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Theragun Sense: One-minute review

While massage guns are more popular than ever, they can do so much more. That seems to be the thinking behind the Theragun Sense, a relatively compact massage gun that acts as a masseuse.

Expect guided massage routines, a whisper-quiet profile, and even breathing exercises, making it a fantastic all-rounder.

There are more powerful massage guns around for deeper, sports massages, but the size and additional features on offer make the Theragun Sense a great option - especially for $300 or less. Even better, you’ll find four massage attachments and a carry case inside the box, so you have everything you need right from the jump.

Theragun Sense: Specifications Theragun Sense: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

• Available now
• Priced at $299.99/£275/AU$449

The Theragun Sense launched late last year, and you can find it at a discount already. Amazon offers it for under $230/£250/AU$400 fairly regularly, but even at full price, it’s definitely competitive with other massage guns we’ve tested.

• Value score: 5/5

Theragun Sense: Design

(Image credit: Future)

• Relatively compact
• Subtle biometric sensor
• Black and white color options

If you’ve seen a Theragun massage gun, you’ll likely know what to expect here, with a comfortable, firm build that weighs less than you might expect.

The company’s “patented ergonomic grip” is present and accounted for, but unlike other models, you won’t be able to extend the end to be straighter (that’s a Theragun Pro feature).

The upshot of that is that the Sense is much smaller and lighter than many comparable models, Theragun or otherwise, with a weight of just 1.6 lbs/0.7kg. That’s particularly key here because of the breathing exercise we’ll come to later but also means you can enjoy an impressive massage without needing to switch arms quite as regularly.

The Theragun Sense comes in Black and White colorways, but both have a rose gold trim to them. That’s unlikely to bother many users, but it’s interesting that both share the same secondary color.

Attachments are easy to swap out, you’ll just need to pull on them until they come loose, but they do slot back in with a satisfying ‘click’.

The big draw here is the display, which sits atop four directional buttons and a central confirmation one. Not only are the menus easy to navigate (with a Quick Start option a single button press away), but they also give step-by-step massage guidance to help you move between important muscle groups.

You can also use the included companion app on your phone, too, if you’d prefer, and that ties into the biometric sensor under the handle - but more on that shortly.

Charging is done via USB-C, with the port at the front of the unit. There’s a cable included, but no power adapter, sadly.

• Design score: 5/5

Theragun Sense: Performance

(Image credit: Future)

• Comes with multiple attachments
• Nifty carry case
• Breathing exercises are nice

The Theragun Sense offers what I would call a great ‘casual’ massage for newcomers. That may explain the cheaper price point compared to the Theragun Pro, but it’s also packing its own internal tutorial via the display to help you know when to switch between locations on the body.

That makes it ideal for partners and housemates, too, letting you ask them to hit the more unwieldy spots on the lower back, for example. It hits hard enough, but you’ll want something like the Bob and Brad D6 Pro for a harder massage.

There are four attachments included (Dampener, Standard Ball, Thumb, and Micro-point), as well as five speeds - all of which are impressively quiet.

If you use the biometric sensor with your finger, you can enjoy moment-to-moment heart rate, and that ties into the Therabody companion app for iOS and Android.

One of my favorite features, and one I admittedly didn’t know I needed, was the option to use the Sense for breathing exercises. Users sit with the device against their chest, and while it certainly feels unnatural at first, I found myself enjoying the process after a couple of attempts.

With some massage guns coming with dense instruction manuals, I was impressed at the potential of the companion app for helping educate users on when to massage effectively.

• Performance score: 5/5

Theragun Sense: Scorecard Theragun Sense: Should I buy it?

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

You’re not just interested in post-workout massages

The Theragun Sense is great for self-massage, but the breathing exercise functionality adds an extra dimension.

View Deal

You’re a regular gymgoer

Still, its compact nature makes it ideal to keep in a gym bag for those bigger sessions.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You want something more powerful

While it packs a punch, there are more aggressively powered massage guns if that’s what you’re looking for.View Deal

You’re not interested in breathing exercises

The Theragun Pro adds more power at a higher price point, but will likely be better for any injury concerns.

View Deal

Also consider

Bob & Brad D6 Pro

Another large massage gun, this powerful option is ideal for experienced self-massages and offers plenty of guidance if you’re OK reading the manual.

Read our full review

Theragun Pro

A larger Theragun that packs more power at the cost of portability, the Pro is ideal for longtime masseurs.

