Pro controllers are one heck of an investment for most people, but they really can make a substantial difference to how it feels to game on your platform of choice. Most of them bring features like extra buttons or paddles to the table, but SteelSeries is hoping that it's big headset innovation can now work for a controller, too.

It's just announced the Aeon Pro, a controller that has a feature list as long as my arm, but the one I'm most interested in is its battery-swapping option. Like the Arctis Nova Pro Omni headset, it has a swappable battery system with a charging dock so that you're never caught short with a dying gamepad.

That dock also lets you swap between connected devices, so that you can switch between Xbox and PC at will – although the pad won't work with PlayStation 5 consoles. That's a Sony issue, though, since its DualSense haptics basically killed off any chance of third-party controllers working on the platform. Still, it's always annoying.

As well as that battery and device-swapping system, the controller features Hall Effect thumbsticks, which are drift-proof for better longevity. It also has four programmable back buttons and a little onboard OLED screen to make swapping between profiles and modes easier.

You can easily swap out thumbsticks for your preferred options (including convex/concave and different heights), and the controller features some grippy rubberised texture for more of a feeling of control even if you're in a tense moment.

I think that battery system will be the ace in the Aeon Pro's sleeve, since I still forget to charge my controllers pretty regularly. SteelSeries already solved that problem in its high-end headsets, so it's a great shout to add it to a controller. The lack of PS5 support is an Achilles' heel, but it can take solace in the long list of other gaming brands in the same boat.

Of course, all this comes at quite a price, with the Aeon Pro launching at $259.99 in the US, £229.99 in the UK and €259.99 in Europe. You should be able to order it from SteelSeries' site now, and it'll trickle through to retailers imminently.

There's no doubt about, darts is undergoing a period of resurgence, thanks in no small part to the young generation of pro players sweeping the world with their talent. Luke Littler (19) and Gian van Veen (24) are ranked first and second in the world respectively, and their success is prompting new junior players to seek their local clubs and organisations.

Meanwhile, the sport is also gaining in popularity thanks to its gamification. Interactive darts centres and venues, like Flight Club, are springing up around the UK, Europe and the US at a rapid rate, bringing a fun, tech-fuelled side to the sport for families and friends to explore.

But what if you don't have a darts club or interactive experience nearby, or there's a dearth of players in your area to coax into a leg or two? What then?

Well, Winmau believes it has found an answer – a solution that combines the passion and skill of the new wave of pro players with the fun, interactive elements of a Boom Battle Bar. It has Autodarts.

The democratisation of darts

Having bought Autodarts from its developers around a year ago, Winmau has further developed the app and service for a wider, grander launch during IFA 2026.

It essentially automates the nuts and bolts of darts for you, like scoring, assessing checkouts, and keeping stats, while also adding different games and activities. The app can even match you with players around the world of a similar skill level, to play against remotely. But the best part is it does this from a smartphone pointed at a normal, regular dartboard, old or new – no other equipment is necessary.

Oh, and the app is free.

"So many people have dartboards, but they're not playing," explained Winmau's CEO, Tom Brown, to T3.

"I think that this is a really exciting step for them because they, at one point, were interested enough in darts to go and buy a dartboard. They may or may not follow darts. So they'll probably come across the app and they'll think, okay, that's pretty fun."

And once they see how much it has to offer, it might have them dig out their board once more. That's the idea.

"We just want people to play. If you've already got a dartboard, download the app and let's get going," added Brown.

"If you don't, you can get one from Amazon, Argos, John Lewis."

The app itself doesn't distinguish: " We use the Blade X that on the stage, and that is our more premium board, but you can use a board that you can buy for under £50.

"So you get that, a surround, and download the app, you're ready to go – for around 60 quid.

"I was also adamant that I don't want to use the app to push people to buy more things. It's just about building a community, getting people to play, getting people excited about about playing the game again."

Autodarts X

The one thing that breaks from that a touch is Autodarts X – a step-up system that takes auto scoring and data collection to a whole new level.

Where Autodarts is an app that runs on just about any Android phone or iPhone with a camera, Autodarts X is hardware in itself. It is a camera system that physically clips onto any dartboard and provides an even more accurate experience.

It's also built in such a way that it can be fitted and removed in minutes.

"There's just two pieces in the box. First piece, you take it out, you click it onto the board and it clicks into place. Really satisfying," revealed Brown.

"Then you take the second piece out, you unfold the four legs, and you click that on. No drilling, no screwdriver, that's it. That's done.

"To connect it, you plug in a USB-C cable. That pairs with your phone and the app. You then disconnect the cables, and that's paired forever. You're ready to play."

It's this simplicity that Winmau believes is key, and a real advantage over rivals. After all, Autodarts is meant to lesson the barriers to play, not create new ones.

The price

Of course, to go the whole Autodarts X route, you'll probably take your darts a bit more seriously. The camera system will cost around £450 when it arrives for pre-order in October.

But then there's still the app for everyone else, which starts at zero cost.

You can unlock more features and additional games (such as fan favourite, Killer) with a £5.99 monthly subscription, but you'll still get five matches to play using the LENS capture function each month for free, plus many of the other capabilities.

And the app is available to download and use right now.

So will Winmau succeed in democratising darts – to bring it to a new and disenfranchised audience. Time will obviously tell. One thing's for certain though, everyone will have plenty of fun while we find out.

Samsung had a productive Gamescom last week, announcing no less than four new gaming monitors for 2027 – each with "world's first" or groundbreaking tech – and showcased Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on its stand as a bit of a coup. But there could be even more exciting things yet to come. And not just for gamers.

I managed to catch up with the company's head of its European monitor business, Pepe Dijkstra, during the show, along with the director of product management for TV, AV and sound, Jeremy Demont, and we discussed possible plans for the future.

One of them is the potential use of Privacy Display technology on monitors.

Privacy Display is a highlight feature of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. When activated, it restricts anyone other than the owner to see what's on the screen, even for individual windows or apps.

That means interlopers see just a black display or zone and cannot read sensitive information, for example. It's a clever addition that is so far unique to Samsung's flagship phone, at least at this level of complexity. And it's something that could also work with monitors.

That was agreed by Dijkstra, who told me that it could be a technology that would work as well on computer displays. But it all comes down to cost.

Could we see Privacy Display on Samsung monitors

Privacy Display won't really be needed for gaming monitors, but it could be transformative for working spaces. There are some brands who use filters on their displays already, which make it difficult to see the screen at wider viewing angles, but they are a blanket solution. Samsung's tech can target specific areas of the screen, which is on a different level.

The only issue, as Samsung explained, is that it's a very pricey technology, and organisations and governments might find it beyond their budgets.

To add a Privacy Display to a computer monitor would add an extra element to the production line, one that would require new tooling and processes.

Dijkstra told me that the Canadian government had made enquiries in the past, but it will likely take further and wider interest to make such a major commitment for Samsung. Still, it could happen in the coming years, he explained: "Maybe one day it'll force its way into these spaces," he said.

Let's hope so.

I also spoke with Demont and Dijkstra at Gamescom about the new gaming monitors and Samsung's recent decision to combine the TV and monitor business into one, which benefit both categories with shared technologies and visions. That extended interview will follow in the coming days.

Gamescom is Europe's biggest annual video games show and it often plays host the latest games and launches. However, it can also throw the odd curveball your way, with a device or product a little more unusual.

Such is the case with the Zestum Scentbar. Having undergone a successful crowd funding phase on Kickstarter earlier this year, it's a gaming accessory that is quite unique. I've certainly never experienced anything quite like it before.

Imagine a small soundbar-shaped device that sits under your gaming monitor, but instead of blasting you with audio it coughs out relevant smells instead. So if you're riding through a forest, you might be treated to the whiff of green grass and tree bark.

Or you're walking through a village that's burning around you, and the aroma of smoke wafts towards your sitting position. That's the Scentbar in a nutshell.

In technical terms, it plugs into a PC through USB-C – or a console using an adapter – and you load it with up to 10 different scents provided by Zestum. Each comes in the form of a cartridge filled with scent pellets – a bit like an elaborate Glade air freshener – and then, once the bar's software thinks an appropriate aroma should be released, it fires up the relevant miniature fan(s).

The specific scent (or scents) hit your nose, enhancing the immersive experience. And it really works.

I got to try it myself in a hidden corner of Gamescom and while the show has its own unique honk, the Scentbar genuinely impressed. Its software uses AI algorithms to assess what's being displayed on the screen at any one point, and if you have a matching scent loaded, it'll release it.

This can be a combination of different smells to really set the mood, or just the one. And throughout my demonstration, it seemed to get it spot on every time. For example, when I was watching some gameplay of a farming simulator, the smell of cut grass was distinctive.

The same was true when digging a cave in Minecraft. First I got a grassy odour, and what smelled like wood, but then a musty, wet rock kind of aroma. It wasn't as unpleasant as that sounds, and did help place me in that environment.

There was also a sea water scent during a snippet of Grand Theft Auto V (when at Vespucci Beach), and the unmistakable and pungent blast of gunpowder during a gunfight scene. It wasn't completely game-changing, I'd say, but has the potential to enhance play.

Zestum supplies all the different scents itself, which you can get in bundles and packs, such as a collection for racing games – fuel, asphalt, rubber tyres, that sort of thing. And I was told that there's potential to do deals with games developers and publishers in future to supply bespoke collections to match their titles.

The software can also be tweaked, including the strength of each scent, plus profiles to better match your favourite games. But I also found the algorithm did a fine job of figuring out what I was looking at and blasting out the right combinations to suit.

I left impressed for sure. The Scentbar won't change the world, but is a lot more effective that I originally expected. And it's fun, which is important, I feel.

It will be available in Europe later this year, I was told by Zestum, for €299 and can be pre-ordered on the dedicated website. Scentpacks containing multiple modules are €40 apiece, and there's a Scentbar Pro model with even more slots for your scents for an even more rounded experience.

I was also told that it will be coming to the UK in Q1 2027, so keep an eye (or nose) out for that.

Samsung has announced the world’s first gaming monitor with a refresh rate of 1,100Hz.

The forthcoming Odyssey G6 display also promises 1ms response times, plus AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility.

But that's not all. The company also unveiled a couple of additional "world's first" monitors during Gamescom.

The new Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 is the first 49-inch ultrawide double QHD display with a 360Hz refresh rate, while the Odyssey OLED G7 debuts a 42-inch screen size – a first for a curved model.

The company took to the stage during Europe's biggest games show. Samsung's monitor lead, Pepe Dijkstra, detailed the new technologies on the brand's booth, where a the latter two displays were also shown for the first time.

Also announced was a further commitment to 3D technologies in the gaming sector. It will be working closely with developers to provide wider support in some of the biggest titles.

And Samsung Display revealed that it will begin to mass produce 24.5-inch QD-OLED panels for pro gaming and eSports, starting later this year.

However, you'll have to wait until next year for the "world's first" tech and the new monitor range.

It was revealed that the new Odyssey OLED G9, OLED G8 and OLED G6 will be joined by an OLED G7 in 2027.

It looks like OLED is very much the way to go for Samsung.

T3 is attending Gamescom for the next few days, so please come back often to hear all the latest gaming announcements and news from the likes of Samsung, Xbox and more.

JBL has developed into a pretty big player in the world of gaming headsets in recent years, with its Quantum line having become way more compelling since it was first launched. Now, with Gamescom in full swing, it's a great time to refresh its lineup again.

In the new Quantum 850, it has a new premium offering, in fact, and it looks like it adds some features that the high-end competition for best headset has been making hay with for a little while. For one thing, it has adaptive noise-cancelling, which should ensure that you get more easily immersed in your sessions.

On top of that, it expands JBL's system of replaceable parts and will let you swap out any of the microphone, USB-C cable, ear cushions, earcaps, hammock, and battery pack. Any of those failing could be the end of a headset, so it's great to know they'll be replaceable.

That said, I was hoping this would mean the headset would come with a swappable battery to make for basically never-ending battery life, and that feature remains absent. It's something that SteelSeries and others now do impressively, so it's a bit of a miss given the price of the Quantum 850. That feature is on the more expensive Quantum 950, which remains the absolute flagship for JBL as a result.

Still, there are other interesting inclusions, including head-tracking and spatial sound, along with the option to use either 2.4GHz wireless or Bluetooth 5.3 as your connection of choice. JBL hasn't specified how much battery life the headset will offer on a charge, surprisingly, but I'd expect it to be over 40 hours based on its cheaper models.

The new Quantum 850 will be available from 1 October this year, starting at £249.99 in the UK and €279.99 in Europe, which puts it into the premium market pretty firmly.

To give more options, JBL's also launching the Quantum 520, Quantum 520X and Quantum 120. Each one goes down in price from the previous, and none of them has noise-cancelling, but they all have pretty similar aesthetics and use 50mm drivers, so hopefully even the cheapest of them still has good sound.

Those more affordable models are available now from JBL directly, so if you're in the market for a cheaper headset, they could be solid options. We hope to test the Quantum 850 in depth closer to its release, meanwhile.

I've seen a fair few launches in my decade or so of attending Gamescom in Germany, but never anything like the YXSTABY home furnishings collection from IKEA and Xbox.

Situated in a corner of the Xbox booth at the show, the mock living room was as popular as any game or gaming device. And, I'll admit, rightly so. The collaboration to celebrate Xbox's 25th anniversary could have turned out, well, a bit naff. But I actually came away wanting at least one of the items for my own gaming zone.

Funny enough, that was one of the cheapest items of the bunch – a green D-pad cushion at £12. But I was also impressed by many of the other items too.

The second D-pad is a mirrored platter that's designed around the equivalent on the Xbox Elite 2 controller. It looked equally at home on a table as it did hanging on the wall.

One of the priciest items in the range is a gaming lounge chair, on which the cushion was sat, but unfortunately I didn't get to try it myself. It seemed comfortable enough, but my attention was rather drawn to the gaming thumbstick stool instead.

Available in black or green (the version on the Xbox stand), it's actually quite small, and a bit plasticky. However, it also has a rocking bottom to emulate the way a real thumbstick swivels on a controller. This a neat addition, although I'm not entirely sure how long you'd want to sit on one.

It looks good though. And as it's compact it'd happily sit in the corner of a room, ready to be employed when a gaming guest comes round. And at £35, it's reasonably priced, too.

As for the rest of the collection – there are nine pieces in total – it's largely anonymous. The green accents run through most of them to continue the theme, but apart from that they are standard furniture fare. Yes, you do get the ability to hide cables, but you can do that with many alternatives, including other items from IKEA.

So, for me it's the cushion and platter – which cost a total of just £24. And on this evidence I'll be placing my order when I get back, that's for sure.

