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Happy Plugs Pro: Two-minute review

The budget headphones market is becoming increasingly competitive. As more manufacturers cut the cost of their cans, it’s now relatively easy to snag yourself a decent pair of over-ears for well under $100. And the Happy Plugs Play Pro definitely fit into this savings-conscious category.

These cans may not quite compete with the very best cheap headphones out there, but they still provide relatively strong audio and okay(ish) ANC (active noise cancellation). The Play Pro also rock an unfussy yet attractive design that looks classier than you’d expect at such a reasonable price. As for comfort, these are some of the most comfy headphones I’ve ever worn. Really.

Despite housing five internal mics to assist with the ANC, the Play Pro aren’t great at shielding your ears from external sounds. Getting any noise-cancelling features in a cheap pair of cans is obviously welcome, no question. Still, there’s no disguising that there are far better options out there – like the superb Earfun Wave Pro, which are actually a little cheaper than Happy Plugs’ headphones.

Battery life with the Play Pro is borderline stellar. Switch off ANC and you can squeeze 50 hours of juice out of these cans, which is more than respectable. It’s just a pity there’s no idle mode on show here, meaning you have to remember to switch them off manually or they’ll stay paired to your smartphone/tablet.

Whatever device you’re planning to pair the Play Pro with over Bluetooth, you should know Happy Plugs hasn’t provided any software to let you tweak or set custom audio profiles. With no app available, you’re stuck with the default audio experience the company has created. To the Swedish firm’s credit, the Play Pro actually sound pretty good, with these over-ears’ potent bass being a particular highlight.

I spent the better part of a month with these cheap – but, crucially, not “cheap-feeling” – cans and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed listening to them. If nothing else, I’ll always remember them for being the headphones I was wearing during the last walk I took my beloved husky on before I had to reluctantly rehome him.

The Play Pro’s reasonably well-balanced audio brought tears to my eyes as I was listening to my all-time favorite song – Sonnet by The Verve – thanks to their loud, fairly punchy soundscape. Here come the waterworks again.

Moving past my doggo sadness, I’ll also give props to the Play Pro for being excellent for hands-free calls. Happy Plugs claims its headphones have a radius of around 50ft, and I experienced no distortion or break up when talking on calls even when I was several rooms away from my phone.

If you don’t want to break the bank on your next set of headphones, the Happy Plugs Play Pro are a solid option that are well worth a look. There’s no denying the likes of the fantastic 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 are superior, though, while the Panasonic RB-M600 are also worth considering, along with the best over-ear headphones on the market.

Happy Plugs Play Pro review: Specifications

Drivers

40mm

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Battery life (quoted)

50 hours (ANC off) 35 hours (ANC on)

Bluetooth type

Bluetooth 5.4

Weight

253g

Waterproofing

IPX4

Happy Plugs Play Pro review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

• Released in March 2025
• RRP of $59.99 / £59.99 / AU$120 (approx.)

The Happy Plugs Play Pro currently retail for $59 / $59 / AU$120 (approx.) – though at the time of writing, availability is limited on the Happy Plugs store. They first launched after CES 2025, and are available in either no-nonsense White or Black colorways.

Be warned: they’re not all that easy to find. Currently, they’re unavailable on Amazon US or UK, though I did find them in stock from retailers like B&Q and Very here in my native Blighty. Seeing as the Play Pro haven’t been out for long, it’s hardly surprising they haven’t dropped below that initial price tag just yet.

Happy Plugs Play Pro review: Features

(Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

• Long-lasting battery life
• Middling ANC
• IPX4 waterproof rating

Look up “no frills” in the dictionary, and you’ll see a picture of the Happy Plugs Play Pro. Not literally, of course, but when it comes to features, it's safe to say these headphones are lacking.

Considering there’s no software or app support, these budget cans' biggest selling point has to be their excellent battery life. Once you juice these pups up, you won’t have to give your charger as much as a glance for days at a time.

With ANC turned off, I found the Happy Plugs’ claim that the Play Pro will last for 50 hours pretty much bang on the money. That’s some impressive sonic stamina for a pair of over-ears that cost less than $60. A word of caution, though – the review sample I’ve been testing wouldn’t enter idle mode when I accidentally left them connected to my iPhone 14 Pro.

