• Amazon's 'Ask this book' feature is now rolling out to Kindles
• It's part of software version 5.20.2
• So far, users have only reported this landing on 2026 models, and it might currently be US-exclusive

Amazon launched ‘Ask this book’ almost a year ago now, with this AI-powered tool allowing you to ask questions about what you’re reading. However, it was initially only available for the iOS Kindle app, and only in the US.

Now, though, that availability is widening — at least a little. As spotted by some Reddit users and The eBook Reader, ‘Ask this book’ has started rolling out to certain Kindle models, including the Kindle Colorsoft 2026 and the Kindle Paperwhite 2026. It’s likely that the other 2026 Kindles will also receive this update, though that hasn’t been confirmed.

Indeed, Amazon itself has so far said very little about this rollout. The feature is part of software version 5.20.2, but this doesn’t yet have any release notes, or any confirmation beyond user reports of which models ‘Ask this book’ will actually work with.

Unclear availability

So, for now, there’s a question mark over whether the feature is coming to previous Kindle generations — I can say that my Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition 2024 does not yet have the update. But then it’s a UK model, and previously, the feature had only been available in the US — so it also remains to be seen whether other regions will get it.

For now, if you’re curious, you’ll seemingly have to wait and see whether your Kindle gets the update pushed to it — there is no way to force the update currently. The rollout might happen in stages, though, so even if you don’t have it yet, you may still get it. Just make sure Wi-Fi is on so your Kindle can update.

As for the ‘Ask this book’ feature itself, it’s potentially very useful, letting you, for example, ask about the plot or characters of a supported book and receive information based on where you’re up to in it — or for the whole book if you don’t mind spoilers.

As with most AI features, though, it’s also controversial, with Reddit comments about its original launch including “I hate it,” and “this feature is so invasive.” So it’s certainly not for everyone.

Over the past seven days, the tech world has been inundated with more news, events, and exciting announcements, and you can best believe we've had our ears to the ground to cover as much as we can.

Apple kicked off our week of news with another round of announcements, most notably its new M6 upgrades and the launch of its first-ever touchscreen MacBook. But as we prepare to leave 2026 in the past and look forward to a fresh year, we've used this week to reflect on the best tech of the past 12 months, rounding up products across 100 different categories for our Product of the Year winners.

As it is with every ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) recap, these roundups are designed to give you an at-a-glance look of some of the biggest stories we've reported this week, because even we understand that keeping updated with every new tech announcement isn't a walk in the park.

7. We revealed our favorite tech of the year

The past 12 months has been rich with new product announcements, and frankly, we've been spoilt for choice. But after much deliberation, we've put together our full list of Product of the Year winners across over 100 different categories.

It's been a monumental year for Apple to say the least. As far as phones go, the iPhone 18 takes the Phone of the Year crown while the MacBook Neo (Apple's flagship budget laptop) is our laptop of the year — but there's plenty more where that came from.

We didn't honor just the best phones, laptops, cameras, headphones, and soundbars, but streaming services, health tech, and smart home devices also made the final cut — so check out the full list to see which products defined 2026.

• Read more: Meet the TechRadar Product of the Year 2026 winners — our editors choose their favorite gadgets of the last 12 months

6. The $6.3bn Binance hack was the biggest in history

One of this week's last-minute breaking news stories, cryptocurrency exchange Binance was hit with an attack where $6.36 billion in tokens were withdrawn in less than 30 minutes. Researchers at TRM Labs linked the attack to North Korean hacker organization Lazarus Group.

While we don't know exactly what went down, Binance co-CEO Richard Teng confirmed the attack via a LinkedIn post. He also added that “the attacker did not simply use one engineer's permissions, and this was not a single 'one-click' action. It involved a more complex attack process". TRM Labs also said the attackers pulled funds from 10 different chains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Tron, Solana, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Avalanche, and Polygon.

That said, the attack did not target user funds, as Teng confirmed, sharing that “Binance will cover all losses from the SAFU fund and company funds".

• Read more: Binance hit by 'largest crypto theft on record' as North Korean hackers steal $6.3bn in just 20 minutes

5. Apple admitted a ‘small’ number of iPhone Duos have a screen issue

The launch of the iPhone Duo prompted worldwide excitement for Apple's first foldable phone, but a small number of users on Reddit have reported issues with the device's hinge cracking and causing the screen to break.

It's unclear whether these issues are a common occurrence across all iPhone duo devices or whether they're simply isolated incidents, but looking at the reports on social media we've assumed it's the latter. Foldable phones are innately more delicate than standard smartphones, and with many first-time users opting for the iPhone Duo, some may not be equipped with the knowledge of how to treat them.

Following the report, Apple shared a statement with us, saying "We are aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units. If users experience issues with their iPhone Duo display, they should contact AppleCare for a replacement".

• Read more: Apple responds to iPhone Duo 'crackgate' controversy — and admits it's 'aware of an issue' that affects a 'small number of units'

4. Samsung revealed it first open-ear earbuds

Remember when well-sealed noise cancellation was all the rage? Now audio manufacturers are obsessed with open, including electronics giant Samsung, which finally introduced its own pair of clip-on, open earbuds: Galaxy Buds On. They wrap around from the back of your ears to the ear hole and project sound. The coolest thing about Samsung’s pair is how they offer some external noise cancellation, so people next to you don’t have to listen to your music.

• Read more: 'We analyzed 119 million ear data points' — how Samsung built Galaxy Buds On, its first open-type earbuds

3. The iMac and MacBook Pro got M6 upgrades

It's been an eventful few weeks at Apple, especially following the iPhone Duo launch, but the company's latest Mac and iPad upgrades are the icing on the cake, starting with M6 upgrades for the iMac and MacBook Pro. The iMac's pricing starts at $1,499, the same as its predecessor, while the MacBook Pro M6 also starts at the same level as its M5 predecessor, which is $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,199.

Marking the company's first 2nm chip, Apple says it will give new iMacs a notable boost for local AI processing, running 5x faster for on-device AI tasks than the previous-gen all-in-one with the M4 chip. As for the new M6 MacBook, Apple promises 30% faster graphics performance thanks to its 12-core GPU, as well as a 25% performance boost for on-device AI processing versus the M5.

At the same time, Apple unveiled its new OLED iPad mini starting at $699 / £699 / AU$1,099. Central to the refresh is the larger 8.5-inch OLED Super Retina XDR screen, promising a more immersive view with enhanced visuals, as well as a brightness boost, now topping out at 1,200 nits, which is a considerable leap over the previous mini's 500 nits.

• Read more: Apple reveals iMac M6 and MacBook Pro M6 — and the good news is there are no price hikes

2. Amazon gave us 8 new Echo and Alexa gadgets

Amazon gave its range of smart home devices some new siblings this week, announcing eight new gadgets including speakers and smart displays. Most of the products are available now, though some are only available for preorder.

Joining the mix is the new Echo Dot speaker, which packs a full-range driver for improved audio and 50% more bass, as well as a fourth microphone. There's also a new Echo Dot for kids.

But among the new devices is the Echo Studio with Home Camera, which combines audio and home security into one handy gadget. And it doesn't end there; the Alexa Home Map is a new smart display that renders your home in 3D, allowing you to see your entire smart home ecosystem of smart lights, speakers, displays, and cameras at a glance.

• Read more: 8 new Echo and Alexa gadgets that Amazon just announced — from an upgraded Echo Dot to an Echo Studio with a camera attached

1. Apple revealed its first touchscreen Mac

This week, Apple did the previously unthinkable and finally introduced a touchscreen MacBook Pro. New Apple CEO John Ternus got to do the honors at an unusual event in Hollywood, California.

Shortly after the reveal, we got our hands — or fingers — on the new laptops (14-and-16-inch) and found the experience surprisingly intuitive. Guess Apple was right to finally change its mind.

• Read more: Apple's Touchscreen MacBook Pro is finally here, and yes, touching a MacBook screen feels totally and wonderfully natural

• Amazon CEO says he isn't worried about AI shopping agents like Muse
• Amazon had blocked Meta's AI agent from its ecommerce site
• Jassy says the AI agent experience is still "not great"

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has said he is not worried about the effect of AI-powered shopping agents such as Meta Muse, saying the services are still "not great".

Speaking after the company revealed yet another set of record financial results, Jassy told analysts barely any customers are using shopping agents as the experience is “still not great, nor more convenient than coming to a retailer directly.”

Jassy’s comments followed Amazon's decision to block Meta's new AI assistant, Muse, from accessing its online store in September 2026, claiming this would violate the conditions of use its customers have agreed to.

Muse is not doing the business...yet

Since its launch in September 2026, Muse has proven popular with customers, despite several examples of the service accessing information it was not supposed to.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently claimed that more than 10 million people across the US and Canada had already set up Muse, and that it had toppled ChatGPT as the top free app on the Apple App Store.

Experts have warned it may still not be up to scratch, after a security researcher found a worrying zero-day vulnerability which allowed attackers to gain access to people’s apps, such as WhatsApp or email.

Data from Surfshark also identified Muse as the most data-hungry chatbot around, outperforming all its competitors when it comes to data harvesting.

Meta has already signed up a range of top retailers, including Walmart, Best Buy and Shopify, to integrate with Muse, but Amazon has yet to join the group. The company is largely reliant on human shoppers visiting the Amazon website, where they can be exposed to advertisements and suggested products which nets the business its biggest returns.

Jassy did claim that more than 400 million customers have used Alexa for shopping in the last year, and that “customer interactions” had grown 570% year over year.

US customers using its Alexa also spent 50% more per order than those who do not use it, Jassy revealed, perhaps signaling that the service will be expanded in the coming months.

Via Fortune

• Amazon urges developers not to blindly focus on AI tool usage
• The era of the "Renaissance Developer" using all kinds of AI is here
• It also urges workers to shun tokenmaxxing, and focus on building a deeper connection with customers

Amazon has told its engineers to look beyond simply using AI to ensure their work gets done, and focus instead on the results of their labor.

In a memo sent to its workforce, the company warned against using “deeply flawed” metrics such as AI token usage or code generation as a measure of team success.

It also cautioned against workers chasing "tokenmaxxing", noting how, "our most prolific engineers have demonstrated that neither the developer role nor their output is defined by the use of AI."

The age of the "Renaissance Developer"

The memo, written by Terk Terkowitz, Amazon VP/Distinguished Engineer, Worldwide, and entitled "An update from Amazon engineering leadership on the role of the developer in the age of AI", signaled the apparent beginning of a new era in how the company defines its workers in the age of AI.

