into a complete web data platform equipped with AI-powered web unlockers, SERP and scraper APIs, and pre-collected structured datasets, to name a few things.

• Want to try Bright Data? Check out the website here

Plans and Pricing

Bright Data has quite a few products listed on its pricing page. Let’s start with proxies, namely residential, ISP, and datacenter variants.

Users pay for residential proxies according to the bandwidth they consume. Bright Data offers three standard plans, currently at a 50% discount for the first three months: $499 monthly for 141 GB, $999 monthly for 332 GB, and $1,999 monthly for 798 GB. Alternatively, you can choose the pay-as-you-go option starting at $4 per GB. The drawback is that the pay-as-you-go plan is slightly more expensive in the long run ($4 per GB compared to $3.5 per GB on the 141 GB plan). If you need more than 1 TB, you can reach out to the company for customized pricing.

For datacenter proxies, users can pay according to the number of IP addresses they require. The shared proxy plans (dedicated proxies are pricier) are 10 IPs at $14 per month ($1.4 per IP), 100 IPs at $100 per month ($1 per IP), 500 IPs for $475 per month ($0.95 per IP), and 1,000 IPs at $900 per month ($0.9 per IP). As with residential proxies, if these plans don’t meet your needs, you can contact the company for tailored pricing above 1,000 IPs. Users can also pay for datacenter proxies according to bandwidth. The standard plans are $499 monthly for 1 TB, $999 monthly for 2 TB, and $1,999 monthly for 5 TB. The pay-as-you-go option with no monthly commitment costs $0.6 per GB.

If you need ISP proxies, Bright Data has four plans to offer you: $18/month for 10 IPs ($1.8 per IP), $145/month for 100 IPs ($1.45 per IP), $700/month for 500 IPs ($1.4 per IP), and $1,300/month for 1,000 IPs ($1.3 per IP). You can also pay for ISP proxies according to bandwidth. Bright Data recently doubled the allowance, so now you pay $499 monthly for 71 GB, $999 monthly for 166 GB, and $1,999 monthly for 399 GB. The pay-as-you-go option also saw changes, with no monthly commitment costing $8 per GB.

Dedicated ISP IPs are a bit more expensive but follow the same structure. Similar to residential and datacenter plans, should you require over 1,000 IPs or 1 TB, you’ll need to check in with the Bright Data team directly.

It seems that Bright Data has slowly phased out mobile proxies from its proxy offer. Existing users with an active mobile proxy can continue to use the proxies, but the service is now unavailable to new signups and inactive accounts.

Bright Data offers sophisticated web access APIs with its Unlocker API pricing coming in four versions. First, the Free Tier (found in most products) grants you 5,000 requests per month. Then, there are three Scale plans: $499 monthly for 383,000 requests ($1.3 per 1,000 additional requests), $999 monthly for 908,000 requests ($1.1 per 1,000 additional requests), and $1,999 monthly for 2 million requests ($1 per 1,000 additional requests). The company also offers a custom pricing option for enterprise-level projects. If you don’t want a monthly commitment, you can choose the $1.5 per 1,000 results pay-as-you-go plan.

The Web Scraper API, SERP API, Crawl API, and Scraper Studio (AI-powered development environment for building and deploying custom scrapers) are identically priced, with tiny differences regarding the number of requests/page loads included. The Browser API pricing follows much the same sentiment, costing $499/month for 71 GB, $999/month for 166 GB, and $1,999/month for 399 GB. The no-commitment option is charged $8 per GB.

Bright Data also offers pre-built datasets, a unique feature that many proxy platforms don’t have. Starting at $250 per month for 100,000 records, these datasets allow businesses to access ready-made data instead of scraping it from scratch at higher costs. Available datasets include Amazon products, Yahoo Finance stock market data, Zillow real estate listings, LinkedIn profiles, and much, much more.

Finally, the Data Firehose product delivers a continuous, real-time stream of live web data, while Web Archive provides direct programmatic access to a 90 PB cached repository of the web. Pricing is based on the pay-as-you-go rate, starting at $0.20 per 1,000 HTMLs for Data Firehose and $1 per 1,000 HTML records for archived data. For projects with large data needs, long-term commitments, or multiple scrapers, volume discounts are available through Bright Data's team.

Features

Accessing Bright Data’s features starts with registration. To sign up as a new user, you’ll need a work email address, but the platform also supports logging in with Google and GitHub accounts. You'll receive a verification email after signing up and creating a password.

Residential Proxies

Bright Data offers proxy IP addresses sourced ethically from physical devices worldwide. This means that device owners (peers) explicitly opt in to share their idle bandwidth and IP addresses in exchange for perks like ad-free app experiences, cash payouts, or free premium software such as BrightVPN. Bright Data’s users can then choose one of the IPs to bypass geo-restrictions and scrape data.

Default proxy behavior rotates per request, though Bright Data also supports sticky sessions where the same residential IP is active for a specified duration, as well as custom AI-driven rotation rules. The platform offers more than 400 million ethically sourced residential proxies from 195 countries with precise country-, state-, city-, ZIP code-, and ASN-level targeting. The most popular locations are the United States, Brazil, India, Germany, the United Kingdom, and China.

(Image credit: Bright Data )

During our test, the residential proxies had excellent speed and reliability. Both static and rotating proxies allowed us to surf the web seamlessly and bypass strict website geo-restrictions. You can manage all proxies from your user dashboard, deploying new ones or removing existing ones at will.

Bright Data gives you significant control over your proxies. You can choose proxies from specific cities, states, and countries. The robust IP network, especially in Europe and North America, makes it easier to bypass geo-restrictions. If an IP address can’t successfully bypass the restriction, Bright Data rotates different IP addresses until it succeeds.

ISP Proxies

ISP proxies are static residential proxies sourced directly from Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Unlike residential IPs that rotate with each browsing session, a static ISP proxy is assigned only to you. You can keep this static IP for as long as your subscription lasts.

Bright Data offers a network of 1,300,000+ fully compliant static IPs spanning 35 countries. The U.S. commands the vast majority of this infrastructure with over 1.17 million static IPs, whereas international locations account for smaller, dedicated pools of fewer than 15,000 each. This smaller number is expected because of the higher costs and difficulty of obtaining IP addresses directly from ISPs.

The static ISP proxies offered excellent speed and reliability during our test. Bright Data lets users manage static IPs directly from their Control Panel or an external API. The user-friendly Control Panel makes it easy to deploy and organize a large number of proxies.

ISP proxies are more reliable than typical residential proxies because they don’t change frequently. Using one IP address for a long period makes it easier to browse anonymously and break through geographical and IP website restrictions. Once you bypass a site’s restriction with a static IP, you can continue accessing the site with that IP. In contrast, rotating proxies mean you can bypass a site’s restriction today and struggle to bypass it tomorrow with a new IP address. Expectedly, Bright Data’s static IPs cost more than rotating IPs.

Datacenter Proxies

Datacenter proxies are sourced from secondary corporations and high-speed server hubs rather than ISPs. A server (in a datacenter) with a unique IP acts as the intermediary between your device and a website you want to access. You can request a shared or dedicated datacenter IP: a dedicated IP is more reliable in circumventing site blockades.

(Image credit: Bright Data)

Bright Data offers over 1.6 million datacenter proxies across 98+ countries, unlike residential proxies available in 195 countries. You can select your datacenter proxy by specific country, state, city, or ASN. These proxies are the fastest option in Bright Data's lineup because your browser request is sent directly from the proxy server to the target website, unlike residential proxies that bounce through several peer devices before reaching the target site.

The drawback is that datacenter proxies are more vulnerable to detection and automated bans because of their predictable IP subnet ranges. They are cost-effective but less efficient at bypassing geo-restrictions than residential and ISP proxies.

Web Scraper API

Web scraping is one of the most common use cases for proxy servers. Some businesses need to scrape massive amounts of data from a website, e.g., pricing data from retail sites. However, many websites discourage scraping by implementing geographical and IP restrictions. Proxy IPs let businesses bypass these restrictions and scrape their desired data.

(Image credit: Bright Data)

As a first-rate platform, Bright Data doesn’t stop at providing proxy IP addresses for web scraping. It also provides APIs that let businesses automate data scraping without writing complex parsing code or managing proxy pools. It has north of 600 ready-made scraping APIs for websites like Facebook, Amazon, Instagram, LinkedIn, Zillow, X, ChatGPT, YouTube, and TikTok, as well as the AI-powered Scraper Studio for turning any unlisted site into a structured data pipeline. Several websites, such as Facebook, have filed lawsuits to block these scraping APIs, but Bright Data has countersued and prevailed.

Suppose you run a price comparison site that helps people find the best e-commerce deals. You can use Bright Data’s APIs to automate data scraping from Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and other popular e-commerce sites. You’ll then clean the scraped data and display it on your price comparison website.

Bright Data's APIs can handle bulk asynchronous scraping requests, convert raw HTML into structured data, deliver payloads straight to S3/Cloud Storage, and validate data automatically with built-in self-healing parsers.

Datasets

You don’t always have to scrape data from scratch. Bright Data offers an alternative: ready-made datasets sourced from 250+ domains and 700+ structured datasets. It includes the likes of LinkedIn (profiles, company data, job postings), Pinterest, Crunchbase, Amazon, Instagram, Google Maps, and Redfin. You can also get categorical datasets, such as car prices, housing prices, crime rates, NBA players' stats, etc.

(Image credit: Bright Data)

Pre-built datasets reduce headaches for businesses. Instead of scraping data from scratch and waiting a while to access it, you can access over 21 billion clean, validated records. Bright Data even provides an AI prompt tool that lets you describe (in plain English) the precise subset of data you need to filter out fluff before paying.

Ease of Use

Bright Data has an intuitive interface you’ll likely enjoy using. The left menu has all the features you need to access, and the right side is the main dashboard displaying real-time traffic analytics, success rates, bandwidth usage, and so forth. Many features are neatly arranged across the dashboard to make them easy to find. With a white background and a few contrasting colors, Bright Data’s interface looks visually pleasing.

(Image credit: Bright Data)

You can access this proxy software primarily from the cloud-based web dashboard. There’s also a Google Chrome and Firefox extension that lets you seamlessly change proxy locations, switch between IP types, and rotate IPs on demand. For complex, large-scale scraping, Bright Data also offers an open-source downloadable Proxy Manager app. The platform’s user-friendliness is unmatched by most rivals, thanks to a fine balance of accessible self-service controls and dev-oriented technical options.

Customer Support

One of Bright Data’s strengths is its top-notch support. You can contact its support team 24/7 and receive a response in less than 30 minutes. It offers support via a dashboard ticketing system, web chat, and email, along with dedicated Slack channels and technical account managers (TAMs) for enterprise accounts, but there’s no telephone support.

Bright Data also provides extensive documentation and user manuals to help users figure out solutions to their problems. The website’s Docs section contains detailed guides for all features and interactive code builders, plus an API reference that helps users write effective data scraping commands.

We found Bright Data’s documentation easy to follow and helpful for our test. For instance, we followed the web scraping tutorial to harvest data from an external website.

The Competition

There’s no shortage of rivals to Bright Data, and the ones we’d like to highlight are Decodo (formerly Smartproxy), Oxylabs, and Webshare.

Decodo is an excellent mid-market proxy provider offering residential, ISP, and datacenter proxies. It's a cost-effective alternative with a large pool of 125 million+ IPs across 195 countries. However, Bright Data has a larger IP pool across the same number of countries and offers more features and customizability.

Oxylabs offers a slightly larger IP pool, with 175 million+ addresses compared to Bright Data’s 400 million+. Both platforms have similar enterprise-grade offerings, but Bright Data provides some features not available in the other, such as a dataset marketplace and browser-based Scraper Studio. Bright Data also has a more responsive support team than Oxylabs, according to our experience when testing both.

Webshare is one of the best alternatives budget-wise that go head-to-head with Bright Data. It’s a notably more affordable tool, including a permanent 10-proxy free tier, which is crucial for small businesses. It offers effective APIs to scrape data en masse, just like Bright Data. However, Webshare has a much smaller pool of IP addresses: roughly 80 million compared to Bright Data’s 400 million.

Final Verdict

Morphing into a full-stack web data platform that goes beyond basic proxy services, Bright Data offers a sizable network of 400 million+ IPs covering 195 countries across residential, datacenter, and static ISP tiers. It pairs its foundational proxy service with an unrivaled suite of data collection and scraping automation tools that include over 600 specialized web scraping and crawling APIs, AI-powered web unlockers, and datasets containing over 21 billion ready-made records.

Thanks to all these features, it’s more than well equipped to provide you with anything you need to bypass website restrictions and scrape required data (developers and AI research teams will particularly be happy with the scope of features). There are a few drawbacks here and there, primarily its higher cost compared to the competition, but it might well be worth it, especially for high-volume needs.

We've also highlighted the best proxy and best VPN

VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600: 30-second review

The FlashSpeed Pro 3600 V-Beyond is VTOMAN's biggest power station yet, built around a 3,096Wh LiFePO4 battery, 3,600W of continuous AC output, and a claimed two-hour full recharge from the wall. It rolls on built-in wheels, carries an IP65 rating, and undercuts most rivals of similar capacity on price.

Launched about a year ago in the USA, this hardware now has regional versions with outlet connections for the UK and Europe.

While this unit could be used at home to provide backup power during a power cut, its true calling is for those going off-grid, perhaps on a building site or while camping, where they need to power appliances away from the power grid.

With its expansion battery option, it offers up to 6kWh of capacity and 3600W of output (peaking at 7200W for high-demand starts). That’s enough for most tools and appliances, and it won’t be exhausted after a few minutes.

It can be charged from the mains, with 12V automotive connections, or using solar DC inputs, and that power can be delivered to numerous outputs that can be run simultaneously.

The primary competitor to the VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600 is EcoFlow’s DELTA Pro 3, which costs almost twice as much in the UK for a 4kWh model. The extra battery alone for the DELTA Pro 3 costs more than the VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600 and its 3kWh expansion battery combined.

The price difference might be justified by the device's remote-control sophistication, and EcoFlow products are certainly superior in that respect.

What VTOMAN has focused on with the FlashSpeed Pro 3600 is offering high capacity at an affordable price, and the design largely ignores home installation users. For the capacity and price, this device offers exceptional value, making it impossible to ignore.

Is it one of the best portable power stations? Probably not, but for those looking to have easily transportable power to operate off-grid, it could be incredibly useful.

VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600: Price & availability

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• How much does it cost? £1,289/€1,499
• When is it out? Available in the USA, UK, and Europe
• Where can you get it? Direct from VTOMAN and through online retailers

The current asking price for the VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600 V-Beyond is $1299.99 in the US direct from VTOMAN, and £1289.99 from the UK site.

In the UK, it can also be bought with the 3kWh expansion battery for £1799, making it one of the cheapest ways to get 6kWh of mobile battery capacity available.

Amusingly, the VTOMAN website suggests, with a struck-through price of £2599, that this is an even bigger bargain than it already looks. However, in the UK and Europe, this isn’t something you should do unless you actually sold any at this price, as trade rules prohibit this sadly common practice.

In addition to the expansion bundle, VTOMAN also offers four other options that include folding solar panels. Another £110 gets you 200W panels; £200 doubles that to 400W, and there are also bundles that include those panels and the extra-capacity battery.

As I’ll talk about later, the connection to the solar inputs on this unit isn’t standard, so if you decide to use existing solar panels from another brand, you will incur the extra expense of a £30 conversion cable.

Comparing the VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600 to what other brands offer for the 3kWh power station market, the best-known alternatives are the Jackery Explorer 3000 v2 or 5000 Plus, AFERIY Portable Power Station 3600W 3840Wh, Anker SOLIX F3800, Goal Zero Yeti Pro 4000, Bluetti Apex 300, and the aforementioned EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3.

Of these, the cheapest is the Bluetti Apex 300, which is only $1498.99 in the USA and £1799 in the UK, but with only a 2764.8Wh LFP battery, it's slightly short on capacity unless you buy it with the 2764.8Wh expansion battery, which costs another £1099 or $1078.98.

The Jackery Explorer 3000 v2, as the name implies, is a revamp of the Explorer 3000 model, which has 3072Wh of capacity and costs £1,699 on Amazon.co.uk in the UK and only $ 1,499 on Amazon.com in the USA. My only concern about this product is the lack of expansion options.

In terms of features and capacity, an interesting option is undoubtedly the Anker SOLIX F3800 that sells for $1999.99 on Amazon.com but horrifically £3699 for UK customers directly from the maker’s website. The F3800 and F3800 Plus are great products, but they are more focused on home users, and their prices are excessive.

The EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 is expensive at $2,399 or £2699 depending on where you are, although it does have some advantages in terms of management and expandability. The VTOMAN can only be expanded to 6kWh, whereas the EcoFlow can be extended to 12kWh with extra battery packs. Easily the most sophisticated product, but also one of the most expensive.

The only device that I think has an even better battery value than the VTOMAN product is the AFERIY Portable Power Station 3600W 3840Wh (AF-P310G1/AF-P310-EC-H). It is priced at only £1298.99 from Amazon.co.uk and $1,169 from Amazon.com, for a 3840Wh battery.

With the possible exception of the AFERIY, the VTOMAN is one of the cheapest ways to get 3kWh of battery capacity in an easily portable package.

• Value: 4 / 5

VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600: Specs

Product name

VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600

Battery capacity

3,096Wh

Battery type

LiFePO4

Dimensions

378 x 418 x 581mm (14.9 x 16.4 x 22.9 inches)

Weight

38kg (83.8lbs)

Operating temperature

-4°F to 131°F (-20°C to 55°C)

Cycle life

3,000+ cycles, quoted 10-year lifespan

US port selection

4× AC, 2× 100 W USB‑C, 2× DC, 4× USB‑A, 2× Cigarette port

Continuous AC output

4 x 230V/50Hz outlets, 3,600W total

Peak AC output

7,200W

AC input

2,200W

AC recharge time

0 to 100% in around 2 hours, per VTOMAN. To be timed independently on the review unit.

Solar input

Anderson port, 12-80V, up to 800W.

USB-A output

2 x 5V/2.4A, 12W max

USB-A QC3.0 output

2 x 18W max

USB-C PD output

2 x 100W max, output only

DC5521 output

2 x 12V/10A

Cigarette lighter port

2 x 12V/10A

Total output ports

14

UPS switchover

Under 20ms

Ingress protection

IP65

Expansion

Compatible with a FlashSpeed Pro 3600 extra battery, taking total capacity to 5,912Wh.

Warranty

2-year

Jump start

US: X7 jump starter (included in bundle here).

UK: Not supported. VTOMAN explicitly states this unit is not compatible with jumper cables, unlike some other models in its range.

VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600: Design

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• Built for indoors and outdoors
• Has wheels and a handle
• Battery and microinverter in one

A short disclaimer before we go any further: I’m not an electrician, and therefore any information I provide about plugging things in should be considered as being my understanding, and not an irrefutable fact.

Looking not entirely unlike a piece of luggage, the VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600 is effectively 3096Wh of LiFePO4 in a convenient box with two wheels at the rear and a telescoping handle to make dragging it about relatively straightforward.

It needs wheels and a handle because the weight of this box is 38kg, and even with carry handles, one person might struggle to carry it any distance. Personally, if this was in the rear of my vehicle, I’d ask someone to help me take it out before wheeling it to where it is needed.

It’s evident that ergonomics was of the utmost importance to the designer, because there are two hidden compartments for carrying cables and the manual. One on top is ideal for the USB cables, and another at the back, between the handle rails, is perfect for the power cable.

Out of the box, the unit comes with a charging cable, a USB-A-to-USB-C cable, and a USB-C-to-USB-C cable. The disappointment here is that there is no cable for attaching solar panels, but we’ll get to that omission later.

The front-mounted LCD screen provides a readout of the battery capacity as a percentage and what services are active, and a light bar built into the case can switch between white and red lighting in various modes. The light is activated via a button along the top and cycles between two standard white light modes of different brightness, then a red light mode, and finally a red light where the flashing spells out SOS.

Beneath the display is a flip-up panel that covers the outputs, which are divided into USB, DC, and AC areas, and each can be activated or disabled with one button.

There are four USB-A outputs split into pairs of 12W and 18W capable ports, and two USB-C ports, each capable of 100W charging. The DC section has two 12V/10A cigarette lighter outputs and two DC5521 ports with the same specs.

And, on the UK model provided for this review, the AC section has four three-pin sockets for standard appliances that can handle 3600W sustained output, and 7200W peak for devices that demand more briefly.

But that’s not the end of the ports. There are two locations on the side protected by rubber covers. On the left are solar inputs (Anderson port, 12 to 80V, up to 800W), and the IDC connection for the mains cable.

On the right is an RV connection with its own on/off button and a port for connecting the expansion battery. That battery is meant to sit on top of the VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600, and the case is shaped accordingly to accept it.

The positive aspects of this design are that everything is relatively compact and straightforward, and with the handle and wheels, it should be easily movable by most adults. Using it requires that the user knows how to power the unit on, plug in what they need and press the button to power that function; that’s all.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

There are, however, a few things that might have been done better. My first complaint is the length of the power cable, which seems remarkably short. In my kitchen, placing the battery on the floor next to a cabinet, the power cable barely reached the wall socket.

The temptation is to then use an extension, and given how much power this device can pull while charging, that might be a bad idea.

What’s clearly a strength of this design is the number of ports, but I do wonder about the choices made about some of these given the current market for power stations and solar products.

VTOMAN has decided that all its solar panels should use Anderson connectors to connect to this power station, even though every other panel maker, including VTOMAN, has standardised on the MC4 connection.

That means you need to spend another £30 getting conversion cables if you use panels that aren’t by VTOMAN. The conversion cable does come with VTOMAN panels, but all this might have been avoided if MC4 connectors had been used on the FlashSpeed Pro 3600.

My final issue is the cover that is used to protect the front-facing ports. It hinges at the top and, in normal use, can be placed vertically for easy access. Except when it's in this position, it entirely obscures the display, which is rather unhelpful.

I can understand why they hinged it at the top, so that rain wouldn’t hit any of the ports, should it shower. A better solution might have been to also hinge the display, so that you can tilt it for easier viewing at all times. Often, it's necessary to crouch to read the display, and having it angled at 45 degrees would make it easier to see while standing.

• Design: 4 / 5

VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600: Features

• Big fast-charging battery
• 3600W power on demand
• 2-year warranty

In terms of what this product offers at its core, this is enough LPR cells for 3096 Wh of capacity tied to a small DC inverter for solar and vehicle recharging, and the electronics to convert the internal 48V service into 220-230V outlets and the 5V USB sockets.

None of these parts is especially clever or innovative, since many Power Stations offer much the same thing.

The headline feature is undoubtedly speed. VTOMAN's CHARGECORE system is claimed to take the FlashSpeed Pro 3600 from flat to full in around two hours on a standard UK wall socket, which would be a genuinely useful figure for anyone who needs to top up quickly ahead of bad weather or a job that cannot wait.

But I found that this two-hour recharge number has almost certainly migrated from the US version of this hardware, where the power inlets are 110V.

On a UK plug, it can easily pull over 2000W, and I recharged the whole 3096Wh from zero in just 90 minutes.

Another area where this unit exceeded my expectations was the solar inputs, because typically power stations are limited to 50-60V DC and 500W/15A, while the ones on this unit go from 12V-80V and 800W in total.

As most 200W panels provide 20V output, the maximum number of panels I could reasonably connect to my EcoFlow Delta 2, for example, is two, since it’s limited to 60V DC and 500W. But depending on the panel, it might be possible to plug four 200W panels into the FlashSpeed Pro 3600 and charge at twice the speed.

Under optimal conditions, it might be possible to recharge the FlashSpeed Pro 3600 in under four hours with 800W of panels connected. But I’d make sure with a multimeter that you are not trying to inject more than 80V into the battery, or unfortunate things might occur.

Another part of the specification I like is the UPS (uninterruptible power supply) mode of this hardware. With a switchover time under 20 milliseconds, that's fast enough to keep a PC running, positioning it as a serious option for protecting networking gear or other sensitive electronics through a power cut, not just a portable battery for the odd device. There are caveats to doing this I’ll mention later, but compared with a rack-mounted 3096Wh UPS, the VTOMAN option is highly affordable.

One area where power stations tend to get criticised, and often unfairly, is that they won’t power everything. The idea that you have one of these devices, and in the event of an unexpected power loss, it will power your whole home or office is entirely unrealistic.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Many power stations struggle with boiling a UK kettle, but this one is made of sterner stuff.

VTOMAN's V-BEYOND output technology is pitched as improving compatibility with resistive loads such as kettles, ovens, and washing machines, which tend to be harder on cheaper inverters. These often pull high loads initially, as the elements reach operating temperature, and then the demand falls once they do.

To cope with these scenarios, the battery can deliver an impressive 7200W for short periods, although its nominal load is 3600W. In this respect, you could run an oven or a washing machine on this battery, but I’d probably avoid running two high-demand appliances at once.

The obvious concern with discharging cells this rapidly is how those components will stand up over time. The battery uses LiFePO4 cells with VTOMAN's LifeBMS protection system, and the company quotes over 3,000 charge cycles and a 10-year lifespan. That all sounds great until you realise that the warranty on this hardware is just two years, followed by another three years of after-sales service.

To put that in perspective, almost all EcoFlow Delta series batteries come with a 5-year warranty from the outset, and the brand's new Stream units come with a 10-year warranty. That’s not wonderful, although VTOMAN might be factoring in the unpleasant things that could happen to their equipment when it's being rolled through a build site or forest.

However, the warranty could be better, and after-sales service doesn’t cut it.

• Features: 4 / 5

VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600: User Experience

• Lacks any external control
• No Bluetooth, no Wi-Fi, nada

To clarify, this section is mostly about the user experience rather than an electronics analysis, since I’m not remotely qualified to do the latter.

From my experience with the VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600, it outputs the power that the makers claim, and the sorts of demanding appliances it should. And it charges up quickly.

I should also say that because this model is 220V, it would work with European appliances with basic adapters, though I’d be careful about trying to run an oven using a cheap travel adapter.

But what I most wish to talk about is the user experience, which wasn’t quite what I’d anticipated, mostly because I’ve got lots of EcoFlow hardware in my home.

When I first got this battery, I noticed that VTOMAN has Android and iPhone applications and assumed, wrongly, that these would be able to connect to its flagship Power Station product. It can’t, because, shockingly, VTOMAN didn’t put Bluetooth or WiFi in this device.

Let that thought sink in for a moment, because it sort of blew my mind for a while while thinking about this. Other VTOMAN Power Stations do have Bluetooth and WiFi, but not this one, bizarrely.

Therefore, other than crouching next to it, there is no way to find out how much battery is left, how many watts are currently being drawn, and, critically, when the power is likely to run out.

If it did have the connectivity, the existing app would provide some of these answers, I believe, but VTOMAN decided not to include it.

A consumer unit that needed replacing (Image credit: VTOMAN)

Using other products, naming no names, it's possible to connect them to the grid using a smart socket and control when they recharge and discharge using the UPS function. It is possible to control this battery using the same method, but there is no feedback data loop.

So you can’t build a script that, for example, when the power drops to 5%, reconnects the mains power to recharge using Home Assistant or something similar. That's frustrating.

My research indicates that even the VTOMAN products that support the mobile app don’t have an API for someone to build their own smart plugin for this hardware, which makes this product much less interesting to someone interested in smart home power management or plug-in solar.

I can rationalise that this hardware was designed probably two years ago, when these things weren’t significant requirements, but they are today.

If you hate technology and just want a battery and buttons to push, the FlashSpeed Pro 3600 is perfect for you. But if you want to know that your battery powering the fridge during a power failure is about to run out while you are away, then it probably isn’t the solution to pick.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• User Experience: 3 / 5

VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600: Final verdict

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

For those renovating a chateau or seeking a few days in a remote location with enough power to run lighting and charge devices, the VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600 is an excellent choice. But given where the likes of EcoFlow and other brands are going, this brand hasn’t built much on this platform in the last year to address some of the most obvious shortcomings and give it a chance to grab a slice of the plug-in solar pie.

There are lots of things to like about the VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600. Especially if you are looking for a large battery to take on a camping trip or onto a construction site to run wired power tools. There is plenty of capacity, and that amount can be doubled, and the 3600W of output is sufficient for some demanding uses.

The wheel and handle mechanism makes moving this 38kg lump relatively easy, if the ground is firm, and you can plug lots into it at the same time.

Where it becomes less compelling is in respect of the home user, because while this will work well as an uninterruptible power supply, it won’t send you an email to warn you when the battery is down to 10%.

As I mentioned, I had issues with the VTOMAN app that aren’t unique to me, and this whole aspect of the product needs a serious overhaul. The app needs to work for most people, and what it enables when it does needs to be more useful.

VTOMAN also needs to release an API so that the battery can work with smart plugs and other devices, because that’s where most of its competitors are heading or have already arrived.

Then the VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600 would become part of a broader power solution rather than an isolated island.

VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600: Report card

Value

Not cheap, but plenty of capacity for the money

4 / 5

Design

Easy to wheel and carry (for two), and lots of ports

3.5 / 5

Features

Fast charging, 3600W output, only 24 month warranty

4 / 5

User Experience

Easy to use. No app or API connection

3 / 5

Overall

Highly functional but not intergrated

4 / 5

Should I buy a VTOMAN FlashSpeed Pro 3600 V-Beyond?Buy it if...

You want a lot of capacity for the money
At 3,096Wh and £1,289.99, the FlashSpeed Pro 3600 undercuts rivals with similar or smaller batteries. If the pricing proves genuine, this is a strong capacity-to-cost ratio.

You need fast recharging and UPS backup
A claimed two-hour full charge and a sub-20 millisecond switchover time make this a reasonable option for storm prep or protecting sensitive equipment through outages, pending independent confirmation.

Don't buy it if...

You need a jump starter as well as a power station
VTOMAN is explicit that this model does not support jumper cables, unlike some others in its range.

You want a plug-in solar solution
Without the ability to integrate this into a wider system and send power back into the house, this unit has significant limitations if you want it to extend power use at home. There are other products that you should consider.

In the mid 2000s, I was fascinated with the reality TV show Aussie Ladette to Lady. It branded a "new breed" of Australian woman as loud, vulgar, and unfit for any self-respecting society, thrusting them into weeks-long sophistication training that, of course, never lasted. In a nutshell, this is also the premise for the new Netflix series My Brilliant Career.

In hindsight, the former TV show was nothing but an excuse to vilify a new kind of 'modern woman' for the sake of viewing figures, purposefully engineering mistakes to be captured on camera through the magic of reality TV production. If these producers were around in the early 1900s, Sybylla (Philippa Northeast) would be ripe for the picking.

My Brilliant Career introduces us to the voracious, outspoken, and self-assured eldest daughter from Possum Gully (what an incredible name) as she's forced to move into her Grandma's (Anna Chancellor) house to be conditioned for her entry to high society. Convinced that she doesn't want a husband but instead wants to live life to the fullest — and become a published writer in the process — Sybylla is a woman before her time. For us in 2026, that also means she's timeless.

How? Her refusal to back down, concede to a patriarchal society that is built for her to fail, and an impeccable ability to see the godforsaken truth from a mile away. Sybylla is the type of woman most of us aspire to be now, let alone over 100 years ago.

So framing her plight in early 20th-century Australia only makes her triumphs all the more delicious. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the six-episode binge doesn't even feel like a typical period drama.

As a renowned hater of the genre, watching My Brilliant Career is the most unexpected pleasure I've had so far this year — and I'll happily vouch for it being the strongest and most authentic show that Netflix has released across 2026 to date. And what if I said that I even prefer it to Bridgerton?

My Brilliant Career is the joyous binge I need in my life right now

If you know a thing or two about Australian New Wave Cinema, you might recognize this story already. Based on the novel of the same name by Miles Franklin (who, if you haven't guessed, is a woman using her middle name as a pseudonym), My Brilliant Career was first adapted for film in 1979.

But as incredible as Judy Davis and Sam Neill were, Netflix's typically frustrating and overused style actually works to unlock something even more playful in Franklin's story. Every decision, from production design to soundtrack, is one that doesn't take itself seriously, and allows Sybylla to simultaneously run wild and challenge authority in one fell swoop.

If you are a woman who grew up believing that by being a "good girl," you were able to get ahead in life, My Brilliant Career is the metaphoric kick in the nuts you've always wanted to give the world.

Throughout its six episodes, there are so many instances where I feel as though Sybylla is living my dream. Telling people what she truly thinks regardless of consequence? Bliss. Having the time and space to think and create freely? I could only imagine. Being so self-assured at such a young age? Hell, I'm not even sure if I'm at her level as a 31-year-old.

All of this makes My Brilliant Career one of those beautiful moments where you are so immersed in what you are watching that time, as you know it, is suspended. Throughout those six episodes, the only truth that exists in your life is the one that's playing out on screen. And that, my friends, is the sign of a job done well.

Anna Chancellor as a grandma? That can't be right

(Image credit: Netflix)

My Brilliant Career is scandalous for its time, but don't think that equates to the bonkbusting boundaries of Bridgerton. Personally, I think that this element is a little oversold, especially as it doesn't need outright sex scenes to feel like a rampant, virginal teen. Less certainly is more... as is the use of words, not actions.

