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Shopping on a budget doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your sound quality. These are some of the best wireless earbuds on the market -- and they're all less than $50.

I visited LG's TV demo room at CES 2025, and got my eyes on its new flagship TVs, the LG G5 and M5 (our opinion on those will come later). But while there, I also got to see the LG C5 mid-range OLED TV, and to speak to LG about it. Which was useful, because LG hadn't officially announced it until that point.

LG was able to confirm a bunch of details about the set, and the team also spoke about the more affordable LG B5 model that's coming, although that wasn't on display.

Here's the headline: the LG C5 promises to be a little brighter, but don't expect major changes compared to the LG C4 that's currently available; and the LG B5 will take a big step back in availability compared to last year's LG B4.

LG C5: specs and details

(Image credit: Future)

There are really two major changes coming to the LG C5. First, LG says it should be a little brighter than the LG C4, but refused to confirm any numbers (even as a percentage), so I suspect that it will only be a small boost, probably driven by improvements to power management in its processor.

There's definitely not a big panel change here – for example, there's no upgrade to MLA OLED, even though the LG G5 has moved on from MLA to another new brightness tech. The screen will still be a 144Hz 4K display too, and won't move up to 165Hz like the LG G5 has.

The LG C5 will also get webOS 25, which will come with smart personal profiles and AI chatbot features, just like the LG G5 and M5 will have. This will include voice recognition, so if different people in your house have different profiles, when you ask the TV to do something, it'll recognize that you're you, and will switch to your profile while carrying out the command.

The personal profile not only includes different layouts for the home screen (ie, with the apps and services you like the most given more prominence), but can now also switch picture modes. LG gave the example that if each profile has gone through the AI Picture wizard to customize the picture for your preference, it'll use that setting when it switches to your profile. I think this sounds kind of annoying (I much prefer consistency), but it's a novel idea.

As last year, the LG C5 will come in sizes from 42 inches up to 83 inches.

Now, the LG B5

While the LG B5 wasn't at the show, LG did confirm that it's coming, that it will use an Alpha 7 processor, and that it will boast around the same brightness as the LG B4, though the team at CES again refused to give any figure (other than saying that the LG G5 will be three times brighter than it).

However, LG did confirm one element: it will be available in "limited sizes". Despite being available in 48 inches for the first time in 2024, in 2025 there will only be two sizes of LG B5. LG wasn't able to confirm exactly which sizes, but my understanding is that it's likely to be 65 inches and then either 55 or 77 inches, but I'll update with confirmation on those if I get it.

This is obviously a big disappointment – LG already stopped its A series of cheaper OLED TVs, and now it seems that the B series may be winding down too. Perhaps the price difference between the B series and C series just isn't large enough and more people opt for the C, but I hope that the B will continue in the future to keep OLED more affordable, even if it's only in these few sizes.

Read more from CES 2025

• The LG G5 OLED TV upgrade I'm most excited about is its least flashy change, but might be its most important
• I saw Samsung’s new OLED TV with Glare Free 2.0 tech, and it fixes the Samsung S95D’s biggest problem
• The next-generation of Google TV is on the way with an improved Gemini that’ll make smarter and better

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2025 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!

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• Windows 11 has got new spec ‘cards’ and a hardware FAQ in testing
• These elements are designed to help you easily see how powerful your PC is
• They are already present in Windows 10 (but only in testing still)

Microsoft looks to be trying to make it easier for Windows 11 users to understand what spec their PC has, and how powerful that makes the system.

As discovered by regular leaker PhantomOfEarth on X, in a test build of Windows 11 there’s a new set of ‘cards’ (small info panels) in the Settings app which detail key elements of the spec of the PC at a glance.

Windows 11's About settings page is getting new top cards that highlight key specs such as storage, graphics memory and RAM.(Yes, these cards are the same ones seen in Windows 10's redesigned About settings page in recent Insider CUs.) pic.twitter.com/k45sGi5j9IJanuary 3, 2025

These cards sit at the top of the System > About panel in Settings, showing info about the storage, GPU, system RAM and processor of the machine.