This includes the age of the "Renaissance Developer", who is able to blend AI tools with human judgment and domain expertise "to build entirely new things".

"AI is changing the work of software engineering both more quickly and more fundamentally than these previous trends," Terkowitz noted. "What it means to be a software engineer, and what software engineering even is, is changing quickly and durably."

What this means for Amazon's workers is a focus on "on what is not changing as we evolved the SDE (Software Development Engineers) roles".

This will mean a move away from "deeply flawed" metrics such as token usage or adoption of AI tools, and more focus on the impact on customers, businesses and teams.

The memo urges managers and division heads to make sure that there is "sufficient understanding" among their teams about the benefits AI tools can bring, and told workers to ensure they become "deeply connected" to their customers in order to gain a deeper knowledge of what they really need from Amazon.

"Despite the speed of change, we believe that it is still early. We all need to embrace this change and take the time to learn, or we risk being left behind," Terkowitz concluded.

“We’re just seeing the beginning of AI’s effect on software engineering. While we have a vision for what the future looks like, there’s a lot that’s still emerging. We are certain that whatever future best practices are, AI will be at the center of software engineering practice.”

Amazon often likes to unveil a plethora of products at the same time, and it's done so again: we've got eight different product announcements to talk about today, and they cover smart displays, smart speakers, and the wider Amazon ecosystem.

Most of these products are available now, though some can only be preordered at the moment. Read on for all the details and pricing — at the time of writing international pricing is slowly rolling out, so we'll add that here as it gets announced.

1. Echo Dot

The brand new Echo Dot — the speaker for "everywhere you can imagine" as Amazon puts it, from the kitchen to the living room — gets a host of upgrades. There's a new full-range driver here for improved audio and 50% more bass, the addition of a fourth microphone so it can hear you better, and room temperature detection.

There's some custom Amazon silicon inside in the form of the AZ3 chip, which should make Alexa+ faster and more responsive, and the smart speaker is now both a smart home hub as well as an Eero Wi-Fi extender. It's available now in Graphite, Glacier White, Agave Green, and Coral Pink for $99.99 / £94.99 / AU$199.

2. Amazon Kids Echo Dot

If your kids are after their own Echo Dot, Amazon has you covered here too. There's everything you get in the regular Dot, with a choice of either Octopus and Penguin designs, and a year of Amazon Kids+ (featuring podcasts and audiobooks, usually $7.99 / £6.99 a month if you've got Prime). The Amazon Kids Echo Dot is yours for $109.99 / £104.99.

3. Echo Studio with Home Camera

The Echo Studio is the Echo speaker you go for if you want the best audio possible, and the newly unveiled model adds a feature called Advanced Room Adaptation that "tunes the sound to your space". There's also now Adaptive Volume, so audio adjusts as you move about the room to maintain a steady level.

Also — surprise! — there's now a camera embedded in the speaker. Amazon says you could use it to check in on pets or make sure you've switched the lights off. The camera can also be used with Alexa+, to get info on whatever you're holding, and with Fire TV devices if you want to put video calls on your television.

As always, you can turn off the camera whenever you like. The new Echo Studio with Home Camera is now available in Graphite for $249.99 / £239.99 / AU$479, and the existing Echo Studio (without the camera or extra audio features) remains on sale for $219.99.

4. Echo Time

The Echo Time is a brand new smart speaker series from Amazon, and looks to be a more premium version of the existing Echo Spot. Yes, it's basically an Echo Dot with a clock on the front, but there's also smart alarm functionality here to wake you up at the best point during your sleep cycle, and routine settings for winding down at the end of the day too.

With a 3.2-inch touchscreen, you've got a bit of extra control when interacting with Alexa+ and other features, and Amazon says it's been specifically designed for the bedroom (there's no camera, you'll be pleased to know). The speaker is available now for $199.99 / £184.99 / AU$379, in Graphite, Glacier White, and Coral Pink.

5. Amazon Kids Echo Time

There's a kid-friendly version of the Echo Time available as well for $209.99 / £194.99, in either Galactic Grape or Cosmic Lime. As with the Echo Dot, the version for youngsters bundles in a year of Amazon Kids+ (usually $7.99 / £6.99 a month if you also subscribe to Prime), so there's lots of audio content to explore, plus wind-down content curated especially for kids.

6. Echo Show 16

Amazon is going big with the Echo Show 16, which boasts a screen measuring 16 inches from corner to corner (as you may have guessed from the name). Amazon says its the "most advanced, versatile smart display" it's put out yet: there's a refined design, Fire TV functionality built in, and a choice of three new Screen Styles.

These Screen Styles are basically different widget layout options, focusing on smart home controls, displaying photos, or acting as a family organizer (with calendars front and center). The device is faster than previous Echo Shows, Amazon says, and the 13MP camera lets you use it as a security camera and video calling device too.

Amazon is opening up preorders for the Echo Show 16 now, and it'll be available "later this year". The standard smart display costs $499.99, while one with a special anti-glare Nanomatte layer (as used in the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro) is yours for $569.99.

7. Alexa Home Map

Alexa Home Map is exactly what it sounds like: a map of your home, rendered in 3D. The idea is you can see at a glance how your smart lights, speakers, displays, and cameras are set up, and control them with a tap on the map. You can start setting up the map through the Alexa+ app on your phone, though it's not rolling out until later this year.

8. Alexa Photo Frame

The Alexa Photo Frame tasks the Alexa AI with picking out the best shots from your Amazon Photos library, and displaying them on the 10-inch touchscreen — though you can also manually specify albums and people you want to see. New photos can show up automatically if you want, as they're added to your library.

Alexa is always on hand if you want to request a particular image, and you can even add voice notes to pictures and send them to friends and family with their own Alexa Photo Frames. The digital frame is available now for $199.99 in Black, and $229.00 with a real Birch or Walnut wood frame.

• Amazon’s Echo Time is a smart clock with Alexa+ and a 3.2-inch display
• A camera-free design and customizable clock faces set it apart
• Sensors and adaptive lighting aim to improve your wake-up routine

Amazon has long offered a wide variety of smart speakers and smart displays, all powered by Alexa, and more recently, many have gotten the upgrade to Alexa+. Now, after several new devices, from Kindles to tablets with a glare-free Nano Matte coating, Amazon has five more, and the most intriguing is the $199 / £184.99 / AU$379 Echo Time.

A device that earns a spot on your bedside table needs to clear a high bar, and the devices team at Amazon, led by Panos Panay, thinks they’ve cracked it with this one. Speaking to press and creators, Panos called the Echo Time the ‘smartest clock in the world,’ and, first and foremost, it's meant to show you the time in a range of ways.

It really presents itself as a more well-thought-out Echo Spot. Rather than a half-circle display, the Echo Time offers a 3.2-inch screen wrapped in what looks like the body of an Echo Dot Max, with woven mesh on the rear, top, and sides. Controls sit at the top, just above the woven mesh, for volume up, volume down, and microphone mute. It does have microphones you can mute, but the Time notably doesn’t have a camera.

That’s a refreshing admission for a device designed for your nightstand and will likely make the Time more popular than the Spot.

Instead, Echo Time aims to mix clock skills with Alexa+. Like the previous Echo Spot and the forthcoming Apple HomeView, you can customize it with a range of clock faces and even add mini widgets. I saw several designs that look like traditional clocks, with or without hands or numbers, as well as digital ones and others that use photos.

There are some collaborative designs pulling from famous characters like Harry Potter or the Powerpuff Girls — I am hoping for some Disney, Star Wars, or Marvel ones one day. You can swipe left or right to adjust the clock face and long-press to swipe between and customize them.

It can, as you might suspect, function as an alarm clock, but Amazon takes this a step further, as it can raise or lower the brightness of the display and glow light at the bottom to help with your wind-down or wake-up routine. For instance, rather than blaring a loud horn as your alarm, it can intelligently raise the display brightness and work with connected smart home gadgets, like a smart bulb, to help ease your wake-up. It can gradually raise the brightness like a sunrise, and at night, it could start to dim things and even cut blue light from the display. At night, the display can drop to as low as 0.3 nits, meaning that the glow won’t keep you up and the screen can be viewed without burning your retinas.

It will also utilize Omnisense to find the best time to wake you up if you opt in, which is different from Soli on, say, the Google Nest Hub or the Hatch Sleep Clock with sleep tracking. Echo Time isn’t looking to track your sleep but is using these sensors — room temperature, presence detection, ultrasound for breathing, and proximity — to figure out when you’re in a state of lighter sleep and start to wake you up. From there, when an alarm is set, Alexa and the Echo Time can make the call to sound it earlier.

And since it’s running Alexa+, you don’t need to be precise with your asks. You could tell Alexa you have an important meeting at 9 AM, so you need to be up by 7:30 or 7:45 AM, and have it figure out the best routine, potentially setting an alarm but also cueing the lights and hopefully easing you into your day.

With its built-in speakers and screen, you can ask Alexa topical questions and even request music playback, and the Echo Time will happily oblige. It seems like a fully capable Alexa smart display, but it’s unlike the rest of the Echo Show or the standard Echo lineup. Echo Time is squarely built around being a digital clock with Alexa capabilities. And that's a good thing.

Instead of trying to be another smart display that does a little bit of everything, it offers a camera-free design, customizable clock faces, and smart features designed to help you start your day or ease into slumber. It's a more purpose-built Echo, and that could be exactly what makes it worth the space on your nightstand.

At $199.99, it is the same price as the Echo Show 8 and more than the Echo Spot at $109.99. That puts it in an interesting spot in the lineup, and I'm looking forward to spending more time with it soon. Its price puts it firmly in premium smart-clock, smart display territory, so it’ll be interesting to see whether its added features justify the cost over other Echo devices.

Amazon’s also dropping the Amazon Kids Echo Time at $209.99 / £194.99 in Galactic Grape — my favorite — or Cosmic Lime, and it comes bundled with a year of Amazon Kids+. The standard Echo Time comes in Graphite, Glacier White, and Coral Pink for $199.99. Both are available to order now and are shipping now.

• Amazon’s new Echo Show 16 starts at $499.99 and boasts a fresh design
• Alexa+ gets a redesigned interface with interactive Cards
• You can even get the 16-inch smart display with a NanoMatte finish

Amazon’s new Echo Show 16 looks like a big step forward for its smart displays. With a slimmer design, upgraded audio, and a redesigned Alexa+ interface, it feels like Amazon’s hardware and software are finally working in tandem.

It has a thinner, more modern look, almost mimicking that of an iMac, with a brighter, more vibrant display that can be treated with the special anti-glare NanoMatte coating. It also boasts a redesigned interface that feels tailor-made for the larger screen.