But these effects are only possible thanks to the phenomenal casting. Northeast's Sybylla at once embodies every decade of life that she'll ever live, and her wisdom and wit are frankly spellbinding. The same can be said for Kate Mulvany's intoxicating Aunt Augusta, whose moral quandary between a man's world and a woman's needs is more thoughtful than most think pieces on the subject I've ever read.

A particular shoutout must go to the woman I've parasocially loved since her appearance in the 2002 adaptation of Tipping the Velvet: Anna Chancellor. Though I still cannot get my head around the idea of her playing someone's grandmother, she's exactly the calibre of actor you want when a period drama takes a more bohemian turn. She manages to make absolutely everything feel like the first time you've ever seen it, and her delicious delivery never fails to delight me.

Netflix, I have to give it to you. Just when I think I've experienced everything you have to offer, a treat for the eye and mind like My Brilliant Career comes along and blows me away. Maybe you never lost your touch after all.

My Brilliant Career is on Netflix from August 13.

Insta360 X6: two-minute review

10 years after Insta360 launched its first 360 camera, the X6 arrives as the anniversary flagship — and it arrives in a much, much busier 360 camera market. This time, Insta360 is defending its home turf against a resurgent GoPro Max 2 and a highly capable debut from DJI in the Osmo 360. There's a feeling, then, that the X6 has to be something more than just an annual refresh.

For the most part, it delivers. The squat body houses a pair of larger 1/1.1-inch sensors, and while I wouldn't call the resulting jump in image quality dramatic when set directly against the X5's footage, its effect on where the X6 sits against the wider field is significant.

The GoPro Max 2 has owned daylight sharpness in this category since launch, and the Insta360 X5 has owned the night. The X6 is the first small 360 camera I've tested that doesn't ask you to pick one or the other — it's excellent in both conditions, which makes it, in my view, the best-performing 360 camera you can currently buy.

(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

It's a similar story with durability. Waterproof to 20m without a case and 60m with one, the X6 comfortably out-swims both the Osmo 360 and the Max 2, and its lenses remain just as easy (and now cheaper) to replace if you scratch one . Battery life is another strong point: Insta360's 140-minute claim at 8K/30fps held up closely in my testing, with zero overheating during continuous filming.

Where things get messier is the software. The X6 introduces some exciting additions for serious creators, like 10-bit color across every shooting mode including low light, native Dolby Vision, and forthcoming native DaVinci Resolve support, but the mobile app I tested struggled badly, crashing repeatedly during editing and export. I'm hoping the launch app is a lot more robust. The desktop app fared much better, but lacks the AI auto-editing tools that make the mobile experience so appealing on paper.

All of this comes at a premium price, too: the X6 is comfortably the most expensive small 360 camera around. Whether that premium is worth paying will come down to how much you value best-in-class image quality and hardware.

I've also directly compared the Insta360 X6 and Insta360 X5 in real video recording scenarios — check out my early verdict.

Insta360 X6 specsInsta360 X6 specs

Type:

360 camera

Sensor:

1.1-inch x 2

Focal length:

7.78mm (35mm equivalent)

Max aperture:

f/2.0

Max video resolution:

8K / 50fps

Max photo resolution:

120MP

Storage:

47GB internal + microSD card slot

Screen:

2.32-inch OLED

Connectivity:

USB-C 3.0, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 6

Dimensions:

2 x 3.9 x 1.6 inches / 50 x 100 x 40mm

Weight:

6.9oz / 196g

Insta360 X6: Price and availability

• Launched worldwide on August 12, 2026
• Standard bundle costs $699.99 / £619 / AU$1,049.99
• Essentials Bundle is $799.99 / £709 / AU$1,159.99

The Insta360 X6 launched on August 12, 2026, priced from $699.99 / £619 / AU$1,049.99 for the Standard bundle. This gets you the camera itself, a USB-C cable, a protective pouch, a lens cloth and a quick-start guide, but nothing else.

Also available is the Essentials Bundle, priced at $799.99 / £709 / AU$1,159.99. This adds a second Xtreme battery, a 114cm invisible selfie stick, a rubber lens cap, a fast-charge case and an extended warranty, and it might be a sensible starting point if you think you'll use those accessories.

It's quite a price jump over where the X5 launched ($549.99 / £519.99 / AU$929.99 for its own Standard bundle), and it also puts real distance between the X6 and rivals like the DJI Osmo 360 (priced from £409.99 / AU$759 at launch) and GoPro Max 2 ($499.99 / £449.99 / AU$849.95). The X6 is the priciest small 360 camera on the market.

One thing worth budgeting for regardless of which bundle you choose: while the X6 has 47GB of usable built-in storage, 8K footage eats through that fast (more on this in the Design section), so factor in a high-capacity microSD card if you don't already have a spare lying around.

• Price score: 3.5/5

Insta360 X6: Design

• IP68-rated and waterproof to 20m (60m with optional dive case)
• Replaceable lenses claimed to be 5x more scratch-resistant than X5's
• 2.32-inch OLED touchscreen with always-on support

The X6 weighs 6.9oz / 196g, and is noticeably squatter and squarer than its X4 and X5 predecessors, a change I'd put down to the need to accommodate the larger 1/1.1-inch sensors inside. That extra width also allows room for a bigger screen: a 2.32-inch OLED display that supports an always-on mode, a step up from the screens on the last couple of Insta360 X cameras.

That screen also introduces a pressure-sensitive, haptic touch interface, requiring a firmer press to access certain options. It's a clever party trick, but in practice I didn't find it added much to the experience — it feels more like a gimmick for now than a true usability upgrade.

For mounting purposes, you get the same setup as the X5: a standard 1/4-inch tripod thread and Insta360's proprietary magnetic clip mount on the bottom. Between these and adapters for GoPro-style mounting fingers, you can securely bolt the X6 to pretty much anything. During testing, I used the supplied selfie stick for on-foot and cycling footage, and also tested the SmallRig Vehicle Suction Cup Support Kit for car-mounted shots, both of which worked brilliantly.

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

On the durability front, the X6 is IP68-rated and waterproof to 20m without any additional housing, rising to 60m with Insta360's official dive case (which costs a whopping $179.99 / £158.99 / AU$269.99). This comfortably outclasses the competition: the DJI Osmo 360 tops out at 10m (and DJI itself discourages underwater use, citing stitching issues), while the GoPro Max 2 manages just 5m. If unhoused underwater shooting matters to you, the X6 is the clear class leader.

Insta360 says the X6's lenses are five times more scratch-resistant than the X5's, and cheaper to replace, too. I didn't manage to scratch mine during testing — which speaks well of that durability claim — so I didn't get to experience the swap process, but the X6 offers the same easy-replacement design as the X5, with the replacement kit including all the tools you need to quickly remove the old lens, clean up any debris and attach a new one.

Alongside the usual microSD card slot, the X6 packs 47GB of usable built-in storage — enough for around 50 minutes of 8K/30fps footage, and a useful safety net if you forget a card or fill one up mid-session. Getting footage off the camera is quick, too: Wi-Fi 6.0 supports wireless transfers of up to 100MB/s, while wired USB 3.0 hits 450MB/s. Both speeds are worth having, because as I found out during testing, the X6's video files get enormous very quickly (more on that in the Performance section).

• Design score: 5/5

Insta360 X6: Performance

• Insta360 claims 140 minutes of 8K/30fps recording; I got 136 minutes in testing
• On-device AI Director auto-edits your day's footage overnight
• The mobile app was prone to crashing during testing, especially on older phones

The X6's 2600mAh Xtreme battery is rated for 140 minutes of continuous 8K/30fps recording, a claimed 51% improvement over the X5. I put that figure to the test, and got 136 minutes before the battery gave out, so Insta360's number holds up well in practice. I also didn't experience any overheating during that stretch, which is impressive given that I was testing through an unusually hot UK summer. Charging is fast, too: Insta360 claims 0 to 80% in 24 minutes with a fast charger, and I found those figures accurate.

Insta360 positions the X6 as "three cameras in one": a 360 camera, a single-lens action cam, and a subject-tracking gimbal-style vlogging camera. In practice, I gravitated almost entirely toward the 360 mode. The X6's size and shape make it a bit unwieldy for hardcore action-camera use compared to something like a GoPro Hero or Insta360's own Ace Pro 2, so I'd treat that mode as a useful fallback rather than a primary draw. The vlogging mode fares better: InstaFrame 2.0 does a genuinely good job of replicating a gimbal-mounted vlogging camera, keeping a chosen subject framed, horizon-levelled and stabilized regardless of how the X6 itself is positioned. You select your subject with a simple double-tap on the screen.

The Insta360 X6 flanked by its main competitors, the DJI Osmo 360 and GoPro Max 2. (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

On the color and post-production side, the X6 supports the 10-bit I-Log flat profile, and — significantly for demanding creators — that 10-bit depth now carries across every shooting mode, including the PureVideo low-light mode, which wasn't the case on the X5. It's also the first 360 camera with native in-camera Dolby Vision. Perhaps the biggest software win here is native DaVinci Resolve compatibility, a first for a 360 camera — though this requires Resolve 22, which wasn't available at the time of testing, so I wasn't able to try it pre-launch. As a Resolve user myself, I'll be checking this out as soon as it lands.

The headline software feature is AI Director, an on-device auto-editing system clearly designed around a simple pitch: shoot footage throughout the day, plug the X6 in to charge overnight, and wake up to a finished (but still adjustable) vlog ready to watch in the app.

Unfortunately, my experience with the Insta360 app itself was rocky. I tested beta versions on both an iPhone 13 and a OnePlus Pad Android tablet, and on the iPhone the app struggled badly, crashing repeatedly during anything demanding — including simply exporting an edited video. This isn't a new problem in my experience reviewing Insta360 cameras, but it was pronounced here; Insta360's own reviewer notes suggest an iPhone 15 is the oldest model considered capable of running the app properly, which is a tough ask given that not everyone upgrades their phone every couple of years.

The Insta360 X6 next to its predecessor, the 2025-launched X5. (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

The app fared somewhat better on the OnePlus Pad, letting me test AI-assisted editing of individual clips, though longer clips took a while to process. Results were generally solid, if not something I'd say beats a hand-edited video. I wasn't able to test the app's other AI editing trick — stitching together multiple shorter clips automatically, complete with transitions and music — on either device: it crashed the iPhone app outright, and simply refused to let me add clips to the editor on Android.

One other app frustration: there's no way to switch between color profiles remotely. If you want to shoot in I-Log or Dolby Vision rather than the standard profile, you have to make that change on the camera itself, which is annoying if, say, the X6 is mounted on a pole on top of your car, as it was during part of my testing.

The desktop Insta360 Studio app, run on my M2 MacBook Air, offered a much more stable experience, though it lacks the AI auto-editing tools found on mobile. What it does offer is more precise manual editing on a larger screen, which I personally find easier to work with regardless of stability. I was able to trim, reframe and export finished clips directly from the X6 to my SSD without needing to move the original files off the camera first, which was a lifesaver given the next issue.

That issue is file size: 8K/30fps footage eats through roughly 1GB of storage per minute, so the X6's 47GB of built-in storage fills up fast, and I ran into storage problems fitting longer clips onto both my phone and my laptop. Factoring in the mobile app's instability — which I do expect to be much improved after launch — I found it far easier to manage and trim footage using the desktop app instead.

Audio is handled by a new 360-degree windproof mic array that "actively filters" wind noise, plus a dedicated hidden mic built specifically for motorcycle riders, designed to cut wind further and clarify engine sound — a niche inclusion, but I suppose a welcome one if it applies to you.

I tested the built-in wind filter, and it works, up to a point: noise was noticeably reduced compared with other modes, but not eliminated. For that, I'd recommend pairing the X6 with Insta360's Mic Pro, which I also tested alongside the camera — it essentially eliminates wind noise altogether, and offers the best noise-cancelling I've experienced from a small wireless mic.

• Performance score: 4/5

Insta360 X6: Image quality

• Dual 1/1.1-inch sensors, up from the X5's 1/1.28-inch pair
• 360 video now tops out at 8K/50fps
• 10-bit available across all video modes, including the PureVideo low-light mode

The X6's biggest hardware change is its new dual 1/1.1-inch square sensors, up from the 1/1.28-inch sensors in the X5; that's 33% more sensor area, and around four times the light intake per frame versus its predecessor. That upgrade also brings a higher frame-rate ceiling in 360 mode, with 8K now available at up to 50fps, versus the X5's 30fps cap. Photo resolution climbs too, topping out at 120MP for 360 shots and 42MP in flat mode.

In good lighting, the difference between X5 and X6 footage is there, but it's incremental rather than transformative. I do have to mention AdaptiveTone 2.0 though, which captures two exposures per frame for noticeably better handling of bright skies and high-contrast scenes than I've seen from Insta360 before. I would have previously said the GoPro Max 2 offered the best 360 image quality in good lighting, but now I think the X6 might have equalled or possibly even bettered it.

It's after dark that the X6 really separates itself from the pack, though. The PureVideo low-light mode was already a strength of the X5, but the combination of the larger sensors and 10-bit color now being supported across every shooting mode — including PureVideo itself — pushes noise levels down further still. Neither the DJI Osmo 360's SuperNight mode nor the GoPro Max 2's standard mode (which lacks a dedicated low-light option entirely) come close. I can comfortably say the X6 is the best 360 camera for low-light shooting currently available.

So that's daylight footage that rivals the sharpest in the category, and the best low-light performance by a mile. The X6 is the first small 360 camera I've tested that doesn't force you to accept a trade-off between the two. Where I'd previously have pointed daylight shooters toward the Max 2, and night owls toward the X5, the X6 simply offers the best all-round image quality on the market, in any light.

• Image quality score: 5/5

Insta360 X6: testing scorecard Insta360 X6

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Price

The priciest small 360 camera on the market, and substantially more expensive than the X5 was at launch.

3.5/5

Design

Class-leading waterproofing and a bigger, sharper screen, with tough, easily replaceable lenses.

5/5

Performance

Excellent battery life and useful pro-level software additions, let down by an unstable mobile app.

4/5

Image quality

Video quality that leads the category in both daylight sharpness and low-light performance.

5/5

Should I buy the Insta360 X6?Buy it if...

You want the best 360 camera image quality around
The X6 delivers the sharpest, cleanest footage overall of any small 360 camera I've tested — no more choosing between daylight sharpness and low-light performance.

You need serious underwater durability
IP68-rated and waterproof to 20m without a case, or 60m with Insta360's official dive housing, the X6 comfortably out-swims both the DJI Osmo 360 and GoPro Max 2.

You're a demanding video creator
10-bit color across every shooting mode, native Dolby Vision, and forthcoming native DaVinci Resolve support make the X6 suited to serious post-production work.

Don't buy it if...

You're on a budget
At $699.99 / £619 / AU$1,049.99, the X6 is now the most expensive small 360 camera around, and by some margin. The DJI Osmo 360 and GoPro Max 2 both undercut it significantly.

You own an older phone
Insta360's guidance recommends an iPhone 15 or newer to get a stable experience from the mobile app. I found it crashed repeatedly on my iPhone 13, particularly when editing or exporting footage.

You want flawless software out of the box
Between the app's instability and its inability to switch color profiles remotely, the X6's hardware is currently running ahead of its software. This should improve post-launch, but it's worth going in with realistic expectations.

Also consider

DJI Osmo 360

DJI's debut 360 camera undercuts the X6 significantly while still delivering excellent image quality and a solid companion app experience. It lacks user-replaceable lenses, and DJI doesn't recommend it for underwater use, so it's a better fit for budget-conscious buyers who won't push the X6's headline strengths.

Read our full DJI Osmo 360 review

GoPro Max 2

The Max 2's true 8K daylight sharpness once made it the class leader for shooting in good light, and it remains a strong, more affordable option if you mostly shoot outdoors and don't need pristine low-light performance. Its lack of a dedicated night mode is a real limitation next to the X6, though, and its 5m waterproof rating is far behind.

Read our full GoPro Max 2 review

How I tested the Insta360 X6

• I tested a full production unit (with beta firmware and software) for three weeks
• I shot day and night footage during a hot English summer
• I tested the X6 with and without Insta360's Mic Pro wireless microphone

(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

I tested the Insta360 X6 for three weeks, shooting throughout an unusually hot English summer to see how it handled sustained use in warm conditions. I recorded both day and night footage across a range of situations, mounting the camera on the supplied selfie stick for on-foot and cycling shots, and on a SmallRig suction cup mount for car-mounted clips.

I tested audio both with the X6's built-in mics and paired with Insta360's Mic Pro wireless microphone, to compare the camera's own wind reduction against a dedicated external solution.

For editing, I reframed and trimmed footage using the Insta360 Studio desktop app before exporting for final edits and color grading in DaVinci Resolve.

• First reviewed August 2026

Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless: Two-minute review

(Image credit: Future)

I really wanted to like the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless. I've had good experiences with Corsair's mice in the past – having been a big fan of both the M65 Ultra RGB and the Scimitar Elite Wireless SE – so I was hopeful that the new Nightsword would be a contender for our ranking of the best gaming mice.

For those not in the loop regarding Corsair's wide range of gaming mice, the original Nightsword launched nearly seven years ago. Needless to say, I wasn't really expecting another model, but I suppose if The Witcher 3 can get a new expansion more than a decade after its release, anything is possible.

The problem I'm having with the Nightsword V2 is that it doesn't really feel like a 'version 2' of its predecessor. For starters, the design has been changed a fair bit, with the RGB lighting scaled back and the thumb button layout slightly altered. It still maintains the ergonomic overall shape with a nice, comfortable thumb rest, but it's ditched the indent pattern that covered the original mouse.

All that wouldn't cause me to dislike this mouse, though. The problem is that the Nightsword RGB had one very cool feature: adjustable weight tuning. Six mounting points and two different sets of miniature metal weights allowed you to adjust the overall weight of the mouse, with nifty software that automatically detected the mouse’s center of gravity in real time, allowing you to fine-tune your experience to make the mouse feel perfect for you.

It was one of the key selling points of the Nightsword RGB, and Corsair focused heavily on it in its marketing. But in the Nightsword V2, it's nowhere to be found; gone, reduced to atoms.

It's a real shame, because I liked that addition a lot. Not enough gaming mice have tunable weight. It made the Nightsword feel more unique, and removing that feature makes the V2 feel... well, a bit bland, if I'm being honest.

It's certainly not a bad gaming mouse, with an ergonomic chassis that sits comfortably in the hand and a high-quality sensor for fast-paced gaming, but I'd fundamentally struggle to recommend it over some other more exciting options out there. Sorry Corsair, but this one feels like a step backward, not forward.

Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless: Price & availability

• How much does it cost? $129.99 / £119.99 / AU$189
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available globally

While you could pay more for a gaming mouse these days, the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless certainly isn't cheap. Clocking in at $129.99 / £119.99 / AU$189, it sits towards the pricier end of the market, though the build quality and high-spec internals do at least attempt to justify the price.

Although it's a technical upgrade from the original Nightsword RGB, the removal of the tunable weight features stings even more at this price point. Considering that there are plenty of other gaming mice on the market with comparable specs, it's difficult to justify recommending the Nightsword V2 Wireless specifically over similar offerings from other manufacturers, or even Corsair itself.

The Nightsword V2 Wireless is available now in all regions, either directly from Corsair or from assorted third-party retailers.

Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless: Design

• Robust, ergonomic design
• No more tunable weight
• Thumb button grouping may be frustrating for some users

(Image credit: Future)

As I noted further up, this feels like a very different mouse from the original Nightsword – though at first glance, they appear quite alike.

Corsair has stripped back the RGB lighting a bit for the Nightsword V2, with the only RGB zones now being the scroll wheel, the Corsair logo, and an odd little strip on the raised rear underside edge of the mouse that isn't even visible most of the time. Feels like a bit of a waste of an LED to me, but it doesn't feel worth penalizing Corsair for that.

(Image credit: Future)

I'll start with the parts I liked. Removing the indent pattern from the Nightsword V2's predecessor was definitely a wise move, as those tiny grooves were just begging to be filled with grime after months of regular use. The main body of the mouse that rests beneath your palm now has a smooth matte finish, with a pattern of raised texturing (rather than the old indentation) on either side to help improve grip. The skates are standard PTFE, which offers a good amount of glide on traditional mouse mats and hard desktop surfaces.

In terms of buttons, we've got 11 in total: the two main mouse buttons, a scroll wheel with both a regular click function and left-right tilt inputs, one multifunction button behind the scroll wheel, three thumb buttons (one of which is the 'sniper button'), and two extra vertically-aligned buttons beside the left mouse button, which turn the sensitivity up and down by default. All of these are fully programmable in Corsair's iCue software or Web Hub, so there's a good degree of versatility here for users who like to tweak their mouse inputs.

You also get plenty of flexibility in terms of sensor control and connectivity. The Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless supports tri-mode connectivity, with a physical switch on the underside of the mouse letting you easily swap between Bluetooth, wired, and direct wireless connections (with a bundled USB-A dongle and adapter as well as a power cable). There's also a slot on the underside that can house the dongle, making it easy to take the Nightsword V2 Wireless on the go.

The Corsair Marksman S sensor supports up to 33,000 DPI, and this mouse also includes up to 8,000Hz polling rate support (though not in Bluetooth mode), both of which can be tweaked to your liking in iCue – though for my money, 8K polling is a bit of a gimmick that will only really benefit the absolute highest tier of skilled esports players.

(Image credit: Future)

The whole thing feels pretty durable and well-constructed, sitting comfortably in the hand for palm and claw grip styles. Fingertip grippers should be advised that mice with thumb rests are simply not designed for them, so you probably shouldn't have clicked on this review in the first place – go buy yourself the excellent Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike instead.

The buttons are sturdy with a good degree of tactile feedback, though I wasn't overly impressed by the scroll wheel; there's no free-scroll mode, and it lacks the firm motion bump of higher-quality scrollers. The grouping of the buttons on the side of the mouse is also a little awkward, at least for users with large hands like me; while trying to use the sniper DPI button in Valorant and Marathon, I kept accidentally hitting the thumb button immediately above it, using a noisy ability when I was trying to quietly take aim at enemy players. Having scanned through the digital archives of several other reviewers, it seems that thumb button positioning was a bit of a frustration with the original Nightsword too, so it's a shame to see this issue hasn't been addressed.

Of course, I have to further discuss Corsair's baffling decision to eliminate the tunable weight feature of the Nightsword. As someone who loves the Logitech G502 Lightspeed Wireless so much I've bought two of them, due in part to its magnetic tunable weight system, I can't help but feel that Nightsword V2 Wireless could have been a serious competitor to my favorite mouse.

(Image credit: Future)

All the other features I like from the G502 Lightspeed are there: a thumb rest, a sniper button, tilt wheel inputs, and a dongle for low-latency wireless connectivity. But removing the weighting system means I can no longer find the perfect balance of heft and handling that I love about my G502, and I'm left simply confused as to why Corsair would remove it for this new iteration of the Nightsword.

At the end of the day, this is a mostly well-designed mouse with a few noticeable foibles, but I can't help but dream of what could have been. It no longer feels like the Nightsword has anything to set itself apart from the crowd, or even from Corsair's own selection of mice; the ergonomic design with a thumb rest is shared by Corsair's M65, Dark Core, and Ironclaw models, for example.

Oh, and as TechRadar's resident southpaw, I have to note that there's no left-handed model available here. I'm pretty sure they call us lefties because we're left out so often – even if I've personally managed to adapt to using my mouse right-handed.

Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless: Performance

• Comfortable even for lengthy gaming sessions
• No noticeable input latency even in 1K polling mode
• Long battery life

In practical use, the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless is perfectly competent and comfy to use for extended periods thanks to its ergonomic shape and thumb rest. I'm a palm-type grip user, and I didn't have any issues whatsoever with hand or finger strain even after a solid six-hour run in Marathon (the new season is about to start, and I had priority contracts to finish, alright?)

I tested the Nightsword V2 in both 1K and 8K polling rate modes, and frankly didn't notice much of a difference whatsoever – but to be clear, that's not really an outright criticism, as I found the mouse to be highly responsive both in terms of movement and clicks regardless of which polling mode I was in.

(Image credit: Future)

I prefer a fairly high DPI, especially for shooters, and the sensitivity here is great. High-skill users who want a really sensitive mouse may want to look for one with a 40K+ DPI sensor (which will probably cost you more), but the 33K Marksman S sensor in the Nightsword V2 ought to be plenty for the majority of PC gamers.

Aside from the issue I mentioned further up regarding the tight grouping of the thumb buttons leading to potential misinputs, I found that the buttons generally felt great. With optical switches for minimal input latency and improved longevity, the main mouse buttons have a decent amount of travel and a firm, satisfying click. The same goes for virtually every other button on the mouse; no cheap, flimsy feeling or wobbliness here.

I actually quite liked the feel of the sniper button (when I wasn't accidentally firing off an ill-timed energy blast instead of lining up a headshot, anyway). It has a good tactile response, so I know when it's been clicked even with my headset on during a noisy firefight, but it doesn't require much force at all to actuate, meaning that it's easy to hold down for careful aiming.

(Image credit: Future)

I did have to remap some of the default button settings, because having the DPI up/down adjustment set to the two side finger buttons just didn't feel right – I opted for the typical setting of the button behind the scroll wheel to swap between DPI presets instead.

The good news about remapping is that you no longer need to install Corsair's iCue software to tweak your peripherals. It's still available, but like a few other PC hardware manufacturers (including Razer), Corsair now offers a fully functional in-browser web app.

The Corsair Web Hub, which I mentioned earlier in this review, allows you to access all the usual software-level modifications for your Corsair devices all within an super-simple browser page. As someone who has long bemoaned the plethora of proprietary software tools for PC peripherals, it's immensely refreshing to be able to do everything I want to do in a regular browser tab, with no downloads required. I arguably can't really say that this is a point in favor of the Nightsword V2 specifically, but good work on the new Web Hub, Corsair.

Lastly, the battery life on the Nightsword V2 Wireless is seriously good, with Corsair rating it for up to 170 hours of use. Across seven days of regular use (more than eight hours a day on average, since I used the Nightsword V2 both for my daily work and gaming after hours), I didn't need to charge it once after my initial testing with the wired configuration.

Should you buy the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless?Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless: Scorecard

Value

At $129.99 / £119.99 / AU$189, the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless isn't cheap, though the high-quality construction helps justify the price somewhat.

3/5

Design

The ergonomic design is comfortable in the hand and whole mouse feels durable, but the thumb buttons are too close together and the lack of tuneable weight is a real shame.

3/5

Performance

The Nightsword V2 is snappy and responsive with nice tactile clicks from its optical switches, and also offers a long battery life.

4.5/5

Average rating

While it's a mechanically decent mouse that will appeal to fans of ergonomic designs, the Nightsword V2 simply doesn't do enough to stand out against the competition.

3.5/5

Buy the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless if…

You want something comfortable
The ergonomic shape and thumb rest make the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless a comfy mouse to use for long gaming binges.View Deal

You want lots of buttons
11 programmable buttons (including scroll wheel tilt inputs) mean you can do a lot of different things at once with this mouse – great for MMO and MOBA players.View Deal

You don't want to charge your mouse often
With up to 170 hours of battery life and customizable sleep options in the Corsair Web Hub, the Nightsword V2 can go for days and days without needing to be plugged in.View Deal

Don’t buy it if…

You liked the original
Despite being a reasonably good gaming mouse, the Nightsword V2 throws away the most unique feature of the Nightsword RGB.View Deal

You're a fingertip gripper
The elevated thumb positioning of fingertip-style mouse grips is ill-suited for the ergonomic thumb rest design of the Nightsword V2 Wireless.View Deal

You’re left-handed
Granted, this applies to more than two-thirds of the gaming mice on the market, but it's still a shame for lefties.View Deal

Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless: Also consider

Logitech MX Master 3S

It's a few years old now, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The MX Master 3S is simply one of the best ergonomic mice money can buy, making it a strong alternative to the Nightsword V2 if you're specifically looking for a mouse built for comfort. Read our full Logitech MX Master 3S review.View Deal

Razer Deathadder V4 Pro

If you're a PC gamer looking for something a little more serious, the Deathadder V4 Pro from Razer packs low-latency optical switches like the Nightsword V2 but also delivers much higher maximum sensitivity thanks to its 45K DPI sensor. Read our full Razer Deathadder V4 Pro reviewView Deal

How I tested the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless

As usual for peripheral reviews, the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless became my regular mouse for just over a week while I was testing it out, replacing my daily driver, the Logitech G502 Lightspeed Wireless.

I used it every weekday for my regular work at TechRadar, which in terms of how I use my mouse, is mostly just clicking stuff in my browser and sometimes highlighting text. More pertinently, I used it to play a whole bunch of games: Warframe, Marathon, Valorant, Overwatch, and Apex Legends all currently feature in my regular gaming rotation, and I also used it for Slay the Spire II – though I doubt it had my impact on the quality of my gameplay in that particular title. I'm still really bad at the Necrobinder.

First reviewed May 2026

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: One minute review

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED is both a fantastic always-on, lifestyle-support smartwatch, and a 51mm, titanium-bodied multisport watch bulked out with the kind of rugged design that could survive the entire Die Hard franchise. It's absolutely one of the best Garmin watches ever made, but also one of the most expensive.

Of course, the headline ‘brightest smartwatch screen ever built’ feature of this microLED edition is justifiably front and centre, but it also provides the 8 Pro microLED with best-in-class performance, screen clarity and brightness.

It’s bursting at the seams with activity, performance and health tracking features backed up by snappily accurate sensors, which enabled real-time monitoring of everything from shifts in barometric pressure outside in the hills to automatically detecting the start of another eight-metre vertical rep in the indoor climbing wall.

Once you dial the brightness up to maximum in the settings (despite all the hype, the default is befuddlingly set to 75%) the step up in brightness from AMOLED is dazzlingly obvious, and contributes to an impression of increased definition too. In fact, the watch screen is so bright that I could easily use the inbuilt mapping mode to navigate in direct overhead summer sunshine while wearing sunglasses, which is a quality of life gamechanger for outdoor adventurers. And putting it side by side against a maxed-out-brightness iPhone in these conditions really hammers home the benefits of the 4,500 NITs of light coming from those microLEDs.

This next-level brightness is maintained even when viewing the watch face from an acute angle, which can be surprisingly useful when glancing at your watch mid-run or taking quick compass bearings, for instance.

Despite the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED’s 51mm, beefed up form factor (it’s 1mm thicker and 3 grams heaver than the already-thick AMOLED version) I quickly grew used to wearing it 24/7 so that I could really dig into Garmin’s lifestyle, training and health monitoring features. It’s chunky, of that there’s no doubt, but I found the combination of a supremely comfortable, flexible strap and well-designed watch body surprisingly easy to wear all-day and overnight. For the first time in a long time, possibly ever, I found that the sleep monitoring data matched my lived experience almost exactly, which gave me faith in the smartwatch to provide useful, actionable data and insights into how to improve the duration and quality of my sleep without feeling ‘nagged’ to do so.

(Image credit: Future / Matt Ray)

As befitting a true multisport smartwatch, I took the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED everywhere from trail running around London to hiking national parks in sideways rain and from snowboarding at 50mph down a French Alp in -18°C windchill to scaling routes in an indoor climbing wall. I was consistently impressed with the automatic tracking and accuracy of the various activity modes once they’re activated (and there are a lot of modes, including eight running sub-modes and not just Snowboarding but Backcountry Snowboarding too).

I love data but I hate lots of pain points in the tracking experience, so the ability of this smartwatch to intelligently detect and log activity is unsurpassed, in my experience. I found that this smartwatch wasn’t flustered by extreme conditions or environments and the battery life remained consistent even as the iPhone in my pocket was spluttering and dying in sub-zero temps.

Speaking of battery life, it’s nominally less than the AMOLED version, but in practice I got at least four days life on a single charge with Always-On Display on and was pleasantly surprised by its longevity. In situations where battery life was critical, I got used to toggling off the Always-On screen, which made battery life jump to 10 days+. Unlike some smartwatches, there was no perceptible lag when turning your wrist to activate the screen so you don’t sacrifice much usability with this setting.

I also appreciated the rugged design, which shrugged off knocks and scrapes when high in the mountains. Ironically, the biggest impact was when I punched the bezel into a plastic hold when climbing indoors and made the whole wall shake. The sapphire screen remained resolutely unmarked and while I did scrape the very edge of the adonised black finish off the bezel, the titanium itself was undamaged. I look forward to the time when the form factor can be shrunk down, but until then the durability of this smartwatch will see you through despite its egregious, easily-knocked size.

On paper, the brightness upgrade of microLED over AMOLED seems like a ‘nice to have if you have the cash’. But in practice, the real-world experience of discovering unexpected performance and quality of life improvements from a brighter screen are compelling. The upgrade is worth it, and makes me hopeful for the future of microLED technology coming to other smartwatches.

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future / Matt Ray)

• $1,699.99 / £1,399.99 / AU$3,399.99
• A significant leap above the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro AMOLED
• In a price class of its own for a multisport smartwatch

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED retails for £1,399.99, $1,699.99, AU$3,399.99

That breaks out from the upper reaches of multisport smartwatches and approaches the terrain of luxury connected watches such as Tag Heuer’s Connected Caliber E5. So, you need to be convinced of the benefits of brightness, because that’s 100% what you’re paying for.

• Value score: 4/5

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: Scorecard

(Image credit: Future / Matt Ray)

Category

Comment

Score

Value

The pinnacle of performance comes at a steep price but the benefits are fully visible.

