Engadget

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 4.9/10 (8 votes cast)

Gadget news and reviews

This Disney+ and Hulu deal ends soon: Get four months of access for only $12

29 March 2025 @ 11:00 am

The Disney+ Hulu Duo Basic plan usually costs $11 a month, but the companies are giving

The Partial solar eclipse will be visible at sunrise today: Here's how to watch it

29 March 2025 @ 4:23 am

Today's the day: A solar eclipse will darken the skies in the northeastern US and Canada in the early hours of Saturday. Unlike the “Great American Eclipse” of 2024, however, this will not be a total eclipse. Instead, this event will be a partial eclipse visible in parts of the northern hemisphere.  While this one will lack the dramatic "totality" of the 2024 event, a partial eclipse is still worth seeing. The sun will not be fully obscured, but with proper eye protection, you will be able to see the moon take a bite out of the sun. And there's a catch, but it's also an opportunity: This eclipse will occur at sunrise in North America, meaning the sun will just barely be above the horizon. But that timing offers viewers the chance to see the famed “devil horns” — a

xAI, Elon Musk's AI company, just purchased X, Elon Musk's social media company

28 March 2025 @ 10:15 pm

Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, has purchased X, according to a post shared by Musk. Besides their similar names and owner, the companies are already connected through xAI's chatbot Grok, which is integrated into X. X was acquired by xAI through an all-stock transaction. "The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)," Musk writes. "xAI and X’s futures are intertwined." The companies plan on combining "data, models, compute, distribution and talent," using X's reach as a social platform to spread "xAI’s advanced AI capability." The post offers little detail beyond that, but the motivations could be as financial as they are practical.

Amazon Spring Sale tech deals: The best discounts from Apple, Bose, Sonos, Beats, Anker and others

28 March 2025 @ 10:01 pm

The Amazon Spring Sale is here, bringing a slew of discounts on household essentials, fashion, outdoor gear and even furniture. We at Engadget are focused on tech, and while the selection this time around isn’t quite as good as that of Amazon Prime Day in July, there are some decent discounts to be had. Some of our favorite robot vacuums, air purifiers, headphones and storage gear are on sale right now for some of the best prices we’ve seen this year so far.Below, you’ll find all of the best tech deals we could find in the Amazon Spring Sale. The shopping event runs through March 31, so be sure to check back for the latest deals as they become available. Best Amazon Spring Sale deals

Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS will land May 25 for $50 more than expected

28 March 2025 @ 9:38 pm

Lenovo has the honor of releasing the first SteamOS handhelds not made by Valve, and it looks like you won't have to wait long to get them. Legion Go S handhelds with SteamOS ship May 25, according to a new Best Buy listing spotted by The Verge, but go for at least $50 more than the original $499.99 price Lenovo promised. T

YouTube may mute notifications from channels you don't watch

28 March 2025 @ 8:28 pm

YouTube is testing turning off notifications from channels viewers don't engage with in attempt to tame the number of notifications they receive. The video platform says the test will specifically impact viewers who've chosen to receive "All" notifications from a channel. During the experiment, notifications will still appear in the notification inbox, but "viewers who haven’t recently engaged with a channel despite having been sent recent push notifications will not receive push notifications," YouTube says. The goal is to get viewers to not disable notifications entirely just because they've received too many. Many YouTube creators specifically ask people to subscribe and enable notifications so they know when a new video has been uploaded. The problem

Latest Webb telescope image shows a cosmic phenomenon called an 'Einstein ring'

28 March 2025 @ 6:59 pm

The latest image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, pictured above, also happens to be a stunning illustration of Einstein's theory of general relativity. So much so that the cosmic phenomenon is called an "Einstein ring."  Einstein rings happen when light from one distant object is bent around the mass of another, slightly closer and even larger object. The effect is normally too subtle to observe up close on a local level, "but it sometimes becomes clearly observable when dealing with curvatures of light on enormous, astronomical scales," NASA writes. In the case of this image, when the light from one distant galaxy is warped around t

Google Play will offer user choice billing in the UK

28 March 2025 @ 6:01 pm

Score another one for regulatory scrutiny. Following a 2022 Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation, Google said on Friday that it's adding the UK to the list of countries where it supports user choice billing. This lets Android developers in the nation allow users to pay for in-app purchases using alternative billing systems. Google says the UK will get user choice billing beginning on March 29. It will start with non-gaming apps, which aligns with how Google has handled these rollouts in other regions. Areas where alternate billing is already available include the US, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa and European E