How I tested

I tested the Theragun Pro multiple times a week, after a weightlifting session at the gym or a run, as well as using it before bed to wind down.

This week, we cover the latest hardware using voice controls and generative AI, including a collar that lets you chat with your pets. Also, this podcast is changing shape, and we tell you all about it.

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro might be the best cheap fitness tracker on the market, but a new patent has revealed the company may also be working on a smart ring that could come with a breakthrough new feature.

The market is currently the domain of giants like Oura and Samsung, whose Galaxy Ring and Oura Ring 4 make up the best smart ring options right now.

Every smart ring today comes in various different sizes, and you usually need to buy a sizing kit to get the right fit. But this annoying and time-consuming process could soon be a thing of the past if Xiaomi's new patent is anything to go by.

As spotted by 91Mobiles, the patent, filed in China, reveals that Xiaomi is working on a smart ring with an auto-adjustable design. It features an elastic component and a spring mechanism that allows the ring to adjust its size automatically.

One smart ring (size) to rule them all?

(Image credit: Oura)

If Xiaomi has indeed cracked a one-size-fits-all smart ring, it could be a massive shakeup for the industry. Not only would it reduce the time and cost involved in choosing the right size of a smart ring, but as the report notes it could pave the way for a ring that can be worn on any finger or can be shared by more than one person.

Behind the scenes, such a smart ring would also be cheaper to manufacture and replace in case of issues, possibly reducing the price for consumers.

This ground-breaking advance aside, Xiaomi's smart ring includes support for Wi-Fi, 5G, and an array of sensors including a gyroscope and temperature. Interestingly, there are also references to a speaker module, a microphone, and a touch panel built into the ring. As the report notes, there are hints too of using the ring to control smartphone features like a camera, suggesting that this could be a companion device like an Apple Watch.

A patent is of course just an idea committed to paper, and not hard evidence of Xiaomi's upcoming product plans. But it's safe to say that the company is definitely looking hard into smart rings.

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Apple’s MacBook Pro models with the M4 chip are at this point strongly rumored for an imminent launch, and another piece of evidence has surfaced to reinforce this idea.

This is chatter from the supply chain disclosed by DigiTimes (in report about the notebook market in general, flagged up by MacRumors).

DigiTimes informs us: “Apple is expected to unveil new MacBook Pro models equipped with the latest M4 chip in October, which could boost related component shipments. This trend is evident in the revenue reports from component manufacturers such as Jarllytec and Shin Zu Shing for September.”

The most recent rumors align with the late October launch mentioned here – which should mean we get the press invites being sent out by Apple very soon indeed – and this would come ahead of a November 1 on-sale date, theoretically.

If the info from the grapevine is correct, we can expect MacBook Pro, Mac mini and iMac models with M4 chips to be launched at the end of the month. Next year, it’ll be the turn of the MacBook Air to get an M4 makeover, plus the Mac Pro and Mac Studio – in theory, anyway.

(Image credit: Future) Analysis: A veritable avalanche of leaks

Who are the companies mentioned in this most recent supply chain leak, then? Jarllytec is a Taiwan-based outfit that makes notebook hinge mechanisms (fancy ones), and has supplied for MacBooks before (for a long time in fact). Shin Zu Shing also provides components for Apple’s laptops (and reportedly recently benefited from a shift in Apple’s ordering where the firm ditched a previous supplier).

So, apparently the respective revenue sheets for those companies make for some telling hints regarding the imminent arrival of MacBook Pro M4 models, presumably due to beefy shipments of various related components.

There are plenty of other signs that a MacBook Pro launch is imminent, including a rather staggering flood of M4 MacBook Pro leaks which include a whole bunch of spilled pictures and videos and even a report of the laptop being sold already on the black market. Also, current stock levels of the MacBook Pro (and other Macs) are reportedly ebbing away, as you’d expect just before the release of new models.

At this point, it’d be a serious surprise – a shock even – if the next-gen MacBook Pro didn’t turn up. After all, this is the device that’s been a lot more heavily rumored than the other M4 Macs Apple is expected to launch later in October. The not-so-great news for MacBook Pro fans is that not that many changes are expected in the new take on Apple’s laptop, aside from the addition of the M4 SoC, that is.

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Vice President Harris worked to woo Republican voters yesterday with an interview on Fox News and a speech in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Trump worked to gain the Latino vote at a Univision town hall.

