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• The OnePlus Open 2 could be arriving imminently
• A tougher, lighter, thinner build is rumored
• The Honor Magic V3 is currently the thinnest foldable

The OnePlus Open 2 is shaping up to be a fantastic foldable, with new details leaking out about what to expect from the phone: apparently it'll be the thinnest foldable to date, while also offering an upgraded titanium build.

These predictions come from two well-known tipsters, Digital Chat Station and Smart Pikachu (via Android Authority). Both leaks mention the Oppo Find N5, which is expected to be marketed as the OnePlus Open 2 outside of China – just like the Oppo Find N3 was rebadged as the original OnePlus Open.

There's a mention of the foldable being the "thinnest in the world" (as per Google Translate). That would mean the OnePlus Open 2 would have to be less than the 9.2 mm thickness of the Honor Magic V3 when closed.

Indeed, this has been rumored since last September, which gives you a sense of the anticipation around the second foldable from OnePlus. We don't get any information about just how thin the phone could be, but it sounds like it will be super-thin.

Lighter and tougher

The Honor Magic V3 is currently the thinnest foldable (Image credit: Future)

Across these two leaks we get a mention of titanium being used in the build, and a "new industrial design, focusing on durability" (again via Google Translate). That suggests we're looking at a phone that will be both lighter and tougher.

There's also talk of a triple-lens camera with periscope zoom and Hasselblad engineering, satellite communication capabilities, a Snapdragon 8 Extreme Edition chipset, a battery approaching a capacity of 6,000 mAh (as previously rumored), and wireless charging – all of which sounds good to us.

One of these tipsters mentions a half a year gap between the next foldable phone and this one – and with new foldables from Google and Samsung expected around July time, the OnePlus Open 2 could be with us before the end of February.

There has been some debate about when the OnePlus Open 2 would see the light of day – bear in mind the first OnePlus Open phone launched in October 2023, so we've now been waiting more than a year for its successor.

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• The OnePlus Open 2 could bring some big upgrades
• These are the best foldables around
• Here's when the OnePlus Open 2 is expected

• The LG UltraFine 32U990A has a gorgeous design and targets creatives
• Its Thunderbolt 5 port makes it a perfect complement for Apple's Pro range
• It is the third 6K monitor after Dell and Apple's Pro Display XDR

If you’re in the market for a new monitor that’s going to last you a while, LG’s 32-inch UltraFine 32U990A, showcased at CES 2025, definitely fits the bill. Judging by the image released with the announcement, the monitor sports a minimalist design with ultra-thin bezels and a sleek stand.

Although details are a little lacking, the UltraFine 32U990A is the world’s first 6K high-resolution monitor to feature Thunderbolt 5 connectivity. This could potentially enable refresh rates of up to 120Hz (which would be quite something), but LG has yet to confirm the exact specifications.

What we do know is that the screen features a Nano IPS Black panel, designed for exceptional color accuracy and high contrast. It offers a wide color gamut covering 99.5% of Adobe RGB and 98% of DCI-P3, making it ideal for creative professionals working with high-end content creation.

A great match for the Apple Mac Mini M4

The monitor’s 6K resolution provides nearly 40% more screen real estate than a standard 5K display, positioning it as a competitor to Apple’s Pro Display XDR, though likely at a more affordable price point.

For comparison, Apple’s Pro Display XDR delivers a resolution of 6016 x 3384 pixels with a pixel density of 218 ppi, 1,000 nits of sustained brightness, up to 1,600 nits peak brightness, and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Dell’s UltraSharp 32 6K Monitor (U3224KBA), another competitor, offers a 6144 x 3456 resolution at 60Hz but that only has Thunderbolt 4.

With its professional-grade resolution and Thunderbolt 5 support, the UltraFine 32U990A would be a great match for Apple’s Mac Mini M4 - if you’re prepared to step outside Apple’s ecosystem and opt for a third-party display, that is.

LG's CES announcement says, “With calibration software support, this monitor is perfect for media professionals, while its slim, geometric design enhances both aesthetics and user convenience to satisfy every kind of user.”

Pricing and availability details have yet to be revealed, but are expected soon.