However, the feature isn’t working properly quite yet, as the name of the CPU isn’t provided in the case of PhantomOfEarth’s PC (and for Windows Latest, which spotted the above post on X, the processor section is entirely blank).

Under storage, the card displays the amount of drive space in total, and the free space left. With the GPU panel, for the first time Microsoft is furnishing us with the amount of video RAM on the graphics card, as well as its type.

In the RAM card is simply the quantity installed, and the type of memory, and with processor in theory you’ll get the name and speed of the CPU (but as mentioned, this appears to be misfiring with the feature as it stands in testing).

(Image credit: Microsoft) Analysis: A useful addition set to outdo the Windows Experience Index

This feature has actually been implemented in Windows 10 already, as PhantomOfEarth notes (still only in testing), and along with the cards, there’s a FAQ section which will supposedly be coming to Windows 11, too.

The idea for this is to give the user an idea of what their specs mean beyond hard numbers – a real-world assessment of expected performance, albeit a brief affair.

So, you’ll get an indication of how your quantity of RAM is going to cope with running apps smoothly, or whether your GPU is good enough to keep up with more demanding games, all in plain spoken language. Unfortunately, what you’ll also likely get is yet another nudge to upgrade to Windows 11, if you’re still on Windows 10 of course, but this is Microsoft – don’t expect the company to miss an opportunity to get in a plug about how much better the newer OS is (and it is better, to be fair, in a good few ways).

If all this reminds you of the Windows Experience Index, first introduced way back with Windows Vista, which rated your PC for performance in various categories – and became the subject of much confusion and many complaints – well, don’t worry. The good news is that the new spec cards and hardware FAQ for Windows 11 look like a more useful tack, offering a greater level of clarity. Even if the advice given is rather generic, at least for now in testing.

Down the line, this might be a useful area for Microsoft to incorporate more detailed AI-powered advice on your computer spec, perhaps, as the software giant may well develop this part of the Windows 11 interface further.

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• Tenable urges users to update their Nessus instances to avoid a potential plugin security issue
• A previous plugin update saw agents going offline
• The earliest clean version is 10.8.2, so users should update now

Tenable has urged users to update their Nessus instances to avoid a potential plugin security issue.

Tenable Nessus is a widely used vulnerability scanner that helps identify and assess security vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and compliance issues in networks, applications, and systems.

However, in the final hours of December 2024, the company said it was “aware of and actively investigating” an issue with Nessus agents going offline after plugin updates for certain users on all sites - and as a result, the company temporarily stopped plugin updates.

Resetting plugins

The incident apparently affected Nessus Agent versions 10.8.0 and 10.8.1, for users in North and Latin America, Europe, and Asia. To address the issue, Tenable released Nessus Agent version 10.8.2.

"There is a known issue which can cause Tenable Nessus Agent 10.8.0 and 10.8.1 to go offline when a differential plugin update is triggered. To prevent such an issue, Tenable has disabled plugin feed updates for these two agent versions. Additionally, Tenable has disabled the 10.8.0 and 10.8.1 versions to prevent further issues," the release notes detailed.

Now, users are called to either upgrade to 10.8.2, or downgrade to 10.7.3 to bring their Nessus agents online. However, they also need to reset their plugins.

“If you are using agent profiles for agent upgrades or downgrades, you must perform a separate plugin reset to recover any offline agents," the company concluded.

To adress the bugs, users first need to reset agent plugins via a script or a nessuscli reset command, and then manually upgrade the Tenable Nessus Agent using the 10.8.2 install package.

Tenable claims to have more 44,000 customers worldwide, including 65% of the Fortune 500. While the exact number of Nessus users isn't publicly disclosed, it is safe to assume that Nessus is quite popular in the cybersecurity community.

Via BleepingComputer

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• 4K at up to 100 inches from a shoebox-sized projector
• Its sibling, the N3 Ultra Max, delivers 4K at up to 180 inches
• Not available until late 2025

Fancy a tiny ultra-short-throw projector that can project a 100-inch image while sitting under six inches from the wall? Then you might want to check out the new O2S Ultra from JMGO. It's one of two advanced projectors the firm is unveiling at CES, and it claims to be the world's smallest 'laser TV' (which basically means an ultra-short throw projector that has TV streaming and/or tuning tech built-in, often supplied with a matching screen).