Instead, you have to manually hold down the power button to send these cans to sleep. This is a flaw I discovered when I forgot my phone while going to see Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning recently, only to be greeted by a blue power light on the Play Pro once I got back to my apartment after 2 hours and 49 minutes of death-defying Tiny Tom stunts. The lack of a sleep mode is a missing feature that could prove annoying if you mistakenly leave them paired with a device overnight.

As for ANC, Happy Plugs’ cans are obviously no match for the best noise-cancelling headphones at such a change purse-friendly price point. They cost just $59, so I’m simply happy ANC makes the cut at all… even if the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

Do these cheap-and-cheerful over-ears keep out distracting indoor sounds? More or less. Once I clicked the noise-cancelling button – which allows you to switch between ANC and Transparency mode – and ramped the volume up to around 50%, my lobes were mercifully spared the din of my upstairs neighbor’s daily attempts to butcher ever last note of Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street on his saxophone.

The Play Pro’s ANC isn’t anywhere near as effective in outdoor surroundings. During many walks with these over-ears, I was constantly distracted by the rumbling of passing cars and screeches of vexed children, even when my favorite tunes were playing at 100% volume. I appreciate that Happy Plugs has managed to squeeze ANC into these aggressively priced cans, but the end results aren’t impressive.

While I’m giving the firm a pat on the back (albeit not a hearty one), kudos to Happy Plugs for making the Play Pro IPX4 waterproof rated. Granted, it’s been uncommonly warm and dry in my homeland of Scotland recently. Yet the one time I was caught in a brief downpour while wearing these headphones, the passing shower happily didn’t cause any audio distortion.

• Features score: 2.5/5

Happy Plugs Play Pro review: Design

(Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

• Pleasingly lightweight
• Supremely comfortable to wear
• Fold up design allows for easy storage

Wearing the Happy Plugs Play Pro is akin to giving your cranium a cuddle. These over-ears are light, breathable and come with foam cushions that are oh-so-kind on the lobes.

I’ve worn these affordable ANC cans for dozens of hours and I’m struggling to recall a more comfortable set of headphones I’ve either owned or tested. As much as I love my Apple AirPods Max, I usually find the cups start to irritate my ears after 90 minutes or so. By contrast, I can cheerily wear the Play Pro for hours on end and forget I still have these budget offerings clamped around my ears.

With a minimalist-yet-sturdy design constructed from matte plastics, these cans definitely feel like they should cost more than $59. The foam used on the cups and the middle of the Play Pro’s adjustable headband may attract a little sweat, but I can handle my ears getting a tad moist when the materials feel this comforting wrapped around my dome. I also dig the silver brushed metal that appears on the band should you extend it.

While it might be a slight stretch to describe the Play Pro as “premium”, they certainly don’t feel cheap. Tipping the scales at a svelte 253g, these cans are easy to carry around, and they’re made even more portable thanks to their fold-up design.

• Design score: 4/5

Happy Plugs Play Pro review: Sound quality

(Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

• Resonant, ear-rumbling bass output
• Vocals can get drowned out
• A lack of software means no EQ tweaks

Unlike Goldilocks, that porridge-stealing scoundrel who had her pick of breakfast options, you’re stuck with the Play Pro’s out-of-the-box audio serving. As there’s no available app, fiddling with EQ settings is off the table. OK, I’ll drop the stupid Three Bears analogy.

At this price, I won’t overly slam Happy Plugs for not providing software options for its sub-$100 over-ears. That’s not just due to the price of the Play Pro; it’s also because these headphones actually sound pretty good even though you can’t tweak their audio profile.

Naturally, the soundscape these cans offer can’t rival the best headphones out there. Yet if funds are tight, you could do way worse than the Play Pro. Bass feels relatively weighty, mostly avoiding that dreaded tinniness often associated with budget headphones, while also stopping short of dominating tracks that rock deeper melodies.

My musical tastes normally run the gamut of old to, well… older. While testing the Play Pro, I forced myself to listen to tracks that were at least semi-contemporary to complement the ageing bangers that prop up my iPhone’s various playlists.

Enter Alex Warren’s Ordinary. The chamber pop mega hit feels like it has dominated the charts for a veritable ice age, even if it was only released this past February.