All of the YXSTABY collection will be available online and in stores from October "while stocks last". Just save a cushion or two for me.

Now I'd better go look at some games while at Gamescom, even though my trip might have been justified already.

IKEA has followed up on the teasers it started making recently by unveiling a big collaboration with Xbox, confirming nine different new pieces of homeware that it'll be selling from 1 October this year. The range is called YXSTABY, in typical IKEA fashion.

The range includes some really out-there stuff, not least in the form of a joystick-themed stool, along with various other more functional stuff that should make it easier to game without needing to set up your entire living space around the idea.

That said, this is obviously going to be a way to fly the Xbox flag, at a time when the gaming brand is under immense strain after a string of strategic failures and a simply massive wave of layoffs at its studios.

This collection might lighten the mood a little bit, at least for those unburdened by the above stresses. Throughout the new announcements, the Xbox controller was apparently the main inspiration – in some cases for its design, and in others to accommodate its storage or use while gaming.

I think the three highlights of the collection are the YXSTABY gaming thumbstick stool (the one that looks like a joystick), which is kitsch and fun; the YXSTABY gaming D-pad cushion, which looks impressively comfortable and useful; and the YXSTABY gaming D-pad platter.

That last one is modelled on the D-pad from the Xbox Elite Controller, which has a dish-like pad. It's shiny and metallic and fits the bill of "you wouldn't know this was an Xbox collab without if you weren't told".

The range also includes a gaming lounge chair with some canny hidden storage pouches for controllers underneath it; an attractive and minimalist gaming TV stand on castors; a gaming side table on castors for additional utility; a gaming controller display box, for those who want to wear their affinity proudly; a gaming laptop support with storage that's also impressively disguised as a toolbox; and finally a gaming monitor stand.

All are obviously very reasonably priced, with only one breaking the £100 mark and most loitering well below that level – you can check out all the pricing in full below, and get whatever you like from the range online or in-store from 1 October.

• YXSTABY gaming lounge chair - £89
• YXSTABY gaming thumbstick stool - £35
• YXSTABY gaming TV stand on castors - £99
• YXSTABY gaming side table on castors - £115
• YXSTABY gaming controller display box- £15
• YXSTABY gaming laptop support with storage - £19
• YXSTABY gaming monitor stand - £25
• YXSTABY gaming D-pad cushion- £12
• YXSTABY gaming D-pad platter - £12

Audeze occupies a really fascinating place in the pantheon of gaming headset makers. It's best known as an audiophile brand, making the sort of headphones that your dad wishes he could get his hands on.

However, after branching out into gaming audio some years back, it's found the segment to be by far its best-selling one, thanks to a lower price of entry, perhaps. Of course, there's also the fact that people want top-level immersion – and the news that a headset is the best way to get it has long since spread worldwide.

I've tested Audeze's headsets over the years and found their sound superb, but their design perhaps a little particular – but the Maxwell 2 ANC (noting that three-letter append differentiates this product from the base Maxwell 2) is perhaps the brand's most attractive and generalist effort yet.

Price and Availability

The Maxwell 2 ANC was unveiled earlier this summer, and it's therefore available to order now, although it's not at the widest range of retailers here in the UK – so you may have to dig around a little.

In case its name didn't make it clear: this is a direct follow-up to the Maxwell 2, which remains on sale.

The Maxwell 2 ANC has two variants, in a flashback to older days. The PlayStation version (which will also work on PC) comes in at £429 in the UK, while the Xbox-certified version is a bit pricier at £449.

In the US, that translates to $429 and $449, respectively. That price gap is almost certainly entirely down to the license that Microsoft charges for Xbox compatibility.

Design and Features

If you stuck a Maxwell 2 next to the newer Maxwell 2 ANC, you might be relatively hard-pressed to pick out differences between them. They're there, but they're extremely subtle where the design is concerned.

The most obvious tell is where the headband meets the earcups – where it was previously colour-matched, the arms now have a metallic finish that makes them contrast a little. Beyond that, though, almost nothing has changed (which is no bad thing).

That means you still get the same round earcup shape, along with the newer, wider headband that debuted on the Maxwell 2. It's suspended below the main headback (which is rigid) and has holes in it for ventilation, as well as some adjustment points for sizing.

The earcups themselves are pretty massive, and the headset overall is in fact one of the biggest I've tested. That probably won't matter to you since it's likely for home use, but you do look amusing with the Maxwell 2 ANC strapped on.

On that front, a weight of 560g is also worth considering – this is a seriously heavy headset by any reckoning, although that does also mean it feels really premium in terms of build quality.

On those earcups you have a couple of removable parts to experiment with. Firstly, the outer panel of each earcup can now be removed, a bit like on SteelSeries' Arctis Nova Pro headsets, but without the hidden battery – this time it's just to offer the option of custom plates down the line.

You can also really easily pry off the ear cushions themselves. This both gets you a neat view of the planar magnetic drivers they hide, but should also make replacing them a total doddle, which is great.

Finally, the microphone is completely removable, too. I'm on the record as preferring a retractable system for convenience, but Audeze is hardly the only brand sticking with this model.

The earcup housing the microphone also holds most of the controls. It has a button to toggle between ANC modes, a USB-C port for charging, a 3.5mm jack for wired audio, and two volume dials.

One controls your master volume, while the other adjusts the balance between in-game audio and your chat – that this works out of the box on PS5 with no adjustments is a real boon.

The other earcup has the power button and a mute switch for the microphone, rounding out your controls. The big selling point of Audeze's headphones is the planar magnetic drivers, which are present and correct here – each of them 90mm.

The big addition, though, is active noise-cancelling (ANC), and you get to choose between having it on, turning it off entirely, or using a transparency mode to hear the world around you more clearly.

Leaving ANC on, you'll get around 35 hours of gameplay on a charge, while turning it off raises this to 40 hours. Recharging from empty takes around 2 hours, but you'll get 25% of your charge in the first 20 minutes.

Finally, the box includes the all-important USB-C dongle for wireless 2.4Ghz audio, although Bluetooth is also supported (with LDAC, which is welcome). The dongle has a switch to go between PC and PlayStation modes, and you also get a cabled adapter for USB-A sockets.

Comfort-wise, having worn the Maxwell 2 ANC for dozens of hours at this point, I'm impressed. The wide headband makes its objectively sizeable weight feel like far less, and I've been able to wear it for 3 hours at a time without any complaints. The earcups are impressively plush, while the clamping force isn't excessive.

The materials also ensure this feels really premium, as befits the price. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite is a chunk more expensive, but I'd put these in a similar bracket in terms of solidity and build quality. That said, the trade-off in weight isn't to be ignored.

Sound and Performance

Audeze is famed for its planar magnetic drivers, and they're the stars of the show in almost all of its over-ears – but this isn't one of its regular launches. This time, ANC is right there in the product's name to highlight that it's the major addition, so it's what I'll tackle first.

When a brand that hasn't done much ANC dips its toes, the first results can be quite unpredictable. But I think Audeze has done a really creditable job here. The noise-cancelling offered by the Maxwell 2 ANC does almost exactly what I expected, dulling and dimming background noise to make immersion easier to achieve.

Audeze's marketing material makes it fairly obvious that it thinks it can match the ANC on the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite, and in fairness I think it's in the same ballpark. There are slight differences when it comes to tuning, but with an air conditioner running or a washing machine going at full spin, I've been able to have enjoyable gaming sessions without interruption.

The transparency mode here is serviceable enough, and could be useful if you're waiting for the doorbell or some other important audible alert, but I can't say I found the need to use it much.

That brings me back to the core question of sound quality, which is as impressive as the last few Audeze headsets led me to expect. The exact mechanics of what makes planar magnetic drivers good can be labyrinthine, but the outcome is obvious – powerful, crisp and detailed sound.

The richness here is really impressive, and I've found the bass response to be extremely solid, too. Playing a bunch of Battlefield 6, I've had no issues picking out footsteps near me, but I haven't had to compromise and turn down the scale of the booming sound of warfare.

Dipping into a busier soundscape like in Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced, the business of Havana or the stark open air of the sea are both translated really nicely, and you do get the precision to pick up tiny audio cues and background details.

Connectivity has been rock-solid throughout my testing, while battery life has lined up with Audeze's claims, making for a really impressive package that comes together with ease.

Verdict

The Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC is exactly what it says on the tin – an improvement on the Maxwell 2 with one major addition that is a genuine upgrade for gaming in normal environments. I'd always rather have ANC than not, and it helps when it's paired with powerful, accurate sound like this.

There are some minor caveats, though. The Maxwell 2 ANC is basically the heaviest high-end headset you could find, so trying it on before you buy it might be advisable, since its dimensions are also plus-sized.

It's also got a punchy price, even more so if you're an Xbox gamer. Still, if your budget is big and you like planar magnetic tech, then Audeze's latest is a seriously accomplished headset.

Also consider

A price that's this high means the Maxwell 2 ANC doesn't have much direct competition. That said, my top gaming headset recommendation (full stop) comes in a good chunk cheaper – the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni, which outdoes Audeze by bringing all console uses into one headset. It sounds great, too.

Another good way to cut costs would be to pick up the existing non-ANC Maxwell 2, which remains excellent and can be had for around £/$100 less than the new version, and doubtless more when sales events roll around.

Realistically, the only way to upgrade on the Maxwell 2 ANC is to step up to the Arctis Nova Elite, meanwhile, which is even more unbelievably expensive, but does have a few more bells and whistles. Again, its universal compatibility is a real boon if you want one headset for everything.

Accessory maker Genki has released a few devices and cases in its time, but few are as ambitious as its latest. The company is turning its hand to pro game controllers, and in some style, to boot.

The Genki Manta is currently available to pre-order on Kickstarter and could be the all-in-one controller to beat them all. Not only does it sport a decently-sized display on the front and adjustable TMR thumbsticks, but you can get up to 8,000Hz polling rates when wired (1,000Hz through wireless).

The controller itself has a familiar shape and form, although the bottom is extended to incorporate the 2.79-inch screen. It resembles the Steam Controller in that sense (which houses two touchpads on the lower half).

That screen can also be used for a myriad of functions, including changing polling rate and profiles on the fly, remapping the controls, tweaking the sensitivity and calibration of different elements, and even as a keyboard. Genki also promises to send future updates to add even more features and apps to its "MantaOS" on-board software.

What else does the Genki Manta controller offer?

There's so much more to the controller too. It uses "pulse" buttons that sense full travel without needing an electrical contact, TMR thumbsticks with adjustable resistance (from 30 to 80gf), and tristage triggers, enabling you to switch between a digital click, short rapid travel, and full analogue trigger control.

You can programme macros – a sequence of button presses – to activate with single activations. And there are maglev haptics on board, with an independently driven LMR motors in each grip.

You can even swap the D-pad from a traditional cross design to a "satellite" dish-style alternative.

There are three connectivity options included, allowing the Manta to work with multiple systems. There's Bluetooth for mobile and Switch / Switch 2 support, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi for wireless PC play, and a wired mode with the fastest polling rate when you want to take your gaming more seriously.

Of course, all of this doesn't come cheap, although the Genki Manta is reasonably priced in comparison with some other pro controllers I use.

It's currently listed on Kickstarter from £139 / $189 as a Super Early Bird offer. The RRP after the crowd funding / pre-order phase will be $279 – so 32% more.

A Manta Founders Edition is also available, which will come with a serialised number, exclusive colourway, special case and a Founder's mark on the controller itself. That currently costs £256 / $349.

The Genki Manta is due to ship from February next year.

I think something might have clicked quite recently for Sony when it comes to its Inzone gaming brand. When it first launched a few years ago, it was confusing – the devices were clearly intended for PC gaming, but they were designed with the same white aesthetic as the PlayStation 5, muddying the waters in terms of intended audiences.

Now, though, a second generation of products has been making its way to the market, and they're almost all redesigned with more stealthy, lightweight black aesthetics, nailing down their place a little more clearly. The latest I've tried is the H6 Air headset, a more mid-range option compared to the H9 II from late last year. So just how does this headset stack up?

Price and Availability

Sony released the Inzone H6 Air earlier this year, so they're fully available now and come in at £179 / $199 / AU$269 / €199.

That sees them sitting in the upper end of the mid-range market, although "mid-range" is a bit of a misnomer given how good some of the headsets in this bracket can be.

For context, similar money would get you the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7, a wireless model that has no noise-cancelling, but does pack in more features than the Inzone H6 Air.

Design and Features

The H6 Air has a really familiar design from the H9 II, but with one very obvious difference: where that earlier headset had smooth, matte plastic on the outside of its earcups, the H6 Air is covered in tiny perforations that actually make its cups semi-transparent.

That's because it's an open-back headset that deliberately avoids isolation to give you a really wide soundstage. And, to be fair, I really like how the headset looks as a result. It has the same suspended headband system as the older model, but the fact that you can see its drivers from the outside gives it a really nice industrial quality.

The other incredibly obvious feature of its design comes the moment you pick it up out of the box. This headset is phenomenally light, as the "Air" in its name suggests. It comes in at just 199g, which means it's one of the lightest options anywhere on the market.

That weight (or lack thereof), combined with the comfortable headband system, makes it a dream to wear – it's in the category of headsets that you might forget you have on if you're immersed enough in what you're playing.

Of course, as I'll get to, some of that weight has been saved in ways that do have downsides, but from a comfort point of view, the H6 Air is a home run.

Rounding out the design, the headset comes with a detachable microphone arm, and its controls are relatively limited. You get a 3.5mm jack for that connection, a volume slider, and a bobbly mute button that pops out when you're muted, so you can tell just from feeling it with your fingers.

The absence of many buttons and settings hints at the absence of ornamentation where features are concerned. This is a wired headset, so there's no Bluetooth or any wireless standard at all here, and that also means that its software configurability is somewhat limited.

You can use the Inzone Hub to customise the headset's EQ, but if you want those changes to be saved, then you have to listen to the headset through the included USB-C audio dongle – the headset itself has no storage for profiles or anything. That's a drag, although it arguably doesn't actually change the convenience level, given it's already wired.

Sound Performance

So, if the H6 Air is deliberately stripped back where the design and features sides of things come into play, it arguably has its work cut out to justify those decisions from a sound perspective.

After all, by skipping wireless play, it makes itself less convenient, and it also doesn't have any noise-cancelling to speak of (other than in its microphone). The open-back system here is really impressive, though – it sounds phenomenal, provided you don't have any background noise fouling things up.

I used the headset for a good few hours of Battlefield 6 and found it nice and precise when it came to enemy footsteps and vehicle locations. It also worked well in more immersive games like The Adventures of Elliot on my Nintendo Switch 2, where the orchestral soundtrack sounded lush and deep.