The specs are impressive for such a small device. It delivers an estimated 2,500 ISO Lumens – the brightness figures haven't been certified yet – with 4K resolution from a box just 12.3 x 11.4 x 5.5 inches in size, so it's not going to take up your entire room or dislocate your shoulder if you're moving it around.

It has a throw ratio of 0.18:1, enabling it to deliver 100 diagonal inches from just 5.75 inches away, and it has 110% of the BT.2020 color gamut. The full on/full off contrast ratio is 1,800:1 and there's Google TV built in for streaming smarts.

The bad news? You'll have to wait for it. The O2S Ultra is currently planned for a global launch in the final quarter of 2025. Pricing has yet to be disclosed, but if JMGO can get it right, this definitely has potential to bother some of the options on our list of the best ultra short throw projectors.

The shoebox-sized O2S Ultra can project 4K at up to 100 inches from less than six inches away (Image credit: JMGO) This new projector takes it to the Max

The firm's second new projector, the N3 Ultra Max, uses the same MALC 3.0 technology as the OS2 Ultra. According to JMGO it "achieves the elusive balance of brightness, contrast, and color accuracy – a feat unmatched in the market."

More specifically, the N3 Ultra Max delivers 4,000 ISO Lumens, a 5,000:1 contrast ratio and an AI-powered gimbal. That enables you to point the remote control at any spot on a wall and the projector will automatically align and adjust itself. JMGO calls this "point and play".

The N3 Ultra Max delivers 4K resolution at up to 180 inches, and it too comes with Google TV on board. Like its sibling, it's due to launch in the final quarter of 2025. Are we looking at two of the best projectors of next year? JMGO has been making really good-value products for a while, so if these can nail the price-to-performance balance, it's very possible.

Read more from CES 2025

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2025 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!

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• Brisk It annouces grilling AI update
• Vera 2.0 can understand images
• And it annoucnes a new more affordable AI grill

Generative AI-enhanced gadgets were all the rage in 2024, but something that stood out from last year’s more run of the mill announcements was Brisk It's Origin grills and its Vera AI which promised to help you grill food perfectly. Now, at CES 2025, Brisk It is back with new hardware and an AI update.

To catch you up on Vera 1.0, Brisk It explained previously its AI is ideal for helping you plan meals – by asking it for meal advice based on what you want to eat, your allergies, and what you have in the fridge – and it can also take control of your compatible grill. You simply tell the AI what you’re cooking and it’ll handle the temperature.

Now Vera 2.0 is set to deliver a serious update, thanks to image recognition. Instead of simply listing ingredients you can snap a picture of them, or snap a picture of a dish or recipe, and Vera can help you plan meals based on the images you submit. It also promises to be a better grilling companion.

(Image credit: Brisk It) AI grilling gets more accessible

The big downside of Vera, however, is it's only compatible with Brisk It’s AI grills which aren’t cheap. The Origin 940 is usually $1,099.99 and the Origin 580 is $849.99 – though we have seen them on sale recently for $200-off and $150-off respectively.

Even then that’s still pretty pricey, but with Brisk It's new Zelos-450 smart grill you should be able to try AI grilling out at “a much more accessible price” – at the time of writing we don’t have a precise price for this grill, but we’ll update this article when we know more.

The Zelos-450 doesn’t just boast AI assistance – which promises to make real time cooking adjustments if you make mistakes, and “reliable, hands-free grilling from start to finish” – but also the same wood-chip grilling experience as other Brisk It grills for a wood-fired flavor finish on your food. In addition it offers 450-square inches of cooking space, and cooking temperatures of 180F to 500F.

We’re hoping to test the new Zelos-450 smart grill out for ourselves soon. We’ve heard good things about Brisk It’s other AI grills so we’re excited to see this one in action, and on that note we’re planning to demo the tech at the company’s CES booth – so look out for our thoughts on that demo when we publish them and be sure to follow our Tiktok which will have the latest tech from CES.