4/5

Design

Reasurringly robust, visually premium and the 51mm size is surprisingly comfortable.

5/5

Features

Garmin’s full suite of functionality.

5/5

Performance

Snappy HR, accurate sleep monitoring, tracked everything from snowboarding to rock climbing.

5/5

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: Should I buy?

(Image credit: Future / Matt Ray)Buy it if...

You want screen technology that blows the competition away

You better enjoy the living daylights out of brightness because that’s what you’re paying for, but it really is next-level and surprisingly useful.

You’re an adventurer

A brighter, sharper screen pays dividends when navigating or monitoring performance in both bad weather and the blazing glare of a midday sun alike.

You want a 24/7 smartwatch

Yes, that microLED screen adds even more to the bulk, but thanks to a comfortable strap design and high-performance sensors this is a smartwatch that delivers excellent lifestyle monitoring.

Don't buy it if...

You’re not looking for maximum screen brightness

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro AMOLED has some advantages including a slightly less thick and heavy watch chassis, marginally better battery life and it’s a lot less expensive.

You don’t want to pay a premium to be a first adopter

Given the clear benefits, we have to hope that microLED technology will appear in a less ultra-premium package, eventually.

You’re looking for maximum battery life

Those 400,000 LEDs can be a significant load on battery life, making the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro AMOLED the winner there.

Also consider

Garmin Fenix 8

The obvious choice to save a few hundred - almost all the features, bar satellite connectivity and those 400,000 microLEDs in practically the same chassis.

Read our full Garmin Fenix 8 review

Apple Watch Ultra 3

If you’re already within the Apple ecosystem this the natural titanium-cased choice for seamless multisport support.

Read our full Apple Watch Ultra 3 review

How I tested

I wore the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED over several months, including stints wearing it 24/7 overnight and for very varied activities and workouts including trail running, indoor climbing, snowboarding, weight lifting, sailing and cycling. I was in 35°C heatwaves and -18°C blizzards, from sea level to 4,000m.

First reviewed: August 2026

"I big, I punch," is probably the most effective and concise way of summing up the last three seasons of Reacher on Prime Video. Alan Ritchson's titular hero has slammed, drop-kicked, and battered his way through three separate stories to date, but Reacher season 4 has something new to offer.

Instead of honing in on Reacher's past or personal vendettas, our eight new episodes are ones of political espionage. Adapting the Lee Child novel Gone Tomorrow, he instead becomes embroiled in a CIA conspiracy after suspecting a woman on a New York City subway train is actually a suicide bomber. It's drama that makes you think, for the first time ever in this franchise.

It's a big tonal swing, and probably a risk that the crime drama needed to take four seasons in — but that doesn't mean it's completely paid off. In a nutshell, getting to the bottom of a big city political scandal has never made me yearn for the small-town days of seasons gone by more.

Clearly, this is part of Reacher's big-picture thinking. Seasons 1 and 3 were based in more rural locations, with seasons 2 and 4 respectively based in New York and Philadelphia. We already know that Reacher season 5 will be set in Oklahoma (like the novel Make Me), and I'm desperate to get there.

Does Reacher really have the chops to dig deeper into its punchy action? Probably not. I doubt we'll see the show stray back into these waters again, and there's good reason why.

Jack Reacher isn't the right action hero to lead a political espionage investigation

If the line "Oh no, I got it wrong!" is your signal to the audience that a dramatic twist is about to take place, then you're likely in over your head. This dialogue passes Reacher's lips halfway through season 4, with our bullish hero a fish out of water, scrambling through a plot that's much bigger than he could ever properly cope with.

On the one hand, I like that this level of insecurity humanizes Reacher more. There's always been more to him than just being muscle and meat hooks in a T-shirt, but now he's able to put his money where his mouth is. Selflessness, understanding, and the ability to be vulnerable flow out of Reacher abundantly in a way it never could have before, and I appreciate that.

However, let's not do this kind of storyline again. Our overarching threat is simultaneously too complicated to fully sink your teeth into and too mundane to actually bother caring about it. The armchair detectives among us will work out who is the 'villain' underpinning Reacher's latest disaster in a matter of seconds, and between season 4's beginning and end, you'll need a notepad and pen to keep up.

I think that an obstacle hidden in plain sight is the fact that Reacher himself doesn't have the same gravitas in a city as he does in a town. Plop him in the centre of Georgia, and he'll obviously scare the crap out of everyone around him. But in New York and Washington, D.C., he's a mere fly in the ointment. Add in a subpar storyline, and Reacher season 4 isn't exactly making its mark in an already oversaturated genre.

However, this might be Reacher's best supporting cast to date

(Image credit: Prime Video)

But let's stop being a Debbie Downer... It's clobbering time! For surface-level viewing, Reacher season 4 is ticking every box you'd expect after its last three seasons, and that makes for some satisfying weekly viewing.

The secret weapon, however, is its supporting cast, which may just be my favorite of all we've had to date. New additions Tamara Green (Sydelle Noel), Jacob Merrick (Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette), and Russell Plum (Kevin Weisman) are Reacher's unlikely gang of allies, and the uneasy friendships that develop between them are the relationships that you're really rooting for.

Together, the awesome foursome drive the excitement of the piece, and help us paper over anything that isn't really gelling together in the story itself. We're desperate for them to break the rules and stick two metaphorical fingers up at authority, and they routinely indulge us. Best of all, our trio of newcomers pulls out all of Reacher's caring traits that we're desperate to see, even if they all make a few bad decisions along the way.

Without giving anything away, there are definitely some distasteful tones bubbling underneath the surface, particularly around how the story approaches sex work and, well, women in general. But hey, who cares when Reacher is going to punch something and take his shirt off, huh?

Reacher season 4 begins airing on Prime Video from August 12.

KitchenAid KF2 two-minute review

The KitchenAid KF2 Fully Automatic Espresso Machine is the entry-level model in the company’s six-strong range of automatic coffee machines, and was launched in mid-2026 alongside the KF3 and KF4.

It adopts the exact same slim build as its two siblings, making any of them ideal for smaller kitchens. It also benefits from the exact same Intelligrind coffee bean grinder, which automatically determines the best grind size depending on the beans you’ve put in. The brewing unit is the same also, and in my taste tests, I couldn’t notice any obvious difference between the three. That means you’re going to get a wonderful, tasty espresso with each use.

What sets the KF2 apart — and where KitchenAid has made cuts to bring the cost down — is its feature set regarding drink presets and general usability. It’s also the only model in KitchenAid’s entire fully automatic coffee machine range to rock a steam wand for foaming milk — the others all use a hose-based system. While this may seem like a drop down in specification, I personally found the steam wand to perform the best when making foamy lattes and cappuccinos. What’s more, a steam wand is inherently going to perform better with non-dairy milk as it allows for greater control over temperature.

As with the KF3 and KF4, the KitchenAid KF2 is capable of making iced-coffee drinks, although as I found in my KitchenAid KF3 review, the results are a little underwhelming. This is because the brewed espresso is hot enough to quickly melt the ice in your cup or glass, despite KitchenAid claiming it’s brewed at a lower temperature.

Where the KitchenAid KF2 loses points slightly is the fact it doesn’t offer user profiles. I’ve been used to having profiles for some time at home, as I currently use the KitchenAid KF4 and have previously used the Philips LatteGo 4400, which offer four profiles and two profiles, respectively. Having them makes brewing a coffee incredibly quick and simple: just select a profile, select a drink and that’s it.

The fact the KF2 doesn’t have profiles means that brewing a variety of coffees will take longer, as you’ll have to select the drink and adjust any settings each time. It therefore might not be the best option for larger households, but for households of one or two people it’s still worthy of consideration.

The other slight niggle I have, which affects the KF3 and KF4 also, is that the unit can go through water relatively quickly due to it running a rinse cycle on start up and shutdown. The shutdown cycle I can understand, but I find the start-up cycle to be a little redundant.

All things considered, the KitchenAid KF2 Fully Automatic Espresso Machine is another fantastic option from the brand. It brews a well-extracted espresso each and every time and the steam wand works wonders for milk-based drinks.

KitchenAid KF2 review: Price & availability

• Launched in UK and US April 2026, Australia in July 2026
• List price $799.99 / £699 / AU$1,099

The KitchenAid KF2 Fully Automatic Espresso Machine launched in the US and UK in April 2026, before making its way to Australia in July 2026. It has a list price of $799.99 / £699 / AU$1,099, making it the company’s most affordable fully automatic machine.

The step-up KF3 adds a small color display to improve navigation and usability, four customizable profiles and a larger menu of drink presets, with a list price $999.99 / £749 / AU$1,349.

The top-tier model, the KF4 ($1,299.99 / £899 / AU$1,599) offers much of the same functionality as the KF2 with regard to grinder and brewing unit. It gains even more recipes, a large color touchscreen and KitchenAid’s hose-based milk-foaming system, complete with milk carafe.

I’m of the opinion that the KF2’s steam wand is the best option for expertly-frothed milk and for using with non-dairy milk varieties, instantly giving the machine a leg up over its siblings. And, since the actual coffee-brewing process is the same across all three machines, the KF2 represents excellent value.

That being said, the Ninja Luxe Cafe Premier offers more in the way of features, including a dedicated cold brew setting and cold-extraction for improved iced-coffee results, along with intelligent grind and dosage settings. Its list price is less than the KF2’s at $599.99 / £549.99 / AU$799.99, although it too doesn’t offer user profiles either and requires more hands-on input.

• Value score: 4 / 5

KitchenAid KF2 review: Specifications

Name

KitchenAid KF2 Fully Automatic Espresso Machine

Type

Bean-to-cup

Dimensions (H x W x D)

14.2 x 7.7 x 18.5 inches / 361 x 196 x 470mm

Weight

19.8lbs / 9kg

Water reservoir capacity

1.9 quarts / 1.8 liters

Milk frother

Yes, Pannarello steam wand

Bars of pressure

15

Noise level

72dB grinding, 60dB brewing

User profiles

0

KitchenAid KF2 review: Design

• Compact size will suit smaller space
• Steam wand suits plant-based milks
• No dishwasher-safe components

(Image credit: Future)

Of the three new compact automatic models, the KitchenAid KF2 sticks out the most for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’s only available in a matte black finish (the KF3 and KF4 also come in Porcelain White, which I’m personally a fan of), and secondly there’s no color display.

The matte black finish is still sleek and smart-looking, it must be said, although there is a shiny, fingerprint-loving panel on the front at the top. You’ll want to keep a cloth nearby to keep it looking its best.

I don’t consider the lack of a color display to be a huge negative against the KF2, as the backlit panel is bright and clear when selecting a drink and adjusting settings. The color screens on the rest of KitchenAid’s espresso machine range do offer useful assistance with features like images of the drink you want to make, but it’s not something I missed when testing the KF2.

Physically the KitchenAid KF2 is the same as the other two compact models released in 2026, measuring 14.2 x 7.7 x 18.5 inches / 361 x 196 x 470mm (H x W x D). This compact form makes it easy to place the unit on a kitchen counter, and should be especially ideal for those with smaller kitchens. A couple of built-in wheels on the bottom at rear of the machine aid with manoeuvring into position.

Interacting with the KF2 is done via five buttons on the front panel. These select the drink type, dosage and strength — each of which can be pressed multiple times to cycle through options — one to activate cleaning cycles and a final button to initiate and cancel brewing. Each button press reveals a different backlit symbol on the front panel which are relatively self-explanatory.

Drink type cycles between espresso, coffee and over ice, dose lets you choose between one or two servings (either two cups under the dispenser or one for a double serving), and strength is a scale of one to three. This refers to how much coffee is ground into the brewing unit, from 7g (setting one) to 14g (setting three).

The bean hopper recessed into the top of the KF2 is large enough to hold 250g worth of coffee beans, which is accessed via a removable lid. While this does mean there’s no visual indication as to how many beans are left, it does at least mean the beans are kept airtight and away from light, helping to retain their freshness. There’s also a small chute for pre-ground coffee, and a scoop is included in the box.

The 1.8L water tank slides in and out the rear of the machine and has an integrated handle to make the process simple, although I personally prefer a side-mounted tank like the one found on the Philips LatteGo 4400 as I find it makes refilling that little bit easier. However, the KF2’s tank does at least feature a hinged lid, allowing you to fill it up from a jug if you wish.

FutureFuture

KitchenAid supplies a water filter with the KF2 that it claims lasts up to two months when used with standard tap water. If you use filtered water, its life can extend to up to six months. The filter can seem to be a little fiddly to install due to the water tank being so tall. Thankfully the included coffee scoop doubles up as a tool that clips onto the filter, giving you the extra length needed to screw it into place.

The drip tray is deep and extends virtually the full depth of the KF2, and has a large spout integrated into its rear for easy emptying. However, as I found with the KF3 and KF4, when you pour water out it can occasionally spill onto the front panel section as it can’t be removed. It’s not a huge dealbreaker, just prepare for a little extra clean up. Used coffee grounds are deposited into a removable bin in the center that can be tipped out when full. An icon will light up on the front panel to let you know when it’s time.

One of the standout features of the KitchenAid KF2, in my opinion, is its Pannarello steam wand used for milk foaming. I was surprised to find one used, not only because KitchenAid uses a proprietary hose-based system in the KF3 and KF4, but also because other brands such as De’Longhi and Philips have also turned their backs on steam wands (in general) in the pursuit of an entirely automatic coffee-making process.

Personally, I appreciate KitchenAid's choice to include a steam wand here, as it enables you to create genuine milk foam, even when using non-dairy alternatives. In my experience, the hose system on the KitchenAid KF3 and KF4, the LatteGo system on the Philips 4400, and the LatteCrema system on the De'Longhi Magnifica Evo Next all fell short of producing a satisfactory level of milk foam for my taste.

The use of the steam wand does mean there’s some hands-on input required, as you need to hold the jug (which isn’t included in the box) under the steam outlet until the foam reaches your desired level. There’s also no built-in thermometer, so unless you use a third-party thermometer, you’ll have to judge when the milk is ready based on touch.

Whether you are crafting a flat white or a cappuccino, the wand features a small slider for 'more foam' or 'less foam' to ensure you get the perfect texture. By opening and closing the integrated air intake, this slider regulates the airflow: increasing the intake pumps more air into the milk, which creates a more voluminous and aerated foam. Keeping it closed is ideal for texturizing milk for lattes that don’t require as high a level of foam.

The KF2 features thorough cleaning cycles, including the ability to completely evaporate the internal system of water. There are also programs for descaling and cleaning the brewing unit, which require you to press a variation of buttons to initiate. A complete set of useful instructions is included in the box. Do note that none of the removable parts are dishwasher safe.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

KitchenAid KF2 review: Performance

• Consistently well-extracted espresso
• Steam wand delivers silky, well-foamed milk
• Lower brewing temperature for iced drinks still too hot

(Image credit: Future)

Having already reviewed the KF3, and knowing it uses the exact same brewing unit, I was expecting the same excellent results from the KitchenAid KF2. Fortunately my expectations were realised, as the compact KF2 produced a great-tasting espresso with each use.

Much of its success can be attributed to the IntelliGrind system that automatically determines the ideal grind size depending on your chosen beans. You can’t see the grinder at work, nor does the unit tell you what grind setting it’s chosen, you just have to put your trust in it to deliver optimal results. Your trust is rewarded.

However, if you're not completely satisfied with the crema or taste of your espresso, then the KF2 does offer the ability to manually adjust the grind to a finer or coarser level by way of a lever behind a compartment on the right-hand side of the machine. A finer setting is recommended for light-roast beans, while dark-roast beans benefit from a coarser setting. Since I was using medium-roast beans, I left the slider at the default setting in the middle.

Before you consider adjusting the grind level, you’ll first want to experiment with the strength of either the espresso or coffee drink presets. As mentioned earlier, there are only three coffee-based drink recipe presets: espresso, coffee and over ice. If you move up to the KF3 or KF4 you’ll gain recipes including latte macchiato, flat white and caffe latte, to name a few.

You can also adjust the volume of water used for each drink type, and the temperature it’s brewed at, by pressing and holding a specific set of buttons. You’ll find the full details in the supplied user manual. I was perfectly satisfied with the default settings, but it’s good to know KitchenAid offers the ability to personalize each drink.

Do note that if you do adjust any default settings, they will become the new norm until you change them again. Since there are no user profiles, you may want to consult with other people in your household before you make any tweaks.

FutureFutureFuture

If you want milk with your coffee, then the Pannarello steam wand is capable of producing thick, velvety foam that’s perfect for lattes, macchiatos and cappuccinos. It’s semi-automatic in use, as all you need to do is hold a milk pitcher under the wand and press the start button on the main unit (once you’ve cycled the ‘drink type’ menu through to ‘steam’). A word of warning, make sure you already have the steam wand submerged in milk. I pressed start with the pitcher still on the drip tray and ended up with milk all over the counter and myself.

A small slider on the side of the steam wand housing can be used to adjust the level of foam you achieve, either ‘less’ or ‘more’. In my tests this worked a charm, with the ‘more’ setting aerating the milk to such a high level that it nearly overflowed from the pitcher.

I much prefer the use of a steam wand compared to the hose systems used on the KF3 and KF4, as it’s capable of producing a much better level of froth. It’s also a hell of a lot easier to keep clean, as it doesn’t require constant rinse cycles to ensure the hose is free of residue. I actually wish the steam wand was featured on the company’s other machines.

Do note however that there’s no built-in thermometer to automatically detect when milk reaches your desired temperature. You’ll either have to invest in a dedicated one, or go off touch to determine when to shut the steam off. Also note that a milk pitcher isn’t included in the box. You can buy one directly from KitchenAid for $19.99 / AU$29. I wasn’t able to find a listing on the company’s UK store, but in all honesty, the pitcher available is relatively basic, so you could always get one from Amazon for the same or less money.

Where the KitchenAid KF2 falls down slightly — in a similar fashion to the KF3 and KF4 — is with its iced drinks function. KitchenAid has designed the KF2 to brew an espresso shot at a lower temperature compared to a regular shot when you select the ‘over ice’ drink type.

For starters, iced coffee fanatics will likely prefer a genuinely cold shot of coffee as opposed to having to pour a cooler shot of espresso over ice. Admittedly KItchenAid isn’t the only company to employ this function, as the Philips LatteGo machines also ask you to put some ice into a cup or glass before brewing an espresso.

However, I can’t agree with KitchenAid’s claim that the iced coffee espresso shot brews at a lower temperature, as I used a thermometer to check the temperature of a regular shot and iced shot, and both returned a measurements between 45ºC/113ºF and 50ºC/122ºF, which was hot enough to quickly melt the ice I had in my glass. It’s not necessarily a huge dealbreaker, but the fact remains there are other machines such as the De’Longhi Dedica Duo and the Jura J10 that are able to pour proper cold-extracted espresso for longer-lasting iced drinks.

It is, however, pleasing to find the KF2, like other KitchenAid espresso machines, is QuietMark-certified, signifying it should be whisper-quiet when grinding and brewing. And in reality, that’s certainly the case. I was able to record an average of 70dB while the machine was grinding and an average of 60dB when brewing. That, perhaps expectantly, puts it on par with the KF3 and KF4. That being said, we found the flagship KF8 to be quieter still with an average of 44dB during the entire coffee-making process.

(Image credit: Future)

• Performance score: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the KitchenAid KF2?KitchenAid KF2 score card

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

KitchenAid's most affordable fully auto machine offers the best combination of features in my opinion.

4.5/5

Design

Compact form will suit smaller kitchens, although lack of user profiles can add time to brewing process.

4/5

Performance

Excellent coffee and milk frothing, but iced options are a little disappointing.

4.5/5

Buy it if...

You’re short on space

The KF2 is one of the more compact coffee machines we’ve tested, and will slot nearly into smaller kitchen spaces.

You want the essentials done well

The KF2 might not offer an extensive menu of preset drink recipes, but it nails the basics of espresso and coffee.

You drink lattes and cappuccinos

The Pannarello steam wand works wonders to produce thick, velvety foam that’s perfect for milk-based coffee drinks — and it’s great for non-dairy varieties too.

Don't buy it if...

You want a more hands-off approach

With no user profiles and manual input needed for milk, the KF2 isn’t as ‘set and forget’ as many other fully automatic coffee machines.

You don’t like the color black

The KitchenAid KF2 is only available in a matte black finish, which could clash with your kitchen decor.

You like to drink cold brew

The KitchenAid KF2 can’t make it, and its iced coffee espresso shot is still hot enough to quickly melt ice cubes.

KitchenAid KF2 review: Also consider

KitchenAid KF3

This step-up model offers a wider range of drink presets and can automatically foam milk for you via a hose-based system. It also offers four user profiles to save personalized drinks.

Read my full KitchenAid KF3 review

Lavazza A Modo Mio Jolie Evo

If you have a small kitchen and just want a fuss-free coffee, this Lavazza pod coffee machine could be just the thing for you. Espresso is superb and it’s incredibly simple to use.

Read our full Lavazza A Modo Mio Jolie Evo review

Ninja Luxe Café

This 3-in-1 bean-to-cup espresso machine can handle virtually any coffee-based drink you could wish for, including filter and cold brew. It takes care of most of the leg work for you, and is regularly discounted.

Read our full Ninja Luxe Cafe review

How I tested the KitchenAid KF2

(Image credit: Future)

I used the KitchenAid KF2 over a one-week period. I was confident knowing how to use the machine, having previously reviewed the KF3 and from using the KF4 on a daily basis at home.

I prepared all of the available drink recipes — espresso, coffee and over ice — and used a thermometer to test the temperature of the ‘over ice’ espresso shot to determine if it was actually brewed at a lower temperature, as KitchenAid claims.

I also used the integrated steam wand in both its ‘less foam’ and ‘more foam’ settings to determine if there was indeed a difference in results. I also tested it with dairy milk and a barista-style oat milk to find out if it worked well with non-dairy milk varieties.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed August 2026

Hisense UR8 review: Two-minute review

The Hisense UR8 is the first ‘affordable’ RGB TV on the market, and while it has a strong feature set and mostly good picture quality, the UR8 doesn't demonstrate the ‘OLED-killer’ status the RGB tech has been given. While it’s a good TV, it can’t count itself among the best TVs I've tested this year.

The UR8 has a good number of smart and AI features, as well as features for gaming. It also has four HDMI 2.1 ports, an anti-glare screen akin to Samsung’s own Glare Free screens, and comes equipped with Hisense’s Hi-View AI RGB processor.

Picture quality on the UR8 is good, but delivers some disappointments. It demonstrates excellent backlight control for an LED, backlit TV, as well as strong contrast, decent black levels, and crisp textures. Its motion is also good, even with out-of-the-box picture modes, though I did note some blurring at times.

However, as this is an RGB TV, its big selling point should be its colors, and while they are natural, and can appear punchy, they’re not as bold as I hoped for, especially given its ostensibly impressive test measurements (more on that below). While RGB is a step forward in some aspects for mini-LED, TVs using the technology still can’t compete with the best OLED TVs.

Sound quality is solid. The UR8 delivers some weighty bass, good accuracy and precise sound mapping, and delivers clear speech in movies and TV shows. The soundstage can sound narrow, however, and Dolby Atmos effects aren’t always clear. While the built-in sound is good for the most part, home theater fans will likely want to supplement it with one of the best soundbars.

Gaming is one of the UR8’s strengths. With four HDMI 2.1 ports, all kitted out for gaming, it supports up to 4K 180Hz and VRR. When actually playing games, the UR8 feels responsive and delivers a smooth experience. Getting a low input lag time does require adjustment of settings and the picture isn’t always perfect; but while it doesn’t beat the best gaming TVs, the UR8 is still good for gaming.

Value is a mixed bag with the UR8. The 65-inch model I tested launched for $1,999 / £2,299 / AU$2,495, and while prices are already dropping in the US, and it's great value in Australia, its price in the UK puts it in direct competition with some of the best OLED TVs, like the LG C6. While it does deliver good performance and features for the price in the US and Australia, the same isn’t true for the UK.

Hisense UR8 review: Prices & release dates

(Image credit: Future)

• Release dates: June 2026 (US) / July 2026 (UK)
• 55-inch: $1,299 / £1,699 / AU$1,895
• 65-inch: $1,999 / £2,299 / AU$2,495
• 75-inch: $2,499 / £2,999 / AU$3,195
• 85-inch: $3,499 / £3,499 / AU$4,695
• 100-inch: $5,999 / £7,999 / AU$N/A

The UR8 is the Hisense's entry-level RGB mini-LED TV, sitting below the flagship Hisense UR9, but above TVs in the brand's standard mini-LED range such as the Hisense U7S. It’s available in sizes 55-85-inch in most regions, and available in 100-inch in the US and UK (there's no listing for an Australian model yet). The 65-inch model I tested launched for $1,999 / £2,299 / AU$2,495.

Since its release, the UR8’s prices have already dropped in the US, with the 65-inch now available for $1,499. The 55-inch has dropped as low as $999, putting it in the same price bracket as some standard mini-LED models. The same can’t be said in the UK, where its prices are not only higher than standard mini-LED competition, but even pricier than the LG C6 OLED.

Hisense UR8 review: SpecsHisense UR8

Screen type:

RGB mini-LED

Refresh rate:

Up to 180Hz

HDR support

Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG

Audio support:

Dolby Atmos and DTS:X

Smart TV:

Google TV (US), VIDAA (UK/Australia)

HDMI 2.1 ports:

4 x HDMI 2.1

Built-in tuner:

