Lidl is bringing a number of household cleaning products to its middle aisle this week, including a 2-in-1 vacuum from Beldray. It arrives in stores this Sunday and will cost just £29.99, making it a very tempting middle-aisle find.

Beldray is a reliable yet affordable household brand, with several of its models earning strong reviews. In fact, the Beldray Airfinity earned four stars in our full review last year and subsequently made our shortlist for the T3 Awards 2026.

The model arriving at Lidl features cyclonic technology and can quickly convert into a handheld vacuum, which isn't bad at all for a vacuum costing just £30. I've also had a look around, and the same model is priced at £39.99 at Robert Dyas and Amazon, so you're getting a lower price than normal too.

Now, I want to be clear that you shouldn't expect the same performance you'd get from one of the best vacuum cleaners. There are a few compromises here, including a relatively small 600ml dustbin and the fact it's corded. The build also looks a little on the cheaper side, which isn't exactly surprising given the price.

However, one thing that really stands out to me is its 600W power, which is impressive for any vacuum, let alone one that costs just £30. You also get a spare washable filter, as well as a crevice tool and brush tool for more versatile cleaning.

Again, don't expect this to deliver the same experience as a premium vacuum. However, coming from someone who spends a lot of time reviewing vacuum cleaners, I think this is worth a trip to your nearest Lidl if you're after an affordable everyday cleaner.

Nothing's affordable arm, CMF, is teasing the launch of a new product, taking to social channels to get fans excited ahead of the big reveal.

That's seen Igglybuff shared, as CMF and Nothing love to use Pokémon for product codenames and teases, while Akis Evangelidis, co-founder of Nothing and CMF, said that it was a "new product category".

While that might set the mind spinning, it's thought that it could be the CMF Clip Pro, an open ear style headphone like the Nothing Ear (Open).

CMF recently announced that there would be no new phones for 2026, while existing phones have been removed from some stores like the UK. That sees CMF looking more like an accessory brand, offering a range of headphones and an affordable watch.

The suggestion of a new product category could be a distraction: Akis has subsequently shared a speaker emoji confirming that's it's an audio device, while CMF's official channel then went on to share what looks like a speaker grille of some sort.

But the biggest hint comes from an established leaker Yogesh Brar, commenting on the post of Igglybuff, simply saying "Ear Clip…" That's what leads us to thinking it’s the CMF Clip Pro.

Fortunately, the CMF Clip Pro naming was previously confirmed with a listing on Singapore's IMDA certification database, revealing that this is a product that's in development and preparing for launch.

However, while that seems like the simple solution, we're also treated to a product number - B189. That doesn't correspond to Igglybuff who is 174. That would have been poetic - some Nothing device product numbers have matched exactly to their Pokémon codename numbers - but CMF doesn't always do this.

Arguably, this isn't a new product category, but could result in an affordable open ear style headphone, perfect for those who want to listen to music while staying aware of what's happening around them.

That could be why CMF said "built for what's coming" in one of the teases. It's a headphone that let's you hear what's coming.

Braun has introduced its newest electric shaver series, and it includes its ‘finest engineering achievement to date’. The new Braun Nevo 15000C Electric Shaver features AeroTouch and Smart Processor technology to take your grooming to the next level while taking care of your skin – but be warned, it’ll cost you a fair few bob.

Braun’s latest shaver, the Braun Nevo 15000C Electric Shaver ticks off many firsts for the brand. The shaver has a first-of-its-kind ultra-gliding foil head that works alongside AeroTouch technology which makes the Nevo the first of Braun’s shavers to use this technology.

What AeroTouch technology does is it allows the shaver to come into close contact with the skin lightly and while minimising friction. The shaver gives a close, professional shave that takes care of the skin underneath your facial hair.

I’ve covered grooming tools for a while now, but as you can probably tell from my author bio, I don’t have much experience using electric shavers (since I’m not able to grow facial hair!). But one of the most impressive features I’ve learnt about since expanding my knowledge on electric shavers is its sensors.

As smart tech has advanced over the years, most electric shavers come with sensors that allow the shaver to adapt better to your facial hair. The Braun Nevo 15000C Electric Shaver does this via its Smart Processor which automatically changes its power output to better suit your beard’s density.

Aside from adapting to your beard, the Braun Nevo 15000C Electric Shaver has an adaptive head and a built-in Long Hair Trimmer, so you can shape your beard and sideburns, while also getting into hard-to-reach areas, like around your jaw and under your chin. These settings and real-time insights show on the shaver’s smart display.

Another first for Braun, the Braun Nevo 15000C Electric Shaver has been dubbed the only shaver in the world that has a surgical stainless steel unibody. It comes with 250 diamond sharp blades, is 100% waterproof and has a 60 minute battery life.

To make your grooming maintenance even easier, the Braun Nevo 15000C Electric Shaver comes with its Nevo Care 7-in-1 system which automatically cleans and charges your shaver while prolonging the life of the blades. The shaver also comes with a travel case, shaver cleaning cartridge, cleaning brush and charging cable.

The Braun Nevo 15000C Electric Shaver has an RRP of £739.99 but at Braun, you can get it for £369.99. It’s also available at select retailers, like Boots.

Over £700 for an electric shaver is pretty expensive but this tends to be the case with Braun shavers – its Braun Series 9 Pro+ which is one of its most advanced and popular models is around the same price. The good news, however, is it’s fairly unlikely you’ll ever have to pay full price as Braun shavers are often on sale.

Samsung is thought to be shaking its device strategy and that's going to see an increase in the number of premium phones offered, including the reintroduction of the Galaxy Z TriFold.

Samsung's first crack at producing a larger folding phone resulted in limited availability of the three-panel device, selling out almost immediately in the countries that it was offered in, before being discontinued.

While the production numbers were low, it suggests that in some segments there is the appetite for a larger folding device, although how long that would last once the novelty had worn off remains questionable.

According to ETnews, Samsung is moving to a 4+4 strategy that's going to see four devices available in the first half of the year (that's the Galaxy S) and the four devices available in the second half (that's the Galaxy Z).

This runs counter to previous reports we'd heard where Samsung was planning to step away from the Galaxy Z Flip - instead it seems that the company is going to increase the options for buyers.

According to "industry sources", Samsung has approached suppliers and entered the early stages of development for the new folding phone, with a target launch of 2027.

There are some challenges that Samsung will have to deal with, however. Production of the first Galaxy Z TriFold was thought to be expensive and component prices have only increased since that time.

Samsung might be banking on increased supply to bring the costs back to a realistic level, otherwise the second-generation Galaxy Z TriFold could be inhibitively expensive. The first model was $2,899 - and recent folding models typically saw a $100 increase in the price, suggesting it could cost $2,999 if trends continue.

Samsung is banking on growing interest in folding phones, with Apple's launch of the iPhone Ultra in September expected to boost the folding phone segment.

But that's not the only additional model that Samsung is looking at. The 4+4 strategy would also add the Galaxy S27 Pro into the selection, sitting under the Ultra. The addition of a Pro model is a long-running rumour, first thought to replace the Plus, but then appearing to be an additional model.

Previous rumours have suggested it will offer many of the features of the Ultra, but lack support for the S Pen. We're sure that as we move through the latter stages of 2026, we'll hear a lot more about Samsung's future plans.

Disney has started heavily promoting Infinity Vision with the release of the latest Avengers: Doomsday trailer, encouraging moviegoers to book tickets for the new premium format.

The name might sound like an all-new cinema technology, but that's not actually what's happening. Infinity Vision is Disney's own certification programme for premium large-format cinemas. It's designed to help audiences find the best screens available regardless of which cinema chain they visit.

So what exactly is Infinity Vision, how does it compare to IMAX and Dolby Cinema, and where can UK film fans experience it?

Infinity Vision isn't a new projector

Unlike IMAX or Dolby Cinema, Infinity Vision isn't a proprietary projection or sound system.

Instead, Disney has created a certification that premium cinema screens must meet before they can carry the Infinity Vision branding. Those auditoriums need to deliver huge screens, laser projection, high brightness and immersive premium audio, ensuring films are presented to a minimum technical standard.

That means the actual technology may vary depending on where you watch. One Infinity Vision screen might use Dolby Atmos sound, while another could rely on a different premium audio system, as long as it meets Disney's certification requirements.

Why Disney created Infinity Vision

Avengers: Doomsday launches in December at the same time as Dune: Part Three, which has reportedly secured the coveted IMAX exclusivity window. That means Marvel's biggest film won't enjoy widespread IMAX availability during its opening release.

Infinity Vision allows Disney to highlight hundreds of other premium large-format auditoriums around the world instead of relying solely on IMAX branding.

It's also a useful way to simplify what has become a confusing landscape of cinema brands including IMAX, Dolby Cinema, ScreenX, 4DX, Cineworld Superscreen, Odeon iSense, Everyman XL and many more.

Is Infinity Vision better than IMAX?

IMAX remains a complete end-to-end system, with its own cameras, mastering process, projection standards and specially designed auditoriums.

Infinity Vision doesn't replace that. Instead, it certifies existing premium auditoriums that meet Disney's technical requirements.

In practice, an Infinity Vision screening could look and sound superb, but the experience will depend on the specific cinema rather than a single standardised format. That's why many industry commentators see Infinity Vision as a complement to existing premium screens rather than a direct IMAX competitor.

Where can you watch Infinity Vision in the UK?

Disney hasn't published a definitive UK cinema list yet, but Infinity Vision works with participating premium large-format screens rather than creating new auditoriums.

That means UK viewers should expect participating premium screens at major chains to be certified where they meet Disney's standards. As bookings roll out for Avengers: Doomsday, supported locations will be identified during the ticket booking process.

If you're planning to see Marvel's biggest film of the year, choosing an Infinity Vision screening should mean you're getting one of the biggest, brightest and best-sounding presentations available, even if it doesn't carry the IMAX logo.

Homey has received Matter 1.5 certification for the Homey Pro, Homey Pro mini and Homey Self-Hosted Server, making it one of the most advanced Matter-compatible smart home platforms available today.

The update means supported devices already connected to Homey can now be exposed to other major smart home platforms, including Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings and Home Assistant, through Homey's Matter Bridge app.

The certification is effective immediately, so Homey users can start taking advantage of the latest Matter 1.5 capabilities from today.

Matter 1.5 arrived last November as one of the more significant updates to the smart home standard in recent years. The new version introduced support for several long-requested device types, whilst also giving manufacturers more tools to build and certify new Matter-compatible products.

Homey's certification now puts it among a relatively small number of smart home systems running on the latest version of the standard. For comparison, Amazon Alexa currently supports Matter 1.0, whilst Apple and Google are on Matter 1.4 and Home Assistant is on Matter 1.3.

Philips has launched its first-ever LED face mask, featuring a clever 3-in-1 design that lets you treat the full face, eye area or neck individually. The Philips ReAura LED Mask also has a lightweight design that adapts comfortably to different face shapes, whilst soft eye cushions provide gentle support during each treatment.

