Samsung has only just revealed its latest folding phones – they're so new they aren’t even on sale yet – but that hasn’t stopped the rumours for its next big devices.

Usually rumours bring good news, whether it’s the leak of a fresh design or a camera upgrade, but the latest speculation surrounding the Galaxy S27 Ultra suggests this flagship phone could see a downgrade instead.

Camera changes incoming for the Galaxy S27 Ultra

According to ETNews (via 9to5Google), the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra could ditch the 3x telephoto camera lens, reducing it to just three lenses on the rear. This would be a first for the Ultra.

The report claims the 50-megapixel 5x telephoto lens would remain, as would the 200-megapixel main camera and 50-megapixel ultrawide camera, but the 3x telephoto could be no more in order to reduce manufacturing costs.

The Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra isn’t due to launch until early 2027, so there is still time for things to change, and there will no doubt be more leaks that appear between now and then. But for now, you may want to grab a Galaxy S26 Ultra if you really want that telephoto.

What else is new?

The other devices that are rumoured to launch alongside the Galaxy S27 Ultra include the Galaxy S27 and Galaxy S27+, as you would expect, as well as the Galaxy S27 Pro.

The Pro model is rumoured to have a 200-megapixel main camera and 50-megapixel ultrawide camera, like the Galaxy S27 Ultra, but it is claimed it will opt for a 10-megapixel 3x telephoto lens – the one that’s being ditched on the Ultra.

Meanwhile, the standard Galaxy S27 and Galaxy S27+ are said to come with a 50-megapixel main camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera.

As mentioned, we are several months away from the release of these devices, so plenty could change. At the moment it’s looking like some interesting changes are coming.

Nothing has been teasing a new CMF product for over a week and now we know exactly what it is. The CMF brand has its own open-ear earbuds – Clip Pro.

Supporting Hi-Res Audio and with an ergonomic 3-point clip design to fit around your lobe, the CMF Clip Pro buds further the trend of open-ear audio that seems popular right now.

They are designed to provide a solid, rounded audio experience but without fully drowning out external noise. That means they especially suit runners and wearers who want to move around a city while remaining aware of their surroundings.

Each ear contains a custom-tuned 10.8mm dynamic driver, with CMF's own Ultra Bass technology that enhances lower frequencies.

The buds support LDAC, AAC and SBC playback, while the lack of active noise cancellation has the added benefit of up to 10 hours battery life in the buds. This extends to 32.5 hours with the included charging case.

A 10-minute fast charge will provide up to four hours of listening time, so they'll pretty much always be ready for you.

The charging case can also be used to manage playback and change volume remotely, as well as answer calls, with a smart dial on the lid. This matches other CMF product design.

Bluetooth 5.4 is on board, along with a low latency mode so they're suitable for gaming too. IP54 protection means they're also sweat and rain resistant.

Nothing has, of course, already got a pair of open-ear buds in its lineup – the Ear (open) – but the CMF pair are more compact and come in at a reduced price point.

You'll be able to order the CMF Clip Pro buds for £79 / $99 in the UK, US and Japan from 15 August in dark grey, light grey and coral colourways. They'll also be available in other regions across Europe and the rest of the world from 15 September.

I have been playing FIFA / EA Sports FC games since their inception in 1993 and recently returned to Ultimate Team in FC 26 to see out the remaining seasons before the next game arrives. But, I'll be honest, while my UT squad is packed with 98 and 99 rated players, including evolutions I've built myself, I've not really been enjoying it.

That's because the gameplay has a number of issues that have resulted in opponents exploiting some poor mechanics, leading to the same tactics being employed time-after-time. There's little variety, with one of three goal types being scored over and again. And other players seem to be happy with that.

The number one issue is AI defending, which seemingly allows counter attacking teams to just run through your backline at will – unless you also adopt similar "rat" tactics. And believe you me, I'd rather spoon out my eyes with a Yop bottle that sit through match after match of counter attack after counter attack.

I try to keep my own team interesting and fluid, with a variety of attack styles and movements, but 70-80% of the time I'll just face the same scenario. And while I can beat them often, it's never easy and mostly unrewarding.

It's not other players' faults necessarily, they've found a cheat code of sorts and are just spamming it to earn better rewards. But boy is it frustrating.

Imagine my joy therefore when I learned that EA Sports FC 27 is to directly address this issue. Indeed, this one simple change would be enough for me to give the game more of my time (and my money) this coming season. However, there are others besides.

So here are my top five features coming with EA Sports FC 27 that could turn the tide for me. And yes, I have been playing the preview build.

1. Defending

To combat the counter attack and, perhaps more importantly, prevent those players from defending with just one controlled player across the lines of defence and midfield, manual defending is being overhauled.

While AI defending will still be a thing in FC 27, you will have much more control over your defensive players. You will be rewarded for taking control yourself.

For example, an AI defender will have shorter reach for interceptions than a manually controlled one, regardless of playstyles. Manually controlled defenders will also have increased jockey speed, while the range of manually-triggered stand tackles will be higher too.

And teammate contain functionality has been tweaked. AI controlled teammates will maintain a greater distance when pressing, so you'll have to take manual control to press harder.

These will hopefully prevent players from camping in their own half, relying on teammate contain to win the ball from you in order to counter attack. It could be a literal gamechanger for me.

2. Tokens

Even tokens were a great addition to FC 26 when they arrived shortly before the World Cup and it's great to see they'll be adopted permanently in FC 27.

Rather than just giving you packs or coins for doing well in competitions and objectives, you also earn tokens that can be redeemed for rewards in a dedicated section of the store.

It also allows those who don't regularly get tier one rewards in UT Champions or Rivals to save up their tokens for bigger packs or players.

3. The Grounds

We're yet to get the full rundown on The Grounds (watch this space) but its seems to be a welcome evolution of Volta or the old FIFA Street games, if you're ancient like me.

It'll allow you to play 1v1 or just have a kickabout with your pals in a more fun, free-flowing format.

I've been a big fan of Rush over the last couple of games, and am hoping this makes as much of an impact.

4. SBCs

Let's face it, Squad Building Challenges are rewarding – especially if you find your club and storage rammed to the rafters with fodder. But the actual technical mechanics of filling in SBCs and redeeming them is often laborious.

The new Ultimate Team system aims to make things much more simple. It'll only show you eligible trade-ins, and you won't need to fill squads – just select the players you want to redeem to fill a points objective.

Hopefully this will save die-hard FUT players hours a week.

5. FUT Gallery

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure I need to see my team in a 3D collectors room environment, but hey, each to their own.

The good part about the FUT Gallery is that it promises additional rewards throughout the game, for collecting sets of players. And you don't even need to keep those players at your club.

I'm always up for rewards that don't cost my hard earned cash.

EA Sports FC 27 will be available from 25 September, with pre-orders getting access seven days early. It will available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC. There will also be versions for Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One, but they will not carry all of the features and functionality.

We're living through an era of price hikes right now, and gaming consoles are acting as some of the most obvious and visible examples of how the memory crisis is affecting consumer prices. While Xbox relentlessly raises the price of its own consoles, and PlayStation broadly keeps step, Nintendo has been taking things slightly more slowly.

It announced earlier this summer that it would be raising the price of the Switch 2, but it gave us all plenty of time to get ready by confirming that the price hikes would only come into force on 1 September.

In case you weren't concentrating, though, we're now in early August, which means you don't have all that much longer to grab a Switch 2 for its launch price. In fact, here in the UK you can even get a bit off the regular price – Amazon has it at 3% off, which isn't nothing.

The real point here is that anyone thinking about buying a Switch 2 would almost certainly be well advised to do so now, or at least before this month is out. I'm normally a big fan of advising people to wait until their budget allows for a splurge like this, but the fact is that I don't think it's ever going to be this price again.

In the US, we know that the console will go from $449.99 to $499.99, while Europe will see it go from €469.99 to €499.99. We actually don't yet have a confirmed new price for the UK, but you can fairly reasonably conclude that it'll go up by at least £30 and possibly as much as £50.

The real worry, though, is that this won't be the final price. Nintendo announced these changes a few months ago, in May. Even since then, the price of memory has continued to go up, and giants like Xbox have indicated that every indication is that we can expect it to continue rising through all of 2027.

That means the new price of the Switch 2 might realistically only hold for a number of months before it, too, has to be revised upwards to account for the new cost of bulk memory orders for Nintendo.

Sure, we might also get a Switch 2 OLED at some point, but that console is likely to be even pricier still, thanks to a fancier display, and it all starts to add up to a really grim scene eventually.

I love the Switch 2, and its flexibility is why it's my default console for massive RPGs that I can play over a series of weeks, and I want as many people as possible to experience what it has to offer. Right now, I think that means buying it sooner rather than later, though.

Google will officially unveil its new Pixel 11 phone family and several other devices on 12 August at a Made by Google event, but let's face it, there'll be nothing left to unveil by then.

Not only have we now got a whole swathe of leaked images and information about pretty much everything that'll launch, Google itself is even getting in on the act. It has released a video teaser of the Pixel 11 Pro Fold that reveals the new foldable.

In it, you can see the new pill-shaped camera unit on the rear and little else, to be honest. But it looks extremely clean and could be a straight-forward, folding option for those who aren't ready to adopt Samsung's new Z Fold 8 form factor (or the forthcoming iPhone Ultra).

On top of this, serial online leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks) recently posted a series of what looks to be official marketing images of the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. Made available on his new Leakermail Substack, they reveal more about the phone.

Over the last few days, he has also released leaked images of the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, and Pixel 11 Pro XL – the four phones expected to launch on 12 August.

And there are a couple of added extras too – of the Google Pixel Watch 5 and what looks like green versions of the Pixel Buds Pro 2, to match the new green colourway of the 11 Pro Fold.

Also expected to make an appearance during the Made by Google even next week is at least one Googlebook. The new laptop range will replace Chromebook and was announced just prior to Google I/O in May.

We've recently seen a leak of Googlebook devices from Lenovo, which suggests that something will be shown soon – the Made by Google event seems the perfect place.

Back to the phones though and as well as the official teaser, it is understood that pre-orders will open either during or immediately after the event.

Both Google and Best Buy in the US have countdown clocks, with Best Buy's stating that pre-orders start on 12 August. There's every reason to believe that will be the case in the UK and Europe too, maybe globally.

If you're looking for a new laptop, there's not only a huge amount of choice out there, but there are several things you should consider before you make your decision too. You'll first want to decide what operating system will work best for you. If you have Apple devices – like an iPhone or an iPad – consider choosing an option from our Best MacBook guide for a seamless experience across your devices.

If you're after a clutter-free and cheaper laptop, then selecting one of the best Chromebooks will serve you well and is an ideal pick for students. If Windows is more your vibe, however, then now is a great time to buy one of the best laptops from our curated list – and with various manufacturers offering different options, such as on-device AI and better battery life thanks to a Snapdragon X chipset, there's more choice than ever before.

It isn't just the platform – Apple silicon in MacBooks; Qualcomm, Intel, AMD options for Windows – that you'll want to think about when you invest in a new laptop, though. There are many things that can make a big difference in use. To help, we've picked our top five essential features and upgrades to consider before you press that 'buy' button, with best-matched picks for those considerations.

An AI future

Current-gen Windows laptops pretty much all now come with Microsoft's AI tool, called Co-Pilot+, baked in. On devices like the Asus Zenbook A16 (2026), which runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon Elite chipset, there is a Co-Pilot button built into the keyboard, offering quick and easy access to the AI tool and its capabilities.

These AI features include things like turning a sketch into an image, drafting a proposal from meeting notes and live translations, thus making everyday tasks quicker and easier. You can also pay extra for Co-Pilot+ Pro, which will integrate fully into the Office apps, but even opting for a Windows PC with the standard Co-Pilot is worth considering.

Right now the AI feature set of these laptops is at the beginning of its life, meaning it should progress and improve with more features in the future. Snapdragon Elite does bring better battery life, and its emulation software also means it's fully compatible with Windows apps.

Battery life

Battery life is arguably the most important feature to consider before buying a laptop. You could have the most powerful laptop out there – but if you're always looking for a charger, that's simply going to annoy you and prevent you from getting work done.

The latest Windows AI PCs – as they are typically being referred to – certainly up the battery life compared to older Windows PCs, but MacBooks have been offering great battery life for years now, too. The MacBook Air, in particular, delivers great battery life, with well over a standard working day of use.

But if you're not into Apple's operating system, then there are plenty of choices to consider: we've reviewed the Dell XPS 14, for example, which netted an epic 5-star score for delivering well across the board – but being particularly brilliant when it comes to longevity per charge.

Display quality

There's yet another reason to want the Surface Pro 11th Edition too: its display! If you want a laptop that will not only be lovely to work on, but one that's great for watching content on too, an OLED display really helps deliver the goods.

Some laptops come with an OLED screen by default – like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x – whereas others, like the Dell XPS 14 (2026), feature an OLED screen as an option. The panel type, which stands for 'organic light-emitting diode', means that each pixel emits its own light source, for perfect backlighting and high-contrast visuals with inky blacks and punchy whites.

You of course pay extra cash for an OLED panel on the XPS 14, but the vibrant and punchy colours, coupled with truly black blacks and white whites, make for a great viewing experience. It's worth the extra cash, and it'll last you for years to come too.

Mobile connectivity

Not all laptops have the option of connectivity beyond Wi-Fi, but if you think that having a connection when you're on the move might be helpful, you could consider a tablet over a laptop.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 – what we would call a 2-in-1 – has the option of 5G connectivity, as do the Apple iPad Air and Apple iPad Pro. You'll need to buy a SIM with a relevant data plan, of course, but if you're not desk-bound all the time, then it's worth its weight in gold.

Opting to upgrade to a device with 5G connectivity means you won't be reliant on Wi-Fi, allowing you to work on trains and in cafes and restaurants, or wherever else you fancy that has mobile signal. Some workplaces also restrict untrusted Wi-Fi networks, with dedicated mobile data connectivity a valuable workaround – especially if your college, university or work has such a restriction.

Lightweight picks

Not all laptops are created equal. Some are much slimmer and lighter than others, while others prioritise fans and cooling elements to offer increased endurance for things like gaming.

If you're planning on carrying a laptop around with you in a backpack or bag, it's worth considering weight and picking one of the best lightweight laptops – one that's not too heavy, whilst still offering good performance. For a 13-inch laptop, anything around 1kg (2.2lbs) is considered very lightweight.

The MacBook Air is nice and light (1.25kgs/2.7lbs), as is the Galaxy Book 4 Edge (1.16kg/2.5lbs), and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (1.28kgs/2.8lbs). Any of these choices will do your back a favour, that's for sure, especially if you've got a long walk to work or college.

Sony has long been a proponent of LED backlight, with its flagship TV model often using some variation of the tech rather than the ever-popular OLED.

It's perhaps ironic that one of the best OLED TVs is the Bravia 8 II, a model that's flanked by two other non-OLED: the Bravia 7 II below it and this, the Bravia 9 II, at the top. Both of these are what Sony calls 'True RGB' TVs.

We've seen Sony's RGB tech on a number of occasions, but with the Bravia 7 II and the Bravia 9 II, it finally brings the next-gen TV tech to market. Meaning you can, finally, actually buy one.

While the message here is about surpassing OLED, the more time I spend with RGB backlight TVs, the more I see it more as the logical evolution of Mini-LED. It carries many of Mini-LED's advantages, while hanging onto some of its disadvantages.

At its core, the Bravia 9 II is a flagship Sony TV and that shines in pretty much everything that it does – especially if brightness and colour are your biggest asks. It might not seal the deal over OLED for everyone, though.

Price & Availability

The Sony Bravia 9 II was announced on in May 2026. It's widely available from retailers, but as a flagship model, it comes at a premium price.

It's available in 65-, 75-, 85- and 115-inch sizes. If you want something smaller, you'll have to get the Sony Bravia 7 II (which is less bright).

The 65-inch model is £3499 in the UK, so it's a full £500 more expensive than the LG OLED G6 – and that aligns with where Sony sees this television.

It's also a bump over the price of the previous Bravia 9, so there's no escaping the fact that this is an expensive TV (at least at launch – time may see discounts applied).

Sony Bravia 9 II vs Bravia 9: What's new?

Comparing the Bravia 9 II to the previous Bravia 9 might not be quite fair: the Bravia 9 was announced in 2024 and its design reflects a previous generation of Sony TVs.

The Bravia 9 II has a central stand instead of feet at the far ends of the screen, making it a lot easier to accommodate. It also increases audio output.

So physically there's a design difference, but the real difference lies in what powers the display. Moving from traditional Mini-LED, the Bravia 9 II introduces an RGB backlighting system, meaning it's much more capable when it comes to generating vibrant colours.

This is combined with the RGB Backlight Master Drive Pro, while also using a new contrast-boosting system. Peak brightness on the Bravia 9 was somewhere around 3000 nits, but the Bravia 9 II aims to be closer to Sony's reference monitor, which is calibrated to 4000 nits. So it's brighter by quite a margin.

The Bravia 9 II also comes with an anti-reflective display, which is a new technology for Sony.

In reality, these two TVs are a world apart. They might share the same fundamental name, but the core technology differs by a dramatic degree.

Design & Setup

The good news is that Sony's new Mirage stand is a very welcome addition, moving support into the centre of the screen rather than towards the edges that we saw from the previous generation.

That makes it a lot easier if you want to place the TV on a piece of furniture – the 65-inch model is 145cm wide, but now you don't need a huge surface to sit it on, as it can protrude over the edges.

The Mirage stand earns its name thanks to the clever refractive panel that slots between the legs. This plastic panel allows light through, but it obscures anything that's behind it. That basically means that cables can be hidden, but visually there's no huge block under the TV – it's a nice move to keep things tidy.