The stirring percussion of this love song’s chorus is the audio equivalent of the T-Rex’s approaching footsteps in Jurassic Park. And that’s before you get to the singer himself, who has a baritone so deep, it makes the late, great James Earl Jones sound like Alvin or one of his chipmunk bros. I love a lower register and the Play Pro’s bass performance instantly impresses.

Alas, vocals can occasionally get a little drowned out during songs with a lot of instruments. A recent playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077 on my gaming PC inspired me to fire up snappy synthpop melody I Really Want to Stay at Your House by Rosa Walton & Hallie Coggins. Like Ordinary, the Play Pro handle the bass-heavy chorus sections with aplomb, however the song's flatter mid-sections come across as rather flat and muddled.

Not that vocal clarity is something these headphones are incapable of delivering. As someone who obsessively listens to podcasts on a daily basis, I found the Play Pro produced precise audio that was rarely difficult to pick out as long as the voices in question weren’t having to speak over background music.

And no, you spent three hours listening to a movie podcast about surprise ‘80s baby blockbuster, Look Who’s Talking. Don’t ask.

Generally speaking, the Play Pro sound loud and decently punchy. Mid-range audio doesn’t always come across as hugely accurate or detailed, but at this price I’m fairly content with the soundscape Happy Plugs has landed upon with these cans.

• Sound quality score: 3.5/5

Happy Plugs Play Pro: Value

(Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

• Quality cups and sturdy plastic
• Travel pouch is appreciated

Like to make a saving without massively compromizing on quality? The Happy Plugs Play Pro hit a pretty good sweet spot between price and performance. Sure, there are better sub-$100 cans out there – the aforementioned Earfun Wave Pro say hello – yet these perfectly decent headphones remain attractive at an alluring $59.

Well-built and with a carry pouch thrown in for good measure, the Play Pro are exactly the sort of affordable, commute-friendly cans you can throw in a bag and not worry about thanks to their price tag.

Sound is solid, their design assured without being garish, and battery performance above and beyond for a cheap pair of headphones. Yes, ANC could perform better, but it can just about get the ambient sound-slaying job done in the right circumstances.

Though I wish Happy Plugs had designed a companion app to allow me to create custom audio profiles, if a lack of such support was necessary to get the Play Pro in at $59 / £59 / AU$120 (approx.), then so be it. On the value front, the Swedish company has done a commendable job with these cheap yet reasonably classy over-ears.

• Value score: 4/5

Happy Plugs Play Pro review: scorecard

Category

Comment

Score

Features

Impressive battery life, but zero software support and subpar ANC drag the score down.

2.5/5

Design

Fairly stylish, extremely comfortable and easy to reach media controls.

4/5

Sound quality

Punchy without hitting premium territory, big bass makes up for muddled mid-range performance.

3.5/5

Value

Sound is decent, materials don’t feel cheap, ANC makes the cut, and battery life excels.

4/5

Happy Plugs Play Pro: Should I buy?

(Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)Buy them if...

You want quality and comfort
Well-built, with foam ear cups that practically feel like cushions once you slip them around your head, these cheap headphones feel like they’ve been made with love. If you frequently go on long trips, you’ll love how comfortable these cans are.

You dig big bass
The Play Pro bring the bass… and then some. If you listen to a lot of R&B or like musicians with a Darth Vader-esque register, you’ll appreciate the audio output of these over-ears, which do a top notch job of emphasizing lower end tones.

Don't buy them if...

Quality ANC is crucial to you
There are so many headphones out there that do noise cancelling more effectively than the Play Pro. While ANC is reasonably effective in quieter indoor situations, go for a walk in a crowded area with these cans and you’ll hear every last bellow, laugh and tire screech.

You like to tweak EQ settings
As someone who constantly fiddles with the settings of his Sony Inzone H9, the lack of an app for the Play Pro really bugs me. If the default audio isn’t to your liking when you first unbox these over-ears, there’s nothing you can do about it.

