Le Creuset stoneware is exquisite, but as much as I love my coffee, I can't usually justify the cost. That's why I was so excited to see a whole rainbow of coffee mugs and espresso cups in the Amazon Prime Day sale. I'll need to be quick though, because these lovely cups will shoot back up to full price when Prime Day ends at midnight.

• Shop the whole Amazon Prime Day sale
• See all Prime Day deals on Le Creuset

Personally I'm particularly fond of the Bamboo colour, which would be a near-perfect match for my kitchen walls, but I'm also very taken with daffodil-yellow Nectar, which would make a lovely contrast.

Need something to fill your cup with? I test over a dozen coffee makers every year at TechRadar, so take a look at our roundup of the best espresso machines. There's one for every home barista, and I promise you'll find something perfect for your kitchen.

A stoneware rainbow

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: sign up for a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire TV, Ring & Blink from £24.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: AirPods Pro 3 for a record-low price
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja, Tefal & Sage
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from under £10
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Father's Day: up to 50% off gifts & drinks
• Headphones: up to 50% off
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £125
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Eufy & Roborock
• Wearables: Garmin & Huawei from £36.99

I've tested more than 20 chargers here at TechRadar, including everything from small-sized power banks through to gigantic 500W towers, and while many have impressed me greatly with their strong performance and ingenious designs, some have been...less easy to recommend.

There are a lot of underwhelming models out there that won't give you fast charging, have a poor line-up of ports, or break much faster than you'd hope. And so, I want to make sure you can get yourself a charger that's speedy, reliable, well-made — and most importantly, great value for money.

Of all the chargers I've tested, there are 4 that I've come to rely on above all others. I've collected them all together and placed them into this list, so you can copy my charging loadout and wave goodbye to poor performance. Spoiler alert: these are all Anker and UGreen models, which will be of little surprise to many — these two brands are building chargers with an unbelievable power-to-scale ratio, impressive temperature-regulating tech, and flashy looks.

But anyway, you must be curious what models made the cut by now, so let's dive right into my top picks!

1. UGreen Uno Charger 100W

You saw the robot in that lead image, didn't you. And I bet it sparked your interest, right? Of course it did. And it should, because the UGreen Uno Charger 100W isn't just my favorite charger I've ever tested, it's also the one I've used the most.

In my five-star review, I raved about this charger's quirky robo-shaped design, its incredible performance, high power, and practical build. 100W is enough for me to charge my MacBook Air M4 or high-speed charge my Xiaomi 17 phone. It even shows quirky emotions while I charge, which makes something typically monotonous feel kinda fun.

Despite putting this model through the wringer for over a year and a half, it hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, any wear or tear, or given me any reason to want an upgrade. It's genuinely exceptional, and if you're going to buy one charger on this list, I'd suggest making it this one.

2. Anker Prime Charger (200W, 6 ports, GaN)

The Anker Prime Charger 200W has been a stalwart of my desk for quite some time now, and I think I'd struggle to keep my workspace organized without it.

This desktop charger really does have it all. It's got a mega 200W maximum power output, four USB-C and two USB-A ports, and tech that protects against overheating and other nasty malfunctions. It's easily mighty enough to recharge a power-starved laptop and phone simultaneously, and you can probably throw in a few small devices, like an Apple Watch or wireless earbuds for good measure, as well.

What I really love about this device, though, is that it keeps everything in order. I don't need to plug loads of chargers in to keep my (many) devices — I can just plug this into the mains, connect everything I need up, and get seamless and clutter-free results. Another thing to highlight is this device's premium look and durable build — mine still looks like new after almost two years. Not bad for a model you can sometimes find on sale for less than $60 / £55.

3. UGreen MagFlow Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 10000mAh Qi2 25W

I recently got to review the UGreen MagFlow Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 10000mAh Qi2 25W — yes, its name really is that long. And I found it works like an absolute charm.

In a way, this device is a lot more versatile than I first thought. On the face of it, you think: wireless charger with retractable cable to recharge the power bank, simple. But I've been using it a little differently. See, the charger is capable of recharging while juicing up other devices, which actually makes it a surprisingly effective multi-device charger when you're on the go.

If I'm on the move, I plug the power bank's retractable cable in, charge my wireless earbuds on the wireless pad, and use the charger's additional USB-C port to give my phone or Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones a bit of extra life. Of course, it works great as a basic wireless charger too, especially with its 25W Qi2 compatibility and handy display, but it really feels like the Swiss Army Knife of the charging world.

4. Anker Nano Power Bank 10K 45W

If I'm out and about, then this Anker power bank is my go-to every time. It's a small yet mighty power bank that's ideal for juicing up your phone on flights or roadtrips, and thanks to its 45W power, it's perfectly capable of fast-charging a lot of modern handsets.

In my Anker Nano 10K 45W Power Bank review, I described the model as a "highly practical" and "well-designed" option, highlighting its durable and handy built-in charging cord, as well as its neat display and versatile ports. And I enjoyed using it so much that I even added it to my personal charging arsenal.

The 10,000mAh capacity means that this model isn't as well optimized for charging laptops or the most demanding devices, but if you just need something for your phone, wireless earbuds, or other small devices, then it's a top-tier option.

Bonus: UGreen 240W USB-C Cable

I've used the UGreen 240W USB-C Cable for almost every one of my phone and laptop charger reviews, and it's never let me down. I regularly pair it with my UGreen Uno Charger 100W to juice up my laptop or Xiaomi phone, and it's a top performer. And even after almost two years of use, I've not noticed any wear or reduction in charging speeds.

The cable is well over 6ft long, which is really useful for me when I want to charge my phone, but also scroll while at my desk...or in bed. It's made of a pleasingly flexible yet durable material, too, so you won't have to worry much about breakage.

Although I've not done a standalone review of the cable, it gets my full recommendation, and you can purchase it at Amazon US or over on Amazon UK if you live on my side of the pond.

Panic purchasing isn't something I'd often recommend, but all too many Prime Day sales have gone by where I haven't made up my mind before the clock struck midnight. Not this year; now, I'm making big girl decisions... after texting my partner for a sanity check, that is.

When I reviewed the Echo Dot Max, I wasn't 100% sold on the speaker at its list price. At $99 / £99, it's not quite good enough in the audio department, and while benefits like Alexa+ compatibility (as well as Early Access) and a fresh design language are nice, they're still not selling points for most customers.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

Two features that do make all the difference, however, require you to have more than one speaker. Right now, that's a lot cheaper, as the Echo Dot Max is $64.99 (was $99.99) at Amazon US and £59.99 (was £99.99) in the UK.

The first such feature is my main motivation: setting up a stereo pair, which drastically improves the audio quality and really shows the speaker's abilities. I heard two Echo Dot Max speakers in this setup for the first time a few weeks after writing my review, and for me, it's the de facto way to enjoy Amazon's latest Echo Dot.

The second is Amazon Home Theatre, which allows you to connect up to five Echo Dot Max or Echo Studio speakers plus an optional Echo subwoofer to Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd-gen), Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd-gen), or Fire TV Cube (3rd-gen). This isn't a key driver for me; I do have a compatible Fire TV Stick, but I also have pretty nifty speakers already.

Amazon Prime Day Echo Dot Max deals

I'm really, really pleased with myself for this decision; and to top it off, my new speaker is in Glacier White rather than the slightly garish Amethyst (read: bright purple) colorway I got before. I'm hoping when in the same room they'll yin and yang eachother a little bit, but if not... I guess I'm getting a third one come Black Friday!

Also consider...

Still not 100% sold? That's fair; even at its record-low sale price, it's not as cheap as the alternatives from Amazon, and you might want more from your smart assistant like a screen or even fuller audio.

Whatever the case, I've made up a quiz below that will pair you with your perfect Amazon Echo speaker, so make sure to use that as your guideline. Just act fast before the sales end!

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: sign up for a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire TV, Ring & Blink from £24.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: AirPods Pro 3 for a record-low price
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja, Tefal & Sage
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from under £10
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Headphones: up to 50% off
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £125
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Eufy & Roborock
• Wearables: Garmin & Huawei from £36.99

Did you use the Prime Day sales to snap up a new Kindle Colorsoft at a bargain price? Great thinking! Now, don't ruin it by forgetting to kit yourself out with a case. The good news is that a whole load of my favorite 7-inch Kindle cases are also on sale right now — including the official Amazon ones and a bunch by third party brands. It's almost like they wanted to capitalize on all those new Kindles being purchased, or something.

I've rounded up my favorites below, in the US and in the UK. I strongly suspect these deals will disappear with the ones on the ereaders themselves — that is, at midnight, when the Amazon Prime Day sales officially end. Oh, and if you went for a Kindle Paperwhite instead, I have more good news: it's the same size as the Colorsoft, so all of these cases will be good for either.

Not yet made your purchase? I wouldn't drag your feet too long, or you're going to miss your chance for those bargains (we likely won't see another good discount until the next Prime Day event — which won't be any time soon). If you're looking for more information to help you decide, TechRadar's Kindle Paperwhite (2024) review and Kindle Colorsoft review should help you out, or head to my Kindle range guide, which should help you make sense of your options.

• US: Kindle Colorsoft now $159.99 at Amazon (was $249.99)
• US: Kindle Paperwhite now $124.99 at Amazon (was $159.99)
• UK: Kindle Colorsoft now £154.99 at Amazon (was £239.99)
• UK: Kindle Paperwhite now £134.99 at Amazon (was £169.99)

US deals on Kindle Paperwhite and Colorsoft cases

UK deals on Kindle Paperwhite and Colorsoft cases

We've spent all week trawling through Amazon's Prime Day sale and it's been a doozy, with some record-breaking deals, first-time discounts and a flurry of top-rated products at excellent prices.

It's also been a week where the importance of saving some cash feels more pertinent than ever; Apple just announced price increases on many of its latest products, while Microsoft announced yet another price hike for the Xbox.

Meanwhile, GTA VI pre-orders launched but with an undercurrent of frustration at the code-in-a-box physical copies, and the Steam Machine pricing was finally revealed and met with a sigh of frustration.

That aside, it's been a genuinely good Prime Day this year. Deals might be fewer in volume than they once were, but they feel better curated, and that's a win for fans of big-name brands such as Apple and Samsung as well as broad-appeal household names including Ninja, Dyson and more.

So, I've asked each of the TechRadar team (or at least, those who were available) to tell me about their favorite products currently on offer. Act fast; sales end tonight at midnight.

Note: some products are only on sale in specific countries, but I've indicated where that is the case

Best Amazon device deals

Starting strong with some of the best deals every Prime Day; naturally, these are on Amazon's own devices.

It's a topic myself and my colleage Mackenzie Frazier, our lead deals editor and savings expert in the US, agree on:

"I say this every Prime Day, but the best deals are always on Amazon's own devices. Every year, I end up buying an Amazon device I've had my eye on because the gadgets are on sale at record-low prices and offer fantastic value.

"This year's sale includes record-low prices on Kindles, Echo Speakers and smart displays, Blink security cameras, Ring Doorbells, and Fire TV Sticks. Amazon devices are rarely discounted otherwise, so it's worth taking advantage of the deep discounts Prime Day offers."

Echo Dot Max

My own top pick is on Amazon's latest and greatest Dot; the Echo Dot Max. Aimed at a more discerning audiophile audience, the Dot Max packs an 0.8-inch tweeter and 2.5-inch woofer, and while on its own it's a little pared-back, the real power is in rigging up the Dot Max with another Dot Max, some Echo Studios and even an Echo Sub for surround or stereo sound.

Plus, it's powered by the zippy AZ3 chip for faster Alexa experiences, and it's Alexa+ compatible right out of the box. It's at a record-low price in both the US and the UK, so it's well worth checking out.

Kindle Colorsoft

Our Editor-at-large Lance Ulanoff suggests one of his favorite gadgets:

"If you love to read graphic novels but hate carrying them around, the Amazon Kindle Colorsoft my be your perfect gadget.

"It's the size of a monochrome E ink Kindle, but brings full color for the comics and photo-rich magazines. This is the best price I've ever seen and makes it easy to choose it over the Kindle Paperwhite. Plus, you can carry around dozens of great graphic novel reads and never feel the weight."

Best computing deals

Logitech Lift Mouse

Our Phones Editor Axel Metz is up next with some personal experience on desk ergonomics.

He says: "I was always pretty skeptical about vertical mice, until I began to notice aching pain in my elbow and wrist after using my conventional mouse for only a few hours. Normal mice force our forearms into a twisted, unnatural position, which can lead to repetitive strain injuries (RSIs) of the sort that stop you working altogether.

"Vertical mice like the Logitech Lift aim to neutralize that awkward alignment, putting your hand at a more comfortable, natural-feeling 57-degree angle. I switched to the Lift almost two months ago, and I'll never go back to a conventional mouse. It's currently on sale at Amazon in both the US and UK, though even if it wasn't, it'd still be worth the investment."

AutoFull M6 Ultra 2.0

Our News Writer, Isaiah Williams, really knows how to live, judging by this pick:

"If you're on the lookout for a new gaming chair that effectively ticks all the boxes in terms of comfort, adjustability, and longevity, then the AutoFull M6 Ultra 2.0 is your best bet. The UK has the leading deal, where it's currently 19% off, available at £483.99, down from £599.99, but in the US you can save a neat $100, too.

"While that still seems like a steep price to pay, you're certainly getting your money's worth, especially if reclining is a must (and you want to avoid snapping your back like I almost did with my old chair). With dual-zone massaging, 2-in-1 ventilation and heating, and dynamic lumbar support, there's not much more to ask for."

Dell 14 Plus

Matt Hanson, our Managing Editor of Core Tech and expert in all-things computing, has a great laptop recommendation, especially in light of the recent MacBook Neo price increases.

"Thanks to a massive $570 price cut, the Dell 14 Plus is now cheaper than the MacBook Neo, but it's the same price; however it offers a much better spec thanks to its 6-core AMD CPU, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. It's a great example of a Windows 11 laptop now being much better value than the Neo after Apple's rather drastic price rises."

Note: this deal is only available in the US

Best phone and tablet deals

iPad Air (2026, M4)

Another from Axel Metz here:

"The iPad Air fell victim to Apple's unexpected-but-sort-of-expected price hikes this week, making Amazon's Prime Day deals on that very product all the more appealing.

"Indeed, the model keeps dipping in and out of stock at various retailers, suggesting buyers are rushing to make use of this rare (and perhaps never-to-be-seen-again) buying opportunity.

"As iPads go, the iPad Air is a great all-rounder tablet. It's powered by Apple's superfast M4 chip and boasts a crisp Liquid Retina display, making it perfect for both streaming and productivity."

Best audio, TV and home entertainment deals

WiiM Sound / Sound Lite

Our Global Editor-in-Chief, Marc McLaren, is emphatic in his recommendation for WiiM deals this Prime Day:

"Six months ago I made the biggest change to my audio setup in about 15 years: I ditched Sonos and bought myself a WiiM Sound.

"Don't know WiiM? It's a relatively new AV company which has won itself a ton of fans through its streaming devices, amps and — now — it's standalone smart speakers. The WiiM Sound was its first smart speaker, and having owned one for six months I want to sing its praises to the world.

"And there's plenty to be vocal about — for instance, its surprisingly full, bass-friendly sound, 100W of power, excellent connectivity and — best of all — its love of hi-res audio: it supports up to 24-bit/192kHz tunes and plays nicely with the likes of Qobuz and Tidal.

"The color touchscreen is another nice feature, although if you want to save a little cash you can ditch that and buy the Sound Lite instead — there's no other difference between them. Or better still, buy both and pair them in a multi-room setup; your ears will thank you."

Sony WH-1000XM6

Our Senior Editor of Engagement, Amelia Schwanke, recommends something I see her constantly using in our office to block out the noise (it's me, I'm the noise):

"I'm not the first person to sing the praises of Sony's flagship headphones and I know I won't be the last. Beloved by most of the TechRadar team, the WH-1000XM6 sit atop our best headphones guide — a spot their predecessor-but-one, the WH-1000XM4, held for a long time before them.

"There's good reason for that, too. They ticked just about every check box in our testing, from expansive sound quality to the comfortable design for all-day wearing. The only real downside is the price, which is exactly why the Prime Day discounts this week are the deals I'd pull out of the sale first.

"Over-ear headphones of this quality don't come cheap, making sales like this the ideal time to finally act on a wish-list purchase. I promise you, if you've seriously been considering buying them, you won't regret it. I wear mine every day and won't travel without them anymore."

Sennheiser HD 660S2

Another headphone pick here, but more for the music producers among you; this comes from our Reviews Editor Josh Russell:

"As both an audio reviewer and someone who produces music in his free time, I'll admit I've had my eye on the Sennheiser HD 660S2 for a long time.

"With their open-backed design, they're able to really precisely convey a sense of space in the music you're listening to. On top of this, the spread of their frequency range is canyon-esque, stretching from 8 - 41,500Hz, for seriously expressive sound. And now you can buy them for $321 / £181 off on Amazon, I'm fully ready to add these to my basket."

AirPods Max 2

Our fabulous Audio Editor, Becky Scarrott, is my go-to for all things earbuds and headphones, and she's got a top pick for the US:

"Yes, these are the new new, second-generation March 2026 edition AirPods Max 2, with the H2 chips (I know, one in each ear cup!) and all of the upticks in performance that brings.

"What are the upticks I speak of? Of course: ANC that's 1.5 times better than before (I tested them side by side and I can vouch for that claim; it's almost scarily good for that serene bubble of silence effect), punchier audio, gestural support, Live Translation, Conversation Awareness and the Camera Remote on the digital crown. And while many might have predicted an Apple-style $50 saving for Prime Day (yawn), this $150-off steal is crazy! Nobody had this on their bingo card for Prime Day.

"Let me be abundantly clear: the noise cancellation, sound and overall user experience here are all hugely upgraded, even if the aesthetic is unchanged — and I know, because I reviewed them…"

Note: this deal is only available in the US

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2)

Next up from Becky, a neat UK deal:

"Just look at my 'Sonic Sangria' set though! I get so many compliments wearing them, honestly. And now, they're £40 cheaper than I've ever seen them, because Black Friday late last year was the first-ever saving I saw on this set of 5-star late 2025-release noise-cancelling earbuds (reviewed by yours truly), which saw them go from £299 to £249.

"For me, at £209 the ANC makes them a no-brainer if you need noise cancellation in an in-ear design. Here's the other thing: Bose products rarely ever see discounts, and that is because they basically walk all over anything else on the market for noise cancellation (except maybe Apple's AirPods Pro 3 — but if you don't own an iPhone, I don't recommend those, whatever the deal). A lowest-seen fee on a truly excellent set of new earbuds from Bose? Yes please."

Note: this deal is only available in the UK

Bose SoundLink Flex Gen 2

Our Senior Reviews writer and bluetooth speaker aficonado Harry Padoan recommends this deal:

"A huge saving on the Bluetooth speaker I use at home just about every day. The Bose SoundLink Flex Gen 2 offers a delightful blend of clean, well-balanced sound, stellar looks, and a durable build — with a drop-resistant and IP67 waterproof design.

"I also love how easy it is to customize via Bose's companion app, its programmable shortcut button, and its range of funky colors. At less than $100 / £100, this is an absolute steal."

LG B5

So, what about TVs? Well, James Davidson, our TV Hardware Staff Writer who constantly has his eyes glued to some kind of big screen, says:

"The best value OLED TV you can get right now is the LG B5. Its successor the B6 has arrived, so there's no better time to buy the B5. It delivers brilliant picture quality with rich colors and strong contrast, with those inky black tones you look for in an OLED, as well as super-smooth motion that's perfect for sports.

"It's also a superb gaming TV, kitted out with four HDMI 2,1 ports, supporting 4K 120Hz, full VRR including FreeSync and G-Sync and it boasts a measured 9.1ms input lag for razor-sharp gaming performance.

"At this size and price, you won't find many better TVs."

Note: this deal is only available in the UK

Best home and appliance deals

Roborock Saros 10/R

Ruth Hamilton, our Collections Editor, has extensive experience in vacuums and robovac testing, and she's a real sucker for her top pick:

"This is one of my most-used gadgets — I've been using my Saros 10 robot vacuum every night for the past two years, and it's the main thing preventing me from being overwhelmed by dog hair. With 42% off in the UK it's now at a new lowest-ever price (In the US, the more performant 10R is 45% off; bonus!) — the reason for that chunky price drop is likely because a few newer Roborock bots have since joined the fleet, but the Saros 10 is still an incredible performer, more than holding its own against newer options I've used.

"The vacuuming is efficient and effective, the navigation and object avoidance is reliable, and the mopping is effective and thorough. Plus, it comes with a dock that takes care of a bunch of maintenance tasks, so I barely need to get involved at all."

Philips Baristina

Our Homes Editor Cat Ellis (who is also a trained barista) comes in with this recommendation, but unfortunately this one's a US-exclusive:

"The Philips Baristina is the smallest bean-to-cup coffee maker I've ever tested, and also one of the best. It's incredibly easy to use, doing all the dosing, grinding, and tamping for you before pulling your shot of espresso — and unlike most automatic coffee makers, it's a piece of cake to keep clean.

"It's a great option if you're just getting into coffee, or thinking of upgrading from a capsule coffee maker to fresh beans."

Note: this deal is only available in the US

Suri 2.0 electric toothbrush

This comes from our Senior Deals Editor, James Pickard, who's a deft hand at finding the best deals during events such as Prime Day.

He says: "When I picked up the Suri Sonic Electric Toothbrush, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. Over $50/£50 feels like a lot for an electric toothbrush, but the Suri, with its 40-day battery life, magnetic mounting, aluminum body and plant-based heads, and convenient charging options, all changed my mind. It’s been 100% worth the investment.

"Not only does it do its job incredibly well, but all of those key features are so useful. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to charge it so far, while the body and brush heads feel so much nicer to use than the usual icky plastic designs."

Best fitness & wearables deals

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra

Matt Evans, our Senior Fitness and Wearables Editor, is keeping his recommendation short and sweet:

"You can get 47% off in the US and 45% off in the UK on the very popular Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, its top watch with up to 100 hours of battery life, rugged nigh-unbreakable case, and fitness tracking/navigation features to rival the Apple Watch Ultra."

Speaks for itself!

Garmin Vivoactive 5

Graham Barlow, our Senior Editor of AI by day, Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert by night, is impressed by this year's Garmin Vivoactive deal:

"I've been waiting for Amazon Prime Day to get a smartwatch. I wanted one that had a long battery life (11 days) and could cover all the bases like general notifications, step counting, sleep tracking and health information.

"I found that the Garmin Vivoactive was hard to beat. The latest Garmin Vivoactive is version 6, but the previous version 5 still has most of the features that you'll use all the time, and it's available for a knock-down price thanks to an Amazon Prime Day deal that's still going.

"In the US, it's currently 37% off, now $189.99 (was $299.99), but it's not sold at list price there at all this year. However, in the UK, you can get the Vivoactive 5 for £141.55 (was £209.99) which is a huge 33% saving.

"Yes, version 6 has a few extra features like smart alarm clock and a Body Battery score, but all the essentials are still available in the Vivoactive 5, for a lot less."

Oura Ring 4

Another from Matt Evans here, but I can also concur as I write this while wearing one;

"This huge price cut shaves £150 off the Oura Ring 4 in the UK due to the appearance of the 5 last month, but at this price the 4 is clearly the better-value option. Even with the premium subscription, it's a good deal for Oura's exceptional smart ring — it's like getting 2.5 years free. It's a similar deal in the US, with the Oura Ring 4 reduced from $349 to just $226."

Best gaming deals

Thrustmaster ESWAP X2

Our Managing Editor of Gaming and Entertainment Rob Dwiar picked out a controller I'm putting straight in my basket, especially at its low UK price.

He says: "This premium Xbox and PC controller is down to a stupidly low price right now. It's the Xbox controller I use most, and has a wonderful modular design so you can shape it how you want, as well as excellent buttons with quick actuation, and a robust design and build quality. Great value at this wildly low price in the UK."

The US deal isn't quite as mind-blowing but it's a decent deal on a great product nonetheless.

SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds

Rob's feeling greedy today as he's offered another option for gamers:

"Literally the best gaming earbuds money can buy in our eyes, and now down to a ridiculous lowest-ever price with nearly 50% off.

"If you want a set of gaming earbuds, no matter the platforms, that can do it all, from great features to comfort, and awesome audio to super battery life, then these are the buds to get right now."

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite

And Rob also spotted another deal well worth checking out (steady on, mate) in excess of the two picks above available on both sides of the pond, this time a UK-exclusive on the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite;

"The most complete premium headset on the market right now, and the best gaming headset I have ever tested, the Elite is a high-end beast that offers everything. This 10% discount takes it down to a record low too, so now the best in the biz can be yours for less."

Dell 14 Plus

Matt Hanson, our Managing Editor of Core Tech and expert in all-things computing, has a great laptop recommendation, especially in light of the recent MacBook Neo price increases.

"Thanks to a massive $570 price cut, the Dell 14 Plus is now cheaper than the MacBook Neo; however it offers much better spec thanks to its 6-core AMD CPU, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. It's a great example of a Windows 11 laptop now being much better value than the Neo after Apple's rather drastic price rises."

Hopefully there's something above for everyone — but remember, Prime Day finishes today, so if you don't want to miss out, make sure you don't leave it too late. See you next year!

Ask Google for a query like “best web hosting”, and you get a page with 10 blue links. Ask ChatGPT the same thing, and you get one name. That single difference is quietly rewriting how brands get found, and it's why your marketing team keeps arguing about a three-letter acronym most people hadn't heard of a couple of years ago: AEO!

This is the SEO vs AEO question.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the game of ranking pages on search engines like Google so people click through to your website.

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the game of becoming the answer the AI hands back.

So which one do you actually need? Well, Both.

They're different jobs: AEO runs on top of SEO, and in 2026 you can't afford to pick one. The longer version, with real searches, real screenshots, and the parts most guides quietly skip, is what the rest of this is for.

Key takeaways

• SEO and AEO chase different prizes: SEO ranks your page to win the click; AEO gets your brand named inside the AI's answer.
• The user journey is forked: A huge share of searches now end inside the AI answer, with no click and no website visit at all.
• Ranking and getting cited aren't the same thing: Pages can rank number one and never get cited, while others get cited without ranking anywhere near the top.
• AEO can't replace SEO; it runs on it: If your content isn't indexable, authoritative, and trusted, the AI can't discover you, quote you, or trust you.
• E-E-A-T is the edge: Real firsthand experience and a track record under your own name are what push you into AI citations.
• The real goal is search everywhere optimization: Visibility now means showing up across Google, AI Overviews, ChatGPT, YouTube, Reddit, etc., and not just page one.

SEO vs AEO at a glance

What is AEO?

AEO is the practice of getting your content surfaced and cited inside AI-generated answers, the kind you get from Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc. Instead of optimizing a page to rank in a list, you're optimizing your brand to be the source the AI pulls from and names.

The shift is subtle but total. You're not competing for a position anymore but for a mention. That rewards different things like authority, original research, clear factual statements a model can lift, and your brand showing up trusted across the web.