At $499.99 with a standard display and $569.99 with NanoMatte, the new Echo Show 16 is very much a premium smart display. It’s also only available in the United States for now and is up for preorder ahead of a mid-December launch. You can also save by preordering, with $100 off either finish.

Like the refreshed Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11, this Echo Show 16 feels like Amazon’s device design team, led by Panos Panay, has hit its stride. I only spent a handful of minutes with it, but I can already see that the design and software are working in tandem, and this could be the template for future Echo Show smart displays.

Amazon has redesigned the entire build, including the internals, from the ground up, packing everything into an anodized aluminum frame that’s 40% slimmer than that of the Echo Show 15 or 21. The audio team has also built out eight custom micro-woofers on the sides and two tweeters for robust audio. In the demo space, it got pretty loud with no noticeable muddiness. It can also adjust playback in real time using the onboard microphones, sensors, and custom algorithms to ensure sound stays clear.

There are four microphones as well, so Alexa can clearly hear you when you make queries, but they also help if you’re on a video call, letting whoever you’re speaking to hear you without extra background noise. Two forward-facing microphones sit next to the wide-angle 13MP camera, and two are on the rear.

The 16-inch display is Full HD, and I’m especially loving the NanoMatte finish, particularly for a device that might be wall-mounted or used with the separately sold swivel stand. Either way, it could be exposed to varying degrees of natural sunlight, and glare can be an issue with smart displays.

Of course, Alexa — specifically Alexa+ — is central to this, and the Show 16’s new Cards, which organize your conversations with the assistant, offer a new way to interact with and revisit those conversations. Panos described the interface as a combination of user interface and AI, and explained how the two work together.

When you open a Card from a previous Alexa conversation, you’re presented with the original prompt, condensed, alongside jumping-off points on the right and more detailed information next to it. You can easily tap on those suggestions or pull up the original conversation. Alexa's new conversation design is also reminiscent of how conversations are organized in the Siri app. The new look is also rolling out to the Alexa mobile app.

The whole interface feels a bit cleaner, and you can finally choose between different Screen Styles for the Echo Show 16. These include a Family Organizer for calendars and family plans, a Smart Home view for controlling connected devices — think the Echo Hub on steroids — and a Photos option that turns the display into a digital picture frame.

A more focused Echo Show

After spending a little time with the Echo Show 16, I came away most impressed by the cohesive feel of the hardware and software. The slimmer frame, more capable audio setup, NanoMatte display option, and redesigned Alexa+ experience all serve the same goal: making a large smart display more useful in the home.

The new Cards could be particularly interesting as Alexa+ becomes more capable, giving conversations a life beyond the moment you ask a question. And with Screen Styles that cater to different household needs, the Echo Show 16 feels less like a screen that simply sits on a counter or wall and more like a hub for organizing your home.

I’ll need to spend more time with it to see how well those features work in everyday use, but my first impression is that Amazon has made a more considered, cohesive smart display. If the new Alexa+ experience delivers on its promise, the Echo Show 16 could be one of the more compelling examples of where Amazon wants its smart home devices to go next.

• A new report claims that Amazon is buying up more AI GPU racks than it can deploy in data centers
• An analyst links this report to Nvidia's GeForce GPU supply woes, theorizing that there's a connection
• The contention is that Nvidia is deliberately 'channel stuffing' or in other words, pushing an excess of AI GPUs to the detriment of gaming GPU chips

Nvidia's supply issues with its gaming GPUs are seemingly the result of a strategy to get AI giants to stock up on more graphics chips than they can handle, if fresh reports are to be believed.

You can't have failed to notice the stock issues around Nvidia's GeForce GPUs, and the spike in prices that has happened over the past few months, particularly for higher-end graphics cards.

Well, according to the musings of tech pundit and analyst Ed Zitron (via RespawnFirst) — who picked up on a report by Business Insider — the consumer GPU shortage is a direct result of Nvidia pushing AI graphics cards on the likes of Amazon.

Business Insider informs us that Amazon (or rather AWS) is buying more Nvidia GPUs than it can deploy. Apparently, racks of the AI graphics cards are being kept unused in holding warehouses until there's power available at the data centers where they'll be used (electricity capacity, not space, is the issue here).

Amazon is paying out huge sums for these GB300 racks from Nvidia, and according to an internal email that Business Insider got hold of, a new 'Early Rack Receipt' process (buying these GPUs upfront, before they're installed) saw some $5 billion worth of server racks paid for in August 2026. Seemingly $3 billion more are on order every month for the "foreseeable future" going by another email.

We're told one AWS team didn't have a "clear forecasted path" for getting the purchased racks installed — in other words, they're not even sure when these GPUs might be used.

Zitron's argument is based on a key phrase in the Business Insider report, where the author states that the reason for the switch in policy — Amazon only used to pay for racks when they were installed in a data center — is that "Amazon has to compete more for scarce resources as it jockeys with rivals for access to Nvidia GPUs and other AI components."

The conclusion Zitron draws is that this is basically indicating that Nvidia is making Amazon, and others buying up AI GPUs, compete with each other by agreeing to order a whole pile of them there and then — more than they possibly need — otherwise they won't get their allocation (presumably).

Analysis: GPU misery is clear enough to see

In short, these AI GPUs aren't actually needed as such — not by Amazon in this quantity, as per the Business Insider report — but Nvidia is effectively strong-arming the company into buying the chips, or as Zitron puts it, this is "deliberate channel stuffing." Meaning Nvidia is forcing this AI demand artificially to the seeming detriment of GeForce GPUs, with lesser chip supply for those gaming cards causing price inflation and general misery for gamers.

Obviously we need to take this with a good deal of caution — that goes for the initial report from Business Insider, and doubly so with the theorizing that Zitron applies on top of that article.

There's no denying, however, that we have witnessed a frustrating shortage of consumer GPUs, and in particular Nvidia's high-end gaming graphics cards have become painfully thin on the ground — and pricey. The RTX 5090 is either unobtainable, save through third-party marketplace sellers trying to gouge you out of the best part of 10 grand (in the US), or it's hideously expensive to the tune of over £6,000 in the UK, for example.

What's worse is the RTX 5080 is now getting ridiculously pricey too, reaching £1,400 in the UK. And in the US on Newegg, there's now only one model for sale (direct from the retailer) — and it'll set you back $2,000. It's all getting silly, frankly, and with rumors that the RTX 5090 is being discontinued doing the rounds — speculation Nvidia has denied, I should make clear — it's currently a disappointingly gloomy picture for GPUs.

The expectation is that matters are only going to get worse for RAM, SSDs, and GPUs, as next year rolls into town — and that makes all the above theorizing seem a bit more plausible. It's certainly clear that Nvidia's priority is AI GPUs rather than GeForce graphics cards because of the profits involved with AI, but of course, Team Green is a business — so what do we expect? Prioritization is one thing, though, and the levelled accusation of the practice of 'channel stuffing' is entirely another.

• Amazon has rebranded Kindle Unlimited as Kindle+
• The rebrand also comes with additional audiobooks, though many of these are narrated by AI
• The price hasn't changed but some users worry it might go up soon

Kindle Unlimited is no more — instead, you’re now a Kindle+ subscriber, as Amazon has just rebranded its ebook subscription service.

The good news is that the price hasn’t changed, and all the features remain the same too. In fact, you’re actually getting more for your money, because — as reported by ZDNet — there are now significantly more audiobooks included.

The bad news is that many of these new audiobooks are narrated by AI, with Amazon’s Virtual Voice allowing authors to create AI-narrated audio versions of their books at no additional cost.

A worrying change

Aside from that, this is seemingly the same as Kindle Unlimited, but the name change has made some users wary that a price increase could follow.

Over on Reddit, one user said “I don’t love it. It’s a signal that things will change and it’ll most likely start with the price,” while in another thread about the change, comments included the likes of “wouldn’t be surprised if there is a price rise in the near future,” and “I’m just glad they didn’t Kindle plus on the price. I was scanning that email and just waiting for them to say there was a price increase. Or is this a soft launch on that later?”

Certainly, there’s reason to worry, especially with Amazon now being able to argue that you’re getting more with the subscription (even if much of that extra is AI-generated).

This could also potentially pave the way for tiered pricing — after all, ‘Kindle+’ sounds like a less complete service than ‘Kindle Unlimited’ before it, so maybe a pricier additional tier will be rolled out at some point.

But on the other hand, Amazon might simply have wanted to get away from the arguably confusing ‘Unlimited’ name, since there were in fact limits to what books were available and how many you could access at once. So it remains to be seen whether this is a simple rebrand or something more insidious.

• Evidence suggests PHP2Shell exploitation began days before public disclosure, indicating prior attacker knowledge
• Researchers say real-world attacks remain limited, though exploitation attempts rapidly surged after disclosure
• Millions of PHP systems remain exposed, with experts urging immediate patching of supported versions

The exploitation of php2shell began four days before the vulnerabilities were made public, Amazon has claimed, meaning someone knew well in advance about the bugs in the popular software.

The company has released its own analysis which shows that the attacks actually started several days earlier.

“Amazon Threat Intelligence identified a PHP2Shell exploitation attempt dating to Oct. 17, 2026, in MadPot telemetry, four days before public disclosure of CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619,” the company said in an advisory. “The exploit attempt originated from an IP address associated with a commercial anonymization network. While the vulnerability was under embargo, the targeting of a honeypot from an anonymized IP address suggests the activity was conducted by a threat actor, though it remains unclear how the actor acquired exploit information prior to disclosure.”

Attacks four days prior

On the day of the patch release, four days into the disaster, Amazon Threat Intelligence discovered multiple proof-of-concept (PoC) exploits, and since the payloads and choices in anonymization infrastructure varied, it was most likely the work of multiple threat actors. The company is currently analyzing the payloads to see if they would have been successful in the wild or not.

Together with a handful of partners, PHP Foundation was working on a fix for two critical vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619 and nicknamed ‘php2shell’. Both have a severity score of 9.2/10, and both can be used for full website takeover. Given that PHP is a programming language used to write a significant majority of all websites in existence, the bugs were quite dangerous, and required carefully coordinated disclosure and patching.

The patch was supposed to be released on October 21, and those who were aware of it, were asked not to disclose the details until it was released. However, a few hours before that embargo were to be lifted, security outfit Chainguard allegedly published container images containing fixes for the flaws. At approximately the same time, news started breaking that cybercriminals were actively exploiting php2shell to target websites.