It uses a combination of red, blue and near-infrared LED wavelengths, designed to support the visible reduction of fine lines, wrinkles, blemishes and redness. There are three targeted modes to choose from – Age Care, Blemish Care and Daily Glow Age Care – making it easy to select the treatment that best suits your skincare needs.

The Philips ReAura LED Mask will be available to buy from 1st August in the UK, Germany and France through the Philips online store and exclusively via Amazon. It's priced at £349.99/€399.99.

Many of the best LED masks launched with a single use design, particularly in their earlier generations. Brands such as Silk'n and CurrentBody have since started introducing more flexible models with features such as neck and chin coverage, so it's impressive to see Philips entering the market with a such a versatile design.

The ReAura also has a portable design, allowing you to enjoy up to eight sessions per battery charge, with each treatment lasting around 10 minutes.

I'll be reviewing the mask in due course, so keep an eye out for my full thoughts coming soon.

Reacher's back, and he's just as gigantic as ever – as if anyone would expect anything different. Lee Child's iconic lone wanderer has become perhaps Prime Video's biggest star, and his show also helpfully proves that it's possible to put seasons out without waiting years between them (like some other, bigger-budgeted franchises).

We have a proper trailer for the show's new season now, ahead of its premiere on 12 August, so you don't have to wait too long before you'll be able to start crunching through it yourself. Alan Ritchson's back and it looks like he might have a very twisty story to take part in this time around.

Like all good Reacher stories, this one starts with Reacher making a journey, but things rapidly take a turn when he spots a woman looking very distressed on her own in his train. When he approaches her, she pulls a gun, but it doesn't take long for her to end up dead. Reacher's nature compels him to pull at the thread and figure out why any of this happened.

This swiftly brings him to the attention of various federal law enforcement agencies, along with a criminal element, and many of the clues seem to point towards political involvement. It's a conspiracy, basically, and Reacher's going to make some new friends as he tries to figure it out with whatever level of violence is required.

He'll clearly recruit the dead woman's brother, who's a cop himself and is just as keen to understand what happened to his sister. More importantly, though, the trailer makes it very clear that we're going to get plenty of intense fight scenes for Ritchson to show off his now obvious commitment to the role.

He continues to inhabit the character really nicely, while also saying a whole lot of sensible things in interviews – US politics is clearly annoying to him right now, and who can blame him? Reacher returns in a couple of weeks, so expect to see more of him as he promotes what might just be Amazon's biggest show going by volume of biceps, if nothing else.

There are some things in life that you just have to have, no matter how impractical they may be. This sofa designed to look like a PlayStation controller is exactly that - and I have to have one.

This design comes from Muddycap (shared by Yanko Design) and fits nicely into Muddycap's other chair design: it's impractical, but lust worthy. The same designer has a chair that's shaped like a pigeon as well as a set of keys, which looks about as comfortable as the Iron Throne.

Based around the classic DualShock PlayStation controller, there's space for two gamers in the centre, leaving the rest of this sofa to the iconic design.

Sadly it's just a 3D model, which makes it even more frustrating as I won't be able to buy one, but you can see how - thanks to the D-pad on one side and the buttons on the other - that this sofa could expand its skills beyond just looking great.

With so much space taken up by the design, it's begging for a pull-out fridge or snack drawer to the sides, or maybe just a charging dock for controllers at each end.

If there's one criticism of this as an actual gaming chair, I'm not sure it would be slouchy enough for me. I'm either almost horizontal as I become the sofa during long sessions, or I'm standing in the middle of the room when things get more fraught.

This is a far cry from the best gaming chairs, which give you full adjustability, lumbar support and arm rests, so this sofa is less of a Call of Duty chair and more of a Mario Kart chair, you know, where precision might be less important.

While I'm going through a crisis trying to figure out how I can commission a furniture builder to make me this sofa, PlayStation is enjoying its own crisis after announcing that PlayStation will stop physical disc releases from 2028.

That's going to put a nail in the used game market and while PlayStation would probably rather sell you the game at a higher price, for those seeking out games they missed well after release, getting it second hand has always been a way to snap up a bargain.

While PlayStation and its gaming community wrangles with that hot potato, I'm going to measure up my lounge and see exactly where I might fit a PlayStation controller sofa.

Honor has been showing off the Robot Phone since it was first revealed in October 2025 and now the company has staged a press conference to talk about the camera. That details the partnership with ARRI, while also fleshing out some of the specifics.

The Robot Phone's unique feature is that is has a camera attached to a gimbal that lives within the device itself. This opens up a full range of features and possibilities that other phones can't manage.

Firstly, it's a really advanced platform for the camera that it contains, and secondly, it allows the camera to behave like an interactive robot. Not only can it track the subject you're recording, but it can follow you around the room and react to what you're doing.

Thanks to ITHome sharing the conference held in China, we now know that the main camera has a 200-megapixel sensor, with a 1/1.28in type sensor, with the lens offering an f/1.6 aperture and a 23mm focal length.

That sensor is large for a smartphone - not quite as large as you'll find in the Xiaomi 15 Ultra or Oppo Find X9 Ultra - but it's still a big sensor with a wide aperture.

There's another 200-megapixel sensor powering the periscope-style telephoto camera, while there's a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera too.

Core to the photography experience is the new Honor Yuguang H1 image signal processing chip, said to be developed in house and promising low noise, real-time RAW image processing and power efficiency.

We'd already had confirmation that Honor was working with ARRI - the German cinematic camera company - and that's going to bring that heritage to video capture, something the Robot Phone is poised to revolutionise.

That's going to include ARRI Log-C encoding and LUT colour grading, along with advanced controls to give Robot Phone owners options to put that gimbal to good use. We've already seen advanced stabilisation and AI-powered subject tracking in action.

But how does this relate to future phones from Honor? It's thought that the camera system will feed into the Honor Magic 9 series. While those devices aren't expected to benefit from the Robot Phone's gimbal, the generation of 100 patents for the technology in the phone - as well as the new ISP chip - should benefit future smartphones from the company.

The Honor Robot Phone will be announced on 12 August in China.

Twelve South, the luxury accessories brand, has just announced that it's bringing its Valet charging tray to the UK and Europe, having already launched it in the US – and that the tray will now come in two different sizes.

The Valet comprises a compact tray that's ideal for dropping your keys or other small items on, whether it's by the entry to your home or on your bedside, but it also features a Qi2 wireless charging puck. This gives your phone a home on the tray, and holds it slightly elevated from the rest as it charges.

Being from Twelve South, you can be pretty confident that the tray will feel exceptionally sturdy and well-made, and it now comes in three colours – black, brown and taupe. Each comes with a detachable frame around its edge to let you choose where the Twelve South logo sits, which is a nice little touch.

The biggest news from Twelve South's point of view, though, is that there are now two versions of the Valet to choose from. The standard version, the one that launched in the US, is now called the original Valet, and it launches at £179.99 and €189.99. It's big enough that your phone sits within the tray while it charges.

The new smaller size is called the compact Valet, and it's a bit cheaper at £129.99 and €139.99, and has a far narrower rectangular shape. This means your phone sort of hangs over the tray while it charges, but it makes the Valet potentially fit onto a much wider range of surfaces.

I should be getting hold of one of those smaller Valets very soon, so I'll know more about whether it justifies what is still a pretty steep price. Twelve South has never been shy about pricing its accessories at luxury levels, but when you have the relatively frequent Apple stamp of approval, that'll happen.

Its chargers are indeed some of the best in the business, after all, so this could be a really choice addition to a nightstand or living room counter. Both sizes should be available to order directly from Twelve South today.

Roborock has launched the Qrevo 2 Pro in the UK, combining powerful cleaning, smarter automation and a redesigned dock that's designed to reduce the amount of hands-on maintenance. It joins Roborock's wider Qrevo range, which already includes the recently reviewed Qrevo S Pro.

The Qrevo 2 Pro comes with 25,000Pa HyperForce suction, a Dual Anti-Tangle System, smarter carpet care and improved corner and edge cleaning. The redesigned multifunctional dock can also store up to 65 days' worth of dust, meaning you won't need to empty it anywhere near as often.

The Qrevo 2 Pro is currently available for £529.99, reduced from £649, giving you £120 off when buying through Roborock's online store or Amazon. However, the offer is only available until 9th August, so you'll need to be quick if you're tempted.

One of the standout features is Auto Mop Removal, which sees the robot automatically detach its mop before heading onto carpets and then reattach it afterwards. This means your carpets can stay dry whilst the robot continues cleaning across different floor types.

Roborock has also improved its corner and edge cleaning, allowing the Qrevo 2 Pro to cover up to 30% more corner area, whilst its FlexiArm Edge Mopping system extends the mop to clean as close as 1.85mm along edges.

The multifunctional dock now features an upgraded one-piece tray alongside a new Soaking Mode that's designed to wash the mops more thoroughly. Once cleaning is complete, 75°C high-temperature mop washing helps tackle dirt and reduce odours, whilst 45°C warm-air drying helps keep the mops fresh and the dock more hygienic between cleans.

Despite covering smart home technology for several years now, I’ve never really gotten the appeal for indoor security cameras. I’ve tested a few in my day, but as soon as I’m done, I tend to give them to people in my life who have pets and kids who they want to check up on while they’re away.

But after seeing the new Tapo TC72 Pan/Tilt AI Home Security Wi-Fi Camera, it might have convinced me to give indoor cameras another try. This pocket-sized model may be small and cheap, but it packs some serious smarts under its hood.

Starting with video quality, the Tapo TC72 offers 2K 4MP QHD resolution, so it captures every detail clearly. It even has enhanced night vision, so you can see clearly in low light and dark conditions, with a visibility of up to 30 feet.

Thanks to its small and inconspicuous size, the Tapo TC72 can comfortably sit on shelves in your home without being too much of an eye sore. It has a pan and tilt design which offers 360º horizontal and 114º vertical coverage to cover all areas of your home. When it detects motion, the camera will even follow it so you don’t miss anything.

Speaking of detection, the Tapo TC72 has smart AI detection. It can detect humans, pets, vehicles and even babies crying, so it’s a handy device that can double as a baby monitor if needed. When it detects these events, it’ll send you quick notifications.

Other notable features include a built-in microphone and speaker so you can talk to people in your home with two-way talk, and a sound and light alarm which can scare off unwanted visitors. The Tapo TC72 is also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant so you can use it with voice commands.

In terms of storage, the Tapo TC72 stores footage on a microSD card with a maximum capacity of up to 512GB. Alternatively, you can sign up to Tapo Care to use cloud storage, but if you want to keep things subscription-free, you’ll have to use a microSD card which you can buy separately.

The Tapo TC72 is available to buy for £39.99 at Tapo and select retailers, like Amazon.

IKEA has launched a new battery-powered table lamp as part of its latest outdoor lighting collection. The new Hjulmöjaled table decoration is made from frosted glass and produces a flickering glow designed to mimic the warmth of a real candle flame.

It's the perfect addition to an outdoor setup, particularly if you're looking for an easy way to upgrade your garden for less. It's also the first product in the new Hjulmöjaled range, so there's a chance we could see more similarly styled lighting arrive in the future.