Also consider

Happy Plugs Play Pro

1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51

Earfun Wave Life

Drivers

40mm

400m dynamic

40mm

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Yes

Yes

Battery life

50 hours (ANC off); 35 hours (ANC on)

100 hours (ANC off); 65 hours (ANC on)

60 hours (ANC off); 37 house (ANC on)

Weight

253g

246g

264g

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.4

Bluetooth 5.2; 3.5mm

Bluetooth 5.4; USB-C

Waterproofing

IPX4

N/A

N/A

1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51
The overlord of cheap over-ears sport super-strong sound quality, top-tier ANC for the price and exceptional battery life. For less than $100, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more durable, better-sounding pair of budget headphones. Bravo, 1More.
See our full 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 review

Earfun Wave Life
At around $10 / £10 cheaper than the Play Pro, the Earfun Wave Life offer better ANC and longer-lasting battery life than Happy Plugs’ cans. Audio quality between the two is generally on par, though the winning Earfun app gives these over-ears the edge.
See our full Earfun Wave Life review

How I tested

(Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

• Tested for three weeks
• Used at home, outdoors and during commutes

I tested the Happy Plugs Play Pro over a three-week period. During that time I used these over-ears in different environments, spanning my ground-floor apartment, on walks through the center of my city and on public buses. I primarily connected the headphones to my iPhone 14 Pro – and to a lesser extent my iPad Pro 13-inch (2024) – to listen to my favorite tunes and various podcasts.

While listening to music, I ensured I covered a variety of genres, as outlined in the TechRadar testing playlist. I also tried to connect Happy Plugs’ cans to my Windows 11 laptop via a USB-C cable, but this only charges the headphones – you can’t listen to them over a wired connection.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed: July 2025

• The Epic Games Store summer sale is here
• Users can claim a free copy of Sid Meier’s Civilization 6: Platinum Edition
• It's available until July 24, 2025

The Epic Games Store summer sale has landed, with savings on some of this year's top titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Assassin's Creed Shadows. Shoppers can also claim 20% Epic Rewards on purchases made using Epic's payment system, giving you some left over to spend on even more games.

To celebrate, Epic Games Store users can claim a free PC copy of Sid Meier’s Civilization 6: Platinum Edition which usually costs $79.99 / £68.99.

Considered one of the greatest strategy games of all time, Civilization 6 sees you competing to grow a historical civilization in a board-game like world.

Random map generation and countless playable leaders with their own unique perks and abilities make it a highly replayable game, and one that I have spent more than 260 hours in on PC alone.

This Platinum Edition version is also overflowing with included downloadable content (DLC). You get Vikings Scenario Pack, Poland Civilization & Scenario Pack, Australia Civilization & Scenario Pack, Persia and Macedon Civilization & Scenario Pack, Nubia Civilization & Scenario Pack, and Khmer and Indonesia Civilization & Scenario Pack.

These all add new playable leaders or in-game challenges and, if that wasn't enough, you even get the full Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm expansions. These not only introduce new leaders and challenges, but a wealth of new mechanics that make the experience even more enjoyable and realistic.

The game is only available for free for a limited time, so make sure you snap it up before July 24, 2025.

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• Turtle Beach has revealed a new Donkey Kong-themed Rematch controller
• The controller has a unique lenticular design that shifts when the pad is tilted
• Pre-orders are open now for launch on October 12, 2025

Gaming brand Turtle Beach has unveiled - or should I say, unpeeled - a Donkey Kong-themed version of its popular Rematch controller.

Compatible with the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, this is the latest of many Rematch controllers that sport an officially licensed Nintendo design. This Donkey Kong version differs slightly, though, in that it has a lenticular design with shifting imagery when you tilt the controller. Pretty cool.

Pre-orders are open now for the Donkey Kong-themed Rematch controller on Turtle Beach's website. It costs $59.99 / £49.99, and is currently slated to ship on October 12, 2025. That's a pretty bang average price among the best Nintendo Switch controllers, and something worth considering if you're not up for shelling out $84.99 / £74.99 for a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller.

Otherwise, this Rematch controller isn't much different than others in the brand lineup. Other features include wireless connectivity, gyro aim support, two remappable buttons on the rear, and a claimed battery life of up to 40 hours, similar to the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller.

While compatible with Switch 2, you unfortunately won't be getting a C button here for quick access to the console's GameChat feature. For that, you'll need to access it from the console's Home dashboard instead. Not a big deal, really, but something to keep in mind when you're playing with pals.

