ReportWire

Tag: TVs

  • Sorry, 8K TVs Have Flopped

    TV makers imagined the future would be filled with even more pixels, but the 8K promised land was never to be. One more major company has effectively called off its plans for big, expensive 8K TVs, leaving only Samsung holding the torch for a screen type that few, if anybody, actually want.

    LG, one of the most prominent TV and display manufacturers in the world, is exiting the 8K TV market without much fanfare. The company told FlatpanelsHD that it was “taking a comprehensive view of current display market trends and the trends within the 8K content ecosystem.” In human speak, that means it’s putting 8K TVs on ice, at least for now.

    This past weekend, FlatpanelsHD quoted several anonymous sources to say the company’s latest 8K TV, the QNED99TUA mini LED, was being discontinued. Currently, the TV is on sale for $2,500 at 86 inches, more than half off from its regular $5,300 price. It’s clear based on the muffled rumblings and shrugs coming from the screen-loving crowd that there aren’t many tears being shed for 8K’s demise.

    Samsung is practically the only major player trying to make 8K work with the most recent 98-inch QN990H. It announced the 8K TV at CES 2026 without any details about pricing and availability. Back in 2020, the Korean tech giant offered three 8K TV models; now it can’t even bother to tell us more about one. I’ve spent time in front of Samsung’s previous 8K models, like the $5,000 QN900D, and the experience left me underwhelmed. There’s very little wrong with Samsung’s picture quality and brightness, but even when watching native 8K content, I was hard-pressed to find the difference between it and 4K. You would need an exceptionally large TV to spot any more clarity from 4K to 8K, and that’s if you can find something to watch at that resolution.

    Next to no 8K content to watch

    LG’s CES 2026 booth wasn’t full of 8K goodness. Instead, it focused on new screens like its 5K2K Ultragear monitor and WOLED TVs. © Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

    Console makers have also walked back their 8K ambitions. Sony’s PlayStation 5 shipped in 2020 with a blaring “8K” sticker on their box art. Only a bare few games ever supported the resolution, including titles like No Man’s Sky and The Touryst. A few more games like Gran Turismo 7 support the extra pixels on PlayStation 5 Pro thanks to upscaling. In 2024, Sony started removing the “8K” support notice on the box.

    Paul Gray, an analyst for the research firm Omdia, told FlatpanelHD back in 2024 that only 1.6 million 8K TVs had been sold since companies started pushing the resolution to Japanese audiences in 2015. In the same time frame, 4K TVs have been growing like weeds. S&S Insider reported the market for ultra high-definition (UHD) is valued at $305.58 billion, with 70% of buyers in North America and Western Europe preferring 4K. You can’t walk through a Best Buy without tripping on at least a dozen varieties of UHD TVs.

    TCL and Sony have both abandoned the 8K TV game. In particular, TCL was more willing to say the quiet part out loud. In 2023, the major budget TV brand said, “Looking at the market, it is not what people had expected.” In January 2026, Sony handed TCL the keys to its TV kingdom, announcing TCL is taking a 51% stake in its TV business. Starting next year, the budget brand will produce Sony’s high-end Bravia OLEDs and QLEDs.

    TV buyers were given every opportunity to choose 8K, but few—if any—ever took the bite. The HDMI 2.2 standard boosted the signal to support higher resolutions all the way up to 240Hz, and it changed little about the actual market. Judging by this past CES’s long lineup of new TVs, the new hotness isn’t higher pixel counts, but novel screen types ranging from tandem OLED to WOLED (for brighter organic light-emitting diode displays) and more compact micro RGB TVs promising better color accuracy with local dimming. Screen resolution has plateaued, but screen makers are still trying to craft the next big thing.

    Kyle Barr

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  • Why your Android TV box may secretly be a part of a botnet

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    Android TV streaming boxes that promise “everything for one price” are everywhere right now. 

    You’ll see them on big retail sites, in influencer videos, and even recommended by friends who swear they’ve cut the cord for good. And to be fair, they look irresistible on paper, offering thousands of channels for a one-time payment. But security researchers are warning that some of these boxes may come with a hidden cost.

    In several cases, devices sold as simple media streamers appear to quietly turn your home internet connection into part of larger networks used for shady online activity. And many buyers have no idea it’s happening.

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    WHY JANUARY IS THE BEST TIME TO REMOVE PERSONAL DATA ONLINE

    Android TV streaming boxes promising unlimited channels for a one-time fee may quietly turn home internet connections into proxy networks, according to security researchers. (Photo By Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

    What’s inside these streaming boxes

    According to an investigation by Krebs on Security, media streaming devices don’t behave like ordinary media streamers once they’re connected to your network. Researchers closely examine SuperBox, which is an Android-based streaming box sold through third-party sellers on major retail platforms. On paper, SuperBox markets itself as just hardware. The company claims it doesn’t pre-install pirated apps and insists users are responsible for what they install. That sounds reassuring until you look at how the device actually works.

    To unlock the thousands of channels SuperBox advertises, you must first remove Google’s official app ecosystem and replace it with an unofficial app store. That step alone should raise eyebrows. Once those custom apps are installed, the device doesn’t just stream video but also begins routing internet traffic through third-party proxy networks.

    What this means is that your home internet connection may be used to relay traffic for other people. That traffic can include ad fraud, credential stuffing attempts and large-scale web scraping.

    During testing by Censys, a cyber intelligence company that tracks internet-connected devices, SuperBox models immediately contacted servers tied to Tencent’s QQ messaging service, run by Tencent, as well as a residential proxy service called Grass.

    Grass describes itself as an opt-in network that lets you earn rewards by sharing unused internet bandwidth. This suggests that SuperBox devices may be using SDKs or tooling that hijack bandwidth without clear user consent, effectively turning the box into a node inside a proxy network.

    Why SuperBox activity resembles botnet behavior

    In simple terms, a botnet is a large group of compromised devices that work together to route traffic or perform online tasks without the owners realizing it.

    Researchers discovered SuperBox devices contained advanced networking and remote access tools that have no business being on a streaming box. These included utilities like Tcpdump and Netcat, which are commonly used for network monitoring and traffic interception.

    The devices performed DNS hijacking and ARP poisoning on local networks, techniques used to redirect traffic and impersonate other devices on the same network. Some models even contained directories labeled “secondstage,” suggesting additional payloads or functionality beyond streaming.

    SuperBox is just one brand in a crowded market of no-name Android streaming devices. Many of them promise free content and quick setup, but often come preloaded with malware or require unofficial app stores that expose users to serious risk.

    In July 2025, Google filed a lawsuit against operators behind what it called the BADBOX 2.0 botnet, a network of more than ten million compromised Android devices. These devices were used for advertising fraud and proxy services, and many were infected before consumers even bought them.

    Around the same time, the Feds warned that compromised streaming and IoT devices were being used to gain unauthorized access to home networks and funnel traffic into criminal proxy services.

    We reached out to SuperBox for comment but did not receive a response before our deadline.

    8 steps you can take to protect yourself

    If you already own one of these streaming boxes or are thinking about buying one, these steps can help reduce your risk significantly.

    1) Avoid devices that require unofficial app stores

    If a streaming box asks you to remove Google Play or install apps from an unknown marketplace, stop right there. This bypasses Android’s built-in security checks and opens the door to malicious software. Legitimate Android TV devices don’t require this.

    2) Use strong antivirus software on your devices

    Even if the box itself is compromised, strong antivirus software on your computers and phones can detect suspicious network behavior, malicious connections or follow-on attacks like credential stuffing. Strong antivirus software monitors behavior, not just files, which matters when malware operates quietly in the background. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.

    Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.

    3) Put streaming devices on a separate or guest network

    If your router supports it, isolate smart TVs and streaming boxes from your main network. This prevents a compromised device from seeing your laptops, phones or work systems. It’s one of the simplest ways to limit damage if something goes wrong.

    4) Use a password manager

    If your internet connection is being abused, stolen credentials often come next. A password manager ensures every account uses a unique password, so one leak doesn’t unlock everything. Many password managers also refuse to autofill on suspicious or fake websites, which can alert you before you make a mistake.

    MAKE 2026 YOUR MOST PRIVATE YEAR YET BY REMOVING BROKER DATA

    AndroidTV logo on a phone.

    Investigators warn some Android-based streaming boxes route user bandwidth through third-party servers linked to ad fraud and cybercrime. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    Next, see if your email has been exposed in past breaches. Our No. 1 password manager pick includes a built-in breach scanner that checks whether your email address or passwords have appeared in known leaks. If you discover a match, immediately change any reused passwords and secure those accounts with new, unique credentials.

    Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2026 at Cyberguy.com.

    5) Consider using a VPN for sensitive activity

    A VPN won’t magically fix a compromised device, but it can reduce exposure by encrypting your traffic when browsing, banking or working online. This makes it harder for third parties to inspect or misuse your data if your network is being relayed.