What is SEO?

SEO is the practice of optimizing your pages and your wider web presence so they rank higher in search results, mostly Google & Microsoft Bing, and pull in organic traffic. You target keywords, build pages that deserve to rank, and earn the clicks that turn searchers into visitors.

It's been the backbone of getting found online for two decades, and it's also the foundation AEO now stands on.

Let’s start by understanding the core differences between AEO and SEO and how you can use both to maximize your visibility in modern search platforms.

SEO vs AEO: The difference

1. Purpose: What are you actually optimizing for?

I asked ChatGPT for the best free VPN. It thought for ten seconds and gave me a verdict: Proton VPN Free. It also gave a short explanation and a small table of other options for different use cases.

Then I ran the same query through Google, and the response was classic. TechRadar at number one, CNET at two, Security.org at three, and Proton's own page at four. To get an answer out of that, I have to pick a link, read somebody's testing, and decide for myself.

The catch is, none of these lists agree (which they mostly never do). TechRadar's top pick is PrivadoVPN, but then CNET says Proton is the one it recommends, and Security.org leads with Hotspot Shield. That gives us three expert lists with three different winners.

Now, ChatGPT read all of them and handed back one name anyway. Proton. It didn't rank the pages. It read them, clocked which brand the sources trusted most, and turned that into a single answer.

That gap is the entire reason AEO and SEO are not the same job.

Here's the split:

SEO optimizes for rankings. You pick a keyword, build a page that earns its spot, and climb until people click through to you. The page is the unit you're working with. The click is the prize. Rank, pull traffic, convert. That's been the job for years.

However, AEO optimizes for answer selection. There's no list to climb because there's no list. The AI reads a stack of sources, blends them into one answer, and decides whose name makes the cut.

Ranking number one doesn't hand you the verdict. Notice that the #1 pick on the top ranking page and the brand ChatGPT actually named weren't the same. So, you're not fighting for a position. You're fighting to be the name that comes out the other side.

So the goals split clean down the middle:

SEO asks, "How do I rank?" AEO asks, "How do I become the answer?"

2. The user journey has fundamentally changed

Go back to that VPN search. When ChatGPT told me Proton, did I click anything? No. I read the answer, closed the tab, and if I wished to, I’d actually go to Proton VPN’s website to dive deeper or go on with my day. The journey ended before a single website got involved.

That's the shift, and it's bigger than it looks.

For twenty years, the path was a straight line. You type a query, you get a page of results, you click one, you land on a site. That’s a four-step user journey.

Until now, the click was the whole event. Every play in SEO existed to earn it, because the click was the moment a stranger turned into your traffic. Rankings produced clicks. Clicks produced visits. Visits produced money.

AI search snips two steps clean off that line.

The user asks, the machine answers, and a lot of the time, that's the end of it. Mostly, there is no results page or a click. The one move SEO was built to earn is now optional, and plenty of the time it never happens at all.

Now, the panic version of this says websites are dead, and nobody clicks anymore. That's wrong, and it's lazy. The journey didn't vanish. It forked. A lot of searches still end in a click, and here's the part worth holding onto:

The people who do click usually clicked because the AI already pointed them somewhere, which makes them more committed, not less.

So, technically you're not losing every visit. You're losing the cheap, idle ones and keeping the ones who came to buy.

3. Ranking factors vs citation factors

Ranking and getting cited run on different fuel. Treat them as the same job, and you'll optimize hard for half the game.

Google's ranking signals are the ones you know cold: backlinks, internal links, clean technical SEO, etc. This is all mechanical, measurable, and gameable. And honestly, you can audit them in an afternoon.

But AI citation signals are softer and harder to fake. It includes authority, real expertise, clear factual statements the machine can lift, etc. Less "did you build the page right," and more "are you a source worth trusting."

Now the part nobody plans for. The overlap is smaller than it looks. Plenty of pages rank number one and never get cited, because they're thin, rewritten, and say nothing original. And just as many get cited without ranking near the top.

You already saw it. In that VPN search, Proton's own page sat at number four on Google, yet it was the name ChatGPT handed back. Position four. Still the answer.

4. Keyword optimization vs query optimization

SEO trained us to talk like robots. Nobody asks a friend for the "best VPN." You search it that way because that's the keyword stem you learned ranks. We squeezed a real question into two words and called it strategy.

AEO hands the full question back.

SEO starts here:

best VPN, CRM software, email marketing platform.

AEO starts here:

What's the best VPN for streaming? Which CRM is easiest for a small team? How much does HubSpot actually cost?

Same intent, far more detail. And the detail is the opening.

The long tail comes back, bigger than before.

In old SEO, long-tail keywords were a coverage play. In AI, they're the main event, because the model splits one prompt into a pile of narrow sub-questions and pulls answers from whoever nailed each one. Answer the specific thing nobody else bothered with, win the mention.

Follow-ups become part of the job. A search ends. A conversation keeps going. "Best VPN for streaming" becomes "does it work with Netflix," then "is the free plan enough." Miss the next question, and you drop out of the answer.

And the query stops being a term. It becomes a task: "pick a CRM, set it up, and import my contacts." One prompt, a dozen decisions buried inside it.

Optimize for the stub, and you rank for words nobody says out loud. Optimize for the question, and you show up where the decision gets made.

5. Content structure differences

The structural difference comes down to order, not facts. A traditional SEO article makes the reader wait for the answer; an AEO-friendly article opens with it and breaks the rest into chunks a model can lift on its own.

So the facts barely change. The shape changes completely. And an AI won't reward your sharpest insight if it's buried under four paragraphs of warm-up.

Here's the structure SEO taught us to write vs the same content rebuilt for LLM extraction.

Notice what changed. Nothing about the facts. Everything about the order. The intro shrank, the answer jumped to the top, and the page broke into pieces that a model can lift one at a time.

Old SEO rewarded the slow build. AEO rewards the straight answer with the homework attached underneath.

6. The role of E-E-A-T is bigger than ever

E-E-A-T matters more under AEO because an AI can't verify you directly, so it leans hard on signals that you actually know the thing and that the web treats you as real. Experience, expertise, authority, and trust stop being a Google buzzword and become the difference between getting cited and getting skipped.

I'll skip the theory, because I've got a live example sitting under my own name.

Last year, I published a LinkedIn article: a hands-on review of the Apple Magic Trackpad after using it for fifty-plus days. It wasn’t a spec rewrite. In fact, I had actually used it for that time and then gave my honest feedback on the product under that article.

Here's where that one post ended up.

It ranks number one (the position might vary a bit based on region and other factors).

It's also the lead citation in Google's AI Overview for the same query.

And ask ChatGPT for a review of the trackpad, and usually my post is the first source it reaches for.

One post about a trackpad. Three surfaces. Organic, AI Overview, ChatGPT, all pointing at the same name.

That isn't luck, and it isn't schema. It's E-E-A-T doing exactly what it's supposed to, and I didn't fake a single signal.

The experience was real. Fifty days of using it is why the post talks about battery life and lag instead of the box copy, and a model can tell the difference between "I used this" and "I read about this."

The expertise was already on file. I've been a tech journalist for more than five years, with a long trail of hardware coverage attached to my name. The models have been reading that trail the whole time. That history is the credential, and you can't download it.

The trust is in the consistency. Same name, same kinds of topics, across the web, for years. So when an AI needs a safe source on trackpads, I'm a low-risk pick.

This is the part that generic AEO advice keeps missing. You don't earn this with a "reviewed by" badge and an author headshot. You earn it by doing the work in public, under your own name, long enough that the algorithms and the models stop doubting you.

7. Can AEO replace SEO?

No. AEO can't replace SEO because AEO runs on SEO. Pull out the indexable, authoritative content underneath, and the AI has nothing to find, nothing to quote, and no reason to trust you.

The honest way to picture it is layers, not a swap. SEO is the foundation. AEO is the floor you build on top of it. The foundation didn't vanish when AI showed up. You just stacked something new on it.

Here's the dependency, with no romance. An AI answer is stitched together from pages it crawled, indexed, and decided were credible. If you're not in that pool, you are not in the answer. Three plain failures follow.

If your content isn't crawlable and indexable, AI can't discover you. Block the AI bots in your robots.txt, or bury everything behind broken rendering, and you've made yourself invisible to the exact systems you're trying to win.

If there's nothing clean and substantial to pull, AI can't cite you.

And if nobody vouches for you, AI can't trust you. No authority, no mentions, no track record, and the model plays it safe by naming someone else.

You've watched this happen in all article. My trackpad post got cited across three surfaces because it ranked and earned authority first. Proton became the answer because it was already everywhere on the indexed, ranking web. Take the SEO away, and both of them drop out of the AI, too.

So no, this isn't the death of SEO. The "SEO is dead" headline is the laziest take in the room. AEO is the next layer, what good SEO becomes once an answer engine starts reading over your shoulder.

FAQs

With Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders live right now, many are wondering when the next big trailer will be. We've only had two released so far, and while they're both great showcases of the game's visuals, neither has really shown us any proper gameplay or explained any potential new mechanics.

This would normally be pretty unusual—when was the last time you can remember being offered the chance to pre-order a game before you'd even seen any gameplay footage?—but not a big surprise coming from developer Rockstar Games.

In fact, the GTA 6 marketing so far has played out in a very similar fashion to that of the studio's last release, Red Dead Redemption 2, and I think that looking back at the past gives us a pretty good idea of what to expect this year.

GTA 6 trailer 3 could arrive very soon

After a few cryptic teasers, the first Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer dropped on October 20, 2016. It didn't tell us that much beyond introducing the setting and giving us our first look at the open world.

It also ended with a release window, Fall 2017, which Rockstar failed to hit with the game actually finally releasing in 2018.

The GTA 6 similarities should be obvious already. GTA 6 Trailer 1 was released in December 2023 and mainly focused on the upcoming game's Vice City setting and, just like Red Dead Redemption 2, gave us a 2025 release window that eventually turned out to be a year out thanks to delays.

It took practically a whole year for the next Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer to appear, a big gap that we saw replicated when the second GTA 6 trailer took 518 days to arrive.

There was then a much smaller seven-month wait between Red Dead Redemption 2 trailers 2 and 3, and I suspect we'll see a similar pattern this time. It's been over 400 days since GTA 6 trailer 2, so a third gameplay trailer coming in the next few weeks would still represent a smaller gap than that initial 518 days.

I wouldn't be surprised if Rockstar Games has one in the bank for when GTA 6 pre-order hype starts to wane as a way to give sales a boost.

Before we dive in, here's how to get your hands on a GTA 6 pre-order if you haven't placed one yet.

What about gameplay?

Red Dead Redemption 2 received two meaty gameplay trailers: one 85 days before its release and another 25 days before.

It seems Rockstar likes to wait as long as possible before actually showing gameplay and, if GTA 6 follows the same pattern, we're likely seeing our first glimpse of gameplay about three months before launch.

That means the first gameplay trailer is likely to drop sometime in early August. The second could then follow in late October, or even right at the start of November, when the November 19, 2026, release date is right around the corner.

Expect GTA 6 Online after launch

GTA Online launched on October 1, 2013 — just a few weeks after GTA 5 hit shelves.

Red Dead Online followed a similar trajectory. It rolled out to players in a beta state on November 30, 2018 (or a few days earlier for Ultimate Edition owners).

Both modes received standalone releases a few years down the line.

The PlayStation Store listing for GTA 6 states that the game is strictly a "single-player experience," which rules out availability at launch. I predict that it will arrive in some form in December, even if that's just as an early access beta.

If the previous games are anything to go by, this would be followed by a full release in 2027 and a standalone version a few years later.

And finally a PC port after a year

Red Dead Redemption 2's PC port took roughly a year to arrive, dropping in November 2019. As the most recent Rockstar Games release, I think it could give us an idea of when a GTA 6 PC version is likely to arrive.

I predict that it will come out in December 2027 if it follows the same pattern. This might even coincide with the full release of GTA 6 Online in order to really drum up the excitement.

Of course, all of this is speculation based on past events, and the release timeline could play out in any number of ways. We'll just have to wait and see whether Rockstar has any curveballs in store.

Spoilers for Dutton Ranch episode 8 ahead.

In the words of Charli XCX in 2024, we're going full brat. Dutton Ranch episode 8 turns the tables on Carter (Finn Little) after getting hideously drunk at the 10 Petal anniversary party and destroying Beulah's (Annette Bening) property.

He's been lashing out in the Yellowstone spinoff for two reasons: the fact he's had to move to Texas in the first place — being convinced that Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) are now interfering in his life too much — and because Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind) has rejected him for someone with more status and money.

Mix in the expected teen angst of a 19-year-old and you've got a very unnecessary storm brewing. With Beulah collapsing to the floor in the finale scene of episode 7 (just after Carter smashed up her prized bull head), the tension is even higher.

In fact, Carter haters might want to look away from Dutton Ranch episode 8 altogether... and you'll see why below.

Beulah is hospitalized after having a heart attack — and everyone is questioning her decisions

Episode 8 starts with Beulah being airlifted out of the party and sent to hospital, with Rob-Will (Jai Courtney) following close behind.

The next morning, Rob-Will finds Oreana, Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba) and Everett (Ed Harris) in the hospital waiting room, and explains that Beulah has had a heart attack. She has a standard angioplasty procedure and is declared medically fine.

Beulah asks to see Rob-Will and Joaquin together before anyone else, with the pair still taking swipes out of each other. She explains that Rob-Will has been given 10 Petal because he is "weak," with Beulah adding "it's not your prize, it's your protection."

She claims that the brothers are going to be joined at the hip no matter what, and that Rob-Will needs Joaquin much more than the other way around. Rob-Will also claims that he wants to fire Beth and Rip with Beulah refusing, responding that they are the "assets" that the ranch needs.

Beth herself stops by to visit later, offering her apologies for Carter's behaviour the night before. The pair talk about the fallout of parenting boys before Beth moves onto why she's really there: she cannot understand the decision behind Rob-Will's appointment.

"I agreed to work with you, not with him," she adds, claiming that they need to speak about things properly once Beulah is out of hospital. Everett asks her the same questions when he visits on his own later on, with Beulah implying that 10 Petal had to go to a "flesh and blood relation."

Their conversation moves onto Beulah's suggestion of retiring together earlier in the season, with Everett stating that he's ready for a new shot at romance if she is. "If I knew a heart attack was going to change your mind, I'd have had one a lot sooner," Beulah replies.

Everett takes Beulah back to his to recoup at home, essentially breaking out of the hospital before she's officially been discharged.

A disgraced Carter finally opens up to Beth — but it all goes wrong

Rip and Carter make their way back from the party on horseback, with Carter repeatedly falling off and vomiting over his own horse (maybe one of the worst things I've ever seen).

The next morning, Beth makes Carter a coffee and asks to talk to him outside. Carter reveals that he's quit school, though neglects to tell her anything about working with Dwight (Ray McKinnon). Beth implies that just hating school isn't good enough, telling Carter that he needs to take every opportunity to make his life better with both hands.

Despite being hungover, Rip makes good on his promise to Carter to take him to work at 10 Petal to get some experience. Immediately, Azul (J.R. Villarreal) and the other ranchers start ribbing Carter for how much he's had to drink, which takes a sour turn when Carter is thrown off of his horse while trying to lasso an escaped cow.

Rip scolds Carter for snapping at Azul, with Carter swearing and storming off in a huff. Rip finds him in a cattle barn, telling him that if any other rancher had rode away from him, they'd be fired on the spot.

Carter threatens Rip to do it, with Rip sensing that Carter wants to throw a punch. Rip then tries to teach him lessons from life's failures while also empathizing with Carter's struggles of being an orphan, but Carter is having none of it.

Returning home, Carter than explodes at Beth, who tearfully claims that she's going to try harder to be a better mother figure. Carter says he needs some time alone, and drives off.

We later find him back at Dwight's, with the Sherriff (Josh Stewart) finding him outside the empty leopard cage. Carter than tries to blackmail the Sherriff into getting a job shadowing him by threatening to reveal that he killed Dwight for no good reason.

It doesn't work, but there is some good news... we learn that Dwight's leopard has been rehomed at a local zoo.

Joaquin tries to turn Rob-Will in for murder

Fuming after his conversation with Beulah, Joaquin pays his own visit to the Sherriff's office. He reveals a gun in a plastic bag, which was the same gun that Rob-Will used to kill Wes (Nakoa DeCoite) in episode 1.

Joaquin tells the Sherriff about Wes, but cannot prove anything because he doesn't know where the body is. The Sherriff tells him to leave the gun, but that he doesn't believe a word Joaquin is saying. "I haven't forgotten who you are... I just no longer give a f**k," the Sherriff says.

On the drive home, an infuriated Joaquin is seen roadside by a local graveyard in a fit of rage. In episode 8's final scene, we see Joaquin get back in his car to dial his dad — who if you remember from episode 7, was essentially Beulah's caretaker.

In Spanish, we hear Joaquin say, "Hi, Dad. I need your help."

Austin tells 10 Petal's truth to Beth and Rip

10 Petal rancher Austin's (Sterlin English) moral crisis also reaches a head in episode 8. After the deaths of Wes and Chet (Hart Denton), he's on a rampage to reveal the Jackson's family secrets once and for all.

This starts with Austin pulling a gun on Miguel (Berto Colon) during wrangling hours, demanding that he reveal what's been going on or be killed. Zachariah (Marc Menchaca) has to intervene, with Austin later asking him if Rip can be trusted. "With your life," replies Zachariah.

That evening, the pair visit Beth and Rip at home and reveal the truth — 10 Petal is running an illegal cattle smuggling operation across the Mexican border to keep financially afloat. The next shipment is in two days, leaving Rip and Beth at a loss for what to do next.

This also explains how Bullet, the bull bought at cattle auction in episode 2, was able to be unvetted while having foot and mouth disease.

For two years, I was TechRadar's chief vacuum tester. That wasn't my actual job title (more's the pity) but that is mostly what I was doing. My main takeaway from those very housework-heavy times is that most people should ignore the flashy cordless stick vacuums and just buy a corded upright. And that's especially true for anyone with pets, lots of carpet, or a home with many people living in it.

I'll get into exactly why I've turned into such a corded upright evangelist below, but I'd like to flag up first that if you were going to convert, now would be a great time to do so. We're just nearing the end of the Amazon Prime Day sales and there are a ton of discounts on corded upright vacuums from Shark — if you're quick. (Want to see? Skip my waffle and jump straight to the deals.)

• View the full Amazon Prime Day sale

Why buy a corded upright?

Why are corded upright vacuums the superior type of vacuum? Three big reasons:

#1. The suction is better

The main reason to choose a corded upright is because, as a general rule of thumb, the suction is almost always better than on a cordless model. If you have carpet, hairy pets, or a high-traffic household, it's just going to be much more effective at keeping it clean.

#2. They last longer

Speaking generally, corded uprights are typically more robust and longer-lasting than cordless options — possibly because often, on a cordless vacuum, the first thing to expire will be the battery. A decent lifespan on a cordless stick vac might be 2-5 years, whereas many upright models can run and run... my mum has a corded upright that used to belong to my grandmother, and has been in use for maybe two decades. It's still going strong.

#3. You can clean, uninterrupted, for longer

With a corded vacuum, you're never going to run out of juice mid-clean. Perhaps even more significant is that the dust cups are much bigger — the cup on a cordless stick vacuum generally be 0.8L at the most (many are smaller), whereas it's common to see 2L cups on uprights. If you're dealing with pet hair in particular, it's such a blessing not to have to traipse to the bin every 10 minutes.

Shark cordless upright deals

Okay then, let's get into the deals. We're nearing the end of Amazon Prime Day, but there are still some bargains to be had, if you're speedy. These Shark corded uprights all have decent discounts that are well worth checking out.

Which should I buy?

How do I tell the difference between these vacuums, I hear you ask? Well, some of them are slightly older models, but that might not be immediately obvious. Most are designed around the same 'lift away' system, where you can remove and hold the canister while you use the floorhead on the wand attached to the flexible nozzle.

A key differentiator to pay attention to is the attachments included. Most will come with your standard narrow nozzle and 'multi-tool' but some might also have a mini motorized head that's designed for use on furniture, and is especially useful at getting hair off upholstery.

The fanciest models will also have some advanced 'detection' features — for instance, they might be able to sense carpet or room edges and increase suction in response. The PowerDetect Upright has a nifty trick where it will suck up (rather than showploughing) debris when it's being pulled backwards. That feature makes a surprisingly big difference to how fast you can clean.

Cordless alternatives

Not convinced? There are some situations where a cordless vacuum is still a better choice. For instance, if you have mostly hard flooring (so don't need a ton of suction power for effective cleaning), or your home has lots of stairs (which would require some awkward traversing with a bulky, heavy upright), or you're trying to navigate many nooks and crannies (in which case the cord and chunky form factor is going to get annoying).

Here are the Prime Day deals I'd recommend on Shark cordless stick vacuums:

More Amazon Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & De'Longhi
• Fans: from £20
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

You open Google Search Console, and it is full of green arrows. Position 4 turned into position 2. Position 2 turned into position 1. You did the work, the work paid off, and then your traffic graph started pointing at the FLOOR.

I have watched this happen to sites with clean rankings, fresh content, and zero penalties. It is one of the most confusing things in SEO right now, and most of the noise about it just repeats the same reasons.

See, ranking and traffic stopped being the same thing a while ago. In 2026, the gap between them is the widest it has ever been. But before we get into the reasons, one truth lies beneath them all.

Your clicks are leaking out of Google through several holes at once. AI Overviews is only the loudest one.

Seer Interactive tracked organic Click-Through Rates (CTR) and found a 61% drop on queries that show an AI Overview. Fair enough; that is the reason everyone talks about. But on queries with no AI Overview at all, clicks still fell 41%.

So, if AI Overviews were the whole story, that second number would be pretty flat. It isn't. That clearly means something bigger is shrinking the entire click economy – and we’re going to talk about just that.

1. The demand simply isn't there anymore

Start with the boring reason, because it is the one everyone skips.

Sometimes your traffic drops because fewer people are searching. Not because you slipped. The market shrank, and your rankings are just sitting on top of a smaller pile.

This used to be a seasonal thing. A tax tool loses traffic in June. A swimwear brand loses traffic in December. Normal stuff. But there is a newer version of this in 2026, and it is structural, not seasonal. People are running fewer searches overall because they get their answers somewhere else first (more on this below).

What to do: Open Search Console and pull the full 16-month view, then lay it next to the same months last year. Drop your main keywords into Ahrefs or Semrush and look at search volume over time. If demand fell and your rankings held, you did nothing wrong. You are winning a race with fewer runners.

2. AI overviews are answering the question for you

Ahrefs re-ran its study on SERP clicks in December 2025 across 300,000 keywords. Surprisingly, they found that when an AI Overview shows up, the top-ranking page loses 58% of its clicks. That is nearly double the 34.5% they measured back in April 2025. It is getting worse, not better.

Pew Research found the same thing from the other direction, by tracking real people instead of tools. The study proved that users clicked a result only 8% of the time when an AI summary appeared, versus 15% when it didn't. And only 1% clicked a link inside the overview itself.

So you can rank number one and still lose, because there is now a box sitting above your number one that answers the question before anyone scrolls.

What to do: Split your Search Console keywords into two buckets, the ones that trigger an AI Overview and the ones that don't. Both Ahrefs and Semrush have a filter for this. Then change the goal. Stop trying to rank below the overview. Start trying to get cited inside it. Pages cited in the overview actually keep their clicks.

3. People get their answer from AI before they open Google

A chunk of your missing traffic is made up of searches that never happened. Someone asked ChatGPT or Perplexity instead. They got their answer, made their decision, and never typed anything into Google at all.

Now, do not panic and blame AI for everything. The referral numbers tell a calm story. Cloudflare measured every AI search engine combined (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity) at under 0.28% of search referrals in April 2026, while Google still sent 87.52% of them. So AI is not stealing your clicks by quietly sending traffic somewhere else.

The damage is sneakier. It happens upstream, where the search just disappears. And inside Google's own AI Mode, Semrush found that 92% to 94% of searches end with no click to any website. More than nine in ten, just gone.

What to do: Start tracking your branded search volume in Search Console, because that is the footprint AI leaves behind. When someone hears about you inside an AI answer, they often Google your name later. The new win is being the brand the AI names, not just the link it skips.

4. The search page got crowded

Think about what a Google results page looked like five years ago. Sponsored ads followed by ten blue links. That was it.

But now, a Google results page generally shows:

• An AI Overview
• A People Also Ask box
• A local pack with a map
• Shopping results
• A video carousel

Now, your blue link is still there. It is just buried under a pile of other things that all want the same click.

FirstPageSage found that the top three organic results take 68.7% of all clicks on a clean page. But fewer and fewer pages are clean. Every feature Google adds pushes your link further down and hands the searcher one more place to go instead of you.

What to do: Actually look at the search results for your top ten keywords. Count what sits above your link. If a snippet is eating your click, write a tighter answer and go take the snippet for yourself (snippets pull a 42.9% click-through rate, higher than a normal number one). If a video carousel is winning, maybe you need a video.

5. Reddit quietly took over your category

If you run a review site, a comparison site, or anything with the word "best" in your titles, this one is probably half your problem.

So, Google fell in love with Reddit. Between July 2023 and April 2024, Reddit's visibility in Google search jumped 1,328%, and it climbed from the 68th most visible site in the US to the 5th. On the product review and "best of" searches that used to land on editorial sites, Reddit is now everywhere.

So when someone searches "best running shoes" or "is X worth it," they are not landing on your carefully written guide.

They are landing on a Reddit thread because Google decided real people arguing in a forum beat a polished, well-researched article.

What to do: Find the Reddit threads ranking for your keywords. Then show up in them, genuinely and helpfully, not with spam. You are not going to outrank Reddit on those terms, so the smart move is to be present inside the thread that already won.

6. You won some keywords and quietly lost others

This is the blind spot that fools smart people.

You are tracking 100 keywords. Twenty of them climbed, and you are celebrating. But your traffic comes from thousands of keywords, and you are not watching the other 900. Some of them slipped, and that quiet slip is bigger than your loud win.

Your rank tracker only shows you what you told it to show you. It says nothing about the long tail that was actually paying your bills.

What to do: Ignore your tracked list for an afternoon. Go into Search Console, export every query, and compare clicks against the same period last year. Sort by clicks lost. The pages bleeding the most traffic are almost never the ones you were watching.

7. You rank higher but fewer people click

Sometimes the ranking is genuinely up, and the click-through rate just collapsed. Well, in such situations, the most common reason is embarrassingly simple. Your title still says 2025 and the year is 2026. People scan the results, see a stale date, and skip you for the fresher-looking result below. You ranked number one and lost the click on a detail you could fix relatively quickly.

There are other causes too. A weak title. A meta description that misses the point. Or your page matches a search whose intent it does not actually serve.

What to do: Pull your top pages by impressions, then look at the ones with a poor click-through rate. Update the year. Rewrite the title so it matches what the searcher actually wants. Small change, fast result, and you do not need to rank any higher to get it.