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• And these are the best monitors for digital design you can buy right now
• Asus launched two business monitors with a unique feature

• SanDisk could be onto something by adding the word Creator to product names
• 3 new products released at CES 2025 are actually refreshes with different color schemes
• Only the Creator Phone SSD is a genuinely new product

CES is when many tech firms announce or launch their latest and greatest products - but sometimes what’s being shown isn’t quite as new as it seems.

Case in point is SanDisk’s new range of Creator storage products, announced at CES 2025. If you’re a creator, or aspire to be one, you’ll probably be very interested in these, as they are clearly tailored to your needs - however, "caveat emptor" as the Romans used to say - buyer beware.

This is because the bright blue 8TB SanDisk Creator Desk Drive, priced at $629.99, looks good and promises 1000MB/s sequential reads. But then, so does the SanDisk Desk Drive, which has a very similar model number, doesn’t include the word “Creator” in its name and isn’t blue, but is cheaper at $549.99 – a not to be sniffed at saving of $80.

Paying a premium for the color

Perhaps you’re looking to buy a microSDXC card. SanDisk has you covered here too.

Its new 1TB Creator microSD Card (in blue!) is designed for use in slotted Android phones and tablets, drones, action cams, and digital cameras, including standard point-and-shoot, digital single-lens reflex (DSLR), and mirrorless (MIL) models - all the devices a creator might use. Plus, it’s temperature-proof, humidity-proof, drop-proof, and waterproof, which is important if you're out and about.

A bargain at $159.99 - or… you could buy the 1TB SanDisk Extreme microSDXC card instead. Sure, it doesn’t specifically list the devices you can use it in, but it’s essentially the same product and $67 cheaper at $92.99.

Perhaps you want a portable SSD, like the SanDisk Creator Pro? Available in – you guessed it – a pretty blue color, it offers up to 4TB capacity and up to 2000MB/s read speeds, letting you back up and access your content with NVMe SSD performance. Good value at $349.99, right? Unless you’re not bothered about the color, in which case you can pick up the extremely similar SanDisk Extreme PRO (reviewed here) for $299.99 and save $50 - enough to buy some blue paint if you really want to match.

Or maybe you’d like to buy the SanDisk Creator Phone SSD (see below), available in 1TB or 2TB capacities, which is designed for producing content on the go by attaching to any MagSafe-compatible smartphone. That doesn’t have a price at the moment, because, unlike SanDisk's other Creator-branded storage it’s actually a new product, and one that looks genuinely useful.

We can’t blame SanDisk for rebadging old products to appeal to the creator market - it’s a smart business move. But unless you’re particularly attached to the blue color, you can enjoy some decent savings by buying the non-Creator versions instead.

(Image credit: SanDisk) More from TechRadar Pro

• These are the largest microSD cards you can buy right now
• These are the fastest external hard drives for any budget
• SanDisk takes over SSD, memory cards and flash drives from Western Digital

Hori Fighting Stick Alpha: one-minute review

The Hori Fighting Stick Alpha is a very solid option for those on the hunt for a new fight stick, but only if you’ve already got some familiarity with this type of controller and prefer them for fighting games over regular gamepads. At $200 / £200, I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to players transitioning to fight sticks for the first time. Especially as many of the best fight sticks come in cheaper while still offering a fantastic onboarding experience.

But that doesn’t mean the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha isn’t worth buying. For one, it’s impressively light for its size, meaning it’ll rest on your lap easily. There’s plenty of space on its surface, too, making for a roomy and comfortable stick to use for quick sessions online.

As we see with similarly priced sticks like the Nacon Daija, the Alpha is fully customizable. Its clamshell design allows you to easily open it up and swap out Hori’s components for alternatives should you desire. That goes for the faceplate, too, if you’re keen to add some of your own unique flair to the rather bland default design.

Circling back to comfort, one other dealbreaker here might be the Alpha’s usage of the Noir layout for its buttons. This means the buttons are slightly more offset than what you’d find with the more modern Vewlix layout - where the buttons are gathered closer together. Your preference may vary here, and I certainly found the Noir layout well-suited for four-button games like Tekken 8 (Noir is a layout popularized by Namco, after all), but when swapping over to Street Fighter 6, I found myself wanting the more uniform layout of a Vewlix stick.

