Google is in a very favorable position with its Android operating system, which comes installed on smartphones from numerous manufacturers and only has a few real non-Apple alternatives, like GrapheneOS and LineageOS. But Google isn’t content with just Android. For some time now, Google has also wanted to establish itself to a greater degree on PCs and complete more directly with Windows. ChromeOS was a step in that direction but far from the end goal—and now, we’re seeing Google move more in that direction as concrete information about its new operating system emerges. According to Android Authority, Google’s newest operating system is being developed under the name “Aluminium OS” (whether that’ll be the final name is still unclear) and will be a merger of Android and ChromeOS. As such, it’ll be used on smartphones and PCs as well as in tablets, watches, televisions, cars, and XR headsets. What’s behind Aluminium OS? Google confirmed back in September that it was working on a new operating system that merges Android and ChromeOS. Since then, there have been several leaks that paint a more concrete picture. According to these leaks, Aluminium OS is to be established as a standardized operating system for desktops and mobile devices. To this end, Google is working with Qualcomm, which not only develops powerful chips but is also increasingly focusing on AI. Given that, it’s hardly surprising that Google’s new OS will also integrate AI. Job advertisements for the project indicate that Aluminium OS is based on artificial intelligence and will therefore presumably be closely linked to Google’s Gemini AI. This would mean that AI won’t just be extra features on top but a central element of the operating system. Integration at system level would conceivably allow Gemini access to all apps and data. Will Aluminium OS be only for PCs? Initial reports assume that—unlike ChromeOS—Aluminium OS will not be limited to special laptops and tablets but will run on all types of desktop PCs, tablets, detachables, and wearables. In addition, lower-priced devices will also use the operating system, which would be an important step towards establishing it for the masses. Whether Aluminium OS can compete with both Windows and macOS remains to be seen. However, Google has gained tons of experience with both Android and ChromeOS and will surely utilize that experience to develop and market the new operating system. When will Aluminium OS be released? Google is already said to be actively working on the development of the platform. At the same time, the development of Android 17 is also underway. Experts believe that Google could release Aluminium OS as early as 2026 if the first test runs are successful. What will become of ChromeOS? Naturally, all of this Aluminium OS talk raises a curious question: what is Google going to do about ChromeOS once this spiritual successor arrives? Most likely Google won’t immediately discontinue the operating system, but will continue to develop and support both OSes alongside each other for at least a few years. In the long term, however, Aluminium OS should completely replace ChromeOS. Older systems that aren’t compatible could still receive a kind of legacy support, while compatible hardware will be fully migrated to the new operating system. However, this is likely to take several years. Read...

Whether you’re going camping or you just need a reliable source of backup power in case the power goes out at home, you’re going to love this high-capacity portable Anker power station. It’s on another level than your typical power bank, and it has some nifty built-in features that aren’t just gimmicks. And right now, with this Amazon Black Friday deal, you can get it for $80 (normally $150). View this Amazon deal This handheld power station has a massive 60,000mAh capacity, which is enough to recharge a modern laptop about three times over or a flagship smartphone nearly eight times over. If you’re at home and your power goes out for the day, this thing can easily keep your laptop going for the entire workday. Meanwhile, if you take it camping, you can use it to keep your phone juiced up at all times. There are four USB ports you can use: two USB-C and two USB-A. That means you’re able to charge four devices at once if needed, which is great for the whole family. When charging solo, the USB-C ports can hit up to 60W while the USB-A ports max out at 18W. When multiple ports are being used, the power station has a total output of 87W max. As for recharging, this power station can connect to any power outlet via its main USB-C port (power adapter not included). Another option is to hook it up to a solar panel via the XT-60 connector, which is fantastic as you can keep it full even when you don’t have power. One of my favorite bonus features is the retractable LED lamp, which can last just over 42 hours on a full charge (if you aren’t using it to charge any devices, of course). Use it like a lantern when you’re stumbling around in the dark, whether at home or a campsite. The lamp even has a flashing SOS mode so you’re easier to find in case of emergency. Frankly, this Anker power station is worth every penny even at full price. It’s downright sweet with this Amazon Black Friday discount! Anker`s 60K power station is the perfect emergency power sourceBuy via Amazon Read...

My, oh my, the gorgeous 55-inch Samsung Odyssey Ark 2nd Gen really is $1,000 off for Black Friday! Now that’s a deal that’s simply surreal. Instead of spending an eye-watering $2,700 on this cutting-edge monitor that’s sure to blow you away, you can now get it for “only” $1,700. View this Samsung deal Okay, I know, that’s still pretty dang pricey. But this truly is a cutting-edge display that’s well worth every penny if you want a next-gen experience. The Ark 2nd Gen features a mini-LED panel that delivers better peak brightness levels for HDR content, deeper blacks and higher contrast ratios, as well as a wider color gamut and better color accuracy. OLEDs are still better for dark rooms, but mini-LEDs rock in bright spaces. It also doesn’t hurt that this monitor delivers crisp 4K images, which ensures you get to notice every little detail. Oh, and this monitor is more than ready for gaming as it can reach a 165Hz refresh rate, which is great if your gaming machine can push out that many frames. Plus, the monitor’s Neural quantum processor will upscale all non-4K visuals with maximum clarity so you get the best experience no matter what. This monitor supports up to four input sources, and you can even split the display between them all so you can easily run streaming content on your mini PC in one corner, your laptop’s email inbox in another, and maybe even a game if you’re hooked up to your desktop tower. If you’re looking for the ultimate PC gaming upgrade to grab during this year’s holiday season, you can’t do better than the Samsung Odyssey Ark 2nd Gen for $1,000 off. Save a whopping $1K on this insane 55-inch 4K mini-LED monitorBuy via Samsung.com Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Great design Excellent display and speakers Long battery life Capable gaming performance Cons Soldered memory Default profile leaves performance on the table Our Verdict The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 isn’t the beefiest gaming laptop, but it’s a lean, mean machine with stable performance, largely silent cooling, and an overall great package. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 Retailer Price $2,489 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Asus already had a great laptop on its hands with 2024’s ROG Zephyrus G16, and the 2025 Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 doesn’t change too much. The outward appearance of the laptop is largely the same, continuing to offer a thin and light gaming laptop with an elegant metal build and great display. Asus seems to have taken some of the criticism to heart, though, as it proves a largely quiet running device even when it’s cranked to Turbo settings. And though it has a premium price and trails beefier machines in performance, it remains conveniently portable and even undercuts other design-focused laptops. Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Specs and features CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 285H Memory: 16GB LPDDR5X-7467 Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5070 8GB 115W Display: 16-inch 2560×1600 240Hz OLED, Glossy, G-Sync Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD Webcam: 1080p IR Connectivity: 1x Thunderbolt 4 with Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 with Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x SD card reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio Networking: WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Windows Hello facial recognition Battery capacity: 90 watt-hours Dimensions: 13.97 x 9.72 x 0.66 inches Weight: 4.01 pounds MSRP: $2,149 as-tested ($2,149 base) This test unit is a special Best Buy model with lower base specifications than Asus’s own store offerings. It has a $2,149 starting price. To get the Zephyrus G16 from Asus directly, you’ll pay $2,799, but you’ll also get bumped up to an RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB of memory, and 2TB of storage. Additionally, Asus offers two even higher configurations. Bumping up to an RTX 5080 and 64GB of memory raises the price to $3,599. For an RTX 5090 and otherwise identical specs, that raises further to $4,599.  The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is an impressive machine. It offers an excellent build, great speakers, a gorgeous display, and fits potent hardware all into a laptop that’s surprisingly thin and light. Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Design and build quality Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is wonderfully built and far sleeker than you’d expect from a gaming laptop, even with the impressively slim models that have been coming out in recent years. It boasts a largely aluminum design with the keyboard deck, base, and display lid all made of metal. The display also has an all glass cover — no plastic bezels. It would be more impressive if it weren’t essentially the same hardware as last year’s Zephyrus G16, but there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken, and the internal components haven’t changed enough to justify a major redesign. All the metal here makes for a firm construction that doesn’t flex much. And even though this is a 16-inch gaming laptop, it weighs only a hair over four pounds. The chassis itself is also just 0.66 inches thick, though its rubber feet add to its overall height. The slim design still has plenty of air intake underneath with a large grille on the bottom panel, but there’s very little exhaust along the back edge, which aims all the exhaust downward. Fortunately, the long rubber foot at the rear of the base prevents any of the exhaust from feeding directly back into the intake fans.  The display has uneven bezels, including a slightly larger one at the bottom that doesn’t look terribly modern but is at least not too unsightly. The thicker top bezel fits in the webcam with Windows Hello tech, which makes it easier to excuse given how convenient this is for quick sign-ins. Chamfered edges around the frame provide a good lip for opening the lid with one hand, and the base keeps planted while doing so. The back of the lid has a stylish slash across it that also integrates some flashy lighting, though it’s not colorful like the RGB keyboard lighting. Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Keyboard, trackpad Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 packs in a great keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard isn’t quite excellent, as it has only subtle contour to the keycaps that doesn’t help with finger centering, and edge stability could use a little improvement. The RGB backlighting also struggles to evenly illuminate larger key legends and secondary functions. But it’s still quite a pleasant keyboard to type on. I was able to reach a typing speed of 126 words-per-minute at 99 percent accuracy. Given this is a 16-inch laptop, it would have been nice to see a number pad, but at least without it the keyboard ends up nicely centered. Asus has squeezed in a massive trackpad that uses up almost all the vertical space available to it with only a thin strip bordered its top and bottom edges. It also spans an extreme width. Between the abundant space for swiping around, the pleasantly soft physical click, and the smooth glass surface, it’s a joy to use. The trackpad also has proven to offer good palm rejection, an issue that held back the Razer Blade 16 and its massive trackpad. Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Display, audio Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is set up well for media. It combines an excellent display and speaker setup. The sizable 16-inch display offers a 2560×1600 resolution and runs at 240Hz for super-smooth visuals. That’s aided along by the panel’s OLED tech, which has fast pixel response times for crisp gameplay and G-Sync support to ensure clean frames and no screen tearing. The display is also wonderfully bright and colorful. It proved capable of hitting 419 nits in SDR and 444 nits in HDR with smaller highlights going brighter still. A 10 percent window in HDR was able to hit 640 nits, and that comes alongside infinite contrast and 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 and sRGB color spaces. Color accuracy was also high with an average dE1976 measured at 0.85 and a max dE of just 2.33. Plenty of high-end gaming laptops have similarly impressive displays, and even some cheaper ones come close. But many laptops skimp on speakers. Asus didn’t. This laptop’s speakers are exceptional. It combines four woofers that balance each other in pairs providing surprising depth for the sound; meanwhile two extra tweeters can deliver crisp high-end. Together, the speakers pump out plenty of volume without distorting or sounding boxed in. Strong sub-bass is still out of the cards, but the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16’s speakers remain impressive for a laptop audio system.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The webcam’s performance is mixed. On one hand, it handles exposure well, avoiding blown out highlights or sunken dark details. Even though it’s a 1080p sensor, the visual fidelity is a little lacking with grainy detail anything other than bright lighting and then odd sharpening even in bright light. But the visuals look natural at least, and if you’re just appearing as a small window in a group video call, the quality will be sufficient. The webcam also supports Windows Hello facial recognition, providing a quick and easy way to sign in that has proven handy in testing.  The mics also have mixed performance. They capture my voice quite fully, but they don’t seem to have any processing going on to cancel out room noise. This leads to a bit of room echo, and the mics will pick up background noises quite well, so you’ll want to avoid typing or clicking around with your mouse while you’re on calls.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Connectivity Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 offers decent connectivity. It’s a joy to see a laptop spreading out ports of the same type, and the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 puts one USB-A and one USB-C port on each side. Both USB-A ports are 3.2 Gen 2 ports with 10Gbps speeds. The left USB-C port provides Thunderbolt 4 while the right one is only a USB 3.2 Gen 2, and either can support DisplayPort output, though only the right one runs through the GPU for G-Sync support. Asus rounds out the connections with an HDMI 2.1 port and 3.5mm audio jack on the left edge and a full-size UHS-II SD card slot on the right edge. Since the laptop doesn’t include any side vents, all of the ports are situated toward the back half of the laptop as well.  The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 includes a dedicated 200W power brick with a proprietary port on the left edge of the laptop. This is key to getting the full power of the system, but may be a lot to lug around everywhere you go. Thankfully, the system’s USB-C ports can also support power input, letting you juice up on the go with something smaller if you have a GaN charger or other USB-C power source. I was able to trickle charge with a compact 65W PD charger I had handy. Wireless connectivity is also strong. The system supports Wi-Fi 7 and has offered high bandwidth and stability connectivity throughout testing. It’s disappointing to see Bluetooth 5.4 still now that 6.0 exists, but the laptop’s Bluetooth connection at least provided reliable, quickly reconnecting to a paired set of headphones whenever I turned them on and never once dropping that connection.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Performance The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 packs in powerful components, so it stands to reason that it would have plenty of performance. And for the most part, this is the case. We can see in the holistic PCMark 10 benchmark that the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 offers plenty of speed for everyday office tasks and even creative workloads, dramatically exceeding the 5,000-point threshold that tends to mark a machine that’ll readily handle most office tasks. It largely keeps pace with similar systems running Intel and AMD hardware.  While general tasks will be a breeze on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16, once you start getting into more demanding tasks that put serious strain on the system, you may begin to encounter some of its limitations. The CPU included is simply not as potent as what you can get in some of its competitors. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285H’s single-core performance is excellent, but it’s no match for HX-series CPUs from Intel, which many of its competitors include. Across Cinebench R15, R20, R23, and R24, it falls well behind. This lower performance also sees it take longer in our Handbrake video encoding test. While heat could be a factor for the thin Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 in Cinebench R24’s and Handbrake’s longer tests, the lower performance in Cinebench R15, R20, and R23, which are much quicker, suggests it’s just a limitation of this CPU next to the competition.  Graphical performance is also respectable in the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16, though not necessarily what you’d expect from a system with an RTX 5070 and a price tag over $2,000. In the graphically demanding 3DMark Port Royal test, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 lags behind RTX 5070-equipped systems like the Alienware 16X Aurora and Asus ProArtP16, but perhaps more embarrassingly, it even falls short of the RTX 5060-powered Lenovo Legion 5i 15IRX10 — a system that costs almost half as much. The same fate befalls the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 in Time Spy as well. The curious thing is that the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 isn’t limited to that performance level, but Asus just defaults to it. In fact, using the laptop’s Turbo profile, its Port Royal score leaps up to 8,552 points. This kind of bump from changing power profiles is fairly common, but the fact Asus’s default Performance profile sees the RTX 5070 nerfed to RTX 5060 levels is an odd choice that its competitors don’t seem to be making.  The shortcoming in graphical performance stemming from Asus’s settings combine with the weaker CPU in the system to leave the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 falling behind the pack in actual games. We see it lag the whole field in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which tends to lean a bit more heavily on the CPU than some other games, thus giving those systems with more powerful processors an edge. Again, enabling Turbo mode brings the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16’s average frame rate up to 159.  