That said, I can't pretend that I didn't miss some more isolation – when my robot vacuum was running, or the neighbour's washing machine was in its final spin, the simple fact was that these sounds made it past the earcups and disrupted my audio experience.

You have to know going into the H6 Air that you're fine with that, I'd say, or the lack of isolation could end up being more frustrating than rewarding.

Another interesting note on the microphone side of things. My friends are used to me popping up with new microphones pretty regularly as I test headsets, but this was one of those occasions where I caught pelters for my mic. It took a lot of adjustment, both in software on my PS5 and in terms of physical placement, before the microphone would stop picking up my breathing sounds and relay them to my chat.

That's a very rare problem in my reviewing experience, and the slightly over-tuned microphone therefore doesn't get a top grade from me, despite its actual recording quality being very solid.

That's another asterisk in my experience with the H6 Air, though, and for the price attached, I think Sony might have liked to get it more flawless to really compete with wireless models.

Verdict

The Inzone H6 Air is a curious headset, not least because I'm not sure who exactly will be clamouring for it. Inzone's other headsets like to claim that they're great for pro gamers, for instance, but there's no way they'd use this and be bombarded by outside crowd noise at events, surely?

For normal gamers like me, the same doubt lingers. Is your gaming environment reliably quiet enough to make noise-cancelling an unnecessary extra, and do you care about wireless play? In both cases, I know that I'd rather have those features than not.

That said, the Inzone H6 Air sounds excellent in the right setting. If you're a wired aficionado, then have at it, as you'll love the lightweight built. But other gamers might be better served by more appropriate alternatives.

Also consider

I've compared the H6 Air a couple of times to the pricier and only slightly older Inzone H9 II, and I think the pricier headset is well worth a look if your budget is flexible. It solves all my issues with the H6 Air and is still impressively light, making it also very comfortable.

If you do want to stick to the same rough price point, though, you'll probably save money by opting for the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2, which can often be had for a fair discount and is brilliant. It's light and sounds great, but it has way more features and works a treat wirelessly.

Sony has finally furnished us with more details on its PlayStation-branded wireless speakers, as revealed last September. That includes pre-order and full release dates, plus pricing.

The Pulse Elevate speakers were unveiled during a State of Play video feed in 2025, but with the understanding that they would release in 2026. We didn't expect it to take so long, though.

Coming in two colour options, black and white, the speakers will be available to pre-order from 1 September 2026 in the UK, US and several Central European countries. They'll be available on the PlayStation store online.

Pricing stands at £199.99 / $219.99 / €219.99 a pair and they come with a wireless dongle to attach to a PS5 for ultra-low latency. They will also come with Bluetooth support for connection to a smartphone, PC or Mac.

Why are the speakers called "Pulse Elevate"

The clue to one of the speakers' main features lies in their name. Each speaker is designed to sit straight on a desktop or tilt backwards to "elevate" the audio to a listening position.

This allows them to mimic height channels for a wider soundscape.

They can also be connected to power via a cable or, thanks to housing rechargeable batteries, can be moved around a desk or even room to room. That's much like a Sonos Move 2 speaker, so you aren't restricted to using each Pulse Elevate with gaming.

However, when you do, you can also make use of their built-in microphone for multiplayer online play. That way you won't need a separate headset with a boom mic.

Each speaker comes with a woofer built-in too, so they should work fine without a separate subwoofer.

We hope to test the Pulse Elvate speakers here on T3 soon, to let you know what we think.

While I thought my Lego building days might be numbered – largely down to lack of space and funds than anything else – this Lego Ideas Star Fox build would have me scurrying to clear some shelf space.

The Lego Ideas site showcases builds from creatives, which other users can upvote in order to promote. It's a savvy idea and one great example of internet community done right.

It's also a prime opportunity for Nintendo to stand up and take note. The Japanese gaming giant is no stranger to Lego, of course, with its current Mario range and other builds, such as the classic NES console, already licensed and available.

But this Star Fox Arwing? It's a thing of beauty, from the creative mind of Lego Ideas member OfficierSerieuzePruik. Check out the detail in the gallery above!

Absent, of course, is any kind of Fox McCloud and co. Minifig set – but what a prime opportunity this would be for Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad and Peppy Hare to show face in Lego form.

Indeed, the closest 'fox' Minifig I can find is Lego 71025, the series 19 Minifigs pack, which contains a 'fox girl costume', complete with a chicken and a sack. Don't think that'd quite fit the bill – but it'll do as a stand-in for the time being.

There's a lot of fanfare around Star Fox at the moment, not least because Nintendo released a revamped version of the N64 classic for the Switch 2 – which I loved playing, as it felt like an all-new game to me.

This Lego Ideas build has so much detail that really honours the games – and that's a big part of what I love so much about it. Just look at the in-seat controls, the moving wings, the integrated lighting, and the custom stickers.

At the time of writing the build has 897 supporters. That number will surely only increase, though, hitting the integral 1000 figure requirement in little time. You have to be signed up to Lego and logged in, so there's no funny business in fixing the numbers.

So, Nintendo and Lego and Star Fox fans, go and show your support. That's the way this could be made into a real Lego Ideas set – one that you could go and buy in the not-too-distant future. I'll reserve my spot in line right now...

I've had a dedicated home office for the past 6 years, having worked from home – and from anywhere around the globe or when inside various modes of transport, quite frankly – for more than the past 15 years.

Wear and tear happens, of course, so when my dedicated Humanscale office chair's arm rests began to crack due to sunlight damage and shed pieces over my home office's floor, I was outside of the 5-year warranty for replacing those.

Try as I might – and resorting to wrapping soft eye-masks around the arms for some degree of comfort – I couldn't find replacement pads for a sensible price, especially with shipping and import costs being far too much.

So I began further research and was looking at whether buying one of the best gaming chairs would better fit my needs than one of the best office chairs. Timing answered that for me, as Asus offered its top-tier gaming chair, the ROG Courser.

That was two months ago, when I duly assembled the flagship ROG on day of receipt. It comes with many features that appeal, but having now used this seat for many dozens of hours, there's also one or two reason to consider not buying one, too.

1. Armrest ace

While the arm rests might not be the first thing you notice about the ROG Courser (it's got built-in lighting, after all, which I'll get to later), they're one of my favoured features about this chair.

That's twofold: one, down to the degree of adjustability; two, related to the level of comfort.

There are three adjustments that can be made: a rise/fall for the arm height; a forward/backward for the arms' forward position relative to your body; and a left/right width adjustment that can position the arms nearer of farther from you.

As such, I've always found my elbows to be in a comfortable position – and, if not, I can make adjustments to accommodate or offset positions related to how reclined or positioned I am, whether I'm casually browsing or in a fixed typing position.

Comfort is key, too, with these rests' high-density foam padding being firm, with just enough give. If I press elbows in, there's a slight resistance, further aiding comfort.

2. Rock it or lock it

Sure, plenty of office chairs offer recline, some more than others. The ROG Courser? If you want to go super chill then you can – as you can see from the image above.

Indeed, this Asus gaming chair can go from 90-degrees upright all the way down to 155-degrees in an angle-flat position.

No, it's not 180-degrees flat, but I'm not looking for a spare bed from my office chair, just something that can permit varied positions when using different products – as I'm not always key-pressing a laptop.

The recline is activated by an easy-to-operate lever on the right-hand side of the chair. There's ample resistance from the chair itself, though, so you need to assert a little push with your body for motion to occur.

Whether you want a fluid 'open' degree of recline – where pressing back will naturally tilt the chair in tandem with your body – is up to you. A second lever, to the left-hand side and a little lower down beneath the seat, can be rotated to 'lock' the tilt feature.

Those who want a rigid position that holds them in a very particular way will appreciate this, as you can make all your preferred positional tweaks and then lock into one position. I do this sometimes when locked into writing, Gmail tab closed, and on task.

3. Lumbar lovin'

The comfort train continues, too, thanks to lumbar adjustment. Inside is a "cold-pressed thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) lumbar pad", the position of which you can adjust by using two rotational dials.

The left-hand dial controls the position of the pad, so whether it will impact your lowest back area or only mid-lower. The right-hand dial, meanwhile, adjusts how much the pad protrudes to offset the typical seating rear.

It's all good for comfort and spine position, while the included headrest is magnetically attachable – so ensures it never sits too low and presses into your back unduly.

I'd quite like the option to advance the headrest's protrusion from its natural position, as my imperfect spine could do with a bit of extra to make the most out of. Nonetheless, this effortless adjustment makes positioning it best for your preference a breeze.

4. Heat and light

So far, so good, then. But what's not to like? Well, I've got one take-it-or-leave-it comment, while another aspect of the ROG Courser I find more troubling.

The integrated lighting is very on brand, so I'm perfectly content with its presence – even if I never use it. It has to be operated using a separate battery pack (sold separately) which you can attach to the pouch on the rear of the seat.

It's sensible that the chair has no integrated batteries, for sake of safety, not to mention weight. It includes a USB-C cable with a magnetic attachment to the end, which naturally mates with the input port. A series of controls on the rear permits you to make various adjustments, too.

My issue, however, is that even with the lighting off, the surface material of the ROG Courser isn't great at dealing with heat. As such, I find my legs get rather warm in contact with this seat – and that's been amplified further during the UK's persistent heatwaves.

In the winter, mind, I suspect I'll be loving my cosy new office/gaming chair and how it feels. As there's no question of the comfort – this material feels great – it's just the temperature level rises after extended sitting. Kinda like a leather seat in a car – it could do with in-built cooling fans (like some cars offer).

Should I buy an Asus ROG Courser?

One point I've not raised up until now is the price. While my Humanscale 'Task' series office chair (RIP) would have cost somewhere around £900 / $1400, the Asus ROG Courser is yours for £669 / $975 direct from Asus' store.

I'm not saying that's a small price by any means, but paying for quality and assurance of longevity is integral for an office and/or gaming chair. You want something that's comfortable and that'll last you for years – otherwise it's just a false economy.

I'm certainly sold on the comfort and adjustability, non-plussed about the RGB lighting – this will be a make-or-break feature for some, I'm sure – but it's the warmth factor that I find the only real downside of this Asus chair. During the British summertime anyway.

That aside, the Asus ROG Courser is a great gaming chair that'll act as a logical office chair stand-in option for many. Or a do-it-all chair that'll cover all bases, day and night.

It's been seven years since Xbox last released a pro controller, with the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 having remarkably made its bow in 2019. Now it looks like we're finally about to get a successor, with an alleged Elite 3 having appeared in hands-on images.

Redditor ssuberlex claimed to have bought a prototype Xbox controller for just $200 and posted pictures asking the community what it could be. The replies soon rolled in and it seems as if he's managed to snag a pre-production version of the next pro pad from Microsoft.

His Reddit post has since been deleted, but not before images were shared elsewhere (such as on The Verge). They show a similar controller to the Elite Series 2 but with a few differences – most notably a small display along the top.

This matches a diagram that leaked earlier this year, showing Xbox's intentions to include exactly that sort of screen.

Other clues that this could be the real deal include scroll wheels on the bottom of the controller – which were also mentioned in the previous leak. And there's an additional wireless mode to pair the controller directly to a Wi-Fi network for cloud gaming, rather than having to pass through a console or device first.

This latter technology should reduce latency while playing as it eliminates one of the connectivity steps in the process of playing.

It seems this new pair button is also ranged on the top next to the new screen.

It's not clear at the moment when the controller could be announced. The existence of this prototype suggests it could be soon, and considering Gamescom in set to take place in Cologne in just a couple of weeks, maybe we'll hear more then.

Considering how much I still use my Elite 2 seven years later, I'll be keeping a beady eye on the show to find out. It's arguably the best controller ever made, so it'll be interesting to see how all the upgrades pan out.

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.

Physical media has been in the news a lot lately, not least when it comes to gaming. PlayStation has announced that it is ditching discs for a digital-only future, Xbox is likely to follow suit, and some games are being released as download codes in boxes – including GTA 6.

But ask PC gamers about it and they'll point out that bar some special releases, they've had to make do with digital downloads for years. Steam is the biggest storefront for PC game purchases and there are no physical copies to be found. Well, until now...

One gamer has built an ingenious cartridge system for PC that can play Steam games from custom SSD-based cartridges.

Taking to the PC Master Race Reddit (via Tom's Hardware), Jibril-sama detailed how they turned cheap SATA SSD cards into game cartridges, and built a dock to read and play them automatically.

The SATA dock is plugged into a PC, while the custom software detects when an SSD cartridge is mounted. An execute script then loads the game.

The builder even custom built the cartridge casings using 3D printing and added cover art.

"Got a couple of used 2.5-inch SSDs for cheap so I decided to make a game cartridge system," the Redditor revealed.

“Games are actually on those SSDs with a script to auto-navigate Steam to the game's page. Auto-starting the game right away is also possible."

Each SSD used cost Jibril-sama just €7 (less than £6), so the project is affordable. Whether it could be replicated by others is unclear at present. There are also question marks over Steam updates and patches for each game, which will be tricky to keep on top of.

However, they can be manually installed once each SSD is plugged in and the creator doesn't seem too concerned as the cartridges are for "games that I want to replay once in a while".

They also look good on a shelf, we expect.

Two renowned games controller manufacturers surprised many at CES in January, with both 8BitDo and GameSir each announcing similar accessories for those running emulation software on their phones.

But while GameSir managed to get its Pocket Taco to market speedily, it's taken a while for its rival to catch up. And so, if you wanted to turn your iPhone or Android device into a Game Boy, you really only had the one option.

Until this week, that is. It looks like 8BitDo is finally ready to take orders for its FlipPad which, like the Pocket Taco, adds physical Game Boy style controls to a mobile phone.

The 8BitDo FlipPad works differently to the Taco in that it connects via USB-C rather than Bluetooth. That could potentially provide a lower latency experience – ideal for the twitch-friendly controls of classic platformers. It can also flip down when you need to use the full screen, without needing to remove the add-on.

According to Russ at Retro Game Corps (via NotebookCheck), the 8BitDo FlipPad will be available to pre-order this week, from Wednesday 15 July. It'll then ship from 30 July.

And a pleasant surprise is that it is claimed to cost just $30 (around £22). That's cheaper than the Pocket Taco, although you can also see that drop at times during big sales periods.

There are no further details yet – not even on the pre-order page location – but we'll keep you informed as and when there's more.

Obvious to some but not all, you'll have to provide your own emulators and games (roms), and it's advised you stick to games that can be played on the top-half of your phone's screen. You'll also need to consider that there is no thumbstick, so games that work with a D-pad will work best – such as Game Boy, Game Boy Color, SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, etc.