ATSC 3.0

Hisense UR8 review: Benchmark results @import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Open+Sans:wght@400;700&display=swap');@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Poppins:wght@400;700&display=swap');#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper *, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper *:before, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper *:after, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow *, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow *:before, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow *:after {box-sizing: border-box !important; margin: 0; padding: 0; border: 0;font-size: 100%; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow { font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper {position: relative !important; overflow: visible !important;--riv-primary: #2E6E93;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-inner-wrapper {color: #1F2937 !important; background-color: #ffffff !important;padding: 1.5rem 1.5rem 2rem !important; border-radius: 0.5rem !important;box-shadow: 0 1px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) !important;margin: 1rem 0 !important; display: flex !important; flex-direction: column !important;overflow: hidden !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-inner-wrapper.fv-no-header.fv-is-image-compare {padding-top: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.fv-full-bleed {width: 100vw !important;margin-left: calc(50% - 50vw) !important;}body {overflow-x: clip !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.fv-full-bleed .fv-inner-wrapper {padding: 0 !important;border-radius: 0 !important;box-shadow: none !important;margin: 0 !important;background-color: transparent !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-inner-wrapper.fv-is-shop-the-look {padding: 0 !important;border-radius: 0 !important;box-shadow: none !important;margin: 0 !important;background-color: transparent !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow {position: relative !important;width: 100% !important;margin: 1rem 0 !important;--riv-primary: #2E6E93;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-slides-wrapper {position: relative !important;width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-slide {width: 100% !important;animation: fv-fade-in 0.3s ease-in-out;}@keyframes fv-fade-in {from { opacity: 0; }to { opacity: 1; }}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-slideshow-nav-row {position: relative !important;display: flex !important;justify-content: space-between !important;align-items: center !important;padding: 0 0 16px 0 !important;width: 100% !important;z-index: 20 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-nav-btn {background-color: var(--riv-primary) !important;color: #ffffff !important;border: none !important;border-radius: 4px !important;padding: 8px 16px !important;font-size: 14px !important;font-weight: 700 !important;cursor: pointer !important;display: flex !important;align-items: center !important;justify-content: center !important;gap: 6px !important;transition: opacity 0.2s, background-color 0.2s !important;height: 36px !important;text-transform: none !important;box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.1) !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-nav-btn svg {width: 18px !important;height: 18px !important;stroke-width: 3px !important;filter: none !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-nav-btn:hover {opacity: 0.9 !important;transform: translateY(-1px) !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-nav-btn.disabled {background-color: #E5E7EB !important;color: #9CA3AF !important;cursor: default !important;pointer-events: none !important;box-shadow: none !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-slide-counter {font-family: 'Poppins', sans-serif !important;font-size: 14px !important;font-weight: 600 !important;color: #374151 !important;text-align: center !important;min-width: 40px !important;background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.8) !important;padding: 2px 8px !important;border-radius: 10px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-slideshow-select {position: absolute !important;top: 10px !important;right: 10px !important;z-index: 20 !important;appearance: none !important;-webkit-appearance: none !important;-moz-appearance: none !important;background-color: white !important;border: 1px solid #d1d5db !important;color: #1F2937 !important;font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif !important;font-size: 14px !important;font-weight: 600 !important;padding: 6px 32px 6px 12px !important;border-radius: 4px !important;cursor: pointer !important;box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.05) !important;background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' fill='none' viewBox='0 0 20 20'%3e%3cpath stroke='%236b7280' stroke-linecap='round' stroke-linejoin='round' stroke-width='1.5' d='M6 8l4 4 4-4'/%3e%3c/svg%3e") !important;background-position: right 0.5rem center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: 1.5em 1.5em !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-slideshow-select:focus {outline: 2px solid #2E6E93 !important;border-color: #2E6E93 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-chart-title {font-weight: bold !important;text-align: center !important;margin-bottom: 0.5rem !important;color: var(--riv-primary) !important;font-size: 20px !important;line-height: 1.2 !important;font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif !important;text-transform: none !important;white-space: normal !important;overflow-wrap: break-word !important;padding: 0 20px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-chart-subhead {font-size: 18px !important;font-weight: 500 !important;text-align: center !important;margin-bottom: 2rem !important;color: #374151 !important;line-height: 1.7 !important;font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif !important;display: block !important;text-transform: none !important;padding: 0 20px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .rv-chart-caption { font-size: 15px !important; color: #374151 !important; text-align: center !important; font-style: normal !important; font-weight: normal !important; line-height: 1.7 !important; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif !important; display: block !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-chart { display: flex; flex-direction: column; width: 100%; margin-top: 1rem; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-header { display: flex; justify-content: space-between; align-items: center; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; padding: 0 1rem; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select-wrapper { flex: 1; min-width: 0; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-left { text-align: center; padding-right: 1rem; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-right { text-align: center; padding-left: 1rem; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select-container { position: relative; display: inline-block; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-chevron { position: absolute; top: 50%; transform: translateY(-50%); pointer-events: none; width: 16px; height: 16px; flex-shrink: 0; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-left .fv-versus-chevron { right: 0; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-right .fv-versus-chevron { right: 0; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select { background: transparent; border: none; border-bottom: 2px solid; font-family: 'Poppins', sans-serif; font-weight: 700; font-size: 14px; padding: 0.25rem 0; cursor: pointer; outline: none; appearance: none; -webkit-appearance: none; -moz-appearance: none; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; text-overflow: ellipsis; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select.fv-select-left { text-align: center; direction: ltr; padding-right: 1.25rem; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select.fv-select-right { text-align: center; padding-right: 1.25rem; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select option { font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 14px; color: #374151; direction: ltr; text-align: left; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-vs { font-family: 'Poppins', sans-serif; font-weight: 700; font-size: 14px; color: #374151; letter-spacing: 0.1em; padding: 0 1rem; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-body { display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 1.5rem; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-row { position: relative; height: auto; padding-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.25rem; display: block; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-bar-container { position: relative; height: 32px; display: flex; align-items: center; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-bar-left-wrapper { flex: 1; height: 100%; display: flex; justify-content: flex-end; align-items: center; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-bar-right-wrapper { flex: 1; height: 100%; display: flex; justify-content: flex-start; align-items: center; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-bar { height: 32px; width: var(--target-width); transition: width 0.8s ease-out; animation: fv-grow-max-width 0.8s ease-out forwards; display: flex; align-items: center; overflow: hidden; color: #ffffff; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-bar-left { border-radius: 4px 0 0 4px; justify-content: flex-end; padding: 0 8px; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-bar-right { border-radius: 0 4px 4px 0; justify-content: flex-start; padding: 0 8px; }@keyframes fv-grow-max-width {from { max-width: 0; }to { max-width: 100%; }}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-center-line { position: absolute; left: 50%; top: 0; bottom: 0; width: 4px; background-color: #ffffff; transform: translateX(-50%); z-index: 1; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-inside-left { white-space: nowrap; flex-shrink: 0; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-inside-right { white-space: nowrap; flex-shrink: 0; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-val-text { font-family: 'Poppins', sans-serif; font-weight: 700; font-size: 14px; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-pct-diff { font-size: 12px; font-weight: 600; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-label { position: absolute; left: 50%; transform: translateX(-50%); top: 0; background-color: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: none; padding: 0; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-weight: 700; font-size: 14px; color: #374151; white-space: nowrap; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .sr-only { position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important; height: 1px !important; padding: 0 !important; margin: -1px !important; overflow: hidden !important; clip: rect(0,0,0,0) !important; white-space: nowrap !important; border: 0 !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bottom-bar { display: flex !important; flex-direction: column !important; align-items: center !important; margin-top: 0.5rem !important; gap: 1rem !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-footer-content { text-align: center !important; width: 100% !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-logo {display: block !important;margin: 0 auto !important;width: 120px !important;min-width: 120px !important;max-width: 120px !important;height: auto !important;object-fit: contain !important;flex-shrink: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-dropdown-wrapper { text-align: center !important; margin-bottom: 16px !important; margin-top: 0 !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-dropdown-title-container { position: relative !important; display: inline-block !important; max-width: 100% !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-dropdown-title {appearance: none !important;-webkit-appearance: none !important;-moz-appearance: none !important;background: transparent !important;border: none !important;font-size: 18px !important;font-weight: 600 !important;color: var(--riv-primary) !important;padding-right: 28px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;cursor: pointer !important;text-align: center !important;text-align-last: center !important;width: auto !important;max-width: 100% !important;font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif !important;line-height: 1.3 !important;margin: 0 !important;text-overflow: ellipsis !important;overflow: hidden !important;white-space: nowrap !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-dropdown-title:focus { outline: none !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-dropdown-title::-ms-expand { display: none !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-dropdown-chevron {position: absolute !important;right: 0 !important;top: 50% !important;transform: translateY(-50%) !important;pointer-events: none !important;color: var(--riv-primary) !important;display: flex !important;align-items: center !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-carousel-title-controls { display: flex !important; justify-content: space-between !important; align-items: center !important; margin-bottom: 16px !important; width: 100% !important; gap: 12px !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-carousel-nav-btn {background: transparent !important; border: 1px solid #d1d5db !important; border-radius: 6px !important; padding: 6px 10px !important;cursor: pointer !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; gap: 4px !important; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-carousel-nav-btn:hover { border-color: #9ca3af !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-carousel-counter { font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; text-align: center !important; margin-top: 1rem !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-legend { display: flex !important; justify-content: center !important; flex-wrap: wrap !important; gap: 8px 16px !important; margin: 0 !important; padding: 0 !important; margin-top: 1rem !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-legend-item { display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; gap: 6px !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-legend-color { width: 12px !important; height: 12px !important; border-radius: 3px !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-multi-value-legend {display: flex !important;justify-content: center !important;flex-wrap: wrap !important;gap: 12px 24px !important;margin-bottom: 1.5rem !important;padding: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-multi-legend-item { display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; gap: 8px !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; font-weight: 500 !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-multi-legend-swatch { width: 16px !important; height: 16px !important; border-radius: 3px !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-benchmark-group { margin-bottom: 1rem !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-benchmark-title {font-size: 18px !important; font-weight: 600 !important; margin-bottom: 16px !important; margin-top: 0 !important; padding: 0 !important;text-align: center !important; color: var(--riv-primary) !important; flex: 1 !important; min-width: 0 !important;font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif !important; line-height: 1.3 !important;text-transform: none !important;white-space: normal !important;overflow-wrap: break-word !important;word-wrap: break-word !important;max-width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-row, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-stacked-product { display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; width: 100% !important; margin-bottom: 0.75rem !important; position: relative !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-label { width: 150px !important; flex-shrink: 0 !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; padding-right: 10px !important; text-align: right !important; font-weight: 500 !important; display: block !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-container { flex-grow: 1 !important; background-color: #E5E7EB !important; border-radius: 4px !important; min-height: 25px !important; border: 1px solid #D1D5DB !important; position: relative !important; display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-commentary-inline { display: none !important; position: absolute !important; left: 150px !important; top: 0 !important; bottom: 0 !important; right: 0 !important; width: calc(100% - 150px) !important; margin: 0 !important; padding: 0 8px !important; font-size: 13px !important; color: #fff !important; background: rgba(0,0,0,0.8) !important; border-radius: 4px !important; line-height: 1.4 !important; font-weight: normal !important; text-transform: none !important; word-wrap: break-word !important; z-index: 10 !important; align-items: center !important; overflow-y: auto !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.preview-wrapper .fv-bar-row:hover .fv-bar-commentary-inline, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.preview-wrapper .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.preview-wrapper .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus-within, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-row:hover .fv-bar-commentary-inline, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus, #fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus-within { display: flex !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar { height: 100% !important; border-radius: 3px !important; display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; transition: opacity 0.2s ease, width 0.8s ease-out !important; min-height: 23px !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar:hover { opacity: 0.8 !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-inner-content { display: flex !important; justify-content: space-between !important; align-items: center !important; width: 100% !important; height: 100% !important; padding: 0 8px !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: bold !important; overflow: hidden !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-inner-label { white-space: nowrap !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-overflow: ellipsis !important; padding-right: 8px !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-inner-value { flex-shrink: 0 !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-value-outside { padding-left: 8px !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: bold !important; color: #374151 !important; white-space: nowrap !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-label.fv-primary-product { font-weight: bold !important; color: var(--riv-primary) !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-multi-bar-container { flex-direction: column !important; padding: 4px !important; align-items: stretch !important; gap: 4px !important; height: auto !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-multi-bar-item { display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; height: 25px !important; width: 100% !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-stacked-bar { display: flex !important; overflow: hidden !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-stacked-segment { height: 100% !important; display: flex !important; align-items: center !important; justify-content: flex-end !important; padding-right: 8px !important; border-right: 1px solid rgba(255,255,255,0.3) !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-stacked-segment:last-child { border-right: none !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-segment-value { font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: bold !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-grouped-bar-product { display: flex !important; flex-direction: column !important; width: 100% !important; margin-bottom: 1.25rem !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-grouped-product-title-wrapper { padding-left: 150px !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-grouped-product-title { width: 100% !important; text-align: left !important; padding-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0.5rem !important; font-weight: 700 !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; text-transform: none !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-cluster { width: 100% !important; flex-grow: 1 !important; display: flex !important; flex-direction: column !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-cluster .fv-bar-row { margin-bottom: 3px !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-cluster .fv-bar-container { height: 20px !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .riv-grid line {stroke: #D1D5DB !important;stroke-dasharray: 3 3 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-wrapper { display: flex !important; width: 100% !important; margin-top: 0.5rem !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-label-space { width: 150px !important; padding-right: 10px !important; flex-shrink: 0 !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-chart-space { flex-grow: 1 !important; padding-right: 8px !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-wrapper.fv-grouped-x-axis { margin-left: 0 !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-line { border-top: 1px solid #D1D5DB !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-ticks { display: flex !important; justify-content: space-between !important; padding-top: 4px !important; font-size: 13px !important; color: #374151 !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-ticks span { position: relative !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-ticks span::before { content: '' !important; position: absolute !important; top: -6px !important; left: 50% !important; transform: translateX(-50%) !important; width: 2px !important; height: 4px !important; background-color: #D1D5DB !important; border-radius: 1px !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-unit { text-align: center !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #374151 !important; margin-top: 8px !important; display: block !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-title { text-align: center !important; font-size: 15px !important; color: #374151 !important; margin-top: 8px !important; margin-bottom: 16px !important; line-height: 1.5 !important; padding: 0 1rem !important; display: block !important; font-weight: bold !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-y-axis-title {font-size: 15px !important;color: #374151 !important;line-height: 1.5 !important;text-align: left !important;padding-left: 5.83% !important;margin-bottom: 4px !important;display: block !important;font-weight: bold !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-pie-container,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-pie-container {flex-direction: column !important; gap: 1rem !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-grouped-product-title-wrapper,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-grouped-product-title-wrapper {padding-left: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-row,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-stacked-product,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-grouped-bar-product,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-bar-row,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-stacked-product,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-grouped-bar-product {flex-direction: column !important; align-items: flex-start !important; margin-bottom: 1.25rem !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-label:not(.fv-grouped-product-title),#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-bar-label:not(.fv-grouped-product-title) {width: 100% !important; text-align: left !important; padding-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0.25rem !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: 700 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-label,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-grouped-product-title,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-bar-label,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-grouped-product-title {width: 100% !important; text-align: left !important; padding-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0.25rem !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: 700 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-container,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-cluster,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-bar-container,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-bar-cluster {width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-row:hover .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus-within,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-bar-row:hover .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus-within {position: static !important; display: block !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 4px 0 0 0 !important; padding: 0 !important; background: transparent !important; color: #6B7280 !important; font-size: 12px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-x-axis-wrapper,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-x-axis-wrapper {margin-left: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-x-axis-label-space,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-x-axis-label-space {display: none !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-x-axis-chart-space,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-x-axis-chart-space {padding-right: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-benchmark-title,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-benchmark-title {font-size: 16px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-dropdown-title,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-dropdown-title {font-size: 16px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-carousel-nav-btn,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-carousel-nav-btn {padding: 8px 12px !important; font-size: 14px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-chart-title,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-chart-title {padding: 0 8px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-chart-subhead,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-chart-subhead {padding: 0 8px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-versus-header,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-versus-header {flex-direction: column !important; align-items: center !important; padding: 0 !important; gap: 0.5rem !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-versus-select-wrapper,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select-wrapper {flex: 1 !important; min-width: 0 !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-left,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-left {text-align: center !important; padding-right: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-right,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-right {text-align: center !important; padding-left: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-versus-select.fv-select-left,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select.fv-select-left {text-align: center !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-versus-select.fv-select-right,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select.fv-select-right {text-align: center !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-versus-vs,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-versus-vs {text-align: center !important; padding: 0.25rem 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-versus-select-container,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select-container {max-width: 100% !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-versus-select,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-versus-select {font-size: 14px !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-stl-shop-all-btn,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-stl-shop-all-btn {bottom: 0.5rem !important; right: 0.5rem !important; height: 2rem !important; font-size: 0.75rem !important; padding: 0 0.75rem 0 2.5rem !important; max-width: calc(100% - 1rem) !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-stl-shop-all-logo,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-stl-shop-all-icon,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-stl-shop-all-logo,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-stl-shop-all-icon {width: 2rem !important; height: 2rem !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-stl-shop-all-icon svg,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-stl-shop-all-icon svg {width: 14px !important; height: 14px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.labels-on-top .fv-bar-commentary-inline {display: block !important; margin-left: 0 !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view .fv-y-axis-title { padding-left: 5% !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.mobile-view.fv-contains-line-chart .fv-footer-content {margin-left: -1rem !important;margin-right: -1rem !important;}@media (max-width: 599px) {#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-pie-container {flex-direction: column !important; gap: 1rem !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-grouped-product-title-wrapper {padding-left: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-row,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-stacked-product,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-grouped-bar-product {flex-direction: column !important; align-items: flex-start !important; margin-bottom: 1.25rem !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-label:not(.fv-grouped-product-title) {width: 100% !important; text-align: left !important; padding-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0.25rem !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: 700 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-label,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-grouped-product-title {width: 100% !important; text-align: left !important; padding-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0.25rem !important; font-size: 14px !important; font-weight: 700 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-container,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-cluster {width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-row:hover .fv-bar-commentary-inline,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-row .fv-bar-commentary-inline:focus-within {position: static !important; display: block !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 4px 0 0 0 !important; padding: 0 !important; background: transparent !important; color: #6B7280 !important; font-size: 12px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-wrapper {margin-left: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-label-space {display: none !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-x-axis-chart-space {padding-right: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-benchmark-title {font-size: 16px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-dropdown-title {font-size: 16px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-carousel-nav-btn {padding: 8px 12px !important; font-size: 14px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-chart-title {padding: 0 8px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-chart-subhead {padding: 0 8px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-header {flex-direction: column !important; align-items: center !important; padding: 0 !important; gap: 0.5rem !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select-wrapper {flex: 1 !important; min-width: 0 !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-left {text-align: center !important; padding-right: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select-wrapper.fv-right {text-align: center !important; padding-left: 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select.fv-select-left {text-align: center !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select.fv-select-right {text-align: center !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-vs {text-align: center !important; padding: 0.25rem 0 !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select-container {max-width: 100% !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-versus-select {font-size: 14px !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-stl-shop-all-btn {bottom: 0.5rem !important; right: 0.5rem !important; height: 2rem !important; font-size: 0.75rem !important; padding: 0 0.75rem 0 2.5rem !important; max-width: calc(100% - 1rem) !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-stl-shop-all-logo,#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-stl-shop-all-icon {width: 2rem !important; height: 2rem !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-stl-shop-all-icon svg {width: 14px !important; height: 14px !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-bar-commentary-inline {display: block !important; margin-left: 0 !important; width: 100% !important;}#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper .fv-y-axis-title { padding-left: 5% !important; }#fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw-slideshow .fv-chart-wrapper.fv-contains-line-chart .fv-footer-content {margin-left: -1rem !important;margin-right: -1rem !important;}}[{"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "Dataset","name": "Brightness measurements","description": "Taken using a colorimeter and test pattern generator. Click the test name for measurements and select the chosen test from the dropdown menu.","creator": {"@type": "Organization","name": "TechRadar","logo": "https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dAwPEozB9GMMhAngdFJTHb.png"},"isAccessibleForFree": true,"dateCreated": "2026-08-05T11:50:01.696Z","citation": "Add your caption to explain the data, the learnings and the key takeaways of the data being visualized","keywords": ["Hisense UR8","TCL QM8L","Samsung QN80H","HDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)","HDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)","HDR Standard Mode (10% window)","SDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)","SDR Standard Mode (10% window)","HDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)","SDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)","SDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)","HDR Filmmaker Mode","HDR Standard","SDR Filmmaker Mode","SDR Standard","benchmark","comparison","performance","review","TechRadar"],"measurementTechnique": "Performance Benchmarking","variableMeasured": [{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – HDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)","value": 2097,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – HDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)","value": 771,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "TCL QM8L – HDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)","value": 3719,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "TCL QM8L – HDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)","value": 759,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – HDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)","value": 1149,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – HDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)","value": 603,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – HDR Standard Mode (10% window)","value": 2394,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – HDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)","value": 767,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "TCL QM8L – HDR Standard Mode (10% window)","value": 3771,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "TCL QM8L – HDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)","value": 795,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – HDR Standard Mode (10% window)","value": 1204,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – HDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)","value": 672,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – SDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)","value": 314,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – SDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)","value": 372,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "TCL QM8L – SDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)","value": 229,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – SDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)","value": 199,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – SDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)","value": 231,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – SDR Standard Mode (10% window)","value": 1514,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – SDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)","value": 778,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "TCL QM8L – SDR Standard Mode (10% window)","value": 581,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – SDR Standard Mode (10% window)","value": 588,"unitText": "nits"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – SDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)","value": 340,"unitText": "nits"}]},{"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "Dataset","name": "HDR color gamut","description": "Closer to 100% is better. Taken using a colorimeter and test pattern generator.","creator": {"@type": "Organization","name": "TechRadar","logo": "https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dAwPEozB9GMMhAngdFJTHb.png"},"isAccessibleForFree": true,"dateCreated": "2026-08-05T11:50:01.696Z","citation": "Add your caption to explain the data, the learnings and the key takeaways of the data being visualized","keywords": ["Hisense UR8","TCL QM8L","Samsung QN80H","UHDA-P3","BT.2020","HDR Filmmaker Mode","benchmark","comparison","performance","review","TechRadar"],"measurementTechnique": "Performance Benchmarking","variableMeasured": [{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – UHDA-P3","value": 145.2,"unitText": ""},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – BT.2020","value": 95.1,"unitText": ""},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "TCL QM8L – UHDA-P3","value": 97.9,"unitText": ""},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "TCL QM8L – BT.2020","value": 90.2,"unitText": ""},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – UHDA-P3","value": 95.2,"unitText": ""},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – BT.2020","value": 75,"unitText": ""}]},{"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "Dataset","name": "Picture accuracy","description": "A lower score is better. Taken using a colorimeter and test pattern generator.","creator": {"@type": "Organization","name": "TechRadar","logo": "https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dAwPEozB9GMMhAngdFJTHb.png"},"isAccessibleForFree": true,"dateCreated": "2026-08-05T11:50:01.696Z","citation": "Add your caption to explain the data, the learnings and the key takeaways of the data being visualized","keywords": ["Hisense UR8","TCL QM8L","Samsung QN80H","Delta-E","SDR Delta-E","benchmark","comparison","performance","review","TechRadar"],"measurementTechnique": "Performance Benchmarking","variableMeasured": [{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – Delta-E","value": 7.9,"unitText": ""},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "TCL QM8L – Delta-E","value": 3.7,"unitText": ""},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – Delta-E","value": 1.8,"unitText": ""}]},{"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "Dataset","name": "Input lag","description": "Lower is better. Taken using a Leo Bodnar 4K HDMI Video Signal Lag Tester.","creator": {"@type": "Organization","name": "TechRadar","logo": "https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dAwPEozB9GMMhAngdFJTHb.png"},"isAccessibleForFree": true,"dateCreated": "2026-08-05T11:50:01.696Z","citation": "Add your caption to explain the data, the learnings and the key takeaways of the data being visualized","keywords": ["Hisense UR8","TCL QM8L","Samsung QN80H","4K 60Hz","1080p 120Hz","HDR Filmmaker Mode","benchmark","comparison","performance","review","TechRadar"],"measurementTechnique": "Performance Benchmarking","variableMeasured": [{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – 4K 60Hz","value": 11.7,"unitText": "ms"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Hisense UR8 – 1080p 120Hz","value": 11.7,"unitText": "ms"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "TCL QM8L – 4K 60Hz","value": 9.5,"unitText": "ms"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – 4K 60Hz","value": 12.3,"unitText": "ms"},{"@type": "PropertyValue","name": "Samsung QN80H – 1080p 120Hz","value": 5.8,"unitText": "ms"}]}]Previous1 / 4NextBrightness measurements

Taken using a colorimeter and test pattern generator. Click the test name for measurements and select the chosen test from the dropdown menu.

HDR Filmmaker ModeHDR StandardSDR Filmmaker ModeSDR StandardHisense UR8HDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)2097HDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)771TCL QM8LHDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)3719HDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)759Samsung QN80HHDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)1149HDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)60301,0002,0003,0004,000nitsHDR Filmmaker Mode DataProductHDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window) (nits)HDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen) (nits)Hisense UR82097771TCL QM8L3719759Samsung QN80H1149603Hisense UR8HDR Standard Mode (10% window)2394HDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)767TCL QM8LHDR Standard Mode (10% window)3771HDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)795Samsung QN80HHDR Standard Mode (10% window)1204HDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)67201,0002,0003,0004,000nitsHDR Standard DataProductHDR Standard Mode (10% window) (nits)HDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen) (nits)Hisense UR82394767TCL QM8L3771795Samsung QN80H1204672Hisense UR8SDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)314SDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)372TCL QM8LSDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)229SDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)0Samsung QN80HSDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window)199SDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen)2310100200300400nitsSDR Filmmaker Mode DataProductSDR Filmmaker Mode (10% window) (nits)SDR Filmmaker Mode (Fullscreen) (nits)Hisense UR8314372TCL QM8L229N/ASamsung QN80H199231Hisense UR8SDR Standard Mode (10% window)1514SDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)778TCL QM8LSDR Standard Mode (10% window)581SDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)0Samsung QN80HSDR Standard Mode (10% window)588SDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen)34005001,0001,5002,000nitsSDR Standard DataProductSDR Standard Mode (10% window) (nits)SDR Standard Mode (Fullscreen) (nits)Hisense UR81514778TCL QM8L581N/ASamsung QN80H588340HDR color gamut

Closer to 100% is better. Taken using a colorimeter and test pattern generator.

Hisense UR8UHDA-P3145.2BT.202095.1TCL QM8LUHDA-P397.9BT.202090.2Samsung QN80HUHDA-P395.2BT.202075037.575112.5150HDR Filmmaker Mode DataProductUHDA-P3 ()BT.2020 ()Hisense UR8145.295.1TCL QM8L97.990.2Samsung QN80H95.275Picture accuracy

A lower score is better. Taken using a colorimeter and test pattern generator.

SDR Delta-EHisense UR87.9TCL QM8L3.7Samsung QN80H1.8012345678SDR Delta-E DataProductValueHisense UR87.9TCL QM8L3.7Samsung QN80H1.8Input lag

Lower is better. Taken using a Leo Bodnar 4K HDMI Video Signal Lag Tester.