8. Your impressions are lying to you

This one is technical, so here is a simple way to see it.

Imagine your page used to show up for 50 searches a day, all of them a perfect fit, and people clicked. Now Google shows your page for 500 searches a day, but 450 of them are only loosely related to what you offer. Those extra people see you and scroll past, because you are not really what they wanted.

Your impressions shot up. Your average position might even look better. But your click-through rate fell off a cliff, because Google is matching you to searches that were never yours.

And "average position" hides all of it. It is an average. One number is smoothing over a hundred different stories, most of which you cannot see.

What to do: In Search Console, find the queries where impressions jumped but clicks stayed flat. That gap is the loose-match junk. It is not really a problem to fix; it is a number to stop trusting. Judge yourself on clicks from queries that fit, not on raw impressions.

9. Mobile is dragging you down (and no, it is not AMP)

Your desktop rankings can look great while mobile quietly tanks – and most of your traffic is mobile.

Two things make this worse. Mobile users click far less than desktop users. And on a small screen, an AI Overview plus a couple of SERP features eat the entire first screen. Your link is somewhere down there, after a lot of thumb-scrolling.

Now, an important correction, because half the internet still gets this wrong. The fix is not AMP. Google dropped the AMP requirement for the Top Stories carousel back in June 2021, killed the lightning-bolt badge, and the big publishers have all walked away from it. AMP gives you no ranking advantage today.

What to do: Open the device tab in Search Console and compare desktop against mobile honestly. Then fix the thing that actually matters: Your Core Web Vitals (how fast the page loads, how fast it reacts, how much it jumps around while loading). A fast, normal, responsive page beats an AMP page in 2026.

Conclusion

Here is the mindset shift that makes the whole thing click.

Stop treating rankings as the finish line. Ranking number one is now just the price of admission. It does not promise you clicks.

Run the diagnosis in order. Check if demand fell. Check if AI Overviews or AI Mode are intercepting the answer. Check the rest of the search page. Check the keywords you stopped watching. Check your titles, your impressions, your mobile experience, and your analytics. Nine times out of ten, the answer is not one of these reasons. It is three of them stacked on top of each other.

And then the bigger shift, the one that matters more every month. Start measuring visibility, not just clicks. Being the answer inside an AI Overview. Being the brand platforms like ChatGPT, names. Being the thread that ranks. The click was the old goal. Showing up is the new one.

Your rankings being up is not a lie. It just stopped being the whole truth.

The World Cup draws millions of viewers who want nothing more than to stream the action live. For many fans, this doesn’t just mean watching any broadcast; it means accessing their home country’s service to hear commentary in their native language.

Yet when you travel abroad, live sports streaming often hits a brick wall. Streaming platforms are increasingly aggressive in detecting and blocking VPN connections, making it surprisingly tricky to access familiar home broadcasts from your hotel room or airport lounge.

Understanding how these apps spot your connection and knowing how to bypass their defenses with the best VPN services is key to keeping your viewing experience uninterrupted.

Why streaming services block VPNs (and how they do it)

Streaming services block VPNs because they have strict licensing deals based on location.

Broadcasters pay for exclusive rights to show matches in specific countries. If a user logs in via a VPN to watch games they aren’t licensed for, it breaks those agreements.

To honor these agreements, platforms have no choice but to block these workarounds. For football fans, this creates a frustrating loop: you try to connect, the app spots something is amiss, and you’re hit with an error message before kickoff.

The most common method streaming services use to spot VPN traffic is maintaining a huge, updated blacklist of IP addresses known to belong to data centers. If your connection comes from one of these flagged numbers, you’re blocked immediately.

Beyond IPs, platforms analyze behavior. A genuine user travels slowly over days, whereas a VPN user might appear in London one minute and New York the next, triggering alerts.

Even if your main traffic is hidden, small background requests such as DNS queries can slip outside the VPN tunnel, revealing your real location.

Some services use deep packet inspection to recognize the unique “fingerprints” of popular VPN protocols. If the data looks like it’s running through a tunnel rather than regular browsing, it gets flagged.

How to avoid VPN detection

Navigating these streaming app blocks starts with picking the right settings. While protocols like WireGuard are the best option for raw speed, they don’t inherently hide your traffic better from detection systems than other VPN protocols.

The real key is often the server you choose. Just because one server is blocked doesn’t mean the whole country is out of reach. Sometimes a heavily used server gets flagged while a smaller, less popular one flies under the radar. If you run into trouble, start by switching locations before tweaking anything else.

Before you even test a connection, make sure your browser isn’t working against you. Clearing your browser’s cache and cookies is crucial because old location data stored there can contradict your new IP address and trigger an immediate block, making a good server appear broken.

If problems persist, experiment with your protocol. Although WireGuard is the default choice of many VPN providers – and the fastest – OpenVPN over TCP can sometimes work better on restrictive networks, particularly when those networks block or interfere with UDP traffic.

The best streaming VPNs counter blacklists and leaks by rotating fresh IPs, maintaining private networks to avoid data center flags, and using obfuscation to mask traffic.

Don’t let distance stop you from streaming the World Cup

Knowing how streaming services block access can help you watch the World Cup online from anywhere.

Choose a quality VPN, configure it properly, and stay ahead of detection tricks to keep your connection steady.

For answers on which VPN works best for specific services or where to watch your national team this summer, check our streaming guides and full World Cup coverage.

When the soon-to-be ex-British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, told the nation last week that a full social media ban for all under-16s from social media was “the right choice" for the country, a group of people was watching closely, and thinking about what to do next.

For them, policies like these are problematic. They require all users (adults included) to undergo mandatory age verification checks. That means face scanning or ID document sharing to prove that any user is old enough to access content and social media services – and that’s something that privacy advocates and technologists have long warned is "a cybersecurity disaster waiting to happen".

But for this group, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Today, it’s your face they’ll want to scan. Tomorrow, it’ll be your messages.

So, after a social media ban in Australia, the development of Canada’s Bill C-22, the expansion of mandatory age verification in Europe, the EU's Chat Control debate, and discussions on children’s online safety proposals in the US Congress, the UK’s announcement was the final straw

On June 16, 2026, just 24 hours after Starmer's speech, that the Stop Killing the Internet campaign was officially unveiled with its mission to defend the open internet against state policies that could trigger mass surveillance and excessive control.

"Any restriction that restricts people's human rights and right to access the open internet is what we're opposed to,” Programme Manager at the Open Rights Group (ORG), James Baker, told TechRadar.

The ORG is just one of many high-profile UK digital rights groups that have come together to form Stop Killing the Internet, along with Big Brother Watch, and Index of Censorship. They are calling to arms other worldwide organizations committed to finding rights-based solutions to online social problems to join in.

“We hope to expand globally because it affects people in all countries, including places like India or China, where the internet is a lot more restricted."

Ahead of the launch, Baker and the rest of the group have already held urgent meetings with over 20 organizations, listened to the perspective of young people about the UK's proposed teen social media ban, and decided it was time to take action.

Stop Killing the Internet was formed as a sister campaign of Stop Killing Games, a movement created by the gaming community to advocate for legal protections to prevent publishers from shutting down video games.

But why have gamers joined forces with digital rights advocates to challenge ongoing children's online safety policies? And, most importantly, which solutions is the group proposing instead?

Why restricting the internet for teens is a bad idea

We can divide children's online safety policies into two main strands — each has its critics warning of dangerous unintended consequences.

The first are access barriers which cut children off from online spaces and content thought to be unsuitable for their age.

Policymakers first started by barring children from adult-only sites with age verification checks. Then came total platform blocks such as Australia's world-first under-16s social media ban, which the likes of the UK, France, Malaysia, and other countries are also looking to follow.

Baker believes that, ultimately, these bans won't work — an idea backed up by recent data from Australia — but it’s the nature of the approach that bothers the ORG’s Programme Manager.

"If there was rowdy behavior or a fight in a town hall or a public square, you'd try to police it and solve it — you wouldn't completely shut down the space for everyone,” he said.

“Yet the response to internet problems is to try to shut down the space and exclude people based on their age."

The second group of child protection policies focuses on content scanning.

An example here is Keir Starmer's ultimatum to Big Tech to find a way to prevent children from accessing explicit images on their devices. It's a plan that so unpalatable from a privacy perspective that it prompted private messaging platform Signal to say that it "would rather exit the market than undermine the technical guarantees that people trust for their privacy".

Content scanning is an old idea that continues to arise on lawmaker agendas and, often, fails to translate into actual legislation.

One incarnation of this client-side scanning was initially part of the UK's original Online Safety Act, but it was halted until "it's technically feasible to do so" in a privacy-respecting manner. And there's been no mention of it since, with regard to OSA, most likely because it's easily said by politicians but next to impossible in practice.

In the EU, another message scanning movement, commonly referred to as Chat Control — the nickname for the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR) proposal — has been in negotiations for over three years and still there's no final text that's convincing enough for privacy experts to accept.

In reality, though, according to Stop Killing Games' Strategy Lead Moritz Katzner, all of these copycat policies, wherever they are in the world, have very little to do with child safety at all.

"You have to seriously ask if this is actually about protecting children. As someone who was recently part of that demographic, I do not believe them, because they did not care about me, nor my gaming communities, for a very long time," he told TechRadar.

Katzner explains that a crucial part of the Stop Killing the Internet campaign is indeed making people understand that there is no difference between chat control, age verification, and ID verification.

"They are all reasoned from the same agenda," he said. "It is an escalation ladder where they start by scanning your face, then require ID, and eventually start scanning your chats."

How Stop Killing the Internet plans to reset the debate

For the people involved in Stop Killing the Internet, it's a non-negotiable — what's needed to protect both children and the open web is to shift the focus of the online safety debate.

"Our primary goal is to force a hard reset of the debate,” said Katzner. “To do so, we should listen to what experts have been saying for three decades and look at the algorithms, because these platforms are addictive to adults, too."

And how do they plan to do that?

Stop Killing the Internet aims to make the knowledge of academics, computer scientists, civil societies, and other experts, mainstream directly via social media content creators. This strategy would allow them to bypass mainstream media, which, they believe, has mostly failed to critically report on this issue.

An important goal of the movement is to expose the global network of funding that they say backs up these laws. According to Katzner, it's vital to make a clear distinction between genuine advocacy and corporate lobbyism.

"Meta spent millions in the US and UK lobbying for platform-level age verification because it serves their interests, and politicians are being misused in this process," he said.

While Big Tech plays hot potato with the responsibility of children's safety, how the laws land make a huge bearing on the likes of the gaming community, according to Katzner. Gaming platforms are also included in age verification and social ban policies. Yet, as Katzner explains, there's also a tactical reason for Stop Killing Games to be involved in this fight.

Stop Killing Games has material successes in its fight to date. It brought its cause to the political agenda and helped the Protect Our Games Act to pass California’s Assembly vote — as reported by The Guardian.

“We are now bringing the strong muscle of online communities into this campaign," Katzner added, with reference to the broader internet freedom fight.

What's next for Stop Killing the Internet?

While Stop Killing The Internet is expected to fully launch on June 27, 2026, — and reveal all the people involved — Baker from Open Rights Group said that it has already attracted interest from organizations and individuals from Australia, Canada, the United States, Africa, and Europe.

In the coming days, we will also know what the movement's first step will look like.

What's certain, however, is that the problems with children's online safety policies are only its starting point — the goal is to save a free and open internet from all forms of online restrictions.

Speeding fines are rising and automated enforcement is everywhere. According to DVLA data, the number of UK drivers receiving penalty points for breaking speed limits increased by 32% between 2022 and 2025, while road safety charity IAM RoadSmart says fines and penalty points are now at a four-year high.

It is a similar story in US, where automated speed cameras are gaining momentum thanks to a growing number of states permitting the use of cutting-edge camera tech.

Modern cars increasingly feature built-in speed camera alerts, but plenty of older vehicles don't. That's where a growing number of dedicated speed camera detection devices step in, using smartphone connectivity, community reporting and extensive camera databases to keep drivers informed.

Questions of legality vary wildly in the US and you'll struggle to find the devices listed below on sale anywhere, but all of those tested are available to purchase and are perfectly fine to use in the UK and much of Europe.

I've spent the past month putting the most popular options through their paces to find out which deserves a place on your dashboard.

1. Ooono Co-Driver NO2

• £69.99 / $95 / AU$143

The Ooono Co-Driver NO2 is arguably the benchmark here. Its compact design, simple setup and clever mounting options make it the most discreet device I have tested.

This latest generation pairs quickly with a smartphone, works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and can play alerts through the car's speakers. Plus, it automatically kicks into life when it detects a phone and the ignition is switched on.

Once installed, it quietly gets on with warning about fixed and mobile speed cameras, traffic jams and road hazards using a combination of LED alerts and audio notifications. Reporting incidents is equally straightforward, and the series of button combinations takes only minutes to learn.

The community-driven database continues to improve, although hazard reporting still isn't quite as comprehensive as Waze or Google Maps in some UK regions.

The biggest advantage is simplicity. There's no screen demanding attention and no subscription fees. It just works.

• Verdict: Still the easiest and most polished speed camera companion available. Looks good, too.

2. Tom by TomTom

• £69.99 / $95 / AU$143

TomTom has clearly taken inspiration from Ooono's playbook — and that's no bad thing.

Setup is quick, requiring little more than a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone and a free account. The rechargeable battery lasts around a month, meaning there are no cables to worry about.

Alerts are clear, with bright LEDs and audible warnings for cameras, congestion and speed limit breaches. Incident reporting is similarly simple and the camera database proved consistently accurate during testing.

Where it falls short is its design. The mounting solution isn't quite as elegant and the plastics don't feel as premium as Ooono's. The button layout also takes a little longer to learn by touch.

Still, it delivers almost everything the Ooono does and does it very well.

• Verdict: An excellent Ooono alternative that runs the class leader surprisingly close.

3. Road Angel Pure Sync

• £99.99 / $135 / AU$205

The Road Angel Pure Sync takes a different approach, adding a display screen and GPS speed readout to the mix.

Unfortunately, it also suffers from the most frustrating setup process. Registration requires payment details despite the included subscription, while Bluetooth pairing proved temperamental during testing.

The magnetic mount is neat, but unlike its rivals, the device requires constant power, meaning cables need to be routed around the dashboard.

Once operational, camera alerts are timely and effective. Speed limit warnings are impossible to miss, with bright visual cues and extremely loud voice prompts — perhaps too loud until adjusted in the settings.

The GPS speed display is useful in older cars but feels less necessary in modern vehicles that already feature accurate digital readouts.

Build quality is also disappointing for the price, with a plasticky feel and a display that can be difficult to read in direct sunlight.

• Verdict: Effective once running, but harder to recommend given the higher price, subscription requirement and less polished experience.

4. Ooono Co-Driver NO1

• £19.99 / $27 / AU$41

It's only when you place the Co-Driver NO1 and NO2 side by side that you realize just how much Ooono has improved its innovative speed camera alert device.

While cheaper to buy, the first-generation Co-Driver doesn't feature a built-in rechargeable battery, instead opting for a replaceable coin-cell battery that lasts around a year. It also doesn't communicate with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, nor does it feature a dedicated false-alert cancellation button.

It is considerably smaller, though, so if you want something discreet, this is the one to buy. That said, it uses a fixed 3M adhesive mount, so once in place, it is more difficult to relocate.

In short, the Co-Driver NO1 still handles the basics well, delivering reliable speed camera alerts and connecting to Ooono's community of users for free. It's also one of the cheapest ways to dip a toe into the world of GPS speed camera detectors.

• Verdict: A more basic version of Ooono's current speed camera offering — it's smaller and much cheaper, so perfect for those on a budget.

5. Snooper My-Speed Plus

• £199.99 / $270 / AU$410

After testing all of the other smartphone-connected devices here, the Snooper My-Speed Plus feels like a bit of a throwback to an era of bulky sat-nav units suction-mounted to a dashboard.

Unlike its rivals, it is a completely self-contained unit that mounts to the windshield and plugs into a 12V lighter socket, using its own GPS receiver and Snooper's AURA speed camera database to keep drivers informed.

The first thing you notice is its size. Where most of the competition is content being discreet little pucks that blend into the dashboard, the Snooper displays everything on a large 5-inch color screen. It constantly shows your GPS speed alongside the current speed limit, with red and green graphics that make it very difficult to ignore when you've drifted over the limit.

Speed camera coverage is extensive, but updating requires first registering the device and then plugging it into a Windows PC or Mac via the provided USB cable. Seeing how quickly speed cameras are appearing, frequent travelers will want to update the database monthly.

It's decidedly old-school and expensive, but the display is sharp and the overall hardware feels more premium than the Road Angel.

• Verdict: It feels like a device from a bygone era and it's expensive.

The final verdict: which to buy?

Having used all of the devices, the Ooono Co-Driver NO2 stood out above the rest and would get my money.

It's simple, easy to use and doesn't require monthly memberships. While it's possible to get a similar experience with the Co-Driver NO1, I preferred the larger button and the look of the second generation... not to mention the fact that you can recharge it via USB-C and mount it to the sun visor, rather than sticking it to a dash.

TomTom's offering is near identical, but the app isn't as slick and the button layout isn't as user-friendly.

I don't think drivers need a GPS speed camera unit with a screen these days, as it defeats the point of mounting something small and discreet to the car.

Finally, it's worth addressing the fact that you can get a similar experience by using free smartphone apps, such as Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps and more.

But the Ooono and TomTom devices earn their money during those times where a smartphone is left in the pocket and you aren't navigating using either the vehicle or your phone's software.

Personally, I find it is exactly these moments when it easy to forget that a 20mph speed limit has been introduced in the local area and a gentle nudge from the Ooono saves my bacon.

The AI industry may have found its next battle, and it’s not model training, GPU availability or data centers expansion. It’s actually how artificial intelligence is being framed in the first place.

For the past couple of years, AI coding assistants have been marketed as productivity boosters, promising to help across code generation, debugging and testing.

But the recent SpaceX acquisition of AI coding platform Cursor shows just how important AI coding systems can be in AI. While coding tools are generally considered from the developer’s point of view, software generation is increasingly being seen as a strategic capability for future autonomous systems.

Whether managing infrastructure, coordinating logistics or automating business processes, tomorrow’s coding agents will need to create, edit and maintain software instead of just helping developers to write code.

AI’s impact on code generation is trust

In other words, AI coding agents are less about being tools and more about being infrastructure layers through which organizations can build, operate and even govern their tech – similar to how we see cloud, networking and security today.

But in dehumanizing software generation, we’re uncovering the next challenge. Software development used to be limited by the speed at which humans can review, test and validate code before it goes into production, but it’s now all about trust and verification.

With AI now capable of generating code at lightning pace, questions around quality, security, compliance and governance are now being raised.

Acknowledging that code generation has been vastly democratized, Qodo CEO Itamar Friedman now believes what sets companies apart will be verification and governance. The winners will be the ones to deploy trustworthy software at scale, not the ones to launch it fastest.

To better understand what SpaceX’s Cursor acquisition means for the future of software engineering, how AI coding platforms are evolving from tools to infrastructure, and how we can tackle the next bottleneck that is trust, I spoke with Friedman.

• Does this acquisition signal that AI coding tools are becoming strategic infrastructure rather than just developer productivity tools?

Yes, and the price tag makes it explicit. You don’t just pay $60B for a productivity feature, you pay that price to have complete control over the coding mechanism your engineering teams run every day.

When the tool sits in the path of every change that ships, it is infrastructure, with the same reliability, security, and governance expectations as the rest of your stack.

• What does SpaceX's interest in Cursor say about the role AI coding tools will play in the next generation of AI-native companies?

AI-native companies want to own their means of production. SpaceX is not buying a chat window, it’s buying the ability to shape how code is generated across an organization that writes mission critical software.

What the next generation of tools is signaling is that the coding layer is too important to rent on someone else's roadmap. Instead, companies need to treat code generation, review, and governance as core infrastructure they direct, not as a third party relationship they hope holds up.

• Why might companies building highly complex or mission-critical systems want greater control over the AI coding layer?

In a high-stakes environment, you never let the builder be its own reviewer. When a single system both writes code and judges whether it is correct, you get a biased feedback loop where the AI is grading its own homework.

Greater control means being able to insert independent verification, enforce your own standards, and produce an audit trail of every decision.

• How should enterprises think about evaluating AI coding tools after a major ownership change or acquisition?

Enterprises should evaluate for independence and continuity, not for features. They must ask who controls the roadmap now, whether your data stays in your environment, and whether the tool still works alongside the rest of your stack or quietly steers you into another owner's ecosystem.

During an acquisition, a tool that was neutral yesterday may be optimized for its new parent tomorrow. The durable choice is the layer you can keep running on your terms regardless of who owns the model underneath it.

• As AI generates more production code, what new challenges does that create for engineering teams?

As code volumes skyrocket, the bottleneck moves from writing code to verifying it. The hard part about software was never producing more lines, it is confirming the code does what it’s intended to do, holds to your architecture, and meets your standards at scale.

When AI writes thirty percent of your codebase and rising, line-by-line human review can’t keep up and trust becomes the scarce resource. The challenge is building verification that runs with near-perfect precision and recall across hundreds of quality dimensions, automatically, on every change.

• What will differentiate the winners in the AI coding market over the next few years: better code generation, better governance, or something else?

Generation is commoditizing. High-fidelity output already looks more and more similar across the major models, and that gap will keep closing.

Then, differentiation moves to the quality layer: governance, verification, and the ability to enforce standards with the precision an enterprise can actually trust.

Better governance is the moat: those enterprises that succeed will be the ones that make AI-gen code safe to ship, not the ones that generated it faster.

• What should developers and engineering leaders be watching for as the AI coding market continues to consolidate?

Watch out for vendor lock-in disguised as integration. As the market consolidates, the pressure will be to buy generation and verification from the same owner, which is exactly the conflict of interest that erodes trust.

Leaders should keep their verification layer independent from whoever writes the code, protect the portability of their data and standards, and avoid betting their SDLC on a single vendor's incentives.

Apple has just announced major price rises on a huge range of its products, and among them are its two HomePod models. The price of the HomePod mini is rising from $99 / £99 to $129 / £129, which is a 30% increase.

The full-size HomePod 2 is also getting a price change, but it's a more palatable 17%, meaning that it's changing from costing $299 / £299 to now $349 / £349.

I think the HomePod 2 can take that price rise, even though I'd obviously rather we were still in an era when products came down in price over time; the big HomePod is already a more premium product, and still sounds very good for the price.

But I think this change is devastating to the HomePod mini. I reviewed it when it came out, and I was so impressed by the dynamic range of its sound and its detail, bearing in mind not only the price, but the size. For ages, I had a pair as my desktop speakers out of choice, even though, as an audio editor, I can get my hands on pretty much any stereo setup I want to try.

As a result, I've been strongly recommending the HomePod mini since it came out, and advocating for its position as the best 'cheap' option in our list of the best wireless speakers. Being a HomePod, it's very limited as to who it's ideal for (all-Apple households, basically), but it's been in a totally different league to anything else when it comes to value since it's launch, in my opinion — yes, even five years later.

Well, until today.

The problem is that the gap has very suddenly closed between it and the next-best cheaper wireless speaker, which is the freshly released Sonos Era 100 SL.

The Sonos speaker has much bigger sound, Android and iOS support for all streaming services, Bluetooth as well as AirPlay and direct app control, and the ability to connect analog devices via an adapter — it's way more capable, but it was fair enough that the HomePod doesn't do all that considering its lower price.

At the start of this week, there was $90 / £70 between them. Today, the gap between them is $30 / £12.

Today's best Sonos Era 100 SL prices

Now, that's a slightly unfair comparison — I'm comparing full price to the Sonos' discounted price — but it's a very practical one, because it's the real choice most people will face when they buy.

The biggest sales for something like the Sonos Era 100 SL happen during sales events. Right now, it's Amazon Prime Day. Soon, it will be the July 4th sales in the US. And obviously Black Friday is huge for selling this stuff — the Era 100 SL will be discounted to this kind of level at all these times, and more besides.

The HomePod mini was very rarely discounted, by comparison, and usually only by a couple of bucks. So once this price rise settles in, and at the times most people are actually thinking about which one to buy, the comparison of the $129 / £129 very limited HomePod mini vs the $159 / £141 chad Sonos Era 100 SL is going to be the choice people will actually face.

And despite being the HomePod mini's strongest advocate since its launch, I'm just not going to be able to recommend it any more.

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: £90 off PlayStation 5
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

As TechRadar's Senior Fitness and Wearables Editor, I'm usually testing at least one smartwatch, and sometimes two at once. But occasionally I get overwhelmed with the volley of notifications or the compulsion to check my metrics, and swap the tracker out with something more discrete and screenless.

I'm not the only one. 'Focus' wearables are on the rise, be they fitness bands without screens, smart rings, or something else like hybrid watches. They're different form factors, but they all do fundamentally the same thing — passively track your health and fitness in the background, rather than actively show you information during a workout like the best smartwatches.

Below is a trio of fitness trackers I've personally tested, along with my verdict about what kind of person they're best suited for — and where to find the best deals for Amazon Prime Day.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

If you dislike the idea of a smartwatch but still want a useful fitness tracker — maybe you want to wear a proper analog/digital watch — then I would recommend you start your search by looking at these three wearables.

1. Google Fitbit Air

• Best for: everyday exercise, budget buyers

I recently reviewed the Google Fitbit Air and really liked it. The old Fitbits have been redesigned as a screenless fitness tracker, around 12g including strap, with all the information being fed into the app so you can check it at your leisure. There's a haptic alarm you can tap to get rid of, but that's really all the interaction you have with the wristband, other than charging it around once a week.

It's very comfortable to wear during sleep because of its lightweight, and it cleaves very close to chest-based heart rate monitors and the likes of the top-tier Apple Watch Ultra 3. It's very popular because it's cheap too, at just $99.99 / £84.99 / AU$199 — at its base tier.

It does have an AI-powered premium health coach attached, which is an optional extra costing $9.99 / £7.99 / AU$14.99 a month, or $99.99 / £79.99 / AU$140 annually. Without this, you get your base stats such as sleep, steps, recovery, heart rate, and workout tracking. As you'll see later on in this article, premium tiers and subscriptions are becoming a theme. But whether you choose to subscribe or not, the Fitbit Air remains a solid choice for screenless tracking.

Read our full Google Fitbit Air review

2. Oura Ring 4

• Best for: holistic wellness, sleep tracking

The Oura Ring 5 is out, true, but that just means there are lots of deals on the Oura Ring 4 this week. Another subscription-based wearable, starting at $349 / £349 (less if you snag a Prime Day deal) with a $5.99-in-all-regions subscription attached, the Oura Ring 4 sits firmly at the premium end of the finger.

But it is undeniably impressive. It's even more comfortable than the Fitbit above (and thus a top-tier sleep tracker), boasts accurate metrics, and has an impressive suite of features, including a tag-based system to allow you to add context to your day's metrics and a sophisticated auto-exercise detection feature. It emphasizes holistic wellbeing, with emphasis on balance and mindfulness, even if the option for in-app blood tests is a bit creepy and, for want of a better word, 'biohacky'.