All hell broke loose - many major government, education, and healthcare websites around the world preventively shut down, while PHP Foundation issued an alert telling admins to prepare and apply the patch as soon as it becomes available.

What is ASLR and why is it important for p2pshell?

One of the reasons why we’re yet to see many successful exploitation attempts is apparently ASLR. Short for Address Space Layout Randomization, it is a security feature that randomly changes where a program’s code and data are stored in memory every time it runs. This is according to Yotam Perkal, Director of Security Research at Pluto Security.

“PHP2Shell doesn't seem trivial to exploit. I believe that part of the reason we’ve yet to see successful exploitation is that reliable code execution requires getting past ASLR, a memory protection that randomizes where code sits in memory,” Perkal said. “That's hard to do remotely, and most of the public PoCs floating around (many of them vibe coded) simply don't work reliably on real systems.”

“I wouldn't count on it staying that way, though. Exploits will get better, and most PHP servers out there are still unpatched, so teams should patch and restart their PHP workers now. But compared with all the drama before and after the release, real-world exploitation so far looks pretty limited.”

At the same time, Cloudflare has said the number of attacks launched in the hours after disclosure was staggering and growing at an unprecedented rate. Company CEO Matthew Prince said in a post on X that the team saw thousands of exploitation attempts in the 10 hours before the patch was announced. This grew to tens of thousands within an hour of disclosure, and hundreds of thousands within two hours. Now, it’s gone into the millions.

To make matters worse, different threat actors are approaching the flaws in different ways and are adapting on the go. According to Cloudflare, some threat actors were modifying their payloads based on feedback from blocked requests, all in order to find a way past web application firewalls (WAF).

Via The Register

• Amazon plans to buy power from 12 proposed Indiana nuclear reactors
• The proposed facility could deliver 960 megawatts to Indiana’s electricity grid
• X-energy’s Xe-100 reactors would use helium cooling and TRISO fuel

Amazon is backing a proposed nuclear power development in Indiana designed to supply electricity for its expanding data center operations and the regional grid.

The project involves 12 small modular reactors from X-energy, with a combined planned output of 960 megawatts, although construction and commissioning dates remain uncertain.

Amazon hasn’t disclosed the specific amount it is putting into the Indiana project, but it says it is “investing billions in nuclear energy projects” overall. This confirmation, coupled with its lead role in X-energy, suggests the commitment could plausibly exceed $1 billion, though that is speculation.

Twelve reactors face an uncertain road to operation

The planned installation would occupy the former Breed coal generating station site in Sullivan County, Indiana, where developers intend to establish new nuclear generating capacity.

Each Xe-100 reactor is designed to generate 80 megawatts using helium gas for cooling and specially engineered uranium fuel particles known as TRISO.

X-energy says TRISO fuel resists extreme temperatures, while the Xe-100 design aims to limit reliance on active safety systems during certain accident scenarios.

However, the proposed Indiana installation remains a development project, and the United States has yet to operate a commercial small modular reactor supplying electricity.

Amazon's partnership with X-energy dates back to 2024, when the technology company led a $700 million financing round supporting reactor development and fuel production preparations.

That funding included work on reactor licensing and the initial stage of a TRISO-X fuel manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The Indiana proposal forms part of a separate ambition to introduce more than 5 gigawatts of nuclear generating capacity across the United States by 2039.

Amazon would purchase electricity from the proposed installation, providing developers with an expected customer while the project advances through planning and regulatory requirements.

“New technologies like this often need initial customers to help de-risk projects and provide funding so they can be built and scaled to commercial availability,” said an Amazon spokesperson.

Regulatory approvals could determine the timeline

Regulatory approvals remain a key obstacle, and coordinating construction across the proposed facility could complicate delivery.

Nuclear developers in America generally pursue either approval for a standard reactor design or authorization covering a specific installation and its location.

X-energy has reported progress toward a construction permit for a separate Texas development, but that authorization would not automatically approve its Indiana proposal.

The Texas project involves four reactors intended to support a Dow chemical manufacturing facility, substantially fewer units than the planned Indiana installation.

According to the South Bend Tribune, an X-energy representative indicated that the Indiana facility could become operational during the middle of the 2030s.

The representative warned that the schedule could change as the project progresses, so the mid-2030s estimate remains provisional.

• Amazon to hire 300,000 workers this Christmas, up from 250,000 last year
• Average seasonal wages are $20/hour, up around $1 in a year
• Major healthcare benefit change coming in January 2027

Amazon anticipates creating a massive 300,000 jobs for US workers over the 2026 holiday period, spanning both part-time and seasonal roles as well as full-time options.

The company already generated around 250,000 roles over Christmas 2025, but a further 50,000 roles are set to be created this year as demand for convenient online shopping surges.

But rather than flooding the market with hundreds of thousands of jobs in one go, the company is set to post new vacancies every week between October and December in a more targeted approach, meaning that seasonal jobseekers will need to keep a close eye on the firm's recruitment platform.

Amazon set to hire 300,000 workers this Christmas

Amazon also advertised that there will be opportunities for seasonal recruits to transition into more permanent roles, however the firm didn't explicitly share a figure.

The employer is also set to make an important change to workplace benefits, extending its free healthcare to seasonal employees who work at least 30 hours per week – something it's already been doing with regular full-time employees for several years – however this change won't actually be implemented until the New Year.

Eligible hires from before January 1 will still get this perk after that date, but not before.

Amazon also noted that the average seasonal worker wage stands at $20 per hour, up from the "over $19" it advertised last year when it added 250,000 seasonal roles. This comes just weeks after the company announced it would be raising the minimum (not average) pay for full-time core operations employees to $20 per hour, with an average hourly wage of $24.

Kindles aren't just for reading — Amazon also makes a couple of Kindles that you can scribble notes on. The Kindle Scribe and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft both have a generous, glare-free e-ink screen you can use for reading or writing; they're billed as streamlined, minimalist productivity tools that help you stay focused.

We've been impressed with both e-readers — the Kindle Scribe holds a coveted spot in our best e-readers ranking. However, there are some compromises involved in choosing one of these models rather than a reading-only option. If you're not sure which one to buy, or whether a different Kindle altogether might fit your needs more closely, you're in the right place.

In this guide, I'll provide a handy overview of the Kindle Scribe and Scribe Colorsoft, including how the specs match up and any major downsides for each model, as well as how they compare to the wider Kindle lineup. I'll also round up the different iterations so you can see your options and what they cost. Let's get started...

Kindle Scribe — Overview

The Kindle Scribe is Amazon's black-and-white e-reader with writing support included. We're on our third generation, released in the US in late 2025 and in other territories in early 2026. We awarded it an impressive 4.5 stars in our Kindle Scribe (2025) review.

Probably because it had already had a relatively recent update, the Kindle Scribe wasn't included in the big refresh the rest of the range enjoyed in October 2026 (we now have a classic Kindle 2026, a Kindle Paperwhite 2026 and a Kindle Colorsoft 2026).

The Scribe is basically a Kindle, except that if you want to take notes, you can grab the stylus and scribble down your thoughts. That's probably simplifying it a bit too much — there are a number of writing features to explore, including an adjustable-size Quick Notes pad, various workspace templates, AI-powered handwriting conversion and summary creation tools, and the ability to add notes onto a book (with text wrapping around it) or in a margin column. The newest version also includes Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive connectivity.

The Kindle Scribe is not just a Kindle Paperwhite with writing functionality, though — it diverges in both design and specs from the reading-only models. For a start, it's much bigger. The screen is 11 inches diagonally, while reading Kindles have a 6-inch or 7-inch screen. It's also heavier, clocking in at around double the weight of the Paperwhite and Colorsoft models (with 7-inch screens). Like the cheapest base model, it isn't waterproof, so it's not good for reading or note-taking in the bath.

In reading mode, the battery life is among the longest on any Kindle, but switch to note-taking, and it drops considerably. Amazon estimates around 3 weeks of writing before you'll need to recharge — still a lot longer than your average tablet, mind you. You can choose from different storage capacities, but keep in mind that all the writing features eat up quite a bit of space.

In some territories, you can choose between a model with a frontlight and one without. If you want to read or write in any lighting conditions, you'll need to stump up for the frontlight version. Assuming you have, you'll be able to choose from a range of color temperatures (from blue-toned to yellow-toned) and there's a sensor that'll adjust brightness automatically depending on your surroundings.

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft — Overview

The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is essentially a Kindle Scribe, but with color display support. Most of what I've described in the previous section is also relevant here: there's an 11-inch screen (although the overall proportions are slightly different), no waterproofing, a range of storage capacities, and warm or cool backlighting options (you can't opt out of a backlight here).

Due to the color screen, the battery life has taken a further hit: you can expect around eight weeks of reading or two weeks of writing per charge.

This is the first-generation model, and it launched at the end of 2025. We awarded it four stars in our Kindle Scribe Colorsoft review, but there are some caveats to be aware of if you're thinking of buying one.

First, you can't use the writing and color capabilities in tandem — so you couldn't take notes on a graphic novel, for instance. Our resident e-reader expert believes that color e-ink just isn't quite there yet, which could be a deal-breaker if you're buying it specifically to enjoy graphic novels.

At this price (high), an iPad or Android tablet is a viable alternative and could deliver better value for money if you're seeking an all-round productivity tool with a colorful screen.

US: Kindle Scribe range

⬇️ Hop down to the UK Kindle Scribe range

UK: Kindle Scribe range

⬆️ Hop back to the US Kindle Scribe range

Kindle Scribe vs Scribe Colorsoft: specs

How does it compare to the rest of the lineup?

It might be that neither of the Scribe models will be a good fit for your needs. Here's how the two writing options compare to the rest of the Kindle lineup.

Amazon has found another way to make itself part of our everyday lives with its new Bee AI devices. The Bees can record conversations and are pitched as a way to remember important details and translate plans into actions. Naturally, those actions can include buying things from Amazon, making every casual conversation a potential shopping cart. You can pay $75 or $100 for the privilege, depending on whether you choose the Bee Frontier, which clips to a wrist strap or clothes, or the Bee Eclipse, a magnetic smartphone attachment.

There are practical applications for something that remembers conversation details you might otherwise forget. An assistant that recalls an appointment, prepares a follow-up email, or reminds you about a promise could save considerable time. But Amazon's announcement also promises personalized shopping recommendations based on what Bee learns about you, which strikes me as a depressing, if inevitable destination for AI tools.