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• The SwitchBot Lock Pro is compatible with 99.9% of front door locks
• It can be opened in 16 different ways, and supports the Matter standard
• SwitchBot has also launched a smart doorbell designed for seniors

SwitchBot has unveiled a new smart lock that can be retrofitted to just about any door without replacing your existing hardware, and can be unlocked in 16 different ways. The SwitchBot Lock Ultra is a successor to the SwitchBot Lock Pro, and is compatible with even more types of locks – great news if you rent and don't want to incur the wrath of your landlord.

In the unlikely event that the SwitchBot Lock Ultra doesn't play nicely with your existing door hardware (SwitchBot claims it should work fine with 99.9% of locks), the company can help you out by 3D-printing a custom solution for you.

Once it's fitted, you can unlock it using your fingerprint, a smartphone app, an NFC card, or a voice command. It's even Matter-compatible if you also pick up one of SwitchBot's Matter hubs, letting it work as part of a mix-and-match smart home ecosystem.

Who's there?

SwitchBot is showing off the new lock at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, alongside a set of new robot vacuums and its first video doorbell. The device, simply named the SwitchBot Video Doorbell, is designed with senior users and children in mind, and includes a portable display with a 4.3in display so you don't need a smartphone to see who's at the door and speak to visitors.

This seems like an excellent idea that solves a problem with most 'accessible' video doorbells. For example, the Doro Hemma is an excellent doorbell that's designed with older homeowners in mind, but requires a mobile app, which excludes anyone who uses a simple feature phone (or doesn't have a smartphone at all).

The SwitchBot Video Doorbell comes with a portable display so you don't need a smartphone to see who's at the door (Image credit: SwitchBot)

The SwitchBot Video Doorbell has an extra loud 100dB chime (second-generation Ring doorbells typically max out at 80dB) to make it easier to hear, and can be mounted with either screws or adhesive. According to SwitchBot, it boasts a very impressive 20-month battery life (most wireless video doorbells need to be charged at least twice a month), and supports up to 512GB local storage (sold separately).

We're hoping to put both devices to the test soon, so we can see how they compare with the best smart locks and best video doorbells from big brands like Philips and Ring.

We’re covering all of the latest CES news from the show as it happens. Stick with us for the big stories on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok for the latest from the CES show floor!

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LG has revealed its 2025 OLED TV lineup and among the models announced is the LG G5, one of its flagship 4K OLED models. The LG G5 is successor to 2024’s LG G4, one of the best OLED TVs of last year, and looks to provide several upgrades over the G4 – but there’s one upgrade suggested by LG that’s caught my eye in particular, and it’s not one of the biggest and flashiest features.

First, let’s talk about the flashy features. The LG G5 will be the world’s first AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync certified TV at 165Hz, a step up over the G4’s top 144Hz refresh rate, which will put the G5 in new territory compared to the best gaming TVs (although 144Hz and above is only relevant for PC gamers). It’s worth noting though that the G5 won’t support Dolby Vision and 165Hz at the same time.

The G5 will feature LG's new Brightness Booster Ultimate tech, which also appears in the LG M5, the high-end wireless 4K OLED TV in LG’s 2025 TV lineup, and LG says the G5 (and M5) are up to three times brighter than the entry-level B-series of OLED TVs (but didn't offer any more comparisons to more directly comparable sets).

One interesting absence this year though is the use of micro-lens-array (MLA) tech within LG's OLED range (including the G5), which helped provide the brightness upgrade over W-OLED panels in previous models, such as the LG G4 from 2024. Yet LG still claims the G5 will be the brightest the G series has been, suggesting this new Brightness Booster tech and a recently revealed 'four stack' OLED panel will be doing a lot of the leg work.

2024’s LG G4 hit 1,489 nits peak brightness (measured on a 10% HDR window) compared to the LG B4’s 656 nits, so hopefully we’ll see a big brightness boost if it's going to get close to being fully three times brighter.

However, while this all sounds great, it’s actually another area of brightness that makes the G5 an exciting prospect, and the one I’m most looking forward to seeing in action – and that’s its fullscreen brightness. LG claims that the G5 will have up to 40% higher fullscreen brightness than its predecessor, the G4, and that could be a gamechanger.