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• A string of code in Samsung beta software mentions the Galaxy Z Trifold's codename
• It also mentions the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset
• Code or no code, we'd be surprised if this chipset wasn't used

Samsung’s first tri-fold phone is likely to land soon, with recent leaks suggesting that it could launch sometime in October with the name Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold, and now we have a good idea of what chipset might be powering it too.

In a new internal beta of One UI 8 (which is the interface Samsung uses on its Android phones), Android Authority has spotted a string of code that includes ‘siop_q7mq_sm8750.’ That might look meaningless, but reportedly ‘q7mq’ is a codename that has previously been linked to the Galaxy Z Trifold, while ‘sm8750’ is the model number of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.

So putting that together, it certainly looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite delivers powerful performance (Image credit: Qualcomm)The obvious choice

This though, isn’t surprising at all – in fact it would be surprising if that chipset wasn’t used. After all, this is the top chipset currently available to Android phones, and it’s also used by the Samsung Galaxy S25 series and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7.

So while it’s not impossible that the Galaxy Z Trifold could use something else, such as perhaps the Samsung-made Exynos 2500 used in the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, it would seem an odd choice for what’s sure to be the company’s priciest phone to use anything other than the best available chipset.

Still, it’s always possible that Samsung could have chosen to keep the cost down by using something else, so it’s still somewhat reassuring to see the Snapdragon 8 Elite mentioned here – even if that does mean this tri-fold phone will probably be exceptionally expensive.

The mention of the Snapdragon 8 Elite also further suggests we’ll see the phone soon, as from late 2025 we’ll probably start seeing the first phones with the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 – so if Samsung wasn’t launching the Galaxy Z Trifold in the next few months, the company would probably opt for the next generation of this chipset.

But while this code string is compelling evidence, we still can’t be totally sure that the Snapdragon 8 Elite will be used.

We’ll perhaps find out in October – but reports suggest the Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold might initially only be available in China and South Korea, so you may not be able to buy it anyway. If it’s a hit though, we’d expect there will be a more widely available successor.

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• The Pixel Watch 4 is due to make its debut on August 20
• It's apparently going to be more repairable than the Pixel Watch 3
• Two new emergency features are also now rumored

We've got another Made By Google event fast approaching on Wednesday, August 20, where we should get the grand unveiling of the Pixel Watch 4 – and some fresh leaks have now given us a better idea of what's on the way with this wearable.

According to information obtained by Android Headlines, the smartwatch is going to be much more repairable: it "can actually be taken apart and serviced when needed", the report says, unlike the Google Pixel Watch 3, which launched last year.

This isn't a complete surprise, because a Google executive went on the record back in September saying that improved repairability was something the company was "thinking through" when it came to the Pixel Watch series and other Google products.

If this is something that we see happen this year, it would certainly be welcome and could save you from having to pay out for a whole new smartwatch. It's also been an issue that we've had with the Pixel Watch for several years now.

Plus more emergency features

We're expecting the Pixel Watch 4 to come in two sizes (Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)

Android Headlines is also predicting a couple of emergency features that are apparently heading to the Pixel Watch 4, building on top of existing features such as Emergency SOS, Crash Detection, and Fall Detection.

Added to that list we're going to get Breathing Emergencies, it seems. This will alert you when the Pixel Watch 4 detects that your oxygen levels are low, via the SpO2 sensor – so you can go and get yourself checked out if you need to.

Then there's Emergency Satellite Communications, which we're assuming would be an extension of the feature on the latest Pixel phones. It means you'd be able to contact the emergency services, even if you don't have any cell or Wi-Fi signal.

We don't get too much in the way of detail in this leak, but these are upgrades to look out for at the big show next month. TechRadar will of course be covering all the news live, and the product unveilings should also include the Google Pixel 10 series.

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Camps in nature can be great for kids, but they can also expose campers to floods, wildfires and heat. Here are the top questions experts say people should ask camps about safety.

(Image credit: Danielle Villasana for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

• CISPE members gain access to Microsoft software on a PAYG CSP-Hoster Program
• Privacy and sovereignty benefits also come with the latest update
• It's unclear if this draws a line under the two-year battle

In a major win for European cloud providers, CISPE members can now offer Microsoft software under a pay-as-you-go model via Microsoft CSP-Hoster Program, with licensing costs set to be more closely matched to those offers on Microsoft's own Azure platform.