(Image credit: Ryan Collerd)

Aaron Kofsky isn’t just a random staffer; he is JD Vance’s financial policy adviser during an election cycle that cares about crypto.

Getting your hand son the brand-new DJI Air 3S – which we gave four-and-a-half-stars in our DJI Air 3S review – might be trickier than anticipated as the company is having issues importing its latest drone to the US. For the time being, it might only be possible to purchase the drone from DJI.com directly, not through any third-party stores.

This isn’t anything to do with the ban bill which passed in the US House of Representatives earlier this year. Instead, DJI claims it’s because the Department of Homeland Security incorrectly believes the drones were produced in forced labor camps and is blocking the drones using the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (via The Verge)

In a letter it sent to distributors – which has been shared on social media – DJI refutes these accusations stating “DJI strongly affirms that no forced labor is involved at any stage of our manufacturing process.

“Our company does not and has never operated manufacturing facilities in the Xinjiang province of China, nor do we obtain any materials from that region. All of our manufacturing is based in Shenzhen, where our company is headquartered, or Malaysia.”

Following up with a post on its official blog DJI says it has all of the evidence it needs to clean up this “misunderstanding” and prove it doesn’t make its drones in the Xinjiang region of China.

Until the issue is resolved however it’ll be harder for US businesses to get their hands on DJI’s enterprise and agricultural drones, as well as regular folks from snagging the DJI Air 3S – at least from retailers other than DJI itself.

(Image credit: DJI) The first ban of many?

Even if this existing issue is resolved, DJI’s future in the US will remain uncertain.

The wider US import ban is still looming, and while it has yet to pass through the Senate it feels like it may be a matter of when, and not if, unless there’s a major attitude shift in the US government.

Though the ban looks set to only affect imports as it is currently written, so if a DJI drone catches your eye, you should still consider grabbing it – as already-approved models won’t be permanently grounded even if a ban does pass.

So take this DJI Air 3S issue as a taste of what’s unfortunately likely to come in the coming months and years from the world's best drone manufacturer.

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A new report jointly created by MIT Technology Review Insights and data company Snowflake has confirmed that many businesses are simply failing to harness the power of artificial intelligence.

As many as four in five (78%) organizations are unable to fully capitalize on their AI investments according to the study, largely due to inadequate data management.

Data governance, security and privacy concerns emerged as the top challenge (59%), followed closely by data quality and timeliness (53%) and the costs associated with AI resources (48%), highlighting the need for a simpler and clearer foundation.

Data is preventing companies from realizing AI’s benefits

It’s clear that there are challenges between initial investments and tangible rewards, but companies still appear to be optimistic. Nearly three-quarters (72%) agree that AI would boost efficiency and productivity, with around half believing it will enhance market competitiveness (55%). However almost all (95%) reported facing hurdles when implementing AI.

While more than half (53%) of business leaders describing themselves as ‘somewhat ready’ for artificial intelligence and everything that it entails, only one in five (22%) state that they are ‘very ready,’ signifying that they have fewer challenges related to accessing scalable computing power, data silos and integration issues, and data governance.

Speaking about the “big ambitions” that companies have surrounding GenAI, Snowflake Head of AI Baris Gultekin said: “A strong data foundation is at the core of generative AI capabilities, and business leaders need to move quickly to deal with concerns such as data security and cost, and establish the foundation they need to deliver on the promise of AI.”

Moving forward, the report calls for modern cloud data platforms that allow companies to better manage and access vast amounts of unstructured data.

More from TechRadar Pro

• Ready to get on board with artificial intelligence? Here are the best AI writers
• Businesses are spending more and more on AI, but keep hitting the same roadblocks
• Check out our roundup of the best cloud hosting providers

Polar, makers of some of the best heart rate monitors and best running watches, experienced a cybersecurity attack this week. On 11 October, Polar posted a statement on the “updates” section of its website, informing users and customers that it was subject to ‘various levels of disruption’, and has shut down the login and signup pages as a result.

If you’re a Polar user, you might be worried your sensitive health data is at risk, but speaking to TechRadar, Polar says your data ‘has not been compromised’.

On its website, Polar states: “Polar’s online store in the United States has been subjected to various levels of disruption, resulting in the suspected compromise of individual users’ order information… According to preliminary information, only a few customers' account details have been accessed."