(Image credit: Future) Hori Fighting Stick Alpha: Price and availability

• $200 / £200
• Priced similarly to the Nacon Daija
• Newcomers may wish to consider cheaper sticks like the 8BitDo Arcade Stick

The Hori Fighting Stick Alpha is not cheap, and while it is significantly easier on the wallet than premium sticks like the Victrix Pro FS, it’d be understandable if its $200 / £200 price tag turned newcomers away. It’s definitely a workhorse fight stick thanks to its good build quality and customizability, and well worth the investment if you know you’re going to get plenty of use out of it.

However, those dipping a toe in for the first time may want to consider some of the cheaper fight stick options out there. The excellent 8BitDo Arcade Stick comes to mind here. The Xbox/PC version can be had for $119.99 / £99, and the original Switch model often comes in even cheaper than that (and it also works with PC).

Hori Fighting Stick Alpha: specs

(Image credit: Future) Hori Fighting Stick Alpha: design and features

• Solid build quality and impressively lightweight
• Features Hori’s Hayabusa modules by default
• Fully customizable modules and faceplate

While not the absolute tip-top premium in this regard, there is a good build quality all around on the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha. It’s entirely plastic and rather lightweight compared to many of its peers, but this does mean it sits easily in your lap without feeling like it’s weighing you down. Two rubberized grips on the underside mean it can easily be placed on a desk or similar flat surface without slipping around.

Hori’s own Hayabusa modules are in play here, including eight buttons and a square gate joystick. The top of the board features a line of ancillary function buttons, including Home and sharing buttons as well as options to mute your headset should one be connected via the 3.5mm jack on the left side of the unit. A couple of switches here also let you toggle between Xbox and PC compatibility, as well as a lock switch to prevent pausing or accessing your console’s dashboard for tournament play.

If you’re not keen on those Hayabusa modules, or simply want to swap in other parts like the gold standard Sanwa-Denshi buttons and sticks, you can do so here. The Alpha features a clamshell design that can be opened up via a sturdy latch at the rear side of the unit. I tested swapping out parts myself and found the process to be straightforward. But if you’re new to this kind of thing, you may wish to look up a separate guide as some cable management is involved.

The transparent pane on the surface of the Alpha can also be removed, allowing you to swap in custom faceplates. All in all, it’s a highly customizable stick. You should expect that, given the cost, but it’s nice that you can change up the stick to such a degree based on your preferences nonetheless.

(Image credit: Future) Hori Fighting Stick Alpha: performance

• Sharply responsive across all fighting games tested
• Better suited to four-button games due to Noir layout
• No option for wireless connectivity

In terms of overall performance, the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha doesn’t really put a foot wrong. You’re getting solid, responsive performance across all of the best fighting games. Hori’s Hayabusa buttons have a very short travel time, allowing you to perform inputs quickly and reliably. Stick motions for special move inputs in games like Street Fighter 6 and Guilty Gear Strive do take some getting used to, but that’s more of a stick thing in general and not really a flaw of the Alpha itself.

The elephant in the room for the Alpha - and whether or not you’re likely to gel with it - is its usage of the Noir button layout which many find to be outdated. As mentioned earlier, Noir has the button column second from the left slightly raised compared to the rest, and the buttons on the far right are slightly lowered, too. This creates an offset that might cause your hand to get uncomfortable during longer play sessions.

Noir is actually excellent for four-button fighting games like Tekken 8 as your fingers will naturally rest over those four leftmost buttons. It can be a little awkward for six-button fighters, however, like Street Fighter 6 and many of the titles featured in Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. That’s because you’ll more regularly be using the buttons further to the right (by default, for heavy attacks).

You can of course set your own button profiles on the Alpha which may alleviate some of the stress here. But if you’re a Street Fighter player, you may be better served with a stick that adopts the Vewlix layout which has the buttons laid out in more uniform rows.