If you're interested in RGB TVs then there's something you need to know: this tech results in hefty TVs. While premium OLED models are wafer thin, RGB TVs are hench.

Sony has used the extra bulk of this TV to pack in a more accommodating sound system, but the 65-inch model I reviewed is definitely a two-handed lift.

There are two remotes in the box: one with a button-heavy version that's been established for many years; and a lighter remote made from recycled plastics, offering USB-C charging, which strips down the buttons – and which I found served me well during testing.

Sony's TV sits on the Google TV platform and the setup process is rather long, walking through a number of steps that invite you to connect devices, as well as introducing you to My Cinema, which is, in my opinion, the core of Sony's picture modes.

Sadly, Google TV doesn't support Freely, so you'll be invited to connect an aerial or TV box, but at least Google TV remembers your passwords if they're saved in Google – so it's quick to sign into your favourite streaming services.

Speaking of connections, Sony hasn't made a huge change from its previous arrangement with this TV: only two of the four HDMI ports support the full bandwidth HDMI 2.1.

That's a pain for anyone connecting a soundbar and multiple games consoles. This is a 120Hz display, so again, there's a bit of a feeling that you're not getting a huge amount of futureproofing.

Picture Quality

Cutting to the chase, the Sony Bravia 9 II offers exceptional picture quality.

There are two sides to that: firstly, Sony continues to offer exceptional processing that's balanced, aiming to deliver cinematic authenticity, while widening the colour volume over Mini-LED TVs. The RGB tech can deliver huge brightness and vibrancy, the fact that Sony keeps that in balance is a credit to the brand's pursuit of accuracy.

I've previously criticised Sony's home screen arrangement, because it tends to be a little dull when navigating. This seems a deliberate choice compared to something like the Hisense UR8S (that I was testing at the same time) where the home screen is almost painfully vivid.

Of course, once you dive into high-quality content, the screen doesn't fail to impress. Sony is inherently deliberate with its offering: there's no HDR10+ and there's no Filmmaker Mode, which is usually what TVs recommend for the "most accurate" presentation, as the director intended.

Instead, Sony offers Calibrated Modes for Netflix and Amazon Prime, and these modes will overrule Dolby Vision, which is usually upheld as the gold standard for HDR (high dynamic range) content. You can turn off those calibrated modes for better results – I find them a little dark.

My Cinema is a suite of picture modes that govern the picture settings across the TV. It's slightly confusing that My Cinema only applies to "movie" content, but apps and broadcast TV isn't classed as movie content, it counts as "video/images" instead. This would mean that My Cinema wouldn't apply to it.

You're free to manually change the content type in the settings, which is ultimately what I did. I had everything classed as "movie" and I used My Cinema for the lot. Sure, it's confusing, but I found that "My Cinema Daytime" struck the best balance overall for everything I watched.

Sony's processing makes a huge difference. Watching Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and there are vibrant reds showing off the potency of RGB's ability, while skin tones remain natural without getting flushed. It's these fine points of HDR brilliance that are presented without blowing out the rest of the content. And that's what makes this TV and its underlying technology great.

But RGB isn't a magic bullet, as there are areas where the delivery looks a little strange – and that includes sport. I watched some of the World Cup in UHD via BBC iPlayer and found a strange combination of a slightly muted picture, but with colours that popped off the screen. That saw the orange of the referee's shirt looking almost neon, with some really vibrant adverts around the pitch, but the grass looking dull.

The 65-inch Bravia 9 II is thought to have 1530 dimming zones and that's naturally a long way from the 8 million that a rival 4K OLED would offer. But The Batman still looked dark and contrasty, with the Sony doing a great job and avoiding unnecessary brightening of darker scenes.

There's occasional blooming, but you have to look for it. It gets more obvious when you're not sitting head-on – white Netflix programme naming on a black background, for example. It's here that this LED tech shows its limitations compared to OLED.

Most of the time you also won't run into the Bravia 9 II's potential. That huge peak brightness sits in the background, betting against a future where content makes greater demands on TV screens than OLED currently offers.

If you want to see how bright and vibrant this TV can be, don't stop at Standard, jump all the way to Vivid and you'll find it's almost painfully bright. If you do end up using Standard, at least change the motion processing – as it's prone to the soap opera effect, while other modes handle motion with much more assurance.

This all sets the stage for excellent bright room performance, boosted by Sony's new glare-free screen. It's taken a leaf out of Samsung's book here, killing reflections with skill, making this a great TV for a sun-filled room, but I think that Sony's display looks blacker than Samsung's (I compared it to the S99H), so there's real rivalry here.

Sound Quality

Sony has a reputation for great sound on TVs – and that continues into the Bravia 9 II. This TV has an 80W speaker system that's made up of eight speakers. Rather than firing down from the bottom of the screen, which is common, these are placed at eye-level, around two-thirds of the way up the screen.

The speakers are divided into two woofers in the rear of the screen, left and right speakers, left and right sound-positioning tweeters, and upfiring beam tweeters. On first setup you'll be invited to tune the TV to the room with a quick test.

The layout of these speakers is designed to support immersive audio, with support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. It makes a noticeable difference. This is a great-sounding TV, although I suspect that those spending upwards of a few grand on a new screen will want a bigger soundstage too.

It's easy to recommend pairing this TV with one of the best soundbars, with Sony's Bravia Theatre Trio being an obvious suggestion, with the advantage of having access to Sony's advanced tech drawing the TV and sound system closer together.

Sony Bravia 9 II review: Verdict

Sony's new flagship TV offers stunning performance out of the box, bringing its first RGB backlight technology to market, yet not veering from the Hollywood accuracy that it's known for.

The Bravia 9 II possesses huge brightness potential, but it's used with restraint so that it has real impact when it matters. With Sony's processing ensuring this RGB technology keeps everything in check, it drives forward the case for flagship LED-based TVs.

Is this an OLED killer? Not yet. There's still blooming when viewing off-axis. But Sony's careful handling of dark scenes displays movies the way they're supposed to look, while its new anti-reflective finish results in a screen that often looks darker than Samsung's equivalent sets.

Overall, the Bravia 9 II is a great TV for brighter rooms – and a great showcase for RGB tech. However, there's no escaping that this is an expensive alternative to everything that OLED offers.

Also Consider

The Samsung S99H is a hugely bright QD-OLED model that's stunning in its delivery, while not delivering quite the accuracy out of the box that Sony strives for. But with a matte display and huge brightness, Samsung similarly offers a great bright-room experience for a little less cash.

The LG OLED G6 is one of the finest OLED models you can buy, cheaper than the Sony, but rivalling its position as a champion for accuracy. The glossy finish to the display retains the brilliant blacks that OLED is known for, better for movie nights in controlled rooms, while also offering a stunningly slim design.

Just prior to its annual developer conference in May, Google effectively announced the death of the Chromebook and gave us a glimpse of what's to take its place.

Googlebook is coming with an all-new operating system and deep Gemini integration, and we'll see models from many of the manufacturers that have partnered with the tech giant in the past. Google even teased a first-party device.

However, now we have an even better idea of what the average Googlebook could look like – and it's not a million miles away from its predecessors.

Both Android Headlines and Digital Citizen claim to have got their hands on marketing images of a Lenovo Googlebook. The former includes a 2-in-1 tablet, too, alongside a dedicated mouse.

The Googlebook looks similar to former Lenovo Chromebook models, although there's one specific addition that draws our attention.

On the keyboard, between the function and alt keys is a "G" key in Google's font. This, it is said, is a Gemini key to bring up the AI assistant at a single tap.

The other interesting element can be found on the lid, with what looks to be a light bar. This is much like the LED "glow light" seen on the teaser version shared in May.

The images posted by Android Headlines also show a tablet 2-in-1 with a similar "glow light" next to the camera lens on the rear. It seemingly comes with a stylus and keyboard case.

The new "AI mouse" will reportedly also include a "glow light" strip and a dedicated AI button to bring up the assistant. It will be 59g, says Android Headlines.

According to Digital Citizen, the Lenovo Googlebook will support several connections and ports, including a couple of USB-C inputs/outputs and a 3.5mm headphone jack. There also seems to be a card slot and a full fat USB.

The timing of this leak suggests we'll see the launch of several Googlebook models soon, which will run on Google's new, currently unnamed OS. We expect to hear more during the 12 August Made by Google launch event.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is a little beast – and with a price rise coming at the start of September, right now it remains a total steal compared to any new PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S console you could care to buy. If you're a big fan of RPGs, you might not realise that the Switch 2 has almost immediately become a powerhouse for the genre.

Thanks to total backwards-compatibility with original Switch software, it already has hundreds of games to explore, but this summer has also been absolutely massive for native Switch 2 RPGs. Some are ports, and some are new launches, but all of them play more smoothly and responsively on the newer hardware.

So, if you're looking to pick up a massive game that offers up dozens and dozens of hours of playtime, the Switch 2 is a perfect console at the moment. I've brought together this list of five huge RPGs that launched this summer, all of which I've played, to give me the experience to vouch for them. Each one includes a trailer so you can get a taste of the game, but also an indication of how many hours it might take to complete, based on stats from Howlongtobeat, one of my favourite gaming resources.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

• How long to beat: 96 hours

The second mainline Xenoblade Chronicles game just got its long-awaited Switch 2 upgrade (with the third one arriving later this year), and it makes a simply massive difference to how it looks. This gargantuan game always had really excellent art direction (if you're on board with its more anime-inflected character designs), but never had the sharpness to really come across well on Switch 1.

Now that's finally fixed, and the game that many people feel has the best version of Xenoblade's real-time combat ever can finally be enjoyed without squinting to see shimmering distant objects or environmental details. Its story, meanwhile, is slightly more of an acquired taste.

I'm not saying it's a pure positive that the game is so massive, either, but with most people taking dozens upon dozens of hours to beat the game and a chunk of its side content, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 undoubtedly offers a massive amount of value.

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster

• How long to beat: 78 hours

I didn't play many Final Fantasy games growing up, thanks to the consoles I owned, but I've been slowly putting that right in my adulthood, thanks in no small part to ports and remasters. Final Fantasy X came out all the way back in 2001, staggeringly, but this re-release has itself now been ported many times.

It was available on Switch 1 and perfectly serviceable, but this new Switch 2 version is a marked improvement when it comes to clarity. The biggest upgrade, really, is in the quality of character models, which are much sharper, but because the foundations of this game are so old, don't expect a total remaster.

One great tweak compared to the previous version is the addition of Turbo mode, letting you massively speed up the game so that you can grind without as much of a time sacrifice. Given there are two games to enjoy here, that's a boon to let you experience their excellent stories a bit more briskly.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader

• How long to beat: 107 hours

One of the Switch 2's secret weapons is its mouse mode, letting you use one of your Joy-Cons as a mouse on any surface. Fewer games support it than I'd like, but it's always nice when they do, and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a great example of how it could be huge for isometric RPGs.

Plenty of these have shown how controllers can work in the genre, but they're never quite as good as a mouse, and being able to use it in Rogue Trader is now a real pleasure after some patches to make it smoother and more performant. The game launched in a bad state last year, but Owlcat has finally got it more stable recently, making this the first point when I'd actually recommend it.

The game's huge, like every Owlcat RPG I've sampled, and I don't know if I'll ever have time to actually complete it, but this dark and humorous story set in the grim future is a must-try if you like the world of 40K and enjoy tactical battles.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger

• How long to beat: 60 hours

While you wait for Pokémon Winds and Waves, you might have an itch for more monster-collecting action, and the franchise's long-time rival Digimon is actually well-positioned right now. This game is very different to a Pokémon title, but it shares the sense of fun when you discover new monsters and evolve them into even more fun and fantastic shapes.

With a mystery story at its heart that involves a heaped serving of both time travel and cyberspace, the storytelling in Time Stranger is far more grown-up and mature than most Pokémon fare, and its mechanics have more in common with a Persona game. You'll pursue questlines and train up a massive roster of monsters, breeding and combining them to discover whole new genealogies.

The game looks lovely thanks to a Switch 2 version that has a smooth 60fps-targetting performance mode, and is a great pick if you want a family-friendly RPG that has loads of content to get through.

Xenoblade Chronicles – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

• How long to beat: 77 hours

We already tackled the second game in the series at the top of this piece, but given it only came out a couple of months ago, it feels fair to also include the first Xenoblade Chronicles here. This game launched what's now a huge franchise for Nintendo, and it's hard to argue that it's ever looked better than it now does on Switch 2.

I played the whole game through when it came out, and while I didn't quite get as high as the 77-hour average painted by Howlongtobeat, I wasn't far off. This is a massive RPG that tells a sprawling story about the enduring power of bitterness, and the restorative potential of reconciliation.

Its world is really fun to explore, and the core conceit of continents that are actually themselves giant monsters doesn't really get old. If you want to see the roots of a modern-day mega-franchise, this is a great place to start on your Switch 2.

There was a lot of excitement when Valve finally announced availability for its Steam Machine, but not so much when it quoted the price. While small, sexy and sleek, the PC console is frankly too expensive for what you get. It hasn't affected sales, but many have already proved you can buy or build more powerful systems for less.

Now it looks set to do the same with its Steam Frame. According to Notebook Check, "Valve insider" Tyler McViker suggests that the imminent VR headset could cost a mighty $1,100 or more. Up to $1,500, in fact.

That would put the un-tethered headset more in the Samsung Galaxy XR category than the Meta Quest 3 or Quest 3S – even though it's more a competitor to Meta.

Valve's headset is more powerful than a Quest equivalent, running on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and 16GB of RAM, but the concept is similar. It is more a virtual reality device than augmented, and is primarily designed for gaming.

As with the Quest 3S, AR passthrough is on board but in monochrome. It also has a display with each-eye pixel resolutions that are very close.

You do get Wi-Fi 7 connectivity and Bluetooth 5.4, plus speakers for each ear, but consider that you can score a Meta Quest 3S for under £300 these days, and it's a hard sell on paper.

Of course, we haven't seen the Steam Frame ourselves yet, so can't vouch for the quality. But it does seem to have suffered a similar fate to the Steam Machine – the rising costs of components have likely put it in a whole new price bracket than hoped.

Hopefully, we'll not have too long to wait to find out. Some rumours even suggest that Valve will launch its Steam Frame registration program today, 3 August.

The pricing will then start to make more sense, perhaps.

At the end of July, Apple rolled out a new subscription service to help you get your hands on the latest iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch. The catch is that, for now at least, it's a US-only affair.

Called Apple Upgrade, the scheme is essentially a device leasing plan. Rather than paying the full price upfront or spreading the cost through a traditional instalment plan, eligible customers pay a monthly fee to use a device, with the option to swap it for a newer model, buy it outright, or hand it back once the term is up.

The scheme is backed by buy-now-pay-later specialist Klarna and covers Apple's core hardware lineup. It's restricted to the latest models though, and not all of them are available (sorry MacBook Neo).

The iPhone and Apple Watch can be leased over 12 or 24 months, while Mac and iPad are available on 24- or 36-month terms. We assume that's because these devices are more expensive.

How much do devices cost on Apple Upgrade?

Entry pricing starts at $17.99 a month for iPhone, $11.99 for Apple Watch and iPad, and $24.99 for Mac. The exact amount depends on the model you choose and whether an old device is traded in to bring the cost down.

Those old devices can be an Apple device, as you would expect, but you can trade in an Android phone too.

Anyone signing up to Apple Upgrade will need to go through a soft credit check that Apple says won't affect your credit score. You should get approval within minutes, whether applying online or at a physical Apple Store, and there are a couple of perks available within the scheme. These include the ability to earn cashback through Apple Card if you use that for payment.

Notably, the launch spells the end of the road for the older iPhone Upgrade Program and iPhone Payments scheme in the US, both of which are being retired now that Apple Upgrade is live.

Which devices are included in the Apple Upgrade program?

Apple’s Upgrade program includes the latest Apple devices, including the iPhone 17 models, Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3. You can also use it with the MacBook Air (M5) and iPad Pro (M5).

The iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, Apple Watch SE, MacBook Neo, Mac mini, iPad (A16), and Studio Display are not currently available as part of the Apple Upgrade program.

Will Apple Upgrade launch in the UK?

Apple is yet to mention whether it will be bringing the Apple Upgrade leasing scheme to the UK or anywhere else outside the US. The official announcement doesn’t mention international availability, and there's no confirmed timeline for a wider rollout either. Sad times.

There's is some hope, however. Apple's AppleCare One protection bundle launched stateside first before reaching UK, France, Germany and Australia a year later, so hopefully the Apple Upgrade program could follow the same playbook.

For now, UK buyers wanting to spread the cost of a new Apple device will need to stick with existing options, such as 0 per cent finance deals through Apple's retail partners or standard carrier contracts. Apple itself offers the Flexible Finance Account option for now.

We’re a couple of weeks away from Google’s next event, which is set to reveal the next generation of Pixel phones and Pixel Watch, but it looks like there could be another device making its debut, too.

According to a report on 9to5Google, the tech giant might finally be adding a Bluetooth tracker to its portfolio, competing with the likes of the Apple AirTag and Samsung Galaxy Tag.

Until now, Google hasn’t offered its own tracker despite being responsible for the Find Hub network on Android. It works with a number of third-party trackers, including Samsung and Chipolo, but this would be its first dedicated hardware.

What will the Pixel Tag offer?

The Google Pixel Tag has reportedly started to appear in online listings, featuring the model number GA12506. It’s claimed it will come in a “Fog Light” colour, and 9to5Google has managed to obtain an image of the tracker too.

Based on the image, the Pixel Tag will be oblong in shape, similar to the Samsung Galaxy Tag. However, it looks like it doesn’t have a built-in keyhole as Samsung’s model does. That might suggest you will need to buy separate accessories, as you do with the AirTag, to attach it to your keys.