Polar went on to state: “The data breach has affected only a small portion of customers in Polar’s US online store. The breach does not apply to any other customer data stored by Polar. We want to emphasize that the data of Polar Flow users has not been compromised during the attack.” Polar echoed these sentiments in a statement made to TechRadar after we reached out for comment.

Polar emphasizes that users don’t need to do anything at this stage, although if you want to buy anything on the Polar website, you’ll have to do so from a guest account.

(Image credit: Sora Shimazaki / Pexels) Analysis: Health data makes a tempting target

While in this instance, Polar states that order information rather than personal health data was compromised, Polar Flow makes a tempting target. Health data is incredibly valuable to hackers, advertisers, and even certain governments due to its intensely personal nature: imagine taking your medical records and GPS location, and giving that information to known criminals to sell to invasive advertising services and identity thieves.

Polar was at the center of a data leaking scandal back in 2018 due to flaws in user privacy settings, but things have tightened up since then. Garmin has also experienced its own cybersecurity problems, as Russian hacking group Evil Corp attacked Garmin in 2020, taking its services offline for more than three days.

How to protect your data

In this day and age, it’s hard not to put our trust in placing everything online. As TechRadar’s Senior Fitness and Wearables Editor, it’s my job to test the latest data-harvesting health gadgets: my information is probably scattered over a dozen different databases. So how can you protect yourself?

Generally, if you’re still receiving value from a service like Strava or Fitbit Premium, you have to continue supplying the service with your health data. It’s worth taking a look at fitness tracker privacy policies if you’re concerned about it, which should list if the data is shared with any third parties. If you’ve left data on a service you no longer use, and want to minimize the risk of being involved in a data breach, you may be able to ask the company to delete the data it has on you.

In the US, whether you have a right to delete data depends on what state you live in: according to the personal information removal service DeleteMe, there are only 12 US states with comprehensive privacy laws. In the UK, things are a bit simpler: you can use the Information Commissioner’s Office guidelines to withdraw consent to use your personal data in writing. Australians will also find it difficult to get their data removed, although the government has previously mooted enshrining a “right to be forgotten” into Australian law.

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If you need help choosing among all the streaming service options available, this list can simplify the process.

If you need emergency funds to cover an unexpected bill, you shouldn't wind up in a vicious debt cycle.

Victrola Stream Sapphire: Two-minute review

The Victrola Stream Sapphire is another first from Victrola, bringing Sonos compatibility and lossless Wi-Fi vinyl streaming together in one hefty unit. Very few of the best turntables on the market boast anything like the feature-set this deck aims to deliver. An Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge, supported gamely by a nice carbon-fibre tonearm, produces exactly the fidelity you’d hope, and with minimal tracking errors out of the box. Its wireless fidelity is impressive, too, though an Ethernet connection or a supercharged Wi-Fi plan will be necessary to unimpededly avail of it.

The Victrola Stream Sapphire's convenience, particularly in tech-forward households, is plain to see. What isn’t, however, is quite how this convenience commands a four-figure price point. For one, the Sapphire shares a great deal in common with its less expensive range-mates, and even lacks some of their better features. Meanwhile, a noisily starting platter, flabby tonearm lift and sharp front plate indicate quality control issues.

The Victrola Stream Sapphire is, quite frankly, a bit of a disappointment. It has the bones of a good record player, and some compelling tech-y foresight with its multifarious connectivity, but it doesn’t do altogether much to convince you of its retail price, even with its most compelling elements in mind. If you’ve the cash, and a hankering for unparalleled convenience in wirelessly casting vinyl around your tech-futurist home, this was made for you – and you alone.

Victrola Stream Sapphire review: Price and release date

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)

• $1299.99 / £1499.99 / approx. AU$2890
• Launched on October 1, 2024

The Victrola Stream Sapphire is the latest in Victrola’s 'Stream' range of turntables and, unsurprisingly, bears a great deal in common with the Stream Carbon – the brand’s (and, indeed, world’s) first Sonos-compatible record player.

The Stream Sapphire, however, is a first of all its own – combining as it does Sonos compatibility with Wi-Fi-borne UPnP audio streaming, to create a truly connectible wireless record player. This peerless connectivity comes at a price, though, with the Sapphire commanding a not-insignificant $1,299.99 / £1,499.99 / approx. AU$2,890.