Hisense UR84K 60Hz11.71080p 120Hz11.7TCL QM8L4K 60Hz9.51080p 120Hz0Samsung QN80H4K 60Hz12.31080p 120Hz5.803.757.511.2515msHDR Filmmaker Mode DataProduct4K 60Hz (ms)1080p 120Hz (ms)Hisense UR811.711.7TCL QM8L9.5N/ASamsung QN80H12.35.8window.iFrameResizer = {heightCalculationMethod: 'taggedElement'};(function() {window.fvAnimateCharts = function(chartWrapper) {if (!chartWrapper) return;function animateBars(chartElement) {if (!chartElement) return;var bars = chartElement.querySelectorAll('.fv-bar, .fv-stacked-segment');bars.forEach(function(bar, index) {bar.style.setProperty('width', '0%', 'important');bar.style.setProperty('transition', 'none', 'important');var targetWidth = bar.dataset.targetWidth;if (targetWidth === undefined) return;void bar.offsetWidth;var targetMargin = bar.dataset.targetMargin;var baseMargin = bar.dataset.baseMargin;if (baseMargin !== undefined) {bar.style.setProperty('margin-left', baseMargin + '%', 'important');}setTimeout(function() {var marginTransition = baseMargin !== undefined ? ', margin-left 0.8s ease-out' : '';bar.style.setProperty('transition', 'opacity 0.2s ease, width 0.8s ease-out' + marginTransition, 'important');bar.style.setProperty('width', targetWidth + '%', 'important');if (targetMargin !== undefined && baseMargin !== undefined) {bar.style.setProperty('margin-left', targetMargin + '%', 'important');}}, index * 50 + 50);});}function animateLineChart(chartElement) {if (!chartElement) return;var lineSvg = chartElement.querySelector('svg');if (!lineSvg) return;var paths = lineSvg.querySelectorAll('.riv-line-path');paths.forEach(function(p, i) {if (typeof p.getTotalLength === 'function') {var len = p.getTotalLength();p.style.transition = 'none';p.style.strokeDasharray = len;p.style.strokeDashoffset = len;p.getBoundingClientRect();setTimeout(function() {p.style.transition = 'stroke-dashoffset 1s ease-out ' + (i * 0.1) + 's, stroke-width 0.2s, opacity 0.2s';p.style.strokeDashoffset = '0';}, 100);}});var dots = lineSvg.querySelectorAll('.riv-dot');dots.forEach(function(dot, i) {dot.style.opacity = '0';setTimeout(function() {dot.style.transition = 'opacity 0.3s ease';dot.style.opacity = '1';}, 500 + i * 10);});}var charts = chartWrapper.querySelectorAll('.fv-chart-item');charts.forEach(function(chart) {if (window.getComputedStyle(chart).display === 'none') return;var chartType = chart.dataset.chartType;if (chartType === 'Line') {animateLineChart(chart);} else if (chartType !== 'Pie') {animateBars(chart);}});};function initialize(uniqueId, isSlideshow) {var root = document.getElementById(uniqueId);if (!root && !isSlideshow) return;function setupWrapper(chartWrapper) {if (!chartWrapper) return;function checkMobileView() {var width = chartWrapper.getBoundingClientRect().width;var isMobileDevice = window.screen && Math.min(window.screen.width, window.screen.height) <= 599;var isMobile;if (width === 0) {isMobile = isMobileDevice || window.matchMedia('(max-width: 599px)').matches;} else {isMobile = isMobileDevice || width < 600;}if (isMobile) {chartWrapper.classList.add('mobile-view');} else {chartWrapper.classList.remove('mobile-view');}}checkMobileView();if (typeof ResizeObserver !== 'undefined') {var ro = new ResizeObserver(function() {checkMobileView();});ro.observe(chartWrapper);}window.addEventListener('resize', checkMobileView);var labelsOnTop = chartWrapper.dataset.barLabelsOnTop === 'true';if (labelsOnTop) {var charts = chartWrapper.querySelectorAll('.fv-chart-item');var hasVisibleBarChart = false;charts.forEach(function(c) {if (window.getComputedStyle(c).display !== 'none') {var cType = c.dataset.chartType;if (cType === 'Bar' || cType === 'Stacked Bar' || cType === 'Versus') {hasVisibleBarChart = true;}}});if (hasVisibleBarChart) {chartWrapper.classList.add('labels-on-top');} else {chartWrapper.classList.remove('labels-on-top');}} else {chartWrapper.classList.remove('labels-on-top');}chartWrapper.querySelectorAll('.riv-line-legend').forEach(function(legend) {var chartId = legend.dataset.chart;var chart = chartWrapper.querySelector('[id="' + chartId + '"]');if (!chart) return;var lines = chart.querySelectorAll('.riv-line-path');var dots = chart.querySelectorAll('.riv-dot');var legendItems = legend.querySelectorAll('.riv-legend-item');legendItems.forEach(function(item) {var productName = item.dataset.product;var safeProductName = productName.replace(/"/g, '\"');var line = chart.querySelector('.riv-line-path[data-product="' + safeProductName + '"]');var productDots = chart.querySelectorAll('.riv-dot[data-product="' + safeProductName + '"]');if (line && !line.dataset.origStroke) {line.dataset.origStroke = line.getAttribute('stroke-width') || '2';}var highlight = function() {if (legend.querySelector('.isolated')) return;lines.forEach(function(l) { l.style.opacity = '0.2'; l.setAttribute('stroke-width', l.dataset.origStroke); });dots.forEach(function(d) { d.style.opacity = '0.2'; });legendItems.forEach(function(i) { i.style.opacity = '0.3'; i.style.transition = 'opacity 0.2s'; });if (line) {line.style.opacity = '1';line.setAttribute('stroke-width', '4');}productDots.forEach(function(d) { d.style.opacity = '1'; });item.style.opacity = '1';};var clearHighlight = function() {if (legend.querySelector('.isolated')) return;lines.forEach(function(l) { l.style.opacity = '1'; l.setAttribute('stroke-width', l.dataset.origStroke); });dots.forEach(function(d) { d.style.opacity = '1'; });legendItems.forEach(function(i) { i.style.opacity = '1'; });};var toggleIsolate = function() {var isIsolated = item.classList.contains('isolated');legendItems.forEach(function(i) { i.classList.remove('isolated'); });if (isIsolated) {lines.forEach(function(l) { l.style.opacity = '1'; l.setAttribute('stroke-width', l.dataset.origStroke); });dots.forEach(function(d) { d.style.opacity = '1'; });legendItems.forEach(function(i) { i.style.opacity = '1'; });} else {item.classList.add('isolated');lines.forEach(function(l) { l.style.opacity = '0.2'; l.setAttribute('stroke-width', l.dataset.origStroke); });dots.forEach(function(d) { d.style.opacity = '0.2'; });legendItems.forEach(function(i) { i.style.opacity = '0.3'; i.style.transition = 'opacity 0.2s'; });if (line) {line.style.opacity = '1';line.setAttribute('stroke-width', '4');}productDots.forEach(function(d) { d.style.opacity = '1'; });item.style.opacity = '1';}};item.addEventListener('mouseenter', highlight);item.addEventListener('focus', highlight);item.addEventListener('mouseleave', clearHighlight);item.addEventListener('blur', clearHighlight);item.addEventListener('click', toggleIsolate);if (line) {line.style.cursor = 'pointer';line.addEventListener('mouseenter', highlight);line.addEventListener('mouseleave', clearHighlight);line.addEventListener('click', toggleIsolate);}});});var versusCharts = chartWrapper.querySelectorAll('.fv-versus-chart');versusCharts.forEach(function(vc) {var dataJson = vc.getAttribute('data-versus-data');var leftColor = vc.getAttribute('data-left-color') || '#E53935';var rightColor = vc.getAttribute('data-right-color') || '#FFB300';if (!dataJson) return;var versusData = JSON.parse(dataJson);var leftSelect = vc.querySelector('.fv-select-left');var rightSelect = vc.querySelector('.fv-select-right');var rows = vc.querySelectorAll('.fv-versus-row');function updateVersusChart() {var leftProduct = leftSelect.value;var rightProduct = rightSelect.value;leftSelect.style.color = leftColor;leftSelect.style.borderColor = leftColor;rightSelect.style.color = rightColor;rightSelect.style.borderColor = rightColor;rows.forEach(function(row) {var index = parseInt(row.getAttribute('data-index'));var data = versusData[index];if (!data) return;var leftVal = data.productData[leftProduct] ? data.productData[leftProduct].value : undefined;var rightVal = data.productData[rightProduct] ? data.productData[rightProduct].value : undefined;var leftIsNum = typeof leftVal === 'number';var rightIsNum = typeof rightVal === 'number';var leftNum = leftIsNum ? leftVal : 0;var rightNum = rightIsNum ? rightVal : 0;var maxVal = Math.max(leftNum, rightNum, 0.0001);var leftWidth = leftIsNum ? (leftNum / maxVal) * 95 : 0;var rightWidth = rightIsNum ? (rightNum / maxVal) * 85 : 0;var winner = null;var pctDiffStr = null;if (leftIsNum && rightIsNum) {if (leftNum > rightNum) {winner = 'left';if (rightNum > 0) {var diff = Math.round(((leftNum - rightNum) / rightNum) * 100);pctDiffStr = '+' + diff.toLocaleString() + '%';}} else if (rightNum > leftNum) {winner = 'right';if (leftNum > 0) {var diff = Math.round(((rightNum - leftNum) / leftNum) * 100);pctDiffStr = '+' + diff.toLocaleString() + '%';}}}var leftDisplay = data.productData[leftProduct] && data.productData[leftProduct].displayValue !== undefined ? data.productData[leftProduct].displayValue : (leftIsNum ? leftNum.toLocaleString() : (leftVal !== undefined ? leftVal : '-'));var rightDisplay = data.productData[rightProduct] && data.productData[rightProduct].displayValue !== undefined ? data.productData[rightProduct].displayValue : (rightIsNum ? rightNum.toLocaleString() : (rightVal !== undefined ? rightVal : '-'));var unit = (data.productData[leftProduct] && data.productData[leftProduct].unit) ||(data.productData[rightProduct] && data.productData[rightProduct].unit) || '';var leftTextStr = leftDisplay;var rightTextStr = rightDisplay;var leftBar = row.querySelector('.fv-versus-bar-left');var rightBar = row.querySelector('.fv-versus-bar-right');var leftText = row.querySelector('.fv-inside-left');var rightText = row.querySelector('.fv-inside-right');var labelText = row.querySelector('.fv-versus-label span');var leftWrapper = row.querySelector('.fv-versus-bar-left-wrapper');var rightWrapper = row.querySelector('.fv-versus-bar-right-wrapper');var existingPctDiffs = row.querySelectorAll('.fv-versus-pct-diff');existingPctDiffs.forEach(function(el) { el.remove(); });if (winner === 'left' && pctDiffStr) {var pctSpan = document.createElement('span');pctSpan.className = 'fv-versus-pct-diff';pctSpan.style.color = 'rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9)';pctSpan.textContent = pctDiffStr;if (leftBar) leftBar.insertBefore(pctSpan, leftBar.firstChild);} else if (winner === 'right' && pctDiffStr) {var pctSpan = document.createElement('span');pctSpan.className = 'fv-versus-pct-diff';pctSpan.style.color = 'rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9)';pctSpan.textContent = pctDiffStr;if (rightBar) rightBar.appendChild(pctSpan);}if (leftBar) {leftBar.style.backgroundColor = leftColor;leftBar.dataset.targetWidth = leftWidth;leftBar.style.setProperty('--target-width', leftWidth + '%');leftBar.style.width = leftWidth + '%';}if (rightBar) {rightBar.style.backgroundColor = rightColor;rightBar.dataset.targetWidth = rightWidth;rightBar.style.setProperty('--target-width', rightWidth + '%');rightBar.style.width = rightWidth + '%';}if (leftText) {leftText.innerHTML = leftTextStr;}if (rightText) {rightText.innerHTML = rightTextStr;}if (labelText) {labelText.textContent = data.attribute + (unit ? ' (' + unit + ')' : '');}});}if (leftSelect) leftSelect.addEventListener('change', updateVersusChart);if (rightSelect) rightSelect.addEventListener('change', updateVersusChart);});var barRows = chartWrapper.querySelectorAll('.fv-bar-row');var globalCaptionEl = chartWrapper.querySelector('.rv-chart-caption');var fallbackCaptionHtml = globalCaptionEl ? globalCaptionEl.innerHTML : '';barRows.forEach(function(row) {var commentaryEl = row.querySelector('[data-commentary-key]');if (commentaryEl) {var commentaryText = commentaryEl.textContent;if (commentaryText && commentaryText.trim().length > 0) {row.addEventListener('mouseenter', function() {if (!chartWrapper.classList.contains('mobile-view') && globalCaptionEl) {globalCaptionEl.innerHTML = commentaryText;globalCaptionEl.classList.add('fv-bar-active-caption');}});row.addEventListener('mouseleave', function() {if (!chartWrapper.classList.contains('mobile-view') && globalCaptionEl) {globalCaptionEl.innerHTML = fallbackCaptionHtml;globalCaptionEl.classList.remove('fv-bar-active-caption');}});}}});var charts = chartWrapper.querySelectorAll('.fv-chart-item');var dropdown = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-dropdown-title');var prevBtn = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-carousel-nav-btn.prev');var nextBtn = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-carousel-nav-btn.next');var carouselTitle = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-carousel-title-controls .fv-benchmark-title');var counter = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-carousel-counter');var subheadEl = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-chart-subhead');var captionEl = chartWrapper.querySelector('.rv-chart-caption');var footerContentEl = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-footer-content');var bottomBarEl = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-bottom-bar');var logoEl = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-logo');if (charts.length > 1 && (dropdown || prevBtn)) {var currentChartIndex = 0;var titles = [];if (dropdown) {titles = Array.from(dropdown.options).map(function(o) { return o.text; });} else {charts.forEach(function(c) {titles.push(c.getAttribute('data-title') || '');});}function showInternalChart(index) {if (index < 0) index = charts.length - 1;if (index >= charts.length) index = 0;currentChartIndex = index;charts.forEach(function(c, i) {c.style.display = i === index ? 'block' : 'none';if (i === index) {var cType = c.dataset.chartType;if (cType === 'Line') {} else if (cType !== 'Pie') {window.fvAnimateCharts(chartWrapper);}var labelsOnTop = chartWrapper.dataset.barLabelsOnTop === 'true';if (labelsOnTop && (cType === 'Bar' || cType === 'Stacked Bar' || cType === 'Versus')) {chartWrapper.classList.add('labels-on-top');} else {chartWrapper.classList.remove('labels-on-top');}}});if (dropdown) dropdown.value = index;if (carouselTitle && titles[index]) carouselTitle.textContent = titles[index];if (counter) counter.textContent = (index + 1) + ' of ' + charts.length;var activeChart = charts[index];if (activeChart) {var newSubhead = activeChart.getAttribute('data-subhead');var newCaption = activeChart.getAttribute('data-caption');var currentChartType = activeChart.getAttribute('data-chart-type');var hideGlobalCaption = currentChartType === 'Countdown' || currentChartType === 'Image Comparison' || currentChartType === 'Shop the Collection';if (subheadEl) subheadEl.textContent = newSubhead || '';if (captionEl) {captionEl.textContent = newCaption || '';fallbackCaptionHtml = newCaption || '';}if (footerContentEl) {if (newCaption && newCaption.trim().length > 0 && !hideGlobalCaption) {footerContentEl.style.display = 'block';if (bottomBarEl) bottomBarEl.style.display = 'flex';} else {footerContentEl.style.display = 'none';if (bottomBarEl && !logoEl) {bottomBarEl.style.display = 'none';}}}}}if (dropdown) dropdown.addEventListener('change', function(e) { showInternalChart(parseInt(e.target.value)); });if (prevBtn) prevBtn.addEventListener('click', function() { showInternalChart(currentChartIndex - 1); });if (nextBtn) nextBtn.addEventListener('click', function() { showInternalChart(currentChartIndex + 1); });}var imageCompareWrappers = chartWrapper.querySelectorAll('.fv-image-compare-wrapper');imageCompareWrappers.forEach(function(wrapper) {var inner = wrapper.querySelector('.fv-image-compare-inner') || wrapper;var slider = wrapper.querySelector('.fv-image-compare-slider');var fgImage = wrapper.querySelector('.fv-image-compare-fg');var bgImage = wrapper.querySelector('.fv-image-compare-bg');var labelLeft = wrapper.querySelector('.fv-image-compare-label-left');var labelRight = wrapper.querySelector('.fv-image-compare-label-right');var isDragging = false;var scale = 1;var panX = 0;var panY = 0;var isPanning = false;var hasPanned = false;var lastClientX = 0;var lastClientY = 0;var initialDistance = null;var lastCenterX = null;var lastCenterY = null;function updateTransform() {if (wrapper.classList.contains('fv-image-compare-fullscreen')) {inner.style.setProperty('transform', 'translate(' + panX + 'px, ' + panY + 'px) scale(' + scale + ')', 'important');} else {inner.style.removeProperty('transform');scale = 1;panX = 0;panY = 0;}}function constrainPan() {var rect = wrapper.getBoundingClientRect();var maxPanX = Math.max(0, (rect.width * scale - rect.width) / 2);var maxPanY = Math.max(0, (rect.height * scale - rect.height) / 2);panX = Math.max(-maxPanX, Math.min(panX, maxPanX));panY = Math.max(-maxPanY, Math.min(panY, maxPanY));}wrapper.addEventListener('wheel', function(e) {if (!wrapper.classList.contains('fv-image-compare-fullscreen')) return;e.preventDefault();var zoomSensitivity = 0.005;var zoomFactor = Math.exp(-e.deltaY * zoomSensitivity);var newScale = Math.max(1, Math.min(scale * zoomFactor, 5));if (newScale === scale) return;var rect = wrapper.getBoundingClientRect();var mouseX = e.clientX - rect.left - rect.width / 2;var mouseY = e.clientY - rect.top - rect.height / 2;var ratio = newScale / scale;panX = mouseX - (mouseX - panX) * ratio;panY = mouseY - (mouseY - panY) * ratio;scale = newScale;constrainPan();updateTransform();}, { passive: false });wrapper.addEventListener('mousedown', function(e) {if (!wrapper.classList.contains('fv-image-compare-fullscreen') || scale <= 1) return;if (e.target.closest('.fv-image-compare-slider') || e.target.closest('button')) return;isPanning = true;hasPanned = false;lastClientX = e.clientX;lastClientY = e.clientY;});window.addEventListener('mousemove', function(e) {if (!isPanning) return;var dx = e.clientX - lastClientX;var dy = e.clientY - lastClientY;if (Math.abs(dx) > 2 || Math.abs(dy) > 2) {hasPanned = true;}lastClientX = e.clientX;lastClientY = e.clientY;panX += dx;panY += dy;constrainPan();updateTransform();});window.addEventListener('mouseup', function() {isPanning = false;});wrapper.addEventListener('touchstart', function(e) {if (!wrapper.classList.contains('fv-image-compare-fullscreen')) return;if (e.touches.length === 2) {e.preventDefault();var dx = e.touches[0].clientX - e.touches[1].clientX;var dy = e.touches[0].clientY - e.touches[1].clientY;initialDistance = Math.sqrt(dx * dx + dy * dy);var rect = wrapper.getBoundingClientRect();lastCenterX = (e.touches[0].clientX + e.touches[1].clientX) / 2 - rect.left - rect.width / 2;lastCenterY = (e.touches[0].clientY + e.touches[1].clientY) / 2 - rect.top - rect.height / 2;hasPanned = true;} else if (e.touches.length === 1 && scale > 1) {if (e.target.closest('.fv-image-compare-slider') || e.target.closest('button')) return;isPanning = true;hasPanned = false;lastClientX = e.touches[0].clientX;lastClientY = e.touches[0].clientY;}}, { passive: false });wrapper.addEventListener('touchmove', function(e) {if (!wrapper.classList.contains('fv-image-compare-fullscreen')) return;if (e.touches.length === 2 && initialDistance !== null) {e.preventDefault();var dx = e.touches[0].clientX - e.touches[1].clientX;var dy = e.touches[0].clientY - e.touches[1].clientY;var distance = Math.sqrt(dx * dx + dy * dy);if (initialDistance > 0) {var zoomFactor = distance / initialDistance;var newScale = Math.max(1, Math.min(scale * zoomFactor, 5));var rect = wrapper.getBoundingClientRect();var centerX = (e.touches[0].clientX + e.touches[1].clientX) / 2 - rect.left - rect.width / 2;var centerY = (e.touches[0].clientY + e.touches[1].clientY) / 2 - rect.top - rect.height / 2;var ratio = newScale / scale;panX = centerX - (centerX - panX) * ratio;panY = centerY - (centerY - panY) * ratio;if (lastCenterX !== null && lastCenterY !== null) {panX += (centerX - lastCenterX);panY += (centerY - lastCenterY);}scale = newScale;lastCenterX = centerX;lastCenterY = centerY;constrainPan();updateTransform();}initialDistance = distance;} else if (e.touches.length === 1 && isPanning) {e.preventDefault();var dx = e.touches[0].clientX - lastClientX;var dy = e.touches[0].clientY - lastClientY;if (Math.abs(dx) > 2 || Math.abs(dy) > 2) {hasPanned = true;}lastClientX = e.touches[0].clientX;lastClientY = e.touches[0].clientY;panX += dx;panY += dy;constrainPan();updateTransform();}}, { passive: false });wrapper.addEventListener('touchend', function(e) {if (e.touches.length < 2) {initialDistance = null;}if (e.touches.length === 0) {isPanning = false;}});function handleMove(clientX) {var rect = inner.getBoundingClientRect();var x = Math.max(0, Math.min(clientX - rect.left, rect.width));var percent = Math.max(0, Math.min((x / rect.width) * 100, 100));if (slider) slider.style.setProperty('left', percent + '%', 'important');if (fgImage) fgImage.style.setProperty('clip-path', 'polygon(0 0, ' + percent + '% 0, ' + percent + '% 100%, 0 100%)', 'important');if (labelLeft) {if (percent < 10) {labelLeft.style.setProperty('opacity', '0', 'important');} else {labelLeft.style.setProperty('opacity', '1', 'important');}}if (labelRight) {if (percent > 90) {labelRight.style.setProperty('opacity', '0', 'important');} else {labelRight.style.setProperty('opacity', '1', 'important');}}}function onMouseMove(e) {if (!isDragging) return;handleMove(e.clientX);}function onTouchMove(e) {if (!isDragging) return;e.preventDefault();handleMove(e.touches[0].clientX);}function stopDragging() {isDragging = false;window.removeEventListener('mousemove', onMouseMove);window.removeEventListener('mouseup', stopDragging);window.removeEventListener('touchmove', onTouchMove);window.removeEventListener('touchend', stopDragging);}if (slider) {var startDrag = function(clientX) {isDragging = true;handleMove(clientX);window.addEventListener('mousemove', onMouseMove);window.addEventListener('mouseup', stopDragging);};var startTouchDrag = function(clientX) {isDragging = true;handleMove(clientX);window.addEventListener('touchmove', onTouchMove, { passive: false });window.addEventListener('touchend', stopDragging);};slider.addEventListener('mousedown', function(e) {e.preventDefault();startDrag(e.clientX);});slider.addEventListener('touchstart', function(e) {e.preventDefault();startTouchDrag(e.touches[0].clientX);}, { passive: false });}var expandBtn = wrapper.querySelector('.fv-image-compare-expand-btn');var closeBtn = wrapper.querySelector('.fv-image-compare-close-btn');if (expandBtn) {if (window !== window.parent) {expandBtn.style.display = 'none';} else {expandBtn.addEventListener('click', function(e) {e.stopPropagation();wrapper.classList.add('fv-image-compare-fullscreen');document.body.style.overflow = 'hidden';if (fgImage && fgImage.dataset.highresSrc) {fgImage.src = fgImage.dataset.highresSrc;fgImage.removeAttribute('srcset');fgImage.removeAttribute('sizes');}if (bgImage && bgImage.dataset.highresSrc) {bgImage.src = bgImage.dataset.highresSrc;bgImage.removeAttribute('srcset');bgImage.removeAttribute('sizes');}});}}if (closeBtn) {closeBtn.addEventListener('click', function(e) {e.stopPropagation();wrapper.classList.remove('fv-image-compare-fullscreen');document.body.style.overflow = '';updateTransform();});}document.addEventListener('keydown', function(e) {if (e.key === 'Escape' && wrapper.classList.contains('fv-image-compare-fullscreen')) {wrapper.classList.remove('fv-image-compare-fullscreen');document.body.style.overflow = '';updateTransform();}});});var hotspots = chartWrapper.querySelectorAll('.fv-stl-hotspot-btn');var allProductsModal = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-stl-all-products-modal');var shopAllBtn = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-stl-shop-all-btn');var allProductsList = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-stl-all-products-list');var stlContainer = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-stl-container');function closeAllModals() {if (allProductsModal) {allProductsModal.classList.remove('is-active');var items = allProductsModal.querySelectorAll('.fv-stl-all-products-item');items.forEach(function(item) {item.classList.remove('is-highlighted');});if (stlContainer) {setTimeout(function() {if (!allProductsModal.classList.contains('is-active')) {stlContainer.style.minHeight = '';if ('parentIFrame' in window) {window.parentIFrame.size();}}}, 300);}}hotspots.forEach(function(btn) { btn.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'false'); });if ('parentIFrame' in window) {window.parentIFrame.size();}}hotspots.forEach(function(btn) {btn.addEventListener('click', function(e) {e.stopPropagation();var hotspotId = btn.getAttribute('data-hotspot-id');var isExpanded = btn.getAttribute('aria-expanded') === 'true';closeAllModals();if (!isExpanded && allProductsModal) {btn.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'true');allProductsModal.classList.add('is-active');var container = btn.closest('.fv-stl-container');if (container && container.offsetHeight < 450) {container.style.minHeight = '450px';}var targetItem = allProductsModal.querySelector('.fv-stl-all-products-item[data-product-id="' + hotspotId + '"]');if (targetItem) {targetItem.classList.add('is-highlighted');setTimeout(function() {targetItem.scrollIntoView({ behavior: 'smooth', block: 'center' });}, 100);}if ('parentIFrame' in window) {window.parentIFrame.size();}}});});if (shopAllBtn && allProductsModal) {shopAllBtn.addEventListener('click', function(e) {e.stopPropagation();closeAllModals();allProductsModal.classList.add('is-active');var container = shopAllBtn.closest('.fv-stl-container');if (container && container.offsetHeight < 450) {container.style.minHeight = '450px';}if ('parentIFrame' in window) {window.parentIFrame.size();}});}if (allProductsModal) {var closeAllBtn = allProductsModal.querySelector('.fv-stl-all-products-close');if (closeAllBtn) {closeAllBtn.addEventListener('click', function(e) {e.stopPropagation();closeAllModals();});}}chartWrapper.addEventListener('click', function(e) {if (!e.target.closest('.fv-stl-all-products-content')) {closeAllModals();}});if (allProductsModal) {allProductsModal.addEventListener('click', function(e) {if (!e.target.closest('.fv-stl-all-products-content')) {closeAllModals();}});}var iaNodes = chartWrapper.querySelectorAll('.fv-ia-node-button');var iaWrapper = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-ia-wrapper');var originalCaption = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-original-caption') || captionEl;var dynamicCaption = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-ia-dynamic-caption');var exploreBtn = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-ia-explore-btn');var currentIaIndex = -1;function closeAllIANodes() {iaNodes.forEach(function(btn) { btn.classList.remove('is-active'); });if (originalCaption) originalCaption.style.display = 'block';if (dynamicCaption) dynamicCaption.style.display = 'none';}function resetExploreBtn() {currentIaIndex = -1;if (exploreBtn) {var exploreSpan = exploreBtn.querySelector('span');if (exploreSpan) exploreSpan.textContent = 'Explore';}}iaNodes.forEach(function(btn, index) {btn.addEventListener('click', function(e) {e.stopPropagation();var isActive = btn.classList.contains('is-active');closeAllIANodes();if (!isActive) {currentIaIndex = index;if (exploreBtn) {var exploreSpan = exploreBtn.querySelector('span');if (exploreSpan) exploreSpan.textContent = 'Next';}btn.classList.add('is-active');if (dynamicCaption) {var title = btn.getAttribute('data-title') || '';var desc = btn.getAttribute('data-desc') || '';dynamicCaption.innerHTML = '';var strongTag = document.createElement('strong');strongTag.textContent = title;dynamicCaption.appendChild(strongTag);if (desc) {dynamicCaption.appendChild(document.createTextNode(' - ' + desc));}if (originalCaption) originalCaption.style.display = 'none';dynamicCaption.style.display = 'block';if (footerContentEl) footerContentEl.style.display = 'block';}} else {resetExploreBtn();}});});if (exploreBtn) {exploreBtn.addEventListener('click', function(e) {e.stopPropagation();if (iaNodes.length === 0) return;var nextIndex = currentIaIndex + 1;if (nextIndex >= iaNodes.length) {closeAllIANodes();resetExploreBtn();} else {currentIaIndex = nextIndex;var targetBtn = iaNodes[currentIaIndex];if (targetBtn) {if(targetBtn.classList.contains('is-active')) {targetBtn.click();}targetBtn.click();}}});}if (iaWrapper) {iaWrapper.addEventListener('click', function(e) {if (!e.target.closest('.fv-ia-node-button') && !e.target.closest('.fv-ia-explore-btn')) {closeAllIANodes();resetExploreBtn();}});}window.fvAnimateCharts(chartWrapper);var countdownContainer = chartWrapper.querySelector('.fv-countdown-container');if (countdownContainer) {var targetDateAttr = countdownContainer.getAttribute('data-target-date');if (targetDateAttr) {var targetDate = new Date(targetDateAttr);var primaryColor = countdownContainer.getAttribute('data-primary-color') || '#f97316';var subheadColor = countdownContainer.getAttribute('data-subhead-color') || '#ffffff';var pad = function(n) { return (n < 10 ? '0' : '') + n; };var updateCountdown = function() {var difference = +targetDate - +new Date();var d = 0, h = 0, m = 0, s = 0;if (difference > 0) {d = Math.floor(difference / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24));h = Math.floor((difference / (1000 * 60 * 60)) % 24);m = Math.floor((difference / 1000 / 60) % 60);s = Math.floor((difference / 1000) % 60);}var daysEl = countdownContainer.querySelector('[data-time="days"]');var hoursEl = countdownContainer.querySelector('[data-time="hours"]');var minsEl = countdownContainer.querySelector('[data-time="minutes"]');var secsEl = countdownContainer.querySelector('[data-time="seconds"]');if (daysEl) daysEl.textContent = d;if (hoursEl) hoursEl.textContent = pad(h);if (minsEl) minsEl.textContent = pad(m);if (secsEl) secsEl.textContent = pad(s);};updateCountdown();setInterval(updateCountdown, 1000);}}}if (true) {var slideshowContainer = document.getElementById(uniqueId + '-slideshow');if (slideshowContainer) {var slides = slideshowContainer.querySelectorAll('.fv-slide');slides.forEach(function(slide) {setupWrapper(slide.querySelector('.fv-chart-wrapper'));});}var slideshowContainer = document.getElementById(uniqueId + '-slideshow');if (slideshowContainer) {var currentSlideIndex = 0;var slides = slideshowContainer.querySelectorAll('.fv-slide');var counter = slideshowContainer.querySelector('.fv-slide-counter');var prevBtn = slideshowContainer.querySelector('.fv-nav-btn.prev');var nextBtn = slideshowContainer.querySelector('.fv-nav-btn.next');var dropdown = slideshowContainer.querySelector('.fv-slideshow-select');function updateControls(index) {if (counter) counter.textContent = (index + 1) + ' / ' + slides.length;if (dropdown) dropdown.value = index;if (prevBtn) {if (index === 0) prevBtn.classList.add('disabled');else prevBtn.classList.remove('disabled');}if (nextBtn) {if (index === slides.length - 1) nextBtn.classList.add('disabled');else nextBtn.classList.remove('disabled');}}function showSlide(index) {if (index < 0) return;if (index >= slides.length) return;currentSlideIndex = index;slides.forEach(function(slide, i) {slide.style.display = i === index ? 'block' : 'none';if (i === index) {var chartEl = slide.querySelector('.fv-chart-wrapper');if (chartEl && window.fvAnimateCharts) {window.fvAnimateCharts(chartEl);}}});updateControls(currentSlideIndex);}if (prevBtn) {prevBtn.addEventListener('click', function() { showSlide(currentSlideIndex - 1); });}if (nextBtn) {nextBtn.addEventListener('click', function() { showSlide(currentSlideIndex + 1); });}if (dropdown) {dropdown.addEventListener('change', function(e) { showSlide(parseInt(e.target.value)); });}updateControls(currentSlideIndex);if (slides.length > 0) {var firstChart = slides[0].querySelector('.fv-chart-wrapper');if (firstChart && window.fvAnimateCharts) {setTimeout(function() { window.fvAnimateCharts(firstChart); }, 100);}}}} else {setupWrapper(root);}}if (document.readyState === 'loading') {document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() { initialize('fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw', true); });} else {initialize('fv-chart-1785930601694-1y2st3stw', true);}})();

The above EOTF graphs show the accuracy of the Hisense UR8 for hitting different HDR brightness levels in grayscale. The closer to the yellow line, the more accurate a TV is. As with all our tests, these results are out of the box, without calibration, to demonstrate the performance most people will get. As you can see, the UR8 did very well on all three target tests, showing little deviation from the reference line. (Image credit: Future)

Spectral power distribution refers to the intensity of light that a source will display at various wavelengths of color. It can reveal how accurate a source can show color at different light levels, and can be instructive in understanding how a TV is handling color (Image credit: Future)Hisense UR8 review: Features

The UR8 has four HDMI 2.1 ports (Image credit: Future)

• RGB mini-LED panel
• Four HDMI 2.1 ports, up to 180Hz refresh rate
• Anti-glare screen

The Hisense UR8 is the first affordable RGB mini-LED TV to come onto the market, with the Hisense UR9 taking the flagship spot. The UR8 and UR9 are the first RGB mini-LEDs available in smaller sizes, after the tech's introduction in the Hisense 116UX last year. While the UR9 and UR8 are both significantly cheaper than the 116UX, the UR8 is the more affordable option of the two, although it is still pricier than some standard mini-LED.

RGB mini-LED has a similar setup to standard mini-LED, but instead of purely white LEDs within the TV’s backlight, there are red, blue and green LEDs, which are designed to produce bolder colors and higher brightness than a standard mini-LED in the same bracket. Hisense claims that RGB mini-LED can hit 100% of the BT.2020 color space (more on that below).

The UR8 comes equipped with an anti-glare screen, similar to Samsung’s Glare Free screens. It’s a matte screen designed to reduce distracting, mirror-like reflections, to make viewing in brighter conditions easier.

The UR8 is equipped with Hisense’s Hi-View AI Engine RGB processor, which is designed to help boost color performance, as well as offer AI picture and sound features.The UR8 supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ HDR formats, as well as the new Dolby Vision 2 format, though no content is currently available for this format at the time of writing. IMAX Enhanced is also supported.

The UR8 comes with a great list of gaming features, including four HDMI 2.1 ports which all support up to 4K 180Hz (up to 4K 120Hz for consoles), VRR including AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, Dolby Vision and HDR10+ gaming, and ALLM. There’s also a game menu, where settings for brightness boosting can be adjusted.

For sound, there’s a Devialet-tuned, 2.1.2 channel speaker system, totaling 70W of power. Dolby Atmos and DTS: X are both supported, and there are a plethora of audio settings and preset modes to dig into.

Which smart TV system the UR8 uses depends on your region. In the US, you get Google TV, while in the UK and Australia the UR8 uses Hisense’s own VIDAA smart TV. As I’m based in the UK, I’ll be discussing VIDAA. It supports an extensive number of apps, including big hitters like Netflix and Prime Video, as well as BBC iPlayer and ITVX in the UK. It also supports Freely in the UK, which can be used to watch live, broadcast TV over Wi-Fi, without the need for satellite or antenna connections.

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

Hisense UR8 review: Picture quality

The UR8 delivers some vibrant colors (shown here in a scene from Elemental), but they seem lacking for RGB (Image credit: Disney / Future )

• Great backlight control
• Effective anti-glare screen
• Colors don’t live up to measurements

In terms of brightness, the UR8 hits some interesting numbers. In Filmmaker Mode, it hit a measured peak HDR brightness of 2,097 nits and in Standard, it hit 2,394 nits. These are solid results, and while flagship OLEDs such as the Samsung S99H are now beating this (it hits 2,743 nits peak HDR), it does beat more standard mini-LEDs in its price bracket such as the Samsung QN80H, which I measured at 1,149 nits peak HDR (though this was on the 55-inch model).

Fullscreen HDR brightness is also solid, clocking in at 771 nits and 767 nits in Filmmaker and Standard modes respectively. Where the UR8 delivers more impressive brightness is in SDR Standard, where it hit a peak of 1,514 nits and fullscreen of 778.

The most surprising measurement, though, was the UR8’s HDR color gamut coverage. Not only did it hit 95.1% of the BT.2020 color space, the highest I’ve measured on a TV to date, but it registered a staggering 145.2% of the UHDA-P3 color space, which massively exceeds the high of 100% I registered on the Samsung S95F last year with the same color space.

Looking at these results, I expected colors to be spectacular — and this brings me to my main criticism of the UR8: the colors I saw did not reflect those measurements. When I watched Elemental, the UR8 still delivered punchy, vibrant colors such as Ember’s flame and the blue of Wade’s water, but they didn’t have the pop I was expecting. In La La Land, at the Spring party, Mia’s yellow dress is bright and natural looking, but I’d seen more engaging colors on other TVs.

I found when I compared the UR8 to the Samsung QN80H, a standard mini-LED in the same price range, the QN80H actually delivered bolder colors. Taking the same La La Land scene for comparison, Mia’s yellow dress, the green bushes, and the red outfits of some party-goers all looked much more vibrant on the QN80H. The UR8’s colors looked natural, but lacked that wow factor I expected from an RGB TV.

The UR8 has some of the best backlight control I've seen from a mini-LED TV (Image credit: Warner Bros. / Future )

It was a shame the UR8’s colors weren’t as dazzling as I’d hoped, because in other areas, the UR8 shines, especially its backlight control. Standard mini-LED TVs can really suffer from blooming (where light from a bright object against a dark background can create a halo effect around said object), but this wasn’t the case with the UR8, which demonstrated little to no blooming through most tests. Watching the UR8 at more extreme angles did reveal some blooming, but it was better than what I’ve seen on some mini-LED TVs in the past.

Watching The Batman, the UR8 demonstrated solid contrast too, with mostly deep black tones and a good balance between light and dark tones, shown as Batman wanders around the crime scene at Mayor Mithcell’s home, or in the bright lights around the Batcave. I did notice blacks could take on a gray hue in some scenes, but for the most part, The Batman looked good.

I did find that the Dolby Vision Dark picture mode was too dim to watch in a bright room, despite the anti-reflection screen, but worked well in ambient and dimmer conditions. The brighter Dolby Vision IQ picture mode works best for brighter rooms. If you do use Dolby Vision IQ, I recommend dropping the brightness from 50 to 49 and turning off precision detail and super resolution for a more natural-looking image with better contrast.

It was a similar story with Alien: Romulus. The UR8 did a solid job displaying the scenes in space, with good contrast between the light from the moon and the black of space as the crew approached the Renaissance station. The black of space was occasionally gray, but still very good for a mini-LED, backlit TV. Again, backlight control proved to be the UR8’s strong suit.

Textures and details appear crisp in most movies, seen here in La La Land (Image credit: Future)

In all HDR movies, the UR8 delivered crisp textures, with refined detail in people, clothing and objects. The UR8 did a good job showing the intricate textures of the various consoles onboard the mining ship in Alien: Romulus. Close-up shots showed sweat, hairs, and facial details like wrinkles with real clarity as well.

One thing I did find odd was that for non-Dolby Vision content, the Filmmaker, Movie, and IMAX Enhanced picture modes all looked identical. There seemed to be no real difference in brightness, color or contrast — something I would expect from a TV.

The UR8 did a good job with sports. Watching some World Cup highlights on BBC iPlayer, motion was smooth in the default Sports picture mode. While most of the motion styles worked, I found myself using either Clear or Standard. Color enhancer is on by default in this mode, and I personally found the colors too oversaturated, so I turned this off, and colors looked more natural. I did notice there was muddying of textures during very quick camera pans, but for the most part, the UR8 worked well for sports.

• Picture quality score: 4 / 5

Hisense UR8 review: Sound quality

The UR8 delivers solid overall built-in sound (Image credit: Warner Bros. / Future )

• 2.1.2 channel speaker array
• Good bass and accuracy
• Soundstage can be narrow

The UR8 has a built-in 2.1.2 channel speaker array, tuned by Devialet, with a total power of 70W. There are a good number of preset sound modes and settings, but I mainly used Standard and Theater mode for my testing.

Watching the Penguin chase scene from The Batman, the UR8 delivered good bass levels, accurately conveying the loud rumble of the Batmobile’s engine. The UR8 demonstrated good accuracy too, mapping the sound of swerving tires, bullet sprays and the horns of passing traffic to the action on screen with solid precision.

While I typically use Theater mode on most TVs, I found that the UR8’s could get harsh at times, with a sudden brightness that I found distracting. Standard mode was a more than suitable alternative, and although it didn't have as wide a sound field as Theater mode, it was more controlled.

The UR8 delivers solid sound overall, but I did feel its soundstage was narrow, meaning not every element of The Batman scene was given room to breathe. It’s a decent sound system for a TV, but overall I’d still recommend a soundbar to go with it.

• Sound quality score: 4 / 5

Hisense UR8 review: Design

The UR8 has a safe, solid design, and uses a central pedestal stand (Image credit: Future)

• Sturdy build
• Solid pedestal stand
• Slightly bulkier depth

The UR8 has a functional, safe design. The TV itself feels sturdy when installed on its central pedestal stand, which does feel solid even though it’s made of a plastic material. The TV is slighter deeper than some rivals, such as the Samsung QN80H, but again it feels well built.

As I mentioned above, the UR8 features an anti-glare screen, which does a good job of limiting reflections in brighter conditions. The 65-inch model I tested felt light for its size and it has a trim bezel, although the bottom bezel is thicker than those on the top and sides. Connections are easily accessible on the side of the rear of the TV.

The UR8 comes with Hisense’s own USB-C and solar rechargeable remote, which for me is one of the better controllers on the market. It does feel a bit light, but for me the button layout is logical, and it’s nice to see a rechargeable remote supplied with a cheaper TV.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Hisense UR8 review: Smart TV & menus

Your smart TV will vary depending on region. The UR8 uses Google TV in the US and VIDAA (home screen pictured) in the UK and Australia. (Image credit: Future)

• Google TV US, VIDAA UK and Australia
• Good number of picture and audio settings
• Dated appearance

As I’m based in the UK, I’ll be discussing the VIDAA smart TV platform featured in the UR8 (also used in Australian models). If you’re based in the US, the UR8 uses Google TV as its smart TV platform instead.

VIDAA is a serviceable smart TV system. It supports a good number of major apps including Netflix, Disney Plus and Prime Video, as well apps from UK broadcasters, including BBC iPlayer and ITVX. The home screen offers a lot of content recommendations, but there's also a large banner space at the top of the screen for ads, which can be distracting.

The menus are neatly and logically laid out, with most settings easy to find. Response times when navigating these menus is good too. There are plenty of settings for adjusting both the picture and sound, although I didn’t use a lot of them.

VIDAA does, however, look a little dated, especially in the menus. It doesn’t have the sleekness of Samsung’s Tizen or Google TV, or the simplicity and color of Roku. Secondly, as someone who does change settings a lot, a pop-up eco warning appears every time and this can get frustrating; and there seems to be no way to turn it off.

• Smart TV score: 3.5 or 4

Hisense UR8 review: Gaming

The UR8 has an excellent choice of gaming features, and delivers solid gaming performance (Image credit: Future)

• Near-full suite of features
• 11.7ms input lag (with the right settings)
• Up to 4K 180Hz refresh rate supported

The UR8 is actually very well equipped for gaming. It has four HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K up to 180Hz (4K 120Hz for consoles is supported), VRR including FreeSync Premium Pro, both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ gaming, and ALLM.

To get the lowest input lag time, which I measured at 11.7ms in 4K 60Hz, you do have to mess around with some settings. Having put the UR8 into Game mode, I then had to turn on a refresh rate feature, which prioritized faster frame rates, and this is how I got the above result. Without adjusting those settings I measured the input lag time at 20ms, above the 15ms threshold we look for in testing.

Playing Battlefield V in 4K 120Hz, actual gameplay felt smooth, and the UR8 did a good job handling fast-moving action sequences like a shootout in a desert mission. The overall picture quality was good, with high brightness, bold color and solid contrast. I did notice that, during particularly quick camera pans, some textures could muddy, but this didn’t happen every time.

• Gaming score: 4.5 / 5

Hisense UR8 review: Value

(Image credit: Future)

• Great value in the US and Australia
• Overpriced in the UK
• Overall good performance for the price

Value is a tough attribute to grade for the Hisense UR8. As RGB mini-LED is still in its infancy (having only been introduced in 2025, and only come to smaller screens for the first time this year), I did anticipate that RGB TVs would be pricey, even more entry-level models like the UR8.

With the UR8, it all comes down to where you are. When it's on sale, you can pick the 65-inch model up for $1,499 in the US, and prices are only going to drop. This puts the UR8 in direct competition price-wise with standard mini-LED, giving people looking for a TV within that price range more choice. It's also good value in Australia, with the 65-inch launching for AU$2,495, which translates to $1,799 / £1,299. I expect prices in Australia to come down reasonably quickly too.

The same can’t be said for the UK, unfortunately. The 65-inch launched recently at £2,299, which is actually pricier than the LG C6 OLED — and while RGB is meant to be a direct rival to OLED, as I've mentioned, it’s not there yet. I have seen the UR8 drop to £1,999 at some retailers, but this is still OLED-level pricing.

Overall, the UR8 does deliver pretty good value for money. It’s got a good feature set, delivers decent built-in sound, and is good for gaming, and while the picture doesn’t quite deliver what I’d hoped for, it’s still solid compared to most mini-LED. It’s just a shame that the value proposition is region-dependent.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Should you buy the Hisense UR8?

(Image credit: Future)Hisense UR8

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

A great list of features, especially for gaming

4.5/5

Picture quality

Detailed picture with good contrast and backlight control, though colors don't have the RGB wow-factor

4/5

Sound quality

Solid built-in sound with good bass and clear speech, but soundstage can be narrow

4/5

Design

Sturdy build and safe design. Slightly bulkier than other TVs

4/5

Smart TV and menus

Google TV (US) or VIDAA (UK/Aus) smart TV. Plenty of useful settings, but design is dated

4/5

Gaming

Near-full suite of features, including four HDMI 2.1 ports, with very good performance

4.5/5

Value

Affordably priced for RGB in US and Aus; overpriced at launch in the UK

4/5

Buy it if...