Cyberpunk 2077 is an especially demanding game, enough so that even the power-limited RTX 5070 could at last come out ahead of the Legion’s RTX 5060, likely aided along by the faster single-core performance of the CPU, which tends to improve frame rates. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 doesn’t pull ahead of its competitors though, unless Turbo mode is enabled, then its average frame rate jumps to 99.  While the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 tends to fall behind the other systems in its default Performance profile, a perk of the system is that it musters that performance while remaining rather quiet. Even under load in its Performance mode, the fans are hushed and hardly a bother. For some, that may be a worthwhile trade-off, and from time to time, when serious performance isn’t essential, it can certainly be a benefit. The system even remains stable with that light fan operation, with it providing 99.1 percent stable performance in 3DMark’s 20-run Steel Nomad Stress Test. The fans really only kick into high gear in Asus’s Turbo mode, and even then they’re not shrill, just a noisy breeze. They also manage the heat well, with the system again maintaining stable performance in the Steel Nomad Stress Test and the surface of the laptop not even getting hot over the course of the test. It’s great to see that Turbo mode can bring the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 largely back into performance parity with its rivals, though it’s equally likely that those systems would recover a good chunk of their leads if they, too, flipped over to their highest power settings.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Battery life Conservative power management tends to have a benefit where battery life is concerned, and that proves the case for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16. In our offline video playback tests, which run a locally stored 4K video on repeat with the display brightness set between 250 and 260 nits, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 managed an impressive 12 hours and 46 minutes, showing past Asus’s own ProArt 16 and dramatically outpacing the other systems running on HX-series Intel processors.  As great a result as that is for a gaming PC, you still shouldn’t expect the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 to be an all-day performer for actual use outside of video playback. It’s good for a gaming PC, but real-world office use tends to see the battery drain after five to six hours. That still beats the two to three hours you can expect from a lot of gaming laptops.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Conclusion The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is an impressive machine. It offers an excellent build, great speakers, a gorgeous display, and fits potent hardware all into a laptop that’s surprisingly thin and light. All the more surprising is the fact that the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 doesn’t show much of a struggle managing its heat. By default, it doesn’t take full advantage of its hardware, and it remains quiet thanks to that decision, but full performance is just a couple clicks away and helps the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 keep pace with its competition better. While you’ll still likely want a beefier laptop if you want full performance all the time, there’s something to be said for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16’s ability to deliver solid performance sometimes and good portability the rest of the time. The pricing on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 also makes it a true threat to the Razer Blade 16, a system that is thicker, heavier, and generally more expensive for like configurations. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Fast PCIe 5.0 performer Up to 4TB capacity, with 8TB in the works Higher-than-average TBW rating Cons Not the least expensive in the class Our Verdict Corsair’s latest MP700 Pro XT ups the performance ante for the MP700 series. It’s fast and affordable, though it doesn’t quite lead the pack in either department. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Corsair MP700 Pro XT Retailer Price $151.99 View Deal Corsair $160 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices If it seems as if we’ve reviewed quite a few MP700’s from Corsair, it’s because we have (MP700 Elite, MP700 Pro, MP700 Pro SE). The company keeps upping the ante with performance or other features, so we’re back with yet another — the MP700 Pro XT. Is it better than its predecessors? Yup. Not by a ton, but hey! Every little bit counts. All that aside, the MP700 Pro XT is a top-notch PCIe 5.0 SSD. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best SSDs for comparison. What are the Corsair MP700 Pro XT’s features? An M.2 2280 (22mm wide, 80mm long) SSD, the MP700 Pro XT features PCIe 5.0, a Phison E28 controller, and 218-layer TLC NAND. The drive is a DRAM design for faster random ops, with 1GB of cache per terabyte of capacity. The MP700 Pro XT carries a 5-year warranty and a 700TBW (terabytes that may be written before read-only mode commences) per 1TB of capacity endurance rating. The former is standard, and the latter slightly more generous than the 600TBW norm for this class of drive. How much is the Corsair MP700 Pro XT? The MP700 Pro is available in 1TB/$160, 2TB/$250, and 4TB/$460 capacities, with an 8TB model apparently in the works. Those are the prices from the company’s own web store. You might see them cheaper eventually on Amazon. Compared to the competition, those prices are higher than the Samsung 9100 Pro and slightly higher than the WD SN8100, and lower than the Kingston Renegade G5 and Crucial T710 at the time of this writing. Shop around. How fast is the Corsair MP700 Pro XT? The MP700 Pro XT was very fast, though the benchmarks were a bit sunnier than our real-world transfers. A rather lackluster time in our 450GB write test using Fast Copy hurt its overall ranking, which was still 5th fastest among NVMe SSDs. The MP700 Pro XT’s numbers in CrystalDiskMark 8’s sequential tests were excellent. The MP700 Pro XT’s numbers in CrystalDiskMark 8’s sequential tests were excellent. Longer bars are better. Random performance, on the other hand, was slower than the competing drives (also DRAM designs) when only one queue was used. Windows itself normally uses only a single queue. Random performance from the MP700 Pro XT was slower than the other drives when only one queue was used. Windows itself normally uses only a single queue. Longer bars are better. The MP700 Pro XT was just a hair off the pace in our 48GB transfers, especially with the folders. The MP700 Pro XT was just a hair off the pace in our 48GB transfers, especially with the folders. Shorter bars are better. It was the slowish (for PCIe 5.0) 450GB write with Fast Copy that sabotaged the MP700 Pro XT’s overall score. Not that it’s slow in the grand scheme of things, but its competitors, especially the Samsung 9100 Pro were much faster. It was the slowish (for PCIe 5.0) 450GB write with Fast Copy that really hurt the MP700 Pro XT’s overall score. Shorter bars are better.Jon L. Jacobi During the second consecutive 450GB write (no pause in between), speed dropped, but only to 1.5GBps. Not too shabby. This speed drop occurred after around 600GB of data had been written, and I’m not particularly concerned about a reduced write rate that’s still 1.5GBps. All told, the MP700 Pro is well within the PCIe 5.0 DRAM performance ballpark. I’d still like to see a bit better performance transfers with Fast Copy, but otherwise, it’s all good. Should you buy the Corsair MP700 Pro XT? Yes, given the right price. It’s a very good performer, but so are its competitors. In truth, you’d be more than happy with any of the top contenders. Shop for the best price. How we test Drive tests currently utilize Windows 11 24H2, 64-bit running off of a PCIe 4.0 Samsung 990 Pro in an Asus Z890-Creator WiFi (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard. The CPU is a Core Ultra i5 225 feeding/fed by two Crucial 64GB DDR5 5600MHz modules (128GB of memory total). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 5 are integrated into the motherboard and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. Internal PCIe 5.0 SSDs involved in testing are mounted in an Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 adapter card sitting in a PCIe 5.0 slot. We run the CrystalDiskMark 8.04 (and 9), AS SSD 2, and ATTO 4 synthetic benchmarks (to keep article length down, we report only the former) to find the storage device’s potential performance. Then we run a series of 48GB transfer and 450GB write tests using Windows Explorer drag and drop to show what users will see during routine copy operations, as well as the far faster FastCopy run as administrator to show what’s possible. A 25GBps two-SSD RAID 0 array on the aforementioned Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 is used as the second drive in our transfer tests. Formerly the 48GB tests were done with a RAM disk serving that purpose. Each test is performed on a NTFS-formatted and newly TRIM’d drive so the results are optimal. Note that in normal use, as a drive fills up, performance may decrease due to less NAND for secondary caching, as well as other factors. This issue has abated somewhat with the current crop of SSDs utilizing more mature controllers and far faster, late-generation NAND. Note that our testing MO evolves and these results may not match those from previous articles. Only comparisons inside the article are 100% valid as those results are gathered using the current hardware and MO. Read...