Lastly, for connectivity on console or PC, you’ll be relying on the included 10ft (3m) USB-C cable. That should be fine for most gaming setups and you can adjust its length via a spool beneath the Alpha’s clamshell. But just know that wireless connectivity isn’t an option here.

(Image credit: Future) Should I buy the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha? Buy it if...

You’re a Tekken player
Four-button fighting games like Tekken 8 or The King of Fighters 15 are well-suited for the Alpha’s Noir button layout.

You’re after a long-lasting, customizable fight stick
The Alpha is customizable in terms of its hardware and software, allowing you to swap out components and set your own button profiles. Its sturdy build quality and lightweight design make it excellent for traveling and taking to tournaments, too.

Don't buy it if...

You’re new to fight sticks
This is a price thing more than anything else. If you’re just looking to dabble in fight sticks for the first time, cheaper options like the 8BitDo Arcade Stick or Mayflash F300 might suit you better.

You play a wide range of fighting games
While you can have success in just about any fighting game with the Alpha, if you juggle a number of fighting games you might find that a Vewlix layout stick is better suited for you, especially for titles like Street Fighter 6.

Also consider...

Still unsure? We’ve reviewed a couple of fight stick alternatives that you may wish to check out instead of the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha. Refer to the table below for a quick rundown of specs.

8BitDo Arcade Stick
An excellent budget-friendly fight stick that’s relatively light and travel-friendly. It’s also got wireless connectivity via an included 2.4GHz dongle if you’d prefer that over a stricter wired connection. You will have to contend with slightly higher input lag if you’re going wireless, though, which is worth keeping in mind.

For more information, read our full 8BitDo Arcade Stick review

Victrix Pro FS
Arguably the cream of the crop when it comes to premium fight sticks, the Victrix Pro FS boasts immaculate build quality and comes fitted with best-in-class Sanwa-Denshi buttons. If money’s no object and you’re going all in on a fight stick, this is the one to go for. Both stick and leverless options are available here, at the same price.

For more information, read our full Victrix Pro FS review

How I tested the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha

• Tested for two weeks
• Platforms tested: Xbox Series X, PC
• Played a wide variety of fighting games across platforms

I tested the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha over a period of two weeks, playing a variety of fighting games including Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, Guilty Gear Strive, Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes.

I’ve been playing fighting games all my life, and while I’m typically a controller player, I’ve owned a number of fight sticks and thus have been able to channel my experience there into this review. Key things I looked out for during my testing included button responsiveness, the durability of the product, its aptitude to differing fighting game button layouts, and its comfort over longer gaming sessions.

I tested the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha primarily on PC but was also able to hook it up to my Xbox Series X Digital Edition for play on an LG CX OLED TV. Whether I was on console or PC, I didn’t notice any serious deviation when it came to input lag or general performance.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed January 2025

• View Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus at Amazon US

Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus: two-minute review Product note

The robot vacuum on review here is the Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus. Elsewhere in the lineup you'll find the Yeedi M12 Pro Plus – this is essentially the same vacuum, but the Ultra Plus has marginally higher suction: 11,800Pa for the Ultra, 11,000Pa for the Pro Plus.

The Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus is a fantastic robot vacuum in terms of cleaning power. The vacuuming is powerful (with suction specs up there with the highest on the market) and reliable, the mopping is efficient – especially thanks to a pad that can shift outwards to enable this robovac to mop right up to the edges of rooms. Reliable object avoidance and very good mapping also help ensure a thorough clean.

In fact, in terms of cleaning alone, it's up there with the best robot vacuums on the market. However, it doesn't quite set itself apart in a way that's much of a game-changer, and it lacks extra features that you will find with other premium models. Perhaps the most notable of those is the lack of voice assistant support (which is surprising at this price point), but you also can't do things like use the bot as a security camera / pet checker. To some, those features will be unnecessary extras, though.

The base station is comprehensive, taking care of much of the maintenance for you, including refilling the bot's water tanks, and washing and drying the mop pads. However, the knock-on of that is that it is quite bulky.

That's the short version; read on for my full Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus robot vacuum review.