There’s no information on whether the Google Pixel Tag will have a replaceable or rechargeable battery either, nor is it known whether it will use Ultra-Wide Band technology like the Apple AirTag and Samsung Galaxy Tag. Still, one of the online listings picked up by 9to5Google does offer a marketing description to provide some extra detail:

“The Google Pixel Tag smart tracker helps you quickly and reliably locate your lost items using the secure 'Find My Device' network," it says.

"Never waste time searching for your keys, wallet or luggage again."

The listing goes on to describe the Google Pixel Tag as a "compact, lightweight and durable smart tracker that attaches discreetly to your most important items".

There's also a loudspeaker inside, to alert you to its whereabouts when lost.

As this is the first time the Google Pixel Tag has appeared in leaks, it’s not clear whether it will be announced alongside the Pixel 11 phones or released at a later date. With that launch happening on 12 August, though, at least it’s not too long to wait to find out.

It is no exaggeration to suggest something's gone wrong with gaming. At least when it comes to consoles.

The ongoing RAM crisis has proved disastrous for the industry as a whole and console gaming more specifically. Not only have Valve's ambitious Steam Machine plans been wrecked by rising component costs, but now the full impact of Xbox's price rises are known – and they're not pretty. Especially for those in the UK and Europe.

After originally announcing the new US prices, which came into affect on Saturday 1 August, it seems Brit's are faced with even heavier hikes. The same with buyers in the EU.

A 1TB Xbox Series X with a disc drive now costs a staggering £669.99 / €799.99 – a rise of £170 / €200 respectively, in comparison with its launch price. For those without a calculator handy, that's around 30%.

Those in the US got off lighter, with less than a 25% rise.

Even the underpowered Xbox Series S – released six years ago to be a much more affordable route into "next-generation" gaming – has received a shocking markup. The standard 512GB version is now almost expensive as the Series X was at launch.

And the 1TB Xbox Series S is a mind-bending £519.99 / €599.99 / $599.99.

The new Xbox Series X and Series S prices (as of 1 August 2026)

• Xbox Series S (512GB): £429.99 / €499.99 / $499.99
• Xbox Series S (1TB): £519.99 / €599.99 / $599.99
• Xbox Series X (1TB, disc-free): £619.99 / €749.99 / $749.99
• Xbox Series X (1TB, disc): £669.99 / €799.99 / $799.99

Where does this leave console gaming?

Of course, Xbox isn't the only console maker to inflate its prices in the face of RAMageddon. Sony also heavily increased its PS5 prices earlier this year, with the standard PS5 costing today £569.99 / €649.99 / $649.99.

A PS5 Pro will set you back £789.99 / €899.99 / $899.99.

While Valve's all-new Steam Machine starts at £879 / €1,039 / $1,049 – and that's without a controller.

Let's not even get into how much Project Helix or the PS6 might cost, if the components market doesn't settle down again.

Then there's Sony's decision to ditch discs from the start of 2028 – with Xbox likely to follow suit. That has resulted in a big backlash from console gamers. And staff across some of the best and biggest game studios have either already lost or face losing their jobs this year. It's a mess.

It all leaves the console scene in a very perilous place. While PC gamers have hardly been unaffected over the last few months, especially when it comes to upgrading their systems.

It's hard to see where we can go from here. Although it can be argued that, with more than 120 million Xbox Series and PS5 consoles out there already – not including the number of Nintendo Switch owners there are – there's still an enormous market for games, if not the machines themselves.

And of course, there's still cloud gaming – of which Xbox is trialling a free, ad-supported version as things stand. Maybe that's the future after all. It's certainly a way to circumnavigate rising hardware costs if you can serve the best games to devices people already own.

That's if there's anyone left to make the games, of course.

HoverAir has unveiled the Versa, a curious new vlogging camera that can be used in your hand one moment and transformed into a drone the next.

It’s effectively HoverAir's take on the DJI Osmo Pocket 4, a compact camera mounted on a three-axis mechanical gimbal.

The difference here is that by attaching wings to it, you can turn the Versa into a selfie drone.

On the ground, the Versa operates as a pocket-sized handheld camera for recording walks, vlogs and everyday footage.

Attach its enclosed propeller assembly (not dissimilar to the brand's X1 Pro model), and it becomes a self-flying camera capable of tracking its owner without a traditional drone controller.

HoverAir says the Versa will offer more than 10 automated flight modes, along with AI subject tracking and automatic composition.

The company has not yet revealed important details such as its sensor size, video resolutions, flight time, weight, price or release date.

It has, however, made some ambitious claims about dynamic range and low-light performance.

One of the more exciting features – called 3D Worlds – allows the Versa to perform a controlled 360-degree flight around a scene and reconstruct it as an image that can be explored from different viewpoints.

HoverAir keeps finding gaps in the drone market

The Versa is unusual, but it also feels entirely consistent with HoverAir’s approach to product development.

The company helped establish the modern selfie-drone category with the Hover Camera Passport and later refined the idea with the pocket-sized HoverAir X1, concentrating on automatic tracking, protected propellers and one-button operation.

Then it took that same formula onto the water with the HoverAir Aqua, an IP67-rated camera drone that can land on, float upon and take off from water.

Now the company has spotted another potentially lucrative gap, the increasingly crowded market for pocket-sized vlogging cameras.

DJI, Insta360 and numerous other manufacturers are all competing for creators who want stabilised footage without carrying a full mirrorless camera rig.

The Versa enters that contest without abandoning the feature most closely associated with the HoverAir brand, namely, autonomous flight.

HoverAir has yet to confirm when the Versa will go on sale. More information is available on the official HoverAir Versa page.

The time had finally come; time to move out of my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and into the supposedly step-up Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. You can see how vastly different they are in the image above.

But from the very moment I finished copying all my apps and data across, handling this new top-tier foldable just felt immediately, well, tiny.

I know that many have criticised Samsung's foldable over the years for being "too narrow". It was marginally rectified in its Galaxy Z Fold 7 of last year – which is of a similar blueprint to this Z Fold 8 Ultra.

Samsung has arguably become a victim of its own success by releasing two broadly different foldables in tandem. The Ultra has been finessed to an undeniable degree – but may become the more niche format in the future.

Change the format

This isn't just "a Samsung thing", mind, as I've made sure to pick up various other handsets around my office (and when you've been reviewing the best phones for as long as I have, there are plenty around).

Oppo Find X9 Pro? Love it. Except, hold up, I can't easily reach the top. It's quite a tall bit of kit, despite being totally "the norm" for a 2026 flagship. I think that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has effectively rewired my brain in only a matter of days of use.

The story feels the same with any other handset I dare to pick up: Nothing Phone (4a) Pro? It's actually a minuscule amount larger in size than the Oppo. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL? Same deal in terms of height – despite being a mite narrower.

For the first time in a long time, the change in shifting between one handset and another has felt dramatic. That gives me all the more reason to call on Samsung to do yet more with its One UI 9 software though – as the Z Fold 8 would definitely benefit from the option to utilise more app icons per row, among other adjustments unique to the format.

Small beginnings

Phones have changed so much over the years that it's sometimes easy to forget just how much smaller the handsets of yesteryear were. I picked up an iPhone 3G for the first time in years the other day and my first thoughts were: "where is it?"

The days of 3.5-inch phone displays are behind us, though, and I'm fully here to embrace the advancements that have come along the way. The Galaxy Z Fold 8, however, is a signal to an incoming step change.

No, not everyone can afford a foldable. Not everyone even wants a dual-screen phone, for that matter. But when Apple reveals the iPhone Ultra next month, I suspect it'll help "normalise" this new frontier in phone formats.

When I first handled the Galaxy Z Fold 8 I assumed it would be too wide. Now that I've been forced to part ways with it, I'm already missing its currently unique offering. And everything else just feels too narrow and tall – especially the Ultra.

Is your desk setup is looking a little too serious? This clever 3D printing project could be just the inspiration you need. South Korean creator Momandeum has recreated Gary the Snail from SpongeBob SquarePants as a functional Bluetooth speaker, using recycled electronics hidden inside a custom 3D-printed shell.

Instead of building the speaker from scratch, the project begins by dismantling an old alarm clock. The internal components are carefully measured before a digital model of Gary's body is designed around them. Once printed, the individual parts are trimmed, sanded, primed and painted to recreate the cartoon character's distinctive look.

The result is more than just a novelty ornament. Gary's shell houses the speaker hardware, while the turntable-inspired base conceals the original circuitry, wiring and charging components.

Magnets are used throughout the build so sections can be removed without visible screws, helping preserve the clean cartoon aesthetic. When powered on, the first sound it plays is Gary's famous "meow".

Projects like this show how far home 3D printing has come. No longer are makers simply creating decorative models. Now they're designing functional enclosures that breathe new life into ageing electronics. It's a fun way to reduce waste while ending up with something far more personal than another black plastic speaker.

While there's no indication this Gary speaker will ever be sold commercially, it's exactly the sort of project that makes you want to dust off a 3D printer. Whether you're a SpongeBob fan or simply like the idea of giving forgotten gadgets a fresh purpose, it's a reminder that a little imagination can completely transform yesterday's tech.

A new flip phone has been unveiled as a way to offer minimalism to your pocket and, hopefully, your life. Light, the company best known for its distraction-free phones, has revealed the Light Flip. This is a modern take on the classic clamshell handset that's designed to be opened only when you actually need it.

Unlike today's foldable smartphones, there's no flexible display or cover screen demanding your attention. Instead, you get a physical keypad, a compact 2.8-inch OLED display and a tiny notification light on the outside.

That minimalist philosophy continues inside. Running the company's custom LightOS software, the phone skips social media, web browsing, app stores and AI assistants entirely.

Instead, you'll find practical tools including calls, texts, navigation, alarms, notes, podcasts, music playback, weather, a hotspot mode and two-factor authentication. The idea is to keep everything genuinely useful and to remove the features that encourage endless scrolling.

Light says the flip phone was created after repeated requests from customers – especially younger people – who wanted a better-built alternative to ageing feature phones without being dragged back into the smartphone ecosystem.

Closing the phone is intended to create a physical signal that you're switching off, rather than simply locking another glowing screen.

Despite its retro appearance, the hardware is actually modern. The Light Flip supports 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-C charging, dual SIM via nano SIM and eSIM, a removable 1,800mAh battery and even retains a 3.5mm headphone jack.

There's also a 12-megapixel rear camera, and predictive T9 typing is joined by voice-to-text and audio messaging, to make communication straight forward too.

Available in six colours, the Light Flip is priced at $299 (around £220 / AU$460) and is expected to ship in April 2027.

Whether this becomes the ultimate antidote to smartphone overload remains to be seen. For anyone craving a calmer relationship with technology, this is one of the more refreshing phone launches for 2026.

You're probably sick of the family WhatsApp group, shared calendar or that noticeboard in the kitchen, which is why this thoroughly modern but surprisingly analogue solution from reTerminal might be of interest.

It takes the form of a 4-inch e-paper screen that can be magnetically stuck to things like fridges, letting you leave an e-paper note without blowing up family member's phones. Going for a run? Given the dog her medicine? Posted Grandma's card? Just leave it on the Sticky.

Using e-paper means that this device doesn't beam out like a tablet or smart display, instead offering that lovely paper-like surface with a long battery life. Once set, your note is in place so the rest of your family knows what's happening.

But how you get that note onto the devices is really interesting: you can press a button and talk to it, with AI interpreting what you say to display that on the screen. That means you say what you want (English and Chinese are supported) and that then appears on your Sticky.

Or there's an app for your phone or desktop so you can leave remote messages, which might be a nice way to let someone know you're thinking about them, or just to remind the kids to empty the dishwasher before you get home.

The in-built magnet makes it ideal for sticking to the fridge, but it can be mounted on the wall where it's most likely to be spotted, so it integrates with the rest of your household. It can be a clock, it can show the weather - it's a really versatile device.

But getting a little more techy, it supports open source tools, so it can be linked to Home Assistant. If you have any real smart home fans in your life, they'll know all about Home Assistant.

That means you can basically use the reTerminal Sticky as a display to do whatever you want in your smart home, from controlling devices to showing your train times and a whole lot more.

The reTerminal Sticky is available for $49.99 on preorder, with deliveries to the US, China or the EU. For those in the UK, you'll have to order from the Chinese warehouse.

If you had any doubts about what Google was launching at the Made by Google event, then put them to rest: all the Pixel 11 devices, in all the colours, along with the Watch 5 have leaked.

These images come from a reliable source, Evan Blass on X (via Android Authority) and via the Leakmail substack, so they are pretty much a certainty - although Google has been sharing images of the Pixel 11 already in its teasers and marketing.

While this flood of images exposes these new Google devices in all their glory, just kerb your excitement a little: they look almost identical to the Pixel 10 and Pixel Watch 4.

Starting with the Pixel 11 - that's the entry-level device - Google moved it to a three camera system in 2025, but dropped the spec of the camera system slightly. The camera is important here, because that looks to be the only design change.

Previously, the flash (and temperature sensor on the Pro) was encased in the metal. Now the surface of the camera appears to be one piece of glass, with a little detail sitting in it. As previously revealed by Google, the flash now appears to offer a full range of colours, thought to be the Pixel Glow notification system.

The Pixel 11 is expected to come with 256GB storage in the base model, with a starting price of £879. The colours for this model are reported as Light Sterling, Fuchsia, Midnight Haze and Moss.

For the Pixel 11 Pro, it's much the same, with the colours said to be Dune, Light Fog, Midnight Haze and Pine. All these colours align with previous leaks which came from a listing on Amazon. As before, we're expecting the Pixel 11 Pro (from £1079) to come in an XL size (from £1279) as well.

That's not the end of it, because Google will also be releasing an updated folding phone. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold seems to have a little more tweaking happening around the camera. These images are more of a lifestyle angle on the device, appearing in the Pine colour. The Pro Fold is expected to also come in Midnight as well.

Finally, we come to the Pixel Watch 5. We've previously reported that the Pixel Watch's biggest change is going to be an increase in the RAM, which we expect is to power more AI functions from Gemini.

Here we have the Pixel Watch 5 in what we believe are Natural Silver and Warm Gold, while the images show 41mm and 45mm sizes. The fact that the design isn't changing suggests that the experience will be similar to the Pixel Watch 4.

Some will be disappointed with the lack of change in these devices, but Google seems to be following Apple's lead in keeping the design more consistent. For the phones at least, I think it's a winning strategy as the camera bar on the back makes for a great experience - it's something to grip, it doesn't wobble on the table and I'd expect the performance to be great.

That's one thing we don't yet know - if Google is planning any real hardware changes to its cameras.

Sonos is planning a "product launch event" for September the company has revealed via its third quarter results. While Sonos CEO Tom Conrad didn't reveal exactly what that would be, he then went on to talk about "conversational computing and predictive intelligence".

That's right, it looks like Sonos is going to be moving its platform in the direction of AI, with Conrad going on to address the debate about which is the "best" AI model and how Sonos might put AI to best use in the home environment.

"The lasting value is going to be in what surrounds the model in a real home: the hardware that can converse with quality across every room, the system that already knows the shape of a home and the way a family lives in it, the connectivity to reach the speakers, services, and devices that turn a request into coordinated action."

Sonos shot to fame more than a decade ago, thanks to enabling multi-room audio. With a central controller, multiple Sonos speakers could be grouped and controlled, making streaming a much better experience across the home.

That was followed by a deliberate focus on quality, looking to appeal to more aspiring customers, while devices like the Amazon Echo offered rival connected streaming skills at much lower prices. Sonos' audio devices are still highly prised however, with a reinforcement of its soundbar offering over recent years.

Amazon's latest move for its Echo devices was to boost Alexa's performance using AI - called Alexa+ - although Sonos' own Voice Control system is rather basic by comparison, focusing mostly on music control.

Sonos has, in the past, supported other brands' voice control systems, but with the rapid acceleration of AI, the sort of voice models that Amazon and Google have offered over the last decade are probably easier to develop.

Exactly what Sonos will offer and how it will implemented remains to be seen. However the company is no stranger to riling its user base with changes, having struggled to put a new app in place and facing criticism for dropping support for a number of legacy devices.

Whether Sonos' current line-up have the processing power to handle AI functions is unknown, although the company might hand it off to the cloud for processing, so that older devices remain supported.

With September just around the corner, it won't be long until Sonos' plans are revealed in full.

This isn't anything new, but I'd like to think that the job of a tech journalist is to shine a light on issues in the industry, big and small – and in this case, it's actually shining lights that are the issues. I've been to the theatre a couple of times in recent months and each visit has brought a minor annoyance to my notice.

In any performance in a darkened room, whether it's live theatre or a cinema, most people know that it's obnoxious to take their phones out and check them – the light is a distraction for everyone, after all. That might not stop them, but there are plenty of announcements telling people to turn their phones off.

What we also need, though, is announcements telling people to use cinema mode on their smartwatches, and particularly on Apple Watches. I'm tired of seeing the flashes of screens waking as people shift in their seats, or indeed of older models with always-on displays that constantly glow out in the dark.

The mode is unbelievably easy to activate and deactivate on Apple's wearables, and I do it myself every time I go to an event – so I can attest that it's no great sacrifice.

As a reminder, if you click the side button on your Apple Watch (above the digital crown), you'll get access to your control centre. On here by default you'll see one icon that looks like two masks – one happy, one sad. That's a nod to historic symbols of the dramatic arts, and tapping it will activate cinema mode.

This will keep your watch's screen powered off unless you tap on it, and will also put it into silent mode. You'll still get haptics for notifications, but they won't disturb anyone around you.

Best of all, rather than tapping on the watch's screen if you want to check the time, you can instead turn the digital crown. As you turn it, the brightness will crank up from the bare minimum, so you can keep the disturbance to a minimum.