TL;DR: Get a MobiPDF Ultimate Plan lifetime subscription for 82% off and replace recurring PDF software costs with a one-time tool that works on Windows and on the go. If you’re juggling PDFs across your PC, iPad, and phone, a solid editor can save you a ton of time. But most PDF tools love locking essential features behind monthly subscriptions. MobiPDF takes the opposite approach: one lifetime license, one payment, and you’re set across one desktop and two mobile devices. MobiPDF feels like working in Word. You can edit text, change fonts, insert images, rotate elements, or build a PDF from scratch. Need to stitch multiple PDFs together for work or school? MobiPDF merges, splits, extracts, and reorganizes pages with a clean preview mode that feels surprisingly snappy. Power users may appreciate the conversions even more. MobiPDF transforms PDFs into editable Office files or high-quality images without wrecking formatting, making it handy for workflows that bounce between productivity apps. And because the mobile apps run on iOS and Android, you can tweak a document from your phone or tablet as easily as from your PC—annotations, comments, protections, everything. Grab this lifetime PDF editor now for $49.99 (MSRP $280.84). MobiPDF Ultimate Plan: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

If you’ve been waiting patiently for a lifetime Plex Pass discount following Plex’s massive price hike earlier this year, now’s the time.  During Black Friday week, Plex is unleashing a 40 percent discount on monthly, annual, and—best of all—lifetime Plex Passes. The discount is live now and runs through Tuesday, December 2.  That brings the price for a monthly Plex Pass down to $4.19, a $2.80 monthly discount, while an annual Plex Pass is dropping to $41.99 during the deal, down from $69.99. Those deals are for new Plex subscribers only, by the way.  The real savings, however, comes with the lifetime Plex Pass, which is just $149.99 during Black Friday week, a steep $100 off.  Both monthly and annual Plex Passes will renew at their regular rates, but a lifetime Plex Pass is—obviously—for life, meaning you’ll lock in your Black Friday savings permanently.  This marks the first significant price drop we’ve seen for a lifetime Plex Pass since Plex’s giant price hike back in March, when the cost of a for-life Plex Pass skyrocketed to $249.99, up from $119.99.  What’s a Plex Pass, you ask? It’s a subscription for Plex Media server users that boasts features such as DVR functionality, media downloads, hardware video transcoding, commercial skipping, and other benefits.  Most importantly, a Plex Pass is required to stream your Plex media content remotely over the internet, either for yourself or other users. (Remote Plex Media streaming used to be free, but Plex changed its policy when it imposed its big March price increase.) Without a Plex Pass, you can only stream your Plex media library over your local network.  Plex used to offer lifetime Plex Pass discounts on a regular basis, but that was before the price hike, and there’s no telling when we’ll see another Plex Pass deal like this. So if you’ve been looking to save on a for-life Plex Pass, now’s your chance. Get a lifetime Plex Pass for 40% offView Deal Read...

This Black Friday is the perfect time to score a powerful yet budget-friendly mini PC that’ll do more than your aging laptop can. Mini PCs are some of the best bang for your buck, especially when they’re discounted! I mean, just look at this GMKtec M2 Pro S mini PC that’s only $360 right now (was $550). That’s a hefty 35% off! Thanks, Amazon. View this Amazon deal This compact computer is just what your home office needs—it has a strong configuration, it takes up very little space on your desk, and it’s extra affordable today. What more could you want? Powered by an Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor and 16GB of RAM, this mini PC can handle large spreadsheets, all your browser tabs, Netflix streaming, and Windows 11 without slowing to a crawl. The 512GB SSD is not only fast but also provides enuogh storage for all your apps, photos, and documents. If you need even more storage, just plug in an external drive through one of the many ports available. My favorite thing about this mini PC is the ability to connect multiple 4K monitors for boosting your productivity through greater screen real estate. With double HDMI and a USB-C video port, it supports up to three 4K/60Hz displays, which isn’t possible with most laptops (at least not without a high-performance hub add-on). Additionally, it features four high-speed USB-A ports for peripherals and drives, a 2.5G LAN port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and built-in Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. You can even mount it to any VESA-compatible monitor for an extra-clean setup. Compact, powerful, and affordable, the GMKtec M2 Pro S is a steal for $360 right now. Get it at this price while you can! This excellent daily driver mini PC is 35% off right nowBuy via Amazon Read...

One of the key differentiators between home security cameras and video doorbells has nothing to do with their specifications or even their performance. If you’re considering the long-term cost of ownership of a security camera, you’ll want to know three things: First, what functions are disabled if you don’t pay for a subscription? Second, what functions does a subscription add to the product? And third, how much will a subscription cost on a monthly or annual basis. If you’re wondering why you’d need a subscription plan in the first place, it’s because many–maybe even most–of the manufacturers in this space limit the capabilities of their products unless you pay extra for services. These subscription plans are invariably advertised as “optional,” and many of them are sold in tiers, with varying levels of features. But the bottom line is that you won’t get the full benefit of many brands of camera and doorbell unless you sign up for a plan. Arlo, Ring, and many others, for example, limit you to a real-time view of the scene in front of their cameras and doorbells unless you cough up for a subscription. If you want a recording of an event you weren’t around to watch in real time, you’ll need to pay for a subscription so you can store the recording on the vendor’s server in the cloud. Even cameras that feature local storage on a microSD card or a storage device on your home network might require a subscription to unlock features such as person, pet, and package detection; high-resolution video recording; AI image processing; and more. Let’s compare the plans and services from each of the biggest manufacturers, whose product lines have generally earned positive reviews from us. Our list is sorted alphabetically, but if you’re looking for a particular brand, check the table of contents in the left-hand margin. Arlo Secure Arlo cameras come with three cloud storage options, any of which will unlock crucial camera functions.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry When you buy an Arlo home security camera, video doorbell, or floodlight camera, you’ll get a 30-day free trial to Arlo Secure, which starts automatically after you set up the device. When the free trial ends, you’ll still be able to see a live view from the camera, the two-way talk feature will continue to operate, and you’ll receive notifications when the camera detects motion. The camera will also continue to work with smart speakers and displays, but you won’t be able to record videos and download those clips to share with other people unless you sign up for one of the following paid subscriptions: Arlo Secure Plus Cost: $9.99 per month for a single Arlo camera, doorbell, or floodlight camera (an annual $95.88 subscription effectively discounts that to $7.99/mo). If you have more than one camera, you’ll need to pick which one will be covered. Coverage for an unlimited number of Arlo cameras, doorbells, and floodlight cameras costs $19.99 per month (an annual $215.88 subscription effectively discounts that to $17.99/mo). Features: This plan gives you a 60-day video history along with the ability to define “smart activity zones” that will trigger push notifications when motion is detected. It also adds Arlo Intelligence, a set of AI-powered security features including “smart detection” (the ability to differentiate between people, vehicles, packages, and pets), facial recognition, audio detection, and the ability to receive notifications for events and scenarios you create, such as when you leave your sprinklers on or your garage door open. Your Arlo cameras can also recognize flames and will send you an alert if a fire breaks out in their field of view. Arlo Secure Premium Cost: $29.99 per month for an unlimited number of Arlo cameras, doorbells, and floodlight cameras (an annual subscription of $299.88 effectively discounts that to $24.99/mo. There is no single-camera plan for this tier. Features: Arlo’s top-tier plan includes everything in the Plus plan and adds “event captions” that describe what’s happened in a motion-triggered recording. You also gain access to Arlo Safe, a personal security smartphone app and service that can protect you and members of your family when you’re away from home. If you also own an Arlo Home Security System, this service tier includes professional monitoring that can summon