The Hjulmöjaled table decoration costs just £3 in the UK and $6.99 in the US, and it's available to buy in IKEA stores or through the IKEA website.

One thing I particularly like is that the lamp comes in two colour options – grey and white. IKEA often keeps its cheapest lighting products fairly simple, so having a choice of two finishes is a nice touch.

The lamp also has a built-in timer, which is set to stay on for six hours before automatically switching off for 18 hours, after which it will turn back on again. That said, it's worth noting that the timer resets if you switch the flame effect between the steady and flickering modes.

As mentioned, the Hjulmöjaled is battery-powered and requires three AAA batteries. IKEA also says it's compatible with its Ladda rechargeable HR03 AAA 1.2V batteries, which could be a good option if you don't want to constantly buy disposable batteries.

Nothing has been a disrupter brand since it launched its first phone in 2022, expanding that to affordable earbuds, but so far it hasn't put its brand on one particular category - the smartwatch.

That's odd because its sub-brand CMF has a watch to its name, making Nothing's next move a little more predictable, plugging that gap with a smartwatch of its own.

That's what we hear from Yogesh Brar, an established leaker on X, who claims that Nothing's watch will feature typical Nothing design, so that's likely to include transparency and that it's slated for a September launch.

The leak goes on to say that it will be priced under $300 and only be available in limited markets. The CMF Watch 3 Pro, by contrast, costs £99 / $79.

That's the extent of the leak, with the promise that more details are coming soon.

Yogesh will be acutely aware that Nothing loves the long tease, so any information he has needs to be shared fairly soon, otherwise Nothing will probably share it themselves. The company typically shares a Pokémon which gives us a codename and a device category, before sharing design sketches and then a bigger hardware reveal.

With a step up in price, there's a chance that Nothing will move its watch to the Google Wear platform, perhaps with Snapdragon power which should fit within the price range. That might position this watch as a rival to the Samsung Galaxy Watch or Pixel Watch, although it's more likely that the target is people who would previously consider the OnePlus Watch.

September is a congested month: it starts with the IFA show in Berlin which, while not the show for launches that it once was, often see associated announcements with brands targeting Christmas sales. That's followed by the iPhone launch, then the launch of all the new hardware platforms for future smartphones and then it's common for Amazon to jump in with some launches too.

Nothing has launched products towards the end of September in the past and this would likely be the best time to do so.

Apple Maps will be the native mapping service in Ford's next electric car, expanding Apple's foothold in automotive, while also raising the competition with Google's in-car mapping.

Importantly, this is standalone Apple Maps, using Apple's MapKit for Automotive SDK, so it will work without the need for a smartphone for the first time.

That will see Apple Maps completely integrated into the car, providing natural language searching, turn-by-turn navigation and traffic information, while there will also be detailed location information.

MapKit for Automotive SDK allows Ford to customise the look and feel of Apple Maps so it will fit with the rest of the interface, while it will also benefit from special EV routing options and battery preconditioning, to aid efficient charging when on the road.

Ford has also outlined that will be using the information in Apple Maps to develop its BlueCruise handsfree driving system, designed to let you take your hands off the wheel when driving on "highways". Ford's BlueCruise remains the only legal "hands off, eyes on" system that's approved in the UK.

Although it offers natural language searching, it's not clear what system that will be - it's unilkely to bundle in Siri with the maps, so it's likely that it will use the new Ford AI assistant that was announced earlier in the year.

Although Apple Maps will work without a smartphone, Ford is going to continue to support Apple CarPlay and it's likely that the brand will also support Android Auto.

Speaking of Google, the Mountain View company current leads Apple with in-car software, with many brands using Android Automotive which offers a native experience for a suite of Google services, including Google Maps with Gemini voice support.

Ford has used Android Automotive as the base system for its vehicles for some time and it's not clear whether this new announcement marks a departure from Android Automotive, or whether Apple Maps is simply going to be layered on top of an Android foundation.

Car makers, having initially embraced smartphone-based systems like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, now seem to be rethinking their strategy. Brands like Mercedes and BMW are keen to own the user experience, offering support for all the apps that a driver might want from their phone, so they don't just plug in and go.

The option to have Apple Maps as a native experience might prove popular: if car brands can offer the Apple navigation that iPhone owners are used to, they may decide not to connect their phone to use Apple CarPlay and instead use more native systems on the car instead.

That might avoid one of the most jarring experiences when driving and that's the mismatch in software when moving from CarPlay back to the car's own software systems.

Apple Maps is expected to make its debut in Ford's new midsize EV, slated for launch in 2027, with a $30,000 price tag.

The handheld gaming PC market has become increasingly crowded over the past couple of years, but ONEXPLAYER is aiming well above the likes of the Steam Deck OLED, Asus ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go 2.

Its latest X2 Mini Pro is built around AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ 388 processor, one of the company's powerful Strix Halo chips, pairing an 8-core, 16-thread CPU with Radeon 8050S graphics. That's desktop-class silicon squeezed into an 8.8-inch handheld, backed by up to 64GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 2TB of SSD storage.

There's a 144Hz OLED touchscreen with a 2.5K resolution, detachable controllers inspired by the Nintendo Switch, an optional magnetic keyboard cover that turns it into a compact Windows tablet. Plus there's support for an external liquid cooling dock for those wanting to squeeze every last frame from demanding games.

The entry-level model starts at around $2,399 with 48GB of memory and a 1TB SSD, while the fully loaded version with 64GB and 2TB storage reaches roughly $2,799. That's several times the cost of a Steam Deck OLED, and enough to buy multiple Nintendo Switch 2 consoles instead.

For most gamers, that's likely to be a step too far. But ONEXPLAYER clearly isn't chasing the mainstream. Instead, it's targeting enthusiasts who want the fastest handheld PC currently available and are prepared to pay desktop-PC money to get it.

Whether the X2 Mini Pro can justify that price in real-world gaming remains to be seen, but on paper it's shaping up to be one of the most powerful handhelds we've ever seen.

Here at T3 we've long since crowned Apple TV as the reigning monarch when it comes to sci-fi streaming. It's past the point where you even really need to prove this to anyone – most people know accept that it's clearly the best streaming service for sci-fi fans, but that hasn't stopped Apple from keeping going.

We've known for a good long while that it was working on a Neuromancer series, adapting the hugely influential novel by William Gibson, but now we've finally got a trailer. The show stars Callum Turner, but this teaser makes it nice and clear that we're going to have a wider cast of interesting characters to meet.

To be honest, although I've read Neuromancer, it's been nearly two decades since then, and I remember pretty much none of its plot. I'm torn over whether this means I can watch the show blind again on 22 January 2027 when it starts, or if that means I have time to re-read it before then.

Either way, I know from Apple's synopsis that Turner stars as Case, a gifted hacker living in the far-flung future, in a dystopian society where cyber-heists are some of the only ways that people can climb out of their social strata. Corporations basically rule the world, with little to no checks on their power.

What's really exciting is that this does look like it's going to attempt to be faithful to Gibson's descriptions of some fairly mad sights and sounds, and we get looks at moments that are as cyberpunk as anything that's been put on screen recently. Whether it can nail the wry, dark tone of the novel is anyone's guess at this stage.

The trailer has a pumping soundtrack, though, which makes it all feel impressively momentous, and that bodes very well. It's gutting that we have basically six months to wait now until we get to see the show, but at least that's plenty of time for the anticipation to build.

Make sure your streaming doesn't fail with these top-pick routers

There's now an explanation for the delay to Apple's smart glasses. We previously reported that the Meta Ray-Ban rivalling glasses had been delayed, but now it seems that part of the reason is the concern over privacy.

Writing in his PowerOn newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says: "The teams developing glasses … see privacy as priority No. 1, I’m told", leaning on the fact that Apple has used privacy as core to its marketing for the last decade.

While Meta has enjoyed the buzz of getting the first AI glasses to market, it's facing a privacy backlash, especially with plans to release "super sensing" glasses that might always be recording video and audio.

Meta recently had to push an update to disable the cameras if the privacy LED was tampered with, addressing concerns about people using the glasses for nefarious use. It has been reported that wearers are recording people without their consent, with the camera integration into the glasses making it more difficult to see when someone is filming you.

That's led to smart glasses being banned in some settings, with further investigations into exactly how such glasses are regulated. For Apple, launching into this category gives them a chance to bring Siri to another device and boost the Apple ecosystem.

According to the report, Apple has prototyped glasses that don't have cameras available for photos or videos, so while calls can still be taken, music enjoyed and Siri interrogated, the privacy concerns are abated.

At the same time, removing the ease with which moments can be captured will also strip away the appeal. Currently, all the features offered by smart AI glasses, except capture, can be accessed through AirPods. Part of the appeal of smart glasses is you can record without a phone in your hand.

That means you can get great point of view video, perfect for things like sports or driving, cooking or anything else that involves using your hands. That's always going to be open to abuse and that seems to be the challenge that Apple is facing.

Meta hasn't made this category any easier: reports that humans conducting moderation and AI training work were watching intimate videos captured on the Meta glasses bring everyone's privacy fears to life, something that Apple needs to find a way around.

With privacy being Apple's core message for so long, it's going to be a bumpy road for any AI glasses that the company plans to release - especially if they include cameras.

Google has pushed the button on the huge Immersive Navigation update that's now rolling out to Google Maps users. The new navigation visuals have been reported by multiple users, and importantly it's available to those who aren't using the beta version.

That means that this is a real update, although it's not currently universal and it's likely to move from region to region. Google said that Immersive Navigation was its "biggest navigation update in over a decade" when the feature was first shown off in March 2026.

The update isn't limited to Android users, with some reporting that they have it on iPhone and it should also benefit those using Android Auto, as well as Apple CarPlay.

Immersive Navigation uses Gemini to bring maps to life and give a more realistic view of what the world looks like. It uses a 3D view with better spatial understanding, with Maps adding useful details for navigation when they are relevant.

This is thanks to Gemini being able to interpret Steet View and aerial photos to make your navigation richer and that should lead to clearer directions, with a map that's instantly recognisable compared to the world around you.

Although Immersive Navigation was said to arrive immediately when it was announced in March, we're only at the stage where people are seeing it. Additional features announced, such as Ask Maps, have been accessible for a while, while everything hinges on having Gemini in Google Maps.

That's not something that everyone has yet. In the availability information from Google's original announcement it said that Immersive Navigation was coming to the US before expanding - although from experience we know that other regions might have to wait for some time.

Mixed into this update, it's also reported that people are seeing the new speedometer in Android Auto. This was first spotted last week, bringing an additional detail to help keep your driving on the right side of the law.

Immersive Navigation could represent a huge step forward in mapping so this roll-out could be slow to make sure that Google gets everything right. Be sure to share the experience if you've got access to the update in the comments below.

If you’re headed to do your weekly shop in your local Lidl, the global supermarket chain has just added its own version of the Ninja Crispi air fryer to its stores. The Silvercrest Glass Air Fryer has four pre-set programmes, two glass containers, and an affordable price tag of just £59.99.