As I say, I get annoyed by someone's smartwatch literally every time I go to a dark-room event of any description, and I'm amazed that so few people seem to know about this mode and use it. Obviously, it might be that I'm in a silent majority by using it, since I'll never notice smartwatches that are turned down, but I'd still love it to be more widespread.

So, consider this a PSA, whether you knew about cinema mode or not – spread it around, and get more people using it if you can.

When you've spent as much time as I have testing speakers, you also tend to collect a range of experience checking out audio brands' home turf. Whether it's a factory or HQ visit, or a peek behind the curtain at what they're working on, brands are often interested in letting you have a nose around at their storied histories.

While these previews often offer a great big chunk of context on a new speaker or about a brand's priorities moving forward, they can also be interesting for the older tech that you get to glimpse. I've found it consistently intriguing to note that audio teams are always eager to refer back to the work that preceded them.

Sometimes this involves direct generational moves – like when I visited Bowers & Wilkins' "secret" R&D base in the UK to check out its newest 800 Series Diamond D5 speakers. Bowers was confident enough in the changes to let me compare their audio directly against the previous generation (D4), and that obviously meant it needed one of each of those older speakers to be wheeled in.

Elsewhere in the building, though, I could see far older speakers, including some that have lasted decades. I asked Bowers what its oldest piece was, and was told: "We have a pair of the very first Bowers & Wilkins speakers, the P2H. We started making this model in 1966. The pair we have in our archive were made in 1968".

Its team even found a scan of the original brochure for the speakers, an impressively technical breakdown of their strengths that really does underline how things haven't changed as much as you might think. After all, Bowers still largely makes speakers where "cost is secondary to performance", even all these years later.

When I asked why Bowers goes to such lengths to maintain an archive of older speakers, rather than simply keeping them in storage, the response was clear, too: "It’s a reference and visual reminder for all of our team of the great heritage and consistent, excellent engineering work from the first days of the brand all the way up to today's range".

Andy Kerr, B&W's director of product marketing and communications, went on: "You can draw a direct link from some of the ideas we had back in the mid-1970s to the way Bowers & Wilkins works today".

Of course, Bowers can perhaps more easily prove this more than some others, since it quickly adopted the separate tweeter that made its speakers iconic, and has never abandoned that design note. It's not the only one that can draw a direct line, though.

Visual identities maintained

A few months ago, I was at Marshall's office in Sweden, where I was checking out the Milton ANC headphones before they were officially announced. As a bit of a cultural extra after some presentations and hands-on time, though, we headed up into a testing space in the loft to find a raft of vintage Marshall amps from down the years.

With metal band Opeth's Fredrik Åkesson on hand to run us through them with some guitar solos, we got an amazing showcase of the sonic differences between older amps, a sonic journey through time that made it surprisingly easy to see how artists' demands and sensibilities changed how amps were tuned over the years.

You only have to look at Marshall's recently announced Billie Joe Armstrong limited edition amp to see that its core design ideas have stayed true to those old amps in the decades since the first ones were built in West London.

Marshall told me at the time that reacquiring some of the older models and keeping them working was not a simple task (nor a cheap one), but it's clearly considered worth it.

More than just speakers

It's not just speakers that audio brands hold onto, either. In late 2024, I visited Technics in Kyoto for a thoroughly interesting showcase of its then-new earbuds, the supreme EAH-AZ100. While Technics is now getting more well-known for such earbuds, for a long time it has been associated far more tightly with turntables.

On that trip I got to see a lineup of Technics' turntables going back down the years, and when I reached out to Technics to ask about those samples, two years later, it was happy to explain them.

Per Tadayoshi Okuda, Technics chief engineer: "The oldest turntable in the Technics collection is the SP-10, released in 1970. Released as the world's first direct-drive turntable, it was widely adopted by broadcasters and professional users.

"Its technology became the foundation of future Technics turntables and continues to influence our products today."

Technics debuted the direct-drive system in the SP-10, and that system can indeed be traced all the way to its most recent turntables, so the continuity is hard to argue with.

I didn't see them in Kyoto, but Okuda also explained that Technics has plenty of old speakers of its own in its archive, too: "One of the oldest speakers in the Technics collection is the Technics 1, released in 1965." When I asked him why these devices are useful, he was effusive.

"These products are more than historical exhibits. They serve as valuable references that allow us to compare today's products with decades of Technics engineering and sound design.

"They also help pass on our brand heritage and development philosophy to the next generation of engineers, ensuring that the Technics identity continues into the future."

That last point is the one that interests me most – new engineers learning from tech that has technically been superseded and rendered obsolete. Those lessons might be technical, but they can also be almost philosophical.

A maintenance puzzle

Get any amount of tech from the 1960s and 1970s out for testing, though, and you're likely to hit challenges in maintaining them. When I asked Bowers & Wilkins if it's hard to keep its older speakers working, Kerr stressed that it's an ongoing system: "We keep a good selection of spares for all of our products and have kept the engineering schematics for every product all the way back to the start. We also have a team of dedicated engineers who can refurbish any of our products".

Being able to call on those schematics is doubtless key, but you have to assume that the challenge of retaining spares (or making them) will only escalate over time.

Technics' explanation saw Okuda return to the theme of generational lessons: "Like all electronic and mechanical products, the components used in these systems inevitably age over time, making it challenging to preserve exactly the same performance they delivered when first released. For that reason, we carefully preserve these products as important historical and technical assets, treating them with great respect so that their value can be passed on to future generations."

Hybrid theory

That last quote from Technics opens up a fascinating possibility. When Okuda says that it's "challenging to preserve exactly the same performance they delivered when first released", he acknowledges the possibility that these vintage speakers and turntables don't sound the same as they did when first made.

If you square that with the fact that these speakers nonetheless continue to influence designs being made now, then it could be that this takes us into entirely new territory. We could be getting speakers influenced by the interesting new characteristics of old speakers, worked on by engineers who only know those older versions from what they can now test on-site.

That's not a bad thing, to be clear; in fact, I think it's really exciting. It's intangible, too, in the way that all the best audiophile theories often are – we might not know exactly how a Bowers speaker from the late 1960s "should sound" in a totally perfect scenario, just as we might not be able to totally quantify how a Technics one from 1970 ought to either.

Instead, we can work with how they sound now – to come up with new acoustics that meet the needs of our times, while using what came before to ensure a continuity and continuation of important history-making.

Well, would you look at that. Or, as the case is, not look at that. This is the Tecno "Next-Gen Bezelless Concept Phone", which, as its name clearly proclaims, is a handset with no visible bezel.

Indeed, Tecno claims it's the world's first handset with a "0mm bezel" – a phone developed to conquer "the final millimetre". It's all beginning to sound a little bit Star Trek, albeit for phones, isn't it?

Not that this is science fiction. The Next-Gen Bezelless Concept Phone is the real deal – and the Chinese phone-maker will have it on show at the IFA technology show in Berlin this coming September.

That does fall in the month when we're also expecting another major phone launch. Namely Apple's reveal of the iPhone 18 series and, if rumours are accurate, the iPhone Ultra foldable.

Tecno is no stranger to foldable devices either, with its Phantom V Fold 2 expected to spawn a follow-up device for the Indian market in the near future. That's not happened yet, though, with Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 being the one to steal the limelight.

But we digress. Arguably there could be a wider market for a bezel-free phone, with many makers still delivering devices with notable borders. Some argue they deliver practicality, providing an edge to hold; while from an engineering standpoint they offer greater robustness in applying the panel within a design.

Nonetheless, Tecno's Next-Gen Bezelless Concept Phone is here with a clear mission to impress. It required "rethinking from the inside out," using "advanced internal stacking, structural re-engineering, and novel screen packaging techniques," to make it possible.

But will you ever be able to buy one? Not in this concept state, no. But the brand does say that it brings "new possibilities to Tecno's upcoming device generations". Which certainly sounds promising – but as Tecno doesn't sell phones in most regions, chances are you'll never actually be able to buy one.

Still, it's impressive enough to distract from that incoming iPhone launch. And there's more than a minor resemblance between the phones – if you were to eradicate the borders on Apple's device. The 'HiOS' operating system is a great little touch, too.

While retro-inspired gadgets are hot property right now, wired headphones (which could be labelled as vintage, due to their lack of modern features like wireless chips) have never really gone away.

Case in point: most high-end headphones have always featured a cable, because it just sounds better that way.

And Apple has never stopped selling its simple EarPods, though they're just more inclusive these days: 3.5mm, Lightning, and USB-C. They also cost just £19, so you can join the anti-wireless revolution without having to take out a bank loan.

SENNHEISER HD 620S

Until now, Sennheiser's ‘600' range of over-ear headphones have been open-backed – they sound great but leak sound, to the annoyance of anyone nearby. The HD 620S are closed-back, and so nothing like as anti-social in this regard – but Sennheiser has somehow managed to retain the sense of air and space that's the hallmark of its open-backed designs.

£299.99, sennheiser-hearing.com

MEZE AUDIO 99 CLASSICS (2ND GEN)

By combining balanced and insightful sound with an excellent build and finish, and throwing in a USB-C DAC dongle, Meze Audio has made the second generation of its 99 Classics very easy to admire. Smaller-headed listeners should try before they buy, though…

£319, mezeaudio.com

CAMPFIRE AUDIO ALIEN BRAIN

Given the name that's on them, let's not pretend to be surprised by the way these earbuds look or the price they carry. Almost as predictable is the stunningly direct, positive and controlled sound the Alien Brain earphones serve up – must be something to do with those five (five!) drivers per bud…

£999, campfireaudio.com

MARSHALL MODE USB-C

They're necessarily small, of course, but the rock 'n' roll credentials are clear from the way they sound. The presentation has punch and drive, with a combination of detail and energy that turns the excitement in a recording all the way up.

£45, marshall.com

APPLE EARPODS

The lack of eartips remains a weird idea, but in every other respect the Earpods are a tremendously competitive product and arguably the best value item in the entire Apple line-up. Big, confident sound, sleek design and the usual pride of ownership that comes free with every Apple product makes these the best affordable wired headphones around.

£19, apple.com

SHURE SE215

The SE215 have the usual Shure benefits of sky-high comfort levels, impressive scale and prodigious bass power – but what really sets these wired earbuds apart is the level of passive noise isolation that's provided by their carefully designed ergonomic shape and super-snug eartips. Which means you're able to listen to your tunes in peace, freed from most external distractions.

£109, shure.com

GRADO S750 SIGNATURE

The broad design of Grado's products doesn't seem to have changed much since the early '60s. And neither does the effortlessly dynamic, tonally convincing and beautifully poised sound that's the calling-card of the company's wired over-ear headphones, either.

£1,695, grado.co.uk

FOCAL HADENYS

Lighter than they look and every bit as comfortable as they appear, the Focal Hadenys present a warm, informative and welcoming sound that's the aural equivalent of a cuddle. These tasteful open-backed charmers are the complete package.

£599, focal.com

London is home to some of the best listening rooms in the UK, with every type of music and experience pretty much catered for.

The idea of a listening room is a simple one: it’s the optimum space to have a shared listening experience of music. The ideal place to do this is one that’s been sonically supercharged for such an event. It doesn’t have to be an intimate room, it can be a bar or a venue but what has to be right is the sound system playing back the music.

It’s sometimes an unnerving thing, sitting still in a room with other people all focused on one record. But it’s an experience that, when done right, offers immeasurable joy for the thing you are listening to.

These spaces are not new, far from it – Japan has had them for 100 years now. They all take a leaf out of the popularity of those listening bars, where a culture of music aficionados was born out of shared gramophone listening in the ‘20s, when classical music was popular. This eventually shifted to the Jazz kissa era, cafes where music fans could get to listen to their favourite music on high-end kit with maybe a whisky or two in hand.

While custom tube amplifiers may have made way for custom Atmos set-ups, the spirit of shared listening is not just still there, it’s thriving.

If you are ever in the Big Smoke, then here are three listening rooms we recommend – and below this, we go behind the scenes, exploring the tech and logistics involved in creating a premium listening space…

1. Spiritland

• Located in: Kings Cross, London

In an interview with The Guardian, Paul Noble record producer and creator of Spiritland said he was inspired to set up Spiritland thanks to Japan’s love of the listening bar and its “deep, beautiful, reverential approach to listening to music”. This can also be found in Spiritland – which is a café, bar and radio studio that all take advantage of an entirely bespoke audio setup, created and built by high-end audio manufacturer Living Voice.

According to Spiritland, their setup also includes “a two Isonoe-modified Technics 1200 turntables with a variety of cartridges including Audio-Technica AT-XP7 Dual Moving Magnet Stereo Cartridges, a Tascam DA-3000 Hi-Res Recorder, Revox B77 Tape Recorder, two Pioneer CDJ-2000NXS2 CD players, a Studer A730 CD Player and more”. Oof.

For more information, head to: https://spiritland.com

2. Brilliant Corners

• Located in: Dalston, London

Brilliant Corners wears its ode to Japan on its sleeve, with a Japanese inspired menu and an audio set up that would surely get the nod of approval.

While at time of going to print it was closed for a refurb, when normal service resumes, sometime in mid-August, expect an intimate restaurant setting with some superb music that’s played back on some modified Technics turntables, controlled by an Isonoe Electronics built custom valve mixer. Also in the setup are two Mcintosh tube amps power, some 1970s Klipschorn speakers. If you are waiting impatiently for the venue to re-open, then there’s always “Mu” just around the corner – another aural delight that’s been created by the team behind Brilliant Corners.

For more information, head to: https://brilliantcornerslondon.co.uk

Jazu

• Located in: Deptford, London

Jazu is a fantastic listening bar, with the emphasis on both those words. The setup there is superb, with a bespoke sound system created by South London audio engineer Bosco Taylor. There’s a 3,000-strong collection of vinyl to gawp at, while the food is a Mexican-based treat. Interestingly, even though the name riffs off of the aforementioned Japanese Jazz kissa scene, this bar was inspired, like the food, by the listening bars of Mexico.

For more information, head to: https://www.jazudrinks.com.

Behind the scenes of a listening room

The KEF Music Gallery in London is an incredible place for music fans. Situated slap bang in the hustle and bustle of Great Portland Street, its TARDIS like in its size. From the street it looks initially like a KEF product showcase but inside it’s an audiophile's dream – with some 5,000sq feet of area, over two floors, to play some serious sounds.

This experience centre opened in 2024 and serves as a multifunctional space for events, training, and product demonstrations. The reason for T3’s visit, however, is because it hosts a multitude of audio goodies, including DJ nights, album launches, and immersive sound experiences.

On the day I was there, they were preparing for an intimate listening-room experience exploring Lauryn Hill’s two fantastic albums: ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ and ‘MTV Unplugged No. 2.0’, all played back through KEF’s LS60 Wireless speaker range.

A lot goes on in the Kef Music Gallery and that’s because the space is flexible in its design. It includes a cafe and podcast studio, and there’s even a table made of 900-year-old Kentish oak hidden underground in The Hub – one of the many beautifully specced out rooms on the lower ground floor.

“There are not too many cafes with a Dolby Atmos 10.8.8 immersive system that I'm aware of,” says Geoff Loveday, KEF’s technical sales director, pointing out the huge sound system that’s situated on the first floor of the gallery. It’s here that many a DJ night has taken place, each with their own sound requirements.

Having that much audio power in one place is jaw-dropping but not all of it is needed at once, it depends on the type of show they are running. Thankfully Loveday notes that they have tried to make everything as simple as possible to run.

“The whole building runs on a Crestron smart home system. That system is great because it gives us complete flexibility and control of not just the audiovisual but aircon, the network, lighting, CCTV – it's all on there,” he explains.

While upstairs there are a number of listening areas, where you can test some of the speakers on show, it’s the main system I am really interested in.

“We’ve got our uber house system, which includes our LS50s that are dotted around the ceiling, in conjunction with a bunch of our architectural in-ceiling speakers, and some subwoofers, which aren't just decorative or on display, they're part of that system,” notes Loveday, pointing to an array of them on the floor.

“This makes up one big immersive 10.8.8 Atmos system that's driven by a very sophisticated Trinnov Altitude 32 processor. So we can orientate in various different ways.”

Loveday continues: “For example, if we're doing an event where we might need something centered in a certain part of the room, we can configure the system by just selecting one preset where three speakers become our left, centre, and right speakers, and then all the others accordingly surround left, surround right… And that's done simply by selecting a preset on that processor, which makes life infinitely easier.”

This would be impressive on its own, but a level below this KEF has created a number of areas for intimate audio demos, including a space affectionately called The Living Room and the absolutely without hyperbole, The Ultimate Experience Room.

I head downstairs, admire the oak table and am taken to a room that hasn’t been given the same sound-proofing treatment as the others – the echo reminds me just how much work has gone into making this place an, er, sound investment.

A tour of the living room setup shows a place packed with speakers from KEF’s sprawling range.

“We get everything from seasoned audiophiles that know all their stuff and really want to quiz you, right through to people that are taking their first steps into good hi-fi and don't really know how to achieve this or what they'd like," explains Loveday.

"There’s a bit of handholding through the whole experience, but we can adapt to whatever kind of person's here. And what's nice with the way we've got things is: we can control that experience.”

Speaking of experience, it’s the Ultimate Experience Room that is a must visit. The room is a stunning audio showcase, packed with some of the most impressive audio tech in the capital, including a pair speakers that stand tall like an art installation.

“They were conceived in 2007 as a a very special audio project,” says Loveday pointing at the KEF MUON speaker setup.

“The designer is a well-known sculptural artist called Ross Lovegrove. He's famous for his hourglass, spherical, no straight edges kind of design.