first responders in the event of a police, fire, or medical emergency. You’ll also get cellular backup for your security system in the event your primary broadband connection goes down. sign up for an arlo secure plan Blink Amazon’s Blink cameras come with two cloud subscription options, one that’s priced per camera and one that’s a flat fee for unlimited cameras.Michael Brown/Foundry Amazon’s Blink cameras, doorbells, and floodlight cameras come with your choice of two monthly cloud subscription plans. One is priced per camera and the other is a flat monthly or annual fee for an unlimited number of Blink cameras. Without a paid subscription you will only be able to view your camera’s live feed–and only for a maximum of 5 minutes after receiving a motion-detection alert. Blink Basic Plan Cost: $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year per camera. Features: The Basic plan includes 60 days of rolling storage; Blink Moments, a feature that will stitch together multiple events captured by your Blink cameras into a single seamless video; “smart detection,” which sends a push notification when a person or vehicle is detected versus an object or animal (this feature is available only on certain Blink models); automatic local backups (if you also purchase a $50 Blink Sync Module 2 and a USB storage device to plug into it, or a $70 Blink Sync Module XR and a microSD card to plug into it); video sharing, and periodic photo capture. A paid subscription also extends continuous live viewing time from 5 minutes to 90 minutes. Blink Plus Plan Cost: $12 per month or $120 per year for an unlimited number of Blink cameras. Features: This plan includes everything in the Basic plan and adds the ability to temporarily pause motion alerts for up to 24 hours, entitles you to a 10-percent discount on additional Blink devices and accessories purchased on Amazon, and it extends the warranties on all your Blink devices for as long as you continue your subscription–provided each of those Blink product are under warranty at the time you start your subscription. Sign up for a Blink Subscription plan Eufy Cloud Backup Eufy cameras include local storage options, but they can also use Eufy a subscription plan to back up their video recordings to the cloud.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry Eufy’s indoor and outdoor cameras, floodlight cameras, and video doorbells support local storage either through a small amount of onboard memory, a microSD card, or via Eufy’s HomeBase 3, a NAS-type device you connect to your home network that can host up to 16TB of user-provided storage (a hard disk or solid-state drive). Eufy also offers reasonably priced cloud subscriptions that add convenient access from anywhere you have internet access and are useful as a backup in case your local storage is stolen, damaged, or goes offline. Unlike most of its competitors, you don’t need a subscription to unlock any features of Eufy’s features–those are all included in the price of the product. Not all of Eufy’s security products are subscription eligible, however, so it’s best to check your model before you purchase a plan (which is accomplished in the Eufy app, not on their website). Eufy Basic Plan Cost: $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year for one device; $7.99/mo or $79.99/year for two devices; $11.99 or $119.99/year for three devices. Features: The Eufy Basic plan unlocks rolling 30 days of storage for up to three devices. Eufy Plus Plan Cost: $13.99 a month or $139.99 a year Features: This plan covers all compatible Eufy devices (i.e., cameras, doorbells, and floodlight cameras), providing a rolling 30 days of storage for each camera. Get more information about Eufy Cloud Backup Eufy Professional Monitoring Eufy also offers two professional monitoring plans for its home security systems, but only the more expensive Plus Plan includes the level of service we typically associate with professional monitoring. While both of these services can dispatch first responders in the event of a police, fire, or medical emergency, the cheaper Basic Plan requires you to initiate the dispatch by pressing a panic button in the Eufy home security app. Confusingly, Eufy uses the same names for these service tiers, which are mutually exclusive to the camera services discussed above. In other words, if you want both cloud backup for your Eufy security cameras and professional monitoring for your Eufy home security system, you’ll need to sign up for two subscriptions. Eufy Basic Plan (professional monitoring) Cost: $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year Features: With this plan, you can summon an emergency dispatch in the event of a police, fire, or medical emergency by tapping a button in the Eufy security app (you’ll need to have one of Eufy’s home security systems, not just a Eufy security camera). Eufy Plus Plan (professional monitoring) Cost: $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year Features: This service tier is more in line with what we think of professional monitoring, because it doesn’t depend on the user to initiate an emergency dispatch. The monitoring service will contact you to verify an emergency if any of the sensors in a Eufy home security system detects an emergency, but if you don’t respond (because you missed the call, for example, or were out of range of cellphone service), the center will dispatch the appropriate response. Eufy’s service is one of the least expensive professional monitoring services we’re aware of, but remember that you’ll need a separate subscription for camera and doorbell coverage. The Plus Plan can also earn you up to a 20-percent discount on your homeowner’s insurance, and you can choose which sensors and cameras you want to enroll in professional monitoring. Sign up for Eufy Professional Monitoring Google Home Premium (formerly Nest Aware) Michael Brown/Foundry Google’s Nest cameras, doorbells, and floodlight cameras include more features than most of the competition before you need to sign up for a subscription. You’ll get the usual motion-detection alerts and on-demand live viewing, but those notifications will also inform you as to the source of the motion: a person, a vehicle, or an animal. You’ll also be notified if a package has been left in the cameras’ field of view. And unlike most vendors, Google also gives you up to six hours of 10-second event video previews for free. Most vendors, including Arlo and Ring, don’t give you any recordings at all unless you pay up. The specific features you get from the two tiers of Google Home Premium vary depending on the device you buy, with the most advanced AI features being limited to Google’s newest hardware. As of October 2025, that would be the Nest Doorbell (wired, 3rd gen) the Nest Cam Outdoor (wired, 2nd gen), and the Nest Cam Indoor (wired, 3rd gen). You can sign up for a 30-day free trial of either tier when you purchase a device. Google Home Premium (Standard) Cost: $10 per month or $100 per year for every Google device in your home. Features: A Google Home Premium (Standard) plan bumps event-based video history up to 30 full days, and it gives you a “whole-home history” detailing all the activity your Google devices have logged in the home. Your cameras can also learn familiar faces, so they can discern between family and friends versus strangers. And if you also have Nest smart speakers and displays, they’ll be able to listen for the sound of breaking glass and the sound of smoke or carbon monoxide detectors going off. You’ll also be able to make calls to emergency services local to your home (versus wherever you’re calling from at the time). Finally, you’ll get access to Gemini for Home, Google’s AI agent (and replacement for Google Assistant). Google Home Premium (Advanced) Cost: $20 per month or $200 per year for every Google device in your home. Features: Everything that’s included in Google Home Premium (Standard), but your event-based history is doubled to 60 days; plus, 10 days of 24/7 continuous recording for each of your Nest cameras and wired doorbells. You’ll also be able to ask Gemini to search your camera and doorbell history for specific events, you’ll get AI-generated event descriptions for events detected by your cameras and doorbells, along with daily recaps of recorded events. Sign up for a Google Home Premium account Ring Home If you want recordings from your Ring cameras and doorbells, you’ll need to sign up for one of the company’s Ring Home plans.Michael Brown/Foundry Ring Home is a three-tiered subscription service for Ring doorbells and security cameras. Various add-on services–including professional monitoring of a Ring Alarm or Ring Alarm Pro home security system–are also available, although not every add-on is available for every service tier. A free 30-day trials is offered when you activate a new Ring product. After the trial period, you’ll need to subscribe to continue using all of the product’s features. Without a Ring Protect Plan, you can only use your Ring device’s free features such as live video (up to 10 minutes at a time), text-only motion-detection push notifications, and two-way audio over a live connection. Ring Home Basic Cost: $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year for one camera. Features: The Basic plan allows you to store 180 days of recorded video events for a single