(Image credit: Future) Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus review: price & availability

• List price: $1,099 / (about £840 / AU$1,630)
• Available: US
• Launched: September 2024

An asking price of $1,099 / (about £840 / AU$1,630) may seem exorbitant, but it really isn't with flagship models such as the Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus. Top-of-the-line models basically start at around $1,000 / £1,000 so something that's just a hundred bucks more is reasonable. Add on to that the fact that the Yeedi M21 Ultra Plus comes with powerful suction rated at 11,8000 Pa and has an extendable mop pad for mopping edges, along with great object avoidance, and you're getting pretty good value. While I hesitate to call it a deal, it's worth the price.

Compare, for instance, to the Narwal Freo X Ultra. At $1,399.99 / AU$ 2,299 (about £1,110), it's quite a bit more expensive, doesn't have that extendable mop pad, and isn't quite as powerful(it has 8,200 Pa of suction). The Narwal is a bit more aesthetically pleasing, however, and more feature-filled. For instance, you can actually use it as a security video camera drone.

The Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo is another option that's going to set you back quite a bit with its $1,199.99 / AU$2,299 (about £950) price tag. It's very feature-rich and even comes with a handheld vacuum that self-empties into the base station. While it shouldn't be a huge consideration since all of these robot vacuums frequently return to the base station to wash their mop pads, it does have a 200 minute battery life to the Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus' 290 minutes.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus specs Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus review: design

• Spinning mop pads – one of which extends to reach the edges of rooms
• 3D mapping sensors for improved object avoidance
• Large water tanks and dust bag in base station

The Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus, as a flagship robot vacuum, comes with some top tier design choices. For instance, while it comes with just one side brush (some models have two), it does have an anti-tangle brush roll. Plus, it comes with two spinning mop pads, one of which can extend out for edge mopping. Both can also lift off the ground for carpet cleaning as well, though it's not quite high enough for thick, shag carpets.

(Image credit: Future)

As far as its sensors go, it utilizes 3D mapping – you can see the results in the app. When it goes around mapping or cleaning, you can actually see two lasers cross in front of it. This helps with seeing objects more fully to avoid them. (Here's more on how robot vacuums navigate, if you're interested.)

(Image credit: Future)

Moving on to the base station. This is on the bulky side, although that's common for docks that offer comprehensive maintenance features, as this one does. Not only will it empty the bot's dustbin, it can also refill its onboard water tank and clean and dry its mop pads.

The most unusual thing about the dock is the fact that the clean and dirty water tanks are flat and wide, sitting on top of the base station instead of the thinner, deeper tanks of other models that sit inside the base station. I'm not sure there's a real practical difference other than the water tanks here are harder to tip over if you're filling up or emptying them.

They're both sizable, with the clean water tank holding 4L and the dirty water tank 3.5L. The dust bag that the robot vacuum automatically self-empties into is also pretty big at 3.4L. Also on hand are features that I've come to expect in flagship robot vacuums with mopping capability, such as hot mop pad washing and drying.

• Design score: 5 out of 5

Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus review: performance

• Both vacuuming and mopping are great
• Extendable mop pad means edges get mopped
• Object avoidance is very good

As one would expect with a flagship model, the vacuuming and mopping are both very good with the Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus. I tested this robot vacuum on hardwood and marble floors as well as a bath mat to see how it would do with carpeting.

Tackling the vacuuming first, it sucked up all manner of debris very well. For a more controlled test, I used cereal and sugar and it sucked everything right up. That's to be expected for a robovac that boasts 11,800Pa of suction – right up there with the highest on the market.

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(Image credit: Future)

If there's any place to mildly criticize the M12 Ultra Plus, it would be nice to see two side brushes instead of just one, as this would push more dust and debris in front of it to pick up per pass. At least it has a tangle-free brush roll.

While I was impressed with the mopping as well, it's a bit light on how much water it uses so I ended up preferring to use the highest water level when running it. Still, it left floors looking very clean. During that cereal and sugar test, I also tossed some coffee on the floor and it mopped that up fairly quickly.

(Image credit: Future)

Also, one of the mop pads extends out during cleaning so that the Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus is able to get to the edges of rooms. It's a nice feature that not all flagship robot vacuums come with.