"He's actually designed a couple of other products for us as well, but there are only 100 pairs of these that are ever going to be built. We're on pair 90 something, so you need to be quick if you want to reserve a pair. There are not many places in the world where you can see those, let alone hear them,” Loveday notes.

A quick Google shows that the speakers are worth £190,000. I decide not to phone my bank manager on this occassion.

“This is very much our flag waving exercise,” says Loveday about the room. “It is the best of everything we do.”

In the room there is a two-channel setup using the incredible MUON speakers plus a 9.14 configuration. That’s not a typo, there’s actually 14 subs in the space.

“There’s a reason for 14, it's not just a sort of random number that we just happened upon or figured out we could squeeze 14 subs in here," says Loveday.

"The Trinnov processor I mentioned that's running upstairs, well we have a second one running this room. It's a 32 channel Atmos processor, and we're showcasing their new wave-forming technology, which is bass management technology, which, in very very simple terms, works with two identical arrays of subwoofers. So you have an array at the front and an array at the back.”

The idea is this setup eliminates the need for a sweet spot in the room, so theoretically you can sit anywhere and enjoy an incredible sound.

A demo of Elton John’s Rocketman, mastered in Dolby Atmos, proves this – I’ve never heard the song in this way before, soaring through the speakers and searing itself on to my ears. I found new in the old again and it was a life-affirming experience.

As I walk out of the KEF Music Gallery the sound of the street hits me, as the dampening used in the gallery gives way to the outside world. It got me thinking: to create a truly unique listening room and, in turn, listening experience takes huge dedication.

You can see that with what KEF is doing, with what Spiritland's Paul Noble is doing and what every other listening room across the country is also trying to do.

The key ingredient, other than the music, though, is you. You being there, you experiencing music with others and maybe, just maybe, you hearing something new in something old again.

Head to KEF's official site to book yourself a demo at the KEF Music Gallery. Or just drop in for a coffee.

• "The Brits do it best": How KEF's new LS Luxe speakers reinforce a changing hi-fi trend for the better

The rapture around director Christopher Nolan's latest epic, The Odyssey, is unlike anything I've ever seen in cinema history. Audiences are travelling miles – some hundreds or even thousands – to watch it presented in its native IMAX 70mm format.

"As Nolan intended" has already become a prominent meme, driven by the fact that the majority of prospective audience members know they'll likely never see the film in IMAX 70mm – at least not soon, anyhow. I've resigned myself to a hypothetical showing many months from now, given the movie's plot isn't exactly secret.

But it got me thinking – such is the melting pot of technology and, indeed, technological crossover and nostalgic lean that we find ourselves in today – that when The Odyssey does release in physical and streaming formats, what'll be the best way to watch it?

Could it be that 8K resolution TVs – those four times the resolution of the current 4K standard – find their place in the market once more? Most brands – including LG, Sony and TCL – have given up the ghost when it comes to "Ultra-Ultra-HD", with Samsung the only notable remaining purveyor of the format.

Well, it's not as simple as that, because it's about so much more than just resolution. So let's dig into the 'whys', looking at how The Odyssey is being presented to audiences, the rarity of IMAX 70mm availability worldwide, and how the film's production process reaches beyond digital resolution and range.

What actually is IMAX 70mm?

But let's roll back a moment. For all this talk of 'IMAX 70mm', what exactly is the format? In short: it's a much taller aspect ratio than is typical of cinema, actually closer to the older 4:3 TV format that was predominant from the 1920s until around the turn of the century.

The Odyssey is the first feature film ever to be shot exclusively using IMAX 70mm film, as produced by Kodak. In this supposedly digital age, Nolan is an advocate of film for many reasons – despite its obvious challenges, which are well documented.

In the case of IMAX 70mm, an obvious challenge is the cameras required to expose such a negative, which is physically massive – each frame's usable area measuring 69.8 x 48.5mm, with 24 of those captured every second. Indeed, an IMAX 70mm film canister can only capture up to 150 seconds before it's exposed, meaning long takes during production are out of the question.

But while Nolan does scan the film for editing purposes, that's then used as reference, with the original film returned to and spliced by hand, the old-fashioned way. It's even colour-corrected on film, so the original and effectively limitless analogue format is never simplified by being digitised. Watch the 60 Minutes interview via the YouTube video embed above, which is a fascinating 15-minute watch.

Not all IMAX is the same

But here's the thing: not all IMAX presentations are equal. Indeed, only 40 copies of The Odyssey's film-to-film transfer in IMAX 70mm have ever been made. That's one for each of the 41 cinemas capable of presenting in such a format – that's how rare it is.

Just think about that for a moment: only 41 theatres in the world can present the movie this way. That's partly down to the old projection equipment requirements, not to mention expertise, plus the huge physical scale of the screen in its near-square format.

Plenty of other IMAX cinemas exist, of course, they just don't have the same projection equipment or screen size. The other IMAX-supported format is a 1.9:1 aspect ratio, which is far wider, yet a little taller than the more typical 2.20:1 aspect of most cinemas' digital projection standard.

I produced the infographic, above, to give a hypothetical visual indicator of those formats – IMAX 70mm film, IMAX's Laser / Xenon format at 1.9:1, and typical (non-IMAX) digital projection at 2.20:1 or 2.40:1 – and present what would be 'lost' on some systems.

How does IMAX display on TVs at home?

That same infographic provides an interesting snapshot in how most movies arrive to physical (4K Blu-ray, for example) or streaming formats. The portion between IMAX and typical digital projection becomes embedded black 'bars', as we all know so well, given modern TVs' 16:9 aspect ratio.

How will a TV display an IMAX 70mm image therefore? Well, we've seen it before. This isn't Nolan's first rodeo with the format – large portions of Oppenheimer were captured using 70mm film, for example, with even 2008's The Dark Knight having 28 minutes of its 152-minute runtime in the format.

When those scenes come on you know about it, though, as black borders appear to the left and right of – quite the jump from a widescreen image. Such is the nature of IMAX 70mm within a TV's 16:9 aspect ratio!

With The Odyssey that will be the perpetual vision in how it plays, unless Nolan elects to edit a different widescreen version of the movie for home viewing in addition to the original. And I think we all know: the chances of that are pretty much zero.

So, is 8K a good answer?

But back to that original thought: is an 8K TV the answer for would-be best at-home viewing? Would The Odyssey actually gain more from an 8K version? The answer is both yes and no. On the one hand, you would achieve a higher resolution than 4K, of course, but on the other hand it wouldn't be as high as the film stock's theoretical equivalent.

Kodak's low ISO 50 stock film has a grain that's somewhere in the 12K to 18K range. Not that a gridded digital capture of an organic, randomised pattern of crystals is ever going to fully realise that in the same way. The Odyssey also used some 'faster' film for low-light scenes – and the maximum ISO 500 is granier and will appear different in quality and aesthetic.

Besides, resolution isn't everything. Nolan's use of film, in his own repeated words, is to best equate to how the human eye sees. He wants his films to deliver grandeur in as realistic yet filmic a way as possible. It's not about cranking high dynamic range (HDR) to the maximum, pulling the highest yield from today's brightest TVs.

There's another devil in the detail, pun intended: to benefit from even 4K resolution at its fullest you need to be fairly close to the source (the THX-certified recommendation would be 6.5-feet at no more than 40-degrees off centre when viewing a 65-inch panel). For 8K that's even closer still: a 65-inch panel would need to be positioned about 3.5-feet away, which is unrealistci.

With IMAX screens so large – the biggest being in Melbourne, Australia – the equation is an entirely different prospect. So different that, arguably, the experience could never be transferred into a home environment. Which is exactly part of the point: to keep cinema as cinema. So let's cherish that, sing a song for the imminent death of 8K, and enjoy The Odyssey in whatever future formats it arrives in – however long that'll take.

If you've ever looked at a friend's fancy extension and wished you had hidden ceiling speakers, then this could be the answer. Flexson - known for its Sonos accessories - has an in-ceiling mount for Sonos speakers, so you can do it yourself.

The mounts support the Sonos Era 100 / SL, Era 100 Pro or older Sonos One models, allowing you to install those like a professional, hidden from sight.

The advantage of using existing Sonos speakers is, firstly, you don't have to buy ceiling speakers, you can just use the units you already have. Secondly, you don't need an amp or to run cables to power these speakers, because they are self contained.

That's a great starting point from a simplicity point of view, allowing you to continue to use the Sonos app that you already have.

From a DIY point of view you will need a degree of competence. Firstly, you'll have to cut a hole in your ceiling and secure the mount in place, which is fairly straightforward. The second stage, however, could be the stumbling block.

You'll have to power the speaker using a standard plug like you normally would, so you'll have to get a socket into the ceiling space. That's not impossible, but depends on the construction of your house. If you can lift floorboards it's easy, but if you're looking for a dedicated mains extension you might need an electrician.

What happens when something goes wrong and you need to restart the Sonos speaker? Well, you might consider a remote switch to power cycle the speaker so you're not scrabbling around in the ceiling trying to get to it.

But once that's done, you just clip the Sonos speaker into the cradle and clip it into the mount. There are round and square grilles to suit the design of the room, and the grille can be painted.

The price for the mount is £150 / $170 / €170 but you'll have to provide the speaker yourself.

Technology is under the hammer right now thanks to the rising demands for components being funnelled into booming AI data centres. That's already seen price increases from brands like Samsung and Apple, but those increases are about to be compounded by another factor.

Qualcomm has announced that it will be increasing prices from 1 September, according to CNBC, meaning that the chip that powers your next phone is likely to be more expensive.

The price increase will hit in advance of the announcement of Qualcomm's next-gen Snapdragon hardware, which is expected to deliver big performance gains through move from a 3nm to 2nm process in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.

The cause of the pressures is acknowledged in Qualcomm's quarterly statement, reflecting on a "challenging memory and supply environment", something that smartphone makers themselves are struggling with.

That has seen the component costs for manufacturers increasing, which in turn sees higher prices for customers.

The report goes on to outline that chip sales for smartphones are a huge part of Qualcomm's business, although the company has actively been looking at other segments for growth, with announcements such as the partnership with BMW giving another avenue for development.

While that's good for Qualcomm - who says that revenue remains strong - it reflects on the continued pressures that AI has put on consumer electronics.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is expected to be announced at Snapdragon Summit in late September 2026, while MediaTek is expected to announce the Dimensity 9600 around the same time, also moving to a 2nm process.

MediaTek's hardware has traditionally been cheaper than Qualcomm's and smartphone brands might look to alternative suppliers to keep costs down. That could be a boon for MediaTek as well as Samsung's Exynos brand.

One established leaker on X has shared prices for Qualcomm's flagship hardware over the past generations, reflecting the price changes. It's thought that MediaTek could be 25% cheaper, which could see it appearing in many more devices in 2027.

Unfortunately, most consumers look for Snapdragon in their devices, with Qualcomm's chips aligned with the best flagship phones.

If you've been thinking about investing in a pair of floorstanding speakers but have often baulked at the sheer cost of such setups, then Q Acoustics' latest ought to catch your eye.

The British audio stalwart has just revealed its new Compact 3040c mid-priced floorstanding speakers, available in four finishes – Pin Oak, Satin White, Claro Walnut or Satin Black, as pictured above.

The 3040c marks a step up from bookshelf speakers – although the brand will happily provide you with myriad options of those if preferred – designed for moderately sized living spaces.

The price is also moderately sized, being a big part of the 3040c's appeal. You can pick up a pair for £599 / $1,099 / AU$TBC in any of those four finishes right now.

Do keep in mind that you'll need to factor in a separate amplifier, of course, with a minimum 25W and maximum 120W recommended by Q Acoustics.

That's less this particular brand's forte, mind, but if you want to keep it affordable and also British, then Cambridge Audio makes a bunch of budget options that'll fit the bill.

That'll drive each speaker's dual 4.75in "C³" mid/bass cones and single 0.9in tweeter, delivering across a large portion of the frequency range, from 43Hz to 30kHz. That's plenty of low-end without the need to add a subwoofer.

The 3040c is inspired by the brand's flagship range, with a "floating" design on distinctive aluminium feet – the rears with "wings" – and no visible screws on the cabinets, for a finessed finish.

Wondering if a pair will fit perfectly into your living space? Each speaker is 94.2cm tall (and around 28cm wide/deep), so will certainly have a presence. That's around 11-inches across, so not far off your treasured vinyl collection.

Speaking of which, wouldn't a pair of Compact C3040c look lovely with a nice record player setup alongside? Well, quit waiting – these speakers are available to purchase right now.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there is a cutthroat race in the vlogging camera market, with companies such as DJI and Insta360 trying to outdo each other with larger sensors, more lenses and better stabilisation. In essence, action cameras are out, and vlogging cameras are in.

Of the two brands mentioned above, the former is the more established player in the market. DJI has been working on its handheld gimbal camera for a decade, starting with the DJI Osmo, which came out in 2015. The first iteration of the Osmo Pocket series came out three years later, in 2018, making the subject of this review, the Osmo Pocket 4P, the fifth iteration.

The Pocket 4P arrives only three and a half months after the launch of the DJI Osmo Pocket 4, which refined the feature set that made its predecessor the best-selling “action camera” in Japan in 2025. At this point, DJI knows how to create products with excellent stabilisation and impeccable camera performance.

I doubt anyone would be shocked by the release of the DJI Pocket 4P, as the brand itself teased it for a while, potentially to take the wind out of its big rival’s latest gadget, the Insta360 Luna Ultra, which also has a two-camera setup. The big question is: how does the Pocket 4P compare to the Pocket 4 and the Luna Ultra?

I’ve been using it for a month, and I’m thoroughly impressed. There are only a few minor gripes, like the still-exposed gimbal unit and the placement of some buttons, but in general, the Pocket 4P’s performance and versatility make the camera second to none.

DJI Osmo Pocket 4P review

Price and availability

The Osmo Pocket 4P was launched on 30 July 2026 and is available to buy now directly from DJI for the recommended price of £529 / €599 / AU$959 for the Standard Combo and £605 / €689 / AU$1,099 for the Vlog Combo.

The latter includes the camera, FrameTap remote controller, camera bag, carry pouch, fill light, DJI Mic transmitter, windscreen, handle with ¼” thread, mini tripod and various cables to charge the camera and its accessories.

For comparison, the Osmo Pocket 4 is priced at £445 / €499 / AU$769 (Standard Combo), while the Insta360 Luna Ultra retails for £649 / €729 / AU$1,230. Sadly, as is the case lately, the Osmo Pocket 4P will not be available in the U.S. market, as the application for authorisation is still pending.

Design and build quality

DJI hasn't reinvented the Pocket formula with the Osmo Pocket 4P, but it has managed to squeeze considerably more hardware into a device that's still genuinely pocketable. At 159.5 x 63.3 x 33.5mm and 230g, it's noticeably larger and around 40g heavier than the Pocket 4, though the increase is understandable given the addition of a dedicated telephoto camera.

Gimbal

The biggest visual difference is the redesigned gimbal head. The Pocket 4P stacks a 20mm-equivalent wide-angle camera above a 60mm-equivalent telephoto lens, giving the camera a taller, more purposeful appearance. It's a little less discreet than previous Pocket models, but still far smaller than carrying even a compact mirrorless camera with two lenses.

Display

The front is dominated by DJI's familiar 2-inch touchscreen, which offers a 556 x 314-pixel resolution and reaches 1,000-nit brightness. I have a beef with vlogging camera screens, but I also appreciate that they can only be so big without compromising the camera's pocketability.

I found the 1,000-nit display bright enough under most lighting conditions. That said, most smartwatches have AMOLED screens that reach up to 3,000 nits, so it would have been nice to include a brighter panel on the Pocket 4P. (Appreciate it might have compromised battery performance, though.)

My big issue with the screen is that it’s quite small, which makes it hard to tell where the focus is at any given point, making it harder to compose tighter shots of anything but faces. The camera can zoom in quite a lot, which is amazing, but especially in macro-like shots, it’s anyone’s best guess where the focus is.

(Adding focus peaking would be good, which is exactly what I said in my Insta360 Luna Ultra review. )

Controls

Below the display, DJI sticks with the same simple control philosophy, for better or worse. Physical controls are kept to a minimum, with the joystick and function buttons handling most camera operations.

Two of these, the zoom and the custom function buttons, are placed above the joystick and the record button, and are hidden when you shoot in vertical mode.

Again, I appreciate there is very limited space for physical buttons on such a small gadget, but if you create content for social media, you will have to use the on-screen controls for zoom, and those are tiny, especially for my huge fingers.

The layout itself is well-designed for one-handed shooting, though, and requires very little learning if you've used a Pocket camera before. Even if you haven’t, you’ll get used to it pretty quickly.

Other design details

The Pocket 4P also packs three (!) built-in microphones, positioned around the body to capture audio regardless of how you're holding the camera. The arrangement avoids cluttering the gimbal assembly while reducing the likelihood of accidentally covering a microphone with your hand when filming handheld.

The Pocket 4 introduced built-in storage on the Pocket series, and thankfully, the Pocket 4P also has on-board memory. It’s a tad smaller at 103GB (vs 107GB on the Pocket 4) but more than enough to store a ton of high-resolution videos. The camera also supports microSD cards up to 1TB.

USB-C handles charging and data transfer, but the camera also supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless connectivity.

Camera performance

I can talk all I want about button placement, but I assume what people want to hear is camera performance. How does the dual-camera setup work? Is it any good? First, the basics. While the primary camera is the same as on the Pocket 4, DJI has also added a dedicated telephoto lens, giving the Pocket series optical flexibility for the first time.

The main camera uses a 20mm-equivalent f/2.0 lens with a minimum focusing distance of 0.2 metres (200 mm). It beams the image onto a 1-inch CMOS sensor, but unlike the Pocket 4, the Pocket 4P’s sensor has a 17-stop (!) dynamic range. It’s pretty impressive and outperforms much larger cameras, such as Canon’s EOS R5, which has a 13-stop dynamic range.