Fullscreen brightness in a nutshell

While not the flashiest feature to talk about, the LG G5 will hopefully have noticeably higher fullscreen brightness than its predecessor, the LG G4 (pictured). (Image credit: Future)

Brands often quote peak brightness numbers when discussing a TV’s brightness levels, with the likes of Hisense and TCL, which make some of the best mini-LED TVs on the market, quoting numbers up to 10,000 nits. While OLEDs are a ways off this number, there are signs that OLEDs could start to hit 3,000 nits, with Philips among the first to say its sets can hit this figure.

Measuring peak brightness, however, is done by shining a bright light in a very small section of the screen, between 2-10% of the screen’s total area. But when it comes to watching TVs, fullscreen brightness (ie, how bright the whole thing can be, uniformly) is just as important.

Fullscreen brightness is important for many types of movies and TV shows, but the really big one is sport, where you want to see clarity and rich colors across the whole screen at the same time, to get the full viewing experience. Just as importantly, fullscreen brightness is vital in helping combat the reflections you might see in brighter viewing environments – say a room filled with a lot of natural light – because the brighter the image, the more likely it is to overwhelm any reflections, so you can focus just on what you’re supposed to be watching.

Fullscreen brightness has never been OLED’s strong suit, often hitting between 200-300 nits on the most flagship of OLEDs, compared with the 600-800 nits you’ll get on a high-end mini-LED. It takes inventive measures like the Samsung S95D’s, 2024’s TechRadar Choice Awards winnner for TV of the Year, OLED Glare Free anti-reflection tech to effectively beat reflections, and that’s just using a matte screen rather than increasing brightness.

The LG G5 – the ‘brightest’ OLED yet?

While the LG G5 won't hit the brightness levels of a mini-LED like the TCL QM851G (pictured), reports suggest we could be seeing the brightest OLED models yet. (Image credit: Future)

When we measured the LG G4’s fullscreen brightness, it yielded a result of 257 nits in Filmmaker mode, which is impressive for an OLED, but was still far less than the 318 nits achieved by the QD-OLED Samsung S95D. And both models were significantly dimmer than the likes of the Hisense U8N and Samsung QN90D, mini-LED sets that achieved results of 805 and 659 nits in Filmmaker mode respectively.

While OLED is unlikely to hit fullscreen brightness at mini-LED level anytime soon, a 40% fullscreen brightness increase in the G5 is nonetheless intriguing. If correct, we should expect the LG G5 to hit over 350 nits in Filmmaker Mode, and while that’s still not mini-LED levels, it’s a significant increase from mid-range OLEDs and flagship OLEDs from previous years, and should be very visible to the naked eye.

It’s worth noting that this is also estimated based on figures for Filmmaker Mode, one of the dimmer preset picture modes available, but one we like here at TechRadar because of its accuracy. Brighter picture modes such as Standard and Cinema are likely to be even brighter still, and I find that during my own testing, these can be essential under our bright testing room lights.

We were highly impressed with the LG G4’s overall picture quality, awarding it five out of five in our LG G4 review and while there were reflections present, overhead lighting wasn’t much of an issue. So if the LG G5 can improve on this even further with higher overall brightness, it could add itself to the rare group of OLEDs that can handle any brighter rooms, making it a more versatile set overall.

Final thoughts

In the past couple of years, LG hasn’t been the top dog in the OLED world in our testing; Samsung has. While LG provides more OLED options, Samsung’s models were so good, we chose the Samsung S90C and Samsung S95D as our TV of the Year in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Brightness was a key factor in both these cases, as both models pushed OLED brightness levels to new heights that we couldn’t ignore. Crucially, however, this didn’t mean we didn’t like LG’s OLEDs any less – they just got pipped to the post.

If LG really can push the G5 to a brightness we’ve not seen before, especially fullscreen, could we see LG regain its OLED crown in 2025. I for one am looking forward to getting my hands on the G5 to see if it can innovate OLED even further, and the first thing I’ll be doing is putting on some lights to see if its newfound brightness is the real deal.

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TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2025 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

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