Victrola Stream Sapphire review: Specs Victrola Stream Sapphire review: Features

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)

• Sonos and Lossless UPnP Wi-Fi streaming
• Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge
• Upgraded motor

The Victrola Stream Sapphire is a plussed-up version of the brand's Stream Carbon. It retains its chassis’ form and its carbon-fibre tonearm construction, but also features some key upgrades – including a quieter motor, a heavier plinth (with a real walnut veneer) and an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge. The biggest difference, though, is in its wirelessness.

The Stream Sapphire shares the rare wireless Sonos connectivity of Victrola’s Stream series, but also boasts UPnP compliance – this means that your turntable can stream lossless audio to any Wi-Fi-enabled speaker or audio device in your home tech ecosystem.

This is a phenomenal prospect for the tech-futurist homesteader, where seamless, wireless and simultaneous playback in every room is made not just possible but easy – to say nothing of the ease with which you can target specific zones for listening in. And all this, of course, in glorious 24-bit/48kHz. This wireless connectivity is obviously killer, but it’s not going to be ubiquitously useful as a feature; this premium turntable targets a narrow slice of a wide commercial market, and stakes a great deal of its retail price on its appeal to that slice.

As such, the turntable forgoes some basic features that the average user might look for, such as a bypass switch for the phono preamp, or even an on-off switch for the auto-stop function (both of which, incidentally, you will find on the much cheaper, Bluetooth-enabled Victrola Stream Onyx). Even though the Stream Sapphire has some wow-worthy connectivity options, it falls short in some basic ways – ways in which considerably cheaper players are excelling.

• Features score: 3/5

Victrola Stream Sapphire review: Sound quality

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)

• Undeniably excellent dynamics
• Rich, complete sound representation
• Stable playback

Victrola’s less expensive Stream turntables, which share some similarities, have previously caught flak for occasional instability in-play. Thankfully, the Stream Sapphire’s motor is indeed improved, providing a good deal more torque and doing away with much of the imprecision that plagued its range-mates. There was initially a bit of a disconcerting squeak when starting and stopping records, though this did seem to abate with time.

Via RCA, the Stream Sapphire sounds excellent. The Ortofon 2M Blue does a great deal of the heavy lifting, with an incredible full range of frequency responsiveness that, at some points, seems to test the readiness of the Sapphire’s built-in preamp. Indeed, it’s a rare turntable that lays bare the shortcomings of my own austere living room hi-fi.

The preamp is good, though, and handles the wide dynamic range of Pile’s All Fiction incredibly well. Nothing’s squashed or sausaged, and every leap or fall is felt in near-exactly the way you’d like to feel it in the room, with the band. This dynamic acuity serves everything incredibly well, from sharp and explosive drums in Loops and Poisons to a compelling sparseness in quieter moments (Blood, Lowered Rainbow).

Plaid’s Peel Session 2, meanwhile, is a textural delight across the board, from plinky synth-pings to smooth, fulsome sine-wave basslines. It’s refreshing to listen to records and not be immediately hit by some shortfall in EQ. To clumsily borrow a phrase from the Super Smash Bros. lexicon: everyone is here!

Stealing Sheep’s Big Wows gamely combines the glisten and glitter of the 1980s shimmer-synth arpeggiation with the raw and robust attack of live instrumentation, all of which play ball even through my admittedly undersized bookshelf speakers. Instrument placement in the stereo field is fantastic, as are the vocals, which are otherwise handled unsurprisingly well. Pile’s Rick Maguire sears in over his maximalist arrangements and Stealing Sheep’s three-piece harmonies couch themselves ideally within their synthy beds.

It's not all praise. I need to pull the Stream Sapphire up on some slight overcorrection in places. Plaid’s wubbie low-end can sometimes overwhelm, and sometimes airier treble moments can build up to excess. The 2M Blue cartridge is also quite sensitive to surface dust, so you can expect poorly cleaned records to be a bit poppier (in the literal sense) than usual. But these are trifles against the greater successes of the unit, which is generally a stable and hugely responsive thing.

Wirelessly, the Stream Sapphire sounds as good as its specs promise – when it works. The Sonos connection is prone to ‘skipping’, i.e. losing connectivity, even when latency and performance settings are set with performance over fidelity in mind. Incidentally, selecting ‘Prioritize Connection’ in the Victrola Streaming App’s Streaming Mode menu results in some of the most 'YouTube 2007' sound transmission you’ve ever heard (worse, arguably, than the skipping).

