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Spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 episode 8 ahead.

This week, it's wedding bells: successfully for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's real life engagement (yay), and not-so-successfully for Belly (Lola Tung) and Jeremiah's (Gavin Casalegno) called-off wedding in The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 episode 8.

It's the move we all saw coming, with Jeremiah admitting he's known about Belly's attraction to brother Conrad (Christopher Briney) from the very beginning. He's been waiting for her to bring it up, stating Belly cannot marry him if it's merely to cover up feelings she doesn't want to have. Belly immediately begs him to understand the classic chestnut 'but what we have is real!' – but her bachelorette party and, well, every other scene in the Prime Video show tells us otherwise.

Obviously, that's not been the only major news this week, though Swift and Kelce's engagement comes with a much better ring. The news was announced via a shared post on the pair's Instagram accounts, with the caption: "Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married." If you've managed to avoid it, the internet has gone absolutely nuts with various teacher memes, ring dupes and where to get them, and much agreement that this will be America's version of a Royal wedding.

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

A photo posted by on

So, what do I-do's have to do with one another? Thanks to The Summer I Turned Pretty's soundtrack history, coupled with season 3 episode 8 specifically, quite a lot. It was inevitable that the show was going to use more Taylor Swift songs in future scenes, but the choices for Belly and Jeremiah's wedding week were devastatingly perfect.

'Us' and 'Cardigan' are the Taylor Swift songs that headline The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3's wedding week

Yes, there is an engagement ring somewhere on Belly's finger. (Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

Get ready to weep tears or sadness and joy simultaneously, people. It's incredible (and overdue) news that Jeremiah and Belly won't be getting hitched after all, but Amazon has opted to use Swift's ultimate tearjerker 'Cardigan' to soundtrack Jeremiah leaving Belly crying in her dressing room pre-ceremony, with only her mom on hand to comfort her.

But that's not the only dose of Swift we guess! 'Us', her collaboration with Gracie Abrams, is used earlier on in the episode (basically, when it was assumed there would still be a wedding). It's the perfect choice, and one I could certainly seeing playing in the background of Swift's own magical moment, though she chose 'High School' to go with her announcement.

Taylor Swift songs have a long history of being featured on The Summer I Turned Pretty episodes, including the week of the TS12 announcement, so the fact some have been chosen for season 3 episode 8 isn't a surprise. However, it's the choice of exact songs that have had me taken aback. Showrunner Jenny Han and her team not only vividly understand what the show's fans and scenes need, but their comprehension of exactly which song to pick from Swift's bulging back catalog never fails to miss. There's the right level of poignancy in every choice, and that's no mean feat.

My head is still spinning from the double dose of Taylor Swift-themed engagements this week, but while things likely won't involve vows of a ring in The Summer I Turned Pretty, we're not shot of the dastardly duo. There are three episodes of season 3 left to go, and I'll eat my hat if we won't be working through more of her albums. Especially given Belly has just spotted Conrad at the airport before boarding her flight to Paris... personally, I'd be queuing up something from 'Fearless'.

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JLab Go Pods ANC: Two-minute review

I’ll admit that it was with reticence that I agreed to test earbuds clearly angling for the title of ‘cheapest ANC buds’ but let me dispel any similar cynicism you may have: the JLab Go Pods ANC are, for their price, excellent.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised, because these new cheap earbuds come from esteemed affordable audio brand JLab, which has a lot of experience with affordable audio options. But anyone who’s tried to save a buck by buying lower-cost tech knows that you can’t take anything for granted, even with legacy brands.

Let’s first address the selling point in the headline: are these the best noise-cancelling earbuds on the market? No, but if you add 'cheap' to that question, quite possibly. They are cheap, they do have noise cancellation, and they certainly are earbuds. Plus, they’re really good at what they do, and so I can give them a tick there. But are they the cheapest buds with ANC?

I was expecting to be able to find plenty of cheap Amazon rivals with ANC, but I was wrong; one or two ANC-toting options from unnamed brands sit at the same price as the JLabs here, but there’s not much on offer for less that also has ANC. So from the right angle, the Go Pods ANC tick that box too.

What same-price rivals probably don’t offer is decent audio quality. For budget earbuds these sound really good, with (depending on how you set up the equalizer) crystal-clear treble, hearty mids or scooping bass, and a broad soundstage that you don’t often get in buds twice the price.

The ANC itself also works well, plastering over background sounds with little tact but with heart. That said, the transparency mode is a nightmare which will cause you to hear every little thing going on around you with frightening accuracy.