(All photos below have been edited in DJI Mimo and reduced in resolution in Adobe Lightroom.)

Alongside it sits a new 60mm-equivalent f/1.8 telephoto camera, built around a 1/1.28-inch sensor, with a 0.3-metre (300 mm) minimum focusing distance. The camera, just like your smartphone, switches between the two automatically, depending on which zoom setting it’s on.

The wide-angle camera matches the Pocket 4's video capabilities, recording up to 4K at 240 fps for dramatic slow-motion footage. The telephoto camera is only slightly behind, supporting 4K at 200 fps, making both lenses capable of capturing high-frame-rate footage.

Resolution and zoom

Standard video recording is available in 4K (horizontal mode), 3K (vertical mode), and Full HD (1080; both modes) at up to 60 fps, while the dedicated Low-Light Video mode records at up to 4K/30 fps (the latter only works in horizontal mode).

The camera captures ~37MP still images in JPEG, DNG, or JPEG+DNG formats, with a maximum image resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 pixels in 16:9 or 6,144 x 6,144 pixels in 1:1 aspect ratio. Shooting modes include Single Shot, Countdown, Panorama, and 4K Live Photo, the latter of which carries over from the Pocket 4.

The telephoto module provides 3x optical magnification and supports up to 12x digital zoom (steps of 1x, 3x, 6x, 9x, and 12x), with digital zoom also available during video recording, Live Photos, livestreaming, UVC output, and DisplayPort output. Low-light video, Slow Motion and Timelapse remain limited to the native focal lengths, with digital zoom unavailable in those modes.

You can move the zoom in between the stopping points with the joystick. For example, you can have 9.6x zoom to better frame your subject. It’s also worth noting that in photo mode, the maximum zoom is only 9x for a reason, although it could just be my pre-production unit not playing ball.

Even though anything 3x is digital zoom, I found that the quality doesn’t suffer from it one bit. Details on portrait and macro shots are crisp. You really have to zoom in to start seeing the contrast fall off a bit. I love the macros in particular and the softness of the bokeh, which is as creamy as butter.

Tracking

The Pocket 4P introduces ActiveTrack 8.0, adding support for telephoto tracking as well as multi-person tracking. That's an incremental improvement over the Pocket 4's ActiveTrack 7.0, with the newer system designed to better maintain subjects even at longer focal lengths.

Given that the Pocket 4P is a vlogging camera, tracking people is prioritised, which can be cumbersome sometimes. Double-clicking your subject on the screen will lock the camera onto it, but the Pocket 4P certainly enjoys tracking faces much more than inanimate objects.

Focusing is quick, though, and you can flick back and forth between the foreground and background quickly. If the subjects are moving and you aren’t locked onto them, the Pocket 4P might decide that the other thing on the screen is what it needs to focus on, but it’s only a minor gripe.

Colour modes

The Pocket 4P supports 10-bit D-Log 2, replacing the Pocket 4's 10-bit D-Log profile. The newer profile provides greater flexibility during colour grading while maintaining the high-bit-depth recording expected by more advanced creators.

You won’t find any of the Leica colour modes/filters Insta360 uses, but it doesn’t matter, as DJI’s colours are beautiful straight out of the box. I shot in some very challenging environments, and somehow, the Pocket 4P figured it all out nicely.

Switch to 10-bit D-Log 2, and on top of spot-on colour representation, you also get incredible post-production flexibility. Better still, you can edit your D-Log 2 videos in the DJI Mimo app, which not only recovers colours but also makes the footage look HD so they pop even more on social media.

Other features

Alongside standard video recording, the camera supports Slow Motion, Timelapse, Motionlapse with up to four programmable positions, and Hyperlapse with speeds ranging from Auto through 2x, 5x, 10x, 15x and 30x. Timelapse and Motionlapse intervals range from 0.5 to 60 seconds, with recording durations extending up to 10 hours or continuous capture.

Battery life and charging

DJI has equipped the Osmo Pocket 4P with a 1,950mAh (7.50Wh) lithium-ion battery, rated for up to 210 minutes of continuous recording at 1080p/24fps. As always, that's a best-case figure achieved under controlled conditions, with DJI specifying a 25°C ambient temperature, Wi-Fi disabled and the screen turned off.

My testing produced a slightly lower, though still impressive, result. Using the same recording resolution and frame rate with the screen set to switch off automatically, the Pocket 4P recorded for around 188 minutes before the battery was effectively exhausted.

That's roughly 10% below DJI's quoted runtime, but my test was conducted in a warmer room that reached 27.2°C, and the camera became noticeably warm during prolonged recording. Even so, just over three hours of continuous filming from such a compact camera is difficult to criticise.

Charging

Charging performance, on the other hand, was almost spot on. Using the DJI Power 1000 Mini and DJI's 100W USB-C cable, the Pocket 4P reached 80% in 20 minutes and a full charge in 31 minutes. DJI quotes 18 minutes to reach 80% and 32 minutes for a full charge, so my results were well within the expected margin.

I recorded a peak charging power of around 37W, before the camera reduced the input to roughly 15W once the battery reached 80%, presumably to keep temperatures under control. The camera became noticeably hot during charging, but cooled relatively quickly afterwards.

One practical limitation I encountered wasn't battery life but storage. Recording 4K/60fps D-Log footage consumed around 12.5GB every 10 minutes, meaning the camera's 103GB of built-in storage filled up after roughly 82 minutes of footage, well before the battery ran flat.

Anyone planning to shoot extended sessions at the highest quality settings will therefore want to keep a high-capacity microSD card handy.

Verdict

DJI has done it again. The Osmo Pocket 4P builds on an already excellent formula by adding a genuinely useful second camera without sacrificing the portability that made the Pocket series famous. A couple of ergonomic niggles remain, but they're easily outweighed by the superb image quality, class-leading stabilisation, versatile dual-camera system and polished user experience. Quite simply, this is the best pocket camera I've ever used, and an easy five-star recommendation.

Just a few weeks ago, in the middle of July and amid an ongoing UK summer heatwave, I visited KEF's London-based headquarters to sink into not only delightful air-conditioning, but a world of delightful sound beneath the capital's busy streets.

Ahead of its official reveal, I was treated to a private listening experience of the storied British brand's latest powered speaker, the LS Luxe, which is designed to fill a gap in the current line-up. As the product name asserts: a luxury gap.

Earlier this year, I had written about 2026's biggest hi-fi trend being powered bookshelf speakers, which are captivating buyers to move away from traditional separates purchases. KEF has been ahead of that curve to date, however, with its LSX II speakers released just over four years ago – and to critical acclaim.

Brits do it the best

While many other brands are only just presenting their latest equivalents – from Cambridge Audio to Yamaha – KEF is upping the ante in its LS Luxe. These speakers, designed in collaboration with British designer Ross Lovegrove, aren't mere boring boxes, but rather contemporary design – as much objects for the eyes as a sound system to please the ears.

I spoke in detail with KEF representatives, learning of the brand's now 65-year history, and how it remains based in a town in Kent – the very same town in which I was born, by happenstance – where some of the highest-end products, such as the Blade freestanding speakers, are still hand-crafted, one by one.

The LS Luxe are designed and engineered in the UK, showing that the Brits still do it the best when it comes to audio mastery. KEF isn't the only brand, though: Bowers & Wilkins is also based in the country's south – and a colleague recently visited a top-secret audio lab for the first time, to get a sneak peek behind the curtain.

Industrial design

Before I even get to how the LS Luxe actually sound, though, the most immediate feature is the way these speakers appear. Their rounded sculptural form is all curves, no visible breaks to the cabinet's smooth surface.

Lovegrove designed the speakers wanting that pure, unbroken appearance – paramount to his design language. No screw holes are visible. You'd never know that the enclosure is made of two BMC halves, compressed together with a resin that's then sanded and finished to aesthetic perfection.

Even the principal LS Luxe's rear marries form and function: the die-cast aluminium heat-sync on its rear has playful swirls, an opening for the flared port needed for low-turbulence bass output, with each of those flanges maximising heat dissipation. The second speaker of the pair – which can be connected by wire or wirelessly – has a simpler, pared-back visual.

Each is finished in a choice of Eclipse Black, Dusk Titanium, or Mineral White. The S-Luxe stands are sold separately, while an optional KW1 wireless subwoofer can complement the package – but I tested without this as part of the setup, for isolated testing.

Sensational sound

Last year, KEF began to deploy some of its newest technologies. The XIO soundbar – pronounced as "zee-oh" or even "shee-oh", not as a three-letter acronym – was the first to utilise the brand's patent-pending Velocity Control (VECO) technology, which uses a motion sensor to measure distortion and counter it in an instant as part of a feedback loop.

The LS Luxe deploys 100W Class AB and 280W Class D current-drive amplification, meaning a high output without fluctuations, providing direct control in how the 6.5-inch aluminium cone driver moves. Which is all well and good – except for the direct distortion that such a system can create.

This is where VECO technology comes to the fore, measuring coil motion and offsetting that measurement in a feedback loop. As there's no differential voltage, the sound is therefore consistent, controlled and clean throughout its considerable 35Hz to 47kHz frequency response.

Worth the cash?

The result is every bit as wonderful as it sounds. If wired, then a 192kHz/24bit output is possible, with the KEF Connect app handling sending your output to the LS Luxe. The sound is big, rounded and able to fill large spaces eloquently.

There's an abundance of connections, too, should you want to use HDMI or optical for a TV connection, AUX or COAX for a CD player or turntable input, Ethernet network connection for a NAS or other cloud source, or simply use Bluetooth/Wi-Fi. There's AirPlay, Chromecast, or direct Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connection options.

Think of the LS Luxe as positioned a step up from the LS50 Wireless II, but a notch down from the floorstanding LS60 Wireless II. The price fits in between those two products too, with a pair set at £3,500 / $4,000 / AU$6375. Availability is from right now for MyKEF users, while general release is from 13 August.

If you know your electronic music history, you'll know the Casio SK-1. Released in 1985, it became a cult classic thanks to its crunchy sampling and affordable price, finding its way into the hands of everyone from bedroom producers to professional musicians.

Now Casio has taken that icon and given it a modern makeover. The new SXC-1 portable sampler borrows plenty of visual cues from the SK-1, but this is a much more capable bit of kit, designed for today's music makers. It's compact enough to throw into a bag, yet packs the sort of features you'd expect from much larger desktop hardware.

Rather than recreating the SK-1, Casio has leaned into its heritage. The SXC-1 comes pre-loaded with more than 80 sample banks taken from classic Casio instruments, including the SK-1 itself, the SK-5, CZ-101 and MT-40, while also letting people record their own sounds using the built-in microphone, external inputs or USB-C. I think it's one of the best-looking pieces of music hardware I've seen this year.

The design immediately grabs my attention. It manages to feel nostalgic without looking dated, mixing chunky physical controls with a bright pad layout and compact footprint that feels more like modern portable samplers than vintage keyboards.

Those 16 RGB performance pads are backed up by onboard sequencing, sample editing and a selection of creative effects including filters, flanger, phaser and bitcrusher.

Add battery power and a built-in speaker, and it looks like the sort of gadget that's designed to be used anywhere inspiration strikes, rather than sitting permanently in a home studio.

While there's no shortage of portable samplers these days, most lean towards minimalist industrial design. The SXC-1 feels like the opposite as playful, colourful and unmistakably Casio.

The bad news? You can't buy one here... yet

For now, the SXC-1 has only been announced for Japan, where it'll cost ¥39,930 – roughly £220 before local taxes and pricing. Casio hasn't confirmed an international launch, although given the affection the original SK-1 still enjoys around the world, it would be surprising if this remained a Japan-exclusive for long.

And if it does arrive in the UK at around the £250 mark, I suspect it'll sell out rather quickly.

Majority has expanded its turntable offering with the introduction of the Stylo and the Folio, aimed at newcomers to vinyl who want pop colours and useful connected features.

The Stylo at £160 is a great starting point, offering a turntable that's approachable so it's easy to get started. Core to the offering is the integrated pre-amp, so it will work with Bluetooth speakers or systems connected via RCA or phono.

There's support for 33 and 45 RPM, with an aluminium platter, carbon fibre tone arm and an Audio-Technica AT3600L moving magnet cartridge.

But perhaps more importantly, the Stylo comes in Blackout, Sol Yellow, British Racing Green, Blue Steel and Oxblood colours - so you don't have to settle for a boring black turntable, you can have something that adds to your home décor.

Priced at £159.99, it's already available from a range of retailers such as Amazon.

While the Stylo will cater to those looking to get started quickly, the Folio is a slightly different proposition as an all-in-one player.

The Folio was originally launched in 2025, but there are now more colours to choose from.

That sees built-in stereo speakers in the base of this turntable, making for a slightly more beefy design. However, those speakers mean that this turntable will support additional inputs such as Bluetooth and USB, so it will handle all your music needs.

Conversely, those Bluetooth and USB connections are also outputs, so that gives great flexibility, supporting USB recording to digitise that rare collection you might have.

There are additional physical connections including RCA, a headphone connection and AUX input, so the Folio is a really adaptable choice.

Again there's an Audio-Technica AT3500L cartridge, with an S-shaped tone arm, aluminium platter and built-in pre-amp.

The great colours that the Stylo offers are also available for the Folio, so if you don't want black, you have the choice of yellow, green, blue or red. There's another option, however, and that's for Plywood, which gives a nice neutral deck, perfect for your beach house or Swedish loft apartment.

The Folio is priced at £169.95, so you're getting quite a lot more for your money, and it's available from retailers including Richer Sounds, right now.

Google will be announcing its new Pixel devices on 12 August at a Made by Google event and it looks like two of the Pixels are going to buck the trend and actually be cheaper than the predecessor.

We've heard a lot about the Pixel 11 recently, from Google sharing the Pixel Glow indicator on the back of the phone, through to colours leaking for the new phones.

But thanks to WinFuture's Roland Quandt, we now have another piece of the puzzle. Taking to BlueSky, Quandt shared prices, storage and the battery capacity for three models - and two are cheaper than they were before.

The trend for recent releases has seen a price increase across devices because of increasing component costs. In the recent Samsung Galaxy Z launch, devices typically had a £100 / $100 / €100 increase. That's not the case for Pixel.

Firstly, it seems that 256GB is now the standard, as there are no prices for 128GB models. That makes the Pixel 11 seem inordinately expensive, priced at £879 whereas previously the 128GB model was available for £799. However, the 256GB model of the Pixel 10 was £899, so if these prices are correct, the new model will be £20 cheaper.

The same applies to the Pixel 11 Pro: starting at 256GB it is listed as £1079 compared to £1099 for the Pixel 10 Pro (256GB). Sure, the absence of the 128GB model at £999 makes this phone feel more expensive, but for the given capacity, it's actually cheaper.

The Pixel 11 Pro XL doesn't do so well: at £1279, it's £80 more than the £1199 asked for the 256GB Pixel 10 Pro.

So on one hand, Google is assuaging those who would have previously wanted the cheaper 128GB models, while the Pixel 11 Pro XL - which is probably the model that most people want - is going to be more expensive.

In addition to the prices and confirmation of starting storage, Quandt also shares the battery capacity:

• Pixel 11 - 4985mAh
• Pixel 11 Pro - 4850mAh
• Pixel 11 Pro XL - 5115mAh

These don't appear to be significantly different to previous models. From what we've seen leaked, the new Pixel 11 phones will offer much the same design as their predecessors, with the Tensor G6 expected to boost their performance.

What we don't know is how Gemini will continue to govern the experience of these phones and what camera changes we might see.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's not every day that Bowers & Wilkins refreshes its most storied and sought-after speaker lineup, and it's also not every day that you get to hear it in the best possible setting. When Bowers announced the 800 Series Diamond D5, we knew that it was likely to sound fairly phenomenal.

I got the chance to verify that, though, when I visited the British audio brand's secluded R&D base near Horsham in early July – a visit that very (very) few audio journalists have ever been treated to before. I've already written this week about the sheer engineering scale of the listening room that I had my session in, but that piece might have left readers wondering about the actual sound of these new high-end speakers.

If you're going to spend £250,000 on building a listening room suspended within an existing room, it follows that you're not going to fill it with subpar components. When I totted up the audio equipment backing up the speakers I listened to (and there were many speakers), online retail links suggested that it was comfortably another £250,000 worth of kit.

That was comprised of a pair of Gryphon Apex mono power amps (just under £200,000), a Gryphon Commander preamp (another £65,000) and a lovely Denon DP-S1 CD transport (a totally reasonable £3,000 used).

Added to this were, of course, the actual new speakers, in a carefully calibrated ladder. Over the course of a couple of hours, I got to go through a host of comparisons. First, Bowers would give me some samples from the old version of the 800 series – so, the 805 D4, for instance. Then they'd swap it out for the newer version: the 805 D5.

After that we'd go back to the D4 range for the next step up: the 804 D4. Then to the newer equivalent, the 804 D5, and so on, until by the end we finished with the top-of-the-line 801 D5, the latest and greatest. At a cool £43,000 for a pair, they bring the total setup to eye-watering levels, but it's easy to throw stones until you step into the glass house and actually listen to them.

A new world of sound

I heard the same three tracks through ten different sets of speakers, each one picked to showcase a different characteristic. There was Phoebe Bridgers' DVD Menu into Garden Song, for its weird spatial elements and underrated bass; then Agnes Obel's The Curse, even more precise and pinpoint in its arrangement; and finally, Harry Belafonte's A Fool For You, the perfect way to check the warmth and tonality, all acoustic and live.