Common Side Effects has been renewed for a second season by Adult Swim

28 March 2025 @ 5:32 pm

Mushroom fans rejoice. Adult Swim has ordered a second season of its animated hit Common Side Effects. This is happening just ahead of the finale of the first season, which airs this weekend. For the uninitiated, Common Side Effects is something of an odd duck. It’s a cartoon, but it’s more of a thriller than a comedy. Mike Judge (Silicon Valley, King of the Hill) and Greg Daniels (The Office, Parks and Recreation) are onboard as executive producers, so there are some jokes. I guess it could be called a dramedy, but comedic thriller seems more apt. The plot follows two former high school lab partners who discover a mystical mushroom that can cure just about every disease. This forces

The Pixel 9a launches on April 10 in the US

28 March 2025 @ 4:19 pm

Google's Pixel 9a, a candidate to be the "midrange smartphone king," was announced last week but delayed at the last second due to a component problem. Today, we finally know when the handset will arrive: April 10 in North America. In an update to a Pixel 9a support page (via 9to5Google) on Friday, Google wrote that the phone will arrive on

Crucial.com

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)

RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD
Crucial.com

Ebuyer.com

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 6.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Cheap Laptops, Hard Drives, LCD Monitors, TVs, Televisions, Hard Drive and more at Ebuyer.com

Play.com

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)

UK: DVDs, Music CDs, MP3s, Video Games, Books, Electronics & Gadgets – Free Delivery.

TestFreaks.co.uk

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 6.0/10 (2 votes cast)

All Reviews all the time at TestFreaks UK

Litepanels.com

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 6.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Lights for Film and Video
Litepanels.com

Scan.co.uk

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Computer Hardware

CNET Reviews

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Product reviews – Electronics reviews, computer reviews & more

Sling TV Review: The Best Budget Live TV Streaming Service

1 August 2024 @ 4:00 am

Sling TV Blue offers cord-cutters a wealth of live channels for an affordable price, but you may need to bring your own antenna.

2022 GMC Hummer EV Pickup Review: One-Trick Pony

2 January 2023 @ 10:00 am

After the allure of the Hummer's physics-defying acceleration wears off, there isn't a whole lot left to love.

Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite Review: Capable Streamer, Cheap Price

19 December 2022 @ 6:01 pm

The first ultrabudget streamer with a voice remote talks circles around Roku.

2023 Land Rover Range Rover Review: Running Out of Room for Improvement

14 December 2022 @ 10:00 am

The latest generation of the ubiquitous luxury SUV is damn near perfect.

Roku Streambar Review: Instant Sound and 4K Streaming Upgrade

4 December 2022 @ 11:00 am

Editor's Choice: This tiny bar adds great 4K HDR streaming, and solid sound, to any TV.

Anker Nebula Mars II Pro Review: Petite Portable Projector Performs Proficiently

1 December 2022 @ 3:31 pm

Editor's Choice: This tiny, battery-powered entertainment machine does a lot of things right.

BenQ HT2050A Review: Great (Big) Picture for the Money

1 December 2022 @ 12:00 am

Editor's Choice: Excellent contrast, accurate color and solid features make it our favorite sub-$1,000 projector for 2020.

Epson Home Cinema 5050UB: Big, Bold and Beautiful

30 November 2022 @ 6:21 pm

Editor's Choice: A higher-end projector worthy of the "home cinema" moniker.

2023 BMW iX M60 Review: Electric Excess, Not Necessarily the Best

24 November 2022 @ 11:00 am

The more powerful spec of BMW's iX electric SUV is certainly quicker than the base model, but that extra oomph comes at too high a cost.

LG C2 OLED TV Review: Best High-End TV for the Money

15 November 2022 @ 3:53 pm

The C2 sets the pace for 2022 with superb picture quality, numerous sizes and a track record of success.

AnandTech

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 8.0/10 (1 vote cast)

hardware analysis and news

End of the Road: An AnandTech Farewell

30 August 2024 @ 12:00 pm

It is with great sadness that I find myself penning the hardest news post I’ve ever needed to write here at AnandTech. After over 27 years of covering the wide – and wild – world of computing hardware, today is AnandTech’s final day of publication. For better or worse, we’ve reached the end of a long journey – one that started with a review of an AMD processor, and has ended with the review of an AMD processor. It’s fittingly poetic, but it is also a testament to the fact that we’ve spent the last 27 years doing what we love, covering the chips that are the lifeblood of the computing industry. A lot of things have changed in the last quarter-century – in 1997 NVIDIA had yet to even coin the term “GPU” – and we’ve been fortunate t

The Corsair iCUE LINK TITAN 360 RX RGB AIO Cooler Review: Meticulous, But Pricey

29 August 2024 @ 5:00 pm

Corsair, a longstanding and esteemed manufacturer in the PC components industry, initially built its reputation on memory-related products. However, nearly two decades ago, Corsair began diversifying its product line. This expansion started cautiously, with a limited number of products, but quickly proved to be highly successful, propelling Corsair into the industry powerhouse it is today. One of Corsair's most triumphant product categories is all-in-one (AIO) liquid coolers. This success is particularly notable given that their initial foray into liquid cooling in 2003 did not meet expectations. However, Corsair didn’t throw in the towel. Undeterred, they re-entered the market years later, leveraging the growing popularity of user-friendly, maintenance-free AIO designs. This gamble paid off handsomely, as AIO coolers are now one of Corsair’s flagship product lines, boasting a wide array of models. In this review, we focus on the latest addition