Like all good earbuds, the JLabs are also nice and lightweight, so you can wear them for ages without getting earache. Similar can be said of the tiny plastic carry case, which completely disappears into a trouser pocket.

I can’t pretend that these earbuds are perfect, and they do have a few things which annoyed me during testing. For one, JLab has replaced a charging port with a charging cable, so you plug the case into something, rather than plugging something into the case, to power it up. Good in theory, but functionally I found it less useful than the standard option which every other company uses, of simply letting you plug a cable into the case.

The in-box ear tips also didn’t offer much in the way of grip, so when I walked or ran in the buds they had a habit of falling out pretty quickly. This is a problem you can solve with the added expense of third-party eartips (or using ones you have left over from your last earbuds).

But even as earbud shortcomings go those aren’t the biggest I’ve ever faced, or even a huge issue at all in the case of the first one. Know this: these are fantastic-value earbuds.

JLab Go Pods ANC review: Price and release date

(Image credit: Future)

• Released in summer 2025
• Costs $36.99 / £29.99 (roughly AU$60)

The JLab Go Pods ANC were announced in May 2025 and put on sale in the months after. It took them barely any time to go on offer, but more on that in a moment.

The default retail price for these buds is $36.99 / £29.99 (roughly AU$60), so they’re some of the most affordable noise cancelling earbuds you can find, and the few alternatives I can find at this price tag almost all come from unknown brands on Amazon.

I say ‘default price’ because only a few months after release, the Go Pods ANC can easily be found for a discount. In the US I found them for $29.99 and in the UK they’re at £24.99, making these super-cheap buds even cheaper. And that’s before Black Friday.

JLab Go Pods ANC review: Specs

Drivers

10mm

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Battery life (ANC off)

7.5 hours (buds) 26 hours (case)

Weight

4.2g (buds) 27.6g (case)

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.4

Waterproofing

IP55

JLab Go Pods ANC review: Features

(Image credit: Future)

• Battery life of just 5 hours with ANC on
• Good ANC but iffy transparency
• JLab app brings a few useful extras

During my testing time, I didn’t once have any kind of connection issue with the JLab Go Pods ANC, so you don’t need to worry about them having an unreliable Bluetooth link.

The buds have some extra features via the JLab app, though it’s mostly just some customization and tweaks rather than anything truly novel.

It took my while to get my head around the Noise Control Modes tool, which lists ANC on, off and Be Aware mode, but with toggles by all of them, so it’s easy to turn two or all three of them on at the same time… right? That’s what I thought, until I realized that toggling these selects whether you can switch to them via the buds via touch controls. The real way to switch ANC modes is to physically select the mode you want, not toggle its slider.

Another option via the app is an equalizer, which comes with three unnamed presets and a custom mode. It’s a 10-band equalizer so it’s pretty advanced, and audiophiles will be able to get a lot of depth in how they customize their tunes.

(Image credit: Future)

Running down its list, the app also lets you set a max volume limit for safety, change what touch controls do, switch between a Music Mode and Movie Mode (which seems to increase the sound spread but decrease quality) and… set up a workout interval timer? That’s not exactly a standard headphone feature but it might prove useful to a few people.

The battery life of the Go Pods sits at 7.5 hours, according to JLab – that’s with ANC turned off and, from my testing, you’re looking at about 7.5 hours with it turned off which isn’t exactly a competitive figure. The company puts the extended play time offered by the charging case at 26 hours.

One final thing we probably need to touch on is the ANC itself – is it any good in these cheap buds? Surprisingly, it really is. It hushes your surroundings pretty substantially, and while it obviously doesn’t reach the heights of rivals in the market – a light background hum always got through, and sharper noises weren’t dimmed as much – it’s a lot better than JLab could have got away with for the money.

I wasn’t as impressed, though, with Be Aware mode (JLab’s take on Transparency). While using it I was too aware – not only did it not cancel noise, it seemed to amplify every little thing that occurred around me in a jarring experience overall.

• Features score: 4/5

JLab Go Pods ANC review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

• Both buds and case are super lightweight
• Case has a built-in charging cable
• Ear tips don't offer much grip

The JLab Go Pods ANC have one small design difference that sets them apart from the vast majority of other samey wireless earbuds, and it’s built into the case.

The buds’ charging case is a 4.52 x 6 x 2.61cm pebble which opens lengthwise along the side; it’s made of plastic so it only weighs 27.6g (for context, most buds I test have cases double that weight). This is all to say that it’s quite small and very light.