Indeed, considering the only colour option expected to be released for now is based on the Game Boy DMG, that's clearly the main intention anyway.

Gaming accessory manufacturer has made a habit of rubbing console manufacturers up the wrong way – with PlayStation and Nintendo in particular having issues with the upstart start-up. However, it seems to have gone too far this time.

Before Valve managed to announce its launch plans and pricing for the Steam Machine, Dbrand cheekily announced its own case for the forthcoming console – one that was based on the Weighted Companion Cube in Valve's Portal.

It looked great, got loads of publicity – including from T3 – and influencers took to YouTube to say just how cool it was. The only issue is Dbrand had missed out one important thing – permission.

At no point during its seven-month development did Dbrand ask Valve if it could make the case.

That has turned out to be a fatal decision, as the Companion Cube is now set for the dustbin. Valve's legal team not only requested the product was removed from the accessory firm's webstore along with all marketing videos and images, but it refused to enter licensing negotiations.

The Steam Machine Companion Cube is no more.

Dbrand has issued a humble statement explaining the situation, and has taken full responsibility: "On 12 November 2025, the day the Steam Machine was announced, we put up a concept render and sign-up page to see if anyone would be interested in a Companion Cube enclosure.

"It went moderately viral, with over fifteen thousand people signing up to be notified in the first day. In the months that followed, we built the idea into something real without ever asking Valve if we could.

"We’re going to regret that decision for a very long time," it says.

"Over the next seven months, we poured our souls into this project. More than a thousand hours went into engineering from our industrial design team. Forty-four sets of injection molding tools were developed, one for each of the cube's sub-components.

"The entire product was redesigned from scratch more than once, just to get the way it cradles the console exactly right. We literally rented out a university campus to film the launch video. By the end, we were losing money on every $99 Poverty Cube sold, but it didn’t matter. This had turned into a passion project for the entire organisation.

"Unfortunately, being proud of the thing we made did not give us the right to make it."

The statement also goes on to say that none of this is Valve's fault, and that the legal team have been "direct, fair, and respectful throughout".

And if you are one of those who pre-ordered your Steam Machine Companion Cube last week, you will receive a full refund by the end of the day today.

That seems to be it for the project sadly, and we're no longer going to be able to put our new (and expensive) Steam Machines in what seems like their natural shell. Still, Dbrand will have a new range of skins to check out soon.

And it'll be hoping we'll do so in droves – after all, it has tooling and many man hours to pay for.

Last week, we revealed a couple of reasons why Valve could finally announce its pre-order phase for the Steam Machine in the coming days. And we also understand that it could even be as soon as today.

One of those was because we received a heads-up from accessory maker Dbrand about its first, dedicated Steam Machine case. Launched today, Monday 22 June, the Companion Cube resembles the in-game block from Valve's Portal and is a natural fit for the cubed Steam Machine console.

You basically pop your Steam Machine inside it and it does the same as its popular inspiration – pretty much nothing, except sit there. If you do happen to have a pressure switch in your home, you could use it to activate something, but other than that, it's purely aesthetic.

It does come with a removable front, though, and a strip where you can see the Steam Machine's LED lightbar. It also allows for air to flow through, to passively keep your console cool.

Each Dbrand Companion Cube also comes with a Test Chamber-themed skin for the Steam Controller, and a Super Button stand that doesn't actually do anything but looks good.

The bundle costs $129.95 (just shy of £100), which includes a themed "collector's" box, but if you want to save some cash, a "Poverty Cube" version is also available to order which arrives in a plain cardboard box instead.

As Dbrand says it's for those "who truly broke the bank on their Steam Machine purchase", suggesting we'll soon find out the true cost of the new console.

The Steam Machine Companion Cube will ship from July with pre-orders being taken now. The Poverty Cube edition will ship from October, priced at $99.95.

As for the Steam Machine itself, considering the accessories are now starting to appear (and Dbrand's own announcement is now public), it is only a matter of time before Valve reveals all about its own pre-orders, shipping dates, and perhaps most importantly, price.

We'll update you the moment we find out more.

In the gaming headset stakes, Turtle Beach is an established name. It's one of the longest-standing brands in the market, and particularly in the US there was a time when it felt like basically anyone with a third-party headset had a Turtle Beach one.

That's changed a lot, though, and the best gaming headsets now come from a more diverse pool of brands. Still, Turtle Beach is clearly trying to move with the times, and the Stealth Pro II demonstrates that with a spiffy new design and premium price.

I've been using one for a couple of weeks to see if Turtle Beach's flagship can live up to the billing. Here's what I make of it – the good and the bad.

Price and Availability

The Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II is available now in most regions and comes with an undeniably punchy price tag attached. In the UK, it's £299.99, in the USA that's $349.99, while in Australia it's AU$549.95. No matter how you spin it, that's pricey.

For only a little more money you could have my top recommendation in this device category, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni, which boasts very similar features – so Turtle Beach is undercutting that slightly, while clearly trying to fight for the same ground.

One important note – like many others, there are two versions of the Stealth Pro II on sale. One is seemingly standard and works on PC, Switch consoles and PlayStation. The other has Xbox in the name and adds compatibility with Microsoft's consoles at no extra cost. So, if you're going to buy one, make sure it's the Xbox one for maximum compatibility and no downsides.

Design and Features

I've tested Turtle Beach headsets for well over half a decade at this point, and I've consistently marked them down for mediocre designs and ergonomics. They've often been very sensibly priced, but generally felt plasticky and cheap, which is something the Stealth Pro II completely fixes.

It has a sleek new design that's way more futuristic than past generations, and has a really lovely look, whether you pick it up in the white version or black. Each earcup is really big and spacious, and on the outside it has a metallic plate with the Turtle Beach logo.

One of these earcups can be pried off to reveal the replaceable battery pack, but the other is fixed. On the left earcup, you'll find a button to swap between audio modes, a dial for master volume, another for game/chat balance, a USB-C charging port as a backup, and a power button.

The microphone comes out of the same left earcup and is removable if you don't want to use it. It can flip up out of your way when not in use, too. The right earcup, meanwhile, holds a microphone gain dial, a device-switching button, and a Bluetooth pairing button.

Each earcup is secured to a slim metal arm that joins up to the headband, and each can telescope for adjustment. The headband itself is sturdy plastic, with a section of woven stretchy mesh at the top. This is clearly intended to soften how the headset sits on your head, but I didn't find that it worked too well.

Wearing the headset for a few hours, I found that the top of my head did ache a little, which isn't a great sign, especially since its weight of 393g isn't all that substantial. My gold standard comfort-wise remains SteelSeries' suspended headband system, and this falls quite a way short of that, even if it looks really slick.

The Stealth Pro II comes with a base station that holds a battery on standby to swap out when your headset runs low. Swapping them is fairly easy, and you get around 40 hours from each. It's a great system, cribbed shamelessly from SteelSeries, and means you never really need to think about charging.

That base station connects to your console or PC by a USB cable, but curiously, this is where Turtle Beach takes a new approach. Rather than having multiple wired inputs that you can swap between to manage more than one device, you instead get another, traditional and small USB dongle in the box. This adds a second device to the headset's connection options, and you can swap between devices on the headset itself.

I'll be honest, this system is a mixed bag. In some ways, it can look really flexible since you can have devices that aren't next to each other paired to the same headset. In practice, though, most of my gaming happens at my desk, and this just became a more inconvenient way to swap devices, and with more dongles coming in at £30 / $25, I'm not convinced this is great for most people.

If it would suit your setup, though, it could be a boon instead of a detriment – that's going to be a personal situation. What's more universally solid is the audio suite on offer here. The headset uses 60mm drivers to provide its sound, and comes with active noise-cancelling (ANC) to help cocoon you too.

Finally, the headset comes with a hard case for storage and packing, although it's worth knowing that this case is massive. It's flat and has slots for the transmitter, headset, microphone and cables, and that makes it a beast, albeit one that I'm still glad comes at no extra cost.

Sound and Performance

The blend of features that Turtle Beach has stuffed into the Stealth Pro II is quite an interesting one, then, and its redesign is better visually than in comfort terms, but how does the headset perform from a sound and connectivity standpoint?

Well, in terms of gaming immersion and clarity it does very well. I've used the Stealth Pro II in a range of games, from Forza Horizon 6 to Battlefield 6, and have found it an adaptable and reliable performer in all of them. In shooters I've been able to locate footsteps and gunshots easily, while single-player games have been immersive and three-dimensional.

The headset is a little quieter than I'd expected, so you might find yourself dialling it up a bit, but that's not something that matters given its loudness ceiling goes really high. I've also been extremely impressed by its microphone, which is really clear and doesn't suffer from much muffling or fuzziness – an otherwise typical bugbear in the headset world.

Its ANC is also very solid, with a clear difference made if there's background noise (whether it's a washing machine, a roommate, or traffic noise). Similarly, connectivity has been rock-solid, and when I've been connected to the main transmitter it's been exemplary, with a range that can easily stretch to a few rooms' distance if you need.

That said, the nature of the connection system that Turtle Beach has designed does mean that it's less immediately flexible than something like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Omni, but it's similarly easy to customise the Stealth Pro II. On PC the Swarm 2 software is slick and simple, while console gamers can use a mobile app when connected to their phone by Bluetooth.

Verdict

The Stealth Pro 2 is a great step forward for Turtle Beach, showing that the brand can compete in design terms and make sleeker, more modern headsets.

That makes it all the more painful that its design also brings a flaw that holds it back – a headband that I found uncomfortable to wear for more than a couple of hours.

That'll be partly down to my head shape, and I can't know whether others will find it more comfortable, but it makes me feel people should try the headset on if they can before buying it.

Aside from that, though, the sound quality on offer is excellent, the ANC is better than before, and connectivity could be perfect for some disparate gaming setups. That makes the Turtle Beach flagship feel like a winner in many areas.

Also consider

My favourite gaming headset has already got a couple of mentions in this review, and it's the clear upgrade on the Stealth Pro II at the moment – the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni. It has all the same features, but I prefer how it handles multi-device swapping, and it's incomparably more comfortable.

Another more comfortable alternative with fewer features but equally excellent sound is the Sony Inzone H9 II. It's almost unbelievably light and has great precision, while stripping things back for a simpler experience.

Secretlab has seen an incredible trajectory in its nearly 12 years of operation. Started as a passion project by two professional gamers in Singapore, it has grown to be a billion-dollar company and the authority in gaming chairs and desks. Through the global pandemic, it saw a huge rise in demand by those looking to kit out their home office, and since then, it has refined its offering and brought in new solutions to bolster its range.

Today, Secretlab still has a very select line of products, but is about to launch what could be its boldest move yet. The Atlas is a chair aimed directly at the home office market, for users who want the comfort of a gaming chair, in a smaller, more manageable form. I sat down with co-founder and CEO Ian Ang in his Singapore headquarters to discuss the gaming roots, product development and aesthetic evolution of the company he and Alaric Choo have built

One thing that struck me about the Secretlab team was how many of them come from a serious gaming background, and having that passion in the team must impact the way they work. Ang explains that it’s especially important that his product developers and engineers are using their products. “We need to know what the users want, and I guess it's a loop as well, because if we start out as a gaming company, of course, more gamers will join.”

But Secretlab doesn’t just appeal to gamers these days, and while Ang admits they have tried to broaden the audience, it has mostly happened naturally. “I guess if the chairs are good enough for gamers to sit for 16 hours a day, then it should be good enough for an office user who uses it less so, says Ang. “Especially when the pandemic came around, and people were looking for a good chair to work from home.”

Gaming remains the company’s core audience, though, and Ang knows how important it is to keep that in mind. “They are the people that we understand the best,” he adds. “I think a lot of companies forget that and get too greedy.” In many ways, it was Secretlab’s true gaming credentials that gave it wider appeal.

Growing with its audience

While some Secretlab chairs do have a louder gaming look, part of their charm has been that they are often more reserved in styling than the competition, making them more suited to use outside of a gaming environment. This hasn’t just come from the audience’s tastes. “Part of it is our own taste as well,” says Ang. “It's been 11 years. All of us are millennials. So, as we grew up, it probably contributed.”

Success for Secretlab has often come, not from saying yes to things, but from saying no. While there is always a temptation to chase new markets, its slim product line is a purposeful choice and one that has allowed the company to stay focused. “There's only so much attention we have in the company, especially amongst the management team,” says Ang. “We've got to spend it purposefully.”

For the company to enter a new area, it has to believe it can do things better than what’s currently on offer, not just copy what is currently in the market. So Secretlab focuses on the areas it has expertise in, innovating and leading the sector rather than branching out into areas it doesn’t – but that doesn’t mean everything is off the cards. “There are other categories that we are actively thinking about,” says Ang. We'll always start by looking at the market, and then we see if there's a problem that we can solve.”

Most of Secretlab’s sales are still made direct to the customer, via its website, rather than via a retailer. Something Ang says allows them to not only keep costs down but also maintain that direct feedback with their users. “Any time somebody complains about a chair or has an issue, it goes directly to one of the desks [here],” says Ang. “That feedback goes directly to us, and we feel very responsible for it.”

Since the early days, Secretlab has had partnerships with big brands in the gaming space, providing special edition chairs, chair covers and desk toppers. “At the start, this was more of a passion thing,” says Ang. “A lot of these brands are ones that we grew up with.” One of the biggest was the Game of Thrones partnership that came at the height of the show’s success. Today, the list includes DC, Harry Potter, and luxury car brands such as McLaren and Lamborghini.

“We try to find more meaningful crossovers,” says Ang. It helps that our product is of good quality.” The team goes the extra mile in creating each piece, pulling in staff who are fans of the brand to help direct the project, from the product design to the marketing.

The office chair

So is the new Atlas office chair a departure for Secretlab or a natural progression for a brand with more than 10 years in furniture design? “This is our take on what we think the modern task chair should be, based on our understanding of ergonomics. And we've had 10 years to learn,” says Ang. Pulling in research it has worked on with prestigious universities around the world, and from its own advisory board, it was well placed to have an opinion on the market.

The premise is that a chair should provide not only support for a focused position, but also for you to rest in between – something gaming chairs are especially good at. “Many so-called ergonomic task chairs don't account for the rest part, says Ang. “When users stop sitting upright, they're going to end up sitting very wrongly because your chair is meant to accommodate them sitting upright. It's fitting a square peg in a round hole.”

Keeping to that signature Secretlab style rather than a traditional mesh design is also likely to appeal to existing users, or maybe those who want something to fit a more lifestyle feel. “Something that we hear quite often is that people love Secretlab as a brand, but the chairs don't fit in their office or workspace,” says Ang. “So we are hoping that this will fill the gap better.”