You want a mini-LED with good backlighting
The UR8's backlight control is great, meaning darker movies show less blooming and viewing angles are improved.

You want a great TV for gaming
The UR8 has a near-full suite of gaming features, and offers very good overall performance once you've adjusted some settings.

You want a good TV for daytime viewing
The UR8 has an anti-glare screen that's good at reducing mirror-like reflections in brighter rooms.

Don't buy it if...

You want the best of RGB mini-LED
While the UR8's picture quality is good overall, its colors don't match my test measurements, lacking the vibrancy I'd hoped for.

You like variety in your movie picture modes
The UR8's three movie picture modes — Filmmaker, Movie, and IMAX Enhanced — all look pretty much the same.

You want the best TV for motion
I noticed during some of my testing that textures could blur during fast-paced action, meaning some detail was lost in games and sport.

Also consider

Hisense UR8

Hisense UR9

Samsung QN80H

LG C6

Price (65-inch)

$1,499 / £2,299 / AU$2,495

$1,699 / £2,299 / AU$3,499

$1,599 / £1,299 / AU$1,999

$1,799 / £2,299 / AU$3,499

Screen type

RGB mini-LED

RGB mini-LED

Mini-LED

OLED

Refresh rate

120Hz (Up to 180Hz)

120Hz (up to 170Hz)

144Hz

165Hz

HDR support

Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG

Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG

HDR10+, HDR10, HLG

Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG

Smart TV

Google TV (US) / VIDAA (UK/Aus)

Google TV (US) / VIDAA (UK/Aus)

Tizen

webOS 26

HDMI ports

4 x HDMI 2.1

3 x HDMI 2.1

4 x HDMI 2.1

4 x HDMI 2.1

Hisense UR9
The step-up model from the UR8, the UR9 delivers higher brightness, more dimming zones and bolder colors. It's also the same price as the UR8 in the UK at the time of writing. The UR8 is the better choice for gamers with multiple consoles, however, as the UR9 only offers 3 HDMI 2.1 against the UR8's 4.

Samsung QN80H
A standard mini-LED, the QN80H isn't as bright as the UR8, and its backlight control isn't as good, resulting in more blooming than the UR8. Side-by-side however, the QN80H does seem to deliver bolder, punchier colors than the UR8.

Check out my Samsung QN80H vs Hisense UR8 comparison

LG C6
The LG C6 is an OLED with deeper blacks, bolder colors and better motion handling than the UR8, while the UR8 offers higher brightness for better bright-room viewing. In the US and UK, the C6 is priced very similarly to the UR8, but in Australia, the C6 is closer to the step-up UR9 in price.

Read our full LG C6 reviewView Deal

How I tested the Hisense UR8

(Image credit: Future)

• Tested over two weeks
• Tested in different lighting conditions in lab
• Measurements taken using Portrait Displays' Calman color calibration software

My first step in testing the Hisense UR8 was to establish the best picture modes for critical testing, and I landed on Filmmaker Mode and Cinema mode (which admittedly looked very similar).

I then used reference scenes to test the UR8's picture quality, focusing on brightness, color, detail, upscaling, contrast and backlight control. I used a couple of these same scenes to test the TV's built-in speakers.

I also used an Xbox Series X to test the TV's gaming features and performance, playing Battlefield V.

Apart from objective testing, I took measurements of the UR8 using specialized equipment. This included a Jeti Spctral 15VA Spectroradiometer and Klein K-10A colorimeter (with both meters profiled together), with a Murideo Six G 8K Metal test-pattern generator. I took measurements using Portrait Displays' Calman color calibration software.

The first measurements I took were the UR8's brightness, in both SDR and HDR. I used white window patterns in sizes ranging from 1-100%, with peak (10%) and fullscreen (100%) windows serving as the primary focus. I took measurements in the UR8's Standard and Filmmaker Mode pictures modes.

After this, I measured the color and grayscale accuracy (in SDR), focusing on the Delta-E values (the margin for error between the test signal sent and what's displayed on screen).

Next, I measured the UR8's HDR color gamut coverage, focusing on the BT.2020 and UHDA-P3 color spaces.

I also measured the UR8's HDR EOTF in 1,000, 4,000 and 10,000 nits. This shows the UR8 accuracy at both light and dark levels. I also tested the UR8's spectral power distribution, which demonstrates color performance.

Finally, I tested the UR8's input lag time using a Leo Bodnar 4K HDMi Input Lag Tester.

Read our in-depth overview of how we test TVs at TechRadar.

• First reviewed: July 2026
• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Emerging from the COVID-19 times of 2020, IPRoyal kicked off as a humble IPv4 and IPv6 address leasing business before blossoming into a full-blown proxy powerhouse. The company caters to virtually everyone: from solo devs and data teams to bustling startups and enterprises.

Alongside the usual residential, mobile, datacenter, and ISP proxies, IPRoyal also offers specialized enterprise proxy solutions, an AI-powered Web Unblocker, and a video scraper API for YouTube content. Its network spans 195 countries for residential proxies and over 60 datacenter locations, with support for 650+ tools and scraper integrations.

IPRoyal: Plans and Pricing

When it comes to picking your proxy flavor, IPRoyal’s menu is thoroughly stocked.

If you’re leaning toward residential proxies, you can grab them on a recurring subscription or via a pay-as-you-go basis. Entry pricing now starts at $7.00 per GB for subscriptions ($7.35/GB for pay-as-you-go) at 1 GB of traffic. As your data appetite grows, rates drop to $1.75 per GB for subscriptions ($1.84/GB for pay-as-you-go) at the 10,000 GB bulk tier.

Arguably the biggest perk here is that your purchased bandwidth never expires, since any unused data sits in your account indefinitely until you consume it.

Over at the ISP proxy side (which are static residential IPs with unlimited bandwidth), pricing is tiered by plan duration rather than data caps. A 24-hour test drive starts at $1.80 per proxy, while longer commitments bring the monthly rate down to $2.70 for 30 days, $2.55 for 60 days, and $2.40 per month on a 90-day plan.

A dedicated proxy will cost you $1.57 per proxy for 30 days, $1.48 for 60 days, and $1.39 on a 90-day plan. These plans include access to 60+ location options, state- and city-level targeting, API support, and unlimited sessions.

For mobile proxies (covering 5G/4G/3G/LTE networks), IPRoyal splits the lineup into two models. You can opt for dedicated subscriptions with unlimited bandwidth starting at $10.11/day for 24 hours that scale down to $117/month on a 90-day plan. Alternatively, a rotating pay-as-you-go option runs from $6.80 per GB down to $5.20 per GB for 100 GB (with non-expiring traffic).

In any case, you get access to over 4.5 million mobile IPs with flexible auto-rotation or instant IP switching on demand.

When it comes to heavy-duty data operations, IPRoyal’s enterprise proxies deliver custom scaling. Bulk pricing clocks at $1.75/GB for 10,000 GB+ residential bandwidth, $1.39/proxy for 250+ ISP addresses, $2.40/proxy for 250+ datacenter addresses, $117/month for unlimited mobile proxies, and includes exclusive trials for eligible businesses.

The latest addition to IPRoyal’s roster, the Web Unblocker handles CAPTCHA solving, smart IP selection across 195 countries, auto-retries, and dynamic browser fingerprinting for your data collection efforts. Rates start at $1.00 per 1,000 requests and scale down to $0.70 per 1,000 requests for higher volumes, with custom plans available for enterprise-scale projects.

Although IPRoyal doesn’t offer a free trial, it does give access to its trial proxies (for companies only, though) so you can test its features before deciding.

IPRoyal: Features

Accessing IPRoyal’s features starts with creating an account. You can sign up with your email address or use an existing Google or LinkedIn account. You’ll be redirected to your dashboard after registration, where you can access these features:

Residential IPs

Residential proxies are sourced from real devices across the globe. Every internet-connected device has a unique IP address, and people agree to contribute their IP addresses to IPRoyal’s network for a benefit, e.g., a VPN subscription. As an IPRoyal user, you can then use one of these IP addresses to surf the web and bypass geographical restrictions.

The company now offers access to over 64 million residential IPs across 195+ countries and regions, doubling its previous 32 million pool. Among the countries with the largest available residential IPs are the U.S. with 3.4+ million IPs, followed by the U.K. and Germany, which have upward of 1.4 million IPs.

Suppose you run a flight deals website that frequently scrapes prices from airlines’ websites. Many airlines don’t like external data scraping, so they use geographical and IP restrictions to block it. For example, website admins identify IP addresses used by scraping bots and block them from further access. In that case, IPRoyal’s residential proxies let you circumvent this block.

You can choose from an endless list of proxies to scrape data from external websites. If one gets blocked, select another and continue your scraping activity. Residential proxies also hide your online identity and prevent third-party tracking. As far as a website is concerned, your device is browsing from whichever IP proxy you use and not the actual location. You could be in the U.S. and surf the web with a German IP address.

During our test, IPRoyal’s residential proxies provided a reliable and fast internet connection, boasting a 99.4% success rate and a snappy 0.5s average response time. We noticed no slowdown compared to browsing without a proxy IP address. The dashboard provided detailed insights on our proxy usage, including bandwidth and speed.

ISP proxies

IPRoyal’s static residential network has grown to include over 500,000 ethically sourced unique IPs across 31+ countries. You get 100% dedicated IPs with unlimited bandwidth, zero thread limits, full protocol support spanning HTTP(S), SOCKS5, plus both UDP and TCP connections, and reliable server health that guarantees up to a 99.99% success rate and 99.9% uptime.

After funding your account, you can select the exact number of proxies you need for the offered duration - 1, 30, 60, and 90 days - in your user dashboard on the IPRoyal website. Besides selecting the duration, number of proxies, and their location, you have the option to list extra requirements for an additional fee.

Once set up, you’ll be able to see your ISP proxies’ orders and their status in your online dashboard, filter them for easier navigation, or search through them based on the notes you left. Clicking the Details button for a specific confirmed order will take you to the configuration page for those particular proxies. Managing endpoints is easy, as you can filter orders and attach search notes, as well as rotate static IPs through your account's pool via API or dashboard toggles.

Upon testing, there were some problems with erroneous rerouting of certain proxies to the wrong locations (like choosing a Portugal IP address and getting a UK one). Thankfully, the IPRoyal staff was helpful and quick to act, so we got the correct location not long after contacting them. That said, some users have reported not getting proper assistance with similar issues.

(Image credit: IPRoyal)Mobile Proxies

Compared to last time we checked in with IPRoyal, its mobile network has almost doubled, expanding from 2.5 million to over 4.5 million real 3G/4G/5G/LTE mobile IPs. You can drill down to target specific countries, states, cities, and major cellular carriers (like T-Mobile and Verizon in the United States, or Orange and Vodafone in Europe).

Rotation control remained rather flexible, since you can set your IP to auto-rotate every 3 to 6 minutes or configure custom intervals from 1 second up to 24 hours. Another option is to trigger an instant IP swap whenever you want via the dashboard or API.

The mobile proxies were notably fast during our test, with up to 100 Mbps download speeds.

Mobile proxies are particularly useful for social media management and research. Most social networks like Facebook and Instagram have strict limitations on the number of accounts users can create on a single device. You can bypass these limitations with IPRoyal's massive pool of mobile proxies. Your device's real location stays hidden, and the social media platform assumes it's another device because of its proxy IP address. Hence, it doesn't flag your accounts.

You can manage as many social media accounts as possible with mobile proxies. You can also create many social accounts for research purposes, e.g., an academic study, without being flagged.

Datacenter Proxies

IPRoyal runs a network of IPv4 and IPv6 proxy servers that provide unlimited bandwidth for end users. Sourced directly from commercial cloud servers rather than consumer ISPs, these addresses trade away a bit of natural stealth in exchange for maximum raw performance. If a target site eventually flags an IP during a particularly aggressive scrape, you can simply spin up a fresh replacement and keep your pipeline moving.

IPRoyal

Datacenter coverage covers over 60 locations worldwide, complete with state and city-level targeting. The underlying hardware delivers roughly 2 Gbps throughput with 10 ms latency and a 99.9% uptime guarantee, easily handling high-concurrency workloads.

You can connect to IPRoyal’s proxy servers via the HTTP/HTTPS and SOCKS5 protocols. During our test, they offered first-rate speed and performance with no downtime. IPRoyal places no bandwidth or session limits on proxy IPs, making them ideal for bandwidth-intensive use cases like data scraping, online streaming, content downloads, and app testing.

Browser extension

IPRoyal offers a browser extension (IPRoyal Proxy Manager) that makes deploying and managing proxies easier. Instead of frequently logging into your dashboard to choose new proxies, you can use the extension to switch with a click. The proxy add-on is available on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, and Opera.

IPRoyal has an intuitive, user-friendly dashboard (Image credit: IPRoyal)

These browser extensions offer all-in-one proxy management. You can create distinct profiles for different proxies and switch between them with a single click. Each profile can have a single proxy or use different proxy IPs for specific traffic types (HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP). You can assign a backup proxy to ensure your internet access remains secure if your current proxy fails, and build custom IP bypass lists to exclude specific URLs from proxy routing.

Furthermore, you can log directly into your IPRoyal account inside the extension to buy bandwidth, generate residential profiles, adjust city/state targeting, toggle high-end pools, or set session rotation rules without visiting the main website.

The browser extension doesn’t only work with IPRoyal’s proxy IPs. You can use it to manage IP addresses from other proxy providers your organization uses.

Enterprise Proxies

Intended to take over the heavy lifting, IPRoyal's enterprise proxies are specifically designed for high-volume corporate workloads. You get custom access to dedicated IPs, city/state-level targeting, and ethically sourced, fully compliant proxy pools across residential, ISP, datacenter, and mobile networks.

Thanks to flexible scaling, you can add as many IP addresses as needed out of the 68+ million proxy pool. Enterprise proxies pair custom infrastructure scaling with dedicated account managers, 24/7 network surveillance, and fastlane support so your automated pipelines never hit an (un)expected wall.

Web Unblocker

You can think of the AI-powered Web Unblocker as an automated master key for instances where anti-bot algorithms and CAPTCHAs lock out your scraping scripts. Instead of spending hours tinkering with request headers or troubleshooting IP bans, this tool manages all anti-scraping roadblocks in the background.

Under the hood, the Web Unblocker utilizes AI-driven smart IP selection across 195 countries, real-time CAPTCHA solving, dynamic browser fingerprinting, and automatic retries to mimic organic human browsing behavior. Perhaps best of all, dropping it into your tech stack requires zero code changes: you simply swap out your current proxy endpoint.

Video Scraper API

A dedicated extraction engine built specifically to turn YouTube content into structured, AI-ready datasets, Video Scraper API integrates into your existing codebase with a few lines of code. As a result, you can search and select video IDs, and perform single or bulk video downloads directly to your cloud storage.

Designed with scalable infrastructure and compliance-first practices, the API delivers recorded video content rather than live streams. At the moment, it’s available via an early access request, where data teams can join the waitlist to test it for their workflows.

IPRoyal: Ease of Use

One of IPRoyal’s strengths is its high level of user-friendliness. Users get an intuitive dashboard to manage their proxies and other complementary tools. All features are neatly arranged in the left-hand menu, whereas on the right, you can gain access to the main menu. The interface is visually pleasing and easy to navigate, and you can select between light theme, dark theme, or the automatic theme that matches your browser settings.

IPRoyal has an intuitive, user-friendly dashboard (Image credit: IPRoyal)

IPRoyal’s browser extensions also contribute to its ease of use. It lets you manage proxies regardless of the web page you’re currently on. The updated extension also provides a direct login inside the popup to your account, where you can generate proxy profiles, adjust location targeting, purchase bandwidth on the fly, and more.

IPRoyal: Customer Support

IPRoyal makes getting assistance easy with 24/7 customer support available around the clock. Rather than leaving you waiting up to 24 hours for an email, you can get near-instant help via live chat directly on the website and dashboard, email support, or the official Discord community server. Enterprise clients even get bumped to VIP status with dedicated account managers and fastlane support.

The only real omission is no telephone support option, though given how fast live chat and Discord respond, you won't miss phone hold music.

If you prefer troubleshooting on your own, you have IPRoyal’s self-service library at your disposal. The official Docs hub and Help Center cover everything from quick-start integration tutorials to detailed API specifications and code examples.

On top of that, IPRoyal provides several free built-in utilities, like browser extensions, a standalone proxy tester, an online proxy checker, IP lookup tools, and a WebRTC leak test.

IPRoyal: The Competition

IPRoyal has numerous competitors, and we’d like to highlight Webshare, Oxylabs, and Bright Data.

Webshare offers a network of roughly 80 million+ IP addresses across residential and datacenter proxy tiers, putting its total count slightly ahead of IPRoyal’s 64 million+ residential pool. Just like its competitor, Webshare provides an intuitive user dashboard and straightforward proxy management, with a dedicated browser extension to boot, though it differentiates itself with a free-forever 10-proxy plan.

Oxylabs has a massive network of 175 million proxy IPs, triple that of IPRoyal. This broader network provides users with more redundancy and reliability. Oxylabs remains a powerhouse for large-scale enterprise data collection, though IPRoyal delivers a significantly more budget-friendly entry point with no monthly commitments or minimum spend requirements.

Bright Data rounds out the competition with 72 million+ residential IPs (and an overall global pool reaching up to 400 million monthly IPs), together with extensive unblocking toolkits and enterprise compliance certifications. However, while Bright Data caters primarily to large corporate budgets with higher minimum commitments, IPRoyal offers a simpler self-service alternative that gives individual developers and growing teams access to enterprise-grade features without the steep pricing curve.

IPRoyal: Final verdict

IPRoyal has built a reputation as a go-to proxy provider for everyone from weekend solo developers to data-hungry corporations, and it’s easy to see why. Between a sizable proxy network, transparent pricing, reliable uptime, and 24/7 customer support that admirably does its job, it punches well above its weight class.

In older reviews, the main knocks against IPRoyal were its smaller IP pool and a lack of built-in web scraping APIs. But those criticisms are officially out of date, as the network has scaled dramatically. On top of that, the addition of the AI-powered Web Unblocker and dedicated tools like the Video Scraper API completely bridges the gap for automated, hassle-free data collection.

Add in perks like bandwidth that never expires on pay-as-you-go plans, expanded payment options, and dedicated Enterprise Proxies, and IPRoyal is no longer a budget-friendly option for small outfits, but a serious full-spectrum proxy ecosystem for operations of any size.

• To find out more, see our guide to the best proxies available.
• You might also like to read our guide to sneaker proxies, or find out the difference between residential and datacenter proxies.

Alienware 15 (2026) review: Two Minute Review

Alienware's going "entry-level" with this one. Or, at least sort of. The whole list of configurations of the new Alienware 15 (2026) is a little confusing. Officially it starts at £879 in the UK, but for that you get an RTX 3050 GPU instead of the 5050 that we have in this review unit. That's a five year old graphics card there hidden away in a 2026 laptop. So first thing's first, keep a bloody good eye on the spec you get. The last thing you want is to think you're snatching up a bargain, only to be caught out by a sub-par silicon mix-up crushing your frame-rates in the process.

The good news, though, is that on the whole the specs of the Alienware 15 (2026) we were sent (Ryzen 7 260, RTX 5050, 16GB DDR5, and 512GB SSD), is actually remarkably good value for money. Particularly in the US. You can pick one up for about $1,160 or so. It's a lot more expensive in the UK (£1,333) but Stateside, it's a healthy config that delivers some impressive performance as it just peeks over that $1,000 parapet.

Ultra graphical presets aren't off the table here, at 1920x1200, but medium-high on those AAA titles is really going to be the place that leverages that 165 Hz 1920x1200 panel most efficiently. It's not the best of screens, though, as Alienware's got this thing labelled as "IPS", and I'm just not sure about that, because to be frank, the color reminds me more of a TN panel from 2011, than a modern-day IPS, "IPS-like" maybe. Perhaps we've been spoiled with OLED displays of late. Perhaps.

(Image credit: Future)

It's not the only place that's been stripped back either; connectivity still touts Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 (yes, in 2026), the build quality is a little plasticky, and the bevelled edges and rounded corners everywhere feel a bit dated, even if it keeps in-line with the brand's style. Oh and then there's my personal pet peeve, the dreaded single-channel memory setup. So you (yes you) can spend more money and increase the capacity at a later date (I mean you could do that with a dual-channel setup as well, but what do I know?).

Fortunately, a lot of the usual laptop woes that crop up with single-channel memory are easily overlooked by that hefty RTX 5050 delivering the frame-rate goodness, but it's still worth bearing in mind, if you are fixated on using this thing for productivity over gaming.

Oh and the SSD is just sad. Sure it's a PCIe 4.0 drive, and the sequential speeds are good, but the random 4K writes are savagely low, and it's a 512GB model, leaving you with about 480GB to play with once Windows 11 is installed. Ouch.

Still, for the price, and those negatives aside, it's remarkably robust and a genuine bargain, particularly around deal time.

Alienware 15 (2026) review: Price & Availability

• Available for $1,159.99 / £1,333 (around AU$2,500)
• UK buyers pay a hefty premium compared to the US
• Base config still ships with RTX 3050 or 4050 era silicon

On the cost front, the Alienware 15 (2026), also known by its model number DA15265, is a curious thing. And its appeal is almost entirely dependent on where exactly your PC gaming escapades are based.

If you're in the US, it's a strikingly good deal. At $1,160 at time of writing, you get top-tier performance, delivering high frame-rates in modern titles, for a smidge over the $1K mark. If you're in the UK, though, this specific config will set you back £1,333.81. That's the equivalent of about $1,800. And yes, I know sales tax is a thing as well, but it's not $640 that's for sure. What a markup.

The more confusing element, however, is the broad range of SKUs available. It's not uncommon to see a single product and design offer many different configurations, especially graphics cards for gaming laptops, but the fact that the Alienware 15 (2026) is available with cards all the way down to an RTX 3050 does muddy the waters somewhat. Particularly if you're snapping up a quick deal around Black Friday, and don't take time to check the specs.

• Value score: 3.5 / 5

Alienware 15 (2026) review: specs

Base

Review

Price

$1,049.99 / £879 (around AU$1,679)

$1,159.99 / £1,333.81 (around AU$2,548)

CPU

AMD Ryzen 5 220

AMD Ryzen 7 260 (8 cores, 16 threads, up to 5.1GHz)

GPU

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 (UK) / RTX 4050 (US)

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 8GB

RAM

8GB DDR5 5,600 MT/s

16GB DDR5 5,600 MT/s

Storage

512GB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe

512GB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe

Display

15.3-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 16:10, 165Hz

15.3-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 16:10, 165Hz

Ports and Connectivity

2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (PD 100W + DP 1.4a), 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.1, RJ45 (1GbE), combo audio; Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2

2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (PD 100W + DP 1.4a), 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.1, RJ45 (1GbE), combo audio; Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2

Battery

70Whr - 130W Adapter

70Whr - 180W Adapter

Dimensions

13.76 x 9.85 x 0.9 in / 349.5 x 250.3 x 22.95 mm

13.76 x 9.85 x 0.9 in / 349.5 x 250.3 x 22.95 mm

Weight

4.85lbs (2.2kg)

4.96lbs (2.25kg)

Alienware 15 (2026) review: Design

• Slimmer than you'd expect from Alienware
• Dated design leaves a lot to be desired
• Spongey keyboard and abrasive trackpad

Surprisingly for a 15-incher, the Alienware 15 (2026) is... well, not quite as bulky as you'd expect for an Alienware unit at the budget end of the spectrum.

It's not light at 2.2kg (4.85lbs), at least not in this configuration, but it's a far cry from what you'd usually expect for an affordable gaming laptop. Sadly, Alienware's still hanging onto that smooth-faced design somewhat here, and there's a lot of curvature. The panels, the chassis, the hinge, the edges, they all slowly curve downwards, into an almost egg-shaped design. Even the screen has a bevelled curved edge smoothly radiating outwards, which does feel a touch dated compared to some of the competition out there.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a laptop at this price, the materials aren't the best either; there's a lot of plastic here, and it's the single biggest indicator that, yeah, this might be on the cheaper end of the budget spectrum.

(Image credit: Future)

The keyboard too, is remarkably spongy. If you told me it was a membrane board, I'd believe you, and the trackpad has this weird cheap semi-abrasive finish to it that gives me the ick a little bit (thanks Gen Z). But you know, no gamer worth their salt is going to be using that over one of the best gaming mice anyway.

Port selection is fairly minimal too, and there's no Thunderbolt either (given it's an AMD platform), although you do get HDMI 2.1, and Gigabit Ethernet to cover the essentials.

• Design score: 3.5 / 5

Alienware 15 (2026) review: Design

• RTX 5050 and 1200p screen are a radical pairing
• Single-channel RAM is frustrating
• Rapid sequential SSD performance, but it struggles on large transfers

Alienware 15 (2026) benchmarks

3DMark: Solar Bay: 39,795; Steel Nomad: 8,995
Cinebench R24: Single Core: 103; Multi Core: 826
Crossmark: Overall: 1,447; Productivity: 1,454; Creativity: 1,538; Responsiveness: 1,186
CrystalDiskMark: Sequential Read: 6,936.23 MB/s; Sequential Write: 5,899.46 MB/s; 4K Random Read: 57.73 MB/s; 4K Random Write: 119.74 MB/s
HandBrake 4K to 1080p: 125.6fps
Total War: Warhammer III: Mirrors of Madness (1080p, Medium): 134fps
Cyberpunk 2077: (1080p, Medium): 90.2 fp; (1080p, Medium, FSR Quality + FG): 156.6fps
Battery Life (PCMark 10): 4 hours and 9 minutes

Alienware's paired Nvidia's RTX 5050 laptop chip with that (I'm still calling it an) "IPS-like" 1920x1200 display capable of driving 165 Hz refresh rates, with AMD FreeSync to back it all up (at least in this configuration), and the good news is that performance absolutely slaps at that resolution.

Cyberpunk 2077 on the medium preset averaged 90fps at 1080p with the lows sliding in at just 72, and not a drop of upscaling insight. Switch to DLSS on quality with frame generation, and that figure skyrockets to 157 fps on average. Total War: Warhammer 3, also managed an impressive 134 fps as well, and Final Fantasy XIV's Dawntrail benchmark clocked an impressive 102 fps on the High (laptop) preset. Ultra at native resolution isn't off the cards here, and it shows.

As for the CPU, that's one of AMD's Zen 4 Hawk Point Ryzen 7 260s, complete with eight cores and 16 threads, and it cuts just as neatly a line in professional activities as its RTX 5050 counterpart does in game. Cinebench 2024 managed 826 points in the multi-core test, and it savaged 3D Mark's CPU Profile benchmark with a juicy 7,558.

(Image credit: Future)

There are a few caveats worth mentioning. Namely, the SSD is a bit... underwhelming. For one, it's just a 512GB model, and although its sequential performance is solid (it's a PCIe 4.0 unit provided by Samsung), the figures that count for game load times, random 4K read and writes, were well under par.

And then there's the memory. I've banged on enough about how frustrating it is dealing with the memory crisis, and manufacturers continually turning to single channel setups for their off the shelf PCs and laptops, and it's unfortunately true here. If you do want to expand and chuck another 16GB stick in later, yeah you can, but there really ought to have been a default option for that from the get go. It's like we're going backwards in performance, not forwards.

• Performance score: 4/5

Alienware 15 (2026) review: Battery life

• Rapid charging
• 70 Whr battery can't compete against hungry silicon

Let's not beat around the bush here; this is a gaming notebook. It's not a Snapdragon-based Acer model with ridiculously impressive multi day battery life, nor is it one of Intel's hyper-efficient Panther Lake units like we saw in Dell's latest XPS, no sir.

You can throw all the Nvidia Optimus screen switching tricks you can at this thing, but at the end of it all, it's still going to chew through battery life faster than I get through cable ties. And chew through it it did.

(Image credit: Future)

The Alienware 15 managed just 89 minutes in PC Mark's gaming battery benchmark, before tapping out at 2%. The video test faired much better however, scoring 4 hours and 9 minutes, although again a far cry from the 14 hours Asus's Vivobook S 15 Copilot managed.

Should I buy the Alienware 15 (2026)?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

The performance per $ you're getting here is insane, particularly with that GPU and screen combo. However there's a catch, and if you're in the UK, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

3.5 / 5

Design

It's slimmer than its typical counterparts, and the port selection is solid, just don't expect modern 2026 connectivity standards.

3.5 / 5

Performance

Gaming performance? Tick. CPU performance? Also tick. But the SSD and RAM direly need an update.

4 / 5

Battery Life

89 minutes of gaming; four hours of content streaming; your ten year old Dell probably manages the same.

3 / 5

Final Score

If you're US based, and all you care about is gaming on the move, the Alienware 15 won't leave you disappointed. Just remember to keep it plugged in while you do it.

3.5 / 5

Buy it if…

You want a plug-in 1200p gaming notebook that actually puts that 165 fps panel to work
The RTX 5050 paired with the screen is genuinely smart, and delivers impressive performance at the price without any upscaling or frame-gen trickery.View Deal

You're on a tight budget, but you still want to game
This might be one of the best gaming laptops we've seen for the price. Yes, it's got a few rough edges, but if you smooth them out, it'll easily deliver.View Deal

Don't buy it if…

You care about color accuracy, or brightness
Officially, the panel's rated for just 62.5% sRGB coverage at 300 nits. Creative work, at least color-accurate creative work, is off the table entirely. This isn't a punchy OLED, that's for sure.View Deal

You're after a modern design
Bevelled edges everywhere really don't help sell the "premium" aesthetic that Alienware's after here. Maybe it's time to retire the curves in favor of something a little sharper.View Deal

Alienware 15 (2026) review: Also Consider

Lenovo LOQ 15

Lenovo's budget line is the one to beat. The current LOQ 15 pairs similar RTX 50-series graphics cards with street prices that regularly undercut the DA15265 by quite the margin. Dodge the Alienware tax, and benefit with a better piece of kit.

Read our full Lenovo LOQ 15 review

Acer Nitro 16

Acer's Nitro line follows in a very similar vein and its latest line-up including the RTX 50 series equally packs in some serious clout. You get the same GPUs, with better panels, consistently cheaper. That's a win through and through.

Read our full Acer Nitro 16 review

How I tested the Alienware 15 (2026)

• Tested at home, in the office and on the move
• Benchmarked and used across a wide variety of gaming and productivity tasks
• 11 years of expertise testing laptops, and three weeks with the Alienware 15

I put the Alienware 15 (2026) through its paces, testing it against my usual suite of gaming laptop benchmarks, covering everything from CPU performance, to gaming and everything else in between. I compared it against my database of similarly priced laptops, and used it as my daily driver for three weeks of thorough testing.

Every result was captured under identical, controlled conditions, on a clean Windows 11 install, with the latest updates and drivers. No programs or bloatware were removed, and no power profiles altered during testing, to better represent what an end-user might expect.

• First reviewed: August 2026

Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok: two-minute review

Almost all robot vacuums now come with an auto-emptying charging dock that automatically transfers the debris in the robot to a larger dust bag in the dock. Well, the Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok (as Dyson calls it) brings a similar hands-free system to the world of cordless stick vacs.

Roborock, Tineco, and Shark have already aired their versions and, according to comments online, it seems that the public is up for this kind of system because it saves the hassle of manually emptying the vac's bagless dustbin while almost totally removing all elements of dust in the process.

The problem, as I see it, is the size of the docks these vacs come with, of which the Dyson model we're reviewing here is definitely the tallest and one of the most incongruous. It fact, at 47.24in/120cm in height, the Dyson Dok is as tall as some users, and that's quite a comical stat for a stick vac.

In its favor, the Dok does a decent job of emptying the contents of the v10 hand unit's small 0.52 qt / 0.5 liter bin (when there isn’t too much hairy detritus inside), it keeps the v10's battery permanently topped up, and it has a cupboard for storing the two main accessories it comes with — a mini motorized brush and a detail nozzle, with space for at least one extra accessory.

Dock aside, the real winner here is the light and compact v10 Konical, which sports an ample 150 air watts of suction power and comes with Dyson's latest twin cone-shaped brush head, with a laser-style light for illuminating the path ahead. This brush head is radically different to any other on the market and was developed with one sole aim: to reduce the amount of hair on the spindle. If you have hirsute pets in the home, a brush head like this could be a genuine hassle-saver.

If the idea of a monolithic self-emptying dock fails to tickle your fancy but you still like the idea of a compact stick vac with a unique, high-performance brush head, you'll be pleased to learn that both the V10 Konical and the Dyson Dok can be bought separately. I'll leave you to decide.

Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok: price & availability

• List price £569.99 / $649.99 / AU$999
• Launch date April 2026
• Availability UK, USA, Australia and most of Europe

The Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok combo offers relatively decent value, but whether it can be considered excellent value depends on how much you appreciate its self-emptying system.

The v10 Konical itself is an extremely capable mid-range cordless vacuum with strong suction, thoughtful ergonomics and an innovative conical anti-tangle cleaner head. However, it's the bundled auto-empty Dok that sets this model apart, so if you vacuum frequently, have hairy pets or suffer from allergies, it could be considered a genuine quality-of-life improvement rather than just another gimmick.