    For the best VPN software, see my expert review of the best VPNs for browsing the web privately on your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.

    6) Watch your internet usage and router activity

    Unexpected spikes in bandwidth, slower speeds or strange outbound connections can be warning signs. Many routers show connected devices and traffic patterns.

    If you notice suspicious traffic or behavior, unplug the streaming box immediately and perform a factory reset on your router. In some cases, the safest option is to stop using the device altogether.

    Also, make sure your router firmware is up to date and that you’ve changed the default admin password. Compromised devices often try to exploit weak router settings to persist on a network.

    7) Be wary of “free everything” streaming promises

    Unlimited premium channels for a one-time fee usually mean you’re paying in some other way, often with your data, bandwidth or legal exposure. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

    8) Consider a data removal service

    If your internet connection or accounts have been abused, your personal details may already be circulating among data brokers. A data removal service can help opt you out of people-search sites and reduce the amount of personal information criminals can exploit for follow-up scams or identity theft. While it won’t fix a compromised device, it can limit long-term exposure.

    10 SIMPLE CYBERSECURITY RESOLUTIONS FOR A SAFER 2026

    An AndroidTV display.

    Cyber experts say certain low-cost streaming devices behave more like botnet nodes than legitimate media players once connected to home networks. (Photo by Alessandro Di Ciommo/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

    Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.

    Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com.

    Kurt’s key takeaway

    Streaming boxes like SuperBox thrive on frustration. As subscriptions pile up, people look for shortcuts. But when a device promises everything for nothing, it’s worth asking what it’s really doing behind the scenes. Research shows that some of these boxes don’t just stream TV. They quietly turn your home network into a resource for others, sometimes for criminal activity. Cutting the cord shouldn’t mean giving up control of your internet connection. Before plugging in that “too good to be true” box, it’s worth slowing down and looking a little closer.

    Would you still use a streaming box if it meant sharing your internet with strangers? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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    Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.

    Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

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  • LG TVs at CES 2026: A stunning Wallpaper set, glorious Micro RGB colors and a better Gallery TV

    LG usually announces its CES TV lineup well ahead of the show, but this year the company had a surprise at CES 2026: The return of its ultra-thin “Wallpaper” TV. Now it’s toting a gorgeous OLED screen and wireless connectivity, and it’s about as thin as a pencil. We got a chance to check out the Wallpaper TV in action during a CES preview event, as well as the previously announced Gallery and Micro RGB sets. LG still has its typically OLED and LED sets around, but it’s clear that 2026 will be filled with intriguing TVs for a variety of consumers.

    LG’s 2026 Wallpaper OLED TV (Devindra Hardawar for Engadget)

    The Wallpaper TV (LG W6)

    If money were no object, I’d want a 100-inch LG Wallpaper TV in my family room immediately. It looks shockingly thin in person — almost as if it’s some sort of sci-fi prop — and it delivers the rich colors and dark levels we expect from OLED. Cable management is also a cinch, since it requires just a single power cable. The A/V inputs are handled by LG’s One Connect box, which you can position wirelessly up to 10 meters away from the TV.

    LG's 2026 Wallpaper OLED TV from the rear

    LG’s 2026 Wallpaper OLED TV from the rear (Devindra Hardawar for Engadget)

    The LG W6 combines the best of LG’s OLED technology, including “Hyper Radiant Color” for improved black levels and color, “Brightness Booster Ultra” to crank up luminance 3.9 times more than conventional OLEDs and a reflection free screen material. LG’s Alpha 9 Gen 3 processor beefs up its performance, and its NPU also helps to improve upscaling and overall image performance. (And yes, you can also access generative AI features via Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini, if you’re into that sort of thing.)

    All of that adds up to one of the most remarkable TVs I’ve seen in years. I haven’t been too enamored with other TV gimmicks lately, like everything trying to mimic Samsung’s The Frame, or the usless 8K sets. But a super-thin wireless TV with the best OLED panel available? That’s the stuff dreams are made of.

    LG's 2026 Gallery TV

    LG’s 2026 Gallery TV (Devindra Hardawar for Engadget)

    The Gallery TV competes with Samsung’s Frame

    While LG has made Gallery TVs before, in 2026 it’s making a more concerted effort to take on Samsung’s popular Frame TV. LG says the new sets were designed with the help of museum curators, which helps the “Gallery Mode” adjust brightness and contrast to specific works of art. They also ship with magnetic frame-like bezels, and they have anti-reflective screens to help make the art shine.

    In person, the new Gallery TV looks fine, though it’s easy to tell that the colors and contrast levels don’t match LG’s premium OLED TVs. To avoid burn-in issues, these sets feature Mini LED panels. As I noted above, I’m not the core consumer for one of these TVs, but it’s nice to see more competition against Samsung’s Frame TVs. (Despite pioneering the idea of TVs displaying art, the Frame sets are still fairly mediocre when it comes to actually watching TV shows and movies.)

    LG's Micro RGB TV

    LG’s Micro RGB TV (Devindra Hardawar for Engadget)

    Micro RGB looks like a genuine Mini LED upgrade

    As if we needed more TV acronyms to worry about, say hello to Micro RGB, a new technology built atop Mini LED to cover vastly more color range. Just don’t confuse it with Micro LED, which is the wildly expensive evolutionary step forward for OLED. LG already announced its Micro RGB set a few weeks ago, but that didn’t prepare me for standing in front of the 100-inch demo TV it brought to CES. Throughout a variety of clips, colors looked wonderfully rich, and the overall texture of the images looked surprisingly life-like.

    I’d have to compare it to LG’s Wall TV side-by-side to truly see how Micro RGB competes with OLED, but technically OLED should still offer better contrast and black levels, since each of its pixels are self-emissive. But sure, if I couldn’t get a 100-inch Wall TV in my family room, I certainly wouldn’t turn down an enormous Micro RGB.

    What about LG’s other OLED TVs?

    All of the next-generation OLED technology in the wallpaper TV will also make its way into LG’s G6 OLED models, while the new C6 and other lines will see improvements of their own. All I can say is that the new G6 OLED looked impressive, with a noticeably brighter picture and HDR elements compared to G-series OLEDs from several years ago.

    Devindra Hardawar

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  • TOSHIBA 85″ Class C350 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV for $550 on Amazon

    TOSHIBA 85″ Class C350 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV for $550

    This article contains Amazon affiliate links.

    Amazon has the TOSHIBA 85″ Class C350 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV with Voice Remote with Alexa (85C350NU) on sale for $549.99. Shipping is free.

    You can save even more by using the right credit card. The best option is the U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Card which earns 6% cash back. The Amazon Prime Visa card will earn 5% cash back on these purchases. Also check out these Shop with Points discounts for even more savings.

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    About this item:

    • REGZA Engine ZR: REGZA Engine ZR is Toshiba’s revolutionary Engine. With the power of precise analyzing technology, it drives the maximum potential of picture quality to reach the resolution of 4K for scenes, to deliver stunning picture quality for breath-tak-ing viewing experience.
    • AI 4K Upscaler: Toshiba’s unique Al upscaling technology provides the near-4K level picture quality for Full HD content. Instead of simply replicating every pixel, it intelligently detects the colors of neighboring pixels and decides the proper color of each pixel by considering the detailed texture of the real sight. No matter what the content is, you can enjoy every scene with the amazing clarity of near-4K quality.
    • Dolby Vision*Atmos: Combine Dolby Vision HDR imaging with Dolby Atmos sound to get engaging audio-visual performance, transforming your TV into an entertainment powerhouse with detailed images and acoustics, so as to achieve amazing realism that you’ll see, hear, and feel like never before. That is, your truly spectacular home entertainment.
    • Ultimate Motion: Ultimate Motion reduces blur in fast moving scenes, offering crisp and clear images for fast action sequences. Its smooth viewing experience puts you into the scene.
    • Game Mode: Game mode supports many gaming features such as ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and eARC. With the combination of Ultimate Motion, breathtaking reality and excitement make your gaming experience unforgettable.
    • Sports Mode: Sports Mode is tailor-made for sports contents, in particular the fast moving actions. The Algorithm is set up to fully show details of the game on TV, and the unrivaled clarity takes you to every exciting moment. Just cheer up for the game the way it touches you.
    • Super Contrast Booster: Accurate picture contrast emphasizes and maximizes the depth of picture color, to show things as real. As a result, any content you watch on TV, you will enjoy a realistic picture with breathtaking contrast.
    • Fire TV: Get right to the good stuff. Fire TV puts your favorite apps front and center on one main home screen. So you can quickly find shows, movies, and live TV you love without the endless scrolling.

     

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made through this article. Using links on the site for Amazon purchases is the best way you can support the site as you normally can’t earn cash back for these purchases. But, you should still check shopping portals such as Rakuten, TopCashback, RebatesMe, ShopBack and others for possible cashback. Your support is always greatly appreciated!