It comes in a range of finishes and colors, so it is a lot more discreet than the cheap plastic Fitbit. Price aside, it's an excellent fitness tracker, and the Prime Day deals should help soften that blow.

Read our full Oura Ring 4 review

3. Whoop 5.0

• Best for: serious athletes, optimizers

The screenless fitness tracking pioneer, Whoop is a wearable for perpetual optimizers. Whoop is designed to effectively be never taken off: the charging puck included with two of Whoop's three membership tiers effectively allows you to charge the device while it's still attached to your wrist, so you need never, ever take it off at all. Whoop collects and organizes an enormous amount of data, spitting it out in the form of all sorts of metrics, from your Whoop Age to its proprietary Strain score.

Its app is fantastic, implementing AI features well and housing an intuitive, comprehensive workout builder for gym rats. It's an excellent device for competitive athletes, casual CrossFit and Hyrox enthusiasts, and weekend warriors.

But Whoop is a premium device which you don't exactly buy: you rent access to it each year, starting at £169 / $199 / AU$299 per year for the Whoop One 5.0 and rising to £229 / $239 / AU$419 per year for the premium Whoop Peak tier, which nets you extra features like Whoop Age.

The highest tier is Whoop Life, which gets you a premium Whoop MG device with medical-grade heart health features, costing £349 / $359 / AU$629 per year. In my opinion, paying that each year in perpetuity doesn't represent good value — unless you can score an Amazon Prime Day deal on it.

Read our full Whoop MG review

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: £90 off PlayStation 5
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

Given that I review audio gadgets for a living, I tend to hoard headphones the way most people collect loose change. But there's only one pair I rely on literally every day: the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3, which is why I was pleased to see they've gotten an awesome discount this Prime Day.

You can currently buy the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 for £255 (was £399) at Amazon UK. Not only does it make them much more affordable, but it actually brings them down to their lowest price ever. And don't feel left out if you're based in the US — you can still get a decent discount on them where you are, for $409.99 (was $479.99) at Amazon.

As reviews editor at TechRadar, I've used a ludicrous number of headphones over the years, from the absurdly premium Focal Clear MG to budget bangers like the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100. But there's only one pair that I come back to again and again, that have earned their place as my trusty workhorse when other headphones can't quite fit the bill: the Px7 S3.

So if you're looking to get superb audio without having to pay a premium for it, I definitely think you should check out this deal.

Honestly, this discount makes these headphones a valid contender for some of the best headphones out there. There's a reason we gave them 5 stars in our Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review after all.

The main reason I love the Px7 S3 for everyday use is that I can count on them to punch way above their weight in terms of sonic quality. Thanks to their aptX Lossless connectivity, they're able to stream music at what is essentially CD quality, while the soundstage they offer up feels precise yet spacious. Without spending a significant chunk more, you won't get more deft sound than this.

I also love how faithful their sound is. While I'll admit they don't offer the same driving bass as headphones like the much spendier AirPods Max 2, they also don't neglect some frequencies just to emphasize others, a shortcut many mid-range and budget cans take advantage of. They're faithful enough that I happily trust them for everyday music production, which is not something I can say about a lot of Bluetooth headphones.

And with this massive discount, I'd honestly say you can't lose with the Px7 S3.

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: £90 off PlayStation 5
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

I’ve been reviewing audio gear at TechRadar for years now, and there’s nothing I enjoy sinking my teeth into than a brand new pair of noise cancelling headphones. I’ve tested more than 15 pairs so far, some of which have been mind-blowingly good, and some…less so.

In a highly convoluted market, it can be tough to pick out just one pair of headphones to buy, but today, I’m here to narrow things down for you. I’ve picked 4 of the best noise cancelling headphones that I’ve tested so that you can get great bang for your buck and enjoy your tunes without compromise.

There are options for a range of budgets here, from a top-class budget-friendly set all the way up to a premium pair that’s sure to bless your ears. Curious to know what made the cut? Scroll on down and discover my top picks.

1. The budget big-hitter: 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51

I’ve raved about the 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 plenty of times, and for good reason. These headphones almost feel too good to be true — and on multiple counts.

Firstly, they’re incredibly cheap. They’re regularly available for less than $90 / £90, making them far more affordable than models from the likes of Apple and Bose. But that low price-point doesn’t come at the cost of quality. The Sonoflow Pro plate up surprisingly strong sound quality, with rich bass, clean mids, and controlled highs. They even have LDAC support for higher-res Bluetooth listening, which is a great feature for a product at such a budget-friendly price-point.

Another area these headphones excel in is ANC. Sure, you’re not getting Bose QuietComfort Ultra levels of noise-nixing, but they’re effective at dulling external sounds right across the frequency range, making them a nice pick for commutes or daytime walks. Pair that with an extraordinary 100 hours of battery life (65 hours with ANC on) and a sleek look, and the 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 are an easy recommendation.

2. The best all-rounders: Sony WH-1000XM6

If there’s one pair of noise cancelling headphones I’d recommend to everyone, it would be the Sony WH-1000XM6. These are the headphones that I use every single day, and in my eyes, they’re the perfect all-rounders, delivering class-leading ANC, stellar sound, and an ingenious design.

Let’s start with ANC which is so good here, that it even beats out Sony’s newer, more expensive headphones, the Sony 1000X The Collexion. The XM6 make use of Sony’s QN3 processor, which harnesses the power of 12 microphones to block out noise from your environment, and while they’re great across the board, they’re especially good at keeping low-end sounds away, even outdoing Bose in this area in my view.

Yes the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2 are arguably a bit better at banishing higher-pitched sounds, but we’re talking about fine margins here. And I’d pick the XM6 over their Bose rivals every time for one key reason: they sound a good deal better, in my view.

The XM6 were co-designed with leading mastering engineers for a studio-inspired sound, and take a more balanced approach than their predecessors, the still excellent Sony WH-1000XM5 and Sony WH-1000XM4. They still sound nice and punchy however, and their tight and dynamic sound is a joy to behold. Again, LDAC is here if you want a more detailed listen — as is 3.5mm wired connectivity.

On top of this, the XM6 offer top-tier touch controls, scene-based listening, a ten-band equalizer, and an effective transparency mode. In our best headphones guide, we ranked these as our best overall pick, and I’d strongly recommend you try them for yourself and find out why.

3. The noise-nixing on-ears: Marshall Milton ANC

Here’s something a little different. Yes, the recently released Marshall Milton ANC aren’t like any other entries in this list, as they’re actually on-ear headphones. The Milton ANC look to blend the iconic look and feel of the Marshall Major line with the noise cancelling prowess of the Marshall Monitor III ANC, and what do you know, they pull it off to perfection.

When I reviewed the Marshall Milton ANC, they honestly outstripped my expectations. See, I’m not generally a fan of on-ears, as I tend to find them uncomfortable, and their tendency to leak sound usually means I’ll just reach for my over-ears instead. But the Milton ANC are by far the comfiest on-ears I’ve ever tested, with a generous, flexible build — and they honestly sound great too, with less leakage than some rivals I’ve tested.

Out of the box, the Milton ANC are pretty bass-heavy, which will appeal to a lot of listeners I’m sure. However, the Marshall Bluetooth app provides an equalizer for toning things down a bit if you want a more even spread across the frequency range. Unlike previous Marshall products, these also feature LDAC for higher-res listening, but you’ll also get USB-C audio passthrough for lossless playback.

What’s more, the Milton ANC feature a colossal 80 hour battery life (with ANC off), a soundstage mode for more immersive listening, Auracast connectivity, and a gorgeous retro-style design. They’re also made of 42% recycled materials, and you can get replaceable parts in the situation that they break, which makes them feel like a worthwhile long-term investment.

OK, the ANC is a little limited as a result of the on-ear design, but they still restrict outside noise pretty effectively, and I’ve happily used them on trains and buses with very little distraction from whatever I’m listening to. So, if you want the flexibility that on-ears can offer with the benefits of noise cancelling, then the Marshall Milton ANC are without question my top choice.

4. The premium pick: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3

Last and most definitely not least, we have the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3. If you want something that feels, looks, and sounds truly premium, this is it — this is what you’ve been looking for.

The first time that I put these headphones on, they took my breath away. They conjure up a sense of space that few rivals in this price bracket can muster, with incredibly immersive, almost three-dimensional sound. Bass is full-sounding, extends deep, and hits with striking agility. Mids are brilliantly defined, and vocal separation adds a layer of nuance that will keep you coming back for more and more. And the treble is vibrant without sounding uncontrolled or fatiguing.

And the Px7 S3 almost look as good as they sound, with an enticing faux-leather, metal, and fabric combination. They even come in an eye-catching range of colors, with Indigo Blue and Canvas White being my personal favorites. Mix in aptX codec support, much-improved ANC (compared to their predecessor), and a comfortable fit, and you’re getting a brilliant overall package.

While their sibling, the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 is the superior pair of headphones, they are far more expensive than the Px7 S3, which I think are fantastic in their own right, and I’d recommend with confidence.

It's 'Global Beatles Day' today, June 25th, which is the perfect excuse to go on a magical mystery tour of the Fab Four's finest output. Consider it a gift from me to you: I've collected essential vinyl albums, great turntables to play them on, fun accessories, the ultimate version of their best movie, and some other great gifts from across the universe (well, Amazon).

There's obviously the option of getting the whole Beatles Anthology vinyl collection, but that's a lot of money to spend — though I want to tell you that it's also excellent value overall. There are also smaller collections, so you can pick up the LPs that look especially great when displayed, such as Abbey Road, Revolver and The White Album.

I've got a feeling you'll also love the special Criterion Collection Blu-ray of A Hard Day's Night, because it's easily the best way to watch the film, with a beautiful visual presentation and hours of features and documentaries from the era.

I've also highlighted a Sony turntable that's basically the best beginner option on the market right now if you're just getting into vinyl, plus some Beatles playing cards and a couple of other cool desktop gifts. Don't wait on these — because tomorrow never knows if they'll still be available.

UK Beatles picks

US Beatles picks

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Back-to-school tech: 48% off laptops, headphones & tablets
• Cheap TVs: Samsung, Sony & LG from $89.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Smartwatches: up to $250 off Garmin & Apple
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Amazon Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & De'Longhi
• Fans: from £20
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

Most people don't walk enough. Sure, serious fitness enthusiasts make sure to get their 10,000 steps in each day, but many of us simply don't come close most days.

My fun fact of today is that the magic '10,000 steps' target isn't actually backed by science, but was arbitrarily invented by a Japanese pedometer company in the 1960s — but even though the number isn't a scientific target, moving more is rarely a bad thing.

You can use one of the best smartwatches or best fitness trackers to keep track of your steps and motivate yourself to hit the extra goal. But if it's too cold or hot to go outside, or you're inside with no reason to leave, it can be very easy to let those cardio goals slide. People give up on running regimes or pay for unused gym memberships when what they need is an easy, accessible, low-impact way to keep or stay fit.

- Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

Step forward, walkingpads, otherwise known as under-desk treadmills. These slim cardio machines are easy to store, often cheap to buy (especially on Amazon Prime Day), and have become very popular on TikTok. Ideal for beginners or those looking for a gentler introduction to fitness, here's a trio of science-backed reasons to get one, along with a bunch of Amazon Prime Day deals on walkingpads in the US and UK.

1. You can watch TV while you walk

If you were going to catch up with your favorite shows while lounging on the sofa, now you can use that time to get your cardio in. Simply wheel the machine out from behind the sofa, under the bed, or wherever it's stored, plug it in, and switch on the TV.

Research published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine found that 'TV viewing, regardless of whether the programming is self-selected or standardized, associates with greater enjoyment of exercise'. If you find the exercise process enjoyable, you'll keep coming back to it; walking in front of one of the best streaming services might be a perfect way to get started. Try walking for the duration of one 30-minute episode of your latest obsession show each day.

2. Walking is low-intensity

Some people find running painful or intimidating. But walking is a low-impact, low-intensity alternative that most of us engage in every day. The human body was built to walk, and most of us can do so comfortably for at least a short period of time.

Research found that for people unable to tolerate moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, lower-intensity walking was still beneficial for improving health, serving as a 'suitable alternative' to vigorous exercise. If you find running for 30 minutes hurts your knees or hips, walking for 45 minutes in front of the TV might be a more comfortable option for you.

3. Treadmills provide accessibility

As nice as it is to walk in front of the TV, sometimes it's good to get out into nature. Walkingpads or under-desk treadmills can be supplemental to a routine, acting as a helpful alternative to make sure you're consistent.

On fair-weather days, take your 30-minute walk outdoors and plan a circular route, while on rainy days or during heatwaves, you can stay indoors and walk instead. Giving yourself options and flexibility allows you to stay consistent, and when it comes to improving fitness, consistency is king.

Best walkingpad / under-desk treadmill deals in the US

Best walkingpad / under-desk treadmill deals in the UK

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: £90 off PlayStation 5
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

Most plumbing jobs aren't planned. After all, a burst pipe doesn't wait for business hours. The company that answers the phone first usually wins the work.

Running that kind of business also means juggling a tight labor market and a stack of admin work that piles up the moment you stop chasing it. Now, I don’t run a home services business myself, but I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing business software for a living.

For this article, I tested different tools and platforms across five categories using sample data modeled on real plumbing scenarios, from urgent service calls to routine maintenance paperwork. Here's how it went.

#1 Field service management keeps the schedule honest

A field service management (FSM) platform schedules jobs and dispatches the closest available technician. It also stores every customer's repair history in one place, so nobody has to dig through paper invoices to remember what got replaced last time.

I tested one by building a week's worth of sample jobs, mixing emergency calls with routine maintenance the way a busy schedule actually looks. Everything was much easier to manage as the FSM software took care of most of my admin overhead. Meanwhile, my phone synced job notes and photos back to the dashboard in real time.

Industry research backs up what I saw. One 2025 survey of trade businesses found that 94% of companies using field service software reported real productivity gains. Eighty-three percent said the software helped their business grow.

The catch: techs used to working off a clipboard need real coaching before the software earns its keep. Switching systems mid-season can throw off a busy crew.

#2 Asset tracking stops tools from going missing

Plumbing crews lose more money to missing tools than most owners realize. An asset-tracking app assigns a QR code or GPS tag to every truck and major tool, so you always know who has what and where it's parked.

I built a sample inventory of tools and vehicles inside the app, then simulated one tool sitting unused in the yard for several days. The app flagged it within that same test run. It's exactly the kind of alert that would catch a missing drain snake before it becomes a bigger problem on a real job site.

Construction equipment theft costs the industry more than $1 billion a year in the US. Fewer than a quarter of stolen tools are ever recovered. One analysis found that businesses with full visibility into their assets boosted maintenance productivity by 28% and cut repair costs by 18%.

#3 AI lead capture tools answer calls you'd miss

AI-powered lead generation covers everything from chat widgets that qualify leads on your website to AI phone agents that answer calls after the office closes.

I set one up against a batch of sample after-hours calls, the kind that would normally roll to voicemail. In the test runs, several of those calls turned into booked appointments before a human ever saw the missed-call notification.

How fast you respond matters more than which specific tool you use. Contractors who reply to a lead within five minutes book the job far more often than those who wait half an hour, according to lead-response research.

Most contractors remain cautious about AI, though. One survey of more than 1,000 contractors found that just 25% use it in any meaningful way. So be sure to plan well before you roll it out.

#4 Accounting apps turn receipts into cash flow clarity

Accounting software is the least exciting tool on this list, but it's probably the one that saves the most time. It pulls in your bank transactions automatically and turns a pile of receipts into a usable profit and loss statement for your business.

I fed it a batch of sample receipts, the kind a plumbing crew would rack up in an average week. They landed already categorized in the right expense column within seconds. Generating a profit and loss statement from that sample data took minutes instead of an evening with a spreadsheet.

Manual bookkeeping eats up roughly 8 to 12 hours a month for the average small business owner. Decent software cuts that down to 2 to 4 hours.

Generic accounting platforms still fall short on job costing. They handle invoices fine, but rarely break down labor and materials by job the way a plumbing business actually needs.

#5 Training software shortens the learning curve

Specialty trade roles can take 45 to 60 days just to hire. New techs often need another 12 to 18 months before they're fully productive.

Many new techs quit within a year if there's no clear path forward for them. Forty-seven percent of trade workers say they'd leave a job that doesn't offer a clear way to learn new skills. That share has climbed sharply over the past year, according to recruitment research.

That’s why staff onboarding and training software turns tribal knowledge into a checklist that a new apprentice can actually follow. Training modules and certification checklists live in one app instead of a binder in the back of the truck.

I built a sample new-hire profile and ran it through one platform's onboarding checklist. I was able to clear the required certifications faster than I expected. The app even flagged exactly which ones were still missing instead of leaving that to memory.

Why software plays a big role in a plumbing business

Plumbing used to run on a paper schedule and word-of-mouth. Neither one has disappeared. Neither one is enough by itself anymore.

Part of the reason is the labor shortage. The industry is short an estimated 550,000 plumbers by 2027, a gap projected to cost the broader economy roughly $33 billion a year. When you can't hire your way out of a busy season, the work has to get done faster with the crew you already have.

That's what ties these five categories together. Scheduling, asset tracking, AI lead capture, accounting, and staff training don't replace a good plumber. They remove friction around everything else the job demands.

We tested each tool against scenarios modeled on how a busy plumbing business would actually use it, not as a polished sales demo. The ones that made this list are the ones that held up under that kind of pressure.

Your phone won't stop ringing, but half your day still disappears into paperwork. Quotes need typing, schedules need shuffling, invoices need chasing, all before a dollar lands in your account. Add a tightening labor market, and there's even less room to waste hours on busywork.

The construction and trades sector needs roughly 349,000 net new workers in 2026 alone, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors. With fewer hands on deck, the businesses protecting their margins are the ones tightening their processes rather than just adding headcount.

Here are nine ways to do exactly that.

#1 Standardize how you estimate and quote jobs

A vague estimate can turn out to be quite expensive.

A survey of more than 600 construction business owners and finance experts found that one in four companies would close if they made just two or three inaccurate bids. Create one standard template that prices labor and materials with overhead built in, then reuse it for every quote.

#2 Centralize scheduling and invoicing in one system

The global market for field service management software is projected to grow from $5.64 billion in 2025 to $9.68 billion by 2030, as more commercial service businesses move toward all-in-one service management software.

Booking jobs in one tool and invoicing in another creates gaps where details fall through, especially once a crew gets added to the mix. A single system that connects bookings with dispatch and billing keeps your office and crews looking at the same information, so nothing gets double-booked or invoiced twice.

Look for software that fits how your trade actually works, rather than forcing your workflow to fit the software. A good platform usually covers:

• Online booking requests with instant quotes
• Technician scheduling and dispatch
• Mobile invoicing with on-site payments
• Customer messaging and review requests

#3 Put the right tools in technicians' hands

Admin tasks eat up roughly 30% of an average field technician's working week — almost as much time as they spend on the job itself — according to a recent study.

Mobile apps that let crews pull up job details and capture signatures on site cut out a layer of paperwork that used to sit on someone's desk back at the office. Photos and checklists logged on site also create a clear record if a job ever gets disputed.

#4 Track job costs in real time, not after the fact

Contractors who track actual costs against estimates while a job is still running see project margins improve by 15% to 20%. If you wait until a job closes to check the numbers, the overrun has already happened. A crew running 50% over its labor budget while only 30% through the work is worth flagging in week one, not at final invoicing.

#5 Make customer communication part of the process

Homeowners and commercial clients judge contractors on the whole experience, from first contact through final cleanup. A survey of more than 1,000 US homeowners found that 73% would refer a business after a great service experience.

Most homeowners also say speed and clear updates shape who they hire. Automated appointment reminders and status texts handle this consistently, without relying on someone in the office remembering to make a call.

#6 Plan routes around your crew, not the other way around

Poor routing and scheduling can eat up more than 40% of a field technician's workday.

Route optimization typically cuts drive time by 15% to 30%, freeing up hours that crews can spend on billable work instead of behind the wheel. That gap is often the difference between fitting in one more job or running into overtime.

#7 Build simple SOPs for your most common jobs

Crews waste an estimated 5% to 12% of total project costs on rework industry-wide, often repeating the same mistakes from job to job.

A short, written process for your most frequent jobs, covering the steps and the quality checks each one needs, keeps standards consistent even as your team grows. A plumbing business might document exactly how a water heater swap gets quoted and signed off, regardless of which technician shows up.

#8 Let your operational data guide staffing decisions

Research claims that AI tools could take over roughly 35% of a service team's administrative work, saving each employee more than two hours a week.

Use the data your business already generates, such as job duration and callback rates, to decide where to hire, retrain, or rebalance workloads before busy season hits. A technician whose first-time fix rate keeps slipping likely needs more training, not a heavier workload.

#9 Treat onboarding and training as retention tools

Replacing a skilled tradesperson can cost 50% to 200% of their annual salary once you factor in recruiting and lost productivity during ramp-up.

A structured onboarding process, with clear training steps and check-ins in the first few weeks, gets new hires productive faster and less likely to walk. Even a simple 30-60-90 day check-in schedule tends to catch problems long before they turn into a resignation.

Final thoughts

None of this needs to happen overnight. Pick the one area causing the most friction right now, maybe it's chasing payments, maybe it's an overbooked schedule. Fix that first, then move on to the next.

Growing a service business in 2026 means doing more with the same crew, not necessarily a bigger one. Tighter processes protect the margins that labor shortages and rising costs keep squeezing.

The contractors who win the most work are rarely the cheapest. They're the ones who make hiring them feel easy, from the first quote to the final invoice.

Woody the toy cowboy has faced a lot of frightening moments over the course of five Toy Story movies, but the actor voicing him for the last 30 years is trepidatious over the possibility that AI will supplant him. Tom Hanks told Entertainment Weekly in a new interview that the idea of AI replacing his voice is "a scary thought."

"Time is undefeated," Hanks said. "The question would be whether or not we could cobble together some version of me. Every word we have ever recorded in time in Toy Story is on digital media somewhere, so they could put together anything they would want."

Debates about AI in movies and film are raging even as the technology is deployed to reproduce the voices and complete performances of people who have passed away. Not to mention fully AI-generated films that otherwise employ human voice actors.

AI acting

Most entertainment projects with AI so far have generally involved the participation or approval of the performers themselves, but they also demonstrate how quickly the technology has matured. What once required painstaking effects work can increasingly be achieved with sophisticated machine learning models trained on years of existing material.

Hanks has himself been in AI-assisted productions, specifically in the film Here, which relied on AI to de-age him and co-star Robin Wright for part of the film rather than depending entirely on traditional visual effects.

Hanks' concerns extend beyond his own career. He has elsewhere suggested that his biggest worry is whether audiences will eventually stop caring whether a performance comes from a human being at all, not trusting that what they see isn't produced with AI. That feels like a more unsettling question than whether Woody could return without Hanks.

Future films

There's a little irony in Hanks' comments. The original Toy Story was a technological revolution that some saw as a threat to traditional hand-drawn animation. Three decades later, one of the stars who helped usher in that revolution is looking at the next wave of technology with understandable caution.

Caution doesn't mean dismissal of AI, of course. Hanks is known for being part of projects using advanced tools like motion capture, digital filmmaking, and experimental visual effects throughout his career. His concern seems more about what gets lost when technology starts replacing the people audiences are connected with in the first place.

And while each individual use of AI can be justified as another filmmaking tool, there's still a larger question about where AI assistance ends, and replacement begins. The answer will probably depend on what audiences decide they value rather than purely technical capabilities. Movie stars are more than collections of facial expressions and vocal recordings, and recreating the performance that audiences associate with Woody, that's more than just "good enough," would be a tall order.

Editor's note: This piece was written before Apple raised its prices across a variety of its Macs, MacBooks and iPads, leading to a surge in purchasing of iPad Air deals. Some seem to still be available, but supplies are short, so act fast and check the widget below for live pricing in your area. The rest of this article remains as originally written.

It's been years since I last owned my own Kindle, as I ultimately do prefer physical copies to add to my collection, and only otherwise used my OG Kindle while travelling. However, whenever Amazon Prime Day rolls around, I do tend to second-guess myself when I see the meaty discounts on some of the best Kindles.

• Browse all early Prime Day deals at Amazon

In particular, I was tempted by the new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft; as an avid manga reader, I was super excited by the idea of freeing up some shelf space (and if you read manga, you'll know that comes in short supply once your collection grows) by reading some of my less-favored series digitally. However, after trying it for a couple of weeks, I'm only using it for its primary function: as an ereader.

Sure, I'm pretty impressed by this all-in-one E Ink notepad, comic and book reader, but especially right now, the price is a huge turn-off. Put it this way; the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is currently $519 (was $679) in the US and £442 (was £569) in the UK.

Meanwhile, the Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for $124 (was $159) at Amazon US and £113 (was £159) at Amazon UK and the significantly more performant and multifunctional iPad 11-inch (A16) is $299 (was $349) at Amazon US and £309 (was £329) at Amazon UK. That's a $96 / £20 saving for an arguably better combination.

Below, I've detailed the key differences between each device.

Amazon Kindle Scribe Colorsoft

The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is the latest, most performant ereader from Amazon, offering a combination of three different Kindle types: the standard E ink display Kindle, the notepad-like Kindle Scribe, and the color display Kindle Colorsoft.

Each is useful in its own right; reading comics and manga on the Scribe Colorsoft is a delight, though text boxes that spread across panels can be cut off if you use the full page panel view. It's pretty well optimized for the task, though even in vivid mode, colors can be a little washed out.

The writing experience is great. The screen is super responsive, the stylus is comfortable in use and features a shortcut key as well as a functional eraser, and the addition of color to the display means you can select different pen and highlighter colors to create more detailed annotations.

It packs all the usual useful Kindle features (including Word Wise, which is great for younger readers or language learners) as well as AI features like note summary and handwriting-to-text conversion.

However, there are three major things to note when it comes to the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft.

First is that you can't actually use all of these features in tandem, meaning you can't markup comics or manga, though that's likely not a use case many people would want.

Second is that even outside of major sales events like Prime Day, you can get a Kindle, a Scribe, and a Colorsoft at almost the same price as this all-in-one device; and if you don't really need either the note-taking or the color display at the same time, you might as well do that.

Third is that while the large slate might be what you're looking for in terms of drawing, writing and graphic novel reading, it makes it a lot less portable than the standard or Paperwhite Kindle experience, which for me is the main reason I prize an ereader over a book.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

A step up from the basic Kindle, the Kindle Paperwhite offers a bright and beautiful screen for reading your favorite books. At this point, I'd very rarely recommend the standard base model for any reason beyond its low price, whereas the Kindle Paperwhite is genuinely enjoyable to read on, and that includes comics and manga.

With its E Ink Carta 1300 display, the 12th-generation Kindle Paperwhite offers great contrast for easy reading, a slightly larger screen, comfortable bezels for long hours of reading and 16GB storage (though we're not thrilled 4.5GB of that is dedicated to the operating system.)