Of course, you might argue plenty of people have invited Amazon into their homes through Alexa devices. Plus, Amazon already has a potentially huge amount of customer data from shopping histories, which lets it recommend products so well that it's a cliché joke to feel like you only have to mention a topic out loud for related items to show up in your recommendations.

That joke is an explicit feature of the new Bees. Turning spoken conversations into another source of personalized assistance is supposed to appeal to potential customers. The question is whether this is a bridge too far when it comes to allowing Amazon to eavesdrop on our lives to shape our shopping.

Idle chat becomes a shopping list

The idea of an AI assistant remembering what you say and not letting anything important slip through the cracks is enticing for the convenience it promises. But imagine casually mentioning that your back hurts, your car is making a strange noise, or your child has developed an interest in dinosaurs. Those aren't just setups for a reminder to make a doctor's appointment, bring in your car, and buy tickets to the museum you'll get. They're also data points for potential purchasing interests that might otherwise never have reached a retailer.

Amazon hasn't said Bee will automatically turn every overheard complaint into a product recommendation, yet the shopping integration creates an obvious path to do so. But it might be too much personalization. Adding information from spoken conversations to what Amazon already knows could paint a much more intimate picture of someone's life, good and bad, regardless of Amazon's promises to keep data under the user's control.

And there are real privacy protections in the system, according to the company. Bee's AI processes audio in real time and deletes it rather than retaining recordings, while conversation transcripts are encrypted and users can delete them. The devices also include physical controls and lights that indicate when they're listening. Plus, the Amazon shopping connection is optional and opt-in.

But deleting the original audio doesn't eliminate every privacy concern when a device is specifically designed to remember and interpret what people say. The information extracted from a conversation can be just as revealing as the recording itself.

Eavesdropping Bees

The privacy problem becomes even more complicated when other people enter the conversation. Someone wearing a Bee device might be perfectly comfortable having their conversations analyzed, but their friends and colleagues haven't necessarily agreed to participate. A small recording indicator is hardly a substitute for meaningful consent, especially when people may not recognize the device or understand what it does.

We've already seen this controversy unfold with Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses. People have reported unexpected recordings, and even filming. Bee doesn't have the same camera-related concerns, but recording conversations introduces its own problems. A friend discussing a medical diagnosis or workplace dispute in confidence might not feel so open if they know you're wearing a Bee. They haven't necessarily agreed to have an AI system connected to the world's largest online retailer convert their comments into searchable data.

There are also practical questions about where recording is appropriate. Private conversations can involve confidential information, and recording laws can be wildly different depending on location and circumstances. Anyone using Bee needs to consider the consent of the people talking around them, regardless of whether Amazon deletes the original audio.

The fact that personalized shopping is part of the product's ambitions says something revealing about how the company imagines the future of personal AI. Amazon and Meta seem convinced that the future involves devices observing more of our lives so they can anticipate what we need next. And it's easy to think of reasons to develop these capabilities. People with memory difficulties, busy professionals, and anyone struggling to manage complicated schedules could benefit from reliable reminders and searchable conversations. But making recording devices an ordinary accessory could have far-reaching consequences, not all pleasant.

For me, the shopping integration is where Amazon's vision becomes particularly unappealing. I can appreciate an assistant remembering that I promised to call someone or reminding me about an appointment. I have considerably less enthusiasm for a device that might turn a casual remark about needing new shoes into another opportunity for Amazon to suggest something I should purchase.

We've spent years teaching technology companies about our interests through searches, purchases, clicks, and browsing histories. Wearable AI assistants like the Bee could extend that relationship into our conversations with other people. I don't particularly want my conversations becoming another source of shopping recommendations, though. If it's that important, maybe just write it down.

The Kindle Colorsoft is Amazon's cheapest color e-reader, and it just got a 2026 update. The new version is thinner and lighter than its predecessor, the Kindle Colorsoft (2024), and features an edge-to-edge 7-inch color display. It's pricier than the black-and-white Kindle Paperwhite, and the color display shortens battery life, but these compromises are worth it for fans of graphic novels and manga.

If you're wondering if a Kindle Colorsoft is the best e-reader for you, you're in the right place. In this article, I'll cover all the key info worth knowing, including what's changed compared to the 2024 version, how the regular and Signature editions differ, and the key pros and cons of this specific e-reader. I've also rounded up all available versions and their current pricing, so you can easily browse your options. Let's go...

Kindle Colorsoft — overview

The Kindle Colorsoft is essentially the same as the Paperwhite, except it can also display color. The display is 300 ppi for black and white and 150 ppi for color, the same as basically every other e-reader. It comes with a 7-inch display, waterproofing to IPX8, and the option of cool- or warm-toned backlighting.

As with the Paperwhite, you can choose between a regular or Signature version. The latter has double the storage (32GB) — it's worth prioritizing this if you want to read a lot of graphic novels, as the files will be significantly bigger than standard books. It also boasts a more premium aluminum back, automatic backlight adjustment and wireless charging. It is heavier than the regular version, though.

There's also a Kids version. This one is hooked up to a Parent Dashboard, from which the parent can do things like view reading progress, adjust age filters, set a device bedtime, and add books from their own account. The price includes a 12-month subscription to Amazon Kids+, which provides unlimited access to a library of thousands of books for children aged 3-12.

2024 vs 2026 Kindle Colorsoft: what's new?

All the 2026 Colorsofts are thinner and lighter than their 2024 counterparts. The display has been tweaked to offer 'edge-to-edge color,' and the power button has been shifted to a more convenient spot on the upper right edge, where it's much less likely to be accidentally triggered. The adult versions now come in a new 'Fig' colorway, and the Kids model has new cover options. Here's how all the main specs compare.

Most of the 2024 Kindle Colorsoft range is still available, but if you were thinking of picking up the older model to save a bit of cash, I have bad news.

Not only are the 2024 models no cheaper than their 2026 equivalents, but Amazon has actually bumped up the older models' prices to match the new range's higher list price. Right now, there's no real reason to pick a 2024 model over a 2026 model.

US: Kindle Colorsoft range

2026 models

⬇️ Hop down to the UK Colorsoft options

2024 models

UK: Kindle Colorsoft range

2026 models

⬆️ Hop back to the US Colorsoft options

2024 models

Who should buy a Kindle Colorsoft?

Buy a Kindle Colorsoft if...

✅ You read a lot of graphic novels: For graphic novels or books with lots of images, you really need a color screen. The standard version will hold about 30-50 graphic novels (depending on size), while the Signature version will store 60-100, so it's probably worth stumping up for the latter.

✅ You want color highlights: You can color-code your highlighted text on Colorsoft Kindles, which is useful, for example, if you're studying and want to be able to link themes in your reading material.

Don't buy a Kindle Colorsoft if...

❌ You're just reading text-based books: The Colorsoft is basically the color version of a Paperwhite — aside from the color capabilities and resulting shorter battery life, the design and specs are the same. If you're just reading text-based books, you could save yourself a bit of cash and enjoy longer runtimes by opting for the black-and-white Paperwhite.

❌ You want to use your Kindle for note-taking: The Colorsoft doesn't have stylus support. If you want to be able to scribble down notes on your e-reader, you'll need to opt for one of the larger, pricier Scribe models. If you opt for the regular Kindle Scribe, you won't have a color screen, and if you opt for a Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, note that you won't be able to take notes on graphic novels.

Specs compared

Wondering how the Colorsoft compares to the wider Kindle range? Here are the key specs for the full lineup (newest models only)...

The number of offers may have dropped now that the Prime Big Deal Days sale is behind us, but that doesn't mean the savings have completely vanished over at Amazon UK. In fact, I've taken a look through the retailer's sale section for the weekend and uncovered 14 deals that I think are worth the cash.

• View all this weekend's deals at Amazon UK

Some are actually repeats of standout offers that I highlighted during Amazon's sale earlier this month, such as this Ninja Perfect Temperature Kettle for £59.99 (was £99.99).

Others are brand-new, though, and include a couple that could be smart buys right now as gifts to get ahead of the chaotic Christmas shopping season. For example, with Doomsday almost upon us, this Lego Marvel Advent Calendar is down to a record-low price of £23.99 (was £29.99).

I also rate this two-pack of Oral-B iO2 electric toothbrushes for £59.95 (was £160) as fantastic value for money, while this £200 saving on the Shark PowerDetect Speed Cordless Vacuum has me tempted to upgrade for its immense cleaning power and handy auto-empty base.

Have a browse through all of my top picks from the Amazon UK weekend sale below. And, remember to stick with TechRadar over the coming weeks as we'll be following the Black Friday sales very closely to bring you our top recommendations and all the biggest bargains you don't want to miss, so your money goes further this year.

14 best weekend deals at Amazon UK

The Paperwhite sits in the middle of Amazon's Kindle e-reader range, and it's one of the many models to have have been blessed with a 2026 upgrade. This is the Kindle I'd probably recommend to most people. For me, it's worth the extra spend compared to the classic, 6-inch Kindle, thanks to upgrades like a larger screen, waterproofing, and the option to change the color temperature on the backlight. Pricier models offer more advanced features, but they're more niche and won't be necessary for many readers.

If you're thinking of buying a Kindle Paperwhite, you've come to the right place. Below, you'll find everything you need to know to figure out if this is the best e-reader for you. I'll cover exactly what's been upgraded from the the previous, 2024 version, and where the strengths and weaknesses are compared to the other options in the Kindle lineup. I'll also round up all the different iterations of the Paperwhite, so you can browse your options and see their current prices. Let's get started...

Kindle Paperwhite — overview

The model up from the classic Kindle is the Kindle Paperwhite. It's still a black-and-white Kindle, but it has a larger screen (7-inches diagonally), and offers several features that are absent from the base model, namely IPX8 waterproofing — which is enough to survive in 2 meters of fresh water for 60 minutes — and the option to switch between warm or cool backlight options. A warm backlight might be a more soothing option if you regularly read on your Kindle when trying to wind down to sleep at night. You can choose between versions with or without homepage adverts.

In the US lineup there are also Signature versions. One major difference between the regular Paperwhite and the Paperwhite Signature is that the latter has double the storage space: 32GB compared to 16GB. For the average reader, this isn't going to be terribly relevant: 16GB of storage equates to around 6,000 books, which is plenty. Graphic novels eat up significantly more space, but if that's your priority, I'd recommend a Colorsoft (which has a color display) rather than a Paperwhite anyway.

The Signature versions also have sensors that enable them to automatically adjust backlight brightness depending on their environment. Brightness is adjustable on the standard Paperwhite, but you'll have to bump it up or down manually. They also offer wireless charging. The Signature Paperwhite is a little heavier than the standard version.