The downside to this system is the price because you're ultimately paying a premium for convenience and buyers who don't mind manually emptying a dustbin may find better value in purchasing the v10 Konical on its own or opting for Dyson's standard v8 or v12 models, or even a raft of rival cordless vacuums from the likes of Shark, Samsung, Halo, Roborock and Tineco. These brands offer similar cleaning performance stats for less and, in some cases, quite a lot less.

If you live in the UK, you can purchase the Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok direct from Dyson or Argos for £569.99 or, for an even better deal, head straight to John Lewis or AO, where it's selling for £549.99. If you don't fancy the Dok, you can also purchase the v10 Konical on its own from the aforementioned stores for £449.99.

If you're shopping in the USA, try Dyson direct where this package sells for $649.99. For some reason the full package is difficult to find beyond Dyson's US website but you can buy the v10 Konical unit as a separate entity from Walmart and Best Buy where it's selling for $399.99.

The combo has a list price of AU$999 in Australia,, but at the time of writing is discounted to AU$797 when bought directly from Dyson's online store.

• Value score: 3.5/5

Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok: specs

Cordless/Wired?

Cordless

Weight (v10)

3.60lbs / 1.63kg

Dimensions (vacuum unit) (LxWxH)

13.79in/35cm x 5.11in/13cm x 7.87in/20cm

Dimensions (dock) (LxWxH) 

47.24in/120cm x 7in/18cm x 6.69in/17cm

Bin size (vacuum) - bagless

0.52 qt / 0.5 liter

Bin size (dock) - bagged

2.64qt / 2.5 liters

Max runtime

A claimed 60 mins in Eco mode

Suction power

150 AW

Charge time

4 hours

Noise level

75 - 85dB

Tools

Detangling conical head, Mini Motorised Tool, Crevice tool

Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok: design

• Light and compact vac
• Impressive suction
• Overly tall and incongruous dock

I've tried both the Roborock H60 Hub Ultra and the Tineco Pure One Station and I can definitely see the appeal of having a cordless stick vac with its own dust-emptying station. Firstly, it's somewhere to store the vac while it's being charged but, more importantly, it negates the need for any any manual emptying of the vacuum cleaner's bin because the dock does it all for you. And that means no plumes of dust rising from the kitchen bin and coating your nostrils as the contents are ejected from the vac. It also means you won't have to reach for a damp kitchen towel to wipe down the lip of the bin every time you empty the vac's contents.

Instead, you wait a month or two — depending on how grubby your home is — and simply grab the sealed dust bag from the charging dock and drop it into the kitchen bin with no sign of dust at all. Aside from the cleanliness aspect, this is a great system for allergy sufferers because dust is kept to a bare minimum. However, the downside is that you will need to purchase more dust bags down the line and, as of writing, there's no mention of dust bags on the Dyson website. Just as well it comes with a spare.

Let's take a look at the vacuum unit first.

(Image credit: Future)v10 vac design

Confusingly, the Dyson v10 Konical looks more like an evolution of the v8 Cyclone than a successor to the Cyclone v10. Instead of the horizontal inline motor-and-bin arrangement of the Cyclone v10, Dyson has adopted the more compact layout of the v8, with the motor and dustbin mounted vertically just in front of the trigger-less hand grip. It's a design that's noticeably shorter and easier to use with detail tools and, of course, it's much better suited to mounting the unit on its accompanying charging and self-emptying dock.

Interestingly, all three units boast the same suction power, namely 150 air watts. This figure is considerably lower than that of the popular v15 Detect (240AW) and way lower than the Gen5detect (280AW). Nevertheless, suction power isn't everything because the design of the brush head is arguably even more important, which I'll get to in a minute.

The v10 Konical's diminutive proportions make it feel exceptionally nimble. At just 3.60lbs/1.63kg, the hand unit weighs roughly the same as the v10 Cyclone and about 25g heavier than the v8. However, because its center of gravity sits closer to the user's hand, it produces less wrist fatigue when cleaning stairs and upholstery, or reaching into awkward spaces. In fact, I consider this model's weight to be right in the sweet spot for quick shifts around the house just before guests arrive.

(Image credit: Future)

The Dyson Konical's brush head is one of this vac's most distinctive features since it replaces the conventional cylindrical roller with a tapered, conical design that's engineered to minimize hair wrap. Cast from shiny and very tough Polycarbonate-like plastic with stiff nylon bristles for beating dust out of carpet and a row of soft fluffy fibers to help protect delicate hard floors, this brush head is pretty radical but it works wonders on all floor types.

Yes, the tapered front end does make it trickier to run it head-on against skirting boards but then again you're better off using the side of the head and following the contours of the wall when collecting edge dust because there's plenty of suction between the end of the roller and the enclosed edge of the outer casing. However, I should point out that the raised center area of the brush head is taller than other models and that means it won’t go under some low furnishings.

Where most standard rollers use a comb system to mitigate hair wrap, this model's cone-shaped roller ensures that long hair naturally migrates towards the narrower end of the cone, where it's lifted away from the roller and fed directly into the dustbin. A couple of small combs fitted to the rear further help the process. The result is far less time spent cutting tangled hair from the brush, making it particularly useful in homes with shedding long-haired pets like golden retrievers and German shepherds.

(Image credit: Future)

Beyond its anti-tangle credentials, the Konical's unique brush head performs extremely well across a variety of floor types. It transitions smoothly between hard flooring and deep-pile carpets, and sweeps up both fine dust and larger debris with aplomb. The head is also surprisingly maneuverable, pivoting easily around furniture legs and into tighter spaces. And for those who have trouble seeing the state of the floor, this model is equipped with Dyson's laser-like green beam, which illuminates the path ahead in amazing detail, especially on hard floors.

The Dyson V10 Konical's 0.52 qt (0.5 liter) cyclone bin system offers the best of both worlds: it can be emptied manually using Dyson's familiar point-and-shoot mechanism or you can place the vacuum on the Konical Auto-empty Dok and leave it to be automatically emptied into the dock's large disposable dust bag.

(Image credit: Future)

Unlike many earlier Dyson cordless vacuums, the V10 Konical dispenses with the company's long-standing trigger-operated power switch in favor of a simple on/off button. It's a welcome change that eliminates finger fatigue during longer cleaning sessions. Meanwhile, three selectable suction levels — Eco, Medium and Max — allow you to balance cleaning performance against battery life, with the lowest settings suited to everyday dust collection on hard flooring and Max mode reserved for carpets, larger debris and more demanding cleaning tasks.

Rather disappointingly for a modern vac in this high price band, the v10 Konical lacks an automatic dust sensor to boost motor power when moving the head over particularly grubby areas. For that type of scenario you will need to switch to Medium or Max mode manually.

(Image credit: Future)

You get two cleanable HEPA filters with this model, one at the top of the hand unit and the other to the rear. Combined, these filters provide Dyson's "five-stage filtration that captures 99.99% of microscopic particles as small as 0.1 microns". Par for the course.

Regarding this model's battery life, Dyson's states a running time of up to 60 minutes, but this is when it's used in Eco mode on hard floor. However, as my results show in the Performance chapter below, this little cleaning tyke punches way above its weight when it comes to running times. Also, the battery is thankfully swappable so it's worth investing in another if your abode is on the larger side.

As you'd expect for a Dyson product, build quality is exemplary. The plastics feel dense and precisely moulded, every attachment clicks confidently into place and there are no obvious compromises despite the machine's relatively compact dimensions. In the pantheon of compact cordless stick vacs, this one is as close to perfection as it gets.

Score ref: 4.5/5

Dock design

The new Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok is an unusual double act in the world of vacuum cleaners because its tall-standing dock not only charges the small and perfectly-formed v10 Konical hand unit, but it also empties the contents of the vac's small bagless bin into a much larger sealed 2.64qt (2.5 liters) dust bag which can be thrown away after a month or two of use. Wahey, no more flicking latches, or plumes of dust wafting into your face every time you visit the kitchen bin.

Before we discuss the technical elements of this dock, let's first address the elephant in the room. At 47.24 x 7 x 6.69i inches (120 x 18 x 17cm) this dock is ridiculously tall and the first inkling you get of its size is when the enormous box arrives on your doorstep — so huge, you may genuinely wonder whether you'd accidentally ordered a build-it-yourself aircraft instead of a simple vacuum cleaner.

After much rummaging through piles of cardboard packaging (no plastics or styrofoam here), I soon had the whole system installed under my stairs — the only space I could find short of rearranging the utility room where it ultimately belongs.

The first thing I noticed is that the dock itself isn't especially heavy, which means you will need to support it with the other hand when pushing the spring-loaded side door to access the two hand tools it comes with: a mini motorized brush and a detail nozzle. There's also a C-clip for holding a third accessory so I raided my Gen5detect collection of tools and attached Dyson's handy soft brush which I think is one of the best tools for cleaning shelves, computer keyboards, etc. Just below is a second cupboard for the Dok's disposable dust bag.

(Image credit: Future)

The Dyson Dok's interface is completely different from those adopted by Roborock and Tineco. With those brands you simply drop the hand unit's bin section into the top of the dock for automatic emptying, charging and storage. Conversely, the design of the v10 Konical's hand unit — and specifically its bin — requires attaching it to the dock from beneath by inserting the battery section into a swing-out portal and pushing the hand unit firmly into the circular suction housing. Granted, it's not as intuitive a mounting system as the Roborock and Tineco method but, despite its height, I think the complete package is more aesthetically pleasing to look at when everything's in situ.

Regarding the bin-emptying process, the moment you push the hand unit into the housing, the suction kicks in and stays on for 30 seconds. You can easily halt the suction process by pressing the red 'stop' button located close by.

(Image credit: Future)

Despite some shortcomings — especially the occasional times when it has failed to empty the v10’s bin because it was too clogged with hair — I've grown to like this new Dyson Dok. Yes, it's very tall but then it's also quite slim and the black colorway means it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb unless placed in a living room against a white wall.

If you have mostly hard floors or carpets that don’t shed fibers, I happen to think it's worth the extra it adds to the cost of purchasing the v10 Konical, mostly because I don't miss the hassle of regularly returning to the kitchen bin to manually empty the contents of the v10's bin or wrestling with a wall-mounted charging bracket.

Score ref: 3.5/5

• Design score: 4/5

Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok: performance

• Excellent all-floor vacuum performance
• Genuinely tangle-free roller
• Dock struggles with compacted hair

As usual, for my vacuum tests I selected a range of obstreperous ingredients — oats, muesli, rice, flour and loosely broken cornflakes — and sprinkled them over the wooden floor of my kitchen and a rug in the living room.

From my own robot vacuuming experience I've found that cotton strands from my wife's sewing room are among the worst things for a vacuum cleaner to deal with, so I also scattered some strands of cotton on the carpet to see how effectively the cone-shaped brush head was at clearing them. I also ran a battery test to see how long the v10 Konical ran in Medium mode on carpet before the battery gave up the ghost.

Here are my results…

(Image credit: Future)

The first thing I did was scatter some cotton threads of different lengths over a carpeted rug. Cotton strands are notorious for wrapping around brush heads so I was eager to see how well Dyson's R&D department had nailed this conundrum.

Since the Dyson's Konical head doesn't have thin rubber paddles that tear very easily when tightly wrapped in cotton I was really gunning for a successful outcome and I couldn't have been more amazed by the results because, despite a surfeit of cotton pieces on the carpet, not one of them tangled around the roller. If you have a sewing room this is unequivocally the best vacuum cleaner for you.

(Image credit: Future)

I then proceeded with the detritus tests, first using the aforementioned ingredients on my kitchen floor. I have no anomalies to report here because if deftly collected almost everything in its path in a single sweep. All I had to do was run a few more passes to collect the rest to either side and few quick whizzes along the outer edges to pick up some of the rice that had been inevitably scattered.

(Image credit: Future)

My second test was much the same, only on a rug. Again the v10 Konical collected most of the debris on its first pass followed by a few extra passes to collect the rest. Although not as immediately successful as the hard floor test, it was good enough for me.

I personally think this little vac is a five-star performer when it comes to any type of flooring because I also used it on an old carpet upstairs that sheds a lot of fibers and a very deep-pile shaggy carpet in the guest room. It never bogged down once on the deep pile, even when in Medium mode; something that often occurs with my Gen5detect.

(Image credit: Future)

However, the same level of success can't be said for the Dyson Dok because I've had two instances when the dock’s suction has failed to empty the contents of the hand unit — even after two 30-second attempts. I put this down to the state of my carpets that are shedding a ton of fibers, along with insurmountable levels of labrador hair. On the plus side, the dock has successfully emptied the v10's bin every time it's been used on hard floor and, likewise, both emptying sessions after the above tests. Nevertheless, I still think prospective buyers should be aware if they have a lot of older carpet and shedding pets.

For my battery test I put the v10 Konical into Medium mode – my favorite setting – and set it up on a carpet using the Konical head for maximum brush resistance. I then left it to run until the battery gave out. After an impressive 21 minutes and 30 seconds of continual running, the battery suddenly died, and at no time did I hear anything to suggest that the motor power was fading. It just kept going at the same speed and frequency before suddenly shutting off. That's a resoundingly good result for a compact unit of this weight and size, and I'm pretty convinced it would go on running for the full stated 60 minutes when in Eco mode.

(Image credit: Future)

Final thoughts? While I think the v10 Konical is a sterling lightweight stick vac for both day-to-day and intensive use, the jury's still out on the Dyson Dok, which is not only exceedingly tall and incongruous but not especially functional when faced with large amounts of compacted hair and fibers.

• Performance score: 4/5

Should you buy the Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok?Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok: score card

Section

Notes

Score

Value for money

Premium price, but the self-emptying dock does add convenience. I just wish it wasn't so tall.

3.5/5

Design

Smartly engineered, v8-inspired styling delivers excellent balance, usability and innovative dust disposal.

4/5

Performance

Powerful cleaning performance with smooth handling, effective suction and impressive anti-tangle technology. But the dock’s nowhere near perfect

4/5

Average rating

4/5

Buy it if

You have shedding pets

The v10 Konical is an excellent cordless stick vac that performs exceptionally well with pet hair

You're not keen on manually emptying a bin

While not 100% effective, the Dyson Dok is still a worthwhile addition for clean, dust-free emptying

You're not as fit as you used to be

The v10 Konical is one of the lightest and easiest-to-use stick vacs on the market

Don't buy it if

You don't have space for a highly visible dock 

The whole package is highly visible and impossible to ignore

You're not very tech minded

The Dok interface adds an extra learning curve for those who are not physics minded

You are on a tight budget

Dyson products are always priced at a premium

How I tested the Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok

(Image credit: Future)

We tech journos engage in a lot of rigmarole so you don't have to. Hence, we push the products we test to the limits of their functionality. In the pantheon of cordless stick vacs, this means creating a series of worst-case scenarios to see how well the product performs when faced with more debris than it would normally encounter.

We also test battery running times and evaluate the product's ease of use during day-to-day cleaning scenarios. We then studiously consider the amount of stars the product is worth before sending the review out into the world.

First reviewed August 2026

Turtle Beach PlayTrek 2-in-1 Case for Nintendo Switch 2: review

The Turtle Beach PlayTrek 2-in-1 makes a good first impression. It’s quite sleek for a large Switch 2 carrying case, and also rather stylish. This is thanks to the dark grey color and the surprisingly elegant suede strip that runs around it, offset to the right. It features subtle blue and orange stitching, a nice detail and a nod to the color coding of the Joy-Con 2 controllers.

(Image credit: Future)

The material of the entire unit also impressed me with its ruggedness. The shell of the main compartment feels solid, too, with only a slight amount of flex. As for the detachable travel case on top, I appreciated the small rubber strip that runs along its back edge, as it provides a little more durability and protection when opening it up. What’s more, the entire case is pleasingly light and slender, which is all the more impressive considering what it’s designed to carry.

The zips are similarly well-made, with a reasonably long string and a thin plastic topper that’s easy to grip. However, I did find them a little awkward to open at times, as the lids of both the travel case and main compartment have a tendency to sag inwards, slightly obscuring the teeth. This is a minor issue, though, and not one that’s likely to frustrate.

(Image credit: Future)

It’s quite versatile in terms of storage. As mentioned, and as the name suggests, there are two elements to the PlayTrek 2-in-1. The first is the travel case, which is attached via hook-and-loop fastening. This feels quite strong, so I wasn’t worried about it detaching unintentionally. The case houses the console and up to 14 game cards, courtesy of the elastic slots attached to the screen protector flap. The inner part of the lid features zipped netting for storing other accessories, such as cables and the like. There’s no carrying handle, though, which is an oversight.

The fit for the console is very snug, and the case itself is thin all over with next to no extraneous bulk. This makes it great for tucking into a backpack, like the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories. However, it isn’t a hard shell; it flexes quite readily, so I wouldn’t be confident stacking anything heavy on top of it.

By contrast, the main compartment feels sturdy. The sides can bend inwards quite easily, but the same isn’t true of its corners, so I wouldn’t be concerned if it were subjected to outward forces.

(Image credit: Future)

Inside there are inserts for the console, the dock, the Joy-Cons, the charger, and a large gamepad, such as the Switch 2 Pro Controller. I managed to fit the GameSir G7 Pro here instead, which is one of the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers you can buy, with ease. The fit was snug and secure, as it was for all the other parts. Nothing moved out of place when I threw the loaded case up and down and spun it upside down several times.

The mold material is also just about soft enough to prevent scratching or marking the items within. However, during the course of my test, the glue adhering one side of the mold base to the bottom of the case failed, coming loose.

(Image credit: Future)

Obviously this was disappointing, although it’s possible I got unlucky with my particular unit. Regardless, it at least suggests some quality control issues. Despite the failure, I wasn’t too concerned that this would compromise the security of my contents: the other side of the base remained affixed, and since it sits tightly within the compartment, I wouldn’t be worried if all the glue came unstuck.

There are two straps adorning the main compartment. There’s a small carrying handle with a soft neoprene cover that’s very soft and comfortable in the hand. It provides just enough slack, although it's quite tight, which makes it awkward to move out of the way when accessing the main compartment and detaching the travel case; the handle slid out of one of its buckles accidentally on numerous occasions. On the other hand, this tightness does help to pin down the travel case on top, adding an extra layer of security to the hook-and-loop fastening.

(Image credit: Future)

The shoulder strap is a typical affair, with its nylon design and plastic karabiners. It's a small shame these and the buckles aren’t made of metal, but I guess this helps to keep the weight down. Fortunately, the karabiners are very solid, which can make them a little tough to remove, but this is a price I’m willing to pay for the security they offer in return.

The length of the strap is adjustable to a reasonable degree, although it could perhaps offer more slack to more easily accommodate taller users. The padded cover over the adjustment buckle is a little thin and lacks the cushioning of the neoprene carrying handle, but I still found it sufficient to prevent the strap digging into my skin.

At $50, the PlayTrek 2-in-1 is a reasonable price for such a feature-filled carrying case. It also has the quality to match, aside from the aforementioned issue with the inner mold. And since it’s cheaper than Nintendo’s own counterpart, it’s a compelling alternative.

Turtle Beach PlayTrek 2-in-1 Case for Nintendo Switch 2 review: Price & specs

Price

$49.99 / £39.99 (about AU$70)

Dimensions

5.83 x 12.60 x 7.99in / 148 x 320 x 203mm

Weight

1.78lbs / 809g

Number of game card slots

14

Compartments

7

Handle

Yes

Color

Grey

Should I buy the Turtle Beach PlayTrek 2-in-1 Case for Nintendo Switch 2?Scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Design

Light and bulk-free, while still providing enough protection. The travel case is a bit too soft, though.

4 / 5

Storage

There’s plenty of room for your entire gaming setup, which is all the more impressive given its slender form.

5 / 5

Value

It’s not exactly cheap, but it’s cheaper than Nintendo’s equivalent, yet has more features and storage space.

4.5 / 5

Buy it if…

You want versatility
With its detachable travel case and space for your Switch 2 and its accessories, this really is the all-encompassing solution for transporting your setup.

You want to keep the bulk down
It’s relatively slender and pleasingly light without being too flimsy.

Don't buy it if…

You want a tough travel case
The detachable travel case isn’t as solid as many others, which is a shame.

You want an unfussy handle
The strap handle is awkward to move out of the way when opening the main compartment.

Turtle Beach PlayTrek 2-in-1 Case for Nintendo Switch 2 review: Also consider

Nintendo Switch 2 All-In-One Carrying Case
As Nintendo’s official carrying case, you’d imagine the quality would be high here. And indeed it is, but it’s more expensive than the PlayTrek, yet less solid and with fewer features. There aren’t as many game card slots, and there’s no detachable travel case. Read our full Nintendo Switch 2 All-In-One Carrying Case review.

How I tested the Turtle Beach PlayTrek 2-in-1 Case for Nintendo Switch 2

(Image credit: Future)

I tested this case for a few days, storing the Switch 2 in the travel case compartment, as well as in the main compartment along with the dock, Joy-Cons, and a large controller.

I carried the case around, via both the handle and the shoulder strap, and regularly removed and replaced the handle to test how easy this was. I also tested the zips thoroughly by opening and closing them repeatedly.

I threw the case up and down and spun it upside down several times to test both the hold of the detachable travel case and the hold provided by the inner molds of the main compartment.

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

TP-Link Roam 7: 30-second review

The TP-Link Roam 7 is a compact travel router that lets you connect to whatever internet you can find and turns that into your own private network. This helps reduce the need to reconnect all your devices in each new location; just connect the router and all other devices will connect automatically through it.

The Roam 7 differs from a mobile router insofar as there's no internal SIM or battery; power is supplied through a USB source such as a power bank, and the internet connection comes from a range of available options, including Ethernet at a hotel or business, public Wi-Fi, your phone tethered or a USB modem.

The size and weight are compact, so it’ll fit easily in a backpack or travel bag. The design is simple with a vented front: two fold-down aerials, and a customisable button on the side.

Setup is quick with the mobile Tether app, which lets you use the QR code on the base of the box to complete setup and configure logins. If you want anything more involved then once your device is connected to the router you can access the full web admin at 192.168.0.1.

This is all very clean and while it looks a little dated next to the app, it goes far deeper on the options and settings enabling you to manage the primary and guest networks, assign clients to 2.4GHz or 5GHz, configure Multi-Link Operation so one device takes priority over another, and monitor live CPU and memory usage. Considering this is a travel router, the amount of control is impressive.

There’s also a good level of built-in protection, which is helpful when connecting to public Wi-Fi or hotel networks. While the more advanced protections, including VPNs, are all paid options, there’s a good basic level of security and parental controls built in. The Web interface also gives you a huge amount of options.

Through the test, the one feature that really stood out as I wrote this review was the failover; with the router connected to the Netgear Nighthawk M7 through LAN and public Wi-Fi in a café. The café Wi-Fi was initially good, but as the hour progressed and the place filled, the speed dipped, and the router automatically switched over to the stronger SIM connection.

Overall, this is a well-balanced product that, at the price, offers far more than most, especially that Wi-Fi 7 connection speed. The internal hardware is, however, mid-range, and with only three devices connected, the web admin showed a CPU load of 40-60%. However, as a few more devices were added, the figure remained around the same.

If you work in different locations with multiple devices, then an option like the TP-Link Roam 7 makes absolute sense. Connect the router to the internet, then connect all other devices to it; no need to reconnect each. It offers a balanced set of security features, including VPN support, making it a great solution at a lower price than most mobile routers.

TP-Link Roam 7: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? From $139 / £99
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Directly from tp-link and online retailers

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

The Roam 7 is available directly from TP-Link here for $139.99 / £99.99. In the US, it's also available for $130 at Amazon (down to $90 at time of review). In the UK, it's priced at £99.99 at Amazon.co.uk. Outside of that, it's widely available from online retailers.

• Value: 4.5 / 5

TP-Link Roam 7: Specs

RAM: 512MB
Rear Ports: One 2.5Gbps WAN, one 1Gbps LAN, one USB-A 3.0, one USB-C power input
Connectivity: Dual-band Wi-Fi 7 at 2.4GHz and 5GHz, Ethernet, public Wi-Fi, USB phone tethering, 3G/4G/5G USB modem
Wireless Speed: 2,882Mbps at 5GHz and 688Mbps at 2.4GHz
VPN: OpenVPN, WireGuard, PPTP and L2TP, client and server
Size: 126 x 93.5 x 36mm
Weight: Approximately 250g
Power: 5V/3A USB-C, no built-in battery
Accessories: Power adapter, Ethernet cable, USB cable, quick-installation guide and Wi-Fi information card

TP-Link Roam 7: Design

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

The Roam 7 is a relatively compact black box that measures 126 x 93.5 x 36mm and weighs in at 250g. It features a large front vent and two aerials that fold flat against the sides when transporting. One thing to note about the design is that it’s noticeably larger than a pocket hotspot but still small enough to slip into a backpack or bag easily.

It’s also worth noting that while the Roam 7 is relatively small, it requires a power supply, and an AC plug is included in the box; alternatively, you can plug it into a power bank, and in this review I’ve used the Ugreen 145W. On top of the power supply, you’ll also need a way to connect the router to the internet, and this is where the clever bit of this device comes into play.

You can either connect directly to a WAN or LAN via the two ports at the back, hardwire a phone via a USB cable and piggyback off the phone's cellular network or use it as a pass-through for a Wi-Fi network, say, if you’re in a café.

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

Once plugged in, a simple status LED on the front illuminates to indicate connections or activity. While the design is simple, with most options and settings being controlled through the app or web interface, there is a physical toggle button on the side that can be configured to control power, the status LED, or the VPN connection.

The rear panel houses all the connections: a 2.5 Gbps WAN port, a 1 Gbps LAN port, USB-A 3.0 for storage or tethering, and USB-C for power.

As this is a travel router, it would have been great to see a carry case supplied as well. Unfortunately, aside from the power supply, USB-C-to-USB-A adapter, and network cable, there are no other accessories.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

TP-Link Roam 7: Features

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

Taking a look at the feature set, it really highlights how the Roam 7 differs from a standard router or mobile router. In the case of the first, the compact size and weight mean it can be taken anywhere, and the build and design are robust and highly portable, with power supplied via USB-C rather than the standard barrel-style connector to mains power, which is more common.

Unlike a mobile router, it has no built-in battery or SIM card, so it relies on other devices for both. I’ll come on to why this can be a great option in the performance section.

The Roam supports dual-band BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 with Multi-Link Operation, 4K-QAM, and four wireless streams, rated at 2,882 Mbps on 5GHz and 688 Mbps on 2.4GHz. Those are link rates rather than throughput figures, and there is no 6GHz band, so this is Wi-Fi 7 in its dual-band form rather than the full tri-band specification.

Looking through the different operating modes, there are seven in total: cover router, hotspot or WISP, USB tethering, USB modem, access point, range extender and client. Switching between Ethernet, USB tethering, USB modem, and hotspot occurs through the web interface, and in testing, it took around 45-50 seconds to switch between each. USB tethering to an iPhone was slower, occasionally up to a minute, but on Android it was far faster.

One of the modes I was pleased to see was Failover, as it lets you connect to a mobile router and a tethered phone at the same time, and the Roam 7 prioritises whichever provides the better connection.

There’s also VPN support for major brands, including OpenVPN, WireGuard, PPTP, and L2TP, as both client and server. A VPN connection can run alongside ordinary traffic rather than being on all the time; the physical switch on the side can be allocated as a quick on/off for the VPN, so for general browsing you can switch it off, and for financials, shopping, etc you can switch it on for that additional protection.

The device management is also well thought out, with two options tailored to the type of user, or you can switch between them, as I find myself doing. For most people, the Tether app, which enables initial setup via a QR code, provides access to most of the settings.

During the test, there were a couple of occasions when I was unable to find the settings I wanted through the mobile app, such as assigning the connection type. The Web Admin, however, made this easy and offered a more traditional approach to router and network settings along with many advanced options, including what I was looking for, which was an easy way to switch between inputs.

The web admin panel can be located once you have connected to the router through 192.168.0.1 in your browser, and once you log in, you have all the primary and guest network management, assigning clients between 2.4GHz and 5GHz, Multi-Link Operation configuration to give one device priority over another, and a live view of CPU and memory load, which is interesting especially as more devices connect.

The best way to look at the two options is that the app is for consumers and the web client is for businesses, so actually having both is a good balance.

Another point about this router is that, as it doesn’t have its own power source, it will be a drain on whatever it’s plugged into. However, a check of the power usage shows it is extremely low at less than 4W; still, TP-Link do offer three power modes. Boost is the default and the option I used in the test to maximise performance; below it are Balance and Eco for managing speed, heat, and power draw. The MLO mode that I mentioned earlier will increase power use, but again, this power usage is extremely well managed.

Alongside the hardware admin, there’s a good level of software support, including HomeShield, which adds a network scanner, parental controls, and device-level quality of service. For each of these features, there is a Free tier, but the more robust parental controls and Security+ features require a paid subscription.

• Features: 4 / 5

TP-Link Roam 7: Performance

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)Benchmarks

Boot time: 1 minute 52 seconds, plus roughly a further minute to connect a client and get online
Time to internet from cold, MacBook Air M3: 2-3 minutes
Mode switching time: 45 seconds; up to 1 minute when switching to iPhone USB tethering
Power consumption, three clients connected: 3.8W with MacBook Pro, iPad and iPhone attached
Router load, three devices connected: CPU 40-60%, memory steady at around 50%

Throughput over a public café connection
One device: 87.3Mbps down / 98.5Mbps up
Two devices, device 1: 46.6Mbps down / 101.8Mbps up
Two devices, device 2: 61.3Mbps down / 27.3Mbps up
Three devices, device 1: 11.5Mbps down / 9.08Mbps up
Three devices, device 2: 75.4Mbps down / 44.4Mbps up
Three devices, device 3: 17.0Mbps down / 72.5Mbps up

These figures measure results via the cafe’s internet connection through the router, not the router's own wireless capability. The three-device total of 103.9 Mbps down exceeds the single-device figure of 87.3 Mbps, highlighting the influx of people into the cafe and the effect on bandwidth.

Initial setup is relatively straightforward, as there’s nothing to install. Or charge. Once unboxed, the AC adapter of a power bank can be plugged in, and the front light glows orange. You then go to the Tether Mobile App, scan the QR code, complete the rest of the process, and you’re set.

After that initial setup, I took the Roam 7 to a café, plugged it into a power bank, joined the venue's Wi-Fi via the Tether app, connected my MacBook to the router's network, and enabled the VPN. The whole sequence took between two and three minutes depending on the connection type and strength. It required no laptop configuration at all, having already connected to the router at home; likewise, the same for the connection to my phone and iPad, which were all previously connected.

One issue that struck me early on was the number of wires and gadgets I had suddenly accumulated around the MacBook; I had my phone, the power bank, and the router all connected along with wires. While it didn’t take up a huge amount of space, it was more than I’m used to.

One point about the connection speeds is that the public Wi-Fi connection was faster than connection tethered through my mobile phone. During testing on location, the 4G connection showed as full, however connected to the Wi-Fi without a VPN, I saw speeds of around 150 Mbps, down to around 120 Mbps with VPN on.

Through a series of checks to see how long it takes to connect in the café location from cold, it I found it took just under two minutes to boot, and connecting and getting the computer online added another minute. There’s also time to unpack the three devices you need to make that connection: the router, the power bank, and the mobile device.

The average connection time in the test was just under three minutes from nothing to a working connection on a public Wi-Fi network. OK, it’s faster to connect directly, but a public Wi-Fi, isn’t secure and the cost saving of the Roam 7 compared with a mobile router is huge.

Through the test, I was interested to see how long it would take to switch between connection types, say, from Wi-Fi to a tethered mobile connection. To do this you need to dip into the web interface, not the app, and the switchover took around 45-50 seconds.

As highlighted, there is no internal power, so the draw from the host machine is an important factor for travel, and surprisingly it’s very low. With a MacBook Pro, an iPad and an iPhone all connected, the router pulled 3.8W. This is really nothing, and my 145W power bank essentially ran through a working day without issue. It was also good that I was able to set up a local network, and the colleagues were also able to connect as guests, again all easily set up through the web interface.

For the most part, I was piggybacking off the wireless network in the café, and, interestingly, a single device connected, I saw 87.3 Mbps down and 98.5 Mbps up. With three connected, the individual figures ranged from 11.5 Mbps to 75.4 Mbps down, but their combined total came to 103.9 Mbps, more than that first single device. The issue is that the café's internet is open to the public, so there will be some fluctuation due to other users.

Internet speed is part of the picture, especially as more devices connect. One of the features I liked was that, through the web admin, you can see live CPU and memory usage. With only three devices connected, CPU load averaged 40-60%, while memory sat at around 50% of the installed 512 MB.

TP-Link states that it supports up to 90 devices, which I think may be a little bit hopeful. Still, for the three I had connected during the test, all checking the internet speed, then watching a 4K YouTube video and uploading files to an ftp this speed generally felt stable and fast.

A travel router like this has a very focused job and won't be for everyone; however, if you connect multiple devices to an internet connection away from home and need something lightweight and portable, this is a great solution that balances features, performance, and cost.

• Performance: 4 / 5

TP-Link Roam 7: Final verdict

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

At first it may be difficult to see why you would want the Roam 7 over just connecting directly to your mobile phone or the public Wi-Fi. But then, in the workplace, where you may have multiple devices you use while travelling, or you’re dubious about using public Wi-Fi, this well-priced travel router makes sense.