If you've tried the 11th-generation model, there's a slim margin of upgrade with this newer, 12th-generation model, but if you're currently using any older Kindle Paperwhite or standard Kindle, you'll certainly feel the difference.

It's fast, the battery is great, and it excels at exactly what it was created for; reading. That's doubly true thanks to its slim profile, making it easy to grab and stash in your bag; at 211g, it's super lightweight to carry.

It's worth noting that, at list price, we're not 100% happy about the Kindle Paperwhite's value proposition. This goes for a lot of Amazon devices, which only feel like a good deal during major sales events, but for context, spend a little more on the Kobo Libra color which costs $219.99 / £219.99 and you can get a color ereader with a screen of the same size, double the storage, a more ergonomic design and writing capabilities.

Of course, if you're bedded into the Amazon ecosystem with access to its vast library of books through a Prime Membership, it's still a no-brainer.

Apple iPad 11-inch (A16 chip)

While the latest, 11th-generation iPad didn't reinvent the tablet-shaped wheel, it brought a nice refresh in the form of the A16 chipset, powering a fast, responsive iPadOS experience.

It's a great productivity machine, and especially when paired with an Apple Pencil, it offers everything you could want from a Kindle Scribe Colorsoft and more, with its app library including fantastic options for note-taking, drawing and more intensive creative functions like video editing; though you're better off with an Apple Silicon-powered tablet like the iPad Pro (M5) or iPad Air (M4) if that's your rodeo.

It weighs just over a pound, so it's less primed for travel, and an e-ink display offers weeks of battery life, whereas the 11th-generation iPad only stretches to roughly 10 hours with general use; that's why pairing it with a Kindle Paperwhite for your reading needs is my top recommendation.

Still, even on its own, it stands as a solid alternative to a Kindle altogether, but especially at its price, I'd wager it's a superior choice to a Kindle Scribe Colorsoft for most. After all, you can just install the Kindle app and read your favorite books, comics, and manga on the vastly superior display.

More early Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More early Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: sign up for a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire TV, Ring & Blink from £24.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: AirPods Pro 3 for a record-low price
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja, Tefal & Sage
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from under £10
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Father's Day: up to 50% off gifts & drinks
• Headphones: up to 50% off
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £125
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Eufy & Roborock
• Wearables: Garmin & Huawei from £36.99

Your phone rings while three jobs are already running late. A fourth customer wants to know why nobody confirmed their appointment window. If you're coordinating calls through a shared calendar, a stack of paper tickets, or a group chat with your crew, this probably sounds familiar.

You're likely looking at software because the manual approach stopped holding up around your fifth truck. A missed appointment may have already cost you a repeat customer. Picking the wrong platform wastes money you can't spare, so it pays to know what matters before you sign anything.

Why use a dedicated platform for HVAC services

Spreadsheets and paper trackers work fine with two trucks and a short customer list. A few more technicians or a batch of maintenance contracts push that setup past its limit. Job details start slipping between the office and the field before anyone notices.

The HVAC trade doesn't have spare hands to throw at the problem either. The industry is short roughly 110,000 technicians nationwide, with about 25,000 leaving the workforce every year, according to ACHR News. Customers have also grown less patient: industry surveys show that 74% expect a repair within 24 hours when their air conditioning fails, with 30% wanting same-day service.

Dedicated software closes that gap by automating reminders and arrival windows. It also turns every job into a record, with service history and equipment details attached to the customer rather than a technician's memory. That record becomes the foundation for maintenance plans, where a lot of HVAC profit actually sits.

What to look for in HVAC field service management platforms

Once you've decided to move off spreadsheets, the next challenge is sorting features that matter from features that just look good in a demo.

Pricing pages tend to list the same buzzwords, which makes the real differences hard to spot on a sales call. We've focused the criteria below on what changes daily operations, not what fills out a checklist.

Scheduling and dispatch tools

A clear view of who's where and what's next is the core job of this software. Look for a drag-and-drop calendar showing technician location alongside current job status. Dispatchers should be able to reassign a job in seconds when a call comes in or a repair runs long.

Route optimization matters more than it sounds, since grouping nearby jobs cuts drive time and adds billable hours. Some platforms also weigh technician skill level, so a complex repair doesn't land with someone trained only on residential units.

We'd ask specifically how the platform handles same-day emergencies. A good system slots an urgent job into an existing route without rebuilding the day's schedule by hand.

Mobile features for field technicians

Your technicians live on their phones once they leave the shop, so the mobile app needs to work as hard as the office dashboard. Look for offline access, since basements and rural job sites often have weak signal. A technician who can keep working offline, then sync once back in range, won't lose half a day to a dead zone.

The app should also surface what a technician needs before they knock on a door, including service history and notes from the last visit. All of it should live on one screen, not behind a phone call to dispatch.

Photo capture and on-site invoicing round out a solid mobile experience. A technician who can collect a signature and close out a job before driving away gets paid faster.

Payment processing

Cash flow depends on how quickly a job becomes a paid invoice. Look for software that lets technicians invoice on-site and take payment immediately, rather than mailing a bill and waiting weeks.

Check whether pricing is locked to a pricebook technicians can pull from in the field. This keeps quotes consistent across your team and prevents undercharging on parts or labor.

Integration with accounting software like QuickBooks saves your office from re-entering the same data twice. Ask exactly which platforms a vendor supports natively, since a clunky export process defeats the purpose.

Customer communication

Customers want more than a booking confirmation. They expect to know when the technician is actually on the way. Automated text or email updates, including a real-time arrival window, cut down on the calls asking where the technician is.

A self-serve customer portal is increasingly standard, too. Letting customers view past invoices or request a new appointment without calling in lightens the load on busy days. Review-request features, which prompt a happy customer right after the job closes, are worth checking too. Word of mouth still carries serious weight in a trade that runs on trust.

Maintenance agreement and equipment tracking

Recurring maintenance plans are where a lot of HVAC profit quietly sits. The Air Conditioning Contractors of America has reported that recurring service agreements now make up more than half of total HVACR industry revenue at well-run companies. Software that automates plan billing and renewal reminders turns this into a system, rather than a manual chase every spring and fall.

Equipment tracking matters just as much. A platform that logs serial numbers and warranty status per unit means a technician arrives already knowing the system's history, which makes the case for a replacement far easier to have.

Reporting and software integrations

Once a platform is running, the data it collects should say something about your business beyond which jobs are scheduled. Look for dashboards showing technician productivity alongside which crews convert service calls into maintenance agreements.

Integrations matter beyond accounting, too. Check whether the platform connects to your payment processor and parts suppliers, since an isolated system just becomes one more login to manage.

Most vendors say their software integrates with everything. Ask for a specific list of supported tools rather than taking that claim at face value.

Conclusion

A smooth rollout matters almost as much as the features themselves. Start with one crew before pushing it across the company, then use that pilot to catch workflow problems early.

Budget for more than the monthly subscription fee. Most vendors charge per technician. Implementation and training can also add real cost in the first few months.

We'd suggest asking current customers in your trade how long their rollout took, since vendor estimates tend to run optimistic. A platform that fits your actual call volume and crew size earns back its cost within the first year.

Running a service business means competing for the same local customers as every other contractor in your area, all while keeping a crew busy and a calendar full.

The old growth playbook, more ads and a bigger budget, costs more for the same number of leads today. Growth now comes down to getting more value out of every customer and every hour your technicians spend in the field.

Lead costs keep climbing while skilled technicians get harder to hold onto. Customers also expect a faster response than they did even a year ago. We've broken down seven strategies that tackle each of these pressures head-on.

#1 Make your reputation work harder

Most homeowners and property managers check reviews before they call anyone. BrightLocal's research shows the vast majority of consumers look up a local business online before deciding who to hire. A handful of three-star reviews can cost you the job before you've even sent a quote.

A one-star increase in your average rating can lift revenue by 5 to 9%, according to Harvard Business School research on Yelp ratings. Ask for a review after every completed job instead of hoping a happy customer remembers to leave one. A modest referral discount for existing customers costs far less than most forms of paid advertising.

#2 Win local searches before the call

Search is usually the first stop before anyone hires a contractor. Research cited by Hook Agency found that 84% of homeowners use Google before choosing a service provider. Most people never scroll past the first few results.

A complete Google Business Profile makes a real difference here. Google's own data shows that a complete profile makes customers 70% more likely to visit and 50% more likely to buy from you. Keep your service area listings and photos accurate.

#3 Turn one-off jobs into recurring revenue

A one-time repair pays the bills today. It does nothing for next quarter. Maintenance plans and service memberships change that by giving you predictable income between emergency calls.

Industry estimates put preventive maintenance contracts at close to 40% of total HVAC revenue, a sign of how much recurring work already flows through these programs. Keep your plan simple: one straightforward tier beats three confusing ones. Train technicians to recommend the plan after a service call instead of trying to sell it like an add-on.

#4 Get more from existing customers

Winning a new customer costs far more than keeping one you already have. Selling additional work to an existing customer succeeds 60-70% of the time, while a brand-new customer converts at just 5-20%, according to widely cited customer-retention research. That gap alone should change where you spend your follow-up time.

Look for the natural next step after every job, like gutter guards after a cleaning or a duct inspection after a tune-up. Train your team to mention these options on-site instead of waiting for the customer to ask. A short follow-up message a few weeks later keeps the offer fresh without feeling pushy.

#5 Run scheduling and dispatch from one system

Spreadsheets and sticky notes stop working once you have more than a couple of crews on the road. Commercial service management software puts scheduling and dispatch on one screen instead of scattered spreadsheets and paper job sheets. The market for these platforms is on track to grow from roughly $5.6 billion in 2025 to nearly $9.7 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research.

Real-time dispatch means you can slot a same-day emergency call into a gap in the schedule instead of turning it down. Mobile access lets technicians see job history and customer notes before they knock on the door. Most users of this kind of software run small operations rather than large enterprises, so the learning curve fits a five-person crew, not a 500-person fleet.

#6 Quote and invoice faster to win jobs

Customers contacting multiple companies for the same job almost always hire whoever responds first. Research from MIT, popularized through the Harvard Business Review, found that contacting a new lead within five minutes makes you dramatically more likely to actually reach them than waiting half an hour. Most service businesses still take hours, sometimes days, to send a quote.

Speed matters after the sale, too. A quote sent from the job site, with a digital signature and an online payment link, gets approved faster than a paper estimate mailed or emailed later. Faster payment also means fewer awkward follow-up calls chasing invoices that should have been settled weeks ago.

#7 Invest in the technicians you already have

Finding skilled labor is the single biggest constraint on growth for most service businesses right now. Up to 2.1 million skilled trades positions could go unfilled in the US by 2030, according to research from commercial real estate firm JLL. Demand for electricians alone is projected to grow at roughly three times the average rate for all occupations through 2034, the same research found.

Hiring your way out of this isn't realistic for most owners, so retention matters just as much as recruiting. Pay matters, but so does giving technicians modern tools instead of paperwork and guesswork. A crew that isn't fighting bad scheduling and slow payment processes is a crew that's more likely to stick around.

Wrapping up

None of these seven strategies work well on its own. A strong reputation feeds your local search rankings, which in turn feeds your lead pipeline. The system you use to manage scheduling and invoicing is what lets you keep up once those leads start calling.

Growth in 2026 isn't about chasing more leads at a higher cost. It's about getting more value from the customers and jobs you already have. We'd start with whichever strategy addresses your biggest bottleneck this quarter, then move to the next once it's running smoothly.

Philips Hue makes some of the best smart bulbs around, but they're not cheap. So if you've spotted the brand's Essentials range — which comes in at around half the price of the classic bulbs — you might be wondering what the catch is, and whether they're quite as good a buy as they seem. It's an especially pertinent question right now, because we're inundated with Philips Hue deals across both the Essential and standard ranges, as part of the Amazon Prime Day sales.

• View all Philips Hue deals on Amazon UK / Amazon US

This article is here to help you figure out whether the Philips Hue Essential range is right for you, or whether it's better to splurge on the original lineup. Below, you'll find all the key information you need to know about these bulbs and the main differences between the two options. I've also rounded up my pick of the best discounts in the UK and US — this is just a selection of the deals on offer, so if you can't see what you're looking for, it's well worth browsing the full range on Amazon using the links above.

Are the Philips Hue Essential bulbs any good?

Let's get straight to it: the answer is yes. You can get the full low-down in my teammate Cat Ellis' Philips Hue Essential series review, but the short version is that we're big fans of these lights. They're around half the price of the main range, but when she tested the two sets side-by-side, Cat struggled to see many differences:

"Both were equally responsive, and produced colors that were identical to my naked eye when I switched between scenes. According to Signify (the company behind the Philips Hue brand), Essential bulbs use different color-matching technology to regular Hue lights; but personally, I had a hard time telling the difference."

The Essential bulbs are also fully compatible with the main range of bulbs and other Philips Hue accessories, meaning they'll integrate smoothly into an existing setup. That means you could use these as a complement to the pricier options, perhaps in rooms that are used less frequently. We concluded that they were "a superb entry into the world of smart lighting".

What are the down-sides versus the main range?

There are a few compromises you're making for that much cheaper price. Essential bulbs can only dim to 2%, whereas the main range can go right down to 0.2% — you can see what that looks like in the image below. They also have a narrower white light range, which could look odd if you were planning on mixing and matching Essential and regular Hue bulbs in the same room.

Essential bulbs have a lower maximum brightness level — they can reach 803 lumens, whereas some of the standard White & Color Ambiance bulbs can hit 1,600 lumens. (The regular bulb we used in our side-by-side tests had the same max lumens as the Essential one, though.) None of these aspects were deal-breakers for us, but they're worth being aware of before you buy.

Philips Hue deals — UK

Philips Hue deals — US

Wait, are there different kinds of Hue lights?

Whichever bulb lineup you choose, you'll have to decide between Hue's three light types. The main one that most people probably associate with the brand is White and color ambiance. That means the bulbs can emit any one of millions of RGB colors, including a wide range of different white tones.

However, if you don't want colored lights, you'd be better with either a White or White ambiance bulb. The former emit a warm light at a set color temperature. The latter can be set to any one of a massive range of cool to warm white lights. (You can read more in our article explaining Philips Hue bulb types.)

ChatGPT's new Scheduled Tasks feature announcement this week — the ability for ChatGPT to now send reminders, handle recurring work, or monitor things — caught my attention immediately.

After all, AI assistants are all predicated on being reactive and needing your initial input. No matter how sophisticated the technology becomes, the responsibility usually remains firmly on your side of the screen. But if they are to truly be assistants, they have to be able to help you out when you might not remember to ask for their help.

Scheduled Tasks do require your input to begin with, of course. But you can't tell ChatGPT to remind you about something later. You can ask it to send recurring updates. You can keep an eye on a topic and notify you when something changes.

Unlike a lot of ChatGPT features, this one truly seems to give ChatGPT more of an actual assistant feel.

How to start using Scheduled Tasks

I started with a basic reminder of something I frequently forget. I asked ChatGPT to remind me to practice my saxophone three evenings each week.

Again, the setup was conversational. There were no complicated menus or automation builders. I simply described what I wanted. ChatGPT replied, "I'll remind you to practice saxophone three evenings per week. I'll keep the reminders encouraging and focused on making consistent progress."

Your Scheduled Tasks are all accessible from a new left-hand menu item, nestled between Projects and Apps, provided you are a ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, or Enterprise user. If you click the menu option then ChatGPT will suggest some things to try with Scheduled Tasks.

That evening I received the first reminder, with a couple of links suggesting songs to learn. Exactly the kind of thing that will help keep me on track.

If you've enabled notifications for the ChatGPT app on your phone, you'll get a notification that your scheduled task has completed. If you're using ChatGPT in a browser then turn on Desktop Notifications when it asks you. If email notifications are enabled for scheduled tasks in your ChatGPT settings, you'll also receive the result by email.

I then set up a more complicated evening reminder. I wanted a suggestion sent every day at 4 p.m. for a short but fun game to play outside with my child. The idea was to outsource a small piece of the fretting I sometimes feel to keep young kids entertained. Happily, not long before he returned home from daycare, ChatGPT suggested a fun and even slightly educational game of dinosaurs which he loved because of getting to run around and roar, but also helped him learn the names of several dinosaur species.

Getting a useful morning briefing

My third test was set for overnight. I told ChatGPT that I wanted a quick summary of local events or critical information to know every weekday morning at 8 a.m. Normally, this would involve checking several websites and social media. ChatGPT agreed to do so, and this morning I got a roundup of not only the day's weather, but details of yesterday's election news, the upcoming World Cup games, and how they might affect traffic.

Plenty of apps can recommend activities. What mattered was that the suggestion appeared before I had even started thinking about them or when it felt too late. Throughout the day, I kept noticing the same thing. Scheduled tasks were not saving enormous amounts of time. They were saving small moments of mental effort. Each individual task removed one tiny obligation from my internal to-do list.

That is the subtle trick scheduled tasks pull off so well. Instead of responding to a need, it anticipates one. Countless services can handle individual pieces of what happened during those two days. What felt different was having everything tied to the same conversation. That may be why the feature works better than you might expect. It remembers things so that you do not have to.

Running a commercial cleaning business off spreadsheets and paper checklists gets harder once crews scatter across a dozen sites a week. Clients want documented proof of service. A missed inspection can sink a contract you spent months winning.

Good software fixes more than admin headaches. It keeps every job accountable and all clients informed. It also keeps your business ready for an impromptu safety audit you didn't see coming.

Why does commercial cleaning require dedicated operations software?

Generic scheduling apps handle simple appointments fine, but commercial cleaning runs on details those tools weren't built for. A single contract might cover ten buildings and three shifts, with each visit needing its own proof of completion.

Labor adds another layer of pressure, with the US employing about 2.4 million janitors and building cleaners at a median hourly wage that climbed past $17 in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Margins stay thin, so every hour lost to manual scheduling is an hour you're not billing.

Safety compliance raises the stakes further. A serious OSHA violation can run up to $16,550, while a willful or repeat violation tops $165,514, under the agency's 2026 penalty schedule. Paper logs rarely hold up to that kind of scrutiny.

Clients on multi-site contracts want consistency they can verify, beyond your word alone. Digital inspections with photo timestamps and GPS check-ins give them exactly that. They also give your supervisors a way to catch problems before a client does.

Look for software built around the specific demands of janitorial work, not generic field service basics. The features that matter most include:

• Recurring schedules across multiple sites and shifts
• GPS-verified time tracking and route management
• Digital inspection checklists with photo proof
• Compliance documentation for chemicals and safety training
• Client portals for reports and feedback
• Invoicing tied to verified, completed jobs

What to look for in commercial cleaning platforms

Not every cleaning platform covers every need. Pricing varies just as widely as the feature lists. Before you commit, look closely at how each platform performs in five areas that matter most for daily operations.

Treat this as a checklist for your demo calls, not a ranking of any single tool. The right mix of features depends on your crew size and contract mix.

Scheduling and multi-site dispatch

Recurring contracts are the backbone of commercial cleaning, so scheduling needs to handle them without constant manual rework. Look for tools that let you set a job once and have it repeat automatically for the length of the contract.

Multi-site dispatch matters just as much as recurring schedules. You need a single view of which crew is where and what's left to finish. You also need to know who's available if someone calls in sick.

Route optimization is worth checking too, especially if crews travel between buildings during a shift. Even modest improvements in travel time add up across a fleet covering dozens of stops a week.

Digital inspections and quality scoring

Quality assurance separates a professional operation from a one-off cleaning crew. Digital inspections let supervisors score jobs against a consistent standard, rather than relying on a client's gut feeling.

Photo timestamps and GPS check-ins give that scoring real weight. They prove a job happened as scheduled. They also give you evidence if a client disputes the work.

Some platforms let clients view inspection scores directly through a portal. That transparency can be the difference between a renewed contract and a client who quietly starts shopping around.

Safety documentation

Commercial cleaning touches more regulations than most service businesses realize, from hazard communication rules to client-specific safety requirements. Software that tracks safety data sheets and chemical dilution logs turns a compliance program from a scramble into routine.

Audit trails matter here, too. If an inspector or a client asks when a high-touch surface was last disinfected, you want an instant answer instead of a search through paper logs.

Look for customizable checklists that adjust by facility type. A hospital corridor and a warehouse floor call for different protocols. Your software should reflect that without extra manual setup.

Client communication

Facility managers want proof of value beyond a monthly invoice. Automated reports that summarize completed jobs and inspection scores save you from writing that summary by hand every month. They can also flag recurring problems before a client has to call about them.

A client portal goes further by giving facility managers self-service access to schedules and reports whenever they need them. That visibility builds trust and cuts down on status-check phone calls.

Look for two-way communication features as well, such as in-app messaging or ticketing for special requests. Buried email threads make it easy for a request to slip through the cracks.

Mobile tools for frontline crews

Most of your workforce never sits at a desk, so the mobile experience matters more than the back-office dashboard. Crews need an app that works offline in basements and parking garages where signal drops out.

Multilingual support is worth checking, given how diverse the cleaning workforce is in many markets. Clear instructions in a worker's preferred language cut down on mistakes and rework.

Time tracking through the same app keeps payroll accurate without separate punch clocks. The fewer apps a cleaner has to juggle on a shift, the more likely they are to actually use the one you give them.

Conclusion

Rolling out new software works best in phases. Start with one site or one crew, and fix the inevitable hiccups before expanding. Move to additional locations once your supervisors are comfortable running the system day to day.

Pricing typically scales with the number of users, sites, or inspections you run each month, so get a quote based on your actual job volume rather than a published starting price. Factor training time into your budget too, since adoption usually determines your return on investment more than the feature list does.

The best commercial cleaning software won't replace good supervisors or trained crews. It gives them the tools to prove the job got done. It also gives you the data to bid your next contract with confidence.

Spoilers for Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 ahead.

Even before Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 dropped on Netflix, we knew exactly where it was heading: the Fire Nation taking over all of the Four Nations.

In the latest batch of seven episodes, the target is the hidden city of Ba Sing Se — and as of season 2 episode 6, it's been captured.

With Avatar Aang (Gordon Cormier) the only person who can save the day, the pressure is on to stop Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim) from doing any more damage.

Unluckily, Princess Azula (Elizabeth Yu) is taking her dad's wishes into her own hands. But can our favorite gang cope with her fiendish plans?

Here's everything you need to know about the Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 ending... and what it might mean for the already confirmed season 3.

Appa, Sokka, Zuko and Katara are all captured by the Dai Li — which is now controlled by Azula

We kick off Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 episode 8 with a flashback of baby Aang meeting Appa the sky bison for the first time. Aang feeds Appa an apple (trying to say that three times fast), and they embrace.

Cut to the present day, where Appa has been kidnapped by the Dai Li — Ba Sing Se's secret police force — which is now being controlled by Princess Azula. Trust me, you will cry seeing him in chains.

In a meeting with the city's Grand Secretariat, Long Feng (Chin Han), Azula kills all of Ba Sing Se's highest-ranking men in the force when they question why the Fire Nation wants to control the city. Long Feng, however, begrudgingly but fearfully complies with Azula's plan: to raise Ba Sing Se's drawbridge and let the Fire Nation troops roll in, taking out anything they want in the process.

Remember, this is all coming from Lord Ozai's orders, despite Azula being a more than willing vehicle for them. But Appa isn't the only Aang ally the Dai Li has captured on her orders, with Sokka (Ian Ousley) and Katara (Kiawentiio) also in separate cells.

Sokka reunites with inventor Sai (Danny Pudi) in his cell, with the inventor already being captured before his arrival. Together, they try to figure out how to use the prison's underground structure to break free.

Katara has been put in a cell with Zuko (Dallas Liu), who was caught by the Dai Li after "doing a good act." This marks the biggest pinnacle in Zuko's personal struggle between good and evil so far, and Azula has no idea that he's jailed.

Meanwhile, Toph (Miya Cech) returns home to her mother, complaining that Aang and co. "don't understand her" after their huge falling out in episode 6. While initially seeming on board with how great Toph's earthbending powers are, her mother poisons Toph's tea in order to try and control her urge to leave home forever.

Aang and Iroh plan an escape mission

So where is Aang in this? Right behind his pals, having already figured out where Appa is underground just by sensing him. When the Azula-controlled Dai Li parade through the center of Ba Sing Se, he's hidden by allies made in season 2, episode 1.

When he attempts to approach the Dai Li's underground jail, he's spotted by Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) and is immediately suspicious. Iroh reveals that he's also on a mission to break Zuko out of jail, thinking that the pair should team up for maximum effect.

Iroh tells Aang about a secret door that Avatar Kyoshi once installed to lead into the underground caves, but it needs all four elements bent at once to be able to open it. Aang is missing his firebending powers at this stage, so he needs Iroh just as much as Iroh needs Aang.

Together, the pair locate and open the door, and set off on their rescue mission.

Zuko tries to bond with Katara

While Sokka and Sai try to be proactive, Katara learns who Zuko really is. Immediately, she goes on the defensive, telling him how all of her family — and the entire Waterbending tribe — were wiped out thanks to the hostile Fire Nation invasion.

Zuko definitely feels empathy for Katara, but still has a chip on his shoulder. He tells her that the Fire Nation also stripped him of his family, with his mother dying at the hands of Lord Ozai.

The more the two talk, the more they realize that they have a lot in common. It's the closest we've even seen Zuko come to his "good" side, and it seems as though he's finally going to stay that way for good.

Looking at the burn mark around his left eye, Katara offers to try and heal Zuko using the waterbending potion in the locket around her neck. Just as she's about to apply it, Aang and Iroh storm in, having found and released Sokka and Sai first.

Aang goes to fight Zuko, but Iroh stops him, claiming that he's seen huge changes for the better in his nephew. Not quite believing that Zuko has defected from the Fire Nation, the gang sets off in search of the exit.

Aang's escape plan is thwarted

With the Dai Li everywhere, the gang splits up. Aang goes to find Appa after Long Feng brings him up to speed with Azula's plans, earthbending a hole through the ceiling so that Appa can fly to safety.

But as he tries to rejoin the others, he passes another prisoner who was originally being psychologically tortured by a Dai Li officer earlier on. Aang offers to bring her with them, but instead of accepting his offer, she shouts that "the Avatar is here," alerting the guards.

From there, it's fighting on all fronts. In pairs, the group makes light work of the Dai Li roaming the hallways, especially when Toph joins suits, revealing that she has invented "metalbending."

In fact, metalbending is how she ended up there in the first place. When she wakes up after her poisoning, Toph awakes in a metal box riding inside her mother's horse and carriage. Coming to the conclusion that Aang really does understand her, where her family doesn't, she bends the box and flies out of the carriage, making her way to safety.

An all-out battle with Azula changes Zuko's allegiance

With the fight raging on, Azula soon joins the mix, learning that her brother is among the escapees. Honing her focus on him, she tries to convince him, once again, to rejoin her side.

At first, Zuko remains hesitant, more confident in his newfound ability to do good things. But when Azula brings up the death of their mother, he changes his mind.

Where Zuko has always held a grudge against Azula for how she acted when their mother died, Azula reveals that she was only acting on her mother's orders. Their mom wanted the siblings to stay together through the trauma, breaking an emotional trigger point inside Zuko when he hears this.