2024 vs 2026 Kindle Paperwhite: what's new?

Compared to the 2024 Paperwhite, the new-gen version is thinner (6.8mm vs 7.8mm) and lighter (204g vs 211g). The power button has also been shifted to the top right, rather than the base, where it was all-too-easy to accidentally press. Here's how all the key specs compare, on both the Signature and standard versions.

There's also a new colorway: Seaglass Green. It's only available on the Signature models — the standard Paperwhite Kindles are only available in graphite. You can take a look at the new model, from all angles, in the gallery below.

There are a number of 2024 Paperwhite e-readers still available to buy. If you were hoping to pick one up at a discounted price, you'll be sorely disappointed — they're exactly the same price as their 2026 equivalents.

In fact, Amazon bumped up the pricing on its 2024 lineup around the same time it released the new range, so you'll actually be paying more for most of the 2024 model than you would have done a few months ago. There's no real reason to pick a 2024 model, unless you're in the US and particularly like one of the previous colorways.

US: Kindle Paperwhite range

2026 models

⬇️ Hop down to the UK Paperwhite options

2024 models

UK: Kindle Paperwhite range

2026 models

⬆️ Hop back to the US Paperwhite options

2024 models

Who should buy a Kindle Paperwhite?

Buy a Kindle Paperwhite if...

✅ You just want to read text-based novels: There's no color option here, but if you're just reading text, it's not really needed.

✅ You'd like a decent-sized screen: One big reason to upgrade from the classic Kindle is for the extra screen real estate — the Paperwhite is 7-inches diagonally, compared to 6 inches on the base model.

✅ You want to read in the tub or by the pool: Another notable upgrade over the base model is IPX8 waterproofing — the Paperwhite can survive a good dunk in the bathtub.

✅ You like to read before bed: You can set the backlight on a Paperwhite to a warm-toned white, which might be more conducive to winding down for sleep — on the classic Kindle, you're stuck with cool-toned white. Opt for a Signature Paperwhite and the display will also dim or brighten automatically.

Don't buy a Kindle Paperwhite if...

❌ You want to read graphic novels: For graphic novels, it's well worth upgrading to the Colorsoft version, which is essentially a Paperwhite but with color capabilities.

❌ You'd like to be able to note-take: For note-taking, you'll need a Scribe model — the standard Kindle Scribe is the most logical alternative to the Paperwhite.

❌ You want the smallest, lightest Kindle: The classic Kindle is the most compact, lightweight model in the lineup.

Specs compared

Curious about how the Paperwhite compares to the rest of the Kindle lineup? Here are all the key specs to consider (newest version of each model only):

• Amazon has released the Amazon Bee Frontier and Amazon Bee Eclipse, two AI devices featuring microphones for audio transcription
• The Bee Frontier is a wristband wearable, while Bee Eclipse is a magnetic phone attachment
• Both devices will transcribe conversations, set event reminders, and enable 'personalized shopping'

Last year, Amazon acquired Bee, a startup with a single product: a wearable that featured a microphone that fed audio files to an LLM, which transcribed the audio into searchable text. We've seen these kinds of devices before, such as the Pebble Core Index 01, the Plaud Note AI pin, and most recently the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4, which offer similar Siri Recap and Live Rewind features.

Now, Amazon has officially thrown its hat in the AI wearable ring and unveiled two new products: the Bee Frontier and Bee Eclipse. The Bee Frontier, priced at $74.99 (around £56 / AU$108) is a fitness-tracker style Pebble with up to seven days of battery, that can be worn on your clothes or an included wristband, like a Fitbit. However, instead of collecting biometric data, it features dual microphones with a prominent 'on' button, that records and transcribes audio into summaries and recaps.

Amazon says that "when turned on, Bee gathers context from your conversations and connected apps to provide insights and recommendations,'" creating summaries in the Bee app or a purpose-built desktop app, with "templates tailored to your specific needs". Students might sort summaries and transcriptions into a Lectures template, while office workers may have a Meeting Minutes template.

Bee Eclipse is a slightly different version of the concept, which is a magnetic credit card-sized version of the device which snaps to the back of a smartphone, designed to "give customers more options beyond a wearable". It costs $99.99 (around £75 / AU$145) It's similar to devices like the Plaud Note, which shares the magnetic credit-card design and single-button record. The Bee Eclipse shares the same transcription software and access to the Bee app with the Bee Frontier.

Amazon says "Bee Frontier is for people on the go who want to stay present in the moment. Whether it’s remembering the details of important meetings, taking note of the coffee plans you made in passing, or simply ensuring you purchase the dish soap you said you’d buy, Bee Frontier will remember the details for you."

Upgrade to a Bee Pro subscription

Transcription isn't the Bee range's only trick though. Bee comes with a 14-day memory, summaries and recaps. However, a Bee Pro subscription, which costs $11.99 (around £9 / AU$17) per month, includes "unlimited recent conversation summaries; integrations with Amazon.com and Alexa+; integrations with third-party applications; suggested to-dos; daily memories; a personal chat assistant; and conversation templates; and the Bee desktop application."

Those integrations with third-party apps include Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook, allowing Bee to bee-come (sorry) a personal assistant by adding events and reminders to your calendar and draft emails, along with other apps like Apple Healthkit.

That integration with Amazon.com, however, allows Bee to "enable even more personalized shopping recommendations" by surfacing items you mention in conversations, with "product recommendations on the Amazon homepage, and in the Bee mobile and desktop apps".

Buzzy, or a sting in the tail?

As mentioned, AI recorders are nothing new. They see a lot of use in the workplace — many journalists like myself now use AI transcription services to help us turn interviews into text, for example, and offices use them for meeting notes.

However, the push to use devices like this in our personal lives, to encourage buying more products and remembering coffee dates, may steer away from the obvious usefulness of the feature and verge on 'creepy', depending on who else is being recorded, whether or not they have given you permission to do so, and the insidiousness of recommending products based on casual conversations.

Amazon and Bee, like Apple did when debuting its Live Rewind and Siri Recap features, has ensured privacy features have been laid out in no uncertain terms: audio is never stored, the microphone is button-operated with a recording LED light like Meta Glasses, and transcripts are encrypted. It remains to be seen whether these assurances are enough for widespread adoption.

Amazon recently refreshed nearly its entire Kindle lineup, including the 6-inch base model, last upgraded in 2024. If you're in the market for a new Kindle, this might be the one you're drawn to—perhaps because it's the cheapest of the bunch, or for its snazzy new colorways.

This article is here to fill you in on everything you need to know about the classic 6-inch Kindle, so you can make sure it's the right choice for your needs. I'll dig into its features and what it lacks, plus what the 2026 update adds over the 2024 version. I'll also round up all the different models (and their current prices) so you can see all your options in one place.

Before we get started, a quick reminder that Kindle is not the only e-reader around — head to our general best e-reader ranking if you're curious about what other brands are worth considering.

Classic Kindle — overview

Confusingly, the most basic Kindle model is simply called the Kindle. Here, I'll call it the classic Kindle, but that doesn't mean it's an older model — this Kindle has had several upgrades, and a 2026 version exists. It's the only Kindle with a 6-inch screen (measured diagonally, as is standard); the others are 7 inches or larger. For this reason, you'll sometimes see it referred to as the 6-inch Kindle. It's the smallest and lightest of the whole lineup.

The screen has a glare-free finish, the display is black-and-white, it's not waterproof, and it doesn't support writing features. By default, ads will display on the lock screen, but there are some 'no ads' versions available for a slightly higher price. New for 2026 is an aluminum version, with double the storage of the standard model (I'll cover this properly in the following section).

The level up is either the Kindle Paperwhite (black and white) or the Kindle Colorsoft (color). Both have that larger screen, alongside more advanced specs than the classic Kindle.

Alongside the regular Kindle, Amazon also has a Kids version. The hardware is the same as the adult version, but the parent has access to a dashboard that enables them to keep an eye on their child's reading habits and set schedules. A year's subscription to Amazon Kids+ is included, with unlimited access to thousands of children's titles aimed at ages 3-12. This bundle also includes a protective case in a range of fun designs.

2024 vs 2026 Kindle: what's new?

Amazon has introduced a number of small but welcome upgrades with the 2026 classic Kindle. Compared to its 2024 predecessor, it's thinner, lighter, and more responsive (30% faster, according to Amazon).

There are some new colorways in the lineup, and Amazon has moved the power button from its awkward position on the bottom of the Kindle to the upper right side. Here, it's much less easy to press by accident, and it's an upgrade TechRadar's Lance is especially pleased about.

There is also now an aluminum version. As well as having a more premium build quality, this version has double the storage of the standard classic Kindle (32GB compared to 16GB). Understandably, it's heavier than the standard version, but I'm pleased to see it's almost as thin. You can see how all the main specs compare in the table below.

At the time of writing, there are a number of 2024 models still available to buy. You might expect these to be cheaper, since Amazon is trying to clear its old stock. Alas, that is not the case.

In fact, quite the opposite: Amazon has bumped up the prices on its 2024 range to match the 2026 options. The equivalent models now cost the same, so there's little reason to choose a 2024 classic Kindle over the 2026 version.

US: Classic Kindle range

2026 models

⬇️ Hop down to the UK classic Kindle options

2024 models

UK: Classic Kindle range

2026 models

⬆️ Hop back to the US classic Kindle options

2024 models

Who should buy a classic Kindle?

Buy a classic Kindle if...

✅ You want the cheapest Kindle: This is the most basic Kindle, and as such, it comes with the smallest price tag. If you fancy levelling up, the next model by price is the Kindle Paperwhite.

✅ You want the most compact option: With its 6-inch screen, the basic Kindle is the smallest and lightest option in the range. All other Kindles have a 7-inch screen or larger.

✅ You'd like a fun colorway: The base model is available in the widest range of colorways — in fact, most of the other Kindles are only made in black or grey.

Don't buy a classic Kindle if...

❌ You want a warm-toned light option: The backlight here is a blue-toned cool white, whereas all other Kindles offer a warm, yellow-toned backlight option. The latter might be more conducive to winding down when reading before bedtime.

❌ You want to read in the bath: The classic Kindle is the only model (aside from the Scribe options) that is not waterproof to IPX8.

❌ You want to read graphic novels: The classic Kindle doesn't support color reading, the screen is the smallest of the lineup, and there's no 32GB option — all of which mean it's not a great choice for graphic novel fans. Check out the Kindle Colorsoft Signature instead.

❌ You want to be able to make notes: For note-taking capabilities, you need one of the Kindle Scribe models.