While most charging cases are nondescript save for perhaps a logo and a USB-C charging port, JLab does away with the latter and replaces it with its own USB-C cable; you can plug this into a port to easily power up the buds.

In theory I get why JLab would use this instead of a simple port: it means you can power it up via your phone or laptop without needing an extra cable. In practice though I found it annoying, as it meant I couldn’t use the standard USB-C charger I bring for my other gadgets. I couldn’t power up the case from my phone if I was also charging said phone, and I couldn’t plug it into wall outlets on public transport or adaptors at my home (all of which use standard USB).

Onto the buds: these weigh 4.2g each so they continue the Go Pods style of being lighter than the competition. They’re stem-style buds, consisting of a large body, tips angled slightly downwards and a flat stem bearing JLab’s logo.

(Image credit: Future)

There are touch controls on each of said logos, which worked reasonably well although there were a few mis-touches when I was readjusting the buds or times when one press would be picked up as two. Also the default controls are a little odd so I’d recommend jumping into the app to customize them yourself.

I really appreciate low-weight buds like the Go Pods as they were easy to use for long periods of time without feeling any ache or wear. That was only the case if I was sitting still though.

The in-box eartips seem to offer so little friction that they may as well be made out of WD40: as soon as I went for a walk, or heaven forbid a run, the earbuds began slipping from my ears (yes, I tried all three options included in the box). Even putting in or removing the buds normally, you can feel how little they’re inclined to stay in the ear – not great for active people.

While the case doesn’t have any official protection, the buds have an IP55. This means they’re mostly protected against dust ingress and can withstand low-press jets of water (including rain and sweat) but aren’t suitable for swimming.

The JLab Go Pods ANC come in three color versions: black, lilac and green, and as you can tell I tested the former.

• Design score: 3.5/5

JLab Go Pods ANC review: Sound quality

• Single 10mm driver
• Can handle regimented bass and clear treble
• High max volume

(Image credit: Future)

I’m going to wager that your expectations for the JLab Go Pods ANC’s audio chops probably match what mine were going into the testing: you see the price and shudder at the thought of those cheap buds you bought on Amazon once and know what to expect. But banish the thought.

The JLab Go Pods ANC actually sound pretty good; I’m not sure I’d pick them over something like the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro but for the price, they’re surprisingly capable.

By default (that is, with the JLab Signature equalizer mode), music sounds bright with defined treble and mids, and a laudable breadth of soundstage so you can hear different passages and harmonies in the music surrounding you.

There’s clearly a little distortion crackling away when too many different instruments are playing at once, or when the hi-hat gets going, but only in mixes that can trouble much pricer buds too.

I’ll admit that I largely listened with some heavy equalizer tweaks, but I was surprised by how much bass the Go Pods were capable of when asked. There’s scope for hearty, scooping bass with the right song and right EQ set-up. But even without this set-up, lower-register lines felt well-defined.

The buds’ max volume is really high – higher than you’d ever normally need, unless you accidentally held down the ‘volume up’ button on your phone like me – and doesn’t distort as much at louder settings as many other buds do.

• Sound quality: 4/5

JLab Go Pods ANC review: Value

(Image credit: Future)

The JLab Go Pods ANC are basically the cheapest noise-cancelling earbuds that are actually worth buying.

Because of their feature set and audio quality, these aren’t just ‘good for the price’; they’re good full stop. JLab didn’t need to offer them for such a low price but in doing so, it’s made them a fearsome value proposition.

• Value: 4.5/5

Should I buy the JLab Go Pods ANC?JLab Go Pods ANC score card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

The ANC is good, as is the general feature set, though the battery life is poor.

4/5

Design

The buds are lovely and lightweight, but the eartips don't stick well and I'd have preferred a charging port.

3.5/5

Sound quality

For the price, the JLabs sound really good: cheap and cheerful.

4/5

Value

These offer fantastic value for money given how cheap they are.

4.5/5

Buy them if…

You're on a (low) budget
If you've set yourself a budget for earbuds and it isn't a big one, then there are going to be very few alternatives to the Go Pods ANC.

You want noise cancellation
Noise cancellation is a feature which is common on expensive earbuds but not so much on cheap ones. That's not the case with the JLabs though.

You want to charge from your phone
The charging case's cable attachment lets you power up your buds from your phone, great if you rarely have access to a power point.View Deal

Don’t buy them if…

You're not willing to provide your own eartips
I didn't rate the in-box ear tips, so I'd recommend the buds mostly to people who would be willing to buy their own (or, more likely, have leftovers from your last buds).