Glass air fryers have taken the kitchen by storm since Ninja debuted its Crispi air fryer in 2025. Having a glass cooking and storage container instead of a ‘normal’ air fryer compartment means you can see your food’s progress without having to open the drawer and disturb your cooking.

Since the Ninja Crispi launch, many brands have made their own versions including Cuisinart, Dreame and Salter. Now, Lidl is trying its hand with this air fryer style with the Silvercrest Glass Air Fryer that just arrived in stores. It looks almost identical to the Ninja crispi with its ‘pod’ cooking system that clips on to the glass containers.

With 1500W of power, the Silvercrest Glass Air Fryer heats up quickly and cooks from 60°C to 200°C. The controls are on the top of the ‘pod’ and includes a dial and buttons for quick and easy operation. Users can choose between air fry, roast, keep warm and re-fry pre-sets for even quicker use that’s ideal for air fryer beginners.

The Silvercrest Glass Air Fryer uses little to no oil when cooking, and Lidl states that it’s also handy for baking and grilling. It comes with two heat-resistant glass containers, including a small one with a two litre capacity, and larger one with a four litre capacity.

The glass containers can be used for cooking as well as storage. They come with cool-touch handles and leak-proof lids so you can take the containers with you on-the-go. The Silvercrest Glass Air Fryer also comes with a trivet which is dishwasher safe, just like the lids and containers.

The Silvercrest Glass Air Fryer is available to buy in select stores for £59.99. If you’re a Lidl Plus member, you can get it for £49.99. Compared to the original Ninja Crispi which is priced at £149.99, the Silvercrest Glass Air Fryer is 60% cheaper so if you’re on a budget, it looks like a good choice for your kitchen.

The iPad mini is expected to get an update in October 2026 that includes water resistance, something that no iPad has so far offered.

The new compact iPad is expected to implement a new design that removes the speaker holes, instead using flat surfaces on the device to create the sound. While it's not known what IP rating it might carry, it's thought that it will offer water resistance for the first time, according to Macrumors.

The new speaker system was first reported in 2025, while it's also expected that Apple's smallest tablet will make the jump to an OLED display. It will join the iPad Pro in offering those higher quality visuals, although the impact on the price might see this tablet suffer.

The iPad mini is currently £599 / $599 making it more expensive than the standard iPad which offers a larger display. The iPad mini is more powerful using the A17 Pro chip compared to the A16 in the standard iPad, although the next iPad mini is expected to move to either the A19 Pro or unreleased A20 Pro.

That, combined with the OLED display, might see the iPad mini creeping up on the price of the iPad Air, perhaps priced at £699 / $699, which is a lot of money for an 8-inch tablet.

Sealing the tablet to give it water protection will boost its credentials, however, meaning that people will be more comfortable using it in adverse conditions. Its compact nature makes it great for travel, where a soaking in the rain might be more common than when sitting around the home.

But the iPad mini's compact form makes it more like a reading device and I'm sure that many have used it in the bath because if its handholdability. With an IP rating, if it does slip, it likely won't be a disaster, although using it at the beach probably won't work unless Apple gives it a really bright display - currently, it's only 500 nits.

There could be a drawback with that display too: it's only said to offer 60Hz, which means that this won't be the compact gaming tablet that some will want.

The iPad mini is a great tablet, but it looks like Apple plans to make it increasingly premium. It's expected to launch alongside refreshed Mac devices in October 2026.

If you have a first generation Google Home device, like the Google Nest Mini or the Google Nest Hub, you can now use Gemini Live. Thanks to a recent update, Gemini Live is now available on these older devices but there’s a slight catch – you’ll need a Google Home Premium subscription.

Google finally launched its new Google Home Speaker this year after six years of no new speakers or displays from the company. But while Google has its Nest Mini and Nest Audio after this new launch, users who still have these devices just got a handy update which means they don’t have to replace their gadgets any time soon.

As of 23rd July 2026, Google has given access to Gemini Live to its first generation smart speakers and displays. What’s better is Google has also increased Gemini’s conversation memory window to 15 minutes so you can ask Gemini follow-up questions within this time frame and the voice assistant can carry on the chat and understand the context.

But there is a bit of a catch with this new update, and that’s that you’ll need to have a Google Home Premium subscription, and be part of the Gemini for Home early access program. Prices on the Google Home Premium plans start at £8 / $10 a month for a standard plan or £16 / $20 a month for an advanced plan.

If this is all set-up for your old Google Nest devices, then you should be able to start using Gemini Live. All you have to do is say “Hey Google, let’s chat” to try it out.

Google has also introduced other upgrades and improvements to its Google Home app. Firstly, automations are now easier to create as you can save them without any starters. App navigation has also been improved so when you click on a device set-up or settings, you’ll be taken directly to the right page.

Other improvements include better labels for smart blinds, and passcode reminders for smart locks if you remove a member. Google has also fixed playback error updates for iOS users of the Google Home app, as well as video playback issues and missed battery alerts.

Google is clearly working hard to fix any issues which is a blessing to both old and new users, as even the new Google Home Speaker recently experienced some problems.

Nanoleaf has launched a new Smart LED Monitor Stand, expanding its ambient RGB lighting portfolio. Created in partnership with Fantaqi, the stand combines a practical monitor riser with customisable RGB lighting, as well as Matter compatibility, voice assistant control and touch controls.

The brand's Pegboard Desk Dock won Best Smart Light at the T3 Awards 2025, combining customisable lighting with practical storage in a space-saving design. The new monitor stand has a similar approach, putting the focus on keeping your desk tidy whilst adding a more immersive lighting setup.

The Nanoleaf Smart LED Monitor Stand is priced at £179.99/$169.99 and is available via the Nanoleaf online store.

The stand itself features a solid wood base with a natural walnut veneer top, measuring 100 x 22.5 x 12.1cm. It can support up to 28kg without the central support column and up to 70kg with it, providing users with plenty of flexibility.

Nanoleaf has used dual-flux lighting technology to combine independent front-facing task lighting with an ambient rear light. There are 102 individually addressable LED zones in total, with the front task lighting delivering up to 550 lumens and the rear ambient lighting reaching up to 480 lumens.

You can also adjust the colour temperature from 1,700K to 6,500K, allowing you to switch between warmer lighting and cooler illumination depending on what you're doing.

Samsung announced three new folding phones recently, featuring a change to the battery technology. Samsung has embraced silicon-carbon for the first time, following the lead of many smartphone brands. But there's a downside to that battery technology: it doesn't last as long.

The specifications for Samsung's new folding phones show the change clearly, with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 listed as having a minimum battery endurance (in charging cycles) of 1200. The Z Flip 8 is 1200 and the Z Fold 8 Ultra is also 1200.

While we can't compare the Galaxy Z Fold 8 to a previous model, we can check the details for the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Fold 7, both of which state that their batteries are good for 2000 charging cycles.

In the case of the Galaxy Z Flip 8, the battery capacity remains the same at 4300mAh, but its longevity is reduced because of the move to silicon-carbon battery tech. For the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra there's some benefit, with an increase to 5000mAh over the 4400mAh so this battery will last longer between charges, but again, won't last as many years.

Silicon-carbon battery technology has the advantage of being more energy dense, allowing the manufacturer to get greater capacity within the same physical size. It's the tech that's see phones soar over 5000mAh which seemed to be the ceiling on battery capacity in a practical design.

That's resulted in phones with huge capacity, some over 7000mAh, with very little impact on the phone's design. For Samsung's part, it said that moving to silicon-carbon enabled the 45W charging now offered, but that's not strictly the case: the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra offered 45W charging in 2022, using a regular lithium-ion battery.

The evolution of silicon-carbon use in smartphones has followed a path that tells us a lot: it was first used by the Honor Magic 6 Pro in 2023 and then went on to be widely used by the likes of Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo and Motorola, all with the aim of increasing the capacity to extend the endurance of the phone.

These brands have also championed fast charging, while Samsung, Apple and Google have been a little more conservative.

That reluctance to move to silicon-carbon probably comes down to the fact that it doesn't last as long and with Samsung, Apple and Google all offering the longest software support to keep devices going, that doesn’t dovetail with a battery that has a shorter lifespan.

There have been calls for brands to adopt silicon-carbon from some corners of the media, but the true cost is right here in the specs: these phone batteries won't last as many years as they would with traditional lithium-ion.

Steam Machine owners disappointed by the demise of Dbrand's gorgeous Companion Cube case have been handed a second chance – provided they have access to a 3D printer and a little patience.

Just weeks after Valve pulled the plug on Dbrand's officially planned shell over licensing issues, maker Jaron has released a fully printable alternative through the Printables community.

Rather than copying Dbrand's files, the creator says the model was built entirely from scratch using publicly available images as reference, complete with detailed assembly instructions and a list of the extra screws, magnets and components required.

The result is remarkably close to the design that captured PC gamers' imaginations before it was cancelled. It transforms Valve's compact gaming PC into the instantly recognisable Weighted Companion Cube from Portal, complete with layered panels and contrasting colour sections that can be produced on a standard single-extruder printer using filament swaps. It's not exactly a beginner project, but it looks well within reach for experienced makers.

The Companion Cube isn't the only project breathing new life into Valve's latest hardware. The growing modding community has also begun releasing replacement faceplates, alternative shells and even entirely new small-form-factor PC builds inspired by the Steam Machine's design.

"The Orange Box", is a greta example. This is a far more powerful custom gaming PC housed inside a SilverStone chassis but styled around Valve's ecosystem. Alongside printable accessories and cosmetic upgrades, these projects suggest the Steam Machine could end up becoming just as interesting for modders as it is for gamers.

If nothing else, it's proof that cancelling an official accessory doesn't necessarily kill the idea. As long as the maker community keeps designing clever alternatives, some of gaming's best concepts can still find a way into players' homes, one layer of filament at a time.

The Google Pixel Watch 5 could be in for an upgrade, with a listing for the device pointing to 3GB RAM. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a 50% upgrade compared to the Pixel Watch 4 and it's also 50% more than Samsung packed in the Galaxy Watch 9 that's just been announced.

Google's leaning towards RAM is the only real upgrade for the wearable device seems to point to one particular feature – Gemini.

On-device AI functions need plenty of RAM to keep things moving along and while the design, processor and display are all expected to be the same as previous years, the functionality, aided by Gemini, is likely to take a step forward.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll probably be aware that there's a components crisis in consumer technology at the moment, with prices skyrocketing because of the demands that have been put on the industry by rapidly expanding data centres and other AI functions.

That's one of the causes of price increases across a number of brands, but also makes it more remarkable that the Pixel Watch 5 will get this increase.

The details come from 9to5Google, with the Pixel Watch 5 listed in the Google Play Console under the codename Godric. Additional details point to the new Pixel Watch powered by the same Snapdragon SW5100 that was used to power devices since the Pixel Watch 2.