Reliability aside, there’s a lot to like when the Sonos streaming works at its best – Queens of the Stone Age’s Songs for the Deaf is big, rich and fully present, making the most of the Sonos One’s unduly massive bass responsiveness. This turntable will undoubtedly represent a great deal of worth for those with an extensive intra-home Sonos setup, but perhaps only with a great internet connection as well.

• Sound quality score: 4/5

Victrola Stream Sapphire review: Design

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)

• Some neat digital functionality
• Inconsistent setup experience
• Missed lessons from prior models

It’s hard to talk about the Stream Sapphire’s design without harping on for some time about less tangible aspects of its design – namely, the various digital fenagling associated with getting it to do the Streaming bit of being a Stream turntable.

Using the Victrola Stream app appears simple enough; the app has a handy step-by-step instructional on physically putting your turntable together, which will be a cause of relief for a fair few less confident setter-uppers. But here's where the wheels come off a bit. If this writer has to engage with a button labeled ‘Wi-Fi Setup’ again in their natural life, there will be a reckoning.

Even after successful Wi-Fi Setup (cue Sideshow Bob-esque ‘uunnnrhrnrnrhrnrhr…’), you can look forward to around half an hour of vainly swapping between apps to have one technology see the other – an effort not helped by the sometimes-confusing deployment of the illuminated knob on the Sapphire, which does nothing unless actively connecting or attempting to connect. This lack of feedback is a patience killer.

This fenagling is eventually (and thankfully) rewarded, and from here you can start to appreciate the Victrola app’s nicer touches – such as its in-app ‘Simultaneous Mode’ for playing wired and wirelessly. Thanks to this, your wireless speakers can work in concert with your wired hi-fi, without any real (further) headache. There’s even a slider for ‘knob illumination’, from which you may derive as much mirth as you’d like.

While the Stream Sapphire has its fair share of ‘new bits’, UPnP connectivity and improved motor inclusive, it still has more in common with its predecessors than it has to distinguish it. This turntable had an opportunity to repeat and improve upon the Stream range’s design and, while it’s succeeded in some places, it has fallen unfortunately flat in others.

The Stream Sapphire has especially earned this writer’s ire for using the same practically useless dust cover design as its Stream and Hi-Res siblings: a single folded (and slightly reinforced) sheet of plastic that sits on the platter and over the tonearm, and which can only be used between records. When you’re spending this much on a turntable, you’re invariably coming across the kind of audiophiles that have Big Opinions™ about playing records under closed dust covers – but one senses that this isn’t what governed Victrola’s thinking here.

The turntable also features the same tonearm assembly as its siblings. This tonearm assembly is fine, great even, but not for a four-figure turntable where you’d expect to be able to adjust VTA (Vertical Tracking Angle). VTA isn’t the be-all-end-all that some would claim, but it should be something you’re empowered to adjust yourself.

In short, the Stream Sapphire has some nifty tricks, and a nifty walnut veneer to encase them in, but while much of its charm might have worked with its cheaper models, this model falls disappointingly short.

• Design score: 2.5/5

Victrola Stream Sapphire review: Value

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)

• Great sound, but not for its price
• Quality control issues raise questions
• Fewer QoL features than cheaper Victrola units

The Stream Sapphire sounds inarguably good, thanks to both the quality of the cartridge and the unusual quality of wireless connectivity on offer. It’s a rare thing on this digital front, too, combining Sonos and UPnP capability in a convenient manner never before seen in a turntable. But do these grand designs translate to cold, hard value? In this writer’s opinion: no.

More specifically, these features don’t feel nearly enough to justify the Stream Sapphire’s price – not when other, essential expectations from this price bracket aren’t being met. Though its sound reproduction is excellent, conventional wired turntables less than half the price are as good if not better – as such, the price tag is only justifiable by its digital, wireless performance, which is inconsistent in its own way.

Furthermore, you’d expect a higher level of quality control for the price you pay, rather than encountering issues with the turntable's most essential mechanical aspects. For my review unit, the tonearm lift system felt broken, its lever loosely flabbing about either extremity of its reach and only catching the lift in a seemingly incidental manner. The aluminium front panel was also burred enough in some places to catch my fingers.