“There's another potential use case,” says Ang. “In my house, I have a gaming area, and then I have a small office area to free myself from the gaming distractions. So some users, now they're older millennials, might go for something like this.”

With the Atlas, Secretlab wants to create a chair for 2026, something modern. After all, even its flagship chair is now four years old, and the NanoGen edition, which launched two years ago, keeps to the same design. “We wanted to see Secretlab at the forefront of modern setups,” says Ang. “You have brands that have been around for like decades, and some of their most popular products might be from the eighties.”

To achieve this, it has created a new modern silhouette with a gently curved back – something that gave the designers looking to cover it with a single piece of fabric a real headache. They then introduced a new colour – the Dune model, which is a sandy beige – and colour-matched the parts on the upgraded Plus model for a more premium look.

It wasn’t a short process, though. The Atlas has been in the works now for four years. “We try not to rush the products too much,” says Ang. “That's also the beauty of having a founder-led company. We can choose what we think is right for the user and right for the company in the long run."

A material strategy

The two main fabrics used for the Atlas mirror that of the current Titan Evo – a softweave and a leatherette, in this case, the new NanoGen that delivers a real leather alternative. Though Secretlab has previously offered a premium Nappa leather option for its flagship chair, this hasn’t been carried forward here.

“The NanoGen leather we developed is just so superior, and the maintenance is so easy compared to genuine leather, says Ang. “We're not saying completely no to [leather]. It's more that if we go for a non-leatherette, there have to be actual benefits, and it has to be better.”

Leathers are associated with premium products, but also with an older, conservative audience, which is maybe not in keeping with this modern interpretation of an office chair. “With the NanoGen, performance-wise, the softness and the smoothness should be pretty similar. But the Nappa leather would be more expensive and more difficult to maintain,” says Ang.

A choice of chairs

Some might be surprised that the Atlas isn’t significantly cheaper than the Titan Evo. In fact, the starting price is within one hundred dollars/pounds of the Titan. According to Ang, that’s because it’s not designed to be a budget option. “When it comes to Atlas versus the Titan Evo, it's honestly more of a personal preference. But, if you talk about the Titan Evo versus the previous Titan or the previous Omega, it's a superior chair,” says Ang.

The budget market isn’t an area Secretlab is keen to enter, having carved its niche as a premium chair manufacturer. “A common question we get asked is, 'Will we make a mass market chair or desk?' Like a $200 or $300 chair,” says Ang. “We're just not set up that way. When you make a chair at that price point, there is honestly very little innovation. It's more about looking at your current chair and then seeing what you can strip down or make cheaper. We could do it, but that's not what the team's strengths are, and of course, from a branding perspective, we wouldn’t want to be positioned this way.”

The premium market has allowed Secretlab’s designers the freedom to come up with new, innovative ideas. Something that a budget product wouldn’t allow. “The Atlas backrest design would have been out of the window if we were a budget brand, because to modify the manufacturing and the base materials requires the cost per unit to go up,” says Ang. “And the engineering required to get it done, you have to invest in that as well.”

It’s difficult to know what Secretlab will look like in another 10 years, but if the Atlas is the success it has the potential to be, the trajectory is only upwards. While there continues to be a solid market for premium home gaming chairs and desks, and no sign of the remote or hybrid working policies reversing on a global scale, Secretlab is in safe hands.

While Phil Spencer will rightly be remembered and honoured by Xbox gamers for his numerous achievements, his successor as Xbox boss, Asha Sharma, has really hit the ground running.

She's already rolled back the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price hike, unveiled a new logo, ditched the Microsoft name from the gaming division, teased Project Helix as the next Xbox console, and promised a return to a hardware-led approach.

And it's this latter initiative that is already paying dividends, it seems.

A series of leaked photos have emerged that show several new Xbox hardware devices – new controllers, in fact, that could even be available before Helix arrives.

The main leak is of an Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 3 – an upgraded pro gamepad that looks to be coming with several new features.

Posted by Technoblog (via The Verge), the images reveal a slightly more rounded version of the current Elite Series 2 with a few additional elements. The D-pad has gained bumps to give you a better understanding of the direction without needing to look down, while the bottom now seems to include scroll wheels.

The paddles on the rear also seem to have shifted down a touch.

The Verge also notes that there will be a new pair button that can switch between local and cloud modes. This is so the controller can also be used directly with Xbox Cloud Gaming, connecting directly to your home Wi-Fi network rather than going through a device first. This should reduce latency when playing cloud games.

All of these details have reportedly been unearthed in a filing with a Brazilian regulator, which also suggests the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 3 is imminent.

The same is true with another controller found by Technoblog – from the same source.

An all-new Xbox Cloud Gaming controller

A smaller, less familiar gamepad has popped up in images, too, in both black and white. It's a lot smaller than a regular Xbox controller, but can also connect directly to the internet for low latency Xbox Cloud Gaming, it's claimed.

The size also makes it more suitable to be used with third-party products, such as an Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K or Samsung / LG Smart TV. Even for play on mobile.

According to The Verge, it supports dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and even comes with Bluetooth 5.3 as well, so you can connect it to your phone when there's no other wireless internet signal.

It seems to use USB-C for charging, and there's a pairing button on the top.

Again, the timing of these images appearing in a regulator's listing suggests they are far along in the development process, so it wouldn't be surprising to seem them announced soon.

As for Project Helix itself, there's a slim possibility more could be unveiled during the annual Xbox Games Showcase on 7 June. We'll continue to bring you everything on the build up and beyond.

After pretty much three years during which I grabbed any opportunity to recommend the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless to everyone who'd listen, repeatedly naming it the best gaming headset on the market, I've finally been given the opportunity to swap to a new option.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that it's the direct follow-up to that headset, though: the Arctis Nova Pro Omni. It's a bit of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it update, one that changes only a few things under the hood, but when you have a formula as undefeated as this one, it's a smart move not to meddle too much.

The Nova Pro Omni puts its main advancement right there in the title. This headset, rather than dividing into two versions, with one reserved for people who want to be able to game on Xbox (which has its own wireless standard that needs a separate license), is just a single model.

The Omni will work with every major console on the market right now, all of them able to connect through its transmitter, with a dedicated port for Xbox users to plug into. That gives it total flexibility, and while it's important to remember that other headsets have managed this, too, it's still a great step forward for customer simplicity.

Beyond that, the headset looks and feels almost identical to its predecessors, which is a good thing. It's got super-plush earcup cushioning and a headband design that suspends the weight off your head a little, a system that I've always found hugely comfortable even given the headset isn't the lightest out there.

Crucially, of course, the headset sounds superb. It has detail in spades, a really wide soundstage that can make positional audio sound brilliant and precise, and more than enough power to get really loud if you want it. One of the best retractable microphones in the business will have you sounding really clear for your teammates, too.

Its swappable battery system also returns, having been copied by a bunch of other brands in the meantime, and you now get around 30 hours on each charge, which feels like a decent step up.

This all adds up to a package that can't be denied, and it'll be my new default recommendation for a high-end gaming headset – with one asterisk. That is to say that the Nova Pro Wireless remains on sale and is around £100 cheaper at the time of writing, representing a better deal given how close it is in sound quality.

It misses out on some connectivity and app features, but if you're a one-console gamer then it's the better choice given the price.

When the Switch 2 came out last year, there was unsurprisingly a bit of a scramble out there to provide good accessories for those picking it up early in its lifecycle. Belkin has long been one of the best names in the business when it comes to protection for phones and other devices, and it wasted no time in getting some cases ready for people.

One of these was the Charging Case, which made the interesting addition of an included power bank that sat in a recessed section of the case and had a short cable that meant you could charge your Switch 2 while it was being stored. While the case was well-made in many ways, it also felt a little underbaked, so it's no surprise that Belkin's back with a new version.

I've had the Charging Case Pro for Nintendo Switch 2 for a couple of weeks now, and it does indeed refine the idea nicely, making it far more persuasive and easier to use while travelling.

The biggest change is that this time around, the 10,000mAh battery is fully built into the case, rather than basically just being included with an area that could hold it. This makes the case feel more like a standalone product rather than two smooshed together.

You'll find a small charging port on the outside of the case, along with a display to let you know how much charge it has. Then, inside the case, you'll find what basically looks and behaves like a docking area. You can plug the console in when it's in storage, but also raise a back-stand so that you can play it while it's charging.

This makes it seem like a great option for those who like to use their Switch 2 with its kickstand on a surface, since it can hold the console in a variety of positions. That said, what you gain in efficiency you lose in adaptability – now there's no cable to speak of, so you can only really charge your Switch 2 and nothing else from the case.

That's probably not an issue for most people, though, and the overall effect is indeed very premium and impressive, especially for those who travel a lot. The case is really protective, and also not too bulky, given what it adds.

That said, slimline cases without chargers will obviously be far smaller, including Belkin's own entry-level travel case. It's also worth knowing that this new case is quite carefully moulded to the Switch 2's dimensions, so if you (like me) have the console in a dbrand Killswitch hardshell, you'll have to remove this to be able to actually close the console into the case.

If there's one big asterisk here, it's the price. This case comes in at £69.99 or $99.99, and either of those is a pretty steep ask. The build quality and utility are both great, so the price ends up meaning that this is a fairly high-end case option for those who want to travel with their Switch 2 without needing a separate power bank. If that's you, have at it – Belkin's done a great job with this careful case revision.

Like everyone who tried to buy a Steam Controller on its initial release, I left disappointed. They sold out in around 30 minutes, and I left empty handed.

However, that made me realise that I probably already own the best PC gamepad anyway – several of them, in fact. I recently built my own affordable Steam Machine using a Geekom A7 Max Mini PC and have been testing a selection of different controllers with it.

Five have certainly stood out, including the one I use most often – a variant of the third-party pad I use with my Nintendo Switch 2 as well. So here are my alternatives to the Steam Controller you should check out too.

All of them work on PC and I've included options at different budgets.

1. 8BitDo Ultimate 2

There are two variants of the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 – one for Windows and Android, the other for Switch and Switch 2 as well. Both work with PCs and Steam OS, but the latter has a Nintendo button configuration, so I recommend the Windows one for general use.

The controller comes with its own charging dock and a small dongle to connect to your PC via USB. However, it can also be connected inside the dock itself, for an even neater wireless solution, and as it operates on the 2.4GHz band, it provides low latency gaming.

2. Hyperkin The Competitor

If you really want to reduce your controller latency to zero, you should consider a wired gamepad. And the one I've been most impressed with in recent times is The Competitor from Hyperkin.

Not exactly cheap for a wired controller, but it offers Hall Effect thumbsticks and triggers for precise accuracy and stick drift proofing. It also looks and feels like a Sony DualSense, yet with Xbox features, which is cool.

3. Turtle Beach Victrix Pro BFG Reloaded

I've tested the PlayStation version of the Turtle Beach Victrix Pro BFG Reloaded, which also comes with PC compatibility, but you can get a dedicated PC variant that is specifically listed as supporting Steam OS. It's also cheaper at most retailers.

The pro controller has a whole host of customisable options, including modules you can swap around on pad itself. Fancy your D-Pad on the bottom in Xbox configuration? Just swap the left-hand module. It's all rather neat.

4. Razer Wolverine V3 Pro

Designed for serious gamers and esports, the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro is a very well made gaming device – hence its beefy price.

You can highly customise its capabilities via a PC app, and there are Hall Effect thumbsticks and triggers to ensure accuracy and longevity. I used it over a wireless connection (with the included 2.4GHz dongle), but you also get a 3m cable to ensure zero latency through wired play.

5. Xbox Wireless Controller

I was tempted to include another 8BitDo controller – the Pro 3 with its swappable button layout – but you can't beat the classics.

The Xbox Wireless Controller continues to be one of the very best around, for compatibility and comfort, and it just works. Remember though, unless you want to use Bluetooth, you'll need an Xbox Wireless Adapter poking out of a USB port on your PC or Steam device. Luckily, third-party versions are relatively cheap.

It's clear to say that Valve wasn't quite prepared for the popularity of its Steam Controller. Launched on Monday 4 May, it sold out in approximately 30 minutes – and at $99 / £85 a pop, too.

Indeed, Valve itself has revealed that it was taken aback: "Steam Controller ran out faster than we anticipated," it posted on Bluesky. And for those who missed out (myself included), it has followed up with a stock update.

The company says that it is "working on getting more in stock" and should "have an update" soon. It's likely the next batch could fly off (virtual) shelves too, though, so you need to keep an eye out.

Checking back here could help, as we'll keep you up to date with any new re-stock dates and information. Alternatively, follow the official Valve account on Bluesky – that should also give you the latest.

Steam Controller ran out faster than we anticipated, and we hate that not everyone who wanted one was able to get it. We’re working on getting more in stock and will have an update on expected timeline soon.

— @valvesoftware.com (@valvesoftware.com.bsky.social) 2026-05-06T08:23:17.853Z

When will Steam Controller be back in stock?

There's currently no timeline on when the Steam Controller might be back on sale again. I'm personally on tenterhooks too, as I recently built myself a "Steam Machine" from a mid-range Mini PC and wanted the official gamepad to complete the project.

Unfortunately, scalpers managed to get their hands on them first time around, which are currently being relisted on resale sites, like ebay – with the price doubled at the very least. I would exercise caution if you're considering buying one though, as technically the scalper won't have the controller in their possession yet.

Always beware that you don't purchase one and get the decade old Steam Controller instead.

Hopefully, Valve will manage to get a much bigger quantity of Steam Controllers in for the next round. Either that, or it manages to put the actual Steam Machine on the market in the next couple of months (with will include a controller). After all, it is said to have received a mighty bundle of "game consoles" recently too.

When SteelSeries brought out the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless, it broke new ground in terms of pricing, but just so happened to also release my favourite gaming headset ever, and the one I returned to for years between reviews. Now, that headset remains fantastic, but it's getting a subtle upgrade in the form of the new Arctis Nova Pro Omni.

Its changes are actually a little hard to discern if you're not paying attention, but they make what was already a brilliant headset even harder to ignore. If you've got a big budget and want the best in this price bracket, this is the new default pick, and might just be the new best gaming headset on the market, frankly.

Price and availability

The Arctis Nova Pro Omni was only just announced, but it's already available to order directly through SteelSeries as a new launch – and it has a fairly hefty price tag. It comes in at £349, €399, or $399, depending on your region.

SteelSeries says it's positioning the headset as "affordable luxury", which is a polite way of saying it's substantially cheaper than the monumentally expensive Arctis Nova Elite. That said, it's still about £20 more expensive than the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless was when that headset released, for what it's worth.