Specs compared

Wondering if one of the pricier Kindles might suit you better? Here's a rundown of the key specs across the full lineup (newest generations only):

The purpose of our weekly ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) rundown is to give you a chance to catch up on the biggest stories that have appeared on TechRadar over the last seven days — as you might have worked out from the name.

Life is often busy, so we'd readily forgive you if you haven't been able to read every single thing we've published this week (it's been a lot). With our ICYMI recap, you can stay on top of everything that's been going on.

It's been another hectic week of course. We've seen new gadgets from Garmin and Amazon, a serious mobile expansion for Starlink, and a refresh for ChatGPT that changes how its AI's responses appear. Let's get into it.

7. The iPod Classic got a spiritual successor

The iPod Classic — the one with the chunky, tactile clickwheel that revolutionized portable audio player interfaces when it was introduced — was discontinued by Apple in 2014, but it seems there are many people out there wishing it was still with us. Take the makers of the new Sudo player, for example, who have clearly styled their device after Apple's gadget.

There's the clickwheel of course, but also a touchscreen that's giving us distinct Microsoft Zune vibes (another ancient digital music player). We're also pleased to see a 3.5mm headphone jack included, as well as a memory card slot, and the price looks reasonable too. The only downside is that the player isn't expected to go on sale until late next year.

• Read more: New digital music player looks like a cross between an iPod Classic and a Zune — Walkman rival adds clickwheel and microSD card slot for extra retro appeal

6. We tried ChatGPT's 'Intelligent UI' makeover

OpenAI has given ChatGPT a fresh lick of (digital) paint this week, with its 'Intelligent UI' promising more visuals in the app's responses. So, rather than getting back a wall of text every time you submit a prompt, you'll also see maps, diagrams, pictures, and other visuals. If a graphic seems appropriate for an answer, ChatGPT will slide it into the chat.

This makeover is available now for all users, and we've been giving it a go. Neat interactive elements showed up in a savings calculator, while a prompt around bicycle mechanics resulted in a clear and well-presented diagram. It's a sign of where ChatGPT and the other AIs are heading, with more emphasis on each chat working like its own bespoke mini-app.

• Read more: ChatGPT just changed how it works with 'Intelligent UI'— here are 5 things you can do now that you couldn't before

5. Garmin revealed its 'longest-lasting GPS watch'

Any new models launched by Garmin will always get our attention, and this week the Enduro 4 and the golf-focused Approach S72 were unveiled. The former brings with it a 1.4-inch MIP display and up to 90 days of battery life — it's apparently the longest-lasting GPS watch ever from the company, a selling point which is likely to appeal to many.

As for the Garmin Approach S72, it replaces the Approach S71, and lets you analyze your heart rate and other biometrics as you play, while also providing access to more than 43,000 course maps right from your wrist. There's also a feature to help you improve your swing consistency. We've got all the details on these devices, including pricing, right here.

• Read more: Garmin just launched two new smartwatches, including the Enduro 4 — but you might be tempted by this Fenix 8 discount instead

4. Some Gemini fans lost access to Google’s best AI models

It seems Google is finding it a bit too costly to keep up with all the queries and commands that users are plugging into Gemini. From this week, unless you're on the most expensive Google AI subscriptions, you're going to start losing access to the most advanced (and most costly to run) Gemini AI models — so it's the free and Plus tiers that are affected.

The actual usage you get from your plan isn't changing — the number of prompts, image requests, and other demands you can make in a certain time frame — but you'll need to pay up or pay more if you want the most sophisticated and fastest AI models on the job. The move also makes Gemini closer to ChatGPT in terms of how AI models are accessed.

• Read more: If you're on the free or Plus tiers for Google AI, you're about to lose access to some Gemini models — here's what's changing

3. Sonos fans welcomed a long-requested app update

Sonos appears to be coming out of its rough patch. Following some very well-received new hardware, the company is now improving its software, with the latest 27.1 update bringing several features that users appreciate. The latest app version is rolling out now, for Android and iOS.

One of the changes here is that swapping between functions (like music playback and TV support) won't lose your place in a playlist — a relatively small improvement that's very handy nevertheless. Android users also get a virtual volume knob they can play around with on screen, matching iOS, while searching through your library is now easier as well.

• Read more: A new Sonos app update fixes one tiny but frustrating problem, and fans are loving it

2. Starlink revealed its plan to be ‘the world’s most advanced’ mobile network

Starlink Mobile has picked up some low-band 800MHz spectrum, it's been announced, which is ideal for providing cellular coverage indoors — and means the company is now another step closer to competing with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile as one of the big players in the carrier market in the US, lofty ambitions that it isn't being shy about.

As per Starlink Mobile's owner SpaceX, the goal is to build "the world's most advanced mobile network", using the newly acquired spectrum alongside existing mid-band spectrum and satellite constellations to get customers connected from anywhere. With another 15,000 satellites due to be launched, the Starlink network is expanding quickly.

• Read more: Starlink confirms plans to become 'the world's most advanced mobile network' and a 'major' US carrier

1. Amazon gave us a cheap iPad Air rival — and it runs Android

The Amazon Fire tablets have long been considered good picks if you're after a slate that's cheap and cheerful, especially if the kids are going to be using it. Now we have three brand new tablets from Amazon to consider: 'Fire' has been replaced by 'Alexa' in the branding, and there's also a significant and telling shift in the operating system on these models.

For the first time, Amazon is letting a fully-fledged version of Android on its tablets, complete with the Google Play Store, so you're no longer hampered in terms of what you can install (hello YouTube). It means they can compete more directly with the iPad, and as the Vice President of Amazon Devices told us, it also gives them broader appeal.

• Read more: Amazon's first full-Android tablet is a cheaper iPad Air rival that 'doesn't, in any way, force you to compromise' according to the VP of Amazon Devices — I got the inside track on the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro

Did Amazon just release one of the best Android tablets you can buy? Perhaps, based on my colleague Axel Metz' hands-on with the new Alexa Tablet, which he reckons could even give some of the best iPads a run for their money.

It's been two years since Amazon last released a Fire tablet, and 15 years since the first model was released — and I thought 2011 would be the first and last time I'd ever purchase one of Amazon's touchscreen tablets.

That might be about to change with the release of this new product range, which ditches FireOS for Android, packs Alexa+ intelligence, and boasts some pretty impressive specs at an approachable price point across its three sizes.

A Kindle, yes, but not Fire

Now, to its credit, the original Kindle Fire was designed to toe the line between Amazon's successful Kindle product range and general-use tablets, but it didn't succeed tremendously at the latter. While many Amazon devices do lean heavily into the world's biggest retailer's... well, retailing, it erred at times on the side of being a dedicated Amazon shopfront, which, for 15-year-old me, wasn't incredibly useful.

Media playback was fine across platforms, e-reading was decent, but the meager app support, clunky FireOS, and painful Silk web browser experience quickly relegated the slate into the pits of my personal e-waste landfill. With little meaningful change to address these woes in the 13 years of Kindle Fires (later rebranded as Fire Tablets) that followed, I never quite forgave Amazon for its misstep into mobile computing.

Times have changed, however, and now I've got my sights set on the new range of Amazon Alexa Tablets.

We discussed the Amazon Alexa Tablet in our latest episode of the TechRadar Podcast, which you can watch below.

For one thing, I use Alexa+ services every day, and while I find the system far from perfect, it is the most user-friendly in terms of smart home device compatibility and accessibility. Plus, on these tablets you can enable Alexa+ to see your screen and offer in-context services, offering seamless interaction with the rest of Amazon's devices; if you find a recipe on your tablet, you can ask Alexa+ to save it, send it to your Echo Show device, and prepare the steps for you to follow while you're cooking.

There's a looming question over how much functionality you lose if you don't have an Alexa+ subscription ($19.99 / £19.99 / AU$29.99 per month, but free for Prime members); however, as I noted in the latest episode of the TechRadar Podcast (which you can watch above), I imagine a lot of the target audience for the product are, like me, pretty bedded in with Amazon's services already.

Regardless, the devices are all the more compelling when you see their prices. The largest and most performant Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro starts at just $499.99 / £449.99 with a 120Hz display, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. There's also an optional Nanomatte display model (much like the internal screen on Apple's new iPhone Duo), starting at $549.99 / £599.99, which is where I'm setting my sights for a more comfortable reading experience.

That's before we get to the optional keyboard attachment and Pro Pen, which open doors for productivity use cases, especially now that software like G Suite will run far better natively. Plus, the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8400 chipset; Amazon says "with up to 16GB of RAM, Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro delivers nearly three times faster processing and nine times faster graphics than any tablet we’ve ever shipped."

You can read the full range of prices and more insights in Axel's aforementioned hands-on with the slates, but suffice it to say, they're coming in hot, and as an Apple device user with an Alexa smart home, I find myself at a real crossroads when it comes to choosing my next device.

The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, Alexa Tablet 11, and Alexa Tablet 8 — plus the new Amazon Kids Tablets — are available to pre-order now and will begin shipping October 19.

Amazon’s Fire tablets have historically been seen as low-cost, low-spec alternatives to the best Android tablets and best iPads, but now the mega-retailer has finally entered the premium tablet market with the Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro.

Yes, the ‘Fire’ nomenclature is gone — and, mercifully, Fire OS along with it. The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro is the first Amazon tablet to support full Android, meaning users will be able to access the Google Play Store and its millions of streaming, gaming, and productivity apps, including Google Maps, YouTube, and Gmail.

The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro — which is joined by the smaller Alexa Tablet 11 and Alexa Tablet 8 in a three-product lineup — is also the first Amazon tablet to feature baked-in Alexa+ integration, so it’s got AI chops to rival Apple’s Apple Intelligence-compatible iPads and Samsung’s premium Galaxy tablets.

In other words, the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro is about as far away from the Amazon Fire Max 11 as the Kindle-maker could have gotten — and Amazon acknowledges that this distinctly premium product marks a dramatic change in strategy for the company.

“Without a doubt, this is the biggest leap we've ever made in developing tablets in our history,” Eric Saarnio, Vice President of Amazon Devices International, told me in a briefing for the new Alexa Tablet range. “And I'm incredibly excited about what the team has built.”

Despite their shortcomings, Amazon’s existing Fire tablets have been a hit for the company — “we've sold a ton of tablets over the years, and that’s something we're very proud of,” Saarnio says — but they’re loss-leader products designed to usher customers into Amazon’s digital ecosystem, rather than market-leading tablets in their own right.