Ring doorbell or camera. It’s also required to enable most of your Ring product’s advanced functions, including person, package, and vehicle alerts; video preview alerts; Home and Away modes; the ability to download up to 50 videos at once to your device; and Snapshot Capture, which allows your camera to capture still images of its view at predetermined intervals so you can a view slideshow of what your camera sees between motion events. Doorbells also get Video Preview Alerts that deliver a short video clip along with the push notification when someone rings. Ring Home Standard Cost: $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for an unlimited number of Ring cameras and doorbells; plus, one additional feature for Ring Alarm and Ring Alarm Pro systems. Features: The Ring Home Standard plan covers every Ring doorbell and camera at a single location. It offers the same features as the Basic plan, but extends your camera’s live viewing feature from a max of 10 minutes to 30 minutes and adds a new feature called Doorbell Calls. When someone rings your doorbell, it will call your smartphone and give you the option to speak to the person on your porch over a video call. With Live View Picture-in-Picture enabled, you can watch a live stream from any of your Ring cameras on your smartphone even while you’re using other apps. Log into your account at Ring.com and you’ll be able to stream live views from up to four Ring cameras simultaneously (in four windows on your web browser of choice). You can view a daily event summary in the Ring app that catalogs everything that happened that current day (when motion was detected, when people were detected, and so on). You can then drill down to see the recordings linked to those events. Owners of a Ring Alarm or Ring Alarm Pro home security system will get 24/7 backup over a cellular network for the security system only (the more expensive Ring Home Premium plan also includes 24/7 internet backup for the Wi-Fi router that’s integrated with a Ring Alarm Pro). Finally, the Ring Standard plan gives you a lifetime warranty on all of your Ring devices–provided the devices were still covered by Ring’s standard one-year warranty on the date your Ring Home subscription starts. Ring Home Premium Cost: $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year for an unlimited number of Ring cameras; plus, some additional features for Ring Alarm and Ring Alarm Pro home security systems. Features: The Ring Home Premium plan gets you the same features as the Standard plan, but it adds some entirely new features, including 24/7 video recording to the cloud for up to 10 compatible, hardwired or plugged-in Ring cameras and doorbells (Ring lists the 24/7-recording-capable cameras on its website; not every model is capable). The Premium plan also lengthens your live viewing time from the 10 minutes you get with Ring Home Basic and the 30 minutes you get with Ring Home Premium to continuous viewing for as long as you maintain the connection. You’ll also get three AI-powered features, two of which were in beta as of this writing: Smart Video Search helps you find specific events in your cameras’ motion-triggered recordings. Video Descriptions (in beta) attaches text-based descriptions to your video recordings. And with AI Single Event Alerts (also in beta), your cameras will recognize similar motion events and send you a single alert summarizing all of them instead of bombarding you with multiple alerts. The last feature not dependent on your having one of the Ring Alarm systems is SOS Emergency Response. If an emergency arises or you need help, you can push the SOS button in the Ring app to request emergency services. If you own a Ring Alarm Pro home security system, which has an integrated Eero router, the Premium plan includes backup internet service over a cellular network, in case your primary broadband service should fail. Be aware, however, that this comes with a 3GB-per-month data cap and you’ll need to buy more data if you exceed that limit. You’ll also get Ring Edge, which lets you store security camera and doorbell recordings on a local microSD card plugged into the Ring Alarm Pro, and Eero Secure, router-based software that protects your network clients from online threats (an ad-blocker is also included). 24/7 Smoke & CO Professional Monitoring You can add 24/7 smoke and carbon monoxide professional monitoring that will dispatch an emergency response if any of your compatible Ring devices to any of the three Ring Home services for $5 per month. Ring Home add-on services Ring Home with 24/7 professional monitoring Cost: $10 per month in addition to whichever Ring Home plan you subscribe to (Basic, Home, or Premium). Features: This plan is relevant only to Ring Alarm or Ring Alarm Pro home security system users; as such, it’s not directly related to Ring’s home security cameras. With professional monitoring, someone in a central office tracks the status of your home whenever it’s in an armed state. Should the system go into an alarm state, they can either call you to check if everything is OK and summon an emergency response if you suspect a break-in, or immediately call the police (an option you choose when you set up the service). Professional monitoring can also be used for fire and medical emergencies. Ring Home with Virtual Security Guard Cost: $99 per month in addition to whichever Ring Home plan you subscribe to (Basic, Home, or Premium) and Ring professional monitoring. If you own at least one Ring camera, a Ring Alarm security system, subscribe to one of the Ring Home plans, and are enrolled in Ring’s professional monitoring plan, you can sign up for the Virtual Security Guard add-on service at an additional cost of $99 per month. With this plan, professional security guards will monitor the cameras you choose, during the hours you set, looking for suspicious activity. If they spot something, they can use the cameras’ siren and/or two-way audio to deter potential a intruder or vandal in real time. They will also contact you directly, via text message or phone call, and they can summon emergency services if warranted. sign up for a ring home plan Sign up for Ring Virtual Security Gurad SimpliSafe SimpliSafe offers two paid subscription plans; one allows you to monitor your own system, the other includes a professional monitoring service.Christopher Null/Foundry SimpliSafe offers four paid monitoring plans for its home security cameras. You can forgo one to save some money, but you will be limited to viewing your camera’s live video feed and arming/disarming its security system from the SimpliSafe App. SimpliSafe’s least-expensive subscription unlocks critical features such as push notifications and video recording, while its two Pro plans offer professional monitoring of a SimpliSafe security system and live guard monitoring of your outdoor cameras. Self Monitoring with Camera Recordings Cost: Around $10 per month. Features: As the name of this plan indicates, you are still monitoring your system via the SimpliSafe mobile app with this entry-level subscription, but you unlock additional camera features, including unlimited video recording, 30-day cloud storage, and instant alarm alerts pushed to your mobile device. In the event of an emergency, it’s up to you to call first responders. Core Cost: Around $30 per month. Features: This base plan comes with SimpliSafe’s whole-home professional monitoring service, so you probably want to be using your camera with one of the company’s DIY home security systems before you consider it. The crux of the service is 24/7 live guard protection; during an active alarm, professional agents can access your camera’s video feed and microphone and attempt to divert the threat. If they’re unsuccessful, they can dispatch police, and their verified report will likely result in a faster response. Similarly, agents can dispatch fire, or medical help after verifying an emergency. Meanwhile, you can still track camera activity on your own via the features unlocked in the self-monitoring plan; plus, you get a lifetime subscriber warranty on SimpliSafe hardware. Pro Cost: $49.99 a month Features: This plan includes all the features of the Core subscription and adds Overnight SimpliSafe Active Guard Outdoor Protection. This uses a combination of AI and live agents to monitor your outdoor camera(s) between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time to detect and deter threats observed outside your home. Pro Plus Cost: $79.99 a month Features: SimpliSafe’s top-tier plan includes everything in the Pro plan but extends Active Guard Outdoor Protection for your outdoor cameras to a 24/7 basis for users who want round-the-clock protection. Sign up for Simplisafe Self Monitoring with Camera Recordings Sign up for SimpliSafe professionnal monitoring TP-Link and Tapo Neither TP-Link nor its Tapo brand offer a complete home-security system, but its security camera monitoring subscriptions are very inexpensive.