Design and features

One crucial difference aside, in the form of a new colour, if you placed a black Arctis Nova Pro Omni next to a Nova Pro Wireless, I'd challenge almost anyone to be able to tell the difference. In most meaningful design details, SteelSeries has relied on the excellent redesign from a few years ago and kept continuity there.

That's no bad thing, in my view – what was a sleek and modern design then remains so now, and I think the headset has a strong silhouette that shouldn't offend many onlookers. I tested it in a new dark blue colour that I think is a much easier sell than the pastel green used for the Arctis Nova Elite, too.

The Nova Pro Omni has a suspended headband, which lifts some of its weight off your head and remains one of the most comfortable solutions I've tested in a headset. Its earcups have a huge amount of cushioning, and it ends up being a super comfortable headset to wear for long periods as a result, even as a glasses-wearer.

On one earcup, you'll find a power button, Bluetooth button, mute switch and a volume dial, along with the trademark SteelSeries concealed, retractable microphone. Those are all the controls you could need, and the other earcup is reserved for the swappable battery system.

Like the Nova Pro Wireless before it, the Nova Pro Omni has a battery that you can remove when it runs low. A spare can be kept, charging, in the base station that also acts as a wireless receiver, meaning you'll never actually run out of battery if you swap them when prompted by a low-battery noise.

One of vanishingly few nitpicks I have with a headset system I've been using across various models for years is that this low-battery alert is sometimes a bit late-notice, so your battery will die a few minutes after it sounds, but that's still almost always enough warning to get the swap done at your convenience. Each battery will last around 30 hours on 2.4Ghz and up to 50 hours over Bluetooth, which represents a decent boost over the Nova Pro Wireless' 20-ish hours.

So far, though, much of this is still basically the same as the Nova Pro Wireless, and it's really under the hood that the improvements come. For one thing, there's no more Xbox and non-Xbox versions of the headset to muddy the waters. Now, one version will serve all users, and on the back of the base station, you'll find three USB-C ports for connections. Two can serve a PC, PlayStation, Switch or other computer, while one is labelled for Xbox users.

The Nova Pro Omni also has improved noise-cancelling over its predecessor, and is Hi-Res Wireless certified rather than just boasting this on a wired connection. What does that mean? It means 96kHz/24-bit wireless audio over 2.4GHz and Bluetooth, in short, and future-proofs the headset in case future consoles like the PS6 embrace higher-bandwidth audio.

The other major change feels like it's in the ease-of-use column, where the addition of connectivity with the Arctis App on your phone makes it miles easier to set up presets and per-game settings that you can swap between. While navigating settings like this is doable on the base station with its wheel and touch-button, it's simply a much simpler job through the app.

Sound and performance

I've been a huge fan of SteelSeries' sound signature for a long time, right out of the box, and that's no different with the Nova Pro Omni. It has, as far as I can tell, the same 40mm drivers as the Nova Pro Wireless, which is no bad thing, since it gives it the same delicacy and precision.

There are bassier headsets on the market, in my experience, but few are this neutral and accurate, and even if you never touch an EQ setting or use the Arctis App, I'm confident you'll find it a beautiful fit for immersive gaming and multiplayer alike.

I played a bunch of Battlefield 6 on the headset, and found its cacophony of war sounds was navigable and intelligible in ways that boosted my ability to hear enemies (a key variable). I also used it for hours of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous on my PC, and the headset's comfortable fit and approachable dynamics worked a treat for that more relaxed RPG gameplay and dialogue-heavy audio.

Plus, the concealable microphone remains gold-standard, with extremely impressive clarity and solid AI-based noise rejection to ensure that background noise isn't an issue for your teammates and chat parties.

From your side of the experience, the Nova Pro Omni's active noise-cancelling is extremely solid, and while it still isn't quite on the level of some of the best headphones for travel, for home gaming use, I find it a pretty superb crutch that genuinely makes a difference for immersion.

While I can't claim that the new omni-connection convenience changed my life, since I no longer own an Xbox Series X, there's no downside to having all the consoles under one roof, and I'd love to see this become the standard from other brands, too.

The fact that I can swap between audio sources so easily, too, and indeed mix them if needed, is also a convenience that only some other headsets can offer, and almost none to the degree that SteelSeries manages. It's a relatively unique blend of impressive features, in short.

Verdict

Sometimes a subtle update is all you need. I didn't necessarily expect the Arctis Nova Pro Omni, but it's a pleasant surprise. SteelSeries has basically made the best gaming headset on the market slightly better, and while it's involved a small bump in price, that doesn't change the fact that it'll be my new default recommendation for gamers.

It's truly device-agnostic, sounds phenomenal, is as comfortable as anything else out there, and is easier to customise in sonic terms than ever before. That's a completely winning combination of boasts, and if I didn't have the even more extravagant (and therefore niche) Arctis Nova Elite, I'd be using the Nova Pro Omni for years to come.

Also consider

This won't really be what SteelSeries wants people to point out, but it's pretty likely that the Arctis Nova Pro Omni's arrival means the Nova Pro Wireless starts to come down in price during sales events even more aggressively. It's still a superb headset that could be unbelievable value if you can get it for even £100 less than the Omni (which will certainly happen before the year is out).

If you want a slightly different look and feel, and perhaps your main priority is sheer comfort, then the Sony Inzone H9 II is well worth a look. It sounds excellent, but the real USP is that it's genuinely as light as a feather, and therefore feels amazing to wear.

As previously rumoured, Valve has opted to release its all-new Steam Controller early, with orders being accepted from Monday 4 May 2026.

Originally planned for launch alongside the new Steam Machine console, the controller costs $99 / £85 and is designed to perfectly complement the entire Steam PC game library.

The only setback is that the Steam Machine itself is still not available. The ongoing RAM crisis, which has also affected the availability and prices of storage, has proved difficult for Valve to navigate – not least because it wants its first in-house console to be affordable.

The company still plans to make its Steam Machine available this year, but there's currently no time frame. Until then, however, you could always build your own.

That's exactly what I did using a Geekom A7 Max Mini PC. Sporting a Ryzen 9 processor and Radeon 780M graphics, it isn't designed for gaming per se, but it runs pretty much my entire Steam library in 1080p, and with decent frame rates.

And with upscaling technologies activated in supported games, you can often eke out 60fps and higher without being restricted to low graphics settings. I even get Cyberpunk 2077 running at 1080p and around 40fps with medium settings. Even with ray-traced shadows, in fact.

I run the Linux system Bazzite on my build, but there are other forks of SteamOS you can install. You can even install SteamOS itself, if your Mini PC is AMD-powered. It takes a bit of tinkering, but there are plenty of guides on YouTube.

The only thing I've been missing is a dedicated controller. I currently use an 8BitDo Ultimate 2 (PC edition), which is great and comes with its own 2.4GHz wireless dongle and charging dock. However, it doesn't have touchpads, and that'll be where the official Steam Controller will come in for me.

The Steam Controller is designed to play not just action games using the thumbsticks and buttons, but the touch panels are essential if you want to play mouse-controlled games on your TV too.

I'm a sucker for real-time strategy (RTS) games, and this is therefore a literal game-changer. The likes of Football Manager 2026 will also be easier to control.

I don't even think the price is a barrier. While £85 sounds expensive for a controller, it's actually relatively cheap for a pro model. Just look at Sony's DualSense Edge at close to £200.

You also get so much more for your money, thanks to those panels, extra assignable buttons, an included Steam Controller Puck for wireless connectivity and charging, and even TMR thumbsticks for greater accuracy and immunity from stick drift.

Of course, I'm intrigued to see the actual Steam Machine when it finally arrives, but this will do nicely in the meantime.

Amid discussions of Bond 26 ongoing delays, with filming not expected to happen this year, we do have one guaranteed new Bond on the horizon – in 007: First Light.

The IO Interactive studio game's imminent release date is creating quite the hype. Unless you're a Nintendo Switch 2 player, as that version has been pushed back.

To celebrate the release, Sony has issued a new limited edition DualSense wireless controller, which is up for pre-order now ahead of its 27 May on-sale date. It's priced at £74.99 in the UK and $84 in the USA.

As you can see from the image above, pulling this golden controller's trigger might be the closest you get to firing a golden gun of sorts. It's a very golden finish that Bond fans will doubtless love.

The controller features a "golden sheen and radiant barrel design," with the 007 codename positioned centre to the touchpad. Sony reckons it'll be well-suited for "a fresh agent looking to make a name for themselves."

It's not the first time we've seen special edition DualSense controllers, with the likes of God of War, The Last of Us, and Astrobot, among others, offering their own unique takes.

The 007: First Light controller release coincides with the game's 27 May on-sale date, marking the next big AAA release in the 2026 calendar. The game is about a young Bond in training, giving a fresh take, in a Hitman-style world that IO Interactive is so well-known for producing.

Sometimes the pace of things in the tech world can be a little overwhelming. Even if, like me, you spend most of your weekdays keeping up with all the new releases and announcements, it's easy for things to slip through your filter. That's how I'd categorise the Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike, a gaming mouse that was released earlier this year but which I only got my hands on in the last week.

When you get sent as many announcements as I do about gaming mice, it can be a little hard to parse what's actually new and what's just bluster about polling rates and DPI. Logitech, though, has actually broken the mould with the Superstrike, and it doesn't take long with the mouse to feel a really crazy difference compared to others you may have used.

The simple version is this: where most mice you've used have a physical button that you actuate whenever you click down one of their two main buttons, the Superstrike has a different system using electromagnetic sensors. It uses what Logitech calls a Haptic Inductive Trigger System, which is a long-winded name for a haptic engine, a little bit like the one in MacBook Pro trackpads.

This means that if you handle the mouse when it's turned off, and try to click down the buttons, you get a really weird feeling – they just push down into air and don't have any "click". When the mouse is turned on, though, the haptic engine gives you feedback, and you feel a "click".

It's really difficult to describe those sensations without having the mouse in your hand, but it's actually quite crazy the first time you feel it, and that gets even more kooky when you use Logitech's G Hub app to customise the mouse a little.

Opening up the app, you can see the exact amount of pressure you're putting on each of the two main buttons in real time, and it's perhaps the best way to see how the mouse works – with the sensors underneath them just waiting for you to push below a certain threshold to activate the "click" haptics.

Crucially, you can also change the travel distance required for that actuation, meaning you can make your click deeper or shallower, and it's amazing to flip between different levels to feel the difference. Playing a twitchy shooter? Put it at the minimum, and you can fire at crazy speeds. Going for something slower? Make the click deeper and more satisfying.

You can also customise this differently for your left and right clicks, and choose from different haptic feedback to give stronger or weaker "click" feedback, giving you more layers of control over how your Superstrike feels to actually use.

For my part, been fascinating to use, and for the most part a total treat – and to have that experience with a genuinely new-feeling bit of tech is really cool. I've heard other gaming accessory brands admit that Logitech's the first to do something genuinely different in the mouse world for years, through gritted teeth.

This is just the first implementation, too. Logitech doubtless will put the system in other mouse designs over the next year or so, after giving it a debut in this really simple high-end mouse.

You can grab one yourself for £159.99, €179.99 or $179.99, and if you do, you'll potentially find that you're riding the first wave of haptic mouse buttons all the way to glory.

I've been testing the best gaming headsets for well over half a decade now, which gives me quite a big back catalogue of headset knowledge to fall back on when new versions launch. I really liked the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro back in 2022, for instance, but I'm pleased to see that a newly announced successor looks like it fixes some of the small issues the previous version had.

The Stealth Pro II just got unveiled, and features an all-new design that looks far more modern and sleek, as well as some big audio upgrades that should see the headset compete with the high-end models that I favour from SteelSeries.

For one thing, the new headset has certification for both Hi-Res Wireless Audio and Dolby Atmos spatial audio, when connected to a system that can support them (meaning a PC in the former case, and a PC or Xbox in the latter). That should help ensure that its precision is more impressive than ever.

What I'm more interested in is the new design, which features a "mesh fabric suspension headband" that should make the headset lighter and more comfortable to wear. I found the Stealth Pro was pretty chunky and heavy, in contrast to some of the competition, so this could be a big change.

The headset also looks sleeker, in my opinion, although I'm interested to see that the microphone is still one that can be flipped out of the way rather than properly hidden or retracted – I prefer the latter, but I'm always open-minded about design choices like this.

Swappable batteries return, this time giving 40 hours of gameplay on a single charge, with a base station housing your spare while it charges up. That means you basically have unlimited battery life, and the base station also seems to be where device swapping is routed through, with up to four connections that you can toggle between.

There's active noise-cancelling, like before, but I'd assume it'll be upgraded, while the 60mm drivers should power really great sound quality even if you don't have Atmos active.

There will be two versions on sale, in classic style (blame Xbox's expensive certification for this) – and the Xbox version will be the one to buy, since it'll work with Xbox, PC, PlayStation and Bluetooth. The "PC & PlayStation" version is the same, minus the Xbox support.

There won't be a price difference between the two, crucially, so any version of the Stealth Pro II will come in at a chunky 349.99/€349.99/£299.99. That means it's at the top-end of the market, albeit not coming near the ultra-luxury territory staked out by the £600 SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite.

Who remembers the heady days of the PS5's launch? I know I do, since I spent that period of lockdown acting as a sort of fixer for most of my mates, using my slightly more online nature to secure as many pre-orders as I could so that we all got consoles. At the same time, my role in tech journalism meant that I was able to test a bunch of accessories out early doors.

That meant plenty of the best gaming headsets in the early days of the PS5, but also some excellent controllers, and I found my favourite almost instantly. Right after the console came out, Scuf started making adapted DualSense controllers, and I got my hands on a Reflex Pro, a gorgeous bit of gaming hardware.

This was the DualSense Edge, a couple of years before Sony made its own pro controller, and it meant that I've been using back-paddles for around five years, at this point. They're a huge help in online FPS games in particular, I find, helping me to keep my fingers on the aiming stick while I reload or jump.

That's made it feel almost like a minor bereavement that, in the last few weeks, my Reflex Pro has started to feel a bit weird in the hand. Movement in games has felt looser than usual, and I recently upped my deadzone settings in Rocket League to the point where it feels like I'm driving in treacle.

To the surprise of nobody at all, when I swapped back to the near-pristine standard DualSense that came with my PS5 Pro last year, barely used because it's paddle-free, these issues evaporated. There's only one conclusion: stick drift has finally come for my pro controller.

It's a spectre that's loomed over way too many first-party gaming controllers from the last couple of console generations, but I'll be honest – I normally dodge the bullet. I don't know if it's because I'm a light touch on the sticks (ahem), but I've never even had a Joy-Con give out, despite knowing people who seem to go through a controller every six months.