The iBUYPOWER AW4 360 AIO Cooler Review: A Good First Effort

29 August 2024 @ 12:00 pm

iBUYPOWER is a U.S.-based company known for its custom-built gaming PCs and peripherals. Established in 1999, the company offers a wide range of self-branded products, including pre-built desktop computers, laptops, and gaming accessories. These products are designed to cater to various performance needs, from casual gaming to high-end competitive gaming. iBUYPOWER is particularly recognized for its customizable gaming PCs, allowing users to choose specific components according to their preferences. The company's self-branded peripherals, like keyboards, mice, and headsets, are designed to complement their gaming systems, providing a cohesive experience for gamers. iBUYPOWER also offers a selection of cooling-related products, including air and liquid cooling solutions, tailored to ensure optimal thermal performance and custom aesthetics for their gaming systems. Most of these products are from other manufacturers, but the company is also branching out into selling thei

The Cougar Poseidon Ultra 360 ARGB AIO Cooler Review: Bright Lights, Average Cooling

28 August 2024 @ 12:00 pm

Cougar, established in 2008, has become a notable name in the PC hardware market, particularly among gamers and enthusiasts. While Cougar might appear to be a relatively recent addition to the industry, it is backed by HEC/Compucase, a veteran in the PC market known primarily for its OEM products. Cougar was created as a subsidiary to focus on developing and marketing high-performance products tailored to the needs of gamers and PC enthusiasts. Initially, Cougar focused primarily on PC cases, gradually expanding its product lineup as the brand gained recognition. Over the years, Cougar has successfully diversified its offerings to include a wide range of products, from gaming chairs to mechanical keyboards. This strategic expansion has allowed Cougar to establish a strong presence in the gaming hardware market. In this review, we are focusing on Cougar's latest entry into the liquid cooling market, the Poseidon Ultra 360 ARGB cooler. The Poseidon Ultra 360 ARGB

Sabrent Rocket nano V2 External SSD Review: Phison U18 in a Solid Offering

27 August 2024 @ 3:30 pm

Sabrent's lineup of internal and external SSDs is popular among enthusiasts. The primary reason is the company's tendency to be among the first to market with products based on the latest controllers, while also delivering an excellent value proposition. The company has a long-standing relationship with Phison and adopts its controllers for many of their products. The company's 2 GBps-class portable SSD - the Rocket nano V2 - is based on Phison's U18 native controller. Read on for a detailed look at the Rocket nano V2 External SSD, including an analysis of its performance consistency, power consumption, and thermal profile.

The Endorfy Fortis 5 Dual Fan CPU Cooler Review: Towering Value

27 August 2024 @ 12:00 pm

Standard CPU coolers, while adequate for managing basic thermal loads, often fall short in terms of noise reduction and superior cooling efficiency. This limitation drives advanced users and system builders to seek aftermarket solutions tailored to their specific needs. The high-end aftermarket cooler market is highly competitive, with manufacturers striving to offer products with exceptional performance. Endorfy, previously known as SilentiumPC, is a Polish manufacturer that has undergone a significant transformation to expand its presence in global markets. The brand is known for delivering high-performance cooling solutions with a strong focus on balancing efficiency and affordability. By rebranding as Endorfy, the company aims to enter premium market segments while continuing to offer reliable, high-quality cooling products. SilentiumPC became very popular in the value/mainstream segments of the PC market with their products, the spearhead of which probably was

ACEMAGIC F2A 125H SFF PC Review: Mid-Range Meteor Lake at 65W

26 August 2024 @ 12:00 pm

Intel's Meteor Lake series of processors was launched in September 2023 with a focus on mobile platforms. Multiple mini-PC vendors have utilized these processors to market offerings in the SFF / UCFF desktop market. ACEMAGIC is an Asian manufacturer with products in multiple categories including micro-PCs, UCFF (ultra-compact form-factor) and SFF (small form-factor) PCs, and notebooks. They were one of the first to market with Meteor Lake-based desktop systems. The ACEMAGIC F2A 125H is the entry-level version of the F2A line, equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H processor. It is a bit larger than the traditional NUCs, slotting it in the SFF category. However, that allows for the processor to be operated at 65W (compared to the 28 - 40W adopted in the UCFF systems). Read on for a comprehensive look at the performance and features of the ACEMAGIC F2A 125H, including some comments on the pros and cons of the higher operating power as well as other design decisions.