Further still, you’d expect a great deal more in difference between this unit and its half-priced Sonos-streaming predecessor, or even its near-$1000 / £1000 cheaper little sibling in the Bluetooth-friendly Hi-Res Onyx. The similarities between this and its budget counterparts are many, and there are even some features conspicuously missing.

In all, the Victrola Stream Sapphire is an incomparable, even untouchable device, but merely for having no direct competitors whatsoever. It’ll appeal to those who can afford to spend four figures on tech convenience, and few else – which is a good thing, as myriad better deals can be had for a fraction of the price.

• Value score: 2.5/5

Should you buy the Victrola Stream Sapphire? Buy it if...

You’ve invested in some hot UPnP speakers
There are some incredible Wi-Fi-compliant speakers on the market from such vaunted brands as KEF and Devialet. If you’ve spent the money on these, the convenience of the Stream Sapphire may be worth the cost to you.

Your house is Sonos’d up to the nines
If you’ve spent thousands on a fully integrated, through-home Sonos setup, and want the best Sonos-capable wireless turntable money can buy, this is absolutely the product for you.

You value convenience more than money
Setting up a cohesive at-home digital audio-streaming network isn’t easy. If you’ve the cash to buy something like this, and hate the idea of building your own hi-fi master-stack from scratch, then the Stream Sapphire is pretty much designed with you in mind.

Don't buy it if...

You want the best analog fidelity
This is, of course, angled at those wanting a primo vinyl-streaming experience – but if you want your records to sound their absolute best in the analogue sense, there are better-specced turntables with your name on.

You’re happy to DIY your hi-fi
The built-in Sonos and UPnP connectivity is novel, but not inherently as valuable as the Stream Sapphire’s asking price. You could buy a better-sounding, more reliable turntable, a DLNA-compliant media hub, and a full complement of compatible wireless home assistant speakers, all for a good deal less than this turntable alone.

Victrola Stream Sapphire: Also consider

Victrola Stream Carbon
Victrola’s Stream Carbon is the Stream Sapphire’s vastly cheaper ancestor, and the first to market in the Stream range. This turntable provides the very same Sonos compatibility – and strikingly similar specs otherwise – for significantly less.
Read our Victrola Stream Carbon review here.

Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2
Cambridge Audio is one of the definitive hi-fi brands, and its Alva TT V2 is a definitive turntable in its own right. A direct-drive motor, a high-fidelity moving coil cartridge, and aptX HD Bluetooth connectivity place the Alva TT V2 in the upper echelons of possible fidelity.
See our full Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 review

How I tested the Victrola Stream Sapphire

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)

• Tested for 3 weeks
• Used in living room hi-fi setup as primary turntable
• Predominantly tested through Cambridge AV amplifier and Celestion speakers
• Wireless testing conducted with Sonos One

The Victrola Stream Sapphire became my primary living room turntable for three weeks. The RCA outputs fed my dependable Cambridge Audio Azur 540R amplifier and Celestion F1 bookshelf speakers. For wireless connectivity, I must give thanks to dear friend Joe Lynch for the lending of his Sonos One-centered sound system (and our shared perspiration in connecting to it). I used personal favourite records with which I am intimately familiar, and with which I was able to get a feel for the Stream Sapphire’s character both wired and wirelessly.

First reviewed: October 2024

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Several important refinance rates moved higher this week, but rates are expected to trend down in the coming months.

Some important mortgage rates ticked up. Here's what to expect if you're in the market for a home loan.

Having given us four new Kindle models yesterday, Amazon has taken one away: the Kindle Oasis, first launched in 2016 and last refreshed in 2019, is now discontinued – marking the end for Kindle devices with page-turn buttons.

"Once current inventory of Kindle Oasis sells out online and in stores, we will not restock the device," Amazon's Devon Corvasce told The Verge. The device is currently showing as unavailable on the Amazon US site, with used models available on Amazon UK.

According to Corvasce, Kindle users are more comfortable with tapping the screen to go forwards and backwards through their ebooks, and that's the approach all Kindle models will be taking from now on.

In our Amazon Kindle Oasis review, we described it as a "luxury ereader" that just about justified its higher price. The button system did add some extra bulk, but it worked well, and it was also easy to hold in one hand thanks to a ridged-back design.

Past and future

The new Amazon Kindle Colorsoft (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

With no updates since 2019, it's perhaps no surprise that Amazon has decided to put an end to the Kindle Oasis. Between the 2016 launch and the final 2019 version, there was one other update, which came in 2017.