The news comes after several hurdles in CISPE's battle with the tech giant, but with the group's members now able to host workloads without sharing customer data with Microsoft, the latest development marks a major customer privacy win.

However, some ongoing issues and limitations persist even after two years of battling, including the enforcement of Entra ID with Microsoft 365 – no alternative identity management is allowed.

CISPE wins big against Microsoft

CISPE described the win as a "landmark agreement" that has cost, privacy and sovereignty benefits.

When generally available, Microsoft 365 Local will enable deployment on local (sovereign) European cloud infrastructure, while customers will no longer have to pay more money to access Microsoft software on non-Microsoft platforms.

Despite reaching some agreements over the course of the last two years, CISPE's continued lobbying has produced even more results.

"The agreement we reached with Microsoft marks a significant breakthrough in our long-standing efforts to ensure a level playing field,” CISPE Secretary General Francisco Mingorance explained.

"For enterprise customers, the new programs directly address previous concerns of CISPE members and empowers European enterprises to choose among a wide range of cloud solutions that meet their sovereignty, compliance, and economic needs."

The news comes just days after we learned that Microsoft was readying a counterproposal after failing to meet a previous deadline to settle the saga.

TechRadar Pro has asked Microsoft to comment on the development, but we did not receive an immediate response. We also asked CISPE if this marks the end of the battle.

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• Amazon has renewed Invincible for a fifth season
• The highly-rated animated show's fourth entry will arrive sometime in 2026
• Matthew Rhys has also joined the Prime Video series' voice cast for season 4

Amazon has revealed Invincible has been renewed for a fifth season.

The announcement, which was made on the adult animated show's social media channels yesterday (July 17), confirms Invincible season 4 won't be its final entry. Considering how popular the critically-acclaimed Prime Video series is, that's no great surprise, but it's nonetheless pleasing to hear that Mark Grayson's story will continue on one of the world's best streaming services.

Season 5, Mark... this is GOOD NEWS pic.twitter.com/Kft2aTuS5SJuly 17, 2025

Interestingly, Amazon also revealed that the show's cast had already completed recording their lines for its fifth season.

It's likely, then, that Invincible season 5 could be ready to go in 2027 and maintain Prime Video's recently established plan to release new seasons annually: Invincible season 2 part 1 aired in late 2023, Invincible season 2 part 2 launched in early 2025, and its third and most recent season released earlier this year. Season 4 is set to arrive in 2026, too, so there's no reason to suspect the show's fifth installment won't arrive a year after that.

Which character might be voiced by Matthew Rhys in Invincible season 4?

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys has joined the cast for Invincible's fourth season (Image credit: Michael Loccisano)

Invincible's latest renewal and the completion of voice work on season 5 weren't the only announcements made in the above video. Indeed, Amazon also revealed that Matthew Rhys (The Americans, Perry Mason) had joined the voice cast for one of the best Prime Video shows' fourth chapter.

Understandably, Rhys' role is being kept under wraps, but that doesn't mean we can't guess which character he'll portray. After all, there are plenty of candidates in the series' graphic novel namesake who've yet to show up in its animated adaptation.

So, who could Rhys be voicing? Grand Regent Thragg is a possibility but, as much as I like Rhys as an actor, I'm not sure he has the gravitas to play the Viltrum Empire's commander-in-chief. J.K. Simmons, who plays Omni-Man, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who voices Conquest, have proven that actors with deeper voices are best suited to portray Viltrumites, so I don't think Rhys is the right fit for Thragg.

If he plays a villain, he might be better hamming it up as someone like Dinosaurus – real name David Anders – who's something of an superhuman eco-terrorist and, as his name implies, a formidable shape-shifting humanoid reptile when he's in his dino-form. Dinosaurus is a dangerous albeit silly character, so Rhys might be the perfect fit to play him.

On the more heroic front, Rhys may be the ideal actor for someone like Space Racer or Tech Jacket. We've briefly seen these superpowered beings in past seasons of Invincible, but neither character has uttered a word yet. It's possible, then, that Rhys has been tapped to voice one of them.

I guess we'll find out for sure when Invincible season 4 is eventually released. In the meantime, read the section below for more coverage on the series' latest season.