I'll be honest – even the very first speaker, the last-gen 805 D4s, had me immediately remembering how jealous I am of those who can afford this sort of setup or anything like it. The amount of detail, and the degree of separation, was just astonishing – and at that point I'd have told you I doubted that spending five times the money for the 801 D5s could possibly be sensible.

That's still a complicated topic, but as we stepped up through that ladder of sound, it was fascinating to be able to pick out differences and hear near-perfect sound get a little better. The biggest changes, I'd say, came in Belafonte's song, where the amount of warmth really did bump up on the newer speakers, the richness of his curiously-octaved voice getting all the more present in the room.

As you'll see in the images above, changing from one speaker to the next was no small job, especially once the bigger ones were on the agenda, and that weight served as a decent reminder that these are super-premium products for those who really do want professional-level sound at home.

A subtle evolution

It's hard for me to visualise ever having a space that could actually house them, let alone being able to crank them up to the volumes I enjoyed at Bowers' HQ – my neighbours would rightly have thoughts on that. Still, seeing the new speakers up close was a great way to appreciate some of the design changes.

Side by side, the D4 and D5 series are obviously from a shared template, but the tweaks that have been made are noticeable. That iconic turbine head always had a separate tweeter atop it, but the separation is even more intense now – it practically wobbles if you touch it. The grille on that tweeter's front is also redesigned for more airflow, and is quite beautiful in its lattice-work.

Behind the scenes, new designs for the acoustic chamber are tweaked in ways that you'd have to see a breakdown to fully appreciate, but help to give that extra warmth that I've spotlit. Bowers admitted that it now thinks it might have gone a little too analytical last time out (though some will have appreciated that), so this is a clear course-correction.

Part of what's so mad about high-end audio, though, is that you do quite quickly get into the realms of taste. Bowers & Wilkins is far from the only brand making very expensive speakers that sound terrific, after all, but its sound signature is clearly popular in mixing studios and with artists.

Having now had the opportunity to luxuriate in it myself, I can see why – if I had £50,000 to lob on a couple of floor-standing speakers, I'd have them high up my list moving forward. That said, I'd be curious to hear them without the enormous additional setup behind them, or at least with a more deliberately realistic one. At this grade of audiophilia, part of the fun is in trying to work out which components are having an impact on which elements of your sound, after all.

The cadence of Bowers & Wilkins' speaker updates means that the D5 range should now set its standard for a good few years, and it'll be fascinating to see how its arrival is greeted once people get their hands on them for more long-term testing. Having had my own session, I'll be grabbing any further opportunities to listen again.

Forget Spotify and its perpetual music recommendation engine, the people have spoken and physical media is making one heluvah comeback. And we’re not just talking about vinyl, the sales of which have been on the rise for some 19 years now. Both CD and cassette are seeing surges in popularity as the world decides to press pause on streaming and get back to actually owning music again.

According to MusicWeek, the sales of vinyl are set to surpass CDs in the UK by the end of 2026. Now, this is an interesting stat as vinyl sales have easily passed CDs the last four years in a row. However, CD is having its own resurgence thanks to K-Pop: the popularity of BTS’ ARIRANG on CD has meant that vinyl has a real physical rival again. Couple this with Taylor Swift using the format to her advantage, releasing four CD editions of The Life of a Showgirl in 2025, and those digital discs are very much back in business.

The key here is the demographic that are buying up these albums. It’s clear that there is something about collecting music that has really caught the attention of Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2009, who are classed as the first digital native generation – and Gen A, who were born from 2010 onwards.

In 2024, Key Production found that the age group that was listening to physical music (vinyl, cassette and CDs) the most was those aged 18 to 24. Skip to 2026 and nearly half (46 per cent) of Generation Alpha are preferring to listen to physical music.

While the rise of these older formats may prompt some parents to head into the loft and dust of their old hi-fi separates, there are a number of brands that are helping physical media fans listen to the music the way they want to.

Seasoned record enthusiasts will wince at the amount of suitcase record players on sale on the high street. But it’s clear these are skewed to a younger generation. Thankfully, there are some trusted brands that have released budget players that sound and look great (one of which we speak to after the jump).

Here are our picks:

Record Players

CD Players

Cassette Players

To get an understanding of what it’s like to be on the forefront of this retro renaissance, T3 spoke exclusively to the co-founder of We Are Rewind, Romain Boudruche, about embracing the physical world and just why people are choosing tape over streams.

We Are Rewind are at the forefront of the physical media comeback, offering gadgets that don't just play your cassettes but look and sound fantastic while doing so. Its latest release is a limited edition collaboration with Pink Floyd, which celebrates The Dark Side of the Moon with an exclusive Bluetooth Cassette Player inspired by the album's iconic artwork. Here we speak to Boudruche about the rise of cassette listening and just why we are all feeling a tinge of nostalgia for all things physical right now...

T3: The shift toward physical media has grown from what seemed like a brief nostalgic trend into a massive, multi-billion-dollar cultural movement. What do you think is driving this and is there a particular demographic you are seeing buying We Are Rewind products?

Romain Boudruche: I think people are looking for a more intentional relationship with music. Streaming gives us access to almost everything, but sometimes that abundance makes listening feel disposable. Physical formats slow things down and actually "own" something. They encourage you to choose an album, spend time with it and create memories around it. That's something many people have been missing.

What is particularly interesting for us is that our audience is incredibly diverse. While we certainly have customers who grew up with cassettes, we are also seeing a surprisingly large number of people in their twenties discovering the format for the very first time. For them, it is not about nostalgia; it is a completely new, tactile, and refreshing experience making them nostalgic of a time they never knew.

T3: We all seem to be going through a ‘digital fatigue’ right now. But do you think there is an us vs them mentality when it comes to the physical/streaming debate, or do you think both can co-exist happily?

RB: I do not see them as competing worlds. Streaming is an incredible discovery tool that I use every day. However, when I truly love an album, I want to own it physically. They are simply different experiences. Listening to a cassette is much more intentional. You do not skip tracks every thirty seconds; instead, you listen to the album the way the artist intended to tell their story. I think that is why physical media feels so rewarding today.

T3: How do you balance nostalgia and new technology when creating We Are Rewind products?

RB: That is one of our biggest challenges. We are not interested in simply making replicas of vintage products. We want to preserve what made them emotionally special while removing the technical frustrations. That is why our cassette players feature Bluetooth, rechargeable batteries, and modern electronics, while still keeping the authentic mechanics and analog sound of the cassette. We respect the past without being trapped by it.

T3: How important do you think is the physical act of choosing a cassette in the music listening experience?

RB: I think it is essential; it is part of the ritual. When you pick up a cassette, you are making a conscious decision and committing to an album rather than an endless feed of songs. There is also something special about holding the artwork, reading the lyrics, and hearing the mechanical click when you press "play". All of these small details become an integral part of the listening experience.

T3: Congratulations on the Pink Floyd X We Are Rewind release. This marks another fantastic band partnership — how do these come about? Do you have a wishlist of people to work with and how much are these things collaborative?

RB: Thank you! For us, collaborations only make sense when there is genuine creative alignment. We do not simply add a logo to one of our products; we try to create an object that feels like it belongs to the artist's universe. With Pink Floyd, for example, every design decision and creative asset we developed was inspired by the Dark Side of the Moon universe. That is what makes these projects so exciting. As for a wishlist, there are plenty of artists we would love to work with, but we always prioritize collaborations where music, design, and storytelling come together naturally.

T3: Is there a particular music memory you have that has stayed with you? Maybe the first cassette you bought, or the first time you saw a particular band live?

RB: Being born in 1988, I belong more to the CD generation. However, before I got my first CD player, I clearly remember borrowing my older brother's cassette player to listen to his mixtapes. He is a musician and used to record a lot of Beatles and David Bowie covers, as well as the Starmania rock opera. I would sit alone in my bedroom, listening to those cassettes over and over again.

T3: Vinyl has made a comeback, tape has made a comeback — the next step is a Minidisc resurgence, surely? In all seriousness, is there a format from the past that you would like to see get more attention?

RB: Who knows! The Minidisc did not quite achieve the success we thought it would at the time, so perhaps its moment has come. Ultimately, I think every format has its own story and emotional value. For me, cassettes remain unique because they are not just a playback format, but a creative one. You can record, exchange, and make mixtapes, which makes the experience highly personal.

That spirit of creativity and sharing is timeless, and I think that is why the cassette continues to resonate with so many people today.

When MSI took the wraps off its latest gaming handheld at the Computex show in Taiwan, I was one of the first people to get my hands on it and see what sort of power it was packing. The new Intel G3 Extreme chipset meant it was a given that it would have an eye-watering price, but we had to wait weeks to have that confirmed.

Now, the handheld is actually here, and the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is indeed quite the beast. I've been gaming on it for a week to see how it holds up in regular use, but also to check whether it can make that sky-high price seem a little less crazy.

Price and Availability

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ has had a slightly confusing regional roll-out. In the USA, it's available now, having launched in late June – so you can order it through a few storefronts.

Here in the UK, however, there's still no clear and precise date, but you can pre-order it through Scan Computers now. It's listed on Amazon, but the shipping date remains a vague window.

That brings us to the price. The Claw 8 EX AI+ comes in at £1,399 in the UK and a massive $1,799 in the US. No matter how you slice it, that's a big chunk of change for a gaming handheld.

Design and Specs

I didn't expect MSI to make as many revisions between generations of the MSI Claw 8, but here we are, and the good news is that it's clearly been listening to feedback.

The most recent Claw 8 designs were frankly not great – the handhelds were huge, but didn't pair that bulk with great ergonomics, making them a trial to hold for long periods.

With the Claw 8 EX, that's been solved neatly, with much more rounded grips to keep hold of and more of a palm-friendly shape overall. That said, this is still a seriously large and tall handheld, so there's no doubt that those with smaller hands should probably seek one out to try before they buy.

The handheld also comes in a new default colour, a dark purple with just a hint of shine to it, and again, I think it's a great change. The two tones of the older Claws didn't do it for me, but this looks smart. It's also got RGB lighting around each analogue stick, something that doesn't move me much anymore. Those sticks are Hall-effect for drift resistance, as are the triggers.

In terms of inputs, there are all the traditional controller buttons, as well as some shortcuts on either side of the screen. These let you access pause menus but also MSI's software overlay to change power settings or access different games. Atop the machine, there's a power button with fingerprint reading, two USB-C ports, a microSD slot for expanded storage, a 3.5mm jack and the volume keys.

The back of the handheld has two extra macro-enabled buttons that you can easily programme to your chosen controls, along with a big MSI crest and quite a lot of air intake – the venting mostly happens out of the top of the machine.

The real star of the show, though, and the most eye-catching part, is that screen. It's an 8-inch 1920 x 1200 resolution touchscreen IPS display, with refresh rates of 48 to 120Hz and VRR compatibility to make it super smooth. It's vibrant and lovely to look at, although some might ask how this price doesn't bring an OLED panel instead. Still, it's an expansive panel, even if the way it protrudes at the bottom gives it a bit of a chin.

In terms of specs, the huge inclusion here is Intel's new portable chip, the Arc G3 Extreme – basically the most powerful handheld gaming chip on the market right now. It's a total beast, and probably a big part of why the Claw 8 EX is so expensive.

You also get a 1TB internal SSD for storage, a chunky 32GB of RAM, and an 80WHr battery, all of which are at the very top end of what any competitor can offer. It means that the specs list of the Claw 8 EX is basically best-in-class.

The whole thing, meanwhile, runs Windows, but with all the flexibility that you might want. Xbox's new handheld experience runs really nicely, for instance, but you can also get anything else you like running, including Steam and GOG. Some apps are more likely than others to be recognised by MSI's software, which can make for some awkward swaps between handheld and desktop modes, but the amount of options on offer is terrific.

Performance

The MSI Claw 8 EX lives or dies by its power – that much is obvious from the intersection between its price and its specs list. If you're going to ask this much for a handheld, it needs to deliver seriously eye-opening performance.

Luckily, that's almost exactly how I'd describe its gaming prowess. This handheld offers up the sort of graphical capabilities that I thought would be beyond a portable machine for a good while yet. Intel's G3 chip is a monster, especially in this Extreme configuration, and I have the benchmarks to underline that fact.

Cyberpunk 2077 remains about as demanding as a game can come, even years on from its hyper-ambitious release, and even if I didn't tweak a thing in the settings, it comes out of the gate supremely smoothly on the Claw 8 EX. Its default configuration goes for "Ray-tracing Low", and averages 47.75fps in the benchmark test, which is already pretty great.

Turn on XeSS, though, to get frame generation, and things leap forward, giving 76.14fps on the XeSS Auto setting with all other presets the same. That's a major boost, but there's still more headroom. If you go with XeSS Ultra Performance, you can get 104.63fps, or if you want to get super stable image quality, XeSS Ultra Quality gets you 67.87fps.

That last option, Ray-tracing Low with XeSS Ultra Quality, is probably how I'd play the game, but those who want zero input latency can always opt for turning off XeSS and going with the Steam Deck preset to get a similar outcome of 66.8 with slightly fewer graphical bells and whistles.

Whichever way you cut it, those are phenomenal numbers for a gaming handheld, and they put plenty of gaming laptops from recent years to shame when it comes to unplugged power. All of these are at the screen's native resolution, too, so you have scope to turn that down for even more performance.

Of course, numbers are all well and good, but testing the handheld on a range of other games, from Doom: The Dark Ages to Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced, I've been consistently impressed with how easily I've been able to get challenging games running smoothly on the hardware.

That performance is particularly staggering because ray tracing is often enabled – a feature that is generally beyond the ken of other expensive gaming handhelds without major resolution compromises. It honestly feels like a big leap forward in real terms.

It goes without saying that you can expect older or simpler games to run phenomenally, and battery life is thankfully also really impressive. I've been getting between two and three hours of gaming when cranked up to high settings on a demanding game, but in lower-power situations you could get way more – even up towards double digits.

That's remarkable, and underlines just how good Intel's power management options are, paired with MSI's implementation. I observed when this chipset launched that its efficiency could be just as important as its power, and that's how it feels in the hands some time later.

All of this looks excellent on that VRR IPS display, with the Variable Refresh Rate bit being key, since it eliminates most stutters to keep games feeling super smooth if they're in that generous VRR window (which they should be). That said, I'll say again that at this stonking price, you really would expect and hope for an OLED display for inkier blacks and better colours.

This superb power does come at a cost in terms of heat, though – while the Claw 8 EX never got uncomfortably hot in my testing, there's no denying that it gets pretty warm. It also has enough fan noise that you'll want headphones for any high-powered gaming to avoid distraction.

Verdict

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is a genuinely remarkable gaming handheld and very arguably the best ever released by a mainstream brand in terms of raw power and performance. MSI has improved its design work massively, and the sheer brunt of Intel's newest portable chip is jaw-dropping to experiment with.

It's unfortunate that it comes with a price tag that makes it a luxury reserved for those who need the best of the best. In most ways, that's far from MSI's fault, of course, with the current economics just pushing back against it so hard, but it doesn't really change the arithmetic from a prospective customer's point of view.

So, buy the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ if your budget is chunky, and you insist on performance that puts other handhelds to shame. But for many of us, it might make sense to sit out a year or two to see if Intel's chip starts to trickle into more affordable devices.

Also consider

The gaming handheld market is getting harder and harder to navigate as price hikes bite – so in many cases the best alternatives are second-hand.

That said, in some territories, you can now get the ROG Xbox Ally for a reasonable price, and while it's not as powerful as this MSI machine, it's very good for being miles cheaper.

Still my favourite PC gaming handheld, meanwhile, is the Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS). It's the perfect size, and while it again can't hold a candle to MSI's power, as an indie game machine, it's hard to fault, with all the convenience of SteamOS.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Having written about technology for decades, you'd think I could be jaded or cynical about the industry and new devices by now, but the truth is the opposite. I have seen many trends come, expand and even die down again, but I remain as enthusiastic as ever.

My latest obsession is with smart glasses. Having imagined what they could be like since childhood, the reality is we're suddenly being inundated with them. Some have displays, others just microphones and speakers, and all seem to be coming across my desk.

So when I was offered the chance to trial the new Ray-Ban Meta "AI glasses" specifically designed for glasses wearers, I could hardly refuse.

Now you could say I'm a fair weather glasses wearer. I do need reading and computer glasses, but am largely fine on distances (just a light prescription), but that in itself makes me the ideal subject for the Ray-Ban Meta Optics range.

They are able to be fitted with varifocal lenses which suit my own eyesight – a combination of distance, computer and reading glasses in one. I can therefore wear them day-in, day-out and suddenly the tech makes more sense.

That has always been my issue with the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 glasses I've tried before. As good-looking and capable as I found them, they've been sunglasses only (and not prescription) and thus only useful in specific circumstances. When it was sunny and outside, for starters.

However, that wasn't always appropriate for the features I wanted to use. It's part of the overall appeal, but only a part.

True all-rounders

The Ray-Ban Meta Blayzer Optics I've been testing are different though – they are true all-rounders. As well as being essential for indoor use, they also have photochromic Transitions lenses that darken when in sunlight. Win-win.

That enabled me to get a more rounded experience, using different AI features and functions for different daily tasks. For example, as I'm currently on a diet, I've been asking my Meta AI assistant about the calorie content in foods when plodding around the supermarket. Even in McDonald's (yeah, I know).

The irony is this would have been extra useful when I wasn't actually wearing glasses that help me read the same information on packets, but hey, it works. And I wouldn't get as much attention if I didn't seem to be randomly barking out questions to an invisible friend.

Also handy has been the ability to play music from my iPhone when at my desk, without needing to wear earbuds or headphones. I can also stay aware of my surroundings. This has proved especially useful as I also own a needy dog who is often pining for my attention – I don't accidentally ignore him when he's trying to tell me that little Timmy has fallen down the well, or something.