I'm still lucky that I've got a backup standard controller waiting to be used, and I'll be fine with it, but it's already proving an adjustment to play without those all-important paddles, or indeed the extra grip on the back of the controller.

If money were no object, I'd be straight out to get a DualSense Edge, since I've still never managed to get my hands on one and I'm pretty sure it's the best of all worlds in terms of what I want. Sadly, money very much is an immovable object, so for now I'm back to the life of the hoi-polloi, and I'll be in mourning for at least a few weeks.

Be careful what you wish for. Like many others, I was enamoured by the idea of owning a Talking Flower – a unique piece of Nintendo merch released to celebrate the unsung heroes of Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

I'd already bought the Alarmo Clock on its debut in 2024, so thought this latest object of Nintendo nonsense would look great sitting alongside it. But little did I realise what I was letting myself in for.

At just £24.99 in the UK, $34.99 in the States, it hardly breaks the bank – and as a big fan of Wonder, the appeal of having my own chatty companion seemed too good to resist. My pre-order was placed the moment it was announced in January, then I waited.

To be honest, I forgot all about it until a box arrived last week (along with my Switch Virtual Boy accessory, but that's a story for another day). I eagerly ripped open the packaging and thrilled at what was inside.

The Nintendo Talking Flower is decently sized, made of quality plastics, and as cute as it looks in photos. There's a big button on the "soil" which can be used to manually get it to talk, but that's about it externally.

You have to twist the base to get to the battery compartment (it's not rechargeable and needs two AA batteries). There's also a small, hidden LCD screen to set it up. You'll need a tiny Phillips-head screwdriver to get the battery protector open, but so far so good.

There aren't many options when setting up the device, you just set the current time, plus the times when you want to wake up and go to sleep, so it won't jabber on in the night. And you can set the volume using the same tiny buttons. That's about it.

Little did I know that this would be the best it got.

Once set up and placed on a shelf, the reality of having the Flower cough up pithy remarks all day soon set in.

It announces each hour on the hour (sometimes incorrectly for comedy effect), and occasionally gives you a rough estimate on the climate – if it's hot or cold – based on an on-board sensor. You can also manually get music to play and interact by pressing the button for a while.

But after the first hour or so of amusement, it's the random commentary that gets jarring. First you're just, "Ah, that's funny!" Then it's, "Hmmm..." And by the end of day it's, "Shut up, you incessantly irritating a-hole!!!!!"

You can press the button to send the Talking Flower into a form of sleep mode, or even take the batteries out, but that's somewhat extreme. It may save your sanity though.

I currently still have mine on, to see if I just get used to it over time, but as things stand, it may end up being a pricy paperweight. Still, it is a cute ornament, and when I do have guests stay over that I want to wind up, I can always reset the wakeup and sleep times and leave it in the guest room overnight.

That might be worth the £24.99 on its own.

There's no doubt about it, retro gaming is having a real resurgence. Gaming handhelds have been appearing in the dozens, and the classic consoles are being refreshed and renewed for an all-new audience. We've even had light guns reappear in the form of the G'AIM'E Time Crisis system.

Now there's another retro-style accessory on its way, with GameX Studios starting pre-orders on its GAMR Play Pad – a Bluetooth, wireless dance mat compatible with all-manner of games.

There will be plenty of households out there that probably have a long-forgotten game mat already lurking in a cupboard somewhere – they were hugely popular in the 90s, after all. But this new version is a bit different.

It works with smartphones, tablets, Smart TVs and PCs and rather than designed for dance and rhythm games specifically, it'll work on any title that supports a controller.

That means you could find yourself jigging around in your living room while playing Pac-Man, or literally jumping around to avoid obstacles in Crossy Road. Heck, you could even try combining a Call of Duty session with a daily fitness workout.

The GAMR will even track your steps and calories throughout.

The mat is also compatible with Dance Dance Revolution style games. And while we've not tried it for ourselves yet, that could include through emulation.

GameX Studios provides 10 original games designed for the GAMR and there are three different types of mat available. They all work the same way, but have different designs for general, dance, and kids play. The kids version is smaller too, to help younger players reach each button.

Each mat can be used via Bluetooth or wired for lower latency, and can be rolled up for easy storage.

They are available to pre-order on Kickstarter currently, with early bird pricing starting at $149 (around £110) for a pad of your choice. That will raise to $199 after launch – with shipping expected from June.

Best known for its retro games consoles, which it's been manufacturing for years, Anbernic has been known to dabble in other gaming accessories from time to time, although it's latest seems quite a departure from the norm.

On the face of it, the Anbernic RG G01 looks like a standard Switch 2 / PC / iOS / Android game controller – albeit with its own central display. However, as well as some interesting tech choices, it comes with sensors built in to monitor your heart rate.

It's hard not to see that as a bit of a gimmick – after all, a Donky Kong Bananza session is hardly the same as going on a 5km run – but at least you can see the impact of your favourite game on the old ticker.

Perhaps more interesting is that the G01 uses Purple Kirin capacitive thumbsticks, which detect electrical signals rather than use magnets – à la TMR and Hall Effect. This is said to be even more accurate and completely eliminates joystick drift.

Its buttons are micro-switch, while the triggers are Hall Effect – so there's plenty to like about its setup. And the battery is 2,100mAh, so should last approximately 21 hours of play between charges.

And all of this comes for just $39.99 (around £29) – although currently it's only available on Anbernic's own website and shipped from China. That can cost a fair penny extra in shipping (an additional $20 to the UK, for example).

Hopefully, we'll see it available with free shipping on AliExpress soon, or through local resellers. And weirdly, as discovered by Russ Crandall of Retro Game Corps fame, the build is very similar to the Manba One controller, which offers many of the same options, bar the heart rate tracking, but adds a charging base instead.

That's available on Amazon now, albeit at a higher price.

Still, if you'd rather order from Amazon and don't want to wait for a wider rollout of the Anbernic version, at least that's an option.

Personally, I'm going to wait for the RG G01 – after all, I've been a fan of Anbernic's handhelds over the years and am particularly fond of the yellow version. Let's hope we start to see it on other sites soon.

With PS6 still years away from release (according to industry experts) it seems Sony is still working on several ways to make it different to previous console generations.

There continues to be numerous rumours about a handheld version, which will play the same games but with compromises, and it's likely to more universally capable when it comes to backward compatibility. But the biggest, perhaps craziest upgrades might be found on its controller.

Sony has filed a patent for a new DualSense-like controller that takes a radical step away from what we know and love – it has no physical buttons.

The gamepad instead features two touchscreen zones where you can place your own button and D-pad configurations.

Issued last week, the patent (via VGC) shows a controller shaped like the PS5 DualSense but with no thumbsticks and two touchpanels. These enable users to assign their own customised layout instead.

It could even be changed per game, allowing you to set-up the exact key and pad controls you need for a specific title. This is potentially useful, not just for more complex games, but for accessibility too – for those who find smaller buttons hard to press.

There is a downside though – anyone who's tried to play fast-paced action games on a mobile phone screen will know how easy it is to miss inputs when you can't physically feel them. Haptics might help, and it seems that's part of this idea, but it's not a replacement for an actual D-pad or thumbstick.

That being said, mouse style controls would be better emulated through touchpanels – just look at the controller for Valve's forthcoming new Steam Machine.

Maybe the next DualSense could feature both concepts – physical controls and touchscreens that can be customised. That would offer the best of both worlds.

Or maybe this idea will be ditched when it comes to an actual consumer release. That happens often with patents – many of them never see the light of day.

If you thought the Alarmo clock was a strange device for Nintendo to make, just take a look at its latest. The Talking Flower is a "smart" speaking ornament with the potential to annoy you all day.

But even considering that, I still want one. In fact, I've already preordered mine – with preorders and pre-registration open on Nintendo UK and Nintendo US as I write.

In all fairness, at £24.99 / $34.99 respectively, it's hardly going to break the bank. However, although it can talk and even tell you the weather (of sorts), it's no replacement for a smart speaker – such as an Amazon Echo device.

That's because you can't actually talk to it. Instead, the Talking Flower is designed to simply bark out quips and comments all day, or whenever you press the large button on its base.

It'll tell you what hour it is (which it can – hilariously – get wrong at times), and it can inform you of your room temperature thanks to a built in sensor. However, there's no internet connection, so you can't get any other useful information.

An internal clock will enable it to clam up at night though, so you won't hear it jabbering away while you try to sleep. And you can set your bed and wake up times, to have it wish you good night or morning.

It'll also tell you when its battery is running low.

The Flower can speak in multiple languages – English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. While a long button press can even set it into mute mode.

It's a pretty niche product really, considering the character has only appeared in one game so far – but it's something I'm planning to add to the other game-related ephemera gracing my shelves. It should sit next to my Crash Bandicoot Lego build and Fallout Funko Pops, which reminds me – where did I put my life again?

It feels like I was in Vegas just yesterday, but we're already approaching a week since CES 2026 was actually in full flow, and I'm catching up on the very final parts of what I was able to see in a jam-packed few days of tech launches and showcases. Sadly for Razer, I haven't saved the best for last – but I can certainly say its suite of new products and concepts had memorable parts.

Razer made its name (and continues to do so) as a gaming accessory brand, with gaming mice and headsets really acting as its heartland, but it's branched out quite heavily in recent years. After successfully establishing itself as the maker of great, sleek laptops, it now seems to have been sipping from the AI cup, leading it to a couple of frankly baffling concept showcases at this CES.

The first, and the one that will actually be available to buy soon (apparently, since you can pay a refundable $20 to reserve one now) is a desktop upgrade for its AI companion software, Ava. This little tube will sit on your counter, presumably next to your PC, and project a small holographic figure internally, with a design chosen from a roster of extremely gamerish options.

The one I saw was predictably pretty anime-inflected in its stylings, although slightly more buttoned-down options will be available, too. Still, even after watching a demo of how the AI could react to on-screen action with tips and even criticisms, I just can't understand Razer thinking that it'll have widespread appeal.

Sure, there's an angle where some coaching while you game could help you improve, but from what I saw that's quite a long way from being what Ava can offer. The projection is the really new bit here, meanwhile, and it's frankly just a bit too gamerish to win me over.

Then there's the elephant in the room – Razer confirmed at the show that Ava was running on a version of Grok, xAI's chatbot. You couldn't pick a more controversial time for that information to come out, given the rightly radioactive controversy swirling around Grok's nudification features, which stand to see it potentially banned in various countries.

It's a great summary of why AI launches can be so perilous and ill-conceived – two words that sadly also describe Razer's other big swing this CES, Project Matoko. I was told very earnestly about Razer's belief that smart glasses are a bad idea, with too many compromises, and that a better answer to bringing AI assistants with you is to house it in some headphones.

Hence this more distant concept, Matoko, which sees a Razer gaming headset modified with the addition of two front-facing cameras. You can talk to, and ask questions of an AI companion that you activate when wanted, presumably using a very similar model to Ava (although this wasn't confirmed).

The hardware was perfectly decent here, and lightweight enough to be comfortable. I can even see how Razer can argue it's a more seamless integration into a headset than the equivalent in glasses (which get chunkier and heavier to accommodate the extra tech). All-day battery life is a plus, for example.

However, I just can't see how this product becomes a reality that people really want. Perhaps (and it's a big perhaps) if a brand like Apple launched a new version of AirPods Max with cameras, then people might get on board. But Razer? The gaming peripheral brand, becoming a provider of AI-enabled all-day headphones for regular use?

I just can't see how that makes sense at all, from a brand or a market perspective, and it makes it really tough to believe that this will ever really be widely available – or sell more than a relative handful of units.

In some ways, these concepts are a microcosm of the AI boom, in that Razer is far from the only tech brand trying to go big on AI and failing to win over actual customers. I'm very prepared to eat my hat if Project Matoko goes on to open up a new category of products, but for now I feel pretty confident that Razer will be better off sticking to what it knows better.

Audeze has announced a new version of its elite wireless headset, the Maxwell. The new Maxwell 2 has large 90mm planar drivers like the original, but promises to deliver more immersive spatial sound, precise audio and punchier bass.

We reviewed the original Audeze Maxwell Wireless and gave it the full five stars, saying that it "excels in just about every area".

We tested the PS5 version – there's a separate version for Xbox – and recommended it as one of the best PS5 headsets and best gaming headsets. So how do you improve on a five-star headset?

Audeze Maxwell 2: key features and pricing

The Maxwell 2 has a redesigned head strap with better ventilation and a revised earpad design with more space. That means it can comfortably fit a wider range of gamers.

As before, it's made to last from metal and composites, with reinforcement on the stress points to deliver longer life.

This generation features Audeze's ReSkin system of swappable magnetic side plates, with the promise of "exciting limited-edition collaborations" coming soon. There is one downside to that solid build though, at 560g the Maxwell 2 is a hefty headset – heavier than its 490g predecessor, in fact.

On wired connections, the Maxwell 2 supports up to 24-bit/96kHz audio with ultra-low latency via its USB-C connector, and there's also a wireless USB-C dongle to deliver the same audio without cabling. It also has Bluetooth with Auracast, LE Audio, LDAC and AAC.

The headset is compatible with PC, Mac, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch 2, iOS and Android, and the Xbox version has Dolby Atmos support – the PlayStation version has Tempest 3D audio.

With a frequency response of 10Hz to 50kHz, this should be a very punchy headset; the first generation was very clear and distortion-free even at high volume levels, and we found it to be impressive for music as well as gaming.

This model features Audeze's SLAM acoustic management system, which the firm says delivers even greater clarity and punch, and it has AI noise cancellation on the detachable boom mic for clarity in in-game chat, voice and video calls.

Battery life is over 80 hours and you can recharge to 25% from flat in around 20 minutes.

UK pricing is yet to be revealed, but the US price is $329 (about £244 / €281 / AU$490).

While there are now hundreds of retro gaming handhelds out there, in all shapes and sizes, you actually probably own one without even knowing. That's because every Android handset and iPhone is capable of playing the classics through emulation too.

That's certainly something accessory manufacturers are looking at this year with elegant solutions to turn your smartphone into a vertical, Game Boy-style handheld.

We've seen some controller concepts popping up in recent times, from cases that can also be used as capacitive controls, to stick-on pads and buttons to use when on your travels. But now the bigger makers are joining the fray, with GameSir following 8BitDo in announcing a dedicated phone controller for retro play.

Like the 8BitDo FlipPad, the cunningly named GameSir Pocket Taco clips onto the bottom of your device to provide responsive D-pad and button arrays. The two new solutions even look similar (in Game Boy configurations and colours), but the technical design is different.

How does the GameSir Pocket Taco work?