Since the mop pads can lift up, when it vacuumed the bath mat that I used to simulate testing on carpet, it left the bath mat dry, meaning you can use this robot vacuum in a hybrid space and it will vacuum and mop hard flooring while just vacuuming carpeted areas.

Since this robot vacuum utilizes its 3D sensors for navigating and mapping, it does a very good job avoiding objects. I saw it go right up to and around chairs that had been moved, without touching (or sometimes barely touching). Just be aware that Yeedi hasn't yet solved cables and cords (no one has, frankly) so you should still pick those up before running the robot vacuum.

Performance-related features also include mop pad washing and drying as well as auto-emptying. They all work very well, though the robot vacuum has a tendency to wash the mop pads before running, which can be annoying if something just spilled and you want to do some spot cleaning.

Battery life

Since the Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus is one of those robot vacuums that regularly returns to its base station to wash its mop pads and empty its onboard dustbin, squeezing every minute of battery life out of it is not going to make a big impact on your experience. Still, its up to 290 minutes of use is fairly remarkable as many robot vacuums, especially with spinning mop pads, have a battery life that's closer to 200 minutes.

• Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus review: app

• Straightforward to use
• Somewhat light on features – no option of voice assistant support
• Mapping is mostly good

The app is straightforward, from setup to use. There are no surprises, though some of that is due to the fact that there aren't a lot of extra features here. You won't find the ability to pair with Alexa or use as a remote video drone (this may seem random but more than a few flagship models have this feature).

But, the more important stuff is here, such as running the Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus in vacuum only, mop only, or vacuum and mop mode and the various settings during its cleaning (vacuuming power, mopping water level, etc.). There's also the ability to schedule cleanings, see a log of previous cleanings, edit the map, and adjust some other settings.

I like to focus specifically on the maps as I typically test robot vacuums in a semi-open floor plan and find many to have issues dividing the mapped space into smaller rooms – typically, the whole space, which comprises four rooms, are registered as one big room.

The Yeedi app does a good job dividing that space into smaller rooms, though I did find one instance where it wouldn't accept a division, so I have to either clean two rooms at once or use the zone setting to clean one of those specific rooms. This is an improvement over what I've experienced in the past, not just from Yeedi but other manufacturers as well.

• App score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus?

Design

Sizable water tanks and dust bag in the base station, and the robot vacuum has an extendable mop pad.

5 /5

Performance

Vacuuming and mopping performance are both very good.

4.5 /5

Buy it if...

You want great vacuuming and mopping

There's little to fault with its vacuuming and mopping performance. Plus, it can get to the edges with that extendable mop pad.

You have an open or semi-open floor plan

Its mapping and ability to divide the map in app makes creating new rooms easy, though there are still some quirks.

You want good object avoidance

Maybe it's from that 3D mapping, but the object avoidance is very good, without giving too wide a berth to the objects the robot vacuum is avoiding.

Don't buy it if...

You're on a budget

The price is reasonable compared to other flagship models, but you're dropping quite a bit of cash here.

You want all the bells and whistles

It has all the necessities on hand, but there are a few extras that other flagship models offer that you won't find with this Yeedi – lack of voice assistant support being the main one.

Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus: alternatives to consider

Narwal Freo X Ultra

The Narwal Freo X Ultra sets itself apart just by its base station's aesthetics, with its more aerodynamic look. It's feature-filled and good at vacuuming corners, but is very pricey, has some minor issues with mapping (at least with open floor plans), and is not quite as powerful as the Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus.

Read our full Narwal Freo X Ultra review

Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo

It might be louder and more expensive, but the Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo is worthy competition to the Yeedi M21 Ultra Plus. Not only does it do a great job vacuuming and mopping – it has that same extendable mop pad to get edges – but it also comes with a handheld vacuum for some extra deep or spot cleaning prowess.

Read our full Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo review

How I tested the Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus

To test the Yeedi M12 Ultra Plus, I used it for a week to vacuum and mop the hardwood floors and a bath mat (to simulate carpeting) in my house. I also tested all the features listed in the app, particularly its mapping. I took note of how well the vacuum cleaned the edges of a room as well as around obstacles.