However, while this Snapdragon platform comes in a number of iterations, the CPU and GPU appear to be the same configuration as the Pixel Watch 4. That suggests it might not have more power – and the lack of the Snapdragon Wear Elite chip as found in the new Galaxy Watch 9 might leave some disappointed.

The Pixel Watch is popular for its minimalist design and easy-to-use interface, while the battery life is a common point of criticism. The fitness tracking is generally well regarded, with accurate heart rate tracking.

But the best thing about Pixel devices, whether that's phone, watch or buds, is the clean software approach and access to Gemini. Google designs Gemini to add value to its hardware and it often works best on those devices.

So, while the Pixel Watch 5 isn't going to be hugely different to the Pixel Watch 4, you can be fairly certain that it will have greater Gemini powers thanks to that additional RAM.

Aldi has just added two new LED beauty gadgets to its stores, a.k.a the last thing I ever thought I’d see Aldi sell. Featuring a face sculptor and hairbrush, the LED collection uses red light therapy and vibrations to enhance your skincare and haircare – but I’m not convinced you should buy them.

Aldi has gone beyond just selling groceries and toiletries. Over the past couple of years, the global supermarket chain has become known for its middle aisle which has become packed full of kitchen appliances, garden furniture and even barbecues.

But this latest launch has surprised me more than all the others, as Aldi has just introduced an LED Face Sculptor and LED Hairbrush to its stores. This isn’t the first time Aldi has branched out in LED skincare, as it has previously launched an LED face mask and LED wand which are also returning to Aldi stores this weekend.

Among the new launches is the LED Face Sculptor which uses red light therapy and vibrations to tone and lift your skin. It looks similar to the Shark FacialPro Glow which glides across the face to cleanse, hydrate and depuff the skin.

I imagine the Aldi LED Face Sculptor offers a similar action but in a much simpler way. Where the Shark FacialPro Glow comes with multiple attachments for different treatments, the LED Face Sculptor is just a single device. Price is also a major difference as the Shark FacialPro Glow is £300 whereas the LED Face Sculptor is £12.99.

The other new launch from Aldi is the LED Hairbrush which is also priced at £12.99. Like the LED Face Sculptor, the hairbrush uses red LED lights and gentle vibrations to stimulate the scalp to encourage hair growth and healthier locks. This might sound odd to some, but red light has been found to be beneficial for hair and to enhance the scalp’s blood flow.

These two launches join Aldi’s LED Face Mask which has seven light settings to reduce fine lines and redness, and the LED Wand which precisely tackles these problems in tool form. Both cost £12.99, making Aldi’s entire LED beauty collection the same cheap price.

Now, I love Aldi and I love a good bargain, but if you were to ask me if you should buy these LED gadgets, my answer would be no. LED skin care is expensive for a reason, and skin isn’t something to mess around with, especially not for the low price of £12.99.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with buying cheap gadgets. In fact, I use the Silk’n LED Face Mask 100 as part of my weekly skincare routine, and it’s the most budget-friendly LED face mask you can buy (albeit it’s still £150). But an LED mask or sculptor that’s only £12.99? This raises some concerns for me.

When buying an LED skincare product, it’s important to look for ones that are FDA-approved, meaning it has passed rigorous testing for safety and efficiency. I can’t see that written anywhere on the LED range from Aldi and as these products come into contact with skin and hair, I’m not sure I’d completely trust them.

But if you still want to try them for yourself, the LED beauty line-up is available in select Aldi stores from 26th July.

Google is expanding the number of ways to secure your Google account, adding a surprise addition – selfie videos. The industry as a whole is on a mission to replace passwords and passcodes with a wider range of sign-in methods, so now we have the selfie video.

Face has long been used to unlock phones – with Apple popularising the method with Face ID back in 2017 – but using your face to secure your Google Account makes a lot of sense.

That's because you're not going to write it down on a Post-It note stuck to your monitor, it's not going to be dog's birthday backwards or your mother's first pet name. Instead, it's a multi-faceted biometric.

Google isn't the first to turn to offer face verification for account access, it's popular with banking apps like Revolut. But Google says that you'll be able to use your face to get back into your account if you're ever locked out of it. Google describes it as an optional private backup for your password.

That's a great move, because if you've lost that Post-It note and you have no idea what your password is, you'll probably have your face with you to be able to unlock via the camera on any device.

Of course, there are huge privacy fears here, as this means Google is storing your literal face which provides access to your account. But the tech giant emphasises that it can be deleted at any time and it's only used for signing in.

Security assurances

There will be lots of security to keep it protected and if you're locked out, you'll be tasked with recording another video, with movements to prove that it's live, which will be compared to your face on record.

There's an interesting detail in Google's wording too, with the firm saying: "It’s used only for helping you sign in, unless you opt to share it for additional purposes."

There's no word on what those additional purposes are.

Google already loves faces: it was first to bring facial recognition to the Nest Hello in 2018 – as Familiar Faces – so it could announce who was at the door and it still uses that system in Nest cameras now. It also likes to link Google Photos to faces so it's easy to find people.

But I'm still interested in what "additional purposes" there might be. I'd love to be able to sign in with a video selfie on new devices rather than tapping in my randomised password every time.

On my first attempt to access the new service I was told that selfie video was not available for my account, so it's not exactly clear how this will roll out.

I’ve tested many coffee machines in my time as T3’s Home Editor, but I’ve never seen an espresso maker like this before. The Flair Classic was originally launched in 2016, but as of late 2025, Flair has updated it with a pressure gauge, a stainless brew cylinder, and two portafilters.

Dubbed the first lever espresso maker, the Flair Classic works in a similar way to an Aeropress but on a larger scale. Unlike the Aeropress which has a small, cylindrical design, the Flair Classic looks like something out of a DT classroom, with a simple yet innovative lever system that requires a little bit of elbow grease.

Made from cast aluminium and stainless steel, the Flair Classic espresso machine makes barista-style espresso using a manual lever system – no electronics required. To ‘pull’ a shot of espresso, you simply add ground coffee to a portafilter before adding it to the brew base. Next, you add the brew cylinder on top and pour in boiling water.

Now for my favourite part – and the reason why I’m desperate to try the Flair Classic – you insert the piston and pressure gauge before pushing down the lever to extract your coffee. This should make a 40ml shot of espresso with crema. All the parts are removable from the main brewing head or base, so it’s easy to use and clean afterwards.

One of the main updates to the upgraded Flair Classic is its portafilters. It now comes with a bottomless 2-in-1 portafilter and a flow control portafilter to offer users more control over their coffee. The former comes in black and is designed for advanced baristas, and the latter is red and is for use with pre-ground coffee, making it better suited for beginners.

As I said before, I’ve tested my fair share of coffee machines, including bean-to-cup, pod, drip and more, and the Flair Classic is the most intriguing espresso maker I’ve ever seen. While it might look a bit too high tech at first, the Flair Classic is easy to get on with, and is a fun change from all the automatic and semi-automatic machines on the market.

The upgraded Flair Classic is available to buy for £169 / $159 at Flair.

Shark Beauty has upgraded its award-winning CryoGlow LED face mask, adding improved LED coverage and better battery performance. The new CryoGlow Plus features 560 LEDs compared to the original's 480, whilst battery performance has been optimised as well.

The new Shark CryoGlow Plus also arrives in two fresh colourways – Pastel Berry and Pastel Dusk. Following this launch, the mask will be available in eight different colour options, which fits with SharkNinja's usual approach of offering its products in a wide variety of shades.

It isn't available to buy just yet, but it will launch for £339.99 via Shark's website and selected retailers, with deliveries starting from 29th July. For comparison, the original model is now available from around £250, making it a cheaper option if you don't need the latest upgrades.

The original Shark CryoGlow achieved five stars in our full review back in 2024 and went on to win Best LED Face Mask at the T3 Awards 2025, so expectations are high for this updated version.

Aside from the new features, the CryoGlow Plus remains very similar to the original model. It still includes the same Better Ageing, Blemish Repair and Skin Sustain LED modes, alongside Shark's InstaChill Cold Technology, which uses three adjustable cooling levels to soothe the under-eye area.

G-Shock has unveiled a particularly eye-catching take on its classic DW-6900, created with Bay Area rapper Larry June and his lifestyle brand, Midnight Organic.

The limited-edition G-Shock DW6900MO26-4 is finished almost entirely in bright orange.

The colour comes from the custom interior of June’s 1987 Chevrolet C4 Corvette, which he calls “Tropical Guts”.

June reportedly bought the car for just $3,500 (~£2,628 / €3,079 / AU$5,014) in 2018 after spotting it parked beside a road in Pacifica, California.

Its stock silver and grey metallic exterior contrasts with the vivid orange cabin, making it one of the most recognisable symbols of the rapper’s self-described “laid-back luxury” lifestyle.

G-Shock has translated that combination to the watch with metallic elements around the dial and a silver-coloured metal keeper inspired by the Corvette’s exterior.

The resin bezel and strap supply a considerable helping of orange.

It is based on the familiar DW-6900 silhouette, complete with the model’s three circular indicators and oversized front-mounted light button.

Midnight Organic branding appears above the display, while “1991” is printed prominently along the strap.

A feel-good surprise hidden in the display

There are more collaborative details around the stainless-steel case back, including an engraving with Midnight Organic’s circular “1991 – You’re Doing Good” emblem.

Pressing the light button also illuminates the display with a custom red “Good Job!” message.

The watch is supplied in equally bright special-edition packaging decorated with Midnight Organic branding and the same “You’re Doing Good” artwork.

The watch itself offers shock resistance, water resistance to 200 metres, a 1/100-second stopwatch, countdown timer, multifunction alarm and a Super Illuminator LED backlight. Both 12- and 24-hour time formats are supported.

“I’ve been collecting G-Shocks for years, so it was special to see the process and be able to design my own watch,” June said.

The G-Shock DW6900MO26-4 is priced at $170 (~£128 / €150 / AU$244). Sales begin through Midnight Organic on 24 July, before availability expands to G-Shock’s US website, its SoHo store and selected retailers on 31 July.

G-Shock has not announced UK, EU and AU pricing or availability.

Are we past the nepo-baby era? By that I don't mean are we now fine with them, but I am curious as to whether people still care as much about the whole concept. Rightly or wrongly, it seems clear that they're here to stay, and Netflix's latest movie is a great example of that – starring none other than Adam Sandler's daughter in the lead role.

To do her proper justice, though, it's Sunny Sandler (what a name), and this isn't exactly her first rodeo. She's had roles in multiple of her dad's movies over the years, including You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah recently, and a small part in Happy Gilmore 2. Now she's the lead in Don't Say Good Luck, which looks like a very different proposition.

The first key point is that the movie doesn't star Adam Sandler – it's a totally fresh project, and Sunny Sandler seems to be the key to it. She plays Sophie Birenbaum, a high schooler going through all the regular stress of school life, as she tries to get a role in the school musical without making a fool of herself.

The real meat of the emotion in the movie, though, comes from the fact that Sophie's mum (Melanie Lynskey) gets what sounds like a cancer diagnosis. That's a devastating turn, and it clearly rocks her dad (Max Greenfield) too, as you'd expect. Sophie's attempts to maintain some normality while dealing with this traumatic process will clearly be pretty emotional to behold.