    DDG

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  • Best Buy’s Black Friday Sale Drops Prices on Some of Our Favorite Tech of the Year

    Whether you like it or not, Black Friday is here. The holiday shopping season is upon us, and it’s when some of the best deals of the year make their appearance. For Black Friday, Best Buy has really solid tech deals on some of our favorite products we’ve tested and reviewed, ranging from laptops and gaming mice to cordless vacuums. So, whether you’re shopping for the perfect gift for that tech lover in your life or if you’ve been waiting all year for prices to drop on something for yourself, there are a few great options below.

    For more great discounts, check out our Best Black Friday Deals roundup and all of our deals coverage here.

    Updated November 28: We’ve added the Breville Express Espresso Machine, AirPods Pro 2, and Oura Ring 4.

    The Latest MacBook Pro

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    The M5 MacBook Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is only a month old, and it’s already on sale. It’s the only Mac so far to receive the upgrade to the latest M5 chip, benefiting from improved performance across the board. In my testing, there was a significant step forward everywhere you looked, including the GPU, the CPU, and the Neural Engine for AI tasks. It’s the GPU that’s seen the biggest leap, though, which should speed up both gaming and creative applications. Other than that, this is the same MacBook Pro you probably already know and love, with its bright mini-LED screen, robust speakers, and extra ports (over the MacBook Air, at least).

    This base 14-inch model doesn’t have the incredible value of the MacBook Air or the powerhouse performance of the M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro. Ultimately, when it comes to which MacBook you should buy, the answer is still the Air. But the M5 versions of these laptops aren’t coming until next year, so if you’re after the latest Apple Silicon in one of the best laptops you can buy, this deal on the M5 MacBook Pro is solid.

    The Best Bluetooth Speaker

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    The JBL Flip 7 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is a Bluetooth speaker that has it all. As our A/V reviewer Ryan Waniata says, “JBL’s Flip strikes the perfect compromise between mobility and sound quality, offering clean detail with plenty of punch.” Waniata also praises the durability of the Flip 7, which is important in a Bluetooth speaker meant to be used outdoors. There are tons of different color options to match your vibe, and it gets up to 16 hours of battery life. The increased water resistance means it’ll bring the party wherever you need it. Put simply, it’s the best Bluetooth speaker you can buy, and it’s at a great price.

    Our Favorite Dyson Vacuum

    • Photograph: Nena Farrell

    • Photograph: Nena Farrell

    • Courtesy of Dyson

    Everyone wants a cordless Dyson vacuum, but they tend to be exorbitantly expensive. It’s still not cheap, but at $300 off, this is as good a deal as we’ve seen on this vacuum. The V15 Detect is our vacuum expert’s favorite Dyson. In her testing, Nena Farrell says she was impressed by how much dust and dirt it sucked up from her carpet, as well as from hard floors. The V15 Detect also comes with an extra sensor that can actually count the number of dust particles. That’s overkill for most people, but if you have severe allergies (or have friends or family that do), the Dyson V15 Detect can actually verify what you’re picking up.

    The Best AirPods Deal

    Apple AirPods Pro 2, two white earbuds, in an open oval shaped case sitting on a wooden surface

    Photograph: Christopher Null

    Apple

    AirPods Pro 2 (With USB-C)

    This discount on the AirPods Pro 2 is sold out some other retailers, but it’s still available at Best Buy. These updated AirPods Pro 2 is the model to come out in 2023, introducing the USB-C charging port and water resistance to the already-great pair of noise-canceling earbuds. The price cut to $191 from the retail price of $250 is great, and it’s probably the pair that most people should buy this holiday season. However, I should mention that the newer AirPods Pro 3 launched recently in September, bringing a huge boost to noise canceling, bass, and battery life. It also has the new Live Translation feature. These newer earbuds are $30 off right now, but they cost an extra $30 over the AirPods Pro 2.

    The Best TV Deal Right Now

    Image may contain: Electronics, Screen, Computer Hardware, Hardware, Monitor, TV, Person, Adult, Ball, Football, and Soccer

    Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    OLED TVs might be the best TVs you can buy, but if you’re shopping for a TV under $1,000 like most people are, the TCL QM6K QLED (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is what you should be eyeing. It’s a 4K mini-LED screen, and our TV reviewers call it “a versatile display that does just about everything well, from naturalistic colors to rich black levels and impressive clarity.” It’s not the brightest TV in the world, but it does come with a 144-Hz refresh rate for gaming and a smart Google TV interface for your streaming needs. There are screen options ranging from 55 inches up to 98 inches, all of which are on sale ahead of Black Friday, with the happy-medium 65-inch model starting at $500.

    The Best MagSafe Power Bank

    Gear-Anker_MagGo_Qi2-SOURCE-Simon-Hill

    Photograph: Simon Hill

    Anker

    MagGo Power Bank (10K) (Qi2)

    Most people aren’t using the wireless charging on their iPhone to its full extent. Picking up a MagSafe power bank is a great way to do that, and this one from Anker is our favorite. With a 10,000-mAh battery, it can power up an iPhone to a full charge nearly twice. It even works on Android phones because it supports the Qi2 standard. We also like that it comes with a built-in kickstand and a helpful LED light on the side that tells you how much charge is left. It’s $35 off for Black Friday, bringing it to its lowest price so far.

    A Fancy Espresso Maker (That You’ll Love)

    Image may contain: Cup, Beverage, Coffee, Coffee Cup, and Espresso

    Breville

    Barista Express Espresso Machine

    Don’t let price hold you back from your home barista dreams. $200 off the beloved espresso machine that WIRED editor Julian Chokkattu has been using for seven years without issues. He cites the excellent steam wand, consistent pressure for espresso, and easy cleaning as the top reasons to buy it. But the long-term reliability is its biggest strength. When you drop half a grand on a piece of kitchen tech, you need to know that it won’t need to be replaced in just a few years.

    The Best Headphones

    Image may contain: Electronics, Headphones, Dining Table, Furniture, and Table

    Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    The best noise-canceling headphones from Sony are also the best wireless headphones you can buy right now. Bags of processing power can silence even the loudest sounds around you, and the included microphones are excellent for Zoom calls. Sound quality is top-notch, with custom-made drivers delivering Sony’s sleek and flat sound.

    A Brilliant USB-C Hub

    Image may contain: Adapter, Electronics, Computer, Laptop, Pc, Computer Hardware, Hardware, and Computer Keyboard

    Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft

    One of the biggest upgrades you can make to your remote work setup is a solid USB hub or laptop docking station. Most laptops don’t have enough ports, especially not if you’re trying to connect multiple, high-resolution monitors. The plug-and-play nature of this is super helpful, too, as you can have all of your peripherals and accessories connected via USB-C.

    While you could just go out and buy any old USB hub, the Satechi Dual Dock Stand has some secrets up its sleeve. First off, it’s designed to prop up your laptop slightly with its wedge shape. My favorite feature, though, is the built-in storage slot. It doesn’t come with an SSD included, but any M.2 SSD will work. It’s a handy feature to have. The best part is the price, which is down to $105, a new low at Best Buy for Black Friday.

    The Best Windows Laptop Deal

    Front view of the Asus Zenbook A14 laptop while open with the screen showing abstract art

    Photograph: Christopher Null

    Just last week, this laptop cost $1,000. Now it’s down to $550. That’s a 45 percent drop in price. And while I wouldn’t say this laptop is worth $1,000, it’s an absolute steal for $550. The Zenbook A14’s calling card is its weight of just 2.16 pounds. It’s light enough that it’ll make you do a double-take when you pick it up off the table. That makes it an ideal travel companion to lug across campus or on airplanes. Unlike ultra-light laptops in the past, the Zenbook A14 doesn’t have any major compromises in battery life, performance, or keyboard. It even has an OLED screen, as so many Asus laptops do.

    A Cheaper, Better iPad

    • Photograph: Brenda Stolyar

    • Photograph: Brenda Stolyar

    This is a great price for the base iPad. But a cheaper iPad is only so good if it’s limited by its software. But with the iPadOS 26 update, you’re also getting a better iPad than ever before. With a more accurate cursor and resizable windows, the iPad is now more like a MacBook than ever before. Multitasking on an iPad has always been a nightmare, but now that you can pull up multiple windows side by side and resize them to your heart’s content. Connect it up with a wireless mouse and keyboard, and you’ve got something that could replace a laptop in a pinch.

    The Best Phone Under $300

    Image may contain: Electronics, Phone, and Mobile Phone

    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    Motorola

    Moto G Stylus 2025

    No one is calling the Moto G Stylus 5G the best phone in the world. In fact, our phone expert (and tech editor extraordinaire, Julian Chokkattu) recommends Nothing’s Phone 3a as the better cheap phone. But the 2025 Moto G Stylus is not only the best Moto G phone you can buy, it also has a lot of high-end features, such as a large 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with a 120-Hz refresh rate. It even has a beautiful blue back, a built-in stylus, and a headphone jack. That’s a lot of uncommon features in a remarkably cheap phone, especially at its discounted pre–Black Friday price.