Read more about how we test robot vacuum cleaners

• First reviewed October 2024

Faith communities in Los Angeles are trying to protect their homes and houses of worship from deadly wildfires. They are also trying to provide spiritual support for their traumatized congregations.

(Image credit: Chris Pizzello)

"People have lost everything," says FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell. More than 24,000 have already applied for assistance from FEMA, but Criswell says that number is certain to rise.

(Image credit: Jae C. Hong)

• ASICs are far more efficient than GPUs for inference, not unlike mining cryptocurrency
• The Inference AI chip market is expected to grow exponentially by the end of this decade
• Hyperscalers like Google have already jumped on the bandwagon

Nvidia, already a leader in AI and GPU technologies, is moving into the Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) market to address growing competition and shifting trends in AI semiconductor design.

The global rise of generative AI and large language models (LLMs) has significantly increased the demand for GPUs, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed in 2024 the company will recruit 1000 engineers in Taiwan.

Now, as reported by Taiwan's Commercial Times (originally published in Chinese), the company has now established a new ASIC department and is actively recruiting talent.

The rise of inference chips

Nvidia’s H series GPUs optimized for AI learning tasks have been widely adopted for training AI models. However, the AI semiconductor market is undergoing a shift toward inference chips, or ASICs.

This surge is driven by the demand for chips optimized for real-world AI applications, such as large language models and generative AI. Unlike GPUs, ASICs offer superior efficiency for inference tasks, as well as cryptocurrency mining.

According to Verified Market Research, the inference AI chip market is projected to rise from a 2023 valuation of $15.8 billion to $90.6 billion by 2030.

Major tech players including Google have already embraced custom ASIC designs in its AI chip "Trillium", made generally available in December 2024.

The shift toward custom AI chips has intensified competition among semiconductor giants. Companies such as Broadcom and Marvell have surged in relevance and stock value as they collaborate with cloud service providers to develop specialized chips for data centers.

To stay ahead, Nvidia’s new ASIC department focuses on leveraging local expertise by recruiting from leading companies like MediaTek.

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When I first heard of the Huawei Mate XT back in September 2024, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. I’d believed that larger folding displays were the key to truly gamechanging foldable devices for some time, spurred on by my fervent appreciation of the OnePlus Open, but seeing one come to reality took a moment to sink in.

Looking back, I suppose I had a case of what you could call the first-generation jitters – cast your mind back to 2019 and the original Samsung Galaxy Fold, an unreliable and fragile device that created as much doubt as it did excitement. It didn’t exactly help that the Mate XT was to be, and still is, a China exclusive, so there’d be little chance of testing it myself.

Luckily, folding display technology has come a long way in the last five or so years – so much so that the Mate XT landed as a technical marvel rather than a prototype. TechRadar’s Phones Editor Axel Metz was recently lucky enough to go hands-on with the Mate XT, finding the phone to be “a supremely exciting device” – and despite only seeing the phone for myself through the power of the internet, I’m inclined to agree with my colleague on this one.

Seemingly as soon as the dust has settled around the Mate XT, the rumor mill has produced word of a successor – tentatively titled the Huawei Mate XTs. We know little about this follow-up other than the suggestion that it’s being worked on, but what this does tell us is that the tri-fold Mate XT was not a one off. If a successor makes it to production, tri-fold phones will have escaped the event horizon of the “experimental” category, and with that Huawei can continue to exert pressure – albeit from afar – on other phone makers like Samsung and Google.

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(Image credit: Future)

The Huawei Mate XT (pictured) is the only tri-fold phone in any market, but it could soon be joined by a successor or rival.

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(Image credit: Future)

The current folding phone market features two form factors that all folding phone makers appropriate for their own devices, with very few exceptions. The cheaper of the two is the flip phone, a modernized revival of classic Y2K-style flip phones that typically aim to be more stylish than functional. The second are booklet style foldables like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 or the Google Pixel 9 Pro, which are much more focused on productivity.