By the time the rest of the gang reach a large clearing in the underground caves, Azula and Zuko emerge to fight them all as a team. This shocks Katara, who had genuinely believed that Zuko was coming around to being on their side.

After a lot of intense bending and fighting, it looks as though Azula has Aang right where she wants him — after all, the entire point of kidnapping his friends was to lure Aang to Ba Sing Se.

But in his hour of need, Aang taps into what can best be described as an "Avatar portal," seeing physical forms of all the Avatars that came before him in his mind's eye. More clearly, it's what causes Aang's eyes and head arrow to turn a shining blue, as he's essentially channelling their collective power through his body.

Aang is left unconscious

At this point, we see Aang's best bending to date, turning the tables on Azula and leaving her (and the Dai Li guards who join her) powerless.

But just as he's about to deliver the final blow, Aang loses his inner vision, effectively shutting his power off. He collapses to the floor, but Katara, Sokka and Toph are able to get him to safety thanks to Appa having waited outside.

With Ba Sing Se still under Azula's control, our final scene shows the gang flying away on Appa's back. Kata uses the potion she initially offered to Zuko on Aang, aiming to heal him and bring him back to full health.

However, nothing happens after she gives it to him, with the final shot showing Aang completely unconscious and unresponsive.

Season 3 predictions

Obviously, finding out if Aang has actually survived the battle is a top priority for season 3. But the mere fact that season 3 has already been greenlit basically confirms that we'll be seeing Aang again anyway.

In a nutshell, we can expect to see Aang learning to firebend, infiltrating the Fire Nation, and preparing for his climactic showdown with Fire Lord Ozai before Sozin's Comet arrives. Not too much, then.

We also know that Zuko will eventually team up with Aang and the gang to make this happen, so we can expect to see some more emotional upheaval from him.

We're hoping to see season 3 episodes next summer.

Although the technology powering them has evolved in performance and efficiency, the core principle of data centers hasn’t changed much in the past two decades.

Every new generation of infrastructure has been designed to shorten the distance to users, reducing latency and increasing reliability. However AI is putting serious strain on that model, and unprecedented demand for data centers is making companies think outside the box.

Terrestrial projects now face challenges from all directions, including land availability, cooling, power and water consumption, and local opposition.

Step in orbital data centers. Some pioneers are now looking to rocket data centers up into space, and the model keeps shifting further from concept and closer to reality.

While enormous technical hurdles remain, advocates argue orbital data centers could eventually complement terrestrial campuses by shifting some of the most energy-intensive AI workloads away from land-based constraints.

Networking is what will define good orbital compute

Some of the benefits include virtually unlimited space to expand, uninterrupted access to green solar energy and cooler environments that don’t require so much cooling.

But while sending compute into space tackles some of the problems we face today, it reverses one of the biggest fixes we’ve spent years improving – latency.

In today’s instant economy, a data center has no use if it can’t exchange information quickly and reliably. Terrestrial networks lean heavily on fiber networks and physical connections, but orbital data centers would need to improve wireless transmission across hundreds of miles.

As work on this progresses, Internet exchange operator DE-CIX CEO Ivo Ivanov says orbital compute should be viewed as another layer in our increasingly distributed digital ecosystem – not an outright replacement for terrestrial compute.

To better understand whether orbital data centers are just another ambitious experiment or whether they could be the next evolution of digital infrastructure, I spoke with Ivanov about the industry’s biggest challenges.

• You noted that SpaceX's IPO has brought the idea of AI data centers in space into the mainstream. Setting the hype aside, how close is this to real, and what's actually driving the biggest companies in the world to look at space?

The idea of placing data centers in orbit is the kind of thing that immediately captures people's imagination. It belongs in the same category of technological ambition as reusable rockets, commercial spaceflight, or landing on the Moon.

For decades it felt like something that belonged in science fiction. Today, for the first time, it's being discussed as a serious infrastructure proposition. But I don’t think the real story here is about space – it’s about AI, and how it’s altering our global trajectory.

Over the last few years, we've seen an extraordinary increase in demand for compute capacity. AI training clusters are growing larger, power requirements are rising, and in many regions the availability of energy, land, and cooling has become a genuine constraint.

These constraints are what drive innovation, and that’s what we’re seeing play out here.

In theory, space offers access to continuous solar energy and room to scale without the physical limitations we experience here on Earth. Having said that, we're still at a very early stage.

I don't think we're talking about replacing terrestrial infrastructure anytime soon. What we're seeing today is the beginning of a serious exploration into how orbital resources could complement the digital infrastructure ecosystem that already exists.

There is still work to be done, particularly around networking – putting an AI data center into orbit would be a milestone achievement, but it won’t count for much if we have to truck hard drives into space to do any training. For now, all anybody can say with confidence is that it's becoming part of a broader conversation about how society will support the next generation of AI workloads.

• What problems could orbital data centers potentially solve that terrestrial infrastructure struggles with today?

I think the broader answer is that orbital infrastructure has the potential to ease some of the physical constraints that have shaped and limited digital infrastructure for decades. We can’t simply keep building more data centers – they need access to land, power, cooling, transport links, and of course, connectivity.

As AI continues to grow, some of those resources will become harder to secure, especially at the pace the industry wants to move.

That's why the industry is starting to look at non-terrestrial alternatives. Suddenly, you're talking about access to potentially unlimited solar energy, plenty of space, and the opportunity to scale at a pace that matches our ambitions for AI.

But putting data centers into orbit, as impressive as it would be, is only the first step. Google’s Project Suncatcher is already exploring how power might be harvested from the sun, while the European Space Agency’s OFELIAS project is exploring how optical feeder links between Earth and orbit can be optimized to reduce latency and disruption. There are lots of moving parts.

• From a networking perspective, what challenges will emerge once data centers move into orbit?

The moment you put a data center into orbit, networking becomes the make-or-break factor. A data center on Earth can usually rely on a dense ecosystem of fiber routes, Internet Exchanges, cloud on-ramps, and interconnection facilities. In orbit, that ecosystem doesn't exist yet.

Every workload, every application, and every AI model depends on data moving between different locations, and suddenly those journeys become much more complex.

A lot of the discussion I’m hearing focuses on bandwidth or speed, but I think predictability is the more interesting challenge. AI systems need data to arrive quickly, but they also need it to arrive consistently.

Optical and laser-based communications have enormous potential, but they also introduce new variables like cloud cover, atmospheric turbulence, satellite handovers, and changing orbital positions that can all affect how data moves between Earth and space.

That's why I believe the real challenge isn't simply connecting an orbital data center to the ground, but creating an interconnection layer that makes orbital, terrestrial, cloud, and edge infrastructure behave as though they're part of the same ecosystem.

That's a much bigger networking challenge than people realize.

• Elon Musk said orbital infrastructure is "only a few milliseconds away." How much could those milliseconds matter, and is latency the biggest challenge?

Those milliseconds absolutely matter. AI systems are fundamentally data-driven, and every additional moment spent moving information between users, applications, models, and infrastructure affects performance and productivity.

That's one of the reasons the industry is investing so heavily in edge computing – the closer you can bring compute resources to the data, applications, and users they serve, the better the experience tends to be.

Certainly, low-Earth orbit is only milliseconds away, but for latency-sensitive use cases, the 20-40 ms it takes to reach the stratosphere will provide a significant challenge for some AI inference use cases. So not all applications can possibly be served from hundreds of kilometers above the ground.

Having said that, performance isn't just a question of latency. A network that consistently delivers twenty-five milliseconds of latency is often more valuable for many enterprise use-cases than one that fluctuates between twenty and a hundred.

Physics determines how quickly data can travel, but factors such as atmospheric conditions, satellite handovers, routing decisions, and network architecture all influence how predictable that experience is.

• If a data center is in orbit and the AI workloads it serves are on Earth, what actually has to happen for those two worlds to behave as one network?

The way I like to think about it is that users shouldn't have to think about where a workload is running. Whether an application is being served from a terrestrial data center, an edge location, a cloud region, or one day an orbital platform, the experience should feel seamless.

Achieving that is much harder than it sounds, because data has to move continuously between different environments, and those environments need to behave as though they're part of the same network, even when they're separated by hundreds or thousands of miles and, increasingly, by the boundary between Earth and space.

That's one of the reasons projects like the ESA's OFELIAS initiative, which I mentioned earlier, are so important. As part of that initiative, DE-CIX is working alongside partners including the German Aerospace Center to explore how optical feeder links between satellites and the ground can become more stable, efficient, and predictable.

Rather than simply building more connections, we need to create an infrastructure foundation that allows terrestrial, satellite, and orbital resources to work together as a single ecosystem.

We've spent decades building that kind of seamless interconnection on Earth, and now we need to take what we’ve learned and combine it with new technologies to bring non-terrestrial infrastructure into the picture.

• Where does this leave terrestrial data centers and interconnection? Will orbital compute compete with what exists on the ground, or depend on it?

I don't see this as a competition at all. Digital infrastructure has a long history of adding new layers rather than replacing existing ones. Cloud computing didn't eliminate enterprise data centers, edge computing hasn't eliminated centralized clouds, and satellite connectivity hasn't replaced terrestrial networks.

Instead, each technology tends to find the role it's best suited to, and the overall ecosystem becomes more capable as a result.

I think orbital compute will follow a similar path. Some AI workloads may benefit from being processed closer to abundant energy sources in orbit, while others will remain in terrestrial edge data centers because they require ultra-low latency inference, regulatory compliance, or proximity to users and applications.

It’s not about choosing one over the other, but creating an architecture where workloads can be placed wherever they make the most sense and where data can move seamlessly between them.

• What should the industry be doing now to prepare networks for orbital compute?

I think the first step is recognizing that orbital compute is more than a compute challenge. It's a networking one. The industry has spent decades building highly interconnected ecosystems on Earth, where data can move efficiently between enterprises, cloud providers, networks, content platforms, and users.

If compute begins expanding into orbit, we'll need to ensure the same level of interconnection exists between terrestrial, satellite, and orbital environments. Advances in satellite communications, laser-based networking, and distributed infrastructure are creating new possibilities that didn't exist a decade ago.

What I'd like to see now is greater collaboration between network operators, cloud providers, infrastructure companies, and space organizations.

The technologies themselves are advancing rapidly, but the challenge is ensuring they evolve as part of a coherent ecosystem rather than a collection of isolated systems.

• Looking ten years ahead, what does a fully interconnected ecosystem spanning terrestrial, edge, cloud, satellite, and orbital infrastructure actually look like? What technologies will make it work?

The most interesting thing about the future is that people probably won't think about infrastructure at all. Today, we spend a lot of time talking about whether something runs in a cloud region, an edge location, a data center, or on a particular network.

Ten years from now, if we succeed with orbital infrastructure, workloads will simply move to wherever they can be processed most efficiently, and data will flow across terrestrial, satellite, and orbital environments as naturally as it moves across continents today.

When we look back at the great infrastructure achievements of the past, whether it's railways, electricity grids, undersea cables, or the Internet itself, their success wasn't measured by the technology, but by how completely they disappeared into everyday life.

People stopped thinking about the infrastructure and started focusing on what it enabled. I think we'll see something similar here. The future of digital infrastructure will be defined by our ability to connect every layer of the ecosystem into something that feels seamless.

That's when we'll know we've succeeded.

The CEO of Samsara has hailed the benefits of AI in helping modernize and boost efficiency and productivity in the operations industry.

Speaking at the opening keynote of Samsara Beyond 2026 conference in Las Vegas, Sanjit Biswas laid out how the company is, “working together to build the future of operations”.

“These are industries that you can't read about in a book, or just visit a website…you have to put on your boots and go onsite,” he noted.

“Automate away the grind”

Biswas noted how Samsara’s customers are all facing the same challenges, namely the rising cost of fuel, caused by the war in the Middle East, put also the rising cost of doing business across the board, with rising maintenance costs also biting hard.

But technology was also proving a challenge in these more “hands-on” industries, he noted, with too many reports and disparate systems in conflict, leading to “data overload” as too many apps and distractions actually just annoy and frustrate workers.

To combat this, Biswas set out his idea of “automate away the grind” - using technology to give workers time back to focus on the really important tasks.

“We're entering a whole new age - the age of intelligence," he said, noting how Samsara wants to be, “taking operations to the next level”.

“We can collect tons and tones of data in the field,” he added, “and now we can use AI to find insights, and figure out what’s really going on…AI can now formulate plans, figure out tools, and really help you run your operation to take action on your behalf.”

Biswas laid out a host of useful examples where AI could benefit frontline workers, such as automatically adjusting vehicle settings during extreme weather situations, monitoring usage of tools and equipment to help predict when maintenance is needed, and giving drivers more information on delivery situations/environments such as a new drop-off location.

To back this up, Samsara announced its new Agent Studio, specifically designed for companies in the physical operations sector, which lets customers utilize a range of pre-configured agents or build their own from scratch.

The company says that going forward, tasks such as managing paperwork, communicating with drivers, and working with vendors can now be automated with agents in minutes, freeing staff from hours of manual work each week

“Reducing risk for the frontline, increasing the efficiency of the operation, and really helping you digitally transform with this technology - that’s what we’re excited about today," Biswas concluded.

Prime Day has arrived, running from June 23-26, and while LG’s 2026 OLEDs are now available, and there may be some offers around on those, there’s no better time to check out its 2025 lineup. All three of the mainstream 2025 models — the LG G5, LG C5 and LG B5 — featured among the best TVs of 2025, and now that their successors have arrived it’s only a matter of time before these TVs disappear. And with GTA 6 pre-orders live at midnight on June 25, there's no better time for an upgrade.

When it comes to picking which 2025 LG OLED is right for you, the first thing you’ll want to consider is your budget. With these TVs nearing the end of their lifespan, and Prime Day bringing around some excellent offers, this is your best chance to get a step-up model for less. LG’s OLEDs are among the best OLED TVs on the market, and while they’re good value at launch, events like Prime Day are where they shine.

You can read my thoughts below but for me, the highlight deal is the LG C5. The 65-inch C5 is available for $1,199 (was $1,399) at Amazon US, while the 55-inch is available for a record-low £899 (was £1,099) at Amazon UK. There's also the 42-inch C5 for £599 (was £849) at Amazon UK, the perfect bedroom-sized TV.

But, which LG OLED is the best option? While the C5 has the best deal, the B5 or G5 may be what you're looking for. I’ve tested and used all three models throughout the past year, as they serve as our reference screens for 4K Blu-ray testing as part of the Blu-ray Bounty, and as a benchmark for comparisons. Here are my thoughts on each TV below.

LG G5

LG’s 2025 flagship is the LG G5. The most feature-packed model of the lineup, the G5 covers all the bases, delivering on all fronts with some of the best gaming features on the market — 4K 165Hz, full VRR support, HGiG, ALLM and Dolby Vision gaming — with the performance to match. With the Alpha 11 Gen 2 AI Processor, general performance is smooth, with excellent response times that mean scrolling through menus is never a chore.

The G5’s picture quality is superb. It delivers rich, accurate colors regardless of what’s on screen. Whether it’s the staggeringly bright and vivid Wicked, or the more natural colors of The Wild Robot, its color reproduction is truly excellent. As an OLED, it delivers powerful contrast with deep, inky blacks and punchy highlights thanks to its new-found brightness, clocking in at 2,268 nits peak HDR brightness in Filmmaker Mode. It’s much brighter than the C5 and B5, so those who watch TV in bright rooms may want to take note. Textures are crisp and after turning on TruMotion, motion is smooth for sports and fast paced movies. This is easily one of the best-looking TVs you can get.

The G5’s built-in audio is solid, and while it still won’t beat a soundbar, it’s got the best built-in sound of the three LG OLEDs. As it is the flagship model, it comes at a price and while there are some good deals around, it's the priciest of the three.

LG C5

The LG C5 serves as the mid-range model in the 2025 lineup, and strikes a nice middle ground between the flagship G5 and the budget B5. It houses the Alpha 9 Gen 8 AI processor, which delivers smooth performance and has plenty of settings options and picture tools should you want to adjust them, although I found it’s pretty accurate out of the box.

Gamers are well covered here, with 4K 144Hz, full VRR, HGiG, ALLM and Dolby Vision gaming all supported. The C5 delivers razor-sharp performance, and sessions playing Battlefield V were not only smooth, but a ton of fun. Arguably just as good performance-wise as the G5, the C5 still holds the title for best gaming TV.

The C5’s picture quality is excellent. It delivers the deep, accurate black tones you want from an OLED, and with a new peak brightness (it hit a measured 1,180 nits HDR peak brightness in Filmmaker Mode) it delivers punchy highlights to create strong contrast that’s great for movies like The Batman. It also delivers dynamic, vibrant colors that pop on screen, making movies such as The Sound of Music look excellent, and textures are crisp and detail is refined with whatever’s on screen. It doesn’t have the brightness of the step-up G5, but it’s brighter than the B5, again hitting a nice midway point between the two, though it does have a somewhat reflective screen, as you’d expect from a glossy OLED.

While the C5’s built-in speakers are decent enough, it does benefit from a soundbar. Really though, this is the C5’s only downside. It ticks enough of the same boxes as the G5 to please OLED fans, and at a fraction of the price.

LG B5

The LG B5 is the most entry-level OLED in LG’s 2025 lineup, and while it may not have all the premium features and performance of the step-up G5 and C5, it still offers everything an OLED should, and is stacked with features.

In terms of picture quality, the B5 still delivers. It has the strong contrast you would want from an OLED, with deep blacks and solid highlights creating a dynamic range that looks fantastic for high-contrast movies like Alien: Romulus and Dark City. Its colors, while not as bold as its step-up siblings, are still rich and deep, meaning colorful movies like Wicked have plenty of pop on screen. Its motion is also excellent, making it a great TV for fast-paced action and sports. The B5 isn’t the brightest (clocking in at 668 nits peak HDR in Filmmaker), so people with bright rooms may want to take note, but really this is the B5’s only picture-related flaw.

The B5 also makes for an excellent gaming display. It doesn’t support higher refresh rates for PC gaming (144Hz, 165Hz and so on) but it does support 4K 120Hz across four HDMI 2.1 ports. There’s also full VRR support, and Dolby Vision gaming, HGiG and ALLM all feature. It has the same super-low 9.2ms input lag time as the more premium LG OLEDs, with performance feeling razor-sharp even when I was playing intense battle sequences in Battlefield V.

The B5’s main advantage, though, is giving access to OLED for a very affordable price. While it didn’t launch for much cheaper than the C5, the B5 has dropped to some seriously low prices, making it excellent value overall.

And the winner is…

All three of LG’s 2025 OLEDs are great in their own way, and while it does come down to budget, my top pick of these three is the LG C5. It hits the sweet spot between the G5 and B5 in terms of picture quality, features and performance, and will tick the boxes for most people. The G5 may be brighter with bolder picture quality, but comes at a higher cost, while the B5 is on the dimmer side, so the C5 naturally slots itself in the middle.

In terms of Prime Day deals, the C5 also has the best offers, dropping to the most competitive prices of the three. While there are some great deals on the other two models to be had, the C5 is the star of Prime Day. If you’re torn between LG’s 2026 and 2025 TVs for Prime Day, I’d recommend the 2025 models all day, because you can get them for a seriously good price.

Just got a Garmin in the Amazon Prime Day sales? Congratulations. If you haven't yet pulled the trigger, the Prime Day deals won't be around for long, so I've included some of my favorites down below. Simply click here to go straight to the deals.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

Now, welcome to the Garmin ecosystem! Garmin, the Garmin Connect app, and the Garmin Connect IQ store are cool, stripped-down app ecosystems designed to help you get the most out of exercise. There is a premium tier in Garmin Connect+, but it's entirely optional and, quite frankly, it's not been well received by the Garmin community at large, so I wouldn't recommend subscribing yet.

As well as the usual passive activity tracking, sleep tracking, and notification functionalities, Garmin gives you all sorts of tools to play with on its very modular watches. Here are three things to try as soon as you get your first watch.

1. Create your perfect home screen

When you first get your Garmin watch, you'll be presented with a watch face containing a small selection of stats, such as step counts, Body Battery score, or the watch's total remaining battery. But Garmin watch faces are made to be customized, so you can decide which stats are important to you. On five-button Garmins, you hold the left-middle 'up' button, while on two-button Garmins, you hold 'down', then navigate to Watch Face. You can scroll between different options or edit them in a granular fashion.

If you want to prioritize step count, you can swap it out with a widget showing your sleep score, for example, while VO2 Max can be swapped for another number like Body Battery. In this way, you can truly make the watch your own pretty much right out of the gate, without even touching the companion app to do it.

These are just the most important stats to you: to view the rest, you can scroll up and down from the watch face to view the rest of your widgets, and edit this list as well by scrolling to Edit, then +. Want to know the phases of the moon, your total distance run this week, or your blood oxygen levels? You can add them all to this secondary hotlist.

2. Create a route

Garmins are perfect for going off the beaten track, and even those without actual offline maps offer basic navigation features. You can use these features by creating a Course. You can learn how to create a Course in Garmin Connect here, but the general gist is that you can use Garmin's features to plot a route on a map, then follow that route using instructions from your watch.

Even if you're just going for a short walk, you can use its route plotting to find new circular routes, but it's incredibly handy for long runs, hiking expeditions, and even specialist sports like skiing.

Download the Course onto your watch using the instructions in the link above, then go to your activity of choice and scroll down to Navigation > Courses. If you get lost, most Garmins now have a 'Back to Start' functionality you can access when you pause an activity.

3. Visit the Connect IQ store

Once you've downloaded Garmin Connect and set up your new watch, you should also download Garmin Connect IQ, its app store. From there, you can access loads of free and paid apps, widgets, and watch faces, many simply made by enthusiastic Garmin fans, such as the Walk With Frodo app, which links your step count to Frodo's journey to Mordor in The Lord of the Rings.

You can also get official players for music services like Spotify, Deezer, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music, walking apps like Komoot to help sync the app with your Garmin ecosystem, and watch faces from fans and brands alike, the latter including Star Wars and Pokémon Sleep. The Pokémon watch face is linked to your Body Battery score, and sleeps when you get tired. Adorable!

Today's best Garmin deals

Not bought a Garmin yet? Below are the best Amazon Prime Day deals on Garmin watches in the US and UK.

US deals

UK deals

Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders are live, and now we’re finally within touching distance of the release of 2026’s most anticipated game — if not, one of the most anticipated games of all time.

Of course, to play the game you’ll need a modern console, and one of the best TVs or best monitors can’t hurt either. But there’s one more thing I think you need to enjoy the experience at its very best: a strong audio setup.

That’s right, most TVs have pretty shoddy built-in speakers, and even if they support immersive formats like Dolby Atmos, typically struggle to whip up expansive, punchy, and clean sound. As a result, I’d strongly suggest investing in a soundbar, which will help you truly immerse yourself in the world of GTA 6, and enjoy movies and series like never before.

So, I’ve curated a list of five soundbars I’d recommend grabbing right now, with everything from affordable all-in-one options through to spectacular surround sound systems — there really is something for all kinds of budgets and living spaces here. Ready to discover my top picks?

1. Sonos Beam Gen 2

It may be almost half a decade old, but the Sonos Beam Gen 2 is still one of the best compact soundbars I’ve ever tested. I found that it delivers the kind of hard-hitting bass you’d expect from a larger, pricier soundbar, it’s easy to customize in the Sonos companion app, and it even conjures up a pretty wide soundstage, in part thanks to its Dolby Atmos support.

On top of this, I love how the Beam Gen 2 is incredibly easy to set up. Just connect it to your display’s HDMI eARC port, plug it into the power, and you’re good to go. Its small size also makes slotting it into your setup super seamless, and its modern look helps it to stand out as a stylish centerpiece in any living room or bedroom.

When you’re done with a GTA 6 play session, this soundbar can also double up as a neat companion for music too. It has Wi-Fi streaming, enabling you to stream your favorite tunes with high quality playback, and there’s even AirPlay 2 support for iOS devices. If you have other Sonos products, you can also link the Beam 2 with them and enjoy the beauty of multi-room audio, meaning this model really is a great all-rounder.

2. Marshall Heston 60

For me, the hottest competition the Sonos Beam Gen 2 has in the small soundbar category, is the Marshall Heston 60. This 2025-issued model really wowed me when I got my hands on it, and for two key reasons: its spacious sound, and its luxurious looks.

Let’s start with how this thing performs. Despite its limited 28.7-inch / 730mm width, it creates a surprisingly convincing sense of width, and whether I was playing video games or spinning some 4K UHD Blu-rays, I found it delivered delicious depth and excellent tracking of any on-screen action. With Atmos content, it really felt as if I could hear some elements playing in the corners of our TV testing space, which is something that a lot of mini models fail to do.

It also gets the basics spot on, with clear dialogue, controlled yet relatively powerful low-end sound, and impressive musicality. Although I have to say, this soundbar arguably looks even better than it sounds. Its amp-inspired aesthetic, golden details, striking frets, and classy control panel really make it stand out. As a result, you won’t only get a soundbar that’s great for engrossing audio in GTA 6, but you’ll get a product that you’re proud to put at the front and center of your living space.

3. Samsung HW-Q800F

Right, let’s take things up a gear, should we? If you want truly absorbing bass as well as expansive sound from a main soundbar, then the Samsung HW-Q800F has got you covered.

I tested this 5.1.2 channel model at the end of last year, and awarded it a rare five star rating, praising its deep, almost room-swallowing bass, its exceptional dialogue clarity, and its convincing Dolby Atmos effects. This bar can even muster up an impressive sense of height, providing an almost tangible feel to sound effects in video games as well as movies.

The Q800F brought a new sub into play which is a lot more compact, but still hits hard, meaning it's easy to fit into your living space without requiring a sacrifice in terms of quality. It’s also rammed with countless features, such as an effective calibration tool, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, a range of sound modes (including a Gaming setting), and Q-Symphony, which adds audio from compatible Samsung TVs into your system.

4. Samsung HW-Q990F

OK, now we’re getting into the really spacious-sounding stuff, and where better to start than with the Samsung HW-Q990F, the step-up options from the aforementioned Q800F.

Although the newer Samsung HW-Q990H is available in 2026, I’d still suggest getting the Q990F right now, as it offers a very similar level of quality at a typically smaller cost. It comes with a soundbar, sub, and two surround speakers, giving you true surround sound for the most enveloping experience imaginable. And when I heard the Q990F for myself, I was really struck by how well all of these speakers work in harmony — with games and movies alike, I found that audio sounded incredibly cohesive and well-balanced.

More generally, the Q990F delivers awesome all-round sound, with seriously weighty yet regimented bass, ultra-clean mids, and expressive highs. It also serves up impressive dynamics, a nuanced soundstage for gaming, movies and music alike, and fantastic features within Samsung’s SmartThings app. Another highlight is its two HDMI 2.1 inputs, which you can connect a games console like the PS5 Pro to for 4K 120Hz gameplay — ideal if you’re running out of slots on your TV or monitor.