MediaTek to Add NVIDIA G-Sync Support to Monitor Scalers, Make G-Sync Displays More Accessible

20 August 2024 @ 9:30 pm

NVIDIA on Tuesday said that future monitor scalers from MediaTek will support its G-Sync technologies. NVIDIA is partnering with MediaTek to integrate its full range of G-Sync technologies into future monitors without requiring a standalone G-Sync module, which makes advanced gaming features more accessible across a broader range of displays. Traditionally, G-Sync technology relied on a dedicated G-sync module – based on an Altera FPGA – to handle syncing display refresh rates with the GPU in order to reduce screen tearing, stutter, and input lag. As a more basic solution, in 2019 NVIDIA introduced G-Sync Compatible certification and branding, which leveraged the industry-standard VESA AdaptiveSync technology to handl

Qualcomm Adds Snapdragon 7s Gen 3: Mid-Tier Snapdragon Gets Cortex-A720 Treatment

20 August 2024 @ 1:00 pm

Qualcomm this morning is taking the wraps off of a new smartphone SoC for the mid-range market, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3. The second of Qualcomm’s down-market ‘S’ tier Snapdragon 7 parts, the 7s series is functionally the entry-level tier for the Snapdragon 7 family – and really, most Qualcomm-powered handsets in North America. With three tiers of Snapdragon 7 chips, the 7s can easily be lost in the noise that comes with more powerful chips. But the latest iteration of the 7s is a bit more interesting than usual, as rather than reusing an existing die, Qualcomm has seemingly minted a whole new die for this part. As a result, the company has upgraded the 7s family to use Arm’s current Armv9 CPU

CXL Gathers Momentum at FMS 2024

19 August 2024 @ 12:00 pm

The CXL consortium has had a regular presence at FMS (which rechristened itself from 'Flash Memory Summit' to the 'Future of Memory and Storage' this year). Back at FMS 2022, the company had announced v3.0 of the CXL specifications. This was followed by CXL 3.1's introduction at Supercomputing 2023. Having started off as a host to device interconnect standard, it had slowly subsumed other competing standards such as OpenCAPI and Gen-Z. As a result, the specif

TomsHardware.co.uk

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Hardware News, Tests and Reviews

Best Graphics Cards for Gaming in 2025

28 March 2025 @ 11:03 pm

We've benchmarked all the latest GPUs to select the best graphics cards for gaming. These graphics cards offer the best performance at their price and resolution, from 1080p to 4K.

Zotac RTX 5090 GPUs with missing ROPs sold at premium price by German retailer

28 March 2025 @ 6:09 pm

German retailer Alternate is selling Zotac branded RTX 5090 GPUs with missing ROPs priced over $3,000.

Intel and SK hynix close NAND business deal: Intel gets $1.9 billion, SK hynix gets IP and employees

28 March 2025 @ 3:52 pm

SK hynix's Solidigm can now work more closely with the parent company now that SK hynix finally obtains Intel's SSD IP and R&D capabilities after making final $1.9 billion payment.

Taiwanese authorities accuse SMIC and allies of poaching engineers

28 March 2025 @ 2:23 pm

SMIC is reportedly trying to poach engineers to get Taiwanese semiconductor know how.

Corsair Virtuoso Max Review: Sounds great, feels... less great

28 March 2025 @ 2:00 pm

Corsair's newest flagship headset in its Virtuoso line sounds fantastic in games, delivering detail you didn't even know existed. Unfortunately, the headset is stiff and uncomfortable, and yes, you still have to use iCue.

Nvidia's 50-series laptop launch looks bumpy: slipping ship dates, game crashes, and delayed review units

28 March 2025 @ 1:44 pm

Nvidia's RTX 50-series "Blackwell" GPU launch for laptops has been rocky, with delays and driver issues.

$3,700 RTX 5090 GPUs have found new homes after sitting on US retailer's shelves

28 March 2025 @ 1:27 pm

Micro Center has several ROG Astral LC GeForce RTX 5090 for $3,700 that have reportedly sold out.

Razer Blade 16 review: Pricey, thin RTX 5090 laptop

28 March 2025 @ 1:21 pm

The Razer Blade 16 is a thin RTX 5090 laptop with a bright screen and tons of ports, but it's extremely pricey and the drivers felt unfinished on our test unit.

Hollyland Lark M2 Wireless Lavalier Microphone drops to a low price for Amazon's Big Spring Sale 2025

28 March 2025 @ 12:22 pm

The Hollyland Lark M2 Wireless Lavalier Microphone is now cheaper than when I bought it in the last sale!

Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6400 C38 2x16GB Review: Deceitfully Fast

28 March 2025 @ 12:00 pm

The Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6400 C38 isn't the shiniest memory kit, but can it shine in the benchmarks?