Now, I’m a self-professed fan of folding phones, but as much as I loved using the powerful and elegant OnePlus Open, it led me to realised that a folding phone can rarely do something a slab phone can’t. I loved using the 7.82-inch inner display of the Open to watch movies, scroll through articles, and play games, but I wouldn’t find myself writing articles, editing videos, or playing anything deeper than Tetris on the large inner screen. It just wasn’t large enough to be practical.

Furthermore, half of the things we do every day with a phone are so quick that it hardly makes unfolding the phone worth it to begin with. By the end of my time with the Open, I was using it folded more often than not.

Go bold with the folds

(Image credit: Future)

Perhaps it’s this middle-of-the-road mentality that is beginning to cost folding phones sales. As we previously reported, the end of 2024 saw a downturn in the number of folding display orders across the industry, which signals less production of folding devices. Maybe tri-fold devices are the shot in the arm this niche part of the phone industry needs.

Luckily, the latest updates suggest that Huawei isn’t alone in its belief in the tri-fold form factor. At CES 2025, Samsung Display demonstrated two new tri-fold phone displays, and while these remain proofs of concept at the time of writing, it’s very encouraging to see physical evidence of Samsung’s long-rumored explorations into tri-fold territory.

And according to a rumor stemming from Korean news outlet Sisa Journal-E (via GSMArena), Samsung is set to produce a unique tri-fold device that does not expose the inner screen when folded in the second half of 2025 – albeit in a very small run of 300,000 units.

Personally, I think tri-fold phones have the potential to make good on the productivity promise of folding phones. A 10- or 11-inch screen, especially mounted vertically, is an ideal size for writing documents and has enough space for two, maybe three, multitasking windows. It'll still be outclassed in screen real estate and performance power by laptops, particularly laptops of the same exorbitant price that the Mate XT sells for.

Whether or not the displays seen at CES morph into usable devices will be for Samsung to decide, but with these latest rumors and demos I’m hopeful that we’ll see more tri-fold devices popping up as the coming years unfold (I’ll see myself out).

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• Plugable's UD-7400PD can handle five 4K monitors and up to 100 million pixels
• The docking station has 11 ports, including a 2.5 Gigabit port
• Can push up to 140W, enough to power a MacBook Pro

Plugable chose CES 2025 to unveil the launch of its latest docking station with some powerful capabilities - and it might just be a gamechanger.

The Plugable USB-C 5-Display Docking Station (UD-7400PD) can, you guessed it, support up to five monitors.

The firm itself has touted a range of variations here, including the use of up to three 8K monitors alongside an additional two 4K screens. Alternatively, users could opt for a single 8K and four 4K monitors or just a full house of 4K devices - either way, it makes for an appealing setup for your IT professional or casual user alike and is a powerful bit of kit capable of driving up to 100 million pixels.

What you need to know about the new Pluggable docking station

But there’s more to the docking station than just the visual appeal - the new docking station from Plugable offers up to 140W power delivery via a USB-C port, making it a highly capable piece of equipment for users.

In terms of what’s powering the variety of screens, it boasts two HDMI ports alongside three DisplayLink USB-C ports, meaning users could run up to four screens at an impressive 120Hz.

The rear-placed HDMI 2.1 port can also run a single 8K screen at a rate of up to 30Hz.

Elsewhere, the UD-7400PD also features a DockTag On Screen Display (OSD), which allows users to swiftly check the dock’s status or asset details, as well as access to a QR code to source setup instructions.

It’s this feature makes it an easy-to-use bit of equipment for IT professionals and hotdesking staff, and managed IT environments, the company says.

“This USB-C and DisplayLink Docking Station has been designed with reliability at its core and was built to meet the deployment demands of IT departments and the ease of use necessary for home offices,” Pluggable's promotional materials said.

Other key features include:

• A front-facing 10Gpbs USC-C port offering up to 30W accessory charging
• Two front-facing 10Gbps USC-A ports
• 2.5Gbps Ethernet port
• A headset jack

Among the biggest appeals of the docking station is its compatibility with a range of operating systems and devices.

The UD-7400PD works with Windows 10 or later, or macOS 11 and upward. This means users working with Mac devices ranging from the M1 up to the M4 can connect displays.

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