    The Perfect Travel Partner

    Sony WF-1000XM5 Earbuds

    Courtesy of Sony

    These earbuds came out a couple of years ago, but they remain some of the best you can buy. When they came out, Sony’s fifth-generation of high-end wireless earbuds were trimmed down to around 25 percent smaller and 20 percent lighter than the previous generation. You also get two extra full charges from the case, for a total of up to 36 hours of listening. That all makes it the best pair of earbuds for traveling in particular. There’s no compromise in noise canceling either. In fact, our A/V experts say the XM5 has “some of the most advanced functionality in terms of EQ, touch controls, and adaptive noise canceling available on the market.” They’re $100 off the retail price ahead of Black Friday, which is the best discount we’ve ever seen on them.

    The Smartest Android Phone

    • Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    • Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    • Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    • Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    You can’t go wrong with Google’s brand-new Pixel 10. The smartest of the best Android phones, it boasts genuinely useful AI features, like Call Screen and Now Playing. There’s also an excellent, versatile, triple-camera system that includes a 5X optical zoom for capturing action from afar. There’s Qi2 support for magnetic wireless charging and magnetic accessories. It’s unusual to see a deep discount on this year’s Google flagship, so it’s worth biting.

    An Incredible OLED Gaming Monitor

    Black desktop monitor with silver screen as screen shows a scene from a game

    Courtesy of Samsung

    Samsung

    Odyssey G6 OLED Gaming Monitor

    Samsung makes some of the prettiest gaming monitors, especially in the past couple of years. Within its Odyssey lineup, there’s now just about every size and form factor of monitor you can imagine. The Odyssey G6 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a 27-inch OLED with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 and a 360-Hz refresh rate, which should be great no matter what game you’re playing. Want extreme frame rates for competitive shooters? You can drop the resolution to 1080p and explore the higher echelon of the 360-Hz refresh rate. For slower-paced single-player games, the 1440p resolution is crisp, and the OLED panel gets you gorgeous HDR in games. It’s $250 off the full price ahead of Black Friday, down now to $650.

    A Dirt-Cheap Chromebook

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    You can’t expect a laptop this cheap to be without compromises. But when it comes to budget Chromebooks, this is as good as it gets. It’s a reasonably affordable and attractive laptop, with lots of ports, decent performance, and a comfortable keyboard. For a Chromebook, the specs aren’t bad either, coming with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Unfortunately, the touchpad isn’t the best, nor is the display. It’s not bright enough, and the colors look off. For a laptop under $300, though, the CX14 should do the trick, especially for a student or a first-time laptop owner.

    One Ring to Rule Them All

    • Photograph: Simon Hill

    • Photograph: Simon Hill

    The smart ring space has been quiet this year, perhaps partially because of how fantastic the Oura Ring 4 is. It’s smaller and lighter, feeling more like a proper piece of jewelry than ever before. With new features like fertility tracking, an improved health app, and over three days of battery life, our reviewer Adrienne So was consistently impressed by the upgrade over the previous Oura Ring 3. At $100 off the full price, the Oura Ring 4 is continuing to feel like the only smart ring anyone should buy.

    An Excellent Prebuilt Gaming Desktop

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    Alienware

    Aurora Gaming Desktop

    With RAM prices skyrocketing, just buying a prebuilt gaming desktop feels like an increasingly smart move, especially at this price. The Alienware Aurora Gaming Desktop is down to just $1,225, coming with an Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti, Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, 32 GB of memory, and 1 TB of storage. That’s cheaper than Dell’s own price for that configuration, but I wouldn’t recommend buying this particular model, as it comes with only a 500-watt power supply. While that’s enough power for the RTX 5060 Ti, you’ll be limited from upgrading to any GPUs more powerful in the future. So, I’d highly recommend buying one of the configurations with the 1,000-watt power supplies, such as the RTX 5070 configuration. Before buying, I’d also recommend comparing prices with Dell.com, as it has some strong deals on particular configurations, such as this RTX 5070 Ti model for just $1,000.

    A Gaming Mouse

    Image may contain: Computer Hardware, Electronics, Hardware, and Mouse

    Photograph: Henri Robbins

    Corsair

    Scimitar Elite Wireless SE

    If you play MMOs, you know how useful it is to map various actions to buttons on your keyboard or mouse. Well, this gaming mouse from Corsair gives you a ton of options to customize your gameplay. There are 12 reprogrammable side buttons, but the mouse also has a high 33,000-dpi optical sensor and 1,000-Hz polling for low input lag and high responsiveness. It can connect via a 2.4-GHz dongle instead of Bluetooth, too.

    A Mesh Wi-Fi System

    • Photograph: Simon Hill

    • Photograph: Simon Hill

    • Photograph: Simon Hill

    Everyone could use faster and more reliable Wi-Fi, right? This high-performing, tri-band, Wi-Fi 7 mesh is the runner-up in our Best Mesh guide. You’ll get lightning-fast speeds on the 6-GHz band at close range. Each unit has plenty of ports (one 10 Gbps Ethernet port, one 2.5 Gbps port, a Gigabit port, and a USB 3.0 port), and the Deco app is very easy to use. The possibility of a TP-Link ban in the US might put you off, or it might encourage you to pull the trigger now.

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    Luke Larsen

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  • VIZIO 75” Class 4K UHD LED HDR Smart TV for $348 (Walmart+)

    VIZIO 75” Class 4K UHD LED HDR Smart TV for $348

    This article contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

    Walmart+ members can get the VIZIO 75” Class 4K UHD LED HDR Limited Edition Smart TV V4K75X-08 for just $348. That’s a good deal if you’re looking for a cheap big screen TV. Shipping is free.

    The U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Card earns 6% at select merchants, including Walmart. Also check your Amex cards for Walmart Amex Offers.

     

    Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you take action (i.e. subscribe, make a purchase) after clicking a link, I may earn some beer 🍺money, which I promise to drink responsibly. When applicable, you should always go through shopping portals to earn cashback. But when that’s not an option, your support for the site is always greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!

    DDG

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  • Best Buy’s Pre-Black Friday Sales Have Already Begun. Here’s What to Buy

    Whether you like it or not, Black Friday is next week. The holiday shopping season is upon us, and it’s when some of the best deals of the year make their appearance. Ahead of Black Friday, Best Buy has been offering some really solid tech deals on some of our favorite products we’ve tested and reviewed, ranging from laptops and gaming mice to cordless vacuums. So, whether you’re shopping for the perfect gift for that tech lover in your life or if you’ve been waiting all year for prices to drop on something for yourself, there are a few great options below.

    For more great discounts, check out our Best Early Black Friday Deals roundup and all of our deals coverage here.

    The Latest MacBook Pro

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    The M5 MacBook Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is only a month old, and it’s already on sale. It’s the only Mac so far to get the bump to the latest M5 chip, benefiting from improved performance all around. In my testing, there was a significant step forward everywhere you looked, including the GPU, the CPU, and the Neural Engine for AI tasks. It’s the GPU that’s seen the biggest leap, though, which should speed up both gaming and creative applications. Other than that, this is the same MacBook Pro you probably already know and love, with its bright mini-LED screen, robust speakers, and extra ports (over the MacBook Air, at least).

    This base 14-inch model doesn’t have the incredible value of the MacBook Air or the powerhouse performance of the M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro. Ultimately, when it comes to which MacBook you should buy, the answer is still the Air. But the M5 versions of these laptops aren’t coming until next year, so if you’re after the latest Apple Silicon in one of the best laptops you can buy, this deal on the M5 MacBook Pro is solid.

    The Best Bluetooth Speaker

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    The JBL Flip 7 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is a Bluetooth speaker that has it all. As our A/V reviewer Ryan Waniata says, “JBL’s Flip strikes the perfect compromise between mobility and sound quality, offering clean detail with plenty of punch.” Waniata also praises the durability of the Flip 7, which is important in a Bluetooth speaker meant to be used outdoors. There are tons of different color options to match your vibe, and it gets up to 16 hours of battery life. The increased water resistance means it’ll bring the party to wherever you need it. Put simply, it’s the best Bluetooth speaker you can buy, and it’s at a great price.

    Our Favorite Dyson Vacuum

    • Photograph: Nena Farrell

    • Photograph: Nena Farrell

    • Courtesy of Dyson

    Everyone wants a cordless Dyson vacuum, but they tend to be exorbitantly expensive. It’s still not cheap, but at $300 off, this is as good a deal as we’ve seen on this vacuum. The V15 Detect is our vacuum expert’s favorite Dyson. In her testing, Nena Farrell says she was impressed by how much dust and dirt it sucked up from her carpet, as well as from hard floors. The V15 Detect also comes with an extra sensor that can actually count the number of dust particles. That’s overkill for most people, but if you have severe allergies (or have friends or family that do), the Dyson V15 Detect can actually verify what you’re picking up.