5. JBL Bar 1300MK2

Last but not least, we have the magnificent JBL Bar 1300MK2 (or JBL Bar 1300XMK2 in the US), which is one of the most mind-blowing surround sound systems I’ve ever had the joy of testing here at TechRadar.

The most attention-grabbing thing about the Bar 1300MK 2 is its immense power. It has a maximum power output of almost 2,500W across its 29 drivers, which — as I said in my review — is ludicrously high. This means that you can access room-shaking volumes, and if you’ve got a large living space, you’ll be able to feel the might of its sound in every inch of the room.

But the 1300MK2 doesn’t just have power for the sake of power, it really does sound mesmerizing. The highlight is the low-end, which I found to be seismic and full-sounding, while still remaining controlled and never getting in the way of sounds elsewhere in the frequency range. Dolby Atmos is also spectacularly strong on the 1300MK2 with almost mind-boggling width on offer and solid height effects, making you feel at the center of the action when gaming or watching videos.

The flexibility of the 1300MK2 is another one of its highlights. It comes with battery powered surround speakers, which you can easily place wherever you want without having to mess around with wires — something a lot of rivals force you to do. And these can even be used as standalone Bluetooth speakers if you’re on the go, or be used standalone for night mode — ideal for a 2am gaming sesh.

My love of all things Zelda is no secret to my colleagues, friends, and family. In fact, when The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (OoT) remake was first announced, our Global Editor-in-Chief, Marc McLaren, immediately messaged me to ask if I intended to take time off to play it (I do).

When the 40th anniversary of the franchise rolled around earlier this year, I was a little blue to see little-to-no news of a new game or remake, but my long-read ode to the lasting impact of Link's adventures through Hyrule at least gave me a distraction. Now, however, with months to go until I finally make my grand return to the Kokiri forest, my hype has reached new heights.

To pass the time, I plan to spend my money on, you guessed it, even more Zelda merchandise and Switch 2 accessories to accommodate my upcoming increase in playtime. In the current Amazon Prime Day deals, there's a wide selection of cases, storage, merchandise, and more to shop; I've included some of the best below, as well as the essential gear my gaming station will be decked with come OoT's release later this year. Not everything I've linked below is on sale, so look for the percentage-off badge if you're only looking for good deals.

Switch 2 Essentials

Legend of Zelda games

If you're not caught up on the latest and greatest Switch generation Zelda games, you've got plenty of time ahead of the Ocarina of Time's remake releasing to pour some hours into adventure.

Essential Zelda merch

From Lego sets to card games and novelty toys, there's a lot of great Zelda merch out there. I own a lot (really, an embarassing amount) of the below merchandise already; join me in my submission to capitalism's whim.

Before I tried my first IPL machine, I was suspicious. A handheld device that flashes at your skin and it somehow zaps away your body hair? It all sounded rather unlikely. Except then I got one, and it did just that, and it's been my summertime savior for the past five years.

I paraphrased before, so let me back up a bit. IPL stands for Intense Pulsed Light: multiple wavelengths of light that look a little like a photo flash. (They're different to a laser, which uses one concentrated beam.) You remove the hair from the bit of skin you want to be fuzz-free, and then run your device over that patch. The light targets the follicle that sits under the surface of your skin, damaging or destroying it so it doesn't grow back.

• View the full Amazon Prime Day sale

The results, for me, are incredible. It's by far the most effective, long-lasting and side-effect-free method of hair removal I've tried (and I have tried them all). However, there are a few things to know before buying one — scroll down for the key things I tell anyone who asks me if I'd recommend an IPL.

I was particularly inspired to share my tips now, because there are several heavily discounted IPL machines (including my own Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5 — five years old and still going strong) included in the Amazon Prime Day sales. So if you read my tips and decide to buy, now's a great time to do so.

Top deals — quick links

• US: Philips Lumea now $299.95 at Amazon (was $449.99)
• US: Braun Silk.Expert Pro 5 now $284.99 at Amazon (was $399.99)
• UK: Lumea 7000 now £219.98 at Amazon (was £349.99)
• UK: Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5 now £299 at Amazon (was £610)

3 top tips

1. They won't work for all hair types in all places

Because of the zapping mechanism, IPL machines work best on dark hair on pale skin — the bigger the contrast, the better. That means they won't work for everyone — people with fair, fine body hair likely won't see much of a difference, and ditto those with darker skin tones.

Further to that, they might not work equally well everywhere on your body. For instance, my IPL doesn't really do much for my leg hair, whereas it's much more effective on my underarms.

2. They're pain-free and the results last

That light looks like it's going to hurt, right? Wrong. The IPL process is pretty much pain-free, save for it occasionally feeling a bit hot. I also don't have an issue with itchy or awkward regrowth in the way I do with shaving.

If you struggle with a bad reaction to other hair removal methods, note that you will need to remove all your hair in your target area before you go over it with the IPL machine. Shaving it is recommended, so you will need to deal with that nasty regrowth at least once.

However, I've found that after that first use, the amount of hair that comes back is significantly reduced, and then after the second or third cycle, basically nothing grows back. It's really incredible.

3. They won't get rid of hair permanently

The instructions with my machine state you should use your IPL weekly for a few weeks (I do four), and then monthly going forward after that. After around three weeks, there's no hair there, but if I don't continue with top-up sessions, after a few weeks the hair will start to return, and eventually it'll be right back to pre-IPL state. So you will need to keep up with your maintenance zapping; this isn't a permanent solution.

Got more questions? Ping me in the comments section, I am happy to help. Or if I've convinced you that an IPL is right for you, let's take a closer look at the best deals available now.

US: IPL deals

UK IPL deals

I know we're all buzzed about the imminent opening of pre-orders for GTA VI. But for me, that ties for most exciting gaming news this month, after Nintendo announced The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is also dropping later on this year. So if you're as into Zelda games as I am and have a decent chunk of cash spare, I'd absolutely recommend you pick up a Nintendo Switch 2 this Prime Day.

As an ardent fan, The Legend of Zelda series lives absolutely rent-free in my head. I cut my teeth on the sublime pixel art of A Link to the Past on the SNES, donned many mantles in Majora's Mask, and banished the gloom in Twilight Princess. But it's almost certainly Ocarina of Time that made the biggest impression on me at the time, thanks to its epic time-hopping story and, at the time, groundbreaking 3D visuals.

So even though I've played the game to completion an almost shameful number of times, you better believe that I'll be picking up the remake on day one of its release. If you're similarly set on reliving one of the greatest games of all time but don't yet have a Nintendo Switch 2, I have one piece of advice for you: grab your console now.

While epic Prime Day discounts are pretty thin on the ground, there's still a good reason to pick one up now. Thanks to the ongoing RAM crisis, Nintendo has already revealed that price rises are coming to the Switch 2. It's been confirmed that, come September, the price US buyers will pay is increasing from $449 to $499 — and while the exact price rise hitting the UK market is yet to be revealed, expectations are that it will be in roughly the same ballpark as in the US.

I'll admit I didn't upgrade from my Switch right away, in a large part because of the lack of killer exclusives available for Nintendo's new console in the first few months after its release. But when I finally did, I could absolutely see why we awarded it 4.5 stars in our Nintendo Switch 2 review.

Not only is its screen flat out gorgeous, packing plenty of brightness and vibrant colors, but it's silky smooth, hitting highs of 120Hz for compatible games. And performance is impressive — even a much more demanding title like the recent Indiana Jones and The Great Circle port feels great, despite being locked at 30fps rather than the 60fps (or above) hit by other platforms. That's an impressive feat for a handheld console this compact.

And the roster of games available for the Switch 2 has expanded massively since release. Donkey Kong Bananza feels like the exact breath of fresh air the series needed, adding a fun new gimmick in its landscape-smashing shenanigans, while I've genuinely been hoping to see a Metroid Prime 4 for almost two decades now. But it's Pokémon Pokopia that has most thoroughly hijacked my brain's dopamine system, allowing me to pour countless hours into building mansions and amusements for my 'mons.

However, if I hadn't already upgraded, there's no doubt that The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time remake would have pushed me over the top. Getting to relive my nostalgia-soaked memories of one of the greatest adventures of all time with a fresh new coat of paint is a compelling hook indeed. And for any fan dead set on experiencing it, I'd honestly recommend you getting your Switch 2 ordered now before you have to fork out for that extra markup.

If you're still dead set on holding out for a bargain price, keep an eye on our widget below or check out our Amazon Prime Day live blog if you're in the US or our Amazon Prime Day deals roundup in the UK.

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

In case you hadn’t heard, GTA6 pre-orders are live tonight (June 25) at midnight. Due for general release on November 19, it’s been 13 years (!) since GTA 5 first launched two console generations ago. While you’re pre-ordering your copy, now might be the time to upgrade your TV to experience Vice City looking its best.

I test TVs for a living, and that includes the best gaming TVs. For GTA 6, you’re going to want excellent picture quality with vibrant colors, excellent motion handling for the fast-paced action, and a suite of gaming features to cover the bases. Below, I’ve picked five of the top gaming TVs to suit all budgets that will be perfect for tearing through Vice City.

You may notice that all of these TVs are from last year. While we’ve been testing the best TVs this year and a lot of them are great, last year’s TVs will be a much better value and still more than capable of doing justice to GTA 6. That’s why, for me, they’re the better option right now.

LG C5

The best place to start is with the top recommendation. Sitting at the top of our best gaming TV guide, as well as our best OLED TV guide, is the LG C5, a five-star OLED that can literally do it all. It has a full suite of features and superb picture quality that will be perfect for GTA 6.

The C5 delivers rich, bold colors with whatever it’s given, and this is going to be important for the neon-soaked streets of Vice City in GTA 6. Watching colorful movies like Elemental on the C5, colors really pop on screen, with oranges, reds, and blues all shimmering. It also delivers rich contrast with deep black tones, important again for that nightlife vibe in Vice City. With excellent motion handling, car chases will be a breeze for the C5.

Packed with a full suite of gaming features, the C5 is a top-notch gaming TV. Four HDMI 2.1 ports support 4K 144Hz, full VRR, HGiG, ALLM, and Dolby Vision gaming, and with a 9.2ms input lag time, expect super-responsive gameplay as you’re fleeing from the cops in GTA 6. It handled Battlefield V at 120fps with ease when I played it.

Price-wise, you’ll want to pay about $1,199 / £1,399 (stock is looking thin in Australia) for a 65-inch model. This will be a great size for seeing GTA 6 in all its glory, but the C5 is available in sizes 42 to 83 inches to cover every situation.

TCL QM6K/C6K

If you’re looking for a TV upgrade but don’t want to break the bank, the TCL QM6K (known as the TCL C6K/Q6C depending on region and retailer) is a fantastic choice. It still has great picture quality and an impressive stock of gaming features for a very affordable price.

I tested the C6K as I’m based in the UK, and it has great overall picture quality. Its main highlight is its color reproduction. It produces vivid, natural colors that made movies like Wicked look great during my testing, accurately capturing the vibrant pink of flowers in trees. Expect the same for GTA 6. The C6K also demonstrated impressive backlight control and black tones for a mini-LED at this price range, working well for movies like The Batman. Again, Vice City nightlife should look great.

The C6K supports a lot for gaming, which is rare at this level. It supports 4K 144Hz, FreeSync Premium Pro, ALLM, and Dolby Vision gaming. It has a measured 13.6ms input lag, which is still above the 15ms threshold we look for. Gaming on it, I had a great time while playing Battlefield V, as it did a great job handling chaotic battle sequences, so it should be prepared for GTA 6.

Its real highlight is its price. A 65-inch QM6K has dropped as low as $529 and the C6K 65-inch will cost around £679/ AU$1,099. These are excellent prices for a TV this size and a great option for an affordable upgrade for GTA 6.

Samsung QN90F

Now, if you’re someone who’s planning to take some time off to play GTA 6, you’ll need a TV that works well in a bright room for daytime gaming sessions. Enter the Samsung QN90F, a brilliant gaming TV that also doubles as our best TV for sports.

The QN90F is the perfect TV for bright rooms for several reasons. It has solid brightness (exceeding 2,500 nits HDR peak and over 600 nits full screen) and an effective, anti-glare screen that does a great job reducing mirror-like reflections to a minimum. So, even if you have big windows, the QN90F can handle them. It also has great picture quality to go with it, producing punchy, accurate colors and strong contrast with surprisingly rich black tones. Expect GTA 6 to look great on this one.

The QN90F is equipped with a full list of gaming features, too. It supports 4K 165Hz, FreeSync Premium Pro, ALLM and HDR10+ gaming across four HDMI 2.1 ports. Its 9.5ms input lag time is up there with the very best, so you can expect it to handle the chaos of GTA 6 with no problems.

While the QN90F is a flagship model, its prices have dropped significantly. A 65-inch will cost you roughly $1,399 / £1,299 (stock in Australia is low again), which is again phenomenal pricing for a TV at this level.

LG B5

If you want an OLED but can’t quite stretch to the LG C5, the LG B5 is your next best option. It’s one of the best budget OLED TVs I’ve tested and delivers a lot of the same great performance and features as its step-up sibling.

With accurate, rich colors that suited the vibrant aesthetic of Wicked and Elemental, the B5 is sure to make GTA 6’s sun-soaked, colorful streets look fantastic. It also produces the powerful contrast with inky blacks you’d want from an OLED TV, despite its cheaper price range. While the B5 doesn’t have the brightness of other step-up OLEDs, it still has punchy highlights that will make the neon of Vice City pop.

The B5 is kitted out with a full list of gaming features, including 4K 120Hz, full VRR including FreeSync and G-Sync, HGiG, Dolby Vision gaming, and ALLM, all built into the four HDMI 2.1 ports. A measured 9.1ms input lag time is at the top of the gaming TV list, so expect all the action of GTA 6 to look superb.

The B5’s prices can fall to a deceptively affordable place for an OLED. You can get the 48-inch model, a perfect size for bedroom gaming, for as low as $549 / £569 / AU$1,169, meaning you don’t have to spend a fortune for OLED.

LG G5

The flagship OLED for LG in 2025, the LG G5, is like the C5 taken up a notch. It has a similar feature set but turns up the picture quality by another level with higher brightness, bolder colors, and more impactful contrast.

Testing the G5, its colors were its most impressive aspect. Vibrant, rich, and bright all at once, any colorful scene dazzled on screen, and I think it’s going to do the Miami-inspired Vice City serious justice in GTA 6. It also produces powerful contrast, expertly balancing deep black levels and bright highlights. Vice City nightlife will look stunning on this TV. It also produces extremely impressive textures that are 3D-like, along with refined detail.

This is another TV with an impressive list of gaming features. 4K 165Hz, full VRR including FreeSync and G-Sync, Dolby Vision gaming, HGiG, and ALLM are on all four HDMI 2.1 ports. Its measured 9.2ms input lag time again did wonders for Battlefield V’s fast-paced gunfights at 120fps when I played it, so it should do the same for GTA 6.

The G5 is at the more premium end of the TV market, with a 65-inch model costing $2,299 / £1,999 / AU$2,699, but if you are looking for the premium way to play GTA 6, this will be the TV to do it on.

A smartphone can be a major investment — especially if you’re shopping for one of the best phones around — so it’s important to be sure that the device you’re buying isn’t just good for now, but good for many years to come.

Software support is a key factor in determining how long a phone will last, and in recent years, manufacturers have been committing to much longer product support windows than they used to. But not all phones get the same amount of support, and indeed some older phones will be approaching their final update in 2026.

So, below, we’ve detailed how long phones from Apple, Samsung, Google, and Motorola will continue to receive updates.

To keep things simple, we've focused on major brands with US availability, but if you have a recent high-end phone from the likes of Honor, Oppo, or Xiaomi, it will likely be in line for between five and six years of updates from its launch date. Older and lower-end models tend to be in the two-to-three-year range.

Apple iPhones

Apple never used to commit to a specific support window for its phones, but that changed in 2024, when new UK regulations required brands to outline a minimum support window. As a result, Apple now promises a minimum of five years — but this only applies to security updates, not the kinds of iOS updates that add new software features. And five years is a minimum, with Apple often going beyond that number anyway.

All of which is to say we can’t be certain when iPhones will get their final update, but typically, they’re supported for between five and seven years.

So, the list below is our best guess for how many years of updates each currently supported iPhone model has left.

• iPhone 17 series — 4-6 years (last update in 2030, 2031, or 2032)
• iPhone Air — 4-6 years (last update in 2030, 2031, or 2032)
• iPhone 16 series — 3-5 years (last update in 2029, 2030 or 2031)
• iPhone 15 series — 2-4 years (last update in 2028, 2029, or 2030)
• iPhone 14 series — 1-3 years (last update in 2027, 2028, or 2029)
• iPhone SE (2022) — 1-3 years (last update in 2027, 2028, or 2029)
• iPhone 13 series — 0-2 years (last update in 2026, 2027, or 2028)
• iPhone 12 series — 0-2 years (last update in 2026, 2027, or 2028)
• iPhone 11 series — final update will probably be this year with iOS 27
• iPhone SE (2020) — final update will probably be this year with iOS 27

Samsung Galaxy phones

Samsung offers as much as seven years of support for some of its recent phones, but older and lower-end handsets get fewer updates, so how long your phone will be updated for can be quite variable depending on the model.

• Samsung Galaxy S26 series — 7 years (last update in 2033)
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 — 6 years (last update in 2032)
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 — 6 years (last update in 2032)
• Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold — 6 years (last update in 2032)
• Samsung Galaxy S25 series — 6 years (last update in 2032)
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy S24 series — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy A57 — 6 years (last update in 2032)
• Samsung Galaxy A56 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy A36 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy A26 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy A17 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy A17 — 4 years (last update in 2030)
• Samsung Galaxy A55 — 1 year (last update in 2027, security patches until 2029)
• Samsung Galaxy A35 — 1 year (last update in 2027, security patches until 2029)
• Samsung Galaxy M35 — 1 year (last update in 2027, security patches until 2029)
• Samsung Galaxy A25 — 1 year (last update in 2027, security patches until 2028)
• Samsung Galaxy A54 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Samsung Galaxy A34 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Samsung Galaxy S23 series — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Samsung Galaxy M54 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028

Google Pixel phones

Google has committed to supporting all handsets from the Pixel 8 onwards for seven years, while phones from the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 lines get five years of support.

Note that, as a-series models launch later than their mainline siblings, they technically get supported for longer. But depending on when major new Android versions launch, they may not get additional significant updates.

• Google Pixel 10a — 7 years (last update in early 2033)
• Google Pixel 10 series (excluding 10a) — 6 years (last update in late 2032)
• Google Pixel 9a — 6 years (last update in early 2032)
• Google Pixel 9 series (excluding 9a) — 5 years (last update in late 2031)
• Google Pixel 8a — 5 years (last update in early 2031)
• Google Pixel 8 series (excluding 8a) — 4 years (last update in late 2030)
• Google Pixel Fold — 2 years (last update in mid-2028)
• Google Pixel 7a — 2 years (last update in mid-2028)
• Google Pixel 7 series (excluding 7a) — 1 year (last update in late 2027)
• Google Pixel 6a — 1 year (last update in mid-2027)
• Google Pixel 6 series (excluding 6a) — final update this year (2026)

Motorola phones

Motorola’s update commitments feel quite messy and inconsistent, with some phones getting more or fewer updates than you might expect, but you’ll find an overview of the currently supported handsets below.

• Motorola Signature — 7 years (last update in early 2033)
• Motorola Edge 70 series — 3 years (last update in 2029, security patches until 2031)
• Motorola Edge 60 Neo — 3 years (last update in 2029, security patches until 2031)
• Motorola Edge 50 Neo — 3 years (last update in 2029)
• Motorola Razr 70 / Razr 2026 series — 2 years (last update in 2028, security patches until 2030)
• Motorola Edge 60 series (excluding Neo) — 2 years (last update in 2028, security patches until 2029)
• Moto G75 — 2 years (last update in 2028, security patches until 2030)
• Motorola Razr 60 / Razr 2025 series — 1 year (last update in 2027, security patches until 2029)
• Motorola Edge 50 Pro — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Motorola Edge 50 Fusion — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Motorola Edge 50 Ultra — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Motorola Razr 50 / Razr 2024 series — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Moto G86 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2029
• Moto G56 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2029

We're nearing the end of the World Cup 2026 group stages, and things are hotting up — both metaphorically and literally. A temperatures in my living room soar, I've decided it's time to take my game viewing outside, where I can enjoy the action with the cool evening breeze on my face.

For that, I need a projector — and now's a really good time to buy one. We're in the middle of the Amazon Prime Day sale (with retailers like Currys, AO and Very running rival deals events), so there are plenty of discounts to be had if you know where to look.

• View the full Amazon Prime Day sale

Below, I've rounded up the best projector deals I've spotted, including the ones I'm deciding between for my own al fresco watch parties. I've stuck to sub-£450 buys here, which means they're more basic options, and most are compact and portable, too. If you're looking for something higher-end that will be more of a permanent fixture, head to our best projector guide for our top picks.

Xgimi's range is worth checking out in particular, as are Anker's Nebula projectors. We haven't reviewed these specific models, but we have tested similar products from those brands, and been impressed. Our Anker Nebula Mars 3 is the larger and higher-specced sibling of the Mars 3 Air Mini featured below, for instance, and scored four stars in our review. We called the Xgimi Mogo 3 "a strong contender for the portable projector crown", too — and its successor is included in my deals roundup.

Scroll down for more excellent deals, and happy watching...

World-class projectors

More Amazon Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & De'Longhi
• Fans: from £20
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

Traveling to the 2026 World Cup means joining hundreds of thousands of fans in crowded cities across North America.

Airports, stadiums, fan zones, and hotels are all packed with people competing for the same public Wi-Fi networks. These connections are often slow and insecure, making personal data vulnerable to interception.

To stay protected without sacrificing speed, you need more than just a VPN – you need the best VPN with the right settings. Tuning your VPN configuration helps keep your connection secure and fast, no matter where you go during this summer’s tournament.

The 5 best settings to change for top VPN performance

Just turning on your VPN isn’t always enough to cut through the noise of a packed stadium or busy airport terminal. To get good speeds and real security when thousands of people are online at once, here are five specific settings to tweak:

1. Protocol

WireGuard is the superior protocol choice for modern devices, offering faster connection speeds and lower latency compared to OpenVPN or IKEv2.

This efficiency matters when network congestion is high. WireGuard establishes secure tunnels more quickly, reducing wait times. If your provider offers OpenVPN, it's a great alternative for compatibility, but for raw performance in crowded zones, WireGuard is best.

2. Transport protocol

If you've never heard of transport protocols before, think of them as the delivery method your VPN uses to move data. Most commonly, you'll see TCP and UDP as your choices for this.

On congested networks, TCP’s reliability mechanisms can add delay when packets are lost. UDP avoids this overhead by sending data without waiting for confirmation.

In a crowded stadium where every millisecond counts, switching to UDP can reduce latency and improve responsiveness for smooth VPN streaming even when the network is struggling to keep up.

3. Split tunnelling

With split tunneling, you can choose which apps can be routed outside the VPN’s encrypted tunnel. At a stadium, your banking app needs maximum security, but a local map app might benefit from direct access to avoid unnecessary latency.

Excluding non-sensitive apps from encryption can reduce bandwidth strain and prevent compatibility issues with local networks that sometimes block VPN traffic entirely.

4. Location

Connecting to the server closest to your physical location often results in lower ping and faster speeds. However, nearby servers may be overwhelmed by thousands of users connecting simultaneously.

If your current location lags, try switching to a server slightly further away that’s under less user load. Avoid jumping between regions unnecessarily, as crossing international borders increases the distance data travels and introduces lag that ruins live streaming.

5. Obfuscation

In monitored environments like airports, deep packet inspection can detect and block standard VPN traffic.

Obfuscation disguises VPN traffic as regular HTTPS web traffic, allowing you to bypass firewalls and censorship attempts. Although this adds processing that might marginally impact speed, the ability to stay connected when other connections fail more than makes up for this.

As you prepare to cheer on your national team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, make sure your setup can handle the packed stadiums and busy airports.

By selecting the right VPN protocol, using UDP, and enabling features like split tunneling, you can protect your data and keep your device safe so you can enjoy the World Cup worry-free..

If you’re looking to buy an instant film camera, there are only two serious names in the game: Polaroid, and Fujifilm Instax. While some manufacturers like Canon and Kodak offer digital instant-print cameras that use techniques like dye-sublimation to create instant prints of digital images on specialist paper, it’s not the same. For the true alchemical magic of instant film, you Polaroid and Instax are the big hitters.

Polaroid is undoubtedly the better-known brand name due to its long history, dating back to the 1940s (though hitting major popularity in the 70s). It spent a few years in the wilderness following a bankruptcy in the early 2000s, before being purchased and revitalised in 2017 by an analog film collective called The Impossible Project. All the proper Polaroid cameras you can buy new today have been released since this renaissance.

Instax cameras may not have the historical cachet of Polaroids, but they are massively popular — Fujifilm reported last year that its Instax line has sold more than 100 million units since its inception in 1998. I don’t have similar sales data on post-revival Polaroid, but frankly, I don’t think it’s anywhere close.

Ultimately, there are compelling reasons to choose either brand. The Instax mini 12 is TR's pick as the best instant camera, and I can see why — it's a great option for the majority of users. But for me personally, it’s Polaroid all the way.

Why I’ll pick Polaroid every time

It’s not a question of print size, as both brands have similar offerings. Fujifilm Instax Wide film is about the same size as a Polaroid I-Type (or SX-70) print, just rectangular rather than square. Polaroid’s smaller ‘Go’ film produces prints of comparable dimensions to Instax mini.

What it’s all about is vibe. Scoff if you want, but come on — you’re shooting instant film. You’re not here for accurate colors or pitch-perfect sharpness, you’re here because you love the tangibility of holding a print in your hands, the transportative lo-fi look of a format that’s been around for half a century. It’s all vibe.

I’ve shot Polaroid and Instax prints side by side before for comparison. Once, while I was viewing them, my partner made an astute observation that I have since stolen and made my own: the Instax catches your eye first, but you end up liking the Polaroid more. Instax prints are bright and vivid, with naturalistic colors and a decent level of detail, especially the Wide format. They’re fun and kitschy.

But Polaroid images just have that inimitable retro glow that instantly transports me back in time. The softer, more muted color palette makes images less immediately striking, but more satisfying the longer I look at them. There’s a richness to them, a greater sense of depth and subtle tonality. If I were embarking on an artistic project with instant film, there’s no question which format I’d choose. It wouldn’t even be a decision.

Instax cameras are easier to use for sure — most are just point and shoot. If I were recommending an instant camera for a family, or for someone who isn’t an experienced photographer, I’d go with Instax. But for me, as someone who knows my way around a camera, the depth of control offered by the top-end Polaroid cameras leaves Instax in the dust.

Connect to the Polaroid app, which works very smoothly and is highly intuitive, and you can completely program in your settings, taking total control over your images. Want to try your hand at creating long exposures on instant film? It’s straightforward on a Polaroid Flip or Polaroid I-2, and impossible on an Instax Mini 99.