The display on the most recent Kindle Oasis was 7 inches, corner to corner, and both brightness and warmness could be adjusted. Brightness could also be set to change automatically, based on the ambient light conditions.

Looking to the future, you can check out our hands-on Amazon Kindle Colorsoft review for our first impressions of the first Kindle to come with a color screen. It'll set you back $279.99 / £269.99, with pricing for Australia yet to be announced.

The other new models just announced by Amazon are refreshes for the Kindle Paperwhite, the Kindle Scribe (with stylus support), and the entry-level Amazon Kindle, so there's plenty of choice if you're looking to replace your aging Kindle Oasis.

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The exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities, flaws that were abused before the developers built a fix, is growing faster than the exploitation of n-day vulnerabilities (those for which a patch is already available).

This is according to a new report from Google’s cybersecurity researchers Mandiant, who describe it as a “worrying trend”.

The researchers recently analyzed 138 exploited vulnerabilities that were disclosed in 2023, and concluded that 70% were abused as zero-days, while 30% were n-days. In previous years, the ratio was closer to 60% for zero-days, and 40% for n-days, meaning the crooks are growing increasingly reliant on zero-day vulnerabilities.

Social engineering

“While we have previously seen and continue to expect a growing use of zero-days over time, 2023 saw an even larger discrepancy grow between zero-day and n-day exploitation as zero-day exploitation outpaced n-day exploitation more heavily than we have previously observed,” the researchers explained.

Besides the increase in the numbers, the average time-to-exploit (TTE) has also decreased, suggesting that the attackers are exploiting these flaws faster than ever before. Two years ago, the average TTE was 32 days. Last year, it was merely five days, meaning the flaws are getting abused almost immediately.

But there is a silver lining to the research. Mandiant says organizations have gotten better at detecting zero-days, which also resulted in higher numbers in the report. It is quite possible that in previous years, a larger portion of these attacks went unnoticed. Companies have also gotten better at patching. They do it faster, and more frequently nowadays, forcing the hackers to move faster themselves. Hence the shorter TTE.

Looking into the future, Mandiant says the trend of zero-day exploitation is expected to grow, especially with improved detection tools. Zero-days are likely to remain a highly coveted approach for threat actors because they offer a critical window of attack before patches can be applied.

If this trend continues, Mandiant anticipates time-to-exploit will fall even further.

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Motorola has begun rolling out a beta version of Android 15 to select Edge 50 devices, becoming one of the first phone makers to give users a taste of the latest Android operating.

Currently, only some Motorola Edge 50 Fusion devices are eligible for the beta, and we aren’t quite sure of what the criteria for selection is – nonetheless, it’s very encouraging to see this type of movement early on.

Such early deployment of Android 15, even in beta form, comes as something of a surprise from Motorola given that the company isn’t exactly known for rapid upgrades. However, Motorola launched the Edge 50 series with the promise of five years of OS updates, so speedier updates could be a product of this new commitment.

Google remains the sole phone maker to deliver a stable Android 15 update thus far, having pushed out a Pixel Launcher update on October 15. Google’s haste makes sense considering that the company develops the Android source code, which was itself released on September 4.

We’d usually expect Samsung to be hot on the heels of Google when it comes to adopting major Android updates, but we’ve heard nothing official about the expected Samsung One UI 7 update yet.

Samsung has promised the Android 15-powered update to a wide array of phones, from the ultra-budget Galaxy A14 to the flagship Galaxy S24 Ultra.

As YTechB reports, the list of Motorola devices expected to get Android 15 updates includes the Edge 50 series, Razr phones launched in 2023 or 2024, and several G series handsets.

In global markets, Xiaomi and Honor have both enabled an Android 15 beta for select devices, but like Motorola neither of these companies have delivered a stable Android 15 update.

The fight for second place in the Android 15 stable release race is still on – for the latest updates as we hear them, be sure to keep up with our Android coverage.

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• The latest Pixel Drop is here, bringing upgrades to cameras, Call Screen, and more
• Android phone makers are wasting no time in copying the iPhone 16 camera button

So much jamming is taking place in northeastern Norway, regulators no longer want to know.

Those who tried Holotropic Breathwork have had powerful experiences. We spoke with HB's director to learn more.

Security researchers created an algorithm that turns a malicious prompt into a set of hidden instructions that could send a user's personal information to an attacker.