In fact, this first trailer makes the movie look incredibly sweet, and full of that adolescent lack of confidence that can be so affecting to watch when it's done right. Sunny Sandler might be in this position because of her father's fame (that's quite hard to argue with, to be honest), but from the glimpses we see here, she's clearly going to be quite a performer in her own right.

Plus, she might have the bravery to do what her dad did and pick some weird projects – that's the only way to end up in something magical like Punch-Drunk Love, after all. I'm not saying Don't Say Good Luck is in that bracket, but it'll be interesting to see how it's received. It hits Netflix on 14 August.

RingConn first announced its third-generation smart ring at CES 2026, but the ring is finally available to buy. There’s a special partnership running over the summer, too.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, as well as RingConn’s own fifth birthday, RingConn has partnered with Warner Bros Home Entertainment for a campaign based on being an “Everyday Hero”.

US customers who currently buy a RingConn Gen 3 will receive a Lord of the Rings-themed charging case pouch (you need to be one of the first 3,500 buyers). And if you don’t make it into those first few thousand, you’ll get a digital movie code to redeem any three films from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.

What features does the RingConn Gen 3 offer?

In terms of the smart ring itself, its headline feature is vascular health tracking, coupled with smart vibration alerts, next-generation sensing and up to 14 days of battery life.

For vascular health tracking, you’ll see a sliding scale between Stable, Slight and Noticeable, determined by the ring monitoring nighttime patterns, daily habits, and manual inputs.

In terms of the vibration alerts, the RingConn Gen 3 directly vibrates on your finger to flag health alerts, sedentary reminders and low battery in a bid to reduce reliance on phone notifications.

With vibrations turned off, the battery life is claimed to be two weeks, which would be the latest Oura Ring 5, though with them turned on, you’re looking at between 10 and 12 days.

Elsewhere, the titanium ring offers sleep apnea pattern insights, women's cycle predictions and continuous tracking of SpO2, respiratory rate, skin temperature and stress, all without a subscription. It ships in five finishes, spans sizes 6 to 15, and comes with a new universal wireless charging case.

If you want to be in with a chance of getting one of those LOTR pouches though, you had better get a wriggle on. Prices start at $349 on the RingConn website.

Watch out, Echo Hub – Shelly has just launched its new smart wall display to the UK market. The Shelly Wall Display X1i is a centralised smart home hub in the form of a 4-inch high-resolution colour display which is easy to install and can even replace your home’s light switches.

Founded in 2018, Shelly is still a relatively new smart home brand, but it’s seriously expanded into all categories within the sector. Its range of sensors, switches, dimmers, smart plugs and more offer an affordable way to upgrade your home into a smart one.

Having a centralised smart hub for all your devices is paramount to keeping your home running smoothly. While you can achieve this by apps, a smart speaker or display, sometimes a dedicated hub makes things that much easier, and this is what Shelly has become known for.

Shelly previously launched its Wall Display XL in late 2025. Measuring 6.5-inches, it was a pretty sizable device that took up a lot of wall space. Shelly’s newer model, the Wall Display X1i offers much of the same features and functionality but in a smaller 4-inch size.

Available in black or silver, the Shelly Wall Display X1i is designed to fit standard European flush-mount wall boxes so it’s easy to install and doesn’t look like an eyesore. It can even replace your traditional light switches, which is especially helpful if you have smart lights already set up around your home.

The Shelly Wall Display X1i connects your smart home devices together and keeps them in one central place. Powered by an ultra-fast quad-core processor, it has a built-in relay for direct control of lighting and appliances, and it responds quickly and smoothly.

Within the Shelly Wall Display X1i are proximity, luminosity and gesture sensors, so the hub responds naturally to you and what’s happening around your house. For example, it can trigger automations when it notices changing conditions in a room, like temperature fluctuations.

The display itself is all colour, and the home screen can be personalised with shortcuts. Aside from customising your devices, the Shelly Wall Display X1i also monitors your energy consumption to help you save on your household bills.

Alongside its new smart control panel, Shelly has also launched the new Shelly BLU Motion ZB, its latest smart sensor. Both devices can be used together to make your smart home automations more seamless.

As a wireless motion sensor, the Shelly BLU Motion ZB detects movement and ambient light levels using PIR technology. This allows the sensor to respond quickly to changes and notify the display which then makes adjustments or starts automations if necessary.

The Shelly BLU Motion ZB comes with Bluetooth and Zigbee connectivity, and it’s powered by a CR2477 battery which allows it to operate for up to five years without needing to be replaced. It can sit on surfaces or be mounted on walls via its mounting pad, so installation is easy, too.

Both smart devices are available to buy now, with the Shelly Wall Display X1i priced at £162, and the Shelly BLU Motion ZB costing £18. The former is a similar price to the Echo Hub which goes for £169.99, so there’s not a huge cost difference.

However, if you don’t fancy diving into the Amazon ecosystem just yet, the Shelly Wall Display X1i is a great – and simpler – alternative.

Amazon has issued an update to its Alexa+ assistant that will allow it to connect with more smart home devices than ever before. The update expands Alexa+'s compatibility with products from brands including Bosch, Delta, Ecovacs, Sonoff, Govee, iRobot, Twinkly, Yale Home, Whirlpool, Tapo and Eufy, with the AI assistant also able to automatically route requests to the right device.

With the new update, customers can simply describe what they want to do, and Alexa+ will map the request to the relevant device and feature. Alexa+ will also learn your preferences and suggest Routines that make better use of your connected devices.

The update comes just days after Amazon rolled out Alexa+ via Alexa.com in the UK, allowing users to access the assistant directly from their browser. Together, these updates are expanding both who can access Alexa+ and what it can actually do.

Alexa+'s ability to interact with third-party services is also set to improve. Since Amazon launched its revamped AI assistant earlier this year, its integrations have been relatively limited, with existing support for services including Ticketmaster, OpenTable, Uber, Thumbtack, Expedia, Yelp, Square and Angi.

Now, Amazon is looking to expand those capabilities by adopting the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source standard that allows AI models to connect with external systems and tools. This should make it easier for more companies to build integrations with Alexa+, with Canva, Headspace, Priceline, Lyft, Cengage, Virgin Atlantic and Weekend, among others, expected to launch support later this year.

Finally, Alexa+ is getting an update related to payments, with Amazon Wallet allowing customers to check out using the payment method already saved to their Amazon account. Brands including Atom Tickets, Cengage, Fandango, Priceline and Taskrabbit plan to build task-completion experiences with Amazon Wallet this year.

For the last couple of months, there have been no end of reports on the rumoured iPhone Ultra. We’ve seen everything from dummy leaks to give us an idea of what it could look like, to specification rumours to let us know what we can expect in terms of things like screen sizes.

Most reports of late haven’t focused on whether Apple will launch a folding phone (that much appears to be clear) but on when. And there have been a few about its release date, with claims that could be significantly delayed, slightly delayed, or barely delayed at all.

Will the iPhone Ultra be delayed, or won't it?

Now it seems to be been flipped again. A report on DigiTimes (via 9to5Mac) suggests the delay could be back on.

DigiTimes writes that “Foxconn is now carrying out 'final mass-production adjustments' for the device”, which could lead to "production hurdles".

However, there is nothing in the report to confirm whether those adjustments are routine or an issue. So unfortunately, we are back to things being a little up in the air.

We're choosing to look at this positively though.

Samsung has just announced its latest folding phones, including the Galaxy Z Fold 8 with a new, wider format. It is widely thought this new shape will be showcased on the iPhone Ultra too, offering a squarer phone when folded and an iPad mini-like aspect when unfolded.

So with Samsung having put its marker down, all eyes are now on Apple and what it will bring to the folding phone space. Sure, the phone might release a little later than the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro XL, to give those devices a chance to sell, but we suspect the “final mass-production adjustments” won’t stop us seeing a folding iPhone this year.

If it is indeed on the cards.

Zara is best known for quickly turning fashion trends into clothing you can find on almost any high street.

Its latest release, however, isn't something you can try in a changing cubicle.

The Spanish retailer is now selling a fully fledged car rooftop tent for £3,300 (~$4,397 / €3,865 / AU$6,292), complete with an aluminium shell, built-in mattress and telescopic ladder.

It is available through Zara Home in the UK and looks every bit as Zara-like as a rooftop tent possibly could.

Finished in beige and earthy brown, with a slim black frame and sparse branding, the tent resembles something from an unusually expensive outdoor editorial.

Even the product photography features an old Land Rover Defender parked in an idyllic mountain setting.

Looks aside, the tent appears to be a serious piece of camping equipment.

The wedge-shaped tent opens to provide a 260 x 144cm interior, with a maximum height of 125cm, and has space for two people, side mesh windows, a front opening and a ladder that extends to 230cm.

It even comes with a fitted mattress, an internal USB-powered light strip, a protective case, mounting hardware, tools and assembly instructions.

Peak Zara

The £3,300 price is not entirely unheard of for an aluminium rooftop tent, but the price certainly makes the shelter one of the more expensive models in the category

For comparison, the two-to-three-person Thule Approach M costs £2,400, while TentBox offers several models for considerably less. Even the four-person TentBox Lite XL currently costs around £1,900.

The remote-operated Dometic TRT120E tent, which recently won the T3 Awards 2026 in the Best Tent category and goes up in a matter of minutes on its own, costs less than half as much at £1,400.

At the premium end, Thule’s aluminium Widesky sits in a similar price bracket and adds features including rapid opening and a built-in sofa configuration.

Zara’s listing, meanwhile, provides no waterproof rating, wind-resistance figure or warranty details specific to the tent.

There are also some important limitations to note. The tent has a maximum load of 150kg despite being designed for two people, and Zara says the vehicle must have a dynamic roof-load capacity of between 70 and 100kg.

Still, practicality may be beside the point. Zara previously tapped into the supershoe trend with an extraordinarily tall running shoe; now it has apparently discovered overlanding.

At least this time, the high stack sits on top of your car.

The aptly named Car Roof Tent is available to buy at Zara UK.

Jaeger-LeCoultre has just expanded its Rendez-Vous collection with two new timepieces, designed with feminine elegance in mind. While the new Rendez-Vous Jewellery Night & Day will draw all the attention with its intricate hand-painted dial, the Rendez-Vous Hour-Minute is the one that’s got me excited – and it might have finally changed my mind about women’s watches.

The Rendez-Vous collection by Jaeger-LeCoultre first debuted back in 2012, its dedicated collection of fine mechanical women’s watches. The models in the line-up come in smaller sizes between 29mm to 36mm to cater to smaller wrists, and typically feature hand-guilloché dials and diamond details.

The new Rendez-Vous Jewellery Night & Day has kept these features with its multi-layed dial featuring a miniature hand-painting in lacquer. Limited to just 10 pieces, the watch measures 34mm and sits in a platinum 950 collection which is a first to the Rendez-Vous range.