    The Best TV Deal Right Now

    Image may contain: Electronics, Screen, Computer Hardware, Hardware, Monitor, TV, Person, Adult, Ball, Football, and Soccer

    Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    OLED TVs might be the best TVs you can buy, but if you’re shopping for a TV under $1,000 like most people are, the TCL QM6K QLED (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is what you should be eyeing. It’s a 4K mini-LED screen, and our TV reviewers call it “a versatile display that does just about everything well, from naturalistic colors to rich black levels and impressive clarity.” It’s not the brightest TV in the world, but it does come with a 144-Hz refresh rate for gaming and a smart Google TV interface for your streaming needs. There are screen options ranging from 55 inches up to 98 inches, all of which are on sale ahead of Black Friday, with the happy-medium 65-inch model starting at $500.

    The Best Phone Under $300

    Image may contain: Electronics, Phone, and Mobile Phone

    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    Motorola

    Moto G Stylus 2025

    No one is calling the Moto G Stylus 5G the best phone in the world. In fact, our phone expert (and tech editor extraordinaire, Julian Chokkattu) recommends Nothing’s Phone 3a as the better cheap phone. But the 2025 Moto G Stylus is not only the best Moto G phone you can buy, it also has a lot of high-end features, such as a large 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with a 120-Hz refresh rate. It even has a beautiful blue back, a built-in stylus, and a headphone jack. That’s a lot of uncommon features in a remarkably cheap phone, especially at its discounted pre–Black Friday price.

    A Classy Gaming Laptop

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    The Razer Blade 14 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a gaming laptop. The RGB-backlit keyboard and green snakes logo on the lid give it away. But if not for those elements, you could easily mistake the Blade 14 for a true MacBook Pro rival made for content creators and pro users. It’s around the same thickness as the MacBook Pro, despite the fact that it has a powerful discrete graphics card for gaming. That’s what makes it such a great hybrid device that could work just as well for school and work as for late-night gaming.

    The Razer Blade 14 didn’t get a massive revamp in 2025, but the new model did make some tweaks. It now has an OLED panel, which is high-resolution (2880 x 1800) and color-accurate, and it sports a faster 120-Hz refresh rate. It’s not the best gaming screen I’ve seen on a laptop, but again, it’s a great comparison to the MacBook Pro. And for this price, it’s a must-buy.

    The Perfect Travel Partner

    Sony WF-1000XM5 Earbuds

    Courtesy of Sony

    These earbuds came out a couple of years ago, but they remain some of the best you can buy. When they came out, Sony’s fifth-generation of high-end wireless earbuds were trimmed down to around 25 percent smaller and 20 percent lighter than the previous generation. You also get two extra full charges from the case, for a total of up to 36 hours of listening. That all makes it the best pair of earbuds for traveling in particular. There’s no compromise in noise canceling either. In fact, our A/V experts say the XM5 have “some of the most advanced functionality in terms of EQ, touch controls, and adaptive noise canceling available on the market.” They’re $100 off the retail price ahead of Black Friday, which is the best discount we’ve ever seen on them.

    An Incredible OLED Gaming Monitor

    Black desktop monitor with silver screen as screen shows a scene from a game

    Courtesy of Samsung

    Samsung

    Odyssey G6 OLED Gaming Monitor

    Samsung makes some of the prettiest gaming monitors, especially in the past couple of years. Within its Odyssey lineup, there’s now just about every size and form factor of monitor you can imagine. The Odyssey G6 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a 27-inch OLED with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 and a 360-Hz refresh rate, which should be great no matter what game you’re playing. Want extreme frame rates for competitive shooters? You can drop the resolution to 1080p and explore the higher echelon of the 360-Hz refresh rate. For slower-paced single-player games, the 1440p resolution is crisp, and the OLED panel gets you gorgeous HDR in games. It’s $250 off the full price ahead of Black Friday, down now to $650.

    A Dirt-Cheap Chromebook

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    • Photograph: Luke Larsen

    You can’t expect a laptop this cheap to be without compromises. But when it comes to budget Chromebooks, this is as good as it gets. It’s a reasonably affordable and attractive laptop, with lots of ports, decent performance, and a comfortable keyboard. For a Chromebook, the specs aren’t bad either, coming with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Unfortunately, the touchpad isn’t the best, nor is the display. It’s not bright enough, and the colors look off. For a laptop under $300, though, the CX14 should do the trick, especially for a student or a first-time laptop owner.

    A Gaming Mouse

    Image may contain: Computer Hardware, Electronics, Hardware, and Mouse

    Photograph: Henri Robbins

    Corsair

    Scimitar Elite Wireless SE

    If you play MMOs, you know how useful it is to map various actions to buttons on your keyboard or mouse. Well, this gaming mouse from Corsair gives you a ton of options to customize your gameplay. There are 12 reprogrammable side buttons, but the mouse also has a high 33,000-dpi optical sensor and 1,000-Hz polling for low input lag and high responsiveness. It can connect via a 2.4-GHz dongle instead of Bluetooth, too.

    Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe Today.

    Luke Larsen

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  • I Just Tested Panasonic’s Best TV Yet, and It’s Premium in Every Way But One

    Space is the right environment for a TV with this level of staggering contrast, and it’s not just the dramatic moments, but also the more subtly lit scenes that stand out. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 is full of searing highlights and colorful bursts of space glow, but moments like the crisp sunrise on the Guardians’ plumb-brown shirts or the dark corridors of their small ship were just as impressive thanks to the Z95B’s masterful color gradients and shadow detail.

    That meticulous touch comes through in everything you watch, including plain old HD sitcoms like The Office, where I found myself oddly enamored with moments like the auburn highlights of Jim’s hair or the gleam of Andy’s tie. This may not be the reason you buy a premium TV, but it’s lovely to find joy in the little things. Skin tones look almost touchably natural and clean, enhanced by the TV’s knockout image processing, and even lower-quality video looks good with its improved upscaling.

    That’s not to say you won’t find plenty of bombast here; the Z95B gets as bright as anyone should need when properly tasked. Playing Mad Max: Fury Road on 4K HDR Blu-ray with the Panasonic DP-UB9000 elicited the perfect dichotomy between the dull desert backdrop and the catastrophic lightning storm. The storm’s jagged bolts split the sky with precision, erupting with blistering shocks of orange and white, right down to that sputtering white-hot flare.

    Part of the Z95B’s potency comes from its excellent glare reduction. Like the LG G5, it’s able to reduce everything but direct reflections while preserving its obsidian backdrop for a more dramatic contrast in brighter rooms than Sony’s rival Bravia 8 II QD-OLED. I think the Bravia beats both TVs for image clarity, but it’s close. Only Samsung’s similar S95F offers a more potent way to kill the glare while still preserving contrast.

    The Z95B and G5 are unsurprisingly similar, given that they share the same panel. The Z95B feels slightly more natural in its color and lighting, and a bit better for off-axis viewing, but that may be recency bias. I’d need to see them back-to-back to point to any real differences. Some extra color banding in Dolby Vision streaming content and a bit of image stuttering are the only noticeable flaws I saw in the Z95B over two weeks. (Note: I reviewed the G5 after LG addressed initial complaints of HDR color banding.)

    All four premium OLEDs provide knockout performance, each with its own specialty. I’m partial to the G5 and Z95B over the Samsung and Sony for their balance of fiery brightness with jet-black backdrops—and the G5 has an edge with its four HDMI 2.1 ports and better smarts. The Z95B is hard to deny, though. If you’re after an all-in-one screen that elevates everything to showcase levels, this is the TV to take home.

    Ryan Waniata

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  • We’ve Spent Months Testing and Retesting to Find You the Best TV Antennas for Free TV

    Other Antennas Worth Considering

    Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    Mohu Leaf (Passive) for $40-$45: After multiple scans and adjustments, I was able to get the latest passive version of the Leaf to receive nearly as many channels as our top picks. It’s a viable option if you don’t want to plug in, and it easily receives all my core channels, but it’s less consistent in both scanning and operation than our favorites at a similar cost. Barring a hot sale, it makes more sense to grab one of our top options, especially for rural areas.

    One For All Amplified a spherical antenna beside a charging cord both sitting on a white tablecloth

    One for All Amplified (16662)

    Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    One for All Amplified (16662) for $100-$120: This sphere-shaped antenna isn’t bad, just surprisingly expensive. The first time I scanned for channels it found nearly all available, including multiple Nextgen channels, and offered clear and stable reception. It proved slightly inconsistent upon channel rescan, but its main limitation is the high price.