The glasses have even helped me aid my daughter with her Spanish homework. While I have a GCSE in French, my skills in linguistics are as close to zero as it can get, and so the live translation feature has come in great use – to understand what it is she's trying to say and give her feedback.

Camera control

What I've perhaps surprisingly used least is the camera functionality. There's a raging debate about smart glasses with cameras, and whether there are privacy concerns. The truth is, I only take photos or videos of people who understand that's exactly what I'm doing. The privacy light comes on, and everyone is aware.

I can see how some might misuse the facility though and more obvious safeguards should be in place, for sure. But, I wouldn't want to dispense of the camera entirely as some of my other favourite features depend on it.

Meta AI being able to see what you're looking at on command has proved useful in my test period. Being something of a tour guide whenever I've visited London has proved fun and interesting. Admittedly, I grew up in London, lived there most of my life, and I could personally give Google navigation tips, but you can always learn something new about your surroundings. We see the buildings, but how much do we really know about them?

Of course, many smart glasses can do all of the above – some with an augmented display to help guide you too. And the general Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 glasses have exactly the same feature set, so what makes these different?

Comfort is everything

Well, comfort for one. While you can have prescription lenses added to standard Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 glasses, the Optics range comes with a different hinge design. It can be opened 10-degrees wider for a more comfortable fit.

There are interchangeable nose pads and adjustable temple tips, too. These help make for a better fit for daily use.

The nose pads are included in the box, along with a charging case and lenses cloth, although the temple tips will need to be adjusted in a Meta store or by your local optical retailer.

Another distinct difference is the design. The chunkier Blayzer look is exclusive to the Optics range, as is the more rounded Scriber aesthetic. So if you prefer the style of either, you're best looking in this direction.

Of course, there are also a few caveats. Price is one – the Ray-Ban Meta Blayzer Optics start at £429 for the frame and non-prescription lenses. That's around £50 more than the start price of traditional Gen 2 equivalents. You'll also have to pay extra for the lens options.

But when you consider that conventional designer glasses can cost you around the same without the smarts, you might not mind the expense. These are everyday glasses as well, after all.

All-day power?

Perhaps more noteworthy is that battery life is a maximum of eight hours with general use. You get up to 48 hours when combined with the charging case, but you won't want to keep taking them off during the day just to charge them up again.

Thankfully, I found them to last all day with lighter use – only accessing the AI functions or listening to music on and off. And by that, I meant I could wear and use them when I got up and put them back on charge at night before bed.

It was more testing when using audio navigation when out and about – the battery would run out quicker. But most days it was fine.

And of course, the glasses bit works regardless of battery, so even if you can no longer access the Meta assistant, you can still see through them.

In short, I couldn't see many downsides (pardon the pun). And the privacy debate aside, I found the Optics more comfortable, more convenient, and useful than many other smart glasses I've tested to date.

Now we just need the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses to come to the UK.

After seven generations of folding phone releases, Samsung did something dramatic with its eighth-gen model – changing the Galaxy Z Fold 8's display aspect ratios so dramatically that it has created an all-new experience and a first for Android phones.

I was dubious initially, because the folded device's almost-passport-sized exterior display looked so squat and wide that I couldn't fathom how it would enhance my experience. Yet here I am, a full working week later of using the Z Fold 8 nonstop, and I'm fully on side with this new format.

That's partly down to it solving one of my criticisms inherent in folding phones (and I've tried pretty much all of them): that I would rarely unfold any, given how 'normal' the exterior display would usually feel in use. The Z Fold 8's addition of a 4:3 aspect ratio panel within has changed that for me.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is no iterative upgrade over the Galaxy Z Fold 7 – for that, you'll need to look to the also-new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra (here's the two compared) – but a landmark step towards folding phones' wider acceptance and, if rumours are true, a precursor to Apple's expected arrival in this space later this year.

Price & Availability

But with a price tag that remains an obvious hurdle, is wider acceptance ever going to be feasible? You might need to factor in increasing your monthly contract costs to accommodate here.

The Z Fold 8 is up for pre-order now, ahead of its 4 August on-sale date, and retails from £1,699 / $1,899 / AU$2,699 for the 256GB model with 12GB RAM. Only the 1TB storage variant offers 16GB RAM.

That is £/$200 less than the £1,899 / $2,099 Z Fold 8 Ultra (which is AU$2,999 in Australia), so it's not the most expensive foldable in Samsung's line-up or, indeed, in the market overall. But it's still pricier than most typical Android flagships.

What's New?

• Lightest Fold yet, at 201g
• Totally new aspect ratio displays
  • 5.5-inch external, 10:16 ratio
  • 7.6-inch internal, 4:3 ratio
  • Flex Titanium tech
• Samsung's first-ever silicon-carbon battery
  • 4300mAh, 45W charging
• Dual camera system, not triple, without optical zoom
  • 50MP main and 50MP wide

Samsung has been in the folding phones game for longer than any other maker, with a new model arriving annually since 2019. But the Galaxy Z Fold 8, the eighth-generation handset in the range, changes the playbook.

That's clearly visible in the gallery above, where I've photographed the Z Fold 8 next to the Z Fold 8 Ultra – the latter being more in line with the previous Z Fold 7 model that released last year.

This radically different size and shape is also paired with the lowest weight of any Samsung foldable to date, while also marking Samsung's first foray into using a silicon-carbon battery type (Si-C) for greater capacity from this new form.

In opting for a new aspect ratio, however, Samsung has cut back on the cameras – it's a dual rear offering, lacking the optical zoom of the Ultra – which seems a sensible cost-saving move. These lenses do protrude quite dramatically from the rear, though, so the dreaded 'desk wobble' is still a bother.

Displays

• 5.5-inch external AMOLED display, 10:16 aspect ratio
  • Wider and shorter than Z Fold 8 Ultra
  • 3000 nits peak brightness
  • 1264 x 1848 resolution
  • 120Hz refresh
• 7.6-inch internal AMOLED display, 4:3 aspect ratio
  • Flex Titanium Technology for anti-crease
  • Anti-reflective coating finish
  • 1828 x 2584 resolution
  • 120Hz refresh

I've already established that the displays differ from what's come before, but there's plenty going on behind the scenes, too, in what Samsung calls Flex Titanium technology. I interviewed a Samsung exec about how tricky this was to deliver – and it's an interesting read on the challenges faced.

Flex Titanium is designed to further negate the much-maligned 'crease' down the centre of the foldable panel – by using a titanium plate behind the panel to benefit from its rigidity. Getting sheet metal to actually fold, however, took some clever engineering to create a layer thin enough, with micro-etched and laser-cut patterns to enable the folding process.

I found the Z Fold 8 satisfyingly 'snaps' into position when unfolded, the crease barely visible from a front-on viewpoint and only marginally present when viewing at more acute angles. That 'snappy' operation means you can't position this foldable in anything but fully open or closed positions, unlike with the Ultra.

Good work on the crease, but the Z Fold 8 doesn't address one of my other general frustrations with folding phones: fingerprints! Samsung hasn't made further headway into negating how the natural oils prevalent in human skin sit on a folding display's surface. It just looks worse than on any standard glass panel.

The Z Fold 8's folding panel is finished with an anti-reflective coating, though, so it does at least battle sunlight better for an improved viewing experience when outdoors. The bright nature of this panel also helps in cutting through any would-be reflections for clear visuals all of the time, while a 120Hz refresh rate ensures smooth, flowing visuals.

The biggest new feature to get used to with the Z Fold 8, however, is this unfolded display's 4:3 aspect ratio. You just don't see that in Android devices. But you do elsewhere: as that's precisely the form of Apple's iPad line. I maintain that this is unusual for an Android device, but as I've learnt over the past working week, I've grown to really enjoy it.

It's better for reading, it's better for some games, and it's certainly better for content consumption. I've actively found myself moving between external and internal panels more than with any folding phone before, which is certainly a positive.

Less positively, however, is that Android, and the apps this system inherently runs, just aren't always designed for on-the-fly aspect ratio adjustment – so when an app is open, and you unfold the device to benefit from it on the larger display, you'll typically have to restart said app.

That's not true of all apps, mind, with Gmail loading your inbox plus selected email in a dual format. WhatsApp is similar, with Chats loaded and the selected conversation opening into the right-hand portion of available space. Samsung's One UI 9 software also permits multiple apps to be open at once.

This multitasking feature needs to be activated, but you can easily swipe with two fingers from the side to create a split-screen view. It's even possible to swipe diagonally from the corner of an open app and redraw its position as a floating window (some apps enforce a fixed aspect ratio). It's actioned well and not fiddly, unlike some competitors' software (Oppo's ColorOS springs to mind).

Hardware & Performance

• Colours: Graphite, Cream, Lavender, Pistachio (Samsung exclusive)
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 'for Galaxy', 12GB RAM
• 4800mAh Si-C battery type, 45W charging
• 256GB / 512GB / 1TB storage options

Samsung did tell me that the Flex Titanium technology actually frees up space in this design, as does the adoption of the new battery technology, so there's 7% more graphite for thermal dissipation in this design compared to the previous-gen Z Fold 7.

That said, in its folded form this phone can run hot – and when the system decides that it's crossed a threshold, I've seen automated screen dimming and likely performance throttling. It has been particularly warm in the UK where I'm testing, however, so such preventative measures are hardly a surprise – and certainly not a deal-breaker in overall performance.

There's no doubting the Z Fold 8's abundant specification, which includes Qualcomm's top-tier 'for Galaxy' overclocked processor. Whether multitasking, as I described above, or playing full-screen games, the experience is fluid and every bit the flagship.

It'll be interesting to see how Samsung evolves its One UI 9 software offering, as there's the promise of 7 years of updates for the latest features and security patches. The software at time of testing is in beta (which might explain the lack of a 5-across app grid), but the more that Samsung can leverage this screen real estate, the better.

I've been pleased with the introduction of that Si-C battery type, too, with its 4800mAh capacity proving good enough to last through a day with ease. No, it's not the highest capacity, per some competitors, but it's more than good enough – I've managed 16-hour days unplugged with 6 hours of screen time and still gone to bed with 15% remaining.

Streaming time might be the most valid figure to consider in relation to this foldable, though. Samsung specifies continuous playback up to 26 hours. If you're using Wi-Fi, with Bluetooth headphones connected and are cranking the display's brightness, however, then I've found an hour of YouTube to cut 9% battery – so more like 11 hours total. That's with no concessions, though, so it's a decent innings.

There is one point to note on this battery type, however, as we reported ahead of the device's on-sale date. While the earlier Z Fold 7 claimed 2000 charge cycles, the Z Fold 8 drops that to 1200 – which is a 40% dip. That suggests the longevity after some years may be challenged.

Cameras

• Dual rear cameras:
  • Main: 50-megapixel
  • Wide: 50MP
• Selfie cameras:
  • Both: 10MP, f/2.2

A phone's cameras tend to be the biggest sign of its flagship status these days. The Z Fold 8 doesn't go quite as far as the Ultra model here, however, dropping any optical zoom lens and relying on tried-and-tested 50-megapixel cameras in wide and ultra-wide forms.

It's the Ultra model, in its altogether different format, that gets the more sophisticated camera setup (including a 200-megapixel main), therefore. But Samsung's well-established photographic prowess is still on fair display in the Z Fold 8 – much as I do miss having a more capable zoom – thanks to decent processing and resolution.

You can certainly crop into images easily, providing a sort of 'zoom equivalent' – the exec interview and on-stage photos in my gallery above, for example, are heavily cropped, yet still retain enough core detail. Even low-light images come out well, much as the processing can leave some subjects looking a little softer as a result.

The suite of Galaxy AI features on board also delivers plenty of tools to manipulate images with ease. These have been established over the last couple of years of Galaxy flagship launches, though on the video front this generation adds My FanCam, which can crop video focus to a specific social platform aspect, as you please.

Verdict

Much as the Galaxy Z Fold 8's passport-sized form could have proved a floundering move for Samsung, having used this unique Android device for a full working week, I think it's opened new borders – and represents the future of foldables.

The high asking price and limited camera setup don't guarantee overnight success with the masses, mind, and there's scope for both Google's Android and Samsung's One UI software to bring yet more beneficial features to the device's two display formats.

But in terms of practicality, core hardware and raw power, Samsung has delivered a new kind of folding phone experience that feels as fresh and fun as it does mature. I've found the Galaxy Z Fold 8 to transform the foldable experience for the better and set a new bar.

Also Consider

There's nothing directly comparable with the Z Fold 8's aspect ratio, but if you want more camera and more screen – albeit in a taller and narrower form – then the Z Fold 8 Ultra is your most obvious option.

Elsewhere in the market, Honor's competitive pricing with the Magic V6 makes a strong case, despite software quirks. Or for a more 'standard' external display, Google's Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the most obvious pick.

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you'd told me five years ago that one of the hottest consumer tech categories in 2026 would be dedicated vlogging cameras, I'd probably have laughed.

After all, smartphones have become astonishingly capable, with every new flagship promising bigger sensors, smarter AI processing and another lens squeezed into an impossibly thin body.

On paper, it looked like the end of standalone cameras for anyone who wasn't a professional photographer. As someone who’s been passionate about photography and cameras for nearly two decades, I was very sad to see how things were going.

I like cameras, still photos, and even though I totally appreciate videos are all the rage now – I watch quite a few myself – I wanted to believe there was a future for dedicated camera gear.

I was right, but not in a way I thought. As T3’s in-house action camera and drone expert, I’ve been following compact camera design for a while, and lately, I noticed a trend: vlogging cameras are big.

Whether it's DJI's Osmo Pocket 4, Insta360's Luna Ultra, Sony's ZV range or Canon's EOS R50 V, manufacturers are doubling down on cameras built specifically for creators, and, more importantly, people are buying them. More curiously, I don't think that's happening despite smartphones becoming better, but because of it.

The return of the specialist gadget

In the past two decades or so, the trend has been to fuse all the different functionalities into a single device that can do it all. And yes, I’m talking about everyone’s favourite love-hate gadget, the smartphone.

Our phones became our cameras, sat navs, music players, wallets and even our boarding passes. Now, I'm seeing the pendulum swing back the other way, toward a place where people increasingly want products that excel at one thing rather than trying to do everything.

CD and vinyl players are making a comeback, and people have also started buying DVDs and Blu-rays instead of spending cash on subscriptions. Vlogging cameras are perhaps the best example of that shift.

The category isn't new, which is part of the appeal. Canon and Sony have spent decades refining compact cameras, while newer players such as DJI have rapidly accelerated innovation with their gimbal technology.

As a result, the latest generation of vlogging cameras feels remarkably polished, with fast autofocus, excellent face and eye tracking, clever shooting modes and image stabilisation that's good enough to make handheld footage look like it was filmed on professional equipment.

They've finally grown up

Then there is mechanical stabilisation. I’d still pick a GoPro Mission 1 Pro or a DJI Osmo Action 6 for mountain biking, skiing or anything involving mud and water.

But for everyday filming, they're often a compromise, with their ultra-wide lenses distorting faces and making arms look unnaturally long. They can also be unflattering when you're talking directly to camera (well, modern cameras are pretty good, to be fair).

A dedicated vlogging camera produces a more natural-looking image. That difference becomes even more obvious when you compare them to smartphones. Computational photography has come a long way, but physics still matters.

Dedicated vlogging cameras have larger sensors, better optics, and far more room for manufacturers to optimise image quality rather than relying almost entirely on software.

I'm also a big fan of how approachable these cameras have become. Subject tracking, vertical recording, wireless transfers and professional colour profiles like D-Log mean you don't have to be an experienced filmmaker to produce footage that looks genuinely impressive.

Small cameras, big advantages

The form factor is another component that makes vlogging cameras so appealing. I can slip them into a jacket pocket or bum bag without thinking twice, yet I'd much rather pull one out in a café or on a busy street than a mirrorless camera with a chunky zoom lens attached.

They're less intimidating, people react more naturally around them, and they're simply more enjoyable to carry every day.

Not to mention that having a dedicated camera helps preserve your phone's battery.

When I'm travelling, I don't particularly want to spend hours recording video on the same device I'm relying on for navigation, tickets, mobile payments and communication. A dedicated camera keeps my phone charged, leaves plenty of storage available and lets me swap SD cards whenever I need more space.

The category is becoming more versatile, too. Early pocket gimbal cameras were almost entirely wide-angle affairs, but newer models, such as the Luna Ultra mentioned above, are starting to add telephoto options, making them much better suited to travel, product reviews and more cinematic storytelling.

No gadget is perfect

It’s not all sunshine and lollipops when it comes to vlogging cameras, though. They're expensive, especially for something that's effectively designed around a single purpose

Their moving camera assemblies are also more vulnerable than the fixed lenses on action cameras, though brands are clearly addressing this with tougher designs and protective covers.

I'd also argue that anyone serious about content creation should budget for a wireless microphone, because great audio still makes a bigger difference than most camera upgrades.

And while image quality is excellent, these cameras still can't match the low-light performance of larger APS-C or full-frame cameras. (That said, sensors in vlogging cameras are getting bigger and algorithms smarter, so this disadvantage is disappearing. Slowly.)

Even with those caveats, I think we're witnessing something bigger than the rise of another gadget category.

For years, we assumed smartphones would absorb every dedicated device. Instead, people are rediscovering the value of products that have a clear purpose. Just as dedicated running watches continue to thrive alongside smartwatches and action cameras remain indispensable for adventure sports, vlogging cameras have found their place by doing one thing exceptionally well.

Of course, the smartphone isn't going anywhere, but after watching this category evolve over the past few years, I'm convinced dedicated vlogging cameras aren't going anywhere either. If anything, I think they're only just getting started.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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