Setup is easy, and whatever connection mode you use, once you’ve run through the process a few times, it all makes sense. Essentially, arrive, plug in, order a coffee, and by the time you’ve unpacked and set up your computer you’ll be ready to go.

Overall, the connection seemed robust, especially with the failover. While the router can only be as good as the local connections, the test proved it was a solid option, switching from mobile to Wi-Fi to enable the fastest connection without issue.

I had to ask: with mobile routers also available, who is this best for? The Roam 7 is an ideal solution if you travel and use multiple devices. It essentially lets you connect all devices to it, and you just need to connect it to an internet connection. When you arrive at your destination, you connect to the router, and everything else follows suit, without you needing to log in to every device individually.

While you can do this with your mobile, the added network features and the ability to turn your phone into a mobile router are definitely appealing and much cheaper than a dedicated mobile router.

Then there’s the price, which at a fraction of dedicated mobile routers and with all the additional features suddenly makes this very appealing as an option to use anywhere, be that travelling or in a location that you just want to set up a private network, such as in an office, studio or workshop where a separate network can be useful.

Should I buy a TP-Link Roam 7?

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

Value

Excellent value at around £90, although you’ll need power and internet connection in addition

4.5/5

Design

Compact, design perfect for slipping into a backpack, though no case is supplied

4.5/5

Features

Seven modes, including full VPN support, storage sharing and decent web admin 

4/5

Performance

Quick to set up and low power consumption, balanced by the mid-range hardware

4/5

Overall

A flexible, business travel router that will keep you connected and safe as you travel 

4/5

Buy it if...

You travel with several devices.

No need to log in with multiple devices to hotels, airports, cafés and other open networks; connect the router and then all devices through the router, far easier.

You need to work from wherever you land.

With a range of connection options and VPN support, you can connect to the internet, public Wi-Fi, phone tethering, and USB modems, all of which can feed into the same private network.

Don't buy it if...

You want maximum range and speed.

A full-size home router will offer far better long-distance signal and speed; the Roam 7 is designed for smaller areas.

You want an all-in-one.

To get this to work, you need extras, and at the basic level that’s your mobile and a power bank. So while the device is small, the mound of tech you need can quickly accumulate.

For more connectivity solutions, we've reviewed the best Wi-Fi routers.

RingConn Gen 3: One minute review

RingConn has always been a solid challenger to Oura in the smart ring space, and after spending two weeks testing it, I can safely say the new RingConn Gen 3 continues that trend. You’ll get most of the same health, sleep and recovery tracking features as rivals in our best smart rings guide here, but without the monthly subscription that puts some people off buying a smart ring altogether.

The Gen 3 tracks heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, respiratory rate, stress, activity and sleep. New additions include a haptic motor for some alerts and reminders, improved battery life and new vascular health trend insights, which are designed to give you a picture of your cardiovascular wellbeing over time.

However, this version does feel similar to the Gen 2 that came before it. The design and app experience feel largely unchanged and many of the core features will already be familiar to anyone thinking of upgrading from a RingConn Gen 2.

Although that's not necessarily a bad thing. The lightweight titanium design is still incredibly comfortable to wear and the app is simple to navigate. RingConn also continues to stand out by offering useful features like sleep apnea monitoring, something that still isn't standard across the smart ring market.

(Image credit: Future)

The experience here isn't perfect. During my testing, I found that some health insights can feel generic, certain wellness scores lack meaningful context and some of the messaging around features like vascular insight trends can be confusing. And, while the app is clean and easy to use, it still doesn't feel quite as refined or polished as Oura's.

But RingConn continues to occupy a compelling middle ground. It isn't the cheapest smart ring you can buy, but it undercuts premium competitors while delivering a similar experience overall.

The RingConn Gen 3 may not be the most exciting smart ring launch of the year, but for anyone looking for comprehensive health tracking without an ongoing subscription, it's shaping up to be one of the easiest smart rings for me to recommend.

RingConn Gen 3: Specifications

Component

RingConn Gen 3

Price

$426 (silver, gold, matte black) / $454 (brushed silver and brushed rose gold); £322 / £343 (approx)

Dimensions

2.3mm thick

Weight

2.5g to 3.5g (depending on size)

Finish

Silver, gold, matte black, brushed silver, brushed rose gold

Sizes

6 to 15

Material

Titanium body, medical-grade epoxy interior with a PVD coating

Battery life

10 to 12 days (with vibration on), 11 to 14 days (with vibration off)

Sensors

Optical Heart Rate Sensor, Temperature Sensor, 3-Axis Accelerometer and Vibration Feedback Motor

Connection

Bluetooth 5.0

Water resistance

IP68 / 10ATM

(Image credit: Future)RingConn Gen 3: Price and availability

• Priced at $426 / $454; £322 / £343 (approx)
• Rolled out from late May 2026
• No subscription needed

Pricing starts at $426 for the silver, gold and matte black versions. That rises to $454 if you’d like the new brushed silver and brushed rose gold finishes.

I only tested the standard silver, but the brushed effect is really appealing. At least what I can see from promo shots, it makes the ring look a little more refined and if I was buying one myself I’d probably pay extra for that finish.

UK pricing hasn’t yet been confirmed at the time of writing, but that US pricing works out at approximately £322 to £343, depending on the finish you choose.

That places the RingConn Gen 3 firmly in the premium smart ring category. It's not cheap by any means. You can now find more affordable smart rings, like the Circular Ring 2, which starts at $349 / £280 / AU$497.

However, it still manages to undercut some of its biggest competitors, making a tempting value proposition. For context, the new Oura Ring 5 starts from £399. Which, granted, isn’t that much more expensive. But you do need to factor in the ongoing monthly subscription, which you’ll need to unlock all of the Oura’s features. That costs $5.99 / £5.99 per month. So paid monthly, that’s around an additional $70 / £70 per year.

What makes RingConn stand out is that there are no subscription fees here. Once you've bought the ring, you get access to all of the core health and wellness features without any additional monthly costs.

It’s worth mentioning that other smart ring brands are offering their devices without a monthly subscription too. And the gap between RingConn and its premium competitors isn't quite as large as it once was, especially as smart ring prices continue to rise across the board. But when you factor in the lack of subscription fees and the breadth of features on offer, the RingConn Gen 3 still represents good value.

• Value score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future)RingConn Gen 3: Design

• Lightweight and comfortable design
• Distinctive squared circle shape
• New finishes and expanded sizing options

The first thing you'll notice about the RingConn Gen 3 when you take it out of the box is its unusual shape. Rather than being perfectly round, it has a subtle squared-off design. It looks a little unusual at first, but I really liked it. Plus it seemed like a refreshing choice in a market where so many smart rings are almost indistinguishable from each other.

At between 2.5g and 3.5g depending on which size you get, and measuring 2.3mm thick, the ring is light and discreet enough to forget you're wearing it. I wore it day and night when I was testing it, including while sleeping, without any issues.

That weight and thickness are both fairly standard compared to other smart rings. The only notable exception is the new Oura Ring 5, which has been designed to be slimmer and lighter than previous generations and almost all rivals.

The Gen 3 ring is made from titanium with a medical-grade resin interior and is rated IP68 and 10ATM for water resistance. In practical terms, that means you can wear it in the shower, while swimming and during workouts without worrying about taking it off. During testing, I rarely had to think about removing it, whether I was washing up, showering or exercising — though I did remove it when lifting weights to avoid any scratching.

RingConn has also expanded its sizing range this time around, now offering up to size 15. Many competing brands don't go beyond size 14. One thing to be aware of here is that RingConn says the Gen 3 sizing may differ slightly from standard ring sizing and other smart rings. Which means it may be worth using the sizing kit first just to be safe. Although I tested my usual size without any issues.

There are several new finishes available, including brushed silver and brushed rose gold. I tested the glossy silver model, which held up surprisingly well during testing. After more than a week of daily wear, there were no visible scuffs or scratches, even on close inspection.

That's really notable because when I’ve tested many smart rings in the past I've found that some finishes, particularly matte black ones, can start showing signs of wear after only a few days.

That said, if I were buying this ring myself rather than reviewing it, I'd probably choose one of the new brushed finishes, even though they cost a little more. After years of testing smart rings, I've come to think that the super glossy finishes are often what make them look like gadgets rather than jewellery. So if making sure a smart ring blends in is important to you, the brushed options are probably worth considering.

My only real criticism is that there isn't an obvious external marker showing which way round the ring should be worn. That's really nit-picking, but it's something some competitors have added. While it's easy enough to identify the correct orientation from the sensor placement inside the ring, a small external indicator, like a tiny notch, would make it quicker and easier to position correctly for the most accurate readings.

The charging case is handy. It's compact, easy to throw into a bag and feels more refined than previous versions. Unlike some competitors, it's also not tied to a specific ring size, which might be useful for you if you know someone else who has a RingConn ring.

• Design Score: 4/5

RingConn Gen 3: Features

(Image credit: Future)

• Subtle haptic alerts
• Comprehensive health and wellness tracking
• Sleep apnea monitoring and vascular insights

You’ll find all of the health and wellness features you'd expect from a premium smart ring here. The Gen 3 continuously tracks heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), respiratory rate, skin temperature, stress, activity levels and sleep. There's also menstrual tracking and a Baby Prep mode to support ovulation prediction.

Alongside these core features, RingConn offers a few more advanced tools that are designed to help it stand out from rivals. One of the most useful is sleep apnea monitoring. Once enabled, it monitors for the core signs of sleep apnea and provides short-term risk indicators alongside longer-term trends.

Like any wearable health feature, it's not designed to diagnose a medical condition. But I think it could be useful if you're concerned about your sleep quality or breathing patterns and want some additional information before you speak to a doctor.

New for the Gen 3 is a built-in haptic motor, which means the ring can now vibrate for health alerts, inactivity reminders and low-battery warnings.

At first, I was conflicted about this addition. Part of the appeal of smart rings for me is that they collect data in the background without demanding attention in the way a smartwatch can. Fortunately, RingConn has taken a restrained approach. The vibrations are subtle, focused on health-related notifications rather than phone alerts and can be disabled entirely if you'd prefer that.

Another notable addition is RingConn's vascular health tracking. Rather than attempting to estimate blood pressure directly, the feature combines overnight vascular load data with blood pressure readings and lifestyle information to provide longer-term cardiovascular insights.

To use it, you'll need to periodically enter blood pressure readings from a traditional blood pressure cuff. Initially, I wasn't convinced of the value of this feature. Wouldn’t you just use a cuff instead of the ring if you have one? But it became clear during testing that the goal here isn't to replace a blood pressure monitor. Instead, it's designed to help identify broader patterns over time.

One reason for the confusion is likely that in the app this section is labelled as 'blood pressure trends', which RingConn tells me is out-of-date copy and will be changed to 'vascular insights' soon to make it clear this isn't just a blood pressure reading feature.

Because the data you get here is about circulation stress tracking, which RingConn describes as a measure of how effectively your body moves between activity and recovery. Results are then also broken down into areas such as day-night rhythm, sleep breathing, post-exercise recovery and stress response.

The insights aren't especially deep, and if anything is flagged you'll need to go and search for what it means, but they're among the most detailed explanations available in the RingConn app and provide useful context without becoming overwhelming.

• Features Score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future)RingConn Gen 3: Performance

• Clean, easy-to-use app
• Excellent battery life
• Strong sleep and wellness tracking

As with any smart ring, the Gen 3 relies heavily on its app, and RingConn gets a lot right here. While it doesn't feel quite as polished as Oura's software, I found it easy to navigate through the different menus. I also liked the flower-like Wellness Balance graphic at the top of the dashboard, which provides a quick visual snapshot of your overall health.

The app makes it easy to check key metrics at a glance, while more detailed charts, historical trends and explanations are there if you click through into each dedicated section, including sleep, activity and stress. Stress tracking was a particular highlight, making it easy to spot recurring patterns and periods of higher pressure throughout the day.

Some of the written insights can feel a little generic though, as daily summaries occasionally surfaced observations that felt obvious or lacked enough context to be genuinely useful. Sleep insights tended to be more helpful, with more detailed explanations and recommendations.

Sleep tracking is one of RingConn's strongest areas. The app presents sleep duration, efficiency, stages, overnight heart rate and movement data clearly without overwhelming you with information. During testing, it also handled my occasionally unusual sleep schedule surprisingly well, which meant that on nights when I woke up for an hour in the early morning before falling back asleep, RingConn correctly identified this as a brief 'awake' period rather than ending the sleep session entirely.

In terms of accuracy, I wore the RingConn Gen 3 alongside a Whoop 5.0. The two devices produced very similar results. Whoop measured a 84% sleep performance, 6 hours and 31 minutes of sleep and a 49bpm average overnight heart rate. RingConn gave me a 77 sleep score, recorded 6 hours and16 minutes of sleep with a 48bpm average overnight heart rate

Sleep stage breakdowns also aligned closely, with only minor differences in deep and REM sleep estimates. No wearable tracks sleep perfectly, but the results were broadly consistent.

I also appreciated how RingConn handles unusual readings. Rather than generating alarming warnings whenever a metric moves outside of its normal range, the app generally presents changes with reasonable context. I'd still like more explanation in some areas, particularly when a metric is flagged. I was often felt feeling a little frustrated at the lack of context and additional information as to why a reading deviated and what that really means. But the overall approach feels useful and sensible.

Sleep apnea monitoring is well implemented here. The feature presents trends clearly, includes some useful explanations and feels more mature than some of the app's other health insights. It's worth noting though that monitoring won't function properly once battery levels drop below 30%.

Exercise tracking is more basic than what you'll get from a dedicated sports watch, although that's true of most smart rings. During testing, the ring automatically detected walking, running and strength-training sessions without requiring manual input. You just need to acknowledge it’s identified your activity correctly and there are a wide range to choose from.

In the activity section you’ll find useful information like activity intensity, active time, calories burned and step count, which should be enough for most users.

Step tracking was accurate, although RingConn did seem to slightly under report compared to other devices. On one test day it recorded 5,167 steps versus 5,500 on the Whoop, a pattern I noticed in a few other comparisons.

Battery life is still one of RingConn's biggest strengths. The company claims between 11 and 14 days per charge, and in my testing the ring lasted nearly 12.5 days with both vascular insights and haptic alerts enabled.

That comfortably exceeds most rivals these days. For comparison, the Oura Ring 5 offers up to 7 days, the Samsung Galaxy Ring up to 7 days, while the Ultrahuman Ring Air and Circular Ring 2 both offer around 6 days.

For me, this is one of the RingConn's biggest selling points. The less often you need to remove a wearable for charging, the more likely you are to wear it consistently and collect uninterrupted data. RingConn also displays both remaining battery percentage and an estimate of days remaining in the map, which is a small but useful touch.

Overall, the RingConn Gen 3 delivers a strong experience. The app isn't quite as refined as Oura's, and some insights could go further, but the combination of comprehensive health tracking, clear data presentation, excellent battery life and a subscription-free model makes it one of the most compelling smart rings currently available.

• Performance score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future)RingConn Gen 3: Scorecard

Category

Comment

Score

Value

There's no subscription and it undercuts major rivals. But not by all that much.

3.5/5

Design

It's lightweight, comfortable and has a non-standard squared circle design. Nice glossy finish with several more available in this version too. There's no wearing indicator and sizing might differ this time around.

4.5/5

Features

A solid set of health and wellbeing features. Vascular insights are welcome, though not intuitive to use — you'll need a separate cuff. Otherwise, it is pretty similar to the Gen 2 that came before it.

4/5

Performance

Solid insights presented simply in the app. Which is a little less refined than rivals, but easy to use. The battery life is standout and I found myself really engaging with the data rather than forgetting to check — a testament to a solid experience.

4/5

RingConn Gen 3: Should I buy?Buy it if...

You don't want to pay a subscription
All of the features on offer here are free, which sets it apart from rivals like Oura that charge a monthly fee.

You want a light and comfortable smart ring
It's very easy to wear, even at night. And despite reported changes to sizing, I got the size I usually wear with no issues.

You want general health insights
Look, smart rings are not the last word in fitness tracking. There's some of it here but they're best at general health insights and an overall picture of your wellbeing.

Don't buy it if...

You have the Gen 2 or Air
Yes, there are some significant improvements here, but not everyone would be able to justify an upgrade. It depends whether the changes are a priority for you.

You want to save money
Compared to rivals, it's solid value. But there are now cheaper options that might not beat the RingConn Gen 3, but do the basics well.

You're considering Oura
As you'll learn below, Oura is pricier with a monthly subscription. But it is an elevated experience over RingConn in most ways.

Also consider

Oura Ring 5

The Oura Ring 5 is here and it's one of the best choices out there, especially now the latest version is even slimmer than previous iterations. We rated its improved design and comfort in our recent review. Yes, it's more expensive than the RingConn Gen 3 and you'll need to add on the recurring monthly subscription. But if it's the most advanced smart ring you're after and you're willing to pay for it, take a look at the Oura Ring 5 instead.

Read our full Oura Ring 5 reviewView Deal

RingConn Gen 2

I know, I know. This is the older model, but it's been significantly reduced now the Gen 3 is here. Which makes it even better value. Granted, you're not getting the improved battery life, extra finish options, upgraded tracking and vascular insights. But if saving money is a priority, you find a good bargain and you don't need the latest tech, it's a solid choice in my books.

Read our full RingConn Gen 2 reviewView Deal

How I tested

(Image credit: Future)

I tested the Ringconn Gen 3 for just over 2 weeks. I wore it all day and all night, only taking it off to either charge it or lift weights — I've learned many times in the past that smart rings are very easy to scratch with metal dumbbells. The smart ring was on throughout workouts, while I was working, out socializing, relaxing on an evening and sleeping at night.

I've been reviewing smart rings since the very first version of the Oura ring came out back in 2017. Since then, I've tested almost every generation from every smart ring brand that came after it. This puts me in a solid position to not only test the newest rings, but compare the models, tell you which one might be right for you and bring you loads of context about the smart ring space.

• First reviewed: June 2026

After falling in love with Disneyland Handcrafted, I was excited to dive into the studio's latest documentary movie, Disney Worldbuilders. Directed by Leslie Iwerks, the new movie has a tiny runtime of 58 minutes and call me greedy, but I really wanted more.

Disney Worldbuilders gets up-close-and-personal with some of Disney's most influential voices, where we learn about creative processes and their lasting impact on both cinema and the Disney Parks around the world.

Even though I loved what I saw, I did feel as though Worldbuilders tries to squeeze too much into its runtime. Unlike Handcrafted, which solely focuses on Walt's vision for Disneyland in Anaheim, this jumps around between subjects, and I wish we'd had an episode for each person interviewed so we could've taken a deeper dive.

The stacked line-up is made up of Bob Iger, James Cameron, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, Jennifer Lee, Pete Docter, Dave Filoni, Jared Bush, and Josh D’Amaro. That's a lot of people to talk to in under an hour, so I really wish we'd had more time with all of them!

Bob Iger in particular deserves a documentary of his own, and I hope we get one so we can properly examine the huge impact he's had on the Walt Disney Company, because it's not to be sniffed at. His segments didn't seem to fit with the rest of the interviews.

Still, that doesn't mean Worldbuilders is not worth your time. Far from it, in fact; I think it gives some really valuable and inspiring insights from some of the biggest names across Disney properties like Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel, and it's hard not to smile when you're greeted with this footage.

Jennifer Lee and her sister have an emotional scene in Disney Worldbuilders. (Image credit: Disney)

The scale of the Disney Parks really is fascinating, and I liked how we were able to see the early days of areas such as Hollywood Studios' Galaxy's Edge and Animal Kingdom’s Pandora, especially how the directors of those movies responded to seeing their creations come to life. Now, fans get to walk through the worlds we see on screen, and the constant innovation going on across the global parks is jaw-dropping.

I found myself getting emotional during certain parts, particularly Jennifer Lee's reaction to World of Frozen at Disneyland Paris. Seeing her wandering around with Olaf and reflecting on her relationship with her sister is incredibly touching, given how Anna and Elsa are such inspirational figures to a lot of people out there.

Even though the interviews with each subject are short, we do get a lot of heartfelt anecdotes which I found to be very interesting. As someone who has been enamored with filmmaking from a young age, it's inspiring to see how these amazing creatives can help shape future attractions for all ages. In Worldbuilders, they reflect on their own childhoods and how they ended up working for one of the biggest media companies in the world.

Ultimately, this would have worked so much better in an episodic format because I could have happily watched eight hours of this, as opposed to the one hour we did get. I am hopeful that Disney will do more long-form Parks-focused documentaries like this, especially ones that talk to the creatives responsible for writing these worlds we know and love.

Disney Worldbuilders comes to Disney+ on August 20. While you wait, why not check out the best Disney+ movies and best Disney+ TV shows to stream right now.

Gulikit KK3 Max: One-minute review

The GuliKit KK3 Max might look like a standard controller, but it has plenty of extras and features on board.

Adopting the familiar form of the Xbox’s gamepad, the KK3 Max doesn’t exactly push the boundaries in terms of design. But given how comfortable and convenient the shape and layout are, it’s hard to complain about its lack of originality.

There are also a few extra flourishes that add some interest. The matte white finish of my review unit was rather fetching, while the front panel is incredibly smooth, smoother than any other I’ve felt before. Its construction also feels quite solid, rivaling the builds of the best PC controllers.

This premium feel extends to the buttons, since there’s very little wobble to any of them. The same can be said of the various sets of levers for the four back buttons, although a fair amount of force is required to insert them.

(Image credit: Future)

Despite the lack of software, there are still plenty of input-related customizations and settings available via various button combinations. These range from basic adjustments, such as the vibration intensity and stick sensitivity, to more advanced features, such as motion control and macro recording.

The overall performance of the KK3 Max is pretty good. Most of the buttons are responsive and satisfying to press. The triggers offer a fair amount of control, although I found their travel distance a little too short for my preferences. The sticks also lack the precision of the best, although they move easily and quickly. Motion controls are also inconsistent: I found they performed well with Nintendo Switch games, but were less effective on PC and mobile titles.

I’m happy to report that I had no issues with connectivity on any system I tried the KK3 Max with. Whether it was to my PC via the USB dongle or to my Switch and Android tablet via Bluetooth, the KK3 Max connected quickly to them all and I didn’t experience any dropouts or lag. Hotswitching between devices is also easy thanks to the dedicated button for this purpose, although it can take several presses for the button to respond.

The current multiplatform controller market is certainly a competitive one, with an increasing number of entrants offering increasingly better value. At $79.99 / £65.99 / AU$113.95, the KK3 Max is dangerously close in price to some real standouts, such as the Steam Controller and the GameSir G7 Pro 8K, and more expensive than the 8BitDo Pro 3, another highly capable controller. It mightn’t quite match up to its cohort, but the KK3 Max is still a gamepad to consider if you prefer onboard adjustments and like to have plenty of back buttons.

(Image credit: Future)Gulikit KK3 Max review: Price & availability

• $79.99 / £65.99 / AU$113.95
• Available now in various colorways
• Premium pricing puts it against big hitters

The GuliKit KK3 Max costs $79.99 / £65.99 / AU$113.95 and is available now from Amazon. Three colorways are available: black, white, and grey.

This pricing places the KK3 Max at the premium end of the market. It comes close to some big names in this space, such as the new Steam Controller. This has the advantage of touchpads for controlling the mouse cursor, and we found its gyroscope controls performed very well, unlike the KK3 Max’s. It isn’t compatible with the Switch or Switch 2, though.

The KK3 Max is also more expensive than the 8BitDo Pro 3, which has class-leading performance. We particularly loved its smooth analog sticks and triggers, as well as its phenomenal D-pad. It’s very customizable, too, thanks to its accompanying software — something the KK3 Max lacks.

Gulikit KK3 Max review: Specs

Gulikit KK3 Max

Price

$79.99 / £65.99 / AU$113.95

Weight

9.7oz / 275g

Dimensions

6 x 4.3 x 1.3in / 154.7 x 108.1 x 32.4mm

Compatibility

PC, Switch, Switch 2, Android, iOS

Connection type

Wireless (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)

Battery life

15-28 hours

(Image credit: Future)Gulikit KK3 Max review: Design and features

• Super smooth surface
• No extra D-pad hats or stick caps
• No software

The KK3 Max has a simple and conventional design, replicating the form and layout of the best Xbox controllers. This is no bad thing, though, since such gamepads are among the most ergonomic and comfortable out there. Along with many others, I’m also particularly fond of the asymmetric analog sticks, since this moves the D-pad to a position that makes it easier to use with either thumb.

What may prove more divisive, however, is the relatively small size of the entire unit. I don’t have particularly large hands, but both my thumbs and forefingers tended to overhang the sticks and triggers respectively. I was able to adjust my grip to compensate without sacrificing comfort or security, but others might find this more of a problem.

There are some extra touches to the KK3 Max’s design that set it apart from the crowd. The brilliant white matte finish of my review unit is quite eye-catching, as is the subtle yet effective RGB lighting around the sticks, which also has a practical function that I’ll come to later.

(Image credit: Future)

The front plate is incredibly smooth to the touch, smoother than any other controller I’ve experienced. However, this plate isn’t magnetically attached as it is on other gamepads, allowing for easy removal for the sake of customization and reordering or replacing buttons.

You can still remove the KK3 Max’s face buttons — you’ll just need to use the included puller to do so, which is thankfully easy to use. You can’t directly swap the X with the Y button or the A with the B, though, since they have different depths and curvatures. Rather, duplicates of each button are included in the box with the appropriate depth and curvature for swapping their position. This seems like a rather inefficient solution to me, and just means you have more bits of plastic in your life than you otherwise would.

I can’t complain about their quality, though. They’re pleasantly smooth and stable, with only a marginal amount of play, while their transparent design is quite fetching. The D-pad also feels stable, although it’s a shame you can't replace the hat, as different designs can make a real difference to feel and performance, and would cater to more preferences. Fortunately, I found it quite ergonomic; even though it adopts the traditional four-point shape, its rounded edges make it better for rolling between directions.

(Image credit: Future)

The triggers are also comfortable. They have rounded outside edges, which makes them soft on the finger, as well as a dotted texture to provide grip. The analog stick caps are reasonably small but have an ergonomic shape and a soft finish. Their edges are slightly textured, although this is less prominent than other examples, so those with sweaty thumbs might slip off them. They are removable, but GuliKit doesn’t provide any extra sets in the box, which is a shame. The sticks themselves are quite tall and suitably planted, with a negligible amount of play.

More solid are the back button levers. Despite how they look, they’re not made from metal, but they are reassuringly sturdy. They actually require a fair amount of force to insert in their slots, but once in place, I felt pretty confident that they weren’t going to come loose. They come in different shapes, with two sets of paddle-like levers and a set that looks more like bumpers.

(Image credit: Future)

There’s no software for customizing the inputs of the KK3 Max, which is a shame. However, there are still plenty of adjustments you can make and features to enable using various button combinations. You can alter the sensitivity of the analog sticks, with three levels to choose from, as well as toggle Dead Zone mode for them. You can also enable the Motion Aim Assist mode, letting you assign gyroscopic controls when either the left stick or the left trigger is held. Again, there are three levels of sensitivity to choose from here.

Other settings include a toggle for the D-pad between four- and eight-direction modes, A and B and X and Y swaps, and a Rapid Trigger function with two modes to choose from: one where the chosen input triggers repeatedly when held, and the other when it’s merely pressed. An autopilot mode and a macro recorder are available, too.

All these adjustments are quite easy to make, and there are some useful indicators that let you know what settings have been selected. For instance, the sticks light different colors depending on which of the three sensitivity levels is set, and the pad rumbles once, twice, or thrice depending on which of the three sensitivities of the Motion Aim Assist is set. However, I still would’ve preferred software for convenience's sake; it’s always nice to see your settings represented graphically, and having to remember all the button combinations is a hassle I could do without.

(Image credit: Future)Gulikit KK3 Max review: Performance

• Solid button feel
• Slightly imprecise sticks
• Motion controls are mixed

In action, the KK3 Max acquits itself rather well. The face buttons are tactile and well-damped, and only require a light touch to press, which makes them feel snappy. However, they don’t provide the best feedback, and there are times when it can be difficult to feel them actually being pressed. Thankfully, however, this didn’t result in presses failing to register, in my experience.

The bumpers are more clicky, but still have enough dampening to make presses satisfying. However, I found their position a little too high, which can make reaching them a little difficult. I should say that I encounter this problem on quite a few gamepads, but here it’s particularly acute.

In fact, I found the back buttons more usable than the bumpers, which isn’t something I can say about a lot of other controllers with back buttons. Their travel might be shallow, no matter which lever you decide to attach, but there’s enough dampening and feedback to make them viable as replacements for other inputs. I didn’t accidentally trigger them when gripping the KK3 Max tightly, either. The shapes of the various levers are easy to use, although I did find that the lower paddles were best used with two fingers rather than one.

(Image credit: Future)

The triggers are resistant enough to provide adequate control when performing graduated presses, something I especially appreciate when playing racing games such as Assetto Corsa that require precise acceleration and braking inputs. Their relatively shallow travel does negate this aspect somewhat, but I still found them just about up to the task. They’re also light enough to perform rapid inputs when needed, and to prevent fatigue from setting in during prolonged holds.

The sticks move freely and quickly, with a fast rebound that makes them feel snappy. Aiming was quite accurate when I played 007 First Light, although they don’t offer the smoothest motion, with small but frequent jumps and unexpected accelerations affecting my accuracy. Thankfully, their aforementioned height didn’t pose a problem when moving them around, although it did cause some instability when pressing in the L3 and R3 buttons, with accidental directional movements often accompanying them.

The gyroscopic motion controls are mixed in terms of their performance. When I played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on my Switch, they were smooth when aiming the bow, and on a par with the best Nintendo Switch controllers. However, with games on other platforms, such as First Light on PC and Hitman Blood Money — Reprisal on Android, they were jerky and restrictive in terms of movement. No matter how many times I recalibrated them using the onboard function to do this, they didn’t improve on these systems.

I had no issues connecting the KK3 Max to my Windows 11 PC, Switch, or Android tablet via Bluetooth or the USB dongle. The handy button for hot-switching between devices is also useful, and hot-switching itself proved quick in my experience. However, the button doesn’t operate that well, taking a few too many presses to actually respond.

Should I buy the Gulikit KK3 Max?Buy it if…

You want a comfortable gamepad
The ergonomic shape of the KK3 Max, combined with the super smooth front panel and rounded triggers, make it comfortable to use — although those with particularly large hands might struggle with it.

You want plenty of back buttons
With four back buttons and three different kinds of lever attachments for them, the KK3 Max is great for those who like to trigger inputs with their fingers rather than their thumbs.

Don't buy it if…

You want software
Even though you can customize the inputs of the KK3 Max, you’ll need to do this with button combinations, as there’s no companion app.

You want the best stick performance
The sticks aren’t quite as smooth or precise as those in the best gamepads.

Gulikit KK3 Max review: Also consider

GuliKit KK3 Max

8BitDo Pro 3

Valve Steam Controller (2026)

Price

$79.99 / £65.99 / AU$113.95

$59.99 / £40 (around AU$84)

$99 / £85 / AU$149

Weight

9.7oz / 275g

8.5oz / 242g

10.3oz / 292g

Dimensions

6 x 4.3 x 1.3in / 154.7 x 108.1 x 32.4mm

6.1 x 3.9 x 2.6in / 154 x 101 x 65mm

4.4 x 6.3 x 2.2in / 111 x 159 x 57mm

Compatibility

PC, Switch, Switch 2, Android, iOS

Switch, Switch 2, PC, Android, iOS

PC, Mac, Android, iOS

Connection type

Wireless (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)

Wireless (2.4GHz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)

Steam Controller Puck, USB, Bluetooth

Battery life

15-28 hours

15-20 hours

35+ hours

Valve Steam Controller (2026)
Valve’s latest iteration of the Steam Controller was highly anticipated, and in our view it didn’t disappoint. We found it offered great all-round performance, thanks to its TMR analog sticks and excellent gyro controls. Unlike other controllers, it also features touchpads for controlling cursor movement, making it a real boon for PC players. It doesn’t have the wide-ranging platform support of others, though.

Read our full Valve Steam Controller (2026) review.

8BitDo Pro 3
If you want to spend less on a controller but still want great performance, look no further than the 8BitDo Pro 3. We loved the performance of its sticks, triggers, and D-pad, and we found its shape supremely comfortable, while still staying faithful to the old SNES gamepad it’s keen to emulate. It also has great software with plenty of customizations.

Read our full 8BitDo Pro 3 review.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Gulikit KK3 Max

• Tested consistently for a few days
• Played a variety of games on multiple devices
• Plenty of controller experience

I tested the Gulikit KK3 Max for a few days, during which time I played a number of games on most of the platforms the controller is compatible with. I used it on my Windows 11 PC via the 2.4GHz wireless USB dongle, and on my Switch and Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 tablet via Bluetooth.

I made sure to play a variety of games across these platforms to test every facet of the controller’s performance. I played 007 First Light on PC, which is a good test for the accuracy and precision of analog sticks, as well as Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal on my tablet for the same purpose. I also played Assetto Corsa, which is not only a good test for the sticks but also for the control offered by the triggers. I also played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Switch, primarily to test the motion controls, as the game and console handle such controls very well.

I’ve been gaming for decades, and have used numerous gamepads with numerous systems in that time. I’ve also reviewed a number of other controllers, from budget offerings to high-performing premium models.

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