    Antennas to Avoid

    Image may contain Electrical Device Microphone Adapter and Electronics

    Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    HIDB Electronics TV Antenna for $20: This tiny antenna tower is a top seller on Amazon, and I really hoped for a good showing given its negligible size and price. Unfortunately, though I was able to get it to scan plenty of channels, it proved highly inconsistent over multiple days of testing, with several dead channels showing up between scans. If you’re willing to gamble, it could get the job done on a budget, but it’s likely to leave multiple channels on the table even in urban areas.

    Image may contain Electronics Phone and Mobile Phone

    Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    Mohu Vibe Amplified for $50: I’ve had bad luck with the more stylish pad and wand-style antennas, and this rather pricey model from Mohu is no exception. It proved inconsistent in testing across multiple TVs, dropping major channels like my local CBS, NBC, and PBS affiliates, along with plenty of lesser-used channels.

    Image may contain Accessories Home Decor Wristwatch Arm Body Part and Person

    Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    Mohu Versa for $30: I wanted to like the stylish and simple Versa, one of the few antennas you’ll find these days that doesn’t include an optional amplifier. Unfortunately, it was one of the worst at pulling channels, including several that were scanned and listed on the TV but showed no signal.

    Clearstream Flex Amplified antenna a white panel and wrapped cords on a striped tablecloth

    Clearstream Flex Amplified

    Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    Clearstream Flex Amplified for $60: This massive antenna struggled some with channel reliability in scanning, even after multiple rescans. It was one of the few models we tested that failed to pick up our local ABC affiliate, along with a few other channel bands.

    One For All Suburbs Ultimate Antenna a long black device and charger cord on a striped tablecloth

    One for All Suburbs Ultimate (14426)

    Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    One for All Suburbs Ultimate Antenna (14426) for $50-$60: This thin black bar has stylish looks, but it was among the least consistent models we tested. It repeatedly pulled in fewer channels than similar models, leaving out wide channel bands, including major station affiliates.

    One For All Suburbs Ultimate antenna a white rectangular device sitting on a striped tablecloth

    One for All Suburbs Ultimate (14450)

    Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    One For All Suburbs Ultimate (14450) for $30: Another rather stylish and unique-looking model from One for All, this antenna is a bit janky to set up (especially its stand legs) and had more trouble bringing in multiple channels, including some major affiliates, than the top antennas we tested.

    Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe Today.

    Ryan Waniata

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  • This Excellent LG OLED Is Deeply Discounted Before Black Friday

    If you’re looking to make the move to an OLED screen, but don’t feel like stomaching the high price tag usually associated with the tech, you might consider the LG B5 OLED. It’s already a great screen at the full price, but Best Buy currently has it marked down to just $600. That’s a significant markdown for this TV, which can typically be found between $1,000 and $1,200.

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    The star of the show is LG’s OLED panel, the type typically found on TVs twice the price. If you’re curious why that’s so important, we have a great explainer that breaks down the difference between all the different panel types. The important takeaway here is that the pixels emit their own light, allowing individual spots of the screen to be perfectly black. The result is impressive, with incredible contrast between the brightest and darkest spots that’s best understood by seeing it in person.

    The other areas of the screen are excellent as well. Our reviewer Ryan Waniata opined that “there’s a sumptuous touch to images of all sorts,” and liked the colors as well, which were accurate and sharp without any adjustment. The screen has a natural and vivid performance to it that feels all the more impressive when you consider the price point.

    It has the chops for some gaming too, with feature support that meets or beats higher-end screens. With four proper HDMI 2.1 inputs, your consoles won’t need to fight for the good ports, which is a nice surprise for the price point. It can reach a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, which is just fine for most console gamers, and has both AMD FreeSync Premium and Nvidia G-Sync to make sure everything is smooth, plus Auto Low Latency Mode for quick response times.

    Overall, the LG B5 OLED is a solid value at its full price, but the steep discount here makes this a really sweet upgrade or first OLED. If you’re still not sold, make sure to swing by our roundup of all the best TVs available, including the B5 and other OLEDs.

    Brad Bourque

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  • VIZIO 50″ Class 4K LED HDR Smart TV (V4K50S-08) for $128 at Walmart

    VIZIO 50″ Class 4K LED HDR Smart TV (V4K50S-08) for $128

    This article contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

    Walmart has a VIZIO 50″ Class 4K LED HDR Limited Edition Smart TV (NEW) V4K50S-08 on sale for just $128. Good deal if you need a cheap TV.

    The U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Card earns 6% at select merchants, including Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart.

    About this item:

    • Vivid Display: Features Dolby Vision Bright+, HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG for true-to-life picture quality with enhanced color and detail.
    • Seamless Connectivity: Equipped with WiFi 6 for improved streaming and gaming performance, and supports Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Cast.
    • Enhanced Gaming: Offers Dolby Vision HDR Gaming, automatic Auto Low Latency Mode, and an integrated gaming menu for optimal performance.
    • Smart Integration: Compatible with Apple Home, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa-enabled devices for a connected smart home experience.
    • Immersive Audio: Delivers cinematic sound with Dolby Audio, DTS:X, and DTS Virtual:X through TV speakers, plus Dolby Atmos pass-through.
    • Personalized Control: The VIZIO Mobile app allows searching, browsing, and launching entertainment, with voice control capabilities.
    • Private Listening: Enables Bluetooth headphone pairing for uninterrupted audio enjoyment of shows, podcasts, or music.
    • Integrated Entertainment: VIZIO Home provides instant access to built-in apps, hundreds of free channels, and thousands of On Demand titles.

    Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you take action (i.e. subscribe, make a purchase) after clicking a link, I may earn some beer 🍺money, which I promise to drink responsibly. When applicable, you should always go through shopping portals to earn cashback. But when that’s not an option, your support for the site is always greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!

    DDG

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  • Stop your smart TV from listening to you

    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    Most people do not realize their smart TV includes microphones that can capture sound even when voice commands are off. These tiny mics power voice search and assistants, but they also pose privacy risks. If that makes you uneasy, you are not alone. The good news is that it takes only a few minutes to disable your smart TV microphone and protect your conversations.

    Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report
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    YOUR PHONE IS TRACKING YOU EVEN WHEN YOU THINK IT’S NOT

    Step one: Find the built-in mic switch

    Before opening menus, check your TV’s frame. Many models feature a small hardware switch that turns the microphone off completely.

    Look closely along the bottom or sides of your screen. Some switches are labeled “Built-in MIC.” On Samsung TVs, it’s often near the bottom right edge when facing the screen.

    Take back control of your space and enjoy your smart TV safely without your microphone listening.  (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

    Slide the switch to “off.” Your TV may confirm the change with an on-screen message. This is the most reliable way to stop the mic because it physically cuts power to it.

    Step two: Disable the smart TV microphone in settings

    If your TV lacks a physical switch, go through its settings menu. While the exact names differ by brand, most follow a similar pattern.

    Press Home or Settings on your remote. Look for main sections such as System, General or Privacy. Inside, you’ll find microphone or voice options labeled Voice Recognition, Voice Assistant or Microphone Access.

    instructions for how to turn off the microphone on a Samsung smart TV

    Slide the built-in mic switch to stop your TV from listening. (Samsung)

    Examples:

    • Samsung: General → Voice
    • Sony: Privacy → Google Assistant
    • LG: User Agreements → Voice Settings

    Toggle off every feature that uses the microphone. Some options may appear in more than one place, so check each section carefully.

    instructions for how to turn off the microphone on a Samsung smart TV

    Use your TV’s settings to disable voice features and protect privacy. (Samsung)

    Step three: Balance convenience and privacy

    Turning off your TV’s microphone does not mean you lose smart features. Many remotes include a push-to-talk button that activates voice control only when pressed.

    If you rarely talk to your TV, keeping the microphone off makes sense. If you like using voice commands, enable it temporarily when you need it.

    Step four: Check connected devices and apps

    Even after you disable your smart TV microphone, voice-enabled apps and linked devices may still be listening.

    Check any connected smart assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant or Bixby. These platforms can continue capturing audio through your phone, smart speaker or another device on the same network.

    STOP GOOGLE FROM FOLLOWING YOUR EVERY MOVE

    A remote control points at a television.

    Keep your privacy and still enjoy voice control, just use it when you need it. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

    Take a moment to review privacy settings in those apps as well. Turning off voice activity tracking across all your devices ensures that nothing in your home listens when you do not want it to.

    Why smart TVs have microphones at all

    Manufacturers include microphones to make TVs more interactive. You can ask for weather updates, control volume or find movies with your voice. It’s convenient, but it comes with trade-offs.

    Some companies state in their privacy policies that voice data may be shared with third parties for analysis. That means your living room chatter could leave your home.

    When you disable your smart TV microphone, you keep the benefits of a modern TV while limiting unwanted data collection.

    What this means for you

    By taking a few minutes to change one setting or flip one switch, you gain control over what your TV hears. It’s an easy way to improve your digital privacy without losing the entertainment experience you love.

    You still get streaming apps, vivid displays and fast connectivity, just with added peace of mind.

    Take my quiz: How safe is your online security?