You need a long-lasting battery
If you're listening with noise cancellation, you're only getting five hours of listening time, which isn't a competitive figure.

JLab Go Pods ANC review: Also consider

JLab Go Pods ANC

JLab Go Pop ANC

Earfun Air 2

JBL Wave Beam

Drivers

10mm

10mm

10mm

8mm

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Yes

No

No

Battery life

7.5 hours (buds); 26 hours (case)

7 hours (buds); 24 hours (case)

9 hours (earbuds), 40 hours (total)

8 hours (buds) 24 hours (case)

Weight

4.2g (buds) 27.6g (case)

4.1g (buds); 22g (case)

4.5g (buds) 45g (case)

8.8g (buds) 39.5g (case)

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.4

Bluetooth 5.4

Bluetooth 5.3

Bluetooth 5.2

Waterproofing

IP55

IP55

IPX7

IP54

JLab Go Pop ANC

Forgive the incredibly similar name. These buds cost just less than, or the same as, the Pods depending on where you live, and have a similar feature set with the design being the biggest difference.

See our full JLab Go Pop ANC review

Earfun Air 2

These buds have a similar design to the JBLs but miss noise cancellation. They're cheap, but not quite as affordable as the Go Pods.

See our full Earfun Air 2 review

JBL Wave Beam

Another low-cost option that has a similar stem-toting design is the JBL Wave Beam. This has a smaller driver and no noise cancellation but it won't break the bank and has a fairly good battery life.View Deal

How I tested the JLab Go Pods ANC

• Tested for four weeks
• Tested at home, in the office, working out and on walks

I tested the JLab Go Pods ANC for about four weeks, which is longer than the standard TechRadar testing process, but is a testament to their audio chops.

I used the buds while they were connected to my Android phone, mainly for Spotify but also for streaming movies, games and listening to voice notes. I used them while at home, at the gym, on runs and on walks around my neighborhood.

I've been testing gadgets for TechRadar for over five years now and in that time have used other JLab products as well as some of their biggest competitions.

• First reviewed in August 2025

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

• Reflective LCD reduces energy use while raising doubts about mainstream adoption
• Eazeye Monitor 2.0 consumes only 7 watts during operation under normal use
• Outdoor performance improves with ambient light instead of artificial backlight

The Eazeye Monitor 2.0 is a 24-inch reflective LCD screen designed to function as an energy-efficient alternative to traditional LCDs and expensive e-ink monitors.

Unlike standard panels which depend on backlighting, this unit reflects ambient light to create its image.

The manufacturer promotes this approach as more comfortable for extended viewing and as a way to reduce strain. It also lowers energy usage, with reported consumption averaging 4W and peaking at 7W.

Full HD resolution and 60Hz refresh rate capability

The main appeal of the Eazeye Monitor 2.0 reflective LCD technology lies in visibility in bright environments.

Conventional laptop panels often wash out under direct sunlight, even when brightness is maximized.

In contrast, reflective LCD designs are meant to gain clarity from ambient light.

The manufacturer provides demonstration images suggesting that the Eazeye 2.0 maintains legibility outdoors where a standard display appears dim.

While this could make it practical as a business monitor for travel or fieldwork, actual performance may depend heavily on lighting conditions and user expectations.

From the perspective of installation, the device behaves much like a portable monitor, and its power is supplied through a separate USB-C connection.

The Eazeye Monitor 2.0 ships with HDMI and USB-C cables, a stand, and a power adapter. Users open the kickstand, adjust the tilt, and connect through either HDMI or USB-C for video input.

At 2.2kg and measuring just over 54cm in width, it remains light enough to move between desks or to pair with a laptop outdoors. There is also an audio jack that supports external speakers if needed.

The company positions the Eazeye 2.0 as an alternative to costly e-ink products.

Alternative models, such as the 23.5-inch DASUNG and BIGME color monitors, exceed $1,650, whereas this reflective LCD is listed at $999.

However, it only delivers a 1920x1080 resolution with a 60Hz refresh rate, which is lower than some premium e-ink options but higher in responsiveness.

For certain tasks like office work or casual use, that may be sufficient. But whether it can serve as a reliable monitor for video editing or as a primary business monitor is less certain, given its color reproduction limits and modest resolution.

The Eazeye Monitor 2.0 combines paper-like readability with reduced power draw, qualities that might suit users who work outdoors or require an energy-saving secondary screen.

Yet at nearly $1,000, it sits in an uncertain space between affordable portable displays and specialized e-ink panels. It may attract professionals seeking a niche tool, but broad adoption remains questionable.