The bezel of the case is set with 49 baguette-cut diamonds that sparkles around the painted dial. Described as an ‘ode to nature’, the dial of the Rendez-Vous Jewellery Night & Day features an Asian Paradise Flycatcher which sits on a branch with Korean Dogwood blossom.

If you look just beneath the bird, there’s a disc which has a 24 hour day and night display. It rotates every 24 hours to show the transition from the sun to the moon. It’s also been meticulously hand-painted.

Oversized numerals sit atop the hand-painted disc, and they differ in size with 12 being the largest, and nine and three shrinking to the side. It sits atop the miniature painting which is separate from the dial with an oval ring that has grain-set diamonds dotted around it.

Powered by the Calibre 733 movement, the Rendez-Vous Jewellery Night & Day has a rotor that’s crafted from 22kt gold. It’s finished with a blue alligator strap to match the main colour of the dial.

My favourite launch from the new Rendez-Vous collection is the updated Rendez-Vous Hour-Minute. Now available in steel or 18kt pink gold, the new watch has a refined, minimalist style that sits in a small 29mm case.

The new Rendez-Vous Hour-Minute is very simple, just displaying the hour and minutes on the dial. It keeps the signature Rendez-Vous Floral numerals, and it has a light sunray guilloché texture. The case and bezel are smooth and sans diamonds, but there are small diamonds that loop around the dial that also act as hour markers.

The steel version of the Rendez-Vous Hour-Minute has black numerals, blue hands and a snow-white dial, while the pink gold model matches in colour with the case, hour markers and hands. The watch also comes with metal or alligator leather straps. It’s powered by the Quartz Calibre 657 movement, and prices start at £6,800.

Kapten & Son has launched its lightest backpack to date, combining a packable design with enough protection and storage for everyday technology.

Founded in Münster in 2014 and now headquartered in Cologne, Kapten & Son is a German lifestyle brand that began with minimalist watches before expanding into backpacks, luggage, eyewear and clothing.

The new Åre Daypack Lite weighs 700g, meaning it is less than half the weight of the current 15-inch MacBook Air, which tips the scales at 1.51kg.

Despite that difference, the backpack has a padded compartment large enough to accommodate Apple’s portable computer.

The bag is not only spacious, but its soft construction also allows the Åre Daypack Lite to pack flat inside a suitcase.

This makes it particularly suitable as a secondary bag for holidays and work trips, providing something more substantial than the flimsy drawstring bags often sold as packable daypacks.

The 13-litre main compartment is accessed through a fold-open front panel, while two mesh bottle pockets provide additional storage.

There are also several internal compartments, including mesh and zipped pockets for organising smaller items.

Light work

Although Kapten & Son describes the Åre Daypack Lite as ultralight, there are lighter hiking backpacks available.

Patagonia’s similarly sized Terravia Pack 14L, for example, weighs approximately 471g.

However, the Åre includes several features normally found on heavier commuter and travel bags.

These include a breathable padded back panel, adjustable padded shoulder straps, a chest strap and an integrated sleeve for securing it to a suitcase handle.

A concealed anti-theft pocket provides somewhere to keep a passport or wallet, while an included rain cover offers additional protection when the water-repellent outer material encounters heavier downpours.

The backpack is constructed from 90% recycled PET and 10% polyester, and measures 42 x 28.5 x 13.5cm. Kapten & Son also describes the design as vegan.

The Åre Daypack Lite is available now at Kapten & Son for £99.90 / €99.90 (~$114 / AU$163) in All Black, Taupe and Muted Rose colourways.

Expanding its ever-growing line-up, Ring has just announced two new outdoor security cameras with its simplest installation yet. The standout from the new launches is the Peephole Camera 2K which can be easily set-up on your existing peephole without any drilling required, an option that renters are sure to love.

Starting with the Ring Outdoor Camera (2nd Gen), this new model has 2K video resolution and up to 6x Enhanced Zoom, a feature Ring is slowly but steadily adding to its range of cameras and video doorbells. Available in wired and battery versions, the Ring Outdoor Camera (2nd Gen) has a wide angle lens that covers 140 degrees horizontally and 85 degrees vertically for enhanced views.

The Ring Outdoor Camera (2nd Gen) keeps its 2K resolution throughout the day and into the night, so you can clearly see who’s at your property, even in low light. For low light conditions, the camera shows everything in true colour and automatically switches to black and white night vision when it gets dark.

With similar looks to the Ring Outdoor Camera Plus, the Ring Outdoor Camera (2nd Gen) can be installed anywhere with its mount. This camera also comes with the usual Ring features like live view, two-way talk, motion detection and privacy zones which are available in the Ring app.

The second – and in my opinion, the most impressive – launch from Ring is the Ring Peephole Camera 2K. If you live in rented accommodation or a flat, this camera gives you the chance to add technology and an extra layer of security to your front door without any fussy or permanent installation.

The Ring Peephole Camera 2K looks like a video doorbell with its long triangle shape, and it kind of acts like one, too. It has a camera at the top with Retinal 2K resolution and 6x Enhanced Zoom, and a button just beneath it which visitors can press to talk to you, thanks to Ring’s live view and two-way talk features.

The best part of the Ring Peephole Camera 2K is its easy to set up. There’s no drilling required or cables required as it’s a wireless model with a quick release rechargeable battery. To install it, you just unscrew your existing peephole and install the camera – that’s it!

When you move, you can just reverse the installation and take the Ring Peephole Camera 2K with you to your next place. It’ll need to be ‘compatible’ with your existing peephole which Ring states needs to be from 12mm to 14mm in size, and for doors between 32.5mm and 60mm.

The Ring Peephole Camera 2K also comes with motion detection and 140 degree horizontal and vertical views, so it should be able to see down to your doorstep.

The Ring Outdoor Camera (2nd Gen) is available to pre-order now at Amazon for £99.99 with expected shipping dates from 12th August. The Ring Peephole Camera 2K arrives slightly later on 19th August and will cost £79.99. As of writing, US pricing hasn’t been announced, but the prices are usually quite similar.

Xbox is testing a way to provide cloud gaming access for free, without the need for Game Pass membership. It is ad-supported and allows Xbox gamers to access their own library of games on different devices at no extra cost.

Initially available to Xbox Insiders with an Xbox account, the service is currently limited. It allows play in one hour sessions and you'll have to sit through adverts before each game starts, but the core experience is then uninterrupted.

Any Xbox gamer can join the Insider program to be part of the test, you just need to download the Xbox Insider Hub on your Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One or Windows PC and follow the sign-up instructions.

As this is not part of Xbox Game Pass, you won't have access to games outside those you've already purchased and own. You might also find that some of your games are unsupported, but Xbox is adding new games to the list all the time, so you might find additional titles become available over time.

Xbox free cloud gaming test – other details

It's also worth remembering that this is just a viability test for now – there's no guarantee that Xbox will continue to offer the service in future. However, it believes that there is a need for a free service for users who cannot easily access a console or PC.

It could also help Xbox One owners who are yet to upgrade play enhanced Xbox Series X/S games on their consoles.

The adverts that will be shown have been carefully vetted, the company claims, to ensure they meet the correct standards. They will also be "what players expect on each platform".

If you are an Xbox Insider and do not currently subscribe to an Xbox Game Pass tier that includes cloud gaming, you should be able to help test the ad-supported service now. It'll be available for a "limited period", although it's currently unclear how long that will be.

Amazon has followed Netflix by adding games to its Prime Video service, but it's raced ahead in quality and quantity. That's because the new "Games" tab on the Prime Video app gives you direct access to its ever-growing library of Luna games.

That means you will be able to play the likes of the multiple award-winning Dispatch, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, EA Sports FC 26, and the Harry Potterverse RPG Hogwart's Legacy for free, straight from Prime Video itself.

Luna is Amazon's cloud gaming service, which gives all Amazon Prime members access to a catalogue of console and PC quality games to stream over the internet. The game is run on remote hardware with the video feed streamed to your TV, while the controller codes are sent in the opposite direction.

There's a small amount of lag (latency) in comparison with playing directly on a PS5, for example, but everything is still very playable. All you need is a Bluetooth controller connected wirelessly and away you go.

Some of the games can even be played using a mobile phone or tablet as the controller, including an expanding selection of party games for family and friends to enjoy together.

That includes the new season of Courtroom Chaos, with Arnold Schwazenegger as the judge.

Other games available on the platform include some of Amazon's own properties, such as the most recent Tomb Raider trilogy. Fallout 4 is also available, to complement the TV series on Prime Video.

The Games tab is now available on Fire TV models in the UK and US, with a wider rollout coming "in the months ahead".

Hopefully that will include Prime Video apps on TVs and streaming devices from other manufacturers. As things stand, you can play Luna games through a browser on most devices by heading to the dedicated website.

This week on The Gadget Show Podcast, it's all about Samsung – which revealed its latest folding phones at its Unpacked showcase.

T3's Tech Editor, Mike Lowe, was at the event and took time out of the schedule to talk with Jason about the new products – and why this year could be the biggest for foldables yet.

The headline-grabber is the Galaxy Z Fold 8, given its new aspect ratio, but Samsung also revealed the 'business-like' Z Fold 8 Ultra (an update over the Z Fold 7) and 'trendy' Z Flip 8 (which updates the Z Flip 7).

Watch the full episode of The Gadget Show Podcast below or watch on YouTube.

• Check out The Gadget Show's YouTube channel for more

Your favourite lifestyle tech publication, T3, has partnered with the legendary TV and YouTube sensation that is The Gadget Show.

T3 has celebrated its print magazine's 30th birthday this year, while T3.com continues to grow and reach wider audiences year on year.

Over the coming weeks, we'll be bringing you all the latest news on tech and gaming from Jason Bradbury, Suzi Perry and members of the T3 team.

What is The Gadget Show?

The Gadget Show launched in 2004 on Channel 5 in the UK and has delivered previews and reviews of the latest gadgets since.

With a range of presenters and formats over the years, the new podcast sees the return of the original duo Jason Bradbury and Suzi Perry in a weekly episode, hosted on its YouTube channel.

It's worth subscribing and liking their weekly videos – and, of course, returning to T3.com to see other members of the team talk over the latest tech with The Gadget Show team.

Philips Hue could be about to launch a giant smart lounge table, despite initially being revealed as an April Fools' joke. According to Fabian from Hueblog, the massive lounge table has appeared multiple times in video footage from Capital Markets Day 2026, where the rumoured Hue Play Screen Sync Camera was also spotted.

From the few glimpses we've seen, the lounge table appears to be designed for outdoor use, with a power cord clearly visible in the footage. That means it won't be portable like the standard Hue Go 2.0, but it's a small detail that adds more credibility to the rumours. After all, why would Philips Hue include a visible power cable on a product that was supposedly only intended as a joke?

Signify has since edited the video, removing almost all of the sections that showed products that haven't yet been officially announced. However, the image used as the cover for the article is still online, whilst another brief glimpse of the product can also be spotted for just a second in the video.