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry TP-Link and its Tapo brand of home security cameras are typical in that buyers can choose between a free self-monitoring plan that doesn’t include push notifications or cloud storage, or a paid plan that includes both. Many of its cameras, however, are equipped with microSD card slots that provide local storage for video clips–provided you supply the microSD card. Unlike Arlo, Ring, SimpliSafe, and Wyze Labs, TP-Link does not also offer a complete home security system, so it doesn’t offer a professional monitoring subscription either. Tapocare Cost: $3.49 per month or $34.99 per year for up to 10 cameras. Features: In the U.S., a Tapocare plan provides 30 days of video clip storage in the cloud, push notifications when the cameras detect motion and record video (including a snapshot from the video). Users can tag and sort their cameras’ recordings. Sign up for Tapocare Wyze Labs Wyze Labs is one of the few security camera manufacturers to off a free plan for storing video recordings in the cloud. It also offers two paid tiers that include additional features.Christopher Null/Foundry Wyze Labs offers some of the most inexpensive home security cameras on the market, and the same goes for its subscription plans. It even offers a free plan—the only major security camera brand to do so—that enables more than just your camera’s most basic features. Wyze offers five subscription plans in all: Wyze Cam Plus Lite Cost: Pay-what-you-want (including free). Features: You 12-second, event-based video clips, and 14 days of rolling cloud storage (meaning your oldest recordings get overwritten after two weeks). It also includes general motion and sound detection, AI-powered person detection, and cameras will listen for smoke and CO alarms sounding off and will send you an alert. On the downside, there’s a 5-minute cool-down between recordings, meaning the camera will ignore events in between recordings. The service is also limited to the Wyze Cam v1/v2/v3; Wyze Cam Pan v1/v2; and Wyze Cam Outdoor v1/v2 only. Sign up for Wyze Cam Plus Lite Wyze Cam Plus Cost: $2.99 per month per camera, $19.99 per year per camera. Features: This plan offers unlimited full-length video recordings with no cool-down period. You’ll also get 14 days of cloud storage for event recordings. Additional features include AI-powered detection for people, pets, packages, and vehicles, ensuring you’ll receive more accurate alerts. Sign up for Wyze Cam Plus Cam Plus Unlimited Cost: $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for all your Wyze Labs cameras. Features: This is the same plan as Cam Plus, but it covers all your Wyze cameras; so, if you have more than three or four, this plan is more economical than paying for each camera separately. Sign up for Wyze Cam Unlimited Our take Arlo’s $7.99-per-month single-camera subscription price is one of most expensive on the market, following a 60-percent price increase in January, 2024, but it doesn’t charge a lot more to cover an unlimited number of cameras–$12.99 per month–at least with its basic plan. Arlo’s unlimited camera plan costs $17.99 per month, but it also adds several features you won’t get with the cheaper plan. Arlo’s $24.99-per-month plan that covers an unlimited number of cameras and includes professional monitoring of the company’s home security system is much more reasonable, given that Ring will soon split its own professional monitoring service as a $10-per-month add-on to its other subscriptions. That said, Arlo’s home security system is much more basic than Ring’s and doesn’t incorporate other smart home elements, such as lighting. Blink has the least expensive per-camera plan, at $3 per month, and you get local video backups if you purchase the Blink Sync Module 2. The unlimited camera plan costs the same as Ring’s service at $10 per month. Unlike Arlo or Ring, Blink does not offer a complete home security system, although it does have a video doorbell and a couple of floodlight cameras. We’ve found that Blink’s product line delivers a lot of value for the money. Eufy has recently introduced several new advanced security cameras–indoor and outdoor models outfitted with both wide-angle and telephoto lenses–and everything in its lineup is affordably priced. The price for its subscription service is comparable to that of the competition, but its 10-camera limit could be an issue if you have a lot of cameras deployed around your home. That said, 10 cameras seems like a lot. It’s also worth noting that Eufy does not currently offer a professional monitoring service, since it doesn’t currently offer a complete home alarm system. A Google Nest Aware subscription for a single camera costs the same as Arlo’s, but since few households end up deploying just one camera or video doorbell, Google’s plan ends up being more affordable than most because it covers all the Google cameras, doorbells, speakers, and displays in your home. But Google no longer builds a home security system, so it doesn’t offer a professional monitoring service either. Ring has retooled its entire subscription plan, which will soon be called Ring Home (the old name was Ring Protect). Ring’s claim of “new features, new name, same price” claim is disingenuous at best. Its basic, single-camera plan retains the same price and does gain a new feature, and its mid-tier unlimited-camera plan gains two new features for the same price, but Ring Alarm and Ring Alarm Pro users will now need to pay $10 per month for professional monitoring on top of whichever other service they choose. That means the price for Ring’s highest service tier will go from $19.99 per month to $29.99 per month. All that said, the Ring Alarm and Ring Alarm Pro home security ecosystems are are more comprehensive than anything else and include indoor and outdoor smart lighting, smart entry locks, smoke detectors, and more, including certified third-party devices. Ring’s new $99-per-month Virtual Security Guard service will probably be of interest only to small business owners, but it’s available to homeowners who want that additional layer of real-time protection. SimpliSafe dispenses with the nonsense of a subscription for a single security camera, charging about $10 per month for full service of any number of its cameras. The company is also innovating with artificial intelligence and combining that with human monitoring of its cameras, although you’ll pay more for that feature (between $50 and $80 per month). If you invest in SimpliSafe’s full security system and want professional monitoring, that will cost between $32 and $80 per month. TP-Link/Tapo has one of the least-expensive subscriptions, but it doesn’t offer a professional monitoring option because the company doesn’t have a complete home security system on the market today; it only offers security cameras and video doorbells. Wyze Labs is another budget brand (Blink being the other), and we’ve had no complaints about the quality of its very well-priced hardware. Its $10-per-month plan for an unlimited number of Wyze cameras is on par with Blink; but unlike that budget manufacturer, Wyze also offers an affordable and complete home security systems with professional monitoring options starting at $10 per month. This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best home security cameras and the best video doorbells. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Good value on sale Lots of storage and RAM Aluminum chassis Cons Too expensive at MSRP GPU is very slow Dim display Our Verdict The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i is a 16-inch laptop that feels like a bargain if you can find it under $500. At under $500, this is a 4.5-star experience and unusually good value. At its full retail price, it’s not particularly impressive. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i Retailer Price $599.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i is a budget 16-inch laptop you might find for under $500. With a decent CPU, an aluminum chassis, a 1TB SSD, and 16GB of RAM, it’s an excellent value at that price. However, the full MSRP is supposedly $829. If you see this laptop at its full retail price, it doesn’t make as much sense. As I’m wrapping this review up, you can get it for $429. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Specs The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has an Intel Core 5 210H CPU. I’m not a huge fan of these chips, which I see popping up on lots of laptops lately. These are based on Intel’s older Raptor Lake architecture and they use more power and run hotter. They lack the neural processing unit found in newer Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips, so you can’t get those Copilot+ PC AI features Microsoft is spending so much time on. It also has a very slow integrated GPU that comes far behind what other modern laptops are capable of, so this machine isn’t ideal for even casual gaming. This machine’s 16GB of RAM feels great at the $429 mark. The 1TB solid-state drive also feels extremely generous at that low price point. Lots of laptops are more expensive and have smaller SSDs. Model: Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i 16IRH10R CPU: Intel Core 5 210H Memory: 16GB DDR5-5600 RAM Graphics/GPU: Intel Graphics NPU: None Display: 16-inch 1920×1200 IPS display with 60Hz refresh rate Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD Webcam: 1080p webcam Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (USB 5Gbps), 2x USB Type-A (USB 5Gbps), 1x HDMI 1.4b, 1x combo audio jack, 1x microSD card reader Networking: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 Biometrics: IR camera for facial recognition Battery capacity: 60 Watt-hours Dimensions: 14.03 x 9.87 x 0.67 inches Weight: 4.08 pounds MSRP: $829 as tested ($429 on sale) The bottom line is that the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i is an excellent laptop for under $500, but you should probably look elsewhere at $829. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Design and build quality Foundry / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has solid build quality. This machine has an aluminum chassis — no plastic — which makes it feel unexpectedly premium for a budget laptop. At 4.08 pounds, it’s a little on the heavy side, but it is a 16-inch machine. Our review model came in a “Luna Gray” colorway, and it’s a very standard Lenovo laptop design with nice rounded edges. It looks good, and the use of metal instead of plastic means there’s no weird creaking or flex here. The machine’s hinge feels extremely solid, so much so that I need two hands to open the laptop properly. It doesn’t move around as I type on it. The chassis feels designed and manufactured with more care than manufacturers normally put into laptops that cost less than $500. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Keyboard and trackpad Foundry / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has a full-size keyboard with a number pad, and it feels reasonable to type on. It’s not the snappiest keyboard, the keys feel a little “rubbery” when they bottom out. But I can type fast on it without any problem, and there’s good typing feedback. This machine’s trackpad is reasonable, although it’s perhaps a tad on the small side for a 16-inch laptop. The surface is responsive to slide your finger over. The click-down action is a tad loud — not ideal if you’ll be clicking your trackpad in a quiet room with other people around — and it doesn’t feel as satisfying as trackpads with clickier, crisper action. But it’s a reasonable trackpad, especially for a sale price around $429. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Display and speakers Foundry / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has a 16-inch IPS display with a 1920×1200 resolution. It’s nice and big and looks fine, although it won’t blow your mind. It has a standard 60Hz refresh rate, which is nothing unusually fast. At up to 300 nits of brightness, this display is on the dim side. Thankfully, because this isn’t a touch screen, this machine has a matte display and not a glossy one. This makes it more resistant to reflections — 300 nits of brightness on a glossy display is a real problem in challenging lighting conditions, but 300 nits on a matte display isn’t as bad. Still, this isn’t the ideal machine for use outdoors or in bright sunlight given the low maximum brightness. This machine’s speakers are loud enough, but they’re flat and the audio isn’t rich. There’s very little bass, even for laptop speakers. I recommend headphones or external speakers. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has a 1080p webcam. It’s a little noisy, and it made me look pale and not particularly lifelike in a sunlit room on a cloudy day. While it’s better than the 720p webcam you find on many less expensive laptops, it’s not particularly impressive. It does have a physical webcam shutter switch, which is great to see. The microphone setup on this machine is fine. It has good noise cancelation, but the speech it picked up was muffled. It’s usable for video meetings, but it’s not particularly high-end. This machine has an IR camera for Windows Hello, so you can sign into your PC with your face just by opening your laptop. It doesn’t have a fingerprint reader. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Connectivity Foundry / Chris Hoffman The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has a good number of ports. On the left side, this machine has two USB Type-C ports (USB 5Gbps), a combo audio jack, and an HDMI 1.4b port. On the right side, it has two USB Type-A ports (USB 5Gbps) and a microSD card reader slot. This laptop charges via USB Type-C, so you’ll always be plugging the charging cable in on the left side. The ports are on the lower end in terms of specs: You don’t get Thunderbolt or USB4 here, and this is HDMI 1.4b instead of HDMI 2.1. This is fine for $429, but not ideal at $829. This machine supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. There’s no support for Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 7, or newer versions of Bluetooth here. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Performance The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i delivered fine performance in desktop apps: Web browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, productivity tools like Word, and media apps like Spotify. While the Intel Core 5 210H is based on a somewhat dated architecture, it’s modern enough. And most modern CPUs are now reasonably snappy, especially when paired with an SSD and 16GB of RAM. We ran the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs in more detail. Foundry / Chris Hoffman First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. With an overall PCMark 10 score of 5,697, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i is slower than higher-end laptops but put up good numbers against the Acer Aspire Go 15, a machine I thought was an excellent value. At its current price as I’m finishing this review, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i matches the Acer Aspire Go 15’s sale price. It’s a better pick if you can find it on sale — with a faster CPU and better performance. Foundry / Chris Hoffman Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. It’s a quick benchmark, so cooling under extended workloads isn’t a factor. But, since it’s heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage. The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i racks up a multithreaded Cinebench R20 score of 3,849. That’s far ahead of the Acer Aspire Go 15, a machine I thought was a great deal. You don’t need this kind of multithreaded performance for lightweight computer use, so this machine will deliver more performance than many need for a budget laptop. Foundry / Chris Hoffman We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. This demands the laptop’s cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load. The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i completed the benchmark process in 1,703 seconds, which is over 28 minutes. That’s definitely on the slower side compared to many laptops, but this machine isn’t designed for long CPU-heavy tasks. Foundry / Chris Hoffman Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This isn’t a gaming laptop, but it’s still good to check how the GPU performs. We run 3DMark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. With a 3DMark Time Spy score of 1,181, this machine will not be suitable for lightweight gaming or professional apps that use the GPU. This older Intel integrated graphics is very slow. Overall, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i delivered impressive performance for a $429 price and middling performance for a $829 machine. The main problem will be the GPU performance, so you may want to avoid this machine if you want to play games. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Battery life The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has a 60 Watt-hour battery. That’s not the largest battery, and this Intel Meteor Lake-based Core 5 210H chip isn’t the most efficient CPU. While battery life is fine, it won’t necessarily get you through a workday. Foundry / Chris Hoffman To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled until the laptop suspends itself. We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks, which meant cranking this display’s brightness way up. This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient, and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this. The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i lasted 636 minutes on average before suspending itself — that’s about ten and a half hours. It’s not terrible. But, since real-world use where you’re using apps and connecting to the internet will be lower, this machine will likely not be able to make it to the 8 hour mark for most people. Plan to plug it in regularly. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Conclusion The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i is a good budget laptop. There’s nothing particularly bad here — aside from the GPU performance — and some parts of the experience are legitimately great. For a budget laptop, an aluminum chassis, 1 TB SSD, and Core 5 210H CPU is incredible. At a $429 price point, it’s excellent. But is this really a $429 laptop? Laptop manufacturers want to have it both ways. They often set a high MSRP so they can sell a machine at a deep discount, making it look like an especially good deal. But then they want reviewers to judge the machine at its sale price and not its recommended retail price. The reality is that B&H Photo Video’s website says there is a “limited supply” at the $429 price and that it’s a “holiday savings” price, so you may see a much higher price in the future when you read this review. The bottom line is that the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i is an excellent laptop for under $500, but you should probably look elsewhere at $829. Read...