Sure, Polaroids aren’t perfect. The ongoing cost of I-Type film is a sore point, with packs of eight shots costing the same as a pack of 20 shots of Instax Wide or Mini. This sucks. No way to pretend it doesn’t. Buying in bulk can help a little, though honestly not a lot. At least the smaller Polaroid Go film is much cheaper, and I prefer it to Instax Mini. Again, its subtler look is less striking, but richer.

Do you agree? Let me know which is your preferred instant-film format in the poll above. And if you’re looking for an instant-film camera to buy, see my explainer on why the Polaroid Go Gen 2 is the best buy you can make this Prime Day and click on today's best deals where you live using the links below.

Can you believe that it's now half a decade since Windows 11 was revealed? The operating system was first announced by Microsoft at a press event on June 24 back in 2021 (although the OS was leaked just before that, in typical fashion).

Five years ago today we were told that Windows 11 was inbound as a free upgrade for all Windows 10 users — but there was no stampede to adopt it, that's for sure (and the hardware requirements certainly didn't help the cause).

It wasn't until July 2025 that Windows 11 overtook Windows 10 as the dominant version of Microsoft's desktop OS according to Statcounter's figures, but it now holds a comfortable majority of over 70% of that market. As it should do, considering Windows 10 ran out of support last October (and only has a few months of extended support left).

However, putting aside the sluggish pace of adoption and the various problems that have plagued Windows 11 through the years (all the bugs and some notably missing features in the main), I think there's now cause for optimism for the future of Microsoft's operating system.

So, let me share my thoughts and reflect on what has been a half-decade of Windows 11, and tell you why I'm way more positive about the OS than I was last year — and why I think that Microsoft is finally on track (with, of course, some inevitable caveats).

The great fix-athon

Most of my hopefulness about where Windows 11 is heading comes, of course, from the big campaign Microsoft kicked off in March 2026 to fix Windows 11. Since that announcement — which I would say is the biggest statement to have been made since the OS was first announced in 2021 — Microsoft has very much proven that it intends to tackle all sorts of shortcomings and pain points with the OS.

Taskbar repositioning? We've got it. A much greater level of Start menu customization? Check. Spam removed from Windows search? Yep. More control over Windows updates? Certainly, and in fact way more control than I'd have ever believed might happen, including the ability to put off an update indefinitely, should you wish, on Windows 11 Home.

In fact, Microsoft has hit many wish-list features that I never expected would come to Windows 11, and the extent of the crowd-pleasing measures so far is heartening. These are features that are actually being delivered already, too, they're not just promises.

Furthermore, Microsoft appears to be listening to feedback and requests more closely, and generally engaging more with the community online. There's even a new initiative consisting of a research panel where Microsoft will consult testers directly on how to change aspects of Windows 11.

This genuinely feels like a fresh direction for Microsoft, and a serious commitment to change Windows 11 for the better based on what the users themselves actually want.

A more thoughtful, cautious approach

The other key driver for optimism with Windows 11 is the way in which Microsoft is taking more care over how the operating system is developed and coded.

Not so long ago, matters were less organized and more chaotic. Cast your mind back to the introduction of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X (Arm-based) chips in Copilot+ PCs back in 2024, alongside which Microsoft brought in a new underlying platform for Windows 11 (complete with the tinkering required to support that Arm silicon). While nothing was ever officially admitted, this is a move that I believe could have at least contributed to the mess that was the 24H2 update, which was laden with a ton of (sometimes very annoying) bugs.

Whatever the case in terms of how those glitches came to be, things have changed a lot since then. Microsoft is now being a lot more cautious with its Arm and x86 strategy — Windows 11 is split into two development paths, with the 26H1 update for Arm devices, and the 26H2 update for traditional x86 PCs — and the company has switched to use a fresh approach for these annual updates.

Instead of big annual updates — the last of which was the problematic 24H2 — Microsoft is now deploying small 'enablement packages', essentially very minor bumps to a new version of Windows 11. The actual features, the meat of Windows 11 changes, are pushed out in monthly updates as and when they're ready — in sometimes quite tightly controlled, carefully paced rollouts. This more gradual drip-feed of features is a more reliable method of deployment compared to dropping a lot of stuff all at once.

In short, Microsoft has learned its lesson from the nightmarish 24H2 release, which suffered from far too many bugs, to take on a fresh new way of operating. True, there will still need to be big updates at times, when the underlying codebase of Windows 11 has to be changed (quite possibly with 27H2). But it looks like Microsoft wants to mainly stick to compact, easily applied annual updates in the main, with features pushed out elsewhere in general.

Optimism abounds — with a notable catch

Between the ardent push to fix Windows 11 and the better thought-out deployment of features and updates, Microsoft has come a long way, but as I mentioned before, there are caveats here.

It's worth mentioning that while the new system of continual feature deployments, rather than weighty annual feature drops, is commendable (in my opinion), the controlled rollouts of these various features have come in for some criticism. Mainly because they are so cautious in some cases that something like the Start menu revamp (the one from last year, I should clarify, not the current work) took ages for some Windows 11 users to get, and those folks found that rather frustrating.

Part of that caution is likely down to Microsoft's paranoia around bugs, and sadly, the truth is that there are still too many bugs in Windows 11, and some of them are disappointingly weird. And by disappointing, I mean odd things that just shouldn't be happening.

I only need glance back to last weekend for one such example where there was a glitch with the Recycle Bin whereby the delete confirmation dialog (when junking a file from the bin) showed the internal file name instead of the proper name. While this only applied to the dialog box — so it was hardly an important or dangerous glitch — it was confusing some people, and more to the point, this sort of thing shouldn't be happening in the release version of an operating system.

This kind of bizarre slip-up also leads to folks blaming AI for being involved in Windows 11 coding. And while there is absolutely no evidence for that, it's the very nature of the strange bug that means people will easily jump to these conclusions when Microsoft has previously admitted AI is used to quite an extent in programming its software.

Whatever's at fault, Microsoft still needs to have better processes in place to catch these kinds of glitches, and other more critical bugs which have turned up in Windows 11 this year.

One thing I've called for in the past is a commitment from Microsoft to confirm that it's addressing its quality assurance processes, and improving bug squashing, and this is a notably missing part of the fix Windows 11 campaign. A vital part, in fact, I'd argue, for better stability going forward which is one of the big overarching goals (alongside better performance, and those crowd-pleasing feature additions).

Still, all in all, I've got to underline that right now, I'm as optimistic about Windows 11 as I've ever been. If Microsoft can tackle the bug blot on the OS landscape, and keep on listening to users — and its new research panel of testers from the community — Windows 11 could be in great shape come next year.

Here at TechRadar, we test dozens of pairs of headphones every year. And while we've been won over by many an ultra-pricey set of cans, we also love a cheap pair of headphones that punches above its price tag. This article is dedicated to showcasing these wallet-friendly wonders. I asked TechRadar's audio specialists which headphones they'd recommend to buyers on a budget, and you'll find their suggestions below.

If it's true wireless in-ears you're after, you'd struggle to do better than the Nothing Ear (a) buds, which Audio Editor Becky Scarrott awarded a perfect five stars, calling them "a resounding home run" for the British startup and praising the noise cancellation, sound quality and battery life in particular. In the current Amazon Prime Day deals, they're unbeatable value at under $55 / £50.

In the over-ear arena, standouts are the CMF Pro and the 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51, both of which earned 4.5 stars in our tests. The former were put through their paces by Becky, who was impressed with the "superb" sound quality in general, and was pleasantly surprised to discover "the sort of... personal sound profile curation [we're] more used to seeing in headphones much higher up the food chain". The latter were reviewed by our review's team's resident headphone specialist Harry Padoan, who praised the "adept audio, noise-crushing ANC and eye-catching design". Both are even better value than usual right now, too, thanks to those Prime (and rival-Prime) deals.

Read on for more budget-maximizing buys — and hit the 'View details' button for a summary of what we thought of them in our tests, plus links to the full reviews.

Top cheap earbuds and headphones

We're in the midst of (a very hot) summer, and I'm sure many of you out there are raring to go on your travels this season. But if you're about to jet off on your vacation, then it's best to be as prepared as possible. And you know what you need to make your travels as seamless and enjoyable as possible? Some top-tier tech.

I'm a Senior Reviews Writer here at TechRadar, and have tested hundreds of gadgets over the years, from premium noise-cancelling headphones through to power banks and misting fans. So, I've got the lowdown on all the travel tech essentials you need to make this summer one to remember — for all the right reasons, of course.

I've included seven must-haves, with a small speaker, travel chargers, and even a compact clothes steamer on the list. Everything here has either been tested by me, or someone on the TechRadar team, so I'm confident that each item will serve you well on your adventures this summer and beyond. So, without further ado, let's dive right into my top picks!

1. Noise cancelling headphones: Sony WH-1000XM6

Ah, Sony WH-1000XM6, my beloved. These are, in my view — and the view of many at TechRadar — the best headphones you can buy right now.

The XM6 have it all. Class-leading active noise cancellation works great, even on flights with jet rumbles and screaming children. They sound incredible, with brilliant balance across the frequency range, as well as plenty of low-end punch and excitement to make energetic tunes sound their best. And they're foldable too, making them incredibly compact when you're on the move.

These come with a handy magnetic carry case, 30 hours of battery life, and excellent touch controls. Sony's Sound Connect app also makes it easy to tailor sound to your liking and make any subtle changes you need. They're simply the best, but I'll let you find that out for yourself.

2. Small speaker: JBL Go 5

The JBL Go 5 launched recently, and when I reviewed it, the speaker genuinely took my breath away.

It's exactly how to do an upgrade right, offering better sound, a more flashy design, and even better durability than its already impressive predecessor, the JBL Go 4. I love its edge lighting, its well-balanced sound with clean bass and rich mids, and also its broad feature set, which includes EQ options and multi-speaker pairing.

Despite improving on what its predecessor had to offer, the Go 5 is available at a very similar price, typically coming in at around the $55 / £40 mark, and if you need excellent sound, solid battery life, and high level (IP68) waterproofing on a budget, then it's the best small Bluetooth speaker to buy right now.

3. Power bank: Anker Nano Power Bank 10K 45W

I genuinely bring this Anker power bank with me everywhere. It's the definitive portable battery for travel for a few key reasons.

The first is its size. This model is absolutely tiny and can easily slip into a pocket or small bag, no problem. Second, it's incredibly practical. There's an integrated USB-C cable, making charging on the go totally seamless. And finally, it's a fantastic performer. That 45W max wattage means fast-charging is easily accessible on even some of the best phones.

A 10,000mAh capacity should also mean it can charge a pair of wireless headphones as well as your handset, so if you want an ultra-practical, lightweight power bank to bring on the go, the Anker Nano Power Bank 10K 45W is my number one recommendation.

4. Travel charger: Anker Nano Charger 45W with USB-C Cable

If you need a travel charger for your phone, tablets, and wireless earbuds, then look no further than the Anker Nano Charger 45W, which comes with a USB-C cable in the box — a nice touch!

I've used this one a lot myself, and it's great for travel. Why? Well, it's incredibly compact and packs in quite a bit of power, meaning you can make use of fast charging without lugging a massive brick around. If you're using a travel adapter, the model's low weight also means it won't awkwardly get weighed down or stick out, which is a huge plus.

This charger is well-built, foldable — helping it to slide into your pocket — and highly affordable. It really has it all, so if you're still using a slow charger, then take things up a notch with this awesome Anker alternative.

5. Portable fan: Shark ChillPill

In the UK, it's absolutely scorching right now. It feels like I'm fighting for my life here with the combination of high humidity and near record-breaking temperature. And when you're on your summer travels, I'd wager that it will be similarly blazing in a number of countries. What you need, then, is a portable fan.

We're big... fans... of the Shark ChillPill here at TechRadar, and awarded it a 4.5 star review recently. It has good battery life, is filled with a range of cooling options, and even has a mister for when you need a healthy blast of cold.

The build and design quality is strong here too, and the straightforward controls make it a joy to use. Yes, it's a little expensive, but we've seen it pop up on sale from time to time, so if you want to stay chilled on the move, then I'd strongly suggest picking this lil' gadget up.

6. Philips Shaver S9000 Prestige

OK, so not everyone will need this, but if, like me, your facial hair seems to grow back in the blink of an eye, the Philips Shaver S9000 Prestige will be a great addition to your travel tech arsenal.

With multiple speed settings to suit your desired sensitivity, wet and dry shaving versatility, interchangeable heads (including a beard trimmer), and spectacular handling, the S9000 Prestige is a true all-rounder.

This model also has solid battery life and I rarely need to juice it up. But it comes with a wireless charging pad for when you're running low on power. There's also a cleaning device thrown in the box, and a carry case for whenever you're on the move.

I've found that the S9000 Prestige is kind on my skin, which is pretty prone to razor burn, and its flexible foil shaver is great at getting into those hard to reach areas around the nose, for instance. It launched at a fairly high price, but you can regularly swipe it up on sale now, so why not give it a go?

7. Clothes steamer: various options

OK, in all honesty, I've not actually got a travel clothes steamer, but when some colleagues of mine heard that I was writing this piece, they were clear that it's a must have.

After all, how many times have you been on holiday or out on a business trip and realized that our garments look a little creased? For me, it's a few times too many. With a compact clothes steamer, you can wave goodbye to pesky creases and wrinkles in a flash.

So, I have a few recommendations from the team that I'm here to share with you. For our US readers, Managing Editor of News & Deals, Jacob Krol, suggests the Conair Handheld Garment Steamer. This affordable model boasts "turbo steam power," comes with a 3-in-1 attachment, and has a water tank that's good for 20 minutes of steaming. Not bad, eh?

Over the pond, our Managing Editor of Social & Engagement, Josephine Watson, had a couple of recommendations. The first, the Tefal Pure Pop Slim Handheld, is cheap, comes in a range of funky colors, and heats up in just 15 seconds for super speedy action. Josephine told me that her bridesmaid friend bought this model in order to save a wedding dress disaster — and luckily, it worked. Talk about coming in clutch.

Josephine also recommended the Russell Hobbs Steam Genie 2in1 Handheld, even claiming she would trade her firstborn for it. Pretty high praise. This model has a 150ml water tank, can heat up nice and swiftly, and claims to kill up to 99.9% of bacteria within 60 seconds.

I test 4K Blu-ray for a living, and while I test and recommend brand new discs each month as part of the Blu-ray Bounty, I thought I'd offer some recommendations from my own personal collection, covering a wide range of genres.

Starting off with The Batman, I use this disc for testing the best TVs because it's visually striking and sounds fantastic (especially the Batmobile scene). Next up is The Lord Of The Rings, which almost needs no introduction. Epic in every sense, 4K is the best these iconic movies have ever looked and sounded.

In a similar gloomy vein to The Batman, The Crow (1994) is crisp, refined and super impressive on 4K, with gorgeous black levels.

Switching up genres, La La Land is a brilliant musical with vibrant colors that will pop on the best TVs, plus a catchy soundtrack that sounds excellent through a surround system. For another colorful, but action-packed movie, Ready Player One is another 4K disc that looks and sounds superb.

To see what 4K Blu-ray can do for classic movies, Double Indemnity is a prime example. With revitalized textures and strong contrast, this movie gets a new life on 4K.

These are just six discs from my growing collection that I recommend if you want to see what 4K can do. There are plenty of other choices out there, but hopefully this can get you started or fill some gaps in your collection!

6 discs from my personal 4K Blu-ray collection

Did you know that you can stream World Cup 2026 matches in 4K on BBC iPlayer? Well, you can — it's just not entirely obvious as to which devices actually support the feature. What is certain is that not all of them do — and your TV may not be among them.

While it would be useful to have a list of which of the best TVs and other devices support 4K for the World Cup, there isn't one. Instead, BBC says the easiest way to check if your device supports 4K content on iPlayer is to go to BBC iPlayer app itself and stream some 4K content, then look for the 'UHD' logo. If it appears, then your device supports it: hooray! If not, then unfortunately you won't be able to watch the World Cup in 4K on your current device.

If you want a list of 4K shows on BBC iPlayer to check, there's one here, but some quick names are Blue Planet II, SAS Rogue Heroes and Doctor Who (the latest series). If the UHD logo doesn't appear in the listing for one of the shows, then your device doesn't support it.

Thankfully, there are two devices that do support 4K streaming on BBC iPlayer: the Roku Streaming Stick 4K and the PS5. The Roku is a cheap upgrade to your TV that will allow 4K streaming on iPlayer and while the PS5 is pricier, it's a multimedia system that can obviously play games and 4K Blu-rays, as well as supporting most of the best streaming services.

And just in time for Amazon Prime Day, there are deals available for both devices.

Today's best Roku Streaming Stick 4K deal

Today's best PS5 deals

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: £90 off PlayStation 5
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

Here in the UK, it's been absolutely sweltering for the past couple of days. It's even got to the point where schools and other institutions are shutting down, with red weather warnings popping up around the country. I have to say, even working from home in this heat can be quite the challenge — but there's something you can do to make your life a lot easier: snap up a shiny new misting fan.

That's right, I recently got my hands on the Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S, and it's been an absolute lifesaver. This affordable device has kept me cool, even at the hottest times of day. It's mess-free, has a number of different speed settings, can oscillate, and there's even a turbo mode if you need to get a real blast of cold.

I'll include more details about the fan below, as well as a few alternatives to keep you nice and cool, whether you're in the UK or beyond.

Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S — US best price

Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S — UK best price

In my recently published Dreo Smart Misting Fan 516S review, I raved about the model's excellent misting effect, which never creates excess water build-up, as well as its wide variety of control options — including app and voice assistant compatibility — and its generally quiet performance in use.

Does it have massive coverage or the most striking airflow you'll experience? No — it's a desktop fan first and foremost. But given its relatively compact size, it performs very well indeed, and its generous 1.3L water tank means you won't have to refill it too often. As a result, it gets my full recommendation.

Still, a lot of misting fans are selling out pretty quickly in the UK, and more generally, you may fancy checking out a few other options. As a result, I've found a few alternatives that you can check out. Just scroll down to see a few more options for fending off excessive heat this summer.

More fans to check out — US

More fans to check out — UK

I’ll be honest: I’ve yet to be really sold on AI laptops. The problem is, laptop makers like Apple, Samsung, HP, Microsoft, and more have been trying to convince us we need a device capable of local AI tasks by suggesting it can help us write emails (I can do that already) and generate images (a fun distraction initially, but I quickly lose interest – and there’s something about AI-generated images, videos, and music that gives me the ick).

It left me feeling as if even the best AI laptops are more of a gimmick used by companies just trying to get us to buy new devices, rather than something revolutionary.

However, after talking to Dr Liv Grant, a technology influencer, science podcaster, and ‘PhD Queen’, I’m actually excited about the implications of on-device AI in laptops, especially for students.

Dr Liv Grant recently ran a vibe coding workshop with Apple, where she showed students with no coding experience how they can create apps using MacBooks and local LLMs (Large Language Models, the tech that modern AI as we know it is based on) and spoke to me about the laptops she uses and recommends to students.

With the Back to School period approaching and Prime Day sales in full swing, students and their parents will be looking for the best student laptops to see them through college and university, so I was keen to get Dr Liv Grant's recommendation.

“I have a MacBook Neo,” she told me, “that’s great for people who are beginning to code. For someone who is learning online and branching into something less data-heavy, such as web developing, it’s a great choice.”

However, Dr Liv Grant explains, "while you can do extremely light cloud-based AI using the device, if someone is looking for the best Mac to use for on-device AI, my recommendation is the MacBook Pro, and if you’re looking for more of an entry device, it would be the MacBook Air.” She continues, “If you’re curious about coding and you already have a MacBook Neo you can begin your journey there, but you’d ideally need an Air or Pro.” 

The MacBook Neo is Apple’s most affordable MacBook, selling for $599 / £599 / AU$899. If you’re a student, there's an exclusive discount from the Apple Education store, which drops the price to $499 / £499. Despite the low price, it performs very well at day-to-day tasks, and thanks to the Apple A18 Pro chip that powers it, it can also handle on-device AI, though Apple would like to make clear that the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are better suited for coding and on device AI and LLM workflows.

The Apple A18 Pro features an NPU (Neural Processing Unit), which Apple calls the Neural Engine, and is the part of the chip that enables on-device artificial intelligence.

What’s on device AI?

Let’s back up a bit for a minute. You might be wondering what on-device AI means, and what makes it different from online AI chatbots such as ChatGPT.

ChatGPT, Claude and other popular AI chatbots are mainly cloud-based and accessed via the internet. On-device AI means that AI tasks such as image or text generation are performed on the device itself by the NPU using a local LLM.

You don’t need an AI-capable laptop or device to use cloud-based AI tools – all you need is an internet connection. However, devices that can run AI locally offer plenty of benefits, as Dr Liv Grant explained.

“With on-device AI, you don’t need internet connectivity. I’m always working on the go; especially when working at university, I’d work during my commute. The Wi-Fi on public transport can be awful, and it would interrupt my work.”

This is probably the most noticeable benefit for many people. If you’re doing important work that requires AI tools, using those tools locally on the device means that if you lose your internet connection, you can still keep working – and you won’t be in danger of losing your work.

Running those tasks locally has privacy and security benefits as well, as you’re not sharing data, files, or any other information with a remote third party, which is the case with cloud-based AI tools. For extremely sensitive data, or even personal things like using AI to help edit family photos, you should use on-device AI.

To ensure a laptop you’re considering buying is capable of on-device AI, you should check to see if it comes with an NPU (or Neural Engine if you’re looking at MacBooks).

The good news is that most modern chips from Intel, AMD, Qualcomm and Apple feature NPUs. Windows 11 laptops with these chips will most likely be labeled as ‘Copilot+ PCs’ – not the best name, but that’s Microsoft for you. Meanwhile, Apple products will be labeled as being ready for Apple Intelligence.

NPU performance is often measured in TOPS (Trillions of Operations Per Second). The higher the TOPS, the faster the NPU will complete AI tasks. Windows 11 laptops with an NPU of 40 TOPS or more can be labeled as a Copilot+ PC, for example.

This is why Dr Liv Grant suggests the MacBook Neo is best for less-intensive AI tasks, as its NPU is capable of around 35 TOPS, while it's also limited to 8GB of unified memory.

So, the MacBook Neo is fine for beginners, but if you have more ambitious plans that require on-device AI, you’ll want to go for a device with an NPU capable of higher TOPS and offering more RAM.

Light as air

Because of that, Dr Liv Grant uses a MacBook Air for the majority of her coding and AI work. It’s a great alternative due to its thin and light design (ideal for people who work while traveling) and its relatively affordable price (the 13-inch MacBook Air with M5 chip starts at $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,799, and again, there’s a student discount that’ll knock $100/£100/AU$160 off the price if you qualify).

It's also far more capable when it comes to day-to-day tasks and on-device AI, thanks to its M5 chip and 16GB of unified memory to start.

While Apple doesn’t officially disclose the TOPS of its chips, we estimate that it’s around 133 TOPS – which, on paper, makes it around four times faster for AI. Combine that with the larger amount of faster unified memory, and the MacBook Air becomes an excellent mobile AI workstation. At Dr Liv Grant’s vibe coding workshop, the participants all used a MacBook Air.

The final tool in Dr Liv Grant’s MacBook arsenal is a MacBook Pro, which she primarily uses for content creation for her extremely popular Instagram and TikTok accounts.

"My everyday device is my MacBook Pro, because of the heaviness of my workflow. When I’m on the go, I use MacBook Air, which is what we used for the workshop at Apple," she told me.

For students (or anyone, for that matter)looking for a laptop that can handle complex AI tasks as well as demanding creative workloads, a MacBook Pro might be a wise investment, but it is a lot more expensive.

All about the vibe coding

So, what’s the importance of AI for students? While a lot of focus has been on how AI can help students research and study, Dr Liv Grant suggests vibe coding is where it can make the biggest difference, and not necessarily just for programming students.

“Vibe coding is where you use AI or a chatbot tool to help you write code,” explains Dr Liv Grant. “For example, I have an idea for an app to help content creators do a job – a few years ago I’d have had to learn the language, the syntax, the codebase from scratch. With vibe coding you can use AI to help you.”

As Dr Liv Grant is keen to stress, vibe coding isn’t a replacement for traditional coding, and she is familiar with many programming languages. Instead, it’s a tool that can help coders experiment and get creative while still being productive.

Dr Liv Grant’s mention of coding languages is an interesting one, as there’s a huge range of languages used. Web developers, for example, might use JavaScript, while someone making Windows 11 apps would use C#, and someone coding for Macs or iOS apps would likely use Swift. Being experienced with one coding language doesn’t mean you’ll be ‘fluent’ in others, and that’s where vibe coding can really help.

“Even if you know what you’re doing, everyone should use vibe coding,” Dr Liv Grant suggests.

In her workshop, students with no coding background used MacBook Airs to create an app. “We made a pomodoro timer app using LLM studio, picked a vibe coding tool, and gave it three prompts.”

The AI tool would then give examples of code to use in the desired language. “With the first prompt,” explains Dr Liv Grant, “there were some errors, but those were easy to fix.” This is where a basic understanding of coding and syntax comes in, as Dr Grant used her coding experience to correct any mistakes in the AI-generated code.

The ease of vibe coding combined with more affordable laptops such as the MacBook Neo “opens up the world of coding to so many people – people in lower socioeconomic groups, students, anyone,” Dr Liv Grant told me. “It’s very exciting; students have so many ideas, and vibe coding helps those students realize those ideas without having to learn entire programming languages.

“Red Bull Basement recently ran a competition for people to pitch their ideas for an AI tool or app. All the entrants were using vibe coding. They didn’t have a background in coding.”

To me, that sounds both exciting and worrying. Exciting because it could mean that new (once-marginalized) voices, ideas, and products come to market. Someone who once might have had a great idea for an app, but never did anything with it as they were unable to code, could now rustle up a prototype with vibe coding.

Similarly, someone without a coding background who needs an app for a specific task could make their own rather than trying to find someone who would do it for them.

However, I’m also worried – could vibe coding mean an influx of slop apps? And what about programmers, will they be out of jobs? Is it even worth becoming a programming student?

“Yes,” says Dr Liv Grant when I ask her if people should still study to become programmers, “but maybe not in the depth we used to learn coding in. Learn basic syntax, how code works,” Dr Grant suggests. Those skills will prove essential to ensuring any vibe-coded project has a base level of quality. As for programming as a career? “It’s going to move more towards how good you are at interacting with AI and how good you are at prompting.”

I left our conversation with a newfound appreciation for how AI can help students, especially when it comes to vibe coding, and how that, combined with more affordable devices like the MacBook Neo (even considering its limitations), could make app developing much more accessible.

It’s certainly an interesting time, and if you or someone you know is considering getting a laptop to vibe code on, I’ve picked some of my top choices below. Make sure you also follow Dr Liv Grant on TikTok and Instagram for more fascinating insights into tech, science and Epigenetics.

If what we talked about here has got you interested in getting a MacBook for vibe coding (and more), then check out these fantastic MacBook Prime Day deals I've hand-picked below.

Prime Day MacBook deals