Via CNX-Software

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• Researchers discover new PromptLock ransomware
• PromptLock is AI powered - presenting new concerns for security teams
• AI is already shaking up the cyber landscape

Security researchers from ESET have identified the first known AI-powered ransomware, which serves as a warning for security teams as generative AI has, and will, continue to make cyberattacks much more accessible for criminals.

Researchers Peter Strycek and Anton Cherepanov discovered the proof of concept, which they dubbed ‘PromptLock’, which, ‘leverages Lua scripts generated from hard-coded prompts to enumerate the local filesystem, inspect target files, exfiltrate selected data, and perform encryption.’

"Although multiple indicators suggest the sample is a proof-of-concept (PoC) or work-in-progress rather than fully operational malware deployed in the wild, we believe it is our responsibility to inform the cybersecurity community about such developments," the researchers wrote.

Use in the wild

The PromptLock malware uses OpenAI’s gpt-oss:20b model - an open weight model released in August 2025, and this is run locally through the Ollama API to generate malicious Lua scripts ‘on the fly’.

Lua scripts are cross-platform compatible, the researchers point out, meaning they function on macOS, Linux, and Windows. The malware can then exfiltrate, encrypt, and potentially destroy any data it chooses after scanning user files, presumably to determine which would be most valuable.

Security teams have been warning for months that the AI-powered future of ransomware is coming soon, and although PromptLock has not yet been observed targeting victims in the wild, it’s clear it's only a matter of time before this happens.

Not only does GenAI make life a lot easier for wannabe hackers by lowering the barrier of entry, but LLM’s also spit out different results even when given the same prompt. This makes them unpredictable and particularly difficult for defenders to detect, as the pattern of behavior is more erratic and hard to spot.

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As a veteran of covering Apple’s iPhone launches, I can rather confidently say that the iPhone 16 will drop in price when the so-called iPhone 17 is launched and subsequently released.

Judging by previous iPhone launches, my educated prediction is that the iPhone 16 will stick around as Apple’s cheaper alternative to the new phones, with its price likely to be some $100 / £100/ AU$150 cheaper than at launch.

Such a price drop isn’t huge, but it’s not bad either, given the rumors aren’t pointing towards a significant generational upgrade for the iPhone 17. The much-rumored iPhone 17 Air could shake things up if it replaces the standard iPhone and its Plus stablemate, but I’m not so sure that’ll happen.

While I bemoan the lack of a 120Hz display, the current iPhone 16 is still a great phone for most people and has the performance needed for Apple Intelligence and most phone-centric tasks, all slotted neatly into Apple’s ecosystem.

So presuming Apple keeps it in its line-up, it’ll be a good potential purchase if you’re after one of the best phones for a lower price. Expect prices to go from $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 to $699 / £699 / AU$1,249.

Up in the air

Equally, there’s the wrinkle of the iPhone 16e. This is already a cheaper take on the iPhone 16, so if it drops in price, it could become a more compelling ‘affordable’ iPhone than it was at launch; see our iPhone 16e review for Lance Ulanoff’s critique.

As such, there’s scope for Apple to discontinue all the iPhone 16 and keep the ‘e’ variant at its mid-range phone.

Speaking of discontinuation, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will very likely be retired; Apple has done this in the past and will surely want to push people who want to go pro to opt for the iPhone 17 Pro.

However, that doesn’t mean it’s game over for finding a cheaper iPhone 16 Pro model, as third-party retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Currys will very likely have such iPhones in stock and will want to clear their shelves of the phones to make space for newer models.

So, I predict that you’ll be able to find a cheaper iPhone 16 Pro come the end of September and going into the Black Friday period, which now lasts weeks rather than a day. And I’d say the same applies to all iPhone 16 models sold outside of Apple, with deals likely to pop up on them as the Holiday season draws closer.

All of this is why I suggest you don’t by an iPhone until the next Apple event, scheduled for September 9 has come and gone, as even if the new iPhones don’t appeal to you, you’re sure to find a cheaper older iPhone as a result.

As it happens, I head up TechRadar's Deals team along with the phones and tablets division, so my crack crew of bargain-seekers will be keeping an eye out for impressive iPhone deals, among other stuff, to flag to you. So keep a weather eye on TechRadar in the coming weeks.

If you have any questions about the upcoming iPhones, feel free to drop me a line or comment below if you have some burning thoughts on what Apple could do next with its smartphones. So that’s that right? Well, not entirely.

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(Image credit: Joe Raedle)