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Agents – software systems capable of decision making or performing tasks autonomously - are no longer experimental. Today, these agents are operational, distributed and actively making decisions across the enterprise. From writing code to scheduling tasks, agents are starting to permeate every facet of business. The reason is clear: agents promise significant productivity gains.

Some will be deeply embedded, making them difficult to detect or monitor. Others will operate autonomously, continuously learning and adapting in real time. Many may have broad access privileges in the name of efficiency. This introduces significant potential for both positive impact and risk.

And as adoption grows, many organizations will face a new challenge: securing agents at scale. Businesses will need to ensure that innovation doesn’t outpace security and governance. The stakes are too high; one single misalignment, vulnerability or unintended behavior can lead to a runaway effect of unethical or harmful actions.

We’ve already seen real-world examples of AI failures – sometimes exposing sensitive data or making critical errors. One AI assistant notoriously advised users to eat rocks, and in another case a customer service chatbot deployed by a logistics company began issuing aggressive responses. Both examples show the risk of poor training data – AI agents don’t just learn facts, they learn behaviors, and bad input leads to bad output.

Cloud Déjà vu, Now with Agents

Without consistent oversight, agents can act outside their intended use and damage brand reputation. That’s why it’s important that security is baked in at the start. Like salt and pepper, you can always sprinkle more on later, but if you forget to add it while cooking, the flavor – and in this case the protection – just won’t be the same. Security must be integrated from the outset, waiting until after deployment to retrofit security is a recipe for vulnerabilities.

Just consider what happened during the mass migration to cloud computing technologies. Adoption led to serious security missteps, data silos and visibility gaps. Gaps that have been and continue to be exploited by attackers today.

Now with agents it’s like a bad case of déjà vu. Once again, innovation is outpacing security. In many cases, these autonomous tools are being integrated into critical systems with limited oversight and lacking proper security and controls.

If we don’t apply the hard lessons learned from the cloud era we risk repeating the same mistakes, but this time with far more unpredictable systems. That’s why security must be at the core of agents.

Securing Every Agent Touchpoint

But securing agents requires an expanded approach, one that accounts for autonomous behaviors, including those ongoing interactions with data, systems and users. Agents need a strong trust layer, where every interaction, from API calls to sensitive data handling, must be mapped, protected and governed in real time.

A core part of this trust layer is securing the data agents interact with—inputs, outputs and everything in between. Data is the fuel of agents, and without foundational security that fuel becomes a major risk. Enterprises must focus on the fundamentals like data discovery and classification, encryption and key management.

Access and Identity Management strategies must also evolve as agents take on more advanced roles in the enterprise. Like humans, every agent will require its own unique credentials, roles and permissions to ensure that every interaction is authorized and verified.

Agent credentials should be stored in a secure, automated credential vault, with policies enforcing regular rotation, access logging, and immediate revocation if misuse is detected. Organizations must be able to distinguish between agents using managed or unmanaged credentials.

And once agent credentials are brought under management, it's crucial to protect and enforce proper lifecycle management and governance. By provisioning, rotating, auditing, protecting and decommissioning credentials organizations can reduce the risk of credential misuse and theft.

Without strong identity oversight, businesses risk losing visibility of both human and agent identities and control over autonomous actions.

Decentralized Agents Need Centralized Security

However, at scale, managing agents and especially autonomous ones, will require additional control to monitor behavior, interactions and deviations from policy. Consider a type of agent “security manager” that brings agents and humans on the loop to build trust in how agents operate.

This should be more than a dashboard, rather intelligence capable of understanding what agents are doing, why they’re doing it and whether their behavior aligns with policies and risk thresholds on a constant basis. It flags anomalies, enforces constraints and enables human review, when needed.

That last part is particularly important. Human oversight remains essential, especially when scaling agents. This control layer becomes the security conscience of your agent fleet: always watching, interpreting and enabling distributed and trusted autonomy.

As agents continue to proliferate, the ability to deploy them responsibly will define who can scale securely and who introduces unnecessary risk. To secure agent ecosystems, organizations should integrate security from the start of deployment, continuously monitor behavior and access, maintain strong human oversight, and regularly audit and update security policies.

Enterprises that get this right will unlock significant productivity and resilience; not by slowing down agents, but by giving them the security and governance they need to operate safely and responsibly.

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