    Think your devices and data are truly protected? Take this quick quiz to see where your digital habits stand. From passwords to Wi-Fi settings, you’ll get a personalized breakdown of what you’re doing right and what needs improvement. Take my Quiz here: CyberGuy.com.

    CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

    Kurt’s key takeaways 

    Smart TVs offer great features, but convenience should never cost you privacy. Whether you flip a switch or use your settings menu, you have the power to decide when your TV listens.

    Will you take back your living room privacy today or leave it as it is? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.

    Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report
    Get my best tech tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide — free when you join my CYBERGUY.COM newsletter. 

    Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com.  All rights reserved.  

    Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

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  • Live TV Isn’t Dead. These Are the Best Live TV Streaming Services

    I won’t mince words: Sling TV is confusing. It has, by far, the most confusing lineup of plans and add-ons out of any of the live TV streaming services I tested. There are a handful of core plans, none of which encompass the scale of Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV, or DirecTV, as well as about half a dozen add-ons to bring the channel roster up to par. This modular approach is annoying while shopping, though it also means you can save quite a bit of money by only picking up what you need.

    The core of Sling is Blue and Orange. The Blue plan focuses on news and entertainment, while the Orange plan cuts news like MSNBC and CNN in favor of an array of ESPN channels. It’s clear Sling wants folks to pick up the Orange & Blue plan that combines these channel lineups. It’s about 30 percent cheaper getting them together than it is purchasing them separately (and about $30 cheaper than most other providers).

    The Orange & Blue plan, which I recommend for most people, covers the major bases, but it loses out on some of the secondary channels available elsewhere. For instance, you get ESPN channels and Fox Sports 1, but not Fox Sports 2 or the Big Ten Network. You’ll need an add-on for those.

    Most of Sling’s add-ons are $6 extra per month, minus the sports add-on, which is $15. The add-ons fill in the gaps depending on what you’re most interested in. The entertainment add-on includes Cartoon Network and MTV, for instance, while the movies add-on comes with Grit, TCM, and FXX. You can pick up all of the extras for $27 per month with Blue & Orange or $21 per month with other plans. Even with the full package, however, Sling comes in a few dollars below YouTube TV and Hulu Live TV, and there are opportunities to get your monthly price even lower by cutting some packages.

    For apps, Sling has just about everything you could want. Roku, Samsung, LG, Apple, and Google TV are all supported, as are boxes from Cox, Xfinity, and even TiVo Stream. Mobile apps are available, and there’s an app for the Xbox (though not the PlayStation 5).

    Although not as responsive as YouTube TV, the app felt smooth on my TCL QM8K. You can create profiles, see upcoming games, and favorite channels in the guide so they’re easy to find.

    Jacob Roach

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  • Our Favorite Premium TV Is $500 Off

    On the hunt for a premium television, with all the bells and whistles? Our premium television pick, the LG G5 OLED is currently marked down to just under $2,000 on Amazon for the 65-inch version, a $500 discount from its usual list price. This excellent OLED TV scored top marks in everything from brightness to color, and is a great choice for anyone seeking the perfect addition to their living room or home theater.

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    • Photograph: Ryan Waniata

    LG has made a variety of improvements to this generation of panels, and it really shows in the numbers. It’s one of the brightest screens we’ve tested, with only one major competitor, the Sony Bravia 9 QLED beating it in terms of raw brightness. That means top-tier HDR performance, without some of the compromises you usually make for QLED screens to reach that brightness.

    The colors are excellent as well, bringing life to the deep greens and blues that some TVs can struggle with. They do just as well catching the clothing of your favorite sitcom stars as they do expressing the explosions and crashes of action movies. The processing and upscaling are top-notch as well, in case not all of your media is coming from the best source.

    Combine that high brightness with the rich and vibrant colors, and the result is a TV that looks stunning across any movie genre. As our reviewer Ryan Waniata put it while describing the lightning storm from the beginning of Mad Max: Fury Road, “Each bolt and fiery crash burned with white-hot sizzle, almost overwhelming my senses even in a daytime viewing.”

    The only real catch here is the streaming interface, an upgraded version of LG’s WebOS, which doesn’t quite hold up to the simplicity and performance of other options like Google TV. The remote is also slightly confusing, lacking some basic functions like a mute key or input key, both of which require other key press combinations. The good news here is if it really bothers you, you can always switch to a dedicated streaming box.

    If you’ve got the cash to plunk down, the LG G5 OLED is one of our favorite televisions, and it’s worth grabbing this 20 percent discount on it while you can.

    Brad Bourque

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  • The Pepsi Man Is Coming to Save Samsung From Boring Design

    Samsung has one of the biggest product line ups of any tech brand, yet when it comes to design, it’s consistently seen as an “also-ran.” While other companies have forged distinctive and instantly recognizable design languages, such as Nothing, Samsung has found itself behind in the style stakes. When you’ve got Apple as one of your biggest competitors, that’s not a great position to be in.

    That’s not to say there haven’t been improvements in the last decade, and the occasional flashes of promise—most notable in its collaborations with external designers, like the Bouroullec brothers, who fashioned the Serif TV for the South Korean company. But that hasn’t stopped complaints of boring and unoriginal design, both internally and externally, and an inertia when it has led, leaving other companies to close the gap.

    Being defined by performance over personality has hardly done Samsung’s bottom line any harm—it recently regained its lead from Apple in global smartphone market share and has been the global leader in TVs for almost two decades. But, in 2025, it looks there’s finally a clear desire from Samsung to bridge the gap between form and function, by giving design the focus it’s been lacking for far too long at the company.

    Back in April, Samsung hired Mauro Porcini, its first ever chief design officer. Porcini has spent more than 20 years building award-winning design teams at 3M and PepsiCo, most recently leading a successful global rebrand for Pepsi—the company’s first in 14 years.

    For a company as big as Samsung, this hire feels late. Apple created the same position for Jony Ive a decade ago, around the same time it was reported that innovation at Samsung was being stifled beneath layers of management. With those structural issues supposedly unpicked, Samsung now has work to do—something Porcini is keen to acknowledge.

    Late to the Party

    “We are in a moment of change, where the way people interact with any kind of machine or electronic device is going to be radically different in the coming years,” Porcini tells me. “These machines will change the way people live, work, and connect with each other—the way people fulfil their needs. For a company like Samsung, having design at the top, involved in the way you define the future of the portfolio based on those needs—it’s more important than ever.”

    The march of AI is, of course, a helpful hook upon which to tie this long overdue move, but Yves Béhar, the founder and principal designer at Fuseproject who worked with Samsung on The Frame TV, tells me this has been years in the making, and something Samsung had initially looked externally to help put the wheels in motion.

    “When we started working with Samsung on The Frame [released in January 2017], the CEO at the time, HS Kim, came to us and said—look, we want to transform ourselves from a consumer technology company, into an experience business,” says Béhar. “So we helped them set some principles around that, and worked on getting that message out into the business—of what it means to think about experience versus tech. This is exactly what we did with The Frame TV.”

    Verity Burns

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  • TCL 75” Class Q6 (75Q651G) 4K UHD HDR QLED Google TV for $316 at Walmart

    TCL 75” Class Q6 (75Q651G) 4K UHD HDR QLED Google TV for $316

    This article contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

    Walmart has the TCL 75” Class Q6 (75Q651G) 4K UHD HDR QLED Smart TV with Google TV on sale for just $316.16. 

    The U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Card earns 6% at select merchants, including Walmart.

    Features:

    • 4K UltraHD Resolution – Experience incredible detail with 4X the resolution of 1080p Full HDTVs.
    • QLED PRO – Quantum Dot Technology – Rich, vibrant colors covering nearly the entire DCI-P3 color space to bring images to life.
    • High Brightness+ LED Backlight – Q6 models produce brighter images for enhanced viewing experience for all your favorite movies and TV shows.
    • TCL AIPQ Processor with Deep Learning AI – Powerful, advanced processor intelligently optimizes the color, contrast, and clarity for an unrivaled 4K HDR experience.
    • HDR PRO+ with Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, & HLG – Enjoy enhanced contrast, accurate colors and fine details utilizing all the most advanced HDR formats.
    • Game Accelerator 120 –  With up to fast 120Hz VRR, enjoy more responsive gameplay without lag, designed to keep you at the top of any leaderboard.
    • Auto Game Mode (ALLM) – Automatically enables game mode for the lowest possible input lag and latency for an unmatched gaming performance.
    • Dolby Atmos Audio – Advanced spatial audio processing can be found in movies, TV shows, and video games.
    • Enhanced Dialogue Mode – Audio Setting for better clarity and intelligibility in movies, TV shows, and video games.
    • DTS Virtual:X – Advanced audio post-processing for your everyday content offering an immersive 3D sound, all from just your TV speakers.
    • Bluetooth Personal Audio – Pair your favorite Bluetooth headphones to the TV for a private listening experience.
    • FullView 360 Metal Bezel-less Design with Width Adjustable Feet (65″, 75″ and 85″) – Elegant edge-to-edge glass design, sleek back panel, and height adjustable feet to allow for greater versatility when choosing TV furniture or a sound bar.
    • 3 HDMI Inputs including one with eARC – Three high-speed HDMI inputs for the best connection to gaming consoles, set-top boxes, AV receiver, and more.
    • Wi-Fi 5 – Fast Wi-Fi performance for your high-speed internet connection.
    • Google TV Smart OS with Hands-Free Voice Control and Voice Remote – The entertainment you love. Google TV brings your favorite movies, shows, and live shows together.
    • Google Chromecast Built-in – Works with the streaming apps you know and love: Enjoy TV shows, movies, videos, songs, games, sports and more from thousands of apps.
    • Apple Air Play 2 – Share videos, photos, music, and more from Apple devices to your smart TV.
    • Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit – Use your voice to control your TV using the most popular voice assistants.