Fabian has also reportedly heard that the launch was originally planned for spring but was later postponed. Hopefully, we'll get some more concrete information in September at IFA, where Philips Hue is expected to unveil several new products.

IFA 2025 saw one of the biggest Philips Hue launches in years, including the long-awaited Hue Bridge Pro, so it remains to be seen whether this year's event will be quite as exciting. However, if the giant smart table does make an appearance, it would certainly be one of the more unexpected products we've seen from the brand.

Chinese car maker XPeng has revealed the L03, a coupe-SUV aimed to deliver supercar styling in a practical package, and with the choice of being a full EV or range-extender hybrid.

There’s no price or exact release date yet – and not much in the way of specification, either – but XPeng says the L03 is coming to 65 global markets at once, including the UK.

The car represents XPeng’s “In Europe, for Europe” design approach, and comes from a team led by JuanMa Lopez, former Ferrai exterior design chief. Expected to sit below the XPeng G6, the L03 is a little smaller and with a sleeker, more tapered roof line.

There are hints of Polestar and Porsche all over the exterior, while the interior will be familiar to anyone who has spent time in a G6 (XPeng, that is, not Gulfstream). It’s a minimal cabin with lots of clean surfaces, a letterbox-shaped display behind the steering wheel, and a large, 15.6-inch central touchscreen for the infotainment system.

XPeng says there are 37 separate storage spaces spread across the cabin, so good luck finding your sunglasses, and what’s described as “generous cargo capacity”. The L03 also benefits from “immersive ambient lighting, intelligent climate control and lounge-style seating”.

There’s no news on power, range or performance, but XPeng says the L03 will be available as both a full EV and a range-extender hybrid, called the L03 Power X. The latter will see an electric drivetrain joined by a small engine used as an onboard generator to add power into the battery and increase the overall range.

Since it sits below the G6, the L03 is expected to use a 400-volt electric architecture (instead of the G6’s 800-volt setup), and while battery capacities haven’t been confirmed, a choice of 58 kWh and 71 kWh is expected, with range figures likely landing in the region of 270 to 320 miles for the EV, and around double that for the range-extender variant.

While the official range remains under wraps, XPeng is keen to talk about the L03’s computing power. It says the car uses a system called Next Generation Pilot, which is based on a “physical-world foundation model” that XPeng plans to roll out progressively through Europe in 2027.

The company explains: “Unlike conventional [Advanced Driver Assistance Systems] that focus on individual driving assistance functions, XPeng NGP (VLA 2.0) is designed to understand and navigate highly complex real-world driving scenarios, bringing intelligent driving closer to how humans perceive and respond to the road.”

The L03’s intelligence comes from a trio of XPeng’s own Turing AI Chips that deliver up to a combined 2,250 TOPS of computing power.

Standing for Trillions of Operations per Second, that TOPS figure is significant, given how cars like the Tesla Model X, Polestar 3 and Lotus Eletre run at about 500 TOPS. Mercedes’ MB.OS has a figure of around 1,000 TOPS, while JLR says its next-generation vehicle system with Nvidia Drive Thor also runs at up to 2,250 TOPS. For context, an iPhone 16 Pro runs at 35 TOPS.

As well as driver assistance, all that power is also used to run the L03’s new intelligent cockpit experience, with a new operating system called XOS 6. This features a next-generation AI voice assistant, which XPeng says has been rebuilt to support more natural conversations, contextual understanding and “seamless multilingual interaction”.

XPeng added: “Rather than responding only to commands, the system can interpret user intent and intelligently adjust vehicle functions accordingly, creating a more intuitive and human-centred cockpit experience. The new capabilities will be introduced to users through future OTA updates.”

Nike ACG has unveiled a new trail-running collection inspired by the landscape surrounding Chamonix, the birthplace of modern mountaineering and the home of UTMB, admittedly one of the most popular ultra-trail running events in the world.

The new range transforms the colours and textures of the French Alps into an unusually convincing camouflage print.

Chamo Camo stretches across five of Nike’s trail-running shoes, including the ACG Ultrafly, ACG Zegama Trail, Pegasus Trail, Wildhorse and Terra Kiger.

Each receives a layered grey and green pattern informed by the granite, limestone and sandstone formations found around Mont Blanc, alongside the region’s forests, vegetation and lichen.

The result is considerably subtler than conventional military-style camouflage.

Nike says the inspiration for the pattern came from how the landscape changes between dawn and dusk, helping the products blend into the terrain that inspired them.

Hide and peak

Chamo Camo will also feature across the All Conditions Racing Department’s athlete race kit and a wider collection of men’s and women’s apparel.

The range includes Dri-FIT ADV singlets, distance tops, race shorts, tights and warm-up layers.

Nike has also applied the pattern to clothing featuring its Aero-FIT Radical AirFlow technology, which uses a highly open structure to promote airflow during hot-weather exercise.

Retail pieces include trail-running tanks, Solar Chase tops, lined shorts and graphic T-shirts, allowing runners to recreate the coordinated race-day look without necessarily heading off to compete in the Alps.

The launch arrives as Nike continues to reposition ACG as a serious performance-outdoor brand.

Its expanding footwear line now covers everything from technical trail racing to cushioned ultramarathon running and lightweight hiking.

Nike hasn’t formally labelled Chamo Camo as a UTMB collection, but its Chamonix inspiration and summer launch leave little doubt about the mountain-running moment it is targeting.

The Nike ACG Chamo Camo collection launches on 29 July at Nike US, with availability through selected ACG retailers.

The ACG Zegama Trail Chamo Camo is priced at $180 (~£135 / €158 / AU$258) in the US, while UK, EU and AU pricing has yet to be confirmed.

Samsung Galaxy Watch users will soon be able to access Strava Routes on their wrist through Samsung Health, thanks to a significant expansion of the two companies’ partnership.

Strava will be pre-installed on new Galaxy Watches sold globally, beginning with the latest Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.

Buyers of either smartwatch will also receive a 60-day trial of Strava’s subscription service, which unlocks a complete selection of premium training and route-planning features.

More importantly, Strava Routes will be integrated natively into Samsung Health later this year, giving you on-wrist access to routes created through Strava without relying solely on the separate Strava watch app.

Strava and Samsung haven’t fully explained how the integration will work, including whether routes will synchronise automatically or which older Galaxy Watch models, such as the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, will be supported.

However, the companies say the Samsung Health integration will begin rolling out globally to Galaxy Watch users in the coming months.

Finding a better way around

Strava Routes uses activity data from the company’s enormous user community to generate courses suited to different sports, distances and preferences.

Strava Premium subscribers can also create their own routes and download them for navigation in areas without a reliable data connection.

The feature could make Galaxy Watch more competitive with outdoor watches from brands such as Garmin, Suunto and Coros, where route creation, synchronisation and on-wrist navigation are already important parts of the experience.

Its arrival is particularly timely after Strava expanded its hiking tools in June.

The recent update introduced improved route planning, navigation and trail-discovery features, reflecting the company’s efforts to become more useful beyond running and cycling.

Samsung is also placing greater emphasis on personalised fitness services across its wearable ecosystem.

Alongside the Strava announcement, the company revealed that iFIT’s Tailor personal trainer will use sleep, heart-rate and recovery information recorded by Galaxy Watch to generate adaptive workouts through Samsung Health.

The two integrations arrive with the new Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.

The Watch9 is Samsung’s everyday health-focused model, while the Ultra2 adds an 800mAh battery, trail-running metrics, hydration guidance and support for recreational diving.

Strava says the Routes integration is the first of several improvements planned for Samsung users, although it hasn’t revealed what will follow.

Strava Routes requires a paid subscription once the complimentary 60-day trial has ended.

Read more about the integration at Strava.

Samsung is adding an AI-powered personal trainer to Samsung Health that can turn data collected by a Galaxy Watch into personalised workouts and weekly training plans.

Created through a partnership with connected-fitness company iFIT, the new feature combines Samsung’s health and recovery insights with iFIT Tailor, the brand's AI fitness coach.

Tailor builds training plans around your goals, current fitness, workout history, available time and location.

According to the company, it can recommend anything from strength and HIIT sessions to cycling, yoga, Pilates and mindfulness, drawing on workouts created by iFIT’s team of 180 trainers.

The feature can also continually adjust its recommendations as you complete workouts, recover or change your routines.

Samsung says information already captured by Galaxy Watch, including sleep, heart rate and recovery data, will feed into its Fitness Index and help the coach decide what the user should do next.

That could make the partnership considerably more useful than a conventional library of follow-along workout videos.

A coach that travels with you

The feature can also account for where you are training and how much time you have available.

iFIT says Tailor can generate an appropriate workout for home, travelling or when you're heading out onto a trail.

Progress milestones, activity streaks and achievement recognition will of course be included to encourage consistency, while the plans will remain available through Samsung Health on compatible Galaxy devices.

Samsung and iFIT unveiled the expanded integration alongside the new Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.

The Watch 9 is positioned as Samsung’s everyday health and fitness smartwatch, while the more rugged Ultra 2 introduces an 800mAh battery, specialised trail-running metrics, hydration guidance and support for recreational diving.

There are, however, two catches. iFIT Personal Trainer will require a paid iFIT membership and is not included as a free Samsung Health feature, although monthly and annual subscriptions will be available directly through the app.

The initial rollout will also be limited to India, South Korea and the US later this year.

Samsung and iFIT say other markets covered by their partnership will receive the feature during 2027, meaning Galaxy Watch owners in the UK will have to wait a little longer to try it.

For more information, visit iFIT.

If you've been keeping tabs on the biggest tournament this summer, you'll know that the winner has now been crowned. No, not that tournament (though congratulations, Spain).

The T3 Tech Cup has pitted 48 of the best tech products against each other since 11th June. On 19th July, the cup final saw the Antigravity A1 drone take on the mighty Leatherman Arc in an all-or-nothing final, and there was only one winner.

With nearly 250 votes cast, the Antigravity A1 took 61% of the vote and the title of T3 Tech Cup Champion. This immersive drone took flying to a new level with its 360-degree approach, and it clearly captured the imagination of our readers, so a big congratulations to the team.

In the Third Place Playoffs, the Nothing Phone (3) beat the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro 54-46, giving them the bronze medal. That puts the final standing at:

• 1st: Antigravity A1
• 2nd: Leatherman Arc
• 3rd: Nothing Phone 3

In our review of the Antigravity A1, Matt Kollat said: "The Antigravity A1 is a bold step forward for drones, delivering an immersive 360-degree flying experience that feels genuinely new. It’s expensive and niche, but also thrilling, creative and unlike anything else in the sky. If you want innovation rather than iteration, this is the drone to try."

How the T3 Tech Cup works

The T3 Tech Cup is based on the same format as the football World Cup taking place this summer. Here, instead of 48 nations from around the world, we've selected 48 of the top tech products from across the various industries T3 covers.

The format will follow the football exactly, meaning every time there's a game on TV, there's also a poll to vote on! We'll be keeping points tallies for the group stage to pick out the winners, runners-up and highest third-place finishers, which then feeds into the knockout rounds.

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