Where the FlipPad connects via USB-C and, well, flips up, the Pocket Taco hugs onto the bottom of your phone. It's also connected wireless via Bluetooth rather than the phone's port, and features its own 600mAh battery.

You get triggers and bumpers around the rear, too. That means you can use it for all manner of console emulation, not just Game Boy and earlier machines. But there's no thumbstick, so it won't be suitable for the likes of N64 and above really.

However, thanks to a hole at the bottom, you can still charge your phone while in use and its design can even fit phones in this cases, thanks to a stretchable hinge.

GameSir will link the device with its own app and as it works like a regular Bluetooth controller, you should be able to use it with just about every emulator your handset supports. You just need to make sure the game runs on the top-half of the display though, of course.

The GameSir Pocket Taco will ship from 15 March with pre-orders available on the company's own website now. It's priced at £27.99 / $38 / €32.95 / AU$57.

Razer has taken to CES 2026 to announce its plans to offer a dedicated AI companion that builds on last year's Project AVA.

Previously announced as a gaming focused AI assistant, Razer has now revealed that AVA will be a holographic device that offers an all-round integrated AI companion. Like an Echo device with a display and extra smarts.

The company says this is a true digital assistant designed to "support every facet of modern life". So while that can still involve real-time gaming strategies, it now also incorporates daily tasks.

Project AVA features a 5.5-inch animated hologram as its display. This, Razer says, offers natural movements, eye-tracking, facial expressions and lip sync for the most "engaging interaction".

While the released image [top] shows a swirling logo, you'll actually be able to pick from a selection of avatars. These are exclusive to the brand, and include Kira and Zane as well as some esports legends to pick from.

You can even define the personality of your choice with emotional traits that stand out. Pick from bold and sassy to calm and friendly.

The AI itself is smart enough to learn. This should mean that it will remember your preferences to ensure you're getting the most intelligent and personally tailored responses in future.

Throw in that HD camera, eye-tracking and far-field microphones and you should be getting a contextually aware response too.

So this assistant should be able to help with scheduling, wardrobe tips, dinner planning as well as brainstorming, data analysis, creative problem solving and gaming strategy, puzzles and even viewing your screen for real-time assistance.

Razer Project AVA: Pricing and availability

Razer has announced the latest enhancements to Project AVA and along with that a release time frame of the second half of 2026.

Pricing is less clear, although the company is now taking reservations, with a $20 deposit, for US buyers only for now.

WD_Black has long reigned as the king of PS5 storage, topping our list of best PS5 SSDs to buy. But all things must come to an end, and the writing has been on the cards since March last year.

That's because it was announced that Western Digital was to withdraw from the SSD business and retire the WD_Black brand. Well now that's finally come to pass – but don't fear, the award-winning products will continue. Indeed, we should get even more options going forward.

Now sitting under the SanDisk brand, the company's gaming products will still be made, albeit with a new name. The entire family of gaming storage solutions will be called SanDisk Optimus, and it will include the new version of the WD_Black SN850X (our pick as the best PS5-compatible M.2 NVMe card).

That particular SSD model will now be known as the SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 850X. There are several other WD_Black stalwarts also getting new names and designs – along with those that previously sat under the WD Blue banner.

For example, the WD Blue SN5100 becomes the SanDisk Optimus 5100. The WD_Black SN8100 will be the GX Pro 8100, and the WD_Black SN7100 will be known as GX 7100 going forward.

What's nice to see is that the chunky design aesthetic the WD_Black range was known for will continue, albeit with a splash of red and a slightly tweaked look.

"The SanDisk Optimus brand redefines what performance means for consumer needs," explained the brand's VP of digital marketing, Heidi Arkinstall.

"Our products span multiple segments and with this change we are making it easier for consumers to find the right solution for their needs."

Announced during CES 2026, the newly branded products will start to hit stores in the first half of the year. WD_Black stock will still be available from some retailers in the meantime.

This year's CES hasn't even kicked off fully yet, but there have already been some tantalising product teases. And as well as the big TV announcements and smart home gadgetry, there's something for gamers and retro gaming fans this year.

Controller and accessories manufacturer 8BitDo had a cracking 2025, releasing several gamepads that are arguably better than first-party equivalents. It now looks like it'll hit 2026 running too.

As well as a so-far unnamed pro controller, the brand has revealed a mobile gaming accessory that turns an iPhone or Android handset into a Game Boy style retro console. And unlike others on the market, it does so with an interesting flip-style form factor.

We don't know a hell of a lot about it at present, but 8BitDo has posted a teaser video for the FlipPad on its X feed, stating that it is officially approved my Apple.

It will officially launch the add-on at the show itself, but has also revealed that it's planned for a summer 2026 release.

What we can gather from the clip is that it'll attach via USB-C, so will be a powered device and control codes will be transmitted rather than use the capacitive touchscreen of the phone (like some recent rivals).

The retro colour scheme is very Game Boy-esque and it's also obviously best suited for emulation thanks to only sporting a D-pad – there are no thumbsticks, so anything above the PSOne will be difficult to control. Plus, as it takes up the lower half of your screen, games will run best in 4:3, 10:9 and 3:2 aspect ratios, I'd imagine.

I'm also not sure why the underside of the FlipPad looks like a screen itself, rather than a soft pad to avoid damaging your phone's display. Maybe there's an extra trick up its sleeve?

We'll find out for sure when CES 2026 kicks off fully on Tuesday 6 January. Make sure you check back with T3 often.

When SteelSeries launched the Arctis Nova Elite last year, I felt like it would almost certainly result in a market shift of some sort for gaming headsets – a £600 headset will do that if it sells almost any units at all. Now, I think it's a little too early for that pricing shock to have set in for rivals, but JBL's new Quantum headsets, announced at CES in Las Vegas, have demonstrated that the high-end remains the place to be for headset-makers.

The headline-grabber is the next Quantum 950X, which will launch at a more predictable $399.95 when it launches in April. Still, just because someone else is charging £600, that doesn't make £350 suddenly look all that cheap.

This is still a really luxury-coded headset, one that looks to knock others off their perch and persuade people to spend more on their in-game audio than they might have on a PS5 during Black Friday.

JBL says the headset has all-new 50mm carbon dynamic drivers, which can deliver Hi-Res certified audio (presumably in wired mode, although the headset is wireless too). Crucially, the headset also cribs from SteelSeries' notes by including hot-swappable replacement batteries, so that you don't get caught short by low charge. These will charge on a base station that also acts as a wireless hub, making the headset extremely comparable to the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless.

Each will last 50 hours, impressively, while the 6mm cardioid boom microphone will have AI-enhanced noise-cancelling to transmit only your voice. The headset itself has normal noise-cancelling, too, for better isolation of your sound. Again, how impressive that ends up being will come down to my testing when I'm able to do it.

It's an impressive-looking headset that I look forward to getting my hands on, since comfort and fit are such huge variables for this sort of accessory. Memory foam ear cushions should make that a positive experience, but you'd be surprised how variable even that sort of earcup can be.

The Quantum 950X isn't the only new headset JBL's announcing, either, with the $200 Quantum 650X and $80 Quantum 250 also arriving in April and March, respectively. The first is a mid-range wireless option that drops the noise-cancelling and swappable batteries, while the second is a wired budget option.

LG will be refreshing its gaming monitor lineup in 2026 with an all-new technology and branding.

The new UltraGear evo monitors will be first shown at CES 2026 in early January and will adopt what the company calls the "world's first" 5K AI upscaling technology. This will appear in models using OLED and Mini-LED tech, and those with ultrawide form factors.

LG already has a range of 5K2K monitors available today, but the new models will improve super high-resolution visuals with on-board picture processing powered by AI. That means your GPU won't have to do all the hard work – extra clarity and precision will be provided by the monitor itself.

The range will include three new flagship models – the 39GX950B OLED, 27GM950B Mini-LED, and the 52-inch 5K2K 52G930B, which is claimed to be the "world's largest" with that resolution. It also features a 240Hz refresh rate.

A new era for LG monitors

As its name suggests, the LG UltraGear evo 39GX950B features a 39-inch OLED display, which has the new 5K AI upscaling tech as standard. The technology analyses and enhances content in real time, while additional AI skills also improve audio performance.

The curved monitor uses LG's RGB Tandem technology, promising greater colour accuracy and improved brightness, while the 21:9 screen supports 165Hz at 5K2K and up to 330Hz for WFHD.

LG's new Mini-LED model has a 27-inch display and also supports 5K AI upscaling. It features 2,304 local dimming zones to ensure there's minimal light bleed and deep, involving black levels. That's matched with the extreme brightness the technology is renowned for.

It too can switch between 165Hz and 330Hz depending on the resolution.

All three monitors will be on display on the LG stand at CES 2026. T3 will be at the show in Las Vegas all week from 6 January on to bring you our thoughts.

While it does feel like consoles are more expensive than ever, and gaming is pretty hard to do on a shoestring, it's thankfully still the case that most new consoles still come with an included controller, whether it's the PS5's excellent DualSense pad or the Switch 2's detachable Joy Cons.

Still, plenty of gamers know the sensation of wishing you had an extra couple of buttons, or clickier triggers, or whatever else when you're in the heat of an online match. If someone you know falls in that bucket, then giving them a pro controller for Christmas could make you just about their favourite person ever.

I've tested a whole heap of pro controllers down the years, and use one basically every day – so I've gathered three of the best current options for you to consider, right here.

T3's Top 3

So, which is best?

Well, this is where things get a little tight. After all, I've not picked out any duds for you – any of these three controllers would make a great addition to your gaming setup, and each has its strengths.

That said, I am ultimately happy to rank them, and I think the 8BitDo Pro 3 does come up in a very respectable third place. It's the best value, and there's no real doubting that. However, it's not quite as guaranteed to work with the device you want, since it doesn't have PS5 support, making it more of a Switch 2 accessory.

In second place, regrettably, I'm going to put my daily driver, the Scuf Reflex Pro. I think it can be the best controller on the market, if you tune it exactly as you want, but it lacks some of the flexibility of the DualSense Edge and is more expensive. This is for the true enthusiasts who want a custom controller that's perfect for them.

In the top spot, therefore, I think the DualSense Edge does take it. It's the best value despite a high price tag, has the features you'd want, and integrates phenomenally with a PS5, letting you make profiles on a per-game basis. That said, it isn't quite as stellar for other devices, for obvious reasons.

Microsoft's monthly update for Xbox isn't as much for Xbox console owners in December – not in the traditional sense, anyway.

Indeed, the biggest beneficiaries of the latest feature update are actually those with Windows 11 PCs, a ROG Xbox Ally or Xbox Ally X handheld. That's because it adds a rather neat feature to the official Xbox Wireless Headset that makes playing with those devices a nicer experience.

As announced by Microsoft yesterday, the Xbox Wireless Headset has been updated with Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) support. This means that it offers lower latency when used with Bluetooth LE-enabled devices, while battery life is improved through lower power consumption thanks to the update.

You also get super wideband stereo voice support, for clearer audio when speaking to other gamers. And shared audio has been added so you can broadcast the game audio to multiple Bluetooth devices simultaneously.

To update your Xbox Wireless Headset, you will need to link it to your console or Windows 11 device and run the Xbox Accessories app. The latest firmware should be available there. Note though, you will need the latest headset model, as released at the tail end of last year.

New Xbox app update too

Microsoft has also announced an update for its Xbox mobile app, with a new Store tab to help you find and purchase games more quickly.

On iOS and Android, this means you can find your game, wishlist it and even purchase it from the app itself. You can also set the game to download to your assigned Xbox console too.

This applies to add-ons as well, so you can purchase DLC to be available when you next turn on your machine.

Sadly, Xbox Cloud Gaming is not accessible through the Xbox mobile app (which is a shame), but you can head to xbox.com/play in Edge or Chrome to kick off your cloud games instead.

If you're looking for a new gaming chair, chances are you're already familiar with Secretlab. The brand's now iconic Titan Evo chair has topped our guide to the best of the best for years, and is something of a standard for gamers of all shapes and sizes.

Every now and then, we also get a limited edition version, where the brand collaborates with another brand. We've seen them link up with Lamborghini, for example, on a limited edition chair.

Now, the brand has done something similar with McLaren. That comes just days after the culmination of the Formula One season, which saw the brand's team romp to victory in the Constructor's Championship, while drive Lando Norris took home his first ever Driver's Championship.

This new limited edition chair doesn't actually have anything to do with the Formula One team, though. Instead, it pays homage to the evolution of the the brand's carbon fibre chassis technology, which has been evolving for over 30 years.

In particular, the new seat is inspired by the new McLaren W1, with a carbon fibre topshell on the rear of the body. The model also makes use of a Dinamica microsuede finish, which is designed to be reminiscent of the interiors of the brand's cars.

The new range is limited to just 100 pieces, which is likely to mean they'll sell out fast. Each of the pieces features a numbered plaque on the carbon panel at the top of the rear of the body.

The model is officially dropping on the 15th of December at 4pm GMT (8am PST), which gives wannabe owners just under a week to prepare for the buying frenzy. There's no word on pricing at this point, though we'd expect it to sit firmly in line with other high end collaborations with premium models.

Expect it to be somewhere in the £700-800 region, then (approx. €858 / US$1,000 / AU$1,500).

Sim racing is booming, with more and more people getting into properly authentic racing games that let them truly pit their driving skills against others online, or AI racers that can be just as hard to beat. The downside for many people, though, is that it can be a huge pain to set up a sim system at home, with pedals and a wheel.

Playseat's been making that easier for a little while, with setups that can be folded down (like a buggy) to become way smaller for storage, but its new setup is probably the sleekest and most attractive option I've seen yet.

The Playseat Challenge DD F1 Edition will go on sale in January 2026, for £349 / €399 / $399, and marks a subtle but important change compared to the standard Challenge DD, shifting your sitting position to be exactly reflective of real-life F1 racing. That means you can load up your Formula 1 racing sim of choice (which is probably F1 25), hook everything up and truly get into the game.

Plus, of course, you still get that folding system to make it much easier to store, ensuring you don't need to have a permanent sim racing room for it to make any sense at all.

This doesn't mean you'll have the same home setup that someone like Max Verstappen can turn to when he needs to practice a track, but it's close enough at a relatively reasonable cost that it's hard to be too down on it.

Plus, to be honest, the white-and-red livery that the seat's been given is really attractive, and again makes it one of the nicest-looking options that Playseat's made.

Of course, £350 is still a big chunk to spend on a racing seat like this, so there's no doubt that this remains a niche product. With high-end racing getting so popular, though, largely thanks to racers like Verstappen being open about how useful it is, this could end up being a really well-liked new option.