The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, by contrast, is a full-blown premium slate with specs to rival the Apple iPad Air (2026). It features a 12-inch, 120Hz display, up to 16GB of RAM, and 3x more CPU power than any previous Amazon tablet.

Buyers can also choose to equip their Alexa Tablet 12 Pro with Amazon’s anti-glare Nanomatte technology, which improves visibility outdoors and makes on-screen text look as if it’s sitting on top of the display (I’ve seen it in person, and it’s not a million miles away from the nano‑texture finish on the iPhone Duo’s inner display).

Why has Amazon pumped such impressive specs (and, presumably, millions of dollars in development costs) into the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro? Because it recognizes that consumer habits are changing, and it wants to offer a one-stop-shop device for streamers, gamers, and productivity-focused users alike.

More than just an entertainment device

“The truth is, what people are using tablets for is really starting to evolve — and it’s the power of the cloud that’s changing things,” Saarnio told me.

“The ability to build and code is really powerful, and you can do that [now] from your tablets. And for sure, tablets are there for entertainment, and that's where it all starts. But I do think there’s this evolution starting to happen, where [people are] using tablets just to get things done.

“When we think about tablets going forward, I don't necessarily think they’re going to be a replacement for a laptop. But I do think they're going to be very powerful tools to both entertain and to help you be productive. And so, as we think about our next era in tablets, we wanted to bake all of that [into one device]. And we really landed on three big things [in the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro].

“First: performant, premium hardware, with exceptional screens that deliver for customers. Second: we're moving to full Android, and [granting] access to the Google Play Store, which will give customers the ability to access millions of apps that they enjoy today. And last but not least: we wanted to give them access to an assistant. So we’ve embedded Alexa+ into the tablet, along with access to everything they love about Amazon. To be clear, this isn't an app that we've added to the tablet: it’s actually baking the Alexa+ experience into it.”

Now available in the US, UK, and Australia, Alexa+ is Amazon’s cloud-based virtual assistant. It can respond to queries in natural language, control your smart home devices, and, of course, seamlessly interact with all other Amazon services. Notably, on the Alexa Tablet range, Alexa+ can look at what's on your screen (when given explicit permission to do so) and provide real-time, in-context assistance, similar to Gemini Live’s screen sharing functionality.

On the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, Tablet 11, and Tablet 8, Alexa+ lives in a dedicated Dynamic Tab in the top left corner of the screen, and can be expanded into a full-screen For You tab for more comprehensive interaction.

Alexa+ costs $19.99 / £19.99 / AU$29.99 per month, but is free for Prime members. It’s not yet clear how the service’s deep integration into the Alexa Tablet will function if you’re not subscribed to it.

Interestingly, the Alexa Tablet can also transform into a Kindle for a completely distraction-free experience. When activated, Kindle mode silences notifications, reduces blue light, and extends battery life. It’s particularly effective on the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro when paired with Amazon’s Nanomatte finish.

“What we think we've invented here is a tablet that doesn't, in any way, force you to compromise,” Saarnio concluded. “It's great for entertainment; it’s intelligent; it's great for productivity and helping you get things done. All in one package. And you get all of this starting at £500.”

That price reveal triggered an audible gasp in my briefing session. $549.99 / £499.99 is an extremely competitive price for a 12-inch tablet with a 120Hz display, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of starting storage. Even the top-end version of the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro (which comes with 16GB of RAM) costs just $679.99 / £599.99 (we’re awaiting confirmation of Australia pricing).

The iPad Air, for reference, starts at $749 / £749 / AU$1,249 following Apple’s June price increases. That device features a more powerful M4 chipset than the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, which runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 8400, but it’s smaller, at 11 inches, and has a static 60Hz display.

As you'll see in the price section, the Alexa Tablet’s specs do get worse as you move down the price ladder (the Alexa Tablet 8, for instance, has a 60Hz refresh rate, 4GB of RAM, and no Nanomatte display option). But the value of the 12 Pro bundles looks, on paper at least, exceptional — $699.99 / £639.99 for the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro with Nanomatte display (128GB), Alexa Tablet Pro Keyboard, and Alexa Tablet Pro Pen is still cheaper than Apple’s entry-level 11-inch iPad Air with 128GB of storage.

The big question, of course, is whether Amazon’s new tablets are any good. I’ve only been hands-on with the top-end Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, and my first impressions are positive — the Nanomatte screen looks great, the tablet’s aluminum construction is thin and light, and its access to the Google Play Store is going to please a lot of people. But we’ll need to put all three new devices through their paces before passing a full verdict on their value for money.

The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, Alexa Tablet 11, and Alexa Tablet 8 — as well as new Amazon Kids Tablets — are available to pre-order now and will begin shipping October 19.

Pricing

Here's the full pricing information for the Amazon Alexa Tablet range (we'll update the below tables with Australia pricing when we have it):

Argos has launched its Big Red Sale. Now, I've seen loads of 8GB laptop deals there, but as always, I'm begging you to avoid them. The low cost isn't worth the frustratingly sluggish performance. 16GB memory is plenty for day-to-day office multi-tasking without breaking the bank. And of all the ones in the Argos sale, I've 100% choose the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3.

• Best for: Remote workers and students who want good general performance for productivity tasks like running office software, browsing, and streaming.

• The deal: The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 is now £664 (was £829) at Argos with code RED20, so 20% off or just shy of £166.

• Why we like it: This laptop comes with an Intel Core Ultra 5 processor, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD. When we tested this machine, we found it "fairly portable for its size, is attractive enough, and has enough performance for most people’s day-to-day needs. With its low price, it’s a great value for those that just need a Windows computer."

Why we recommend it

We scored the attractively designed IdeaPad Slim 3 4 stars in our review.

This isn't a juggernaut workstation for 3D rendering, gaming, video editing and running a zillion LLMs all at once. And it's not meant to be.

As we found during our tests: "What it needs to do and does well enough is handle day-to-day tasks such as browsing, streaming, emails, word processing, and the like.

It's a reliable 16-inch laptop that in our tests delivered good overall performance for those who just need a decent Windows laptop for work. "good performance for day-to-day use."

Price context & historical value

There are plenty of 16GB laptop deals at Argos (you can check them out here), but this IdeaPad Slim 3 is the pick of the bunch thanks to the decent specs and real-world performance tests we've put it through. For comparison, it's just £24 more than the same model with 256GB SSD storage. That's half what you're paying for here.

The closest cheaper alternative in the sale is this Ryzen 5-powered 15.6-inch HP laptop, priced at £569 (was £579). But having owned several HP and Lenovo laptops over the years, I prefer Lenovo's overall build quality and performance. Personally, I'd choose the IdeaPad over it every time, but the specs are good enough too.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 if...

You work from home and need a laptop that's well-specced for general daily business tasks.

❌ Skip the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 if...

You want a powerhouse machine for demanding workloads. It's not built for it.

• See all deals in the Argos Big Red Sale

The Prime Big Deal Days sale is officially over for another year, but I checked Amazon's homepage this morning, and many of the best deals are still available. All the top offers I'd still recommend are right here, including big savings on Amazon smart home tech and several record-low prices from Shark, Nintendo, Lego, and Oral-B.

• See all of today's best deals at Amazon UK

This smart home bundle was one of the best-selling deals during the event, so I'm surprised it's still available today. You can get a Blink Outdoor 4 Camera with Blink Video Doorbell for £24.99 (was £129.98), which is a super-low price for a home security starter kit that will let you see and respond to visitors at your door from your phone or other smart devices.

I'm also still surprised that this record-low price for the Nintendo Switch 2 is still live, so I'd grab one soon before it goes back up if you were thinking of picking up the console. This price isn't guaranteed to be back over Black Friday, especially with all the other price hikes we've seen on game consoles over the last few months.

Check out all 27 of the best Prime Day deals that are still available below. A lot of these are scheduled to end at the start of next week, though they could expire quicker than that if stock runs out. Either way, these will likely be the lowest prices we see until the Black Friday sales get underway in November.

27 best Prime Day deals still available

For an entry-level tri-band Wi-Fi 7 mesh router system, the one that gets my vote is the MSI Roamii Be Pro, currently still $250 (was $300) at Amazon, and down to £259 (was £280) in the UK as the Prime Day sales come to a close.

Compared to rivals in the field like the Amazon's eero Pro 7, Netgear Orbi 770, Asus ZenWiFi BT8, TP-Link Deco 7 Pro, MSI's whole-home networking solution is much cheaper and effectively, with performance that proved surprisingly competitive in our tests.

Today's best tri-band Wi-Fi 7 mesh router deal

Why we recommend it

There are a number of reasons to consider the MSI Roamii Be Pro in my opinion. First is, it's just about the cheapest Wi-Fi 7 mesh system I can think of. Not just a few dollars, but hundreds. Amazon, Netgear, TP-Link, and Asus all charge considerably more even for the two-pack versions of their devices (I've added them below for comparison).

Features

It's an aggressive price point, but that doesn't mean it skimps on features. Operating on the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands, there's support for MLO (which basically seamlessly switches bands as you move through the house so you're always connected). You get wall mounts in the box, which most don't have. There's even a USB port on the back, letting you share larger files across the network.

Each set-up comes in a two-pack (you can't get standalone nodes yet), and that covers up to 6,000 sq. ft.

Using the MSI Router 2.0 app gives you access to more networking, security, and parental controls, all subscription-free. It's one of the few mesh systems, alongside Asus, that doesn't charge for that. I really hate the idea of paying a subscription to Amazon just to keep kids safe online, so that's an immediate plus point in the Roamii Be Pro's favor. And you can dig into network settings in a way you can't using the eero line.

Performance

We awarded the MSI Roamii Be Pro 4 stars in our review and we found it excelled particularly at close range. Our reviewer noted "With the laptop next to the router, the Roamii BE Pro achieved a consistent transfer speed of 2,003Mbps. That’s the fastest speed I’ve ever seen from a consumer Wi-Fi router."

Our sister site Tom's Hardware scored it 4 stars and in testing found "the Roamii BE Pro performed well on our tests, particularly on the 5 GHz band." Meanwhile Tom's Guide rated it 4.5 stars, and concluded, with data speeds that compare well against its rivals.

As ever, wiring the router in will get you most speeds - the unit has three 2.5Gbps LAN ports and one 2.5Gbps WAN port for multi-gig internet connections.

However, wireless backhaul is surprisingly competitive across short, medium, and long ranges. According to Tom's Guide, expect around 2Gbps at 15ft, 815Mbps at 50ft, and 200Mbps at 75ft, and 66.3 Mbps at 90ft.

More tri-band Wi-Fi 7 mesh router deals