     

    Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you take action (i.e. subscribe, make a purchase) after clicking a link, I may earn some beer 🍺money, which I promise to drink responsibly. When applicable, you should always go through shopping portals to earn cashback. But when that’s not an option, your support for the site is always greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!

    DDG

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  • Everything Amazon Announced Today at Its Fall Hardware Event

    Over on the Show models, they now have a 13-megapixel camera for richer details on your video calls, with improved audio quality as well. Amazon says more and more companies are integrating with Alexa+, touting an Oura partnership that lets you ask Alexa about last night’s sleep with data collected from your Oura ring. More integrations are on the way, including the ability to buy movie tickets with Fandango.

    All of these Echo devices are available for preorder today.

    Alexa+ Is Still in Early Access

    Alexa+ was announced back in February and began rolling out in early access by March. Not much is changing about this. Amazon says Alexa+ is now rolling out in the US “during an early access period” and in waves over the coming months. It’ll prioritize Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21 device owners in this period, and you can sign up for early access here. The fastest way to access it is to buy one of the new Echo devices announced today.

    Alexa+ is an upgrade over the standard Alexa you’re familiar with. Powered by a large language model, it allows you to be more conversational with the assistant. Alexa+ is much faster at answering more topical and contextual questions, correctly answering things like “What’s that popular Soda Pop song?” You can read more here about our experience using it for a week.

    Alexa+ is free for Amazon Prime subscribers, but costs $20 a month for everyone else. Amazon says Alexa+ is being integrated into other devices from Sonos, Bose, Samsung, LG, and BMW.

    The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft

    The Kindle Scribe is a relatively new entry in Amazon’s e-reader ecosystem, but now it’s already in its third generation. And for the third iteration, there are three new 11-inch Kindle Scribe models: Kindle Scribe ($430), Kindle Scribe With Frontlight ($550), and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft ($630). These devices are 5.4 mm thick, which is thinner than the new iPhone Air. They weigh 400 grams and are made from precision-milled aluminum. Panay says they’re 40 percent faster, though he wasn’t specific about what he was comparing them to. When you write, you should experience a reduced latency of under 12 milliseconds.

    The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft.

    Photograph: Julian-Chokkattu

    Julian Chokkattu

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  • Philips 75″ Class 4K Ultra HD (2160p) Google Smart LED TV for $398 at Walmart

    Philips 75″ Class 4K Ultra HD (2160p) Google Smart LED TV for $398

    This article contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

    Walmart has the Philips 75″ Class 4K Ultra HD (2160p) Google Smart LED TV (75PUL7552/F7) on sale for just $398. Shipping is free.

    BUY NOW

    The U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Card earns 6% at select merchants, including Walmart.

    Specs:

    • Resolution: 3840 x 2160p
    • Refresh Rate: 60Hz Native
    • Response Time: 9.5ms (typical)
    • High Dynamic Range Format: HDR10
    • Sound Technology: Dolby Digital
    • Smart Platform: Google TV
    • VESA Mounting Pattern: 400 x 200
    • Ports:

    Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you take action (i.e. subscribe, make a purchase) after clicking a link, I may earn some beer 🍺money, which I promise to drink responsibly. When applicable, you should always go through shopping portals to earn cashback. But when that’s not an option, your support for the site is always greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!

    DDG

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  • The Best Roku for Most People Is Under $30 on Sale

    Our favorite 4K streaming device, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus (9/10, WIRED Review), is marked down to just $29 on Amazon, a healthy discount off its already wallet-friendly price. It’s easy to use, extremely compact, and priced well under its competitors. It can turn a dumb 4K TV into a smart streaming platform in under 10 minutes with minimal fuss, and there’s a reason it’s our Editors’ Pick for 4K streaming devices.

    Photograph: Parker Hall

    Roku

    Streaming Stick Plus (2025)

    You might even consider the Streaming Stick Plus if you already have a smart TV and the interface is slow or buggy. Maybe it’s an older model and the years of updates have finally caught up with it. The Roku’s interface is clean and snappy, but even better, it’s incredibly easy to use, great for anyone who just wants to sit down with their popcorn and get movie night going.

    It has great picture quality and feature support too, particularly for the price. It can stream content up to 4K, with support for HDR10, and you’re really only missing Dolby Vision, a high-end HDR codec that’s only found on the most premium televisions (and no Samsung models to date). It has no issue jumping from app to app, and it doesn’t get warm like some previous generations.

    The Streaming Stick Plus is surprisingly compact too, with a slim body that’s designed to squeeze into an HDMI port without blocking the ports around it. Most TVs have an extra USB port for powering devices like this on the back, which means you won’t need to find an outlet or a spot on your entertainment stand.

    Once reserved for the more premium Roku devices, the updated Streaming Stick Plus now has voice controls. Our reviewer Parker Hall was impressed with how well it worked, and he found it particularly useful for finding where a particular show or movie was streaming if he wasn’t sure.

    There are only a few other 4K streaming devices at this price point, and this is our favorite of the bunch, thanks to its super straightforward interface and snappy streaming. Extras like a compact form factor and voice controls only sweeten the deal, especially when there’s a discount involved.

    Brad Bourque

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  • What Does a 120-Hz Refresh Rate Mean, Anyway?

    Many of our favorite TVs and monitors feature displays with high refresh rates, promising smoother on-screen action and a sharper picture. The same is true for the best Android phones and all of Apple’s iPhone Pro models (since the 13 Pro and onward). Today, every iPhone 17 model can reach a 120-Hz refresh rate. It has become standard across the board.

    High refresh rates are frequently discussed in gaming, where fast reactions and instant on-screen updates can mean the difference between victory and defeat. That includes gaming monitors and even gaming phones, which can usually hit 144 Hz, 165 Hz, or higher. But what exactly does screen refresh rate mean? We break it down.

    Updated September 2025: We’ve added mention of the latest iPhones, updates to screen technology, new links, and refreshed copy.

    Table of Contents

    What Is a Refresh Rate?

    All content on your display, whether it’s a phone or computer monitor, is made up of individual still frames (photos) shown in sequence at a very high speed. The refresh rate is measured in hertz (Hz), and it dictates how often the frame can change. A refresh rate of 120 Hz allows a new frame to be displayed up to 120 times every second. A 60-Hz display can only refresh the screen 60 times per second. And you can guess how many times a 90-Hz screen can refresh.

    What About Frame Rate?

    The potential benefit of a high screen-refresh rate is limited by the frame rate of what’s playing on the screen. With videos or video game graphics, this is expressed as frames per second (fps). Movies typically run at 24 frames per second because it’s a theatrical standard, while many games can run at 120 fps.

    And Touch-Response Rate?

    To confuse you more, manufacturers sometimes list the touch-response rate (or touch sample rate) for touchscreen displays, which is also measured in hertz. This number relates to how often the touchscreen scans for a touch from your finger. The higher the touch-response rate, the faster it responds to your touch.

    How Refresh Rates Impact Your Phone

    Google via Simon Hill

    A higher refresh rate allows a phone’s display to keep up with gaming action and reduces motion blur on video, but it can also make navigating around the interface feel more responsive than it would on a display with a lower refresh rate. Games look less choppy during frenetic action, video footage of fast-paced sports action appears smoother, and any jerkiness when scrolling a long web page is reduced. To get the full benefit of a high refresh rate, you also need a high frame rate, and ideally, the two match.

    The cost is often your battery life. Refreshing the image on a display more times per second requires more battery power. Processing power is also needed to run graphics at a higher frame rate. Processors have improved enormously, but battery life is still limited on smartphones. For that reason, most phones with high refresh rates do not run at the highest rate all the time.

    Higher refresh rates first came to smartphones with the gaming-focused Razer Phone in 2017, then manufacturers like Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, and Google adopted them in flagship devices like the iPhone range, Galaxy series, and the Pixel range. Apple calls its version “ProMotion.”

    Simon Hill

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